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

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

mcconnell: let me say this. ,he political genius on display throwing away a seat in the reddest state in america, is hard to ignore. do we have your thoughts on senator mccain? the finestell: person i have served with in my time here. the person for whom i have the greatest admiration. we are watching him fight his way through this health care struggle with great admiration and we fully expect to have him back after the first of the year. the tax bill adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit. you concerned about the impact on the deficit? i believe that the budget that bob corker and whichomey negotiated, allowed that deficit will be closed if we can grow the over the next 10 years. that will close that gap. i do not believe it is going to be a deficit. i believe it will be at least revenue neutral. if the economy responds in the way we believe it is about to, and there are signs that is happening already, i do not think we will have any trouble closing that gap. what is on the tax forecast for next year, what kind of

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

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

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

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

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

we are calling on senator mcconnell to do simply the same thing today. let's see if he does. we're calling on senator mcconnell to do just as senator reid did -- honor the wishes of the people of a state that has newly elected a senator and wait to move forward on the tax bill until senator jones arrives. now, if republicans insist on barreling ahead -- and i understand the pressure is on them from their hard right multibillionaire paymasters, they will be pouring gasoline on the fire. their tax bill, written in back rooms, rushed through this chamber with such recklessness, which gives enormous breaks to the wealthy and corporations while it raises the taxes on millions, many of them in the middle class, is being roundly rejected by the american people. poll after poll shows by ratios equal to, a little less than, a little more than 2-2 that the american people reject this bill. they don't know what's in it, they don't know all the details, but they know it favors the wealthy and powerful over them, over the middle class. they know that even if they are getting a small tax b

mcconnell's response was remain intact. that was in response to the suggestion a fix-it bill will be needed in the future. senator mitch mcconnell sits down with mike allen. it is 30 minutes. and now it is o welcome to the stage senator mitch mcconnell. thank you for coming. thank

and finally, senator mcconnell touted the repeal of the individual mandate. that's true. and now our republican friends will own premium increases on millions of middle-class families. the increase they will have to pay in health insurance far exceeds the amount of a tax break that they will get. and 13 million fewer americans will have health insurance at all. so as republicans head to the white house for their back-slapping and high-fives to celebrate passage of a bill against the will of the american people. we have a simple message. republicans will rule the day they passed this bill and you can bet democrats will make sure of that. we are going to continue to hammer away at why this bill is so unpopular and why what the republican rhetoric and the reality is so far apart. today's passage of the partisan tax bill officially sements the republican party as the party of the wealthy and the party of big corporations against the middle class and the working people of this country. why? president trump, his rich fans, cabinet members and donors and biggest corporations mak

mcconnell and the whole crowd, this is the scam. they don't mind giving up a seat to a democrat. you know why? they don't mind being the my minority party. they can make as much money on the way down as they made on the way up. right? they would just -- as long as they can control the apparatus, donald trump won in wisconsin and brought ron johnson across the finish line, he won in pennsylvania and brought toomey across the finish line, won in missouri, won in north carolina and brought burr across the line. mitch, you owe your job to donald trump. >> back with the panel. the president by finally endorsing roy moore, it seems like giving coverage to the rnc to reverse themselves and other republicans. >> again, the point was made earlier, this isn't a huge surprise, president trump, the leader of the republican party, the republican party lining up behind him. the fascinating thing about this is that steve bannon's vision for the republican party is essentially a completely splintered and fractured republican party. he wants to have

so mitch mcconnell put the bow on this year and quite properly so. the president signed, without mcconnell who for very first time this last week the president actually praised on twitter because it has finally gotten through to him through many people inside and outside the white house, mr. president, forget what steve bannon says you can't get anything without mitch mcconnell. >> dickerson: stay can with congress you heard mike pence talk about infrastructure, welfare reform, given what major laid out also fact democratic party that doesn't want to help out this president, what do you think it will look like? >> mother likely those two infrastructure for sure. it was quite revealing how very quickly this week paul ryan tried to pivot to entitlement reform and very quickly mitch mcconnell and republican senators said, no, no way. because remember the math. 51-49 is new math starting january 3rd. doug jones comes to the senate democrat from alabama, courtesy of steve bannon, exactly, cooperation is required. the only thing that most senators rights n

paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, think you very much. orrin hatch, the chairman, made a beautiful speech the other day in front of the white house, and absolutely brilliant and beautiful speech. i appreciated it. hard-working. kevin brady, i don't think he slept for months. that's all he did was this. black, robdiane portman, rob worked so hard. pat toomey likewise could tim . tim scott likewise. john thin likewise. these people worked so hard and i will think they are given the proper credit. when i say the whole senate, unfortunately the republicans in the senate, democrats don't like tax cuts. they want to raise your taxes. they don't want to lower your taxes. they want to raise your taxes and they want to spend money foolishly on things that we don't need in many cases. we are cutting taxes. we are taking care of her military -- our military and we are taking care of people. we are really doing a job on jobs. these folks have been so fantastic that i had to call them out and plenty of others, believe me. republicans in the house and

that is what mitch mcconnell needs. we're awaiting on senator mcconnell. we expect vote-a-rama to begin momentarily. that would be after we hear from the leader. back to you. connell: get on with it after the comments from senator mcconnell. adam, great reporting as always. melissa. melissa: here is steve forbes, forbes media chairman. they talk about the amendments going act and forth. do you think there is any substantial change? >> no big, big changes. doing away with things like alternative minimum tax, not a good thing. they will have to do reconciliation with the house. freedom caucus over there made it clear some of the provisions in the senate bill they will not accept even though it got it through the senate. so this drama will continue. the key thing on the personal side, they have to be blunt bit, made a hash of it. a lot of people will not get a tax cut. they will get a tax increase. on the corporate side if they department that at 20% i'm delated where they make things like pass-throughs and partnerships and s-corps, lowering the tax rate, goo

mitch mcconnell is not a popular man. these not going out there in districts to rally the troops for republican voters. >> he's not on the campaign 2018 circuit? >> no. he's in demand for raising funds and running the senate and doing things the senate that majority leader does. but there's a real question on what the republican party looks like. they will be targeted with roy moore all throughout 2018 and donald trump to an extent as well. is that the way the party looks? is it going to be about culture war trolling, being anti-immigration, being super tough on crime and the way that jeff sessions is, sort of in the 1980s view, is that what republicans look like, hating trade deals? this is new for the republican party. so they need to work out the civil war. it won't end in 2018 either. >> when you have that, when you have the steve bannons of the world fighting, caitlynn, when you have democrats doing well fund-raising right now, do mitch mcconnell and paul ryan have to get on the same page? if you watch the victory la

majority leader mcconnell joins me now. senator mcconnell, good to see you today. welcome. thanks for being on the program tonight. >> glad to be with you, martha. >> martha: so we asked sanders' office for a comment and he said. this i'm glad that senator mcconnell has suddenly developed an interest in making college affordable for working class families. >> this is the same bernie sanders who said every college student in america ought to have free tuition. >> martha: he would like you to get on board with that, he says. >> apparently not the one school that already has free tuition. look, these are kids from low income appalachian families. their families can't afford to send them this college. they work their way through as your set up piece pointed out. they are the cooks, waiters people who are cleaning the dorms. it's a great concept. they have built up a significant endowment over the years. it was started in the 1850's by wealthy. crypted to their endowment over the years. all of a sudden same ceargd with harvard and yale. look, we are going to fix this. i'm not go

mcconnell and the whole crowd, this is the scam. they don't mind giving up a seat to a democrat. you know why? they don't mind being the minority party. they don't mind being out of power. they don't. because here's the joke. they can make as much money on the way down as they made on the way up. right? they would just -- as long as they can control the apparatus, donald trump won in wisconsin and brought ron johnson across the finish line, he won in pennsylvania and brought toomey across the finish line, won in missouri and brought blunt across the finish line. he won in north carolina and brought burr across the finish line. mitch, you owe your job to donald j. trump. >> i'm back now with the panel. it's interesting, phil. the president by finally endorsing roy moore, it seems like giving coverage to the rnc to reverse themselves and other republicans. >> again, to the point that was made earlier, this isn't a huge surprise. president trump, the leader of the republican party, the republican party lining up behind him. the fascina

