mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 695 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 695, an act to amend the national protection act of 1993 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the hatch substitute amendment at the desk be considered agreed to, the title amendment be aid greed to -- agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., tuesday october 17, further, following the pledge -- prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be app

mcconnell: no. others.esen. mcconnell: host: like to? sen. mcconnell: i wouldn't know. it has no impact on our ability to function in the senate, nor will it have any impact on the campaign. the key thing, it's you want to win a campaign, you have to have a candidate that can win. it is not complicated. the kind of people you are talking about, that element, just managed to blow the senate race in the brightest state in america. that is not a formula for victory. to the extent there are people running in primaries from the country who have no chance of winning an election, we will oppose them. we did it successfully in 2014, did it successfully in 2016, took the senate. andere more passive in 2010 2012. we are not doing that anymore. to win inea is to try november, because unless you win the election, you cannot make policy. make policy and losers go home and go into another line of work. host: so, you're going to put a byp to throwing away races endorsing candidates that can't when? sen. mcconnell: yeah. host: the book available on amazon, you say parties on both elves

mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations. executive calendar 327, 332, 333, and 337. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state, stephen b. king of wisconsin to be ambassador to the czech republic. barbara lee of california to be representative of the united states of america to the 72nd session of the general sellly of the united nations. christopher smith of new jersey to be representative of the united states of america to the 72nd session of the general assembly of the united nations. african development bank, j. steven dowd of florida to be united states director. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements

mcconnell: we will see. reporter: with no democrats. sen. mcconnell: we'll see. we obviously have gotten very little cooperation. i'm glad you raised. maybe at some point there will be more cooperation. reporter: on the supreme court nominee. given how tight some of these confirmation votes have been, obviously haven't gotten through what was done by the predecessor in 2013, the nuclear option, how confident are you that's not going to go that way with gorsuch? sen. mcconnell: i can't the number of times people have asked me about how this ends. what i will say is what i have said before. gorsuch will be confirmed. the president, his team, did a spectacular job in my judgment. they found the single, best qualified circuit judge in america. and i think the key to his confirmation is him. and he's impressing everybody he meets with on both sides of the aisle. senator grassley this week laid out the timetable for handling this. which is consistent with the way we have done supreme court justices in the past. we're going to follow that timetable. and he'll be confirm

mcconnell. he definitely wanted to put the bill on the floor this week, and he definitely wanted it to pass, there is no question about that. i think it is important to know that he has a long time to put it back together, but this is a clear sign that pressure works, and this is a clear loss for mitch mcconnell and the republican party. >> john, mr. mcconnell has seen every side of this crusade, from the clinton crusade that failed, the obama crusade, he saw what paul ryan went through. he knew this week was his best shot. he knows it only gets worse from here. >> i don't know about that. he knew this vote would fail. i disagree with some of your theory in that i don't think it is a must pass legislation for him, but i think it's a piece of legislation that he would like to pass. and i think it became clear he was not going to have the votes, and there would have been a jailbreak. he wouldn't have gotten 50 people. probably somewhere in the 20 to 30 range. i think he believes there is some chan

mcconnell: it would be good to have democratic support. if he picks someone with a background in law enforcement, with no history of political involvement, a genuine expert -- the reason that i mentioned garland, he's an example of that. it would serve him well, serve the country well, and lead to a more bipartisan approach. kevin: before we get the policy, i wanted to mention this tweet last week about james comey hoping that there are no tapes of their conversations. in have expressed confidence the republican-controlled committee investigating this, but should they have access to those tapes if they exist? sen. mcconnell: senator burr and senator warner are handling that investigation and will decide what they need. in the meantime, the rest of us not directly involved in that, i think we need to concentrate on what comes next. we need to have a great choice for you director. i anticipate the president will do that and move on. kevin: how has all of this drama has described influence your ability to get ahead with health care reform? so

