it doesn't sound like mitch mcconnell has that. let me go to somebody who is having a pretty good day and that's chair, thank you very much for coming on the show. much appreciated. >> good to be with you today. >> i don't know if you had a chance to listen to mitch mcconnell. let me play what he said democr in your chamber may end up doing when it comes to president trump. listen. >> the whole issue of presidential harassment is interesting. i remember when we tried it in the late '90s. we impeached president clinton. his numbers went up, and ours went down, and we underperformed in the next election. so the democrats in the house will have to decide just how much presidential harassment they think is good strategy. i'm not so sure it will work for them. >> congressman, your response? >> i think, look, michael and donna were spot on. there's a difference between what leader mcconnell is peddling there and meaningful oversight. members of the president's administration are currently under the department of justice investigation. we

moderator: see you agree in part with what senator mitch mcconnell says. mr. curtis: i don't call it an entitlement program. people have been playing in to this that people have been paying into this. the government does pay their portion for the people and the government to get that care. the paradigm shift that have mentioned about the private sector subsidizing, they are paying that portion that they currently pay directly. the reason the system operates at 1/10 the cost is because it is a managed competition, over 200 private insurance providers. the competition provides excellence. one last thing on it, the plan didn't go through because president obama at the time didn't think the private sector would buy into the idea. the other benefit is your insurance becomes portable. your insurance moves with you if you change jobs. the plan is the same but it's a different employer subsidizing the policy. that was the big selling point. sen. hirono: both of whom are very a strong supporters of the affordable care act, by the way. the reason mitch mcconnell is sayi

mitch mcconnell. let's discuss. mitch mcconnell, here is mitch mcconnell at a kentucky rally -- this is cut two for my producers. august 6, 2016. here was mitch mcconnell. >> one of my proudest moments is when i looked barack obama in the eye and said mr. president, you will not fill the supreme court vacancy. >> the guy with the record number of filibusters, scorched earth. we vote for nothing that has president obama's name on it. we don't want money to help recovery. we don't want healthcare. we want nothing. it's all a no. all 100% partisanship every day of his life. he's like, will the democrats be bipartisan and help us? what is happening with your senate leader? >> well, look, i've never really been a big mitch mcconnell fan. being a tea partier he's never been my favorite guy. it's kind of like john snow at the last season in game of thrones asking what was his name, to help him in the end. i think -- >> yeah, on the game of throne reference. well played. >> i think nancy pelosi has her own bit of hypocrisy

i mean, mitch mcconnell is in charge. jeff flake is wandering off into the darkness these last few days as a senator. i mean, this is not a fair fight. mitch mcconnell and a 98-pound weak ling named jeff flake is just not -- you know, that is not going to happen. and that means that the administration is going to have a free hand to do with mueller what they will. and we'll see what happens. >> jeff flake would probably argue he's wandering into the light, not the darkness, as he leaves the u.s. senate. but, you know, mitch mcconnell has been very resistant to do this. but if things change as we get closer to mueller issuing his report or people like lindsey graham and democrats, frankly -- much more importantly, get word that it is problematic, mcconnell could be forced to change his mine. jeff flake or not. and that's just the reality, the political reality for the republicans who i know we just had an election. but the republicans -- the landscape for republicans in the next election, in 2020 -- never mind the presiden

shortly to start, is the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell. he will talk about the results, what is going on in the senate, and i suspect he will address the senate races yet to be determined. at 11:30 a.m., president trump expected to speak. you have heard john talk about twitter. around noon today, the house minority leader, nancy pelosi will give comments as well. you can catch these events on c-span, stay close to www.c-span.org. right now we take you to senator mitch mcconnell, at his press conference. >> good morning everyone. i have one of the cable networks on this morning, they said this is a rare opportunity to see mitch mcconnell smile. it is indeed a good morning person republicans -- for senate republicans. first last night and this morning i talked to leader nancy pelosi, we discussed ways we might be able to find a way forward. have had an opportunity to work together for a number of years, when we were both on the appropriations committee. she had the foreign operations subcommittee and so did i. we are not unfamiliar with each

