. >> dick durbin on president trump's revised travel ban. >> senator durbin: this executive order includes some cosmetic changes but these changes don't alter the fact that president trump's travel ban is still unconstitutional and still inconsistent with the values of this nation. >> house speaker paul ryan on the g.o.p. health care plan. speaker ryan: so we said in 2016 to our citizens, to the american people, to our constituents, if you give us this chance, this opportunity, this is what we'll do. now is our chance and our opportunity to do it. >> senator chris murphy on the legislation to replace the affordable care act. senator murphy: well, trumpcare is here and you are going to hate it. this is a dumpsterfier of a bill that was written on the back of a napkin behind closed doors because republicans know it's a disaster. >> ambassador to the u.n.,

. >> from the senate floor, senate minority whip dick durbin on president trump's revised travel ban. >> this new executive order includes some cosmetic changes, but the changes don't alter the fact that president trump's travel ban is still unconstitutional and still inconsistent with the values of this nation. >> house speaker paul ryan on the gop health care plan. >> so we said in 2016 to our citizens, to the american people, to our constituents, if you give us this chance, this opportunity, this is what we will do. now is our chance and our opportunity to do it.

senator durbin: thank you, but that is not my question. i want to give you the time to do it properly, because this is an important matter and i know you are an excellent attorney. i want to give you the official recusal by senator -- attorney general sessions of last week in his letter which he sent to this committee and ask you for clearly as to the scope of the screws. recusal. i want to know how you read it in light of these and i want you to do it properly and professionally. mr. rosenstein: i do not know how i would have a basis for evaluating that without having access to the information. the attorney general consulted with professionals who knew the facts, and if i become the deputy and i believe that is not a sufficient recusal, i will consult with him. if i were to read it today, i would only know what you knew. i would not know what is the nature of the investigation. i would not be the position to comment on whether it is adequate. but i do know the people in the department who make these decisions. i believe they would have ma

>> i think it's getting a little testier, but certainly questioning under senators durbin, white house and klobuchar, he seemed defensive about a couple things, he did just fine but you could feel he was sweating on a couple points they were raising because they were able to come back with further questions, senator whitehouse kept saying you are completely divorced from politics but made the point about various interest groups supporting million worth of campaign, it's the kind of thing he really didn't want to answer and be pressed on precedent and i think these democrats for the second round gave him a little bit of a run for his money. >> roe v. wade, he was asked during the course of the questioning when he was interviewed by president trump for this nomination if president trump made that a litmus test and said how do you feel about roe v. wade and he said if he would have asked him that question, i would have walked out of the room. >> yeah, so much for litmus test. >> and sean spicer was asked about that whether the president still wants a litmus test for roe v. wade. >> i thin

speaking of senator durbin, who has all of the good stuff and his office. it is right out side his office. if you go to the senate gallery, it is on the way to the gallery where you sit and watch the senate in session. mostly forgotten, but this may qualify as the first portrait from life that enter the capital collection, so here is lincoln in 1863. he gets it. he is now like washington, jefferson, jackson, who -- the equestrian sculpture in lafayette park he has to see out his window -- he is one of those heroes immortalized in marble and bronze. he gets it. it starts -- when did it start? it started on generally first, 1863. i will write about the next painting in the wall street journal on saturday if some of you have a chance to look at a column called masterpiece. and for those watching on c-span, you can get it online i'm sure. on january 1, 1863 after much handshaking at a new year's day reception, amber hamm abraham lincoln signs the final emancipation proclamation. he has taken hours to fill the promise that many thought would occur at midnight. p

i thank senator durbin for underscoring that point. it is something i think we can ultimately get to. it is something i hoped we could get to sooner rather than later. i want to thank senator coons for putting this in an historic perspective. he's absolutely right, we go back a long time as to what russia's intentions are all about and i thought that was extremely helpful to fill in all the aspects of what we're trying to do. senator menendez's point was very much critical, and that is our reasons for being here, our reasons for wanting to take action is to protect our country. it's the american people. we are not talking about any one person or any one election. this is not challenging the results of this past election. this is all about making sure that we protect the integrity of our free election system. and particularly moving forward knowing that russia may very well be engaged as we speak -- as we speak -- in trying to interfere with the elections in the netherlands, in germany and france. we need to have a better game plan on h

