the united states senate should not be a graveyard. the majority leader mcconnell has prevented hundreds of bills, bipartisan bills, from coming to the floor of the united states senate. it's been a year since we've had for the people act passed by the house of representatives. it's well past time for the senate to take up this legislation so that we can show the american people that we support the values that have made america the great democracy in our country. thank you very much, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. whitehouse: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: madam president, shakespeare's play "hamlet" began with "something is rotten in denmark." well, something rotten in congress. and what is is rotten in congress is dark money. citizens united, perhaps one of the most foolish decisions ever rendered by the united states supreme court, opened unlimited spending into our politics, which benefits who? it benefits those who have unlimited money to spend and a motive to spend i

what you see today on the floor of the united states senate is exactly the opposite of what we're being advised as a nation we need to do. what you see today on the floor of the united states senate are staff people, thank you for being here, protective forces outside the chamber, and others who are invisible to those coming and going that are part of the ordinary business of the united states senate. you see, we did today what the president has told america we should not do, what medical experts have told us we should not do. we have taken unnecessary airline flights to come here to washington d.c. i was on the plane this morning from springfield illinois to chicago, there were six passengers on the plane. most people are listening to the advice of the medical experts and avoiding unnecessary travel, but unfortunately, we were required to come back today from across the united states. some members stayed over the weekend because their homes are too far away. some decided to drive this morning just to be extremely safe, but the fact is, we were asked to take unnecessary airline flights

this bill is in the united states senate. we're having discussions right now, democrats and republicans. we're having discussions right now democratic senators and republican senators and the white house again primarily with secretary mnuchin. and yet i'm listening to people on the floor blaming speaker pelosi. well guess how rounds one and two actually happened? they happened because speaker pelosi sat down with the trump administration. they hammered out on a bipartisan basis and came over here. this time -- this time the majority leader senator mcconnell wanted to start the process in the senate. so let's get it done. don't go pointing fingers at speaker pelosi. she's not here. i keep hearing about the house wanting a green new deal as part of this emergency package. that's a total red herring. i even looked at the list of ideas that the house put out, including speaker pelosi. there's no green new deal on this thing. so let's get real. so why can't we vote today again except by unanimous consent? it's not because of the de

linda be more thoughtful in terms of our own families and the people who work in the united states senate. yes do our job, doing a sensible and thoughtful way. senator portland and i are exploring possibilities by remote voting of members of the senate. what is required that we be physically present on the floor closer to one another and perhaps we should be at this moment of a public health crisis. on a bipartisan basis we are trying to find a way to achieve this goal and still protecting integrity in the voting process in the united states senate. it is new and it's different, and yes it reflects a 21st century and reflects a challenge the likes we have never seen. darla challenge may be a public health crisis and some other national terrorist attack. should we be ready nation senate can still do its business it is difficult and impossible and on advice for members of the senate to come physically to the floor and announce the vote each time it is needed. we believe we should explore this silica both sides seriously this moment. i might as well, the governor spoke aboutke the issues tha

we ought to be more thoughtful in terms of our own families and the people who work in the united states senate. yes, you are job but do it in a sensible and pop away. senator portman and i are exploring possibilities for remote voting by members of the senate. what is it required that we be physically present on the floor closer to one another than perhaps we should be at the smoke of a public health crisis senator portman and i on a by person basis are trying to find a way to achieve this goal and still protect the integrity of the voting process in the united states senate. yes, it is new. yet is is different. yes, it reflects the 21st century and the flex a challenge the likes we have never seen. tomorrow that chose been the end of the public health crisis. some of the national emergency or maybe even a terrorist attack. shouldn't we be ready to make sure the the senate can still s business if it's difficult, impossible or not advised for members of the senate to come physically to the floor and announce their boat each time it is needed? we believe we should explore this on a bipartisan ba

there's no united states senator who represents the people of the district of columbia. some simplify us who live in the surrounding areas work hard to do so. i just wish senators from the rest of the country and especially in this case apparently our republican colleagues would show a little respect for the people who live in the capital of this great country. and i yield the floor.the presie majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed to h.r. 748 be withdrawn. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 748. further, that the only amendments in order be amendments to be offered by senator mcconnell, 1578, and senator sasse 1577 or their designees. further, that the senate vote on the sasse amendment with a 60-vote affirmative threshold for adoption. further, following disposition of the sasse amendment, t

