tell usbout this, senator joni ernst, this is a republican that says this is as swampy as it gets. >> reporter: that's right. the problems are growing for a scandal on his plate. scott pruitt repordly t enlist an aidt theepa to help him with a personal task, the task of securing a potential businepportuni his wied to become chick-fil-a franchisee owner, the aide reached out to chick-fil-a to the ceo of chick-fil-a to set up a call between pruitt and she said it was a persol request on behalf of mr. pruitt. this is becoming just something else added to the list. at opportunity never actually materialized, but it's one more thing we're seeing scott pruitt do here as he's und 12 federal investigations right now for a including his travel expenses, flying first class on taxpayer dollars living situation, his coziness with lobbyist, his blatant disregard for the taxpayer dollar and we' seeing

we will talk with a republican senator joni ernst inus minu ahe suggested pruitt ought to be ousted.wo pruitt aides resigned today. something is afoot. still, the president has a 87% approval rating among republicans. as a consequence you might argue we have a president trying to coopt american patriotism to help him settle political source. yesterday, we saw him use the marine band as a backdrop in a spat with the philadelphia eagles. the united states marine corps band at political event. also yesterday he played king maker helping john cox make a runoff in california's gubernatorial race because the president has an 87% approval rating among republicans. it may be all he has. he is not yet on the ballot november. and they are confident with democrats chances to take become th love the republicanertump mo pa. let's bring in today's panel. loie, what do you make of this? is this issue of the president's -- the lack of criticism on the president's expansive use of his pers because of that 87%. >> absolutely it is. in an election year the one thing you need is you need to motivate you

joni ernst. where's joni? i did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday. we love the farmers. i'm glad it worked out. john hoven, steve danes, all here. we have on the house of representatives mike hoffman, r-- did introce you, man, buddy senator? what's going on, huh? i hope so. if i didn't introduce you, i'm you kn the probl with this, there will be four people we didn't introduce, and they'll never speak to me for the rest of my life. they'll make sure i suffer, right? so please, i apologize. jennifer gonzalez colon, peter king. where's peter? stand up, peter. you have been so nice to me. he should. he comes from new york. right, peter? thank you, peter. jack bergman. phl, what a great job. [ applause ] that was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would think it would have been easy. it makes sense. but you would have thought. kevin cramer, jim banks, andy barr, claudia tenney, martha mcsally. i hear you're doing very well, mar wr youay be. i hear martha's doing very well in the great state of arizona. that's what the word is. don bacon, jason lewis, kathy mcmorris ro

joni ernst. a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers. i'm glad it worked out. steve daines. all here. we have on the house of representatives, mike coffman. jack bergman. buddy carter. did i introduce you, senator? i hope so. there are a people i did note. introduce and they will not -- they will not speed to me for the rest of my life. i apologize. colon.r gonzalez peter king. he comes from new york. thank you, peter. jack bergman. our chair. what a great job. the was a lot tougher than we thought, right? have thought it would be easy, it makes sense. kevin cramer. jim banks. claudia tenney. you are doing very well, martha, wherever you may be. i hear martha is doing very well in the great state of arizona. what the word is. don bacon. jason lewis. cathy mcmorris rodgers. athy?? representative neal dunn. brownley. i assume we have a couple others -- anybo i did not announce? you want to stand? you deserve it. itas been incredible.ch, really, finally, i want to thank the veterans service organizations slatio the finishsh the whenever i s

certainly this week, the senate is moving their farm bill, their version of the farm bill, and joni ernst and one other -- tammy baldwin. joni ernst from iowa and tammy baldwin from wisconsin have actually brought the same version on the senate side. so i expect we will get it passed in this year's farm bill. host: it passed the senate committee by a vote of 20 21, and now is coming to the senate floor. we will have that debate on our respective networks. let's bring in our viewers and listeners. port crane, new york, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, gentlemen. thank you for this conversation. i want to talk about the fbi. they do not have any credibility because in my estimation, when they admitted to falsifying the hair analysis for 25 years and sent people to death row, that did it right there. and as far as this hillary clinton thing goes, they cover things up from start to finish, and that is wrong. it is a two-tier justice system. one for us and one for them. host: thank you, rob. guest: all of the stuff you let off with is fine. you can take your perspective, a

