murkowski: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'd like to share my thoughts with colleagues today about the president's nominee to be secretary of education. i shared many of these thoughts yesterday with my colleagues on the senate help committee. like my colleague from maine, this nomination has been a very difficult one for me. it's been very personal. and as i mentioned in committee, i take very personally the education of the children of -- in my state. i take very personally the contributions that our educators, our administrators in our schools, all that they provide and the importance that we should all place, that we should all place on the education of america's children. i don't think it's an overstatement to say that i have struggled about how i will cast my vote on the nomination of mrs. devos. again, i take very personally the success of alaska's schools and the success of alaska's schoolchildren. we've got a lot of schools in asian as we all do -- we've got a lot of schools in alaska, as we all do around

>>murkowski of alaska and collins of maine. >> . >> .getting a call here from montana. karen? >> high, my son has a mental illness. and he will not be accepted to private schools because they do not take children with his mental illness in their school. and i am just confused as to why republicans don't understand that, especially by republican representative. it's very disappointing. that they don't consider him to be valid in the public school system. >> to me it seems like it's just dismantling the public school system and i'm confused as to why the president and vice president do not just confirm to dismantle it. >> karen, thanks for sharing your story, thanks for your call. ) of ohio, the statement on his website and he does mention students with disabilities down toward the bottom of the statement area he also works to protect the rights of students with disabilities to ensure they have access to high-quality education, betsy de vos made clear she will enforce the individuals with disabilities education ", protect the hard-won rights of students with disabilities. that's

and so, i think you heard murkowski talk about that and there was some concern about how betsy devos came across at her confirmation hearing. concerns that she wasn't prepared to answer questions and doesn't have the right experience. one question particularly about disability funding, funding for students with disabilities that seem to catch her completely off guard she seemed unaware of is something that has caused a lot of concern behind the scenes. and so, collins and murkowski also came under intense pressure for teachers unions to vote against betsy devos because of this concern about public schools. a lot of of course the teachers unions are of course at public schools, not private ones. and so that's the concern you're seeing there. now we're watching senators who might share these concerns, they might come from more moderate states, they might have states that are rural, for example, dean heller is the main person to watch in the next 24 hours. he's a republican senator from nevada where unions are very strong and also, that's the state that's largely rural, as you know, las

republican senators susan collins and lease a murkowski are saying they'll vote against her. live college of -- coverage of the senate always here on c-span2. >> this weekend explore the literary life and history of fresno, california, on saturday on booktv. author tim hernandez about the plane crash in california that killed 32 people, including 28 migrant works. >> the news reports across the country, woody guthrie was in nuke and he heard the news reports so he wrote a poem about it. he says in his poem, goodbye 'omy juan, goodbye rose leta. you won't have a name when you ride the big airplane.

collins and murkowski were the two that denied betsy devos. to save puzder with his nomination. and hello steve mnuchin. mr. treasury secretary. >> he is waving to you. >> he is the new treasury secretary. former partner of goldman sachs. he has a diverse resume. >> from "avatar" to "intern." >> he is a producer of the "batman" movie. the country's legal borrowing limit set by congress. it expires on march 15th. if congress doesn't act by that deadline, mnuchin will have to use accounting measures to pay the country's bills without violating the borrowing limit. i think there is almost zero chance they don't raise the debt ceiling. >>> a new blow for the trump administration's travel ban. it is not in effect. federal judge in virginia granted the request to halt the ban. it is not in effect nationally. the ruling effects everyone in virginia. the judge wrote, maximum power doesn't mean absolute power. this came the same day the trump administration was in the courtroom in seattle facing the judge who halted the ban nationwide. let's get it lat

you heard senator murkowski talk about that on the floor. you heard senator collins talk about it as well. they've both come under quite a bit of pressure from teachers unions. regardless, this is still the way most children in a lot of these states are educated. and it's still a constituency. they might be republicans but they're still listening to these people. the question is going to become, does the white house really want to go to the mat on this nomination? do they want to send mike pence up here to break the tie? is that how they want to get their education secretary confirmed? again, who else might be amenable to actually coming out and saying no? i think there's a combination of things that have led us to this point. certainly the ideology that she has espoused, certainly her background, but her performance here on capitol hill is not something that impressed senators. whether it was their closed-door meetings with her or whether it was what she said in public. you'll remember that hearing was pretty rough going. the sound bites th