the people who live and work your deserve to be treated with respect to there's no united states senator who represents the people in the district of columbia. some of us who live in the surrounding area work hard to do so. i just wish senators on the rest of the country, and especially in

a gut punch to see all of the leading women candidates knocked out of this campaign, four united states senators, the strongest field, field of women candidates we've ever seen in a presidential campaign. hillary clinton was obviously stronger when she ran, but as a field, do you understand what lily adams means by that gut punch, what that felt like to women? >> sure i do. that's why in 2018 when i campaigned for more women than anybody else did. we elected 41 new members of the house. i went out in their districts, though purple districts and i helped them win. let me put it this way, they asked me to come in and they won. not because of me but in spite of me. i'm not a pundit. for example, there was sexism in hillary's race and the way -- and it's real. the idea of sexism and racism

>> there is verbal open brawling on the united states senate floor right now, harris. it's been a long time, probably about 25 years, since i've seen it devolve this badly where you have senators from both sides yelling at one another. because there is so much frustration over trying to get this coronavirus bill through. they've been at each other's throats in the past hour. we think we are going to have a revote on that failed procedural vote last night, to start debate on the still unfinished coronavirus bill at around 1:30. here is the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> here's the way it works, colleagues. we have been fiddling around, as the senator from maine pointed out -- for 24 hours. >> senator from west virginia has the floor. >> i know where you're coming from on this. we have a little different opinion about this. >> i think my friend from

that is bipartisan, makes sense, and protects the integrity of voting on the floor of the united states senate. we need to do our jobs even in times of national crisis, whether it's a national health crisis or terrorism. let's devise a week, let's work on a way that the senate and i hope the house debrises that will give -- debrises that will

what you see today on the floor the united states senate's staff people, thank you for being here, protected forces outside the chamber, and others who are invisible to those comingf and going that are part of the ordinary business of the united states senate. we didwe today, with the president has told america we should not do. what medical experts of tolls we should not do. we u have taken on necessary airline flights to come here to washington d.c. i was on a plane this morning from springfield illinois to chicago. there were six passengers on the plane. most people are listening to the advice of the medical experts and avoiding unnecessary travel. but unfortunately, we were required to come back today, from across the united states. some member stated over the weekend because her homes are too far away. some tried to drive this morning to be externally safe. the factac is we were asked to airlineecessary flights to come a back here today this week, and frankly expose ourselves to the possibility of some public health risk. and ask our staff to do the same. in addition to that, we have be

i would like to start off -- here we are in the replica of the united states senate. in the actual united states senate as we speak, senators are as divided, as washington is, as the parties are, it seems like we are in complete gridlock. were the founders this divided? sarah: we have always faced moments in history where we felt great political polarization within our culture. but looking at this beautiful building and listening to introduction of my distinguished panelists, laces like this are revolutionary spaces. always have been. so thinking about institutions that foster dialogue then and now is a good way to bring our conversation over to how the 18th-century can mirror or give tips to the 21st century. anyone want to jump in? fred: maybe with a tip? >> you are being too kind. i was astonished by how mean the founding fathers were all to each other. but i also find it kind of comforting. benjamin rush was not only one of the signers, but he was a doctor to a lot of these guys. what is clear in the letters and if you read the journals of the time, i remember read

he said, there's a reason that we are called united states senators, and then our states come next. and i think you can say the same thing with party. you know, the party is, you always list are or d but that comes later. they both had that sense that it was a higher purpose. it was about the country. how you pass it on i don't know, that's a were trying to do at the institute. i mean, i think we all have an obligation. george washington in his farewell address was very concerned about political parties taking away from caring about the country. i hate to think that's what we are. i think it's a huge problem and i don't have the solution, to be honest, except to come to the institute. [laughing] >> you have to just keep talking about it, look to the examples of not so distant future, of statesmen and women who really did put country over party. i think we will get there again. >> i do, too, at a think for this reason. we, as voters, period, , we shod demand more. this is unacceptable what's going on. it's unacceptable. in any way, shape, or form. i bet you are husband are up there r

issue was the foreign intelligence surveillance act, which was brought up on the floor of the united states senate last thursday and senator lee and senator leahy offered the extension of this act for a period of time in return for a few amendments to be debated on the floor. that was rejected. just minutes ago, what was rejected last thursday was accepted. we made this trip back here and it was not necessary. you have to ask yourselves, are we being respectful of ourselves, our family, our staff or are we being respectful as our responsibility as setting a model for the rest of america? i'm afraid not. now there is remaining this bill that just passed the house of representatives, the families first coronavirus legislation. could i ask consent that the senate be in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in. go ahead, sir. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. the coronavirus act was one that was negotiated by speaker nancy pelosi and the president of the united states through mr. mnuchin. that negotiation went on for a week and a bill was agreed to and supported by both. the president e