senator joni ernst joins me next on this topic. not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool. coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells. with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some rare side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you. and visit coolsculpting.com today for your chance to win a free treatment. but as it grew bigger and bigger,ness. it took a whole lot more. that's why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. everything. what's in your wallet? >>> welcome back. you know the saying, there may be no such things that a free lunch? but there is such thing as overstaying your welcome, at said free lunch. which is exactly what politico is reporting today. that the epa second scott putin got a rebuke from the white house. cabinet members shouldn't treat the mess as their personal dining hall. the message was clear acco

joni ernst. i did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers. i'm glad it worked out. john hoeven. steve daines. all here. we have on the house of representatives, mike coffman. brian mast. jack bergman. buddy carter. did i introduce you, senator? i hope so. if i did not, i am in trouble. the problem with this, there will be for people that i didn't introduce and they will not speak to me for the rest of my life. they will make sure i suffer. i apologize. jennifer gonzalez colon. peter king. [applause] he comes from new york. thank you, peter. jack bergman. our chair, phil rowe. [applause] what a great job. the was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would have thought it would be easy, it makes sense. kevin cramer. jim banks. andy barr. claudia tenney. martha mick sally -- martha mcsally. i hear martha is doing very well in the great state of arizona. don bacon. jason lewis. cathy mcmorris rodgers. representative neal dunn. representative elise alton. julia brownley. i assume we have a couple others -- anybody i did not announce? you want

all of the sudden chuck grassley and joni ernst. i watched joni ernst on chuck todd's program. they are aghast. they are outraged. not really about the scandals, though they are about that, but because he's going after ethanol. and i think that probably puts him in more political peril than anything else he's done. >> one of the things -- well, it also goes with what trump is doing on tariffs. you know, what they're doing is hurting their own constituency. it's just nonsense. it's not like they're winning. they're actually doing harm to what they say is their own agenda. >> but i think it's important to look at the real scandal because if people look at just -- i mean, it's kind of fun and ugly and odious to look at these grotesqueries. but there's a deeper scandal here. and i think when people go vote they care about clean air, safe food and those issues for their kids. >> you're going to pry ritz carlton lotion scandals from my cold dead hands and used trump mattress. i wake up every morning praying for the news gods to deliver something even more cringe-inducing than yesterd

. >> senator, as swampy as this may look to you or to joni ernst is there realistic anything you thinkl come of any of these investigations? this investigation you're asking for, or is this a case of, he serves at the pleasure of the president? >> i think eventually these investigations, not to be conducted by democrats and republicans but inspector generals and the inspector general of accountability and others. they'll receive results from their investigations and are impartial, objective and my hope is that my colleagues not just democrats but republicans will listen to those and take those seriously. >> the president defended him yet again today. let me play that for you, senator. >> scott pruitt is doing a great job within the walls of the epa. we're setting records. outside being attacked viciously by the press, and i'm not saying that he's blameless, but we'll see what happens. >> that's pretty much the same line we've heard from sarah sanders. she has been answering questions about him for months. let me play that. >> i haven't had a chance to speak with the president directly

mentioned senator joni ernst. senator grassley has also raised concerns about scott pruitt. corn state senators, republicans from corn state republicans are really concerned about a different issue, renewable fuels mandate, biofuels and how they feel that the epa under mr. pruitt is treating their states. and so that has really fed into a lot of concern about mr. pruitt from some republicans that, you know, that might not ordinarily, you know, raise these kinds of flags. but i think, at the end of the day, one thing that we've reported over and over again is that there is one person that counts here, and it's president trump. and, you know, as we saw today, there still appears to be a great deal of support for president trump. >> lisa freiedman, climate reporter at the "new york times." thanks for helping us do that. >> thank you. >> it will be interesting because as i intimated in the introduction here, this new scandal involving scott pruitt would appear to cross pretty directly into potential legal jeopardy for mr. pruitt. abusing your office to seek personal aid -- to se