i should point out that a number of republicans, you can see from the fact that senator murkowski and [indiscernible] are skeptical of vouchers. the votes are there in the senate. it would appear right now to get those pieces of legislation enacted. there has been talk of trying to expand the federal and political choice of the tax code through what is called tax credit scholarships. this allows folks to get a tax reduction that they donate to scholarship granting institutions, so they get a break on taxes of the helping nonprofit help low-income kids go to school, so that may be the way that congress can help enact mr. trump's decision have the votes there. host: we have bernadette, and educator, from new mexico. good morning. caller: good morning. however, i am a retired educator, so i have a little bit of experience dealing with the public schools. i begin to analyze this, the problem starts with the state, correct? they are the ones who make the decisions, the legislature makes the decisions of what is done in a public schools. well, when i began to analyze all of this, in new mex

but i'm not seeing, other than senator murkowski and other than senator collins, i'm not seeing any of my republican colleagues, out of fear of this president, fear of this president personally attacking them, public clib and personal -- publicly and personally, i have seen them shrink back from doing their constitutional duty and voting their conscience. i hope maybe today, maybe in senator sessions' vote which i believe will be tonight, that some of my republican colleagues will realize they need to do their jobs. they need to stand up for what they believe when they realize this attorney general designee, senator sessions, a colleague i like personally but a colleague that's simply not prepared. he's not independent. he's not had a record of support for voting rights for criminal justice reform, all the things that we want in the attorney general of the united states of america. i plan to vote no today. i ask my colleagues to join me. mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. casey: mr. president

this is kicked off by senators susan collins and lisa murkowski. they both came under incredible pressure from teachers unions and also have been hearing from constituents in overwhelming numbers. look how they explained their plans on this vote yesterday. >> i know that she cares deeply about the children of this nation. but for the reasons i will explain, i simply can into the support her confirmation. >> they're contacting me by phone, by e-mail, in person and their concerns center, as mine do, on mrs. devos's lack of experience with public education and the lack of dmknowledge tha she portrayed in her confirmation hearing. i was trying to get to yes, i couldn't. >> they are focused very much on public schools here. think about the states that collins and murkowski are from, maine and alaska, both very rural states. in many cases they have constituents that frankly don't have a choice in schools they attend. betsy devos has been a major supporter for charter schools, for vouchers. the senators are listening to constituents say if you give me a v

and it says in this story that republicans said privately that collins and murkowski waited to announce their opposition once the rest of the votes for devos were locked up. they said the rest of the g.o.p. is firmly behind devos. politico also reports that senator joe manchin, the margin for devos narrowed significantly after he, senator manchin, announced he will oppose devos. manchin has been mostly supportive of trump's nominees, but said devos has shown a lack of understanding for public schools. joe, holland, michigan, a republican. hi, joe. caller: how are you today? host: good morning. caller: good morning. i guess my opinion is i just think that they need to get back to work. i think merrick garland should have had his hearing. i think he should have had an up or down vote. nothing's changed. i mean, republicans -- republican or democrat, as long as everyone is fighting against each other, we're not going to get anything done. it's sad for the american people, because we're the ones that suffer for it. scommoip joe, did you vote for mr. trump? caller: yes. yes, i did. host: wha

but what's happening is, senator manchin, senators collins, murkows murkowski, all from rural states, what they see is what we've seen, is that you -- public education is the core of what parents need and want for their kids and schools have been the cornerstone and the fabric of communities all throughout america. it's one of the reasons why this was really not an issue during the campaign, because we had all worked on trying to limit testing and changing federal policies, both the bush no child left behind policy and the obama race to the top policy. and so for -- for donald trump to pick someone who knows almost nothing about public schools, is so disconnected from them, and has a fixation on destabilizing and disrupting them, as jeb bush has said, that's why people have just -- they are outraged and they are clogging the senate switchboards because parents across america have said, please, do not do this to our public schools or to our kids. >> randi, one -- the democrats need one more republican senator to say no toeos. right now it looks like the rest of the republican senators

