sheldon whitehouse and tom and jean and jeff and al franken, kristin gillibrand and duck blummen that will and elizabeth warren and martin hinrich and senator ed markey and cory booker and senator harris of california. and we also have dozens of grassroots organizations all across america who are going to help us pass this bill. let me begin by bringing up to the podium some folks who have enormous experience, professionally and personally in terms of health care. they are going to explain to us and to the many people watching us on large stream as to why we for all systems. please welcome dr. san cerebrum who is a pediatrician in southeast washington, d.c. and assistant professor of pediatrics of the george washington universal school of medicine. doctor? >> good afternoon. i'm san jay serum and i'm a pediatrician in southeast washington, d.c. for seven years i've cared for a patient i'm going to call shawn. i met shawn when he was 13, newly diagnosed with type i diabetes and still adjusting to checking his blood sugar and regularly doing the insulin injection. s i kept real and neve

gorgons jeff merkley new jersey cory booker new york's kirsten gillibrand and rhode island's sheldon whitehouse all four of them today are officially on board the single payer train before senators are revealed that they are co-sponsoring bernie sanders medicare for all bill which is set to be introduced later this week probably wednesday booker revealed his decision during an interview with new jersey public television i'm signing onto medicare for all which is i'm excited to do this week senator sanders and myself and others are going to be announcing some legislation i'm signing on to some other of my colleagues all of us working towards this understanding that if you look at american history it's always been a batsman towards greater equality greater access greater opportunity and. in my opinion burning could have won the presidential election and now it appears as those policies are winning over the democratic party is single payer now pretty much inevitable as the democratic mainstream democratic party position i should note we've got i think nine or ten democratic senators who are saying

hear his remarks on this first, and it will be followed up by the senior committee democrat, sheldon whitehouse. [video clip] alexander: mr. president, this afternoon senator murray, the senator from washington state, a ranking member of the senate committee on health, education, labor, pensions committee -- i am the chairman of the committee -- made a joint bipartisan announcement that the senate health committee will hold hearings beginning the week of september 4 on the actions congress should take to stabilize and strengthen the individual health insurance market so that americans will be able to buy insurance at affordable prices in 2018. we'll hear from state insurance commissioners, patients, governors, from health-care experts, and insurance companies. committee staff will begin work this week, working with all committee members to prepare for these hearings and discussions. that was the announcement that senator murray and i made today. now, in my own words, the reason for these hearings is that unless congress acts by september 27, when insurance companies must sign contracts with the

richard blumenthal, jeff merkley and elizabeth warren, al franken, tammy baldwin, ed markey, sheldon whitehouse, brian schatz, mazie hirono, and chris murphy. however, democratic leadership has yet to jump on board. senate minority leader charles schumer and house minority leader nancy pelosi have both declined to support the bill. so talk about the significance and whether it matters whether the leadership leads or simply follows and gets on board if it gets support. >> well, i think what is extraordinary is that the majority of the democratic caucus and the house has signed on to hr 676. 70% of minority leader pelosi's constituents support improved medicare for all. i think she just doesn't get it. the only way to maintain the gains of the affordable care act is to extend and build on that foundation by eliminating the insurance company premiums, deductibles, and co-pays, and really guaranteeing health care for all through the medicare system. that and the fact she has not signed on yet, i think it is a matter of time. amy: michael lighty, lay out what you understand -- have you spoken to ber

senator sheldon whitehouse first met dick in saigon in the '70s while visiting a shoeshine boys househ his father, who was serving there as the deputy u.s. ambassador to vietnam. >> talk about a full circle, that now informs what we're we started off on different sides of that, but now we ended up at the same place. >> i think it's interesting that those who served in vietnam in different ways have come together to help in solving the last of the wounds of the vietnam war. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, mike cerre, danang, vietnam. >> woodruff: now, a first time author has written a gripping but disturbing novel. jeffrey brown has this latest addition to the "newshour bookshelf." >> brown: a 14-year-old girl nicknamed "turtle" lives in the woods of northern california with her father. she knows how to forage for food and hunt, but little about normal social interactions. her father is charming, protective, but also a monster who abuses her, psychologically and physically. the new novel, "my absolute darling," is a story of survival, a powerful tale that is getting enormous attenti

senator pat leahy, sheldon whitehouse, tom udahl, kirsten gill brand, dick blumenthal, elizabeth warren, martin heinrich, senator ed markey, cory booker and senator harris of california. [ applause ] and we also have dozens of grassroots organizations all across america who are going to help us pass this bill. let me begin by bringing up to the podium some folks who have enormous experience professionally and personally in terms of health care, and they're going to explain to us and to the many people watching us on live stream as to why we need a move toward medicare for all system. please welcome a pediatrician in southeast washington, d.c. and assistant professor of pediatrics at the george washington university school of medicine. dr. sariem. >> good afternoon. my name is dr. sanjay sri -- and i'm a pediatrician in southeast washington, d.c. for seven years i've cared for a patient i'm going to call sean. i met sean when he was 13, newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and still adjusting to checking his blood sugar and regularly doing those insulin injections. i earned his trust bec