rob portman (r-oh): it's shocking that we are so unprepared to police the mail coming into our country in a senate hearing. portman detailed a new report that shows traffickers -- largely from china-- are opting to use the postal service to ship drugs, because it's so unlikely they'll get caught. sen. rob portman (r-oh): the united states postal service is providing a conduit for poison coming into our communities. jessica smith reporting: portman has introduced a bill to close what he calls a "massive loophole." the stop act would require the post office to provide data about international packages -- like who is sending it, where it's coming from and what's inside. sen. rob portman (r-oh): the post office, believe it or not doesn't provide that for every package. but if you send something by fedex, you have to do that. that data helps law enforcement flag suspicious packages. a postal service official told the senators it is working to stop the drug traffickers. post office: we're laser focused... but portman and senator heidi heitkamp said government agencies aren't treating this as

eastern time at 8:40 we will talk to rob portman.re watching "squawk box" on cnbc what are the ingredients of a life well lived? is it the places you go? the things you own? or the people that fill it with meaning? for 150 years, generations of families have chosen pacific life for retirement and life insurance solutions. protecting what's most important to you. that's the power of pacific. ask a financial advisor about pacific life. >>> well despite the chill we are weeks away from the start of the spring housing market. all anyone in the industry can talk about is record low supply of homes for sale. now mortgage rates are breaking into new highs and that will make supply worse. diana olick will tell us why >> mortgage rates were stuck near record lows for the bulk of last year. that's no longer the case. we're suddenly breaking out. the average rate on the 30-year fixed is up nearly a quarter point from the beginning of this year from 4% to 4.22% a big jump to end yesterday thanks to the selloff in the bond market rates loosely fo

. >> jon: rob portman joins me from capitol hill. you're kind of a number cruncher by nature. what do you think of this economy that we're in right now and how much of the credit goes to this president? >> jon, it's exciting and what all of us have been hoping for. not just the increase in the stock market which helps 401k plans and to not just the increase in economic growth. projections next year going over 2 1/2% and not just the jobs. job numbers have been good. the most exciting news is we see wages beginning to go up. this is something we haven't seen in a couple of decades. if you look at it from an inflation-adjusted basis wages have been flat and expenses have gone up dramatically. it is what we were hoping for. a combination of getting rid of regulations and fixing a broken tax system that encouraged jobs and investments going overseas is beginning to make a big difference across the country for workers. >> jon: john roberts has had some inklings of what is coming tonight to expect a bright and optimistic speech and also says the president is going to slip in some th

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tony dokoupil talked to ohio senator rob portman about what authorities need to do to keep up. >>> anding duo alicia keys and swizz beatz sits down with gayle in their first joint interview as we count down to the grammys. >>> that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ ♪ you can smell it. you can almost taste it. you know exactly what you want. your instincts demand it. give them a reason to rejoice. tonight, get your longhorn favorites. like our outlaw ribeye, parmesan crusted chicken or the longhorn salmon. ♪ ♪ the feeling. the flavor. the place. longhorn steakhouse. you can't fake steak. >>> once i step on the grid iron i'm playing, like against the patriots and that is where you have to trust in your preparation, working every single day and living in that moment. >>> nick foles focusing on the task at hand eagles quarterback talks about preparing for super super bowl lii and playing on the biggest stage in sports. >>> happening today trial begins for edw

tony dokoupil talked to ohio senator rob portman about what author ed to do to keep dokoupil terviewt down to the grammys. >>> that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'm a rie green. rie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> we are getting this morning started as we look at the golden gate bridge. definitely a wet commute. an interesting situation on the bay bridge this morning, as well. good morning, it is thursday, january 25th, i'm kenny choi. >> i'm michelle griego. i ran into that interesting situation. >> you and a bunch of our staff. >> easy commute, huh? >> it was not. [ laughter ] >> the weather, we have to talk about some scattered showers that are still out there. right now, it's looking clear at coit tower. we are going to have those high clouds and yes, scattered showers in your forecast throughout the day. thunderstorms possible this afternoon. and the snowfall. it's still coming and the winds are high. i'll explain it all in just a b

