mcconnell: it would be good to have democratic support. if he picks someone with a background in law enforcement, with no history of political involvement, a genuine expert -- the reason that i mentioned garland, he's an example of that. it would serve him well, serve the country well, and lead to a more bipartisan approach. kevin: before we get the policy, i wanted to mention this tweet last week about james comey hoping that there are no tapes of their conversations. in have expressed confidence the republican-controlled committee investigating this, but should they have access to those tapes if they exist? sen. mcconnell: senator burr and senator warner are handling that investigation and will decide what they need. in the meantime, the rest of us not directly involved in that, i think we need to concentrate on what comes next. we need to have a great choice for you director. i anticipate the president will do that and move on. kevin: how has all of this drama has described influence your ability to get ahead with health care reform? so

>> it tells me that mitch mcconnell is still mitch mcconnell. he's the kind of person that if there's going to be a break when it comes to mitch mcconnell and this white house over something like this, what you're going to see first is virtually every other republican senator breaking with the white house. you're going to see a lot of noise on the republican side saying we need a special prosecutor, this is outrageous, then somebody like mitch mcconnell, the leader of the party, a very cautious leader, a very plodding leader, somebody who never gives away more in public -- an inch more in public than he thinks he's got to move away, then he'll move, then he'll act, then he'll reflect it >> i wked for mch mcconnell t. for ten years when i was in the senate. >> describe him in one word. >> a poker player. he never tells you what he's thinking and he never makes a move without seeing how you react first. >> wow. mike, i want you to come back in here. what can senate democrats actually do? i'm looking at the statement that dianne feinstein put out e

mcconnell: it probably wouldn't pass the senate.he way we are trying to go theard is the secretary of treasury and this bigger and myself are trying to reach an agreement on a proposal that we can start with. it will start in the house. we have not reached that agreement yet. we will at some point. border adjustability is a pretty controversial thing in the senate. we will see what is in the final thing we agree to. kevin: have you spoken to the president since last night? sen. mcconnell: i speak with him frequent lee. -- frequently. kevin: we hear of the need for regulatory reform, particularly dodd-frank. sen. mcconnell: we are doing a lot of regulatory reform. on obamae 14 repealers era regulations already. i would love to revisit dodd-frank. community bankers have taken a hit. democrats don't seem to want to change it, even though all their community bankers are complaining about it. it would require some democratic involvement to achieve a statutory change in the senate. kevin: next week, the president is unveiling his budget p

mcconnell: i recommended america garland.osecutor in the bombing case and i think would make it clear that president trump will continue the tradition of the fbi i having an apolitical professional. kevin: do you think you need democratic support in order to legitimize the nominee? rep. mcconnell: it would be good to have democratic support and if he picks someone with a deep background in law enforcement that has no history of political involvement, a genuine expert -- the reason i mention garland is he is an example of that. it will serve him well and the country well and lead to a more vice -- bipartisan approach. kevin: i want to mention this tweet, president trump tweeting "comey better hope there are no copies of our tapes." should a committee have access to the tapes if they exist>? ? rep. mcconnell: the committee will decide what they need. for the rest of us, i think we need to concentrate on what comes next. i think we need a great choice for fbi director. i anticipate the president will do that and move on. kevin:

mitch mcconnell recommends merrick garland as fbi director after mcconnell played a part in blockingnfirm garland to the supreme court. mcconnell says the gop could use less drama at the white house. president trump welcomed the turkish president to the white house. countries, hetwo says, must battle the islamic state together.

mcconnell: i recommended merrick garland. he has a deep background in criminal law. he was a prosecutor in the oklahoma city bombing days. it would make it clear that president trump will continue the tradition at the fbi of having an apolitical professional. kevin: judge garland is someone republicans block that is now -- blocked that was president obama's picked for the supreme court. kevin cirilli, thank you. great interview. for more, let's bring in marty schenker. theve to ask you, does commander in chief make a decision would you give that information to the investor and foreign minister that would outweigh -- marty: if you believe the washington post account and the subsequent commentary that has come out of it, it sounds more plausible that he -- it was an inadvertent boasting and he didn't really understand what was classified and what wasn't. i don't know that you can make any claim to understanding why he did it come except that he knew it in his head that he decided to say it. vonnie: we don't know why the russian