with that mitch mcconnell writes this op-ed. senator mitch mcconnell. the headline. will dems work with us or simply put partisan politics ahead of the country? how will it go, byron? size it up. >> first we have to see who will be leading the house. nancy pelosi looks like she has the votes to become speaker. we have seen some groups like the problem solvers caucus, a more centrist group. progressive caucus a more left group. we have seen them express unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the idea of nancy pelosi becoming the speaker of the house, but you are hearing a phrase around capitol hill a lot these days which is you can't beat somebody with nobody. and all the democrats who are elected who said they didn't want to vote for nancy pelosi for speaker, all of them have not been able to unite around a single candidate. so it is basically nancy pelosi versus nobody and she is probably going to win. >> bill: i'm keeping an eye on mitch mcconnell to see how it goes. you tweeted this. it's a long one. are you ready? with that as a background here is what you write. b

mcconnell, criminal justice reform bill, up to mitch mcconnell. you saw the passion of lindsey graham. he is ready to fight on one. and not fight as much on the other. >> i was fascinated by his vehemence on the prison reform bill. and mitch mcconnell reflects some resistance in the republican base but if we look at the results of the midterm election, we can see the country moving toward the spirit of criminal justice reform. in florida, when ron desantis was elected governor and it appears that rick scott was elected senator, more than 60% of floridians voted to restore voting rights for felons. 1.5 million people. that is to the detriment of the republican party. yet republican and democratic voters came together to do it. i think whether or not this criminal justice reform bill happens in this lame dumb, -- lame duck or some point down the road, we're headed down that direction. >> he wants the president to pick up the phone and call mitch mcconnell to tell him to do that. >> there are people inside the white house trying to push this, notably

he is out there, he is out there beating mitch mcconnell and killing mitch mcconnell when he was sitting in the white house. what trump finally understood when they got bannon out of there was mitch mcconnell can help me. if i am nice to mitch mcconnell three days a week he is going to help me be a historical figure and as soon as trump figures out there was a deal to be made with mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham, he made them and so the way i rationalize all of this, the president ultimately asked his core is someone who believes fair trade is free-trade and on the issue of him as an establishment figure he will make a deal with anybody including chuck schumer if he feels it will make him a winner and make the country a winner and that is not a bad president to have, everybody. >> i will go to you, charlie. one could argue there is a trend in politics that began in kennedy next in but has been speeding up in the modern era. do you think we are getting to the point that style matters more than substance and we are reaching the end of ideology moment where if you can win and you are con

senate and mitch mcconnell that is correct , but mitch mcconnell is majority leader because of donald trump because of two states. pat toomey and ron johnson were in tightly contested reelection bid in states that donald trump carried. he brought out democrats to pull republican ballots the first time in their lifetime. otherwise chuck schumer would leader ifmajority donald trump had not brought out another 100,000 working-class middle-class voters. >> also them across state home in pennsylvania because hillary if you did not -- combine what hillary clinton and donald trump got in pennsylvania, it did not equal what barack obama got in his reelection in 2012. >> no doubt. i am of the opinion that donald trump one, not that hillary clinton lost. he talked to a part of america that has been ignored for 30 years. >> you can't say they all turned out for him. >> democrats nominated the worst person they could have run. >> they didn't turn out for him either. that was her point. >> the only one who was on the campaign, ran the state of pennsylvania. the president won pennsylvania, hillary

