we're at a log jamb here, and i don't see any key component where it gets broken. >> senator blumenthal, i want to play an exchange that you had with mr. clapper last week. let's listen to that. >> you spoke about the challenges of recruiting and keeping the best minds in america which all of us want to be available to the american intelligence community. is there anything that we can do to encourage or support that effort? >> well, sir, it would be nice if they would get a pay raise occasionally, and it would be nice not to be threatened with furloughs. >> i take that to heart and to mind. >> senator, you raised such a very important, long-term question. people thinking about going into this line of work, a young law school graduate, perhaps, thinking i'd like to go into the fbi. today with furloughs and with sequester cuts, you have to wonder whether you'll be able to make your mortgage payments. >> it really is a profoundly significant question, lawrence, and i'm so glad that you've raised it, because we really need the best and the brightest to go into public service, whether it's t

joining me now, connecticut democratic senator richard blumenthal, and joy reid. senator blumenthal, you know what happened in sandy hook was a result of those high-capacity magazines. >> absolutely right, lawrence. and by the way, the killer at home had both low-capacity magazines and high-capacity magazines. he took with him the 30-round magazines. because he wanted to kill -- more people. >> who could you ask for about what high-capacity magazines mean to mass murderers. >> there is even more proof which is that when he had to change magazines, children actually escaped from the classroom. 6 to 11 children really escaped because he had -- or chose to change magazines. so there is no question that as you put it so well, these magazines make these mass killings more murderous. they don't necessarily cause them or compel them. they make them more lethal. and the same is true of assault weapons. he had both shotguns and assault weapons. he chose the assault weapon, because he knew he could fire and kill more people, more rapidly, more lethally. and that's why we ar

> joining me now, one of the senators at that armed services committee hearing, senator richard blumenthalington post. we couldn't get an answer given air traffic controllers were told to stay home. are fbi agents going to be told to stay home? are u.s. assistant attorneys going to be told to stay home at some point? can you guide us in that? >> in his remarks, lawrence, director clapper made remarks about intelligence agents that may be given shorter hours or even furloughs, and the same, conceivably, very probably is true of prosecutors and fbi agents, although we have no confirmation of it. obviously, these impacts are the least visible. the most visible are the impacts on air travel. 4700 delays and 273 cancellations today alone, and then the less visible impacts on health care and headstart, meals on wheels for seniors, other kinds of service programs, including research for cancer, in effect, undermining what we can discover and cure for the future. >> it seems like nothing has gotten washington's attention to these sequester cuts more than what we're seeing in the air traffic story

we'll be right back with senator richard blumenthal of connecticut and the mother of virginia tech students shot in that school's massacre six years ago this week. what was their reaction as the senate vote went down today? that's next. ♪ if you have high cholesterol, here's some information that may be worth looking into. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. getting to goal is important, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. and that's why when diet and exercise alone aren't enough to lower cholesterol i prescribe crestor. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking. call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could

senator blumenthal and i had, to my knowledge, no senator who opposed this amendment. it was a very bipartisan effort, but because of the administration's opposition, i assumed it was never allowed to come to a senate vote. so we again believe, i believe, that the administration has the ability to avoid closing air traffic control towers. and i believe they should use that flexibility and that discretion, but in the absence of that, senator blumenthal and i have introduced legislation to prohibit the closing of those air traffic control towers. and that -- the sponsorship and support for that legislation continues to grow. we introduced it just a few days ago. already we have 33 co-sponsors. 18 democrat members in the senate. 15 republican members in the senate in support of the prohibition against the closing of those air traffic control towers. what we are looking for is just some common sense, some recognition that we have the ability to prioritize, i'm a member of the senate appropriations committee and a member of the transportation appropriation subcommittee. adm

