mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: minority leader. mr. schumer: would my dear colleague from texas yield for a question? the presiding officer: the senator from texas does not have the floor. you have the floor. mr. schumer: i would like to just then tell the -- my friend from texas, this is the bill. it was posted online a half-hour before we came online. and i'd ask a page to come over and bring it to my dear friend and ask him if this is the bill, which we have read. mr. cornyn: mr. president, all senators have a copy of this discussion draft bill. it is a discussion draft which will be open to an amendment process with unlimited amendments that could be offered by both sides following -- after which -- or before which we'll have a fullsome debate. our colleagues are complaining about secrecy that doesn't exist. this bill is online. the american people can read it. you can read it. i would suggest that they do read it before they start criticizing it. mr. schumer: i would ask my friend from t

mr. schumer: i rest my case.

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: minority leader. mr. schumer: would my dear colleague from texas yield for a question? the presiding officer: the senator from texas does not have the floor. you have the floor. mr. schumer: i would like to just then tell the -- my friend from texas, this is the bill. it was posted online a half-hour before we came online. and i'd ask a page to come over and bring it to my dear friend and ask him if this is the bill, which we have read. mr. cornyn: mr. president, all senators have a copy of this discussion draft bill. it is a discussion draft which will be open to an amendment process with unlimited amendments that could be offered by both sides following -- after which -- or before which we'll have a fullsome debate. our colleagues are complaining about secrecy that doesn't exist. this bill is online. the american people can read it. you can read it. i would suggest that they do read it before they start criticizing it. mr. schumer: i would ask my friend from t

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. schumer: madam president, i heard what the leader had to say. i think anyone who observes the reconciliation process knows it's not a robust process. there are ways to correct that. and certainly we have our differences pretty much on partisan lines between repealing a.c.a. or rather amending it and making it better. but what we ought to be doing is discussing it with one another.

mr. schumer: thank you. first, madam president, before i begin, i want to express how glad we all were that representative scalise is doing better. over the weekend his condition changed from critical to serious. it seems like he has a ways to go, but we're all happy to hear that the signs are more positive an moving in the right -- and moving in the right direction. i would also like to express my heart-felt condolences to the families of those lost in the crash of the u.s.s. fitzgerald. those lost in peacetime -- for now, our prayers are with the families of the self isn't sailors who lost their lives in service to this great country. now, on health care, madam president, we're only two weeks away from the july 4th recess. my friends on the other side we're going to vote on a health care bill before the break. democrats have still not seen the bill. the republican health and human services secretary hasn't seen the bill. the american people have not seen the bill, and i'm sure many republican senators have

mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. madam president, we're only a little more than a week away from having to vote on a secret republican health care bill. according to the timelines given by the majority leader to the press. just one week away from voting on legislation that will reorder one-sixth of our economy and impact every single american in this country, and not a soul in america has seen it. i have never seen a more radical or reckless legislative process

mr. schumer: madam president, i'd like to address the hearings that just concluded a few hours ago. now, after hearing mr. comey's testimony today, america is stunned. the cloud hanging over this administration has just gotten a whole lot darker. i want to commend both the chairman, senator burr, and the vice chairman, senator warner, for the way they ran this hearing. the senate and the american people are better informed as a result of their work. few committee hearings in the history of the senate have produced the kind of eye-opening testimony that we heard today. in its wake i'd like to make a few points. first, for weeks media reports indicated that the president had directly and indirectly pressured the f.b.i. director to end the f.b.i.'s investigation into general flynn. innuendos and intimidations -- sorry. innuendos and intonations swirled around but we now know much more of the truth. there's now no doubt that mr. comey understood the president's request that he let go of the investigation into general flynn in a meeting during which it was discussed whether mr. comey wou

mr. schumer: would my good friend and gymmate from texas yield for a question? mr. cornyn: i would yield for a question. mr. schumer: is some initial yens a comment of -- is omniscience a comment of all knowing? mr. cornyn: i would say to my friend from new york he is omniscient if he actually claims to know the content of a bill that has not yet been voted upon or agreed upon by republicans in the senate. so i would just put that in the same category as his other advice to folks on this side of the aisle and, again, challenge his memory to how we got here in the first place. i was here on christmas eve when we voted. actually, i ended up voting against, but democrats voted to jam obamacare through this body on a strictly party-line vote, and the fact is obamacare is failing millions of people because if they have access to coverage at all, many of them have seen their premiums go up an average of 105% since 2013. that's the average in the 30-plus states that carry obamacare insurance on the health care exchange. 105% increase. and many of them have also seen their

