mr. mcconnell didn't have the courage to speak for himself but asked his spokesman to issue the statementose cloture on proceeding that bill." he joins the group of 13 senators who do not believe the murder of 20 elementary schoolchildren is worth even a discussion of gun legislation on the floor of the senate. leading the charge for this dismal caucus of cowards are senators rand paul and ted cruz. and bringing up the rear of this band of brothers are mike lee, marco rubio, jerry moran, jim inhofe, richard burr, ron johnson, mike enzi, jim risch, mike crapo, dan coats and pat roberts. and these are men who do not believe that the massacre of american children should cause us to pause and even discuss new forms of gun safety legislation on the floor of the senate. their refusal is partly based upon the fact that they cannot be shamed by the victims of that tragedy because their voices are now silent. so here's a reminder of those beautiful children whom the president believes deserve nothing more, nothing less, than a vote. charlotte bacon. daniel bardon. olivia. josephine gay. ana marque

mr. mcconnell: mr. president,? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: : i'm going to take another opportunity to congratulate the louisville cardinals for an incredible championship win last night. it was a truly exciting game and i know my colleagues from michigan take great pride in the fact that not just one but two of their schools were in the sweet 16. but, you know, we americans, we really love a story about somebody getting knocked down and picking themselves up again. that's why it was such a great moment to see kevin ware cut the net last night. they had to lower the rim a bit as i'm sure it's difficult to climb a ladder with a cast on your right leg, but let me just say to him and to the entire university of louisville my undergraduate alma mater, well done, you've really made our state proud. now today, mr. president, i planned to talk about the the president's budget but first i want to say woord about margaret thatcher. margaret thatcher was one of the most transformative political figures of the 20th century. she was a revolution

mr. mcconnell but i like him. >> you like mr. mcconnell. >> i don't think this is going to hurt him. >> you're in the minority. >> nobody likes him. >> he's the least popular incumbent running for re-election right now. >> yeah. >> i will say this, chris. his concern right now is not about a general election. it's about a primary. until the primary -- we'll see what happens after. but until primary filing is done, he's looking over his right shoulder. and he doesn't really care about these ads. now, i applaud what they're doing because i think until people believe that they may lose their seats because of these votes, they're going to continue to knuckle under to the nra. for example, they're running ads against kelly ayotte in new hampshire where i think it can be terribly damaging to her. she's lost ten points or more in her favorable rating -- >> is that a pro gun or middle of the road gun state? >> think about it, the southern half of that state is in the boston media market. >> i know. >> i think it's more and more becoming -

mr. mcconnell and his campaign team to discuss opposition research of mr. ection bid and they all do research on possible competitors. and somehow audio of that was published on the left leaning mother jones' website. here is the senator. this is moment ago, this isn't from the tape. this is the senator on capitol hill moments ago talking about this incident. >> last month, they were attacking my wife's ethnicity and apparently, also unbeknownst to us at the time they were bugging our headquarters, quite a knicnixonn move. this is what you get from the political left these days. as i indicated last week they were attacking my wife's ethnicity and apparently, also bugging my headquarters, much like nixon and watergate. that's what the political left does. we're going to move to another subject. >> megyn: wow, joining me now to discuss it arthur aidala, a fox news legal analyst and susan estridge for the 1988 dukakis campaign and professor of law and political science in california great panel. we've got all angles covered. let's just start with the potential

mr. mcconnell's critics, it triviallizes women.than the other one and saying that how it shows he's misogynist, anti-woman. >> that's not surprising, megyn, that the democrats can't play the race card or the gender card, what do they have left? my assumption is if mr. mcconnell's opponent was a man he'd have a similar conversation. the point that bothers me, mark may recall, michele bachmann a republican woman i'm sure mark doesn't like so much was accused of not being prepared or fit for office because she had migraines, do you recall that part. a charge by a woman from the obama campaign, stephanie cutter literally went on national televisions. >> a lot of means-- >> intimated that romney was a felon and never walked it back and the obama compare supporting a narrative that mitt romney was i am police seive in the death after woman because bain capital shut down a factory where her husband worked and further debunked. >> megyn: we'll see now. the fbi investigating this and they'll get to the bottom of it. if it was a leak from th

