mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2:00 p.m. monday, march 6. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. and morning business be closed. further, that following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of h.j. res. 37. further, that the time until 6:00 p.m. be equally divided in the usual form. finally, that all debate time on h.j. res. 37 expire at 6:00 p.m. monday. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator klobuchar. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president? mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to expr

mcconnell: mr. president? are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: without objection, so noted. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. res. 77 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 77, supporting the goals and ideals of multiple sclerosis awareness week. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection. mr. mcconne

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 353, which was received from the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 353, an act to improve the national oceanic and atmospheric weather research and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the thune substitute amendment at the desk be considered, the cantwell at the desk be considered and agreed to, the thune substitute amendment as amend be agreed to, the bill as amed be -- amended be considered read and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so,man, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourned until 9:30 thursday, march 30. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of p

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: at the end of the cold war, many wondered whether nato could or should survive absent the glaring threat of the soviet union which tied together a diverse coalition of western countries. that soviet threat held the alliance together through myriad issues and challenges of burden sharing, nuclear doctrine and how to balance the roles of the european union and the security alliance. the united states as a global super power was at times criticized for not paying enough attention to the alliance and at other times for its heavy-handed leadership. when the berlin wall came down, nato was forced to evolve. at its core the alliance is not only about defeating a common threat, but also about common values. when our nation was attacked on september 11, nato acted on september 12 and invoked article 5 of the washington treaty for the first time in history. and nato partners have worked to assist us in the war on terror ever

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. please take your conversations

mcconnell withdraw endorsement. says one nice thing about him and he goes off. >> i agree completely. he's not addressing the problems that conservative republicans are talking about and democrats are now reborn deficit hawks. $54 billion, john mccain says it's not enough. 10% increase, not touching entitlements. defense and entitlements 3/4 of the budget. sliver left. >> waste, fraud and abuse. >> obamacare and medicaid both entitlements and will be touched. two of the big four entitlements. >> what enemy do we need 10% increase in existing budget to defeat? >> it's worse than -- >> one thing that we hear -- >> to fight who? isis? >> argument is military has been in so-called sequester for six, five, eight years -- >> and we have bigger military. >> president obama proposed increase. not that much. talking about cut in the state department. interesting thing that's happened since that surfaced is number of generals who stepped forward, we'd rather give a little to have the programs that the state department in enga

and let mitch mcconnell figure out, majority leader mcconnell, senator mcconnell, figure out then how to get the votes put together in the united states senate for a full 100% repeal of obamacare. the house will pass such a bill. it won't be hard to put those votes together. i wouldn't be surprised if there was a democrat or two that was worried about their seat that would join us in such an endeavor. then once that bill is over through the rotunda and over on the desk of senator mcconnell, then we should start down through with the individual repairs to the health care system that we need to do, that we all know we need to do. we've talked about for a lightning time. some of these have been out here debated for 10 years in this congress, mr. speaker. instead we've got a different configuration that's been served up to us. i submit this. it's not too late to do it right. send the full repeal over. that repeal can have an enactment clause of a year from now. that's enough time for people to make their adjustments for their own health insurance. and get it taken care of. especially unde

mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 107 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: which the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 107, congratulating the rifle team of west virginia university of winning the 2017 national collegiate athletic station rifle championship. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m.

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks on thursday, march 9, the senate resume consideration of h.j. res. 57, that the time equally divided in the usual form until 12:00 noon, and then at noon the senate vote on passage of the resolution with no intervening action or debate. i further ask that notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the senate then resume executive session for the consideration of executive calendar 18 and that the cloture vote on the nomination occur at 1:45. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee on banking, housing and urban affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 496 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will

he was trying to accommodate mitch mcconnell, which to me i thought was crazy. you guys should just put together the best bill you possibly can and send it to the senate and let mitch mcconnell worry about it. senator mcconnell is saying that he is willing to use the nuclear option and get rid of the filibuster to pass gorsuch for the supreme court. why don't you guys get rid of the filibuster altogether? you never had more than 55 senators. if you guys can't pass any legislation, you are not going to be a majority anyway. host: i want to take your point with the congressman. roll call has the story that rank-and-file might go around speaker of the house paul ryan. is that what the freedom caucus is doing? guest: we have reached out. the more moderate republicans in the tuesday group, i will continue to say from what i know about -- and we had this discussion in conference yesterday. i havethat w absolutely no question every guy >> we leave this recorded portion of "washington journal" as the house has returned now for votes. live coverage on c-span. following o