we'll be right back with senator richard blumenthal of connecticut and the mother of virginia tech studenthat was shot in that school's massacre six years ago this week. what was their reaction as the senate vote went down today? that's next. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold styling, unsurpassed luxury and nearly 1,000 improvements. the redesigned 2013 glk. the next great advance from mercedes-benz. starting at $37,090. with simple, real ingredients, like roasted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark-chocolate flavor, plus 10 grams of protein, so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars. before i do any projects straigon on my own.stto you. at angie's list, you'll find reviews written by people just like you. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve

connecticut senator richard blumenth blumenthal, thank you. >>> 11 family members who lost children in the newtown shootings will catch a ride with the president back to d.c. after his speech. they'll spend the next two days lobbying support for gun control legislation. >>> a study released a few moments ago is sure to stir up debate. researchers say despite all the criticism and there was plenty, healthier school lunches are working to fight childhood obesity. the study compared states with stricter lunch standards versus those that follow looser guidelines. not only do kids with healthier lunches have healthier weight but they also were not buying other snacks to fill up. that's sure to get some pushback by those who say healthier lunches deprive kids of calories and leave them hungry. do you remember this parody against the school lunch program that went viral last year? ♪ so if i have the time go to the practice and you feel like falling down ♪ ♪ i'll carry you home ♪ tonight we are >> in response to criticism of school lunch guidelines, congress helped the u.s. agriculture departm

nbc news foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin, and connecticut senator, richard blumenthal. senator, i'll ask you to stand by for one second while we check in with kristen and ayman. kristen, let's begin with the political calculations that go into what the white house is looking for, especially when the administration is receiving pressure from the rights about what it would mean if syria has, indeed, used chemical weapons on its open people. >> reporter: well, thomas, right now the administration essentially trying to buy some time, because there aren't any good options when it comes to syria. putting troops on the ground could cost thousands of american lives, arming the rebels is difficult, because it's not quite clear who the opposition forces are. a no-fly zone, also tricky. so the united states really trying to carve out some more time, but also making the point that they want to be 100% certain of this latest intelligence, which suggests that syria has used chemical weapons. they say there are still questions about the origin of those chemical weapons, and they point

just about 20 minutes we're going to talk to the connecticut senator, richard blumenthal about federal gun control efforts. >>> new developments this morning in the ever-increasing tensions between north and south korea. the north announcing in just the last couple of hours that it is pulling all of its workers out of the kaesong industrial complex that it shares with the south. cnn's jim clancy is live for us in seoul, south kia this morning. good morning, jim. >> good morning, john. shut it down. that's the message from north korea. a lot of people thought kim jong-un wouldn't go this far, wouldn't take this move. he's going to pull out his 53,000 workers from there. that means about 1,000 south koreans will also be forced to leave and 123 companies will cease doing business in what was the only symbol of cooperation between north and south for many years. it is, however, a situation where north korea has hedged its bets, saying that this was a temporary suspension of the operations there. it's going to recover those. the blame went on the u.s. the blame went on south korea for impug

blumenthal: mr. president, thank you. we are on the verge of a historic vote that will determine whether we make america safer and assure that we do everything possible as senators and citizens to assure there are no more newtowns. on the evening of december 14 when we left the firehouse at sandy hook, there was a vigil at a church in newtown, st. rose of lima presided over by father bob, who is monsignor robert weiss, a very moving and powerful experience. the church was filled, people stood at the windows to hear what was going on. the governor spoke and so did i, and i said that evening the world is watching newtown. and, in fact, the world was watching newtown, as we knew from the horror of that afternoon when many of us arrived at the church, and first at the firehouse to see families emerging and learning for the first time that their children, their babies, would not be coming home that evening. it was an experience that will stay with me forever. the sights and sounds of that afternoon filled with grief and pain w

want to introduce to the conversation connecticut senator richard blu richa richa richa richard blumenthal. as we get down to the macro local, there is this gun bill that bans large capacity magazines in connecticut, extends the connecticut assault weapons bans and a registry for dangerous weapon offenders. however, it's going to grandfather in the people who already have the large capacity magazines. do you think it's going to defeat the purpose of what connecticut's bill would do for the rest of the country? >> connecticut's bill, the ban on high capacity magazines, as well as extending and specifying more completely the ban on assault weapons i think provides very strong encouragement and momentum going into these next few weeks in washington, d.c. but the point is that no single state can do it alone. the assault weapon ban in connecticut and the prohibition against high-capacity magazines simply is unable to prevent guns from being trafficked illegally across our borders. we really need federal legislation to prohibit straw purchases and illegal trafficking. >> that's when we get to t

