. >> and lots of luck to the republican runs against pat toomey and says pat toomey is not conservative enough because he wants people who were convicted of violent rape to have a background check done on them before they buy a bush master. good luck to you, future republican candidate. and i will watch enjoy watching pat toomey and the people from pennsylvania. it will be enjoyable for me. i love it. it will be great. >> we talked with the vice president yesterday which we will show coming up about a lot of issues. >> is that graphic? i'm sorry. >> it's 6:00 in the morning! >> good morning. >> i've been very clear i'm about winning. i'm about winning. you need to win elections and what pat toomey has done, mika, he has assured himself a much better standing, not only with the people of pennsylvania, but with the republicans in pennsylvania because the republicans and gun owners support stopping rapists and other violent offenders from go to getting guns over the internet. >> sam, politically we saw movement. we saw something happen finally. >> yes. this has been this long compromise an

of pat toomey. i was thrilled when he won pennsylvania. that's the type of candidate i keep talking about on this show. a guy who's conservative fiscally, moderate temperamentally. but let's just say, this is very good for pat toomey. he needs to get there. tom coburn, though, to do this coming from oklahoma, that is a guy that says, you know what? i'm good here. i'm going to do what may not be politically popular. >> what i liked about it, you didn't need a gang of 40 to get it done. >> it's not done. >> yes. >> we're on the doorstep. it could still fall apart. >> it could still fall apart. you know, hope springs eternal. joe will silently scream if that happens. but you didn't need a gang of 40 to get it done. you had two guys from the right side of the aisle and the left side of the aisle and they got together and they figured out the common sense core of this thing and they crafted something, we'll see, as you said, how it all plays out. but i think hopefully it opens up a new door to how we get

pat toomey. asked whether or not he was worried about the political repercussions of being an republican out in front on gun safety. >> in 1999, i supported expanding background checks. i think it makes g common sense. i will let the political chips fall where they may. >> the people will decide whether or not they want me to stay there or not rather than just being -- just following the public opinion polls, and finally, just one more clip here from francine wheeler, the mother of little ben, six years old, mowed down at sandy hook elementary school last december 14th. she and the other parents t they are going to -- they are never going to forget what happened of course and they are determined that they are going to make a difference and francine wheeler was asked to give the weekly radio address for president obama and she says the media may say everybody is forgetting about newtown what happened there. we never will. >> i have heard people say that the tidal wave of anguish that our country f

the others were pat toomey, pennsylvania, maine, all blue states. --the mayor from louisiana and the person from with carolina. >> the feinstein amendment only got 40 votes and one republican. >> good point. immigration. the gang of eight. will increase the legal flow of low skill workers impactwill adversely workers. >> the gang of eight unveiled their immigration reform package yesterday. jonathan, you mentioned the impact of boston on this. before boston this was the one piece of legislation everybody in washington saw having a chance to pass. it is too early to gauge what it is going to be. look, i do think there is a political motivation. politics is what it is. they are tired of democrats having the issues. and the democrats are working with groups who have been saying come away and? it did not happen. now they're looking to president obama. both parties have an interest in getting this done. looking at summer as the earliest time at best. >> i think jonathan's analysis is spot on. if you get into republican primaries, and it becomes an , that

they took the ads down once pat toomey got on board. there's a little of the carrot-and-stick going on. >> i talked to pat toomey, he is a fiscal guy, he did not want to be in the guns debate. but he said he was concerned something bad would get passed or nothing at all. he felt he could step forward and maybe help to bridge this. >> i would say in 2016 he's got to win those philly suburban voters. >> yes. >> joining me to discuss the political hurdles facing gun control and immigration legislation is utah republican congressman jasys chafitz. we were talking about the hurdles that still exist on guns and immigration. let's start on guns, that's the action, a lot of it on the senate side. the toomey mansion amendment on expanding background checks, though not to individual private sales, is that something that you and your republican house colleagues could be supportive of if it makes its way to the house? >> it's being offered as an amendment. as you do it as an amendment, you worry about what the end product is going to look like. so

i look at pat toomey who is a senator from my home state and many are debating, what are the politics for this for him. i think it is all gainful i think his comments will play very, very well with swing voters, middle of the road people who will determine whether he gets reelected. there's a disconnect on an issue like this between that hardened base and where the rest of the country is.

