of course, senator cochran is one of the closest friends i have in the senate. all the chairs were good friends. also, my dear friend barbara mikulski, who is chair. -- who was chair. [applause] i was going to step aside and have her be chair because the first woman to be chair of it, the longest-serving woman in the history of congress , k mandated. -- came and did it. we are all friends, both parties . we work things out together. how important that was. --also recognize the fact and i love seeing some of these pictures and seeing senator magnuson, another person i ,erved with, all the others makes me realize that i have been here for a bit of time. [laughter] sen. leahy: but i just do what chuck tells me to. [laughter] sen. leahy: the fact is, we all work together. we recognize the power of the purse is one of the most important tools congress has. checks and balances are in the power of the purse, and that is , to overseee senate the executive and judicial branch. the appropriations committee is where we translate the priorities of a nation, everybody in the

think about the members of the senate. think about the members of the senate staff that lines up during floor sessions. all of us have health insurance. yet we are going to take it away from 18 million americans. less coverage, premiums would go up 20%, higher costs. by the end of this decade, 32 million americans --s that like one out of ten americans, who currently have insurance would be without health coverage, premiums would double. 32 million people lose their insurance within a decade, premiums double. talk about barbara, whom i met in toledo, just recently. she is 63. she is not old enough for medicare. repeal would create uncertainty for people in ohio like her. does the senate staff that stands behind here who have insurance from taxpayers -- taxpayers like barbara, do they think about barbara or about somebody who reads in the paper that the senate took the first -- still reversible, but barely step toward taking their insurance away? do they ever think about people like barbara? do they, as president lincoln sai

the senator from utah. mr. hatch: is if appropriate to make a -- is it aappropriate make a speech at this time? the presiding officer: it is. mr. hatch: thank you, mr. president. president ronald reagan used to say that people are policy. attacking a new president's policies therefore often includes undermining his ability to appoint his or her -- his or her ability a month men and women to lead his administration. the constitution gives to the president the power to appoint executive branch officials. the senate has the power of advice and consent, as a check on that appointment power. in the early months of the obama administration, senate democrats were clear about how we should carry out our role in the appointment process. less than two weeks after president obama took office, the judiciary committee chairman said he wished that the senate could have put the new justice department leadership in place even more quickly. just three months into president obama's first term, the chairman argued that, quote, at

in the senate. expects to be defeated. and senator mccain laid down principles that in effect demand that he vote against what mitch mcconnell is trying to do. if john mccain is going to live by the principles that he advocated today, on the senate floor. to return to regular order. senator mccain received a standing ovation when he arrived on the senate floor today after announcing last week he has been diagnosed with brain cancer. if john mccain joins republican opponents of the bill, susan collins, lisa murkowski and others, then the trump, ryan mcconnell health care attempt to repeal the affordable care act will be defeated on the senate floor. and mitch mcconnell will then give up on health care mejs lags and put the senate in recess. mitch mcconnell might already know tonight that he does not have the votes to pass any form of health care legislation on the senate and he simply needs to go through these motions publicly. in order to justify sending the senate into recess and once the senate is in recess, the president

john mccain has just entered the senate floor. agnosed with brain cancer and treated and made his way to the capitol and will speak after the vote is complete. that applause for john mccain who our viewers on fox news channel know just walked into the senate chambers. the vote on the republican side is all but complete. they're now voting -- the democrats are now voting. here's what happens. the republicans have

the senate came in at noon eastern today. they have recessed the republicans and democrats going to weekly party meetings. we expect them to come back at 2:10 p.m. eastern. the timing of the vote getting a little more clarity. the bout will be on a motion to proceed whether to begin debate on health care legislation. timing information here from our capitol hill producer craig kaplan talking about mitch mcconnell's comments rather appeared his intention is to do whatever it takes, no matter how small to get the house and senate gop into conference on health care. craig kaplan also says senator mccain will return to senate about 2:45 to cast a vote on a motion to proceed and talk to the press after that. senator paul who had earlier handouts then this morning the majority leader and for me to plan for today is to take up to 2015 clean repeal bill as urged. if that is the plan to read senator, i will vote to proceed to the snow. i also now believe we will defeat the new spending and bailout. that's from rand paul. we will contin

