blumenthal: thank you. my thanks to you for your leadershipn having this hearing and to our witnesses for being here. one of the central challenges of our times is becoming the potential threats posed by the internet. such as data brokers, terrorist russia's continued interference in our election a.d these challenges and threats are combined with the enormous promise and potential moons of booms of the internet. we have seen, for example with facebook, the idealistic technology company driven by altruistic purpose to connect people with people they love, voices that need to be heard, communities that need to be held and the other facebook is an internet behemoth that is one of the most powerful social and political tools in history , building pervasive data. this facebook is largely hidden to the public. one of our challenges is to reveal it only and the weight -- in a way that it is using private, confidential information and monetizing it for its own self purposes. the discussion has been trump trumped to

chairman and senator blumenthal. and it was that senator thune, e chairman and i agreed to the subpoena because it's necessary. this is for congress to exercise its authority to compel a witness because of the gravity of this situation. we're always going to have sick people who will try to harm our children. but we can exercise our authority in trying to hold sports organizations ccountable so that they create environments with appropriate checks and safety protocols that can prevent predators from being successful. nd we can hold individuals accountable who do not prioritize the safety and well-being of our young athletes. i'm reminded of some of the bad things that we heard that happened at the car olie -- car ie -- core olie -- karolli ranch where much of larry nassar's abuse took place. the reports indicate that that environment was anything but safe. terrible, physical, emotional and sexual abuse took place there. and if i'm able to return and may not be by the end of the hearing, but i want to put on mrs. cord

mayor blumenthal. >> mr. sultani, the record before surveying in the previous hearing seems to leave no doubt that facebook has violated its consent decree. would you agree? >> it is my opinion that they have. >> the only question now is what should be done about it under the terms of that consent decree, facebook was supposed to establish a privacy program to address privacy risk and obtain audits to ensure that the privacy of consumer information is protected. virtually none of those past, -- past -- passed, and mark zuckerberg said, how many other cambridge analytica's are out there. we don't know. to my knowledge, they still don't know. the audit, the tracking, the oversight that facebook was supposed to be doing has simply gone unperformed. are there other data collection or sharing practices that you believe warrant investigation by the ftc as well? >> i would have to think of that quite a bit senator, but i am happy to respond to that by a written response. >> i would appreciate you doing so, because i

thank you very much. [ applause ] >>> it's an honor to have senator richard blumenthal closing out today's conference. he's serving his second term as a united states senator from the state of connecticut. prior to this position he served an unprecedented five terms as connecticut's attorney general fighting people against large and powerful special interests. his aggressive law enforcement for consumer protection, environmental stewardship, rights and personal privacy has helped shape the roles of state attorneys general nationwide and resulted in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars for connecticut taxpayers and consumers each year. as attorney general, he was a key player in the national fight against big tobacco. helped lead a coalition of all 50 states that culminated in historic agreements with social networking sites to better protection children from internet predators, advocated for reforms in the health insurance industry to assure critical healthcare coverage and low pharmaceutical drug prize and worked relentlessly to eradicate corruption in state government and make

senator blumenthal: more than distressing. think as a father. are you not shaken by the profoundly destructive effect on these children's lives? mr. cissna: i am just as shaken by the practice that got them in the first base there. dragging them to the continent through dangerous territory and hot between ports of entry, deserts, that is also -- senator blumenthal: you have no qualms about policy? no reservations? being,ther and a human you have no question, no doubts, the --nts mr. cissna: by no qualms? mr. cissna: i believe we have to stop it at the port of entry and the way to do that is to process the people who violate the law. a law that congress passed. that is what we need to do. senator blumenthal: you agree ,ith general kelly when he says the big name of the game is deterrence, family separation could be and would be a tough deterrent, essentially, the goal is to deter these families from seeking asylum? no.cissna: i believe it should be constant for illegal activity of border in the appropriate constant and 1320is best vision of five,

