senate. the first alvin barkley led the democrats in 1937-1949. first elected to the senate in 1984, mcconnell is kentucky's longest-serving senator and made history as the only republican challenger to defeat the incumbent democrat and is the first republican to win a statewide kentucky race since 1968. in 2014, he was elected to a record six term by receiving broad support across kentucky, winning 110 of 120 counties. mcconnell currently serves as senior member of appropriations, agricultural, and rules committees. he is the proud father of three daughters and married to secretary of labor, the 18th secretary of the department of transportation. revis lee secretary chao served as george w. bush's u.s. secretary of labor. when you mention power in washington today, three names come to mind. president trump, how speaker ryan, and leader mcconnell. it is an honor to have the leader with us today. ladies and gentlemen, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> thank you very much. t

senator grassley: senator feinstein. senator feinstein: one of the things i'm bothered by is the statistics don't really give the right situation, it seems to me. hate crimes -- for example, the f.b.i. typically reports 7,000 to 10,000 hate crimes. bureau of justice statistics estimates the true number may approach 300,000 which is 30 times the f.b.i. estimation. the percentage of religiously motivated hate crimes nearly tripled between 2004 and 2012. how do you account for these discrepancies? mr. treene: senator, the -- they're based on two different midwestologies, and i agree the f.b.i. -- midwestologies and i agree the f.b.i. jount counts. the f.b.i. is counting actual instances so each of those instances is, one, where a police officer in the field has received a reported case, maybe prosecuting it, maybe not. is coding that in the data system as a hate crime. so it's an actual crime that the police have been involved in. we know that some states are better than others in reporting. we are getting better at that. w

reporter: senator blumenthal. senator blumenthal. senator blumenthal: let me say briefly i won't go into the substance of his answers except to say those answers really need to be given to the american people in public under oath. he should come before the judiciary committee and tell the american people what he has told us in this setting and i urged him to do so because it is important to the confidence and trust of the american people in our criminal justice process. and i was disappointed in some of his anticipates. they were less forthcoming and specific than i think they should have been. i will await judgment until i hear more and i will be asking additional questions. reporter: what were the biggest unanswered questions coming out of the meeting? senator blumenthal: regarding to the background of his memo, the reasons for the firing of director comey. i'm satisfied that bob mueller can follow the evidence wherever it leads, including not only the trump campaign possible collusion with the russians interfering in our election

senate career. from 1953 to 1960. the book is called jfk and the senate. germans recorded at the marshall fund in 2013, it runs one hour and 15 minutes. [applause] >> it's great to be around this table once again today because we have got some wonderful breakfast, and the people from all over the world, in due course we will have a chance to visit with all of them. the conversations go beyond breakfast. they continue on until everything going on in the world world. diplomacy might better contract with our congress, our administrations, others in washington, the leaders. i am excited about this idea. of course, it really follows through with work that course and my friend, john shaw has done an inspired me to have a new chapter in my life after the senate and continuing to think about the rest of the world, think about ways in which those who withdraw for service might be more effective and more humane. let me just say at the outset that this is an exciting day to talk about a new book above john f. kennedy, the pathway to the presidency. it is an exciting

senator jerry moran of kansas spoke on the senate floor about it. ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, all 1 after you whether we are republicans or democrats, we ought to want the united states senate to function. we ought to want the united states senate to be able to accomplish its work. this is a -- it's a challenge all the time, but learning what transpired this morning on the senate floor in my view reaches another low for the united states senate. it is hard, i suppose to explain, but it takes unanimous consent for committees to meet while the united states senate is in session, and that's a request that's made on an on-going basis when the senate convenes, and it happened again this morning. and almost without exception, it's routine. the rules require that two hours after the united states senate convened, which we did at 9:30 this morning, no committee can then meet unless there is agreement. and so the majority leader today requested that that unanimous

