senate democrats hold a rally on the steps of the capitol at 1:00 p.m. eastern on what they say would be the devastating impact the senate health care bill would have on middle-class americans. that is at 1:00 p.m. eastern and will have it here on c-span2. senate democrats held a news conference yesterday about going

today, i would call on democratic senators to hold a press conference and state that they are willing to sit and work to constructively engage with republicans in coming up with a sustainable solution, something that can be sustained over a period of years, a sustainable solution that can make right the situation and improve the bill even if they have to start over again that's fine. there are elements they can keep some of the democratic senators should stand and challenge the republicans to negotiate with them. if they don't want to participate that way, shame on them if they are playing party over what's good for the nation but i think if both parties can get together i have little doubt in my mind they can come up with a workable solution and we have seen it with contentious issues whether it is a civil rights, whether it's the negotiations between tip o'neill and ronald reagan on social security or negotiations i was involved in on balancing the federal budget in the clinton administration. it's on insurance at the same time beginning the discussion about what we can do for the r

host: expect to hear a lot more about health care today if democrats in the senate fall -- if democrats in the senate follow through on their plant. -- on their plan. michelle, independent. it is open phones. caller: how are you doing this morning? host: i am doing well. caller: i was listening to a gentleman who was just speaking, discussing about how our politicians are actually our employees and our supposed to be working for us. i happen to actually agree with him that we are not looking at it in that aspect, and that is the only way we are going to get anywhere in the current situations we are in. he was also mentioning poverty-stricken. that comes with the workforce. with foura household working people, since november, and each person's house and get that is incorrect, not get a paycheck at all, or have a discrepancy. when you bring this up to their attention, every single time you have to wait for the next check. more often than not, that comes to weeks later. in the process, that our bills that are do that you get charged late charges for and you do not pay them on time. and a l

there are elements that they can keep but these democrat senators should stand and they should challenge the republicans to negotiate with them. now, if the democrats don't want to participate that way, shame on them, and they are playing party takes over what's good for our nation. but i think if both parties can get together, i have very little doubt in my mound -- in my mind that they can come up with a workable solution to w we've sen it with a very contentious issues. whether it's civil rights, whether it was the negotiations between tip o'neill and ronald reagan on social security, whether it was negotiations i was involved with on balancing the federal budget with the clinton administration after a government shutdown. good minds, people with good intent can sit down and fashion a solution on insurance for people while at the same time beginning a discussion about what we can do about the rising costs of health care. this can be done and this should be done, not any partisan way in a bipartisan way. that today is the way you can do this. this is not good enough to just shut this i

there's some pretty conservative members of the democratic caucus in the senate. they tried to get democrats on board or only do it with republicans? >> no. just with republicans. they have been very clear about that and the irony here is in 2009 we had 100 -- just the senate we had 100 hearings, roundtables and walk throughs, we had the longest ever meeting of the health committee with television cameras rolling while we marked it up. second longest ever meeting of the finance committee. over 300 amendments considered. over 100 republican amendments accepted in the bill and 25 days of debate on floor of the senate and the republicans said, wait. that's not enough. we need more input from the people. and, well, now they're at the other end of the spectrum and saying, no input from the people. and this is -- and something that's so much goes to the quality of life, of working americans and struggling americans, middle class americans, all americans, really, because those who lose health care will also not be able to pay a bill and that undermines the finances of cl

and joe lieberman, the sort of democratic senator from connecticut. christopher wray is a much less political choice, and i think many people in the senate will find that a relief barring any surprising disclosures in the vetting process. it seems like he's very likely to be confirmed. he was head of the criminal division in the george w. bush administration and the justice department. that's a job that is a highly respected job, but not an especially political job. so i think that's something that this choice is likely to be very popular on both sides. >> we're looking at the hearing room right now for the senate intelligence committee and there's marco rubio right there and we were discussing him. it seems to me the democratic members got there a lot earlier than some of the republican members. maybe they were more eager for this questioning and some of the people testifying are now sitting down so we may break out the minute they start talking.