senator mcconnell: it probably would not pass the senate. the way we are trying to go forward is the secretary of the treasury, the speaker, and myself are trying to reach an agreement on a proposal that we and -- we can all agree to start with. haven't reached that agreement yet, but we will at some point. kevin: there you have it with the controversial issue of the border adjustment tax probably not going to be included in the tax reform. there you have it. senator mcconnell working with for policy.s it is hard to do that when so much of the narrative and the story out of the white house is defending itself and its relationship with russia. vonnie: ambassador djerejian director of the rice institute -- acre institute at rice university. what will be the outcome of the meeting? will it just to be a friendly get-together or will there be anything actually accomplished by today's meeting between erdogan and president trump? ambassador djerejian: it will be difficult for the leaders to resolve the specific issues that are really issues dividin

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate -- the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration of s. 917 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 917, a bill to amend title 36, united states code to designate may 12 as -- may 1 as silver star banner day. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on homeland security and government affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 657 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 657, an act to amend title 5 of the united states code t

we want to thank leader mcconnell. we are so proud to have him here to speak about granddad and his career. we as a family, we are very proud of his accomplishments of them of course, but we miss him, and what he meant to us as a granddad, as a great granddad, as a father, and as a husband as well. that is what we miss the most, but we are proud of his legacy, and specifically this piece of his legacy. it encourages students to engages citizens of their community and to do it in a simple way that encourages cooperation and compromise. granddad love to quote henry clay. and specifically that compromise is negotiated hurt. we have to hurt a little. you have to hurt a little. i have to hurt a little in order for us to move ford. we want to instill that same sense of compromise in our students, and we think the best way to do that is through what we call fantastic experiences and we want to thank leader mcconnell and his staff for specifically one recently with our seniors in washington, d.c. he took a tremendous amount of

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: mr. president, last week we confirmed two well-qualified nominees -- jeffrey rosen as deputy secretary of transportation, and rachel brand as associate attorney general. and today we'll have an opportunity to confirm another excellent nominee, governor terry branstad, to be u.s. ambassador to china. while i'm pleased that the senate is working to fill these important positions, it's been disappointing to see so much pointless obstruction by our friends across the aisle. they continuously forced procedural hurdles on nominees for no other reason than to stall confirmations, launching more filibusters against this president's cabinet than any other in history. and they've done so not to change the result, but simply to eat up floor time that could be used for legislation to help our

mcconnell:. i have i recommended merrick garland.people, but he has a deep background in criminal law, he was the prosecutor in oklahoma city bombing case. i think that would make it clear that president trump will continue the tradition of having an apolitical professional. >> you thinking he need democratic support on whoever he picks to legitimize the nominee? sen. mcconnell: it would be good to have democratic support. i think if he picks someone with a deep background in law-enforcement, who has no history of political involvement , a genuine expert. the reason i mention garland -- he is an example of that. it will serve him well, serve the country well, and lead to a more bipartisan approach. >> before we get to policy, i want to mention this tweet last week. president trump tweeting about the -- james comey better hope there are no case of our conversation before he starts leaking. you have expressed confidence in the republican committee investigating this, but should that committee have access, if they do exist? sen. mcconne

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i don't have to tell colleagues how important the internet and other wireless technologies have been in our modern society. from the way students learn to the way we do business and even the way, as senators, keep in touch with our constituents, these advancements have, in many ways, fundamentally changed how we operate. but it's important to remember that these groundbreaking technological advance haves -- advances didn't come about because of government mandates. they grew out of an environment that encouraged innovation. from the clinton years onward there was a bipartisan consensus that we should maintain the kind of light, regulatory touch that allowed this innovation to thrive in the first place. in order to open the door to further advancements. unfortunately, mr. president, that changed under the obama administration which used the f.c.c. to force through antiquated regulations designed for an age of rotary phones and switchboards. today, however, we finally have an

