mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reidwhat i should have done, and i do now, is that the time during this quorum call be divided equally between both sides. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president of i ask that the quorum call be lifted. officer without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i thought i would just make a couple of comments regarding the activities of this chamber a few minutes ago. we voted 71 votes in favor of closing debate on the nomination of richard cordray as director of the consumer financial protection bureau, the cfpb. now, the cfpb is vested with the responsibility of protecting consumers from predatory financial practices. now, we all discovered in the run-up to the great real estate session, just how important this protection is. we had many, many cra

mr. reid: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mr. reid: ask unanimous consent that we vitiate it. fer sph without objection. mr. reid: so s. 1243 is now pending? the presiding officer: sthear ts correct. mr. reid: i ask that the cloture motion be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on s. 1243, a bill making appropriations for departments of transportation and so forth and for other purposes. signed by 18 senators as follows: mr. reid: madam president, i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: before i go further, i want the senator from washington and the senator from maine to hear what i'm saying. that is this: we would love to process amendments. we're going to do one in the morning which has held things up for sometime now. there are other amendments pending. there are going to be v

mr. reid: i ask the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask the 3457bd tri quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 98. the presiding officer: all in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination environmental protection agency, regina mccarthy of massachusetts to be administrator. mr. reid: i send a cloasks to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloasks, we the undersigned senators in accordance with rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of regina

reid's options. who takes those threats seriously? harry reid? mr. reiddown on the filibuster threat, but guess what, he actually won the day any way with a little help from his new friend. you see what harry needed was a hero, a real live american hero riding on a white steed with the wind blowing away all memories of his ill conceived vice presidential pick. enter senator john mccain who worked in a bipartisan fashion. i'll say that again for those who are unfamiliar with the determine, bipartisan passion to broker a deal to confirm five nominees, and he did it behind mitch mcconnell's back. >> a lot of people have been extremely helpful but this was all directed towards john mccain from me. no one was able to break through but for him. >> john: it's like the return of 80's john mccain, and he did it behind mitch mcconnell's back. here to discuss kumbaya moment, we're joined i rick unger of forbes.com. and karen hunter is a politzer prize winner who owned her own publishing company karen hunter and sam seed seder. is this a victory for john mccain or ha

reid sits down to talk about his book "the last lion." mr. reid co-authored the book with historian william manchester who while in failing health asked mr. reid to finish the third and final volume on winston churchill. mr. manchester passed away in 2004. [applause] >> thank you very much and thank you all for turning out on a sunday morning for this event. i'm excited to be here with paul reid. we met before and we have talked before and we are both churchill buff so it's a pleasure to see them again and paul thank you for coming out to chicago. we are going to talk for maybe 40 minutes and there will be plenty time for questions so i hope you can keep that in mind and we will hear from as many people as possible. paul will be signing books so feel free to talk to him after. paul is really a wonderful guy. on top of that he is a journalist who got his start in journalism after a career manufacturing

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: it's my understanding a motion to proceed to s. 1238 is now pending. is that correct? the presiding officer: narc. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. ifer officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 14, s. 1238, a bill to rammed the higher education act of 1965 to extend the current reduced interest rate for undergraduate federal direct stafford loans for one year, to modify required distribution rules for pension plans, and for other purposes, signed by 18 senators as follows: reid of nevada, harkin, reed of rhode island, gillibrand, leahy, klobuchar, udall of new mexico, whitehouse, wyden, cardin, blumenthal, coons, brown, casey, warren, franken, durbin, stabenow. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: my friend, the republican leader, continues to ignore his words. that he would process nominations consistent with the senate. please. please. that's just ignored by him? if anyone thinks since the first of this year that the norms and traditions of the senate have been followed by the republican leader, they're living in gaga land. mr. president, he agreed that we should not have filibusters in except is in the case of extraordinary circumstances. he agreed with that. he ignores that. mr. president, i think it's also worth talking a little bit here about what the republican leader complains that people don't like the two top reasons outdistance all others. they don't like congress because of gridlock and not getting anything done. is that our fault? no. surveying the years that president obama has been in office, one can see time after time when democrats reach out to republicans to get things done and no one can see where they've

mr. reid: is the senate in the process of having a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. reid: what is the business -- i ask consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: what is the matter before the senate? the presiding officer: the motion to proceed to s. 1243. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. i would ask the chair to report that, please, order it reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. 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 debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 99, s. 1243, a bill making appropriations for the department of transportation and housing and urban development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2014, and for other purposes, signed by 18 senators as follows -- mr. reid: madam president, i ask consent that the names be waived -- reading of the names be waived, not the people. the presiding officer: without objecti

mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at at a time to be determined by me after consultation with senator mcconnell the senate proceed to consideration of calendar number 139, h.r. 11, h.r. 1911, that the only first degree in order to the bill be the manchin-burr amendment, the only second-degree amendments to the manchin-pw-r amendments be the following, the text of each is at the desk. reed of rhode island and warren and sanders. one hour of debate equally divided, three hours of debate equally divided between the chair and ranking member or their designees, senator boxer controlling 30 minutes of the democratic time, senator reid controlling 15 minutes of the democratic time, that no points of order or motions be in order other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive, that upon the use or yielding back

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: with my friend's permission, i would ask -- i would suggest the absence of a quorum because i need to talk to him about something that deals with the consent agreement i have here. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i know that my intend has the floor. here's a brief unanimous consent request. and i'm going to proceed as follows, i ask unanimous consent that the cloture on calendar number 208 be withdrawn, the senate proceed to vote on the confirmation of the nomination at 5:30. how much long -- we'll vote at 5:35. that will give my friend time to finish his statement. the motion to reconsider made and laid on the table -- the motion to reconsider made and laid on the table be considered made and laid on table, no intervening action or debate, no further mot

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: are we having a quorum call? he presiding officer: we are. mr. reid: i would ask it be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the vote on the confirmation of hochberg occur at 3:40 today, that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider made and laid on the table, be with no intervening action or debate and no further motion be in order, that any related statement be printed in the record and president obama immediately notified of the senate's action. what time do we have today? what time is it right now? the presiding officer: 3:33 p.m. mr. reid: why don't we -- modify this, 3:35. the presiding officer: is there objection to the request? without objection. mr. reid: 3:35. the senators then, mr. president, confirming that request, should expect two votes. the vote on confirmation of hochberg, for export-import bank and the motion to invoke cloture on perez. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on the confirmation of fred p

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i appreciate my friend from minnesota as courteous as she always is. i would scn unanimou unanimous r statement not appear interrupted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session and it be in order to file cloture on executive calendars numbered 201 and 221. further, that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. finally, that if this request is granted, the senate resume legislative session after the final cloture motion is reported, pursuant to this order. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reid: it's under rule 22. i said rule 20. it's under rule 22 is how we're proceeding on this. okay, we're going to -- hang on, mr. president. let's start over. because these numbers i read them backward. should have been going frontward. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to comparative effectiveness exif session and it be in order to file cloture on executive calendars number 201, 221

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could we have order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. reid: colleagues, we'll likely have one more vote tonight and then we'll have senator murray and senator collins determine what's going to happen on the appropriations bill before us. i rise now, mr. president, to honor our colleague, orrin hatch. the next vote cast will be orrin hatch's 13,000th vote. 13,000. this is a tremendous accomplishment. and it speaks to his dedication to the state of utah, his constituents, and the united states senate and our country. he's the republicans' most senior member. he's now serving in his seventh term in the united states senate. before running for the senate, senator hatch received a bachelor's degree from brigham and young university, a law degree from university of pittsburgh, and worked in -- was in private practice for a number of years. he's the ranking member on the finance committee today. as we know, he made a great reputation for himself when he was chair of the judiciary committee.

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask the chair to lay before the senate a message from the house with respect to h.r. 588. the presiding officer: the clerk reads about the senate the following message. the clerk: resolved that the house agree to the amendment of the senate to the bill h.r. 588 entitled an act to provide for donor contribution acknowledgements to be displayed at the vietnam veterans memorial center with the following house amendment to senate amendment. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the senate proceed to calendar number 85. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 58, h.r. 251 an act

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reidmove to proceed to calendar number 124. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the matter. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 124, a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965, to extend the current interest rate for undergraduate federal direct stafford loans for one year, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks, the time until 5:30 will be equally divided and controlled. at 5:30 there will be a roll call vote. there will be a live quorum requested, and senators should be advised that that may not be the only vote. we may have to have some more votes before we start our joint caucus, which is scheduled for 6:00. i hope there will only be need for one vote, but we should know by 3:00 or thereabouts. but we could have several votes i look forward to the joint caucus, mr. president. at this time i would ask the chair to announce the business of the day. the presiding of

mr. reid: i ask consent that it be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: so i don't have to admit my frailties now. there is no record here. mr. president, thank you very much for your patience. i ask consent that the committee on finance be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2289. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2289, an act to rename section 219-c of the internal revenue code of 1986 as the kay bailey hutchison spousal ira. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to h-fplts con. res. 4 -- h. con. res. 43. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: con. res. 43 authorizing the use of emancipation hall in the capitol visitors center for a ceremony honoring the life and legacy of nelson mandela on the occasion of the 95th a