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed wellcome. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i'm going to proceed on my leader time. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. mcconnell: as a result of the administration's poor planning, i would argue political motives, thousands of people were stuck on tarmacs over the last few days. the f.a.a.'s mismanagement of this issue is a source of bipartisan frustration. our goal here shouldn't to be score political points on the backs of weary travelers. it should be to fix the problem. look, the obama administration knew about the sequester for months, for months, yet it gave the traveling public and congress only three days' notice before implementing the furloughs that are now being blamed for these delays. the f.a.a. administrator testified before the commerce and appropriations committees last week but made no mention of the magnitude and impact of delays of the

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. the thoughts of every american are with the people of boston, but especially with the many victims of yesterday's horrendous attacks and their families. many who were looking forward to celebrating the achievement of a loved one yesterday woke up to the grim reality of facing the rest of their lives with a disfiguring injury. for them, yesterday's attacks were the beginning of a long and difficult journey. three others who lined up to encourage others, including an eight-year-old boy who was there to cheer on his dad at the finish line, lost their lives in the blast. we pray in a special way for these families. as the president said yesterday, the two parties stand united today in our deepest sympathy for all those who were affected firsthand by these heinous attacks and in our unshakeable resolve to bring those responsible, and any others who are contemplating acts like this, to justice. these horrific attacks are a grim reminder of the hatred and contempt that many continue to harbo

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday i was proud to congratulate coach pitino and the louisville men's basketball team for an impressive national championship win, and today i'd like to recognize coach walsh and the lady cardinals for playing their hearts out last night. they were the lowest seeded team to make it all the way to the title game in decades, and that's really quite an achievement. so my sincere congratulations to you, lady cards, keep up the hustle for next year's tournament, and to the connecticut huskies, congratulations on your hard-fought victory last night. you earned it. now, on an entirely different matter, later today everyone everyone -- excuse me. later today, we'll seef he receive the president's budget. like nearly every one of his budgets so far, it's late. really late. the extra two months he's kept the country on hold, both the house and the senate, have actually already passed their own budgets. so it's hard to see what the white house plans to accomplish here. i want to

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: today the senate will vote on whether to invoke cloture on proceeding to s. 649. i will vote against invoking cloture, and i'd like to explain why. i believe the government should focus on keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals and those with mental issues that could cause them to be a threat to our society. the government should not punish or harass law-abiding citizens in the exercise of their second amendment rights. unfortunately, s. 649 has the focus entirely backwards. for example, the background check portion of s. 649 is senator schumer's bill that the judiciary committee reported out on a party-line basis. the aim of that bill from its plain terms could not be more clear. section 121, the purpose section, provides that the aim of the bill is to require americans to undergo background checks for -- quote -- "all sales and transfers of firearms." end quote. if they don't, it is a federal crime. again, the requirement applies to all sales and even transfers of

mr. mcconnell. turning on them and getting a good laugh. matter what he does, it gets a good laugh from the media? >> i think that is made a joke making lighted of it. that is serious criticism about his feet on the desk during a meeting. whether he has effectively reached out to congress, there is serious criticism leveled by bob woodward. i'm not concerned about him putting his feet on the desk every once in a while. >> neil: he is like the coolest guy mountain room. i noted that he does have as a sense of trying to be cool without being trying to cool -- i don't know what it is -- i think every president has a aura around him just for being president. bill clinton was good at that. john kennedy was good at that i wasn't around for abraham con, bill o'reilly's take on that, but we place a lot of value on that. do you? >> i think he came across very likable during his comedy routine. there were some problems with it. there was one joke in particular where he alluded to his past marijuana use. made a joke about that. at the same time his po

mr. mcconnell as he prepares to filibuster gun control in this country. david corn, krystal ball, thank you for your time. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you. >> catch krystal on "the cycle" weekdays at 3:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. >>> ahead, we are a step closer to justice for our children today. there might be a plan for those political cowards who want to stop a vote on gun safety. >>> and look out! falling poll numbers ahead. i know it's shocking. but if you do unpopular things, you'll become unpopular. >>> and why marco rubio and the right wingers are ginning up a fake scandal about beyonce and jay-z's trip to cuba. it's not about cuba. it's not about the cuban people. it's about smearing the president. stay with us. >>> have you joined the "politics nation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. our facebook family had tough words for mitch mcconnell and his gop colleagues threatening to filibuster the gun control bill. hagatha says blind obstructionism has done nothing but harm debate and discussion. they're at the heart of our government. nan

