mcconnell: now, mr. president, i understand the senate has received a message from the house to accompany s. 2372. the presiding officer: the leader is correct.. mr. mcconnell: i move the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany s. 2372. 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 nomination. the message. the clerk: resolved that the bill from the senate, s. 2372 entitled an act to amend title 38 united states code to provide outer burial receptacles for remains buried in national parks and for other purposes do pass with an amendment. mr. mcconnell: i move to concur in the house amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell, moves to concur in the house amendment to s. 2372. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk on the motion to concur. the presiding officer: the

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., thursday, may 17, further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. finally, i ask that following leader remarks senator paul be recognized under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there's nor further business to -- no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjournedhe sides. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. as the minority, we typically cannot move legislation on the floor without the consent of the majority leader. but under the rules governing congressional r

mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: the question is on passage of the bill, as amended. all may never say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill, as amended, is passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 409, s. 2178. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 409, s. 2178, a bill to require the inspector general to make open recommendations of inspector generals publicly available and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, the committee-reported title be agreed to and the moti

david: on that, how much do you want to run against mitch mcconnell? last year aabama lot of unique factors, but the exit poll coming out of that was that republican voters were not fond of mitch mcconnell. is there any way to make the selection a leadership choice between democrats and mitch mcconnell? mr. poersch: that question has two answers. be so shown himself to unpopular nationally because he is unpopular with both democrats and republicans, which is unusual. as a result, his leadership has ability toed and his impact republican primaries have been undercut. a national issue, it isn't so much mitch mcconnell as the leadership in washington and the leadership in congress. i think people are more and more telling us that this is a change thetion and they think congress is broken and mitch mcconnell is very much part of that. alexi: how do you get trump supporters to vote for democrats? -- poersch: the way the math map has shown itself is we have 24 incumbent senators, 10 of them in states that trump ran, and i think it is actually a misnomer that

mcconnell: mr. mcconnell: while in the committee's robust discussions, i look forward to bringing the appropriations bills they craft here to the senate floor. earlier this week, the armed services committee began considering this year's defense authorization bill. they have a solid foundation on which to build thanks to the historic agreement reached earlier this year that delivered the highest year on year increase of funding for our armed forces in 15 years. one bill after another, one confirmation after another, the senate continues to produce major accomplishments that will directly improve the lives of the american people. now, on that subject, yesterday brought another piece of exciting news for american workers and middle-class families. the u.s. manufacturer united technologies announced new plans to invest $15 billion right here in america and hire 35,000 american workers in the next several years. this fortune 100 company makes a wide variety of engineered products from jet engines to ele

republican voters were not fond of mitch mcconnell. himself tohas shown be so unpopular nationally because he is unpopular among both democrats and republicans. that's unusual. as a result, his leadership has been weekend and his ability to impact republican primaries have been undercut. as far as initial issue, it isn't so much mitch mcconnell as the leadership in washington and in congress. i think people are more and more telling us this is a change election. i think they think that congress is broken and mitch mcconnell is a part of that. >> how do you get from supporters to vote for democrats? map shows itself incumbent 24 senators, 10 of them in states that trump ran. thatnk it is a misnomer our challenge is to win over trump supporters. quite's a sickly come our challenge in this cycle is to keep the trump supporters that incumbents have. most of our democrat incumbents are leading races. huge tranchesave of support that voted for trump. a party in the senate, are performing better with trump supporters than we did in 2016. we s

mcconnell sat on them. the package mr.t yesterday is good and his base should be encouraged in this moment of fiscal restraint. hopefully the pack soldier the first of many. now congress must do its job. he is talking about $15 million about a rescissions package that is to me looks like accounting gimmick to make it look like there is actually funds cut from the federal government. where do you stand on that? >> the congressman of course is incorrect that senate republicans didn't want to pass appropriation bills last year. senate democrats prevented that. which is possible in the senate. we are hoping to have a more cooperative period this year. it seems to be a better relationship between the senate and the house. between senate democrats and the republicans. with the regard to rescissions package we are willing to look at it. the first job is for the house to pass it. >> dana: pass it. well, i hope you have a good trip back to the commonwealth of kentucky. do you know that horse, justify? >> heck of a horse, wasn't it?