mcconnell: it would be good.ith a deep ground in law enforcement who has no history of political ,nvolvement, a genuine expert harland is an example of that, it would serve the country well. it would lead to a more bipartisan approach. kevin: i do want to mention this tweet last week. the president tweeted about the james comey better hope there are no tapes of our conversations are in you expressed confidence in the republican-controlled committee investigating this. should they have access to those tapes if they exist? senator burr and senator warren are handling the investigation. they will decide what they need. in the meantime, for the rest of us not directly involved, i think we to concentrate on what comes next. we do have a great choice for fbi director. i anticipate the president will do that in move on. kevin: how has the drama influenced your ability to get across health care reform? what is the timeline on that? elected alicans republican congress to fix health care. sen. mcconnell: we are in intense

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 22, s. 249. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 22, s. 249, a bill to provide that the pueblo of santa clara may lease for 99 years certain restricted land and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. 159 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 159 recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of national sexual assault awareness month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the in eve

the president called mcconnell before doing it.e says there will be a full, fair and timely confirmation process when a new f.b.i. director nominee is announced and mcconnell jumped on hypocrisy with democrats saying a lot of them wanted to fire james comey until the president actually did it. >> the democratic leader a few weeks ago praised mr. rosenstein for his independence and developed a reputation for integrity. the democratic colleagues complaining of removal of an f.b.i. director who they themselves sharply criticized repeatedly. that removal being done by a man, rod rosenstein who they repeatedly praised. >> bill: chuck grassley of iowa this morning saying it is time to suck it up and move on. bottom line, time to turn the page. there are a lot of serious matter. >> democrats are responding in a significant way. we heard from chuck schumer. generally speaking what are they saying? >> well, they are expressing they're alarmed by the timing of this removal of james comey from his post. we saw all the senate democrats on the

methodical is the preferred path for mitch mcconnell. to sort through the same policy that complicated the house debate, an old mcconnell sparring partner trying to rally democrats to put up a good fight. >> i hope that current members of congress recall that it actually doesn't take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful. already comfortable. already influential. but it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable. and the sick. and the infirm. i hope they understand the courage means not simply doing what is politically expedient, but doing what they believe deep in their hearts is right. >> former president obama accepting an award. the profile of courage award. he didn't say anything during the house debates. how influential is his voice? do democrats need his voice? will that matter? >> it adds another layer, but i don't know that it changes anything. i think you're right, i think democrats are fired up on their own. frankly they're looking for someone else to lead them at this point. but just by how this bil

mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of courtney elwood of virginia to be general counsel of the central intelligence agency, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture motion be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate resume consideration of the sullivan nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: if no one yields time, the time will be charged equally to the two sides. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, first, the sen

remember, it takes 51 votes to have a filibuster of nominees and i don't think mcconnell will allow hisers to get in that kind of trouble and there are plenty of republicans that aren't critical of trump who are going to stick with them a lot longer whether it's one term or two and they plan to be in the senate for a lot longer than that. so i think the president will be under pressure to do a better job of explaining this so that he gets republican support and he's going to have to nominate somebody thought of similarly to how comey was thought of originally when he was first nominated to be the fbi director. >> regardless of who the president nominates, jackie, and as david importantly pointed out only needs 51 votes to get through. will that person have to recuse themselves from the russian investigation because of the nature of the nomination being done by the president? i don't think so, but it all depends on who he decides to nominate at this point. i also think it's interesting that mitch mcconnell decided to take the white house line on this in terms of democrats who were critic

next on american history tv, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell talks about former kentucky governornd u.s. senator wendell ford. mcconnell focuses on ford's early life on a dairy farm, his entry into politics, his campaign for majority whip, and his lasting legacy on kentucky politics. government ford education center in ellensburg, kentucky hosted this 45 minute long event. [applause] >> good afternoon everyone. ,y name is elizabeth griffith the executive director of the wendell ford government education center. it is my pleasure to welcome you to this historic tribute lecture honoring senator wendell ford featuring majority leader mitch mcconnell. before we begin, i would like to share our mission and the relevance it serves in our world today. as you all know, senator ford believed that students need a better understanding of how our government operates and that the principles by which he conducted his work, civil discourse, cooperation, and the willingness to compromise are vital to our nations future. in keeping with this mission, the center of established the statesmanship aca