. >> let me bring in senator richard blumenthal who was with the newtown families today on the hill. thank you for joining us today. >> to kelly's point, you have some republicans who voted to have the debate continue but may ultimately in the end not support this legislation. one of them may be senator bob cork he, republican from tennessee. i want to read what he said following the proceedings. he said i don't understand why any senator would not want to debate these issues but in the end, i will not support any legislation that violates our second amendment rights. what is your reaction to as kelly pointed out, a few more republicans than first believed, getting on board for a debate on this bill. >> i'm going to be talking to my friends like bob corker and making the case as strongly and persuasively as possible that there is nothing, absolutely nothing in this bill that even comes close to violating second amendment rights. we're not taking away anyone's guns. we're not bridging anyone's right to hunt or target shoot. and the united states supreme court says that everyone has a

joining me now is democratic senator richard blumenthal from connecticut. max baucus of montana will not run for reelection and he is one who voted against the measure. a liberal group had vowed to target him and others, mark prior of arkansas who voted against the measure. all face reelection in 2014. what do you think of the decision of baucus not to rerun? >> a surprise and a loss to the senate. he is a key figure in tax reform as well as a variety of other measures and extraordinary distinguished career and a decision probably based on family decision and larger career goals and the desire to focus on areas like taxes and other issues. >> as a connecticut senator does that anger you knowing he could have voted yes knowing ahead oft that vote that he was probably not running for reelection and could have helped effort what would have been something, a major positive reform for gun measures? >> what frustrates, disappoints and angers me is the fact that we had 55 votes in the united states senate as well as 90% of the american people and the vast majority

. >>> from capitol hill now, i want to bring in democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, martin. >> you've just met with the families of newtown victims. what's their response to those of your colleagues across the aisle trying to prevent a vote, even a discussion, on these gun reforms? what's the reaction of those families? >> the reaction of the families is no different than the reactions of, my guess is, the overwhelming majority of americans that they are aghast and angry that a small group of senators would block an overwhelming majority. not only an overwhelming majority of senators who want a vote, but also americans who want common sense measures to control gun violence and stop the kind of mass killing that so deeply and horribly affected their lives. the unspeakable and unimaginable tragedy that they suffered, they are giving voice and face to as they go around capitol hill talking to my colleagues, senators who know in their hearts what the right thing to do is. and they simply have to stand up to the special interests an

. >> now we're joined by senator richard blumenthal a democrat from connecticut. he joins frus the senate. there were members from newtown in the gallery today as this vote happened. what was the reaction? >> today was heartbreaking for me, really sad and shocking, but the hardest part was to explain to the families how 90% of the americans could be in favor of background checks, and the senate failed to reach the necessary 60 votes. and their reaction was absolutely inspiring as one of them said to me when i said, we're coming back." she said to me, "it's not even close. we're coming back. not even close." >> ifill: what does that mean "coming back." after you failed to get the 60 votes necessary, on not only this but on a number of other piece of gun control legislation today, what does coming back look like? >> coming back looks like persuading colleagues that the american people are not just in favor of background checks, illegal trafficking bans, and stronger school safety measures, along with a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, but the amer