. >> he's a vietnam vet, former governor, and democratic senator. we ask a simple question -- why haven't they? later, sanctuary cities take a stand for the undocumented. >> we are not going to allow them to contribute to the soledad: the republican-led sete week on a health care bill here they obamacare once and for all. >> thankfully, the senate will soon have the chance to turn the page on this law. soledad: we don't know how much co lothis is what we do know. the bill eliminates the insurance mandate for individuals and businesses, cuts in medicaid funding, and rede fs that help pay for the surepubliy of louisiana, a physician, says >> when president trump ran for president, he said he wanted everyo covered, care for those with pre-eg conditions, and lowering premiums.if you li, this would make it allyou have e right now, the families that withte premiums u act $13,000 deductibles, they could becomes ill,emiums, but if spoe the coverage has to be adequso s th. soledad: why not just fixed the acmany people don't realize they e why not go in and f

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] nick nick >> after senate democrats finished their briefing. senator rand paul talked about the law and why he is choosing not to support the measure. he said he is open to negotiations to make the bill better but announced he isn't the only republican opposing, joining cruz, lee. here are senator paul's comments.

there's no draft for public review, no democratic senator has seen the bill. republican senators all say they haven't seen the bill either. when republican senators are asked what's in the bill, unlesy there's -- lessig of the 13 privileged ones, they said they have no idea. everyone except the 13 republicans drafting this bill has been excluded. and these 13 senators represent just ten states out of our 50. h health experts and health advocacy organizations have been shut out. no one representing doctors, nurses, patients, children, the elderly, hospitals, immunity clinics for health plans is able to provide any feedback at all on how the bill would affect people took over the weekend the los angeles times reported that a coalition of more than 15 patient groups, including the american heart association, thes march of dimes and the american lung association, tried to get a meeting with senator mcconnell or his staff, and were told no. that's unbelievable. the mar think of it. think of the american heart association, the march of dimes, the american lung associ

the top democrat in the u.s. senate. ive us basically the democrats' response to this blockbuster pounding the table testimony today that we got under oath from attorney ge

>> senator warren, i can't answer that. >> there is at least one democratic senator who isn't ruling tions to stop the secret health care bill dead in its tracks. he joins me live, next. >>> the senate's health care whuuuuuat?rtgage offer from the bank today. you never just get one offer. go to lendingtree.com and shop multiple loan offers for free! free? yeah. could save thousands. you should probably buy me dinner. no. go to lendingtree.com for a new home loan or refinance. receive up to five free offers and choose the loan that's right for you. our average customer could lower their monthly bills by over three hundred dollars. go to lendingtree.com right now. >>> the senate's health care bill is being drafted by a small, all-male group of republicans who refuse to hold hearings or release a draft to the public. they're trying to put it up for vote before july 4th. >> going to come out with a real bill, not obamacare. and the results are going to be fantastic and hopefully it will be announced at the appropriate time and everyone is going to be happy. >> everyone. trump added that h

joining us now, democratic senator, chris coons of delaware. he's a member of both the judiciary and foreign relations committees. senator, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> all right, so let's review. the president tweeted this morning. i'll put it up on the screen again. you are witnessing the single greatest witch hunt, in all caps, in american political history, led by some very bad and conflicted people. he's calling this a witch hunt, bad and conflicted people. later this afternoon, he started tweeting with attacks against hillary clinton, democrats. i want your reaction. >> well, wolf, i have family ancestors from the boston area and i think the salem witch hunt has to be the greatest witch hunt in american history. one of the things that president trump is going to run into here as we tries to change the subject is the fact that bob mueller commands very wide bipartisan support here in the senate and in washington, generally. he's one of the most respected federal law enforcement leaders, former fbi director, and some

some democratic republic of their calling for a larger overhaul that would include bringing senate democratso the table that can pass the boats with both parties. we will talk about that this morning on the washington journal, and as we do, we are asking our viewers for your opinion. republicans can call in this ,orning at (202) 748-8001 democrats, (202) 748-8000, independents, (202) 748-8002. -- you also can catch up with us on facebook and twitter. a good thursday morning to you here. some of the headlines today about the ongoing efforts when it comes to health care in this country. "health care bill set for a fast rewrite." and a nod to bipartisanship, they write "deal on existing health law could emerge if the senate bill fails." washington times, "republicans set new deadline to repeal obama care." is somee of mcconnell's comments on the floor of the senate. is unfortunate, that our democratic college refused to work with us in a serious way to copperheads and we address obamacare's failures, in the seven years since i have passed it. i regret that they continue to demonstrate an unseri