host: what moved collins and murkowski? murkowski?st: they described their concerns as a lack of familiarity with public schools. collins and murkowski come from states where they have a lot of rural districts. the problem at least as far as betsy devos goes is she is a proponent of school choice. school choice is great if you have a lot of schools close to each other, and parents and families can decide, i would like to send my student not to the school, but the school nearby. when you have those big districts, it's hard to choose your school because it's hard to get to another school. mccroskey and collins looked at this and probably thought, it's difficult for my constituents to get on board with someone who isn't interested in improving the schools that we have so far. host: the trump administration has made some bold moves. very quickly, what do you expect from devos in her first time in office? >> betsy devos said, i'm looking at a couple of obama administration policies. one was whether for-profit colleges would get enough fede

susan collins and lisa murkowski, two of the more moderate members and both parties are polarized and dug in in the third week of the trump presidency. what does this tell us? >> usually this happens much later into an administration. usually this happens after the first 100 days. this tells us a couple of things. one, the math is working out perfectly for the president to break this tie. it would be major shock if another republican stepped forward. the reason this won't happen, most likely, is because that would cause huge problems for this administration. that would be the first nominee that he has that would not make it through. it's clear that mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, is going to get this president's nominees through come hell or high water. betsy devos has another relationship with most republican senators. she's been one of the biggest contributors for so long. if she was someone unheard of, unknown, i'm not sure all republicans would be standing with her. but it is good politics to be with her. but uncomfortable as well. dean heller, school children writing

murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from the great state of lay comes came -- state of alaska. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor, this morning, to speak on the resolution of disapproval that is before us, but i want to make just a few comments following my colleague, the minority whip, and i'm pleased to hear him say that he does look forward to the op opportunity -- for the opportunity for hearing on judge gorsuch and the opportunity for a vote. i think we recognize that we have in front of us an individual who has truly a stellar legal reputation, an individual who has committed himself to the law in a remarkable way. when he was before this senate for confirmation moving up to the tenth circuit, he enjoyed very strong support, and i would like to think that on yet further review of this very strong individual, that our colleagues will do the due diligence that is necessary, that is required as part of our role of advise and consent and give that same show

collins he did it is, but murkowski said it exquisitely. she told me she got 30,000 calls this last week on almost all of them anti-devos. she said that helped her decide to oppose. activism from within these states did in fact move these people. which mcconnell spokesman told me they still have the vote and they're confident she is going to be confirmed. mitch mcconnell is known for being quite an extreme era vote counter. her at thist on point being confirmed. but the level of hostility -- amy: vice president pence would have to -- the first time ever. is ane you said, that historical moment that education secretary that is so controversial that even though you have a senate majority, you need your a vice president to push her over the top. amy: and now you have rex tillerson, the new secretary of state, immediately jumping into the fray, has to deal with the travel ban and iran. iran he is very friendly with in dealing with iran around the cruise missilele that they just tested because he was a longtime ceo of exxonmobil and actually had

look what happened with susan collins, lisa murkowski and joe manchin.nderstand rural schools where a lot of people voted for donald trump, they want localized control of their school systems. more than that, they want their public schools to be the center of communities. they don't want it disrupted one more time. they don't want it defunded one more time. and that's what betsy devos has done in michigan to urban kids and to rural kids. >> she has gotten some support. she got a major endorsement from nebraska republican senator fisher, who has long supported education, fisher saying devos ensured her she would not impose mandates related to vouchers on schools. where can you find common ground if devos is confirmed? >> i gave a speech a couple of weeks ago in washington talking about what do we do to help every public school succeed? how do we focus on children's well-being, engage in learning, build the capacity of the woforce d how do we collaborate together? and i asked her to come to schools with us, schools that really work. there are charters that