in that case, it was mitch mcconnell. that's how you get bills up on the floor. they didn't defeat this piece of legislation. mitch mcconnell simply blocked them from considering this bill on the floor to protect bob mueller. >> neil: senator flake is saying that he would oppose any of the presidents judicial nominations until legislation protecting bob miller gets a vote. that's pretty strong stuff. >> to consider we are at the end of the year, there are some nominees lined up in committee here and the ratio on that committee has 11 republicans to ten democrats. there's a way to get those nominations out of committee and onto the floor. they have that narrow turning radius on the floor to confirm the folks. 51 votes at least until next year. what jeff flake is tying to lord over mitch mcconnell's head, because there is bipartisan support in both bodies to move this piece of legislation and you can bet that when democrats get control of the house of representatives next year, they will make a point of trying to move such a piece of legislation to protect bob muel

but mitch mcconnell couldn't get it done when he had congress. so tonight the texas minuteman private militia leader is taking matters into his own hands. he says if mcconnell can't get the money, he says he might as well try. president of the texas minutemen, shannon mcgalley. i hear you are starting founding campaign for the border wall. what are you doing? >> i set it just? in case we kept the house. we are going to try to raise $100 million and hopefully trump will match us with $100 million and it will get us started with building the wall. trish: is this showing your lack of faith on coming together to get it done? mitch mcconnell couldn't get it done when he had the house and senate. >> we have been working on this for 13 years. we want a wall. a wall would make us a secure nation. on 9/11. we have the patriot act. i can't imagine what congress will throw at us when the next terrorist threat happens in the u.s. trish: i was asking for your motivation for actively taking this into your own hands and police the border. you said you don't wan

i think it's in no danger. >> you can see mitch mcconnell there. they did a round robin of the new leadership and some of the existing leadership that will be taking tphoefr january. he's answering questions kind of about what's on the docket there going forward. but we want to get back to our discussion here on the couch about the border and the border situation. i'm not sure if you finished your point. we were talking about the fact that if you see general mattis there. this has been a controversy. what's your take? >> just to emphasize, i think that those critics who said that this was all a stunt, the president talking about this, emphasizing the caravan, sending the troops to the border, it was all just political. clearly been proven wrong. there's a serious issue here. it's good to see that same approach from the administration being implemented after the election as before the election. >> marie, why do you laugh? >> as one of those critics, i think you're being a little too black and white here. the reason i didn't like the president's rhet

to mitch mcconnell, who fought miners getting pension and health care for three years. we finally got the health care and now the pensions. he's fighting this. and ton on -- on top of that he wants to cut social security and medicare which is what he intended to do with legislation he's done and worked on when he ran for congress. i was raised and born in farmington, west virginia, lived here all my life. people know me. talk about trust, i have been in many offices because of the trust of the people. i've done everything i can to operate under that trust. when i was governor, we basically put our state in better shape than ever before. my grandma, mama kay, raised in farmington, she was a one-woman social worker my grandfather taught me fiscal responsibility. i applied that when i became governor. i have done everything i can to make sure every decision i make is going to help west virginia. every problem that we have. i haven't looked at democrats and republicans as a cribe. i looked at them as people who can get together, bring different ideas and fix our problems. r

senator and company, mitch mcconnell. that's correct, but mitch mcconnell is speaker because he brought on democrats to poll the first time in the lifetime. either-wise been chuck schumer majority leader if they brought out another hundred thousand working class voters. >> and democrats stayed home in the rust belt, pennsylvania, because hillary clinton did not get even the same amount-- >> if you combine what hillary clinton and donald trump had, it's not what barack obama was able to get in his election in 2012. >> i'm of the opinion that donald trump won and hillary clinton lost, but we can talk about that. [applause] he talked to a part of america that's been ignored for years. >> you can't say that they didn't come out-- >> and the democrats ran probably the worst person they could. >> they didn't turn out for him either. finish your points. >> the only one who was actually on the campaign, right, i ran the state of pennsylvania. the president won pennsylvania. hillary clinton's numbers would have been won any other

