the democrats cannot stop betsy devos' confirmation. only betsy devos can stop it. if devos gets into trouble, will lamar alexander step in and shepherd her? it will be key the role he plays the in this to stop the democrats from slamming her. melissa: tony? what do you think? >> i agree. look who is sitting next to her. joe lieberman, there is broad support for betsy devos' nomination. and there is an awareness that the educationalma monopoly held by the unions is at a point. >> as contentious has this political environment has been, there will be fireworks. >> that's how they fundraise. melissa: opening statements about to begin. >> we'll make an opening statement, we'll introduce the nominee. we welcome senator scott, a member of this committee. senator lieberman a distinguished former member of this body who will make introductory remarks, and following the nominee's comments, we'll have five-minute round of questions. we have capitol officers here today who will remove anyone who attempts to disrupt the hearing. this is the first meeting of our committee in the

amy: there you have betsy devos responding to bernie sanders. >> betsy devos was also asked in the hearingectly about the whole scam that was trump university. to refused to really commit the idea they shouldn't -- these kinds of private so-called career colleges like the fraud that donald trump engaged in, should receive federal funds. she really would not commit to that. there could not be a less qualified individual to run the public education ministry of the united states government then betsy devos is the point is to support public education. and is toat the devos prion off public financing nce', to go tos religious schools , because theywa do not believe in ant separation of church and state. they believe in a christian supremacist the accuracy that should govern the united states and trump was not their first choice, but if you look at the kind of crowd these guys run in, the very right-wing evangelicals, they now have come to peace with the idea that trump is god's chosen vehicle to deliver these policies. they're very diligent believers. betsy devos can try to separate herself fro

to me those exceptions come with pruitt, betsy devos and time price. and the reason for all three of them i think not being qualified for these cabinet positions is that they are unique. they are being asked to lead agencies they want to dismantle. tom price wants to shred the social safety net it's not that he wants to undo obamacare. he wants to block grant made cade. he didn't vote for the children's health insurance program. this is a person who made a career out of systematically dismantling the social safety net. you've been a hawk on climate for many, many years. scott pruitt is not qualified to lead the epa. there's never been a person even on the republican side, who wants to do such violence to the mission of the epa. >> are you as of now a no on all three? >> i'm a no on all three and those and betsy devos, oh, boy, that was a rough performance to watch i was talking to a friend of mine not in politics, that went viral all over the internet. millions and millions of views of a health education labor and pensions meeting. something is happeni

the teacher unions are opposed to betsy devos. she will be accused of wanting to privatize and defund our public school. another well known reformer said devosrepresents change. >> she will go right at what i call 30 years ago the blob. that clogs up the american education system. >> reporter: if you want to see fireworks. tune in to fox business 5:00 eastern and they will take it live, sandrare a. >> indeed. the pick for trump's education secretary betsy devoswill be aired in the entirity when it begins at 5:00 p.m. eastern. >>> the head of boeing summoned for a second meeting with with donald trump. they had a good first meeting about lowering the cost of the fighter jets. do we know what came out of the meeting with bog ceo? >> reporter: we do, sandra. he came with with a follow-up promise that the cost of next generation of a force one is lower than the president-elect feared it was. he brought with him to trump tower specifics of how he will keep the costs down. >> we made great progress. we are stream lining the process. str

senate holds a confirmation hearing on betsy devos. she's the controversial pick of the education secretary. she's a billionaire philanthropist and republican donor from michigan. we expect democrats to go after her conservative views on education. betsy devos is a strong supporter of charter schools and vouchers that give families public money to pay for private school tuition. she stepped down as the american federation of children that is dedicated to expanding voucher programs. critics agree that america's education system is failing too many of our children. according to an international moderating group, the united states ranked 19th in science behind norway and 20th in reading. in math, the united states ranked 31st behind israel and slovokia. federal data shows as of 2015, for reading, just about -- i should say a third of eighth grade students are above a proficient level. the senate set to question several other nominees to run for key areas of our government. we're expecting president-elect trump's pick for health secretary,