mcconnell is no different. if they tell you they're going to drain the swamp but they don't know if they will vote for mcconnell or not, can't be true. >> bret: let me just clarify here -- [applause] >> bret: let me just clarify. when you are talking about mitch mcconnell's family you are talking about the father of the current secretary of transportation, president trump's secretary of transportation, the father who you called a china person. she is a key decider in infrastructure projects which might be a big deal in west virginia. how do you get along and get things done by slinging insults like that? >> i'm not going to d.c. to get along, so that will be a failure because i don't intend to get along. i intend to make sure that we make a difference. this idea that calling someone a china person -- i'm an american person. i don't see this insinuation by the press that there's something racist about saying china person. some people are korean persons some of them are african persons. it's not any slander there

is why after he lost last night, mcconnell dumped on him hard online. >> postelection, mcconnell firing back with this humorous tweet, mccconnell reimagined as pablo escobar for the tv show narcos" with the message, "thanks for playing, don." >> trevor: wow! mtch mcconnell! ( cheers and applause ) making jokes. that's amazing. it is a bit weird that mcconnell is so confident about it that he made himself pablo escobar. you know, like, part of me thinks that maybe he is involved with cocaine now. you know, like, now that it's over he's like, "okay, now that the heat's off, we have to get back on the corner, bro. push that blow. remember the price-- $58.94, so it doesn't look suspicious. so don blankenship came out of nowhere in the primary race and ended up nowhere afterwards. but even in defeat, this man was tv gold. >> it's time to concede, so we're conceding the election. feel free to hang around, you know. we already paid a big bill for y'all be able to eat and drink and occupy this room, so there's no reason to hurry out of here. so stay as long as you want, and i'm staying upstairs

senator mcconnell's educational focus is on civic engagement through such programs as the mcconnell scholars and the mcconnell center at the university of louisville. the goal of these programs, is to identify, recruit, and nurture kentucky's future leaders. please join me in welcoming kentucky's senior senator, the honorable mitch mcconnell. [applause] sen. mcconnell: thank you. well, thank you, kent. it is wonderful to be here and to see all of you. i appreciate very much the kind introduction. the united states senate is an endlessly interesting place. it was in the beginning and it remains so even today. for those who are interested in quick results, it is an endless frustration. some of you may remember that washington, who presided over the constitutional convention, was, according to legend, asked what do you think the senate will be like? he said i think it will be like the saucer under the teacup. the tea will slosh out of the cup and down to the saucer and cool off. [laughter] remember how revolutionary the notion of electing people who would actually govern you was in 1787. nobody

>> it's interesting that mcconnell worded it that way. when i read this i thought why would he say that. he's clearly going against what members -- what many members in his caucus think. i actually think that mcconnell must have some confidence that the investigation is not going to turn up collusion or there's no way he would say this thing. perhaps he just has confidence there's no wrongdoing from the trump campaign. as dagen eluded and and went through the list, it's not about collusion, it's not about anything that was the original scope of the investigation. my -- i don't know what's going through mcconnell's head. my thought is that perhaps he has confidence they're not actually going to find any collusion. >> i just think mcconnell doesn't want to put on a helmet and go to war for the president. he wants to say, yeah, let the investigations do what they may. he figures he's going to keep doing what he's doing. >> mcconnell also wants to maintain that majority in the senate. and sees it as a much bloodier fight. it's also interestin

so in a tit for tat, leader mcconnell said we're doing it for supreme court too. but the bliewps are a -- blue slips are a new thing. they should be legally excellent, not political hacks. diversity. i like diversity on the bench when we can get. it we've had a lot of success in new york. i also like moderation. i don't like judges far right, that's obvious, but i also don't like judges far left. because judges who are ideologies believe they can make law rather than interpret law. week by week, month by month, year by year, bounds -- this blue slip goes way beyond that tradition of bipartisanship that has kept judges more in the center, that has kept judges who intend to interpret the law rather than make it is evaporating. once the blue slips are gone, that's the last vestage. there will be little incentive for the majority to consult the minority on judicial nominations. that's objectively not a good thing. we want judges who are qualified, evenhanded, not partisan instruments. a senate that acts only as a rubber stamp for the president's nominees is not doing