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: the clerk will report next nomination. mr. reid: mr. president, there's a cloture motion. i ask that -- i'm sorry, it hasn't been reported. pardon me. mr. . the clerk:: national labor relations board, mark gaston pierce of new york to be a member. mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the yurpd signed senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to a bring the debate on the nomination of mark gaston pierce of new york to be a member of the national labor relations board. signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. and under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 200. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 200, designating july 26, 2013, as unit

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of senator mcconnell, there will be a period of morning business until 11:00 a.m. with the first 30 minutes controlled by the majority and the second 30 by the republicans. following that morning business, senate will resume consideration of s. 1243, which is the transportation appropriations bill. senator murray will continue to work through the amendments with susan collins, the ranking member from maine. we hope to vote on confirmation of the west nomination today to be associate attorney general. senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. mr. president, about 80 years ago when president franklin roosevelt first proposed social security as an insurance against poverty in oldagers the idea was controversial. it was new, never been done before, nothing like it. but in 1935, 97 republicans joined democrats in congress to create one of the most successful social programs in history, if not "the most" successful social program in our country and

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, just a brief word or two about the presiding officer. when he took the oath to become a senator, we had a lot of things going here. i didn't have the opportunity to say as much about him as i would like because we were in some, the middle of a real battle here that we seem to have resolved. i don't know if there is anyone in my 31 years of congress that has been better prepared to be a senator than the senator from massachusetts, who now is the presiding officer. a stunning record has already been established with his work in the senate. i have from afar admired this good man, and for four years up close when i served in the house with him. the work for the environment has been unparalleled, and one of the rare voices that has for many years understood the dangers of nuclear waste and been aware of the benefits of nuclear power but also the dangers. there's a long resume that this presiding officer has, and i want the record to reflect that i am terribly impressed with the w

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: i -- i'm 95% certain there will be no more votes today. the question i'm not as certain about is what happens on monday. we'll know before the day is out whether we'll have to have a monday vote or votes. so we'll keep that in mind the. everyone should keep that in mind. i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and no further motions be in order and the senate -- and president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. bennet: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. i'd ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. on saturday, july 20, colorado will commemorate a solemn anniversary because a year ago almost exactly to the da

mr. reid: lp? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, i returned from nevada this sund sunday. on saturday i had a briefing by the head of the forest service in nevada. and we thought things were going really well with the fires in nevada, and they were. progress was being made. limited, but progress was being made. but since then the fires have gotten much worse. not everyone can see this, mr. president, but i have here a picture that i -- of course i didn't get this until earlier this morning, didn't have chance to blow this up so we could put it on an easel. but, mr. president, this is the beginning of the las vegas strip. this is downtown las vegas. and i.t. calle it's called the r fire. you can see it burning. it is only about 10 miles from las vegas, maybe 12 at the most. you can see these -- mt. charleston is a 12,000-foot mountain. the names are shooting way above that. the smoke -- we don't get many clouds in southern nevada, but the smoke cloud here is intense. one of my staff indicated that where she lives it's raini

mr. mcconnell had made on harry reid that i want you to promise that you will not even talk about making this rule change and reid said, no i'm not going to do that. >> what is the relationship at this point between harry reid and mitch mcconnell? they had some very harsh words before one another before the compromise was reached? where does that leave that? >> it's not good, dan. the two men i think generally have gotten along fairly well with a mutual respect. this is clearly damaged that relationship. it's not the end of the rule. they don't have to get along. but the way the senate worked it certainly would help somewhat. you know, the bigger problem might be for the republicans is that -- now you've got this unrest within their own ranks and, you know, there's a testy meeting on wednesday night, a private meeting in which mitch mcconnell was trying to distance himself from this deal and said i didn't know very much about it. one of the members said in -- words we can't use here saying that ain't so. [laughter] >> although small some progress in terms of bipartisan, does it pertain anything inner the house? >