he said there is a reason that we are called united state senators and our states come next. i think you can say the same thing with the party. the party, that comes later. they both had that sense that it was a higher purpose, it was about the country. how you pass that on? i don't know that's what we are trying to do with the institute. we all have an obligation. george washington in his farewell address was concern of h his political party taking away about caring about the country. i hate to think that's where we are. >> i think it is a huge problem and i don't have a solution to be honest except to come to the institute. yeah, we keep on talking about it and look at examples of not in the distance future of women and statesmen who put country over party. i think we'll get there. >> for this reason and as voters, we should demand more. this is unacceptable of what's going on. it is unacceptable. i bet you our two husbands right now are going at it about this. they're upset about this. >> exactly. >> because of the nature of the lack of civility and lack of honor and chara

we should do no less when it comes to our responsibility here in the united states senate. and a word about our first responders, whether it's the police or the firefighters or those in medical professions, those too are doing their job regardless of the threat to them personally. so we should in that spirit resolve this matter and resolve it quickly. i believe we can do it. i believe there is a feeling of goodwill and determination on both sides of the aisle here in the united states senate, and i hope that it can even be accomplished this evening. i stand by what senator schumer said earlier. there is a light at the end of this tunnel. let's try to pursue it, both parties, and get it done as quickly as possible. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, we don't have the luxury of time here. i think we all know that. certainly the american people know it. they can see it sort of just unfolding right in front of them. we've got small businesses that are shutting down wh

player of putting together the package that we have to present to our college here in the united states senate. i also want to acknowledge senator collins. it was the four of us that were meeting regularly, communicating regularly that recommended this package that you will be shortly voting on as relates to small business. so also if i i could i would le to acknowledge members of my own staff that have worked literally 24/7. i've talked to them at various times during the night and day, and it's been very stressful for all of us, our staffs get no rest whatsoever. so to sean moore and the entire staff on the democratic side of small business committee, thank you on behalf of america's small businesses and workers, and on behalf of our country. and to ron store half was been lot of these provisions on my staff in regards to the tax issues in regards to a lot of these other issues, thank him for all of his work, and to lauren g who is her health person without a helpless put together this small business package but she's been available to help maryland health providers and patients to try to ge

go to charlie gasparino, we're focusing on debate going on in the united states senate. barrasso who is addressing measures. this measure has price tag of two trillion, actually has a price tag it is and could be substantially bigger than that. charlie gasparino on that. explain, charlie. >> yeah, i mean i'm getting, my sources are some of the people, major investors who were in that meeting yesterday with the white house t was larry kudlow, it was vice president pence and of course president trump. what some of those people came out of the meeting telling me is that this whole notion of a 2 trillion-dollar price tag is kind of like a net number. the real amount of money, i will get into why how it may work out to two trillion or eyeball it at two trillion, the real number of fiscal stimulus package at least communicated by them at the them is larger. somewhere in the line of $10 trillion. what does that mean? you will have loans, you will have direct payments. you will have unemployment insurance. stuff will be handed out. government will get some of that back. some is i

ladies and gentlemen, my first guest tonight is a senator who served as california's attorney general and is currently running for president of the united states kamala harris! ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) >> thank you. >> stephen: thank you for being here! now, i want to talk about last night's debate. >> okay. >> stephen: but before we do that, there is news that just broke that none of these people know about, the "washington post" is reporting that lindsey graham is launching a probe of the bidens, burisma, and ukraine. first question: what the hell? >> yeah. >> stephen: you're on judiciary with him. >> yeah. >> stephen: what do you make of this? >> i make of it, it's the same thing that they have been doing, which is to create a big distraction from the facts and the evidence. and, frankly, you know, my perspective is, leave joe alone. just leave him alone. ( cheers and applause ) leave him alone. because this has been-- you know, we know this from every day of the-- thank god, the open-to-the-public hearings we have been witnessing. the burisma, the biden probe is a bunch of b.s. >> stephen: even, like, volcker said, there is

