much, senator cornyn, for being here. we appreciate it. i know it was hard to get here for both of you. you were trapped in various locations, but we e appreciate you both p being here. i want to thank my staff, my cabinet. we have quite a few of our cabinet here, ben carson, obviously, from hud and tom price and linda mcmahon, small business, which is now big business because when you add them all up you'll be helping a lot of the people in texas and doing a fantastic job. thank you very much. we have had a tremendous group of folks, our acting director, thank you very much, for the job you've done. and a minute who's really become very famous on television in the last couple days, mr. long, we appreciate it very much. you have been just outstanding. i can tell you my folks are telling me how great your representatives have been in working together. it's real team. and we want to d it better than ever before. we want to be looked at in five years and ten years from now as this is the way to d it. this was of epic proport

david: isolated senator john cornyn and ted cruz. -- i see senator john cornyn and ted cruz.awmakers that are not in washington right now are monitoring from afar. what happens when they get back to town? when are they going to discuss the relief package in earnest? >> we have only heard words of thoughts and prayers. condolences. strong words of support for the president and the people of texas. when they get back into town they are going to have to deal with putting pen to paper and figuring out how much money to provide. how to pay for the support for the people of texas. we have heard lawmakers on the conservative side basically say that we can't just write a check and not pay for great we have to look for other places in the budget to make cuts or offset the funds that we expect to dole out. that's also the debate going to be going forward on the national flood insurance program. that is something that expires at the end of september at that's another area where conservatives are not necessarily too happy with the program because it is in the red and the storm and housto

i get it, cornyn.race trump's plan. >> kat: do you like the way president trump talks about immigration? >> trace: i do. i think they are going to get in serious trouble when they start messing with sanctuary cities. those people are going to raise hell but it needs to be done and i don't understand the legal hold up. that whole thing is so ridiculous to me, i can't even imagine why we are still trying to have intelligent conversations about it. it's so ludicrous, i don't get it. >> eboni: i agree. if we don't get to cherry pick our laws. it >> trace: you follow the law or you don't. >> kat: i think most americans agree with that part. we'll talk about legal immigration, people have more nuanced view is but we talk about illegal immigration then people who commit crimes and go to jail and they are here illegally. you talk about getting people like that. >> eric: are we on board that we are against sanctuary cities. >> kat: the sanctuary cities issue is, how far they can go to force local government to

that's texas senator john cornyn on the left hand side of that shot in the blue shirt texas senator ted cruz in the green pullover awaiting the briefings alongside local and state officials. the president expected to make some remarks here along with texas governor abbott who is also going to speak to the assembled folks there. fema very much a presence there in corpus christi but earlier today texas governor abbott spoke with reporters at the corpus christi airport and explained why it is that the president is not going to houston today. here's what he said. >> he's coming here as opposed to houston right now because in houston, the most important thing is rescuing and saving lives. so he was very smart and strategic not to go to houston right now. right now we already in the cleanup phase in corpus christi. there are other parts close to here such as rockport, where it would be in the way if he went there right now. >> so the president will leave corpus christi later today where you can see in some of the live pictures we've been showing, blue skies and just a few clouds overhead in c

senator cornyn. be working with these characters over here. i think we will come through with the right solution. never beeny there's anything so expensive in our country's history. there has never been anything so historic in terms of damage and ferocity as what we witnessed with harvey. sounds like such an innocent name, right? it's not. i want to thank my people, ben carson is here from hud, and linda mcmahon from small business. , thiss not small business is big business. when you added up, you will be given many millions of dollars to help people. tom price, as you know, dr. tom price, you have your people in the field. you may say a couple words, then i will ask linda and ben then we get onto nim and brock. sec. price: thank you. as you said, this is historic. we had to give resources to individuals stranded, make sure evacuees have places to go. our responsibilities are medical and veterinary and mortuary. there will be all of the above. the challenge in the long-term is that most individuals who suffer from not being able to get the me

i want to provide some important details, and then passed the mic to senator cornyn and the national fema administrator. i want to explain a couple of details to the citizens that they need to know about. as governor, i have made a state disaster declaration for 54 counties across the state of texas. in order for a disaster declaration to be made a federal disaster declaration, it requires certain financial thresholds to be met. those financial thresholds have been met in 18 counties. there are 18 counties in the state of texas, that made it a federal declaration that the president has granted. with that presidential grants, it triggers the involvement of fema. because there are a lot of people in your viewing area who may not know if they are on the federal disaster declaration list, i want to read these counties out for you. be county, goliad, cleburne, nueces county, referring accounting, aransas aransas county, brazoria county calhoun county chambers county, fort bend county harris county jackson county, liberty county, victoria county, in warren county. those of the counties tha