mitch mcconnell can afford to lose two. so far, publicly mitch mcconnell has lost nine votes. nine republicans were ready to vote against mitch mcconnell's bill if he brought it to a vote this week. the latest whip count after the seemingly pointless meeting with republican senators and president trump at the white house shows that there are now eight republicans ready to vote no. ron johnson was moved from the no column to the undecided column today because he said he was simply unable to vote on the bill this week. and so by delaying the vote, it now becomes theoretically possible to get ron johnson's vote. but mitch mcconnell's biggest problem isn't actually the number of senators who are against the bill publicly. it's the number of senators who have said publicly that they are for the bill. there are only five of them. mitch mcconnell, mike enzi, lamar alexander, and jim enhop. that is it. no one else is willing to say they support mitch mcconnell's bill. that leaves 39 republican senators undecided. i have never seen less support for a majority leader's top-priority bill

mcconnell: it is all good. it makes the holidays so much better. >> [laughter] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> joined us this evening for american history television in primetime. ouris part of the c-span t cities with a focus on religion, at 8 p.m. eastern over on c-span3. eve, the debate on the merits of capitalism versus socialism. a "new york times" columnist moderates the event, held at cooper union great hall in new york city, at 6:3 zero p.m. eastern on sunday. also on sunday is the dedication ceremony for the museum of the bible in washington dc. mayorrs include the d.c. and israeli ambassador to the united states. starting at 9:50 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ >> this week>>, the 29th anniversary of the 10 am flight 103 bombing was marked by a ceremony at arlington national ceremony, with remarks by attorney general jeff sessions and family members of the victims. 103 from london to new york city w

mcconnell: i hope we can. year, in one of our partial funding bills, we did break out of the 50-50 symmetrical approach to this that our colleagues on the other side have been insisting on, that whatever dollar you increase defense beyond the sequester, you have to increase domestic by a dollar. we broke out of that in the summer, and i hope we can continue. defense has been hit harder by the budget control act than domestic programs. i think there is an urgency there. it is not that we do not intend to help on the domestic side, but i hope our friends will recognize, like they did last summer, that defense has a greater need and was further behind as a result of the sequester. reporter: in the summer, you had a tense period with the president. he publicly criticized you. you had a widely reported, tense phone call in august. how has your relationship evolved since that point -- what was that point like? when you've spoken to the president, has he ever brought up his concerns about the russia -- about the sena

mcconnell: i have a second degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnell, proposes an amendment numbered 1569 to amendment number 1568. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to refer the house message on h.r. 2266 to the committee on appropriations with instructions to report back forth with an amendment numbered 1570. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

mcconnell: good morning, everyone. i picked a heck of all week to have their and titus -- laryngitis. i talked more yesterday than any day this year. i apologize for sounding like donald duck. i am ready to go to louisville, kentucky, my favorite place in the world and i hope you are heading that way as well. this has been a your of -- >> [indiscernible] sen. mcconnell: you are welcome to come. this has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment by any objective standard. the supreme court justice is extraordinary qualified. the u.s. circuit court system working with 1891 the administration we have confirmed 12 circuit judges. that's the most in the first year of any administration since 1891. of course, we just completed comprehensive tax reform and there is nothing more challenging than that, which is why we have not done it in 31 years. this particular effort was even more challenging, because 31 years ago there was a bipartisan agreement that it was a good thing to do. i remember i had just gotten here. i was watc

mcconnell: let me say this. the political genius on display, throwing away a seat in the reddest state in america, is hard to ignore. >> do we have your thoughts on senator mccain? sen. mcconnell: the finest person i have served with in my time here. the person for whom i have the greatest admiration. we are watching him fight his way through this health care struggle with great admiration and we fully expect to have him back after the first of the year. >> the tax bill adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit. they expect a budget cap deal next year and disaster relief that doesn't have offsets. are you concerned about the impact this is having on the deficit? sen. mcconnell: i believe that the budget that bob corker and pat toomey negotiated, which allow that deficit, will be closed if we can grow the economy .4% over the next 10 years. .4% will close that gap. i do not believe it is going to be a deficit. i believe it will be at least revenue neutral. if the economy responds in the way we believe it is about to, and