we were discussing before the segment started at rob portman is important in this because of the state want to connect the dots for our viewers, putting out a report in october that said they went to 10 states one of which was ohio and found of the overdose deaths the majority of the problem was fentanyl and the majority of that time it was illicit fentanyl, illegal fentanyl. what is fentanyl? and opioid that could be made synthetically and turns out is 50 times more powerful than heroin. you think you're getting her when, you stop breathing can you get the drug overdose. heather: some of these numbers -- >> fentanyl it is not just leaking across the border from mexico, not only the fentanyl used because doctors write prescriptions for people to take illicit drugs but as you said, the chinese making fentanyl in labs and mailing it over here. ups and fedex has laws against this but they find ways around it. the postal service, there's not even a law preventing them, they mail it without advance notice. trying to get a law -- >> it is a synthetic drug. >> a synthetic opioid that is 50 ti

take a listen to senator rob portman today. >> people really don't know.t know. when i am home and talk about it, they look at me. that happens in africa and asia, right? no, it is happening in your backyard, right here. this is an outrage happening in this country, in this century. we can make a difference. >> dana: he has a sponsor of a bill everybody should support. >> jesse: can you bail me out why i said supercilious? >> dana: [laughs] because my husband... >> greg: go to juan. >> jesse: bail me out. >> dana: [laughs] [laughter] >> kimberly: he got confused. >> juan: i think this is a tremendously underreported story. we have seen tragic images of the mudslides in california. amidst all the devastation, a miracle. check out this incredible picture. a 14-year-old girl being rescued from the mud crushed home. santa barbara fire department said she was found by a team of firefighters and rescue dogs. they heard her screaming and it took them six hours to dig her out. she said "i thought i was dead." 17 confirmed dead, eight missing. our thoughts and pray

two of his republican senate colleagues, tom and rob portman both say america should support the demonstrators with portman adding all freedom loving countries around the world should support them. democratic senator bob menendez said he was inspired bid the demonstration. tim kaine offered advice on what the u.s. could do to help the democracy movement. drop the iranian travel ban. >>> president trump's first tweet of 2018 has sparked tensions between the u.s. and ally pakistan. trump tweeted the united states has foolishly given pakistan more than $30 billion in aide over the last 15 years and given us nothing by lies and deceit. thinking of our leaders as fools. gave safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in after began stan with little help. no more. pakistan fired back saying pakistan is anti-terror ally has given free to u.s. land and air communication, military bases and intel cooperation that decimated al qaeda other the last 16 years, but given us nothing, but incentive and minus trust. they overlook cross border. >>> "washington post" reports officials are expected to hold a cabinet me

he's given money to marco rubio and rob portman, pat toomey, ted cruz, lisa murkowski.ated more than 2 million to party campaigns since 2001 including $1.3 million to rnc bundled for senator john mccain's presidential campaign, as well. is he a big deal in the donor world of republican politics. >> he's become bigger and bigger. a switch flipped with steve wynn shortly after obama was elected, chris. i remember several conversations with him in which had he became increasingly vitriolic about the president who i believe actually i think he voted for him. i think his wife at the time elaine talked him into voting for obama. he had buyer's remorse almost immediately said he was creating the worst business client in the history of the world and thought the affordable care act was the worst bill ever passed but it's gotten increasingly more and more intense. he's become more and more republican. sheldon adelson who obviously i mentioned earlier has always been a major republican donor. he and steve wynn also did not like each other but bonded over obama. i think sheldon ade

republican senator rob portman, he serves on the foreign relations committee. senator i haven't seen you since the new year. happy new year, blessings to you and your family. >> happy new year to you and congratulations on your show last night. i thought you did a great job in being objective talking about some of the issues. >> thank you, senator. you're dealing with some really big issues yourself, sex trafficking awareness day, integral to your agenda, opioids, the program with the president, big issues. we will discuss. help me check some of the politics boxes here for us as well. republicans should take control of the investigation, what does the president mean? >> you have to ask him. i do think we have a serious and bipartisan investigation here on the hill that's going to be successful to getting to the bottom of what happened. that's in the senate intelligence committee. i know less about the house intelligence committee investigation. i'm confident that chairman richard burr and ranking member mark warner are doing a good job. i've had an opportunity

