joining me now is congressman joe courtney democrat of connecticut. welcome and thank you for joining us. >> thank you, eliot. >> eliot: you know, i have to start, of course how are folks doing in newtown, in the communities affected? are people finding it harder as the funerals occur day by day? >> the pain of this horrible event on last friday, i again just kind of he can cost and reechoes with each day of multiple funerals for children at any parent, any family can immediately identify with. so the shock is still incredibly deep and intense. and the revulsion of you know, just the way this thing has played out last friday, i think again is really making a level of anger and determination to make sure that it doesn't get brushed under the rug. >> eliot: in a way emotionally, the hardest part will after the funerals when there is nothing but silence. that's most devastating. you heard the clip where republican governors are beginning to say if only teachers were armed. if we had guns in the classroom. if principals had guns. it strikes me as so compl

>> joining me this morning is connecticut congressman joe courtney. good to have you here. the president is speaking in 45 minutes from now to announce this new interagency task force on gun control. he's not expected to announce any new specific gun regulation policy proposals, however, does this suggest to you that some serious policy is coming and coming soon? >> it does. the difference in the political landscape in six days, you know, is dramatic. that's really, i think, not an overstatement. when i was there sunday night at the interfaith vigil, when he was talking, he was very clear. he was not reading a speech or talking points, this was really coming from the heart, and he had a look in his face when he came in, and on that stage, which showed that this is different. this is -- it better be different because the whole world is watching. and, you know, i would just note, you know, vicki soto's funeral today, my niece was her classmate at eastern connecticut state university, and feeling, you know, awe, just human excellence in courage in terms of her actions that day

. >> congressman joe courtney is a democrat from connecticut and he joins us in the studio.e you. do you have any idea what the fresh deal may be? >> no. i mean, the transparency in this process has been zero. and to some degree i think people understand that private conversation is good, but this is moving at an incredible snail's pace given the fact that at some point the public does need to know what's going on and certainly the caucuses who vote on this. >> speaker boehner's caucus needs to know. >> absolutely. >> i mean, do you think, for example, that the president may have given some where perhaps in relation to, i don't know, qualifying age for entitlements or some other areas they may be seeking some compromise on. >> it's possible. personally, i think that's a really mistaken policy, but having said that, i mean, i think listening to speaker boehner's comments, he forgets the fact that a trillion dollars of cuts was implemented through the budget control act when it was passed in august of last year, and if you look at the affordable care act which they were scream

joining me now is congressman joe courtney, democrat from connecticut and congressman john yomoff, democrat from kentucky. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> let me start with you, congressman, the tragedy happened in your home state. what will we be able to get done? when will we get meaningful gun legislation for those victims. >> well, again, last night, the president laid out the challenge to our country. i think he very powerfully spoke really not just as a political leader, but as a parent that we are failing the test on protecting not only the people of this country but our children. and now the whole world is watching, literally, because they were watching last night. but the people in that room where i was, the brothers and sisters of the victims who were there holding stuffed animals, their parents who, you know, the feeling of bewilderment and grief and the first responders and teachers, they expect us to not just let this thing sort of blow over. we cannot let that happen. the assault weapon ban which is certainly being talked about a lot, i v

joining me, joe courtney and we'll ask the founder of one million moms for gun control what can be donelogically, to stop this from happening again. >>> a report of what went wrong in the benghazi attack that killed a u.s. ambassador. how will this impact secretary clinton's legacy and her future as a potential presidential candidate. don't go anywhere. we're back in a few minutes. ♪ i'd have nothing to prove [ male announcer ] zales is the diamond store. save 25 percent off an amazing selection storewide, now through monday. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. >>> good morning. i'm thomas roberts. topping the agenda, works turning into action. president obama announcing an

joining me by phone is congressman joe courtney of connecticut. welcome, sir.s, alex. >> your congressional direct, not too far from newtown, can you describe the emotions of the people in your state over the past week? >> connecticut, obviously is a small state geographically and -- just being on the road today, veterans events, you know, ribbon ceremonies. subject still dominates and -- you know, on people's minds and -- he expressed it well today. as he said the shock is starting to wear off but the pain still runs very deep. and, frankly, i hope people hold on to some of that pain in terms of just making sure that this doesn't become a story that just, you know, sort of -- ebbs the way or dissipates in that -- people really stay focussed on important questions which the president raised when he spoke at the interfaith vigil. >> you have said that we are failing to protect our children. what's your opinion of the nra's suggestion that armed police officers should be in all schools? >> first of all, it was a very disappointing speech. and -- the education lab