senator richard blumenthal, democrat, connecticut, is using sandy hook to raise money in his e-mails. they're trying to turn the newtown parents into a dozen cindy sheehans in a way. and it's what the democrats do, folks. they always try to hide their agendas behind women and children and most of all, victims. and so the newtown parents are human shields, in a sense. the newtown parents are out there to protect the democrats from any criticism and to shut it down. >> i like the way he does this. didn't you notice as a woman, he's assuming that men are putting you people up? >> oh, i know. >> you don't look put up to me. >> and i mean, certainly with these families, this is what they want to do. they talk about wanting to be in this conversation to carry on the legacies of their dead 6 and 7-year-olds who they'll never see again. >> nobody put cindy sheehan up to anything. cindy sheehan lost her son to the war. >> people came around to feeling the exact same thing, cindy sheehan about that war. it looks like these families have a similar affect. and they are a clarifying, i think, pres

senator blumenthal of connecticut on the floor yesterday.ill tweets in -- let's hear what chris has to say, calling from new york, on the democrats line. caller: good morning. what bothers me deeply with this whole thing, our second amendment rights rights are being infringed on. they are not taken a look at the overall picture of what is going on in society. that is causing a big problem. thate are blaming us happened out there in sandy for what happened out there in sandy hook. it is wrong what happened to those children. at the same time, you will not stop violence. we had some guy stab 14 kids out at a college. what could you prevent i coming after us -- by coming after us for our guns? you have more guns being smuggled across the border down in mexico. it is just, it bothers me deeply they are going after our rights. host: you used the term us. you are a gun owner? caller: yes, ma'am. host: does your gun ownership come first in your political issues? caller: we need to focus on solving the real issues. that is anywhere from video games,

senator richard blumenthal supported ending furloughs for air traffic controllers. he joins me live now. good to see you. let's start with the president's criticism. what do you make of that, this idea that members of congress were motivated, in part at least, motivated by the fact that they have to go home every weekend and most of them fly commercially? >> this effort actually, craig, began weeks ago when i offered an amendment with senator moran, republican of kansas, very bipartisan effort, tens of senators joined us in trying to stop the kinds of delays at the airport that have economic imp plic care cost and convenience, but also endanger economic recovery because they are essential to jobs, but the president is absolutely right that we need a broader solution to the sequester, which is an arbitrary slashing across-the-board cut affecting seniors who need meals on wheels, kids who need head start. >> why not focus on meals on wheels? why not focus on head start? >> my hope is that we will when we come back. in fact, we did before we left town, the majority lea

democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut said today this is the saddest day of his years in public life. >> pelley: chip, thank you very much. a short time ago, mr. obama brought some of the newtown families and gabrielle giffords into the rose garden at the white house. major garrett was there. major? >> reporter: scott, somber and frustrated, president obama said the gun control debate will not end because the senate could not muster 60 votes for expanded background checks. he stood, as you said, with some of the sandy hook families. mark barden, who lost his son daniel in that mass shooting, spoke first and said washington has not heard the last of this issue. >> we'll return home now disappointed but not defeated. we return home with a determination that change will happen. maybe not today, but it will happen. it will happen soon. we've always known this would be a long road, and we don't have the luxury of turning back. we will keep moving forward and build public support for common- sense solutions in the areas of mental health, school safety and gun safety. >> repo

blumenthal: mr. president, thank you, and i want to congratulate and thank my colleague from connecticut, senator murphy, on his profoundly eloquent and powerful statement to our colleagues and join him in calling attention to the horrific tragedy that has brought us to this point in the debate on gun violence. his very eloquent and powerful summary of our losses, i think, is a way to begin a potential turning point after newtown has given us a call to action. newtown is a tipping point in this debate, and my colleague from connecticut and i have spent literally days and weeks with that community and have seen the courage and strength that they have brought to this town and to our colleagues, because they have been meeting with our colleagues and they are indeed here today. benjamin andrew wheeler you who was age six, his father david is here today. ann grace marquez green, age six, her mother melda and her foarnlg jimmy are here today. dylan hockly, age 6, his mother nicole is here. daniel barton, a

blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i'm honored to stand again here on the floor of the senate, as i will be doing along with my colleague, senator murphy, and others who are allied in this effort to make america safer and to stop the scourge of gun violence that has plagued this country for decades and has been dramatized so horrifically and tragically by the nightmarish, unspeakable tragedy that occurred in newtown. i stand here on behalf of the families but they are speaking much more eloquently and powerfully than i could ever do, as they go around to the offices of my colleagues and look them in the face and say, "how could you not favor a ban on illegal trafficking and straw purchasers?" "how could you not support strengthening school safety?" "how could you not favor a national criminal background check?" as one police chief told me, a national background check makes sure that we do not put criminals on the honor system. without a criminal background check, criminals are on an honor system to not buy weapons. wha

blumenthal: thank you, madam president. as we close this debate on this historic bill, i urge my colleagues to again heed and hear the families of newtown. they are here talking about not only the horror and unspeakable and unimaginable tragedy that befell them on december 14, just four months ago, but to speak also for the 3,400 or more who have perished since as a result of gun violence, the thousands more who will die needlessly if we fail to take action, and the many, many others who have died tragically as a result of gun violence. newtown shook america. it shocked and changed our country. we owe it to the families and we owe it to ourselves to heed and hear their message. we need to do something about the guns. that is what they told me again and again and again in newtown and in connecticut and across the country. and those families have come here mustering their courage and strength, showing us what is great about america, the grit and greatness of our nation. in that time period, there were many bracelets and i was

those senators including mark warner, mark begich, kay hagan claire mccaskill richard blumenthal from rockefeller. one more, bob casey from pennsylvania. very significant because casey is no flaming liberal. i like him. but he's a pro-life democrat from pennsylvania. not exactly the most liberal of states. but he has said again he has evolved on the issue like president obama did. like hillary clinton has done. from being for civil unions only to full-fledged marriage equality in support of same-sex marriage. bob casey making that announcement yesterday. and if you're keeping score and we are that means there are eight democrats left. only one republican senator by the way and we talked about him rob portman from ohio because he admits, because his son came out to him as a gay man he started to rethink this issue and has seen the light. no other republican has done but there are all but eight senators, democratic senators now support same-sex marriage and i want you to know who they are so you can give them a little tap maybe a little pressure. joe manchin, west virginia, still on the

minute addition or curveball there's been some attempts also precisely last year believe senator blumenthal may have introduced a similar bill on its own but don't quote me on that that's correct i haven't checked in in a little while but point is that people are attacking it from all levels of government it seems like that's going to be something that they will look into on the federal level if not insist you know in another form perhaps separately all right let's move on to the next topic up for debate and also communications privacy act of nine hundred eighty six the house and the senate have taken up legislation legislation they are taking it out next week they've already debated it to require police to obtain a warrant in order to search e-mail and other private online content the current e.c.p.a. law only requires a subpoena for all e-mails that have been on or for those that are more than one hundred eighty days old how likely is this reform to pass through growth both branches. again this is we're seeing an issue that was similar to what we saw last year the e.c.p.a. or act supply h

we'll ask senator blumenthal. next. don't miss this. right.eature of all is... the capital one purchase eraser. i can redeem the double miles i earned with my venture card to erase recent travel purchases. d with a few clicks, this mission never happened. uh, what's this button do? [ electricity zaps ] ♪ you requested backup? yes. yes i did. what's in your wallet? >> the last day of your presidency i was there and i came in to say goodbye and you said something i thought you could repeat. coming into the on the first day and wanting to make sure when you left you could look in the mayor and stuck to the principlings. i think it is important in life and it is important to the president to have a set of prince pems that one is willing to defend . so when i left midland, i told a crowd of thrirt,000 i am leading with a set of principle. >> i am thankful for the principles i learn indeed midland, texas. i am thankful for my friends. god bless. >> when i came back, i looked older, i didn't sell my soul. principles are still an important part of my