we will see about that republican senator rob portman will join us the countdown to the shutdown, willr won't there be a shutdown that is a big topic of conversation we'll also talk about the breakup f there's breakup, if there's a breakup of ge could look like >> good stuff. the best thing about that, i know there was once a time in the past where you guys didn't all desperately want to do the tease, now you all want to do it at the same time >> becky is here, too. everybody wanted to do the tease at the same time >>> andrew mentioned the clock is ticking on the senate they have until midnight tonight to pass a spending bill and avert a government shutdown. drew mattis joins us from metlife investment management. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> you worried about the shutdown has that caused volatility to pick up? >> not too worried about the shutdown if you looked at past shutdowns, they didn't have a large effect. nobody is expecting a lengthy shutdown, there's no threat of a gov government downgrade this time i think we're good this time if the dysfunction continues, if the

rob portman, jeff flake who you mentioned, john cornyn was auditing the conversation, if you will, coming over at times to listen in. frame's opponents over this last week tom cotton and david perdue across the aisle, having their own miniature huddle with other republican members as they try to work out what could be the goldilocks deal here. graham has been talking for at least the last couple days at length earlier about the idea that this 30 day cr was too long, it was too much of a kicking the can down the road thing, the other concept that has been floated repeatedly is a plink, a short yr, a three, four, five-day effort to keep the government opened. that was too short. so what's the conversation has been about to the best that we can tell is the length of time to allow to try to keep the government opened. it appeared earlier on from the smoke signals we get used to reading around here, like they might be closer to announcing something. when mitch mcconnell came back to his desk, set the lecturn up, when we seen there will be an actual speaking on the senate floor, which has been

rob portman, jeff flake, who you mentioned, john cornyn was auditing the conversation, if you will. coming over at times to listen in. graham's opponents over this last week, tom cotton and david purdue, across the aisle having their own sort of miniature huddle with some other republican members as they try to work out what could be the goldie lokts deal here. graham has been talking for at least the last couple of days at length with me earlier today about the idea that this 30-day cr was just too long. it was too much of a kicking the can down the road thing. the other concept that has been floated repeatedly is a blink, a short cr, three, four, five-day effort to keep the government open. that was too short. so what's -- the conversation has been about to the best that we can tell is the length of time to allow to try to keep the government open. it appeared earlier on, again, from the smoke signals that we get used to reading around here, like they might be closer to announcing something. when mitch mcconnell came back to his desk and set the lectern up, when we started to see

very fit, ohio senator rob portman. good to have you here. >> neil, good to have you. broccoli stocks might go up, too. they'll feed him more broccoli. >> neil: that could be a stretch. >> i was encouraged with all of this diet and everything else, he's in the shape that he's in. my cardiologist called up and said, neil, don't get any ideas. this is unusual, isn't it? for any president to get this kind of scrutiny over a routine physical or to have the doctor conduct a long give and take with the press right afterwards. what did you think? >> i think it's goods. the transparency is healthy. by the way, just as it was good to bring the press into the immigration meeting last week for 45 minutes, whatever it was, so they could see how he interacts with democrats and republicans and the like, the transparency on the hillside is also smart. i thought the doctor did a good job. >> neil: they asked a lot of questions about his cognitive abilities. and that -- therein lines a dicey area to get to, period. but in your dealings with the president, because this has come up a lot

while rob portman of ohio remainiremai remaining optimistic.ing, service men and women will soon go without pay. vice president mike pence speaking with military members near the syrian border this weekend reiterating the administration's commitment to reopening the government. >> i'm sure you are all aware of what's going on in washington, d.c. despite bipartisan support for a budget resolution, a minority in the senate has decided to play politics with military pay, but you deserve better. you and your families shouldn't have to worry for one minute about whether you're going to get paid. as you serve in the uniform of the united states. so know this, your president, your vice president, and the american people are not going to put up with it. rick: caroline shively has more now on how the shutdown is already disrupting some military operations. >> -- about the military and a shutdown. will it still function to protect the nation? yes. will they get paid to do it? maybe. let's talk about security. defense secretary jim mattis sent out a memo

