the united states senate. this is what makes it broken. when ex-senators come on you and tell you it's broken, current senators claim no. every ex-senator -- >> 31 senators refuse to be the world's greatest deliberative body. >> they would have been judged as being pro-gun. >> thanks for the reality. tough reality, though. thank you, chuck todd. >>> today "politico" reported, "toomey has privately told democrats he hopes to sway six to eight of his gop colleagues to support the final package after all the amendments are resolved. yet right now the only solid republican votes on background checks are toomey and illinois senator mark kirk." they're the only republicans. what are the prospects for getting something passed in the senate after all the talk? senator angus king is an independent senator from maine who caucuses with the democrats. senator king, you're an independent guy. i want your views on what you see and smell on the floor of the united states senate. chuck todd said a lot of these senators, 31 of them, basically are afraid to

just to make this clear, we had mtv before there was a women's bathroom in the united states senate. in this year, the senator of minnesota announced that the women of the senate made history in an unexpected way. there was for the first time a traffic jam for the bathroom at the united states senate. so it is true, our numbers are growing. but men still outnumber us in congress, in the courts, in corner offices and corporate board rooms. and women still earn less than men doing the same job. and that's an issue that republicans have stone called, ignored. opposed called a nuisance and said we'll get back to you on that. there are still politicians out there who are trying to make it harder for women to fight for fair pay. and that's to their debt triment. emily's list polled independent women voters after the election and 78% of them ranked equal pay as the most important issue. and these weren't democrats and these weren't republicans, these were independent swing voters. so it's easy to is it in rooms like these and think that these issues affect other women. no, not us. that's jus

united states capitol. you get in there. you can ask for any united states senatorany member of congress. 224-3121 and call them up and say i'm outraged, particularly take the time. look online. look in the morning paper, whatever. get the names of the 46 senators who voted no and call every one of them up. democrat and republican and just say how dare you! when we come back, the brady campaign. this whole thing started right after newtown. john from the brady campaign was in studio with us. he's their chief counsel head of the legal action project and he told us that one most important thing we could do, assault weapons was important high-capacity magazine clips are important. the one most important thing we could do would be background checks. that's been their sole focus. he'll join us in the next segment. we'll get his take on what happened yesterday. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." they thinking? you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are comi

thank you united states senate, we have literally become one of our own worst enemies. we'll we'll be right back [cheers and applause] >> jon: welcome back. from here in the united states, we're having reservations about not selling arms to rogue regimes. after all, what is the worst that could happen? >> the world watches north korea yet again. it's believed they are preparing for the test launch of a missile after weeks of threats towards their neighbors. >> the missile's range sup to 2400 -- up to 2400 miles so it could reach as far as guam. >> jon: not guam that's where this country's chewing guam comes from. [ laughter ] i might be thinking of a different place. [ laughter ] bubbalicious land. [ laughter ] north korea gentleman a fairly small, sparsely populated, not oil having country. many students of international relations may ask themselves why do they get away with this (bleep). >> china north korea's closest ally. >> the chinese have used their veto in the scowns toll protect north korea china has sworn to protect them against unprovoked aggression. >> jon: c

now as a result of what they suspect are ricin -- the poison ricin-laced letters sent to a united states senatoroger wicker of mississippi. and now also a similar letter sent to the president of the united states, president obama. the letter never reached the white house. it was intercepted at an offsite screening center as all parcels, all letters sent to the president are, but once again they're investigating that initial test positive, but that's just initial. it could change. there are other letters, suspicious letters and packages also being investigated right now on capitol hill in the hart senate office building, the russell senate office building an individual walking around with a backpack delivering letters and law enforcement now questioning that individual to see if those letters do contain any suspicious powder, any suspicious material. certainly something as deadly as ricin would be a huge, huge problem. reminds a lot of us of the anthrax-laced letters that were delivered to u.s. senators, to members of the news media back at the end of 2001 shortly after 9/11 that killed some indi

