hear that, senator mcconnell?0 out of the 25 poorest counties in this country are located right here in your state. stop turning your back on your constituents. [cheering and applause] senator sanders: we're talking about counties where 30% to 40% of people are living in poverty, where many thousands of residents and senior citizens are trying to get by on 10, 15, $20,000 a year. we're talking about a state here in kentucky where over 22% of the children are living in poverty, where more than a hundred and ninety thousand workers are earning extremely low wages and we're over half a million people are trying to get by on less than 15 bucks an hour. [applause] senator sanders: senator mcconnell, listen to the pain of those people. [cheering and applause] brothers and sisters, i don't have to tell anyone here that we are living at a pivotal moment in american history right now. our country faces more challenges and more crises than at any time in the modern history of our country. i am talking about a growth in olig

senator mcconnell listen to those people.cheers and applause] brothers and sisters, i don't have to tell anyone here that we are living in a pivotal moment in american history. right now our country faces more challenges and a more crisis than any time in modern history. i am talking about a growth of oligarchy and disastrous citizens united supreme court decision. [applause] and senator mcconnell which allows billionaires to spend huge amounts of money in elections for god talking about a president pulling the country toward authority - - authoritarianism. and with those climate change i am talking about dysfunctional health care system. where 30000 americans die every year. i am talking about a broken criminal justice system. and a broken immigration system. and millions of senior citizens who are unable to retire and we're talking about a housing crisis and to talk about the need for women to control their own bodies. [cheers and applause] i am talking about the needs and safety. and i am talking about protecting the integ

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the democrat leader, no later than thursday, september 26, the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 102, s. 1340. i further ask that the lee amendment, numbered 935, be the only amendment in order, that there be two hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, followed by a vote on adoption of the lee amendment with a 60-vote affirmative threshold for adoption. finally, following disposition of the lee amendment, the committee substitute, as amended, if amended, be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time, and the senate vote on the passage of the bill as amended with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no busin

let me tell you, minority leader mcconnell would be aghast at how majority leader mcconnell is running the senate. recently, there have been a few solitary, we passed a bipartisan agreement to raise domestic spending, 10 billion more than defense spending and we reauthorized 9/11 victim compensation fund. if not for outside pressure i'm not sure the senate would have done either of those. the two things actually came the way they did because of democratic efforts and democratic pressure. but those few accomplishments sadly with the exception, not the role. after nearly three years of leadership under republican president senate republicans only significant legislative coverage is a usually unpopular and unsuccessful tax bill that favors the very wealthy. in three years, senate republicans managed only to tie a 2-ton anchor when it comes to taxes around the next, around there next in the form of a tax bill. an anchor republicans up and down the ballot will be forced to wear through 2020 and the 2018 election is not a single republican that i can recall campaigning on the tax bill, it'd

i knew i had to have mitch mcconnell at story to tell the story correctly. 10 years later mcconnell was in the senate and able to enthusiastically support scalia's nomination to the supreme court by ronald reagan. the two developed a warm personal relationship and dined together occasionally. from a the death of scalia represented a huge loss, quote, the oliver wendell holmes john marshall class, he said, a big, big deal, this being mitch mcconnell, a political animal through and through he quickly put aside personal emotion so he could pragmatically 0 in on what really mattered, who and what would come next. a second thought was to immediately turn to the politics of the situation, the first and became to my mind was that i knew if the shoe was on the other foot they wouldn't fill this vacancy. i knew it for sure. they, the democrats. mitch is sitting there with his caribbean sweet thinking if this happened, republican president, democratic senate 11 months left in the president's term the democrats would obviously not go along with it. i get asked this question a lot. what do i think

mitch mcconnell needs to do his. theuld like to introduce assistant professor of surgery and chief of the division of acute care surgery at johns hopkins hospital. violence,ictim of gun he spends his time as a researcher and advocate for the goal of reducing gun violence in america. he sees the wounds these bullets make every day. he brings together health care providers to advocate for solutions to gun violence. ofserves on the board directors for the brady campaign. good morning. the majority leader for his leadership and the rest of his team for being here today. just as afore you not survivor of gun violence or a brady board member. i am a trauma surgeon. as one of many health care professionals, we are front and center in taking care of these patients day in and day out. this, overtake about the next decade, over one million americans will be shot. that doesn't even begin to tell the impact it has on society. fathers, sisters, and brothers are devastated after this. honest, theing mainstream media covers this is