>> they found a dance partner in pat toomey to help get background checks bill that would get bipartisan support through the senate. they opened up debate. we'll have debate next week. lots of patting on the back. there are a number, half-dozen or so vulnerable senate democrats who are unlikely to vote for any final legislation just because they voted to begin debate. doesn't mean they will end it or vote for the final product. then i want still has to go to house. as you point out you have republicans there who are very, very conservative. they are from conservative districts and there's not a lot of reason for them to pass anything on gun laws. it will be a much tougher road for them to hoe on the house side. >> convincing people to get on board this beyond bringing it up for debate. on tuesday we know that gabrielle giffords and mark kelley will be at the capitol and mark kelley has been making robo calls to support toomey and manchin. >> i'm calling to thank your senator, pat toomey, for working across party lines to sponsor critical legislation to keep guns out of the hands of crimi

to never touch this thing again. >> pat toomey invented the primary from the right, so that would be the final irony. >> is there ever such a thing as the final irony? >> that would be it. >> bob, i want to ask, ben touches on this. this is a long game and not a short game. but there are various schools of thought about how much, if the mansion/toomey bill ends up getting signed into law, how much of a victory that exactly is. and ezra klein today has an analysis. he says not every bill that's an improvement on the status quo is better than nothing. a law that claims to have solved a problem only to prove completely ineffective in the real world can undermine the belief that the problem can even be solved. >> and this is a bill, or at least this, this low-hanging fruit that we're talking about, i think we won't do much of anything. even if it were, even if it were to pass. you know this gun registration, even without the poison pill amendments and that sort of thing. the question becomes, what is your goal. if your goal is to improve public safety, do you want to stop these homicides

he's a democrat, republican senator pat toomey of pennsylvania also has a virtually perfect record as far as the nra is concerned. they have now, though, come together and have come up with a compromise proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases in the united states. they spoke together just moments ago. >> let me just say good morning to all of you and i'm very, very proud to be here with my good friend pat toomey from my sister state of pennsylvania, west virginia, we're side-by-side and we come from states that have deep rooted cultures, as you know. and we've been very strong. and i also want to give special thanks to two people who aren't here today who have been invaluable to this process and have worked from the beginning trying to find common ground. and that is senator chuck schumer, my good friend, and my dear friend mark kirk. mark has been with me from the beginning. and has never left and chuck and his staff and all of them who have worked so hard, i thank everybody. pat will tell you. i also want to thank tom coburn. tom has been invaluable to the process als

we don't need pat toomey and joe manchin going behind doors and drafting up this legislation. there's all sorts of problems in this bill. there's the potential that employers will be able to use the database to do background checks without the permission of somebody applying for a job. that's not what we want. what is this going to do to the privacy safeguards that are in place between an individual and a psychotherapist? there's all sorts of stuff that needs to be looked at. we were looking at it last night. we should have an open process where people know what they're photoing on and know what the implications are. it's not going on here. >> there is going to be an open process now. >> over the course of the next week. we'll put lots of information out there about what's going on. i think you'll see very different votes as we come forward. you have 31 republicans who are on record opposing this already. 16 from a lot of red states, a lot of voters are getting aware of what's going on, knowing this is going to lead to a federal gun registry, that's going to lead to a lot of v

this ad is about senator pat toomey. about how a republican senator from pennsylvania named pat toomey should vote for the same kind of background checks that his home state is already using, but anybody moved by that ad to call that number at the end of it is not necessarily connected to pat toomey's office or some fund raising organization. instead, it asks you to enter your zip code, then it connects you to whoever your senator is. oh. so that you can tell your senator. okay, to support background checks. take people who are moved by this issue and connect them to the person they can most move in washington. senator. this ad is also getting a million dollar ad buy in washington and in ten states. this showings neil, whose 6-year-old son jesse was killed in newtown. it is being run in states to target these ten senators. the idea is that the senators themselves will see these ads and be moved to do something, but the idea is to get people who support reform to make themselves known to their senator and tell them to giv