you got comments from mitch mcconnell. a little difficult to interpret. if roy moore wins this next week, does the republican party treat him as an incumbent senator? he won the voters of alabama chose him. they faced the allegations down and this is what they concluded or does the republican party say we're going to try to make a stand here? >> it clearly is an open question. look, mitch mcconnell has been very strong on this. he said he should drop out. that much of the party has said he should drop out. you showed the check from jeff flake. i mean, people do not support him outside of the president and the rnc. there's not widespread support. but in our system of democracy, you just can't push somebody aside. there is a procedure in the senate, they could take -- after he's elected -- i suspect a lot of it will be how he handled his election. >> that's sort of the question. the cynical read on what mcconnell has been doing, look, you wanted him out of the race. we had a replacement candidate. now he's looking at maybe we'll kick it to the ethics commit

our hope is mitch mcconnell will do the right thing. our hope is mitch mcconnell ball here with a side. help us. it is our hope michener, will realize what the tax bill, will be a dramatic, dramatic death knell for the republican party and 28 team. it is a loser. it is a loser the way it was written. it is a loser because it helps the wealthy and the special power in a separate poll shows the american people know it. so, i'm a republican colleague should stop before it too late and work with us on a bipartisan bill. not everyone will agree with the bipartisan bill. but we can get one done and if they benefit the country and the middle class, probably incidentally benefit the republican party, but they are making huge mistakes. and that is learning from them is they, republicans are barreling ahead in doubling down on process, policy, politics. pausing on this tax bill and going back to the drawing board is the right thing for republicans to do. i hope for the sake of this country they will look at the alabama election, hit the pause but

mcconnell is risk-averse. if trump is in favor of the house, i think we could see limited welfare reform. mcconnell has shown something of an appetite for this -- trump has shown something of an appetite for this in the last couple of weeks. we will see in here more when he does the state of the union address. host: and as the article pointed out, welfare reform is being looked at, for among other reasons, to address the big debt the tax bill is going to leave us with. if there is not welfare or entitlement reform, what happens to the deficit? guest: i think we will see deficits grow if we do not have welfare reform. democrats have said this tax bill was necessarily going to require welfare reform to pay for moving forward, but deficits have grown. and democrats have talked about cutting the deficit. i think this is posturing at this point. host: virginia is coming in from pennsylvania on a republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i just have a statement. i want to say these children that came near

mitch mcconnell said this guy was going to destroy the party. and if, if there's a republican left who doesn't think mitch mcconnell's right, i don't know who that could be. >> i mean, steve bannon wanted to, as he has always done, wanted to stick it to mitch mcconnell and the republican party. that's what this was all about. i mean, look, steve bannon is a blow hard. the only thing he's ever won was clearly last year with donald trump, and he didn't even run that campaign. he was not the campaign manager, but he came in there with his toxic brand and tried to prove that he was something that he's not, which is i guess a deal maker or a deliverer or a real strategist. and right, what we saw is the emperor has no clothes, not that i want to see that, but it is indeed what is happening with steve bannon. >> we're going to have to take a break here. there's a pretty shocking exit poll result about president trump's approval rating in alabama, which we're going to have when we come back. we're going to have much more ahead about doug jones' stunning

i think that's the conundrum that, you know, mcconnell and others face. i mean they campaign hard against kelli ward who pushed jeff flake out in arizona. what's wrong with trying to invite candidates to become elected officials who want to pass through the trump agenda and coalition agenda. that's the conundrum they face. if they're not going to accept the will of the voters around the country there will be a disconnect between senate leadership and the rest of the country. >> so, i think, kate, there is a difference between accepting the will of the voters and a senate republicans making a conscious decision not to embrace roy moore if he wins. i think it's an important distinction because it's an attempt for the republicans to try to save themselves. looks as though the establishment from the president down to the rnc and local republican party -- >> i think -- >> has embraced -- >> i think we're watching -- listen in. >> sorry. thank you. appreciate it. thanks, bro. >> republicans vote for -- >> hang on -- >> i don't hear a mic. i don't know if roy mo

but this also puts a loot t of pause in mitch mcconnell. because many were expecting roy moore to win. now they have to take a step back, are we really going to be able to pass this tax bill that the majority of americans believe is bad for them. this gives breath into immigration reform so they can perhaps pass some piece even the d.r.e.a.m.ers. it makes sure that the democrats have more leverage and the republicans have to stay put. and if i were the president, he must be incredibly concerned about what the senate is going to look like by the end of 2018. and if i were members of the senate that are running, that supported roy moore, like ted cruz, when he was asked whether or not roy moore should be seated, and he said sure, why not, those are going to come back and hurt him in a texas primary. the fact today that the texas democratic party said they were going to contest every single seat is a demonstration that not only does the democratic party believe there is a wind in their sails but more importantly that the american people are pa