that the real debate isn't betsy devos. the real debate is generations of kids that are stuck in underperforming schools. that is a travesty. >> senator murphy? >> thank you very mu ch, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, at the outset let me just say precedents are funny things. you can contort the past in order to find a precedent that suits the end you are trying to achieve. you cite precedent suggesting that the time of the hearing was as long or longer than other nominees. let's just concede we spent a lot of time during that hearing argue with ourselves about how little time we had, so that was but all in questioning of the nominee. we have precedents that suggests there's never been a hearing where it never has asked, to ask more questions and has been denied that. but the one president this committee has had is comedy, is trying to find a way to get along and work with the minority party. i would argue that that president probably the most important was broken into hearing -- comity. and mr. chairman, i was fully prepared t

what betsy devos did in michigan is the opposite of that.t she did, she spent three years defunding public schools, railing against them, fighting against having an investment in them and fighting for having private, for-profit charters. and the record is abysmal. two things. number one, the for-profit charters in michigan, 80% of the charters in michigan are for-profit. they do terribly. 75% of the public schools do better than the for-profit charters. number two, it has hugely lowered michigan's standing education early in the country. so in 2003 before all of this started, michigan was about 21 or 22, 23. now they are 41 and 32 and reading and math. >> jenna: there is a lot to unpack there. let me take some questions for my viewers. >> thank you for letting me. >> jenna: no problem, we are trying to focus before the hearing to understand the questions she might be asked. if the charter schools she is advocating for so bad, why are parents lining up in order to get their kids into those charter schools and not opting for public education?

n just a couple of hours betsy devos will testify. her nomination causing a lot of talk among teachers. we are going to be digging in on the future of our kids' schools this hour coming up. >> >>> and we have brand-new polling out on obamacare as republicans move forward with their plans to repeal the law. on a busy tuesday let us begin with kristen welker. she is covering the latest on the trump transition in new york in front of trump tower. cia director john brennan firing back after trump went after him and the cia on twitter. what's the latest on that? >> reporter: well, this is an ongoing feud. and it continues to escalate, kate. president-elect trump has consistently lashed out at the intelligence community, even suggesting that outgoing cia director john brennan could be behind some of those recent leaks. in his exit interview with the "wall street journal," he has said categorically that is false. and he has come out swinging, kate. let me read you a portion of that exe in the wurn really taking aim at trump for suggesting th

speaker, i demand that betsy devose, president-elect trump's number -- betsy devos, president-elect trump's number one number fee for secretary of education, $5 b.p. 3 million in fines -- $5.3 million in fines to her action, put it to my home state of ohio. this is for campaign finance laws by illegally contributions from a nationwide p.a.c. to an unregistered ohio affiliate is troublesome. and its refusal to pay these fines to the state of ohio is disgraceful as the debt is nearly a decade old. can you imagine what would happen if a student refused to pay something that they owned to a university or to the state? i don't have to answer that. we all know what would happen. mr. speaker, i ask, how can the public trust ms. devos to ensure that borrowers repay their student loans in a timely manner when the group she chaired has failed to pay fines that were imposed nearly a decade ago? fines owed to the state of ohio, the $5.3 million belongs to the taxpayers of ohio. and every time, mr. speaker, i say $5.3 million, i am going to say it twice because she owes $5.3 million that belongs to the

it was pretty tough for education nominee betsy devos.et's get the latest from phil mattingly on capitol hill. >> reporter: john and christine, week two has kicked off on tuesday. it was a primary hearing focused on and that is the president-elect's selection to be secretary of education secretary, betsy devos. politically, she comes from a family, she herself, some of the biggest donors in the republican party. as part of that donation, a part of where their money goes, education reform. vouchers, charter schools, big issue information the devos family. and betsy devos in particular have focused on that have made her a prime target for democrats. that's shown in her confirmation hearing. take a look at this exchange between senator elizabeth warren and betsy devos. >> mrs. devos, have you ever taken out a student loan from the federal government to help pay for college. >> i have not. >> have either of your children borrowed money to go to college. >> they've been fortunate to not to. >> uh-huh. have you had any personal experience with

