mrs. feinstein: if i may -- mr. whitehouse: please. mrs. feinstein: -- respond briefly.he state has mandated that 50% of its electricity must be from renewable sources by 2030. so we're actually ahead of schedule and on track to reach that deadline by 2020. if we do, we'll both be here. i hope that will be a real signal to people that standards can be set and they can be met and that we can save this planet. so thank you very much. mr. whitehouse: thank you, senator. if senator feinstein will remember i came in 2007. i was sworn in in january of 2007. and in 2007, and in 2008 and in 2009, just what we would expect to be happening on an issue like this was actually happening in the senate. we had, by my recollection, four bipartisan climate bills. we had bipartisan climate hearings. we had constant bipartisan climate conversations. this was an issue that was being taken seriously by this body through 2009. and then in 2010 something happened and all of that bipartisan work came to a screeching dead halt. and what happened was that the supreme court, five republican justic

mrs. feinstein: -- from california. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much. the last thing one does in life is not necessarily the best. i have come to respect claire mccaskill over a long period of time. i've watched her walk in a room and watched heads turn. i've listened to her upfront answering questions, no nonsense, direct, truthful to the very best of her ability. and i found in her a great sense of conscience. and she has this marvelous exterior. i think the interior is a little different. there's a sensitivity there that is very special, senator. i hope you never ever lose it. because it's what really gives you the ability to do what you do. and now i expect to turn on my television set, turn on my radio and hear you many, many times and take a lot of good advice and have a few laughs listening to you. but i just want to say thank you. you've represented your state well. you've stood tall. you've spoken out in our caucuses. you've let people know what you feel. you wear your heart on your sleeve. and you are one great woman. thank you, madam presiden

mr. mcaleenan: no. senator lee: thank you very uch. >> thank you very much, senator feinstein. thank you very much for being here, commissioner. so my country, as you know, has the -- my country and our state has a proud tradition of refugees and i'm not going to really focus on that today but i wanted to bring that up again because for a state like ours which is unemployment rate at 2.8% and part of our employment workforce has been the somalis and the mong and the liberians and refugees coming in and so we're concerned not just for our fabric of life in that state but also on the employment front because these are legal workers after they get here. senator klobuchar: we are very concerned about losing that workforce. so i just wanted to put that on the record here. so on the asylum front, could you speak to why it's important to adjudicate the asylum claims of individuals are fleeing violence and efficient manner and one of the things that concerns me, when we did the comprehensive immigration bill in 2013, we have tens of billions of dollars, as you know, in that bill -- i t

feinstein. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman.s i listened to your statement, i believe i was the first american mayor to go to china to forge a relationship with my city, san francisco, which became one of the most active sister city relationships in the world and i think eased the transition for china. we sent scholars, technical people, it was a relationship that i have always been extraordinarily proud of. the first -- the president of china and i were mayors together. we forged to this relationship. now we see things going awry. it is very hard for me. i've been very proud of china's economic and technological development, which has been much faster than we thought in the mid-1970's it ever could be. it's continued economic and technological development presents many opportunities and many challenges for the global community and particularly for us our continued relations are going to require a commitment to basic international norms regarding the use and protection -- excuse me, i have a cold -- and protection of intellectua

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. >> senator durbin, if the vote comes right at 11:00, i'm going to go vote and then senator feinstein will call on people while i'm gone and then i'll come back. >> thanks, mr. chairman. mr. commissioner, there was a news story a few months ago which was very troubling, and it said that for the first time in almost a century, life expectancy in the united states -- life expectancy is going down. and the reason, of course, is the drug epidemic, a drug epidemic which is taking tens of thousands of lives all across the united states, in cities and small towns, rural areas, and of course we know that one of the drivers in this deadly drug epidemic is fentanyl. fentanyl is -- its analogs were the cause of two-thirds of the more than 42,000 opioid deaths in the united states in 2016. the source of most illicit fentanyl, mr. commissioner, and the underlying chemical precursors is from china via international mail, which of course is part of your responsibility in monitoring that mail. fentanyl is also being shipped from china to mexico to a lesser degree, canada before being trafficked acros