mcconnell: mr. president, thanks to your nominees, we have put 12 circuit court judges in place, the most since the circuit court system was established in 1891. you hold the record. [applause] sen. mcconnell: you have ended the overregulation of the american economy and that, coupled with what we did last night, and what the house finished this morning means america is going to start growing again. thank you, mr. president, for all you are doing. [applause] speaker ryan: first of all, what this represents is a promise that each and every one of us made to the american people. it is a promise that has been kept today. [applause] speaker ryan: something this big, generational, so profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. mr. president, thank you for getting us over the finish line. thank you for getting us where we are. [applause] speaker ryan: i just want to quickly say a thanks. this has been such a team effort. i want to thank gary cohn and steve mnuchin from the

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, december 18. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and proceed to consideration of calendar 241 and 193 under the previous order, en bloc, with the debate time on the nominations to run concurrently. finally, at 5:30 p.m., the senate vote on the confirmation of the nominations in the order listed, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> the

it looks like, again, we keep coming back to the question about mitch mcconnell. we talked about this for a year. legislative master failed to mas health care bill and put all of the eggs into that basket, that's how he would solve the problem and that now seems to have gone away and feels a little bit like -- i'm sure he has tricks up his sleeve. i'm not any more convinced that mitch mcconnell always has a trick up his sleeve. maybe tomorrow will be chaos. >> you can take the tricks away. if you say it's impossible for mitch mcconnell to move on the corporate tax rate, he's willing to move anything on the bill. if he can't, then there is nothing he can do. i want to go to bruce on one thing about the joint tax committee report. it is actually a very optimistic report in my reading, bruce, about what the economic, the positive economic impact would be of the tax cuts that almost one full percentage point of growth. i want to identify for the audience, when an economic model does this, it has to make some assumptions and really micro economic assumptions about you,

interesting about what mitch mcconnell could do if moore is elected. does the senate really have the power to unseat an elected representative of the state of alabama for actions that took place prior to his service in the senate? a lot of questions here to be looked at. yamiche: also, is it democratic? alabama had a week to consider, much like people had weeks to consider president trump's allegations. if they fill still want roy moore over doug jones, how do you tell alabama what's best for them? i think it's really touch but i think going back to moore's comments on slavery because to me it's remarkable that he actually valleysed that. i think for a lot of african-americans who heard make america great, they felt the president and a lot of his supporters were saying go back to this time when african-americans were in chains or in segregated schools. it seems remarkable that people are going to the polls to votes for him. robert: inside the white house, roy moore may win but it could be by a narrow marginal. they're looking at virginia and alabama, t

mcconnell is hyper conservative. but he has been wrong a lot. he was worried about trump and trump is certainly being effective. they are going to pass the tax plan, it certainly looks like. if you have got an issue with character, that's your issue, you don't have to vote about it. but again the republican brand will survive it. charles: we have seen harassment issues, it's been a bipartisan situation. so why would mcconnell allow the will of the people of alabama if it fills roy moore, to be hijacked and turn it into something else? >> a couple of things. the first is sexual harassment. not just alleged harassment of adults, but teenaged girls. charles: what would they do during the course of their investigation that would go beyond what we have seen so far? >> it could send people down into alabama to talk to these people to see if they can document what took place answer see if they can photograph any of these things from 40 years ago. whether al franken sees roy moore koms come in. he might say if the senate is good enough for roy moore, it

>> it is mitch mcconnell. tax are form is on the one yard line here. it's not going to be the house that holds it up. the only way this thing falls apart at the last minute is if the senate cannot get to 50. mitch mcconnell is already in the dog house -- in the president's dog house because he can't get repeal and replace across the finish line. if mitch mcconnell finds a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat here -- excuse me, defeat from the jaws of victory, i should say i don't know how he survives. i don't think it's likely. i think it gets to the president's desk next week. mcconnell is facing last minute fires that he has to put out as far as rubio, corner, collins, always a usual suspect. >> health insurance from cochran. >> health issues from two other senators. this is not a done deal yet. it is not a done deal. this is a legacy item for mitch mcconnell and more immediately a political imperative. >> this was the week that mcconnell shepherded through a federal appeals court judge breaking the old record by three for first year of a pr