you have people like joni ernst saying it's as swampy as it can get.ong this can last. >> it seems like the president could easily try to move him aside at this point. there are plenty of people in the administration that would keep the policies alive. at a certain point this becomes a question of the war you're at with the press, the war you're at with the public, and all eyes are focused on scott pruitt right now which means we're not focused on some things the president would rather we not be focused on. >> that's the point. leaving the conversation battle aside, which would be very difficult to confirm anyone, you could put an active administrator that would implement essentially the exact same things that scott pruitt are doing. really, this is not about the policy, this is about the president saying he wants to stick with the policy here. they're very frustrated, think this is a big distraction for the administration. they're not being very aggressive about it. i think that could change once these inspector general's reports come out. john brasso

certainly this week, the senate is moving their farm bill, their version of the farm bill, and joni ernstnd one other -- tammy baldwin. joni ernst from iowa and tammy baldwin from wisconsin have actually brought the same version on the senate side. so i expect we will get it passed in this year's farm bill. host: it passed the senate committee by a vote of 20 21, and now is coming to the senate floor. we will have that debate on our respective networks. let's bring in our viewers and listeners. port crane, new york, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, gentlemen. thank you for this conversation. i want to talk about the fbi. they do not have any credibility because in my estimation, when they admitted to falsifying the hair analysis for 25 years and sent people to death row, that did it right there. and as far as this hillary clinton thing goes, they cover things up from start to finish, and that is wrong. it is a two-tier justice system. one for us and one for them. host: thank you, rob. guest: all of the stuff you let off with is fine. you can take your perspective, and

now, these little senators, including chuck grassley and joni ernst of sigh what claim a trade deal wouldsident trump promised to make an agreement that would benefit all americans and especially farmers in his bilateral trade agreements. joining us tonight is a professor of public policy at howard university. good to see you. >> good to see you too, lou. lou: the republican party is filled with rhinos. i've mentioned two of them. giving the president of the united states an ultimatum, they have no sense of their own imp impetus and absurdity. >> from the policy side it's clear that trump is going in the right direction. these were bad deals created and what you're really seeing is the vested interest who profited from moving factories offshore fighting against trump trying to negotiate a better deal. lou: do you find just extraordinary that this president, this po pop populist president being elected and changing the direction of this country from a trajectory of failure to one of immense success in 16 months, there isn't an area in which he hasn't been successful and there isn't, it see

iowa republican senator joni ernst calling pruitt, quote, as swampy as you get. >>> friends and familynnedy will hold a memorial at arlington national cemetery to mark the 50th anniversary of his assassination. the service will include remarks from former president clinton, as well as kennedy family members. questions have been raised recently by rfk's family about whether convicted kennedy assassin sirhan sirhan was responsible. >>> will wages be boosted? cnn "money" is next. oh, look... another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula to visibly reduce wrinkles. with the faneutrogena®.l formula i'm a small business, but i have... big dreams... and big plans. so how do i make the efforts of 8 employees... feel like 50? how can i share new plans virtually? how can i download an e-file? virtual tours? zip-file? really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the answ is simple. i'll do what i've always done... dream more, dream faster, and above all...

and republican senator joni ernst said this is as swampy as swampy gets.he willing to stick with scott pruitt? >> scott pruitt has conducted a lot of his ag, and a lot of high-profile donors really like scott pruitt and he hears consistently from conservatives around the country that scott pruitt is one of the most effective members of his cabinet. what's interesting to us is support for pruitt inside the west wing as he wrote it and the president is the only one left in the building who supports scott pruitt. he's also talked to scott pruitt about his frustrations with jeff sessions as "the new york times" reported this weekend and that's certainly true, and he has talked to scott pruitt about a number of political issues outside of the epa. he's one of the president's favorite cabinet members and s far the drip, drip, drip of ethical issues has not changed that dynamic for the president. >> important reporting as always. josh dawsey, thanks. >>> some late-night wrangling managed to quash the revolt. what's next over the battle over immigration reform as

