joining us on capitol hill is russell berman. thank very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> let's begin with the meeting that took place at the capitol following the israeli prime minister's session yesterday with president obama. what came out of this congressional meeting? >> we saw something that we've seen a lot in recent years, aa bipartisan show of solidarity between the leaders of the democratic party and the republican party in congress with the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu. john boehner said following the meeting that the united states congress won't allow israel to stand alone. the prime minister had a lot of praise for both parties and this, of course, follows this meeting yesterday with the president. you know, we also heard from nancy pelosi who echoed what the speaker of the house john boehner said in terms of standing -- the united states standing with israel. >> let's stay focused on the middle east for a moment. senator john mccain made news as he called for air strikes to call fo

russell berman with this headline. speaker boehner making a final plea to rally support for a $260 billion highway bill. the house speaker in that last minute pitch to rally republicans around his signature transportation bill warning rank and file republicans against "punting on the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bill that bears our stamp." . the speaker made his speech today in washington where he and other party leaders implored conservative leaders to support a five-year, $260 billion highway bill that many in his caucus opposed. the speaker bluntly warned lawmakers that if the house does not pass it own bill, it will be stuck with a $109 billion senate bill or something that looks like according to sources inside the room. more from the senate side on this debate. here is senator harry reid, democrat from nevada. >> madam president, we were disappointed as i indicated yesterday and being able not to invoke cloture on this highway bill. i was satisfied yesterday that the speaker of the house indicated that h

. >>> and russell berman of the hill newspaper with this headline, speaker boehner to make a final plea to rally support for a $260 billion highway bill. the speaker in that last-minute pitch to rally the signatures around his transportation bill warning the rank and file republicans against so-called punting on the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bill that bears our stamp. the speaker made the pitch in a closed door conference here in washington where he and other party leaders implored a $260 billion bill that many in his caucus have opposed. he bluntly warned lawmakers to d today that a senate bill or something that looks just like it by the democrats according to the sources in the room. more from the senate side on this debate and here is senator harry reid, a democrat from nevada. >> madam president, we are disappointed as i said yesterday in not being able to invoke c e cloture on this highway bill and i was satisfied that the speaker of the house as he indicated the best thing to do as i read the reports is to take a senate version of the bill if we can figure out a way to