i worked together with my colleague and friend, senator rob portman of ohio, on this legislation from the very beginning. we have been joined in this effort by two democrats and two republicans. senators mccaskill, heitkamp, cornyn and mccain. we are passionate about this effort, and so are the colleagues who have joined us, because it is about those victims. those children, teenagers, young women who are sold for sex, trafficked on the internet. and we want tpo -- to give those victims a voice and a day in court, a right of action, a defense against this absolutely heinous, atrocious, inhumane crime. it is a crime. it can be prosecuted. but the victims deserve a day in court and a voice as well. and that is the fundamental, core purpose of this legislation. it is about the victims. and we have been joined in this effort by advocates for those victims. sex trafficking survivors themselves and a dill -- diligent bipartisan coalition of colleagues. in fact, more than 60 of our colleagues have joined as cosponsors, and we're now at a critical milestone for this bill. we have reached a po

rob portman, (r) ohio: "in some areas it's more effective to have technology.ommitment the president made is you got to have a secure border." and while negotiations continuesome lawmakers now say another áshort-term budget bill might be necessary to avoid a shutdown altogether.in washington i'm omar jimenez (steve) (oncam) new at 6 -- according to the washington post: president trump used profanity today when rejecting an immigration proposal that would include protections for people from haiti and other african countries.(take fs) the post reports trump asked "why are we having all these people from "expletive-hole" countries come here." the comments shocked the bipartisan group of senators who had gathered to hammer out a compromise on immigration that would protect daca participants and also increase border security. also according to the post, trump went on to suggest the u.s. should instead bring in more people from countries like norway, whose prime minsister met with the president yesterday in the white house. (pam) still ahead.. a key survelliance meas

tony dokoupil talked with senator rob portman about what authorities have to do to keep up.ood morning. >> good morning. like most republicans, senator portman supports president trump's push for a border but after seeing how can be to receive and send opioids, he thinks the better place is the mailbox. president trump has the illegal drug trade as justification for the $18 bi a former senior dhs official tells cbs news, that's not where the drugs are coming is the po box in america that gets the shipment through the postal service straight from china. >> reporter: for years ron portman and a team of investigators have tracked the deadly delivery of door-to-door opioids. it starts with retailers eager to make a deal. all must go until 1st of july. is a hot sale added another. senator portman's team never bought any drugs but they used shipping and payment data to track nearly 500 successful deliveries of open point nationwide. the deal totaled nearly a quarter of a million. in each case the country was china and the method of service was the u.s. postal service. >> there's n

senator rob portman chairs this subcommittee hearing. this is two hours and 40 minutes. >> thank you for being here. talk about the work to combat the opiate epidemic that scooping our communities around the country. last year we talked about opiate a related product abuse then buying illicit opiates over the internet and shipping them to the united states to the mail. the opiate crisis sadly continues to get worse, not better. last month, the center for disease control reported more than 63000 americans died in 2016 from drug overdoses, those numbers increased in 2017. these steps are shocking. the number of deaths continue to grow. my home state of ohio were told recently is the second in the country in terms of overdose death. heartbreaking. increasingly, these are due to a synthetic heroin, illegal versions offense at all, a drug that is 50 - 100 times stronger than heroin. in ohio fat knowledge variations were involved in 60% of the overdose deaths last year. the number one killer in ohio. the mature door these purchased online from

celebrating with stock buybacks, bonuses and in some cases pay raises joining us is ohio senator rob portmanay good to be on with you. >> i know this is very early days the tax law has been in effect for a couple of days, but what are you seeing in your own state at this point? >> i'm seeing people getting better paychecks because yesterday i've got news that another small business in ohio wants me to come visit him tomorrow tuesday i was at a small manufacturer in cincinnati and in both cases these are small companies but companies that are excited about the tax relief and they're giving their employees bonuses, putting more in 401(k) plans, in one case giving more to charity so it's happening nationwide in ohio yesterday announced they'll move forward with bonuses and provide more with their 401(k)s as you and i have talked about before, that in combination with the middle-class tax cuts is important but i think it's overshadowed by the fact that you will have businesses moving production back to america i've talked to a number of ceos over the past several months about the tax reform as i

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable rob portman, a senator from the state of ohio, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, presidet pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h.r. 195, which the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 195, an act to amend title 44 united states code to restrict the distribution of free printed copies of the federal register to members of congress and other officers and employees of the united states and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, in two hours every senator can vote to end this government shutdown. at 12:00 we'll vote to end the democratic leader's filibuster and advance instead a bipartisan