mitch mcconnell's home state of kentucky. the biggest aluminum plant of its kind built in this country in nearly 40 years. it never could have happened had the sanctions still been in place. mitch mcconnell is the one who made sure those sanctions were dropped and then deripaska's firm basically immediately wrote that $200 million check. and so, no, i am not happy that i spent my vacation on crutches and on the couch instead of on the beach. but i am glad that by virtue of the fact that i was laid up, i had the chance to read that new pentagon white paper on russia's strategy and how they operate in the gray zone, because it is, i think, helpful to see this not just from the perspective of oh, my god, what is mitch mcconnell doing? but oh, my god, what has mitch mcconnell done? what is russia trying to do here that mitch mcconnell has just allowed to happen? here's that quote again from the section of the pentagon report that's called moscow's gray zone tool kit. quote, hybrid tactics are most effective when the target entity

mcconnell is running for his seventh term. of course he has to be re-elected in kentucky first if he wants to stay majority leader, yet he has blocked the legislation that the critics say would stop the kind of interference russia carried out in 2016, hence the moscow mitch nickname. it even got some air time in last night's democratic debate. >> if mitch mcconnell is the one that lets him off the hook they -- his friend mitch mcconnell moscow mitch let him off the hook. >> "the new york times" reports mitch mcconnell is, "incensed by the name and even more miffed that he has been called a russian asset. for once democrats seem to be getting to a man who has embraced his portrayal as darth vader and the grim reaper overseeing the senate graveyard for legislation he opposes." the kentucky democratic party is capitalizing on this dispute selling items including but not limited to this t shirt with the words. just say niet to moscow mitch. this week the majority leader publicly defended himself on a speech on the senate floor. >>

now, mitch mcconnell needs to do his. i would like to introduce the assistant professor of surgery and director of emergency general surgery and chief of the division of acute care surgery at johns hopkins hospital. once the victim of gun violence, he spends his time as a clinician and researcher and advocate for the goal of reducing gun violence in america. he sees the wounds these bullets make every day. he brings together health care providers to advocate for solutions to gun violence. he also serves on the board of directors for the brady campaign. doctor? dr. sakran: good morning. let me thank the majority leader for his leadership and the rest of his team for being here today. i stand before you not just as a survivor of gun violence or a brady board member, but as a trauma surgeon. as one of many health care professionals, we are front and center in taking care of these patients day in and day out. and make no mistake about this, over the next decade, over one million americans will be shot. and that doesn't even b

at the end of the day, senator mcconnell has an argument. when he is at the different meetings not only at the national level, he'll often say when you look at the president and the four top leaders in congress, all of them are from new york or california except me. so i'm not just representing kentucky, i'm representing middle america. it's a different type of rural politics. so most of us here in kentucky still have mitch mcconnell as the favorite. the kentucky democratic party has noted they have raised about $135,000 off those nyet t shirts. they are seeing a lot of engagement from their party base which could be an early indicator of the importance of the race for the kentucky democrats. i think if anything mcconnell may be worried about that being the early narrative which may explain why he is going up against radio attack ads. >> anita, republicans just aren't going to like this. tonight i note linen grad lindsay has started up towards senator graham because of his performance in committee today. that will probably get under his skin

mitch mcconnell probably wants nothing. a, can mcconnell get there? b, can the democrats say fine, we'll take one item as opposed to the four or five or six that we would like? >> reporter: there's a couple of hypotheticals down the road

it makes fun of mitch mcconnell.cconnell has had lots of nicknames, most of which are embraced with good humor. on the accusation that drugs were found on elaine chow's boat. his campaign even moved t-shirts that appeared to be dusted with cocaine and urge d his supportes to join the, quote, team mitch cartel for just $35 a pop. then there was the name grim reaper, a name which only seemed to embolden him. >> for the first time i agree with nancy pelosi. the grim reaper when it comes to the social agenda they've been drumming up at the house. >> and over three years ago when outrage ensued for mitch mcconnell refusing to allow president obama getting a hearing, stealing a democratic nomination from the president. mitch mcconnell didn't seem to feel too bad about it. >> one of my proudest moments is when i looked barack obama in the eye, and i said, mr. president, you will not fail this agency. >> but this one really seems to have gotten under his shell. >> i want to tell you about moscow mitch. moscow mitch says it's

