mcconnell: mr. president. the vice president: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 1 submitted earlier today. the vice president: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: senate resolution 1, informing the president of the united states that a quorum of each house is assembled. the vice president: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the vice president: without objection. pursuant to senate resolution 1, the chair appoints the senator from kentucky and the senator from new york as a committee to join the committee on the part of the house of representatives to wait upon the president of the united states and inform him that a quorum is assembled and the congress is ready to r

we heard from senator mitch mcconnell. we have a bit of the sound from him talking about what he expects, you can also go to our website to find everything that's going on with the shutdown as far as previous interviews that we have done. we're just going to take a look and sit back as the one of 16th congress is set to come in. >> this is what it will look like. mitch mcconnell was to remain majority leader of the republicans, of the senate. john thune will take on and will be the majority whip and the conference chair for senate republicans will be john barrasso. turning over to the democrats, it is chuck schumer as minority leader. dick durbin as minority whip and patty murray also as assistant minority leader. that's just what to expect as far as leadership, the ones that will be making in setting the temple for activities of the 116th congress. the 20th amendment to amendment to the constitution directs that congress convenes at noon on january the and odd-numbered year. that date can change from time to time. legisla

mcconnell: so, mr. president, later today, i will join president trump, the democratic leader, and the speaker of the house and our congressional colleagues down at the white house. the meeting represents the latest in the president's ongoing efforts to persuade democrats that appropriate funding for border security is a better outcome than persisting in this partial government shutdown. i would hope that this time around, my friends across the aisle will come prepared to engage much more seriously on the issue at hand. we may have entered a new congress since our last meeting, but the basic steps that are needed to end this unfortunate standoff really haven't changed at all. we're in the same place. as i have said on several occasions and as the administration has affirmed, any viable compromise will need to carry the endorsement of the president before it receives a vote in either house of congress. under these conditions, mr. president, the package presented by the house's new democratic leaders yest

you can do it, leader mcconnell. i and all your blaming and flailing isn't going to open the government. we all know donald trump is the obstacle here. you know it, i know it, we all know it. and the only way to help all the folks who need help is to open the government. there are a good number of republicans on your side who have advocated that already. and to hold the government hostage, you're losing the argument. you're losing it with the public, overwhelming majority of americans think that the government should not be shut down over a wall. even a substantial number of peopleub who support the wall sy don't shut down the government to get the wall. we have problems on the border. a lot of americans don't think it's a crisis that demands hurting our economy and our government. you disagree with leader pelosi and i on what should be border security. we know you think we should pass s. s. 1 before we open up the government. but, leader, you -- you -- can open the government. and that's what the american people wan

what is the play here for mcconnell? >> you're exactly right. mitch mcconnell did get burned. one thing i learned about mitch mcconnell is he only gets burned once on any one issue. and i don't think he is going to proceed until he is sure that whatever the solution is can pass the house, can pass the senate. obviously that means 60 votes. and get the president's signature. so i think in this case senator mcconnell's really doing the best anyone could given his position, which is just to encourage the white house and democrats both in the senate and in the house to negotiate until there is something that's amenable to all parties. and again, i think the only such solution is that daca plus border security compromise. and i don't really see senator mcconnell moving. and part of the story here, steve, is that the country has grown so numb to these shutdown situations. you look at these financial markets. they're kind of ignoring it. i think most americans are ignoring the situation, obviously with the exception of the federal workers who are suffering through this. but the count

the vote of the pelosi mcconnell bill would come after mcconnell gives donald trump the pleasure of watchinghe president's latest proposal come to a vote in the senate. that bill would include the president's current request of $5.7 billion for border wall funding. the reason mitch mcconnell has a second bill ready to come to a vote after the trump bill is that senator mcconnell knows the trump bill will be defeated in the senate. the votes are currently scheduled for thursday. joining us now ron klain, former senior advisor to vice president joe biden and president obama. also national political reporter for "the washington post." matt, i want to start with you because you had reporting especially from michigan from areas -- you visited areas where donald trump has had pretty good support. and even in those places at crucial electoral college areas for donald trump, according to your reporting they're blaming the shutdown on donald trump. >> that's right. i spent a couple of days in michigan and suburban detroit. this is an area when we think of blue collar voters who swung the 2016 electio

mcconnell: i call up the shelby amendment at the-esque did. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. mcconnell for mr. shelby proposes an amendment numbered 5 to h.r. 268. mr. mcconnell: i ask the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the minority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i ask consent that the pending amendment be set aside and call up my amendment, number 6. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. schumer proposes an amendment numbered 6. mr. schumer: i ask the reading be dispensed dispensed dispense. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i further ask consent that notwithstanding rule 22, it be in order to file cloture amendments a and 6 during thursday's session of the senate and the clotures filed on those amendments during thursday's session of the senate be treated as though they were filed during today's session of the senate and ripen at 2:30 p.m.