>> i agree with mitch mcconnell, he's got it exactly right. he's got and no indication thae will not be able to complete his investigation and we have steered clear of what he's doin doing. in my opinion it's important that we not have have yet anotr attorney general of the united states to recuse himself from a broad issue that relates to the public's trust in the department itself and in the fbi. the new director of the fbi, christopher wray, has made tremendous strides in changing personnel at the bureau and moving forward and taking the inspector general's recommendations to heart. we need an attorney general who will do the same thing and i expect that from mr. whitaker. it could take a month or two. >> harris: real quickly, you were exiting -- not so lame right now because there's a lot to get done before january. what are some of your plans moving forward? >> in the remaining weeks in office we have to complete this investigation, we have major people we need to interview under oath with multiple questions, including former attorney gen

. >> with more indictments expected soon, democrats woman a bim to protect muel mitch mcconnell says no. lindsey graham says the investigation is safe. could a showdown over mueller lead to athshutdown of government. this morning i'll talk to south carona republican senator lindsey graham. >>> plus the cia determines that saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman ordered the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. but will president trump accept that conclusion. >> we also have a greatll ay in saudi arabia. >>> also, the democrats ohio hope. >> let them hear wt we say. let them see what we do. >> is sherrodrown the democrat who can win back ohio and working class voters in the midwest? >> that is the blueprint for america for 2020. >> he sounds like he's running fo presiden is he? my interview this morning with senator sherrod brown of ohio. >>> and mapquest, why both parties can find encouraging signs and danger signals for 2020. joining me are nbc news white house correspondent hallie jackson, rich lowry, editor of "national review." yamiche alcindor, and cnbc editor at large, john harw

mitch mcconnell is coming up. i may have to interrupt you >> yesterday infrastructure materials, in the last five days the number one performer. >> sandra: mitch mcconnell has just walked out. let's listen. >> it is indeed a good morning for senate republicans. over the course of the last -- first last night and then this morning i talked to leader pelosi. we discussed ways we might be able to find a way forward. she and i actually have had some -- have had an opportunity to work together for a number of years when we were both on the appropriations committee. she had the foreign operations subcommittee and so did i. so we're not unfamiliar with each other and we'll probably have a lot more dealings with each other in the future. in looking at the race, i want to thank the president. he was extremely helpful to us in states where he is in excellent shape. he worked very hard and drew large crowds and i think it clearly had a positive impact on the outcome. so with that let me throw it open and see what you would l

so mitch mcconnell senate is unlikely t pass that. robert: could some republicans get behind a gas tax? chamber ofypommerce? lisa: potentially. i haven't heard any yet and i think that's me -- on the local, that's more safe than in congress. robert: lisa's point about where the money comes from isim rtant. the president really wants public-private partners on infrastructure to g to the trillion dollar mark. erica: that was his proposal, something like $200 million in public funding that he thought would unlock all of this private funding which democrats basically laughed at and as know, the idea of infrastructure week when there would ben infrastructure bill became a joke over the past congress. on the gas tax,he president himself, we've reported at the "post," in private meetings early in the year, threw out the idea of raising the gas tax,at e could be open to it. the way this president operates, he can change his position on a dime and you could see him coming around to that, as lisa said, it's not something mcconnell would want to

so why did mitch mcconnell just block a bipartisan bill to protect him? >>> and breaking news, michael avenatti arrested for boadomest violence. good evening. bitter, furious, and unwell. that's how people close to the president are

nancy pelosi talking about bipartisanship, who she's talked with on the hill, senator mitch mcconnell and others about bipartisanship. we started our coverage with the president of the united states inside the white house, and he mentioned talking with nancy pelosi and others about bipartisanship going forward and that news conference with the president making all sorts of news. some tense moments with the media and some of those showcasing their own -- would it just be bad behavior? we will get into it a little bit, you've seen it all today on this broadcast station of fox news and fox news channel. please stay tuned to fox news channel for continuing coverage. i'm harris faulkner in new york. >> harris: all right, we are going back to capitol hill now, nancy pelosi is taking questions. let's watch. >> asking for information, we can just make the request and the information will come in. concern about what's happening with the epa for example, degrading the air we breathe in the water we drink despite what the president said, that's only one example. i don't think we'll have any scat