no one can question pat toomey's conservative as bona fide. they'll be able to formulate a bipartisan agreement around this. if they can't then they were never going to be able to any way. >> michael: that's a great point. there are just some people you're not going to get through. background checks got 86% on a poll from yesterday. 86% support. that's astonishing. then you move to the nra. the nra is reacting to this by saying they are a not going to grade this vote. that's a huge burden on the back of you republican senators who will not have a good grade. that will be obsolete one day. and quote noah, i know you disagree with me. i'll let you do it. >> well, yeah that's true. all those murders were committed. i'm not sure about jared but they got their guns legally. they will criminals by stealing those guns. that's not something that you can stop. but if this bill pass the senate and make it in the house it does save republicans and the nra will let this save republicans and also democrats. it will save democrats who maybe wavered, and who

a new ad is specifically targeting pat toomey, the conservative senator working with democrats on a background checks deal. >> senator toomey understands how important that change is. >> i'm in favor of making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania, almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey, tell him it's time to take pennsylvania's solutions to washington. >>> newtown families will be on capitol hill today lobbying lawmakers. they flew to d.c. aboard air force one with the president after he delivered a speech in connecticut. he said congress should put politics aside and do what's right. >> connecticut, this is not about me. this is not about politics. this is about doing the right thing for all the families who are here that have been torn apart by gun violence. it's about them, and all the families going forward, so we can prevent this from happening again. >> but resistance to even having a vote is growing. now mitch mcconnell will join 13 other senators who have pledged to filibuster. i want to bring in nbc news politics producer casey hunt

senators joe manchin an dpat toomey announced done background checks expansion yesterday. -- and pat toomey. the senate will vote on whether to move forward with gun legislation later today. this is 18 minutes. >> good morning. i'm going to be covering up some people's phones here. i hope i don't -- let me just say good morning to all of you. i'm very, very proud to be here with my good friend, pat toomey, from my sister state of pennsylvania and west virginia we're side by side. we come from states that have deep-rooted cultures, as you know, and we believe very strongly in that. i also want to give special thanks to two people who weren't here today who have been invaluable to this process and have worked from the beginning trying to find common ground and that is senator chuck schumer, my good friend, mark kirk. mark has never left. chuck and his staff and all of them that worked so hard, i thank everybody. the staffs do yeomen's job. i also want to thank tom coburn. tom has been invaluable to the process. also coming from the culture we come from and have great input all the way

democratic senator joe manchin republican senator pat toomey announcing yesterday they've made a deal, reached a compromise to provide universal background checks on all gun sales, all advertised gun sales either at gun shows or online or from newspaper ads. that means there will be 60 votes to have a big debate on gun control on the floor of the united states senate. we'll bring you up to date right here on current tv. this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern (vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories. (kaj) jack, how old are you? >> nine. (adam) this is

pat toomey and joe manchin, interesting legislators who have come together, diverse interests. interesting similar geography, which makes it also important, but pat toomey's statement is the single most important statement in this debate as soon as we broke in reporting when it happened. >> let mess say also that if this changes, ari, this was kind of a doa prospect just days ago. the president has shown what i think many people wildly applaud as leadership on the issue, using a lot of his own personal political capital to push this thing forward at a time when there's huge uncertainty. >> every week the president has given a speech about guns. this week connecticut, the week before that colorado, the week before that something at the white house. he brought the newtown survivors with him. he's been relentlessly focused. it is striking to me that people in washington have been saying for the last ten years this is the most partisan that washington has been. in many ways it is, but we may be on the vern of seeing the first real action on guns in more than a decade, maybe the mos