democrats holding the senate floor late into the night. , they were up past midnight demanding that republicans go public with their plans for repealing and replacing obamacare. the democrats' speeches overnight, more theatrics than lawmakering as they tried to spotlight the secretive process republicans are using to draft their health care bill. senate minority leader chuck schumer calling it "the greatest miscarriage of legislative practice" that he's seen during his decades in congress. >> when you do a bill in the dark of night, things happen that no one knows about. there are unintended consequences that only a thorough vetting can reveal. when you do things in the dark of night, there are individual accommodation that's are made that are going to look ugly when they become public. so the only consolation we on this side have, small consolation that it is, is the political blunder that our colleagues on the other sides of the aisle -- other side of the trial making. >> the democrats controlled the floor last night. now we're learning t

there are elements they can keep but these democrat senators should stand and they should challenge the republican that negotiated with them. if the democrats don't want to participate, shame on them and they're playing politics over there over what's good for our nation but i think if both parties can get together, i have little doubt in my mind that they can, with a workable solution and we've seen it with very contentious issues. >> whether it's civil rights, whether it was negotiations between o'neill and ronald reagan on social security, whether it was negotiations i was involved with on balancing the federal budget after a government shutdown. good minds, people of good intent can sit down and fasten a solution on insurance for people while at the same time beginning a discussion about what we can do about rising cost of healthcare. this can be done and it should be done not in a partisan way but in a bipartisan way, that to me is the way you can do this. this is not good enough to shove this in the closet somewhere because there are big challenges with this bill. finally, no one

senate conducts its bus. so what is going on here and can can democrats stop it? i asked senator bernie sanders for his views on the secret gop bill. >> i mean, i am speechless when i try to describe what is going on here because it is really literally unbelievable. chris, we are talking about in terms of health care 1/6 of the american economy, trillions of dollars. you're talking about an issue that impacts virtually every single american in our country and in the midst of all of this you have a process by which right now perhaps a dozen republicans are the only people in america who know what is being talked about, what the new bill might look like. most republicans don't even know it let alone anybody in the democratic caucus. this is outrageous beyond outrageous. this is unprecedented i think in the history of modern america, that you have a bill of such consequence where there is not one hearing. i'm a member of the health and education committee. no hearings. no public debate. what will likely happen is that at the very last moment on the day of the vote mit

senate democrats have been pouring over the bill. now it has come out from behind closed doors and here are a few of the things that this bill will do. first, it will cause health care costs for middle-class and working families to go up. by cutting back on tax credits and making americans paying a bigger percentage of their incomes for their premiums, they will send health care costs soaring. second, it will cut off millions. if you have a loved one in the nursing home, the cost of that care is going to go up. third, it abandons people with pre-existing conditions, putting at risk maternity care, mental health coverage by allowing states even more latitude by getting out of covering. fourth, it defunds planned parenthood making it harder for women to maintain the health care they need and deserve. why is a doing all of this -- why are they doing all of this? they provide a giant tax break to the wealthiest americans. simply put, the bill will result in higher costs, less care, millions of americans will lose their health insurance,

for more, i am joined by senator tammy baldwin, democrat of the state of wisconsin. enator, we understand that this was not the democrats' idea, and we understand your evening-long effort. but at the end of the day, can you reassure people who are scared from missoula to madison to cleveland, people who are scared they're going to lose their coverage, that you as a member of the senate will look out for them, and nothing will get through there that will actively harm folks who have coverage now? >> well, on the first point, brian, one of the purposes of my floor speech was to tell some of those stories that i hear day in and day out. and frankly itarted with my own because as a child atge 9, i had a very serious illness. three months in the hospital and then was labeled as one of those kids with a pre-existing condition. but i know my story is not unique. and as you look at what we can tell the american people, clearly republicans have the majority in the house. they have the majority in the senate. there's a republican in the white house. but we are not going to give

virginia senator mark warner is the top democrat on the senate intelligence committee, senator warnerler last week. thank you very much for being with us. do you have clear lanes of authority that you're not going to do something which has happened in the past with the ollie north investigation in iran/contra. that conviction, not saying this is getting there, was overturned because there was a crossover of authorities between the special counsel and the committee. >> absolutely. we want to make sure that there is -- was appropriate deconfliction, special counsel mu mueller has a criminal investigation, we will move forward on that. we, the bipartisan effort, is a counterintelligence, a fact finding, it is to see, which i believe we have proven to everybody would perhaps the exception of mr. trump, that the russians interfered massively in our elections. we don't know what level of contact if any and collaboration if any was there between affiliates of the trump campaign d the russians. that's what we're looking through now. >> the president tweeted last friday that he is being invest

