mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the nomination. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent -- the presiding officer: the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of calendar number 486, 489-494, 496, 497 and all nominations on the secretary's desk, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. officer without objection. officer without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the be in order to calm the following neaments, 3336, johnson as modified; 329, durbin further at 5:30 p.m. march 7, the senate vote in relation to amendmentsed in the order lists and there be no second-degree amendments in order to those amendments prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: reserving the right to object, our respective cloakrooms have been working for this week to get a list of amendments that could get votes. as everyone knows, we have had on our side more than 60 amendments filed, so i want to hold my friend, who often spreed promise that we would have a robust amendment process. there have been objections from republicans

>> mitch mcconnell has said a lot of things. his republican senators are not going to go over that cliff with him. they're not going to do it. as i told merrick garland, you're going to become a supreme court justice. in addition to people agreeing to meet, we have republican senators, senators who are veteran senators, saying maybe what we should do is do it in the lame duck. orren hatch, lindsey graham. if you're going to do it in a lame duck, do it now. >> four years from now, if you're in the fourth year of a republican presidency, you don't think the democrats should do whatever it takes to prevent that republican president from appointing a supreme court justice in a presidential year before the election? >> not only do i think they whoever is elected president is elected for four years. obama was elected for four years. he filled that duty he had to the american people. he was reelected. he has an obligation to do his job for four years, not three years. senators have an obligation to do their constitutional duty for the

mitch mcconnell has said no hearing at all. >> mitch mcconnell has said a lot of things but his republicans are not going to go over that cliff with him. they're not going to do it. i said this is going to break, you're going to become a supreme court justice. in addition to the people agreeing to meet, we have republican senators, senators that are veterans senators saying maybe what we should do is do it in the lame duck. orrin hatch, lindsey graham -- >> four years from now if you're in the fourth year of a republican presidency, you don't think the democrats should do whatever it takes to prevent that republican president from appointing a supreme court justice in a presidential year before the election? >> not only do i think they shouldn't do it, they wouldn't do it. whoever is elected president has -- is elected for four years. obama was elected for four years. he filled that duty he had to the american people. he was re-elected. he has an obligation to do his job for four years, not three years. senators have an obligation to do their constitutional duty -- >> do you blame republic

mcconnell sacrificing the republican majority to allow trump to pick the nominee.the republican party's antimuslim movement is another -- -- before he's elect conservative efforts try to convince that president obama was a secret muslim. conservative groups engaged in the effort to stoke the flames of hatred. some speculate that members of the muslim brotherhood were working in the obama administration. others signature that sharia law was taking over america. once again, run leaders did nothing -- republican leaders did nothing to responsibly address the antimuslim hate from their party. now because of their inaction, they sow -- they're reaping trump's candidate, a candidate that starts with a muslim hate speech and wants to block all muslims from entering the country. the third force, republican party's antilatino, anti-immigrant underbelly is the most salient example of how runs run fear and resentment politics and a define inning official donald trump. the republican establishment allowed decades and decade of antilatino rhetoric to fester within its ranks. re

mcconnell said the choice should be made by the next president. reid immediately criticized mcconnell's move, saying the senate was abdicating its responsibilities. i spoke to both mitch mcconnell and harry reid. i began with a conversation with senator reid that took place yesterday. let me start with a piece of sound on judges that you said over ten years ago. let me play it and get you to react on the other side. >> the duties of the united states senate are set forth in the nstitution of the united states. say it has a duty to approve nominees. >> the senate's constitutional duty to give a fair and timely hearing and a floor vote to the president's supreme court nominees is invileable. which is it? what is changed since 2005 when you said there is nothing in the constitution that said a vote, to 2016? >> this is the same thing as you talk about, the biden rule. there is no biden rule. what happened then was worked out. it was an effort to try to get something done. what i have tried to do during my entire career in congress and in the senate is to get rid of obstruction. and what we

i do not dislike mitch mcconnell , i don't have patriots in my whole body against mitch mcconnell. a part of allowing people like trump to be around. because of what they have done, there's tremendous concern by the american people. they think the system is broken. it is broken. i have hope that the next congress can be better. it will only come back if there soa return to collegiality that we can get done. right now, there is a path of getting nothing done. >> to think there is a place for moderates in the republican party today? ied a lotave primar of them. moderates.go to the one said to tip o'neill, i'm going to start a hispanic caucus. he said, are you going to meet in a phone booth? boothter be a small phone because they don't have anybody to fill it right now. i would say a few things, we got a lot done. >> ferry productive. -- very productive. sen. reid: the first congress of obama, the best ever. we had a lot of people to work .ith right now, you have to search hard. thank you so much for your comments. i think we have time for questions. .dentify yourself sen. reid: after

