Senator Chris Coons: It Was A 'Sad Day For The Senate' After Nuclear Option | Morning Joe

>>> I AM DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT WENT ON WITH RUSSIA.
AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL WORK TOGETHER, REGARDLESS
OF PARTY OR PARTISANSHIP OR ANYTHING ELSE.
WE START ACTING LIKE PATRIOTIC AMERICANS BECAUSE A FOREIGN
POWER MEDDLED WITH OUR ELECTION. CERTAINLY MISOGYNY PLAYED A
ROLE. THAT JUST HAS TO BE ADMITTED.
AND WHY AND WHAT THE UNDERLYING REASONS WERE IS WHAT I'M TRYING
TO PARSE OUT MYSELF. WITH MEN, SUCCESS AND AMBITION
ARE CORRELATED WITH LIKABILITY. SO THE MORE SUCCESSFUL A MAN IS,
THE MORE LIKABLE HE BECOMES. WITH A WOMAN, GUESS WHAT, IT'S
THE EXACT OPPOSITE. THE OUTSIDE INTERVENTION, THE
COMBINATION OF THE COMEY LETTER, WIKILEAKS PLAYED A MUCH BIGGER
ROLE THAN WHAT MANY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND YET HAD THE
DETERMINITIVE EFFECT. >> THAT WAS HILLARY CLINTON AT
THE WOMEN IN THE WORLD -- >> ASK ME WHO MY HERO IS.
YOU WOULD THINK IT'S RONALD REAGAN.
I LOVE RONALD REAGAN. MY POLITICAL HERO, MY REAL
POLITICAL HERO, MARGARET THATCHER.
1975. SHE GOES INTO THE MIDDLE OF
SOCIALIST GREAT BRITAIN AND JUST -- SHE GRABS THE
CONSERVATIVE PARTY BY THE SCRUFF OF ITS NECK AND YANKS THEM INTO
A POSITION THEY CAN WIN IN 1979, ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE
POLITICAL TURN AROUNDS OF ALL TIME.
SHE WAS STRONG. GUESS WHAT, I'VE GOT PICTURES OF
HER ALL OVER MY HOUSE. I READ HER BOOK.
>> ISN'T IT A GREAT STORY WHERE SHE CALLED MEN VEGETABLES OR
SOMETHING? ANY HOW --
>> THE WAITER CAME IN AND SAID WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO EAT?
AND SHE SAID STEAK AND THEY SAID VEGETABLES?
AND SHE WAS WITH HER CABINET AND SHE SAID THEY'LL HAVE STEAK,
TOO. IT'S NOT ABOUT WOMEN BEING
STRONG THAT REPELS VOTERS. >> YEAH.
IT'S -- ANY HOW, SHE TALKED ABOUT HER OWN ROLE IN THE LOSS.
CLINTON SAID THERE WERE THINGS I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.
JOINING US NOW, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR CHRIS COONS OF DELAWARE
SITS ON BOTH THE JUDICIARY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEES.
ALONG WITH US, OPINION WRITER AT THE WASHINGTON POST, GEORGE
WILL. JOHN HEILMAN, WHEREVER HE IS --
>> IN A BOX SOMEWHERE. >> THERE HE IS.
>> THE SENATE GOES NUCLEAR. WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?
>> DEMOCRATS FEEL THAT JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND WAS BADLY
MISTREATED. REPUBLICANS ARE DEEPLY AGRIEVED
THAT JUDGE GORSUCH WAS THE SUBJECT OF A FILIBUSTER AND THE
RESOLUTION IS THAT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY FUTUREURE
FILIBUSTERS IS NOW GONE AGAINST SUPREME COURT NOMINEES.
>> VERY THOUGHTFUL COMMENTARY BASICALLY SAYING BOTH SIDES HAVE
A POINT. I CAN'T HEAR ANYBODY TALKING
ABOUT BLAMING THIS WITHOUT WHAT HARRY REID DID.
BUT IF BOTH SIDES HAVE A POINT, WHEN DO WE STEP BACK FROM THE
ABYSS AND START GIVING QUALIFIED JUDGES, REGARDLESS OF THEIR
IDEOLOGY, 90 VOTES? >> I SPENT TIME WITH A DOZEN
SENATORS, BOTH REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS, TRYING TO COME TO AN
AGREEMENT, SIMILAR TO WHAT THE GANG OF 14 WAS ABLE TO DO.
SUSAN COLLINS WAS A GREAT PARTNER IN DOING THIS WORK AND
ON MY SIDE SENATORS BENNETT AND KING.
IN THE END WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TRUST THAT THE POINT FOR US TO
BE ABLE TO GET PAST THIS POINT. WHAT I'M HOPEFUL WE'LL SEE TODAY
AND OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS IS A STRONG BIPARTISAN
COMMITMENT TO DEFEND THE LEGISLATIVE FILIBUSTER, WHAT
MAKES THE SENATE THE SENATE AND NOT THE HOUSE.