scarlet: the senate has enough votes to advance to the debates. motion to proceed appears to have passed. senator murkowski has voted no. one republican at least has voted no. we will continue to wait until the gavel has been struck and we know for sure that has happened. heard allevin, we sorts of noises and shouts of "kill the bill." there have been protests going on all morning. we're just hearing that they don't have the votes yet. a lot going on that we will continue to monitor. that voting will continue. we heard protests, people have been protesting. ts.heard the shouts and chan this is a deeply unpopular process. kevin: definitely. unofficial, but it looks like it is indicating that lawmakers do have enough muster of support -- it is not official. it looks like it is heading in that direction. hour, senatorst rob portman and dean heller, moderates have indicated they are going to vote yes on a motion to proceed. these folkser week, had all been no's. those three senators moving towards mitch mcconnell's camp. we heard from him and impassio

that was protesters in the senate visitor gallery. trying to restore order there as they continue on with this procedural vote. you heard also from the minority leader and then the majority leader there, speaking on obviously how they feel very differently, both of them, between chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell on repealing and replacing obamacare. just wanted to give you the lay of the land as we await this -- the results from the vote. also since the last time we spoke a couple minutes ago, additional republican senators have gone to yes's, being senator -- we mentioned senator heller before. also now senator shelley moore capito of west virginia who was a no is saying yes to this procedural vote and also rob portman, senator from ohio, he was a no and now he's yes on this. let me bring in a couple more voices as we await the results. julie rovner, and we wanted to talk to you because you've been covering health care since 1986 in congress and you have never seen anything like this. >> no, this is an amazing vote. this is basically

the senate is capable of that. we know that. we have seen it before. i have seen it happen many times in the times when i was involved even in a modest way with working on a bipartisan response to a national threat are the proudest moments of my career and by far the most satisfying. this place is important. the work we do is important. our strange rules and seemingly eccentric practices the slow our proceedings, insist on our corporation are important.d our founders envisioned the senate as a more deliberative careful body that operates at a greater distance than the public passions of the hour. we are an important check on the powers of the executive. our consent is necessary. for the president to appoints jurists and powerful public officials in any respect whether or not you are the same party. we are not the president's subordinates. we are equal. as the responsibility is on us they play a vital role in shaping and directing the judiciary military cabinet and planning and supporting foreigno domestic policies. a our success in meeting all of these

the senator from tennessee and the senator from washington. the senator from utah. the senator from oregon. they have worked well together in the past. they can work well together in the future. there is suggestions that we are interested in that come from members on the other side of the aisle. senator from maine and senator from louisiana. let's turn the page and work together to improve our health care system. let's turn the page in another way. all of us were so inspired. by the speech and the life of the senator from arizona. he asked us to go back to regular order. to bring back the senate that some of us who were here have been here a while remember. maybe this can be a moment where we start doing that. both sides will have to give. the blame hardly falls on one side or the other. but if we can take this moment, a solemn moment, and start working this body the way it had always worked until the last decade or so with both sides to blame for the deterioration, we will do a better job for our country, better job for this body, a better job for ourselves. and fi

the senate needs to confirm mr. shanahan quickly, and we need to do that for the sake of our national security. and our colleagues need to stop this immediately for the sake of the country. one final matter. obamacare has been hurting the people we represent for many years now. that's why the senate has been working hard to move beyond its failures. the costs were supposed to go down under obamacare, but they skyrocketed. premiums have already increased by an average of more than 100% on the federal exchange. next year they could rise by as much as 50% or more in states as diverse as georgia, new mexico, and maryland. look, we need to tackle this problem. the revised discussion draft we released last week contains many different reforms designed to make insurance more affordable and for flexible, so it's something americans actually want to buy. it gives americans more choices for managing their care. it also takes aim at obamacare's taxes that target the middle class and drive up premiums, taxes on everything from h

we have good leaders, the senator from tennessee and the senator from washington. the senator from utah, the senator from oregon. they have worked well together in the past. and they can work well together in the future. there are suggestions that we are interested in, that come from members on the other side of the aisle -- the senator from maine, the senator from louisiana. so let's turn the page and work together to improve our health care system, and let's turn the page in another way. all of us were so inspired by the speech and the life of the senator from arizona, and he asked us to go back to regular order, to bring back the senate that some of us who have been here a while remember. maybe this can be a moment where we start doing that. both sides will have to give. the blame hardly falls on one side or the other. but if we can take this moment, a solemn moment, and start working this body the way it had always worked until the last decade or so, with both sides to blame for the deterioration, we will do a better job for our country, a better job for this b