today mcconnell and mcdonough face off. plus, governor john kasich wins his home state of ohio and vows to press on in his campaign for president. >> you better believe it's about america. it's about pulling us together, not pulling us apart. >> we'll ask the gop candidate what's his path to the nomination? amist talk of a con tegs. plus we'll ask about the plan to stop trump. and our power playersst week, baby bald eagles steal the spotlight, all right now on "fox news sunday." hello again from fox news in washington. we begin with the capture and in europe believed to be the sole fugitive from the paris is massacre that killed 130 people n a moment we'll get reaction from the white house chief of staff dennis is mcdonough this week and mitch mcconnell is standing by on. that first, let's bring in fox news correspond benjamin hall in london with the latest on the terrorist investigation. >> he could be an intelligent gold mine. today french and belgium authorities are looking closely in what happened in the lead-up to the

the second lifeline judgment, -- judge mcconnell had was a public. and as the poll i just talked about has shown, the american people into the senate could not issue.her apart on this the american people believe there should be hearings. the american people think that this is a very important issue. so, senator mcconnell has been trying to make the issue go away but it will not. every day the odds that judge garland will become justice garland kicks upward. are not going to witness confirmation battle tomorrow or the next day, but with the american people and american senators, as they learn more about this man into sterling credentials, our republican friends will come around. i will take questions first on judge portland. >> [indiscernible] schumer: there has been broad unity on our side. i have read pleasantly surprised how broad that is. the number one that is going to convince people, as senators go about their lives in state, they are seeing average folks day-to-day, saying why will you have a hearing? so, i think those do have an effect. of th

this is what -- when senator mcconnell -- >> wait. the president, you, you're all meeting and mobilizing various groups on your side. there is nothing wrong with it being a political issue. i mean, you're trying to put heat on these people. >> you just asked what -- how big an issue it will be in the election? my answer is that it needn't be an issue in any election. this can be resolved. the average time from announcement of nomination to confirmation is 67 days. senator collins has indicated to us that she'll meet -- >> susan collins of maine -- >> the republican of maine, indicated she'll meet with judge garland after the senate gets back from the two week break. we think that's good progress. we'll continue to make this progress. this shouldn't be an issue in any election. they can resolve this in plenty of time and in the time they have. we believe this is consistent with the pledges senator mcconnell made when he took over the senate. he wanted to get congress working again. well, getting congress working again would mean just o

. >> the senate ploin leader mcconnell to look at this with an alarm and such a narrow majority in theon tough re-election battles. >> the map is a looking more gloomy for the day for senate republicans and especially considering that many of the current incumbents elected in 2010 and that was a tea party way for the gop and in states like pennsylvania, with pat too many too many my they're almost blue if not purple and went for republicans by narrow margins in a very republican year and now in a presidential election year and democratic turnout is traditionally higher, the fact that toomey and kirk would survive and weather a trump nomination created a lot of depression in capitol hill and some of the offices i stopped by earlier this week. there's a thought if trump moves forward, the gop has to disavow him or the candidates try to adopt some of the trump policies to copy the populism. >> finally, the implosion over donald trump's candidacy, how did that come about? >> implosion means a collapse inward, a collapse upon itself. and when you look at the republican party, it is not expl

mcconnell, though, however, chris.d a conversation on the phone with garland, and he said that all i'm going to do is talk to you on the phone. good luck with your nomination, but i will not have a meeting with you. saying it was nothing more than a political exercise. so mcconnell slamming the door, figuratively, in garland's face. so interesting to see how it moves forward. but you remember well, bjork for all the animosity democrats had towards him, he got a hearing and a vote on the floor. it went down, but he did get both of those. >> can you tell how much of a dog and pony show the white house will put on with judge garland. are they going to take him to all the sunday shows? all the legal departments -- law schools around the country. how long an effort and big and national an effort are they going to take to put the pressure on the republican senate? >> well, they said he would like to have a confirmation vote by may 25th. so ostensibly, i think between now and then, you'll see them parade this guy around. beca

bresnahan: you mentioned senator mcconnell.the meeting with yourself, president obama, vice president biden, and senator reid, he said to you democrats that you are hypocrites on this, basically, that in this meeting, the only four that had filibustered a supreme court nomination were you four democrats. what is your response? sen. leahy: easy response. he is talking about the alito nomination. there was a pro forma vote. that was more just show. is when hean: this is saying you filibuster. sen. leahy: we disagree. he was not denied a vote. he was given a vote. mr. bresnahan: president obama did filibuster a nominee. sen. leahy: he did vote against -- the fact is everyone knows as well as mcconnell that we were going to have that vote up or down on alito, and there was not a person in either of the cloak rooms that thought we were not going to have a vote, and he was confirmed by well under 60 votes, but he was confirmed. this is very similar to the talk about robert bork. now, the fact is former judge bork came in the confirma