this is mitch mcconnell's decision to make. when the senate democrats have that choice to make, we said no. that there should be a 60-vote threshold so there's a bipartisan vote. >> didn't we get, didn't we go down the road of a slippery slope here when the decision was made by harry reid to say -- you know what? we're tired of the obstruction on the lower courts. so we're going to get rid of this filibuster. it was inevitable that this was going to be the reaction of the other side once they got power dhfs morning many people made including your former colleague. >> what i would say is that we made the decision. the conscious decision, thoughtful, debated in our caucus that it was better for the country to keep the 60ote thresh holed on the highest court in the land, lifetime appointment. and that's something that mitch mcconnell can decide and his caucus can decide as well. for me the most important thing is having the right person on the bench. it is not about process. people at home in michigan aren't looking at process. th

by saying, what happens if mcconnell goes nuclear and gets rid of the filibuster. they feel they are in it to win it. who knows what comes up. who knows if it is a smoking gun. who knows what questions cannot at the hearings. who knows if democrats will not wrong,g -- i'm saying is who knows if they won't get the filibuster out of the democratic party? that if they did the opposite and preserve the filibuster and you get to a situation down the road where it replacing --trump mcconnell could get rid of the filibuster than if you can't get 60 votes so the same thing would happen. they might as well go to the mat this time. this is the c-span audience, they know capitol hill ready well. but what with the applications be -- nan aron implicated that if mcconnell goes with the she said heon -- would own it and it might come back to haunt him in the future. explain that? >> there is a real concern on capitol hill among the senators that if they get rid of the filibuster for the supreme court nominee, it will open the floodgate to basically do away with the 60 vote thresh

. >> get mitch mcconnell joining us right now. bunch of questions for you as well. let's go back to jake for the first question. >> leader mcconnell, thanks for joining us. appreciate it. >> you bet. >> obviously there was a lot in the speech that was a bit different from what you normally would hear from a republican president delivering an address to a joint session of congress. what did you make of the president's call for more infrastructure spending, paid family leave, reduction in prescription drug prices? >> first let me say, find semysf in agreement with van jones first time in political life. for people not committed to donald trump already, he did become presidential tonight. and i think we'll see that reflected in higher approval rating. and also seeing my colleague chuck schumer, he was having a hardtoma cr time critiquing it. change. didn't vote for change in congress, wanted somebody to sign the bills we want to pass. repealing and replacing obamacare, comprehensive tax reform and deregulating america and getting it moving again. inspirational speech,

mitch mcconnell has -- it's in his hands whether to change the rules. not ours. he doesn't come to this court with clean hands. he delayed merrick garland for a year, year and a half. if they want to change the rules, it would be bad for the country, bad for the congress. we didn't do it. it would be their loss. a lot of republicans don't want to change the rules. i'm not so sure it's a given. >> you said it would be unseemly to approve judge gorsuch as long as the fbi investigation is going on into the russian interference in the election. that could take years. >> we didn't say years. we said months. this is a very important appointment. lifetime. affects america in huge ways. judge roberts came on the court. now justice roberts. citizens united. dramatically changed america. taking away voting rights changed america. trying to get rid of unions. let's see for a few months where this investigation goes. it's up to our republican colleagues. i hope they'll accept that investigation. if the investigation looks like it's nowhere, fine. if not, then we ought to con

nan aron suggested that if leader mcconnell invokes the nuclear option for supreme court nominees -- now the democratic leader had earlier invoked it for lower nominations. butbut she said he would own it and it might come back to haunt him in the future. >> right. there's a real concern on capitol hill that if they do get rid of the filibuster for the supreme court nominee, it will open the floodgate to basically do away with the 60-vote threshhold the filibuster, on any other legislative action. and you're right. senate majority leader harry reid at the time -- well, he was minority leader at the time -- did -- i'm trying to think back, majority minority. anyway, they did get rid of it for the -- i had to think for a second there. for the nominees, which is why president trump has been so easily able to confirm most of his cabinet choices. of course, with delays, but they are all getting through on a simple majority vote. the concern is that this would then really end it forever. and you know, that's not necessarily true. you could always work to reinstate it but that would really