but this w one of those days when a majority is not enough in the united states senate and democracy ain, denied. >> the vote -- the aye are 54, nays are 60. the amendment is not agreed to. >> mr. president -- >> shame on you! >> the order in the senate. the gallery will refrain from any comment. >> that voice from the speaking moral truth to power was patricia, who has been a recurring guest on this program because she is the woman that helped tackle the shooter in the tucson massacre when he had to reload. also, rocks anna green, the mother of christina taylor green who was murdered in that tucson parking lot that day. christina taylor green would be alive if he fired only ten bullets instead of 33. we'll get her reaction about what happened today. because of a republican procedural road block, all of the amendments voted on today required 60 votes to pass. after the votes, president obama flanked by family members and a former congressman who was shot in the head, the president tried to explain to americans why their democracy isn't always a democracy. >> a few months ago, in respo

it's a pretty rare thing that a new united states senator has a chance to come to the united states senate and in her first few months find us debating a bill that she brought when she was a state official in north dakota 20 years ago. and that shows why the senate is a good place for people with a little bit of experience, because she can bring to us exactly what we're talking about. her story about the small business people who are making a few dollars and have very small margin for profit and then who are discriminated against by out-of-state sellers who don't have to collect the tax that's already owed. that's a real story. and she made a remarkably good address, and i compliment her for that and welcome her to the senate. sometimes we launch into these complicated debates without saying what we're talking about. let me see if i can say in a few simple words exactly what we're talking about here. my wife gave me an ice cream freezer for my birthday last year. she got it from williams-sonoma. it's not one of those freezers you have to crank, the kind i did when i was a kid and you eat t

now the world is watching the united states senate. it is watching the senate to see whether democracy works. it sounds simp but it's true. will democracy work reflect the majority of the united states of america? the majority of our people who say we need to do something about the guns. that is what the families said to me that day and in days since. what people in connecticut and across the country have said to their senators. we must do something about gun violence. i remember talking to one of the families that evening and saying, you know, when you're ready, we ought to talk about what we can do to stop gun violence in measures in the united states congress and she said to me, i'm ready now. the united states senate must be ready now to act. it must keep faith with those families and victims as the world watches with benjamin andrew wheeler, age 6. his father david is here today and he's here in spirit as we decide in the united states senate today whether we will move forward for progress. anna grace marquez green, also age 6, her

continue to do their bidding graham says quote i welcome a debate on the second amendment in the united states senate i want to proceed to this bill i want to debate it i'm not afraid even shift saying the legislation can still be filibustered after today in the united states senate and even if gun control legislation passes the democratic controlled u.s. senate it is unlikely to pass the republican controlled house of representatives the n.r.a. is seeing to it that there will be no final vote on this senate bill that the bill will be filibustered and that it will die in the senate in a letter to senators on wednesday the n.r.a. noted that it will change its normal legislative strategy and add. grade senators not on if they vote yea or nay on the final bill but whether or not they filibuster of vote on the final bill whether or not they'll vote on no on a procedural cloture vote to end debate and proceed to this final vote on passage of the bill your n.r.a. letter reads quote we hope the senate will replace the current provisions of s six four nine with language that is properly focused on addressing

members of the united states senate and congress own those firearms. paul ryan, for example, owns one of those and goes hunting with them. >> ifill: that one was a forgone concliewrkz as were the magazine clips, but the background checks not so much. >> our concern with the universal background checks is we think the problem we see is you have to fix the nix system. the first thing you need to do is fix the nix system which is why our industry is funding an initiate toif work at the grass-roots level to work with the states falling down on the jobs and not getting the background checks-- getting the information into the background check system. the system is only as good as the information that's in it, and background checks that are incompleted and accurate don't help anybody. having more of those background checks that are incomplete also doesn't help anybody. >> ifill: as far as you're concerned even though the president-- or harry reid said, this is round one-- both of them said it-- you think for the federal level this argument is over. >> no, i d