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee on armed services be discharged from further consideration of s. 719 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 719, a bill to rename the armed forces reserve center in great falls, montana, the captain john e. moran and captain william wylie gault armed forces reserve center. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr." mr. mcconnell: i further ask the bill be read a third time and the motion considered be made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask the senate proceed to s. res. the clerk: 401 designating march 22, 2016, as national rehabilitation counselors appreciation day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objectio

that was mitch mcconnell in 1990. n 2005 he, said, our job is to react to that nomination in a respectful and dignified fashion. at the end of the process, to give that person an up or down vote. as all nominees who have majority support have gotten throughout the history of the country. i'm trying to figure out, what has changed? representative beatty. mrs. beatty: thank you so much, congressman jeffries. hearing you quote those things, three things come to mind. first, let me say that congressman steny hoyer was absolutely right when he said this issue of not filling the vacancy is not related to only one group. so i want to say, after hearing from you've said and many others of our members of the congressional black caucus, it's important for us to know why we are calling on the senate republicans to do their job. and that's because we are the voice for those who are not often represented. we are the voice for those when you talk about issues related to women and women's rights, when you talk to or about issues tha

mitch mcconnell, leader of the republicans in the senate. rand paul, the leader of the libertarian movement, if you will. and of course, you've got trump now who has basically declared war on the entire republican establishment and ted cruz calling mitch mcconnell a liar. >> this is how people feel in the country. the reality is, this is not about ideology anymore or about philosophy. this is about how we feel about the leadership of our party, and what they have nailed to do over these many years, going back to the end of the reagan term, and right through the bush term. there's been this growing seed of discontent and rand paul and ted cruz have reflected from time to time. it's now come to a head and it's manifest in a guy like trump. tonight what we're seeing as we get to the environment which is just republicans. republicans are saying we can really make this a two-man race between trump, who is the populist. >> they're had at the leadership of the republican party because they don't hate obama enough. basically tar and feather the guy.

>> mitch mcconnell came the strategy the day the vacancy came open.if there was a hint it would be something where senate republicans could entertain the president's nominee and allow the court to move to the left there would be outrage so he wanted to shut it down right away. look at the members of the senate who are saying, i am willing to have a meeting with the nominee, republicans who are up for re-election and they are in seats where it is a blue or a purple state. they are states unlikely to vote for a republican nominee in a presidential election and they need to make them different from the national party so when their state is voting for a democratic candidate at top of the ticket, they want to be sent back to washington. >> bob be i thought the white house chief of staff made news going further than the white house, mcdonough saying obama will stick by the merrick garland nomination even if a lame duck if hillary clinton is elected he would stick by the only nation interesting he is saying, i will stay by him and if hillary clinton is just

we all know what senator mcconnell has said. he made that statement even before merrick garland's name was announced. i think he made that statement even before the country heard about antonin scalia's death. i'm not surprised senator mcconnell is saying this. it's very much in keeping with the obstructionist leadership he demonstrated on a number of issues, particularly in the arena of judicial nominations. last year, on 11 judges were confirmed by the senate. i think it's the lowest number of judges in over a century. the fact he's saying he will refuse a hearing and a vote is whatmuch in keeping with he has done. senatorsa number of particularly in state where there are elections coming up in close elections, we are beginning to see a break in that blockade. senators are now saying we want to meet with this candidate and some of them are even saying we think it's right to give him a hearing. beginning oft the this process and as it unfolds, i believe we will see more and more senators leaning on senator mcconnell to treat thi

mitch mcconnell says we may not do the pe courtesy call. >> mcconnell said we won't have a hearing because we don't want to alter radically the constitution of the supreme court. democrats including president obama says in 141 years this hasn't been done. there is precedent to do this and you the united states senate has a constitutional duty to do so. the senate has the duty to advise and consent on a nomination but there is no obligation that the senate must act on the president's nomination. there is precedent they can sit back or decline to hear it or put it into holding. martha: by nominating and electing these members of the senate, aren't the people of the united states saying the senate has a duty to put it forward? >> there is a constitutional responsibility. but there is no absolute obligation. there is no order by the constitution that says u.s. senate you must act on it. there is a sense of discretion. martha: there is a job description. >> that's the president's point going forward. that's what the american people have said with polls going forward that there is an obligation.