mitch mcconnell is also tweeting. he tweets out about one of the issues that will be discussed in congress and tonight. while democrats are praising obamacare we know it is only getting worse. leader mcconnell put out this video. this is the walk the city -- the senate will take. we want to show this to you. it takes about seven seconds. this is the walk through the into the house chamber. you.ank we will check in with you. our phone lines and have a democratic response by the governor of kentucky. -- former governor of kentucky. a live look of u.s. capitol. we are keeping track of the president and melania trump. they will be traveling to the capital on a rainy tuesday. inside the house chamber, the joint chiefs, members of the u.s. supreme court, their role on a night like this. >> the role is just to be there. they don't all go. they listen. .hey generally don't applaud they are just there to be a presence to represent one branch of government. they don't all go. it is up to them individually. justice breyer has go

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senate majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to reconsider the vote and i move to table the motion to reconsider. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to table. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion to table is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion to proceed is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move that the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 23, daniel coats, to be director of national intelligence. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, office of the director of national intelligence, daniel coats of i

senator mcconnell: i am sure the house is going to wait for the cbo score. reporter: how will this be paid for? senator mcconnell: it just got launched yesterday, we will get the score before the end of the week. the house will deal with it we first. will have plenty of time to look at it. it will go through the regular order unlike, as it was pointed out earlier, unlike the way obamacare was developed. multiple committee processes. there will be ample time to take a look at it. reporter: i mean, if you do not pay for the plan with taxes, what are the alternatives? senator mcconnell: we will be looking at the whole proposal as it minister through the regular -- it moves forward through the regular order in the house and will have ample time to answer all the questions. announcer democratic leaders : also address the republican health care plan following their caucus lunch. >> ok. i am proud to be joined by my colleague, senator

senator mcconnell: we will be looking at the whole proposal as it minister through the regular order in the house and will have ample time to answer all the questions. [indiscernible] announcer democratic leaders also address the republican health care plan following their caucus lunch. >> ok. i am proud to be joined by my colleague from the health committee.

isn't that -- mitch mcconnell could unload the nuclear option that could require 51 votes. >> i hope he won't. i know there are members of his own caucus who don't want to do it. let's not forget, had mitch mcconnell not held up merrick garland for a year, we wouldn't have been talking about this. i always believed it should be 60 votes, you call it a filibuster, but it should be 60. the two george bush nominees, roberts and alito, the two barack obama nominee s, kagan and sotomayor, all passed the 60 votes. there is no reason why gorsuch shouldn't. if he can't is not change the rule, change the nominee. >> alito had 58. >> there was a cloture vote where he had over 70. >> he wound up in the end with 58. >> i said each justice met a 60-vote threshold. >> the american bar association says that neil gorsuch is highly qualified. do you believe that he's highly qualified? >> the issue is what his ideology is. he says he's going to call it down the middle. someone sofer eventually supported by the federalist society which has a history of moving the courts to the right. why are they doing

mitch mcconnell, katy tur, showed why he's the smartest leader on capitol hill. >> mitch mcconnell ishe same way. that's what we asked during the campaign. what's it going to be like if he gets to the white house, and he did and he needs for work with congress and realizes it's not so easy as saying this is how i want things done, which is what he was able to do in his business. >> remember when he would threaten paul ryan on the campaign trail. >> he thought he could scare him into behaving because his voters would leave him and he wouldn't get re-elected. paul ryan did get elected. there's a contingent in the republican party that doesn't fear trump because they are safe for a few years or they are safe because they know their base. their base wants him to be -- >> i don't think he can handle reality. like when you try and tell him the truth, he unfollows you. he doesn't want to hear anything that doesn't fit into his little -- >> what's surprising, though, not just us, we've been saying, these are the rules in washington. you don't miss off the majority leader. you don't insult mem

mitch mcconnell he was held -- sorry, mitch mcconnell did it but it's the seat that merrick garland wasated for. mitch mcconnell held it up for a year. well, if they can hold that seat up for a year just to elect a new president under a president who had no investigations, they should delay it for a while. i'm not saying forever, i'm not saying an amount of time but let's see where these investigations lead because to have a president under investigation appoint a lifetime appointment, that's wrong. >> it seems to me if you worst case scenario that situation, let's say judge gorsuch was confirmed subsequently president trump had the worst possible outcome of that investigation, he was said to have colluded with russia, he's impeached or thrown out of office because of having been an agent of a foreign power, for the length of time that judge gorsuch is on the court for the rest of his natural life, that affects everything he does as a justice. >> if this were a five-year appointment or two-year appointment i would haven't said that. >> on the filibuster plan, how do you think that's goi