in fact betsy devos was in this. was a great debate between her and somebody on the side of public schools or government schools as you call them. >> government-run schools. they'rall public. melissa: what her, that she is trying to drain public schools of money. they're basically collapsing as a result of people like her and they point to detroit and other places where she has been very active, say she is siphoning off money and trying to make schools private and even for profit. what do you think of that? >> yes. and that's okay. because the money should follow the kids and if the public but not government-run charter schools are more appealing to parents, and money goes with them, so the remaining public schools have less, that's okay. but also, i'm overstating it because the charter money is not as much as the government-run schools get. let's say they spend in detroit $12,000 on the government-run schools. they only get 10,000 to the charters. every time a kid leaves in a way they gain $2,000. if you say the par

betsy devos, she says what? >> i would like your views on the relative advantage of measuring-- doing assessments and using them to measure proficiency or to measure growth. >> if i am understanding your question correctly, around proficiency, i would also corelate it to competent tensee and mastery so that you-- each student is measured according to the advancement that they are making in each subject area. >> well, that's growth. that's not proficiency. >> proficiency, is if they have reached a like third grade level for reading, et cetera. >> no, i'm talking about the debate between proficiency and growth. i was kind of surprised, well, i'm not that surprised, that you did not know this issue. (laughter) (applause). >> trevor: dang. i would like to enter that shade into the record. yeah, immediately after he said that, all the other senators were like-- so okay, okay, okay. so betsy did not do well on the verbal part of franken's questioning. how did she do on the math? >> you said that student debt has incre

what's your objection to betsy devos. >> our concern is betsy devos has not had any history in promoting, supporting or helping public schools whatsoever. her entire agenda -- she has a long track record of privatizing education, promoting the privatization of education and what we believe we need is a strong, high-quality public school for every child, no ifs, ands or buts. >> a spokesman on capitol hill was praising devos as a disrupter. is that not a good thing to have somebody that is a disrupter coming in? >> we have tried disruption and disruption wreaks chaos. we need to try supporting our public schools, we need to listen to the experts in our public schools. those are the people who care most about our student and our public schools are the educators meeting their needs every day. >> former republican candidate jeb bush, who has clashed with the teacher unions down in florida, education is a policy he is very passionate about, has an op-ed out in "usa today" this morning. think you've seen it. he says, "while america is blessed with many great teachers who are motivated by doing

also today, betsy devos, mr.rumps pit for education second, will face questioning, she is a target of the left. with massachusetts senator elizabeth warren writing a 16 page letter critical of her, saying "there is no precedent for an education department secretary nominee with your lack of experience in public education." she will tell senators, "i share president-elect's view that it is time to shift the debate from what the system thinks is back best for kids to what moms and dads want, expect, and deserve. in an education reformer predics if confirmed, devos will make quite an impact. >> day one, when she gets through this hearing today, that opportunity includes trying to put the president's vision of giving every child in america who doesn't have access to a great education that access, not by creating more federal programs come about by devolving the power to the states of local authorities where belongs. >> devos makes teachers unions nervous for her support of school vouchers and school choice, expect he

huizenga: betsy is a passionate and dedicated servant with a big heart for kids. she's a grandmother of five who's made it her life mission to ensure that every child in america has access to quality education no matter what their zip code is. betsy's fought for children in classrooms to state compols and her efforts have given more kids hope for a bright -- capitols and her efforts have given more kids hope for a brighter mission. according to stanford university, michigan's charter students now perform at a higher level than they do in their -- than they do than their peers. i witnessed betsy's creativity and discipline when we were on the sin matic arts, a grand rapids, michigan, film school and production company. we implemented standards that holds them accountable. i know betsy is up to the challenge of ensuring our children are prepared to complete and thrive in our ever-changing world and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? the gentleman is recogni

