mr. jefferson: a complicated question. i did not write the bill of ights. mr. hamilton did not write t. those of you who are students, your teachers give you assignments to write drafts of papers and you think they are doing that just to torture you, which of course they are. it builds character. there are other reasons as well. the overall process by which the bill of rights was composed everyone fist this. - everyone plies this. -- complementifies this. -- exemplifies this. amendments were proposed by each of the state. there were well over 100 amendments without counting repeated suggested amendments. mr. madison was pressing most for the bill of rights. he brought them together and got rid of the repeats and narrowed it down to a list of about 17 originally proposed to congress. that was narrowed down to a smaller list that went to all the states. individual states ratified. the only ones left out of the 100 were 10. the third amendment is now what you call the first. mr. hamilton: there was something occurring during that time, during the ratification proc

mr. ellis, i have listened to your remarks on mr. jefferson and, mr. ellis, everything you said is wrong. and i know it's wrong because mr. jefferson appeared to me in my bedroom last night. and he told me you were going to say these bad things about him. and then her final line, this was a great line, it sort of knocked me for a loop, mr. ellis, you are a mere pigeon on the great statue of thomas jefferson. i said, i said, thank you very much. next question, please. i was flustered. i didn't know what to say. but she came up to get her book signed. and she gave me had her card. had her name on it. it said poet. and i said to her then, and i mustered this up, i said, madam, it is not really important whether you regard me as a pigeon. it is very important that you regard jefferson as something other than a statue. and my remarks today are to create real live human beings rather than statues. and in order to move in us in that particular direction, i want to ask you a question. i can't see you clearly, but i am operating on the assumption that many of y

jefferson. >> so please read the book. i laid out in the introduction very carefully the cry for independence only happened after thomas paine's common sense is published in january of 1776. every discussion before that, that was done in public refer to trying to find a way to an accommodation. yes, i'm sure independence had been routed privately but the majority of the publications including jefferson's declaration on the causes of taking up arms were all directed to come to an accommodation with britain. it was thomas paine who drew the line that said, that ship has left the station. the train has sailed. it is time to call for independence. once that call for independence by independent by thomas paine was made all of the legislative bodies around the state started to discuss sending their people to philadelphia to call for independence. thomas paine says clearly in common sense, the only thing that is going to achieve and independence is to write a declaration that would be received by the kings and courts of europe an

that was a direct inclusion by mr. jefferson as a plea for the powers to join the revolution. it was only at the end of the declaration including the passage that they might have taken particular notice of. the action describes what they would take notice of and not with the intent was. >> in the anticipation, the support is and what motivated it the success had the army not been successful not only would the gathering has been probably delayed but never been written by mr. jefferson. >> please read the book and you will see i lay out very carefully the crowning for independence only happens after the common sense was published in january of 1776. every discussion that was done before that referred to trying to find a way to come to an accommodation. i'm sure it had been mooted privately but the publications including the declarations for taking up arms were directed to come to an accommodation with prison. thomas paine drew the line that said that ship has left the station, the train disabled. [laughter] it's time to call for independence. once the call was made, the legislat

jefferson but the success of an army of 1775. how better they not been successful in 1775, not only with the gathering of those 55 men been publicly delayed, but such a proposition would never have been written by mr. jefferson. >> please do read the book you're guilty in the i laid out very carefully. independents only happened after thomas paine's common sense was published in january 1776. every discussion before that that was done in public referred to an accommodation with the cane. yes, i'm sure independents had been privately, but the majority of the publications, including jefferson, the declaration for the reasons and causes were all directed to somehow come to an accommodation with written. thomas paine drew the line who said it is that ship has left the station. the train has sailed. it is time to call for independence. once that call for independence by thomas paine was made, other legislative bodies around the state started suggesting sending their people to philadelphia to call for independence. thomas paine says qu

jefferson's pen but the success the success of an army in1775. a had that army not been successful in 1775 had the gathering of 55 men would have been delayed and a proposition wouldn't be written by mr. jefferson. >> please read the book. you see in the introduction i lay it out very carefully. the cry for eps only happened after thomas payne's "common sense," was published in january of 1776. every discussion before that, that was done in public referred to trying to find a way to come to an accommodation with the king. yes, i'm sure independence had been muted, it had been muted privately but the majority of publications including jefferson's deck laureation for reasons and causes taking up taking up arms were directed to somehow come to accommodation with britain. it was thomas payne that drew the line that said, that it is that ship has left the station. that train has sailed. [laughter] it is time to call for independence. once that call for independence by thomas payne was paid, all of the legislative bodies around the states started to di

