we have from oklahoma, senator james lankford, co-chair of the senate prayer breakfast group. on his other side is my colleague and friend, congressman rich richmond of louisiana, who is also chairman of the congressional black caucus. also in the louisiana section, congressman steve scalise, the majority whip of the house of representatives. [applause] >> next to the person who needs no introduction, but who i will be privileged to introduce is the speaker of our house, my wonderful wife christie holmgren. [applause] >> we are privileged to have senator chris coons of delaware, a host of this event last year as well. next is congresswoman dennings. she rose to become the first female police in the city of orlando. she gets the last word this morning, saying our closing prayer. next is army major scott and his wife tiffany. next is the first lady of rwanda. and next, he is now the executive director of the u.n. world food program. the largest humanitarian organization in the world. thank you for joining us. [applause] please direct your attention to the side screen for an intr

my guest this morning, republican senator james lankford of oklahoma and the progressive independent senator bernie sanders of vermont. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson, democratic pollster cornell belcher, nbc news national political reporter carol lee, and cnbc's rick santelli. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning. if you can remember as far back as tuesday, the week's news cycle began with the nation's intelligence chiefs testifying that russia's continuing to interfere with our elections systems here in 2018 and that president trump hasn't asked them to do anything about it. well, the week ended with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein announcing the indictment of 13 russians, including an oligarch close to putin, and three companies for engineering an elaborate campaign to subvert the 2016 election and support the candidacy of donald trump using social med

senator james lankford. thank you we appreciate your time.tinue to hopefully stay in touch as this immigration debate continues. >> yeah, there's a lot to get done this week, both the senate, white house. >> will royal family, details on upcoming wedding plans of prince harry and meghan markle. live to london for that. next in the "cnn newsroom." it takes to brew your cup. dae first, we head to vermont. and go to our coffee shop. and meet dave. hey. why is dark magic so spell-bindingly good, he asks? let me show you. let's go. so we climb. hike. see a bear. woah. reach the top. dave says dark magic is a bold blend of coffee with rich flavors of uganda, sumatra, colombia and other parts of south america. like these mountains, each amazing on their own. but together? magical. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters packed with goodness. >>> across the pond, the countdown to the royal wedding, which is gist three months and eight days away in case you were wondering, and, tonight, new details about it. let's get

but let's talk about the expanded background checks because james lankford on meet the press yesterdayhe is open to more work on expanded background checks and we can confirm the president himself is in favor of that. are you at all optimistic on some work of expanded background checks? >> well, dave, i certainly hope so. i think most of us have a good idea what the policy should be, again, background checks on private sales that we could also talk about making sure that after the one texas shooting with that one individual had been -- he had been convicted i guess in the military court of justice, the air force, but that information wasn't transmitted to the system and on the men tal health side too, sometimes mental health care practitioners are reluctant to share information with the database out of fear of lawsuit under hipaa. there are things we can do to tighten this up and it's long past due. >> your thoughts real quickly on this ar-15 style rifle. should 18 year old kids be able to purchase those across this country? >> i guess the issue is handgun purchases are 21 and long gun

that is why james lankford and i are working so hard to try to get that funding out there. that is the first bill i want to mention to you guys. 386 million four election security. security.ction peopleires that certain in each state have a secret clearance to receive information. many states did not find out until it went public. talking about this issue for months. we did not know it. illinois got right into the voter security. we have support for this bill from the freedom caucus. mark meadows is carrying a similar version, the identical bills when i did with lindsay. little bit different than the one that senator langford and i have. both of those bills are aimed at this. there was concern on the left and right. if you have a hack somewhere when you have dozens of states that have not updated their election infrastructure equipment in the past decade, do you think russia does not know that? they do. i am not disclosing a secret. on andu have that going you have 10 or 12 states that do not even have backup paper ballots, so there is no way to audit afterwards. the bill s