i will now turn to the vice-chairman, senator durbin for any opening remarks. >> think he. i'm pleased to join you in welcoming secretary manus. i have a respect for both of these outstanding leaders and give special welcome to secretary matta's first before the subcommittee. our nation has been at work for nearly 16 years and the toll of the complex can be measured in many ways. more than 6900 americans have given their life in iraq and afghanistan, more than 52000 wounded. our va clinics and hospitals are serving more than two and a half million veterans of these wars. our taxpayers have provided $1.8 trillion to support the many women who continue to serve overseas. it's not surprising we find our armed forces so currently-- or currently under strain, but the evidence is mounting it's not necessarily a decade and a half of war straining our military, but instead a self-inflicted congressional wound called sequestration. sequestration cuts in 2013 eliminated $35 billion from the department of defense base budget virtually overnight. the shockwave of these cuts, which were

i know senator durbin has. we know the stakes involved are the second congressional hearing we had about russia since the beginning of the new administration. i suspect we will have a lot more. it's also a benefit to have the hearing with representatives from the countries that have experienced russia's military aggression and economic and political interference for many years. we understand the interference you've had. we now count ourselves among those who are facing the same kind of interference. we have learned the russian government interfered in our elections to further its own interest. and the new president said virtually nothing about it. he's made no secret of his admiration for president putin. he and other white house officials have disparaged the american news media. if they had been critical of putin, he's calling them enemy. calling the american news media the enemy of the people. as someone who might expect of president putin but not of the president of the united states. i feel we should have a

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] quest senator durbin it is your turn out. as mr. chairman you have sent to enter seven articles relative to this. >> they will be entered into the record. >> judge gorsuch i was here where i can finish her answers and sentences before you. -- i made every effort to humanize these let me know your love of flyfishing and rodeos and family. i know that senatorial assignment, i've done it myself. the democrats on the committee press to francis to hard questions. and try to peel back your professional and carefully started persona so he might understand whether there is any chance there is a beating heart and independent streak.in donald trump's most important decision of his presidency. we were given this public hearing to develop an insight into what it was that made your record so attractive. to the federalist society, chile heritage foundation and president trump. he fended off most questions of substance. to return to your opinions. i'm sure the press and public are puzzled but we spent so much time talking about a truck driv

. >> from the senate floor, senate minority whip dick durbin on president trump's revised travel ban. >> this new executive order includes some cosmetic changes, but the changes don't alter the fact that president trump's travel ban is still unconstitutional and still inconsistent with the values of this nation. >> house speaker paul ryan on the gop health care plan. >> so we said in 2016 to our citizens, to the american people, to our constituents, if you give us this chance, this opportunity, this is what we will do. now is our chance and our opportunity to do it. >> senator chris murphy on the legislation to replace the affordable care act. >> well, trump care is here and you are going to hate it. this is a dumpster fire of a bill that was written on the back of a napkin behind closed doors because republicans know it is a disaster. >> and ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley on north korea's use of ballistic missiles. >> this is someone trying to get attention. this is someone who is trying to cause a reaction. but this is what bothers us. it hit less than 200 nautical miles of japa

first out of respect to my friend senator durbin because it is in his office. it is a painting by freeman thorpe, which is supposed to be a portrait of lincoln made at gettysburg. i don't know. freeman thorpe was 19-20 years old at the time. he was supposed to have been in the army. there were not a lot of army detailed to gettysburg the day of the ceremony in november 1863. i think he did get to see abraham lincoln as the young man in an illinois town -- i'm sorry, in an ohio town. lincoln's inaugural train passed 1861 andwn this day in may have gotten the inspiration to do a portrait. whether it is authentically a life portrait of lincoln in the capital or not, we will leave that for others to decide, but i thought i should show it. there you see his signature up at the top. it also looks very much like the photograph that was made a few days before lincoln gave the gettysburg address, which would of course be a perfect model. so i showed this for another reason. this is the most famous photograph that was taken on att november day in 1863 alexander gardner's

