south dakota senator john thune led republicans who strongly oppose the internet measure, and waves of demonstrations have ignited across the nation in recent months expressing support for internet traffic regulations and more government protections. a vote on fcc chairman tom wheeler's proposals is scheduled for thursday. >>> the white house is pushing back against multiple reports that there was a breakthrough in nuclear talks with iran. press secretary josh earnest says it's just not true that the u.s. and other world powers were negotiating a ten-year nuclear freeze with iran. that, of course would have been less than the 20 years that u.s. officials pushed for initially. >>> and over on capitol hill secretary of state john kerry defended the talks with iran before a senate committee. and he appeared to take a swipe at israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who is one of the most outspoken critics of the negotiations. >> the president has made clear -- i can't state this more firmly -- the policy is iran will not get a nuclear weapon. and anybody running around right now jumpin

senate republican conference chairman john thune making it clear that the republicans intend to givek to the house and deferred to the president. he said that i think it's going to come down to is the house figures out what they can move. because clearly we do not have a bill over here appropriations bill demonstrating that we are not going to get the votes necessary to move through the senate. and this includes legislation to ensure that companies are not using that program to replace existing american workers with foreign labor. all of that comes out to reports of southern california edison using the visa system to replace workers with guest workers. our next guests is leaving congressman dear liza member of the house foreign affairs committee and it's great to have you with us, congressman. >> thank you for having me on. the second issue is one that is very timely. companies are abusing the h1b visa system, they are undermining american jobs, i believe very strongly that we should import the best and the brightest from around the world and put them to work but not to displace amer

and senate republican conference chairman john thune making it very clear the republicans intend to give that hot potato back to the house and defer to the president. he said, "i think it's going to come down to if the house figures out what they can move because clearly we don't have a bill over here. appropriations bills originate in the house, and it's been demonstrated now that we're not going to get the votes that are necessary to move it through the senate." congress also considering reforms to the h-1b visa program and legislation that ensure that companies aren't using that program to replace existing american workers with lower-cost foreign labor. all of this comes after reports that southern california edison is using h-1b visas to replace 500 american workers with guest workers. and our next guest calls the move deeply disturbing. southern california edison by the way, part of his district. and joining us is leading congressman darrell issa, member of the house judiciary committee, the house foreign affairs committee, and great to have you with us, congressman. >> well thanks

senator john thune has a bill, but to pass it he needs some help. >> it's going to require that some of these democrats that have been giving us the stiff arm at the encouragement of the administration decide to come to the table and hopefully work with us. >> reporter: but instead of asking 535 elected members of congress to set up new rules for the entire internet, the administration wants five political appointees at the fcc to do so. unlike political fights over issues such as immigration or the budget, this could impact everyone with an internet connection. >> broadband barons, sounds like a softball team. >>> a judge in texas has sentenced the killer of chris kyle and chad littlefield to life in prison without parole. prosecutors portrayed former marine eddie ray ralph as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong. ralph's attorneys say he was suffering from psychosis at the time of the hearings. >>> up next why president obama could not get his buddy, rahm emanuel, over the hump in chicago. >>> ktby in anchorage as alaska becomes the third state to legalize recreational ma

this senate commerce science and transportation committee is cheered by john thune of south dakota. >>> the panel is here to talk about railroad issues as 2013/2014 services are highlighted. rail service is critical to our nation's economy. south dakota farmers scrambled creating grain shortages for the record breaking wheat, corn and soy bean crops that we've had in our state. they were not limited to the north/central united states, they also extended across the country. thankfully this winter's weather has provided improvements but there's still work to be done. i was pleased that they have joined us for today's hearing. i look forward to hearing from dave john, the chief operating officer, which is the largest class two railroad in the country with over 100 region railroads about the problems and opportunities that they face. from ethanol to coal to agriculture agriculture. the u.s. department of transportation notes that freight rail moves roughly 40 tons per person each year. as a nation we rely on cost-efficient service to move food and products on a daily basis. it is costly.

south dakota republican senator john thune saying, quote, i'm glad the court agreed as this case makes way through the legal process, senate democrats have a responsibility to do that their filibuster of the house paced dhs funding bill. chuck schumer saying this procedural ruling in our opinion is very unlikely to be upheld but regardless of the outcome, democrats remain united in our belief that funding for the department of homeland security should not be used as a ransom by republicans, period, so the standoff appears likely to continue. >> we'll see who it hurts. thanks. >>> suspect youaccused of gunning down a mother of four in a road rage case is still on the loose and now relatives are willing to offer up that are classic came are to find the suspect. >>> coming up on the bottom of the hour and to which thep of the news. t are classic came are to find the suspect. >>> coming up on the bottom of the hour and top of the news. doers they don't worry if something's possible. they just do it. at sears optical, we're committed to bringing them eyewear that works as hard as they do. r