can't help but practically say, i told you, mr. jefferson. we got napoleon. it was all a mess. you were wrong. and jefferson puts up with that simply because he -- he knows beneath the surface adams is -- he loves him. he just says, he's a wonderful person. and i think that's the appeal of adams. everyone who gets to know him realizes that he just has this capacity for love, and i think that -- that impresses jefferson. jefferson doesn't have -- i think his closest friend, of course, is madison, but i never feel -- you never feel the relationship with madison is as close in some sense as it is with adams even though they share no major political views. they differed on religion, they differed on slavery, they differed on the nature of the united states, on equality. i mean, the only thing they shared, jefferson and adamdams,s the commitment to america and the revolution and yet it's enough to hold them together. although i think the correspondence is a little trickier than most people had said. you know, adams writes about four let

interestingly, mr. jefferson, who introduced the bill to relocate to jefferson, of the time we made the move he was serving as governor and i to oversee the process. if you think of the capitol as an essay in architecture, the primary author was thomas jefferson. at the time we were getting ready to break ground for a new public building in richmond in 1785, jefferson had left state service and was the american ambassador to france. he was living in paris. nonetheless, richmond reached out to jefferson, asking for his help as an absentee advocate for the capitol building. he turned to the architecture of antiquity. he was fascinated by the temples of greece and rome. in paris he was able to meet and collaborate with a french architect who was a published authority on roman antiquities and those two men got together. i like to think of jefferson as the author of our original capitol building. they looked -- it is known by the french as la maison today. jefferson planned for the richmond state capitol to

mr. hebert, whom he described as quote, "an individual who testified falsely before this committee." let's talk about that. back in 1986, mr. hebert and his supervisor at doj recalled tasha -- were called to the hill without advance when to be deposed. mr. hebert's supervisor incorrectly stated that when he was a u.s. attorney, senator sessions pressured the fbi to stop a voting rights investigation. now, that was not the case. it wasn't senator sessions who did that. mr. hebert's supervisor got it wrong. he misremembered. when committee staff next deposed mr. hebert, he was asked whether he observed senator sessions interfered with doj cases. and mr. hebert replied quote, i only know what happened with our county case, but my supervisor is in a better position to talk about that than i am." mr. hebert continued, "he and i both have a very fuzzy recollection about that. it was my supervisor's case primarily." then senator biden asked mr. hebert about his testimony the next day and mr. heb

he wrote, "this revelation concerning the noninvolvement of mr. jefferson sessions in interfering in any voting rights investigations in the southern district of alabama does not affect in any way my other testimony rendered before the senate judiciary committee on march 13, 1986." mr. hebert's supervisor also testified in person to correct the record. that's what happened. those are the facts. but when describing this history, senator cruz misrepresented what happened. so, i would like to take this opportunity -- >> i object to the senator disparaging a fellow member of the committee here in his absence. >> well, he should be here, first of all. >> secondly, he disparaged me. >> let him make his case and we will go back to you. >> sir, we are here to talk about the nominate, not a colleague. object to disparaging a colleague on this committee, particularly in the colleague's absent. i object. >> may i speak to that? >> you can speak to it, but i think we would be better off if we just let it go at this point. >> fuming, let me continue my speech?

mr. jefferson, a little cold out here this morning at 29 degrees. signs of springtime though. we'll be talking about the cherry blossoms and whether there will be a march or april peak. sun rises before 7:00 starting tomorrow all the way up until we go to daylight saving time on march 11th. >> and burger king cashingn valentine's day. the toys it's promising for adults along with that whopper order. >>> right now on news 4 today, cabinet resignation. why the national security advisor stepped down weeks after being sworn in. >>> and a deadly abduction of two maryland sisters. who will take the stand as their >>> and dangerous drivers, the age group being blamed for more risk on our roads. >>> good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. thanks for joining us on this valentine's day. whether you're going out or staying in tonight we're here to help you start your day. we'll have a look at the roads. >> and our meteorologists here with the forecast as well. chuck bell out at the tidal basin this morning. let's start with sheena parveen with a look at the day