>> dick durbin asked questions about the dissertation of his advisor from 30 years ago. you have 30 minutes to talk about all kinds of things, do you think the 14th amendment aflies this way or this way. he instead was trying to tar him as some kinds of possible racist by the transtough property of dissertation based on some craft someone he once knew wrote. kennedy: it was a line or two of homophobia in a deposition that his advisor gave decades ago. as i was watching that i thought gorsuch hand himself well. on a scale of harriet miers to judge thomas. >> he's done fine. he's going to pass, and it's clear by the democrats' questioning that they know that. so instead of trying to do anything substantively, they are trying to position themselves as the ones who nobly stood up to him and said he was against women or the little guy. >> where were they when he was unanimous live confirmed for his circuit court position. kennedy: how do you think he did in terms of having -- being the first nominein this ne administration at a ti when we'll see at least one other appointment

>> senate minority whip dick durbin spoke about his opposition to the travel ban monday evening on the senate floor. here's a look.

joining us now is democratic whip senator dick durbin.enator, always a pleasure to have you on the show. thoughts on gorsuch at this point? >> well, of course, he's very gifted. he has a great background and service as judge, he's very smooth and very folksy and personable in the witness chair. we have tried -- this is my fifth time going through this experience. we've tried to ask him some basic questions to understand how he might rule in the future. he's fended off most of our questions and given us the basic reply "i'll take the facts and apply them to the law and come out with a good result." >> but that's what they all say. >> that's exactly right. >> so it's hard to hold him accountable to a standard that you have allowed with every judge, isn't it? >> it's very difficult. you can't force him at the point of a gun to answer a question. you try your best to understand what's behind his nomination and in this case there are interesting facts. we know and no one has disputed he was chosen by the federalist society and the heritage fou

senator durbin, speaker ryan, vice president cheney, secretary hood.ut the two of them later. today we remember a beloved former colleague who embodied the highest ideals of our democracy. michael, and henry this hallowed hall because -- , cleothe statue of cleo on the clock remind us that our time is short and history is watching. she reminds us that we are a part of history, that our word and actions face the judgment of history. they faced a long and honorable heritage of our democracy. this distinguished gathering is a tribute to leader bob michael. it is embodying everything that we hope our heritage would be. patriot and as a proud immigrant son, a great american leader. a patriot indeed. in world war ii he served with heroism and honor which earned him the first congressional distinguished award. in the congress, he fought for the people of the orient and illinois, he brought the values of the heartland to washington. he personified the highest ideal of our nation. leadership was recognized with the presidential medal of freedom. the high honor

. >>> coming up next, senate minority whip kick it durbin joining me live, the senator from illinois. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" right here on msnbc. but with added touches you can't get everywhere else, like claim free rewards... or safe driving bonus checks. oh yes.... even a claim satisfaction guaranteeeeeeeeeee! in means protection plus unique extras only from an expert allstate agent. it's good to be in, good hands. >>> if it is what it pretends to be, it looks like a very extensive file of the tactics, techniques, procedures, targets and political rules under which the central intelligence agency conducts its computer network exploitation and other activities. so if it is that, it would be very, very damaging. >> that's the former cia director michael hayden, former nsa director talking to me about wikileaks. joining me is jeremy bash who was chief of staff to lean leon panetta at the defense department and cia. we need better confirmations and the cia is not talking but if true, just how damaging could this be? >> let's walk through andrea what a damage assessmen

. >>> up nik, dick durbin joins me with his reaction to the joint address. and what it all means for the strategy on the left. stay with us. sfwlmpblts welcome back. we have a new interior secretary today. and that also means we have a new special election coming up. 2017 calendar, folks. senate voted 68-31 to confirm now former montana congressman ryan zinke as president trump's interior secretary. montana governor steve bullock declared the special election to fill the seat will be held on may 25th. already seven republicans and eight democrats who want the job. the final candidates will be selected when the parties hold nominating conventions. no primaries. it said parties will pick nominees. and yes, it is just one house seat, but it could tell us a lot. this will be a statewide election in montana. this election in addition to that special election in georgia to fill the congressional seat formerly held by new health and humans secretary tom price first big test what have democrats can accomplish in the age of trump. republicans are already reportedly s