on top of that, his unwavering support to mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell has fought in the minors from getting pension and health care for years. we finally got health care, and no pensions here he is fighting us again. on top of that, he wants to cut social security and medicare. and born in west virginia, live sure all my life, people know me and i talk about trust. i have been in many offices because of the trust of the people, done everything i can to operate under that trust. and when i was governor, we basically put our state in better shape than ever before. my grandmother took care of everybody, she was a one-woman social worker. my grandfather taught me fiscal responsibility. i have done everything i can to make sure every decision i make will help west virginia. i have not looked at democrats and republicans as a tribe, i look at it as people who come together and fix. now, it has become tribal. i trust the people of west virginia. i believe in you more than you believe in yourself. i would love to have the opportunity to continue

mitch mcconnell's statement. let's get to chad pergram. >> i'm going to read this statement that just came in from mitch mcconnell. he says "i thank jeff sessions for his service as attorney general throughout his career and he was steadfast in his commitment to the rule of law in our great nation. i wish him well and look forward to working with him in his future endeavors." this is something that mike emanuel touched on. jeff sessions was a creature of the united states senate. he was first elected in 1996. a lot of people here on capitol hill, especially those that served with him, think he got a raw deal. hi left a very safe senate seat from alabama for this job. the president gave him the business a lot of times and now he's out the door. >> shepard: chad pergram, thanks. there's breaking news now on fox news channel. fox news television stations across the america. the swearing in has happened. catherine herridge on the hill. catherine? >> we're getting more fidelity on the details here. our justice departm

will mitch mcconnell do anything? we'll see in the next week. >> okay. unseemly, unconstitutional, great. super. christine, unless republicans, unless the senate steps in and blocks this, he's not going to recuse himself. the fact they're saying ethics lawyers are looking at this. fantastic. >> and ethics lawyers are going to find out what the president wants thoem find out. >> or they'll find out something different, but doesn't mean he's going to listen to them. >> not all. there are two options. a court case brought by some organization immediately. or the senate standing up and acting like the united states senate which i have no hope of happening. and the case as i understand it is pretty clear. to boil it down to the most basic, if you report directly to the president, you need senate confirmation. robert mueller does not report to the president. he doesn't need senate confirmation. that's simplified but that's the nut and bolts of it. and this is just another example unless the republicans stand up and defend the constitution, they're just rolling

something that mitch mcconnell says is a priority for him. mitch mcconnell himself held a photo-op with the new freshman class of senator, it included rick scott who is positioning himself as a senate elect from florida even as that recount is still ongoing. take a look at what mcconnell said this morning. >> good morning, everyone. i've been through a few of these others years. it is a lot better to have a big freshman class than not and so we're here to welcome our six new republican senators, it allowed us to continue our majority. and we'll be heading across the way here shortly to elect the leadership team for the next two years. all right a >> reporter: you always saw there governor mitt romney. rick scott was asked about miss presencemiss -- his presence and refused to say anything to reporterses. so the house side, that is where the glau will play out. it will be a little while before democrats have to select in their conference their choice for speaker. of course nancy pelosi, the person who is most likely at this point to become the

also spoke to mitch mcconnell this morning -- leader mcconnell this morning. how we could work together especially on infrastructure. i did receive a call of congratulations from speaker ryan and i welcomed that. we discussed how it is to win and how it is not to win. the concern that he was expressing was about some of his colleagues who will no longer be serving. the point i want to make -- i want to say something because in nning this election, we were on the right side of the future. this is where we have to go. but when we talk about the challenges we face, we have to jump over gerrymandered lines all over the country. when we talk about our success, it's about the grassroots operation. on the ground. all of these groups that cared a about health care, many of them out there elect people who share their value of lowering health care costs. moving annual caps on insurance coverage and certainly restoring the benefit of pre-existing conditions. not being a barrier to coverage. most importantly the quality of our candidates. they are spectacular from every w

