the chair of the committee john barrasso suspended committee rose to move the nomination to the senate floor. this is 10 minutes. >> the committee is called to order. we are reconvening our business meeting to consider nomination of attorney general scott pruitt to be epa administrator. yesterday the minority members of the committee chose to boycott this business meeting. it is disappointing that they chose that course of action. we will not allow it to obstruct. as i stated yesterday this committee has conducted an extremely thorough and fair process of reviewing attorney general's pruitt's nomination. that includes hearing of length, number of kwegs and timely responses. it is unprecedented to delay for incoming president to this extent. we had an election last november. the people spoke and now it is time to set up a functioning government. that includes a functioning epa. to do that this committee has to do its work. so at this time i ask for a motion to suspend rules 2 a, 4 and 8 of the rules of the environment and public works committee for the duration of this business meeting.

republican senator john barrasso, who sits on the foreign relations committee joins me next to talk about what it means for this important u.s. alliance. per roll more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper audi pilotless vehicles have conquered highways, mountains, and racetracks. and now much of that same advanced technology is found in the audi a4. with one notable difference... ♪ the highly advanced audi a4, with available traffic jam assist. ♪ testinhuh?sting! is this thing on? come on! your turn! where do pencils go on vacation? pennsylvania! (laughter) crunchy wheat frosted sweet! kellogg's frosted mini-wheats. feed your inner kid >>> president trump setting his global agenda this week, making it clear that alliances, agreements and the status quo are all under review. >>> iraa rocky relationship wit mexico, a threat to iran that it's not off the table and now reports of an angry call with au

here to talk about that, republican senator john barrasso of wyoming. a member of the foreign relations committee. senator, thanks for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. >> pretty extraordinary. i don't know if you know ron bangene. highly respected conservative republican spokesman. the white house asked him to help work with gorsuch to get him confirmed through the senate. kelly ayotte, former republican senator from new hampshire. she lost, but she's the sherpa or the coordinator, helping him get confirmed. both of them, they are both credible, said that gorsuch did describe the president's words as disheartening and demoralizing. and the president is denying that. how do you explain that? >> it says to me that everybody ought to vote for neil gorsuch for the supreme court because it shows how independent he is. not only highly qualified and mainstream. he's independent. i briefly visited with him this morning as he was heading to susan collins' office. he's going to be a terrific member of the supreme court. i support him all the way. >> why does the pres

later, john barrasso on the fate of obamacare.'re watching "squawk box" here on cnbc. bpngineers use robotic ulasndechnoly, tcatect d reirorrosion bpngineers use robotic ulasndechnoly, foer comea m. de >>> welcome back to "squawk box." we are back with investing legend ron baron. when we left off, we were talking about under armour, but we also were talking about elon musk. i want to move to tesla, the company that is, which is to say you have been a big supporter of elon musk and tesla for a long time. do you continue to be so, and are you buying more? >> well, as i said, i can't tell you what i'm buying now. we report once a quarter. but we have bought about 106 million shares over a 3 1/2-year period of time. our average cost is about $208 a share. so it's a $300 million investment. i think that in 2020 that we're going to make from present prices four times our money. i think that in 2025, we can make another triple. and in 2030, it could be another triple. i get this 15-year time horizon. i think this is potentially 30 times.

capitol hill and also the white house statement on iran, i want to bring in republican senator john barrassooming. thank you for taking time for us. i know it's a crazy, busy afternoon there. >> kate, great to be with you. thanks for having me. >> can i start with the breaking news this afternoon, and that is over at the white house, i'm sure you've heard by now, the national security adviser general mike flynn, came out and delivered what he called putting iran on notice. president trump said that when he was campaigning that they would dismantle the iran nuclear deal. are we seeing the beginnings, the first steps of that today? >> well, i hope we are because i will tell you, iran with a nuclear weapon makes the world less safe, less stable, less secure. and after president obama went around congress, ignored the will of the american people to do this iran deal, of great concern, and this is a deal iran basically has refused to comply with, and president obama refused to enforce. so, i'm happy to see and now today as you know, we just got rex tillerson confirmed to be secretary of state. bi

. >> john barrasso is a member of the senate foreign relation committee.ny thought about the president and member of his party today. >> i think he right in terms of the fact he inherited a mess. whether it's syria, russia or iran, north korea, china, the economy of so many people struggling, sacrificing under the economy, i'll tell you the health care law that the obama pass is collapsing and we have to do something. >> one of the things i thought notable is that when president trump took office, the economy ad the 227,000 job and unemployment rate hovering around 4.8. when president obama, the unemploymented level was hoe vering -- >> president obama over that time put out many regulation that made it harder for the -- >> will you not give him credit for pulling us out of that down swing, president obama. >> he did a massive spending -- they turned out to be not shovel ready. i agree president trump inherited a mess. >> will concede they both inherited a mess? >> yes. you want -- >> he was attorney general of oklahoma and he did a wonderful job of protec