. >> this is a united states senate youth program sponsored by a famous magazine and newspaper company. what has been the most exciting thing for you? >> yesterday, meeting president obama. when he walked into the room, the energy and excitement and his power was palpable. you could feel it and see it and everyone's eyes. we were worried we would pass out. was amazing. >> what about you? >> president obama is hard to talk. -- top. also, some of the senators we saw. they were fantastic. obama was definitely number 1. >> one more question of you two and we will go to some of the rest. how were you picked to come here? >> from your state, you would start out about a base -- with a basic essay. you fill out an application process, your credentials, resonate, and letters -- resume, and letters. then they deliver it and pick winners. >> my application required a series of essays, teacher recommendations, and an interview in the capital. then they made the selection in early november. >> there is another question you have to give a speech to all these folks at your closing banquet. why are yo

but then when president obama got elected to the united states senate from illinois, he and i became friends and i'm probably proudly closest now to president obama. >> for any senate to work with the president, what are the rules of the road that any chief executive needs to know when they come to this town? >> mutual respect, respecting the congress, respecting that these 535 were each individually elected by thousands of people in their districts or in their states. and that means something. an election means something. and so that mute twal respect that members of congress were elected by the people. and even though you're president and you were elected by the all the people there has to be that mutual respect, a mutual understanding that in order to really get the people's business accomplished, we have to talk to one another and work with one another and compromise with one another. and i think that's really happening since president obama was re-elected. >> you decided in 2008 to retire from the house. why? >> well, for my first 12 years i was the majority party, and it's a lo

senate. so those are productive days. so the people in the united states yearn for that kind of production to come out of the u.s. congress. i was able to do a lot in the time that i was in the u.s. senate and i think we all are ery hopeful that the kind of ity will come back. >> why is bipartisan so difficult to come about in this senate in the congress? >> you know, i think a lot of it has been the fact that elections seem to go now all the time. there's no time-out between elections. used to be a time when i think the senators would not run against each other, if you were in different parties you wouldn't be out trying to take off the head of the majority or the minority who ever they were. and that has changed. a lot of it has to do with the huge influence of money into the political system. and i think that's wrong. i think that's why some of the campaign finance reform efforts i think hopefully will be helpful if we had the kinds of changes that would keep this money out from politics because i think that's part of what's soured many of the relations

five days after he was elected to the united states senate from ill-, he called me in peoria. i was a congressman. he said i want to come and meet with you and figure out how we can work together. he believes in bipartisan. he believes that's the way we get things done. i am a great example of it. when i was a congressman. we had a 40-minute interview and few days said will you take transportation? >> why this position and why did you say yes? >> well, i wanted to work for what i believe was the most historic, maybe the most historic administration in the history of our country, an african-american from illinois and i just felt it was as somebody who loves public service it was a great opportunity to serve to work toric transformational president. we felt it was an stunt we couldn't pass up. >> -- we felt it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. >> explain this photograph. >> oh, that's one of the meetings where the president was going to the republican conference in baltimore. the republicans were having a retreat. and they invited the president to come. on the elevator goi

the united states senate are part of the most deliberative body in the world. they're supposed to deliberate. that means balancing the state's interest with the national interest. that is what our politicians are supposed to do. and that requires wisdom. it's just a matter of taking a poll in your state, anybody can do that. we're supposed to be electing people who take things to a higher level and sometimes do go against the interest of their constituents if it's truly in their national interest. >> i want to read you part of the nra statement. this amendment would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring live long friends, some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution. as we have noted previously, expanding background checks at gun shows or elsewhere will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in the schools. what do you say today? >> well, i say that the nra has no money without the gun industry, and congress is in bed with the gun industry

. >>> and a united states senator emotionally struggling to find the words to express what it has meantto him to have the families from sandy hook elementary school in washington this week pushing for gun safety. >>> in the "rewrite" tonight, who was the most important cabinet member in history? i will suggest someone many of you may never have heard of, but she did more to change the way we live in this country than any other cabinet member. >>> and later, anthony weiner now seems to think if mark sanford can do it, he can do it. anthony weiner is back. asional have constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. >>> last week, former congressman asa hutchinson released his report paid for by the nra who paid him an undisclosed sum, an answer i tried to get out of him on this show. his report about school safety according to the nra. it was a completely nonpolitical report, nothing political about it. he then tried t