that from the connecticut democratic senator richard blumenthal after some potentially sweeping changes to in the in nation's gun laws past their first test in senate. the senate cleared the way for a debate on a major gun control bill. it's what is known as cloture vote. the senate bill would expand background checks, crack down on gun trafficking and authorizing a prom for school safety. senator mitch mcconnell argued it would not help to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. >> this will ultimately pun injury harass our neighbors and friends and family,. >> shepard: many others point to recent polls which show a vast majority of americans do indeed support stronger background checks. families of some of the sandy hook victims watched from the gallery. one sister says the bill does not go far, especially banning assault rifles. >> they leave baseball size holes in somebody's skin. this is not okay. >> shepard: she went on to say that talking to family and friends of the victims likely helped awake summon senators. mike is live on capitol hill. anybody claiming victory? >> not e

meanwhile, critics blast democratic senator, richard blumenthal of connecticut, after thrfs a fundraisingferences sandy hook asking supporters to, quote, please contribute $5 now as they debate on common sense gun legislation this week. no comment when asked if it was insensitive in his judgment. fox's "american idol" continues to reign at the top, almost 13 million viewers tunedded in last night to watch the only remaining male con contestant gt sent home. first time in the show's long history, the final five are women. by the way, idolfuls the number one show on television last night. it's been the number one show on wednesday evenings, season to date, averaging 16 million viewers. you wouldn't know that, would you? reading some of the, well, trade nonsense. up next, the advertising industry's gone viral. how the internet is transforming the way some companies advertise and improving their bottom line at the same time. next. next. copd makes it hard to breathe... but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announce ] advair is clinica

i know, jake, you sat down with connecticut democratic senator richard blumenthal.ay to you about the nra's efforts to thwart this legislation? >> we played some sound from his governor, malloy, who was on candy crowley's show, yesterday. state of union. and asked as malloy said, wayne lapierre, the executive director of the nra, is like a clown. this is what senator blumenthal had to say in response. >> you know, we have a historic opportunity to break the stranglehold that the special interests, like the nra, have had over legislative consideration of gun safety. and i believe that we can and will break that stranglehold because the nra has lost a lot of its credibility. it wants actually -- >> you may say it lost credibility, but it gains at least a half million members since the newtown shooting. >> and many of those members now support, for example, background checks. >> and it is true, of course, brooke, that polling indicates substantial significant support for background checks, among not only the public in general, but also gun owners, but right now, it is

. >> senator blumenthal? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and i apologize for being late, but i have been following some of the testimony and want to thank you all for your service, and, mr. secretary, particularly for your active-duty service to our nation and now in the department of veterans affairs, and to the president for increasing resources available to our veterans in a very difficult time to escalate. let me begin with senator begich's question relating to electronic health record. i understood that you describe what was going to happen, but i am not sure that i heard what the target date was. i understood that you described what was going to happen. i am not sure i heard what the target date was. he asked for a target date for completing the program. >> we're talking about claims here. >> the electronic record system. >> the electronic help record system is still going forward. >> we are committed to it. ofawait the department defense signaling to us that we have an agreement here. i believe we are on track. secretary ch

. >>> connecticut senator richard blumenthal will be among those listening to the president's speechiversity of hartford. he will join us later at 7:30 p.m. eastern. >>> rick warren's church grieving with the pastor over the suicide of his younger son. 25-year-old matthew warren apparently shot himself over the weekend after a struggle with depression. the sermon on sunday at the saddleback church was called "surviving tough times." it was planned before matthew's death. >>> boaters from key west fr, flori florida, are asked to be looking out for a sailboat that may have two young boys. a father broke into the house and took the two young boys. >>> it sounds like science fiction, but nasa has plans to capture an asteroid and place it in orbit around the moon. florida senator bill nelson says the mission is part of president obama's new budget plan. nasa would first catch the asteroid with a robotic spacecraft, and then tow it back towards earth. this is real. it would be placed in a stable orbit around the moon. nelson says the asteroid could be used for research, mining, developing

