mr. alexander: of mr. about of the internet r.c.a. knew how many records elvis sold every day. before the internet, ford knew how many cars they were selling every day. before the internet, mcdonald's knew how many hamburgers they were selling every day. yet the obama administration can't tell us how many people have signed up for obamacare. they can't tell us how many people have tried to sign up for obamacare. they haven't told us what level of insurance they bought or in what zip code they live. not only can they not tell us, they've done their best to keep us from find owg out. with wikileaks ajtd aircraft snowden spilling our beans every day it's the best kept secret in washington. the national security could learn lessons from secretary sebelius. we shouldn't have to rely on anonymous sources to get basic information about what's happening with obamacare exchanges. yesterday i introduced legislation to require the administration to tell congress and the american people how many people have thried to sign up, how many did sign up, what level of insurance did they buy, in w

mr. alexander: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: madam president, i am not going to vote to confirm mr. griffin because i think his membership on the board doesn't do anything to keep it from moving toward advocacy instead of being an umpire. but i do think it's time to close the debate and have an up-and-down vote so i'm going to vote "yes" on cloture. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the no nomination of richard f. griffin jr. of the district of columbia, to be general counsel of the national labor relations board. signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that the debate on richard f. griffi griffin jr. oe district of columbia to be general counsel of the na

mr. alexander: thanks, mr. president. mr. president, the majority leader says that it's time to cut off debate and vote on the president's nominees to fill three vacancies on the district of columbia court of appeals. i will not vote to end debate now because i think such a vote would be premature. before the senate has an up-and-down vote on the three judges, there's something else we ought to do first. we should first consider the bipartisan proposal that was made 10 years ago to have the right number of judges on this federal appellate court. for more than a decade, senators of both parties have argued that this court has more judges than it needs and that other federal appellate courts have too few. in 2003, 2005, 2007, with a republican president in the white house, republican senators sessions and grassley introduced legislation to reduce the number of seats on the d.c. circuit. in 2006, they were joined by a distinguished group of eight judiciary committee democrats who include -- who made the same argument. these incl

mr. chairman and. general alexander, thank you for your service by the specially your team and some of the colleagues to recognize the recent developments that have called so much into question the fed has cast a dark shadow with the intelligence agencies and by nature of the attacks that are coming on the people that work for you. far too many people in america september 11 is a distant memory. you said general alexander that the fact we have not had an attack with mass casualties is not an accident. also what seems to trips to the end of the world to the middle east your folks those who place themselves in the incredible circumstances patriots beyond belief cannot talk about it or discuss what a great work is being done but they need to know that some of us are appreciative and if more of america knew they would be more appreciative so i want to reemphasize that message that without them this country would be in greater peril. so can you describe how in this day is taking steps under the collection of fisa? >> what we

mr. alexander. >>> floor of the u.s. senate. you heard harry reid the majority leader saying he wanted to wait for mitch mcconnell to come up. that's presumably when they will make their announcement about this, let's call it a tentative deal that appears to be in the works, a deal that would get the government fully operational at least for a while until january 15th and raise the nation's debt ceiling until february 7th. gloria borg ser here once again, we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. gloria, what does it say about these two leaders, the majority leader and the minority leader that apparently they've been able to do what so many other folks couldn't do, especially in the house of representatives, work out a deal? >> well, it says a couple of things. as you know, wolf, they're not close friends. harry reid and mitch mcconnell have effectively campaigned against each other not in their states but raised money for the campaign committees to defeat the other one. mcconnell's in a race

mr. alexander -- >> okay. so harry reid is just opening the session. >> good stuff there. >> yeah, thank god we cut away to that. we will be taking senator reid's comments live as we continues to speak and potentially announces a deal, kate. it is high drama on capitol hill. that drama sort of, i think, the peak drama began last night when heritage action came in on, not angel's wings, devil's horns basically, and snatched the gavel if not physically then politically from john boehner, who was trying to pass a house bill and heritage action basically said, uh-uh, no, and gave him the hand. >> and then this morning heritage action ceo came out and said, we all know we're not going to be able to repeal obama care until 2017. so that sound you heard was a lot of gop aides and republicans who have been warning about this very thing, just smacking their heads this morning. the feeling on the hill this morning was the sense of kind of resignation, you know. like, all right, here we are, we've tried everything we pos