i want to provide some important details and then pass the mike to senator cornyn and then to the national fema administer. but i want to explain a couple of details that citizens need to know about. as governor i have made a state disaster declaration for 54 contracts across the state of texas. in order for a disaster declaration to become a federal disaster declaration, it requires certain financial thresholds to be met. those financial thresholds have been met in 18 counties. there are 18 counties in the state of texas i made a federal disaster declaration for that the president has granted. with that presidential grant triggers the involvement of fema. because there are a lot of people in your viewing area who may not know if they are on the federal disaster declaration list, i want to read these counties out for you. becounty, goal yad, cleeburg, notice aces, san pa trisho, refero, aransas, bra zbloea, calhoun, chambers, fort bend, galveston, harris, jackson, liberty, mad agore da, victoria and what are ton. those are the counties that currently qualify for a federal disaster declarat

a group meeting with some of the local leaders including senator cornyn and the texas governor as wellted out some of the people president brought with him including linda mcmahon in blue. kelly is there as well. a good show of faith from the federal government. it's money that is needed. what will the president do for the state of texas? >> there's two points that i would make. yesterday the president saying in a press conference at the tote house he was committed working with other republicans congress for the impacted areas. this is where it gets interesting. traditionally this has been somewhat of a policy disagreement amongst republican. this is where it gets interesting. on this particular front. you remember hurricane sandy impacting new jersey a few years ago and some republicans feel there have to be other budget cuts accompanied for disaster release -- release funding. others feel the government should be able to provide for those in need during a situation like this. the second point that i would make is the issue of flood theyance is something that have been working to aggr

from texas senator john cornyn, appreciate phone call from potus and a vp. , state andederal local cooperation. we will re-air this briefing in full for you later this afternoon here on c-span and have further updates as they are available. this weekend and look tv tonight at 8:30 p.m. best-selling author richard dawkins on science and the soul, on the scientific way of thinking. certainly can help you think clearly about what to do about what is right and wrong . you can identify logical inconsistencies in your position. -- recalls the life of robert smalls a former slave who became the first african-american captain of an army ship and when on to serve five terms in congress. ideawas fascinated by the that i never heard of him. -- and writing for the new york times war blogs i read stories about the civil war. he was not a well-known figure. former wallrwards street journal writer and editor , he is interviewed . thehe journal supported federal exchange act, again with the idea that this would stabilize money. at that point local banks that issue money against gold. currency, a national the

senators ted cruz and john cornyn of texas being blasted after requesting federal help for harvey despiterelief package for victims of super storm sandy back when it hit new york and new jersey. congressman peter king tweeted out directly at cruz and texas cohorts, voted versus new york and new jersey aid after sandy but i'll vote four harvey aid. senator cruz's said, quote, unreal, two-thirds of sandy bill wasn't emergency spending. it was chocked full of pork. senator cornyn's communications director says he supported sandy relief, just not the package that contained law, again, because it contained spending unrelated to the storm. >>> a lot of people saw this picture over the weekend, 15 senior citizens were successfully evacuated so good news there, from a nursing home in dickinson, texas. water up to their waist, not knowing when help would arrive. the galveston oem and coast guard were eventually able to rescue the residents thankfully by helicopter. >> if you have loved ones in these homes or senior homes and just being concerned about them, not being able to do anything to help th

anna cornyn joins us many seoul, south korea. >> reporter: he spent the day here meeting with the southesident and top officials reaffirming america's commitment to south korea and discussing hill mare options if there is a provocation. the general saying the u.s. will use its full range of military capabilities if there is a strike from north korea. he wouldn't be drawn into what the military options would be, nor would he comment on the rhetoric from donald trump that, of course, has been inflammatory language that they say exasperate tensions here. general dunn saying it is not his job to assess the rhetoric from the president, but give options, military options. i attended the press conference and asked if they were thinking of suspending the joint military exercises which are due to take place a week from today. he said that was not an option, they are going ahead and that now they are more important than ever, john. >> anna cornyn for us in seoul. thank you very, very much. the violence in charlottesville to remove a confederate statue. now a governor thinks monuments in his city