senator hatch: senator warner. senator warner: mr. secretary, good see you again -- good to see you again. director mulvaney, i was just up at budget, has said the administration's policy is to make tax reform revenue neutral. that's the administration's proposal? mr. mnuchin: i said it would be paid for with economic combrothe and base broadening -- growth and base broadening. senator warner: well, i am going to come back to that in a moment because that could mean cooking the books. in your budget on page 13, one the proposals that you bake into your assumptions is repeal of the estate tax which would benefit folks like you and me. i am not sure about anyone else on the panel. page 27 of the budget, again, you don't have it here so i don't expect you to respond. you say state tax revenues are coming in. that looks to me as double counting. maybe you can get that cleared up. as you know when we talked in your confirmation hearings, i applaud you trying to make our tax code more rational and repatriation. i spent a couple years in thi

senator in u.s. history. thank you for being with us. senator leahy: thank you very much. >> let me introduce our reporters, the chief congressional correspondent and -- for the washington examiner and the congressional reporter for the los angeles times and chicago tribune. both returning to our set today. thanks her being here. as we start this thursday afternoon, we have just heard the trump travel ban has had another downturn in the federal court. i'm wondering what your reaction is to this and is this headed for the supreme court? sen. leahy: it's interesting. the ninth circuit already knocked it down. now the fourth circuit has knocked it down. this next one is a more liberal circuit and knocked it down. a more conservative one knocked it down. there is not a split in the circuit so you don't have an automatic -- it will not automatically go to the supreme court. the question the administration has asked itself -- do they really want to appeal to the supreme court? even a conservative supreme c

senator crapo: senator tillis. senator tillis: well, good news is you will be able to finish your answers but a i will drill down on this. i have some other questions if time allows that i'll get to. isn't it kind of fair to say the 2008 financial crisis demonstrates that a nondiversified company like lehman, a.i.g., washington mutual had the most significant economic failings? mr. mnuchin: i'm sorry. what was your question? senator tillis: the nondiversified institutions seem to be most susceptible in the 2008 crisis? mr. mnuchin: well, in the case of a.i.g., they were diversified. they just took a massive amount of risk they never should have taken. same with lehman and others. so i think i agree with you. senator tillis: just go back. you were saying that breaking up of the banks would have an enormous impact. can you give me an idea what that would look like? mr. mnuchin: again, when we're talking about breaking up the banks, one, there are people who just think banks are too big and that they should be broken

>> senator lee: sure.mething else come along when you're debating legislation and trying to out something, it can take some of the momentum away. in this instance i don't think it's going to make a difference because there's so much momentum on the effort, we will get it done one way or another. >> chris: senator, thank you for your time. it's always good to talk with you, sir. >> senator lee: thank you. >> chris: up next, we will bring in our sunday group to discuss the comey controversy and what happens next. plus, what would you like to ask the panel about president trump's decision to fire comey? just go to facebook or twitter, @foxnewssunday, and we may use your question on the air. yesterday. ♪ ♪ ♪ they're undergoing a transformation. a data fueled, security driven shift in applications and customer experience. which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. hello, mr. deets. every branch running like headquarters. that's how you outmaneuver.

senator rounds: thank you. >> thank you, senator. senator van hollen. senator van hollen: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary, for your service. recently i sent you a letter together with many of my colleagues on this committee objecting to your decision to put keith noriega in charge at the occ by using a maneuver that evaded senate confirmation. as you well know, the occ serves as the chief banking regulator overseeing over 2,000 banks. he has spent most of his career working very closely to protect the interests of those banks. i appreciate the letter. i got back yesterday. it raised some additional questions. and i'm going to be sending you another letter to ask you to respond to the following questions. why were you willing to install him as head of the occ before his ethics pre-vetting has actually been certified? so the american public can know whether or not conflicts exist now that he's in charge at least for now of regulating 2,000 banks. and second, your letter indicated that his special temporary 130-day status allows him to av