we are honored to welcome senators joni ernst of iowa and jeine shaheen o newampshire to provide open testimony senators ernst and jeanine have taken an interest in the olympic movement. their testimony will be valuable in helping us raise awareness and identify solutions. thank you both for your time that you have taken to prepare them for your presence here this afternoon. most importantly, for your care and concern for athletes today. i will conclude my remarks by reminding my colleagues that in light of mr. penny and doctor simon, subpoenas were issued requiring their attendance today. through their counsel, they have made it clear they would not appear voluntarily on june 5, or any other day going forward. i wish that were not the case, since issuing subpoenas is something this committee take seriously and only pursues as a last resort. despite the circumstances, i appreciate their presence today and i look forward to a productive hearing on this important matter. with that, i will turn to the ranking member for his opening statement. >> thank you, senator moran. my thanks to sen

we are here to welcome senators joni ernst of iowa and jeanine jeanine of new hampshire. senators are extension have taken interest in their testimony today will be valuable in helping the subcommittee to raise awareness identify solutions that will make a difference. thank you for your time and for your presence this afternoon. i will conclude my remarks by reminding my colleagues that in light of mr. penny and mr. simon declining to come voluntarily subpoenas were issued. through their councils, both mrd they would not appear voluntarily on june 5 or any other day going forward. i wish that were not the case, issuing subpoenas is something this committee take seriously and only pursues as a last resort. despite the circumstances i appreciate them being here today. with that, i turn to the ranking member for his opening statement. >> thank you senator moran. my thanks to senator moran for his leadership and partnership in this important effort to uncover the truth about a chapter in american athletics that is really a nightmare. it is a nightmare of grooming, manipulatin

important to note that joni ernst takes it into the swamplan swampland.her degree. why does this guy still have a job? >> we talked about republicans being willing to stand up to trump. this is one area they have lost patience. scott pruitt must have the thickest skin in washington. he's taken all this incoming and he seems to have no shame. >> this is the thing, if you have no shame, it's going to be very hurtful for people, and where else have we seen that? i just -- it's been described to me as a problem the president doesn't want to deal with, including they now have a deputy administrator they like. but he hears from a lot of people who he thinks need their support, that pruitt is great, and this sun fair, and he always equates people being under attack with him. the volume -- >> i was going to say, maybe some of it is exaggerated. maybe some of it is the staff problem, not the administrator's problem. but, aides buying a used mattress from the trump hotel, $1,500 on 12 custom made fountain pens. blocked reporters from the speech at the epa summit. 2

add up to an overall approach to the office that has troubled not just democrats but, as you say, joni ernst, the republican from iowa said this is about as swampy as it gets. it's causing an image problem but so far the president has stuck by pruitt. >> we put this image on the screen for viewers at home because it's easy to lose track of the number of scandals that have plagued pruitt since he became epa administrator. what's your gut tell you, charlie? is this going to end soon or is he going to get his act together and stop behaving this way? >> well, you know, kelly's analysis is pretty sound. he apparently has the same super power that donald trump has, which is lack of shame. andhamelessnesspptly is an asset in politics these days. but on the oth hand, it is the accumulation. it is the red line that when you actually are using government employees to enrich yourself, members of your family, those are the kinds of things that i think are hard to come back from. so it's going to be interesting to watch, you know, what congressional republicans do and whether or not they decide that this

. >> carol last week we had joni ernst gently confronting the president.nd sh -- but she had a political chit on her side. her farmers were essentially panicked about tariffs. but that is a gentle pushback sothing in your own backyard that contradicts the president for you to be believed. >> right. i think lindsey graham talked today about criticizing t president to make added vae. that's line that republicans are walking. i think when you see the president get in the mode of settling scores and lashing out at people, it's when they have gone into what he perceive as making it personal, about him. or somehow -- you know, not just criticizing his policies in a way that's a little gentler, but the personal stuff. so you haveine republicans who managed to be successful with criticizing the president on a policy issue or gently disagreeing. they have largely been successful because they have stayed away from the personal attack. >> david, before i let you go, and before we go here, i wanted to turn the conversation a little bit to sort of the internatio that p