pushing e bill we're for, i talked to john cornyn, and other members of congress, bill that ing for a fully funds only our damages harvey, that's it, nothing else. funding no port, just what we've had destruction here, nothing else. so, i look forward to going back d.c., and get thanksgiving going. also, we have to do something to make sure our budget is passed the september 30 deadline. look forward to working on that, as well. host: in the meantime, the expected to come to texas today. what do you want to hear, what constituents want to hear? guest: they are thrilled president trump will show up in of the woods to see the destruction with his own eyes. locals, i me from caught up with every mayor in my district on monday before with fema, they were thrilled with the administration response to hurricane harvey. as you know, our governor, greg for -- before sandy made land. as the p approved that eye was hitting texas. that made a huge difference in a my district. they were running out of fuel as the storm was hitting the region. fema, got the gas they needed and kept emergency vehicl

senator john cornyn among the republicans coming to mcconnell's defense tweeting this.sence legislative agenda requires a team effort paid no one is more qualified than mitch mcconnell. he will lead this in an effort to chief of staff senator ted christian parenti and the communicator -- happy friday. >> thank you. >> i want to start with you. he is among many other senators who have backed mcconnell yet mcconnell highly praised at what he does he fails to get the votes to repeal obamacare. why couldn't he put pressure on mccain who voted no and how does he not know he wasn't going to get the votes? >> while lara and i think the president is channeling the frustration and anger of the american people that sent him into office. for seven years republicans have been campaigning to fully repeal obama carried throughout the entirety of this new administration in this new congress there has literally been not one single vote on full repeal of obamacare the full repeal of obamacare pagli that is a series of votes for partial repeal and what we saw was the combination two week

he will be joined by texas senator john cornyn. that is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. eastern and we will have it live here on c-span. we hear remarks now from the governor of louisiana and other government officials on the storm effects in that state. this wrapped up a short time ago. >> you can tell this is more serious today. more folks. good afternoon and thank you for being here to cover this press conference. i will speak and then will dorn from fema will speak. then we have the commander of the eight district of the united states coast guard. he will speak today and introduce himself to the folks of louisiana. we appreciate his presence. president trump approved a request i made yesterday for a federal emergency declaration in louisiana. that covers five parishes. beauregard, calcasieu, cameron, jefferson davis, and vermillion parishes. i spoke with the administrator of fema this morning and he confirmed that the president did sign the declaration upon request and if we need to and the situation warrants, we can add additional hearses to the declaration moving f

host: that was john cornyn yesterday.e was one of those who didn't support the final bill for superstorm sandy funding. a lot of focus on those votes. here's a story from the burlington times out of new jersey. we will be talking about it more in the coming days as that package comes together. what is expected to be in their. -- to be in there. we will talk about it as it develops. want to get your reaction to the devastation, the recovery efforts. more rain expected for the houston area. derek in houston. good morning. how are you doing? caller: i am doing great. wife and me had to flee houston. host: how was getting to dallas? did you have any help in that effort? caller: we are staying in a hotel. we didn't have no help at all. we are try to find out who is want to pay for this room because we have been paying for room since we have been down here for the days. today we've got to pay for the room and nobody is helping us. austin.y is in everybody's helping people from houston. the hotels, the restaurants, everybody's h

senator ted cruz and john cornyn traveling with the president for portions of his day. senator ted cruz himself is taking criticism. you remember from his own party, chris christie, the governor timing and saying, there is hypocrisy here over ted cruz asking for federal aid for hurricane victims when he opposed similar measures for hurricane sandy victims. again, it feels too soon, but that is currently happening. >> on the question of the president passing the hurricane test, i want to make two comments. contrary to what matt said, he did not meet with anyone who has been through tragedies. he has met with governing officials. >> sandra: i don't think we know that. >> there has been no video. i understand, but matt said something that he is playing a certain role. he is not playing it on this trip. that is my point. there will be future opportunities for the president to demonstrate this kind and empathetic capacity that matt is talking about. i think it will be particularly important for him to do it. houston is one of the most diverse cities in america. >> sandra: wh

a pre-recess border security push, by the senate's number two republican, john cornyn. sen. john cornyn/-r- texas: since 9/11, we've seen how important it is for us to know who is coming into our country and what their intentions are. and for too long, law enforcement and particularly our border patrol haven't had the tools and resources they need to get the job done. cornyn's measure comes the day after president trump backed a plan for a skills-based immigration system aimed at curbing legal immigration -- a plan facing criticism even from some republicans.sen. jeff flake/-r- arizona: the overall number cut -- i think this would cut it to about half of our legal immigration -- just isn't the right direction for the economy. while the issue resonates with the president's base -- immigration has been politically thorny.and hill republicans have already struggled with health care -- and have heavy lifts like tax reform and the debt limit on the horizon.they're also seemingly on shaky ground with the president -- who tweeted thursday morning:our relationship with russia is at

