judy: senator john thune of south dakota, thank you very much. we appreciate it. sen. to be with you. thanks, judy. judy: for an opposing perspective on covid relief and the congressional agenda, we're joined by independent senator bernie sanders of vermont. he chairs the senate budget committee. senator sanders, welcome back to the "newshour." i just was speaking with the senate republican whip, john thune. and i want to ask you first about minimum wage, because this is something of enormous importance to you. he said, at this moment, to more than double the minimum wage is going to put more small businesses out of business. and he said he could support something maybe $10 an hour, but not $15. sen. sanders: well, first of all, that's what republicans always say. we have not raised the federal minimum wage in congress since 2007. and it is now at a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour. and that's what they always say, "now is not the time." second of all, what john should know, and i hope he does, is, we're not talking about raising the minimum wage right now from $7.25 to

we're going to talk to john thune on that. first, to peter doocy at the white house with the president saying don't get too enamored with what is happening on the economic front. peter? >> the white house says it's jobs day. despite the positive economic news this morning from that jobs report of biden's first full month in office, they still want that $1.9 trillion worth of stimulus. >> last month, job growth is the result of the december package. without a rescue package, these gains are slow. >> the white house chief of staff writes this. if you think today's jobs report is good enough, know that 379,000 jobs it would take until april 2023 to get back to-with we were and february of 2020. republicans are arguing the opposite. more jobs are being created because more businesses are reopening as states eve covid-19 restrictions. so the republicans are arguing this report is proof, $1.9 trillion in stimulus is not for right now. >> the economy is ready to take off. disposable income is up, savings is up. there's pent-up demand

senator john thune, republican whip of the great state of south dakota.r your time, sir. have a great day. >> thanks, mike. always great to be with you. mike: miami beach officials are enforcing a strict curfew as spring breakers flock to the sunshine city and local small businesses say this is placing an additional burden on them. more on this up next. ♪. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ ♪ ♪ the chevy silverado trail boss. we're made for. when you have a two-inch lift. when you have goodyear duratrac tires. when you have rancho shocks and an integrated dual exhaust. when you have all that, the last thing you'll need... is a r

joining me now, john thune from south dakota. thanks for being here, senator. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: just going back to what you heard the president say there. he said it's so important to pass this because this is the beginning of the rest of our agenda. so not focused on the dollar figures and what is in it but just that politically it's really important. he says we want to demonstrate to people that the government has your back. what did you think about that? >> i think your reporting early on covered this. this is part of a far left agenda. i said this before. the bernie sanders wing of the democrat party is running the show on capitol hill. this is the first step. obviously a $1.9 trillion bill, the largest spending bill ever in the history of the country. at a time when we got enormous amounts of debt, all of this is borrowed money and we ought to be thinking about how do we tar get this, how do we help people that need help through the pandemic. but look at what we can do to get the economy growing and expanding and

minority whip john thune says g.o.p. members are frustrated.says there is more pent up demand to offer amendments. shannon? >> shannon: chad, senator joe manchin exercising a lot of muscle. he may be one of the key players in all of washington right now. >> that's right. there should be no question that the most powerful figure in washington is manchin. it works for him to go to the mat and get what he once peered this tactic will wear thin with liberal democrats and they'll begin to grumble if progressives don't get what they want, but a moderate does. started after 11:00 this morning, the senate has now established a new record for the longest roll call vote in history. nearly 12 hours. >> shannon: so as aides are still working on the floor tonight, they moved past the $15 minimum wage issue, there are a lot of amendments, what does it mean for the house? >> democrats hoped to limit changes to the bill appear the house and senate have to be in sync. they knew the senate would bounce the bill back to the house next week. senate budget rules fo

coronavirus stimulus, we get two views, starting with the chamber's number-two republican, senator john thune of south dakota. senator thune thank you for joining us today on the covid relief bill. as you know the sponsors say this is a much-needed boost for people who have been knocked flat by this pandemic, $1400 direct payments to people in the lower and middleincome levels. it would extend unemployment benefits, which are about to expire in ten days. what is your take? >> those are all things i think most of the -- i shouldn't say -- i wouldn't say all but i think most republicans wold agree, could and should be addressed in a co a coronavirus relief bill. not being consulted at all, the democrats are basically doing this one party only, ramming it through in the senate that only requires 51 votes as opposed to 60. we did five relief bills all at the 60-vote threshold, bipartisan under the regular order of the senate. the democrats have opted to do it this way. and i think that you know when it comes the unemployment insurance, when it comes to even the direct checks, when it comes to fun