senator: thank you. chairman: senator? senator: thank you. let me ask -- let me highlight one issue and ask a question to director coats and i would invite comment from anyone who has something they want to offer. i have been increasingly concerned about foreign governments hiring lobbyists in washington and unbeknownst to members, actually lobbying congress to enact policies that may be contrary to the best interest of the american people. of course, the foreign agent registration act provides some level of transparency for that, but i highlight that issue and we can come back to it at a later time because i want to ask you about another topic, as well. the committee on foreign investment in the united states provides an important role in determining whether there are in exchangeransfers to foreign governments and i was happy to see director coats, your comments on page four of your written statement, specifically regarding china's increasing effort to use investment as a way to improve its technological capabilities. seen, continues to use

senator murray. senator murray: thank you, senator schumer. you know, i've had to they far too often recently, but people are really scared right now. i've heard from so many of them in my home state of washington and across the country about how trumpcare threatens their health, their family's health, and their ability to make ends meet. and today's cbo score tells us what we already knew about trumpcare. and it confirms the worst fears of families across the country. under trumpcare, if you're one of the hundreds of millions of people in the united states who has a preexisting condition, or if you're a woman, your health care costs could go up dramatically. if you are on medicaid, you could lose that coverage along with tens of millions of other people. if you are a planned parenthood patient, you're very likely going to lose your provider, the one you trust, because of politicians in washington, d.c. but if you're a big health care corporation, odds are good you're going to look at a massive tax break. and, of course, if you are president t

senator burr: we are very comfortable. senator warner: we feel very good. i think we will have an appropriate process in place. >> can you eliminate that as a possibility? senator burr: we cannot comment on that. that conversation took place supposedly between director comey and president. our job is to make sure we follow the intelligence where it leads and hopefully at some point we will be able to make a determination as to whether that statement is accurate. senator warner: i would add that i would refer you to mr. mccabe's comments about what traditional procedure would be. that would not be something in a traditional case would be discussed. said that this meeting was to set up the rules of the road. how would you describe with those are, and a director comey come up at all? senator burr: he did not come up. he was not the subject of it. though there are details to work out, there was acknowledgment and understanding of the need for us to be able to pick up the phone, share with them what we were likely to do, and could get immediate clearance on whet

he is a member from one-time chairman a senate judiciary committee and the dean of the senate which means he is the longest-serving in this summit in the fifth longest-serving senator in u.s. history, thank you for being with us. senator leahy: thank you very much. >> let me introduce our reporters, the chief congressional correspondent and the congressional reporter for the "los angeles times" and "chicago tribune." thanks her being here. as we start this thursday afternoon, we have just heard the trump travel ban has had another downturn in the federal court. i'm wondering what your reaction is to this and is this headed for the supreme court? senator leahy: the ninth circuit already knocked it down. this next one is a more liberal circuit and knocked it down. there is not a split in the circuits so you don't have an automatic, it will not automatically go to the supreme court. the question the administration has asked itself -- do they eally want this to go to the supreme court? will they rule the same way? think the trump administration has a right to screen people coming into this co

what about the senate?he same kind of magic act that he pulled off here with some members of the house? >> here's the challenge. it's plausible that the senate will pass some sort of obamacare repeal and replacement legislation. the challenge isn't so much getting the senate to pass something as the third step, which is getting the house and senate to compromise and agree on one final package. the washington exammer just reported that the senate has said it's not necessarily going to vote on this bill that passed the house and instead republicans there are considering writing their own legislation. so it's certainly possible the president will work with senate republicans to get them to support something. the challenge is getting moderate senate republicans, particularly members like rob portman of ohio, corey gardner of colorado to get on board with legislation that is definitely much more conservative than their constituents might want. that itself is an incredibly difficult negotiation. >> jon: we're luk

senator shelby: thank you very much. >> thank you, senator shelby. senator heitkamp. senator heitkamp: thank you, senator. thank you, mr. chairman. and i couldn't agree with you more. one of the demands of the american public and the responsibility of washington, d.c. is to encourage economic growth. that can solve a lot of our problems as we go forward. so i want to talk a little bit about the xm bank. not a big surprise to a lot of people on this committee that i'll be raising it. in 2014, xm's last fully functioning year, the bank supported 164,000 jobs across the country. that's compared to about 52,000 jobs in 2016. that's because we didn't have a quorum. in 2015 alone, chinese credit agencies financed a total of $500 billion. the potential there is that both could have been markets that we're accessing but we're not getting access to today. do you believe that the xm bank is a critical tool for enabling american manufacturing competitiveness? mr. mnuchin: i do. i've actually spent a lot of time looking at this. and i am concerned that without more members on it