i know betsy well, too.evos has dedicated her life to improving the education of our children and all sorts of schools. >> martha: there is a big effort against her and randi weingarten says there is a bit been a big effort and a lot of money spent against her. how is this going to go for her? >> i think it will go fine. republicans have the numbers. it reminds you of the power of the unions, at least traditionally, the democratic party. the democrats go to the convention, 20% of the members are members of the teachers union are married up to members of the teacher union. it is still one of the most powerful parts of the democratic unit, they may be losing out to the sierra club these days. donald trump is moving away some other unions right now. it is very powerful. they spent a ton of money and that is what you are saying going out tonight. i think betsy will make it. you change deserves to make it. >> martha: bill, thank you. great to see you. so, now that fox has confirmed that top lawyers at the doj wil

it sounds like they will vote on the nominee, betsy devos, next tuesday. we know for a fact, the judiciary committee, voting on jeff sessions, and also for ben carson, that will get a vote next tuesday as well. to ohio, tony. caller: thank you for taking my call. i know a little bit about education. i'm married to an educator here in the state of ohio. in the state of ohio, to be a building principal, you need a masters in education. this particular nominee has a bachelors in business, i believe. the common core was a state governor association initiative, not a federal initiative. host: what she asked much about common core during the hearing? did that come up much? caller: i did not hear so much. did you? host: i'm just asking if it came up. thank you for calling in this evening. let's get a couple more. louisiana, republican line. hi to joe. caller: thank you for taking my call. they are trying to confirm, and she is getting battered by a bunch of democrats. i kind of understand, a tough situation. that's all it got to say. thank you. more one board her

joining me is a supporter of betsy devos. ceo of success academy charter schools and former new york city councilwoman. a very active person in this field. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> you voted for hillary clinton. >> i did. >> you are supporting betsy devos to be education secretary. >> i am. >> why? >> because she is a leader. and we need transformational change. two-thirds of our eighth graders cannot perform at the basic level in math and reading. two-thirds of our eighth graders. we have a national crisis on our hands, and we need leadership, talent, ability to attract talent, to rethink our way out of this crisis. >> now critics say this. critics say that betsy devos is being appointed to run the agency which oversees public education. yes critics say, she wants to demolish public education in some ways. take money away from traditional public schools. provide vouchers, which would allow, in theory, people to spend public money, taxpayer money on private schools. what's your answer to that? >>

confirmation hearing for betsy, trump's pick for secretary. heather: gop strategist is a long-time friend of betsy and has worked on many education initiatives and joins now to break down what she can bring to the table. thank you for joining us. why do you think the president elect chose her? >> 20 years ago labor unions across the country had unfettered power when it came to making decisions for children's lives and nobody that was fighting for better education or fighting for really for parent to have the best choices for their children. i've been fortunate enough to work for betsy for a long time. all she cares about is are we giving children the best access to great education and over the last 20 years, she's giving a lot of politicians legislators around the country sort of cover. she's gotten their back when they've come out when they supported school choice for education reforms. no one did that before betsy devos. he's a pioneer and this is why they are coming so harder. clayton: democrats going after her. she went after the unions an

but betsy devos is looking at a miracle to transform the students to-- charter schools do better than public schools and crave an environment for learning. parents may have been indifferent and kids indifferent in that kind of irment voo -- environment. by golly, they change, it's know the static, people change in a good way. >> julie: and my point about the pell grant, college age school vouchers and why don't we-- >> if it works for vouchers and-- >> i know that john tamney is not a fan of department of education. it's got to start somewhere. is this the place where the revolution in education could start? >> i don't think so. why is it that conservatives want to then have the government centrally plan our way out of the education problem? i'm all for competition, i think it improves school, but i'm with bill and always have been with bill on this. bad schools are more than people want to admit a function of disinterested students and disinterested parents, if you don't fix that. david: if you give parents more power, they will become mo more. >> trace true. >> they will, number one

i think betsy devos is in the mainstream. the second reason the democrats on the committee are opposing betsy devos is because she supports charter schools. now, mr. president, i know a little bit about charter schools. my last month as u.s. education secretary in january, 1993, i wrote a letter to every school superintendent in america and said why don't you try this new idea that the minnesota democratic former labor party has invented called charter schools. there were only 12 charter schools then. the first president bush, with my help, had been working for two years to create what we called new american schools, start from the scratch schools. the idea of giving teachers more freedom, parents more choices. that seemed to us like a good idea in a country that values opportunity and competition. well, not only did we think so, over the last 30 years or so, a lot of people have thought so. today there are 6,800 public charter schools in america. these are public schools. these are schools that have fewer union rules and few