blame mitch mcconnell. he bears some of the credit here and the failing and the appointing of people on the staff who weren't able to execute this or come up with a compromise that was going to get the votes necessary, you know, that is laid at his feet so what's this president do? what is he good at? whenever occupying the stage by himself, lawrence, he has a problem. he needs an enemy. he needs an opponent and mitch mcconnell, the man smiling next to him uncomfortably at the rose guard season the target. >> you mention the shift of paul ryan. it's fascinating one to watch. let's watch what paul ryan said today when he was asked about what his biggest obstacle is these days. let's listen to this. >> what is your biggest obstacle to getting tax reform passed? >> well, you ever heard of the united states senate before? >> david jolly, mitch mcconnell can't be happy with that. >> no. look. there's always been a divide at least in recent history of the chambers but to glenn's point and yours, lawrence, listen.

mcconnell mobilizing to, but mitch mcconnell is the majority leader in the senate. >> that's right. president trump has fired off angry tweets at majority leader mcconnell after his favor to reveal the affordable care act. president trump has attacked senator mccain. and it may not be clear. if he had any hope of getting his agenda around tax reform or the repair and repeal act, he needs the support of general franklin. he continues to attack public senators, both publicly and privately. >> it's weird that the senate has deteriorated to this point. it's a narrow majority in the u.s. senate. . >> september raised the nation's debt ceiling,. it would be in jeopardy. >> a default on america's credit would be a terrible thing for the markets, for america's role in the world. we've come close in previous congresss. folks have played a dangerous game of chicken. it's my hope that by the end of this month, we'll have both improved the debt ceiling and pl play. with republicans controlling both the house and senate and the white house, it's striking to. . >> what did you tell the president

mcconnell: yes. host: the book available on amazon, "the long game come call you say that politicians -- the long game, you say that parties on both sides too often see themselves as saviors? sen. mcconnell: welcome, i think people have anamazon, "the longl you say exaggerated sense of their own importance sometimes, and it is a good thing to avoid. host: something else you said in the book is that very often, as the reporters set up their ,tories in these narratives very often you play the villain. sen. mcconnell: i'm just a really nice guy. i don't know how i end up being a villain, it just amazes me. host: it sounds like you do not like laying the villain? apple mcconnell you can't be in this line of work and mind people everywhere happy. how do you deal with criticism? i said, one thing, the higher up you go, the more criticism you get. and you also have to decide whose opinion you care about. whose opinion do you care about? i care, for example, what some people think about me. such as charles k

senator mcconnell: they'll get to the bottom whatever happened. reporter: on the issue of -- you mentioned the debt ceiling, essential -- are you wanting that vote to happen before the august recess? senator mcconnell: yeah, ideally we'll deal with the debt ceiling before the august recess. reporter: are there spending cuts? senator mcconnell: we'll see. the debt ceiling must be raised. ok. thanks, everybody. >> and you can find that and

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene pro forma sessions only with no business being conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the senate adjourn until the next pro forma session. friday, november 17, at 11:00 a.m. tuesday, november 21, at 11:00 a.m., friday, november 24, at 11:00 amendment. i further ask that when the senate adjourns on friday, november 24, it next convene at 4:00 p.m. monday, november 27. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the friedrich nomination, with the time until 5:30 equally divided between got leaders or their designees. finally, notwithstanding utah provisi