mr. schumer: mr. president, i listened to the majority leader this morning saying that obamacare was collapsing and republicans are on a rescue mission. honestly, the gall it must take to say that after republicans and president trump have spent all year sabotaging the marketplace, that obamacare is collapsing, they've threatened to stop critical cost-sharing payments which help keep deductibles and premiums down, hurting millions of people and selling uncertainty in the -- sowing uncertainty in the market. there's an easy way to fix it. instead of crying crocodile tears republicans should guarantee the cost-sharing payments shall be made. that's not just democrats saying it. that's the insurers. listen to the insurers. what do they want to keep premiums down and prevent them from leaving the exchanges? they want cost-sharing, which our republican colleagues refuse to do and then in a cynical ploy try to blame obamacare. listen to ahip. that's the nation's largest trade group of insurers. it's nonpart

mr. schumer: even several republican senators are expressing concerns. republican heller said, quote, the bill doesn't protect the most vulnerable nevadans, the elderly, nevadans struggling with mental health issues, substance abuse and people with disabilities. he -- he continued, quote, the goal of health care reform should be to lower costs here in nevada, and i am not confident, not confident it will achieve that goal, unquote. republican senator susan collins said about the bill, quote, i'm very concerned about the cost of insurance for older people with serious chronic illnesses and the impact of the medicaid cuts on our state governments, the most vulnerable people in our society and health care providers such as our rural hospitals and nursing homes, unquote. even my friend, the junior senator from texas, said that under this bill, quote, premiums would continue to rise, unquote. my republican friends are right to have these concerns. the bill will not lower costs for working families. it will leave the most vulnerable americans out in the cold,

mr. schumer: well, we're beginning to receive the first bits of information about the senate republican health care bill, which until now, has been shrouded in absolute secrecy. i can see why. even as we continue to get more details, the broad outlines are clear. this is a bill designed to strip away health care benefits and protections from americans who need it most in order to give a tax break to the folks who need it least. this is a bill that would end medicaid as we know it, rolling back medicaid expansion, cutting federal support for the program even more than the house bill which cut medicaid by $800 billion. let me remind everyone in this chamber medicaid is not just a health insurance program for americans struggling in poverty, though that is an important and necessary part of it. medicaid is increasingly a middle-class program. medicaid is how many americans is -- are able to access opioid abuse treatment. medicaid foots the bill for two-thirds of all americans living in nursi

mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask that the quorum be vitiated and i be given permission -- the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: i be given permission to speak under leadership time for a brief moment. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. with respect to the pending vote, could we have order, please? the presiding officer: senators will take conversations off the floor. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. with respect to the pending vote on the iran sanctions bill, i want to be very clear. democrats will vote to advance this bill to the floor because we support -- most of us support the bill. but also because we expect an amendment process that will follow for a vote on a strong package of russia sanctions. i've talked to the republican leader about this, and he is amenable to that. our republican colleagues should realize it will be very difficult to gather democratic support for final passage of t

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: first i thank my friend and colleague for his outstanding words on daca. no one has fought more for the daca kids than he has, not just in the last year but over the last decade, and the fact that so many of them are here is in good part due to his great work and effort, so thank you. now, mr. president, we're still all a bit shaken by the horrors of yesterday's shooting. it was a senseless act of violence, even more chilling by the circumstances at a baseball practice for a bipartisan charity event. i understand that representative scalise is still in critical condition following surgery last night. when we hear the word critical attached to his condition, it sends shivers down our spines. we hope and pray for a quick and full recovery. i know that all of his house colleagues are wishing him well right now, and i want him to know that his friends in the senate do as well. the same goes for the other four who were injured in t

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: last night, senators reached a bipartisan agreement on a package of russia sanctions for the senate to vote on as an amendment to the pending iran sanctions. it was the result of several days of negotiations and hard work. the republican leader and i spent a lot of time on this. i thank him for it, as did senators crapo, brown, cardin, corker, shaheen, durbin and menendez. i want to thank each of them for their efforts and their expertise in getting this done. in particular, i want to thank senator cardin, ranking member of the foreign relations committee, who is one of the most trusted voices in our caucus on this issue. he did an excellent job of forging a bipartisan consensus on this committee with little regard for the credit he had received. i also want to acknowledge senator brown, our ranking member of banking who has been steadfast in making sure that we get a good sanctions bill, an effective sanctions bill