mr. alexander, being the peace maker he is, suggested they start to do what they could to engage senator mcconnell and i. and as a result of that, i think we were able to talk and hopefully develop a strong relationship. senator mcconnell and i have worked together for many years. the last little bit is no surprise it has not been too good. so anyway, i appreciate the work that senator alexander and senator schumer did, i'm grateful for senator pryor and that gang of senators that did some things that helped us. so i would hope that in the future, the work that was done by senator pryor and collins, they will be able to get together to create some separation here from all this shrill -- these shrill voices that we hear, i agree that are not helpful. this crisis is historic, let's be honest. this was pain inflicted on our nation for no good reason, and we cannot, cannot make the same mistake again. so as we move into the next round of negotiations, i'm depending on stable hard-working, always available patty murphy. she is the stereotype of what i believe a senator should be. i am very, v

mr. alexander aye. >> ms. ayacht. >> aye. >> ms. baldwin. >> aye. >> mr. ba was so -- barraso. >> aye. >> aye. >> there is senator investor -- saying aye. this is probably going to go down with a lot of aye votes. we will see how this all lines up. two votes relate to the debt ceiling compromise. first one cloture vote. 60 votes to get over this threshold on the bill. and then the second vote is a final vote on the bill itself. it needs a simple majority. so, in just a matter of moments, we'll get the total vote and you can see the senators as they do for all these votes, gathering in the well of the senate, the senate chamber and they will just say voice vote their vote aye or nay. >> of course. the real action is going to come when we pretty much know what's going to happen here. we expect that the senate is going to pass this. we're probably go to see a few no, sir. the real action is what happens when it goes over to the house of representatives. we usually have a pretty good idea of whether it's going to pass or not. we suspect it is but this has not

mr. snowedden. that makes no sense to me whatsoever. director alexanderif i could ask you on the meta data program, if you believe that this can be technologically, that is move the data to the telecommunications divider allow them to retain the data. and we can get all the information we need when we have a need to get it. why not undertake it now on your own? why wait for legislation to require it? why not say we're going ask a program which we go to the communication provide we are a particular number and a selector when we have reason to believe it's connected to a plot. we're hear you and make the restructuring. we would a change in statute. at the service provider. that's where you come in. we couldn't compel thm e or get them to keep the data and the court could not do that. as i understand it did i get it right? >> that would be correct. there's no statutory requirement for them to keep for for the length of time we're looking at three years or five years. we would have to have that as a separate piece of legislation to give us that kind of longev

mr. alexander: mr. president, i thank the senator from utah. if through the chair i might -- if that suits his convenience, i appreciate that courtesy very much. and i shouldn't take more than about eight or ten minutes in my remarks. mr. president, the president should ask the secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius to resign her position because of the disastrous rollout of obamacare. taxpayers have spent $400 million to create exchanges, but after three and one half years still don't work. as a result, the white house had to announce last night that the key enforcement mechanism to their individual mandate, a $95 fine that increases every year, will be waived until the end of march of next year. that's fine for those currently without insurance. but for the millions being forced into the exchanges and losing their current insurance, there's no relief. just higher prices. a likely lapse in insurance coverage. a broken web site. and broken promises. we already know of 1.5 million americans are losing their policies because sta

mrs. alexander, honey alexander holding the family bible for that. men.as she would do three days later at the official -- the formal moderation, which is also presided over by chief justice joe henry. alexander by that time had been sworn into times. the night of the two in the more traditional ceremony on the legislative plaza just a street. the first woman that i think i would read about here was harney and the second is the wife of tennessee attorney general bill leitch, donald h. who on the day of the coup, just to give you a flavor for why this is so interest to me, there's a lot of coincidence, and maybe call it lot of coinc, and maybe call it serendipity. bill leitch and his wife donna celebrated the birth of their son. their baby was born not morning. bill leitch had just come back from washington. you set there arguing the case before the u.s. supreme court. the pinnacle of a lawyer's professional life. and yet he was getting calls from the monday night before and he was incredulous that this release of 52 prisoners who set in motion that govern

mr. alexander. >> madam president. >> senator from tennessee. >> i would like to ask unanimous consent. >> without objection. to i didn't really expect come down here and seek. i was just checking on a vote which i understand has been postponed. i do want to say this. that the c.r. me discussion and debt ceiling discussion are going to be combined maybe into one effort and i just want to say that i think that is a great opportunity for all of us. i was down here yesterday talking about the same. typically when we have dealt with issues like this, what we have tried to do together is to strengthenway our country through making those kinds of reforms that the amount of deficits we will have in the the future. that is typically what debates this have been about. and so i think the realization now thatple have right we could well try to deal with the c.r. report debt ceiling at time could move us back into the kind of constructive conversations we aroundad for so long mandatory spending reforms, figuring out a way to keep reductions where they are you with build upon them a way that is more s