senses so leader mcconnell, everyone knows you have the power to act. bring these bills to the senate floor. we can end the shutdown now. the senate, senator mcconnell if you bring the bills to the floor will pass these bills because we already did so. and and the unnecessary pain. we don't have the luxury of waiting around for the president . to truly feel anybody's pain because he is incapable of feeling anybody's pain but his own. we can end the shutdown now. we can take action on the floor of the senate. we can do the responsible thing in response to the pain that i know we're hearing from all of our constituents across the country. what are we waiting for? and the shutdown now. i yield the floor. >> mister president, today marks the 21st day of the government shutdown. an unnecessary and shameful government shutdown. we are now tied with the longest shutdown in american history. a few weeks ago, the president of the united states ulsaid he would be proud, quote proud to shut down the government if he didn't get his way. mister president, this is no

so leader mcconnell, everyone knows you have the power to act. bring these bills to the senate floor. we can end this shutdown now. the senate, senator mcconnell, if you bring the bills to the floor, we'll pass these bills because we already did so. end the unnecessary pain. we don't have the you luxury -- we don't have the luxury of waiting around for the president to truly feel anybody's pain because he is incapable of feeling anybody's pain but his own. we can end this shutdown now. we can take action on the floor of the senate. we can do the responsible thing in response to the pain that i know we are hearing from all of our constituents all across the country. what are we waiting for? end this shutdown now. i yield the fe presiding officee not in a quorum call. ms. baldwin: madam president, i rise to speak about president trump's shutdown and the real pain that it is causing in my home state of wisconsin and in communities across this country. the trump shutdown is now in its 21st day, tying the

president trump did not put mitch mcconnell in office. the people did.and he should be doing what is right, right now. and i call on mitch mcconnell and all of the republicans, senate and the house, to do their jobs l as the lady just said, yes, they should do their jobs. nobody should be held hostage because of their shenanigans or -- have the lowest rating ever, the house and, the senate. and president, and all of the republicans held the house for two years. the wall -- >> host: what federal agency did you work in? >> caller: transportation. >> host: did you ever go to a shutdown? >> caller: yes, i did. >> host: how did you deal with it? , i was in supervision at the time, and i was given a package two weeks before the shutdown and i was to put the employees out. >> host: what does that mean? >> caller: it means i went around to stations that employees were in, and put them out of their job. they blamed it on the employees but it was not their fault. the administration actually put the employees out. and called a strike. this is in new york city. >> h

mitch mcconnell did that. he did that because he had gotten an agreement from the president. >> before the shutdown. >> right. he had gotten an agreement from the president that he would sign it. then rush limbaugh and ann coulter got on their shows and, you know, gave him what for, and he then reversed course. he backed up the truck and said, no, i won't sign it. so mitch knew from the beginning this was going to have a bad ending. so mitch's goal was very simple, i don't want to be anywhere near this. so if you remember, he immediately started saying, this is about the democrats and the president. this is about the democrats and the president. and you got to give him this, the polling shows that only about 5% to 6% or 7% are blaming the republicans in congress. they're blaming trump. and what mitch mcconnell is doing is trying to protect his members, those that are up for election in 2020 in tough states. he doesn't want them to have to take this vote because he knows they're going to have a tough road to ru

and the other is mitch mcconnell. work, no one goes to work as a republican or democrat, we go to work as americans. and we need to get donald trump to understand, do not take hostages. do not make federal workers pawns. end this shutdown now. [applause] brothers and sisters, please join me in recognizing the following members of congress who have joined us today. representative madeline dean, pennsylvania, fourth district. representative jan schakowsky illinois, 9th district, congressman marcus on the -- 11thdesalny, california's district. meyerentative abby single eyer from iowa. representative steven horseford, nevada, fourth district. and the mary kay stanner, from pennsylvania, fifth district. thank you so much for joining us. now, please welcome afc president lee saunders. mr. saunders: good afternoon everybody. now i've got one question for you. are you willing to make your voices heard every single day to fight? to fight like never before? are you fired up? >> yeah. mr. saunders: are you fired up? >> yeah. mr.