senator james lankford said was not opposed to stronger background checks, but resisted calls ban certain weapons. >> i have individuals in my neighborhood that own an ar15, that doesn't make it a dangerous neighborhood or them dangerous individuals. the individual thef t the sue no weapon that they're holding. >> sreenivasanthe president is scheduled to hold what's being called a listening session with high school students later this week. sofor more, i'm joined by dearen, who has been covering the marjory stoneman douglas high school shootingedor the associress. he joins us via skype from parkland, florida. >> jason, we're use ed to seeing ancandlelight vij ims but what e vw yesterday wasy different. >> the morning after the shooting while there were stibol ies inside the school students at vigils and in tv interviews ally started venting their anger towards then politics of control and wanting to see change. i've talked to many 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds out here from there high school andthers in the region and there is a lot of fear about the future. about their safety. tod that's

so that next election is 281 tie days are from todays and that is why -- james lankford and i working so hard to try to get that funding out there -- and so that's the first bill i want to mention to you guys. to 86 million for election security that also requires -- information to go to state election officials and so that there are certain people in each state to have that security clearanceai so they could receie that information do you know that, that issue about the 21st states my state didn't find out until it went public. that they had tried to hack into our state. i didn't know it. i've been talking about this this issue for months we didn't know it in the case of illinois i mentioned they got right into the voters security. wesupport for this bill from the freedom caucus go figure, and in the house o mark medicine does is carrying similar version actually the identical bill to one that i had done with lindsay thatat is -- just a very -- a little bit different than the one that senator lankford and i have, and both of those bills are aimed at this because there's concern on th

standing up for seven hours making the case for dreamers, also on the senate side you had it james lankfordoining an independent senator from maine calling for a bipartisan solution. the thing here is that president trump has an opportunity to make a deal for a lifetime. he can get a win, he can have a victory speech and have a parade where dreamers are walking by mr. president thank you for protecting us. >> laura: if he put the dreamers in the military parade, that would be fun. i'd come to that parade and fly every flag known to humanity. >> 900 daca recipients have enlisted or applied to enlist in the army. >> laura: in my view they would all get a path to citizenship. nancy pelosi does have stamina, you've got to handle it to her. she wants at gavel back in her hand, she wants to take back the house. the dreamers come with a latino coalition, they are a key part for the democrats to take back the house of representatives. i think it was as much about that is anything else today. >> absolutely, democrats are constantly putting noncitizens ahead of american citizens which is not exactly

this discussion included a legislative assistant to oklahoma senator james lankford and representatives from the american farm bureau federation and the national cattleman's beef association. from the school of public policy of georgetown university, this is an hour and 20 minutes.

this morning republican senator james lankford suggested the president needs to shift his focus. >> the president has tweeted about the mueller indictments 13 times since friday, including five times this morning, and not once, sir, has he condemned russia. does that bother you? >> it does, because russia has clearly tried to advance their agenda into the united states. the president has been very adamant to say he didn't collude. he's very frustrated that people seem to accuse the fact that the only reason he's president is because of some sort of russian collusion. but i would say the clear message here is russia did mean to interfere in our election in whatever way that might be, starting as far back as 2014 when they were planning, coordinati coordinating, organizing with other russians making sure they try to bring chaos into our election system. >> i want to get back to our panel. sara, it's interesting, because many people have been saying for a long time that the russians have been trying to issue discord and have been successful in doing that, and the president is in disagreeme

and of all the things that james lankford said, i thought he said some hopeful things. no man is above the law. it's so important. and that appears to be at least in the senate, the republicans' belief as well. >> we'll leave it right there. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much, mika, thanks, joe. >>> hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. i've been out for one day and so much has happened. this morning, a shifting timeline. "shifting" is a nice way to put it. president trump's own fbi director's timeline on rob porter contradicts the white house's. >> we closed the file in january. >> did you hear what he said? january. white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders defending the timeline and pointing the finger. >> i can only give you the best information that i have. >> the best information that she has. what about john kelly? the white house insisting the president still has confidence in kelly despite reports of a replacement list being built. >>> on alert. america's top intel leaders laying out ongoing th