mr. alexander and general clapper toes explain to the american people what we are and are not doing. there iser incredible amount of misinformation being reported particularly when the things are early reported. a lot of mistakes made. some honest and i think for sensational value, an awful lot of misinformation in the public arena what the nsa is doing and not doing particularly with respect to u.s. citizens. having general alexander to explain the differences between the programs out there and what we can and can not do with respect to things within the united states and against u.s. citizens just to continue to try to get that record straight so when we do decide to make a decision with respect toto poliy issues we're basing it on facts rather than just the innuendo in the newspaper article or the misinformation that these journalists continue to put out, again, sometimes by honest mistakes. other times i think by design. >> host: how will you vote on what the "washington post" says are dueling pieces of nsa leg shun? jim sensenbrenner, republican of wisconsin, teamed up with patr

mr. speaker. [inaudible] including alexander harris has suspended my daughter. i am really concerned that their ecological process -- protests is being misinterpreted as piracy because nobody wants -- [inaudible] >> i share my honorable friend concerned at one of the people involved is a constituent of mine but i think we need to follow this case extreme it closely and that is what the foreign office is doing. the foreign office minister had a meeting which i'm sure she attended and we are daily seeking updates from the russian government about how these people are being treated. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last week in answer to question on his marriage tax policy the prime minister answered that all married couples paying basic rate tax would benefit from this move. that wasn't correct, was it, prime minister? can he confirm that? >> what i said was married couples allow tax is available to all couples who are on basic rate tax to anyone who has unused tax allowance is able to transfer it between a husband or the wife but it comes back to a very simple principl

mr. english right?" to which the director, alexander, respond, "he is right. i believe he said two, mr. chairman." so congress has authorized the collection of millions of law-abiding citizens' metadata for years and it has only solved two ongoing f.b.i. investigations. of those two investigations, the n.s.a. has publicly identified one. and in fact that case would have easily been handled by obtaining a warrant and going to that telephone company. it is the case of an individual in san diego who was convicted of sending $8,500 to so imlal in support of a terrorist organization claiming responsibility for the kenyan mall attack. the american phone records allowed the n.s.a. to determine that a u.s. phone was used to contact an individual associated with this terrorist organization. i'm appreciative that the n.s.a. was able to apprehend this individual, but it does not provide overwhelming evidence that this program is necessary. as senator rod wyden from oregon noted, the n.s.a. could have gotten a court order to get the phone records in question. so, in essence, congress has authorized a program

and that would reticulate suspicion. >> ag general -- thank you general alexander. >> thank you, mr.chairman chairman. i understand the series of concerns and consequences of the intelligence programs furloughed as a result of the shutdown. to create consequences for our economy. but the answer to that is not to have a shutout in the first place but to have all of government. but we talked about some individuals that have passed inappropriate or illegal query's and general alexander my question is is how did they come to light in the first place? day you have something in place with these actions taken by your employees? >> before it goes up and makes a very quick to see. it is much more difficult oftentimes that is found when we have an update to the tech data of for a number a girlfriend or boyfriend and the number may be considered to a target or identified as such. that is the issue. what we have done is highlighting the punishment to go along with it will cut that down. if you think of a number of people that we have. the few mistakes that we have had that is to be but actually

few months ago that keith alexander was being fed it is this great important general who had done all these big things and i think after everything that's been released by mr snowden very heroically that they're looking for a facelift initially general alexander defended the n.s.a.'s domestic spying practices saying the phone surveillance program he spearheaded has thwarted fifty four terrorist plots or events as it turns out that number was a gross exaggeration last week the n.s.a. director admitted he lied now america's top spy i has been nicknamed alexander the great at a reference to all the influence and power he has amassed during his tenure but many say that changing the face of the n.s.a. will like. prevent journalists from continuing to report about america's questionable surveillance practices when greenwald who initially broke the n.s.a. spy scandal has personally promised that there are many more bombshell exposes to come reporting from new york marina for night r.t. . and the spying chief departures also under the microscope in our breaking the set in just over twenty minutes time. you know after all those tours of duty that combat zone of che