and you described him as a clear way out of this and it is for mitch mcconnell to allow a vote.scott, i federal worker. go ahead. i would like to provide my opinion on the blame. first of all, it's not one party. it's all the politicians are to blame. there is that they are and voted in the public office to negotiate on behalf of the constituents. they are not doing that. present obama ran and one office based on change. also got intop office based on change. america wants change. they want politicians that will provide them the information they needed. another thing, congress, they failed their job with three continuing resolutions. the did not fund the government when they should have read october is a new fiscal year and congress didn't do it then. they weren't negotiating back then. they are failing. another point i would like to mention is federal employees, we can file for unemployment of we so need to. because we are in a furlough status. host: is that some thing you are recommending employees do? yes, we are. we are recommending unemployment eligibility varies by state.

whatever chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell agree on. but donald trump said that the last time that chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell agreed on a spending bill which they then passed through the united states senate unanimously in december. and after they did that and after donald trump promised that he was going to sign it, he changed his mind. after they passed the bill. donald trump said he was now opposed to it. and so today reporters pressed the president on exactly what he would be willing to accept. >> temporary spending without money for the wall? just to reopen -- >> i wouldn't be happy with it. i wouldn't be happy. but we have a lot of alternatives. >> wouldn't be happy with it? wouldn't be happy with it? he didn't say he would veto it. that's what he's supposed to say if he's going to veto it. with a normal president wouldn't be happy with it means he wouldn't sign it. but this is donald trump, so no one has any idea what he means. here is one of the alternatives for reopening the government, whatever that means, that the pres

leader mcconnell, you voted for it. i leader mcconnell, you supported it. on both the floor and in the appropriations committee. it is not a democratic proposal. in fact, the house democrats went out of their way to pass a proposal that republicans supported. and -- senators graham, and moran, and lankford, murkowski voted for the bills as chair of their appropriations subcommittees. they put them together. so, even if there are disagreements about border security, why not pass the six non-controversial bipartisan bills? . . . they're asking that of president trump. what's the rationale for keeping eight cabinet departments shuttered for an unrelated dispute over the wall? there is none. we can continue to debate the best way to secure our border. we have disagreements on those. but let us reopen these cabinet departments and ensure hundreds of thousands of federal workers receive their paychecks and, even more importantly, that these departments get back to work for the american people. as i mentioned, the house will also pass a 30-day continuing resolutio

meanwhile the senator waits for center t mcconnell to come to their senses so leader mcconnell everyone knows you have the power to act bring these bills to the floor and we can end the shutdown now and senator mcconnell if you bring the bill to the floor we will approve them because we already did so and the unnecessary pain we don't have the luxury to wait around for the president to truly feel anybody's pain because he is incapable to feel anybody's pain but his own we can and this shutdown now and take action on the floor of the senate and in response to the pain we hear from all of our constituents all across the country. what are we waiting for? and the shutdown now. floor. >> mister president today is the 21st day of the government shutdown. and unnecessary and shameful government shutdown. we are now tied with the longest shutdown in american history. a few weeks ago the president of the united states said he would be proud "proud to shut down the government if he did not get his way. mister president this is nothing to be proud of them that horrible impasse of the shutdown thos

legislation the leader mcconnell has voted for and bragged about. the president is unwilling to move the ball forward so congress must. i urge my friend, leader mcconnell, to allow a vote on the house passed legislation to reopen the government. it seems to be the only way out right now. now, on another matter russian sanctions. before the end of last yearr the trump administration moved to relaxations on three companies owned and controlled by section olrussian oligarch -- as a reminder an overwhelming majority of the last congress supported additional sanctions on russia as a response to president clinton's line activities. particularly, in ukraine. another companies he that were controlled were placed under us actions because -- was a sub acting as an agent of putin's interest abroad. he leveraged wealthier control having accrued to the control of the company's and in my view, the trump administration plan to provide sanctions relief to these companies is deeply flawed and wrong. first, it failed to sufficiently limit his control and influence of

ere is mcconnell?s mcconnell now the force the republicans -- >> mcconnell has to go to trump and jared kushner and say wehi can't do again. and i think -- i think that is what will happen here. i think -- as -- as we were n saying, this -- this can't happen again. there's actually talk that he would actually pass legislation now making it illegal for another government shutdown to happen. it's not goingpe to h and maybe in the next two weeks but i can see that coming. i just don't thi there's -- there's -- there's no political -- there's noolitical good that will come out of this for president trump to to this again. obert: let's say there's not another shutdown but an agreement. jared kushner kept talking about a big deal. something that included daca protections like vice president pence was talking about with l margart sunday. maybe even adjusting green card policies. is that real, i jeff, thdea of an immigration deal in mid february now that the government is reopened? >> it is very for me to get