follow it into is being done -- a lot of folks are speaking out against that including senator james lankfordican on the senate intelligence committee. these conversations have been ongoing. earlier today president trump tweeting out he feels he has been tougher on russia then the obama administration, but look, i covered that campaign. i remember when james comey had the press conference and he released the memo. you had indictment on friday. another indictment today. no timetable, no warning. we are months out from the election. a lot of folks i talked to feel the investigation as far from over and as a result of that, these indictments could be a political wildcard for quite some time to come. lisa: kevin cirilli, we know you will be covering -- covering them we will be hearing from you. kevin cirilli, thank you so much. all --up, citation are generale's thinker is back. this is bloomberg. ♪ julia: this is bloomberg markets. i am julia chatterley. lisa: and i am lisa abramowicz. a time for the bloomberg business flash, a look at some of the biggest business stories in the news. a loss for

senator james lankford. and on his other side as my colleague and friend cedric richmond of louisiana who is also chairman of the congressional black caucus and in the louisiana section of the head table congressman steve scalise. next to the person who needs no introduction who i will be privilege to introduce in a couple minutes is the speaker of our house my wonderful wife christie helprin. we are privileged to have chris coons of delaware. and host of this event last year as well. she grew up in a working-class family and became a social worker and a law-enforcement officer and rose to become the first female police chief in the city of orlando. she gets a last word this morning saying our closing prayer. thank you to the both to the service of our country. the first lady of a lawanda lawanda who is already let us in prayer. and finally a great friend of this breakfast david beasley he was governor of south carolina from 1991 until 95 and is now the executive director of the un's world feud -- food progr

and of all the things that james lankford said, i thought he said some hopeful things.law. it's so important. and that appears to be at least in the senate, the republicans' belief as well. >> we'll leave it right there. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much, mika, thanks, joe. >>> hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. i've been out for one day and so much has happened. this morning, a shifting timeline. "shifting" is a nice way to put it. president trump's own fbi director's timeline on rob porter contradicts the white

this discussion included a legislative assistant to oklahoma senator james lankford and representatives from the american farm bureau federation and the national cattleman's beef association. from the school of public policy of georgetown university, this is an hour and 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and well coom come t panel. don't let the suit fool you. i am a farm boy from south dakota, which is why i'm super excited about this panel and introducing our great speakers as well as our moderator. my name is joseph schwartz. we all know that agriculture has transformed over the last century. not just how we grow our food but how we move our food and how we trade with other countries. and so leading us through this very important global conversation is adam ferris, a moderator. he's an alumnist at the university of oklahoma and will graduate from the u.s. army work college with a masters in strategic studies in july. so congratulations, adam. the light is at the end of the total. some of the students here are graduating in may in the room. dale moore is the director

. >> oklahoma republican james lankford and delaware democrat chris coons lead a weekly prayer meeting there's kind of a running joke that happens that it's much harder to stab someone in the back after you've prayed for them in the morning. >> they both say words matter. >> can we call that treason? why not. >> on monday mr. trump called democrats un-american for not applauding at the state of the union address. >> what do they say around here? >> they i don't take it as a joke. >> what's troubling is he actually thinks in his mind that we have an obligation to stand up and cheer when he speaks. that might be true for the leader of north korea. it's never been true for the lead over the united states. >> those two senators will play a role in tomorrow morning's national prayer breakfast. what we're still waiting to see is if all this fellowship can lead a packet forwath forward o immigration. so far a lot of talk, a lot of good will, but so far, norah, no plan could pass the senate next week. >> fascinating. nancy, thank you so much. >>> the u.s. will soon unveil what are called the t

james lankford is on stage here. multiple, they always treat me like grandpa here. you ever notice that? neil, it is not the president yet! i understand that, guys. fondness for flannel. i understand! adam shapiro is at this big event. adam, what can we expect out of the president? reporter: well, we expect the president to continue the themes we heard during the state of the union speech. he is going to talk about tax reform and the fact that it put $2,000 on average back into the pockets of average working men and women here in west virginia. here are some excerpts from the speech we'll hear in a few minutes. the president will tell republicans gathered here in in west virginia that we're reaching our hand across the aisle in pursuit of common ground and common sense reforms in good for all americans this is in reference to not only immigration reform and and infrastructure and the potential to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. on immigration reform the president is expected to, that the senate will bring immigration bil