betsy will have a race to the bottom line. her result serves as a warning to schools across america. by using her personal fortune to influence policy, she had a influx of for-profit schools into the state of michigan. michigan taxpayers now hand $1 million and in return many of those schools underperform public schools while evading public accountability. what makes the american dream possible for each new generation? if we abandon our pob schools, we abandon public schools who rely on them as a path to a brighter future. the senate should not confirm a secretary of education who does not believe in public education. senate democrats and republicans must send a clear message to all across the country that we stand by our public schools. i hope they will do so by rejecting this nomination. thank you, my dear colleague from the state of new jersey, thank you for this time and opportunity. and let my views to be known and make a plea for our colleagues in the house to do their duty and hold out for secretary of education that tu

first, charter school advocate betsy devos will testify for the secretary of education. she want to expand school choice programs but critics call her a weather insider without much experience. then later today, montana republican congressman ryan zinke will be on the hill. he will testify for interior secretary. of course a former u.s. navy seal. critics say he lacks experience and also been criticized by environmental groups. we'll have to see how that goes, we'll bring you the latest on all or channels, this is the latest on capitol hill, anjali him ill fox 5 local news. >>> making waves in maryland. oklahoma attorney is he scott pruitt was one of the 21 attorney generals who opposed the clean of chesapeake bay. pruitt sued the epa more than half dozen times over projects he didn't agree with. pruitt senate confirmation hearings begin tomorrow >>> 5:05. 41 degrees. damp and i think it will get wetter >> there's a little bit of moisture there. you can feel it. it's got the feel to it kind of a rainy day coming up. it's not going to be a wash-out but there will be on an

betsy devos facing some very new questions this morning.ics producer dan merika is joining us. what do you know? >> after the betsy devos hearing was limited to one round of questions, democrats submitted hundreds of questions to the michigan republican asking for her answers. she answered a lot of them and submitted them in written form. in these answers, it appears that betsy devos, trump's pick to lead the department of education, lifted text from an obama administration official. i want to read exactly what she said. she was asked about lgbt youth and bullying in schools. every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive and grow. but earlier in the year an obama administration official, the head of the justice department civil rights division said this. every child serves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow. now this comes as betsy devos' confirmation is in question. democrats see her as possibly the most vulnerable nominee that trump

of course betsy devos.o you heard jim sciutto reporting battles with other countries weather john lewis. is this a sign of weakness or strength that nobody really know where is he stands or will come down and therefore he has all the control? >> i think it's sowing a lot of doubt in the minds of peel overseas about where he's going. he seems erratic and his temperament is not one they're accustomed to. i think we saw something important. didn't start with donald trump but that he is pulling back american leadership from the global order. he wants to come back home. you see europe is starting to unravel, under a lot of pressure, even nato under pressure now. symbolically as the old world odder is crumbling before our eyes, here today the president of china stepped forward into the breach, comes into the -- >> with a big speech. >> big speech in davos. you normally go to the world economic forum sessions in davos, and this is the first time the chinese president is there, and he is asserting he is going to be

the michigan billionaire betsy devos. she's known as a strong advocate for school choice and education vouchers, but critics say she has no connection to public education. democrats are digging in for a fight. we'll bring you that hearing live. that's coming up momentarily. and an exclusive, our new cnn orc poll shows that donald trump's approval rating just 40%, that's the lowest of any recent president-elect, more than four dozen democratic members of congress say they'll boycott trump's inauguration. a move sparked by trump's feud with their colleague congressman john lewis. i'll speak with democratic senator robert man endes. and guests will have today's coverage of top stories. let's begin with white house correspondent michelle kosinski. breaking news, president obama commuting the sentence of chelsea manning. michelle, was this a surprise? >> not in the sense we knew this was a possibility. the white house has been asked about it repeatedly over the last couple of weeks leading up to this, but that doesn't mean it'