mitch mcconnell just now saying, not so fast. trade back down. that is what stock traders are doing. markets are indication about people's bets about the future. that is what they're doing. they're trying to figure out all the headlines. for the average viewer, watch this -- i'm not saying sell all your stocks. if we endon't get fiscal stimulus. it will be an issue for the markets. there will be some pullback. neil: sounds like all your buddies you dine with, all about money, money, money? >> you know, it is. they are greedy sobs, that's what i love about them. neil: they are you. >> they're a rao flexion of both of us, speak for yourself, young man. charlie gasparino. we're monitoring this very closely. we're monitoring speaker ryan. you don't have to do this at home. we're monitoring his address via perot type charts, remember those days, ross perot, it is bad, it will get worse. he is outlining or walking out in a huff, i have no idea, saying we're open to tweaks in the health care measure. some of the conservatives point out,

good for mitch mcconnell. >> absolutely. mcconnell's comments come as a new cnn/orc poll shows that majority of americans disapprove of funding the wall. kelly said a 40% drop of illegal crossings along the border since the start of the year and quite frankly, those numbers have been going down for years. that is the whole sort of stupidity of the equation. what is that? >> willie, listen. willie, again, we have said this before. but look at how the trump -- i mean, donald trump is setting things up just the opposite way that you want to set things up. on the economy, on illegal immigration, and on crime. he is saying, you know, there is american carnage out there. unemployment is at 4%. so what is it going to be when he runs for re-election and unemployment is at 6% and it's the worst crime in 48 years. no, it's really the lowest crime rate in about 48 years. had a little uptick last year. but historically low. we can expect the crime rate will probably stay the same or go up. so then what does he say if it's the worst in 4

mitch mcconnell has shown to be a pretty good leader.humer wants to dare him, mitch mcconnell will say basically bring it on. >> dana: my last question for you, there are a couple house races coming up in the next month. these are in pretty safe republican districts. democrats in both are doing better than an teus paeuticipaa. yesterday the republican committee will put more money into the district. >> this is tom price seat. donald trump did not perform as well there as previous republican presidential tphopl niece. knees. the polling suggests the democratic candidate has a pretty decent shot of winning. republicans are still favored. the fact that it's a race there to me indicates something could be going on, not being particularly good for republicans. >> dana: all right. i do hope they have your favorite soda out there. >> diet cream a&w. i'm hoping. >> dana: we're watching the markets today. the bill, a key test of the trump administration's ability to put in place new policies that are good for american businesses. adam shapiro liv

that's the way -- in the las analysis and mitch mcconnell made that calculation. a lot of his folks thought it wasn't right, but every time somebody got wussy about the whole thing, they got shoved back into line very moran of k garland should have a hearing and he was told very quickly he would have a primary opponent. >> issue number one. pete, briefly when we think about president trump being somewhat different, how much would you expect his comments about the judiciary to figure in tomorrow, what are you hearing from your legal sources? >> well, i'm sure his -- that neil gorsuch will be asked a lot about donald trump the president who nominated him. whether in the end it would make any difference, i don't know. i think to some extent that part will be political theater and these hearings now as long as everybody is clear about the process, for the first day the nominee doesn't say much except hello. he sits there and listens to all the members of the judiciary committee make openings statements, he gets to briefly introduce his family and say what a privilege

. >> mitch mcconnell also had a warning for fellow republicans.e told the associated press i would hate to be the republican whose prevented us from keeping the commitment we've made to the american people for almost ten years now. last night in louisville, at another campaign sometime rally, president trump looked to mcconnell for assurances. >> our senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, where is he? come here, mitch. thank you, mitch. how are you doing, mitch? hey mitch, we going to be okay? everything good? that health care is looking good? good. thanks, mitch. >> he should have said rover. robert costa and eli stogel. robert, what is the vote, will they get the 216 they need to pass this thing? >> leadership is expressing confidence, but i'm talking to a lot of the skittish members and they're still on the fence. some of my top sources tell me still 20 to 25, maybe even 30 nos. and thatould mean fl fewer this package. >> what is this blue number of his, i'll get you guys if you don't vote for me? could that backfire? >> he has a lot of them o