our mitch mcconnell?! if that's true, someone's cutting mitch's blow with ambien!r ) but primary frights work their stupid magic on both sides and in new york democratic governor andrew cuomo who made his name as a moderate is being challenged by activist and progressive cynthia nixon, and i couldn't be happen queer about her candidacy, and i know you're expecting me to make a sex in the city joke by saying i'm such a miranda. but the show ended 14 years ago so get over it and stop being such a charlotte! ( applause ) and while polls have nixon trailing quoam o he's been swerving left than a bruce driver on bath salts. >> cuomo is following nixon entrance by checking off a list. >> governor quoam-had an order to give prison parolees the right to vote. >> a major push to legalize marijuana. >> cynthia nixon came out in favor of legalization and governor cuomo is considering it. >> governor cuomo wants to ban plastic shopping bags throughout the united states. >> cynthia was leading a rally with environmental activists. >> no more plastic bags in new york! finally, e

and is disparaging mcconnell's wife and family.na. her family came over when she was just eight years old. here's how she described it to dana bash. >> as an adult looking back and seeing my mother who was only like 27, how frightening it must have been for her as the only woman aboard this cargo ship with three young girls. i mean, that's pretty rough. >> chow's family started a shipping company. she rose to be the first chinese american to serve on the cabinet under george w. bush. she is now head of transportation. the same organization that blankenship says he's running for the senate to support. >> for young people and young women, i want to give them strength and hope and confidence. just because there are no role models doesn't mean that you can't be the future role model that you now seek. just pursue your life's passion. do what you really love, and the way will unfold. >> so while she may have been born in china, it sure sound like she's living the american dream to me, don. i don't know about you. you don't have to take

an apparent reference to blankensh blankenship's nickname for mcconnell, "cocaine mitch." only in 2018. more from ryan nobles in charleston, west virginia. >> reporter: there is no doubt that the results here in west virginia come as a relief to republicans in washington, particularly senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and president trump. the former coal baron ended up with a disappointing finish coming in third place. there was some thought that don blankenship's campaign was surging, that he had an opportunity to defy all the odds. this despite the fact that president trump put out a tweet telling voters in west virginia to pick anyone other than blankenship. it was that tweet that blankenship believes was the difference between a win and a loss. >> it didn't work out. i -- i'm being asked, of course, whether some of the things we did, whether it's cocaine mitch or whether it's some of the criticisms of mitch mcconnell or china people made the difference. i really don't think so. i think if there was any single factor based on the polling at different times, the deb

senator mcconnell and i getting along very well. and i think we even enjoy each others company. he laughs at my jokes. that is a big deal! but we want appropriations process to work well. and that is bipartisan. but this kind of rescission and letting the heartbreak and the freedom caucus dictate what should be done is going to make it harder to get the appropriations process moving forward in a bipartisan way. i hope at some point, either speak orion or leader mcconnell does not go forward with this. yes?

senator mcconnell: good afternoon, everyone. the president was in a really good mood and reviewed all of the new developments abroad, not only the decision on iran but also highlighted the meeting june 12 in singapore. we were all in a celebratory mood as a result of having approved the 21st circuit judge just a few moments ago. that means that one-eighth of the circuit judges in america have been appointed by donald trump and confirmed by this republican senate. so we think we're making dramatic progress on that front as well. and, of course, everybody's excited about the condition of the economy and the way the country seems to be in an upbeat mood heading into the fall election. >> tomorrow, the senate intelligence committee will vote gina haspel -- she is quite likely the most accomplished person to be nominated as c.i.a. director and she reiterated this morning in a letter to senator mark warner, the ranking member on the intelligence committee that she did not believe that the c.i.a. should ever restart any of the interrog

how about mitch mcconnell?particular election given the fact that there's no love lost between these two men? >> it's similar to what we saw in alabama. we haven't necessarily seen mitch mcconnell going out and making statements to the press but mitch mcconnell has a very robust political machine that does operate in some of these primaries and the accusations from blankenship is that some of the negative ads that he's facing are being funded and being pushed by mitch mcconnell and his allies. we do know that when different candidates, including roy moore, make it apart of their campaign to attack the majority leader, mitch mcconnell a savvy operator in washington doesn't take that lying down and even though they're members of his own party, he takes the fight back to them and that's what we've seen in west virginia. he's very much hoping that blankenship does not make it out of this primary race and there are a lot of negative ads attacking mr. blankenship that would make it difficult for him to push through a