senate session. we have not had one bill on the floor of the senate that we have debated and amended, not one. this is a first in this kind of convoluted reconciliation process for you speed up the amendment. think about this where amending your health care policy that x. you and your family and how you buy health insurance and how your company will buy health insurance for you we areo amending basically where their insurance policy is going to protect your family or not. listen to our works. people propose an amendment and then we debated.t? do you know how long we debated? one minute on each side. disgraceful. john mccain called us on it today and said why every reach this point on an issue this important that's going toee process that is totally partisan? he see the republicans decided early on they were going to invite us to the party. they were going to write this health care bill by themselves in secret to senator mcconnell picked 13 republicans senators and he said or i don't know how long months, weeks and wrote a bill. one of them that i mentioned the earlier that was rejected by the r

the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president, this is an exciting day. after years and years, there are some of my republican colleagues have begun to understand that we cannot continue a dysfunctional health care system which allows 28 million americans to have no health insurance, which forces us to pay the highest prices in the world by far for health care, and even higher prices, outrageously high prices for prescription drugs. so i understand that senator daines has introduced a medicare for all single-payer system. i congratulate him. it sounds to me like the republicans are beginning to catch on about the need to transform our health care and join the rest of the industrialized world. so i say to senator daines, if he is prepared to vote for this legislation and if he can get maybe five, six more republicans to vote for this legislation, i think we can win it. and i think the united sta

it's embarrassing on the floor of the senate. what we should do is take this critical matter that affects every american and every american's health care, send it to a committee, the help committee chaired by senator lamar alexander, republican of tennessee, ranking member patty murray, who is the senator from washington, the finance committee, senator hatch of utah, republican, senator wyden, of oregon, democrat. they need to sit down and look at these bills carefully. let's not make a mistake at the expense of the people who sent us here. let's stand up for sound, thoughtful judgment. let's stand up for a senate that works, as john mccain challenged us. is that what the american people wish? i think it is. at the heart of all of it. and i think john mccain really set a standard that we ought to live up to. let us stop this waste of time over a debate, over a bill that cannot even be printed. let's take this to the regular order. let's do it the right way to the credit of the senate and to the credit of our country. we took an oa

i know that the senator from rhode island worked with the us senator from arizona on a list of amend ams that can be agreed to and we can finish the bill up rather quickly. for the majority leader, there are other things we can do rather quickly including moving a lot of nominations. so we can work together. our country demands it. every place in every corner of the country where we go, the number one thing we are asked and i know this because i talked to my colleagues from the other side of the aisle. can't you guys work together? let's give it a shot. let's give it a shot. i yield the floor. >> again, that was a moment we witnessed tonight on the senate floor by the way you heard the acronym, ndaa, the enormous defense authorization with jack reed from rhode island working with john mccain on that. that starts later this morning. you heard the majority leader before mr. schumer, the minority leader spoke. almost come up with a line of relitigating the health care debate encapsulated. he used the phraseology that is almost swear words on the right. socialized medicine. european healt

cnn's phil mattingly up all night with the senators on the hill. this was not an acceptable outcome for senate leader mitch mcconnell and, in fact, it was a surprise. >> no question about it. the furious lobbying, the tense moments, the audible gasps when senator mccain voted no, basically republicans, something they campaigned on year after year after year, at least as of now, there's no path forward. >> the ayes are 41, the nays are 51. the motion is not agreed to. >> the republican party's seven-year effort to repeal obamacare collapsing after a dramatic senate floor vote that dragged on into the early morning. in the end it was senator john mccain who cast the decisive final no vote, siding with lisa murkowski and susan collins who voiced their disapproval on every measure voted on this week. republicans last-ditch effort, the skinny repeal amendment went down 49-51. >> this is a disappointment. i regret that our efforts were simply not enough this time. >> mccain rejecting desperate pleas from vice president mike pence and senate majority leade