mcconnell: i yield back the time on this side. the presiding officer: the question occurs on passage of h.r. 1 as amended. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 51 and the nays are 49. the tax cuts and jobs act as amended is passed. the presiding officer: the majority leader. the senate will come to order. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 495, kirstjen nielsen. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all favor in favor say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of homeland security, kirstjen nielsen of virginia to be seventh. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of t

it looks like, again, we keep coming back to the question about mitch mcconnell. we talked about this for a year. legislative master failed to ma health care bill and put all of the eggs into that basket, that's how he would solve the problem and that now seems to have gone away and feels a little bit like -- i'm sure he has tricks up his sleeve. i'm not any more convinced that mitch mcconnell always has a trick up his sleeve. maybe tomorrow will be chaos. >> you can take the tricks away. if you say it's impossible for mitch mcconnell to move on the corporate tax rate, he's willing to move anything on the bill. if he can't, then there is nothing he can do. i want to go to bruce on one thing about the joint tax committee report. it is actually a very optimistic report in my reading, bruce, about what the economic, the positive economic impact would be of the tax cuts that almost one full percentage point of growth. i want to identify for the audience, when an economic model does this, it has to make some assumptions and really micro economic assumptions about you,

[applause] senator mcconnell: let me just say, mr. president, you made the case for the tax bill, but this has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment for the trump administration. [applause] senator mcconnell: we have seen it in the supreme court right of center for a generation. thanks to your nominees, we put 12 circuit court judges in place, the most since the circuit court system was established in 1891. you hold the record. [applause] mcconnell: you have ended the overregulation of the american economy, and that coupled with what we did last night and what the house finished this morning means america is going to start growing again. thank you, mr. president, for all you're doing. [applause] the speaker: what this represents is a promise that each and every one of us made to the american people last year is a promise that is kept today. [applause] the speaker: something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. mr. president, thank you f

mcconnell: i would ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- executive calendar 489, 498, 509, 531, 532. that senate then vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and that no further motions be in order, that any statements relating to the nominations be principled in the record. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question occurs on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor, -- all those in favor, say aye. opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations -- executive calendar 571, 572, 573, 574, 575. the presiding o

mcconnell: so, mr. president, in addition to our important work on tax reform and to fund the government, this week the senate is continuing our efforts to confirm president trump's nominees to his administration. soon the senate will consider the nomination of joseph balash to serve as assistant secretary of interior for land and minerals management through his career in both state government and as the alaska commissioner of natural resources and his service here in the united states senate. mr. balash has shown his talent and passion for affordable sources of energy and environmental protection. the alaska department of natural resources manages one of the largest portfolios of land, water, oil, gas, renewables, timber, and minerals in the world. mr. balash's leadership of the department required collaboration with many diverse stakeholders and a dedication to the protection of alaska's natural beauty. he worked closely with the interior department as the commissioner and he has the skills necessary

promised -- mitch mcconnell promised to hold a vote on bipartisan daca legislation in january. democrats wanted it dealt with well before then. >> every day nearly, over 100, 10 some daca recipients, daca-eligible lose their status. we need action. we need it soon. >> reporter: fisa, that controversial spy program, is only extended to the 19th, and when congress takes it up, it won't be easily agreed on. some senators have major concerns. then there's military funding. some of the more hawkish republicans say that needs to be a priority. >> after sequester cuts and our military's readiness is hurting. and so we want to fund our military appropriately, but i think we've got to do the c.r. because it's the appropriate, responsible thing to do here. but we've got to get our defense appropriations done. >> reporter: house leadership decided to extend their recess. they were set to come back on january 3rd, but now they won't come back to work until the 8th. kelly? kelly: all right, ellison barber from our d.c. newsroom, thank you. >> reporter: you bet. molly: mitch mcconnell saying