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, there willing an hour of morning business. the first half is controlled by republicans. the second half is controlled by the majority. following morning business, the sna the will resume consideration of the transportation appropriations bill. senator murray and collins have done good work on this. we hope to wrap this bill up in the next 24 hours. we hope to vote in relation to the portman amendment this morning sometime. we also expect to consider the student loan legislation today. mr. president, we have, under the orders that have been entered here, we have the rights -- the ability to vote on the student loan bill, which is so important. there are several hours of debate -- four hours plus other time on various amendments. so i would think members should consider our having the ability to vote on this at about 4:00 this afternoon or thereabouts. we could have a series of votes. we also have other nominations that are subject to votes, so we should have

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader smed. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 124, the student loan -- the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 124, s. 128, a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965, to extend the current reduced interest rate on undergraduate stafford loans for one year and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of my republican counterpart, the time until 11:00 will be equally divide you had and controlled with the majority controlling the first half, the republicans the final half. at 11:00, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of jennifer dorsey. at noon there will be a roll call vote on confirmation of the dorsey nomination. i would also add that the chairman of the judiciary committee has asked that i -- that we hold that vote open until 12:30 today, because they're having a confirmation hearing on the new director of the f.b.i., mr. comey. so we will do that. so the vote will e

mr. reid: i ask that the call of the quorum be terminated. officer without objection. mr. reid: i ask that the senate recess until 2:15 for the weekly caucuses. the time be counted postcloture and charged equally to both sides. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until senate stands in recess until >> so the senate is in recess now so senators can attend their weekly party meetings. the senate is scheduled to reconvene at 2:15 ian. today senators voted to move forward with one of the president's nominees for the national labor relations board. we are expecting votes on several other nominations to the nlrb. also this week the senate is working on a spending bill for transportation can and housing programs. we spoke with a capitol hill reporter about the spending bills pending in congress. andrew taylor is the budget and appropriations reporter for the associated press. while the house and senate are back to work this week on a government spending bill for transportation and housing programs, what can you tell us about

mr. reid: i would now object to further proceedings at this time, mr. president. the president pro tempore: objection is heard. the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: mr. president, the senate is poised to consider nominations of the national labor national labor relations board. this board is an important safeguard for workers in america regardless of whether their employees are union or nonunion. without the work of the nlrb employees would have no entity to address the wrongs. union elections would remain to employers and employees. i'm glad the senate is moving forward as agreed to confirm five nominees to the nlrb, two republicans and three democrats. the senate will consider three democratic nominees and two republican nominees today. once confirmed the nlrb will have five senate confirmed nominees for the first time in a decade. they are eminently qualified. mark pearce served on the national labor relations board for three years. he was the founding partner of a buffalo, new york, law firm where he practiced employment law. he received his bachelor's degree from cornell and. mr. law degree from suny, buffalo. kent hirozawa worked on state

senator harry reid taking some shots at speaker john boehner. here's mr. reidnting on the house speaker's workload. >> speaker boehner is trying to decide where he is, pick an issue. how about the farm bill. last year's farm bill, this year's farm bill. he has dissension in his own ranks. we know that. now immigration, he is saying a bipartisan bill that we've done, he is not going to touch that. they are running ads, conservative organizations are running ads saying mr. boehner and republicans why don't you do something about this. i guess i feel sorry for the speaker. >> chuck, bring us up to speed with where we are on immigration, referring to the fact that speaker boehner said his house will not take up the senate bill. where are we? any hope for a movement on this? >> looks like we're in a bad place on immigration if you were an immigration reform advocate, hoping to see this bill die, you should be very happy this week. what you've seen is if you look at the republican party and the elected officials, they're basically three different groups. the group th

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator wicker. reald -- reid will yield to another senator. senator jill brand. senator reid will yield. >> thank you. thank you for your dedication and all that you do. i would like to focus the conversation on serious. i have grave concern over the broad -- i would like to focus the conversation on syria. i have grave concern over the broad -- i want to talk about what this means for syria's neighbor. has blood and lublin on has been a -- has below and -- has below do to prevent a jihad haven? >> you're exactly right to think of this as a a regional issue, senator. iran is not just a challenge to the united states in its nuclear aspirations, but also through its eerie it's an rock season arms sales. its armedo through sales. the strategy that would undermine efforts would be regional. need to increase our support of the lebanese armed forces. turkish of our partners. with regard to the broader question on iran, i have heard cautious optimism and a grave concern about the election by the new president. what is your assessment of the impact of the election? to changean electi

mr. reid: did my friend from idaho suggest the absence of a quorum? the presiding officer: no, he didn't, sir. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm going to talk just for a minute about the national labor relations nominees. the nlrb has helped to protect the rights and safety of workers for about 80 years. it is a vitally important watch-dog for working americans. it's also important for employers. it also protects employers. but unless we act before the senate recesses in august, the nlrb will lose its ability to operate and will fail to have a quorum, it can't work, it can't -- it can't be effective. so the nomination of the full membership of the nlrb is really a priority. i understand that republican senators are frustrated by president obama's recess appointment to two members of the nlrb. i accept that. so no one has raised any questions, however, about these two good people, griffin and block. they're really fine public servants and the record should be spread with that fact. however, republicans have insisted on the president's nominating new people and he's done that. it's a right they had and this i