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum call, mr. president? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. so this week -- first, i want to talk about infrastructure. this week the administration is laying out a few, quote, proposals on infrastructure. so far it's g.n.p. a major disappointment -- so far it's been a major disappointment. president trump pitched a million dollar infrastructure plan in his campaign. we democrats welcomed the idea. one of my first conversations with the president after he was elected was about infrastructure. i said, called for a trillion dollar infrastructure program. he said to me at least that. i said, sounds good to me. let's work on it. we've made overtures to the white house saying we'd be willing to work with the president on infrastructure. i've said it to the president directly several times. democrats have been pushing for new money for infrastructure for a very long time. we even put out our own proposals, a trillion-dollar infr

quorum call: quorum call: mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i'd like to address the hearings that just concluded a few hours ago. now, after hearing mr. comey's testimony today, america is stunned. the cloud hanging over this administration has just gotten a whole lot darker. i want to commend both the chairman, senator burr, and the vice chairman, senator warner, for the way they ran this hearing. the senate and the american people are better informed as a result of their work. few committee hearings in the history of the senate have produced the kind of eye-opening testimony that we heard today. in its wake i'd like to make a few points. first, for weeks media reports indicated that the president had directly and indirectly pressured the f.b.i. director to end the f.b.i.'s investigation into general flynn. innuendos and intimidations -- sorry. innuendos a

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i listened to the majority leader this morning saying that obamacare was collapsing and republicans are on a rescue mission. honestly, the gall it must take to say that after republicans and president trump have spent all year sabotaging the marketplace, that obamacare is collapsing, they've threatened to stop critical cost-sharing payments which help keep deductibles and premiums down, hurting millions of people and selling uncertainty in the -- sowing uncertainty in the market. there's an easy way to fix it. instead of crying crocodile tears republicans should guarantee the cost-sharing payments shall be made. that's not just democrats saying it. that's the insurers. listen to the insurers. what do they want to keep premiums down and prevent them from leaving the exchanges? they want cost-sha

people like mr. schumer, and i am not judging him, or the other democrats, but these people, these republicans are not going to put a plan out there that is worse than what we have. it would be shooting themselves in the foot. it doesn't make sense. says, ifjudy usually it doesn't make sense, it usually isn't true. think, and the other thing, i should the government get out of this insurance thing as much as possible. i think they should open it up across the borders, but people buy insurance where they want to. if anything with the government, make them put a cap on what the insurance companies can charge. host: a reminder to all of us the republicans have said this first effort, the house bill votes, and the2 senate proposal data yesterday that will get a vote next week 1.phase after that, more legislation that republicans would like to bring forward. then it is up to the trump administration and hhs secretary, tom price, former congressman from georgia, to, on their end, to do another phase of rep

mr. schumer: we have as much time as we need. the presiding officer: that is correct. mrs. shaheen: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: i'm disappointed, but i'm not surprised that my colleague from wyoming objected to our effort to move forward. he's objecting to ending the uncertainty that we experienced that's forcing insurers to raise rates because of the uncertainty with the way this administration is shall -- this administration is administering the affordable care act. they have made it clear that they want marketplaces to implode so that the fact doesn't fork -- work for people. senator barrasso is objecting to a way to stabilize the marketplace. this is a commitment we have made to american families and the instability here in washington is what is causing instability, not only in insurance markets, but in the country at-large. you know, we're approaching the fourth of july next week, and when our founders declared independence on july 4, 1776, benjamin franklin warned that we must all hang together or we will all han

mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. madam president, we're only a little more than a week away from having to vote on a secret republican health care bill. according to the timelines given by the majority leader to the press. just one week away from voting on legislation that will reorder one-sixth of our economy and impact every single american in this country, and not a soul in america has seen it. i have never seen a more radical or reckless legislative process in my time in politics. write the bill in secret, discuss it in secret, send it to c.b.o. in secret, and then rush it to the floor with no committee hearings, no amendments and just ten hours of debate for the minority. that's not how america ever got big things done. that's not how we do big things like health care here in the senate. that's hardly how we do small things. and my republican friends, they know it. republican bill cassidy, louisiana, said i have always said i would have preferred a more open process. republican senator murkowski from alaska said