the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming has the floor. ms. heitkamp: would he yield to a question? mr. enzi: no, i will not yield for a question. when i feel like there's something constructive that's going to be done around here, i remember that one of the senators on the other side of the aisle said, if you just take medicaid out, i'll be for it. well, medicaid is not in this version. so that ought to be some kind of a commitment on it. i keep referring to this book, which goes back to a lot of the history that we've experienced around here. here's what's happened, and all of this is footnoted. i was really impressed with the footnotes. i didn't check out all the footnotes, but did i look to see if they were footnoted. under the bill that we're trying to make some changes in, there have been costs for new taxes. there are 21 taxes that have been included in obamacare, but the most enormous one is the increased taxes on health care companies that are then passed along to the public as higher costs for insurance and pharmaceuticals. i have

the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. strange: i ask consent to speak for up to five minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. strange: mr. president, i rise today in defense of those who cannot defend themselves. after eight years of policies that undermine the sanctity of life, we have an opportunity today to extend the protections of the hyde amendment wider than ever before. after eight years of a failed social experiment that subverted the will of the majority of americans and denied rights of conscience and religious freedom, we have an opportunity to ensure that taxpayer dollars will not contribute the scourge of abortion under any circumstances. mr. president, as we consider options to fix our nation's failing health care system, partisan lines cut deeper on abortion than on any other issue. however, we should be all able to agree that taxpayer funds have no place in funding abortions. i also hope we can all agree our society cannot be truly prosperous until it respects the rights o

so the senate is harder to threaten than the house. nators are harder to sort of politically cajole if you're the white house. the house are on the ballot all the time. but the senators who have been around a little bit, they're much harder to push around. >> this is a huge loss for republicans, a huge win for democrats, as i'm sure you will agree as you've been sitting by, watching this unfold. >> the way that i see it, is for many people out there, millions of people who were on health care, this wasn't about politics, this was about their lives. this is a huge win for them. i think that's what's important here. people are now going to be able to move forward, knowing that they have health care. now the question is, will both sides come together to figure out how to fix obamacare. because i'm not going to be poly annish about this, because there are fixes that need to be made. democrats have admitted that, president obama admitted that, hillary clinton when she was running admitted that. we need to figure out how to cover more people,

when it comes to health care debate in the senate tell us about senator mcconnell. how did he have to lobby for the final votes? >> guest: as i understand it he was out talking to senators well into the day-to-day leading directly to the vote. he was perfectly worried about a group of moderate senators from states that accepted medicaid expansion under the ace a. he was speaking directly with them about how they could extend the amount of money that medicaid would -- and we ended up agreeing to a vote on an amendment that would give $100 million for flexible spending to medicaid however it's important to realize this amendment is added to another portion of another bill that probably isn't going to succeed. and all it comes down to being a symbolic vote but one that was important to many of the senators who needed to say they took a step and did what they could based on medicaid. host who we knew in advance at lisa murkowski and susan collins would vote no. they joined a 28 democrats in voting no the final vote 51-50 with vice president mike pence casting the tie-bre

chuck schumer take the floor of the senate. that live shot any minute here. can you talk through what you think this means for the president's agenda, a major priority for president trump and now increasing scuttle but on the hill that tax reform will be the next big thing. where does the president go from there if he wants to reach across the aisle and get democrats on board with something? >> i think it's a real shame the administration chose to put this first. they could have gone to democrats in the beginning of the year, said they wanted to do revenue neutral tax reform because our tax system does need fixing and substantial investment in infrastructure. those are two things that would help our economy a whole lot more than anything we're talking about here in our health system. but they were put second in the case of taxes. it's squi switching to a big tax cut, you won't get democrats on board with that either and you'll be in the same situation if you have three republican defectors -- i think a path -- >> jason -- you'v

but the senate healthcare bill does not repeal obamacare. it defunds the affordable care act, leaving its regulations and structure in place. kristin fisher live at the white house on the top story this hour. kristin. >> shep, what the white house wants is something, anything that president trump can sign so he can say that he was able to keep his campaign promise to get rid of obamacare. he's been pressuring senate republicans relentlessly on twitter. he did so again when he made the speech on the u.s.s. ford saturday down in norfolk. he told everyone listening to call their congressman, call their senators and put pressure on them. he will likely ramp up the pressure even more when he speaks inside the white house in just about 15 minutes. listen to what the white house budget director said. >> i wouldn't want to go home without followed through on my biggest promise. what do you tell people, even if somebody else killed it, how do you defend your party as a republican by saying thanks for giving us the house, the senate but we didn't follo