here's mitch mcconnell.held up, locked a vote on merit garland, president obama's choice to be on the supreme court. listen to mitch mcconnell saying i think he'd be a great fbi director. >> i recommended merit garland. he was the prosecutor in the oklahoma city bombs case. it would make it clear that president trump will continue the tradition at the fbi of having an apolitical professional. >> a source close to the judge said thanks but no thanks. >> it would also create an opening on the bench which mcconnell would love to see that. >> this is kind of cruel, right? there is mitch mcconnell. he blocked merit garland from the supreme court. that would have been his dream i'm sure to be on the supreme court. now he's like oh, you serve -- >> now you have dinner with president trump and ask him to pledge your loyalty before you take over the russia investigation. >> but the reality here is the president i'm told wants to try and make a decision before friday. before he leaves and really for almost a week and

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations: executive calendar 60, 62, 64. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the nominees en bloc. the clerk: nominations, department of defense david l. norquist of virginia to be under secretary; kari a. bingen of virginia to be principal deputy under secretary. robert story karem of the district of columbia to be an assistant secretary. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc, that if confirmed the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in order and that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no fur

want to begin with phil mattingly on capitol hill where there was a very important moment, mitch mcconnell with the president this morning, phil. >> you can't overstate how important that leadership is. senate leadership and house leadership will determine whether or not there are changes towards the policy here, whether or not congress will actually work towards a special prosecutor or an independent panel and so long as senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and his number two, senator john corn cornyn, i spoke to him earlier. the interesting element here is that's as republican members of their conference seem to be starting to break with them or at least start to raise concerns. i just spoke a couple of minutes ago with democratic senator brown. take a listen to what he had to say about some of those republicans. >> like my colleagues in both parties i think there should be a special prosecutor. the president of the united states firing the person who is leading the investigation and his ties with russia is very troubling, and i hear from -- i've talked to half a dozen republican colle

senator mcconnell: i do. ok, good afternoon, everyone. hadepublican senators another extensive discussion about the way forward on health care at lunch. we will be doing that, as i indicated last week, tuesday, wednesday and thursday. trying to come together behind a proposal to repeal and replace obamacare. on the floor, regretfully, we have to go through a lot of procedural hoops just to confirm the deputy secretary of transportation, the number three of justice. onven had to file cloture the ambassador to china, who came out of the foreign relations committee unanimously. you can see the democrats want to make everything go as slow as possible, but we will work our way through that on the confirmations and we will be back in touch with you on health care. our conference has been sitting a lot of our time spinning about the path forward on health care. we know that obamacare is broken and needs to be fixed. everybody in this country i think no step. the status quo is unsustainable. we are looking for a way to make health care more affor

now senator mcconnell said this morning the cbo score would "repeat things we already knew about the house bill." that is completely true. but let's be very clear, the principles behind trumpcare in the house and trumpcare in the all-male, closed door, senate republican working group are the same. that it's fine for sick people and seniors to pay more for worse coverage, that insurance companies should be able to sell people insurance that's no better than snake oil, and that if people nationwide lose coverage altogether, it's somehow no problem. so as long as the wealthiest get their tax breaks and president trump gets his partisan political win, they're fine. those are the principles families are rejecting. those are the principles democrats here today are rejecting. and senate republicans should know until they do us well by dropping repeal and their partisan efforts to sabotage the health care system in ways that hurts families and raises their costs, they are standing squarely in the way of real solutions to problems far too many people across the country are facing when it come

how hard does mitch mcconnell start twisting arms?t a lot on the line to get the votes or put it up and let it fail and move on and say we did obamacare repeal, didn't work, let's ooumove on to tax reform. >> mitch mcconnell saying the reason that 23 million more americans won't have coverage is because when you start forcing people to buy something they don't want to buy, you now get them to embrace the freedom, to not have to buy health insurance. that is some unusual logic, if i've ever seen it, but they are selling this as liberty. >> ali, here's what we're going to have to start looking for in thefecti next few weeks if this effort does fall flat. somebody has to step up and take ownership. we we've heard the argument many times that obamare is falling flat, unavailable in iowa and a number of states. in wisconsin, insurers are pulling out. if that's the fact, then republicans are going to have to move to try to stabilize it at some point. will they come up with some sort of short-term patch, if you will, to try to stabilize obam