mr. price and mr. mnuchin did not answer their questions correctly and in a straightforward manner in their sworn testimony last month. now, what the republicans decided to do was, instead of -- there were two options. she could either see donald trump send these two nominees, install these two nominees on his own by a recess appointment, something he could do under his constitutional authority, or take this dramatic step of suspending the rules altogether and pushing these nominees through to the floor on their own accord. and that is the course they took. now, democrats are outraged by this. they put out a letter just moments before this 9:30 hearing and said they wanted a bunch of answers to questions that they believe that price and mnuchin did not answer correctly in their hearing. but they're not going to get answers to those questions as republicans take matters into their own hands, believing that democrats are doing whatever they can to delay donald trump from getting his cabinet

and in your introduction you give no evidence whatsoever that that was a direct conclusion that mr. jefferson has a plea for either of the continental powers to join the powers. >> it was only at the very end of the declaration that they included a passage that the kings may have taken particular notice of. so who was the action on? that action described what the kings of france and spain would likely take notice of not what the intent was. and that was how i wrote it. in my proposition is that in anticipation of spanish support it was not what motivated the pen but the success of an army in 1775 and have the army not been successful in 1975 to not only with the gathering of those 55 men be delayed but such a proposition would never had been written by mister jefferson. >> please do read the book. i laid out very carefully. the cry for independence only happened after thomas paine's common sense was published in january 1976. every discussion before that that was done in public referred to trying to find a way to come to an accommodation with the king. yes i'm sure independence had

mr. president. honored to be here. paris. i'm a thurgood marshall, represents the 47 publicly supported historically black colleges and university which i know you are very much in support of. it's a pleasure to be here, sir. >> i'd be all -- i'd be in the wilderness without you. you are so effective. i appreciate it. >> bill cleveland, retired capitol police officer, former vice mayor city of alexandria and substitute teacher in alexandria school system. glad to be here. thank you. >> bill is also the -- i'm earl matthews. i work at the department of defense. i was sworn in an hour after you. also a veteran and longtime supporter of yours. i worked for you since late summer. happy to be here. >> good job. it's a good job. >> daryl's wife, revival center from cleveland, ohio. pastor of new spirit. great amount of suppo in the african-american community where we are. we love the lord. we love our new president, and we are praying for our president on a regular basis. >> the one thing i did

how many brown bodies do you have to bulldoze before you can call it progress mr. washington, jefferson, madison, monroe, jackson, when you put your hand on the bible and swore to protect this country let's be honest in who you were talking about. when the first independent state fireworks set the sky to flame don't forget where we were watching from. so when you remember jefferson genius don't forget the slaves who built the bookshelves in his library. when you remember jackson's victories in war don't forget what he was fighting to preserve. when you sing that this country was founded on freedom, don't forget the duet of shackles dragging against the ground my entire life. i have been taught how perfect this country was, but no one ever told me about the pages torn out of my text books, how black and brown bodies have emblazoned for three centuries and find no place in the curriculum. oppression doesn't disappear just because you decided not to teach us that chapter. if you only hear one side of the story at some point you have to question who the writer is. i'm

. >> taxation is stepped, and you know it, mr. jefferson. stuart: and because i'm right on this, the market is going up. look, seriously if you get rid of the idea of a border tax, if you can bury it today, and you know that you're going to present to congress or present to the american people a tax cut package where you cut individual tax rates and corporate tax rates, the market loves it. that's why it's up. liz: let me give you the other side of this fight. it comes from paul ryan and kevin brady and ge and dow chemical. they're getting a tax break on the cost of their goods sold. so that why the exporters like this border tax play. so there's pressure on that side. stuart: there is another side. and, ashley, you mentioned this earlier. ashley: yeah,. stuart: if you get a border tax, you pay for, with all the revenue you bring in, you pay for the tax cuts on. ashley: corporate and individual. stuart: it is paid for. it's called pay go. now -- >> i'm smiling because you're falling into this progressivism, liberal paid for. how about lettin

i think in due course mr. trump will realize from washington to jefferson to lincoln to reagan to obama this is an amazing, special group of people that have had this privilege. that he's got to govern in a vast majority of americans. >> in mitch round, peggy foxx, wusa9. >> he's working with his old law firm and has started a business development firm. >>> all in month we're committed to helping you take care of your hearts. we're calling the initiative heart love. >> we're making it easy for you. andrea roane is live from the inova urgent care center. people are coming out to get free heart health screenings. >> they're coming out and they're showing some heart love to both you and bruce. we've had a steady stream of people coming in since before we opened at 4:00. we're here until 8:00. one of the nice people who stopped by thank you for being with us. why did you come out this evening? >> my wife told me about the service you've rendering today advantage of it. what tests have you had? >> i've had my blood