mcconnell -- i mean, you have to say mcconnell started it. if we're going to the playgroundologic. >> everything is playgroundologic now. >> and what he said actually doesn't make any sense. it's not actually president trump's fault that for seven years republicans were talking about repeal and replace and then didn't have a plan in place. the expectation that they would after six months with a republican government be able to do something on obamacare wasn't something that president trump just artificially created. he accepted a timetable that essentially the congressional republicans came to him with. so i just think that this is kind of a blame shifting on the senate majority leaders part that you can expect president trump to respond to forcefully. >> one thing about mitch mcconnell, though, that is a little bit different when donald trump has had these spats with other republicans, they all eventually backed down. mitch mcconnell has a high tolerance for unpopularity. he has won multiple times in kentucky not as the most popular guy. he'

bannon declares war on mitch mcconnell. does have the president stand? and can anyone win this civil war? plus -- the blame game. >> when we get things approved we have to go through hell, because we have no democrat support. >> president trump calls on democrats to come to the table on health care. democratic senator chris coons joins us with his reaction. >>> and a plea for puerto rico. >> water's important. it's really important, and -- people are desperate. >> what will it take to turn the tide of this growing humanitarian crisis on u.s. soil? this is "mtp daily," and it starts right now. >>> good evening. i'm katy tur in new york in for chuck todd. welcome to "mtp daily." right now it looks increasingly as if the republican party as we flow it risks unraveling in large part because of the president's stalled agenda, which now looks less like an agenda and more like a wrecking ball. steve bannon this weekend declared open war on the republican establishment over its disloyalty and today while talking with reporters at c

for mcconnell, it's rarely ever personal. it is about winning and he and president trump agree on 90% of the republican agenda and 90% of what was on the ballot last year and i think the idea of the fact they have had conflict or heated conversation somehow jeopardizes that agenda is simply wrong. >> let's look if we can, first your thoughts, the men have traded verbal jabs at each other. here are a few of them that have come out in public. >> the president has of course not been in this line of work before. and i think had excessive expectations of how quickly things happen in the democratic process. >> [ inaudible ]? >> well, i'll tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal and replace done and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure, then you can ask me that question. >> so that's not an unnamed source there, jack, who was not expressing -- far from expressing support for the republican majority leader. in fact, he was saying if he doesn't get thi

back to mcconnell. joining me now is senate majority leader chuck schumer. senator, the argument that mitch mcconnell wants to make is they are just trying to get on with the people's business and president obama when he was elected in 2008 and staffing up in 2009, there was a bunch of hearings set that first week. is this fair? is this fair turnabout or is there something different happening this time around? >> oh, way different, chris. the bottom line is, senator mcconnell sent that letter to harry reid, the one i read on the floor and as you probably noted i just crossed out the name harry reid and put in mitch mcconnell and then crossed out the signatory which was then mitch mcconnell and put in my name. but the difference, the major difference is all of the obama nominees complied with mcconnell's request and that's how they got through quickly. a large percentage, the majority of these nominees has not complied with this request and these nominees demand it even more so. first, there are a huge n

mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, particularly mcconnell has been around a long time. he's put up with different personalities. obviously the president is a unique one. no doubt about that. but he's going to be focused as the speaker on trying to get the agenda passed. look, i agree with amanda. i think the president is in a great position right now. i think he is trying to stress to the leader that there is -- you better feel a sense of urgency in getting these things done. you know, i've got my attack dog out here, and he's going to destroy your leadership if you don't deliver for me. i know that -- i'm sure mitch mcconnell doesn't want to hear that, but the reality is it's going to happen whether donald trump has steve bannon as an attack dog or not. the republican leadership better start delivering on these two big things, both tax reform and repeal and replace obamacare or this leadership team and certainly in the senate and probably in the house are going to be in big trouble come next election. >> amanda, does any of this blow back, if nothing gets done, does no

trump going after mcconnell yet again? why ultimately the back and forth between the president and his senate leader may not actually matter that much. but we'll start with the report of an ongoing secret back channel between the united states and north korea. news of that effort coming from the associated press, just as president trump and north korea are ramping up the war talk today. the president says a military solution is, in his words, locked and loaded. that came just hours after north korea suggested a preemptive strike could lead to, quote, thermonuclear war. world leaders, meanwhile, are telling the parties to walk it all back a step. germany's angela merkel saying escalating in the rhetoric is the wrong answer while russia's foreign minister calls the talk over the top. as for china, an editorial in a state-run newspaper there suggests that the country should remain neutral if north korea strikes first. however, it also had this message for both countries. quote, when their actions jeopardize china's interests,