here's the response from texas republican senator john cornyn.umber two in the republican senator leadership. >> i don't think he has that much experience in the senate, as i recall. he's got a big job and ought to do that job and let us do our job. ha, you know all of the players. mick mulvaney, used to be a member of the house. he's viewed -- viewed skeptically by the senate anyway. >> a take, doesn't take it well when a former house member tells him how to do their job. struck me over the weekend saying the senate do votes until they do health care. the senate's not going to be driven by that. it's a totally bad strategy. they're trying to figure how to move forward but mick mulvaney is not the answer. >> and the big issue especially for people watches at home is the policy. will the president cut off subsidies to insurance companies hurting low-income people who get obamacare, and what about exchange problems? short-term fixes debating long-term things and part of it plays out here in the climate in washington and to the point senator cornyn

he will be joined by texas senator john cornyn. we will have that for you on c-span. president trump will be traveling to texas tomorrow to survey damage from tropical storm harvey and the ongoing flooding. the president will meet with state, local, and federal officials. book tv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they are reading this summer. >> i'm in the middle of a book by scott tureau. it is a suspense book that is too close to reality. it talks about the struggle of the human rights violations against the roma population. question, what does it take to get you interested in a book? especially with your busy schedule -- how do you find time? >> there are two types. historic figures which i always enjoy reading about. the other is suspense fiction that takes me as far away from the realities of washington as possible. it is an escape for me and an enjoyment. >> book tv wants to know what you are reading. send us your reading list the a twitter.-- via or posted to our facebook page. , vi tv on c-span2

you see senator john cornyn also sitting down in the room there just a few folks away from senator ted cruz. it appears that they are getting ready for the president's visit there. first a look at the houston area. large parts of the country's fourth biggest city are underwater after being drenched with more than three feet of water with more on the way. right now an ominous order from officials in columbia lake. just southwest of houston. get out now. that is, you can see that on-screen there. get out now, what they're telling people in columbia lakes. the levees there have breached and residents are being told to leave immediately. so if you live in that area, or if you know people in that area, columbia lakes, please, make sure that those folks get out now nthat is what you're told b government officials. don't forgetting a louisiana. the 12th anniversary of hurricane katrina. parts of that state dealing with devastating floods. more than 500 people, you see video there, had to be rescued from their homes in lake charles, louisiana. moving northeast through texas to the houston area

. >> senator cruz and senator cornyn, thank you very much for being here. we appreciate it. it's hard to get here for both of you. you were trapped in various location buzz we appreciate you both being here. i want to thank my staff, my cabinet, ben carson obviously from hud and tom price and linda mcmahon, small business, our acting director, thank you very much for the job you've done and a man hon has become very famous on television over the last couple of days, mr. long, we appreciate it very much. working with the governor and his entire team has been an honor for us. so governor, again, thank you very much. and we won't say congratulations. we don't want to do that. we don't want to congratulate -- we'll great each other when it's all finished. >> we won't say congratulations after that briefing .spresident went outside and spoke to supporters lined up outside a firehouse noting that it was a good sized crowd. >> we're going to get you back and operating immediately. thank you, everybody. what a crowd. what a turnout. >> what a turnout. tonight, "the washington post"

texas senator john cornyn will join him on the tour. the governor declared a state of disaster before harvey made land fall saturday night. >>> president trump says he will travel to texas tomorrow. the white house made that announcement after meeting with cabinet members yesterday to get an update on storm harvey. praised federal and state emergency workers dealing with storm and flooding. the fema adviser promised mistakes in the past made with hurricane katrina will not be repeated. >> we're pushing forward forces on the ground to implement national flood insurance program and policies as well. doing inspections we need. setting up and gearing up for the next several years. >> promised to give his agency everything it needs for texas as federal workers prepare to spend years helping recover from this. >>> more dramatic video this morning shows crews aboard boats and helicopters. you can see people loaded into rescue boats and rasks. also on scene. firefighters had to carry an elderly woman to safety for medical attention. we are hear

as john cornyn said, there will be other things. wonders how many attention will be divided. >> neil: thanks very much, chad pergram. on the phone with us, a whitewood independent counsel. we're getting more from reuters on the grand jury empaneling here. the details concern the june 2016 meeting between donald trump jr. and the russian lawyers and the subpoenas, the grand jury subpoenas that would be issued would be related to that. what do you make of that? >> it's not unusual for a special counsel or prosecutor to ultimate empanel a grand jury. in order to conduct the investigation, you need the ability to do the ministerial, which would be to collect documents and to have an investigatory grand jury with the able to get testimony and have witnesses testify before a grand jury and to complete and conclude the investigation before you make a decision, a charging decision, about anybody has committed a crime. the only way you can return charges given the constitution is ultimately through use of the grand jury process. so you know,