durbin: mr. president, last thursday was a sunny, cold day in chicago. but i looked forward to it because there was an event that i wouldn't miss. we have a hospital there known as the rehab institute of chicago. it's one of my favorites, and we have some great hospitals. but the rehab institute of chicago literally focuses on people who have had serious accidents, strokes, injuries, who are trying to get rehabilitated so they can function and walk. i really got to know this hospital years ago when i had a town meeting in chicago and talked about returning veterans from iraq and afghanistan. many of them were coming home with serious injuries -- roadside bombs and types of injuries which can change your life. a man came up to me and his name was ed edmondson and he was from north carolina. i was kind of surprised that he was at a chicago town meeting. and he explained to me that he heard about the town meeting because he had a son who was a disabled veteran at the rehab institute of chicago named eric. it turns out that eric was seriously wounded by a ro

senator durbin writes that he wrote he didn't rm communicate. and former presidential candidate tweeted sessions is a man of honor and integrity and law enforcement will be free from the appearance of impro bright. live tonight, bill press will be interviewing derek farenthold. he is also been reporting on the businesses. you can join us for their discussion at 7:00 here on c-span and the house is out for the week. members rushing on tuesday and an to work on house-senate compromise on quens spending and health care plan. that legislation is locked in a secured room on capitol hill and only committee members. leaders kevin mccarthy and steny hoyer discussed where the house goes from here.

cases get to the supreme court because they're hard and as senator durbin said, if it were that easyomputer could do tthere would be no dissents. what he was i think trying to get at, you know, was when there's a gray area, what else are you going to bring to the table? >> woodruff: what do you take away from all this, ilya shapiro? >> i look at another couple of changes during the day's questioning with al franken about arbitration, and with ben sass, about the same top and i can it goes towards how some judges are more willing to bend the law to achieve a just result because otherwise they don't like the result they're getting. franken was talking about how arbitration provisions might go against the little guy, and ben sass said i might agree with you in the cases you're presenting so we, senators, congress, should change those laws. that's where the debate is. sometimes reaching a result that seems unjustice is often opportunity for congress to change it. >> the question is what the interpretation of the arbitration act is. the current supreme court, with a republican majority, h

durbin: i am pleased to to welcome secretary mattis in general the referred i have respect for both the outstanding leaders in give special welcome to the first testified for the subcommittee. we have been at war 16 years in the total can be measured in many ways. more than 6,900 americans have given their lives in iraq and afghanistan more than 52,000 wounded. clinics and hospitals serving 2.5 million veterans from these wars. taxpayers have provided 1.8 trillion dollars to support the men women for continue to serve. i have four concerns. first, the proposal appears to do very little to restore readiness of armed forces in the short term. congress has already address $5 billion it requested funds in the pending defense appropriations bill. of the remaining funding only billion is for near-term training and maintenance. in addition we are not being told this package will accelerate the timeline for the services to recover their readiness. the $5 billion in overseas contingency operations funding is being requested without a strategy to support it in fact, the president's new counter is

durbin. >> thank you mr. chairman pic as my staff to explain it twice because i wanted to make sure i understood. under the budget control act if we give you, let's put oh over here come if we give you $25 billion more to the department of defense and the supplemental request the budget control act will require the department of defense to do a 5% across-the-board cut in order to make up for that 25 billion that is being sent to you. that of course makes no sense whatsoever. i can imagine that you want to go through that exercise so my question to you is this. did you consult with omb before the supplemental request was made to congress? >> senator lee consulted extensively with them on our requirements and the mechanism for how to address this as you point out is complicated and i would take no issue with how you characterize the budget control act and sequestration. i'm aware of its senator. it's not something i can give you a solution for that my position on the executive branch and the department of defen