. >>> plus, senate shutdown? democrats threat on it grind government to a halt unless republicans share their secret health care bill. >> we have no idea what's being proposed. there's a group of guys in the back room somewhere. >> will there be a public hearing soon? and the best political minds will be here with insights on what happens next. hello i'm jake tapper in washington with the state of our union is on retreat. president trump awoke this morning at camp david for the first time ever. else' spending father's day there with his son baron and first lady melania trump who posted this foe foe with the caption #family #sport #weekend. the. 's been on twitter posting defiantly this morning the make america great again agenda is doing very well despite the distraction of the witch hunt. many new jobs, high enthusiasm. the witch hunt he's referring to the law enforcement congressional investigations into russian interference in the u.s. election and possible collusion by members of the trump team, the law enforcement pro

they have objections by democratic senators allowing committees to meet two hours after the senate convenes. two treasury department nominations expected at 6:00 p.m. eastern.also on the rd next week. [inaudible conversations] >> dhs secretary jeh johnson is testifying before the senate intelligence committee on russian hacking in u.s. elections. live coverage just getting underway on our companion network, c-span 3. we should let you know that president trump is on the road today. he is in cedar rapids, iowa, which is the state he won in november. live coverage when it gets underway.

i had a piece of legislation, when we were debating health care in 2008 and 2009, eight democratic senators, eight republican senators, first time -- first time in the history of this body that we had that. there are republicans and democrats who continue to serve in this body who are cosponsors of that legislation. it's called the healthy americans act. we got some of what we thought was important into the affordable care act. in particular, a provision that i think the american people really want to think about in the days ahead, and that is in our bill with the 16 senators, we had airtight loophole-free protection for those with preexisting conditions. there wasn't any way to hit them with extra costs, discriminate against them because they had a preexisting condition. we said that we wouldn't stand for that because if you allow discrimination against those with preexisting conditions, you take america back to the days when health care was for the healthy and wealthy. if you're healthy, don't have a preexisting condition, if you're wealthy, you can pay for care. we can't go back there. b

senior aide for a democratic senator who said do not underestimate the power of the phone call. that's interesting, because this morning, i was talking to a number of democrats about what was coming into their office. now, maybe not surprisingly, some of them were talking about 20 to 1 margins, getting thousands of phone calls from constituents overwhelmingly against these changes, but then, i ran into a member of the senate leadership, jon thune, and i asked him what kind of calls are you getting. he acknowledged to me that actually, he's been getting a ton of calls, too, but hey ener left. he suggested he was getting more calls from people opposed to it. it's a very different situation when you are from south dakota, when you win some of the tough races that are going to be coming up for some of the other senators, and who are going to be facing constituents when they go back. this sets up something fascinating looking ahead to that recess. these folks, some of whom have not had any kind of town halls, have not been widely accessible to their const

senator schumer. after weeks of secret negotiations between 13 male republican, after keeping democrats in the dark and hiding the details from patients and from families, all the while claiming the senate version of trumpcare would somehow be better, today's c.b.o. report makes it clearer than ever just how mean trumpcare is and why. the bottom line is, trumpcare is a minefield of higher health care costs for patients and families and it is a massive giveaway to special interests in the health care industry. depending on what state you live in if you're a senior, trumpcare will spike your premiums. if you need maternity care you could pay as much as $1,000 more per month on top of the rest of your coverage. if you need mental health care, care for a substance use dised or ore prescription drugs, you could see your costs go up by thousands of dollars a year. that means, despite what so many of our republican colleagues claim, i want to be very clear that trumpcare guts protections for people with pre-existing conditions. because as any family will tell you, coverage that is too expensive to buy, like i

i'm his lawyer, not his political advisor. >> chris: senator feinstein, the top democrat on the senate committee responded to the president's tweet this week with the statement. the message of the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn't apply to him and then she wrong, sir?s otherwise will >> mr. sekulow: yes, she's wrong. first of all, she james comey and the red alert for that episode regarding her engagemen engagement, callinr, not an investigation. in regards to this issue, there's tweet. it came on the heels of a "washington post" storyvehanonyd didn't even identify the agency from which the sources came from an response to, it's that simple, period. >> chris: final qu the president just added a high-powered washington lawyer to hisct him to hire other criminale, is he preparing for potential legal battle h>> mr. n dowd is a legal legend, you was. the president is doing the appropriate thing by hing lawyers necessary if there was to be an investigation, if there were toe have the lawyers in place. we got a great legal team led by mark ha