tell that senator?ll, number one is that you do need to get a cbo score. you cannot pass any bill without a cbo score. but number two is this is irresponsible. it really affects our patients. these are patients' lives that are at stake. these patients have chronic conditions. they can get cancer and not be properly covered. they can go bankrupt. what we need to do is to improve the affordable care act so that there are things that can be better handled. the market can be better handled. coverage can be improved. but not tough the ahca. >> we have to take a break here. dr. nitin damle, john heilemann, charlie sykes, thank you all for joining us on this important night. i really appreciate it. >> thanks, lawrence. >>> coming up, democrats now hope that they can kill this bill in the senate. democratic senator chris van holland will join me and tell me what's going to happen in the senate. >>> and president trump's inability to think or speak clearly was the subject of george will's extraordinary column to

know the action moves to the senate.resident donald trump attempts to overhaul the health care system but faces a far more perilous fate, the moderate republican senators that have already come out a case -- out against the legislation. senator say they are crafting their own bill and working at their own pace. they could take weeks or longer. our question is what is your message to the senate on health care? how should they approach medicaid? what role should states play? how should they handle pre-existing conditions? the numbers are on your screen. you can also reach us on social wj, and you can find us on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. the house legislation passed this week, would reshape the nation's health care system by eliminating federal medicaid funding and changing protections for people who buy insurance coverage on their own. "usa today" has a quick recap on the front page. here are the highlights of the house bill that allows insurers in some cases to raise premiums on customers with pre-existing condition

senator leahy: i don't know. decideublicans have to whether they want to be reasonable or they want to united states -- >> will the democrats hold up the debt ceiling vote? i would like to see an up or down vote on it. things whereot of we have to come together. for example, we have this investigation into russia. new materialday comes out showing how heavily involved russia was in our election. they are not interested in us. they are interested in having control here. we've got to have more public hearings. general flynn has taken the fifth, i understand that. attorney general sessions was supposed to assigned to different committees and he backed out. -- let's let the american public find out and that's something that both parties want to see. investigation the into russia, it sounds like in some instances, the federal end of this thing which will be run by former fbi director robert mueller is taking precedence over congressional actions by saying we have a priority when we want to interview witnesses in terms

>> i talked to several senators who said the senate will write its own bill.hey will not pick up the house bill and have a few amendments, they will try to craft their own substitute. including a member of the leadership. they key is this bill is unpopular. not lay it is coming over with fanfare. they are looking at polls and complaints. they want to that will be more popular and safe or them to vote on. i spoke to lisa murkowski. she wants to start over with a clean slate. she is not even on all of the tax cuts. it's repealed tax increase. she is much more interested in lowering premiums and having the money go to tax credits and have it go to providers so you can bring down premiums. there is a sense of momentum they need to do something in a state like alaska where that only have one provider and foriums are around $30,000 some people with a big deductibles. these are problems they want to solve but the house bill probably is going to be completely rewritten from scratch and if they lose any three senators, if they form a government -- a group, they cannot

put this question to senator rounds, a republican on the senate banking committee.n to what he had to say. >> the fact that they are trying for those the issue who have pre-existing conditions, to bring that into the process a we protect those individuals that literally recognize they have to be long-term and they have to maintain their insurance coverage is long-term. >> republicans are going to be up for reelection in many of these flyover states. this is thatbehind reince previous has been deployed by president trump in order to be the goto person in addressing this issue and getting this across the finish line. the sources that i speak with in the house of representatives, corning to one senior white house official, told me there is a preference to deal with vice president mike pence and he himself was up here last night whipping votes himself and that is a dynamic i would continue to watch given the vice president's previous career as a lawmaker himself in congress. david: let's talk about leadership. there is nancy pelosi and many know who she is. people know