and i have to correct myself, senator durbin,' not smith versus maryland. that's third party doctrine, it's employment division versus smith we're talking about. i apologize to you for that. >> well, i'm glad to hear you answered my question the way you did. i expected that you would but that seems to be implied in some of the questioning that you're getting. you look through the litigants are, and who you would like to win, the little guy as we've heard and i'll get to that again in a minute, and then go back and try to justify the outcome, but i agree with you, that's not what good judges do. i want to return briefly to, i know something you've talked to senator feinstein and senator durbin abo again to giveou every opportunity to make sure this is crystal clear. i remember back when george w. bush was president of the united states, there was a practice of signing statements that went along with his signing legislation into law, that was criticized by some of our friends on the other side of the aisle, as somehow undermining congress's intent or the pres

senator durbin, it's not smith versus maryland. that's third party doctrine. it's employment division versus smith. i apologize to you for that. >> i'm glad to hear you answer my question the way you did. i expected that you would. but that seems to be implied in some of the questioning that you are getting. you look at who the litigants are and who you would like to win, the little guy, as we've heard, and i'll get to that again in a minute, and then go back and try to justify the outcome, but i agree with you. that's not what good judges do. i want to return briefly to -- i know something you have talked to senator feinstein and senator durbin about. again, just to give you every opportunity to make sure this is crystal clear. i remember back when george w. bush was president of the united states. there was a practice of signing statements that went along with his signing legislation into law that was criticized by some of our friends on the other side of the aisle as somehow undermining congress's intent or the president's own signature enacting a bill into

the best lawyer in the country in this history came from your state senator durbin and he did not ever go to law school. he always had the best way to become a lawyer, read the books. it is still true. other countries around the world do not have three years of postgraduate legal education. this is for justice scalia and i have an agreement. he thought three years was necessary for everybody. i am not convinced. in england where i studied, you could become a lawyer through three years of an undergraduate degree or one year as a postgraduate degree all followed by a lot of on-the-job practical training. i wonder whether all that debt is worth it or whether it induces people to pick jobs that they have to pick to pay their debt rather than to serve the people they would like to serve. those are the problems i talk about and that article. >> judge, you make this statement. "the rules sometimes yield more nearly the opposite of their intended result. expensive and painfully slow litigation that it itself a form of injustice." can you think of many things more unjust for people of modest me

. >> that will happen in the second part because we'll have senators whitehouse, durbin, franken. those are people that will come back much stronger and would probably happen during the morning is that several people from the progressive base were going nuts. they're saying why don't you follow-up more? they're probably going to help, you know, pin them down more. the most awkward time came when senator feinstein was asking about some of his torture detainee information. you can read them. >> you don't ask someone a question about a document and then not show them a document. senator feinstein, as wonderful a history as she has, you have to ask people questions in the right way. >> all right. everybody stand by. there's a lot more coming up. other major developments today. the future of health care repeal and replace now on the line. a big house floor vote coming up. the president was up on capitol hill meeting with republicans making his case for the legislation. we'll update you on that and a lot more right after this. obiots can often help. try digestive advantage. it is toughe

>> senate minority whip dick durbin spoke about his opposition to the travel ban monday evening on the senate floor. here's a look. >> earlier today, president trump signed a new executive order that bans travel to the united states from a new list of muslim georgia countries, and bands are refugees. this new executive order includes cosmetic changes, but alter theges to not fact that the travel ban is still unconstitutional and still inconsistent with the values of this nation. playsxecutive order directly into the isis that the united states is waging a war against a religion. the president's first travel ban was blocked by multiple federal courts and his latest, i hope will face the same fate. consider how we have arrived at this point. during his first full week inn -- in office president trump , signed his first executive order banning muslims and refugees. this order order resulted in l -- chaos and airports across the country. dozens of legal immigrants were detained, not because they did anything wrong or they were any danger to our nation, solely because of where they came fro

beliefs, was mostly cordial throughout the day but there were several exchanges like this one with dick durbin >> do you believe situations come cost to employer of maternity leave can justify an employer asking applicants and not male applicants about family plans. >> those are not my words and i would never have said them. >> i asked if you agreed with the statement. >> i'm telling you i don't. >> he repeatedly said he would not give any rubberstamp for the president, note issue moving against him. the questioning does wrap up today, a number of witnesses with the senate judiciary committee about neil gorsuch and that could take another day as well. abby: he had such a call demeanor. >> a lot of the time it is very boring. something that is fun to talk about, chairman chuck grassley in his 80s. >> twitter had a heyday with this, after eight hours of questioning, the chairman of the judiciary committee, and gathering the colleagues at 8:00 p.m. at 9:00 pm. and take a break, at the local diner, and a notoriously early writer. much less when you are 83 years old. >> when you look like that at 8