schumer. they can defend in a awaytent or try to explain a failure. americans will know the difference. away a failure. americans will know the difference. away a failure. americans will know the difference. cleveland, ohio. go ahead. caller: the delay on this senate health care bill does not surprise me all that much because, for one, it was completely written in secret with nobody knowing what the details were, but number two, the big touts from president trump while he was on the campaign trail was repeal/replace, but in reading the 142 pages of this bill, it repeals or replaces nothing, it just keeps adding on to obamacare, and as one of the first people, who, for the first time in their dull life, was insured under obamacare, i will not be -- their adult life, was in short under obamacare, i will but ifthe biggest fan, they are trying to rewrite it or it,ded, admit it -- amend it made it. i wish her public and voters would get -- republican voters would get more you're dated over the past seven years, when they legislation, -- host: what is the d

thank you, mr. leader. senator schumer: one point i would add to senator wyden. they put reconciliation in on january 4. they put in the budget, they don't want democrats to work on -- work with them on january 4. so much for bipartisanship. green tie. reporter: you mentioned that your concern is that this bill does not protect coverage for pre-existing conditions. can you talk about that a little more in specificity and why you believe your read of the bill -- senator murray: my read of the bill is very clear. people will not have the protections of pre-existing conditions. there are opt--outs in there, and we will go back to the time when people want to buy insurance and find out it does not cover what they thought it did. and believe me people don't want to go there or they will not cover pre-existing conditions. in one way, by not covering them, in another way charging them more. so all of a sudden you find out that if you want to buy maternity coverage for mental health, you will have to pay as much as $1000 for maternity care to get the coverage. that is no

thank you, mr. leader. senator schumer: one point i would add to senator wyden. they put reconciliation in on january 4. they put in the budget, they don't want democrats to work on -- work with them on january 4. so much for bipartisanship. green tie. reporter: you mentioned that your concern is that this bill does not protect coverage for pre-existing conditions. can you talk about that a little more in specificity and why you believe your read of the bill -- senator murray: my read of the bill is very clear. people will not have the protections of pre-existing conditions. there are outs in their, -- opt--outs in there, and we will go back to the time when people want to buy insurance and find out it does not cover what they thought it did. and believe me people don't want to go there or they will not cover pre-existing conditions. in one way, by not covering in one way, by not covering them, in another way charging them more. so all of the sudden you find out if you want to buy maternity coverage or mental health, you have to pay $1000 for maternity care to ge

mr. schumer: i join with the majority leader in offering our prayers for those who are injured. i was absolutely shaken by the news of a shooting early this morning at the baseball field in alexandria where many of my friends and colleagues were practicing for the annual congressional baseball game, an event that brings us together each year. it's been reported that representative scalise, the house whip, was shot during the attack, as were two brave members of the capitol police force and others, including a staffer. let us pray that they and any others who are injured are able to recover quickly. this morning is the most sobering reminder of how thankful we should be for the service of the capitol police force who put their lives on the line day in, day out for us to be safe. i could not be more grateful that capitol police were there at a time to prevent this attack from being any worse than it was. i was with senator paul in the gym, who had been there, and he told me had these two capitol police officers, who were part of congressman scalise's detail, not been there, it mig

mr. schumer: i want to salute on behalf of all of us of the great senator from hawaii. her conviction to help those who need help is just inspiring to every one of us. we love you, we wish you well, and we can't wait for you to come back and rejoin the fight double -- double invigorated. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i want top extend to my colleague from hawaii for every -- for her successful health treatment. i know the prayers and thoughts of everyone in the senate are with her as she takes that healing path. her comments tonight are very relevant to the issue of health care in america because each of us hopes that if a loved one gets ill, that they will have the peace of mind that they know they will get the health care that they need and that they won't go bankrupt in the process. yet, here we are tonight debating a bill titled better care act. better care. has there ever been a bill in the history of the united states more perversely named than the better care act that strips care from 22 million americans? i was very

thank you, mr. leader. senator schumer: one point i would add to senator wyden. they put reconciliation in on january 4. they put in the budget, they don't want -- they put in the budget, they don't want democrats to work on them on january 4. so much for bipartisanship. green tie. reporter: you mentioned that your concern is that this bill does not protect coverage for pre-existing conditions. can you talk about that a little more in specificity and why you believe your read of the bill -- senator murray: my read of the bill is very clear. people will not have the protections of pre-existing conditions. there are often outs in there, and we will go back to the time when people want to buy insurance and find out it does not cover what they thought it did. and believe me people don't want to go there or they will not cover pre-existing conditions. in one way, by not covering them, in another way charging them more. so all of the sudden you find out if you want to buy maternity coverage or mental health, you have to pay $1000 for maternity care to get that coverage