now, mitch mcconnell privately met with jeff sessions last week. we tried to ask sessions as he leaving if he discussed the possibility of resigning with mitch mcconnell. he did not comment at that time. now today i got a chance to ask mcconnell directly if he were comfortable with the prospect of jeff sessions stepping aside. >> would you be comfortable with sessions being replaced? >> it's not up to me to tell the president who to put in his cabinet. they serve at his pleasure. and if he makes changes, we'll be dealing with whoever is sent up. >> reporter: so not raising any concerns from the senate majority leader about the prospects of making this replacement. ultimately this is going to be the senate's control moving forward, as they plan to push forward with whatever investigations here. democrats themselves were caught a little surprised by this news, even if it seemed inevitable just a few days ago, guys. >> all right, on capitol hill, thanks so much. we'll come back to you in a bit. i was talking earlier about watergate and the saturday ni

. >> the majority leader of the senate at mitch mcconnell has expressed zero desire or willingness to have this be voted on in the full senate. you have the power, because of the 60-vote threshold, to force this legislation into the government spending bill or some other mechanism if you risk shutting down the government, are democrats willing to do that? are you willing to risk shutting down the government and not signing a government spending bill unless the mueller protection legislation is included? >> look, i believe enough of our republican colleagues will join us. there's no reason we shouldn't add this and avoid a constitutional crisis and so that is our position. if that doesn't happen, we'll see what happens down the road. >> i don't mean to be skeptical. >> okay. >> but why would you believe republicans are going to join you on this? >> as i said, we have bipartisan legislation and a number of republicans have spoken out. i've spoken to some. people are really concerned about this. better to avoid a constitutional crisis before it happens and mitch mcconnell said he saw no

shortly before this news conference, mitch mcconnell blocked the floor vote on the bill. this is 15 minutes. >> thank you for being here. we have asked for unanimous consent to bring special counsel act to the floor. this passed april 26 in a 14-7 vote, it's rare there's such bipartisan legislation in the committee but it passed. it's languished here ever since. in the intervening time, we have sent 49 nominations, district and circuit court judges to the senate familiar for a -- floor for a vote. 50 have received a vote. it's not that everything from the judiciary committee has been waiting here for action. we've done a lot. these have been good votes. we've needed to move these judges through. this is priority now. the justification given in april for not bringing it to a floor vote was that nobody was being fired, nothing to see here. special counsel mueller was not in any danger that clearly is not the case now. the attorney general has been fired. and the authority and the oversight for the investigation was taken away from rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general

mitch mcconnell went forth and admitted that medicare and medicaid and some aspects of social security, visible at is, benefits, were on the chopping block. the president pulled his punch when it came time to lower the cost of prescription drugs by enabling the secretary to negotiate for that. so this is very important. lower health care costs for the people, bigger pay cheques by building infrastructure of america, integrity in government, by reducing the role of dark money in the political spectrum. that was our agenda, our candidates ran with it, but health care, health care, health care. but health care, health care, health ca re. every but health care, health care, health care. every hustled in america —— in every household in america, is important. o'neill has said that politics is local. when it comes to health care, politics is personal. silicon, we made our own environment and while we were tried to distract and while we were tried to distract and divide, thorough candidates kept their focus. and and divide, thorough candidates kept theirfocus. and our and divide, thorough

and mitch mcconnell, the senate leaderer. and chuck schumer, democratic leader in the senate. we'll reair the president's news conference tonight, 8:00 eastern. more of your phone calls after that. next up, nancy pelosi. ms. pelosi: good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon it is, and great day for the american people. the biggest winner in yesterday was the health care for american