>> YOU HAD A DEMOCRAT LIKE PAT LEAHY WHO YOU COULD TELL WAS
GENUINELY AGRIEVED THAT THEY HAD TO GO THE WAY THEY WENT.
STUCK HIS NECK OUT A LITTLE BIT. LIBERAL GROUPS POUNDED HIM.
JOHN McCAIN SAYING ANYBODY CELEBRATING THIS IS AN IDIOT AND
YET McCAIN HAD TO FALL IN LINE AS WELL.
DO YOU SEE ANY POSSIBILITY OF THE SENATE IN THE FUTURE
STEPPING BACK? >> I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I THINK
THEY OUGHT TO DO. THEY OUGHT TO GO BACK TO 1970.
THAT WAS WHEN MIKE MANSFIELD, GREAT MAN AND WONDERFUL MAJORITY
LEADER OF THE SENATE, SAID FROM NOW ON WHEN YOU FILE FOR
CLOTURE, WE'RE GOING TO SET ASIDE THAT BILL.
YOU COULD HAVE CLOTURE, FILL
FILLIBUSTERS AND NO ONE WAS INCONVENIENCED.
WE NEED TO SPREAD THE PAIN AROUND AGAIN.
MAKE IT SO YOU HAVE TO FILIBUSTER AND THE SENATE CAN'T
MOVE. THE SENATE IS AGRIEVED.
THE FILIBUSTERS ARE EXHAUSTED. THERE'S PRESSURE FOR COMPROMISE.
BETWEEN 1917, 100 YEARS AGO, JUST AS WE ENTERED WORLD WAR I,
AND THE FILIBUSTER WAS PUT IN PLACE, THE CLOTURE RULES.
IN 1970, THERE WERE, I THINK, 53 CLOTURE PETITIONS FILED.
SINCE 1970 THERE HAVE BEEN 1,700 FILED.
IT'S PROMISCUOUS, MEANINGLESS. GET THE SENATE BACK TO WHAT IT
WAS. >> MAKE THEM STAND UP.
>> SURE. >> MAKE THEM TALK.
>> AGONIZING ADVENTURE. >> HAS>> HAS BEEN ADVOCATING FO
JUST DEMONSTRATED THIS WEEK EXACTLY HOW PAINFUL IT CAN BE.
HE DID A 15-HOUR FILIBUSTER, HELD THE FLOOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT.
>> GOOD LORD. >> IT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT
MANY MEMBERS OF THE SENATE WOULD THEN HESITATE TO EVER INVOKE
CLOTURE OR PREVENT CLOTURE. >> AFTER WHAT HAPPENED
YESTERDAY, AREN'T WE NOW SET ON A COURSE -- IT WAS LACK OF
COMMITY THAT LED TO YESTERDAY AND YESTERDAY WILL TAKE US
EXPONENTIALLY FURTHER IN THAT DIRECTION, WON'T IT?
>> YES. >> HOW DO WE KEEP THIS FROM
GOING FORWARD? >> ONE OF MY REAL HOPES THAT THE
STEPS TAKEN BY PRESIDENT TRUMP WILL BRING US TOGETHER.
SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS. ONE OF THE UNINTENDED
CONSEQUENCES OF A TRUMP PRESIDENCY MAY BE TO MAKE THE
ISN'T GREAT AGAIN. IN FOREIGN RELATIONS WE CAN AND
SHOULD STEP UP TO OUR CONSTITUTIONAL ROLE TO ASSIST ON
DECLARATION OF WAR AND MILITARY FORCE.
THERE IS NO CLEAR STRATEGY FOR HOW WE'RE GOING TO BOTH CONFRONT
ASSAD AND DEFEAT ISIS. >> DO YOU AGREE WITH THE
SENATOR, GEORGE WILL, THAT THERE HAS TO BE AN OPERATION OF FORCE
MOVING FORWARD? YOU TALKED ABOUT THINGS THAT
HAVE CHANGED THROUGH THE YEARS. THAT'S CERTAINLY ONE OF THEM.
>> I DO. LAST TIME THE UNITED STATES
DECLARED WAR WAS JUNE 5th, 1942, ON HUNGARY, ROMANIA AND
SOMEWHERE ELSE. IT WAS TIDYING UP WORLD WAR II.
THOSE MISSILES FLEW 100 YEARS TO THE DAY WE DECLARED WAR ON
GERMANY. THAT STARTED WITH A SMALL PISTOL
SHOT IN SEREJEVO. WE'RE COUNTING ON THEM TO NOT
HAVE AN ACCIDENT. THAT'S VERY RISKY.
>> JOHN HEILMAN SO MUCH TO TRY TO DIGEST FROM YESTERDAY WHETHER
YOU TALK ABOUT THE ATTACKS AGAINST SYRIA OR YOU TALK ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH GOGORSUCH, NUNES.