while the president sai that mcconnell is totally on board, mcconnell's spokes man said he has not endorsed any legislation. >> i don't want to engage in finger pointing or making a point. what's happened after every one of these shootings is there's been a temptation to engage inl politi discourse rather than actually passing something. robert: joining me to tonight, nancy cordes, chief congressional correspondent for cbs news, pierre thomas, chief justice correspondent for abc news. amna nawaz, national corresndent for the "pbs newshour," and josh dawsey, white house reporter onr "the washinost." nancy, you're on capitol hill talking to lawmakers and their advisers, what is mitch mcconnell's position right now? what is the kentucky senator going to do? nancy: it's a great question and i think a lot of democrats and republicans still don't know. hehe has said he wants to get

i know mcconnell talks about that.e also worries about a presidential veto on that front. let me ask you this, final question being this, which, i want to take a step back. i think fancy pharm is starting this weekend which is usually the beginning of your general election, one of the great political gatherings, and you have to eat really bad fish i think if i'm not mistaken. >> no, no, there's great pork down there, man. >> what is the lay of the land here on the governor's race, and is it realistic that mitch mcconnell's vulnerable? >> matt bevon, certainly is facing a formidable challenge from the attorney general. bevon however is trying to consolidate republicans who he's upset in a lot of different places including the state legislature here. so it's within shooting distance for andy bashir tce i think that's why you see bevon pushing issues. is mitch mcconnell vulnerable? every six years we hear about his unpopularity. but mcconnell will tell you the only poll that matters is the one on election day. so amy mcgr

mitch mcconnell, what is the holdup? people dying and these weapons need to get off the streets. >> erica, i want to read from susan rice a top obama official, of course with, national security pedigree and also one of the highest ranking women of color in a recent administration. the headline is quite clear. when the president is a bigot, the poison spreads. she writes when the president of the united states reveals himself to be an unabashed bigot attacking minorities in his own country, america's ability to stand against human rights abuses is thwarted in ways lasting and immeasurable. erika? >> absolutely. what he has done at this point i think we have already seen he has has an impact in just his own policies, an impact on millions of people in the united states and at the border and even in mexico there's a lot of people who are homeless because of his own policy of the mpp or the return to mep co. his positions have created chaos and pain for the community. words also matter. and what he has been saying about us n

mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi are important people. this comes down to whether the president will give a sustained push. mitch mcconnell was being very careful there not to get too far out on the ledge. there's a number of times where the president has said he's for something, he will take the lead and then right when the time comes, he backs away and leaves him exposed. i don't think he wants to put his senators out on the ledge here. >> we're seeing movement amongst republicans particularly in communities that have been impacted by this, whether it is mike turner in dayton, mike dewine, our governor in ohio, looking to actually move this ball forward in ways that we have not seep. there's a difference here. >> dana: i'm glad you brought that up. i pulled this and i was like oh, brendan buck is a perfect person to have this. robert acosta went to do some reporting on suburbs. important votes in the suburbs. he writes this in "the washington post." >> dana: you are from this very district. is that true? >> yes. this is a relatively con

mcconnell's senate.n what we know about 2016 and what we are being warned about this coming 2020 election, should the u.s. take any further action to protect its democracy? we turn now to u.s. senator ron of oregon, member of the u.s. senate intelligence committee. thanks for joining me tonight. >> thank you, ari. >> what is important about these bills and what they'd accomplish and why is mitch mcconnell blocking them? >> well, first of all, mitch mcconnell can put all of this to rest by bringing this key legislation to the floor. what i will tell you having served on the intelligence committee for sometime now, as of right now, i believe foreign hostile actors are going to make what happened in 2016 look like small potatoes in 2020. i think when you look at their capacity, for example, to interfere with voter registration databases, to hack social media, we have very serious threats. and i want to make sure that american voters, not foreign hackers, decide our elections. >> when you say that it's conce