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i listened very carefully to the majority leader and his request that we come forward and bring amendments to the floor, all of our ideas, how we can improve our health care system, that this would be an opportunity through budget reconciliation for us to deal with those issues. so, mr. president, i asked my staff to prepare amendments in order to protect the medicaid system from cuts. you asked my staff to prepare amendments to protect the essential health benefits that are in the affordable care act because it's important that we preserve those benefits, whether it is mental health and addiction services or one that's particularly important to maryland; that's pediatric dental. we all in maryland recall the loss of a 12-year-old not too many years ago because he couldn't get dental care, did he manta driver. i asked my staff to take a look at preparing amendments to protect minority health and health disparities because the affordable

it has to go back and pass the senate. taking the exact language of the senate will, it does not have to pass the senate. so any change we make no matter how minor has to pass the senate , and who knows what can happen once it is sent back. that is my big fear. i want a sanctions bill on russia and on iran. the foreign affairs to committee, we have said we wanted it. we ought to just do it. the cleanest way is to pass my exactwhich mirrors the language of the bill passed in the senate, but if we can change one or two things and pass the bill and knew in advance that the senate had signed off, then we would not object, but it is difficult talking about it in the abstract because you change one little word and the whole thing can unravel as we have seen many times with both the house and senate, so that is my caution. if we could pass the bill with minor change, i would say do it, but we would have to have assurances. >> your explanation of leader pelosi's comments was she was offering to give in on this procedure related is

the agony. listen to what senator mccain said. he said let's not pass something on a partisan basis, jam it through when we don't know what the implications are, don't have a cbo score, et cetera. let's go back to regular order. not as if congress is over next week. they can go back to conference, medical device tax, democrats were against that. modifying the mandate, democrats have been critical of that. if you do a small ball anyway, do it in a back burner way, get much more political coverage, credit for trying to work with democrats. the idea you put all of the republican party chips on the table to pass a pathetic bill that helps medical device manufacturers is ridiculous. >> big picture of where does it go for here, if they can't do it on things you just mentioned like the medical device tax where we know there's agreement on both sides of the aisle, it reaffirms for americans that nothing can get done in washington. to that point, here's a little more of senator mccain. i thought his very impactful statement on the floor of

for the senate right now. that's a big step and something that needs to happen, and i think that once they get it to this debate, they're going to find the very, very narrow window for success that the house found, and i'm confident that they will send us a bill that deals with the $1.2 trillion worth of taxes and the affordable care act put in place and medicaid on the dime for the first time. trish: what are your friends in the senate telling you? we've heard through our reporting that there may be a skinny version, if you would, of health care reform, and it would go so far as to make sure that the individual mandate and the employer mandate was actually repealed and then there would be little tweeks along the edges. is that going to be enough for people to feel like there is a substantive change, the change they needed and wanted and sent to lawmakers to washington for? >> well, i think the fact that they are even considering this so-called skinny repeal is a slight nod in the right direction, and i'm confi

first, the bad. senate republicans propose legislation -- proposed legislation at the end of june, just a month ago, that would rip away health insurance from 22 million americans and give the top 400 wealthiest people in our country a tax break worth $33 billion. then the worst. they introduced yet another bill that would also kick 22 million americans off their health insurance and cut medicaid by $750 billion. they tried to buy republican votes with a separate opioid fund, but that craven political hail mary wasn't fooling anyone. and then the ugly. when republican leadership realized they didn't have the votes for either of these cruel replacement bills, they decided to just repeal the health care law without any kind of replacement. this proposal would take coverage away from 32 million americans and double premiums over the next decade. that's the slate of republican health care bills -- the bad, the worse and the ugly. all these health care proposals have one thing in common -- heartlessness. they al

the presiding officer: the senator washington. mrs. murray: i move to commit h.r. 1628 to the committee on health, education, labor, and pensions with instructions to report to same back to the senate p within three days not counting any day in which the flat is not in session with changes that are in the jurisdiction of such committee. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, after months of secret negotiations and backroom deals and shutting out patients and families and women and democrats and even many republicans from the process, republican leaders continue to say they are planning to force a vote on this latest trumpcare bill tonight. a bill that even republicans admit would throw our markets into turmoil. it's going to kick millions of people off of care. it is going to raise premiums for millions of families and it will eliminate health care for women across the country. and so much more -- none of it good. mr. president, it does not have to be this way. in fact, republicans can