now it's up to senator mcconnell. will he come forward through that door onto the floor, called visa bills and in the shutdown before 5:00 today? he has the power to do that. he can pass the spending bills. he warns us president trump may not sign these bills. senator mcconnell has been around the senate for decades. he has been around so long that i'm sure he is familiar with our constitution and you know what? if the president vetoes the spending billso we have the constitutional authority and opportunity to override his veto two-thirds in the house to override any of presidential veto. i think the votes are there and i think that's the reason senator mcconnell is afraid to call the bills. it's time for the senate to act. let's not wait for a permission slip from president trump. let's do what we were elected to dos. let's keep 800,000 employees from the hardships they are facing. mr. president i yield the floor. >> madam president we are 26 days into president trump's completely unnecessary government shutdown, 26

mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 11:50 a.m. >>:50 a.m. >> that brings to a conclusion the 115th congress, the 116th congress convenes tomorrow at noon. our live coverage on c-span and c-span 2 begins at 7:00 a.m. with our morning program, the washington journal. we'll be live on both networks all day long with the new house and the new senate. well, earlier today congressional leaders met with the president to discuss the government shutdown and border wall funding. here's what the leaders had to say after their meeting with the president. >> thank you all for being here. we had a long discussion. the president had asked us to come back on friday after the leadership races. i think that was a concern for some people to be able to get through. we never did get through the complete briefing from the secretary of homeland which we're concerned about because we have a crisis on the border right now. we had a violent mob rush yesterday wher

mcconnell needs a by your leave from the president of the united states, but snrt mcconnell who called himself the guy that opens up government, ought to open up government, and allow the senate to vote and urge his members to vote to open up government and then we need to have a rational conversation not while a ransom is being demanded, not while hostages are being kept. but a rational judgment on how we make our borders secure. we are prepared to do that. as a matter of fact, in the bills that we will pass today, there's approximately $1.5 billion for border security. >> at the risk of asking the obvious, if this presidential proposal passed the senate, would it go anywhere in the house? >> we would certainly have to have the committees look at that, see whether or not, in fact, that was a bill that was rational and reasonable to -- >> you're more open to it than i thought. >> the fact of the matter is we want government open. that's what needs to be done first. that is a condition to having rational debate, because you don't have rational debates when somebody is holding ransom or

mcconnell can do this in his sleep. but i believe mcconnell will picks. >> but on december 18th, mitch mcconnell put together a clean funding bill that would keep the americans going forward. donald trump sent the significantial, go ahead and do that, we'll sign it. it passed unanimously. and then rush limbaugh and ann colter made kwun of drot. and trump panicked. and and we've got tarmers, you've to the working class americans. you've got people in the coast guard now. you got people and all of has to people are missing paychecks and again, i can't state this strongly enough. this is not over some political principle. this is merely a political punch line for donald trump that less than one in four republicans supported in the two years they ran the united states congress. >> we'll see it again, we've been saying it for weeks now, why are we here right now? because the president wants to deliver on a chant he led at rallies in 2015 and 2016. as you say, a month ago at this time there were reports the president was read

mcconnell's idea. he put it on the floor. it passed the chamber unanimously last christmas. so now we're seeing some real cracks in the republican wall. some real cracks in the republican wall. some of my friends and the senate on the other side of the isle in this body, to their credit are already saying we should take up and passed these two bills. seven house republicans newly elected under huge pressure not toed voted with these bills. every democrat voted for the bill. there's no dissension they are. but a handful of republicans did, too. so it's time for leader mcconnell and president trump who is the ultimate reason we have to shut down, it's time for leader mcconnell and president trump to support this package of bipartisan legislation and we opened the government. in a short time, speaker pelosi and i will head to the white house to meet with president trump and congressional leaders about the government shutdown. i'll be joined by my very able colleague, senator durbin, senator mcconnell woul