he said he had mentioned this compromise to a few democrats, but pat toomey being such a conservative member from pennsylvania, it does, we think now give room for republican senators to month forward and perhaps get some bipartisan support in the united states senate. will there be enough support to get it through the house? joe manchin said there's no idea whether you can see the floor. >> the worst reality is this, if we don't do something right now, it's going to happen again. but really, mr. president, it's happening every day. and this country who's just gotten so callously used to gun violence, that it's just rain drops, it's just background noise. >> that was connecticut senator chris murphy in the last hour making an emotional plea to his colleagues to act on gun control and he showed fellow senators pictures of the children lost at sandy hook elementary. newtown families are in washington right now, they're turning up the heat on lawmakers, they're reminding congress that it's not just about politics and they have been meeting with senators urging them not to block -- the da

to find one, old friend pat toomey completed the duo. a fiscal conservative and nra ally. joining me now is bob franken on the phone with us. good morning to you, bob. the question here might be does toomey, now that he's part of the duo, announced the agreement, does he bring enough cover and democratic aide saying he could bring along 12 other republicans. what do you think? >> well, i think at least he will bring them along to the point we can expect they will get past the filibuster and start the arduous process of debating the gun bill with all the amendments that's going to be offered. many would weaken what many were gun control advocates say is already being weakened. >> looking at the numbers, only 27% of republicans support stricter gun laws. look at toomey right now, why is he doing this? he faces reelection in three years in a swing state, pennsylvania. he's got to be making some calculations when it comes to the political capital he's expending. >> i think you said the key word, swing state. pennsylvania is not one of those hard-nosed republican states. it can

well, if that were the case, and if somebody used that against pat toomey, pat could say, well, then why was wayne lapierre for it in 1999? right? if it is such a great challenge to the second amendment in 2013, why wasn't it in 1999, willie? >> that's absolutely right. he was for this, wayne lapierre was clearly for universal background checks. and that would have background checks on commercial sales and would not have background checks on private sales. so even that has a loophole in it and is less than president obama and gun safety advocates would want. joe, we've talked about this, forget for a second the right thing to do. but politically, if you're republicans or if you're a gun rights advocate, you've already won. there's not going to be an assault weapons ban. they're not going to limit the size of magazines. if you give on this, you look like you're giving more than you are. if you say, okay. we'll go along with some form of background checks, it strikes me as smart politically to look flexible, but you've really won already on the big issues. >> and that also, cokie is wh

senators joe manchin and pat toomey are your colleagues. their proposal would close the gun show loophole. it would require background checks be performed on all commercial gun sales, exempting only under their proposal individual, noncommercial sales. for example, if you sold a gun to a friend. today manchin invoked the tragedy in newtown to explain why something needs to be done. let's watch. >> truly the events at newtown changed us all. it changed our country, our communities, our towns, and it changed our hearts and minds. this amendment won't ease the pain. it will not ease the pain of the families who lost their children on that horrible day. but nobody here, i mean not one of us in this great, great capitol of ours, with a good conscience, could sit by and not try to prevent a day like that from happening again. >> senator toomey from pennsylvania made an important point that could help sway other republicans. he said, for him, the issue of criminal background checks was not a matter of gun control. that's the way he thinks about it

this ad is about senator pat toomey. about how a republican senator from pennsylvania named pat toomey should vote for the same kind of background checks that his home state is already using, but anybody moved by that ad to call that number at the end of it is not necessarily connected to pat toomey's office or some fund raising organization. instead, it asks you to enter your zip code, then it connects you to whoever your senator is. oh. so that you can tell your senator. ok okay, to support background checks. take people who are moved by this issue and connect them to the person they can most move in washington. senator. this ad is also getting a million dollar ad buy in washington and in ten states. this showings neil, whose 6-year-old son jesse was killed in newtown. it is being run in states to target these ten senators. the idea is that the senators themselves will see these ads and be moved to do something, but the idea is to get people who support reform to make themselves known to their senator and tell them to

which is targeting pat toomey of pennsylvania. watch -- >> on gun safety, pennsylvania has a strong background check system. but guns don't respect state borders. now the u.s. senate can pass comprehensive background check legislation that will stop criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from using loopholes to get guns. senator toomey understands how important that change is. >> i'm in favor of making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania, almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey, tell him it's time to take pennsylvania solutions to washington. >> kelly, how does that work? does that back-fire? >> certainly someone like pat toomey who has become more actively involved in these conversations. you also have a republican like mark kirk of illinois, pennsylvania, illinois, blue states, they are very aware of what their home constituents are thinking on these issues. some of those who have joined on to the filibuster are from the reddest of states, where taking a strong stand, they