murkowski yesterday is an example. >> earlier this week in hampton you said you support keeping the consumer protection and the with thepay for this subsidies and exchanges, are you in favor of keeping those in place? sen. grassley: it depends on -- if we have a replacement immediately when we have with repeal, then the new policies might take care of that probably through refundable tax credits and tax credits. about, or'm speaking to answer your question, if there is a police of time and a month ago there was a talk of two years between repeal and replacement. during that period of time, we made it very clear we would keep in place the exchanges and the subsidies that go with it. thank you all very much. >> one more question, actually. sen. grassley: you don't have to apologize. >> i wanted to anyway. you have been doing this thing, coming and visiting constituents from a long time. have you ever seen a reaction like this? what you think people are acting like this, republican, democrat, whatever? what do you take away from it? sen. grassley: that people think congress is not acting fast i

i think if we look at lisa murkowski ant susan collins as examples, you have to listen to your voters. if democrats stand back and do nothing and remain spineless not only is their job in jeopardy, they are not doing what their constituents elected them to do. quite friendly, they are doing what they can only do even though it ends up being in the long term symbolic, it is a big symbolism needed by the constituents from the democratic party. >> jenna: quick final thought from you, will that pay offer democrats or republicans? >> democrats are doubling down on the failed policies of the past. they are the new party of no ideas. they don't have a different direction. republicans have a better way, different vision, and what we saw today was a move toward that with the confirmation of betsy devos. >> jenna: i know that was a juicy thing to cut through at the end, so we will have to talk about that and have a further debate a little bit later on as well. leslie and john, great to have you both on, thank you. >> jon: fox news alert on a day when a huge weather system is moving through the

murkowski yesterday is an example. >> speaking of obamacare, earlier this week in hampton you said you support keeping the consumer protection and the taxes to pay for this with the subsidies and exchanges, are you in favor of keeping those in place? sen. grassley: it depends on if we have a replacement immediately when we have with repeal, then the new policies will take care of that probably through refundable tax credits and tax credits. but what i'm speaking about, or to answer your question, if there is a period of time and a month ago there was a talk of two years between repeal and replacement. during that period of time, we made it very clear we would keep inlace the exchanges and the subsidies that go with it. thank you all very much. >> one more question, actually. sen. grassley: you don't have to apologize. >> i was just waiting for anybody else to see they would ask. you have been doing this thing, coming and visiting constituents from a long time. have you ever seen a reaction like this? what you think people are acting like this, regardless of republican, democrat, whatev

i urge lisa murkowski and susan collins to wake up and reamize we have to fight the left. each other isn't going to get us anywhere. tom: it seems as though they are digging their heels in for a long fight. this isn't something they are going to kiss and make up over in a matter of days. at least not from where i see it. how but, gail? >> the 11th commandsment of ronald reagan that we should not insult if he lowe republicans might be the hardest all the commandsments. but matt is right that we need to come together. tom: that's it for us tonight. lou will be back tomorrow. among his guests, nigel farage, ambassador john bolton and ed rollins. for now, good night from new york. kennedy: donald trump has a message for all of the haters. quit acting so crazy. why is he speaking out? the 5r9y panel is here to discuss. hillary clinton is back with her first video since blowing the election. and she has a message for the ladies. are you suffering from headline stress disorder? the latest media malady sweeping the nation. grab a seat. the doctor is in. by the chair on her chiny-c

murkowski: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we have the nomination of representative ryan zinke to be the secretary of the interior as the business before the body today and i would like to spend a few moments this afternoon speaking about him, his equal indications and why -- qualifications and why i feel he will be a strong secretary of the interior. mr. president, really of all the cabinet-level nominations that have an impact on my home state of alaska, the secretary of interior is almost certainly the most important and the most consequential. two-thirds of alaska, nearly 224 million acres is under federal management. to put that into perspective, that is more land than is occupied by the entire state of texas, and it's an area about 177 times larger than the state of delaware, and the vast majority of that land is controlled by agencies within the department of the interior, from the bureau of land management to the park service to the fish and wildlife service. so, again, significant parts of alaska. more land