cbo issued this report for any thinktee voted and i senator mcconnell will have real difficulty. mainstream republicans don't like that it cuts medicaid, which is for poor people and it is also people in nursing homes you.t affects what would you do? maybe you have to take care of out or they have to shell thousands from their pockets. so, it is a loser. coverage? opioid have the conservative republican senators who think the bill goes too far. senator mcconnell has a difficult job behind and ahead of him and he only has the bill to blame. democrats are not voting for this and he will have to get the votes on his own. it difficult.ade that they like to say are seeing the cbo report that a matter ofand is days away. why couldn't they wait a few asus ofs without any knowledge of what it would cost and who would be pushed off the care. ? >> the costs for those on the aca goes up and then it starts to go down. it is almost certainly because the plans are so skimpy. the amount of money someone will have to pay will go up and the plants have higher deductibles and less coverage. >> wha

mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, not so certain about that schedule because of the rulesand because of the fact that it will be very difficult to get consensus. you mentioned the tax reform, it's very possible he could be unsuccessful because of congress, even with the one party rule. >> last year president trump laid out 28 different points of things he wanted to get done in his first 100 days. i went through them. and maybe 11 of them does he have any work even started on some of those things. and legislatively, there were some really specific items he laid out. that they are not even close to introducing half to three quarters of those things. so he's very possibly going to get these things done. if the supreme court nominee goes through, those two things would be giant for the president's 100 days. he has laid out an aggressive agenda. he probably won't get to most of the items. >> during the campaign, he would talk about the muslim ban. they didn't take him literally. now the mexico wall will pay for it. yeah, we are going to get tougher but -- >> there are some plac

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, last year bill clinton called obamacare the craziest thing in the world, but over the weekend former obama health secretary kathleen sebelius said that president clinton had a point. well, of course, obamacare is crazy. premiums are spiking across the country by 25% nationwide and as much as 47% in kentucky for individuals. choices have fallen from coast to coast with about a third of counties nationwide and nearly half in kentucky having only a single insurer to choose from on the exchanges. and health care markets are teetering closer to the edge of collapse. the obamacare status quo is simply not an option. we have an obligation to the american people to repeal and replace obamacare. we have a thre three-throng pros to get there. the first is the legislation. house committees are currently considering. it's a specialized piece of legislation that allows us to repeal obamacare and implement some but not all of the important replacement reforms we want to make. another is

steve: well, they are going to get the tax thing done whether mcconnell likes it or not. are hope you are right. -- i hope you are right. we are having to watch paul ryan tell us how it is, that there is a bitheiriv -- a binary choice. and mitch mcconnell declaring there will be no tax cut until summer. what the heck is going on? >> i don't mind summer if they make it retroactive to january 1. lou: i understand why you are saying that. but we have a president who's proactive. we don't need retroactive. steve: i agree with you on the precedence of tax cuts. lou: he put these ghiets winner's circle, now they are telling him hoist is. steve: a good piece of news on healthcare. trump announced the appoints of a new fda director, scott gottleib is a true expert on speeding up the approval of drugs and reforming that agency. that will fundamentally make a big positive change for american medicine. lou: a report in the highly establishment financial times. economist peter navarro and the president's chief strategist steve bannon against gary cuhn. and he's leading this idea that

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. wednesday, march 29. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator whitehouse and senator warren. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: so christian aslund went to find old pictures of glaciers in norway and then he went back to the exact same spot from which the old picture was taken and he took a picture. most of these are from 2003, so some time has gone by since he took the pict

mitch mcconnell cannot bring it up. we said that does not conform to reconciliation of the rule, the senate cannot consider the bill. they can filibuster even going on the bill. that is why we have to write this in such a way that chuck schumer cannot block it from coming to the filibuster so mitch mcconnell can make sure they can vote on the bill and get that bill passed. there is a three-part plan here. we can usebill that reconciliation for that they cannot filibuster. that is where you can repeal the individual and business mandate, that is where you can repeal the spending and the taxes, you can put in the republican health care tax policy, high risk pools, health savings accounts, tax credits that equalize the tax treatment of health care, the moving parts we can do in reconciliation. part two and tom price came to a conference two hours ago and walked our members through the enormous regulatory flexibility that he has. when they brought obamacare they wrote this in harry reid's office in christmas -- on christmas

mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in cord nantz with rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of david friedman to be ambassador extraordinary plenipotentiary of the united states of america to israel signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the nomination be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed -- all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to s.j. res. 34. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to th