no liberties and you're talking about the gun culture and it's just a stone's mean that the united states senate even in the wake of all of these recent tragedies could not even pass something as simple as back to universal background checks for those with criminal records and those with dangerous mental issues who would think that those people should have guns yet the united states senate is paralyzed ninety percent of the american people believe we ought to expand background checks and our political system isn't functioning until we get our political system really functioning again and really serving the interests of ordinary folks we're not going to do much about this problem at all i mean what do you think about the no political will right now well i don't disagree i mean what it speaks to is the way in which some of these right wing thoughts have actually managed to infiltrate the mainstream political system and there's a very thought the border between them in some places one of them is definitely gun rights others are the ways in which people talk about the constitution or their personal

senator mcconnell is the minority leader in the united states senate. does not have the majority. senator murphy is telling us the truth from connecticut. he just told you, piers, that this filibuster will fail because there will be enough votes, the cloture, to end the filibuster. it will go to a vote but people who filibuster like senator rand last month that captured everybody's imagination when he filibustered on drones, he got attorney general holder to answer the question. >> because he made a good point and most people agreed with him. on this one, 90% of the american people want background checks. >> it doesn't matter, though. >> yes, it matters. >> here's why it doesn't matter, piers. >> hold your thought. hold your response. because i want you to think about it doesn't matter. 90% of americans agree with something and you don't. we'll come back after the break with more on this, north korea and other hot issues and some questions from my lively audience tonight. so free credit score's redesigned site has this new score planner tool with these

thus, you've got really capable people leaving the united states senate. a sudden, it's 60 votes that you have to get to pass anything. what if it were 60% of the vote that these guys and people, women, had to get in order to get elected to the united states senate instead of 50? what if they changed the rules on that? if this particular senate had been in business in 1965 operating the way then that this particular senate operates now, you would not have had a voting rights bill. you would not have had it and not a series of civil rights pieces of sieve legislation pass given the way this senate operates. >> it's about leadership. david? >> i agree. >> on both sides of pennsylvania avenue -- >> we have had arguments on this show before about barack obama. i'm disappointed in him. i think he wasn't strong enough. i agree with, sadly, with maureen's column. >> i go back to what an ambassador from the middle east told me in year one about president obama. i thought he was extraordinarily moving at the state of the union. but said from the mistake they make, r

a letter apparently laced with the poison ricin was sent to a united states senator. adly poison, dana. what are you picking up? >> well, we can now report that the senator to whom this letter was addressed is roger wicker, republican senator of mississippi. and we reported this news before most senators even knew that senator wicker had received this letter, which, again, has tested positive three times for the poison ricin. as we were reporting it, there was a meeting of all senators. they're actually getting briefed on the developments in boston. while they were there, they were also told about this letter that went to senator wicker. and what some senators coming t told our congressional producers is the following. first of all, senator mccaskill has said that her understanding coming out of this briefing is there might even be a suspect in custody. the suspect is somebody who according to mccaskill, quo, writes a lot of letters. she also emphasized something we reported on earlier, this should be underscored, that this was caught at a screening facility. it did no

a few minutes ago, a minority in the united states senate decided it wasn't worth it. >> michael: the amendment's odds looked so dim that joe manchin took to the senate floor this morning to make background a national security issue, by tying it to the fbi's most-wanted terrorist. >> our gun laws are so outdated and so out of whack that even this person who wants to do damage and harm to every american, even this american has figured out how to exploit them to arm themselves and people like him in our country. >> michael: connecticut senator chris murphy saw the result coming from a mile away. last night he tweeted . . . murphy of course represents newtown. in the 241 days since the slaughter of 20 school children and six educators, at least 3,482 americans have died in gun violence. that's about 134 new townes since newtown. these senators democrats and republicans, should be ashamed of themselves. they are the only people that can act to stop the horror of gun violence in america today and they failed the united states of america. joining me now to share more is rt rybak. he joining

two united states senators both republicans? >> correct.em is ted cruz. >> you can have ted cruz back. >> he might be right of republican. >> that's right. calling him a republican is probably insulting him. right? and then, in the house, you have 36 members of the house of representatives from texas? >> uh-huh. >> how many democrats? >> i don't know the new numbers. i don't know. >> okay. >> but we have gone up. in 2010 it was just a disaster. >> sheila jackson lee, i know. >> yeah, sheila jackson lee, al green and gene green and they are on significant committees. >> let's say three out of 36. hum? >> uh-huh. >> what are the chances, then? i keep hearing that texas might be getting a little purple and it may be even chances of turning blue. i don't see the evidence of it. why do you think there is a chance? >> one of the things i tell people all the time, they always want to talk demographics. i say demographics are not destiny. yes, they help and the demographics in texas are changing but they are not destiny. you have to do the actual w