mitch mcconnell knows that.ppened in 1965 and '66 when the democrats had the super majorities. they changed america. we could spent 50 years trying to undo the work of that one congress and not succeed. filibuster is something conservatives want to keep. >> just talking to big donors who are frustrated about things not getting done, they say if you have a republican house or republican senate and republican white house and you can't get it done, then when will you get it done? the money will try up for republicans if they don't start moving something. is this white house just trying to change the dynamic to get the wheels turning? >> i think it's not just donors. it's regular voters. a lot of the voters who are trump supporters. the difference is trump is winning the argument with a lot of them. they are doubling down their blame on republicans which i don't think is entirely unfair. the effort by trump. he is not a conservative. he is a populist. the idea he is recommending to the senate that they need to get r

mitch mcconnell made it clear he wants a score on the bill.e focusing specifically on concerns about pre-existing conditions. we know that they won't go for anything that defines planned parenthood. >> guest: how much of that is about politics and whose seats are coming up? , just about the midterm election. >> i think it's always a factor, there's a lot of senators up and they will have a lot more to deal with, the republicans in districts that went for hillary clinton like all over californ california. i think there's a lot of posturing but there's a lot of senators who have made it clear throughout the process to go back to susan collins and lisa murkowski mike cassidy, where their concerns are with pre-existing conditions and medicaid. harris: at the pre-existing conditions are long and there's a lot of things that are loud and they will be the by state and it will vary. there's a lot of misinformation out there when you read this bill. why are republicans doing a better job of messaging. >> because we don't have a very strong messaging st

so mitch mcconnell controls that floor. even if you got senators on your side, you can't get around mitch mcconnell, can you? >> well, some of it depends on if there are enough republican senators that want to work with us on both getting this independent prosecutor, special prosecutor, and then i would add to it the independent commission which could come as a second stage where we want to prepare ourselves for this next election and get set rules of the game that we can all agree on in terms of having, you know, what the media does when they get stuff that's been cyber attacked by a foreign country, what do political campaigns do. i mean we're not far from the days -- i remember the days where someone would get some secret stuff from the other campaign for a debate that someone sent. they would just send it back. so we could get some agreements on this. we could do something to protect our democracy. so those are all areas where i think you could have agreement, but the fbi director is a glaring issue right now where we j

leader mcconnell so far holding firm against that. republicans believe, even the critics of trump believe, if something like that were to happen, forget this year. forget tax reform, forget health care, forget anything. you do a big commission like that, and year one of the trump presidency is frozen. >> it's a nightmare. and all you have to do is look back through industry. ask anyone in the clinton administration or bush administration. what happens when a trump administration starts up? you have to shut down. every day is dealing with document requests. it is a nightmare. i think bob woodward wrote a great book about special prosecutors and takeaway was, don't ever agree to this. nothing happens on capitol hill unless senator leader mitch mcconnell decides to change his posture. i think the biggest thing, and manu hinted at this as well. last night up on capitol hill, first and foremost, i was the person who had to tell foreseparate republican senators what had happened. ne they weren't aware. the biggest question i got back from t

mcconnell downplaying criticism of 13 senator health care working group that contains no women. he says, the entire republican conference is, in fact, involved. mcconnell says the focus on those 13 members is exaggerating its importance. >> working group that counts is all 52 of us, we are having extensive meetings every day. nobody is being exclued based on gender. you need to write about what is actually happening. and we are having a discussion about the real issues. everybody is at the table. everybody. scuss health care reform.y to he told reporters to pay more attention to the actual policy discussion and less on gender politics. >> also under fire. house speaker paul ryan confronted by protesters, hundreds of them as he left a charter school in new york city's harlem neighborhood. ryan visiting success academy criticized for inviting ivanka trump to visit in november. the school is one of the highest performing charter schools. barack obama is getting attention for an address in italy, not anything he said. >> cutting down on distractions at school. district's new approac