and mitch mcconnell has now told us he's going after social security and medicare. [booing] are we going to let him do that? are we going to protect social security and medicare? well, then vote! that is the power that you have. i have been so honored to be your senator, to fight for all of our families, and we have a whoial friend with us today has fought for all of our families. [cheering] i will give you a hint. he came across the skyway to get here today. [cheering] this is an amazing day because of this. exactly 10 years ago today, 10 years ago today, barack obama was elected president of the united states of america. [cheering] and i will tell you, he won indiana that year as well! [cheering] president, we had a country with an economy in trouble and bin laden was hiding in pakistan. after he became president, osama bin laden is dead. chrysler and general motors are alive. there are more workers working for chrysler in our state than at any time in history. we have had 75 consecutive months of job growth under president obama. he walked into a crisis and he fi

but mitch mcconnell has said it is not coming up and mitch mcconnell runs the senate with an iron hand. but i think the mueller investigation is hanging by a thread, and i think the appointment of matt whitaker as attorney general is the first salvo post mid-term election of the president against the mueller investigation. but, you know, we're just going to have to trust the good judgment of matt whitaker not to fire or interfere with the investigation, and i think this legislation thinks -- suggesting we need more than that. >> ken, would you choose to agree one more time with jeffrey tubin? >> i think love jeffrey, but no. that's one person's view, and i'm not alone in that. i do think that if there is interference with the mueller investigation, there is going to be hell to pay. including from senate judiciary chair charles grassley. chuck grassley made it very clear, do not tread on bob mueller. and so the president would be fool hearty to in any way interfere with the investigation. let it go forward and let it conclude. i think we're all ready for it to conclude. but let it go fo

mitch mcconnell knows what it means to lose the power of majority leader. i don't know if he thinks they would lose the senate that he would want to sentence himself for six years as the possible minority leader. >> do you know what to expect from nancy pelosi now that she's going to ascend back into the speakership? she's the only woman ever to hold this ranking, she's been the person -- that was a good movie, wasn't it? she's now been sent back to the leadership and there is a lot of noise about how she's potentially in danger, a leader. it seems to me that she definitely is going to be speaker, and even if there are some votes against her, that's fine. she's perfectly comfortable with it. she's got a really thick skin. what do you think she will be like as a speaker heading back up there since she's been done. she has joined this skwugs of what happens next? she definitely wants to be the next speaker. she will be, there is no question about that, but she announced early on that she is not running for reelection, for example. the only time we saw an orde

i also spoke to mitch mcconnell -- leader mcconnell this morning, how we could work together especially on infrastructure. i received a call of congratulations have been listening to nancy pelosi speaking for the first time since the midterm elections, referring to some key democratic victories across the united states, including increasing number of democratic governors. she also talked about 30 new women who will head to congress as a result of this race. she said the democrats exceeded by putting health on the ballots. that was the issue with third-party support that really won the day. she said at the end of the day, all health care is personal. also talked about the importance of lowering prescription drugs, and referring to article one of the legislative branch. power, an constitutional role, but the focus should be on bipartisanship as they do that. she also referred to the need to increase jobs and infrastructure. a somber note of bipartisanship and a tone of victory coming from the minority house leader. trunk: all issues that can agree on, infrastructure, expanding that as wel

so there is a stunning amount of hypocrisy from mitch mcconnell. republicans have a long, public history talking about the need for aggressive and vigorous oversight of the executive branch. they spent the entire part of this decade basically issuing more than 100 subpoenas to barack obama's presidency. they had hundreds of hearings. they raised millions of dollars off of these investigations as well. you know, their body of work speaks for itself. for them to now try to trot out there and say, well, any type of executive oversight is somehow overreaching and overbearing and harassment, is laughable. >> ryan, do you see it as a circumstance in which that could backfire on democrats should they go down this path of investigation? >> it's possible. i think it's true that when the public sees the investigative apparatus of congress used in ways that seem overly partisan or unfair, then yeah, mcconnell has a point that there has in history been a backlash against that. but look, this is an administration that's had two years of sort of a blank check fr