. >> how about joni ernst saying he's a swampy fellow.t's a great line to say he's the swampy >> remember dre sw is that reality? is it rhetoric or reality? as it relates to scott pruitt, it's all e esident ally mns and i think republicans should be outraged. it's our duty to uphold the taxpayer dollar. >> some people get caught and some people never get caught. this guy keepsti ca. nixon. he just gets caught. >> we went from a president who said he came in to drain the swamp and then what he does is insults the public sector, the hard workingple who do the work of the nation every day and he will regards his appointment licse loot the federal till. >> remember he's getting a lot of stuff done at the epa, part of the reason he keeps his job. "hardbdtable.ight back wit a lot of nuance here. do you offer $4.95 online equity trades? great question. see, for a full service brokerage like ours, that's tough to do. schwab does it. next question. do you offer a satisfaction guarantee? a what now? a satisfaction guarantee. like schwab does. man:

. >> your fellow senator joni ernst says if he is going to close down certain markets he has to be opening. as far as i can tell she is waiting for the new markets to open the up. there are a lot of farmers in the midwest who are concerned. >> i would concur on that. >> yeah. >> it's like look if we are going to have arguments about nafta and did after the big dog, china, tpp would have really put us into a better trading position because that's a half a billion people who want to do business with us. and it's one area that china would love to see us fail in getting those folks to do business with us, because that leaves china as the big trading part they are for those folks that otherwise would like to do business with the united states as well. >> senator, with all due respect why are you giving the president so much benefit of the doubt here when you clear disagree with what he is doing? why don't you call him out and say this is not right, this is not the way we behave. we need them? they are our allies, you don't go throwing a temper tantrum. >> we believe he had to have some sort of

joni ernst says that pruitt is as swampy as you can get.h and his colleagues report in "the washington post" today new elements of just how swampy that is. let me ask you, how is it, in the face of all that we've learned, how is it that president trump continues to have confidence in the epa administrator, assuming that he still does? >> once again, i haven't had a chance toak with the president directly about "the washington post'" new report. we continue to have concerns and look into those and will address them. thanks, guys. >> well, that was a -- an interesting white house press briefing. i think what sarah sanders just said right there, in terms of the cake baker who won the supreme court case yesterday and the players kneeling, what she's saying seems to be, if the president agrees with what you're saying, then your free speech matters. if he doesn't agree witht you're saying, then your spee is not free speech. chris matthews is with us. chris, i know you're supposed to come on to talk about rfk and the 50th anniversary of his death,

have joni ernst, the senator from iowa, not anyone's idea of a flame thrower as swampy as you get.resting thing, hallie, some republicans who are now criticizing him don't like is that he's going after biofuels. big issue in iowa. >> yeah. >> waivers from the renewable fuel standard. ernst is not happy with it. maybe they'll put up ethics products -- >> mess with their corn, don't do it. before i let you go, andrew, not just what's happening on capitol hill outside the epa but what is happening inside as well because "the atlantic" has been reporting and others as well there are a couple of pruitt aides resigning amid these scandals. one was tired of being thrown under the bus by pruitt. when asked for comment a spokesperson responded you have a great day. you're a piece of trash. where are we? what are we doing? >> yeah, i mean certainly an unusual comment unusual comment from the taxpayer-paid spokesperson for the epa there, but within the agency there's just a lot of tension. there has been for quite some people, and people who work for proo pruitt feel like they're taking the b

patrick leahy, democratic senator from vermont, joined by joni ernst, republican senator from iowa.f them have just sent a rare as hen's teeth bipartisan request to secretary mattis at the defense department asking him to change his decision. "we are deeply troubled by the department's decision to send active and reserve j.a.g.s to the border on temporary orders to prosecute immigration cases." they're asking basically for the defense department to undo this decision that they've made. "pulling 21 trial counsel from military courtrooms to prosecute immigration cases is an inappropriate misapplication of military personnel. we urge you to maintain these resources within the military justice system." i'm singling out this response because there are so few bipartisan requests in american lawmaking right now, let alone on something that has as red hot a partisan lens on it as this story. but again kristen gillibrand, patrick leahy joined by joany ernst, republican senator from iowa tonight, in asking the defense department to undo this decision to have military lawyers prosecute these c