i want you to listen to south dakota senator john thune. this was his take on the minimum wage over the weekend. >> the minimum wage is something that is particularly troubling and harmful at a time when you're trying to get people back to work. i worked for less than a minimum wage. i worked for the minimum wage. i started busing tables at a dollar an hour. i went up to $2.25 when they moved me up in the place. i finally made it to cook, which was big-time. that was 6 bucks an hour. what you're essentially telling those businesses in south dakota that i just mentioned, that you're going to increase the amount of money that they have to pay their workers by over 50%, 50% increase. >> you got to love the tim scott standing there to provide the patina of diversity over that round of words, that basket full of words. what do you make of john thune's argument because his $6 an hour would be $20 an hour now if you account for inflation, but your thoughts? >> well, he's just so out of touch with where regular people are and struggling at the bott

to date in the senate it is the pact act, from senator ryan from hawaii, a democrat, and senator john thune from south dakota and they are trying to update section 230, narrowly reform it and they will require these transparency reports that facebook is calling for that would report how much of this speech is taking online -- off-line and they would also have to remove content within 4 days of a court order if a court views that as illegal content. it would put more response ability on the tech platforms. host: rebecca kern -- you can see her work at bgov.com. thank you for talking to us today. guest: thank you for having me. host: we will finish off the program the way we started, we will get your thoughts on president biden's first news conference since his inauguration, the scenes that came out of it, your perception of what took place yesterday and here is how you can let us know. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you want to text us, do that at (202) 748-8003. facebook is available at facebook.com/c-span. and twitter if you want to

we're going to talk to john thune on

gop whip john thune says wisconsin senator ron johnson is threatening to make the clerk read the entire bill out loud before a debate begins. that means a final vote would not happen until friday if not until over the weekend and then return to the house of representatives to sync up. neil? >> neil: so chad, the money that they save by tightening the restrictions, who gets the stimulus checks and what have you, that money comes out of the total cost? does it reallocate it somewhere else? what? >> dick durbin said they're trying to be careful that they don't change many contours of the bill because as i say, it has to go back to the house. if they make a lot of changes, the house might not be in alignment. that could stretch this out if it goes to a conference committee and play ping-pong where they bounce it back and forth. we have to see the bill text. we don't have the senate bill text yet. we're waiting for a bill on the congressional office and taxation. >> neil: so 1.9, 2 trillion, whatever you want to say, is it too much for the moderate democrats? it appears to be. whether that w

door get some sort of agreement on the universe of amendments that they go to the day on saturday, john thuneican a lot of senators on his side of the aisle are more bold and now. they thought they would start this this morning and finish overnight, that's maybe this could lead to saturday or sunday and here's the other thing, there's going to be changes in this bill. liberal democrats in the house of representatives are not going to like these changes and when they bounce this back to the house next week are you going to have an insurrection among democrats? you have seen a couple say we don't like what we are hearing and why did joe manzo which in a moderate democrat get those things when we are not getting the things we want? there are more liberals in the houston moderate democrats. shannon: i want to bring you in on this? part of what wearying from progressives is get rid of senate parliamentarian or get rid of the filibuster, we will start using reconciliation for all kinds of things, maybe immigration. your thoughts on the democrats, getting what they want and what they promised voters

to impeach hem, and this one affects you directly for the senate, he says he'll oppose senator john thuneng for re-election. so will you support incumbents running in the senate, or would you support a trump challenger to that incumbent in the senate in 2022? >> i am supporting every republican incumbent in all the senate races. so i believe all of our incumbents are going to win. we have some open republican seats, open democrat seats. i think we're going to get -- i trust the voters. look at ohio, we have, what, five or six great candidates that are, it looks like they're going to be in. we're going to have a great primary. i think we're going to have great primaries across the country, and i'm going to to be very aggressive to make sure we get back a majority. chris: finally, the $1.9 billion -- 1.9 trillion covid relief plan from president biden just passed the house. it's headed your way, to the senate, and president biden has taken to asking this question. take a look, senator. >> critics say the plan is too big. let me ask them a rhetorical question. what would you have me cut? wha

. >> i heard john thune said the democrats want us to pass the easy stuff, stuff they know we will sayss the rest through reconciliation. what does this mean for all of this put together? >> reporter: well, that's one strategy that's being discussed. i talked to senate staffers about this. they said there's not necessarily enough democratic support to get this through reconciliation. senator joe manchin may not necessarily be on board with something that might raise taxes or address some of these issues that progressive democrats want to see. even that presents some difficulties. . >> we'll hear a lot from joe manchin and a lot about reconciliation and the filibuster the next two years. thank you very much. >>> and the democratic governor of michigan. before we talk about economic aid, i want to ask you about covid. we have new numbers from our medical team. they show an upparticular up 88% in the last two weeks. that is the largest increase of any state. but you are continuing to ease restrictions. i want to play something dr. anthony fauci said addressing you directly. >> she's a rea