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: under the previous order the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid on the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume legislative session and proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from ohio. mr. brown: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that senator stabenow be recognized for up to 3 minutes and that i be recognized for up to 5. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. i appreciate my friend from ohio yielding for just a moment. i just wanted to indicate as it relates to moving forward on the farm bill, i want to congratulate the house for sending their version of the farm bill to us this morning, so we now have it. and tomorrow it would be our intent, senator cochran and i, to go through the motions that it takes to be able to send back our farm bill and ask for a conference committee. so i just wanted to let all the members know that. if there is a concern,

mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to all three of these matters proceeding further at this time. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. the bills will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: mr. president, today as part of this week's agreement to process nominations, the senate will vote on confirmation of perez to lead the department of labor and will vote on cloture of the nomination of mccarthy to lead the environmental protection agency, gina mccarthy. i hope we can move forward on these matters as quickly as possible. gina mccarthy is an accomplished environmental official who served under several republican governors, including governor romney. she's worked in democratic administrations also. as a top environmental official in massachusetts and connecticut, she's expanded efficiency in renewable energy programs. we had a wonderful event yesterday morning where the e.p.a. building was named after president clinton, and he stood and talked about what he and vice president gore had done to help the environment, and he stressed time and time again that it's important to have a growing, strong economy to make sure we took care of the environment in the process because