schumer's. in 2018 they can defend an accomplishment or explain a way a failure. americans will know the difference. >> republicans have a well-established gift proven by history and social science alike of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and if they, after seven years, win back total control of the government and can't fulfill their signature campaign promise, to get rid of obamacare and then they have to go to the democrats who know that they aren't going to have fingerprints on anything in the 2018 election and think they'll get a better deal from them. i think that's insane. >> shannon: it will be here before we know it. you know how the political cycle works. the elections are never over. great to see you today. thank you. >> bill: in the meantime house lawmakers expected the take up two major immigration bills this week. first one focusing on denying federal grants to sanctuary cities that choose to not cooperate with the feds. the second bill known as kate's law would strengthen criminal penalties for deported felons who come back into the country

offer. >> mr. president, senator schumer says he would like to come down and have a talk about health care. would you be willing to negotiate with all of them? >> have to fiend out if he is serious. he hasn't been serious, and he has done a lot of talking, bad talking, and he just doesn't seem like a serious person. >> i think what the democrats have made clear is they don't want to deal with anything that repeals and replaces obama care. i think it would be hard to see a scenario where democrats would be willing to come to the table in good faith. >> would you support any effort to work across the aisle? >> tell me, who can you work with over there? i personally think we'll get everybody together and be able to do this. we have to. if we don't do it, we're going to have -- that's all there is to it. >> for right now i think politically they would love to see us kind of twist and squirm for a while. >> it's unfortunate that our democratic colleagues refuse to work with us in a serious way to compre

schumere that what mr. offered, he extended in all of branch to be able to work on this -- an olive branch to be able to work on this. there are things in this bill that are good things, and they have a foundation that they could work together and do what they have been voted into do. that is to serve the american public and do the right thing and give us a choice. >> thanks, stacy. we will go to david, on the republican line in mercedes, texas. caller: hi, sir. how are you all doing? >> good. what are your thoughts for the senate this week? caller: i might have a statement and a question at the same time. if thosedering republicans -- why do they call it a yes and then in -- when it comes before the conference, they could to get out? that is my question. i do believe that -- i'm a , and they have had seven years to work on this and have not done anything. i am aching that hopefully this up forr chance to make those years they did not do anything, and i am hoping that this will be done during the summer. we

mr. mccain: it's obviously been tried before. i think there's no doubt that if it were to pass, this could pose a very dangerous threat to our relationship with saudi arabia at a time when the iranians are now -- have achieved a peninsula all the way across from baghdad to -- from tehran all the way to baghdad and there's no doubt that the iranians have continued their ie agreesive -- their aggressive behavior. and if we voted down this arms sale to saudi arabia, it would have a devastating effect on our standing in the middle east and long-term impact on our ability to counter what is clearly iranian aggressive behavior. so i urge my colleagues -- i strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: i'd like to join with senator mccain very quickly. 71, 27, september 21 last year we voted to approve tank sales to saudi arabia because they need more weapons and equipment to counter the i

i want an economic message more than anything and want miss pelosi, mr. hoyer, mr. schumer and mr. durbin to recognize we're going to continue to hinder candidates if we don't do than. >> and the it, nc. >> we look at the outside spending money. ossoff is from the district. he doesn't live there now. he grew up there, his family lives there. he's not a carpetbagger. he grew up in that district. he is of that district. >> didn't have a home there. >> he's not moved from san francisco and flopped down an office. all the money that came from l.a. and san francisco allowed his opponents to say this guy is not of us and not going to vote with us or the way we want him to vote. so along with harold ford jr. we have a senior political analyst matt halpern and in atlanta for "the washington post" and moderator of "washington week" on pbs, "bob costa. bob you were there on the gro d fwroubd last night what made the difference? >> i was with jon ossoff monday night his final event and i listened closely to his pitch. you know what he talked about? climate change. he talked about cynicism in