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. wednesday, november 15. further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. finally, following leader remarks the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the zatezalo nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: no further business to come before the senate, it stands adjourned

same with mcconnell. these guys are doing the things that you would do in a normal republican presidency, but dealing with a guy who they can't predict on the other end. >> a quick break and a lot more to talk about up next. including a senate republican making a stunning suggestion about why john mccain voted against repealing obamacare and now walking that controversial comment back. we'll explain, after the break. whoooo. you're searching for something. like the perfect deal... ...on the perfect hotel. so wouldn't it be perfect if... ....there was a single site... ...where you could find the... ...right hotel for you at the best price? there is. because tripadvisor now compares... ...prices from over 200 booking... ...sites ...to save you up to 30%... ...on the hotel you want. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. hundreds of dollars on youmy car insurance. saved me huh. i should take a closer look at geico... (dog panting) geico has a 97% customer satisfaction ra

mcconnell has promised to do it in this congress. mcconnell walked the timetable forward. >> mr. president, would you be okay if tax reform did not pass until next year? >> i would like to see if this year. i would like very much to see it this year. >> the goal is this calendar year but it's important to remember obama signed obamacare in march of year two. obama signed dodd-frank in july of year two. >> the president fielded questions for some 45 minutes. making no apology for cutting obamacare subsidies. >> the insurance companies have made a fortune with obamacare, an absolute fortune. as you know what i did with the cuts at the end which were -- you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars a month going into the pockets of the insurance companies and i'm very happy with what i did. >> any flurry of questions and answers, the president said he will consider whether it's appropriate to travel to the demilitarized zone in his visit to south korea. he will meet with roy moore next week to talk about more's views. the sonic attacks on u.s. diplomats in that hillary clinto

blame mitch mcconnell. he bears some of the credit here and the failing and the appointing of people on the staff who weren't able to execute this or come up with a compromise that was going to get the votes necessary, you know, that is laid at his feet so what's this president do? what is he good at? whenever occupying the stage by himself, lawrence, he has a problem. he needs an enemy. he needs an opponent and mitch mcconnell, the man smiling next to him uncomfortably at the rose guard season the target. and knowledge in the topic. blame mitch mcconnell. he bears some of the credit here and the failing and the appointing of people on the staff who weren't able to execute this or come up with a compromise that was going to get the votes necessary, you know, that is laid at his feet so what's this president do? what is he good at? whenever occupying the stage by himself, lawrence, he has a problem. he needs an enemy. he needs an opponent and mitch mcconnell, the man smiling next whenever occupying the stage

mcconnell? like does that suddenly like -- i mean, does that bring this feud and suddenly the party feels as if, oh, my god, mcconnell is a liability? >> well, but he's also donald trump's candidate at this point -- >> i know. >> the lines are all crossed on that. >> they are. but if strange -- i mean, the entire month brooks campaign and dprangel roadway moor campaign is luther strange is mitch mcconnell's guy. so does this become this kind of referendum on mcconnell? >> definitely. the fact that trump has endorsed strange, you would think that would help him. but the fact that mcconnell and his pack are supporting his candidates, i think it's a kiss of death. >> and there are ads being run -- this is not just a washington salon issue. mcconnell is being invoked in television ads. >> recent polling, moor is ahead. >> and i'll remind people, roadway moor, eyes, it's that roadway moore. >> and is that the first time thatible someone has called month brooks liberal. >> brooks couldn't be in a bett