BUT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN COVERING THE HILL FOR THE PAST SEVERAL
WEEKS FOR SHOW TIME, FOR THE CIRCUS.
WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN UP CLOSE? WE SIT AROUND THE TABLE AND TALK
ABOUT THIS EVERY DAY. YOU'VE BEEN IN THE BELLY OF THE
BEAST FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. >> THE LEVEL OF PARTISANSHIP IS
EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH. THERE'S A LEVEL OF ACTIVITY THAT
IS FRANTIC WITH THREE HEADS OF STATE IN THE COUNTRY VISITING
WITH THE SYRIAN MISSILE STRIKE, WITH THE GORSUCH CONFIRMATION,
WITH NUNES, BANNON'S DEMOTION FROM NSC, EASILY THE MOST
EVENTFUL WEEK OF THE YOUNG TRUMP PRESIDENCY.
THE STEADY STATE STORY THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TIME HAS
BEEN RUSSIA. IT'S BEEN THE THING THAT HAS
HOVERED OVER TRUMP THROUGHOUT HIS PRESIDENCY SO FAR.
I WANT TO ASK SENATOR COONS ABOUT THAT.
I SAW HIM YESTERDAY AT THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTE.
RIGHT AT THE MOMENT WHEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT HAPPENED THAT
CONGRESSMAN NUNES WAS STEPPING ASIDE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE
INTEL COMMITTEE. SENATOR COONS, DO YOU THINK THAT
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE NOW HAS ANY CHANCE WITH NUNES OUT OF
REGAINING ITS CREDIBILITY, WHICH HAD BEEN SO BADLY BLOWN OVER THE
LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS? >> I'M HOPEFUL THAT THAT'S
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. THERE ARE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE I SPOKE WITH, TOO, YESTERDAY, WHO
RECOGNIZE THAT THEIR ROLE IN OVERSIGHT, THAT THEIR ROLE AS AN
EQUAL CHAMBER OF THE CONGRESS WITH THE SENATE WAS REALLY
COMPROMISED BY CONGRESSMAN NUNES.
AND SO I THINK THEY'RE EAGER TO STEP FORWARD AND DEMONSTRATE
THEY CAN BE RESPONSIBLE. I'M ENCOURAGED BY HOW THE SENATE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE IS PROGRESSING IN A BIPARTISAN WAY.
FRANKLY, MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE ALREADY CALLED FOR A NEWLY
CREATED INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OR A SPECIAL COMMITTEE.
THAT WOULD TAKE US OFF TRACK FOR SIX MONTHS WHILE LEGISLATION IS
PASSED, NEW STAFF IS PUT IN PLACE, NEW PROCEDURES SET UP.
WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE FUNCTIONING COMMITTEE THAT WE
HAVE, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE THAT'S MAKING PROGRESS
IN THIS IMPORTANT INVESTIGATION TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF ALL THE
ALLEGATIONS ABOUT POTENTIAL COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA IN THE INTERFERENCE IN OUR LAST
ELECTION. >> GEORGE WILL, WAS IT A WISE
DECISION FOR NUNES TO STEP DOWN, AT LEAST IN THE LIMITED ROLE OF
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION? >> SURE.
HE HAD BECOME THE STAR. IF WE'RE GOING TO MAKE CONGRESS
GREAT AGAIN, CONGRESS HAS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT IT CAN CONDUCT
OVERSIGHT IN INVESTIGATIONS. THAT'S A GOOD BIT OF WHAT
CONGRESS DOES. >> AND EVERYBODY CALLING FOR
SPECIAL INVESTIGATORS. I'M SORRY, I THINK OF LAWRENCE
WALSH DROPPING INFORMATION TWO OR THREE DAYS BEFORE THE 1992
ELECTION. PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT THAT
SOMEHOW REMOVES POLITICS FROM INVESTIGATIONS HAS A VERY SHORT
VIEW OF HISTORY. >> THEY ALL DEVELOP A GREAT
WHITE WHALE SYNDROME, THAT THEY HAVE TO GET THEIR PREY.
AND IT BECOMES DISTORTING TO THEM.
IT DISTORTS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. IT'S ANOTHER FORFEITURE ON THE
PART OF CONGRESS OF ITS RESPONSIBILITIES.
THEY'RE CLEAR. >> AS WE CLOSE, ONE BIT OF NEWS
FROM YOU, SENATOR COONS. YOU AND SRNT COLLINS ARE
DELIVERING A LETTER TO LEADERS SCHUMER AND McCONNELL URGING
THEM TO PRESERVE THE 60-VOTE THRESHOLD FOR CONFIRMATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> THANK YOU AS ALWAYS.
>> FOR BEING ON THE SHOW AND GEORGE WILL, THANK YOU AS WELL.
>> I WAS SAYING WE USED TO ONLY GET YOU WHEN YOU WERE TALKING

Senator Chris Coons: It Was A 'Sad Day For The Senate' After Nuclear Option | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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