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: something truly remarkable happened in the senate last night. it was sort of late in the day, so for those who missed it, here's a little recap. late yesterday afternoon the majority leader handed to us a hastily crafted bill and then asked if we could pass it before anybody had seen it. apparently someone on the other side realized they had no good explanation for why they hadn't prevented delays we have seen in airports across the country this week, so they threw together a bill in a feeble attempt to cover for it. it's really pretty embarrassing. it actually proposes to replace the president's sequester cuts with what's known around here as okay o.. -- as oko. let me provide an explanation provided by joe lieberman in a letter he signed with dr. coburn just last year. here's what senator lieberman said about oko. the funds allocated for oko, or war savings, are not real. and every member of congress knows this. the funds specified for overseas contingency operations in fu

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: last few days have been trying ones for our nation. monday's attack in boston reminded us that terrorism can still strike anywhere a at any time. and as yesterday's news of an attempt to send ricin to the capitol reminds you it is important as ever to take the steps necessary to protect americans from those who would do us harm. and this morning i'd like to recognize the postal and law enforcement officials for their excellent work in detecting and preventing this threat before it even reached the capitol. they proved that the proactive measures we put in place do in fact work. we have faith that the men and women charged to protect the american people will find those responsible for the attack in boston and for the letter here at the capitol. the truth will eventually come out and justice will be delivered. now, mr. president, on another matter, later today the senate will begin to consider amendments to legislation that deals with one of our most fundamental constitutional

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: last week one of our most senior democrats, a primary author of obamacare, referred to the law's implementation as a train wreck. small businesses have no idea what to do, he warned. they have no idea what to expect. he also expressed concern that the health insurance exchanges for consumers and small businesses could turn into a fiasco. well, i agree with i am had. i think just about everyone in my conference agrees with him. but here's the difference: this is not some grand revelation to republicans. we've been saying this since day one. we said a government takeover of health care would raise health care costs and premiums. we said it would raise taxes on the middle class. we said it would force millions of americans to give up insurance plans they liked and wanted to keep. we said it would bury families and small businesses in a literal mountain -- mountain of regulations. and we said it would cost our country jobs. we shouted these things from the rooftop throughout the

mr. mcconnell. she has since then she she will not run.as the story for us live. >> the attorney for sean riley confirms that there's a witness to the events and not a target. and another key individual in this case who is cooperating with federal agents. fbi sources tell fox news this probe is in preliminary nations and focused first on determining whether a crime or crimes were committed. the case broke on tuesday when mother jones published portion of the tape, the recording apparently made at the campaign offices. and despite assertions that neither riley nor the super pac he directs, progress kentucky enjoys any affiliate with the democratic party, he's pictured at the democratic convention as a delegate. he was on america live, and nation at large first heard from jacob conway, he told you that riley and reputed associate curtis morrison bragged about this recording within a day after the conversation happened and conway told you yesterday he had not talk with the fbi. by the time conway spoke with the affiliate in louisville, this s

mr. mcconnell's headquarters are located in louisville, just spoke to us live on the air, telling us thatf a liberal activist group, a pact, bragged to him that they had recorded senator mcconnell and others on the topics in question. here is some of that telephone interview we just conducted. >> megyn: what did they tell you about this recording? >> well, they happen to be friends of mine, or were friends of mine, i guess. but they mentioned that they were there, just like i told wftl locally, they were there, i don't know why they were at the grand opening of his campaign office, but they were thereafter the event had ended and were in the hallway and, you know, they overheard the conversation going on, which, you know, i mean i know it doesn't -- to me, it was an extremely tacky conversation, a tasteless thing, the mcconnell campaign did, but it was a private conversation nonetheless, and when i guess they heard all the tasteless and offensive and tacky things that mcconnell campaign was discussing, they decided to record it. and they told he me about that later that day and-- or eithe