>> it tells me that mitch mcconnell is still mitch mcconnell. he's the kind of person that if there's going to be a break when it comes to mitch mcconnell and this white house over something like this, what you're going to see first is virtually every other republican senator breaking with the white house. you're going to see a lot of noise on the republican side saying we need a special prosecutor, this is outrageous, then somebody like mitch mcconnell, the leader of the party, a very cautious leader, a very plodding leader, somebody who never gives away more in public -- an inch more in public than he thinks he's got to move away, then he'll move, then he'll act, then he'll reflect it >> i wked for mch mcconnell t. for ten years when i was in the senate. >> describe him in one word. >> a poker player. he never tells you what he's thinking and he never makes a move without seeing how you react first. >> wow. mike, i want you to come back in here. what can senate democrats actually do? i'm looking at the statement that dianne feinstein put out e

>> this is a process that senator mcconnell worked through. obviously he'll call the vote just like the speaker in the house. we'll keep making sure we get there. end of the day, the results matter. not necessarily the process. we want to fulfill the promise republicans are making, that the president has been making we're going to lower premiums and improve access for americans and get it done the right way. as this process moves forward, when the votes are there, the senate will call the vote. >> reporter: how deep into the policy and the problems that some of his fellow republicans have is the vice president getting? how much is he trying to problem-solve on the policy to get those votes where they need to be? >> i think working with senators on both sides, in terms of the caucus and where they are and what their specific issues may be. as a former governor, he knows this is very much a state issue and how the states are impacted by the health care legislation. so what he's looking to do is make sure we give states flexibility to allow them

tweeting it about mitch mcconnell. he said the on problem with mitch mcconnell is hearing about repeal and replace for seven years and nothing happening. sarah huckabee sanders said everything is fine, the relationships with great between the white house and congress that they have a shared agenda, that they're going to move forward on. listen to how she put it. >> i can tell you the president continues to be committed to repealing and replacing obamacare and making sure that america has good healthcare and the healthcare that they deserve. >> but given what happened before the august recess, does he really have a chance of getting it through? >> look, we're committed to continuing to make sure that we have the best healthcare we can. if we can do that in that direction, that is great. if we can, we need to look for other ways to make solutions. >> sarah huckabee sanders replying to a question that i put to her because i had heard from white house officials that in the meeting that he had with the senate majority leade

which is mitch mcconnell. but he take as shot at him by saying he gets where steve bannon is coming from. so do we have some sort soft expectation they're going to come out of the that meeting and say hey, everything's cool and we have a legislative agenda and we know how we're going to get there? >> i don't think we'll have that, but i think we'll be mcconnell's part at least sort of bringing this down so they can figure out what this is. what mcconnell and ryan are not used to is a white house that has no clear directional point to go to. typically, in this situation, you get some keys to the white house, you could roll some things by them. they're shop and the hill are on the aim page. that's not the case here. the president is on again, off again on health care. he's on again, off again on a number of foreign policy issues. the only thing he's on about is taxes. that may be the one piece of ground in which these two gentlemen can begin to carve out a legislative space to get something done. >> he has as ma

trump and mcconnell had been aligned on the trump-mcconnell-ryan agenda, whatever you want to call it the last six months. this first attempt did not work out. it does not mean a tax reform would not work out. if the republicans fail to keep their promises, they will all fall together. it won't happen separately. if donald trump is upset with washington, wait until we don't have one or both houses in congress. >> a lot easier then, scott. to scott's point, regardless of who is to blame, going forward, they need each other. >> yeah. definitely. >> how does this help, calling each other out, i mean, i barely think that -- i have to say, mcconnell calling him out, that might be calling trump out mcconnell style, but trump has been a lot rougher. how does this help make tax reform go any easier when this is happening? >> here is the thing. the fact that we are in the stage of blaming each other is not good. it does not tend well. but, you know, i am with trump on this issue because -- >> that's saying a lot. mitch mcconnell is allowed to hide on the sidelines, not say anything, zip his li