mitch mcconnell is right. listen, if you're not a good candidate, then you don't get to make policy. to the earlier comment, all of the energy, all of the energy right now is in the left. the left cannot wait to vote in november of '18 and that left is a very multi-cultural issues. roy moore said god is in control. somebody said he didn't realize that tuesday night god was an african-american woman going into november of '18, republicans cannot hold a diverse constituency across the country. they're going to lose because of it. >> becoming a true i mean in politics, nothing motivates the base. kyle whitmire, ayesha moody and david jolly, thank you for joining all of us. president trump's feud with hillary clinton still going strong. we'll look at that straight ahead. this is "hardball" where the this is "hardball" where the action is. to activate my body release it, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it comes in a once-weekly, truly easy-to-use pen. the pen where you don't have to see or handle a

you want to wage war with mitch mcconnell, wage war with mitch mcconnell, but don't blame him when your candidate loses. it's sort of ridiculous. those two guys, mcconnell and ryan, knew if roy moore won this race, it would be a pyrrhic victory. democrats were in a no-lose situation here. they were either going to win the seat, or lose the seat and make every republican senator who is up, every republican challenger, every house member was going to be called a member of the party of predation, roy moore was going to be the poster child for the republican party in 2018. for mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, they've dodged that bullet, and almost certainly trump was wrong when he argued that roy moore would be a reliable vote for the republican agenda, or certainly the trump agenda. mcconnell doesn't have to deal with a wild card in the senate who he can't control. he doesn't have to deal with the ethics process of trying to get him out of the senate because of his alleged predation. and on top of that, he avoids the political albatross that moore would have been in 2018. so i see those guys

i am so proud of paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. the chairman of the house ways and means committee and the other members, and the people on the finance committee, this was a landmark day and i can say that if we can keep going, we will get this country going like it has never been going before. i am grateful to be standing here with these rate leaders. -- these great leaders. i am grateful for the once they have had around the country. this is the greatest country in the world, are non--- bar none. we don't want to slip and it won't. as long as we have a congress like this are every member really cares and they care for the right reasons. god bless the united states of america. [applause] so many of us have been working on this issue for a long time and as a warmer chairman of the house ways and means committee, i have to tell you how so many men and women here have not for this moment. i want to echo what kevin brady said. i want to thank all of the staff for their hard work. i want to thank george from our staff who came to help

essentially, when mitch mcconnell came in to try to defeat mo brooks and boot luther strange, the mcconnell brand was so toxic in alabama but it ended up diminishing luther strange and giving rise to judge roy moore who, tonight, is not giving up. shannon. >> shannon: we will watch nc. it appears as we are getting more votes in that gap between the candidates are widening. roy moore did not concede. he wants to see if this quote will get within the half percentage point between the two primary candidates. if it does, that could trigger a recount. he told folks tonight it's not over, he was going to wait for that and wait to see. as they disperse on their side, many of them believing it is unresolved. we will see because it doesn't look like the boats are moving in that direction. there are a lot still to come in and counted, so we'll let you know. with started drones when income of the balance of the power in the center gets tighter. 51 whatcom, 41 democrats. what happens now? a lot on the agenda. let's check in with chris stirewalt, the fox news politics editor coverages see where we go fr

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: today the senate will continue another historic week confirming more of president trump's impressive judicial nominees to the federal bench. steven grasz confirmed, don willett confirmed, and soon we'll add james ho to the list by confirming him to serve on the fifth circuit court of appeals. he's an exceptionally well qualified nominee whose career in public service and the private sector have earned him respect from both sides of the aisle. the former democratic mayor of dallas supported his nomination calling him among the most brilliant appellate lawyers in the united states. when we vote to confirm mr. ho, we'll be adding another fair and impartial judge to the federal bench. by doing so, the senate will take another important step to ensure that the federal judiciary fulfilled its proper role in our constitutional system. each of them will be an asset to our nation's courts. under chairman grassley's leadership, the senate judiciary committee has done outstanding work

essentially, when mitch mcconnell came in to try to defeat mo brooks and boot luther strange, the mcconnell brand was so tox .. luther strange and giving rise to judge roy moore who, tonight, is not giving up. shannon. >> shannon: we will watch nc. it appears as we are getting more votes in that gap between the candidates are widening. roy moore did not concede. he wants to see if this quote will get within the half percentage point between the two primary candidates. if it does, that could trigger a recount. he told folks tonight it's not over, he was going to wait for that and wait to see. as they disperse on their side, many of them believing it is unresolved. we will see because it doesn't look like the boats are moving in that direction. there are a lot still to come in and counted, so we'll let you know. with started drones when income of the balance of the power in the center gets tighter. 51 whatcom, 41 democrats. what happens now? a lot on the agenda. let's check in with chris stirewalt, the fox news politics editor coverages see where we go from here. again, there are so many thin