senator blumenthal and i had no senator who opposed this amendment.t was a bipartisan effort, but because of the administration's opposition, i assume that was never allowed to come to a senate vote. we believe the illustration has the ability to avoid closing air traffic control towers and i believe they should do that. in the absence of that, senator blumenthal and i have introduced legislation to prohibit the closing of those air traffic control towers. the sponsorship and support for that legislation continues to grow. we introduced it a few days ago. already, we have 33 co-sponsors, 18 democrats members of cement, 15 republican members of the senate and support of the prohibition against the closing of those air-traffic control towers. we are looking for some common sense, some recognition that we have the ability to prioritize. i am a member of the senate appropriations committee and a member of the transportation subcommittee. the administrator was in our committee last thursday. with hiso satisfaction responses. he indicated to me -- my questi

along with senator blumenthal and ushering the family members around from newtown to meet other elected members in washington, d.c. when we see the senator blasting this upcoming nascar race is it an overreach. it depends on who you ask. the nra, the pro republican allies of the nra would certainly think so. you know i think that yesterday's vote, the thing that we should keep in mind is not to overstate the fact that they are simply beginning the debate. a lot of those republicans who voted to proceed on the gun debate aren't necessarily going thereabout at the last and more important vote to end debate and move on to an up or down vote pap lot of those folks are holding out. they want votes on their amendments they are pushing that would undermine some tougher restrictions in the measure and some of those folks like tom colburn who voted to advance the bill yesterday doesn't support the bipartisan deal that was reached by toomey and manchin. this is a very treacherous path ahead. >> politically treacherous is a great way to describe it. it's moving forward. certainly up for discussion

but as senator blumenthal pointed out i can absolutely make the case that if we had laws on on the bookstoday newtown may not have happened and even if it did happen some of these kids would be alive today. what happened in one of those classrooms? a handful of kids survived because victoria soto put them into a closet. and when the shooting was over they were discovered in that closet. but another set of kids survived a different way. when lance went to switch magazines there was a delay in the shooting and a bunch of kids ran out of the classroom, five of them. six were in the closet and five of them ran out of the classroom and decided -- as lance switched magazine clips. the five kids who don't look different from anna and daniel and dylan and benjamin that are are -- there is jesse, that are alive today because adam lanza had to switch clips. he only had to do is six times to get off 154 bullets. we won't exactly understand why bit he didn't discharge all of this 30 round clips. sometimes he shot 10 or 15 bullets before he switched that some of them went straight through. he only sw

supporting riders for and we were very heartened to see senator jon tester senator gillibrand, boxer, blumenthal, a number of members of the senate come out opposed to the rider but frankly, they were left out of the process just as the american public was. we find that to be an abomination. >> john: who holds the majority of the responsibility for this legislation being slipped in and how do we hold them accountable? >> well, the american people have called on senator mikulski as the new chairwoman of the appropriations committee to essentially right her wrong and makes sure that this rider never sees the light of day past the six-month cr. it appears this is, in many ways, the last iteration of senator inouye's chairmanship and we hope that senator mikulski will have a stronger record on this issue. >> john: let me ask you the million dollar question, why do you think we hear so much protest about this through social media and not through the corporate news media heavily funded by advertising from the food industry? >> look, consumers have the right to know but are absent labeling of genetical

i would like to thank connecticut's senators blumenthal and murphy. they've been right with us.s right from the very beginning. from the first few hours after this tragedy, they were with us. we will not be defeated. we are not defeeled and we will not be defeated. we are here now. we will always be here because we have no other choice. we are not going away. and every day as more people are killed in this country because of gun violence, our determination grows stronger. we leave washington hoping that others both here and across the country will join us in making the sandy hook promise. a pledge that we had great hope that more u.s. senators would take literally. i'd like to end by repeating the words by which the sandy hook promise begins. our hearts are broken. our spirit is not. thank you. it is now my great pleasure to introduce the president of the united states of america, barack obama. >> good job. a few months ago in response to too many tragedies including the shootings of a united states congresswoman, gabby giffords, who's here today. and the murder of 20 innocent s