mitch mcconnell will walk away from this if blankenship wins, right? trying to tell republicans don't spend money there? >> i think it's likely just for moral and personal reasons he will try to do that. but you're exactly right, this is probably the most vulnerable democrat, maybe in the top three, in joe manchin. he is so popular there. just like tindiana, republicans are tripping over themselves to put a giant bear hug around donald trump because he is so well liked among republicans in alabama and west virginia. i spent a couple days with him week before last down in west virginia, and just on the point that you were making, jonathan, on the fact that he makes his argument about why he was in jail, which he notes was a misdemeanor, not a felony, is because he was set up by politicians like joe manchin, like barack obama, even throws hillary clinton in there. this is what he hands out at his rallies and at his events. i called it a manifesto. he suggested that was probably a word he wouldn't use because he said only bad people write manifestos, but

blankenship has attacked mcconnell, called him cocaine mitch.e after his wife. >> in racist terms. yeah. >> mitch mcconnell is out of the 535 members of congress the one least likely to have experimented with cocaine. blankanin shhh is arguing essentially as many other candidates this year are arguing in republican primaries that he is the trumpiest. so much so that when the president attacked him today he actually said i'm even trumpier than trump. >> i think we have that cocaine mitch ad. let's look at it. >> they are running ads that say the coal mine blew up and i went to prison. there is no surprise there. if you want jobs and if you want to end the drug epidemic and if you want to protect the unborn you need to vote for me. up with of my goals as u.s. senator will be to ditch cocaine mitch. >> that of course did not include the incendiary remarks about mitch mcconnell's wife that you referenced. i'm not sure i have ever seen a political ad like that in my career. >> some of the viewers may be too young you approximate it reminded me of one

senator mcconnell's educational focus is on civic engagement. the goal of stellar programs to identify, recruit, and nurture the future leaders of kentucky. please join me in welcoming the honorable mitch mcconnell. >> thank you. it's wonderful to be here and see all of you. i appreciate very much the kind introduction. the united states senate is an interesting place . it was so in the beginning and it remains so even today. for those looking for quick results it is an endless frustration. washington kept asking what the senate would be like. he said it would be like the saucer under the teacup. the tea will fall out of the saucer into cooling off. in history they were apprehensive about the house. they may do crazy things. the senate was designed to put on the brakes and so i often think if washington could look at c-span 2 he wouldn't be disappointed. the paces somewhere between slow and slower. on many occasions things don't get done at all. it's been my great honor to be in attendance for a number of years and i've been there when my site w

manu raju is on capitol hill talking to people close to this, people in this meeting, mitch mcconnell saying, nothing really came out of this that surprised him. what else have you learned about these briefings? >> the republicans who attended these briefings are telling me, not saying there was any evidence to substantiate the president's claims, they're not even commenting, they're refusing to say one way or the other whether or not there was anything that could give somed to tore the president suggesting that there was a spy in the campaign, that this could be the biggest political scandal in history, other than saying they want to investigate the matter further. this is obviously much different than what democrats are saying coming out of this meeting, saying there was no evidence presented at that meeting that ultimately could back up the president's claims. this all comes as both sides were very surprised to see emmitt flood, the president's top attorney, at this meeting today after the white house press secretary, sarah sanders, said earlier this week there would be no white ho

to defend mitch mcconnell, because it is so absurd. look, this is an extraordinary situation, he represents why americans do not trust politicians pretty clearly seems to be trying to look at his own reputation back or, here's what you have, you have a man who is running on racism and bigotry, no idea, no policy idea, character assassination, maybe he is running, should be running as a democrat at this point. he is attaching himself to donald trump, donald trump and donald trump jr. has rejected him, do not vote for this guy, the president in april had an event where the two other republicans running were there and supported him and supported both of them. but this is about to voters of west virginia, the republicans. it is an insult in the way that he is approaching them. we have so much to do and to allow this kind of, it is almost like a parody, that add to, and it is heartbreaking, because we have so much to do. and this is a guy who i think it's not just trying to smear mitch mcconnell, but trying to smear the entire conservative