the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming has the floor. ms. heitkamp: would he yield to a question? mr. enzi: no, i will not yield for a question. when i feel like there's something constructive that's going to be done around here, i remember that one of the senators on the other side of the aisle said, if you just take medicaid out, i'll be for it. well, medicaid is not in this version. so that ought to be some kind of a commitment on it. i keep referring to this book, which goes back to a lot of the history that we've experienced around here. here's what's happened, and all of this is footnoted. i was really impressed with the footnotes. i didn't check out all the footnotes, but did i look to see if they were footnoted. under the bill that we're trying to make some changes in, there have been costs for new taxes. there are 21 taxes that have been included in obamacare, but the most enormous one is the increased taxes on health care companies that are then passed along to the public as higher costs for insurance and pharmaceuticals. i have

i've been a member of the united states senate for 30 years. another profession before here that was profoundly rewarding which i had experiences and friendships i revere but make no mistake, the job here is the most important in my life and i am so grateful to the people of arizona for the privilege, the owner of serving here and the opportunity that gives me to play a small role in the history of the country i love. i know and admire men and women in the senate to pay much more than a small role in history. their ambitions were frequently in conflict. they held different views on the issues of the day, and they often had very serious disagreementdisagreementsdisagro serve the national interest. but they knew that however sharp and heartfelt their disputes, however keen their ambitions, they had an obligation to work collaboratively to ensure the senate discharged its constitutional responsibilities effectively. our responsibilities are important, vitally important to the continued success of our republic. our arcane rules and customs are delib

the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming has the floor. ms. heitkamp: would he yield to a question? mr. enzi: no, i will not yield for a question. when i feel like there's something constructive that's going to be done around here, i remember that one of the senators on the other side of the aisle said, if you just take medicaid out, i'll be for it. well, medicaid is not in this version. so that ought to be some kind of a commitment on it. i keep referring to this book, which goes back to a lot of the history that we've experienced around here. here's what's happened, and all of this is footnoted. i was really impressed with the footnotes. i didn't check out all the footnotes, but did i look to see if they were footnoted. under the bill that we're trying to make some changes in, there have been costs for new taxes. there are 21 taxes that have been included in obamacare, but the most enormous one is the increased taxes on health care companies that are then passed along to the public as higher costs for insurance and pharmaceuticals. i have

but now, we will look at john mccain on the senate floor. [applause] the vice president: the senior senator from arizona is recognized. the senior senator from arizona is recognized. addressed this president, many esiding officers. i've been so addressed what i've senate that chair. that's as close as i'll ever to be a presidency. anyway, it's an honor we're almost indifferent to, isn't it? presiding over the senate can be a nuisance, a bit of ceremonial bore. it is usually relegated to the more junior members. but i stand here today looking a little worse for the wear, i am aure. i have an appreciation for the protocols and customs of thi body and for the other 99 privileged souls who have been elected to this senate. i have been a member of the united states senate for the 39 years. i had another long, if not as long, career before i arrived here, another profession that was profoundly rewaterboarding and which i had experiences and friendships that i revere. but make no mistake, my service here is the most important job i've had in my life

a lot of the states i won by massive numbers but he was a senator. looks at 40,000 people and he says what do i have to lose and he endorsed me, so it's not like a great loyal thing about the endorsement. >> it really give him legitimacy on people who wanted to be harsh on illegal immigration. a lot of these important right matters. >> and still to this day give him conservative legitimacy. a lot of them, that's the sole reason they remain in his camp. >> and trump's suggestion that sessions prosecute hillary clinton, that is the kind of quote, crude retaliation. >>> the attacks on sessions are being viewed as a form of cyber bullying and it's saying his behavior is unpresidential. a rally last night in youngstown, ohio. >> political correctness for me is easy. sometimes they say he doesn't act presidential. and i say, hey, look, great schools, smart guy, it's so easy to act presidential, but that's not going to get it done. in fact, i said, it's much easier, by the way, to act presidential than what we're doing here tonight. believe me. and i said -

president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak on the health care topic for 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. toomey: thank you, mr. president. i'm going to speak mostly about some medicaid reforms that were proposed in the bcra. but in the course of the discussion, i'm going to touch on some of the issues that our colleague who just finished raised. as we know, the bcra bill is not going to be the vehicle that we will take to a conference committee with the house, but i hope we will get to a conference committee with the house. and i hope that the result of that, among other things, is that we'll address the need to make important reforms to medicaid because they're long overdue. let me start by introducing -- i'll start with a chart here that illustrates our federal deficit and what exactly is driving our federal deficits. the fact is, i think we all know here we have two big categories of fede