the betsy devos hearing is going to be the controversial one today. this hearing has already been e delay delayed. it was supposed to be sometime last week. that's partly because they didn't have her financial forms together. she is a billionaire. her family has been very involved financially in michigan politics. there have also been questions about ethics forums still not publicly available at the office of government ethics website. you can go and read ryan zinke's forms there if you want but not betsy devos. teachers unions are opposed to her primarily because she's been one of the most prominent supporters of charter schools and voucher programs in the state of michigan. she was a key person behind the push to allow charter schools in michigan and of course a lot of these teachers unions are very concerned about what those schools -- the damage they can do on the unions to public school systems. steph? >> i have to step in because we have breaking news. there's some sharp words coming right now from none other than vladimir putin. the russian pre

your assessment of her record there. >> you have to understand betsy devos. family is worth over $5 billion according to "forbes" so they have a lot of money to spend. she and her family have given a lot of money to the legislature and she basically runs the state when it comes to education. they do what she wants. in the year 2000, she and her husband sponsored a referendum to change the state constitution to permit public noun go to religious schools and the voters turned it down 69% to 31%. then dick devos ran for governor in 2006 and he lost and so they decided better to work from the inside. and what they have been able to do is to create like the wild west of charters. i read the law. anyone can open a charter. you or i could go to michigan and open a chaer and they would give us money. if we can gather students, we can collect the money to open charters. >> there's literally -- we should say there are lots of people in the charter mutual which is a movement you are quite skeptical of, there are people in that movement who are -- do not like devos becau

there are ways in which you can do chart kwraour schools and create these options, but what betsy wants's true she has no connection to public schools, and what she wants to do is drain the public system of the dollars it desperately needs when half of the kids are poor. >> let me say this. >> sure. >> betsy devos's supporters would say you are self interested, and they put an ad out, and i don't know if she has anything to do with this, and it's a anti-union organization that put this out, and they call you arrogant and conceded, and they say you put your interests before the children to save your union job and to make sure teachers are protected. >> so i would challenge anybody who actually put that ad out to come and see the classes that i taught. my kids, who became doctors and lawyers, and are flourishing because they had a public education system that helped them. i challenge anybody that put that ad out to come and see the charter school that i started in south bronx that has 100% graduation rate for kids. yes, i am interested in making sure that every kid in america has a great

. >> woodruff: now, president- elect trump's pick for secretary of education: betsy devos. is a non-traditional choice, and a power player in republican circles. her supporters applaud a woman they see as a disrupter focused on children. her critics worry she will erode crucial funds for public schools, and that she has not been forthright in her own financial disclosures. she is on capitol hill as we speak for her confirmation hearing, and it is the focus of our weekly segment, "making the grade." william brangham is our guide. >> brangham: shortly after betsy devos's confirmation hearing began this evening, she made one thing clear: she plans to push for expanded school choice around the country, much as she did during her two decades as a major political force in her home state of michigan. >> parents no longer believe that a one-size-fits-all model of learning meets the needs of every child, and they know other options exist, whether magnet, virtual, charter, home, religious, or any combination thereof. yet, too many parents are denied access to the full range of option

betsy devos has refused to pay an old election fine. and by the way, the fact that her hearing was so appalling to so many americans, 15 million people, we sent out just a video of a couple of the questions. 15 million people have seen it and if you go look on the social media, trump supporters are saying, why the heck did he nominate her? rex tillerson has refused to recuse himself from matters relating to exxonmobil for the length of his term. amazing. head of the biggest oil company, and after one year he can do things to help it again. his work there decades. and just this morning, we've learned that steve mnuchin tried to hide his holdings in the cayman islands from the finance committee. the list goes on and on and every day there is a report of a major ethical lapse by this cabinet, the swamp cabinet. the president-elect isn't draining the swamp with his cabinet picks. he's filling it up, contrary to everything he promised during his campaign. these issues and others deserve to be thoroughly and rigorously reviewed by the senate.