joining us, democratic senator maria cantwell. thanks for joining us. do you think this is dead? do you think the republican healthcare bill is dead? >> no, i don't. i think that as long as people will keep bringing up this idea of trying to get the 51st vote and people continue to talk about cutting people off medicaid as the centerpiece this is something we have to make sure that we're strongly opposed to. it's not a smart idea. it won't lower the individual market premiums. we have to get off of this concept. >> one of the things you wrote, you tweeted a lot about this, quote, now it's time to work together. give us an example where you think realistically you as a democratic senator and your peers can do that and propose a change to obamacare that the republicans would accept. what are your proposals? >> actually, there's some things in the affordable care act we should pedal to the metal, go faster on. one is the concept of getting people out of nursing homecare to community-based care. this is something we saved $2 billion doing in the state of washington. we incented in th

and while one as a senator myself i can't effect the outcome, even democrats in the senate can't, ifwe elevate the voice of the american people and make sure that they communicate with their elected officials in the house and the senate, that's what it's going to take. and i still have hope that their voices will be heard. because health care is deeply personal. >> let's talk -- let's talk logistics for a moment. mitch mcconnell it's hard to envision him bringing something up that is born to fail. let's say he has the reasons to think he can get this passed. what happens then? and remembering that some americans are watching this very closely. >> well you asked about what we're doing this evening in what happens then? and remembering that some americans are watching this very closely. >> well you asked about what we're doing this evening in terms of holding the floor. bringing the stories of our constituents to the senate floor, demanding the stories be heard, hopefully inspiring people to act, to call, to write, to be involved in this democracy, because the last thing we can afford

chris: senator dianne feinstein, the top democrat on the senate judiciary committee, responded to the this week with this statement: the message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn't apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired. is she wrong, sir? >> yeah, she's wrong. first of all, dianne feinstein also called for an investigation of james comey and loretta lynch for that whole episode regarding her engagement in calling it a, quote, manner, not an investigation. but with regard to this particular issue, i mean, the tweet -- there's nothing illegal or inappropriate about tweet. the tweet came on heels of a washington post story that had five anonymous sources and didn't even identify the agency from which those sources came from, and that's what he tweet inside response to. it's that simple, period. chris: final question. the president just added john dowd, a high-powered washington lawyer, to his legal team. should we expect him to hire other criminal lawyers, and in a sense, is he preparing for potential legal bat

. >>> senate blockade. furious democrats are vowing to block all senate business in response to republican secrecy in drafting obamacare replacement bill. will gop leaders hold a vote without hearings and without saying what's in the mystery bill? >>> an american detainee dead. otto warmbier, the virginia student who was held in north korea for nearly a year and a half, has died, according to his family. he was returned to the united states in a coma. he had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news, amid another round of mix the messages in the russia investigation, the white house now says, and i'm quoting, it is possible there may be an answer by the end of the week on whether the president has made secret recordings. it's been ten days since the president promised an answer and well over a month since he hinted in a tweet that he may have tapes of his conversations with fi

democrats have been locked out of the process, the republicans, house and senate decided to do it party line. they decided not to include the democrats, ram through disastrous changes and now a situation where there's a bill that takes away health care from 22 million people, potentially and penalize people who wouldn't have health care or be on it for six months. i think democrats, absolutely, need to hold the republicans feet to the fire on this. working with them on this bill is not the answer. we need to fix obamacare. if the republicans are willing to come to the table to do that, they should sit there and cooperate and come up with a bipartisan effort to expand on the success of obamacare. >> it may be what happens if mcconnell can't get it through. >> douglas, to you. you used to be the guy in the line of fire, running the cbo. you noted before, the party that put the cbo leader in power is generally the one that doesn't love the cbo. republicans don't like the cbo right now. do they have merit in their argument because the line we keep hearing out of republicans, the cbo almost