i will tell you i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday.e's totally onboard. >> already mcconnell's office says there is a big disagreement over what totally onboard actually means, but both trump and mcconnell are now on record and agree on the at least one thing, that the senate can wait out these next three weeks. >> by the time you call them back, they're going to be back anyway. i don't think we'll need to call them back. i think we'll have a very good package by the time they come back and they can start debating and voting on it then, so i really don't think for the extra little time it matters. leadership is doing a really good job. >> manu, you've got some of the reporting from mitch mcconnell's office about where he is on any of this. obviously you saw donald trump there making the big claim that he is on board. >> the president has been trying to suggest there's serious movement when there actually is none at the moment. what mcconnell is open to is not any specific piece of legislation, his office made that clear after the presi

the president and mitch mcconnell. mcconnell i think will test the waters of the republican caucus to see who's willing to advance this. but he's going to wait for president trump to see if president trump will put himself out there. and really fight the fight. with others in the caucus. i don't see mcconnell doing that himself. >> and joe, president trump has flip-flopped on this. after parkland he said he believed in it. then he denied after he talked to the rks in ra. now he says behind closed doors he believes in it. who knows who will be the last person to talk to him. it's hard to trust what president trump says he believes about background checks. because we haven't seen action. while i'm on the topic, let me just pull up the ten deadlyist mass shootings in u.s. history. the list is shock because sometimes there's so many that you forget about virginia tech. or you forget -- i mean, they're just so all horrible. when you see them on the screen, it comes flooding back to you, all the pain and torture we all felt

. >> in terms of congress, we have some reporting a person close to mitch mcconnell, he's serious to have bipartisan legislation to address gun violence. that there's a conference call on monday. but one thing that did not come up in that conference call was calling the senate back. and part of the reason was he didn't feel there was support from the president for the background check bill. how do you feel about that? >> well, that's good news. and i hope that the president does support that. and they do call the congress back. because that's what people in the united states want. that's what we hear. that politicians need to catch up with the people. >> do you think mitch mcconnell is hearing that message? >> i hope so. i hope so. i know we at moms demand action are working. we're trying to get that action to him. our leaders in kentucky are working on him and putting as much pressure as we can. >> are you feeling some progress? >> yes. i think we are. i mean, this is -- you know, when you see governor dewine and when you see representative turner change their minds and, you know, a

as soon as mcconnell did that, vitter came back to mcconnell's office to let him know that the oligarch's firm was going to write a $200 million check to a new enterprise in mcconnell's home state of kentucky. right after that, mitch mcconnell suddenly discovered, hey, david vitter's wife's judicial nall nation hadn't gone through after all and he pulled it out of the circular file and rushed it through and now wendy vitter is going to be on a federal bench until the end of her working life. so i mean that's how they have used this power. they have had some doozies with great unfetterred power comes wild irresponsibility, always and ever. but this next document i'm about to show you, this is something -- i have it here, don't i? yeah. this document. this is something that i never expected to have to read as part of my day job. it is a law review article that is titled ethnonationalism and liberal democracy. ethnonationalism. like we have been talking a lot in this recent weeks for obvious and terrible reasons about white nationalism, which is the new branding that domestic terrorists are

but mitch mcconnell stepped in to make sure those sanctions would be dropped.n there after, the company that russian oligarch founded put $200 million into that project, into mitch mcconnell's home state of kentucky. and if you think about it, that men that all of a sudden, the people of kentucky, the citizens, the taxpayers, found themselves to be co-owners with the russians of a planned northeast kentucky aluminum bill. one of those who was in the last-minute vote to approve the funding told the "washington post" that now she regrets that vote. she said, it is not okay that we're turning to deripaska given what he's done to our democracy. joining us now, she served on the appropriations committee. representative, thank you for joining us. i appreciate you coming in. >> let me ask if i got anything wrong. from the outside it looked like this was a very, very last-minute thing and you did not have much clarity about what kentucky. at a pairs would be investing in here. >> you're accurate. your average listener might say why did you vote yes? several reasons why

mitch mcconnell stopped it.e one who's going to decide whether there's a gun control vote, and the sign i saw, jake, that he's not serious about doing this was that he let veraso get out in front, we're not doing this, the red flag law is flawed. he never would have done that without asking permission of mitch mcconnell ahead of time, so i'm not sure where the votes come that we didn't have on manchin toomey the last time. i don't know where those come from. >> i would only say that mcconnell also could let some of his right flank people come out against it for momentary political cover or because he believes at the end of the day, if anything happens, fit's goin to be carried by a narrow slice of republicans and democrats and again, the votes are tough to km -- to come by, and thune came out and was skeptical too. the shift in politics, behind the scenes and off the record, as you know, claire, not senator mccaskill, is republicans see the politics is kanchanging. they believe privately the politics have change