everyone's like where is mitch mcconnell?isten, you made robby mook cough because he can't believe what you're saying about mitch mcconnell. >> we can all agree whether you agree with his tactics or his politics or not, and by the way, we can all also agree as a republican he is supporting a republican president and he's doing it in a way that is most effective. a democrat leader of the senate would do the same thing for a democratic president. >> what say you, robbie? >> i completely disagree. we're celebrating right now the absolute void of morality in the senate. we're celebrating a man who killed the rightful nominee to the supreme court from barack obama. we're celebrating a man who has absolutely abdicated the duty of the united states senate. you want to change this shutdown? you want to end this shutdown? the house has passed a bill. when the house passes a bill for appropriations, the senate passes their own bill, they can amend it, they can change it. the two chambers come together, come to an agreement and send a b

mcconnell: well, mr. president, here is what happened this weekend with respect to the continuing disagreement over the funding of the government. two things happened over the weekend. on saturday, the senate was in session, and members of both parties came here to the floor to speak about the urgent need for a bipartisan compromise to reopen the federal government. for the sake of federal workers who need certainty, and for the take of the american people who need their nation's government fully online. mr. president, also on saturday, president trump rolled out a bold comprehensive offer to do just that. it would break through this stalemate that would reopen government swiftly and deliver on a number of other policy priorities that are seen as important to both sides of the aisle. so that's where we are on day 32 of this partial government shutdown. that's where we are as this new week begins. we've heard members of congress on all sides demanding a resolution to the impasse and a plan to quickly resto

mcconnell: i'll not prolong this. i know a lot of my democratic colleagues are on the floor and may want to speak. but there are two shutdowns going on here. the first one related to the government can only be solved with a presidential signature supported by the speaker of the house and supported by at least ten of our democratic colleagues or seven on the other side. in other words, there has to be a deal, an agreement. but there's a second shutdown going on that as far as my research can discover is rather unprecedented. the senate itself is being shut down because of our colleagues on the other side's refusal to do business here in the senate during this period. there's no precedent for that. there's no reason for that. we're all here. and the bill that they are refusing to let us get on relates to israel, our great friend israel and addresses the atrocities that have been occurring in syria. and i'm having a hard time understanding why the senate should be shut down as well as the government. we're all here. in f

meanwhile, leader mcconnell, senate republicans are hiding in the shadows as if they have some kind of aversion to doing their job when it involves even the slightest break with the president. leader mcconnell and senate republicans seem more concerned at not offending donald trump that helping the american families. i have three words -- open the government. open the government. you can do it in a minute. then we can debate border security. that is the responsible position and it's the position. >> and people want. the overwhelming majority of americans support our position in here is the amazing thing. 39% of republicans supported the democratic position. don't shut down the government. forget the wall but open the government and debate the wall. 40% of republicans and that's a rare moment. many more support the wall. but the number of even republicans who support shutting down the government and the means to get in the wall is shrinking. that is what the president will learn. he is losing the american people and his numbers are lower than they been in a very, very long time. he is n

the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell earlier today. we will let you hear what he had to say in a moment as he talked about the dispute between democrats and republicans over spending bills, but first, terry from winston-salem, north carolina. caller: good evening, sir. my big beef with the congress on both sides, because i am republican, but it seems like our senators forget they are americans, first or they should be. i merrily, they seem to be republican or democrat and did they look for what the party is fishing for. they need to realize they are americans. our senators need to stand up against mr. trump. is pulling things and the republicans will not hold him back because he is republican. i have a big problem with that. life goes.ay we are americans first, then politicians. steve: how did both sides get to that point? caller: i'm not really sure. i wish i knew. once upon a time, i am 70 years old, they disagreed on points but they could discuss problems and work through it. they can't seem to do it now. will not call a vote on som

and we'll get to this, between mitch mcconnell and donald trump?teresting that they have become allied and worked together in this way because he, mitch mcconnell, avods the liide light. but what has he gotten in these past two years? >> if you look back to the last year, last couple years of the obama from presidency, mcconnell started in motion this process of keeping up on a lot of judicial seats, a lot of federal judge seats on the hope there would be a republican president who could fill them if the just so happened that republican president ended up being donald trump. so he was invested very early on in sort of the effort to coach trump in his judiciary that he kind of collaborated with these conservative judicial activists on. so that's been the big one and he's been able to fill -- trump has been able to fill more federal judiciary seats than any president and mcconnell's played a role in that. >> 83. >> right. >> 83 conservative judges or at least conservative endorsed judges. that's -- and two supreme court justices. they hit the jackpot