mitch mcconnell was in the same briefing. president says there was an illegal spying operation on his campaign. not majority leader says this. >> it was a classified briefing and consequently i don't really have any observations to make about it. i don't have anything new to say on that subject. two investigations going on that i think will give us the answers to the questions that you raise. the ig investigation in the justice department and the mueller investigation. i support both of them. and i don't really have anything to add to this subject based upon the gang of eight briefing that we had today which was classified. >> now, just quick translation. he's not going to say the president is spreading conspiracy theories, the president is wrong or nuts. mitch mcconnell won't say that. but he does say we have two investigations going on. i support them. and i learned nothing today's in this briefing to change that opinion. again, that speaks volumes as does nunes silence. >> nunes silence was not just to the press. afterward

i'm just going to run against mitch mcconnell.t was a somewhat similar strategy roy moore took on. explain what that's about. >> well, as you mentioned, we are in a republican primary. so he's not -- he has no reason to attack the democrat right now. and kind of the surest way to align yourself with the part of the party who's most closely aligned with trump and is most popular in west virginia is to take on the republican establishment. >> but why do they hate him so much? you can take on people and it doesn't work. but there's something there that says mitch mcconnell is what? >> well, mitch mcconnell is just kind of a . >> of what basically trump was elected to combat in a lot of these people's minds, which is business as usual in washington, people who say they're going to get things done and they don't get things done. we have seen some continuation of that even with the republican president. for years mitch mcconnell romsed that an obamacare repeal was coming. the excuse was we don't have enough senators, we don't have enoug

senator mcconnell and i getting along very well. and i think we even enjoy each others company. he laughs at my jokes. that is a big deal! but we want appropriations process to work well. and that is bipartisan. but this kind of rescission and letting the heartbreak and the freedom caucus dictate what should be done is going to make it harder to get the appropriations process moving forward in a bipartisan way. i hope at some point, either speak orion or leader mcconnell does not go forward with this. yes? [inaudible question] >> well, i will let senator -- >> will not go into all of this but it was just, is a pretty serious topic. you want this to work for victims as well as work for the institution comment improve the institution.we made a number of changes. i think senator blunt mentioned one of them. over the haskell phrases there was a 45 day limit when you can bring a federal court case. we have doubled that and made some changes to that. and so, there were many, many things that we worked on. there must have been about 50 different items and were able to negotiate them on

racist ads were aimed at mitch mcconnell's asian american wife. he is breathing easier tonight. they think either one of these two candidates will be very competitive, potentially being able to take this away come november. had it been blankenship, you would see the republican party as early as tomorrow pull out on national money. again, we'll keep counting then. it looks like one of the establishment candidates will win the race in west virginia tonight. >> all right. john king, appreciate it. we'll keep checking the results of the races. >>> to tonight's other breaking news. cnn has learned that mueller investigators have questioned a russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars of payments from his company's u.s. affiliate paid to michael cohen after the election. the purpose of those payments is unclear tonight, but michael avenatti, the attorney for adult film star stormy daniels, is alleging that cohen received a transfer of half a million dollars from a u.s. company affiliated with the oligarch, viktor vekselberg after the presid

mitch mcconnell has present a -- tons of president trump nominees and mitch mcconnell might open up thext majority party which could be democrats. trade deal i don't see because of what nick outlined the next phase two of the tax cuts even happening. it could happen in the house, but i don't see them making much progress. >> the reconciliation to get a tax cut in the first place. that does allow you a one-time shot at a 51 vote, which we got. i agree with you is very unlikely they're going to revisit this. as to the minority party, using this against republican the next time around is almost a guarantee that republicans will be the minority party unless they get more accomplished. voters are angry about the fact that republicans have the white house, senate in the house and there are so few things on the agenda which i pass because chuck schumer has made this his resistance. they are basically slow walking the work of the senate. i think mcconnell needs to move en masse and i don't think there's not much downside risk. democrats will do it if the gop does not. neil: molly, there is a fl