despite republican promises to repeal obamacare, let's discuss this with wyoming republican senator john barrasso. good morning, senator. >> good morning, alisyn. thanks for having me. >> great to have you. is the plan to repeal obamacare over? >> absolutely not. i'm committed, even though obamacare cannot be fixed, health care in america has to be fixed. i'm committed to finding long-term solutions to help patients get the care they need from a doctor they choose at lower costs. >> got it. it sounds like the language has shifted to instead of wholesale repeal, repair what you have. >> we need to repeal the health care law and replace it with things that actually provide relief for the people hurt by the health care law. that's how i look it as a doctor who has practiced medicine for 25 years. so many people in my home state of wyoming had insurance that they like, prices went way up. it was canceled because of the obamacare regulations. we want to get the decisions out of washington. i want patients to make those decisions, put the decisions at the state level, give much more freedom, flexibilit

melissa: joining me now to react republican senator john barrasso from wyoming. he is the chairman of the environment and public works senate committee. let's start where peter left off because that is your territory. we're talking about the epa picks and democrats walking out on pruitt. what will happen next there? >> well scott pruitt will be voted favorably out of committee and he will be confirmed as the head of the epa. he is the right person to turn around the direction of the epa. look, this needs to be modernized, updated, improved. the epa has lost its way. it caused huge contamination the epa itself caused. i'm so delighted that scott pruitt as attorney general of oklahoma has been nominated. we'll get him to the floor and we'll get him confirmed and at work soon. melissa: their chief complaint scott pruitt he didn't answer questions sent his way. i did a little digging. they submitted 1078 questions to him to answer, which seems a little bit excessive. you would blame them for that maybe. at the same time, you did something very similar when it came to

before the state public works community including delaware and wyoming and colorado, and chairman john barrasso serves as is the rea n ranking member. >>> good morning. i call this hearing to order. president trump has made improving the nation's infrastructure a top priority. infrastructure is critical to the nation's prosperity. the senate and the environment and the public works commitment has jurs disdiction over the highways and the roads, and the dams and roads. this allows things to go from the heartland to the coast, and they provide protection to rural and urban communities that save lives. and in addition, they have infrastructure that is modernization. it does not matter the setting of rural or not. the impact is going to be particularly counter productive if they do not apply the kif frens of urban and rural. our committee has members from both the rural and urban areas. newport, rhode island, and wheatland,

. >>> john barrasso joining katy tur to talk about all of president trump's foreign policy moves in hisst 12 days. had. the classes, the friends, the independence. and since we planned for it, that student debt is the one experience, i'm glad she'll miss when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. ameriprise ...stop clicking around...travel sites to find a better price... the lowest prices on our hotels are always at hilton.com. so pay less and get more only at hilton.com. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these ty

a friend of mine, great friend of mine, john barrasso. epa so-called waters of the united states rule is one of the worst examples federal regulation, and it has truly run amok, and is one of the rules most strongly opposed by farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers all across our land. it's prohibiting them from being allowed to do what they're supposed to be doing. it's been a disaster. the clean waters act says the epa is navigate navigable waters, meaning waters that affect interstate commerce. a few years ago, the epa decided navigable waters can mean every puddle or every ditch on a farmer's land or anyplace else they decide. it was a master power grab. the epa regulators were putting people out of jobs by the hundreds of thousands and regulations and permits started treating our wonderful farmers and small businesses as if they were a major industrial polluter. they treated them horribly, horribly. if you want to build a new home, for example, you have to worry about getting hit with a huge fine. if you fill inasmuch as a puddle

senator john barrasso about one roadblock. >> the leadership of the minority chose to do a blanket boycottmany of the president's nominees in committees across the senate regardless of their merit. the minority wants political theater. the nation needs a new epa administrator. tiki barber running hambone!a barber shop?t hut! yes!!! surprising. yes!!! what's not surprising? how much money david saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. who's next? >> shannon: breaking news on the ongoing confirmation battles, the senate voting to break a filibuster and advanced the nomination of betty devos to become education secretary. her nomination goes to the full senate. a vote likely to happen early next week. devos faces trouble, though, two republican senators say they'll oppose her. if one more republican follows suit her confirmation would likely be defeated. >> one thing that i hear at my town meetings and i have a reputation for having town meetings all over the 99 counties every year for 36 years, when they come up with a question similar to yours, th

individuals and corporations, john barrasso was here yesterday and said we'll get something done thisr. >> melissa: the market is counting on it. all right. a rowdy crowd for one congressman in utah. hundreds of angry constituents with a clear message. what has them all fired up? >> he wants to run for orrin hatch's seat. that's the only reason he is appearing in salt lake county. >> melissa: tempers flair at a republican town hall near salt lake city utah. congressman jason chaffetz tried to hold the open forum but was met by 1,000 angry protestors, some furious over his support for president trump. we're live in denver with more. this was not the homecoming the congressman expected. >> probably not, melissa. not exactly warm and fuzzy. what's more is congressman chaffetz is a conservative from utah. one of the most conservative states in america. so many protestors showed up many couldn't even get in the building angry over taxes by the new president including the executive order limiting travel from seven muslim countries and specific to utah lack of protection for public land. >>