you have got murkowski and susan collins.you're looking into the psychology of how people think about how their children are educated, what is it that they don't like about betsy devos? the. >> well, this is a, really a substantive debate, it takes us beyond the politics at the moment, the political theater in washington which has to do with the fact, one, devos has not had a good series of hearings. she had open herself to mockery with the thing about grizzly bears and why guns allowed in school. she has not done well on protecting civil rights of disabled in schools. not realizing it is her responsibility to make the children are served. liz: what about vote for jeff sessions? he plays into this? >> it doesn't necessarily delay that vote. but the 24 hour period, really consumes the senate now. liz: they need his vote. >> what you are going to get here, opportunity for people to debate what is the future of education, really an effort by democrats to woo that additional one republican vote that would sink devos and give them

even a couple of republicans, lisa murkowski and susan collins say they're not going to vote for her. what do you think of that? >> well, first of all i support quality education across the board, particularly for traditional public schools for most of our kids will be in place. betsy devos supports the same thing. one of the great things about our nation is we have people who have very diverse opinions. we've got two republicans who say, you know what? we're not going to vote for her. if it will be 50-50, tie vote. we'll simply have vice president pence come in and break the tie. david: right. >> put someone in office who actually will be a great person and a great secretary of to our country. david: gerard robinson, great to see you, my friend. thank you for coming in. appreciate it. >> thank you. melissa: defying our president. democratic lawmakers continuing to fight against president trump's executive order on immigration. new details on the push to make one state a sanctuary state. next, congressman tom mc:tock sounds off. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you ca

discussion what the democrat left and many people actually on the right, including susan collins and lisa murkowski had issues with betsy devos. >> and calling somebody that-- >> i said don't use the words. >> going around using epithets. on one hand this is maxine waters, what she does, she's a loose cannon, a partisan, comes from a partisan district and she's always been anti-republican. >> you guys love us so much, talk how-- >> there's a lot of anger right now. on the other hand look at other names against the president and his wife. remember the new york times journalist calling melania an ugly term. there's a lot of ugliness and a lot of americans would appreciate it as jessica says, knock it off and get to work. >> because i think-- >> go ahead. >> i was just going to say this resistance is about getting power back, it's not about helping people, it's not about making our country move forward, and so you can expect for this kind of language and this kind of attitude that you see in maxine waters it's going on for eight years they want the power back. >> oh, please, no. >> so i'm putting toge

lisa murkowski of alaska and susan collins of main.wski citing devos', quote, lack of experience with public education. but the white house was unequivocal. a spokesman saying they are 100% confident that devos will be the next secretary of education. but it could go down to the wire, and republicans may need vice president pence to break a tie, assuming no other senators cross party lines. karen travers, abc, the white house. >>> as if the trump presidency weren't already divisive, we have a new unusual fissure. as wayne freedman tells us, it has to do with tesla vehicles. >> reporter: if we didn't know better this might remind us of gas lines in the '70s. cars and drivers queueing up waiting for fuel. since we're at a tesla supercharging station, let's call it juice. >> this doesn't look so exclusive anymore. >> it's not. >> reporter: victor spent at least an hour here anyway talking tesla with all the other tesla talkers. >> about their doors, how it opens, how they like the big screen, how fast theirs charges. >> it's a little cult

republican senators susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska saying they will not vote for devos as education secretary. that means devos has just 50 votes right now in the u.s. senate. vice president mike pence would have to break the tie if no one else changes their vote. all of this comes as we've been reporting on the public outcry against devos. for more on that, i want to revisit with my colleague rehema ellis. she's been covering this all week. you were here yesterday and we were talking about how we're hearing and senators and congress people are hearing from the public on this one. there's been a bit of an outcry about her. >> absolutely. very unusual outcry regarding a nominee for the secretary of education. the largest teachers union, national education association, says they've had more than a million people send in e-mails to senators across the country voicing their discontent for this nomination. and it's very unusual, but it speaks to what people have learned about betsy devos. those who support her call her an enormously wonderful person in terms of educati

a final vote was 51/50 with two republican senators, lisa murkowski of alaska and susan collins from maine, voting no on her nomination. >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states. >> at evening, everyone. i bring greetings from the president of the united states on behalf of president donald trumptrump, it will be my great privilege to administer the oath of office for the next secretary of education for the united states of america, betsy devos. betsy,