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durbin: mr. president, allow me to take a moment of the senate's time to say thank you and farewell to an exceptional person. ed agree -- greeley was my chief of staff for 17 years and he was a trusted friend. i was not unique in that regard. ed had thousands of friends. i used to marvel walking through the capitol with ed. he knew everybody and everybody knew him. not just the members of congress and their staff. cafeteria workers, carpenters, capitol police officers, and certainly senators, congressmen and their staff. he was a beloved member of the senate community, and what a smart fellow he was. during my first ten years in the senate when ed was my chief of staff, he was an unfailing source of wise and thoughtful advice. some people are drawn to congress because of what they think or the perks and power that come with this job. that's not what attracted ed. for ed, being a good public servant was always a privilege. he avoided the spotlight. he was there to help people and to help move amer

durbin: mr.president, on behalf of senator shaheen of new hampshire, i ask unanimous consent that sonia tarantola, foreign policy fellow in her office be given floor privileges for the remainder of the 115th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, in recent weeks we've seen an astonishing series of revelations about russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election in support of the donald trump campaign. last week "the washington post" reported that attorney general jeff sessions met with the russian ambassador in july and september during the campaign. yet during his confirmation hearing, the attorney general said, and i quote, incidentally said this under oath and i quote, i did not have communications with the russians, closed quote. then last thursday the attorney general announced he would partially recuse himself from any investigation into the presidential campaign. i note this was a partial recusal when it comes to investigat

after all, as senator durbin has said, how can you not like someone who cusses like a choir boy?harge skplet tifs deleted, bob would smile and say, geez. or maybe if he was really steamed, dag nabit. a conciliatory influence who knew how to work with democrats, bob was also tough and strong wild and he knew how to swing votes. without his skill we could never have helped president reagan achieve his 1986 inkuks tax reform. only time our tax system has been completely overhauled successfully. with a deadline approaching, we gathered in our leader's office and began working the phones a to seek support from wary members. it took a lot of calls and it took a lot of horse trading. bill pitts remembers all this. but we got it done. it was classic michel. fair, but very strong. rather than rely on a trait that sadly i'm afraid to say is envogue today, bob's actions always spoke a lot louder than his words. in what now seems to be a long lost approach to governance, bob preferred to reach across the aisle than battle across the aisle. he could and he did disagree agreeably. and so i can

the house session tomorrow atc >>> senator durbin, it is your( chance now.bmit some articles!+w relevant to the subt of the hearing. >> without objection, your?; articles will be entered into the record. judge gorsuch i sat here for the you. my republican colleagues assumed a welllp knownt( strategy of ne asking a questionjf that would hurt the witness and made every and rodeose1 and family. will there myself, and the committee presed you to hadder questions and tried to peel back and the htd carefully guardedm)sona to know whether there ist( a chanc of a beating heart and independent streak inÑi donald trump's mostkb$mportant decisio of the presidency. we were given the publice1 hearg to develop an insight into what it was that made your record so attractive toxd the federalist society,ñr to the heritage sociy a you fended off most of the questions of substance, so wet( turned to the written opinions. i am sure that the press and the public are puzzled out there why we swent so much time talking about a truck drivercxd named alphonseñr madden who was blackb

senator grassely: senator durbin it is your turn. saturday:rbin: -- there is been concern maintaining the reputation of the federal judiciary. it is good we do this. we are the judiciary committee. it is our job among other things to exercise and a gray oversight over the federal judiciary and make sure it is working well, make sure that the laws and the personnel that we have in place are to the task of deciding cases and controversies in the federal court system. i will be the first to acknowledge i don't love every outcome in every case that comes before the federal judiciary. in some cases, decisions made in federal courts are frustrating to me and in some cases i disagree with them, sometimes strongly. and yet, as a lawyer, as a citizen, as one who is interested in the search of things, i can say with confidence that i would stack the federal judiciary up against ny system of its kind anywhere in the world. and i can say with absolute confidence that this is the best there is. it is imperfect because humanbe beings by their natu