the standing senators up for reelection. one of the reasons they did not get control of the senate in 2012 for in 2010, the republicans nominated candidates who were too far to the right. in delaware, which should have been a long trip see if the republicans that never happen. the. nevada missouri, that did not work out. indiana, so if they get candidates because they are upset at how the the senators , and they nominate candidates were unelectable, that could be a big problem. if you look at the playing field, it is tilted toward the republicans. they have to be very careful not to screw this up in this election cycle, and some of that will be starting right now during the campaign. we just august is going to get this thing up here, shakespeare wrote about beware the ides of march. on capitol hill, beware the ides of august. we didn't have much stuff has been august last year. do they think they can get a deal. do they hear so much that they think okay we'll come back and maybe move the deal strange things happen in august.

then the senate members arrive with the bill passed by the senate. say this is the bill we want to pass. then they spend some time trying to work out a compromise between those two bills. but this time the senate will arrive at the conference, if there is one, with a bill and say, we absolutely don't want to pass the senate bill. and they will say, we absolutely don't want to pass the house bill. and paul ryan knows that the conference committee will not be able to do a better job of trying to figure out what can pass the senate than mitch mcconnell has done. and mitch mcconnell hasn't found anything that can pass the senate. back with us is david frum. also joining us now, neera tanden, president for the center of american progress. neera, your reading of the state of play tonight. >> well, first of all, they did just release the legislative language for the quote, unquote, skinny repeal. now they're saying they would like to vote on it in the next few hours. so let me just say to the american people they have a bill that will affect the health care

or is it the united states senate? in a race that will be one of the top targets all across the country? and part of why i am not announcing to you today what we're going to do is our family hadn't figured it out yet either. we're working our way through that. we're honored by all the people that has stepped forward to support us and we'll make that decision based on that calling, not on any bickering or distortions in a primary. susan: we have about 12 minutes left in the conversation. siobhan: to move back to the policy agenda, what needs to happen on raising the debt ceiling? rep. messer: it is a difficult challenge. the american people are tired of the nation continuing to pile up debt. what i have said in the past is to support increases to any debt ceiling, i need to see spending reforms. need to see steps taken to stop the trend of spending money we do not have. i think that is where most of the house republican conference is. hey would have a hard time supporting any -- what's come e be known as a carte blanch o

to the senate, under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable rand paul, a senator from the commonwealth of kentucky, to perform the duties of the chair. signed orrin g. hatch. president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate took a critical step to finally leave the failed experiment of obamacare in the past. it marks an important moment for our country. it signals a positive development for the countless americans who continue to suffer under obamacare's skyrocketing costs and diminishing options. i thank every colleague who voted to begin the debate. i thank the president, his administration and our friends in the house for the roles they have played. now we have to keep working hard. we're determined to do everything we can to succeed. we know our constituents are counting on us. we'll work through an open amendment process. i know members in both parties have health care ideas they'd like to offer. if you've got one, bring it to the floor. last night the senate considered a c

this is why the senate hasn't gone on vacation. this is why protests to try to hold on to the affordable care act have not been letting up around the country. as recently as today and into tonight, senators apparently have no idea what they're going to be asked to vote on tomorrow but they are going to be asked to vote tomorrow. so really all eyes on that tonight. we're going to be talking with a key senator tonight who is in the middle of the fight, one whose town halls have been looking like this since the health care fight started. so that's ahead tonight. >>> here's something else to keep an eye on that has not been making headlines. but it should. i mentioned that the health care thing is the reason that the senate is not going on their usual epic vacation that they typically take about this time of the year. that matters this year, not just for senators' vacation schedules and whether they get to spend time with their families, going to the beach and blah blah blah, it also doesn't matter just for the not inconsiderable questi