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i note in this morning's news that insurance companies that provide health insurance policies on the obamacare exchanges are projecting that insurance premiums will go up about 30% next year. 30%. since 2013 we've seen the nationwide average of premiums go up 105%. that's before this latest announcement. we know that in 2017 the national average increase in premiums was 25% and in arizona, for example, it was 145%. so why, why did all of the senate democrats vote against getting a -- making progress on a solution toward these runaway premiums? i've talked about add nause yum here on the -- ad nauseum here on the senate floor. we've almost become numb to the pain the people are experiencing because of the skyrocketing rate of their insurance premiums and we know that 28 million roughly have dropped out and are uninsured in my state alone because of the individual mandate, the penalty that the government imposes for failing to buy a government-approved health insurance plan.

we just want to thank your governor, senator cruz come a senator cornyn, everybody! this has been a total cooperative effort, again, we will see you soon. i will tell you, this is historic, it is epic, what happened! but you know what, it happened in texas and texas can handle anything! ! thank you all folks, thank you [applause] >> melt damage, the president was there in corpus christi on tuesday. i he meeting the moment >> think he is. this was the moment as the president, where he cut up or behavior,idential portraying himself as a unifying force. he has been seen as a divisive figure. but in saying that, there's obviously a huge test to come here, we are only really becoming dust beginning to come to terms with the damage caused by the storm. so there will clearly be pressure on the president and on congress, to step up to the mark amount ofilitate the aid that will be necessary to the people of texas and louisiana. presidents get blamed when things do not go well, and politicians. niall stanage debts rise, people -- people expect things obamawell, and president

with those cornyn and bean growers in mexico and rice of that serious problem of competitive and the. and racine - - we are seeing the volume spandex the to mention in chapter 19 hits is mandatory to have a mechanism in place that doesn't have some type of format to have that trade agreement and from our perspective with that dispute resolution is critical going forward. >> so to talk about that improve flow of goods, is that with border security and your concerns about that ?. >> i can get that from a canadian perspective so what we find is a holdup which is a delay of several hours to get that preapproved clearance with electronic filing using all of those new technologies available and everybody is preapproved recognizing the world we are living in you have to have security clearance and we saw everybody going through the line and they go through a lot faster so that is a similar type of approach that we're now doing a border entry for people. >> so we will leave that up to the experts that we can speak to those experts and it is important that it comes in very good quality and tha

and also senator cornyn there of texas briefing everyone on the latest. a couple of notes, the governor did say that the meeting he was having was interrupted by a phone call from the president of the united states. we know trump is heading to the texas area tomorrow. and so he was just passing along the president's gratitude for all the leaders, the first responders and i think what they stressed the most is that texans are in this for weeks if not months here in terms of housing and dealing with all the water-related issues that are from this catastrophic flooding. soon president trump will speak publicly for the first time since harvey made landfall as a category 4 hurricane turning to massive parts of texas including houston. you can see the pictures behind me turning into this inland sea. at least six suspected storm-related deaths blamed on harvey in houston and rockport. forecasters predict somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 25 inches of rain will still fall from now until friday bringing totals in some places to more than 4 feet. and as that r