. >> senator joni ernst said scott pruitt is about as swampy as you get.e she is. >> there are a number of other transgressions that we have seen koum coming out of that office tied to pruitt in the way he spends money, the way he misuses basically his office. he is about as swampy as you get here in washington, d.c. and if the president wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet. >> so congressman costello, last time we had you on the show you said you want to see thousand pruitt testimony goes in the senate. here we are june 6th. should scott pruitt go? >> we are now in the middle -- listen, i'm not defending anything he did and i think the use of official resources for the solicitation of a chick-fil-a franchise is impore and runs afoul of federal law. but we now have chairman gowdy who is receiving information, he's asking for the conclusion of the investigation to occur until he issues a report. and that's specifically on what i think is an even more serious issue. and so i'm not ready to say he should resign. i think that th

really capable guys who had history in the state of winning atrney general., like an and we saw joni ernst to the same thing i would. so republican women can succeed in these primaries where i worry is having can do it and ask a get out there is even a bigger issue. what issues is funding. how many organizations exist that can help to support republican women who are running for office versus the are a number of avenues the democratic women have like emily's list the support specifi women run for office. there are some on the republican and but the need to be more robust and that's one of the reasons i decided to kind of get behind an organization, just in its infancy but really that's the goal. >> lauren, i want to get to you as a candidate now on stage. let me see if i kind of get this. can i see her age? you are 31. you're working washington at hhs during the election of 2016. donald trump wins. you are like i'm going to go now run for congress. tell me, , you have been involvd in politics before. you are in a pitical role of d.c. world, but would you have run had the outcome of the 201

and we saw joni ernst do that in iowa, so republican women can succeed in these primaries. where i worry is having them do it and getting out there is an even bigger issue. one of the issues also is funding. how many organizations exist that can help to support republican women running for office, versus there are a number of avenues that democratic women have, like emily's list, that support women specifically running for office, and there are some on the republican and, but -- republican end, but they need to be more robust, and this is why i decided to get behind organization that is just in its infancy. but that is the goal. amy: i want to get to you as our candidate on stage. let me see if i kind of got this. can i say your age? ms. underwood: yes. amy: you are 31. you are working in washington at hhs during the election of 2016. donald trump wins. you are like, i'm going to go now run for congress, that is it. so tell me -- you had not been involved in politics really before. you are obviously in the political world of d.c., but would you have run had the outcome of t

if you are looking at this from the agricultural landscape, if you are senator chuck grassley or joni ernst, republicans from iowa, they won't like this. this is why the republican party is increasingly divided against president trump's trade policies, simply because of the back-and-forth we are seeing from china. , this comesso note as the president is engaged in a tit-for-tat with justin trudeau and european counterparts. whether or not he will listen to counterparts around the world might come down to republicans who are concerned about the supply chain impact of farmers in the midterm election. shery: we are hearing that secretary mnuchin is said to of these the president of tariffs, and we know that the treasury department is not done yet when it comes to china. we are expecting announcements on curving chinese investments. what are the next actions from the white house? kevin: we are hearing that more than $100 billion worth of additional tariffs coming from the trump administration might be in the pipeline. there's a heavy lobbying effort inside washington to get president trump to c

jonie ernst, i did you a good favor for the farmers yesterday, right? we love the farmers, right?ad it worked out. john hovan, steve danes all here we have on the house of representatives mike coffman, brian mast, jack bergman, buddy carter, did i introduce you, what's going on? i hope so. if i didn't introduce you i'm in trouble. >> [laughter] president trump: you know the problem with this there will be four people we didn't introduce and they'll never speak to me for the rest of my life. >> [laughter] president trump: they'll make sure i suffer right? so please i apologize. jennifer gonzalez, peter king, where's peter? oh, stand up, peter you've been so nice to me. >> [applause] president trump: he should he comes from new york. i mean he should, right, peter? jack bergman, our chair phil row e. phil? what a great job. >> [applause] president trump: that was a lot tougher than we thought, right? you would think it would have been easy, it makes sense but you would have thought. kevin kramer, jim banks, andy bar, claudia tenney, martha mc sally, you're doing very well martha whe