chairman. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. we'll now hear from our witnesses, and we will bin with mr. john batel. >> good afternoon. in the past five years, facebook has come to dominate the public square, the metaphorical space where our society comes together to communicate with itself to debate matters of public interest and to privately converse. as a publisher myself, i became increasingly concerned that facebook's appropriation of public discourse would imperil the viability of independent publishers and cause the kinds of externalities which we we now struggle. facebook deployed two strategies to grow service in the early days. the first is the news feed, which mixed personal news from friends with public stories from independent publishers. the second strategy was the facebook platform, which encouraged developers to create products and services inside facebook's walled garden. the potent mix of news feed platform and a subset of bad actors, leveraging both, combined to deliver us the cambridge analytica scandal. but

chairman and senator blumenthal. several of us agreed to the subpoena because it is necessary this is for congress to exercise its authority to compel a witness. because of the gravity of the situation, we are always going to have sick people who will try to harm our children. but, we can exercise our authority and trying to hold sports organizations accountable so that they c e appropriate ccd safety protocols that can prevent predators from being successful. we can hold individuals accountable to do not prioritize the safety and well-being of our young athletes. i am reminded of some of the bad things that we heard that happened at the caroli branch. where our gymnast were trained and many of the abuse to place. reports indicate that environment was anything but safe. terrible, physical emotional, and sexual abuse to place there. mr. chairman, if i am able to return, i may not be able to return at the end of the hearing, but i want to put on the record a question to mrs. fame, that because of the abuse that took pl

we appreciate senator hatch and senator blumenthal, our former colleague senator blumenthal coming to join us later. so we only have a few moments left for questions. and i can tell you just fair warning this crowd has not been hesitant. >> okay. >> now, i'll say this, just for the interests of time rather than passing a microphone, i think if you'll just holler, that's an arkansas term, you can use it any time you want, if you'll holler the question, i'll do the best i can to repeat it. not necessarily for the general, but for the digital purposes. >> naus[ inaudible ]. >> the question was regarding missouri. your colleague holy in the state of missouri early this year, end of last year, announced he was opening an investigation. and his talking points regarding google was ocean hally taken straight from the letter that you and general reyes sent to the ftc. are the ags communicating about that? and i know you can't reveal anything taking place under agreement of confidentiality between states, but to the extent there are public sentiments you can share, what are your thoughts? >> ye

senator bloom shawl. >> thank -- senator blumenthal. >> thank you. i just want to emphasize the point you made that we're going to pursue action. apologies are not enough. as heartfelt as they may be. and this remark is not directed at our two witnesses. it's directed at the world. apologies are not enough. we have to honor those survivors with real action. and my hope is that we will continue the very bipartisan work that we have begun here. i know we will. and i want to thank the chairman for this hearing. >> i think the senator from connecticut, the senator from connecticut. [ laughing ] >> i have no script. i should know your home state, senator. i thank the senator from connecticut for his cooperation or ability to work together as a committee. and this does conclude the hearing. and i thank our witnesses for appearing today. and i appreciate the cooperation of all the committee members in today's hearing. the hearing is now adjourned. [ inaudible conversations ] [ inaudible conversations ] [ inaudible conversations ] [ inaudible conversations ]

we will go with senator blumenthal. sen. blumenthal: we should all be grateful for the men and women who work for you. wall what wasn my given to me from the department of justice when i was the united states attorney. i want to thank you for your response, to make the fbi even repetitionavoid any of a small number of attorneys casting a cloud on the integrity of the fbi. thank you for your response so far. if i were president trump, and i told up this document to you, and i said, give it here, right , this shows no collusion, no obstruction of justice, what would you say? report touches on the russian investigation in connection with the weiner matter. that is what was concerning. sen. blumenthal: i want to thank you for the work on this report. i respect you avoiding my question. norms,you're playing by but you are dealing with the president of the united states, that has no respect for those norms and rules, and he is distorting this report and weaponize and it to discredit the special counsel, and to really undermine the

blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i ask at the outset, madam president, that by unanimous consent my defense fellow, united states marine corps officer alexander montiby, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the debate on the defense authorization act. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. madam president, i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment in order to call up amendment number 2304. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. inhofe: madam president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. blumenthal: madam president, this amendment very simply directs the postmaster general to issue a forever stamp to honor gold star families who have lost a family member in combat. it is about as simple and straightforward as an amendment to this immensely complex and costly measure could be. we are now in the second decade of these wars in iraq and afghanistan at humongous cost to our nation in treasure, some $5 trillion, and

separately senator dermot and blumenthal and i introduced the stop secret foreign interference in election fact. among other things that bill would require senior executive officers to certify that they have done their due diligence to ensure that no foreign money has been accepted for their put collectivity and that they have not spent any foreign money on campaign related disbursements. that bill has been referred to the finance committee. i read it today is another example of the type of legislation congress should consider to defend against the clearly predicted threat of foreign interference in our election. our hearing will also examine whether crypto currency can be used to launder foreign money into the u.s. election. the growth of virtual currency raises a host of challenges for congress and regulators. i'm glad our subcommittee is beginning to examine it and gain a better understanding of how this emerging technology works but i'm looking forward to learning how anonymous various virtual currency are and about the risk and the anonymity of those currencies for hidden influence in

joining us to discuss all of that and more, richard blumenthal of connecticut.is on the judiciary committee. thank you, senator, for being with us. we appreciate you being here. this leak investigation is very interesting. this is a staffer who worked on the senate intelligence committee and allegedly passed on information actually having to do with the investigation of carter page here. at first blush, what's your reaction to this? >> let me just say, first of all, that my sympathies go to the family of anthony bourdain and the cnn family. and thank you for talking so openly and honestly about the scourge of suicide which affects 20 veterans every day in this great country. still 20 veterans every day take their own lives. and i just want to express my thanks. >> thank you for that. we are all struggle to go get through it and make sense of it this morning. so thank you. >> these charges against james wolf, staffer on the senate intelligence community for 30 years, are extremely serious and troubling. they involve leaks of classified information, potentially in

i'm joined by senator richard blumenthal of ticut.tyou mak of this latestfying from the special counsel? >> what i make of this filing is by soms digging deepeructive act into quick sand not only for himself but also for the becauspaulanafort has intimate knowledge about the president's involvement in potential collusion. it gives the lie literally to trump's claims about a witch hunt and hoax because here is paul manafort committing a serious profoundly severe federany witness mpering ich is going to make judge very, very angry and gives the special counsel even more leverage over him. >> there seems to be a parallel a little bit between the behavior we're watching from paul manafort d what we're learning more and plor about the white house. are you worried people in the white house engaging in sort of parallel activities as the special counsel's investigation draws cl. >> what's common is an utter contempt for the law. a sense the normal rules don't apply. remember also that before even all of the other violations of the bail terms

. >> senator blumenthal. senator blumenthal: i can't let the afternoon passed without saying how grateful we should all be for the men and women who work for you, who put their lives on the line, whose integrity and dedication to our byion are in no way affected anything in this report. i still have on my wall my seal from the department of justice decades ago when i was united states attorney. i know the men and women of the fbi work hard to uphold those ideals. i want to thank you for your response. avoide the fbi better and repetition of a small number of agents and attorneys casting a cloud on the integrity of the fbi. thank you for your response so far. senator. thank you, senator blumenthal: if i were president trump, and i held up this document to you and said report here now, this exonerates me, it shows no collusion, no obstruction of justice. what would you say? mr. horowitz: i would answer as i did before, the report covers the investigation, touches on the investigation in connection with the wien