mr. mcconnell. the president goes, really? why don't you have a drink with mitch mcconnell. >> but if you really think about the bay that happens -- >> no, that has absolutely no impact on anything. >> john, the best line was the bayner and the president. did you read that? >> remind me. >> oh, the president and boehner are like anderson cooper and rachel maddow. you know exactly where they stand but nothing is going to happen between those two. i thought that was the best zinger of the night. >> you haven't seen house of cards. >> you have? >> they did a six-minute spoof of the event. >> to give you guys a bit of the arc of this dinner, i've been going there for about the22 yea. when i started, it was getting bigger. it was the kind of thing where initially you would try to take advantage of the governor or some politician that you didn't get to see very much. and you would build up your list of sources. but in the latter part of the 1980s, mike kelly, no longer with us, decided to make a splash by bringing fawn hall, who was

mr. stewart goes to washington. he was standing up there and coming out with his hard and he was really talking to people there and the only question is, does mitch mcconnell care what the hell he says? he makes it 14 who say no vote. there will be no vote on background checks, nothing, in. nada will come out of what happened in newtown. >> zero. >> and this stonewalling by -- against a 90% belief makes you wonder how the constitution holds sometimes. how can you hold a system together that's based on straight arming 90% of the court

mr. margaret thatcher despite a fight over thwarting between senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and senateions committee chair robert menendez. the hill newspaper writing that much of the fight between the two of you to get around what the resolution would say about great britain's 1982 war with argentina over the falkland islands. according to senate aides, the two senators were working together on language late last week when senator menendez made suggestions that senator mcconnell's proposal, democratic menendez was looking to remove language that could have been seen as a swipe against other countries. the senate eventually approved it just in time for this morning's approval. the senate will return today for more work on gun legislation. they are back at 9:30 a.m. debating a number of amendments to the including the senator manchin-senator toomey amendment or votes on that in a number of other amendments expected to take at 4 p.m. eastern and again members will be gaveling back in at 9:30 a.m. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. >> she came into the white house. she was a 47

back w >>> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell showing his sense of humor after becoming the butt of a joke on saturday night. we'll start with mr. obama's joke. >> some folks don't think i spent spend enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell, they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell? >> the joke went over well as you heard so naturally mcconnell wanted to get in on the act tweeting this photo of himself sitting in a bar with a beer next toon empty chair. he's ready and waiting with a glass of red wine for anyone that chooses to join him. the tweet addressed to the president and also to, get this, clint eastwood who made that speech at the republican convention with the empty chair. >> we'll see if there is -- . >> yes. any takers there? >> we've seen satellite pictures of hurricanes now, we can see a powerful storm. >> nasa's casini space craft captured these images of a massive storm, scientists say it's about 1250 miles wide. >> the storm traveling about 330 miles per hour and appears this storm has been there for years. >> beautiful, but scary. >> yes. >> is our weathe

mr. filibuster that mitch mcconnell.s his contribution to the nation for getting what's good for the they would not have done all of this dirty politics practicing at a time politics of personal destruction if they didn't fear. in florida hello, greg. good morning. >> i think an investigation, not an investigation per se but digging into actual mental health issues is appropriate. kicked out a vice presidential candidate for basically exactly the same thing being institutionalized 20 years prior. i think if the federal government says you are not sane enough to own the gun, i think that's the proposal you are trying to make is people who have been institutionalized for mental health issues shouldn't be sane enough to own a gun, why should she be a candidate? >> bill: look, you raise a lot of issues here, craig. first of all, you were talking about thomas eagleton. i think thomas is his first name. eagleton. right? i think the democratic party made a huge mistake at that time. only because at one time, admittedly. i don't

authorize representation by senate legal counsel in the case of steve shaumberg, senator mitch mcconnell, et al. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the motions to reconsider be laid onhe table n interng action or debate. the presiding officer: without object mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2:00 p.m. on monday, april 22, 2013, thatlowingheyer and the pledge, the morning siss be deed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later i the day, and that following any leader remarks, the senate proceed to a period of morning business until 5:30, with the senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. further, at 5:30 p.m., the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar number 41, senate resolution 743, and immediately proceed to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: at 5:30 p.m. on monday, there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to t