apparently what he talks about is something that senator john barrasso said 45 minutes ago with regardo taxes. it will happen this year. that's what he said. president trump said moments ago that he will make a tax announcement in a few weeks. so that is a bit of a headline that will play out. >> heather: right there at the end of what scott brown was saying. he was saying he has already been doing the work, bringing jobs and getting jobs for americans and so i'm sure he will be talking with airline executives about the economy and jobs today. >> bill: in addition, there is this ongoing back and forth over what judge gorsuch said and what he did not say in his meeting with democratic lawmakers on the senate side. we'll get to all that. squeeze in a quick break here. president trump is on deck next. tech: don't let a cracked windshield ruin your plans. trust safelite. with safelite's exclusive "on my way text"... you'll know exactly when we'll be there. giving you more time for what matters most. (team sing) safelite repair, safelite replace. that's frequent heartburn. it's always lurki

a great friend of mine, john barrasso.er rule is one of the examples of federal regulation that has truly run amuck and of the rules most strongly opposed by farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers across our land. it's prohibiting them from being allowed to do what they're supposed to be doing. it's been a disaster. the clean waters act says the epa can regulate navigable waters. but a few years ago epa decided that could mean every puddle, ditch on a farmer's land or every place else they decide. right? >> yes, sir. >> it was a massive power grab. epa regulators were putting people out of jobs by the hundreds of thousands and regulations and permits started treating our wonderful small farmers and small businesses as if they were a major industrial polluter. they treated them horribly. horribly. if you want to build a new home, for example, you have to worry about getting hit with a huge fine if you fill in as much as a puddle -- just a puddle on your lot. i've seen it. in fact, when it was first shown to me, i said,

before the state public works community including delaware and wyoming and colorado, and chairman john barrasso serves as is the rea n ranking member. >>> good morning. i call this hearing to order. president trump has made improving the nation's infrastructure a top priority. infrastructure is critical to the nation's prosperity. the senate and the environment and the public works commitment has jurs disdiction over the highways and the roads, and the dams and roads. this allows things to go from the heartland to the coast, and they provide protection to rural and urban communities that save lives. and in addition, they have infrastructure that is modernization. it does not matter the setting of rural or not. the impact is going to be particularly counter productive if they do not apply the kif frens of urban and rural. our committee has members from both the rural and urban areas. newport, rhode island, and wheatland, wyoming, and wyoming, delaware. a and the diversity of the towns, and clear and the solutions to pay for closing the roads and the dams and it is not one size fits u all. what w

before i do, i just want to follow up on the comments of my friend, john barrasso, who is the chairman of the environment and public works committee on which we both serve. he is the senior republican and i am pleased, really privileged to be the senior democrat alongside him. and what -- what i would just say in response to senator schumer here, you are perfectly capable of speaking for himself and defending himself, but i would say this -- the -- the question of whether or not judge gorsuch will have a hearing, i think he will have a hearing, he should have a hearing, and the question of whether or not there will be a vote, there will be a 60-vote margin vote, but the last couple of people have been confirmed for the supreme court, both democrats, were confirmed by more than 60 -- than 60 votes. and i don't know judge gorsuch well, but i do know merrick garland pretty well, and i must say i am disappointed that he never got a hearing. although he was nominated by barack obama almost ten months, we have ten months remaining in president obama's term, and not only did he not get a hear

apparently john barrasso, who is ranking republican on committee, he told the white house we'll get thismation or nomination through. not sure how they will do that. to change the rules. do the same thing that happened yesterday. basically said we don't need the quorum. we'll do away with rule that requires that and push the nomination through to the full committee. stuart: that is what republicans are pushed toward. ashley: they have no other choice. stuart: if democrats won't show up, they stalled everything. you can't have that. it is legitimate, change the rules, vote. liz: you can see the backstory to what the democrats plan is. deny the agenda, stop the agenda. then headlines come out, no economic growth, flat line, right. stuart: got it. liz: that is the push. stuart: exactly right, well-done liz. i think we're agreement on this one at least. at least. liz: i agree with juan by the way. stuart: what? liz: let parents choose. let parents walk away from the school. not the government. stuart: why should my taxpayer money go into institution that denies free speech. liz: i'm so sorry

the chair of the committee john barrasso suspended committee rose to move the nomination to the senate floor. this is 10 minutes. >> the committee is called to order. we are reconvening our business meeting to consider nomination of attorney general scott pruitt to be epa administrator. yesterday the minority members of the committee chose to boycott this business meeting. it is disappointing that they chose c