>> reporter: we had clarification yesterday because senator blumenthal and a couple others were able to get on the compound. they were not able to get to where the tents are housing those unaccompanied minors. they were taken into a control room and shown cctv footage. we did learn they're between 200 and 270 young males between the age of 14 and 18. while that is helpful and clarifying, it does not answer the question as to where are the toddlers and where are the girls and where are they going to go and how are they going to be treated? now, add to that we've seen a steady stream of protesters and activists coming to this site, not just lawmakers. today we saw medical professionals, around 50 to 100 of them from across the state converging here to voice their concern. i was able to speak to one of those doctors and we spoke about, what are the medical conditions likely these kids are facing. here's what he had to say. in the short term we often see anxiety, unable to eat, sadness. children will break out and cry, often as a result of post traumatic disorder, and then chonk stress,

i'll ask connecticut senator richard blumenthal about that when he joins me live. >>> but first,sa pictureworth a thousand words. and as with everything in the trump administration, that may be an understatement. of course, there is this photo from the g7 tweeted out by a spokesman for angela merkel showing the german chancellor with her hands planted staring down at her american counterpart. there is also this one showing a white imprint on president trump's right hand following yet another hard handshake with french president emmanuel macron. and then there is this one of imf managing director and chairman christine lagarde with a withering look as the president shows up late for a breakfast focused on gender equality. >>> of course, they will all be overshadowed in about 24 hours by the image of a sitting american president meeting with the leader of north korea for the first time ever. the question now is what, if anything, will that meeting amount to beyond just that photo op? >>> with that i want to women come in my panel. joining me on set from political acts uotsuri, jonathan swan.

but senator blumenthal is going to talk about that. and i think it's interesting you made your point that you believe people deserve due process. >> it's a constitutional right to protect american citizens, and you've got to protect american citizens by allowing everyone due process. that's just the way it works. >> all right. thank you very much, anthony. as always. next, the breaking news. the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. he has missed formally now a gop deadline to turn over documents about the russia investigation. so the big question tonight, is he going to be held in contempt? >>> and trump's full-on assault continues today against bob mueller. >> witch hunt. witch hunt. witch hunt. witch hunt. phony witch hunt. >> tonight, new evidence that that specific attack is working. and chaos inside the white house over trade tonight. accusations of leaks. top aides are out, publicly contradicting each other. all why the markets sell off. wemost familiar companies,'s but we make more than our name suggests. we're an organic tea

senator blumenthal? just second the sentiment expressed by the chairman that what has been lacking in many of these areas is enforcement. you have said you do not need new tools. i would submit enforcement has been abysmal. this is a bipartisan failure. it is not meant to be critical of you as officials but the chairman is right that enforcement has been lacking. you,e begin by asking there is no doubt in your mind, is there, that russia interfered or sought to interfere with the 2016 elections? mr. hickey: no sir. mr. masterson: no, sir. in fact, russia attacked the united states of america. a committed an act of war. i have made this statement. will continue, will it not, unless the united states makes russia pay a price? mr. hickey: it warrants a strong response. ways to --find it is not only: a matter of protecting our systems but also deterring that attack byroactively making russia pay a price, correct? mr. hickey: you have to raise the costs, correct. the defensehal: lawyers, in a recent memo, tha

. >> senator blumenthal. senator blumenthal bang -- sen. blumenthal: a number of you, i was a law clerk. a number of you -- a number of years ago to two very distinguished judges, john newman who is now on the second circuit court of appeals, and to justice blackmun of the united states supreme court. i think this notion of been sont would have abort to justice blackmun and is so to judge newman and all the judges who i have known that i think this confronting it is welcomed. i think your work is highly significant. i want to thank you for it. is duff, my understanding that the retirement of a judge disciplinary the incess that could result action against him. is that correct? >> it is in this sense. jurisdiction,ave if you will, over the judge when the judge has resigned. it doesn't necessarily end the inquiry. for example, we have had a resignation in the throes of the investigation. your judge newman is on our conduct and disability committee now. and very active and good member of that. we have had a situation even when the judges left

joining me is senator richard blumenthal. senator, i know you oppose the supreme court ruling.s was a legal and political victory for the president. >> it was a victor for the president and not for america. i say this with sadness, who argued cases before the supreme court, i have great reverence and respect. but today it is abandoned its constitutional responsibility to look at that animus, that improper motivation that was so obvious in those statements that you just very dramatically played. and the abandonment of that responsibility may seem like a victory for donald trump but is really a grave injustice and defeat for america. >> the policy itself is different from what the president initially intended and those supreme court justices who supported it, believe it is correct, the wide power of the presidency to keep this country safe. those who oppose it, seem to focus on the president's prior remarks as a civilian, as a candidate. >> and very important, he has never disavowed those past statements. never said that they were wrong or that he wanted to abandon them. and numb