senator blumenthal on jansing and company talking about wlaes hopeful to see. it could be a long shot to get something done on the assault weapons ban. take a listen. >> i believe that we'll have a bill that bans illegal trafficking and straw purchases, strengthens school security, provides for background checks to all firearms purchases, that we'll have votes as well on the assault weapon ban. >> rachel, break that down for us. is there really a possibility that they could get a vote, that it could move all the way to a vote? it doesn't seem as if the assault weapons ban has the life to truly even move that far. >> there is real question about what will get a vote if anything. senator harry reid has to decide what to put on the floor when congress comes back next week. if he puts the bill on it that contains assault weapons, even the bill that passed out of the judiciary committee, that won't go anywhere. he has to come up with a chance of some bill that's passing through senate. assault weapons pretty much off the table. they could vote on an amendment on tha

magazines multiple times and we've had lawmakers kind of admit that shall the former attorney general blumenthal saying it wouldn't have prevented newtown. if it would not have prevented newtown, why are we passing laws that would not prevent it. >> sean: leslie, can you name one proposal that's out there today by the left, by democrats, the ammo laws that we're talking about, even the united nations issue that came up earlier today, which the united states wants to be a part. which is really scary to me. i don't want to be governed by the u.n. is there any one law that you can think of proposed by democrats that would have prevented newtown? >> actually, i don't. i don't have the statistics for that, sean because obviously we didn't have a universal background check system. so i couldn't say what would have happened. >> the answer is no. >> wait, wait, but you have to understand, what you guys always said. >> those are laws. >> you guys on the right always say my buddies there on the right, the two of you, is that give the states more power, and in the state of connecticut, 2-1, 66 to 30% of pe

joining me are senators richard blumenthal and chris murphy. think we should read out the names of the senators who signed up for the filibuster. mitch mcconnell, rand paul, cruz, rubio, inhofe, moran, burr, johnson, enzi, crapo and senator roberts. shame on all of you. i find it completely outrageous that over something as important as this, these characters would sign up to basically refuse to allow a vote. what is your reaction as to this letter? >> my reaction is the american people are going to be very aghast and deeply angry if a handful, small group of united states senators block a vote. the president has said that the newtown victims as well as the victims of aurora and of virginia tech and columbine deserve a vote. and so do the american people. and i'm confident that if there is a vote, we will be on the right side of history. obviously the ban on illegal trafficking, strengthening school safety as well as a national criminal background check are essential, and senator murphy and i are going to be championing a ban on high capacity m

. >> even more than that, senator blumenthal was here yesterday and he indicated that he's slowly helping of those newtown families into the offices of some of these senators and i wonder if that would help a bit. >> i hate to pressure the families because they've already had more than they can deal with. but there's a lot of analogy that happened with the 9/11 families that became mobilized and moved legislation forward. i think the families here, unfortunately, a political reality of it, is going to be whether the republicans move or not. >> joe, you don't agree with that? >> i believe the families can have an impact but the devil is in the details of every item and what it does to the law-abiding gun owners who don't wish any harm. that's the challenge. >> you're right the devil is in the details but how can the nra and republicans oppose something that they've supported in the past? they've supported criminal background checks, strengthening them in the past. they oppose the same thing now. it doesn't make logical sense. so what's the devil in the detail? >> well, you've raised a good

senator richard blumenthal, democrat, connecticut, is using sandy hook to raise money in his e-mails. they're trying to turn the newtown parents into a dozen cindy sheehans in a way. and it's what the democrats do, folks. they always try to hide their agendas behind women and children and most of all, victims. and so the newtown parents are human shields, in a sense. the newtown parents are out there to protect the democrats from any criticism and to shut it down. >> i like the way he does this. didn't you notice as a woman, he's assuming that men are putting you people up? >> oh, i know. >> you don't look put up to me. >> and i mean, certainly with these namefamilies, this is wha they want to do. they talk about wanting to be in this conversation to carry on the legacies of their dead 6 and 7-year-olds who they'll never see again. >> nobody put cindy sheehan up to anything. >> people came around to feeling the exact same thing, cindy sheehan about that war. it looks like these families have a similar affect. and they are a clarifying, i think, presence and voice and remind us why we