we hope that if the administration fails in its responsibility that senator mcconnell and speaker ryan will rise to theirs. finally, third, the inspector general of the department of justice must immediately begin an investigation into the attorney general's involvement in this matter thus far. to discover if the investigation has already been compromised. the inspector general doesn't need any permission from either anyone in the administration or the congress and he should go forward immediately. we know the attorney general met with the president several weeks ago. what did they discuss? have there been other contacts between the president or senior administration officials and the attorney general? regarding this matter? have there been any attempts to interfere with the investigation in any way? have the a.g. or his close associates personally managed the work of career officials at the department of justice or f.b.i. in the course of the investigation? the inspector general has the ability, the right, and the only fwation to find out answers to these questions and more. the revel

senator mcconnell would further say he would refuse to even meet with judge garland. it was a transparent political b decision made by the republican leader in the hopes that a republican would be elected president of vacancy and part of a broader republican politicalre strategy to influence if not captured the judicial branch of court system. not only did the senate republicans keep the supreme court seat vacant for over a year, they turned the executive calendar into a nomination obituary column for judicial nominees who had been reported out of the judiciary committee with bipartisan support. they were hoping a republican president would fill all of those seats and they were prepared to leave it vacant for a year or more to achieve that end. what kind of nominees were they hoping or? nominees who digressed by special-interest by big business and by republican advocacy organizations. it was last year then candidate donald trump released the list of 21 potential supreme court candidates who were handpicked by two republican advocacy groups the federalist society and

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell.sed the goals moving forward, including what to do about obamacare. watch. >> martha: we heard president trump in the speech the other day say that the time of empty talk is over. this is the era of action. do you agree with him? >> i do. i do. everybody talked about last year's election being a change election. actually, it wasn't, for congress. american people realized that annette.mike republican senate and republican house gave us a president that will sign a rigi. i really like with the president is doing. i think the cabinet appointments have been terrific. the supreme court nominations, truly outstanding. he is beginning to move on deregulating and overregulated america. of course, we are going to fix the health health care system a tax reform. we are excited about having somebody who will sign into law the things that we have been advocating for years. >> martha: you sat down with him yesterday at the white house, you and speaker ryan. what was your sense of what his top priori

mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate dehereby move to bring to a close debate on treaty calendar number 1, treaty document 114-12, protocol to the north atlantic treaty of 1949 on the accession of montenegro signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the names be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: for the information of senators, we'll have a cloture vote on this treaty monday night at 5:30. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. i ask for a vitiation of the quorum. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. markey: i would then -- oh, it is not in a quorum call. i would seek recognition then to speak, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr.

once president trump and speaker ryan, leader mcconnell say they are no longer going to repeal, of course we want to make aca better and we will work to improve it. if you repeal it, you can't do it. you have nothing. they are having a great deal of trouble replacing it. >> bret: the markets for obamacare show demand has leveled off. prices for premiums and deductibles are skyrocketing for a lot of people. >> some states go up and some go down. >> bret: how would democrats fix it? >> there are some ways. there would have to be compromises with the republicans. republicans. we moved give the state insurance commissioners more authority to limit the price increases. >> bret: why not put out your plan? >> you can't do it if you're going to try to repeal act. once you repeal it, what are we building on? >> bret: candidate trump ran on it. you have 11 democrats up for reelection from states were 82% or more of the counties were won by donald trump. >> when they go home to those counties, they are hearing, don't repeal. candidate trump ran on repeal without showing what the replacement was pure

ironic that a senator from the northeast takes care of my benefits better than someone like mitch mcconnellso tell us your big idea for getting the whole country booking on choice hotels.com. four words, badda book. badda boom... let it sink in. shouldn't we say we have the lowest price? nope, dda book. badda boom. have you ever stayed with choice hotels? like at a comfort inn? yep. free waffles, can't go wrong. i like it. promote that guy. get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. when you book direct at choicehotels.com. book now. whattwo servings of veggies? v8 or a powdered drink? ready, go. ahhhhhhhh! shake! shake! shake! shake! shake! done! you gotta shake it! i shake it! glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. >>> we're back in mcdowell county. we were just talking about opioids. that is not something i should be very clear ask that is unique to mcdowell county. in fact, staten island, new york city where i live has seen an incries in opioid deaths. you served in the state senate for 32 years. >> i did. >> you're part of a lawsuit right now against the drug companies