. >> lisa murkowski and susan collins are concerned about devos's commitment to public education. >>> the u.s. acknowledges there were civilian casualties in the yemen raid where a navy s.e.a.l. was killed. they called in an air strike on a house and it turns out there were civilians inside. the u.s. central command said in a statement, al qaeda in peninsula has a horrifying history of hiding women and children in an area where there are camps. >>> president trump made a visit to the dover air force base to honor the fallen. owens' remains was returned yesterday. he was 36 years old and highly decorated. he's the first known service meb kno to have been killed since president trump took office. >>> there was a pivot to an issue that bothered him since the weekend of his inauguration. a retracted report regarding the removal of the mlk bus from the oval office. >> they said the statue, the bust of dr. martin luther king was taken out of the office and it was never even touched. so i think it was a disgrace, but that's the way the press is. very unfortunate. >> that's just the latest cr

wait that that this has played out and in this intervening time between when senators collins and murkowskise who republican women from maine and alaska came out and said they weren't going to do this. they have one by one other republicans from states that might share these concerns come out and publicly say they were going to back devos. you would have a very, very angry mitch mcconnell, senate majority leader who whoever might come forward to oppose this. and i think that makes that less likely. and like i said, we talked to a lot of these senators. one at a time and they were all willing to say on the record that they plan to support her. now, we have heard of instances where these floods of calls and e-mails and public pressure ultimately does change minds. so there is always a chance until this vote is actually approved and does go through. but i think at this point, it's probably pretty unlikely. but steve, i do think that, you know, this nomination in particular, there's a unique set of circumstances that has brought us to this point. the way that devos conducted herself in her hear

amy: last week, two republican lawmakers -- senators susan collins and lisa murkowski -- announced plans to vote against devos, leaving senate republicans one vote short of confirming her. if the senate vote is 50-50, vice president mike pence would then cast the deciding vote, an event that has never happened to any other presidential nominee in history. parents and teachers have been flooded the senate phone system calling republican lawmakers to demand they oppose her confirmation. nearly all democratic senators are expected to also vote against the nominations of tom price to head the department of health and human services, jeff sessions for attorney general, andrew puzder for labor secretary, and steven mnuchin for treasury secretary -- which the "washington post" call "historic rebuke of a first-term president's cabinet selections." we'll have more on the ongoing senate debate over betsy devos after headlines. a federal appeals court will hear arguments today on whether to r restore president donald trump's executive order banning people from iraq, syria, iran, sudan, libya, somal

senators susan collins and lisa murkowski say they will not vote for her. the republicans hold only a two-vote majority in the senate so if there is a tie, vice president mike pence would cast the tie-breaking vote. meanwhile, president trump's pick for the supreme court, judge neil gorsuch is on capitol hill trying to garner support for the nomination but president trump is not mixing words about partisan gridlock. president trump: if we end up with the gridlock, if you can, mitch, go nuclear. alison: by "nuclear" he means supreme court nominees. gorsuch is the first confirmation hearing expected to happen next month. jonathan: president trump is at dover air force base witnessing return of owens' body. the navy seal killed in raid on al-qaeda compound in yemen. four others were hurt in the operation. this was the first military aid authorized by president trump. alison: -- michelle: this was the scene at american university where 200 faculty and the staff members all rallies along with the students. right now another rally getting underway at reagan natio