now we learn that mcconnell's ex-staffers lobbied for the proj. ?entucky. >> there is a lot of smoke there if you jump down the rabbit hole especially with the russian company one of its owners has other companies that funneled $3.5 million into mitch mcconnell's political mcclain li committee over the past few years. that's definitely -- there is more to this story than just russian interference in the election, the blockage of legislation to combat that. and of course mitch mcconnell not going along with the pleas of the intelligence agencies in 2016 to go forward with a bipartisan statement. or at least the obama administration tried to get thiem to do that >> there is a lot there the allegation a retired school teacher was the original mokds mitch. we don't know who invented. staff writer for insider louisville thank you very much if for being here. >> thank you. >> thank you. we'll be right back. >> thank you. >> thank you we'll be right back. most people think a button is just a button. ♪ that a speaker is just a speaker. ♪ or - that the journ

but also popular among the mitch mcconnell's opponents because it appears to be driving mitch mcconnellcked for the umpteenth time legislation aimed at protecting american elections from russian interference. democratic senators cried foul and "washington post" published a piece titled mitch mcconnell is a russian asset which argued that he is arguably more than any other american doing russian president vladimir putin's bidding. then the moscow mitch trended on social media and clearly getting under his normally tough shell. >> earlier this week mitch mcconnell mcconnell took to the floor to decry russian election interference. which is his own body warns it's ongoing. he fired up the krp cameras to angrily denounce calling him moscow mitch. he even decried the relentless twitter mockery as modern--day mccarthyism. reporters cover the senate closely called the speech pretty fiery at least for mitch mcconnell. but mcconnell's pique on the issue is showing and get going from all directions on this one. not just in the home state. where democrats hope to oust him next year are having a fi

and for mcconnell, there's an understanding -- even some of mcconnell's advisers are telling him you need to think about doing something and take this seriously. but does taking it seriously translate to action and a vote or does it translate to we will have a discussion in september? >> earlier in the week politico had a story that on the house side many republicans are willing to go down the bath of universal background checks, red flag laws, but needed the president's cover, needed his leadership to give them cover because of course they're concerned about being primaried out. now we have mitch mcconnell saying i'll take it out, but if it's something that the president will support. so it's up to the president, is it not? and do you see him feeling the political dynamic here to lead him to take action? >> jim, there's no question that republicans are looking to the president to show leadership here, because in part of the results of the 2018 elections where most moderate republicans or relatively moderate republicans from the more suburban parts of the country where gun control is

mcconnell's spokesman said mcconnell is not aware of any potential russian investor before the sanctionse. but it's just one more example of the senate majority leader's promoscow policy inclinations. the post adding this, quote, in 2016, mcconnell privately expressed skepticism about the intelligence reports on russia's activities in the election and resisted a push by the obama administration to issue a bipartisan statement condemning the kremlin. last month he blocked consideration of election security bills that have bipartisan support. joining this conversation former assistant director for counter intelligence with the fbi, frank figliuzzi. frank figliuzzi, what say you? >> well, i'm glad you included, nicole, this issue of way back mcconnell attacking the intelligence community for simply reporting what russia was doing to the election. that is an alarm bell that someone doesn't want to hear the truth. now we fast forward to the reporting regarding the aluminum processing facility in kentucky, and there are just too many things that don't ring true about this story. so here's a fe

donald mcconnell. yes i just said it. message to democrats the ticket you should be running against is not trump/pence but donald/mcconnell. put a fun video up. oh, kids. you ran. rate there. now i do that, i know, guys, i'm sorry. that is going to be tough to swallow. i do that not in jest in that another interesting democratic strategy is to tie those guys together. i mean, mitch mcconnell is with democratic voters has a 9% approval rating, 36% approval rating with his open own folks. he stands for everything that is wrong in washington. so you like trump but he is washington. and whether it's not standing up for free elections, not protecting us from russia, put those guys together. they are one and the same. mark, what do we think? >> again, i think an interesting marketing idea because you're a great marketing mind. >> everything in politics is marketing. >> yeah. but at the end of the day why waste a lot of time on mcconnell when you already got a villain? in terms of raw politics you've got a villain. most folks ou