joe courtney, when he spoke, spoke of our colleague chris murphy and the incredible job that he's doneour state. when you hear him speak on the floor about quintessential new england, the community he represented for six years in newtown and the little village of sandy hook, you understand that this is a man who truly represents the people of his district and this great state. all of us have been shocked by the events that have transpired . many things will be said. dick blumen that will, elizabeth -- blumenthal, elizabeth espy, the representative elect, have been there for the last four days. the whole world has looked in on this horrific event, and parents across this country and all across the world understood implicitly what we all fear, the unspeakable. a parent describing a trip in an automobile from bridge port to newtown, racing to get there, to see whether their child was alive, had survived. and the joy when they were able to see their kids, and the complete and utter despair when your child was not one of the kids who came out. chris murphy and dick blumenthal and elizabeth

joe courtney of rhode island -- connecticut. i've made two mistakes today about my colleagues' locale. joe, it's yours. cortland finnegan thank you, congressman gare -- mr. courtney: i understand that there are states bigger than rhode island and connecticut combined. thank you for taking the time on the floor today to spend some time talking about social security, medicare and medicaid. this really is the moment of truth right now. yesterday the republican leadership came out with their package in terms of trying to deal with the so-called fiscal cliff. even though for months they have not really flushed out with great detail where they wanted to see savings, yesterday they did. they came out with a proposal which talked about waiving the eligibility age for medicare from 65 to 67. they talked about recalculating the cost-of-living adjustment for seniors who are on social security. it's the so-called chained c.p.i. which would lower the year in and year out increase for people on social security in terms of keeping up with the c

joe courtney, when he spoke, spoke of our colleague chris murphy and the incredible job that he has done for his district and for our state. when you hear him speak on the floor about quintessential new england and the community he represented for six years in newtown and the little village of sandy hook, you understand that this is a man who truly represents the people of his district and this great state. all of us have been shocked by the events that have transpired . many things will be said, dick blumenthal, elizabeth who is the represent elect have been there for the last four days. the whole world has looked in on this horrific event and parents all across this country and all across the world understood implicitly what we all fear, the unspeakable. a parent describing a trip in an automobile from bridgeport to newtown racing to get there to see whether their child was alive and survived. and the joy when they were able to see their kids and the complete and utter despair when your child was not one of the kids who came out. and chris murphy and dick blumenthal and elizabeth este,

courtney with china. there seems to be a lot of that to try to coordinate. but again coming back to jim steinberg was the fourth member of this panel would happily and armitage and joe knight looking at the die you island dispute, and said they were shocked and surprised why the level of miscommunication, ms. assessment and dangerous of that between china and japan. so it raises them up question of whether or not, i agree. i know china wants respect to whether or not what you are seeing is a strategic game, or tactical game by china to use its potential ms. assessment to kind of look like the unstable part in some of his to basically help push out some interest. and that we've been a little bit. >> steve, i think the essential question is not of domination or respect, it's about whether it will be static of whether it will be dynamic. and there is no way that nations are going to agree on what they are considered to be the point but and you drop a little bit of energy into this thing. and it becomes explosive. as you know -- many of these claims. but the issue really isn't that what the emerging world, whether india, from completely different perspectives. i have se

representative joe courtney.e is awesome. >> the newtown shootings with part of a greater problem. "washington post" abc news 54% in the latest point a five-year high. it has remained at or above 58% since 2008. so that's the latest -- polls show majority support for banning high-capacity ammunition clips. and banning semi automatic handguns. >> yeah. >> stephanie: again, if not -- it's like -- it's like the fiscal cliff, the republicans fighting for these tax cuts for the rich. it's like who are you fighting for? no one wants that. >> yeah, and you have people with a ratings in congress who are saying let's talk about sensible gun control now. >> stephanie: good for them. >> yeah. >> stephanie: forty-four minutes after the hour. right back on the "stephanie miller show." >> announcer: you can't turn her off, not in the middle of turning her on. it's the "stephanie miller show." ♪ getting a nuclear bomb, civil war in syria, fraud on wall street, destruction of medicare and medicaid. there are real issues here. ha