lisa murkowski of alaska and susan collins of maine, who said they just couldn't support betsy devos. so, the hunt has been on since then for a third republican, that would put them at 51 votes against, but so far it just has not materialized. so, here we are in this tied situation. there was a little bit of a scramble this morning because senator debbie stabanau said democrats might have had this third person but all sources point to that tie. we'll see that on the floor in a few minutes. >> right now the roll call is 47 against and 50 in favor. nbc news correspondent rehema ellis, who covers education, joins us now. we're waiting for the final roll call, of course, as the final votes come in. but, rehema, what's at stake here in terms of education policy and the issues you've been covering? >> well, that's what a lot of parents are wondering, exactly what is at stake and whether or not federal dollars that go to assist the states and local areas for their education programs are some of those federal dollars at stake? we should make it very clear that the majority of funding for trad

the historic vote coming after susan collins and lisa murkowski announced they would vote against devos. democrats last night hosting an all night talk-a-thon hoping to convince at least one more republican senator to vote no which would have swung the vote in their favor. of course they were ultimately unsuccessful. betsy devos is expected to to be sworn in within a matter of hours. leanne cadel swell on capitol hill. leanne, this is certainly the most contentious confirmation fight so far. what's the reaction from the trump administration? >> reporter: well, today in the white house briefing sean spicer said that democrats are trying to obstruct the process. and in a sense, he's almost right, they do want to block or object to some of these nominees. especially someone like betsy devos who they senators heard from constituents and they're record breaking number of phone cas and e-mails who were opposed to devos, but democrats can't really block or derail a nominee because of rule changes that took place in the senate in 2013 that democrats put forward. those rule changes meant -- said

susan collins and lisa murkowski said they plan to vote against her citing her lack of experience but vice president mike pence was planning to break an expected tie with a yes vote. >>> head scratching after a statement from kellyanne conway on conway referred to a bowling green massacre to justify president trump's ban on refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly muslim countries, listen. >> i bet it's brand-new information to people that president obama had a six-month ban on the iraqi refugee program after two iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and were the masterminds behind the bowling green massacre. >> it didn't get covered because it never happened. all right, giving conway the benefit of the doubt she may have meant an incident in 2011 involving two iraqi nationals indicted for allegedly having dies to attacks against u.s. troops in iraq. those two men lived in bowling green, kentucky. >>> some rattled nerves on capitol hill following an alleged procurement scam. capitol police and the fbi investigating congressional tech support staffers. according to

after two republican senators susan collins and lisa murkowski voted again hers, democrats would haveded one more vote. [ chanting ] >> reporter: but they but couldn't get it despite a marathon overnight session taking shifts speaking against the nominee. >> the nominee for secretary of education doesn't know some of the most basic facts about education policy. >> reporter: democrats are critical of devos' lack of experience with public schools donations to republicans and support for school vouchers. but she never lost the support of the white house which tweeted, quote, betsy devos is a reformer and she is going to be a great education secretary for our kids. after the vote, devos herself tweeted in part, i appreciate the senate's diligence and a.m. honored to serve. >> president trump has pledged to redirect $20 billion in federal funds in an effort to expand school voucher programs and charter schools. >>> thank you. louisiana's governor says the national guard will be deployed to new orleans after a series of powerful tornadoes. surveillance video shows a tornado stripping off ch

. >> reporter: republican senators susan collins and lisa murkowski announced they can't support michigan billionaire betsy devos to oversee the nation's school system. >> i have heard from thousands, truly thousands of alaskans who have shared their concerns about mrs. devos as secretary of education. they've contacted me by phone, e-mail, in person. >> reporter: the announcement sent republicans scrambling on capitol hill because without these two, they have just 50 votes. so with 46 democrats and 2 independents expected to vote no, for the first time in history, they could have a tie. vice president mike pence would be forced to break. >> i was trying to get to yes. i couldn't. >> reporter: devos spent millions of her personal fortune promoting vouchers and charter schools. >> you never attended a public school, k-12 school, did you? >> correct. a >> and your children have not, correct? >> correct. >> and you've never taught at a k-12 school, correct? >> i have not but i've mentored one. >> reporter: and reports that she plagiarized her answers to senators raising new questions about h