and he's now here in the united states senate. i'm sorry about that. or about the cuts to vista. volunteers with service to america, which is hurting the program that performs antipoverty work in many states. or the 11% cut in unemployment benefits for millions of jobless workers. the voiceless people who are the most affected by these cuts can't afford high-priced lobbyists to get them an exception to the sequester the way the agriculture lobby was able to fend off a furlough to meat inspectors. and what was cut in order to keep those inspectors on the job? about $25 million from a program to provide free school breakfast . as bad as the sequester was it is being made worst by special interest demands for exceptions as well as politically motivated attempts to deflect responsibility for paying. the maneuvering shows the futility of trying to reduce the deficit with crude and arbitrary cuts. both senate democrats and the white house proposed budget plans that replace the sequester with a much better mix of spending cuts and revenue increases. on tuesday the senate majority leader

governor washington was rattled by word that letters were sent to both president obama and a united states senator and tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. there was a further concern earlier today when a report that other suspicious packages led to partial evacuation of a senate office building on capitol hill. let's go to our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. what is the very latest? >> reporter: although these letters did test positive in the initial tests we are still waiting for the formal test that is coming from a lab in fort detrick, maryland not too far from her in washington. terry friedman over at the justice department is reporting we'll not likely get those results until tomorrow. the hope was we would get them this afternoon but it looks like it will push into tomorrow. the other thing that he is reporting is that the fbi insists that there is no arrest imminent or at least that they are unaware of any imminent arrest in this case. despite the fact that we were told starting yesterday by senators coming out of a briefing including senator clair mccaskill of missour

. >>> and a united states senator emotionally struggling to find the words to express what it has meantto him to have the families from sandy hook elementary school in washington this week pushing for gun safety. >>> in the "rewrite" tonight, who was the most important cabinet member in history? i will suggest someone many of you may never have heard of, but she did more to change the way we live in this country than any other cabinet member. >>> and later, anthony weiner now seems to think if mark sanford can do it, he can do it. anthony weiner is back. c-max two. that's a super fuel- efficient hybrid for me. and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid. say hi to the c-max hybrids. challenge that with olay facial hair removal duos for fine or coarse hair. first a pre-treatment balm then the effective cream. for gentle hair removal at far less than salon prices. there's no place like home. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's

and the families of newtown and it has watched connecticut and now the world is watching the united states senate. it is watching the senate to see whether democracy works. it sounds simple but it's drew. will democracy work to works to reflect the majority of the united states of america, the majority of our people who say we need to do something about the guns? that is what the families said to me that day and in the days since and what people in connecticut and across the country have said to their senators. we must do something about gun violence. i remember talking to one of the families that evening and saying you know, when you are ready we ought to talk about what we can do to stop gun violence measures in the united states congress hinchey said to me, i am ready now. the united states senate must be ready now to act as. it must keep faith with those families and victims as the world watches with benjamin andrew wheeler, age six. his father david is here today and he is here in spirit as we decide in the united states senate today whether we will move forward toward progress. anna grace m

had they been in the united states senate today, had they operated then the way the united states senate operates today, the civil rights legislation of 1964, the voting rights act of 1965 would not have been passed. 50 plus one is a majority. not 60 votes. >> all right. >> you know, mika, i've got to go back to the beginning of this session. there was a lot of talk about filibuster reform. i was out there talking about the need for filibuster reform. for whatever reason, the democrats didn't push. i remember saying it. the day they made the rules to get rid of the filibuster, make 50 plus one pass, if they had made that decision when they set up the senate, then this bill would have passed. i got to say just really quickly. i know we got to go to break, but mark halpern, kelly ayotte of new hampshire. voting against the bill, i don't know that she really helped her cause in new hampshire for re-election, did she? >> west joe look. the way a political price to pay which you're talking about and a lot of these members are not up right away in this cycle will be can they be candidates to r