mcconnell: i'll not prolong this. i know a lot of my democratic colleagues are on the floor and may want to speak. but there are two shutdowns going on here. the first one related to the government can only be solved with a presidential signature supported by the speaker of the house and supported by at least ten of our democratic colleagues or seven on the other side. in other words, there has to be a deal, an agreement. but there's a second shutdown going on that as far as my research can discover is rather unprecedented. the senate itself is being shut down because of our colleagues on the other side's refusal to do business here in the senate during this period. there's no precedent for that. there's no reason for that. we're all here. and the bill that they are refusing to let us get on relates to israel, our great friend israel and addresses the atrocities that have been occurring in syria. and i'm having a hard time understanding why the senate should be shut down as well as the government. we're all here. in f

leader mcconnell, you supported it on both the floor and the appropriationsot committee. it is not a democratic proposal. in fact, the house democrats are passing a proposal the republicans supported and senators graham and murkowski voted for those as chair of their appropriations subcommittees. so even if there are disagreements about border security, why not pass the controversial nonpartisan bills that is the question i would ask every one of my republican colleagues? that is the question and above all they are asking that of president trump. what is the rationale? for keeping a cabinet departments shuttered over a wall? there is none. we continue to evade the best way to secure our border we have disagreements but let us reopen the cabinet departments to ensure hundreds of thousands of federal workers receive paychecks and that these departments get back to work to the american people. the house will also pass a 30 day continuing resolution for the department of homeland security. there is nothing in that bill senate republicans don't support. the senate passed unani

and leader mcconnell has said he is not ringing up anything that will not become law. [indiscernible] >> the president has also made it clear that his number one responsibility is to keep this country safe. secretary nielsen wanted to go over some very alarming numbers, things that are actually happening at the border. and what happened last year. last year alone there were more than 3700 suspected terrorists that were stopped from entering this country. so there are a lot of bad things happening. the reason he wants to secure the border, the bill that we passed in the house of that wasn't the start of the negotiations was over $5.5 billion for the fiscal year, they have not put a counter offer on the table. you saw the vice president negotiating. the president and vice president stayed here over the christmas holidays and there was absolutely no negotiation from the other side. so they want to keep delaying and have a government shutdown while president trump has said that he wants to secure the border. >> can you explain specifically how mexico is going to pay for th

mitch mcconnell is a savvy leader. he's been around for a long time, almost four decades in washington, and i think what's going to happen here is he's going to allow a number of things and talk about border security that includes wall funding without calling it a wall. and we could appropriate $10 billion to be excited and recommendation and including partially a wall funding. and the president has advanced an agenda. >> the problem with what you were saying is if we were in a normal circumstance and we're not in a normal world where there was a republican president and republicans and democrats negotiating, there would be a back and forth and the issue if you're speaker pelosi, is this is not on the level. the president shutdown the government border security is something that everybody wants to do. we're not business as usual here. >> i had to say very quickly, and i have a lot of respect for you, but i think there's a political equation. most of this show was dedicated to democratic candidates running for president

the president said to mitch mcconnell, i'll sign this bill. mitch mcconnell signed a bill.e sent it to the house. we were prepared to vote for that bill but the republicans wanted to shut down the government. we need to open up government and then negotiate. not the other way around. we're prepared to negotiate. we're prepared to have the homeland security bill approved for a short term so that we have to negotiate. >> is an impeachment process inevitable? >> no, i don't think an impeachment process is inevitable. and that's not what we're focused on. we're focused on bills. we have to focus on getting the government open. that's our primary first responsibility. >> are impeachment talks a distraction? >> i think the impeachment talks are a distraction. we'll have to see what the mueller report says. nancy and i both said that. we voted that way on the floor of the house of representatives. what we want to do is concentrate on our substantive agenda. we want to make sure that we get some reforms done, on redistricting, on campaign finance reform, on voting rights. we want t

mitch mcconnell and donald trump.nd let me tell you something, lawrence, the wall they should be worried about is not a the wall at the south border, but wall street where we had another gigantic drop today in where the last thing that's underpinning trump's survival here, which is strong economic results is starting to move towards recession. if that turns, it's a collapse for trump, a collapse for republicans on capitol hill. >> now, david jolly, consider mitt romney who has a former governor -- i know governors when they're out there in the country and 50 states they shake their heads, they cannot believe that it ever happens because it basically can't really happen in a state government. so here's mitt romney facing his first government shutdown, and what does he do about it? and one of the first things he's going to read about it is his colleague western senator cory gardener, republican senator like mitt romney from utah saying i don't think shutting down the government is ever the right answer. if mitt romney j