senator mccain said he was disappointed and senator burr, republican chair of the senate intelligence committee, said i am troubled by the timing and reasoning of director comey's termination. i have found director comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confusefuses an already-difficult investigation by the committee. senator flake says, i've spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of comey's firing. i just can't do it. the reasoning that the white house is using for directors -- director comey's firing is bizarre, that is why i believe senator burr said his decimusal further confuses an already-difficult investigation. these are quotes from letters that i letter back during the presidential campaign and that is what is used in the letter as a justification. if the administration found director comey's conduct during the election to be so problematic, why now, right smack in the middle of the advancements of this russian investigation? the answer, i believe, is because the justification provided in the me

of the senate. so without going into the details of it, just because you convinced three republicans to support an independent investigator does not mean that, all of a sudden, it becomes law. you would need that passed by the house of representatives. and you would need to get that on to the floor of the senate for a vote. mitch mcconnell, who i think for the time being is not going to be amongst the three that is going to join us -- [laughter] senator murphy: shocker. he has a lot of control about that agenda, so it is very difficult. you would likely have to have well more than three because you have to create a real tempest within the republican caucus that would cause mcconnell to set up a series of things on the floor that would bring that ultimately to a vote. remember, political gravity has applied to this administration. so michael flynn did eventually havfe to be forced out. jeff sessions did have to recuse himself. so it is not outside of the realm of possibility that as the story continu

senate. the president says he is confident but one republican senator says the current bill has zero chance of passing there. spiking the ball. president trump holds a quickly arranged rose garden ceremony to declare victory, saying american's healthcare bills will be coming down. but it is only halftime. republicans need to get their bill to the president's desk, and democrats are gloating over what may happen when republican lawmakers next face the voters. and what's in the bill? there are still many questions about what the bill does. it was pushed through the house before the congressional budget office could estimate how much it will cost and how many people may lose coverage. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room. >> this is "cnn breaking news." >> our breaking news. house republicans and the trump administration, they are celebrating after winning a key battle in what promises to be a tough war over hea

seven terms in the senate. where would you put the political divide in this town between the two parties based on your tenure in congress? sen. grassley: i get this question asked at my town meetings. it goes like this -- why can't you guys in washington, d.c. get along with each other? i say it is worse than it has ever been but it is not as bad -- i know you are a journalist so you know this, but it is not as bad as my constituency. you folks in journalism like controversy and controversy gets attention. if grassley is fighting with the senator it gets in the news but if grassley was getting along with leahy and we voted unanimously and 18 bills got to the white house, you don't read about that because we are not fighting. i think it is worse and i help people in journalism will make sure that people know it is not quite as bad because all you read in the newspaper is controversy. steve scully: why do you say it is worse? sen. grassley: well, i guess i gave you the judges as an example. since 2001. and the sh

senator kennedy? senator kennedy: i don't agree with that. i have some reservations as i've stated them before about some aspects of the war, but i think that the united states is making every effort to try to make it possible for the people of south vietnam to determine their own destiny. i think that's all we want -- no matter how, what reservations we have about the conduct of the war. i think that we're all agreed in the united states that if the war can be settled and the people of south vietnam can determine their own destiny and determine their own future, that we want to leave south vietnam. that's the stated governmental policy, certainly what i would like to see, and i think that's backed by the vast majority of american people. the fact is that the insurgency against that's taking place in south vietnam is being supported by north vietnam. if both of us withdraw and let the people of south vietnam determine and decide what they want, what kind of government they want, what kind-of future they want, what kind of economic system they