let's listen to chuck schumer. >> mr. comey didn't want a special counsel in the clinton case and looked at fact and determined there wasn't a case for one. with respect to the russia probe, the director examined the fact and felt there was enough potential evidence a special counsel was warranted. again the contrast is telling. democrats and republicans alike, the american people as well, should be pleased that the investigation is in the hands of former director mueller. and third, the hearings raised serious questions about attorney general sessions, that he and the justice department must answer immediately. senator wyden, senator harris repete he hadly asked director comey about attorney general sessions' involvement in the investigation before he recused himself. director comey didn't have direct knowledge of his involvement but made clear he suspectedded that the attorney general needed to recuse himself weeks before he actually did so. and that he could not share the reasons for that in an unclassified briefing. s

not mr. comey but all of the others. at that time, the four leaders, mr. congressional -- leader mcconnell, senator schumer, speaker of the house and i sent a letter to the secretaries of state throughout the country saying we have resources available to help protect the mechanisms of elections. not to interveer -- the states run their elections but to say resources were available to them. the republicans were resistant to saying -- resisted our saying that we considered the critical ocess as infrastructure. later the secretary of homeland security made such a designation. we insisted we say that we're not saying that, but we did recognize that there was a problem and that there were resources available nationally for them to exploit, take advantage of for the protection of our system. reporter: i want to follow-up a little bit here. so you talked about the possibility of him saying his side of things maybe to the special counsel -- ms. pelosi: i don't know if he would do it. they have to follow the facts where they lead. reporter: president clinton did th

state minority leader senator chuck schumer. [applause] mr. shapiro: chuck has been at the forefront of every effort to strengthen and deepen the relationship between washington and jerusalem. he has also been a strong voice in expressing concern about iran as a threat to israel, and like ajc, chose to uphold the -- in 2015. in doing so, chuck acted out of principle against the wishes of his president and many of his party. we admired his courage then and admire his courage now. now most of you see chuck on the tv shows or the front page of newspapers and he likes being there. [laughter] >> but i want to point out there is another part to how he is committed to his constituencies. this is a man who has not forgotten his roots. he returns to new york every weekend and over the course of the year will visit all 62 counties because he remembers that these are the constituents that put him into office. i will give you a personal story. a number of years ago i am walking across central park west which is a wide street and a car comes zooming across

they don't want you, mr. and mrs. american to know about this bill. they don't want you to see that it cuts health care for millions. >> reporter: schumer says republicans are drafting the bill in secret because they are ashamed of it. now, republicans can pass the bill as long as no more than two of the 52 republican senators oppose it. that's not a guarantee, but mega, majority leader mitch mcconnell is known for keeping the ranks in line. >> thank you. >>> the political story today is the special election in georgia's sixth congressional district it's seen by some as a referendum on the trump presidency. republican karen handle and democrat are locked in a too close to call race. spending could top $50 million making it the most expensive house race in u.s. history. president trump tweeted about the race several times yesterday urging voters to cast their ballot for handle and noting that her opponent lives galveston. flash flooding a big concern with this tropical system. >>> fairfax county, virginia, police now believe road rage led to the deadly

they don't want you, mr. and mrs. american to know about this bill. they don't want you to see that it cuts health care for millions. >> reporter: schumer says republicans are drafting the bill in secret because they are ashamed of it. now, republicans can pass the bill as long as no more than two of the 52 republican senators oppose it. that's not a guarantee, but mega, majority leader mitch mcconnell is known for keeping the ranks in >> thank you. >>> the political sry today is the special election in georgia's sixth congressional district it's seen by some as a referendum on the trump presidency. republican karen handle and democrat are locked in a too close to call race. spending could top $50 million making it the most expensive house race in u.s. history. president trump tweeted about the race several times yesterday urging voters to cast their ballot for handle and noting that her opponent lives outside the district. >> whoever wins and loses it's going to affect either party and how they react to president trump moving forward. if the republic

they don't want you, mr. and mrs. american to know about this bill. they don't want you to see that it cuts health care for millions. >> reporter: schumer says republicans are drafting the bill in secret because they are ashamed of it. now, republicans can pass the bill as long as no more than two of the 52 republican senators oppose it. that's not a guarantee, but mega, majority leader mitch mcconnell is known for keeping the ranks in line. >> thank you. >>> the political story today is the special election in georgia's sixth congressional district it's seen by some as a referendum on the trump presidency. republican karen handle and democrat are locked in a too close to call race. spending could top $50 million making it the most expensive house race in u.s. history. president trump tweeted about the race several times yesterday urging voters to cast their ballot for handle and noting that her opponent lives outside the district. >> whoever wins and loses it's going to affect either party and how they react to president trump moving forward. if the