do you think mitch mcconnell lrj will do anything? >> i think i would because i think it would take his membership, compelling him to act. you don't wait to buy a fire truck until the fire department has to put out a fire. >> that's what you're saying he's going to do, he's waiting for the fire. >> i think what we have in store is a saturday night massacre in slow motion, strangle and ing a suffocating the attorney general. matt whitaker who's been hired for that purpose and effect, and i think it will take the kind of outrage that we saw today on the floor of the senate about the failure to produce gina haas kill. >> amica, this whole question of three branches of government? >> yeah. >> one of them is the u.s. congress. it's supposed to put a check on executive power. they're not doing it. >> that's right. >> mike lee, by the way, who is breaking with the president on the saudi thing, is not breaking with them on this one. >> and he's claiming that scalia said this -- he's failing to recognize the unique threat this president poses

up next, we will hear from senate minority leader chuck schumer and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. [inaudible conversations] >> okay. well, i'm joined by my leadership team -- our leadership team and dick durbin and mark warner also part of it. here's dick durbin and mark warner will be here shortly. first i want to thank all of my colleagues for the support they have shown me, the confidence they have shown me, but we're really a team. we have worked together as a team for the last two years, and we'll continue to do that. i love every member of my caucus. i truly do. they're all great people, different views, different backgrounds, but everyone works hard to see other people's points of view and that's why we have been able to come together because of the unity. the unity in our caucus has been our strength and it will continue stronger than ever in the 116th congress. when we stood here two years ago, we faced a daunting electoral map, the worst in decades. and we faced difficult questions about how best to serve the people with such an unconventional president in the white hou

he could and that seemed to work out for mitch mcconnell. how do you straddle holding the president accountable and getting to the legislative agenda that the people who voted for you care about? >> i find it interesting that mitch mcconnell used the words presidential harassment. the desire of democrats is to get to the truth period. that takes a look at what's going on. it takes a mueller investigation that can move forward unimpeded. stephanie, there are such things as parallel tracks and we'll be able to do that. it's chewing gum and walking at the same time. we've got very able gentlemen who will be the leaders, the new chairman of the house over site of judiciary, of intelligence committee. they're capable, charlottesvism reasonable. i have complete faith they'll do a great job and won't engage in overreach. at the same time we have to make sure we're focussed relentlessly of bringing down the coast of health care and prescription drug prices and working on roads and bridges and americans. and then lastly, while i am standing in this b

let's listen to mitch mcconnell speaking. >> i talked to leader pelosi. we discussed ways we might be able to find a way forward. she and i actually have had the opportunity to work together for a number of years when we were both on the appropriations committee. we are not unfamiliar with each other. we will probably have a lot more dealings with each other in the future. in looking at the race, i want to thank the president. he was extremely helpful to us in states where he is in excellent shape. he worked very hard, drew large crowds. i think it clearly had a positive impact on the outcome. so with that, let me throw it open to see what you want to talk about. >> do you agree with the president's campaign rhetoric that birth right citizenship should be dealt with? >> i will be happy to give you my own views on whatever you would like to talk about. i generally don't do a running commentary on the president's observations on the campaign trail. it's an interesting legal question that ultimately i assume would be solved in the courts. >> the president sa

i'm working with everybody. >> neil: to that degree, sir, mitch mcconnell came out of this white house meeting with republican leaders and the president and he said he's optimistic to fund the border wall. would you support that? >> oh, i do. not only would i support it, neil, i supported and along with a bipartisan group of democrats and republicans in 2013 over $42 billion for border security and that border security bill was written by both -- by republicans. totally in support of it. the president could have a major immigration reform bill that works and give him a legacy that no other president has ever had. just adopt the 2013 bipartisan bill and he can make it happen. i think the senate would go along with him and hopefully we could get the house. yeah, i'm supporting border security. it has to be done. >> neil: in florida, you know the battle going back and forth. senator bill nelson the latest to sue palm beach county for halting what was a machine count, recount. now it's down to handwritten recounts. they take all of them by hand and count them for the state. none of these n