you've been raising about mcconnell. i did reporting early on where i was told that vice president received a call from mcconnell about tax reform and mcconnell floated the idea about removing moore or sessions write-in and mcconnell was exploring that pass but it looked impossible to mount a successful campaign. and actually removing a member who was elected by the people. they made their choice. they're moving someone from that. i think mcconnell realized that was going to be a sticky situation. guest: leader mcconnell has become a target in this division in the republican party. we see former trump adviser steve bannon has made it sort of the plank of his support of outsider candidates one of the questions is would these senate republican potential primary candidates that bannon may or may not be supporting -- would they back leader mcconnell to be leader again? and we see bannon will be down a get out onight for the vote rally read of the election. so you see this kind of antagenism, this kind of challenge to leader

steve bannon has basically declared war, political war on mitch mcconnell, and now mcconnell is taking a shot back saying that he does not think the alabama special election result where bannon came in, backed roy moore in a red state and moore lost reflects very well on the former chief strategist. >> the political genius on display, throwing away a seat in the red estate in america is hard to ignore. >> this afternoon, i have been speaking to a source close to steve bannon and bannon allies believe that mcconnell is losing control of the gop conference. there's no indication that bannon plans to slow down his insurgency in the 2018 mid-term. the plan as of right now is for them to challenge every sitting republican senator that is up for re-election of ted cruz and orrin hatch. >> thanks, peter. so winter storms could bring a white christmas to parts of the country. we'll have the holiday forecast coming up. analysts say it's the busiest day of the year for air travel and the security lines are no joke. here's a look at o'hare international airport. we'll have a live report from one

paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, thank you very much. orrin hatch, the chairman, made a beautiful speech the other day in front of the white house. absolutely brilliant, beautiful speech and we appreciate it and i appreciated it. hard working. kevin brady, i don't think he slept for months. it's almost like that's all he is it was this. mike enzi, senator enzi. diane black. rob portman. the group of rob portman, rob worked so hard, so knowledgeable on the subject. pat toomey, likewise, tim scott, likewise. john thune. these people worked so hard. i don't know if they're given the proper credit. the whole senate when i say the senate, unfortunately, the republicans in the senate, democrats don't like tax cuts. they want to raise your taxes. they don't want to lower your taxes. they want to raise your taxes and they want to spend money foolishly on things that we don't need in many cases. so we're cutting taxes, we're taking care of our military, and we're taking care of people and we're really doing the job. these folks have been so fanta

mitch mcconnell. craig: heading into 2018 there is a better chance of republicans hanging onto the u.s. senate control. democrats have a decent shot to take over the house. mitch mcconnell has been the republican leader for many years. he had a rough year when they lost the obamacare vote. wins cure all ills. we are heading into the christmas holiday with that in the books and they get to take a victory lap and very well deserved. scarlet: craig gordon, thank you so much. storchup, jerry talks about the state of retail into 2018. interestingbe an conversation. this is bloomberg. ♪ is bloomberg. ♪ scarlet: it has been a year of advance for amazon and bad news for traditional retailers. well the same hold in 2018? storch spoke with bloomberg earlier this morning to discuss. jerry: amazon was a pioneering what you see in the stock price is forward-looking because they are not making money today. it is a belief that the 20% compound andill they will keep gobbling up more of the retail market. walmart

he wants mitch mcconnell to go. i asked mitch mcconnell about that last week and he had choice words, you will recall. and a lot of other establishment republicans as well. steve bannon sees them as the biggest obstacle to passing the trump agenda so he lining up antiestablishment senate candidates like the embattled roy moore in alabama. now mcconnell is fighting back. he's calling his preferred candidates a bunch of losers. >> we are not going to lose any nominations to the kind of candidates that guy you were talking about endorsed. he's a specialist is nominating people who lose. if this is same element in the party that cost us a bunch of seats in 2010 and 2012. we changed our business model. >> laura: to start this all out i'm joined now by the authors of a soon-to-be huge best seller, so excited. just published, insider account of the campaign. i'm just going to call it the campaign. the book is let trump each room, the inside story of his rise to the presidency. we welcome former presidential campaign manage