alexander. in a prepared statement, mr.lapper insisted the programs are legal. >> we do not spy indiscriminately on the citizens of any country. we only spy for valid foreign intelligence purposes as authorized by law with multiple layers of oversight to ensure we don't abuse our authorities. >>> the director of the nsa also strongly defended the agency's program. take a listen. >> we see the threats that come into this nation. we see that a foreign agency is intended to see. prior to 9/11, we had no way of connecting those dots. everything we do on this program is auditing 100% on the business report fisa. 100%. >> the chair of the senate intelligence committee dianne feinstein been a lawyer defender of the nsa broken ranks with the agency and now calling for a full review of all of their surveillance programs. she quote, totally opposed to spying on u.s. allies and adds congress has not been kept in the loop. feinstein's counterpart, republican susan collins agrees in a statement she says, she notes there's no justificati

mr. manchin, aye. senators voting in the negative, alexander, ayatt, fisher, flake, graham, grassley, ho hoeve hoeven, johnson of wisconsin, lee, mcconnell, maran, murkowski, paul, roberts, rubio, scott, toomey, wicker. mr. hatch, mr. hatch, no. mr. keyesia, mr. keyesia, no. mr. barroso, mr. barroso, no. mr. shelby, mr. shelby, no. mr. sessions, mr. sessions, no. mrs. shaheen, mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. blunt, mr. blunt, no. >> all right, we're going to step away from the drama in the senate chamber. and continue our conversations with chuck conesburg, he was an assistant director of the white house office of management during the '95 shutdown. in listening to all what is going on this morning, does it feel the same in '95? does it feel worse? how do you characterize this? >> well, 1995 was pretty bad. it was the longest shutdown in u.s. history, lasted for three weeks. this one, this one feels that it could be as bad, because of the level of gridlock that is currently in place right now. >> roger simon from politico, he just said this feels different from '95 because he said that legislators are meaner. i

alexander? is that your opinion? >> absolutely. >> mr. engliss? >> yes, ma'am. >> and mr. cole? with treason but certainly leaking and compromising the integrity of our intelligence system. >> in your opinion, mr. cole, would he be considered a traitor to the united states? >> this is a matter that's -- >> just your personal opinion. >> unfortunately as a justice department official where there's a case involved, it's difficult for me to do that under the rules of professional responsibility. >> does the white house consider mr. snowden a traitor? >> i think best to ask -- you say the white house collectively. i think most people feel that he's done a great disservice to the country. >> i yield back. >> could i just make sure -- i want to make sure i answered all the snowden thing. i answered them quick. if i could just ask the deputy attorney general just to make sure i hit those all right. you have some constitutional questions. i'm not a lawyer. i want to make sure i got that correct. >> i think the only one i might add to is certain foreigners who are in the united states do

mr. president, call your own director of national intelligence, general alexander come and see if they willyou what they told me. and they just told me 15 or 20 minutes ago that the government shutdown is compromising our ability to gather intelligence and defend the nation from an attack. if that is true, the most irresponsible thing the president can do is say that i'm not going to talk anyone to solve this problem. jon: it is wanting to close the smithsonian and it is another thing if this is at risk. thank you. jenna: another effect of the partial shutdown. security front at one major airport. we will have an update on the bomb scare, where was, and also a railroad crossing. an individual doesn't hear the train barreling down the tracks and we'll show you just how close he came to a collision coming up next. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater wel

mr. obama was kept in the dark about the merkel surveillance for nearly five years until this summer when he ordered it stopped. >> the president didn't know about -- >> reporter: general alexander appearing on a d.o.d. blog cast last week somehow likened what most regard as the dirty business of surveilling our allies to the process of convincing young boys when it's time to take a bath. >> no, i never take a bath. why would i want to take a bath? but isn't there a better way? well, we had to take baths or showers. what about here? what's the better way to stop terrorists? >> reporter: british prime minister david kcameron appeale not to publish classified information from ex-nsa employee edward snowden. added if they don't stop doing so "it will be very difficult for government to stand back and not to act." bret. >> james, thank you. >>> answers are still hard to come by in the investigation into last fall's benghazi terror assault. last night one of journalisms heavy hitter confirms what we knew and had reported on. correspondent add day housely has the latest from los angeles. >> reporter: it's been more than a year since the attacks on benghazi and still information provid