she's one of the most effective senators in the united states senate.gun to make america better every day in simple straightforward ways. folks, the story amy tells about that person franklin roosevelt as the train went by. she believes in that notion she didn't know the president that he knew me. it's everything amy is about. nobody has ever dealt with her doesn't think that she knows them and isn't that everything missing today amy's book is something that i sent to the campaign for president as well and to complete the total lack of empathy and decency in this current president, he cannot stay there. we all know it. there is no sense of decency or honor the way he ridicules people, the way that he demeans people. the fact that he's so self absorbed he doesn't seem to care about anything else in this country. i knew, i believe he wasn't going to be a very good president, but i have to mention with donald trump, i didn't have any idea how much it was always going to be about donald trump. it's having a corrosive impact on our children. we've already se

to beat donald trump, keep nancy pelosi speaker of the house, making sure we take back the united states senatend the texas state legislature, then join us! name acrats want to nominee who will build obamacare, not scrap it, take on the gun manufacturers, protect our children, who will stand up for the middle class, not raise taxes, then join us. if democrats want a nominee who is a democrat, a lifelong democrat, a proud democrat, and obama-biden democrat, then join us. [cheers] [applause] we can either win big or lose big. we need to build a coalition and a legacy of one of the most successor presidents of our lifetime, barack obama. [cheers] bringing thehis by country together. that is what has united amy and me all along. the idea that we had to unite our country. we were made fun of our -- by our competition. we refuse that republicans are our enemies. this time, we have to bring around everybody. gender,ce, ethnicity, disability, or economic situation. democrats, republicans, independents any strike. that is why i am so excited to bring amy -- who endorsed our campaign. who endorsed as wel

peters: i'm gary peters, proudly representing michigan in the united states senate. thecally you'd see democratic weekly address from a studio but like americans across country,

there is a shortage of respirators, and the united states senate has an opportunity to fix it. we have an opportunity to ensure the american people stay protected and healthy during this public health crisis. but my colleagues on the other side just stopped this from moving forward. and the american people need to understand what just happened here. as a result of this objection, i get to tell my omaha firefighters that their safety and the health and safety of our health care providers in nebraska and across this country are at risk. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: in response, i'm certainly not arguing that there is not a need for respirators. so let me be very clear that this provides immunity for respirator manufacturers from this point on-ward. so again i need to reiterate this has nothing to do with recognizing the need for respirators. what i am arguing is that there should be a time frame for this because this protection is supposed to be during a public health crisis. and i am saying that the way the house is approaching this is, they would

congressional correspondent mike emanuel shows us from washington. >> the minority leader of the united states senate threatened two associate justices of the u.s. supreme court -- period. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell blasted chuck schumer for these controversial comments. >> i want to tell you were such, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. >> president trump weighed in on twitter, schumer has brought great danger to the steps of the united state supreme court. he tried to clean things up this morning. >> i'm from brooklyn, we speak and strong language. i shouldn't have used the words i did but in no way was i making a threat. >> missouri republican senator josh hawley has called for him to be censured arguing it was no slip of the tongue. >> it was a direct personal threat and he did it deliberately -- senator schumer is not a dumb guy. >> the controversy had chief justice john roberts defending his colleagues but it's not the first time justices have been under political attack. president trump criticized what he called obama judges and received a public rebuke

laughter] >> but he also said 150 million people were killed with guns and he was running for the united states senateort me i'm running for the united states senate. there is something going on there. so now i'm ready for bernie and now all of a sudden i have a whole different deal, two very different people. i think in a certain way bernie would be tougher. >> jesse: the president still matches up beautifully against biden. biden doesn't have the a movement behind him. his base is fractured. he is soft on china, soft on the border, terrible on trade. bad instincts overseas. he likes aoc's green new deal. and he oversaw sluggish recovery while the trump economy created over half a million new jobs in giavasis the last two months. and he doesn't have a sharp enough tongue to go toe to toe with donald trump under the lights. and, by the way, where's hunter? here with reaction former new york city mayor and attorney for the president rudy giuliani. all right, mayor, do you agree with my assessment of you who things shook out? >> oh, sure, sure, i do. i think that bernie was so frightening they picked a

high-profile endorsements today, including the very influential former top democrat in the united states senate, former nevada senator harry reid. vice president biden also got the endorsement today of former obama national security adviser susan rice. vice president biden also today got the endorsement of vicki kennedy, the widow of the late senator ted kennedy, a liberal icon. this could be particularly influential in elizabeth warren's home state of massachusetts, one of the super tuesday states that will be voting tomorrow. vice president biden rolled out a host of other high-profile democratic endorsements in other super tuesday states as well. but as dramatic as this day has been for vice president biden's campaign, polls show unequivocally that it is senator sanders leading in the two biggest prizes on offer tomorrow on super tuesday, which are california and texas. between them they've got 600-plus delegates. to put that in perspective, you only need 1,900-something delegates to win the nomination. 600 of those delegates will be decided tomorrow in just the states of california and texa