. >> mr. chairman and members of the committee, this is fro coretta scott king, "thank you for allowing me to this opportunity to express my strong opposition to the nomination of jefferson sessions." >> mr. sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now serves and he now seeks to serve as a federal judge." >> anyone who has used the power of his office as united states attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizen should not be elevated to our courts." >> kasie hunt with me now fresh off that interview with senator warren. one of the things that struck me about that conversation is that the senator seemed to go out of her way to say she did not necessarily think this was being done to her because she was a woman. >> reporter: craig, that's right, and you know this was something that democrats seized on immediately, and the suggestions that this was happening, she was being silenced

writes to her something and he says that is that i use the word people instead of men, mrs. -- mrs. adams. i hope you will appreciate that. >> obviously she had said in a long point, everyone talks about men, when they talk about humanity or people instead of just men? included, and so jefferson makes this comment which i thought was very revealing. he was very impressed by her, he never met any woman quite like her. his wife was not like that. he writes this to his daughters upon marriage, they had duties to look after their husbands and to acquire talents like knitting and french and reading things, but the politics. he could not imagine women, but abigail was as interested in politics as john and she let her views be known. she took a harder line on the sedition act. she wanted them earlier, she was a hawk on so many issues. she wanted to go to war with france and it is her husband holding back. she is a fantastically interesting character in her own right. >> joe ellis asked me to ask this, would you say that the founders were pre-democratic or anti-democratic? >> i think of the

mr. trump took another shot at the media. >> thomas jefferson and andrew jackson and abraham lincoln many of our greatest presidents fought with the media. >> trump labeling media organizations fake news even as he stated information that was factually incorrect. mr. trump ripped nato after vice president mike pence toldal lies that -- told allies that trump administration would offer un unwaiver support. >> else the enemy to our -- he is the enemy to our democracy not the press. >> immigration policy i'm against that. destroying. epa. all the money he is spending on vacation. >> the president is spending his third straight weekend at his private estate in florida. >> if you're just waking up with us, 6:06 a.m., one of the worst storms caused floods and road collapses and three deaths. in the sacramento area 300 people were evacuated due to an overflowing creeks. lake oroville continues to drop even concerns that the huge dam will collapse. forecasters are predicting more wet weather tomo

mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. as our nation celebrates national catholic schools week, i rise to recognize the lasting contributions of catholic education in my south florida community. carrollton school of the sacred heart, our lady of lords academy, and la salle high school are just a few of the many catholic institutions serving my districts. these schools do more than just provide their students with an excellent education, mr. speaker. each one of them is also dedicated to instilling a religious grounding and moral values in our students so they can dedicate their lives to serve our god, their families musicians club. the club's origin stretches back to 1917 when a group of african-american musicians sought to create their own safe haven in a then segregated community. they banded together, organized d

he promised folks to do something about the issue and mr. trump took another shot at the media. >> thomas jefferson, andrew jackson and abraham lincoln, many of our greatest presidents fought with the media. >> reporter: president trump labeling media organizations fake news, even as he continued to state information that was incorrect. he ripped nato after mike pence told nato allies that trump administration will offer unwavering support of nato. protesters lashed out at the president fors policy on immigration and his jabs at the media. >> he is the threat, he is the enemy to our democracy not the press. >> immigrant policy, totally against that. destroying epa all the money he is spending on vacations. >> the president is spending his third straight weekend at his private estate in florida. >> 7:06. after one of the worst storms in decades caused floods and road collapse and three deaths, the skies have cleared over california at least for now. in the second -- sacramento area, 200 people had to be vac the -- evacuated because of overflo