what's pat toomey going to do? if he's worried about the philadelphia suburbs for his re-election, he ought to vote to end the filibuster. and there are republicans, congressmen, senators, all over the country who have to worry about that. and how can you tell the people of newtown or any other tragedy that they're not even going to get a vote? that's despicable. >> i get the feeling he's involved in a same-sex political marriage with wayne lapierre. political marriage. i don't think he's going to -- i mean, i'm sorry, tick off wayne lapierre. your thoughts, congressman, because i really worry now. i look at this 60 vote thing, this ultimatum for people like ted cruz down in texas. it's not going to hurt him. he could be mr. gunman down there. it's not going to hurt him at all. he could be jesse james in texas is fine with him down there. 60 votes. you have to get all the democrats, five republicans and not lose any of the guys from out west in the democratic party. >> chris, i do think it's going to be difficult,

toomey suggested a compromise on background checks. both conservatives and liberals are criticizing the budget plan. speaker boehner said he's impressed with parts of the plan. is this the first step towards an agreement? we're just hours away from a vote on a gun violence bill in the senate. it will allow the debate to begin on the senate floor. it will be the background check compromise from senator joe manchin and toomey. it does not call for checks between family members and neighbors. bipartisan compromise is giving legislation new life. they both have a ratings from the nra. they say it's the right thing to do. >> i'm a gun owner. and the rights that aren sidelined in the second amendment are very important to me personally. my record shows this. i've got to tell you candidly i don't consider criminal background checks to be gun control. i think it's just common sense. if you pass a criminal background check you get to buy a gun. it's no problem. it's the people who fail, criminal or mental health background check we don't want h

i don't know if you had an opportunity just to hear paul ryan say pat toomey -- would you support a deal of background checks. >> i certainly want to look at whatever is put out. i think that always we have got to be open. i don't want to do anything that really does hurt the second amendment rights, but there are probably some places where we might be able to look at tightening things up. but however, as has already been said, as we look at these terrible tragedies we must look at what we can do to prevent those, and background checks in those situations wouldn't have really helped. and also the mental health issues and we're not even talking about that right now. >> and the argument has been made, especially by many who support the second amendment strongly, especially people who say they have serious concerns about this, their problem has always been that they want something that they say is going to make a difference for the vast majority of gun crimes which are not mass shootings, so background checks -- they're committed by criminal checks, so you know we're missing a big point the

and the nra and gun supporters, two people with a-rating. >> pat toomey faces re-election. >> right. >> not an even special but midterm. a real one. he's got to face them around philadelphia who are moderate politically, some of the more conserved politicians, he's thinking about the central part of the state, he's trying to calculate it. maybe allen town next and then oklahoma. it's toomey and then the guy down in oklahoma and he's going to get a lot of no votes at all. i have a list of rand paul, marco rubio, they are big shots coming against -- >> ted cruz is on that list. >> and then you look at the president's standing there and in the middle of the speech the crowd took over. if he rallies the american public like this and they stonewall a vote because again he's clearly staying in the speech, they are not only saying they are going to vote no. they are denying you a vote. this is an insult to the electorate, chris. >> by the way, i'm going to depend our world on what he calls cable tv. i know the president says he doesn't want it. some of his people do. i think msnbc and you a

mark, you guys ran an ad, which i want to show, pressuring pat toomey to come to the table on this. take a look. >> on gun safety, pennsylvania has a strong background system, but guns don't respect state borders. now, the u.s. senate can pass comprehensive background legislation that will stop the mentally ill from getting guns. senator toomey understands how important that is. >> i'm in favor in making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania, almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey. tell him it's time to take the solutions to washington. >> i love this ad. it's like hug him so close. giving so much love he can't get away. >> it's one of those rare instances when you tell somebody your state, in some respects, it goes farther. as a result, pennsylvania's crime stats have dropped in comparison to the states that have closed that loophole. >> do you think there's an interesting lesson here about the strategy? more than any other domestic political priority, the president and the democrats have been out front on this. they've been apply