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[ mortazavi ] everything needs to be picture perfect. i'm rezaculinary manager. and i sea food differently. >>steve: time for your shot of the morning. even though brian is at citi field where the mets play, over the weekend it was fox fan weekend. here's the all-star lineup from the saturday crew. tucker carlson, peter johnson jr., brian kilmeade. heather nauert, patti ann browne and me. it was a lot of fun. we had 500 invited guests in attendance. the yankees didn't do so well but a good night was had by all. one guy said this party is so luxurious i feel like i'm at something the i.r.s. would be throwing. >>gretchen: you had your whole infield in that picture. >>brian: it was very nice too. the general manager came in, said hello to everybody, spent some time and really likes tucker carlson's vest. he talked to him most of the time maybe because he has such good hair. it was a great time to meet people. there was people there from kansas. people from kansas, pennsylvania. they came from all around to watch the yankees and to see us. it was great. it was wonderful meeting them. >>steve: brian, i met somebody who had come all the way from oregon to be with us. one guy found out on thursday morning he had tickets and he called his wife when he was leaving the gym and he said come on, we're going to the fox fan weekend. they made that in no time. >>gretchen: i love that spontaneity. something else happened spontaneous where you hooked up with a hollywood star and it all had to do with your movie review. >> gavin called me, a longtime producer. he said brian -- senior producer. he said you want to play in the celebrity all-star game. i initially said yes and i realized i hadn't played since seventh grade and that might be an issue, so my friend took me to the batting range and got me ready. i saw a fellow i can relate to, a fellow long islander who was thankful i sang the praises of "here comes the book" -- here comes the boom, a show the whole family can watch. he talked to me before the game about how he was going to play the game. >> the sad part about playing in today's game is you cannot be home watching a copy of "here comes the boom." yes, it's true. i do that daily. i can't believe how hot it is right now. not good for a big guy, not good for a beard. >> might you shave it in the fourth inning? >> it might have to come off. wow! >>steve: they moved the bases? >>brian: no. that's where you play softball. it's not 90 feet. i think it's 60 feet. that was the highlight of the game. there was actually another highlight by a wounded warrior who lost both his legs. the play he makes or almost makes will blow you away. we'll share that with you tomorrow. we can't you who won because it doesn't air until tonight. we'll show you tomorrow. that was cool and kevin james absolutely stole the show. >>gretchen: we'll continue to get highlights from you. in the meantime we have a couple of headlines. one of america's fastest men tested positive for a banned substance, talking about tyson gains. he is not saying anything about the drug test but says he will cooperate. former world record holder were red flagged after the jamaica world championships last month. both denying knowing anything about taking a banned substance. >>steve: a brazilian man crushed to death when a 3,000-pound cow fell through the roof of his home. how does that happen? the victim and his wife were sleeping in their bed at the time when the cow walked on to the roof of the home. i don't know how it got up there. the wife was unhurt. it's believed the cow escaped from a nearby farm. this is not the first time a cow has crashed through the roof in the area. but this is the first time it has turned deadly. >>gretchen: they don't call it the treasure coast for nothing. four divers hitting the jackpot off the florida coast. they skoefrd -- discovered 48 gold coins dating back over 300 years. the divers made the discovery 100 feet offshore. the discovery is expected to be worth over $250,000. >>steve: the royal baby could arrive at any moment, but that didn't stop prince william from playing polo. the prince participated in the match 100 miles from his pregnant wife. to be safe he had a backup plan in place. they hired a helicopter to be on stand-by so william could rush home in case kate went into labor. 23 minutes before the top of the hour. extreme heat hitting the east coast this week. temperatures are expected to soar into the high 90's and stay there for days. maria molina is tracking conditions and joins us right now from the soon to be sweaty streets of new york city. >> probably almost there already this morning. we're talking temperatures into the upper 90's and possible triple digits across section of the atlantic. a number of heat advisories are in effect as far as north as parts of new hampshire, parts of massachusetts. the northeast will be dealing with hot temperatures. the problem is when you factor in the humidity it feels even hotter. these are your forecast heat index temperatures. philadelphia 101 is what it's going to feel like this afternoon. 97 in new york city. 100 in washington, d.c. the heat wave is forecast not just for today but over the next several days. tomorrow expecting another hot day. that's pretty much going to be the story across the northeast even as we head into this friday. this entire work week plan to dress very lightly. wear flip-flops as you head out to work and then of course put the more professional shoes on once you're in the office. across parts of texas unusually cool. 78 degrees for your high temperature. that is typically the spot you would be thinking about temperatures in the 90's and triple digits. a little on the cool side in texas and parts of new mexico. the problem is we have low pressure and that is what's helping to keep temperatures on the cooler side. we have areas of rain and flooding concern. a number of watches are in effect because some of you could be exceeding over six inches of rain today and into tomorrow and early wednesday morning. a lot of rain forecast across parts of texas and new mexico. wear the rain boots as you head out to work. yesterday i also went to fox fan weekend. here's a picture of me and a fan. we have people who came from as far away as georgia. the yankees didn't have that good of a game either unfortunately but it was still a lot of fun. >>steve: thank you very much. meanwhile 20 minutes before the top of the hour. gearing up to be the most heated debate in washington this week. senate majority leader harry reid so the president can -- senate can approve the president's nominees without help from the white house. >> the constitution is pretty specific. if you want a super majority vote, look at what a veto is or treaty. if you want to look at a nomination, you know what the founding fathers said? simple majority. that moves what we need. >>gretchen: why does he want to push them through? stuart varney says it all has to do with the big "you" word. unions. >> that would be correct. i think senator reid is desperate. he is beholden to the unions. unions are pushing very hard. they are saying we want our guys on a national labor relations board because we want thing between labor and management to go our way. so senator reid pressed the button. go with the nuclear option, make sure nominees pass by a simple majority vote and not this two-thirds majority that has previously been required. that is the nuclear option big deal. >>steve: it is a big deal because when one party does it, next time the

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator wicker. senator reid is going to yield momentarily to another senator who is next in line who i believe is senator jill jill brand. senator reids going to yield for one turn. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you both for your public service, for your dedication for all that you do for our military and for our nation. i would like to first focus and continue the conversation on syria. i have grave concerns over the broader regional security in the middle east, particularly when we're seeing the continued influx of the jihad and hezbollah fighters in syria. i want to talk about what it mean for syria's neighbor. obviously hezbollah and iran has been an influence at israel's border. will iran be able to do the same with regard with syria and your estimation? what can we do to prevent both gee in syria. >> i'll take this. we have been surprised in a deeply involved in this issue collaboratively. first of all, you're exactly right to think of this as a regional issue, senator, and i would add that iran is not just a challenge to the united states in the nuclear aspirations, but also through its surrogates and proxy, arm

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business, senators be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each during this morning business hour. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, august 21, the senate proceed to executive session to consider now -- consider nomination number 96, that there be 60 minutes for debathe equally divided -- debate equally divided in the usual form, the senate the then proceed to vote o on the nomination, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, no further motions be in order, any related statements be printed in the record and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: the record should -- i said tomorrow but let's just make sure it's august 1. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. r