mcconnell has delivered supreme court justices, countless judges to the bench. >> mcconnell has deliveredhem, interesting that you said that. >> that was coming from the senate, not something that originated with the president. but he signed off on it. he understands there's a win there. and there is a sense, yes, trump is more popular with republicans than mcconnell. trump could provide some cover for those republican senators if he really did come out for background checks and whatever other gun control measures may or may not happen. but at the same time, the clock is running out, momentum may fade, i don't think anyone should expect something significant. >> it's such an obvious -- if we can't figure this out from here, if little babies getting slaughtered in school didn't do it, the next one's not going to do it. until we get all three branches, it's not changing. and had when we do get three branches in 2022, that's when the world will change. >>> coming up, it may be a third party candidate that ends trump's candidate. >>> plus this. >> we're going to win. we're going to win becaus

what you say is it's mitch mcconnell.t's not mitch mcconnell it's the fact that republicans who represent a bunch of states who these types of laws are not popular aren't voting for it. >> what i'm curious about senator santorum there are all kinds of ways to parse this and talk about the states you have a pint. when you talk about leadership is to do wlat caucus does or what the american people want. usa today released a poll. 67 person of americans want signal pills passwood background checks that the house passed. that includes a majority of republicans one could argue this is louisiana opportunity for mitch mcconnell to stand up this is what the american people want get onboard. you may not agree but that would be a profile in courage wouldn't it. >> look, i don't think those polls are worth too much. the fact of the matter is every commercial purchase in the united states of the america is subject to a background check. you have private purchases in some states or not. >> 22% of gun sales in the country are not subje

if he tells mitch mcconnell that he will support a piece of legislation, leader mcconnell will of courset is likely to have enough republican support behind the president. the issue with this of course is the fact that the president has been pretty inconsistent in the past when it comes to his positions on gun-related legislation. you will recall after the parkland massacre, last year, the president had this roundtable with democratic and republican lawmakers in which he expressed support for even raising the age for buying an assault weapon and things like that, only again to go back on it after getting pressure from the nra. the president is of course the most important person here. the senate is obviously important as well, be few the president wants it -- but if the president wants it, it can be done. jon: after a nut job shot up a baseball field filled with republican legislators, steve scalise obviously was the worst injured of those. he says what we need to do is enforce existing gun laws. listen. >> over 80% of the shooting, somebody was told or knew about it beforehand, and for

mitch mcconnell should call the vote.hould vote on universal background checks which already passed the house. we should vote on a federal anti-gun trafficking law which i worked on and got 58 votes the last time. we should actually pass a ban on military-style assault weapons and large magazines. the reason why these shooters could kill so many people so quickly is because they were using weapons of war. we see people who are fueled boy hate hunting down other americans using weapons designed solely for the military. it's an outrage. the silence by republicans in congress, particularly in the senate, is deafening. >> have you -- are you hopeful that something is different in the aftermath of this shooting, that there is a groundswell or a movement, i'll say from the ground up maybe that you think is different, somehow different this time? are you hopeful or are you -- at this point have you given up on congress getting anything done that you want to see done when it comes to gun measures? >> i'm absolutely not giving up.

those bills sit at the steps of mitch mcconnell.nd if he wants to show some trust and he's interested in doing something on these magazines, high-capacity magazines, i guarantee you, nancy pelosi will be on the phone with her membership and call us all back to say hey, mitch mcconnell passed the two bills we put at his doorstep. let's get back to d.c. this week and let's keep giving him other reforms that we want to propose. i guarantee you leader pelosi would do that. and i guarantee you our house would pass those bills. but worry getting no expression, no confidence from mitch mcconnell or donald trump. donald trump should have walked up to that microphone. first, he should have been in dayton or el paso the last couple of days, giving blood, being with people, giving hugs, showing some compassion. he should have walked up to the microphone and said on monday morning we're calling the senate back. to pass these two bills. mitch mcconnell will send those to my desk. i will sign them. and by the end of the week we'll have passed sig