i think betsy ge vodevos has goa bad wrap. has been pretty mainstream in her views and i think her family's wealth is more of an attack than it should be. they he she has spent decades on the fight for education reform and maybe the school reforms that happened in michigan is not exactly what she would want but florida is kind of her model state so i would put her in the camp of jeb bush education reformer. and, also, she -- you know, really, i think the religious elements that some democrats have put on her and -- because her family is known to be a wealthy donor family and very religious and saying she is pushing that agenda and it just hasn't quite frankly, been true. if she had a little bit more prep and i feel had been put through the paces more rigorously with some of the questions that she was sure to get, centered on her family wealth and politically donations and student loan questions, ask about that, i think she would have had stronger showing and unfair to her she wasn't more prepared. >> i was going to say, mike b

donald trump is likely to get his cabinet nominee in betsy devos. >> thanks very much. you saw the opposition from democrats. coming up, new details about how they plan to try to stop or at least stall some of the nominations. and the 41st president george h.w. bush tonight in intensive care. dr. sanjay gupta will join us with the latest. as well as his wife barbara, who is also now in the hospital. >>> we've been reporting on the contentious confirmation hearings on capitol hill. for president-elect trump's cabinet nominees. none has been confirmed but with two days before the inauguration, tonight new reporting about negotiations between democratic and republican lawmakers. phil mattingly has the latest. what about these negotiations? what are you learning? >> reporter: according to senate democratic and republican aides involved in negotiations they are intensive, fluid, and there's a recognition how important the end game here is for the president-elect's new team. here's the dynamics at play. democrats want concessions. you've seen the real possibility they set up

betsy devos and my opinion is on our children's side. she has devoted her life to helping mainly low-income children have better choices of schools. most of the criticism i have heard of her amounts to three things. one, she supports public charter schools are u2 she supports giving low income parents more choices of schools for their children. she is considered the wealth and effectiveness to advance those ideas but i believe she's in the mainstream of public opinion and her critics are not. first, let's take the idea of charter schools. they are public schools with fewer government rules, fewer union rules so teachers have more freedom to teach and parents have more freedom to choose the school that best suits their child. there's nothing new about it. 1991 and 92 president h.w. bush proposed start from scratch schools he called new american schools and raise $70 million for new american schools development corporation to encourage innovative ideas and then in 1993 and january in my last act as president bush's education secretary i wr

fairly, betsy devos -- apparently betsy devos. i think she deserves credit, not criticism. or ifhe critics be happy she spent her time and money trying to deny children more choices of schools that wealthy families are ready have? we are fortunate that betsy devos is a nominee u.s. nomineey president -- for u.s. secretary. i support her confirmation and look for to working with her. senator murray. >> thank you very much, chairman. i support working with you and all of our colleagues and congress and want to welcome new members on our committee. thank you ms. debose for joining us -- ms. devos for joining us. this is the first of many hearings that we will be holding a president-elect trump's nominees to fill critical positions in the federal government. so, i want to start by reiterating the importance of the senate's role in this process. and this committee's role in this senate. president trump has the right to fill his cabinet with people that he thinks will fill the vision for our country. but that does not mean that the senate should be a rubber stamp. to the contrary

. >> let's bring in angela rye, senior political commentator, and betsy mccoy.ieutenant governor, i want to start with you. just to piggyback off of miguel's report there. what we heard from speaker paul ryan about what will happen post repeal obamacare. >> we have a plan to replace it. we have plenty of ideas to replace it. and you'll see, as the weeks and months unfold what we're talking about replacing it. >> there's a major difference between plenty of ideas and a plan. how, after six years of clamoring for repeal and replace does the gop notvy a consensus of what to replace it with? >> first there is a consensus -- >> where's the plan? >> let me just finish. that's a hostile question. >> how is it hostile? >> yes. of the fact is, there is a plan. there are several variations of it, they're combining it right now. all of the plans preserve the medicaid safety net. all of the plans offer people in the private individual market, more choice and much lower premiums. and all of the plans protect people with preexisting conditions. there are currently 500,000 peo