mr. mueller's final report quickly available to the public. this is echoed by democratic senator dianne feinsteinf california. how will william barr handle the russia probe. >> if you want an idea what his testimony during the confirmation process is likely to be like, you can go to c-span and see his 1991 testimony. he's cautious in answering questions. he's a bit of a pro having done this before. he was taking questions over an obscenity task force. whether federal laws required crackdown on certain times of lewd content and he answered in a way that wasn't a bombshell answer. it was straight forward and not particularly flashy response. i imagine he would take a similar approach to the mueller probe. i imagine he would be cautious and state his commitment to abide by the law and not make big waves in doing so. >> let's talk about general john kelly's year end departure as chief of staff. what will this mean about the white house moving forward. >> there are people who would say president trump has been his own chief of staff. other people note kelly is repeated to have been the voice of reason

feinstein. what's your reaction to this late development in the russia probe? >> i've watched mr. stone over the months and even years of this investigation in questions asked. he's put on a very brave face and been very forward-leaning. we asked him to produce some documents today that we think are important for us to continue our work in the senate judiciary committee. and he asserted his fifth amendment right. not to do that. not to incriminate himself by producing this information. president trump in previous occasions has inferred from the fifth amendment assertion that people have something to hide. i don't want to make that inference, but i want to tell you, it raises suspicions. >> does it suggest to you that roger stone fears he potentially could be indicted fairly soon? >> i don't know if he does fear that. but i'm sure he worries as his attorney might that he could be involved in conflicting renditions of the same set of facts. whether or not he had anything to do with assange or the wikileaks remains to be seen. but the questions have been raised, and some of his e-mai

mr. trump quiet. the president and his aides have denied those affairs. reaction from capitol hill swift and sharp. top democrat senator dianne feinstein saying overnight these are serious criminal allegations and demand further scrutiny from congress. republicans also weighing in. >> any time a former lawyer of yours goes to jail it's probably not a good day, but i've yet to see any evidence coming from mr. cohen of collusion, and that's what started the mueller investigation. >> reporter: cohen and federal prosecutors say he made the illegal payments at mr. frump's direction, appearing in federal court, an emotional cohen said it was my own weakness and blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light, adding i felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass. president trump has offered shifting explanations about the hush money payments. >> did you know about the payment to stormy daniels? >> no. >> reporter: months later changing his story. did you know about the payments? >> later on i knew. later on. >> reporter: this week the president

mr. trump quiet. the president and his aides have denied those affairs. reaction from capitol hill swift and sharp. top democrat senator dianne feinstein saying these are serious criminal allegations and they demand further scrutiny from congress. republicans also weighing in. >> anytime a former lawyer of yours goes to jail is probably not a good day. but i have yet to see any evidence coming from mr. cohen of collusion and that's what started the mueller investigation. >> reporter: cohen and federal prosecutors say he made the illegal payments at mr. trump's direction, appearing in federal court. an emotional cohen said it was my own weakness and blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light. adding, i felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds, rather than to listen to my own innervoice and my moral compass. president trump has offered shifting explanations about the hush money payments. did you know about the $130,000 payments to stormy daniels? months later changing his story. did you know about the payments? >> later on i knew. >> reporter: this week the president down played the money as a si

mr to shoji and has been a wrecking ball in the region jeopardizing our national interests on multiple fronts senator ed markey is a bit more blunt calls the crown prince a thug senator dianne feinstein a democrat says he should be held responsible for the murder the blockade in qatar and for human rights abuses in saudi arabia and yemen it goes on to demand the specifics of this resolution which could be voted on as soon as monday and they were introduced just on wednesday they demand. an end to the war in yemen and a political solution a solution ok. to the dispute with guitar but more than that it out right blames the crown prince for the murder of jamal khashoggi and it's not clear whether this overrides or supersedes other legislation that would actually ok force an end to the war in yemen john thank you now the french government is abandoning a fuel tax hike which has led to weeks of violent protests a promise on tuesday to postpone the rise to six months wasn't enough to quell the demonstrations which has spread into wider about is against president micron's economic policies. to the yellow vests to all french people to you numbers of parliament say that the government is open