thomas jefferson wrote in late may that mr. president, there's really nothing of note to report to you. so it shows it was a little bit of a different time in our history. you think president obama would like to disappear for a few months? and have nothing of note to report to him? that sounds good, doesn't it. so george washington selected this route. and he also wanted to see the governors in these states. he kind of arranged ahead to make sure he would do that. he didn't go certain places that many assume he did. he didn't go to norfolk on the southern tour. he didn't go to edenton, north carolina, in the northeastern section, which was one of our largest places, most prominent places at the time. that's probably because he was simply trying to get the best route to get to charleston. he missed edenton. he missed his namesake in north carolina. those folks there can't get over that. that's what we call little washington in north carolina. and he also missed fayetteville, north carolina, which often acted as our state capital

mr. spicer: we have no updates. when we do, i will let you know. with respect to the first part of the question. one thing you will continue to see from this president is a respect for taxpayer dollars, the money they spend and how it is spent. we will review all aspects of government and i think you will see more on how he will approach and innovate government. the bottom line is that we should be paying people a fair wage for their service to this country. we should be doing in the most -- doing it in the most effective manner. the president has shown that with his commitment to helping reduce the cost of several programs through the government and bringing back jobs. there is going to be respect for taxpayers in this administration , so whether it is salaries or actual positions or programs, he is going to have a very tough look at how we are operating government, what positions people are getting paid for. the president understands that most americans are working night and day to try

to the rights guaranteed by the federal civil rights laws to qualify for appointment. >> mr. sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. >> it's my strongly held view the appointment of jefferson sessions to the federal bench would irreparably damage the work of my husband, al turner, and countless others who risked their lives and freedom. >> i do sincerely urge you to oppose the confirmation of mr. sessions. signed sincerely coretta scott king. >> one of those democrats, senator sherrod brown of ohio joins me right now. senator, i'd like your reaction to the fact that after this apok apock lip -- apocalyptic fight, he will be sworn in as the next attorney general. >> tragic. i noticed watching the vote on unfortunately secretary devos and watching this vote, republicans are scared of donald trump and i know they grumble about this. i know a number of them would have liked to have voted against devos. some were embarrassed about voting for sessions knowing his background on civil rights and justice r

others who risked their lives and freedom. >> i do sincerely urge you to oppose the confirmation of mr. sessions. signed sincerely coretta scott king. >> one of those democrats, senator sherrod brown of ohio joins me right now. senator, i'd like your reaction to the fact that after this apock lip piapok l apock lip -- apocalyptic fight, he will be sworn in as the next attorney general. >> tragic. i noticed watching the vote on unfortunately secretary devos and watching this vopublicans ad trump and i know they grumble about this. i know a number of them would have liked to have voted against devos. some were embarrassed about voting for sessions knowing his background on civil rights and justice reform and independence of the attorney general and i know they're afraid donald trump comes after that. you have three senators in the republican conference -- rubio and graham and cruz -- who ran against trump, they were three of the 16. trump went after them, humiliated them they say to their colleagues the same thing will happen to you if you break with him so there's not a lot of spine rig

. >> julia, listen to what trump said, mr. trump said about past presidents' relationship with the press. take a listen. >> thomas jefferson, andrew jackson, and ab raham lincoln, and many of our greatest presidents fought with the media and called them out, oftentimes on their lies. is that true, julian? >> sure. other presidents have called the press out. that's absolutely true. they've called out certain news organizations. they've tried to work around news organizations. but it's rare to see them attack the press as an institution and to put forward facts that are not true. and that's where there's more of not just an attack on the press, but a competition in terms of telling the story of what's going on. the story about the electoral college and the popular vote. two claims that president trump keeps making that aren't true is actually going after the stories that the press has reported. so this is a wholesale attack on the media as an institution. that's very different than the examples he talked about. >> all right. jul

mr. rawls: ok, ladies and gentlemen, let's convene the panel. it has been a good day so far. please, during the course of the -- has somebody got the video or something going? if you could turn that off, that would be great. we will reconvene the panel. it has been a good day so far. what we will do is recognize you when you raise your hand. wait for the microphone. if you have a question, it should be referred to one of the panelists. please designate that, and please try to stick to questions rather than statements. let me start with a question that we got in virtual space. iy name is mike howell, and am president of the brunswick civil war roundtable in south carolina. we are, i believe, the largest roundtable in the u.s. i've gone to great lengths to keep politics out of the roundtable. this topic, monuments, has both elements of history and politics. what do you think should be the role of roundtables, if any, on this issue?" a very goodhat was question, and i would broaden it who kn

trump reiterated one of his key campaign promises to evangelicals. >> it was the great thomas jefferson who said the god who gave us life gave us liberty. jefferson asked, can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of god? among most freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. that is why i will get rid of and totally destroy the johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution, i will do that, remember. >> jenna: we will talk a little bit more about that, in the meantime president trump is grappling with confirmation battles over several nominees, also follow from a reportedly tense phone call with one of america's closest allies. and pushback from iran, after tough talk from the white house on that country's band missile test, let's go to our chief white house correspondent john roberts, who has nothing to talk about these days. john, if you can, what is the latest? >> good morning to you, yes, also something to talk about, lots to talk about here