>> yes, senator. >> mr. rapuano, in thinking about cyber, what we've seen with some of the breaches within dod have been with respect to the contractors that we work with. do you have thoughts about what more we can do to ensure that our contractors are doing everything possible to make sure that they are not susceptible to cyber threats and that they maintain secure networks? >> yes, senator, the contractors are a very important component of the total force. and if they have vulnerabilities and ability for adversaries to access their systems, it really weakens the entire system. so looking at their i.t., the level of modern din knitty, patches and security measures is critical and that's an area that if confirmed would be a higher focus for me. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the discussion of cyber policy, i -- i don't want to say i laughed, but i felt a sense of irony because we probably spent more time on cyber policy and cyber issues in this committee than any o

two senators are up for reelection, but two of them, arizona senator jeff flake and nevada senator deanuld face two tough races. so that will be critical. and third is mood. the house passed the bill in a whirlwind pace. don't expect that in the senate. they're not happy with the hou bill and they plan to take their time. >> you like the house bill? >> i think it's a bone of contention. >> and now we'll go to work on the senate bill. >> aiit's a work in progress. more work to do. >> the senate will write their own bill. >> is there a chance for an up or down vote in the senate? >> no. >> i'm joined now by jonathan swann, national political reporter for axios, and jonathan kohns for the huffing ton post. if you don't mind, guys, i'm going to call you by your last name. cohn, i'll start with you. is the senate going to take the same risk that the republicans did? >> no, they're not going to take this bill and try to ram it on through. incompete i think they collectively know this bill was bad policy. it was voted on without a congressional budget score. so you can't even tell precisely wh

under senate rules. setting up a potential nuclear showdown. they want to overturn long-standing precedent for what can be done under reconciliation which is a fast-track budget process republicans are using to dismantle the affordable care act. they are two republicans are allowing state senate norms to tie their hands and are forfeiting a chance to completely abolish the law. many republicans say they have no interest in testing the senate procedural bounds are doing doing so would undermine the institution and quickly lead to the end of the legislative filibuster. you can read more about that@politico.com. the u.s. senate is about to gavel in to continue work on the nomination of jeffrey rosen to be deputy transportation secretary, a confirmation vote is possible later today. live senate coverage here on c-span2. lead the senate in pra. the chaplain: let us pray. savior, lead us as a shepherd guides his or her sheep. we find consolation in the knowledge that you have gone before us in order to bring u

senator grassley: my time is up. senator graham: senator feinstein. senator feinstein: i'm not going ask you anything that involves a secure information but after your meeting with mcmcgahn and you said there were four topics to discuss. ms. yates: the first topic is why does it matter to d.o.j. if one white house official lies to another. the second is criminal statutes and the likelihood that the department of justice would pursue a criminal case. the third topic was their concern their action might interfere with an investigation of mr. flynn and the fourth topic was to see the underlying evidence. senator feinstein: were all those topics satisfied with respect to your impression after the second meeting? ms. yates: only thing that was left open was the logistics for us to make arrangements. senator feinstein: you did make hose arrangements? >> i don't know if they looked at that evidence. senator feinstein: lieutenant general flynn remained national security advisor for 18 days after you raise the the concern. in your view, did the risk that flynn

and it was a singular moment this senate history -- in senate history, actually. because in the entire history of the united states prior to 2003 there was one judicial appointment ever blocked on a filibuster. and that was a bipartisan filibuster against abe forties to be chief justice of the supreme court in 968 for a variety of reasons near the end of the johnson administration. but the filibuster did not, in fact, set a precedent for anything for 35 years after fortis. there were no filibusters. there were nominees who were defeated in those years afterwards. for example, haynesworth, carswell, bork all went up -- down on up or down votes, but nobody lost on a filibuster until 2003. we held seven cloture votes on miguel estrada and couldn't ever get above 55 votes. and then in the course of that congress ten bush appointees were not confirmed by reason of filibuster, never could get an up or down vote. now, when the democrats did that, they did not change a single comma in the senate rules. the senate rules are exactly as they were before this happened. what t

senator hatch. thank you, senator. director comey, in january i introduced an s139 rapid dna act despite partisan co feinstein, coons, flake, and many more. mr. chairman i want to thank you , for putting this bill on the agenda for tomorrow's business meeting. this is the same bill that the senate unanimously passed last year. this technology allows developing a dna profile and performing database comparisons in less than two hours . following standards and procedures approved by the fbi would allow law enforcement to solve crimes and innocent advocates to exonerate the wrongfully accused. mr. director you came before the , committee in december of 2015 2015, and i asked you about this legislation, and you said it would "help us change the world in an exciting way." is that still your review, and you think congress should still act without being tangled up in other issues? >> the rapid dna will advance safety of the american people. if a police officer has in his/her cussed at a someone is a rapist, before letting them