of a private data scandal has reemerged with yet more controversy investigative journalist mark blumenthal has published documents he ses were leaked from cambridge analytic is parent company the allegedly revealed that it had been collecting data for a private military contractors in yemen here's artie's double quarter remember the cambridge analytical scandal millions of people's personal information being mined for financial gain and influence cambridge and a little it's actually a data analytics company dedicated to one thing figuring out how to manipulate you at all costs this shadowy consulting firm right surreptitiously gained access to personal data mined from nearly eighty seven million facebook users weaponized personal data you have to look at cambridge analytics in terms of the loss of trust cambridge analytic scandal this was a huge breach of trust.

on the stone you just go as most men yeah i chose to go on this one for blumenthal with those responses which for what is the community leader i just knew right from the. national what is going to start happening right the church never opened the streets and i mean there was no subway to the world. when it's in your words and your thoughts on the church or is this sort of news or know someone is this supergrass this you on this is what you need to put in the. study show them so they will. come on the come on the puncture just. to come on this is but not to seem to come on the computer you. thought it would be. easy just to. piss and then you might. move up i believe that we had a number of years when i was seen. guilty thank you so much for joining us we finally here in this quite incredible studio overlooking spiral hill in the luzhniki stadium i'll be watching your stuff every night while russian is very good. did you learn and i'm trying i'm trying very slowly but you know your presentations and all your passion your energy has been fantastic let's start the beginning fantastic start

of a private data scandal has reemerged with yet more controversy investigative journalist mark blumenthal has published documents he sees were leaked from cambridge a little her company they allegedly reveal about it had been collecting data for a private military contractors in yemen here's artie's quarter. remember the cambridge analytical scandal millions of people's personal information being mined for financial gain and influence cambridge and a little it's actually a data analytics company dedicated to one thing figuring out how to manipulate you at all costs this shadowy consulting firm right surreptitiously gained access to personal data mined from nearly eighty seven million facebook users weaponized personal data you have to look at cambridge analytics for the loss of trust cambridge analytic scandal this was a huge breach of trust well according to newly leaked documents from kay. bridge analytical parent company as c.l. it wasn't just for meddling in political campaigns in two thousand and nine s.c.l. carried out a surveillance operation in yemen called project titanium it inv

my colleagues who have been so involved in this issue over the years, senator murray, senator blumenthal, i, as the ranking democrat on the finance committee, has done everybody i possibly could because our committee has jurisdiction over women's health with a variety of programs that are crucial for women. it's really in that context that i want to reflect on what has really happened since the supreme court handed down that crucial victory, that important win for women's health care as embodied in whole women's health versus -- hellerstead. every time the president went to the white house, they have put themselves between the -- the president has sought to place restrictions on health clinics that women rely on every single day for lifesaving services like cancer screenings, physicals, prenatal care and more. he has again and again sought to place restrictions on and defund health clinics like planned parenthood that women in america rely on every single day for lifesaving services, like cancer screening, physicals, prenatal care and more. i hope my colleagues will look at the words i u

the private data scandal has reemerged with yet more controversy investigative journalist mark blumenthal has published documents he ses were leaked from cambridge analytic as parent company the allegedly revealed been collecting data for private military contractors in yemen here's artie's double quarter. remember the cambridge analytical scandal millions of people's personal information being mined for financial gain and influence cambridge and a little it's actually a data analytics company dedicated to one thing figuring out how to manipulate you at all costs this shadowy consulting firm right surreptitiously gained access to personal data mined from nearly eighty seven million facebook users weaponized personal data you have to look at cambridge analytics in terms of the loss of trust cambridge analytic scandal this was a huge breach of trust well according to newly leaked documents from cambridge analytical parent company as c.e.o. it wasn't just for meddling in political campaigns in two thousand and nine s.c.l. carried out a surveillance operation in yemen called project titanium