republicans led by senator john thune were staunchly opposed, calling it obamacare for the internet. we begin with capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. a lot of political news covered in that setup. bottom line a number of headlines and opinion pieces out, seeing the series of victories for the president at a time when many thought he might be weakened against a republican controlled congress. >> well it all comes down tamron, to the simple math that while republicans control congress they don't have enough votes to do just what they want. they do need democrat support in the senate to get to the magic 60 we have seen. you talk about net neutrality, the reality is republicans are for keeping the internet unregulated. democrats want to see that public utility type sort of regulation so that no one can buy their way to faster lanes on the internet if you will and they don't have democratic support for that. that seems to be going nowhere. when it comes to dhs funding, a lot of republicans don't like where this is. i spoke to a senior republican who said he didn't campaign around

senator john thune nice to see you sir. >> nice to see you greta. >> what's your thoughts what's going on with jordan the white house, isis? >> well, it's a level of depravity and evil that's really without precedent. and i think we have to identify who our enemy is that seems one thing that the white house is really reluctant to do. these are terrorists. and we saw an example, another example today of the barbaric lengths they goal to make a statement. what it does point out is how important it is that we have a comprehensive strategy to defeat them. and that's something that our president our commander and chief doesn't seem willing to put forward. >> is it possible to sort of summarize how the u.s. senate feels? i'm including democrats on that? are they different idea and strategy and how to do it or whether we should have involvement or more r. more and more the senate getting more unified view of this? >> i think there is a growing frustration even among democrat in the senate about the administration's sort of fecklessness in dealing with this threat. and, you know, we see it pla

we had john thune, senator, talk about why he is not going to be challenging this by congressional voteit look, unless we can get any democrats we're not even going to bother to bring it to them. does it bother you republicans are not doing more to object to these new rulings? >> i think senator thune has been a leader on this issue. i think he is pointing out realities of what how congress is operating at this moment but he has been strongly concerned about the impacts of our decision and going forward. i know we'll have a congressional hearing in a couple weeks that will get to articulate these views and his views stronger going forward. david: fcc commissioner michael o'rielly, commissioner, thank you very much for coming. >> thank you so much for your time. david: please come back again. >> absolutely. david: we've been asking you by the way if you think the fcc got it right or wrong today? dave said it is purely political. has nothing to do with technical or other soundness there. is still time to join the conversation. send us a message or facebook or tweet us. more of your answer

and john thune said it's a power grab. >> well i-- you know, i respect their opinions but i disagree. of all, this is modeled after-- it's interesting, i came out of the wireless industry, and the wireless industry has had rules like this for some time, since 1993, and it has been terrifically successful in raising $300 million in capital and building a vibrant competitive business. that's the kind of model that the internet is going to be able to have. rules that are in place that say here's what we expect and provide certainty and encourage investment. the congress you know has-- the congress makes our rules. i look forward to working with the congress on these issues. i have talked to all the leadership of congress in telecommunications in the last 24 hours, and i said, "you know, i think these rules by us putting out these rules, it creates some certainty in terms of what the debate is about rather than these ethereal kind of concepts that have been kick around." >> ifill: part of the uncertainty-- is it opens a pandora's box there's no way to future-proof what you're doing from e

senate commerce committee chairman john thune and house of representatives energy and commerce chairman fred upton did the same. and according to a survey last week i respected them accredit polling firm, 79% of the american people favor making this public. but still the sec has insisted on keeping it behind closed doors. we have to pass president obama 317 page plan to the american people can find out what is in it. we should be an independent agency based on the record. we shouldn't be [inaudible] by the white house. and we should've released this plan to the public corporate in that impact and then there was no need for us to resolve that matter today. there is no immediate crisis in the internet marketplace that demands immediate action. the backers of the president's plan noticed, but they also know that the details of this plan cannot stand out of the light of day we know that the more the american people are aware about it, the less they will like it. that is why this plan was developed behind closed doors at the white house and why it has remained hidden from public view. these

other republicans like john thune and fred upton are working on trying to find some kind of compromise with democrats so they can avoid this title to utility style regulation. that is happening on capitol hill. providers like at&t, verizon are probably going to challenge the new rules in court. you will have the challenge on capitol hill, the challenge and the court. host: what can happen on capitol hill? host: can the republicans legislate this away? caller: i don't think they can legislate net neutrality away because president obama would veto the bill. the real question is how far the republicans would be willing to compromise. they are working on a bill that would address many of the concerns that the advocates of net neutrality would want, like preventing writers from blocking websites or slowing down traffic. it would impose those kinds of rules while also stopping the fcc from using this broader utility style authority, making the internet into a telecommunications service. there is potentially some ground for copper mice, but we will see because a lot of democrats have been wor