it gets better, as they say because it means for the very first time the majority of the united states senateports gay marriage the majority. yet some republican senators seem pathologically resistant to change. in a stranger twist his cousin was dating matt salmon, the some of the republican representative with the same name. he's a mormon who sent his son to gay therapy. and he would not allow them to the house even though they had been date forgive ten years. here is his son matt describing what it's been like. >> i tried going to therapy to take this away, to make me straight. i can tell you firsthand it does not work. i was their hope for their poster child it doesn't work. >> michael: his father has clearly wrestled with the issue. he told a local station quote my son is by far one of the most important people in my life. i love him more than i can say i'm just not there. i haven't evolved to that station. rob portman apparently has. hopefully portman's choice to protect his son from hatred and bigotry would convince others to follow. southsouth carolina has gone from political after th

what the senator already said, in other words, the seven soldiers killed in the training exercise in his home state, blamed that, too, on the sequester cuts. >> extraordinary, the leader of the unitedates senate, and he is saying that if you cut 2% of the budget, might cost us a cure for cancer. that is extraordinary. >> dispickble considering who he is and what he means to the country, it's a lie, and pushing forward an idea that all these things that happen in lives, cure requester aids, parkinson's, and aids came from government. you know, it's perpetuating the idea that the free market has not played a role in those areas. he's getting a three-for with the comment that's outrageous. >> and dismissive about the time spent with air travelers stuck on tarmacs across the country; right? he's dismissive about that too. >> i think the problem for him is that that's not enough. in other words, still, they hope that the public relations needle moves, and people are experiencing delays like they normally cernes delays. that's not enough to create outrage. how do you throw an outrage bomb in there to get the public on your side? go all the way and say this is going to kill people. >> it'

to get things done in the legislature and i think we need a little bit more of that in the united states senate. so welcome, senator fischer. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: well, let me add my voice. it's wonderful to have senator fischer on my committee, where we're doing good work. we like to say in that committee, the public works side is the very collegial side. the environment side is a bit less. so but i'm proud to have her on there working with us on this new water resources development act. and -- and i do look forward t to -- to working closely with her. and i want co congratulate her n her maiden speech. i know that's a big -- it's like getting the first scratch on your car. and you've got to just do it, and you did it very well. might i say, mr. president, i've been coming to the floor on monday evenings -- i don't know how many people have actually taken note of the fact -- but i've come every monday the last several mondays to speak about an issue that no one here seems to want to talk about much. i shouldn't say "no one." maybe about 25 of us do. b

a few minutes ago, a minority in the united states senate decided it was not worth it. they blocked commonsense gun reform even while these families looked on from the senate gallery. support universal background checks that make it harderwere talking about convicted felons, people convicted of domestic violence, people with severe mental illness. 90% of american support that already the law. a few minutes ago, 90% of democrats in the senate voted for that idea. but it is not going to happen is 90% of republicans in the senate voted against that idea. a majority of senators voted yes to protecting more of our citizens with smarter background checks. minorityis continuing was able to block it from moving forward. i will speak lately and honestly about what happened. the american people are trying to figure out how it didn't happen. we had a democrat and a second amendment with a grades commonsense compromise oni want courage inem for the doing that. it was not easy given their traditional strong support for second amendment rights. as they said, no one could honestly cla

>>. >> shep: breaking news out of washington, somebody sent a letter to a united states senator and in the envelope has tested positive for ricin a deadly poison. mike, which senator. it's a senator from mississippi? >> that is right. roger wicker who has served mississippi since 2007. we understand the letter was intercepted at an off-site facility. my understanding we have live pictures of that off site facility. all indications are the system that was set up after the 2001 anthrax letters that were sent to lawmakers that created such hysteria on capitol hill, system worked in this case. a test positive and lawmakers were told of this at a briefing this evening with the f.b.i. director robert mueller and janet napolitano and terry gainer. there was no harm done. it was caught at an off-site facility. >> shep: live pictures we're looking at that from postal facility. anything from senator wicker's office? >> they are remaining tight-lipped. he has been a low profile guy and has served since 2007. member of the joint economic committee and budget committee. at you can imagine, his staf