senator richard blumenthal, thank you very much. mimi rocah, thank you as well.ed by two congressmen from different sides of the aisle who are calling for immigration reform after visiting the border over the weekend. "morning joe" will be right back. oh, and there's the closing bell. (sighs) i hate missing out missing out after hours. not anymore, td ameritrade lets you trade select securities 24 hours a day, five days a week. that's amazing. it's a pretty big deal. so i can trade all night long? ♪ ♪ all night long... is that lionel richie? let's reopen the market. mr. richie, would you ring the 24/5 bell? sure can, jim. ♪ trade 24/5, with td ameritrade. ♪ welcome to holiday inn! thank you! ♪ ♪ wait, i have something for you! every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. save up to 15% when you book early at hollidayinn.com save up to 15% when you book early if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just fo

of a private data scandal is embroiled in yet more controversy investigative journalist michael blumenthal has published documents which he says were leaked from camp general because parent company they allegedly reveal that it had been collecting data for private military contractors in yemen here's artie's on the quarter. remember the cambridge analytical scandal millions of people's personal information being mined for financial gain and influence cambridge and a little it's actually a data analytics company dedicated to one thing figuring out how to manipulate you at all costs this shadowy consulting firm right surreptitiously gained access to personal data mined from nearly eighty seven million facebook users weaponized personal data you have to look at cambridge analytics in terms of the loss of trust cambridge analytic scandal this was a huge breach of trust well according to newly leaked documents from cambridge analytical parent company s.c.l. it wasn't just for meddling in political campaigns in two thousand and nine s.c.l. carried out a surveillance operation in yemen called pro

blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm honored to follow my colleague from connecticut on the topic that has bedeviled and baffled us together almost since the time we became united states senators, and it is a topic that is heartrending and gut-wrenching for both of us. i thank him for his leadership and partnership on this effort. i'm going to begin by asking unanimous consent that my law clerk, charlotte schwartz, be granted floor privileges for the length of my remarks here in today's session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. we are here on the two-year anniversary of the tragic orlando nightclub attack on june 12, 2016. a man armed with an an assault rival and a pistol with hatred in his heart stormed the pulse nightclub and murdered 49 people. this man turned a safe haven, a place of joy and celebration, into an unimaginable nightmare. and on that day and on so many other days -- in fact, virtually every day -- all of us who lived through firsthand the sandy hook

thanks for that. >>> joining us now, senator rich blumenthal. thanks for coming in. you tweeted this this morning on the possibility of the president pardoning himself. why do you believe the president is asserting his absolute right to pardon himself? >> i take it that the president feels that he may be in need of a pardon, that he likely has done something wrong. all of these statements are typical of somebody who has something to hide or has done something wrong. legally, there's absolutely no question, wolf, that the president of the united states cannot pardon himself. there was a reference earlier to the department of justice opinion, which says, and i have it with me, that the question should be answered in the negative. the question being, can the president pardon himself. it is actually filled with legal reasoning. unlike the presidt's memo, which is really a nakedly blatantly politicploy, a legal document. >> the special counsel's investigation, special counsel robert mueller, he was appointed on may 17, 2017 by rod rosenstein. the president has had more th

it is such a pleasure for me to be here and a particular pleasure to be here alongside senator blumenthal, who i understand is coming or has been here. as you might imagine, he and i do not line up on every issue that we face in the senate, but i admire his commitment to be free, fair, and competitive -- for competitive markets, salute his commitments to that in the senate. before we go further in discussing the microsoft case, let me take you back 20 years ago to 1998, to the dawn of the digital age and the eve of the dotcom bubble. after all, context is key in explaining my decision to hold microsoft to account. in the late 1990s, silicon valley could do no wrong. it seemed at the time, at least, that all tech companies walked on water. they would make our lives infinitely better. they ushered us into a future we could only dream of. at least, that was the country's general feeling towards silicon valley at the time. and it was this same feeling that fueled the excessive speculation that led to the internet bubble just a couple of years later. in 1998, if tech reigned supreme, then micr