and that's where senator pat toomey is right. a wider, stronger background check covering all commercial purchasers of guns is not really about what kinds of guns are out there, and what could be sold, it's about the people out there and who shouldn't have their hands on any gun. and this is where the battle for better background checks stands. right now. can the supporters of gun safety get 50 votes in the senate on the background check, itself? can they get 60 votes to clear a filibuster? can they get the one vote, the speaker of the house, to schedule the vote in the house? can they get 218 votes in the house to actually pass it? then, of course, get the signature of the president to make it law? so these are the numbers. 50. 60. one. 218. and one. five gates to pass through for us to have a stronger background check to become part of the law. pia carusone is former chief of staff to congresswoman gabby giffords and now runs the group, americans for responsible solutions. and nia malika henderson is a political reporter for th

pat toomey says he is done with it. i don't think he is. pat is totally committed to this bill and i believe that with all my heart. if people would just take time to read it. if you are law abiding gun owner you ought to love this bill. if it you are a criminal you probably won't like it. we don't infringe on anybody's rights. individual rights. >> chris: you are going to bring the bill back to the senate floor and you think it will be different. >> i truly leave if we have time to sell the bill and people will read the bill and i'm willing to go anywhere and debate anybody on this issue. read the bill and tell me what you don't like. we stopped registration completely from the standpoint of a felony with 15 years of imprisonment. >> chris: is part of the idea here that you are going to strip it away and separate it from -- >> the bill needs to be clean, i believe. that is my belief. if the bill runs clean and people can vote on the bill up or down based on the merits this of bill how you that protects a gun second amendment gun person a l

pat toomey's line this is not gun control legislation. it's just common sense. and their larger problem, should we show it again? should we show it again? >> mike, i haven't seen a video of one of the most wanted fbi terrorists on the planet, an al qaeda terrorist that says it's our lack of background checks that makes americans sitting ducks for al qaeda and i have not heard it. i've heard there is a video out there. do you have it? >> alex and t.j. found it. >> let's enlighten you. >> i need to get into youtube. watch this. >> in the west, you've got a lot at your disposal. let's take america as an example. america is absolutely a wash with easily obtainable firearms. you can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and, most likely, without having to show an identification card. so what are you waiting for? >> that is a pretty good primary tool. >> people asking me would you be comfortable in northwest florida taking this issue to the florida voters? i would in a debat

pat toomey is up in 2016. his poll numbers went up. you can't help but wonder if a lot of republican senators who are up in 2016 who represent blue states won't see the same thing coming down the line. >> you are reading my notes again. susan over to you. let's talk about that poll. you know, it moved. pat toomey got a bump to 48%, she saw the opposite, a so point drop since october. so when you look at it is this an issue that skroeters will remember going forward if you look at the poll numbers now. >> that gives you the path for supporters to think maybe there's a chance to get the done. they calculate if they could flip one republican senator and kelly might be the one for doing that that the four democrat senators who voted against extended background checks would come on board and you can could get it through the senate. but this is an issue that is going to be part of the debate. joe manchin is going to make sure of that. if it starts to move again you assume pat toomey would come back on board. hard to do absolutely. impossible

joining us is republican senator pat toomey. we hoped to have joe manchin join us but he's meeting with families of the newtown victims. both senators are strong supporters of gun rights. they have struck a bargain to expand background checks to firearms bought at gun shows and online. >> a common ground represents on a simple proposition and that is that criminals and the dangerously mentally ill shouldn't have guns. >> this is common sense. this is gun sense. >> the senator toomey joins me for the first interview after this announcement. senator toomey thanks so much. here's the nra response to your plan. quote the sad truth is that no background check would have prevented the tragedies in newtown, aurora or tucson. they are right. this bill would not have prevented those tragedies? >> jake, i never heard any proposal that's a complete and perfect solution to the tragedies we have when as in these cases deeply disturbed and dangerous mentally ill people, you know, go on a rampage. there's no perfect solution to that. if there