one of the most heated exchanges came when dick durbin pressed gorsuch on allegations regarding his views of women in the workplace. >> do you believe there ever situations where the cost to employer of maternity leave can justify an employer asking only female applicants and not male applicants about family plans prayed >> those are not my words and i would never have said them. >> i didn't say that. i asked if you agreed with the statement. >> i'm telling you i don't. >> democrats implied gorsuch would favor big business over average americans and questioned his ability to be independent from the president who nominated him. senator pat lay he pushed on his position on the travel bands. the nominee refused to take the bait. >> i'm not can it give anybody how an idea on how i would rule. it would be improper. >> he assured committee members he wasn't asked and would never promise to rule a specific way in any particular case, including roe v. wade. there was focus on favorable decisions for hobby lobby and little sisters of the poor who challenge the obamacare mandate on the basis that a

a lot to cover this morning, senator durbin. how did neil gorsuch do the first day?uction of the players. it starts today, the contest of ideas and the important questions that will give insight to neil gorsuch and what he will bring to the supreme court. >> what do you want to hear from him? >> i'm going to ask a lot of questions. questions about his rulings and cases, his philosophy, his values. i think many of the things that were brought up in the opening statements will be flushed out in detail. >> senator, neil gorsuch seems like a decent, impressive, conservative judge. looking at the big picture, the only time we are going to get supreme court justice is when we have a president and senate of the same party? i don't know how they could do what the republicans did with major garland. >> put it in perspective. you cannot leave his name off the table. we waited for a year with a vacancy on the supreme court. it was orchestrated to make sure the vacancy would be there in the chance a republican would be elected president. this is not an ordinary circumstance. we

joining us now is a member of the judiciary committee, dick durbin.hat do you want to see happen with president trump's accusations of president obama wiretapping him? >> donald trump is destroying the credibility of the office of president 140 characters at a time. this charge that he has made about some wiretapping before the election without a sin tilla of evidence, has been refuted not only by the former president but the national head of intelligence and the head of the federal bureau of investigations. the republicans in congress still want to take this seriously. why? so they can avoid a serious investigation, an independent, transparent investigation, of the russian involvement in the last election. >> what do democrats do? >> we will continue to press forward. we pressed for the recusal of jeff sessions from this matter, and that virtually has happened and we will confirm that today in the committee, and we want the appointment of a special prosecutor so we have an independent person that will look at the involvement at the russians in the la

the first two here, the volcker rule, which limits trading activities, and the durbin amendment carriesuge costs for the banks and would bring huge windfalls if reversed. the second two, stress testing and holding high levels of capital, those could be relaxed without as big a fight. the reason why, those two issues are issues facing banks having below 5$500 billion in assets. the number of banks in this country that fall below that threshold are in the thousands. they drive main street business lending. analysts say banks between 10 billion and $50 billion in as -- assets will see the biggest improvement. president trump said he would work to improve lending and regulations. big banks have the lobbying, but the small and mid-sized banks seem poised to see the biggest benefits. and today news that the fred approved a merger between peoples united fi ed financial suffolk funneinancial which und the previous regime would have seen a highly scrutinized view of that merger. >> i saw that story and the speed of which that has been approved is something that the smaller banks will welcome mov

we expect when they come back that senator dick durbin will be expected to question. there's a vote in the senate going on and just a short lunch break for what is expected to be a very long day, day number two of the confirmation hearing and a reminder too we will reair the entire hearing tonight over on c-span 2 at 8:00 eastern. >> we'll take you back to the beginning of today's hearing in the first asked questions was of course the chairman chuck grassley. >> welcome back, judge gorsuch. glad to have you back and i'm sure you're glad to be here. good morning, everybody. i would like to welcome everyone and especially our nominee as i just did. this is day two of the supreme court nominee's hearing. we have a long day in front of us. so we will immediately turn to members' questions. it's my intention to get through all members first round of questions today. so it's important that we all stick to our time limits so that we can stay on that schedule. i realize that ten hours is a long time for you to sit there and answer questions for 20 of us, so i'm going to defer