. >> mr. president? >> senator from massachusetts. >> mr. president, i am surprised that the words of coretta scott king are not suitable for debate in the united states senate. i ask leave of the senate to continue my remarks. >> is there objection? >> i object. >> i appeal the ruling -- >> objection is heard. the senator will take her seat. >> we are expecting to be joined live by senator elizabeth warren any moment now. that has just happened in the senate. she's just been called back to the floor but we are going to get shore sit there for the commercial but then be there when the commercial is over because we'll be right back. >>> i rise in opposition to the nomination of senator jeff sessions to be the next attorney general of the united states. >> senator sessions' record in the senate provides little evidence that his views have evolved since the last time the senate evaluated his fitness to serve in high federal office. >> over the course of his career, senator sessions has opposed ke

mrs. king's letter and ask unanimous consent that the letter in its entirety be printed in the record following my remarks. mrs. wring wrote, and i quote -- "i write to express my sincere opposition to the confirmation of jefferson b. sessions as a federal district court judge for the southern district of alabama. my professional and personal roots in alabama are deep and lasting. anyone who has used the power of his office as united states attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts. mr. sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. for this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship. i do sincerely urge you to oppose the confirmation of mr. mr. sessions." end quote. when senator elizabeth warren tried to read this exact same letter last night here on the senate floor, republicans voted to silence her, citing that sh

. >> mr. president? >> senator from massachusetts. >> mr. president, i am surprised that the words of coretta scott king are not suitable for debate in the united states senate. i ask leave of the senate to continue my remarks. >> is there objection? >> i object. >> i appeal the ruling -- >> objection is heard. the senator will take her seat. >> we are expecting to be joined live by senator elizabeth warren any moment now. that has just happened in the senate. she's just been called back to the floor but we are going to get shore sit there for the commercial but then be there when the commercial is over because we'll be right back. per roll more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper that airline credit card yout? have... it could be better. it's time to shake things up. with the capital one venture card

. >> mr. president? >> senator from massachusetts. >> mr. president, i am surprised that the words of coretta scott king are not suitable for debate in the united states senate. i ask leave of the senate to continue my remarks. >> is there objection? >> i object. >> i appeal the ruling -- >> objection is heard. the senator will take her seat. >> we are expecting to be joined live by senator elizabeth warren any moment now. that has just happened in the senate. she's just been called back to the floor but we are going to get shore sit there for the commercial but then be there when the commercial is over because we'll be right back. across new york state, from long island to buffalo, from rochester to the hudson valley, from albany to utica, creative business incentives, infrastructure investment, university partnerships, and the lowest taxes in decades are creating a stronger economy and the right environment in new york state for business to thrive. let us help grow your company's tomorrow -

trump reiterated one of his key campaign promises to evangelicals. >> it was the great thomas jefferson who said the god who gave us life gave us liberty. jefferson asked, can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of god?

mr. alexander, ms. baldwin, mr. barrasso, mr. bennet, the clerk: mr. carper, mr. casey, mr. cassidy, mr. cochran, ms. collins, mr. coons, mr. corker, mr. crapo, mr. cruz, mr. daines, ms. duckworth, mr. durbin, mr. enzi, mrs. ernst, mrs. feinstein, mr. flake, mr. franken. mrs. gillibrand, ms. harris, ms. hassan. mr. hatch. mr. heinrich. ms. heitkamp. mr. hiller. miz hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. inhofe. mr. johnson. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. le leahy. mrs. mccaskill, ms. murkowski, mrs. murray. mr. nelson. mr. paul. mr. perdue. mr. peters. mr. portman. mr. reed. mr. risch. mr. roberts. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. sasse. mr.mr. schatz. mr. schumer. mr. scott. mr. sessions. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. toomey. mr. use dal. mr. warner. mrs. warren. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is not present. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i move to instruct the sergeant-at-arms to request the presence of absen