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senator mccain, can you please take some questions? senator mccain. senator mccain, can you come to the microphone, please? >> shepard: watching how the sausage is made is not always the most pleasant but the sausage is usually delicious. go ahead, catherine. do your work. >> okay. so we were not able to hear what senator mccain's read out on this was with the deputy attorney general. but we just heard from one of his senate colleagues, senator dick durbin. what he said, he's given us a date. he said based on the briefing that the deputy attorney general knew on may 8 that james comey would be fired. i have to grab my calendar to understand how that syncs up with the other data points here and the timing of the writing of the memo. the senator has just told us that it was may 8, that was the date that the deputy attorney general knew already what the outcome would be with the former fbi director, james comey. he was a little less definite. it's one of these situations that everybody hears something different. he was a little less definite about this i

>> senator, again, we can >> senat sustain the current rate of deployment.t's something we scrutinize it's something we scrutinize every day. every day. you mentioned the chairman you mentioned the chairman mentioned early on that there is mentioned early on that there is a large demand signal from our a large demand signal from our combatant commanders to do the combatant commanders things they have to do. as a service, one of our roles, we aim to meet their requirements as a global combatant command we also attempt to synchronize special operations activity to the greatest efficacy possible. i think we're doing that to the degree we can. there are challenges on the force. you mentioned certainly some of you mentioned certainly some of the more dire symptoms and we the more dire symptoms and we address them directly every day. address them directly every day. that's a large focal point for that's a large focal point for us. us. i'd have to thank all of you as i'd have to thank all of you as well for providing us the tools well for providing us the tools we

>> certainly, senator. the secretary has made clear that we will use all of the legal and policy authorities that we have to, as he put it, turn the dial on the pressure on china to make sure that we are leaning in, i think was the secretary's expression, on china, leaning on china more than we ever have to make clear how important this is to the united states. >> and i hope that in your interactions with chinese officials that you will make north korea the highest priority possible because this concern that china will continue to slide back into its own doctrine of patience with north korea. >> yes, senator. >> thank you. and if you could report back to the committee, that would be truly critical. and, again, what i don't want to see it is any kind of a soft evening of our approach toward our allies or other nations around the globe to try to make china happy because we think they're going to take actions against north korea. until they show that, that sustained commitment to pressuring north korea, we sho

senate. and now to live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. god and god alone,. we praise you that you give power to the weak. and to those who have no might, you increase their strength,. increase the stamina of our lawmakers when their hearts are overwhelmed by challenges. may they look to you, the fountain of every blessing, to enable them to solve our national problems with wisdom and faithfulness. may they not be afraid or dismayed, always placing their trust in you. lord, inspire them to remember that your plans stand firm as your purposes prevail through all generations. instruct them in the way they should go as you give them your peace. we pray in your great name, amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indiv

and with senator sass, senator mccain, you're seeing senators -- senator burr from north carolina, you're seeing people stand up. >> and the important thing about hearing from flake and senator sass is they are on the judiciary committee. they'll be the first voters in the confirmation of the next fbi director. alexander managed to get minutes interviewing him about this situation, let's go to that. >> scholars are comparing this to nixon saturday massacre, what do you make of those comparisons? >> i think this is ridiculous. the deputy was confirmed by the senate 94 to 6 just two weeks ago, bipartisan praise who served as u.s. attorney for maryland under president obama who has been watching and understanding the fbi for years. and as someone who oversees the fbi decided the director lost his confidence. this is ironically a decision that should have been shared by most democrats, leader of nancy pelosi, all talked about how he lost the confidence to lead the fbi. >> that is not the reaction that sean spicer wants from chuck schumer. they're saying that the mission of this memo, rosenste