today senator alexander taking a much tougher stance on the issue. here he is on the senate floor. >> mrent, at some point there has to be accountability. expecting this secretary to be able to fix what she hasn't been able to fix during the last 3 1/2 years is unrealistic. it's throwing good money after bad. it's time for her to resign, someone else to take charge. jenna: we're seeing a transition there. it's also important to note that senator alexander is running for re-election next year and obamacare is certain to be a key issue. the worst case scenario right now moving right into millions upon millions of people and this could cause extensive, catastrophic damage. i'm not just standing here making this stuff up. i want people to really pay attention to this because again, this could be worst case scenario. jenna: that was janice dean, the first meteorologist to predict the monster storm that hurricane sandy would turn out to be and she made the call right here on "happening now." just five days before the storm made landfall exactly one year ago today. that's how much notice we had

mr. daily's mind this morning? >> it's orange. >> it's literally the orange room is going aplays, just based on that piece five minutes ago, peter alexander'sce, talking about the congressman of texas being confrontational with that park worker. we set up a hashtag for you. i think that piece struck a nerve. we have got an ton of activity on. that let me show you that moment again in case you missed this. >> this woman is doing her job, just like me, i'm a 30-year federal veteran. i'm out of work. it's the congress, it's the government won't do its job and pass the budget. >> tell us your thoughts. they're coming in hot and heavy. do you scold a park ranger for doing her job, which congress is doing its job? congress, get your act together. that's from ellen. they shouldn't be used as props for posturing. literally, dear corporation how dare one of uconn front a park ranger about her responsibilities? it's your fault she's furloughed. this is obviously skrooik striking a chord. let us know, corporation and weir we'll keep it going over here. >> i love that pillow, by the way. coming up, casey kason's children open up about their public figh

lamar alexander tells the story about everett dirkson being on the phone with lbj one afternoon saying, no, mr. president, i was there yesterday, i can't come down for a drink, i got to go home. he hangs up the phone, before he goes out of the office, he hears lbj's beagles in the hall. he had gone out, to the car, to the capitol to make him drink with him. that's where the civil rights bill happened. >> that's lamar's story, but i think it is not to say if everybody had a drink together the kingdom of god would come. >> it's not over a drink. everybody gets confused. we don't want him to drink or socialize, we want him to get locked in. >> because we all know on the par gin, you get 5%. you get 5% if you know each other a little bit. >> can i just say? i think everyone should drink together, first of all. okay. >> all right. that's it. >> secondly, we've rushed to judgment on these things a little too quickly. i will stipulate, the world has been a disaster. the website has not been ready. the president has been clearly detached from the process, be you these things are moving objects and the

mr. roker. >> first, gnnatalie with the re news. >> americans are beginning to feel the impact of the government shutdown that began overnight. congress failed to pass the spending bill because of a dispute over obamacare. peter alexanderu. you said it, we're outside the national air and space museum. here's what happens. the doors are closed. closed today due to the government shutdown. we apologize for the inconvenience. how did we get here? congress is bitterly divided stuck in a stalemate with republicans looking for ways to delay the implementation of the president's healthcare law. 800,000 federal workers furloughed. national parks and museums closed. services suspended from small business loans to payments for low income women and children and veterans could see their benefits effected. you have to pay your taxes but your tax refunds could be delayed and consider the plight of the 24 couples that made plans to get married here on the national mall, at the lincoln memorial and some of the other monuments over the course of this month. the national park service says even though they made the plans and got their permits one year out, if the government is shutdown, those events will be cancelled. >> a lot of disappo

mr. daly's mind this morning? >> literally the orange room is kind of going ablaze right now just based on the piece we showed you five minutes ago, peter alexander's talking about the congressman from texas being confrontational. dear congress is the hash tag we set up for you. let's show you that moment again really quick. >> this woman is doing her job like me. i am a 30 year federal veteran and i am out of work. >> the reason you are -- >> it is because the government won't do its job and pass the budget. >> people saying a lot about the moment. they are coming in hot and heavy. did he real scold a park ranger for doing her job. they shouldn't be used as props for posturing hypocrites playing to the cameras either. dear congress how dare one of you confront a park ranger about her responsibilities. it is your fault she is furloughed. this is striking accord with you. >> love that pillow, by the way. >>> coming up casey kasim's children open up. >>> and just ahead -- >> bring your a game to everything at the same time. >> that's america's new u.n. ambassad ambassador. she opens up about the difficult task of balancing her job and [ laughter ] he