and we know mitch mcconnell has talked about that, and i think that the more people are willing to say that publicly, the more we're going to hear it. >> i think we have reached a tipping point where americans are starting to give voice to this. >> they not only stuck by this, but trump won the nomination with one endorsement from his own party inside the senate. he got to where he is without help from basically any republican senators. and i think the end of that, julia's point that was really important, this speech last night was not for the james clappers of the world. he's lost democrats. he's all but lost republicans and inside the white house, there's a real fear that he's on the verge of losing his own base. so if he's going to back to republic republicans, he's going to stop this need for a free for all. >> maybe this wasn't such a bad idea and it's a picture of president obama speaking at a classroom with two teleprompters there, kind of funny about how controlled president obama was with the joke being, maybe, sticking to telepromters not such a horrible idea for presidents.

, it clear that the information from there came from mcconnell, headline, mcconnell in private doubts if trump can save the presidency, really, blast after blast about the president he was the elected to serve. he said, time after time, in this article, mr. mcconnell has mused about whether mr. trump would be in a position to lead republican party next year, and expressed horror to advisers after more trump's commenting equating white supremacist in charlottesville with protesters who rallied against him, on and on, high take he takes his points from mainstream media. >> he has been opposition. this time he has to help push the president's agenda forward. david: it looks like he is trying to undermine him. >> no question, he is. he and president need to sit down, have a one-on-one dinner or bring their spouts, an spouses, say, this is what i want, what do you want: get a compromise, move forward. we have a big agenda ahead of us. david: elaine chao is in president's cabinet, she said she serves both men in her life, mitch mcconnell, her husband and donald trump the president. do you t

that's what mcconnell is most focused on. and in the meantime, i think he'll focus on the more urgent priorities that congress is going to turn to, and on tax reform, which is something that the president and leader mcconnell are both very interested in getting done and working together to achieve that. >> but when you have president trump blasting mitch mcconnell, how do you even start to move forward on something like tax reform? >> i think that staffs a to the white house and in the senate have been working very closely together, for instance, on tax reform and on all of these other issues for months. so i don't think that this one exchange is really going to define this relationship or the legislative agenda going forward. >> is it just, i want to come to jim and amber here, hang on for a second, who will hang out with me. is it just this unexchange? can the staff, as brian is making his point, can the staffs overcome some of this? >> the funny thing is, this is about -- they're both right, right? trump's mad because mcco

they brought up mcconnell. i would say but donald trump came here to town and said would you please, alabama vote for luther strange. they said it's not for strange, not for mcconnell. not for the super pac. he they said we are here to drain the trump, we are here for trump. as you heard steve bannon say he said this is the dave reckoning today for the likes of mitch mcconnell, he can throw as much money this way but ultimately the grassroots will come through like they did last year. >> you were embedded in the 2016 campaign, you were in plenty of states on a primary day, a caucus day, and you could feel whether turnout, you can sometimes tell whether there is engagement or not. are people engaged in this race? or is this looking like a low turnout? >> it may be a low turnout night just on pure numbers. there was 18% turnout a month ago for the first special. on the streets i was surprised by the number of people who were interested and knew what was happening. i was in fair hope earlier walking around the str

you for the spotlight, senators mcconnell and johnson are speaking. apparently senator johnson hasn't voted yet, so what do you think's going on? >> yeah, i mean, this is interesting. ron johnson, of course, from wisconsin, had expressed some displeasure early on with the way this whole thing was going. with sort of side -- his sense that sort of side deals were being cut or that the leadership wasn't being particularly transparent with members of the party, with republican senators. so unclear what they're talking about there. you imagine that john mccain will finally cast the final vote, and that would be a "yes" vote and maybe the idea is that johnson casts the vote yes before but certainly some drama as this thing comes down to the wire. with two outstanding votes out, we know john mccain is a yes vote and it's unclear about what ron johnson is going to do, what he's talking about there with mitch mcconnell. but again, i think this is a testament to how difficult this has been. i mean, just this motion to open debate has really proven, i think, ho