is john thune next? >> possibly. i think he's given all indications that he does plan on running.e body blow. and, remember, he won in 2004, took out tom dashel. but, to amy's point, roy blunt had been in congress since i was in second grade, for a very, very long time. but i think the other thing i would look at in the short term, this does increase the chances for an infrastructure package getting through because a lot of these retiring members are willing to make a deal getting from those 53 votes to include the collins and the murkowskis possibly to the 60th. that is possibly a short term if you're joe biden. >> that is a fascinating point. suddenly you're a lot closer to the ten votes you need if you start including those folks there. so, amy, let's handicap these races here a little bit. look, alabama's not in danger of being flipped. i think i would say the same thing about missouri. but you tell me. >> yeah. it wasn't that long ago, chuck, well when, we started in this business, missouri was the ultimate swing state. >> the ultimate swing state. >> no more. and then it was

yet in court, mitch mcconnell, john thune, a lot of other republican leaders made it clear that the conduct isn't the problem. the problem was, they just didn't want to deal with it. in the senate. they invited boss suits and we accepted the invitation. there's any number of ways and you can look at this. but donald trump, it is closest arkle, including the other defendants. in this case, the militia groups he called to d. c. the people he incited. they all knew full. well, what was going on in? that was they were there to stop the steel to use their words. and that was a message that it be repeated for months. ondo words that they used in the in the lead up and at the rally moments before the capitol was attacked, make it very clear exactly what they were doing. the congressman swalwell in this lawsuit describes in great detail at what he and the other lawmakers went through on that day. is he filing this suit in a personal capacity or official capacity? well we didn't. we did not state. what capacity s o? we're not. we're not at this point, saying it's in his official capacity. but what w

about action having to come from the federal government, we've seen two senior republican senators, john thunez of texas, say recently that they echo tis very common point which is none of these laws that are being proposed would stop x event. why law does not stop x event? how do you respond to that? >> last -- in 2019, we passed an extreme risk protection order here in the state of colorado. last year, we had 113 petitions that were filed. historically, from the other states that had ran extreme risk protection orders, that tells us that for eleven petition filed you save one life. what happened in the state of colorado last year by the 113 positions that were filed, we saved ten lives. okay. you can't antify that. i can't tell you the names of the ten people, but i know that happened, and it probably was more than that. that's what we're doing. we're not going to stop this. it's the same with anything, there is no one thing that can stop this from happening. but collectively, we can bring the numbers down, we can start saving some lives, and that's what i'm going to continue to do. >> repor

. >> one republican in particular, john thune from south dakota says if the ploy is to lure republicanshe easy stuff, and then do all of the controversial stuff through reconciliation, i don't think our guys take the bait how do you respond to that >> to me, this isn't bait. this is desperately needed american infrastructure improvements and i'm a little puzzled by that comment, because to me, we want to make sure that there's the strongest case made for any senator to vote for any provision of what we're doing. now as we saw with the rescue package, sometimes we can convince americans, republicans and democrats alike, and that still doesn't mean we can convince everybody on capitol hill, but if there's one area where we can do it, i believe infrastructure is that area. >> on reopening the economy, the travel industry has asked by may 1st that the administration give it a plan to restore international travel can you deliver on that? >> we take our lead from the centers for disease control and the cdc is looking at conditions on the ground. we've got a race going on right now. it's a rac

and john thune from south dakota has a good bill to tell states, listen, you can only -- people can onlydn't be taxed multiple times, shouldn't have to file tax returns in multiple states. it should have been included in the covid bilker should have been-bill, should have been included in the last covid bill. it addresses the problem, fixes the problem, it's going to safe a headache for millions of taxpayers that are unaware of the fact that new york and connecticut will be going after revenue this tax season. maria: unbelievable. i don't know how many times you can go back to the well to keep taxing the same people. brandon, we'll keep following it. thank you so much. brandon arnold joining us there. vaccine rollouts picking up, when should you expect to get your shots as the cdc readies new guidelines. dolly parton gets a taste of her own medicine. her push to get people vaccinated is making a buzz this morning. we'll tell you all about it. you're watching "mornings with maria" live on fox business. ♪ maria: this week on "mornings with maria," tomorrow, old of friend and new colleague,

john lewis' spirit still lives in us. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, before i begin i want to express my sadness about senator blunt's announcement, he will not seek reelection in 2022. he has been a leader in our conference and will be sorely missed. i will especially miss having him as a member of the whip team here in the senate. i came into the house of representatives with senator blunt back in the election of 1996, began our service in january of 1997, and he quickly rose up through the ranks in the house and became the whip, republican whip in the house of representatives. he has always been involved in leadership wherever he has been, and his list of achievements is long. all americans have benefited over the past year from his tremendous efforts to accelerate coronavirus testing and vaccine development. less than two months ago, in his role as chairman of the rules committee, he oversaw a very successful inauguration at a particularly challenging time. mr. president, the one