we are americans and we're united states senators. the 100 of us have to speak to our own conscience in time of crisis in our nation's history, the senate has proven its ability to be the conscience of the nation, a steady guiding hand. that's what we have to do now. i am pleased that the house measure does not include legislation related to extending fisa, the foreign intelligence surveillance act. we have had months to deal with that. it has no place on urgent funding legislation to combat the current health situation. and i'm confident we can once again put aside partisan squabbles and help lead our nation forward. taking up this agreement as soon as possible is the first step. i will work with chairman shelby, the two of us will work together to shepherd this bipartisan, bicameral agreement through the senate and to the president. i would note -- and i will speak further on this later on, that there are an awful lot of members of our staffs, both republican and democratic, who have worked and worked and worked late nights, worked

last several days, madam president, in the midst of all of that they've also had to watch the united states senate spin it's wheel. as we convene this morning roughly 40% of our population is under stay at home orders from state leaders. employers across america are wondering how they'll keep the lights on. doctors, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals all crying out for support we literally have army field hospitals on the way to being set up in our major american cities. in the space of just a few weeks this has become unfortunately our new normal. this is a national crisis. it's the most serious threat to americans health in over a century and quite likely the greatest risk of america's jobs and nprosperity that we've seen since the great depression. hundreds of thousands of americans have lost our jobs because so much of commerce has been put on pause. families are wondering how they are going to pay their rent or mortgage. in eight days rent 1.is due on april 1 and they don't know how they're gonna play bills. or make a car payment. american seniors have seen decades of savings cut d

the floor. >> neil: all right, you don't often see that, the normally genteel florida of the united states senateout things are getting hot and heavy and not only between senator joe manchin a mitch mcconnell about between a number of other senators that were in each other's faces. let's get a sense of how things are going right now. senator joe manchin joining us. good to have you. >> good to be with you, neil, how are you? >> neil: good. have you and senator mcconnell talked since then, things calm down? >> they called out immediately right after that. the bottom line as mitch was saying, how could you not wait for another vote because you have 30 hours. first of all, you have 30 hours because someone objects. the senate and the house or the senate -- we don't object on the democrat side. mostly it comes from the republic is on objections paired with that being said, i told him, he has control. you get on the first culture we go on the billing get on the bill. he has total control of the agenda. he can fill it with what he wants to. then you get something jammed at you. we weren't dealing a goo

kennedy institute for the united states senate, it is my pleasure to welcome you.e a conversation about the intersection of early american history and contemporary political issues. if this is your first visit to the institute, i also want to welcome you to our full-scale replica of the united states senate chamber. at the kennedy institute, we are committed to engaging the public in a conversation about the role

when i -- when i got elected to the united states senate, 29-year-old kid, i wasn't old enough to beworn in after i won when the democratic candidate for president won by 33% of the vote, i won by ,000 votes statewide, new candidates said, what's your secret? i said i'll tell you what the secret is. have you figured out what's worth losing over? have you figured out what's worth losing over? sheila jackson lee has never wondered about what's worth losing over. she knows why she got involved. just like -- you know -- she's not only -- just like garcia, the first latina to represent houston in congress. she knows why she's involved. she's on the side of working families here in houston, standing up for the vulnerable, from her very first day as a legal aid lawyer. i understand that. i used to be a public defender when i was a kid, when i got out of school. houston is in good hands with such leadership and visionary leaders as you have fighting for you and the combination of the one who has been there and has great power in the congress, the one who is amassing power for the same reason

this is a proud moment of the united states senate and for the country. and we're going to win this battle in the very near future. with that, i'll take a couple questions if there are any. >> senator mcconnell, understanding of course this is a crisis and time is of the essence, this vote began and the public had not yet seen the bill. lobbyists had seen the bill. and none of the debate had been held in public. there is virtually no public debate on what looks to be the largest bill in american history. can you explain why that was, and should the pleasure have had more time to understand what this bill is that is meant to help them? >> do you work here? >> yes, sir. >> yeah, we're the elected representatives of the american people. walk you through it again. we laid down a bill as a result of consultation with republican members on key committees. we indicted our democratic friends to join us by sunday this week, we had a bipartisan bill as a starting place. then the speaker and the democratic leader came into my office on sunday. and that slowed down t