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by me and in consultation with senator mcconnell the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 42, there be one hour for debate equally divided in the usual form, upon the use or yielding back of time the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on the nomination, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, and no further motions be in order to the nomination, that each statement related to the nomination be printed in the record and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask that the senate proceed to s. 853 introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 853, a bill to provide the secretary of transportation with the flexibility to transfer certain funds to prevent reduced operations and staffing of the federal aviation administration and for other purposes. the

mr. stewart goes to washington. he was standing up there and coming out with his hard and he was really talking to people there and the only question is, does mitch mcconnell care what the hell he says? he makes it 14 who say no vote. there will be no vote on background checks, nothing, in. nada will come out of what happened in newtown. >> zero. >> and this stonewalling by -- against a 90% belief makes you wonder how the constitution holds sometimes. how can you hold a system together that's based on straight arming 90% of the court and saying you're not even going to get a vote? >> the president said in his speech that 90% of the country rarely agrees on anything. here you have 90% of the country saying that they believe that background checks are necessary. now they are talking about filibuster. and then when you look at the fact that the negotiations on background checks are being led by senator joe manchin, a democrat from west virginia and pat toomey, a republican from pennsylvania, both of them raided a by the nra. and the nra and gun supporters, two people with a-rating. >> pat toomey faces re-election. >> right. >> not an even special but midterm.

he is -- if i were mitch mcconnell, i would be very very squared -- >> stephanie: politically a turtle without its shell is your point? >> yes. he looks like mr instead provided the message jump in at your peril, we won't have your back. so thus no serious candidate to challenge him. >> i'm still not convinced of that. there is some time. the news that broke yesterday that max baucus in montana is retiring -- >> stephanie: good riddance. >> i agree with that and even more the possibility -- and i want -- in the same way i want to encourage people to be angry as hell and call their congress people about guns, they should send emails to brian schweitzer. he can hold and win that seat and he is a progressive democrat in a very red state. and he is a great guy. let's get him in that race and hold that seat and improve it like elizabeth warren. >> stephanie: absolutely. all right. david bender george bush libary day. >> thank you so much i'm going to go read my [ inaudible ]pet goat right now. but please tell michael tomasky to get out of my house. >> stephanie: exactly. love you sweetness. leif you david bender. forty-five minutes after the hour.

mcconnell to pass this legislation. and i ask consent that it be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: now finally i ask consent to include in the record the names of the governors and former governors who support this legislation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you. thank you, mr. president. i do that with a little bit of obvious bias as a former governor, but -- but i think it's important to -- that the country know what the governors think because the legislation that we're talking about today is a states' rights bill. it's an 11-page bill. it's a very simple, straightforward bill. it simply says that tennessee, alabama, virginia, new jersey, any state has the right to decide for itself whether it wants to collect taxes that are already owed from some of the people who owe the taxes or all the people who owe the taxes. that's it. that's it. that's all it does. and the governors who support it are the governor of alabama, virginia, new jersey, south carolina, nevada, iowa, south dakota, maine, pennsylvania, indiana, tennessee, michigan, the

they have to be basically pulled away from mitch mcconnell, pulled away from these republican leaders and told it's time for them to dot right thing. >> mr. lynch. >> i had a chance to fly back with president obama for the special mass that we had -- special service we had at the holy cross cathedral. i have to honestly say i have not seen my president so mad, so angry, so frustrated as he was at that vote that was basically forced by the n.r.a. on the republican caucus in the u.s. senate. i think that ed is right in the sense in that we have to make sure the forces for accountability are greater than the forces of the n.r.a. and of these special interest groups whoever they may be. there should be a course of independence. i'm happy to say that i have always taken that independence stand. i have suffered for it sometimes, and -- but i think -- look, i know who i work for in the united states house. i know who i'll work for in the united states senate. it won't be any democratic leaders. it won't be the people who picked mr. markey. it will be the people of massachusetts that i work for. >> mr. markey. >> look, i'm proud to have been end

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the minority leader. the republican leader. i'm sorry. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the resolution at the desk honoring the life, legacy and example of british prime minister baroness margaret that every. i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, we have just passed a resolution honoring the late-margaret thatcher before her funeral tomorrow. it is our intention for that resolution to be a statement equal to her legacy. her work with ronald reagan reinvigorated the north atlantic treaty organization. let me just say that margaret that every was

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. cconnell: i'd like to just say a brief word about last night's tragedy near waco. from the media reports we've seen, there have clearly been a great many injuries and a terrible loss of life. we're all thinking of and praying for the victims and their families. given the horrendous event at the boston marathon on monday, followed by the event near waco last night, it's been a very difficult week for all of us. our hearts are a little bit heavier. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 64, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 32, s. 649, a bill to ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 12:00 noon