we will also be joined by one of the senators who is participating in the democrats' holding of the senate floor tonight to talk about the phantom republican health care bill that still has not been made public. and why does jared kushner have much better lawyers than his father-in-law, who has assembled the single worst legal team ever to defend a president under investigation? >> mr. president, are you under investigation by the special counsel? >> and now he's being investigated. so he's being investigated. >> you've now said he is being investigated. >> no. >> you just said, sir -- >> no. >> you just said that he's being investigated. >> no. >> if you believe that lawyer, you're crazy. >> if you didn't want people to know that he's under investigation, why did he tweet, i'm under investigation? >> clearly the president is being investigated for obstruction of justice. >> tonight, the white house says it's possible that by the end of this week, we could get some clarity on whether any oval office tapes or recordings exist. >> this is technology week here at the white house. >> jared kus

senator, happens to be from the democratic side of the aisle so he's not at the white house, he's theor from hawaii, senator shotts, brian shotts. welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> i want to give you a chance to respond to what he said, i guess we negotiate with the democrats or the democrats will draw these lines in the sand. is he portraying the democratic position fairly? >> he's not. i find it really striking the argument he's making is he was making this internally within the caucus this morning and i found it shocking. now he's saying it out loud to the media that if they don't get it done on their own, shock, horror, terrible news, we will have to do this on a bipartisan basis. and my view is that's the way the mat senate is is supposed to work, that's the way the country is supposed to work. we ought to have hearings. you've got two chairmen capable of doing bipartisan legislation, orrin hatch and lamar alexander. but we've got to let them having hearings and do their process. >> so what is -- look, what is the price -- i know there's a politics infused into this whole deba

democratic senators are criticizing their fellow senators for the secrecy of their drafting process. happening today-- voters in virginia will decide who will face-off... to become the commonwealth's next governor. according to the latest quinnipiac poll - ed gillespie is the republican frontrunner. he's up against corey stewart -- and state senator frank wagner. on the democratic side, polls show a tight race... between lieut northam -- and tom perri-ello. for results tonight- tune into abc-7 news at 11 - and wjla.com. turning to baseball-- nationals fans may have expected a "pitcher's duel" with stephen strasburg on the mound. but last night's game against the braves-- was nothing like that. strasburg gave up 2 homers in the first inning-- to kick off a scoring bonanza. but the nats battle back-- scoring 9 runs, heading into the ninth inning. pitcher matt albers can't protect the lead. tyler flowers hits a 3-run home run. the braves beat the nats .. 11-10. that's washington's 4th straight loss. president trump named in a lawsuit involving lavish spending at his d-c hotel. what the

senate democrats came together give their reaction a short time ag ago. >> okay, hi, everybody. sorry we're late. it is not senate or murray's fault. >> at all. >> it's not senator wyden's fault so make your own detections. i want to thank both of them. our ranking members on health and finance for doing the fabulous job they are doing. when the white house passed their health care bill, a bill president trump called mean, i thought it wouldn't be possible for senate republicans to conjure up a bill worse than that one. unfortunately, that is what they have done meaner. can you read it? do i have to color it in? >> that stands for emergency room, too. >> how's that delight? meaner. i have another career as an artist. okay, the senate version of trumpcare is meaner than the house bill. there's a lot to unpack but its general outline is very simple and clear they're saying it's a draft but i asked mitch mcconnell on the floor is there anything i said which i say now that is not in that draft and he just sat down. the bill takes dollars out of health care for millions of americans a

they haven't commented publicly about that, but in talking to senate democratic aides and democratic senators throughout the course of the day, they have made clear to me wolf, that they plan to try to pin those witnesses down on those issues, trying to get them on the record. one other thing to keep a very close eye on. while senators aren't expect the a lot of forthcoming questions when it comes to the russia investigation, watch as they try to lay the groundwork for thursday's hearing. they want to make sure that the witnesses know where they want to go on thursday, want to kind of set the tone for what people will be facing when jim comey comes to testify in front that have committee on thursday. wolf? >> certainly will be historic and very, very lively. phil mattingly, thanks very much r.joining us now is democratic senator chris coons of delaware, member of the foreign relations and senate judiciary committee. senator, thanks for joining us. >> thank, wolf. pretty extraordinary, the white house press secretary sean spicer today would not confirm that president trump has confiden