. >> reporter: ted cruz and john cornyn are asking for aide to their state. despite both men opposing a relief bill for new jersey after hurricane sandy. >> plenty of time for politics and i'm not going to worry about political sniping. my focus here is on the tragedy unfolding on the people whose lives are in jeopardy. >> reporter: the sandy bill had too much spending he said that was unrelated to hurricane relief. >> the enormity of the devastation in houston is hard to imagine. this drone video captures just how widespread the damage is. it is estimated that some 15 trillion gallons of rain have fallen. parts of houston are expected to break a 40 year record for total rainfall. 30,000 people may be forced from their homes before the storm subsides. jeff jameson of our dallas station is tracking tropical storm harvey. good morning. >> good morning, anne marie. we are still looking at that heavy rain rotating from the southeast. the center of circulation of harvey is still out over open water. it has plenty of that warm gulf water to work with and it's throw

john cornyn: -r- texas: we're trying to save people's lives, we're trying to make sure they have a place to live, safe water to drink, sewage, electricity and the like, but this is going to be a long challenge."as the waters continue to rise, so does the death toll. well over twenty inches of rain have fallen in texas since harvey made landfall late friday, and there are no signs of it letting up any time soon.parts of the state could receive up to 50 inches of rain by mid week... and eighteen counties have been declared federal disasters.thousands have been driven from their homes, and many more are trapped, waiting for helpreporter:"what did you just go through back there?" flood victim: "hell."governor abbott has deployed every member of the texas national guard to help with search and rescues.gov. greg abbott/ -r- texas: "we are still involved in the search and rescue process. the goal is still protecting and preserving life and rescuing every person that we can find."president donald trump, who is set to tour some of the devastated areas tuesday, praised texans for their resilience

introduced a plan to reshape immigration to the united states, republican lawmakers introduced -- john cornynout the legislation.

governor abbott and senator cornyn also toured the area today to survey the damage. governor abbott deployed the entire texas national guard in response to the disaster. 12,000 people to help the rescue and relief effort. >> we're going to be dealing with really record-setting flooding in multimillion res across the state of texas. >> reporter: meanwhile, another area of focus, the refineries on the gulf coast, a little less than 50% of what the u.s. can churn out and it looks like as of now, projections indicate that 2 million barrels a day have come offline. that means that prices most likely at the pump are likely to rise as well. for "nightly business re i'm jackie deangelis, corpus christi, texas. >> with the severe flooding along parts of the gulf coast, the price for u.s. gasoline futures jumped to a more than two-year high today while domestic crew fell nearly 3% as the market tried to assess the storm's impact. john joins us now to tell us what this all means for gas prices. founder partner of again capital. good to see you, john. thanks for joining us on se

gerri: look at that, john cornyn there next -- there mr. high expectations. >> critical thing, if he does not move quickly, we're not going to meet the deadlines,. lou: deadlines? he is one of those who set them, they are legislative deadlines, do you remember tax reform by august. moving healthcare through, those were not the president's -- >> i didn't say they were. lou: i am reminding everyone else. you couldn't be here if i had to remind you. >> how do i get off? i think that critical thing. >> you are here because i for get them. >> i think it is -- this president -- an insult. i thought about this, when howard baker was ronald reagan's majority leader, when bob dole ran goncz george w. bush he did everything he could to get bush's agenda through. mitch mcconnell has a wife in this administration, secretary of transportation, you would think every day he would push this president's agenda and not his. lou: you mean, elane chow, transportation secretary in charge of infrastructure, a trillion dollar program, i am sure she is in washingt

and john cornyn sitting next to mr. energy himself. mr.igh expectations and majority leader mcconnell. >> if he doesn't move quickly, they will not meet the deadlines and the president. >> lou: these are legislative deadlines and tax reform and moving health care through. those were the not the president's head lines. you wouldn't be here if i had to remind you. [laughter] >> how do i get. >> lou: you are here because i forget them. you have to remind me. >> and i thought about this the other night. when howard baker was ronald reagan's majority. and he did everything he could to get reagan's program through. bob doyle. he did everything to get bush's agenda. mitch mcconnell has a wife secretary of transportation. and you would think he would push the president's agenda. >> lou: transportation secretary. and i am sure she is in washington working on that program, don't you figure, michael? >> i was struck by the first thing in the exchange that mcconnell said that want president is new to this line of work. what an arrogant thing to say. t

cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to congratulate the majority leader for securing these important confirmations of nominees who have been waiting for no good reason, simply to get an up-or-down vote and get confirmed, but this is a big day. 65, roughly, nominations confirmed just here in the last few minutes, things that should have been handled but for the obstruction and foot-dragging of our colleagues across the aisle. i want to focus for just a minute on the things that we have been able to do, notwithstanding the lack of cooperation of our colleagues across the aisle since this knew administration came into office. i know the focus of the press and frankly some of our own focus has been on the unfinished businesslike health care reform, but i can assure my colleagues that issue is not going away and gets more difficult to address as each day goes by. but perhaps one of the most significant things we've done the last few months is confirm neil gorsuch as a justice on the supreme court. it is und