the judiciary committee is set to vote on monday and mcconnell says he wants the full senate to vote before lawmakers head off for a two week spring baby. >> mcconnell and chuck schumer squaring off over the republican threat to invoke the nuclear option. that would change the rules on filibusters on high court nominees to be voted on by 51 instead of 60. >> we'll get judge gorsuch confirmed. it's an opportunity for democrats to vote on cloture. it's up to them how the process to confirm judge gorsuch goes forward. >> it's going to be a real uphill climb for him to get those 60 votes. it's such an important position. it should have bipartisan buy in. if a judge can't meet, if a nominee can't meet the 60 vote standard you don't change the rules. >> as of now 27 senators plan to filibuster the gorsuch nomination. three democrats haven't said whether they will join the filibuster but said they would vote against gorsuch on the floor and only two said they won't take part in the filibuster. zwroo future of online privacy is now in the hands of the trump administration. the rules have not

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell plans to debate the gorsuch nomination next week. and a vote is planned for friday, april 7. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite rovider. >> sunday night on q&a -- >> britain was the dominant power in the middle east and it was everywhere in decline. nationalists were rising up. so the big strategic question that the u.s. faced was, should it support britain against the rising nationalists, or should it try to create a new order by mediating between the nationalists and the british? >> hudson institute senior fellow on his book "ike's gamble: america's rise to dominance in the middle east." about the 1956 suez crisis and its aftermath. >> what he's trying to prevent is the soviet union coming in, aligning with the nationalists, undermining the british and taking control of the oil of the middle east. we cared about the oil because it was 100% of european oil came from the middle east. so,

rich mcconnell's for it, wrote an op-ed about it.ritics against it pretty will not be here tonight. mitch mcconnell will, as will thousands of people. the other question is will president trump bring up went went down on capitol hill? will he address what fbi director james comey just said, given the fact that he has already tweeted about it about six times, i'm guessing there's a pretty good chance he's going to bring it up. the first chance he will have to speak publicly about it. >> juan: kristin fisher in louisville. thank you so much. greg, what do you think? is there a chance he says, you know, i'm here to talk about health care. not interested in this other stuff. >> greg: i think he will have a couple riffs, a couple jokes. people will cheer him on. that's his thing. he's a salesman. this is his elements. while the other stuff is going on, this is the other stage. he's got this stage. now were going to look at that and forget about that. brilliant. >> eric: this is the main stage. >> kimberly: main event. >> eric: he can play

and so i think senator mcconnell is going to have real difficult. his main stream republicans don't like it because it cuts back on medicaid. remember, medicaid is for poor people but it's also 60% goes to people in nursing homes. you could be kicked out after that bill passes. what would you do? take them home? maybe mom or dad has to stop working to take care of them. maybe they have to shell out thousands of dollars out of their pockets. so it's -- what about opoid coverage? so many of our republicans senators have made a campaign, justifiably, of trying to get more opoid coverage since medicaid covers that, this is trouble there. then have you our conservative republican senators who think that this bill goes too far. so senator mcconnell has a very, very difficult job ahead of him. he only has the bill to blame. not anything we're doing. you know, democrats to a person are not voting for this bill in the senate. he's got to get the votes on his own. they asked for that when they did reconciliation. and he -- and the bill has made it extremely d

. >> mcconnell could do these so-called nuclear option to change the senate rules but there are those who worry about the impact of doing that. >> shannon: it would be historic. mike emanuel. thank you. the number two democrat in the house as republicans need members of his caucus in order to avoid a government shutdown.

mitch-- mcconnell-- yeah mitch mcconnell was there. is it just me or does mitch mcconnell always look like he's seeing the end of the world? ( laughter ) his face... like, that's the kind of face you make the first time you see your parents having sex. ( laughter ) anyway, everyone was gathered in the capitol to hear the president speak. and from the start, you knew it was going to be a special night, because not only did trump seem to enjoy relating to humans. he even wore a non-red die. laundry day will show you things. and then he went to the podium, "gentlemen, your menu for the night. i recommend the taco bowl, yes." guys, i gotta say, the tie don't lie. the speech got off to a good and unexpected start. >> as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of black history month, we are reminded of our nation's path towards civil rights and the work that still remains to be done. recent threats-- ( applause ) >> trevor: wow. ( laughter ) i don't know about you, but i didn't see that coming. i bet most black people didn't see that comin