chuck schumer reaching across the aisle saying listen, mr. president, let's start over, start from the beginning. start fresh, if you will. let's see what the white house has to say about that. >> have to find out if he's serious. he hasn't been serious. obamacare is such a disaster, such a wreck. he wants to save something that is hurting a lot of people. hurting a lot of people. you have to be very, very serious. he's done a lot of talking, bad talking. he just doesn't seem like a serious person. >> here's the problem with that perspective, shepard. you have to understand that part of the issue for the president in particular is there are some hard feelings on capitol hill like he's bruising feelings before he can get things going. you heard senator collins saying he doesn't understand how things get going on capitol hill. when you get a reach out, even if it's half-hearted, you say the right thing and reach back. the president didn't take that opportunity. we heard from sarah huckabee sanders who said that right now the focus is only on pl

not mr. comey, but all of the others. at that time, the four leaders, leader mcconnell, senator schumer, the speaker of the house and i sent a letter to the secretaries of the state throughout the country saying we have resources available to help protect the mechanisms of elections. not to interfere -- the states run their elections, but to say that certain resources were available to them. the republicans were resistant to saying -- resisted our saying that we considered the election process as critical infrastructure. later, the secretary of homeland security made such a designation. but we didn't say that in our letter. in fact, they insisted we not say that, but we did recognize that there was a problem and that there were resources available nationally for them to exploit, take advantage of for the protection of our system. reporter: i want to follow-up a little bit here. so, you talked about the possibility of him saying his side of things maybe to the special counsel -- ms. pelosi: i don't know if he would do it.

not mr. comey but all of the thers. t that time, the four leaders, leader mcdonell, senator schumer, the speaker of the house and i sent a letter to the secretaries of the state throughout the country saying we have resources available to help protect the mechanisms of elections. not to interfere -- the states run their elections but to say that certain resources were available to them. the republicans were resistant to saying -- resisted our saying that we considered the election process as critical nfrastructure. later the secretary of homeland security made such a designation. we didn't say that in our letter, they insisted we not say that, but we did recognize that there was a problem and that there were resources available nationally for them to exploit, take advantage, for the protection of our system. reporter: i want to follow-up a little bit here. so you talked about the possibility of him saying his side of things maybe to the special counsel -- ms. pelosi: i don't know if he would do it. they have to follow t

not mr. comey but all of the others. at that time, the four leaders, leader mcdonell, senator schumer, the speaker of the house and i sent a letter to the secretaries of the state throughout the country saying we have resources available to help protect the mechanisms of elections. not to interfere -- the states run their elections but to say that certain resources were available to them. the republicans were resistant to saying -- resisted our saying that we considered the election process as critical infrastructure. later the secretary of homeland security made such a designation. we didn't say that in our letter, they insisted we not say that, but we did recognize that there was a problem and that there were resources available nationally for them to exploit, take advantage, for the protection of our system. reporter: i want to follow-up a little bit here. so you talked about the possibility of him saying his side of things maybe to the special counsel -- ms. pelosi: i don't know if he would do it. they have to follow

. >> still mr. trump is dismissing chuck schumer's call to bring democrats to the table. >> he'd have to be very, very serious. he's done a lot of talking, bad talking. he just doesn't seem like a serious person. >> americans take the issues seriously with three new polls showing overwhelming opposition to the republican plan, support hovering below 20%. that was amid all americans. senate republican plan is unpopular even among republicans. it's new approval rating in the 20s and 30s. mitch mcconnell working against a new clock hoping to get a revised by tomorrow hoping to get a vote before the next recess in august. matt and hoda. >> peter alexander at the white house. thanks. >>> to big changes for airline passengers and airline themselves. the department of homeland security is raising the bar for every flight coming spot u.s. from a foreign airport. this is instead of a ban on personal electronics that we've been telling you to expect. it's all tied to the ongoing threat from isis. nbc's tom co