>> mitch mcconnell has an even ask for my support. i think it's way too premature.andidly mitch mcconnell deserves a debt of gratitude for being able to hold a supreme court seat open so neil gorsuch could be on the supreme court today. what i'm interested in doing is getting through the november election bringing a much-needed republican vote to the united states senate and then we will see who's running for senate. i'm not ruling anybody end, i'm not ruling anybody out. nobody has asked for my support. what i would do is make a decision on who is going to lead the senate to support the president trump agenda. >> bret: i'm noticing you are not raising your hand either. >> i'm not the product of the liberal establishment. i think that's why you are saying all the conservatives come out for me.

associated with mitch mcconnell, spent million dollars on negative ads against the republican but mcconnell's political team has sent an image of a smiling mcconnell, thanks for playing dumb. blankenship you talked to every person that wanted to talk to him at this party which is very rare told me he thinks the pres.'s tweets telling voters not to support him really hurt in the end. blankenship has no plans to call the atty. gen. to congratulate him on tonight's victory but he does get some good news, his probation ends at midnight. >> let's check in with results in another key state. >> i realize that. >> in ohio, the senate and gubernatorial races no major surprises but democratic candidate richard cordray will challenge atty. gen. mike dewine and it was a battle of the more establishment candidate, kucinich the more a progressive candidate backed by the bernie sanders group, came under fire, returns $20,000 speaking fee he received from a pro regime group in a concession speech, he called for democrats to take more progressive stances for $15 minimum wage and two years of free college. the

mitch mcconnell and paul ryan should have the guts to stand side by side with this president. they do not. the aba should be embarrassed that the legal profession is behaving as it is. because this is a corrupt and i mean to the bone corrupt judicial system and legal system that we are watching work. >> oh, it absolutely is. this is the unfettered power of rogue agencies that are now the so-called deep state. lou: yeah. and with that, greg, as always, good to see you. >> thank you, sir. lou: be sure to vote in the poll. the question is subpoena threat clear proof, clearly out of control, acting for disregard for this president and the nation. cast your vote on twitter @loudobbs. >>> up next, red storm rising, the pentagon cracking down on chinese technology. they're concerned that they're making it too easy for the chinese to spy on us on our military bases. i wonder who is responsible for that. that's right. our military leaders. more on that next. coppertone sport. proven to protect street skaters and freestylers. retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected

we'll learn whether paul ryan and mitch mcconnell will align with president trump or the koch brothers, the business round table. ed rollins with us tonight. >>> our t top story, the attorny leading the president's legal team is out, ty cobb retiring. cobb is known for his nonconfrontational approach to the defense of the president. cobb has declared throughout that the white house has been fully cooperative with mueller despite the counsel's outrageous overreach. cobb being replaced by emmett flood, an attorney who represented president clinton during his impeachment proceedings. serve as as george w. bush's lead counsel and special counsel dealing with congressional investigations into the presidency. flood represented vice president dick cheney and clerked for justice antonin calea. trump hired former new york lawyer rudy giuliani taske. he outlined the conditions and profession spects of me interview with mueller. >> are they objective about the president's interview, meaning do they have an open mind to the fact he may be telling the truth and comey may be lying. if they have an o

let's talk about today's meeting, and more with mitch mcconnel. senator, thank you for being here. >> glad to be here, bret. >> if you can, knowing you're hampered by the situation of the meeting. can you tell us built meeting on capitol hill today. >> yes it was a classified briefing of the gang of 8. the house and senate and intel committee leaders. i really can't. it was a classified briefing. that's what classified means. >> yes. were you surprised with what you learned? >> nothing particularly surprising. again it was classified. so no report to give you. >> i won't go down this hole. should congress be privy to this material if it is part of this investigation. >> yes, think occasionally briefing the gang, so called gang of 8 is good for the admin administration. they agreed to do it, we're glad they did. >> broadly about the russia probe and this investigation. james clapper is out with a new book accusing and you speaker ryan of essentially not caring about foreign interference in the to 16 election as long as president trump won. in the b