senate commerce committee chairman john thune and house committee -- house of representatives committeehairman john upton did the same. 79% of the american people favor making the document public. but still, the fcc has insisted on keeping it behind closed doors. we have to pass president obama's 317 page plan so the american people can find out what is in it. this is not how the fcc should operate. we should be an independent agency, making decisions in a transparent manner based on the law and the facts and the record. we should not be a rubber stamp for political decisions made by the white house. and we should have released this plan to the public, solicited their feedback, incorporated that input into the plan and then proceeded to a vote. there was no need for us to resolve this matter today. there is no immediate crisis in the internet marketplace that demand immediate action. the backers of the president's plan know this but they also know it cannot stand up to the light of day. they know the american people -- that the more they know about it, the less they will like it. that i

senate commerce committee chairman john thune and house of representatives chairman did the same.rding to a survey last week by a respected democratic polling firm 79% of the american people favored making the document public. still, the fcc has insisted on keeping it behind closed doors. we have to pass president obama's 317-page plan so the american people can find out what's in it. this isn't how the fcc should operate. we should be an independent agency making decisions in a transparent manner based on the law and the facts in the record. we shouldn't be a rubber stamp for political decisions made by the white house. and we should have released this plan to the public solicited their feedback incorporated that input into the plan and then proceeded to a vote. there was no need for us to resolve this matter today. there is no immediate crisis in the internet marketplace that demands immediate action. now, the backers of the president's plan know this. but they also know that the details of this plan cannot stand up to the light of day. they know that the more the american peopl

grill all five communications commission members on march 18th in oversighté@ according to chairman john thuner the questions about the net neutrality order expected to be approved today. the regulations expected to be approved in a 3-2 vote. the new rules would reclassify broadband internet as a communications service and it gives the commission more authority to enforce internet rules meant to prevent internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic to any website while also preventing companies from negotiating deals for priority access. the meeting about to get under way here live on c-span3. [ applause ] [ applause ] >>> the world is not going to believe that we did not coordinate coordinate. okay. there's some things in life -- [ laughter ] >> the only reason i said that, it's normally -- >> i know. good things come to those -- >> got it.aá$ here he comes. >> we are all gathered. good morning. welcome to the february meeting of the federal communications commission. ma'am secretary, good morning to you. would you please introduce today's agenda?lp >> today, you will hear two i

that luncheon has been put together by republican conference chair john thune and senator chuck schumer. it will be hosted by senator susan collins who will be the first formal joint lunch for the party caucuses in nearly two years. the senate will return at 2 p.m. eastern. at some point there could be a procedural vote on the house passed homeland security spending bill. yesterday the senate failed to move forward with the bill. that measure also block funding for president obama's executive order on immigration. now we will take you live to detroit where former florida governor jeb bush will be discussing tax reform, middle-class issues and the economy today. this event is hosted by the detroit economic club and should be getting underway in just a few moments. >> [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> as you can see we are live in detroit. the detroit economic club today hosting a speech i former florida governor jeb bush. mr. bush is expected to talk about tax reform, middle-class issues and the economy. is remarked should be getting underwa

so this senator as one of the coleaders with my chairman, john thune, on the commerce committee, this senator has written to the f.c.c. and has asked them what information the f.c.c. had about the rationale had behind the restrictions placed on the certification of the sting ray the device that were certified by the f.c.c., and whether those similar restrictions have been put in place for other devices because as technology continues to improve, we're going to see a lot of these kind of devices. and whether the f.c.c. inquired about what oversight may be in place to ensure the use of the devices to make sure that the use of the devices complied with the manufacturers representations to the f.c.c. at the time of the protection, and we are asking for a status report of the task force that was previously formed to look at these questions surrounding the use of the sting way. now, this is not the last time, mr. president, that we're going to be asking these questions not necessarily about this device the sting ray but there is a multiplicity of devices coming out onto the market, and the

my friend, senator john thune has drafted legislation that would strip the f.c.c.s, along with many of my colleagues i have made -- made it clear that i regard this as a nonstarter. in the weeks and months ahead i and other net neutrality supporters will need to continue to speak out to make sure everyone understands what's at stake, why we stand by the strong rules adopted by the f.c.c. and why we oppose efforts to strip the f.c.c. of authority -- of its authority or to weaken net neutrality protections. this will take a lot of hard work. some folks really just don't get it. back in november, my friend, senator ted cruz, referred to net neutrality as obamacare for the internet. it was a statement that seemed to demonstrate just a basic misunderstanding of what net neutrality is and how the internet works. for that matter, tens of thousands have seen a youtube video in which senator cruz attacked the f.c.c.'s efforts to protect net neutrality -- i'll just pause to note that the video reached so many viewers the reason it did was that it was uploaded to youtube a si