the senate -- on the senate on health care.he senate is scheduled to vote this afternoon on proceeding to debate on the actual bill. it's a two-step process. but yesterday, here at the white house, we saw president trump engaged in this issue, engaged in this matter, more so than ever before, using the power of the presidency, that unique megaphone, to make the case for why republicans, he says, should vote for this bill. >> for the last seven years, republicans have been united in standing up for obamacare's victims. remember repeal and replace? repeal and replace. they kept saying it over and over again. every republican promised immediate relief from this disastrous law. we as a party must fulfill the solemn promise to the voters. >> reporter: president trump engaged, and vice president mike pence engaged, as well. we received word monday evening that senator john mccain will be on hand today in the senate to also cast a vote in this. of course he is recovering and in treatment for an aggressive type of brain cancer. his vot

engel at the top to pass the senate. what is the likelihood that they just take up the senate linkage? we heard from mr. engel, and you have republican senators saying just pass it already. elana: it is increasingly close to zero likelihood that would happen here in i can understand why congressman engel would say what he did. it's a gamble by democrats. all they could do was introduce the bill saying we want it to pass, but the house majority wants to change that procedural issue to take power away from house democrats and potentially change other elements of the bill raising concern among the private sector dealing with energy, debt, and loan servicing. you have got some k street folks saying wait, we don't want our ability to deal with russia-connected businesses unfairly infringed upon indirectly because of this bill. rachel: the problems are mounting and it is likely the house tries to make changes. greta: what is the political pressure for these folks as they delay and there is more of a drumbeat from democrats who

none of the senators on the committee were present. they will probably went over that statement that he put out this monk. and then almost like a legal deposition they walk through the issues that are important to them. and for people who didn't like that this meeting wasn't done in public and on camera, including many democrats, it's worth noted that these aren't cake walks. chuck grassley where paul manafort and donald junior may be called actually tweeted about this today saying coming before me and senator sign fine and our staffs is no easy thing in and of its own right. in many cases these are attorneys with years of experience on the committee, often predating the members themselves. so that's where we are with kushner this morning. the question going forward will be will he be back to appear in any kind of public setting. we know he's talking to the house behind closed doors tomorrow. but how does the public ultimately get access to this information and when. i put that question in a way to joe mab chin earlier today. listen to

something the senate g.o.p. eaders say has always been part of the plan. >> i think it will help with our members who want to see it as a step forward but not the final product. >> talk like that has democrats piping into say republicans are voting on something they don't want to replace obamacare are taking an infamous pledge by leader pelosi to another level. >> i said i know how bad it was and i was upset in 2010 when nancy pelosi says you have to vote for it and then read it later. well, now they are saying vote for it and you might see something later. i hope they come to their sense senses. compassionate senses. >> one of tonight's mysteries, how will senator john mccain vote. early this evening, he said if he didn't feel confident the skinny repeal bill would end up in conference, he would vote no. we caught him in the hallway. said he didn't want to talk about it. we are outside his office hoping to see if he's going to help the skinny bill passed and moved to conference or help end it >> bret: peter dooc

the other. can i get anything done? >> eric: if senatorback from arizona to vote, they'll get something done. they don't go into this and not have the votes, so they'll have the votes to get it to at least start the debate. what's the final product, rand paul just said, i'm only going to vote for something we've already voted for, we passed this in the senate, i got to the president's desk. >> harris: is the right? >> eric: he is right. if you vote for something else like i put together by five house members, you'll end up with a health care worse than obamacare. in 2018, you lose the house, or maybe you lose both and it certainly looks bad going into 2020 reelections by losing the house. that health care bill that they have, i was on this couch the day it dropped from the g.o.p. and we called it doa, dead on arrival that morning and it's still doa. grand paul is right. repeal obamacare now. >> gillian: do you know the saying that sometimes showing up a 75% of getting the job done? i think that's what mcconnell's strategy is. you are askin

that is what the senate bill was known as. it is effectively dead now in the senate. nate majority leader mitch mcconnell mcconnell saying he will move on from that. todd is in baltimore, maryland. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that i think republicans have showed their hands. they had seven plus years and this is the best they have come up with, which is horrible. to the rich and at this point i think they should go ahead and try and fix obamacare. host: do you think democrats will work with them to do that? how is that politically possible? caller: democrats have already voiced that they would work with they would just give them that opportunity. what would you, as a democrat, be willing to change about this? what would you be willing to give to get some take? caller: that is a good question. i am not for giving up or hurting people. health care, to me, is a right and to give something up, i can't answer that. i am not for giving up anything. i just want to get things better than what they are. i think obamacare is a good place to start. it has its p