. >> still mr. trump is dismissing chuck schumer's call to bring democrats to the table. >> he'd have to be very, very serious. he's done a lot of talking, bad talking. he just doesn't seem like a serious person. >> americans take the issues seriously with three new polls showing overwhelming opposition to the republican plan, support hovering below 20%. that was amid all americans. senate republican plan is unpopular even among republicans. it's new approval rating in the 20s and 30s. mitch mcconnell working against a new clock hoping to get a revised by tomorrow hoping to get a vote before the recess in august. matt and hoda. >> peter alexander at the white house. thanks. >>> to big changes for airline passengers and airline themselves. the department of homeland security is raising the bar for every flight coming spot u.s. from a foreign airport. this is instead of a ban on personal electronics that we've been telling you to expect. it's all tied to the ongoing threat from isis. nbc's tom costell

mr. ambassador, we saw, you know, that tweet from the president this morning. he's back to it calling comey cowardly. senator lindsey graham weighed in on the president's statements just this morning. listen to this. >> here's what's so frustrating f for republicans like me. you may be the first president in history to go down because you can't stop inappropriately talking about an investigation that if you just were quiet would clear you. >> all right. so two things on. that your response to what graham had to say and is it, you know, is it threatening for the president to now call what could be a chief witness cowardly? >> fred, thanks for having me. i agree with senator graham that the president has, through his tweets, and otherwise, brought a world of trouble upon himself and he's added a second profoundly dangerous charge to bob mueller's investigation. we already have the question of whether or not the president or those around him colluded on the russian take on our democracy. now

with james comey. >> after hearing mr. comey's testimony today, america is stunned. the cloud hanging over this administration has just gotten a whole lot darker. president trump, if you disagree with anything the director said today, play the tapes for all of america to hear, or admit that there were no tapes. >> in regard to the tapes the white house spokeswoman said today she has no idea whether they exist but would, quote, try to look under the couch. president trump so far has made no comment on the hearing leaving the response to his personal attorney. >> mr. president, any reaction to comey's testimony? >> thank you very much. >> do you think he told the truth? >> during an infrastructure event at the white house today the president did not respond to questions. he also stayed quiet on twitter. >> joining us now on the set james taylor professor of political science. thanks for being with us. one of the senators set comes down to who you believe, comey or the president. what do you think on that? >> it comes down to

. >> mr. president, leader time. >> the senator has the floor. >> thank you. 142 pages, thus far, of this supposed bill have been printed online. that's what i have used. >> minority whip. >> mr. president, several weeks ago -- >> you have been listening to the top democrat in the senate, chuck schumer calling the bill a wolf in sheep's clothing, hitting the process hard and back and forth you see with mitch mcconnell there. that bite just beginning on the senate floor. it's safe to assume this new senate plan to overhaul obamacare is not going to get any democratic support to push it through. but, will it get support from the white house? will it get support from the president? let's head there. sarah murphy is there right now. sarah, we know the white house officials -- have you heard anything from the white house or the president since this bill was finally, this discussion draft was finally just released? >> reporter: not only were they briefed last night, they were told that last night th

chuck schumer said this was a metaphor for health care. the parties remain divided amongst themselves. we see them being corporate-tized. they need to come together and have mcconnell figure out the policy and donald trump figure out the rules. >> it's been a long time that it would gather enough support to pass. hasn't it been a long time? >> the big chunk of 2014 was trying to help republicans put together some kind of health care bill. we couldn't do it. republicans have a hard time coming to agreements on health care as john baynor said earlier this year. >> if you were the president, julian, what would you be doing? what issue within the bill would you be focusing on to try to tweak to make people happy? >> you have to reduce the medicaid cuts. that's clear. that issue gives opponents a certain kind of moral authority that supporters of the legislation simply don't have at this point, and i do think they have to ease off on some of the changes that are going to be made in terms of what the states have to require of insurance companies

the democratic base is getting more and more left led not by mrs. clinton, led by the senior senator from massachusetts. and they don't want to do anything but basically throw rocks at relationship doughs. lou: the republicans,' only half willingly follow the president. ed: i think jim jordan and if the freedom caucus has a great idea. they have a short time frame because of the reconciliation and taxes. go off for your 4th of july. tell him the bill is on their side so they have to do something about it. lou: no problem dealing with the establishment senators. but it's something they won't have to worry about their majority very long. ed: i think this whole thing is up for play today. i don't think the democrats -- i'm not as optimistic they will go away. the issue with the president on russia will go away. lou: the reason i say that is because they have shot their best bullet. they built his phoney campaign of russian collusion that they carried out for the better part of 7 months. they have built all of these charges against the president as havi