senate committee has approved betsy devos' nomination for secretary of education. it now goes to the full senate. kpix #'s jackie. >> reporter: kenny, the announcement that betsy devos got one step closer to heading the department of education was made just a few hours ago. those who are here are not happy about it. the people here are mothers, school board members, teachers, parents and students, and the bears at the foot of that statue represent betsy devos' 100 conflicts of interest. they also represent the -- devos said if confirmed she wants to address the rising cost of higher education and the massive student debt problem our country has. she also hopes to advance trade and vocational schools as well as community colleges and she is known for her support of charter schools and promoting her conservative religious values. this protest is part of a series of resist trump tuesdays in which demonstrations similar to this are happening in approximately 300 cities across the country. jackie ward kpix 5. >>> a u.s. senate committee did advance a couple more of trum

betsy davos will face scrutiny later this afternoon. she faces stiff opposition from democrats, and many in the education field at large. president of the national education association which represents nearly 3 million achers in this country. you have said that davos' agenda is "an actual danger to students." lily, those are some pretty strong words. what do you mean? >> yes, i was actually holding back on that. we are alarmed. we are appalled. there are a lot of people out there, some good folks that we wrestle with all the time on the proper role for a charter school, an incubateor of some innovative idea, we've seen some great ones, but what separates betsy davos from people who actually want to do something good for public schools is, she has this one-track it's got to be privatized, and she's done it at the expense of public schools. she's actually taken away the private option, and more alarming -- >> you're talking about what she's done in michigan? >> if we are going to be seeing in the united states what she did to michigan, w

betsy devos lacks the qualification and experience to serve as secretary of education. her drive to privatize education is demonstrably instructive to public schools and to the education success of our children. if she is confirmed, if she shatters the consensus, if she reignites the educational wars, it will demonstrate that her ultimate goal is to undermine public schools. of americanthat 90% children attend. surprise come as no that we are steadfast in opposing her nomination. we are equally steadfast in our continuing work to advance reforms that will make a positive difference in the lives of -- and success of children. not all schools work as we would like to many failing schools have been failed by for policy, budget cuts, and acceptance of any quality. -- any quality. when parents and someone other than the local school, it's not because people believe the private market is the best way to deliver education or that their child will benefit from a longer bus ride. because theirn local school is under resourced, it's not safe enough or otherwise struggling. societ

miss betsy devos ?>> miss devos thank you for being here and we appreciate you and your family for being with us may. i wanted to start with a basic question. when you agree with me that the problem, and that is an understatement in my judgment. but the problem of sexual assault on college campuses is a significant problem we should take action on? >> senator thank you for that question. i agree with you that sexual assault in any form or in any place is a problem.and no disagreement there.>> second question, would you uphold, let me give you a little background here that you might know. in 2011 the department of education issued guidance on title ix by this administration, the current administration. i ask you what you uphold that 2011 title ix guidance as it relates to sexual assault on campus? >> senator, i know there is a lot of conflicting ideas and opinions around that guidance. if confirmed i would look forward to working with you and your colleagues and understand the range of opinions and under

workers who were just trying to register people to vote, and what about that betsy devos? [booing] waters: a billionaire who he is picking as head of education who has never seen the

. >> reporter: betsy beaumon is president of a silicon valley nonprofit that developed "bookshare". >talk to parents who say i remember a time when i would be cooking dinner and at the same time, reading my son his textbook. >> reporter: started in 2002, "bookshare" is now the largest library of digitally accessible books in the world. since coming to benetech in 2009 she guided "bookshare"'s growth from 30,000 members to more than 300,000. from 20,000 digitally accessible books to more than half a million. and "bookshare" is entirely free. after selling two tech startups, betsy knew her next chapter was going to be different. >> how do i take all this that i have learned and all these things i have been able to do in high-tech and apply them to communities around the world that have needs that really can be benefited by tech plus really good implementation? >> reporter: especially rewarding when people like kevin replace an obstacle with an opportunity. >> it's free and it's accessible. >> reporter: so for giving the visually impaired and physically challenged the equal opportunity t