the first step to help address this problem i was pleased to work with senator blumenthal and senator durbin. the bill targets the cadre of professionals who help establish the shell companies. it would make it a felony for an owner, officer, or a corporation agent of a corporation company or business entity to establish or use a corporation company or business entity to conceal illegal political activity by foreign national. separately we introduced the stop secret foreign interference in elections act. that would require senior executive and financial officers spending money in elections to certify that they've done their due diligence to ensure that no foreign money has been accepted for their political activity and that they've not spent any form money on campaign related dispersant. that is been referred to the finance committee and i raised it as an example of legislation that congress should consider. our hearing today will examine whether cryptocurrency can be used to launder for money. obviously the growthof cryptocurrency poses challenges for congress and regulators. i'm gla

senator blumenthal said there is an earth shattering event that will reshape consequences of the supreme court for the rest of our lifelifetimes. and some top democrats are saying that the nomination should be held over until after the midterm elections based on the similar standard that senator mcconnell espoused during the 2016 presidential race by holding open the vacant supreme court seat. dick durbin the number two democrat issuing a statement saying that mcconnell set a new standard by giving the american people their say in an upcoming election before court vacancies are filled, so they should wait until january to consider a nomination. but already republicans are rejecting that notion. they are saying it is much tiftd, thtift different, this a midterm election, not a presidential election. that is not a similar standard. and mitch mcconnell made it clear that they will vote this fall band th fall. and they can do it on their own after mcconnell changed filibuster rules allowing gorsuch to be confirmed by a party line vote. and that is the same standard here as well. 51 senators,

it's not blumenthal peddling the hol -- hogwash. it's a bunch of them. >> jessica: a lot goes to the phil buster and -- filibuster and president obama supporting that. a third of the issue is up. that's where the strong argument is. we don't know what will happen. i believe democrats will take the house back, i don't think the senate. there is an argument to make we are 133 days away from potentially a sea change in the senate that will put democrats on top, is it worthwhile to consider waiting those few months when ted cruz, richard burrr and john mccain talked about leaving a seat open for a year. >> lisa: you mentioned there is no evidence of a sea change in the senate. >> jessica: i said it's possible. i personally don't think that the democrats take the senate back. the races are tight. but it is possible and a few months away considering what happened to merrick garland, it's a conversation to have. >> dagen: i want to add one thing. if the democrats make court ping about abortion and overturning gay marriage, which chief just

joining me now is richard blumenthal. good to have you with us today. there is not a lot the democrats can do beyond trying to delay. what else is there in terms of planning that you could do to stop this? >> the american people really deserve a voice in this decision and so the confirmation vote should take place after the election, after the new congress is seated. a decision of this historic magnitude, probably the most important supreme court vacancy in a generation requires deliberate consideration that is simply not possible in the few months before the election. the republicans should follow their own rule, the mcconnell rule that no vote on a confirmation should take place this close to the election, but here's a more fundamental fact. i was a supreme court law clerk. i worked for justice harry blackman on the court after -- right after he wrote the roe v wade opinion. i've never seen a time when the court is so polarized and politicized and i've never seen a time when it is more important that it act as a bull work and check against potential a

chairman. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. i need to apologize to senator hassan. she should have been recognized before senator blumenthal -- >> you can blame it on me, mr. chairman. >> okay. and so senator hassan is now recognized. >> thank you, chairman wicker, and ranking member schatz. i'm having an afternoon where i'd like to have roller skates. so sitting still for a couple minutes is a good thing. to all of the panelists, thanks so much for being here. it's excellent to hear from all of you about what the future holds for the mobile economy. from jobs to new efficiencies to medical uses, our mobile capabilities really do hold great promise. and that's why i work with senator gardner and we're working with others. we introduced the air waves act, legislation to creates a pipeline for the valuable, limited resource the mobile economy depends on, spectrum. dr. oh, you mentioned it before i left to go to my other hearing. the air waves act will promote innovation and incentivize ongoing investment in this space. it will also help ensure that the united states i