, senator durbin, let's go through the list, senator leahy, really pushing back hard on judge gorsuch but a dozen of them, those i just named and including president obama and hillary clinton and joe biden and john kerry, they all said yes, all of those individuals confirmed and said yes to judge gorsuch for the court of appeals in 2006. >> well, he is a moderate, he's good choice, but thelephant in the room is garland. why didn't garland get the hearings? we wish it was garland. democrats wish it was garland. if you have someone nominated then this is a moderate and i think that's why democrats did support him in the first place. >> do the democrats filibuster because they're angry about merrick garland? >> i sure hope they do. i'd like to see the reed rule applied to the next nominee. neil gorsuch is going to glide through. this so impressive. so in command of the facts and his temperament is so great. he reminds me of some of the top flight judges i've appeared for in front of the 9th circuit. >> kurt, hang on, why the question has been put forward on our network today, why would t

senator durbin pressed him on that questioning. he asked him again some question about women taking advantage of things in the workplace. judge gorsuch said to him, indidn't say those words. senator durbin didn't said i said you did. i wanted to know where you agreed with him. he said, i'm telling you, i do not. it was forceful, shep. >> shepard: shannon bream covers the court for us. we'll have a complete report tonight on special report with bret baier. judge gorsuch needs support of 60 senators. the republicans have 52 votes. eight democrats need to vote for him. what happens if they don't? well, republicans can then use what is called the nuclear option to get the job done. peter doocy is outside the meeting room. i thought it interesting when lindsey graham of south carolina seemed to have a little talk, sort of a side bar with the democrats saying, look, you put us in this position. go through that for us. >> he did. the point that senator graham was trying to make, to democrats, if you think that gorsuch is qualified, you sh

amy: kristen clarke, your response to his answer to dick durbin?> you know, there is a 2005 article that judge gorsuch wrote in the national review called "liberals and lawsuits." in that article, judge gorsuch claims american liberals have become obsessed with using the courtrooms as a place to vindicate their rights they should be looking to elected officials. and i find that view deeply problematic. throughout our nation's history when we look at the role of the supreme court, this has been the place where we have seen rulings that have helped to transform our nation and breathe life into the constitutions text. this is the place where the battle against school desegregation played out. this is the place where battle over interracial marriage and whether it is legal has played out. this is the place where marriage battle was fought and won. it is not clear to me that judge gorsuch appreciates the centrality of the supreme court as a forum of last resort for victims of discrimination in our country. responseudge gorsuch's during that exchange yes

he's greeting senator durbin. the pleasantries being exchanged. >> john cornyn taking a picture. >> it's the first inning but neil gorsuch is up by several runs. >> let's take in the scene from capitol hill. >> i don't see a lot of federal judges fist bump. the huge population behind judge gorsuch, a lot of it made up of his former clerks who served him over the years. sure sounds like somebody has an electronic device by the microphone so we can look forward to that vibrating throughout the hearing. last minute pep talk from his wife. waiting for senator chuck grassley to be seated. judiciary committee has many of theost prominent mes in the senate. >> still waiting for some seats to get filled in. among the democrats, dick durbin is there. grassley was -- >> i'm waiting for a very important member of the committee to arrive before we start. >> that's not me. [ laughter ] >> leahy taking his seat. some of the senior most members of the senate, period, in terms of their service. leahy, orin hatch among their polit

mike durbin/berkeley pd the second officer felt that he was going to get ran over. possibly killed and decided to discharge his firearm at the suspect vehicle.>just after noon tuesday, berkeley police responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle along addison. at least one officer tried to approach the car. the vehicle fled from the officer and the officer actually pursued the vehicle and found it here.>the silver mercedes was found abandoned here near channing way and fourth street. bullet holes clearly visible. according to witnesses, the suspect was last seen running northwest along channing toward aquatic park. he was described as a black man in his 20s or 30s wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt. police searched the area for several hours but couldn't find him.finally, several shots were fired at the suspect's vehicle but it's unclear at this point if the driver was wounded. in richmond, charles clifford kron 4 news. (steve) fire investigators are still working to determine what sparked a massive fire at a residential motel in vallejo -