i wonder about the mitch mcconnell piece.portive of the president agenda on the economy and confirmations, especially with judges, mitch mcconnell has actually been quite instrumental to help support president trump's agenda on that. >> yeah. one of the big questions in this primary is what does it mean to be a republican in the trump era? it was notable that none of the republicans running for the senate in west virginia said they would endorse mitch mcconnell as the majority leader. jenkins and morrisey kind of caveated their responses and said they could support him later on. but it tells you that trump is the leader of the republican party and all three canaled dates were trying to -- three candidates trying to be closer to trump than mcconnell. >> dana: you have to wonder if president trump would come out and be supportive of mitch mcconnell. but then again if this is what is important for republicans to be against the establishment in washington, d.c., maybe he will take a hands off approach? >> one thing that is intere

mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: an important tribute took place here in the capitol this morning, the fifth annual memorial service for the four united states capitol police officers who have died in the line of duty. sergeant christopher uni, officer jacob chestnut, detective john gibson, and sergeant clinton holts were rememberedded with a wreath laying in the capitol's visitor's center. this marks the anniversary of the shooting when officer chestnut and gibson were kimed. next week is national police week, and i will have more to say more about the heroism that the professionals who put themselves in harm's way every day to keep others safe. today the senate honors the memories of these four fallen heroes. now on another matter, mr. president, yesterday the senate advanced another nomination of this week's judicial nominees, kurt d. engelhardt. those who joined him on this latest slate for consideration are each well qualified. each has received thorough examination from the judiciary committee. each

mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, let me begin this morning with gratitude to secretary of state michael pompeo. overnight he completed a sensitive diplomatic mission and returned home from north korea with three freed american prisoners. the families of these three men and the entire country are so grateful. this episode offers just one more example of the complex, relentless foreign policy chal hengs that couldn't -- challenges that confront our country. clearly our country was fortunate that the secretary of state was able to conduct his responsibilities from day one, leadership and expertise matter. yesterday our colleagues on the intelligence committee heard from gina haspel, president trump's selection to head the central intelligence agency. she showcased the poise and judgment of a 33-year career with the agency. our testimony confirmed what her gold standard resume and her support from seasoned security leaders had already told us. gina haspel has the experience, talent and unique

senator mcconnell and speaker ryan, if mr. trump continues said brennan on this path, you will bear major responsibility for the harm done to the democracy. you do a great disservice to the nation and republican party. if you continue to enable mr. trump's self serving actions? what is more self serving than thathat blathered spewed. joining us congressman andy bigs member of house judiciary committery, freedom caucus. i think you are going to the point we discussed. what is there to investigate? there are so many established facts. that require investigation of the conduct of upper levels of department of justice, fbi, intelligence community whether to be james clapper and his role. >> i mean, there is so much that we -- you have seen it over last year plus. that trickling out almost on a weekly basis, more improper conduct maybe criminal on part of our friends who are supposed to be leading head law enforcement and pros cuer to call agents of our country, they need to be investigated. lou: straight forward, cleaned out. >> o

ryan doesn't have the guts to cross the street, neither does mcconnell. they have other patriots to serve mainly on k street. >> i would like to see people like nunes or our other committees. let's bring in rosenstein and make him justify this thing. i think people like rudy that's joining the president's team, rudy has the right idea, put up or shut up. we have big issues the president is dealing with. kim jong-un has a lot of economic negotiation. why would we want to burden the country with this given we have so many opportunities. lou: the answer is quite clear. the left within national media have decided they are going to be an alternative government to the one the people put in office. and until the dems, the left, the deep state are sufficiently, sufficiently punished for their conduct, i think we'll see it go on, don't you? >> lou, look, there is no collusion. that's clear. the obstruction is a joke at this point. why are we doing this. it's not good for the country. you are right about the press, this is their baby. i don't think anything is happ

mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday, the senate confirmed two more superbly qualified circuit court nominees, joel carson and john nalbandian. they are the 20th and 21st circuit judges we have confirmed this congress. this morning, our colleagues on the intelligence committee finished their consideration of gina haspel to be c.i.a. director and reported her nomination favorably with bipartisan support. ms. haspel's testimony and record have showcased the poise, talent, and experience that make her an excellent selection. senators heard about her 30-plus years of c.i.a. experience spanning sensitive operations from the cold war to the global war on terror. that background makes ms. haspel an ideal pick at this particular moment, and secretary mattis has explained that counterterrorism and a renewed great power competition are two of the key challenges facing our nation. so it's no wonder, mr. president, james clapper, president obama's director of national intelligence, said, quote, i think the world