now to the certain at -- senate, steve scalise, one key senator in health care fight, senator bill cassidy live coming up. >> and james comey. talking about clinton e-mails, and defending his decision to release them just days before the election. plus french election, what it means for you, what that outcome could have an impact on u.s. economy and american jobs here. i talk with steve hilton. looking ahead on "sunday morning futures." >> this week senators take up republican fight too disman dise obamacare. senate republicans are expected to write their own bill, i am joined by congressman steve scalise. >> good morning maria. maria: when are you expecting as it now heads to senate? >> you know as you said, senators have their own task force put together, johned to senate majority whip. they are doing what they have to do to pass the bill, out of their chamber. another is is let people actually have control of their own health care decision, we made attract care with -- extra care with multiple layers to make sure people with preexisting conditions are protected. no matter what plan you

>> yes, senator. i think there are a couple of pieces, and there are obviously things that the united states can do to increase its deterrence. but with respect to nato, all of our allies have an obligation under article 3 to increase their national resilience. some nations in the cyber realm have done more than others. the estonians are real leaders in this regardi. it's no surprise that the center is located there. >> i've had a chance to visit, it's very compressive heaimpres. >> it is. they're making budgetary decisions and changing the culture so that we prioritize this. if confirmed, i would really want to get a little more deeply into the subject and work with our nato partners on it. >> great. ms. bingen, you're going to be responsible for or have intelligence gathering as part of your portfolio, as i understand what you will be doing. how important is the intelligence sharing that we do to our allies, in helping us to get the information that we need to take actions? >> senator, i believe it'

so one thing that i have proposed along with senator collins and four other senators -- senators from south carolina, south dakota, georgia, and west virginia -- is price transparency, which is to say that when someone goes in to get their daughter's earache addressed, she knows the price of what it would cost at this urgent care center versus another. a good example of what exactly i'm talking about, mr. president, there was an article in "the los angeles times" a few years ago about the cash price of a c.t. scan in the los angeles basin. it would vary from $250 to $2,500. $250 to $2,500. and the person purchasing the service with cash would never know. i envision a time, mr. president, when someone takes their smartphone and scans the bar code and the bar code says, hmmm ... you can go at midnight on thursday and have your c.t. scan for $250 or you can go right now and pay $2,500 and you look at quality code and both have equal quality. i can see the mother turning to her daughter and saying, baby, we're staying up thursday night, because that mother knows that she can take care of

chairman, your staff, senator warner, senator isakson. this is an extraordinary hearing, and i will touch on why. but it could not have happened if you would not have been willing to initiate a committee-wide process. again, i want to thank you for all the efforts to make this morning possible. colleagues, i looked forward to today for many years. that is because the finance committee is now beginning to tackle the premier challenge of american health policy, specifically, by updating the guarantee of medicare to better serve seniors with chronic illness. when i was codirector of the oregon gray panthers, medicare had just 2 parts a and b. if you broke your ankle and had surgery in the hospital, you were covered by part a. if you got a really bad case of the flu and you went to the doctor, you were treated by the doctor in their office, and that was part b. that is not medicare today. today, medicare is cancer, it is diabetes, it is heart disease, it is strokes, and it is other chronic conditions. seniors who have 2 or more of these chron

>>> we're going to get this passed through the senate. i feel so confident. >> on to the senate. the republican bill to repeal and replace obamacare faces a steep climb. we'll look at what's in the bill, what's not, and whether it can ultimately pass the senate. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. great to have you back! >> thank you. >> you battled through the flu in one day. >> did anything happen yesterday? did i miss anything? >> nothing. >> i missed nothing. >> nothing at all. it is friday, may 5th, cinco de mayo, 4:00 a.m. in the east and you didn't miss much. this morning it's just the battle to repeal and replace obamacare. it begins anew, now in the senate. conservative and moderate republicans will try to forge a compromise that will get them to 51 votes. no small task, folks, given there are only 52 republicans in the senate. the open question here -- how much of this newly passed house bill, including last-minute changes on pre-existing conditions, will even really end up in the senate version? senators warn some parts mig