the key factor is pat toomey, the republican senator, but also the nra -- how big a push do they make against this. that's the big question. >> thanks very much. >>> now to growing fears about a mysterious new strain of bird flu. three new cases confirmed today, so far all in china. tonight health officials here in the u.s. are tracking every transmission. racing to develop a vaccine. abc's dr. richard besser is here with us. you were at the cdc, you've hunted down deadly viruses and you've been talking to them about this. >> yeah, they are worried. i talked to my friend who heads up the flu division. i've never heard her more worried about a strain of bird flu. that's why they're reacting so aggressively. in china, 400 labs and 500 hospitals are on the look-out. poultry markets in three cities are closed. 20,000 birds have been destroyed just in case. all because a new bird flu has infected 24 people, and seven of them are dead. bird flus are not unusual, but they can only move from one bird to another. this virus, h7n9, seems to have mutated. now able to leave birds and attach itsel

that is senator joe manchin and pat toomey, republican of pennsylvania. the two of them coming together on background checks. explain where they come from and how it is that those two got together on this issue. is almost the exception that proves this role. he is actually moderate democratic and a red state. to me have a lifetime a rating from the nra. is implement of what i said. he comes from the tea party. he is the head of the club for growth, which is a fiscally conservative organization. represents pennsylvania, so he is in a blue state. he has got things going on, as well. but he would be from that very clear, conservative credentials who says this is something i can work with you want. so he found somebody in the democratic caucus and someone --m the public and congress caucus it is saying this is something i can get behind. that authority make that has to happen. whether one person comes from the middle -- you definitely fromthat by in -- buy-in somebody conservative or liberal to bring that along. host: when senator's mansion s manchin -- senat

toomey from pennsylvania, republican as you mentioned from west virginia, pat toomey have reached an agreement on being checks which will enable at least that part of the legislation, it looks like, as long as there is no filibuster maybe -- everything is condition conditional here, to get through the senate but what shape? what prospect does good gun safety legislation have in the house of representatives? we call on jackie speier from california to comment on that and other issues. good morning congresswoman. good to have you with us? >> thank you, bill. great to be with you. >> bill: this is an issue that you feel very passionately and strongly about particularly given your background and your experience with gun violence in another country. do you think, will the house step up to the plate here and let's say something does get through the senate. how do you rate the prospects in the house of even getting a vote? >> i think there is no question that we will get a vote in the house. i will make sure. i mean, there are a lot of us who feel strongly and will engage in civil disobedie

senate majority leader harry reid has now given senator joe manchin and pat toomey until the end of the day to come up with a compromise on background checks. this morning on the senate floor, reid slammed republican who's are threatening to filibuster the legislation. >> they're the same senators who yell and scream the most with regular order and amendments. how would i describe these 13 senators who sent me this letter? i want to do this respectfully. they have a right to their opinions. even if they're illogical and even if they're speaking out of both sides of their mouth. >> harry reid took to the floor as the families of the newtown massacre are on capitol hill lobbying senators to support gun control legislation. and today we've learn that mayors against illegal guns, the group backed by new york city mayor michael bloomberg will begin scoring lawmakers on how they vote over law dealing with guns. a system very similar and much talked about and used by the nra. the conservative group heritage action for america led by former senator jim demint says it plans to score the procedur

take the big bipartisan gun deal announced today by senators joe manchin and pat toomey. it's simply designed to expand background checks to cover gun shows and internet sales. the cost of the deal, apparently, private person-to-person sales, which will still be exempt from background checks. the nra was a, quote, near constant presence in the room as manchin and toomey worked out the details and toomey would prefer you not even refer to it as gun control. >> i don't consider criminal background checks to be background checks, it's just common sense. >> see that, that is the power of the center. the center gets to be common sense, which is good. everything else is defined as politics, which is bad. now, narrow as this background check may be when put up against a staggering problem of gun violence in this country, it's still a remarkable think. even just six months ago, a bipartisan gun safety bill of any kind would have been unthinkable. there has not been a major piece of gun safety legislation debated in the senate since 1994. that was the last time we saw anything lik