senators collins of maine and murkowski of alaska announced they can't support the billionaire. she is a fierce advocate for charter schools and voucher programs as well as a prolific donor to republican causes. devos also faces opposition from democrat, teacher unions and civil rights activists. her nomination could die if she loses the support of one more gop senator and all democrats vote against her. >>> it is over. but not before prison uprising in delaware turned deadly. a corrections employee at the facility was found dead this morning. offis 16 year veteran at the facility. another hostage was rescued and is being evalwaitsed right now. inmates took over a building in the prison wednesday morning. they released 46 hostages and two prison employees in groups throughout the standoff. >>> several people are under arrest in connection with the attempted robbery of a drugstore the silver spring. police say the suspects tried to hold up the cvs on georgia avenue very early this morning. another pharmacy a walgreens in glen burnie rouse robbed a couple of -- was robbed couple o

that is lisa murkowski and susan collins of maine.f that total holds, if another republican does not join the democrats, it will be a 50-50 tie and then the vice president will be called in to break that tie vote. he would probably vote for the residents nominee for the secretary of education. nominee the president's for the secretary of education -- for the president's nominee for the secretary of education. -- vice president has passed one per year according to data from the secretary of senate. the last tybalt was on march 8 -- the last tie vote on march 8, 2008. president is in washington expected to be on capitol hill today to break that tie vote, if and when it does happen. we are talking about it this morning. we want to get your thoughts. talkathon against betsy devos. stewart is up first. an independent. caller: i think it is great that the democrats are doing what they are doing. that is a representation of free speech. i would like to direct attention to concerns about title ix. .hat is a big part of concern it mainly those

senator collins and murkowski.e president reach out to either of them and will he not forget what republicans did in that particular nominee situation? >> i think, look, the president's been very clear. it is not republicans that have stood in the way of this nomination of all of these qualified individuals. it has been democrats that have stalled over and over again, not attending hearings, trying to it use every delay tactic possible. it is those people that have a problem. i think that is the message that the party has missed on the democratic side which, i don't think that, wouldn't paint it with a broad brush. because i think senate democrats frankly haven't gotten the message. >> [inaudible] >> our team has been in contact with the entire senate team to make sure they understand, that they have had visits as requested but we have been in constant contact with the senate. members of the senate. their staffs, our legislative affairs team is having extremely robust schedule of meetings with their teams to make t

senator susan collins and lisa murkowski says her commitment to public schools is questionable. devos cannot afford to lose another republican vote. and within the last hour, rex tillerson was sworn in as secretary of state. vice president mike pence doing the honors in the oval office. the senate approved his nomination by 56-43 vote earlier today. >>> uc-berkeley police gearing up for protests against an ultraconservative speaker coming to campus tonight. here's a live look at the mlk student union at cal where milo yiannopoulos will be headlining a sold-out event. the doors open at 7:00 tonight. yiannopoulos writes a column for the conservative website breitbart. earlier this month, college republicans at uc-davis canceled his visit after protestors got rowdy. yiannopoulos has advocated taking if i recall funds away from uc and other schools to protect students who are undocumented immigrants taking federal funds away. more at 6:00. >>> a live look outside. the ominous dark clouds mean rain is on the way. >> kpix 5 chief meteorologist paul deanno alongside monitoring the hi-d

looking to block her nomination and republican scenario senator susan collins from maine and lisa murkowski fref alaska plan to vote against devos. but vice president mike pence is ready to break an expected tie with a yes vote. >>> a seventh grade girl who wanted to play basketball on boy's basketball team has instead been expelled from school after her parents filed a lawsuit. sidney phillips family launched their legal battle after her catholic school a judge denied their request. the family learned sidney and her sister had been expelled just as she and her friends were running drills with members of the new york liberty by special invitati invitation. >> preparations are in high gear for sunday's super bowl li. you have the patriots who will face the falcons with the pats still a three-point favorite. new england qb tom brady and coach bill belichick hoping to get their fifth ring. atlanta quarterback matt ryan is coming off what was the best season in the nfl history for him. >>> and we are taking a live look now at houston's nrg stadium where the kickoff takes place at 6:30 p.m. east