"washington post" is reporting democratic senator richard bloomen thal led the filing in district court and representative john conners jr. will lead the effort in the house. post is reporting according to advanced copy of the complaint they obtained there's a "foreign emalument clause in the constitution that requires the president to get permission from congress before getting gifts and trump empire is incentive trump businesses special treatment. attorney again ral monday for maryland and d.c. fled a lawsuit seeking tax returns saying ownership of trump international hotel in d.c. violates constitutional law that bars elected officials from receiving gifts and personal payments. now the post is reporting so far 196 lawmakers joined recent complaint which is more than any lawmakers ever to sign on to sue the president. however, guys, no republican support so far. that's the latest in north west at the trump international hotel. anjali hemphill, "fox5 local news". >> 4:31st time now. virginia primary results are in. who will face off in the gubernatorial race. >> gil etion pi will face

joining us democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. i want to alert our viewers that we've invited republicans to join us as well. hopefully they will. so far we've received certain maybes down the road, but let's get your reaction to what we heard, senator. what was your immediate reactioning to what you heard the attorney general say? >> well, i agree with adam. it certainly squares with the story that james comey told to the intelligence committee, and i think it raises a number of additional questions. the idea that the attorney general didn't have any prior conversations with james comey about his job performance before firing him, well, you know, that won't ring familiar to most employers out there about the protocol you go through before letting someone go, and it also would stand to reason that did might be why the deputy attorney general had to put together in a really fast and quick manner a memo to create an after-the-fact justification and the fact that he's not prepared to testify completely suggests there might be somethi

there is senator tammy baldwin, democratic senator from wisconsin. she sits on the senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions. thanks for being here, good to see you again. >> thank you. >> i want to ask you -- looks like somebody is being arrested. we have two people being arrested for protests at the senate. let me ask you ant this this conference about bipartisanship, the idea that lindsey graham says if we don't have a deal by friday between remembers we're going to have to go to democrats. we've heard a number of democrats, including susan collins, say the same thing. are you not participating with republicans because you dislike the deal so much? are they not asking you or allowing you to be part of the process? which of these three is it? >> let's be clear, the people of wisconsin didn't sent me to take away people's health care so long as they're pushing a bill that does that, 22 million people by the cbo estimates of the senate bill, there isn't going to be any bipartisan cooperation so long as they insist on trying to notch a

we're about to hear from senators. democrats town halls, we're going to make this case -- >> the president called the house bill mean after celebrating its passage. he changed to saying it's mean. he said that he hopes the senate bill will have heart. so sad, mr. president. heartless. mean and heartless. and this is the same thing. it's the same thing all over again. we'll do exactly what the house bill did. >> there's been criticism of the process. mitch mcconnell knew he would take the criticism. his view was if you have committee hearings on this, the lobbyists get involved, democrats get involved, people try to shoot it down, now he's trying to do this essentially in a week period. have a few amendments, cut the deal to get to 50, and get it passed so you don't have a recess where you go home for a couple of weeks and do that. >> that's if you're a senator going back home and talking to constituents, hearing from constituents, and you imagine that -- >> used to call it democraci. >> yeah. yes. exactly. i mean, this idea that

of course hearing senate democrats lecture about preserving the customs and traditions of the senate is a bit ironic. but i'll get back to that in a minute. last week the senate finance committee, which i chair, held a routine nominations markup to consider a slate, a relatively -- of relatively uncontroversial nominees. that same day several of our colleagues and congressional staffers had been viciously attacked by an armed assailant and a member of the house of representatives, of course, was in the hospital in critical condition. i opened the meeting by respectfully asking my colleagues to allow the committee to use the markup as an opportunity to demonstrate unity in the face of a violent attack against congress as an institution. and even then my democratic friends were apparently unable to pass up an opportunity to try to score partisan points and rack up video clips for social media by playing for the cameras as they lamented the committee's position in the health care debate. once again, mr. president, the situation is dripping with irony. like i said, i'll get to that in a

hearing, where questions can be asked. >> and democrats are prepared to put this plan in place as early as today. they could potentially hold the floor of the senate through midnight tonight. and during that time, members could come up and give speeches where they talk about their constituents who have been benefited from the affordable care act. democrats would prefer not to go down this route, especially in the wake of unity displayed at the congressional baseball game after the shooting last week. and minority leader chuck schumer has called for an all-senators meeting to hash out their differences. this a last-ditch effort to make the process more bipartisan. at this point, republicans have not agreed to participate. dave and christine? >> all right. thank you for that. >>> a syrian warplane shot down near raqqah by the u.s. coalition. military officials say the action comes after a syrian army jet targeted a u.s.-led force in a bomb attack earlier in the day. syrian regime forces claim one of their warplanes was attacked while carrying out a combat mission against isis. they're condemning the action, accusing the u.s. of supporting terrorism.