that's why i joined with senator joni ernst to establish a special committee to provide a comprehensive inquiry into what has been called the worst sex abuse scandal in the history of sports. it's also why i so appreciate the important work that is being done by this committee to ensure that the individuals who enabled these horrible crimes are held accountable and that safeguards are put in place to protect our olympic and amateur athletes. in january, as she said, senator ernst and i had the privilege of meeting three of the women who courageously testified at nassar's sentencing hearing. . we thanks these impressive women for speaking out and advocating for reforms to us the young athletesin turn, o importance of exposing the full scope of the sex abuse scandal at usoc and other organizations. congress must be resolved not to fail these women the way so many officials have failed them in the past. olympic and amateur athletes represent a particularly vulnerable population for this sexual abuse. the intensely competitive nature of this or in which they but despite creates an environme

not lifting sanctions on zte, the telecommunications company out of china and chuck grassley and joni ernstet. >> and some have been consistent in in a way other republicans haven't been and approaeciated when one of them said we're better as a country than separating women and children. >>> joining us now, democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. good to see you as always. we can go a million directs but let me start on the russia investigation and what we heard from rudy giuliani yesterday saying bob mueller is trying to frame the president of the united states. what do you make of that? >> we're seeing as has been observed very pointedly only the barest signs of moral life from the republican party and someone should be standing up to rudy giuliani on that bizarre and completely unfounded statement. there have been five convictions and additional 13 indictments in this investigation and, yes, the president's legal foundation is crumbling and cracking but not because the special counsel is trying to frame him in any way, the special counsel is simply following the facts in th

which has it iowa, today, where the two senators from iowa, chuck grassley and joni are asked, two republicans ernsttwo republicans arguing against scott pruitt on that policy. china. he is facing it from all fronts on policy today ahead of the g7 and ahead of june 12, the summit in singapore. david: kevin cirilli has the view at the white house. thank you very much. let's check in on the markets. at this point for the major averages, we are looking at very small moves, but earlier we had two major averages trading to the upside and now the dow and s&p 500 are lower. flipping between small gains and losses but right now, near session lows. putting in its first all-time high since march. at that time on pace -- not right now -- for its second-highest closing high since yesterday. it will be interesting to see whether they close in the record territory. a little bit of a reversal of yesterday's modern route -- modest rwe will take a look at t it today chart of the dow transporthey were down yesterda% over the last two days, the worst two day since april 24. this could have to do with increasing trade

this legislation i introduced in september of 2017 with my friends and senators joni ernst of iowa, angus king of maine, and susan collins of maine. i've also worked to ensure full planting flexibility for our farmers who want to plant fruits and vegetables. this ensures farmers can diversify their farms without worrying about losing access to commodity support programs in the future. it may sound a little bit technical, but it is critically important, and we have to make sure it gets done. ensuring planting flexibility is a strong passion of mine. it builds on a bipartisan bill i introduced with senator todd young, my colleague from our home state, in december of 2017, and it also builds on my work in the 20 in the 2014 and the 2008 farm bill. another important issue i care deeply about is helping those struggling with food insecurity. i am really proud that this bipartisan bill strengthens the oversight of the snap program and helps to fight food insecurity by reforming food assistance programs while protecting access to benefits and maintaining the integrity of the programs. it makes i

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable joni ernst, a senator from the state of iowa, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, presidet pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate will begin this week by voting on three more of the president's well-qualified nominees for the federal judiciary. first on the slate is magistrate judge robert wier, selected by president trump to serve as a district judge for the eastern district of kentucky. judge wier's sterling credentials and the support he enjoys from the legal community suggests he'll excel on the federal bench. he graduated at the top of his class at the university of kentucky college of law followed by a successful career in private practice. in 2006 he became a magistrate judge. in 2014, his colleagues unanimously reappointed him to a second term. judge wier has the intellect, skill, and experience to take on this role and i'll proudly vote to advance his nomination later today. following jud