and left it to mcconnell and mcconnell didn't know a lot of times where he stood. at the same time, the president is endorsing luther strange in the alabama race and that's a guy that senator mcconnell stands behind. "senator luther strange has done a great job. he has my complete and total endorsement." mo brooks is the other guy. >> mold brooks is the one who agrees with donald trump of there, they ought to abolish the filibuster. that's his whole campaign in alabama. it's hard to understand that's politics. there's always a little bit of theater, always a little bit of stage management of these conflicts. i must say donald trump is not a millennial but he seems to have trouble understanding and connecting with mitch mcconnell too. i think that's about the different worlds of a lawmaker from way back from kentucky, and real estate developer from queens. these guys are not connected. in fact the president didn't just sit out the health care thing, he meddled in ways that made it more difficult at times for mitch mcconnell to get it done. there are some people, the

why the numbers matter from mcconnell. senate republicans trying hard to squeeze through a latest health care bill introduced by graham and cassidy. close. coming down to one or two republican senators. president trump is backing the bill says he's behind the republican leaderships effort to get it passed siding with conventional republicans. might be ricksky. not the only way he's doing. friday, the pret heads to alabama to stump for mcconnell's pick in the senate primary runoff. president trump is siding with luther strange, republican backed by mcconnell. while strange's opponent has support of people like steve bannon and sarah palin. arguably animate the trump base. that primary held tuesday. folks, if we see either of these things fall through in the coming day, not like we expect president trump to blame himself. from our poll his voters will be more than willing to find a scapegoat in the name of mitch mcconnell. joined by the pollsters behind the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. gentlemen. i would say the most

trump and senator mcconnell speaking after they had lunch. republicans are still looking for their first legislative win. president trump has blamed leader mcconnell for failing to deliver on healthcare saying he's very disappointed in mitch. the president has also worked with democrats to cut a deal on raising the u.s. borrowing limit. leader mcconnell has accused the president of having excessive expectations. he pointed to the democratic process saying that's the way it is in our country. today both the president and leader mcconnell insists they have the same agenda. before their lunch meeting, the president said he understands fully why his former chief strategist steve bannon says he's campaigning against leader mcconnell and other leaders. >> i know how he feels. there's some republicans frankly that should be ashamed of themselves. but most of them -- i know the republican senators. most of them are really great people that want to work hard and they want to do a great thing for the american public. but you have a few people that disa

mcconnell: mr. president, i believe i have the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader has the floor. mr. mcconnell: just to let everybody know, all i am doing is setting up a vote for tuesday afternoon at 4:15. that's what i was asking consent on. mr. merkley: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. merkley: i reserve the right to object, mr. president. i was very gracious in agreeing to a unanimous consent request that would grant me ten minutes. that was cut short by the filibuster of my colleague who repeatedly brought me into the conversation, refused to yield to my question, so i ask unanimous consent to have two minutes to close. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there objection to the majority leader's request? mr. merkley: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of t

mcconnell any advice. you tell the president, mr. mr. president, if you stand by mitch mcconnell's side, you can't stand by my side. if you support a man and say you understand what he is doing a guy who is your friend and says his life's work is destroying me and everybody around me, i'm not coming over. i'm not working with you. i'm going to do my own again do you and, yet, he's in there sitting there talking. there is really no excuse for it. you can have people say all they want. well, he's a majority leader. yeah, he is a majority leader. but the president is trying to destroy him and destroy people who work for him. so don't stand by him and smile anding a like nothing's happened. >> at the same time the president says he wants to get deals done, he goes out and says the things he says publicly about mitch mcconnell, mitch mcconnell isn't fooled by the niceties president trump dropped on him in the rose garden. as mika just showed a couple hours earlier, he was on board with the bannon plan, steve ba