the president can decide to tell mitch mcconnell to bring the senate back into session and mitch mcconnell would have no choice but to do that. right now he's on the phone talking to gun rights leaders, people in the nra, various leaders in congress including mcconnell, including leaders on the democratic side. he talked to nancy pelosi and chuck schumer recently so he's having a lot of conversations but there's no sense yet the president is going to lead on this issue, that he's actually going to push mcconnell to do exactly what he wants because it seems the president is trying to figure out where he is on this issue, whether or not his base will abandon him if he pushes for any kind of gun control. if the president decides he wants any background check bill to pass, he's the only one that can make that happen. we know mitch mcconnell has leaned on things notice past, but things on the floor, it's happened in the past. the president knows he has the power but it's not clear he's ready to use that yet. >> on that note, we do have some breaking news. there's some breaking tweets on this su

and mitch mcconnell has -- senator mitch mcconnell has basically implied they're not going to come backnding this month while they're on recess, and maybe they'll take it up when they get back, but maybe not. so i'm just wondering what your message is to him and to the republicans in the senate? >> you know, i think the decision to put that on recess, i think right now it's failing our country. i think it's extremely necessary this is taken into action, and it's definitely an emergency session that's needed to be happening. i don't know why action hasn't been taken thus far. i don't know why it's taken 251 mass shootings now this year for people to start waking up and see that maybe now we need to take this into action and maybe now we should call this into action. but even then he's still pushing it off to september because we can wait a little bit. but i don't think we can wait. i think it needs to happen now. i think the longer we wait he thinks people will forget. who knows, we could wake up tomorrow and another thing could be happening. >> and i know this whole episode and ordeal h

mitch mcconnell should have a vote. this senate, if you go back and look at history, we have the least productive senate in the history, and you can't even find time to put a vote on the floor for this. the schedule is not his enemy. he controls it. don't let him tell you it is because he is spending time protecting the american people from russian interference, because he's not doing that either. we should have a vote on that, too. i would like to see people vote against the election protection bill that donald trump and mitch mcconnell are not allowing on the floor of the senate. it's ridiculous. the least you could do would be

why because i know that what you say mitch mcconnell hears and sometimes, sometimes mitch mcconnell speaks. so scott, what you wrote last night is you cannot legislate the crazy and evil out of humanity, but you can damn sure let the american people know that political leaders of goodwill exist in our polarizing world and they will set all of this scar tissue aside to reassure a nation asking itself what is wrong with us. and then you wrote you would be in favor of universal background checks of some kind and perhaps a ban on high capacity magazines like the hundred round drums used in the shootings in dayton. my question to you is do you see movement now? can i read what you wrote last night as movement in this discussion? will republicans and the majority leader perhaps be willing to pass legislation on universal background checks and bans on high capacity magazines? >> well, thanks for having me on this morning, john, and yes, i do think there's going to be movement. i think the majority leader put out a statement late yesterday afternoon indicating that he directed his committee chairs

mcconnell is the embodiment of swamp.o you're putting the swamp thing with the swamp, and let them separate each other from each other. >> but the issue is, is he already there? you saw it in the congressional district i used to represent -- suburban moms turned out in droves based on trump. and so, i don't think you need a new villain. >> i mean, mcconnell was mentioned far more than pence during the past two democratic debates, and there is a clear synergy there. trump's agenda would not -- it wouldn't exist without mcconnell. but i think where it's more important really is trying to convince some of the democratic candidates that their time would be better spent in running for the senate because if democrats do get the house, how much can they get passed with the grim reaper still in office? >> you make mcconnell the face of every senate race, so by putting it out there as the face in the presidential race -- >> hickenlooper -- >> you guys are slow. you get there eventually, you know? >> that would be good. >> from a n

mitch mcconnell slamming the social media network for political bias.details next. - custom shirts help people feel like they're part of a team. my name is timothy chi and i'm the ceo of weddingwire. we're very proud customers of custom ink. we keep coming back to custom ink because of the quality of the product, the customer service, and the ease of use. that moment you walk in the office and people are wearing the same gear, you feel a sense of connectedness and belonging right away and our shirts from custom ink help bring us together. - [announcer] custom ink has hundreds of products to help you look and feel like a team. upload your logo or start your design today at customink.com >> 2020 democratic candidates making the rounds of the iowa state fair, to deep-fried everything. it is known for the hot beef summer and the legendary pork shot. several reports pointing out cory booker is a vegan. this cannot sustain eating meat. he blames industrial culture. then there's senator elizabeth warren who just released a green new deal for farmers which enco