pat toomey and i sat done and went through this. tom coburn has worked with me for months. we talked to gun organizations and tried to get their inputs. we looked at everybody. but the bottom line is we didn't want to leave loopholes in the gun shows or internet sales. this is a criminal and mental background check. it does not infringe on your right as a family to transfer guns back and forth. your right as neighbor. it protects the reits of veterans which have not been protected. it gives veterans the rights that they should have. and we have a commission on mass violence and i know that marco said today we should be he looking at the violence which he is is current. the culture of violence that we live with today in our society this puts a commission that basically has experts with guns and mental illness and experts with school safety and video violence. thinking hopefully we can change. >> one stop shopping in that sense. >> yes. >> you met with the sandy hook families earlier this week. a compelling picture. we had video of it earlier. they brought tears to your eyes.

mark, you guys ran an ad, which i want to show, pressuring pat toomey to come to the table on this. take a look. >> on gun safety, pennsylvania has a strong background system, but guns don't respect state borders. now, the u.s. senate can pass comprehensive background legislation that will stop the mentally ill from getting guns. senator toomey understands how important that is. >> i'm in favor in making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania, almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey. tell him it's time to take the solutions to washington. >> i love this ad. it's like hug him so close. giving so much love he can't get away. >> it's one of those rare instances when you tell somebody your state, in some roespects, t goes farther. as a result, pennsylvania's crime stats have dropped in comparison to the states that have closed that loophole. >> do you think there's an interesting lesson here about the strategy? more than any other domestic political priority, the president and the democrats have been out front on this. they've been apply

what is the effect on pat toomey? and will you help him politically, if he is punished for his role in this? >> well it's hard to tell. in terms of the political analysis. i'll leave that to the political scientists, but i was grateful that both joe mansion and pat toomey worked together on one of these issues, the background measure. if that had passed, that would have been significant progress, but i would argue, not nearly enough. because until we have these weapons that should only be used on a battlefield in war. until we get those off the street and until we have a limitation on the number of bullets that one individual can shoot at one time, we're unfortunately going to have tragedies like newtown and other tragedies we've seen over a long period of time. i think the question for me or any united states senator is the following -- have i done enough, by my votes and by my actions to substantially reduce the likelihood that this tragedy or something like it will happen again. if you can answer that in good consc

what's pat toomey going to do? if he's worried about the philadelphia suburbs for his re-election, he ought to vote to end the filibuster. there are republicans, congressmen, senators, all over the country who have to worry about that. and how can you tell the people of newtown or any other tragedy that they're not even going to get a vote? that's despicable. >> i get feeling he's involved in a same-sex political marriage with wayne lapierre. political marriage. i don't think he's going to -- i mean, i'm sorry, tick off wayne lapierre. your thoughts, congressman, because i really worry now. i like at this 60 vote thing, this ultimatum for people like ted cruz down in texas. it's not going to hurt him. he could be mr. gun man down there. he could be jesse james in and texas is fine with him down there. 60 votes. you have to get all the democrats, five republicans and not loose any of the guys from out west in the democrat inbaert. >> chris, i do think it's going to be difficult, but i don't think it's impossible. i

pat toomey who put it together with joe manchin. john mccain heroically here. mark kirk of illinois. and another moderate republican, susan collins of maine. now, on the democratic sides, those votes no were no surprises here. mark bagitch of rural alaska. mark pryor of another red state. majority leader harry reid voted no. that's procedural so he can vote to reverse the vote. it's a senate technique. president obama will be making remarks in the rose garden right there at 5:30 eastern, a few minutes from now. casey hunt and howard fineman. casey, you and i have been -- you've been helping me on the phone the last couple of days. it looks to me a pretty dreary result in that it looked like it was moving up before the horror in boston a week or two. i'm not sure, did it ever look to you like it was going to reach 60 and then fell back? or was it never really close enough to 60 to make it? >> the point at which we -- the mood up here said that it could reach 60 was really that vote that they held to start debate on the gun bill. that got more republican votes th