david: that of course the wrong cut your data senator mitch mcconnell.et's see if we can get the clip of vladimir putin speaking at a hockey game in sochi today. >> how will the firing of james comey affect you? putin: there will be no effect. your question is very funny to me. we have nothing to do with the. trump is acting in accordance with his confidence and his laws, the constitution. what about us? why we? david: vladimir putin thing at the end he is going to play some hockey. i think there is concern about to theppens investigation underway that the fbi is conducting. is more pressure placed on congress? congress needse to play a supervisory role here. obviously, partisan politics are going to figure in that it i think there is a law enforcement process that needs to be locked down here remember, after cox,ard nixon fired they sealed the door to his office and got his record spirit we need to find out if that will happen here. will the career civil servant in the fbi keep their hands on the tiller and proceed, or is there going to be more interfer

mitch mcconnell agreed too issue that invitation and did so on monday. he said monday that mr. rosenstein accepted the invitation. also reporting from the wall street journal on this topic, one of the candidates for fbi director, trey gaudi, the congressman from south carolina took himself out of the running on monday. he said the fbi needs director within impeccable credentials and one who can unite the country. >> live to the white house for h statements from presidenteade trump

mcconnell -- >> neil: did you just open up the rift here?ok, you know, mitch mcconnell has been very clear that it's going to be hard to get tax reform done. he doesn't have the votes to do what it is that the white house wants to do. they also don't have the votes on healthcare right now. i do think it's a back and forth between mitch mcconnell and the president that we're starting to see. >> neil: what do you think of that? it's not the first time that those at the same party are at each other's throats. jimmy carter does not get along with tip o'neal. this is what they played against each other. what do you think? >> republicans have -- are having the nancy pelosi moment. have to pass it to see what is in it. there's a lot of discord in the republican party on tax reform and healthcare. tax cuts are fine but the republicans want tax reform. we have to think about a bigger and broader picture. that's where there's a real disconnect with republicans in the house and the senate and the white house. it will be interesting moving forward. ever

and so if it's agreeable to my colleagues, we would like senator mcconnell to make an introduction. i know he has a very heavy, busy schedule. welcome, senator mcconnell. >> i note the presence of several of our -- a couple of our colleagues here, including our distinguished majority leader who is here as well as represented by ra comstock and so if it's akrieg to my colleagues, we'd like senator mcconnell to make an introduction. >> i know he has a very heavy, busy schedule. welcome, senator mcconnell. >> thank you, chairman mccain. senator reed, members of the committee. exceedingly proud to be here today to introduce robert story care recommend and a very qualified person to be here for this position. through hearing you will find and individual who has worked to address some of the major challenges confronting our country. because of his dill grens, robert a native of lexington, kentucky, rapidly moved up in my office from legislative correspondent and to be my legislative assistant for foreign affairs. he proved to be a quick study and i learned not to doubt his advice or his j

look, mitch mcconnell is actually seen as a master legislator and can really push things through.ng is, the bill that he ultimately pushes through the senate won't look anything like what the house bill that was just passed will look like, so, you know, whether or not mitch mcconnell gets a decent victory, what we ultimately see is going to have to go back to the house and then whatever mitch mcconnell gets, will the house freedom caucus then sign off on that? there are many more steps to this process and the longer this goes on, the worse politically it will be, because we're going to see a number of town halls come up this next week and republican lawmakers are going to hear an earful from their constituents and we see the obamacare numbers polling starting to go up. american people like obamacare more than they did a year ago. >> they were happy with the devil they know than with the devil that they don't and we know president trump's numbers are less than where obamacare is right now in popularity. with so much, i guess, heat on the republican party for this and also on presid

mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: a new report released last night from the department of health and human services reveals startling new numbers showing just how substantial premium increases have been under obamacare. according to that report, average annual obamacare premiums have increased by nearly $3,000 since 2013, the year that most of the health care law's mandates and regulations actually went into effect. in other words, it's now clear that average obamacare plans on the exchanges more more than dod from 2013 from 2013 until now. that's an increase of 105%, or nearly $3,000, and these figures are based on the obama administration's own data. but these exorbitant costs are just one part of the problem. to say nothing of the shrinking choices of insurers offering plans on the obamacare exchanges across the country. last week our colleague from iowa, chairman grassley, came to the floor and shared with us the story of the tacoma narrows bridge, a bridge in washington state that was, as he put it, se