united states. had nothing to do with impeachment. it's just like, now, you hear mitch mcconnell and the president trying to blame nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, because the united states senate would not move as fast as many of us would have liked to when it came to round three. they chose, the administration chose to begin that negotiation with mitch mcconnell in the united states senate and it's just typical. when they can't get it done, they always try to point fingers at speaker pelosi. so this effort to divert blame and responsibility to others is just typical of both this president and this majority, republican majority leader. i should say when it comes -- >> senator, stay healthy. yeah? >> absolutely. take care. thank you. >> go ahead. finish your thought, sir. >> in terms of staying safe and healthy, i was on the phone this morning with two major medical systems in maryland, john hopkins medical system and their big issue was the lack of equipment for testing. as you've heard throughout the country, we've got to get our hands around this so that we can do more surveillance testing to try to bend that curve. so everyone's jaw dropped the other day when they heard the

an also said 150 million people were killed with guns and he was running for the united states senateere is something going on there. greg: what about bernie. was he all set for bernie? president trump: i was all set for bernie because i thought it was going to happen. we get ready for things. mentally i was all set for bernie. i said i think it will be hard for him to come back. greg: what can we expect from trump the incumbent candidate. he has plans to fly a blimp over swing states this summer to get his message out. you ask, why not a blimp? this blimp will be like a trump tweet flying over your head. i can't wait to see what it says on the blimp. trump, the on thing higher than the bernie bros is this blim. trump, this is the best blimp. everyone agrees, that i can tell you. trump, enough with the jasper pics, dana, we get it, you love your dog. writes hunter? he's got to do that. what gutfeld, but not "watters world." good year? how about four more great years? and finally, trump, how do i lands? i don't know how they lands blimps. i missed this in blimp school. this is the firs

the people who live and work your deserve to be treated with respect to there's no united states senator who represents the people in the district of columbia. some of us who live in the surrounding area work hard to do so. i just wish senators on the rest of the country, and especially in this case apparently our republican colleagues, , which show a little respect for the people who live in the capital of this great country. and they yield the floor. >> i asked nims consent cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed h.r. 748 be withdrawn. >> is her objection? without objection. >> i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 748. further, that the only amendments in order of the amendments to be offered by senator mcconnell, 1578, and senator sasse, 1577, or their designees. further, that the senate vote on the amendment with the 60-vote affirmative threshold for adoption. further following disposition of the sass and him and the mcconnell amendment as amended at the minute the agreed to. the bill as amended time and visitwi about on the p

in the united states senate particularly the fact there are an extreme number of older members there's a lot of, almost visceral concern inside the republican conference about what this means. not just for the state of the next vote, or the next bill that they consider, but to be frank, the actual health of the members they have. >> okay. phil, you underscored he was asymptomatic, what his office is saying. anymore detail about what provoked him to get the test? >> reporter: so the statement that senator paul's team put out, just to be cautious given the fact that, how much he traveled as a united states senator, how many people he meets. over the course of his time, given his job, he decided to go get a test. i don't yo when exactly the test was taken but he did receive the results this morning and, again, the news from his team is that he's asymptomatic and is feeling okay but did decide he needed a test. one of the things i heard from one republican senator, as we all travel a lot. not all have gone and gotten tested. is there now a need to be tested? now a need for many of them to

president, we're here on a saturday which is not typical for the united states senate, but these are not typical times. more than a month before cases popped up in every state across the country, some of the first coronavirus patients who were evacuated from china arrived in san antonio, texas. they were quarantined at lack

later in the hour on that legislation senator amy klobuchar will join us to explain why the united states senate led by republican leader mitch mcconnell has done absolutely nothing for days now while simply waiting for the house bill to arrive. we'll also get senator klobuchar's reaction to last night's democratic presidential debate in which joe biden promised to choose a woman as his vice presidential running mate if he wins the democratic presidential nomination. and my interview with joe biden a week ago included a very strong hint from joe biden that he would choose a woman who was on the presidential debate stage with him already this year. he said it thought it was a very important factor that the vice presidential candidate have experience already at that level on the presidential debate stage. so that means amy klobuchar is one of the women who has that experience. we'll talk to her about that later this hour. today at the white house press briefing on coronavirus pandemic the very first question was about the time frame americans should anticipate for when the situation might begin to