. >> reporter: oklahoma republican james lankford and delaware democrat chris coons lead a weekly senatorsom on the first floor of the capitol. >> i do think it's given us a different kind of relationship. >> there is a running joke that happens that it's much harder to stab someone in the back after you've prayed for them in the morning. >> reporter: they both say words matter. >> can we call that treason? why not. >> reporter: on monday mr. trump called democrats un-american for not applauding during parts of his state of the union address. what does that do to the atmosphere around here? >> a lot of people don't take it as a joke. they take it exceptionally serious. >> the extent that it's troubling suggests he actually thinks in his mind that we have an obligation to stand up and cheer when he speaks. that might be true of the leader of north korea. it's never been true of the leader of the united states. >> reporter: those two senators will play a prominent role in tomorrow morning's national prayer breakfast, but what we're still waiting to see whether all of this fellowship translat

republican james lankford, i a member of the republican leadership, calling it good news.n outspoken advocate for more gun control, saying sign after sign this week that we have hit a full-grown point where politicians are, for the first time, scared of the political consequences of inaction on guns. a small but vital step in the history of our movement. atual -- richard blumenthal little more skeptical, saying president trump knows asking the department of justice to act on gun violence under current law is a recipe for more deadly toays and an affront demanding real reform. democrat from the house, republican president just ignored there are sensible limits to gun rights that do not violate the second amendment and can save lives. he says he hopes his colleagues in congress are taking note. one republican member of ofgress, carlos cabello florida, saying a good first step, but congress must also act. i teamed up to introduce the bipartisan legislation to ban bump stocks. bring it to the floor. we want to hear your thoughts this morning. if you had a chance to be in one o

i would go down the list of republicans, ben sasse, go down the list, james lankford. there aren't many people left except for really sad and pathetic spokes people for donald trump and donald trump himself who are denying this. only people who disagree are donald trump and russia. >> right. >> what are we to make of this? >> and rod rosenstein delivering that press conference. >> another republican. >> been a republican longer than donald trump has. >> they're all republicans. bob mueller has been a republican. james comey has been a republican a lot longer than donald trump has. >> right. i think this indictment obviously blew a hole in one of the president's favorite narratives which is this was a hoax. he retreated over the weekend a little bit. he tries to claim it's not the russian interference that's a hoax. it's collusion between my campaign and the russians. he's clinging to these two lines that rod rosenstein delivered in his press conference. one, there's no allegation in this indictment that americans cooperated and, two, there's no allegation that it chang

you just saw senator chris coons speaking and now senator james lankford will speak and i believe the but first why don't we bring in and keep in mind we may have to interrupt this interview to go back to the president film director rob reiner who is jumping into the debate over russia's meddling into the american election and he sat down with former director of national intelligence james clapper and former cia director john brennan. >> i don't recall anything that gave me viscerally in the pit of my stomach a more uncomfortable uneasy feeling than when i realized what the russians were doing. >> we knew there experience that the russians had many different of methods of influencing elections. >> but never, never this aggressive director multidimensional. i believe that his first reaction to it was this caused a question about the legit maets of his election. >> as long as he continues to refute the unanimous assessment about what they did, it undercuts any effort to deal with it strategically and thoughtfully. >> the interviews are featured in a new video put out this morning by the

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable james lankford, a senator from the state of oklahoma, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader of the senate. mr. mcconnell: i call for regular order. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 1892, an act to amend title 4, united states code, to provide for the flying of the flag at half staff in the event of a first responder in the line of duty. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: whraf -- what we've experienced today is a long debate about how we should spend our money. i said repeatedly it is a terrible, rotten way to spend your money, terrible way to budget your money, terrible thing to lurch from deadline to deadline. basically congress lurches to deadline. so congress lurches basically from deadline to deadline. then congress waits until the last minute and then gloms the spending together in one enormous bill. when that bill comes forward, though, at th