so i think mcdonald -- sorry, mcconnell has showed himself to be a master here. now, you know, i think if the democrats were smart, they probably wouldn't try so much to defeat the next nominee, they would try to influence the pick. they would be smart if they, of the 20 people left on trump's list, if they made it clear to the president that be the you pick, you know, in this perp or these two people -- this person or these two people, there won't be a lot of resistant. that would be the smart move given their weak hand, but they didn't exactly, you know -- given their weak hand, they overplayed it this time, so maybe they'll do it again. if we lose the senate, any vacancies that occur after 2018, that's going to be a different story. the democrats will want revenge for garland. that doesn't mean that republicans did anything wrong with garland. you know, i'm sure most people many this room don't have to be convinced that the republicans were under no obligation to have a vote on garland. if there was such an obligation, then the filibuster would be unconstituti

we heard from mitch mcconnell. an interview about an hour ago. typical mcconnell understatement. says he wants to see a little less drama from the white house because they're trying to move forward on their agenda. i am standing here in the dirksen building on a hearing on medicare. they won't make much headway if all the oxygen is being sucked up by the latest tweets and controversies. i have spoken with several senators going into this hearing. again, an unrelated hearing. varied reactions from republicans. john thune says, if it's true, he is troubled. marco rubio says his office, he has asked the white house for more information, for more clarification. tim scott, the conservative from south carolina, stead fast, stalwart in his support of the president. when asked if he has concerns about everything that's happened over the last 24 hours, he says none. it was a democrat, tom carper of delaware, who really put a fine point on it on his way into the hearing. >> i am a retired navy captain, former commander and intelligence commander with my squadron during the vietnam war. we

mitch mcconnell is good at wrangling. look at how he was able to stall merit garland forever and get gorsuch on the supreme court. there are meetings going on about what this bill will look like. yeah, there will be a lot of policy differences. what happens with planned parenthood funding, what happens with the medicaid expansion. but my money in some ways is on mitch mcconnell and getting this done. >> here's three things we know are going to happen. some of them are outside of the senators control and they're going to be watching them for signals. number one, they're going home for a week and see how much they get yelled at. see what the passion is from the grass roots. both the activist grass roots on the right and the larger grass roots of their districts. are people passionately upset about this, are they supportive of this. what is the vibe they're going to get. number two, the cbo is going to score this bill some weeks after the fact and that's going to give people at least in some guidelines of what are the estima

all 48 democrats asked mitch mcconnell and republican leaders for a bipartisan, open and transparent effort to improve the health care system. leader mcconnell suggested the move is the democrats signaling that obamacare just isn't working. >> if they're asking to participate, they must be conceding the status quo is not sustainable. i certainly agree with that. >> meanwhile, leader mcconnell standing off criticism of the group tasked with drafting that bill. mcconnell under fire for not including any of the five women in the working group, but he says everyone is part of the process. >> working group that counts is all 52 of us, and we are having extensive meetings as i said a few minutes ago every day, nobody is being excluded based on gender. everybody is at the table, everybody. >> were you disappointed when you learned there were no women on the core working group? >> i was surprised there were not. it really is up to the leadership to decide whom they want so i'm not really troubled by it because i'm going to continue to work with the other senators. >> if you're asked to be on

that was mitch mcconnell. a full, fair and timely confirmation process for james comey‘s successor, but that dismissal of the fbi director still causing shock waves in washington. mr president there is little reason to think that mr rosenstein's letter is the true reason that president trump fired director comey. why? because of the administration truly had objections to the way director comey handled the clinton investigation, they would have had then the minute the president got into office, but he didn't fire director comey then. the question is, why did it happen last night? we know director comey was leading an investigation in whether the trump campaign colluded with the russians, a serious offence. where those investigations getting too close to home for the president? the dismissal of director comey establishes a very troubling pattern. this administration has now removed several law enforcement officials in a position to duct independent investigations of the president and his administration. from act