mr. trump, 70. we will be talking more about that visit happened today later in our program, talking with a reporter who is traveling with the canadian prime minister today. back to your calls. jefferson city, missouri. republicans. your thoughts on these retailers ? caller: i think it is a bold. -- bull. trump signed everything over to his kids to take anything away so he ain't on their. there is no ethics problem. the same with his daughter. it ain't the consumer going out and buy -- it is the liberal ceos that want to put everything up and the lies and make it something that it is not. this is crazy. obama got in there and we showed up and let the guy have a chance. and gave him eight years. we -- trump cannot even get his cabinet in their to fix the screwup. i don't see any of those democrats out there giving up their government check when they get into office. trump is giving his money over to the treasury to get this country out of the mess the democrats have gotten it into. when are these peo

mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to outline a number of concerns i have this morning about senator sessions -- i should say senator sessions' nomination to be the next attorney general. i'll start with -- and i will try to keep it to a short list. we have -- i have limited time this morning, but wanted to start with the voting rights issue. in our state of pennsylvania, we have a long history of litigation about and battles about the right to vote, and when the supreme court decision in shelby versus holder was issued a couple of years ago, folks in the senate took one or two or three different positions. the position that i took was one of disagreement with the basic holding of shelby versus holder, which in my judgment gutted the voting rights act's requirements that certain states and certain

also wrote to the judiciary committee about the sessions nomination in 1986, and this what she wrote: "mr. chairman and members of the committee, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to express my strong opposition to the nomination of jefferson sessions for federal district judgeship for the southern district of alabama. my long-standing commitment, which i shared with my husband martin, to protect and enhance the rights of black americans, rights which include equal access to the democratic process, compels me to testify today. civil rights leaders, including my husband and albert turner, have fought long and hard to achieve free and unfettered access to the ballot box. mr. sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge. this simply cannot be allowed to happen. mr. sessions' conduct as u.s. attorney from his politically motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws indicates that he lacks the temperament, fai

you know, mr. president, in all nomination processes, there's some twisting of facts that goes on, some even unfortunately character attacks but the twisting of his record and the attacks on senator sessions in my view have been particularly egregious. that's why i was very saddened by what happened on the floor of the united states senate last night. one of our colleagues violated rule 19. here's what rule 19 says. no senator in debate shall directly or indirectly by any form of words impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming of a u.s. senator. that's the rule. it's been in place for decades. and i don't think you need to be a harvard law professor to realize that rule was violated last night. now, mr. president, i've been in the senate like you for a couple of years, certainly have tried very hard to work with my colleagues, all my colleagues across the aisle, democrats, republicans. i have respect for all of them and i have no problem whatsoever

mr. chairman and members of the committee -- this is from coretta scott king. thank you for allowing me this opportunity to express my strong opposition to the nomination of jefferson sessions for federal district judgeship for the southern district of alabama. my long-standing commitment which i shared with my husband, martin, to protect and enhance the rights of black americans, rights which include equal access to the democratic process compels me to testify today. civil rights leaders, including my husband and albert turner have fought long and hard to achieve free and unfettered access to the ballot box. mr. sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge. this simply cannot be allowed to happen. mr. sessions' conduct as u.s. attorney from his politically motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws indicates that he lacks the temperament, fairness and judgment to be a federal judge.

addresses the people's house without the steely gaze of moses, the ultimate, most revered lawmaker, mr. speaker. he looks down on you and on this chamber for truth and justice. you know, mr. speaker, we americans work hard. we work hard every day of the week, and we love fridays. we love fridays so much that we say, thank god it's friday, and over the years, tgif has become not only something that every one in our country that works hard recognizes but became a popular restaurant. in the autumn we love our friday nights watching high school football. in the winter maybe it's catching a movie and eating a pizza with our friends or family. in the spring, friday can find us catching a baseball game, the american pastime. mr. speaker, last friday night, i was in cairo, egypt, and what i saw in cairo was that same joyous, happy experience of families sharing their successes of the week, celebrating a great soccer ictory, clapping to wonderful, warm local music and witnessing the squeal of their kids running around their parents celebrating a birthday or just a good week at work or school. i