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Senate Plans Vote; Trump Remains Quite; Schumer Speaks on Shutdown; McConnell Speaks on Shutdown. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 22, 2018 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:15] JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thank you for sharing this important day with us.

Day three of a federal government shutdown and a big test this hour on the question of whether the government will reopen any time soon. A critical vote in the Senate set to begin any minute now after a busy morning of negotiations and gut checks. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, tried to answer Democratic concerns today by saying if they agree to reopen the government, his intention would be to move soon to an immigration debate with a level playing field, he says, and an open amendment process. Was that enough? Some indications that Democrats are beginning to move.

Let's get straight to CNN's Phil Mattingly live on Capitol Hill.

Phil, is it enough? Will the Democrats vote to reopen the government?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's my understanding, John, right now. Democrats coming out of a meeting, several of them sounding very positive. An obviously noticeable shift. And also talking to Democratic aides who -- one just texted me and said the votes are there. Basically they believe they will have the 60 votes, likely more, to, at least from the Senate's perspective, keep the government.

Now, the shift basically has come in the wake of -- as you noted, Senate Majority Leader McConnell on the Senate floor last night and then again this morning, making that commitment that the process will allow for an immigration bill to come to the floor, even if the group of leaders, the number two leaders in the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, don't come up with a deal over the course of the next two weeks. That would happen after the next deadline, we're going to do this all over again apparently, which will be February 8th, assuming the Senate and House do pass this.

Democrats had a lengthy, nearly two-hour caucus meeting where they went back and forth over this. I'm told that there are still some pretty significant divides within the caucus on the direction forward. But what is winning the day or what did win the day, at least as far as I understand in from people in the meeting right now is, there are enough Democrats right now that are frustrated with this, don't believe this is the fight that they needed to have, believe the majority leader's commitment is enough and they just want to move forward at this point, John.

KING: And, Phil, as we watch the Senate get ready to have this big vote, assuming -- and we'll watch and count them because as everything about this has been unpredictable -- but assuming the vote is there in the Senate to reopen the government, how quickly will it take for the House to pick -- take this up?

MATTINGLY: They're going to take it right up. I don't have the exact timeline right now, but Republican leaders have made clear that as soon as the Senate moves, they will as well. Republican leaders have also made clear that the votes for a three week continuing resolution or funding bill are already there. The big question will be kind of how House Democrats line up on this, if they follow suit with their Senate Democratic colleagues, or if they continue to oppose things because they are not happy with the agreement or with the length of the commitments that the majority leader was going to make. But basically, as soon as the Senate moves, House leaders are planning to follow suit. The House will then pass. They just need Republican votes, a simple majority to move that forward. And after that, John, it will head to the president's desk and the government will reopen, assuming everything goes according to what we're hearing right now. Obviously, things have been a little bit inflexible over the last 48 hours.

KING: Right. Because of that, Phil, don't go far.

We'll bring in our chief political correspondent Dana Bash now as the Senate vote begins to play. We'll get back to Phil Mattingly as soon as developments warrant.

Dana, you were talking to Democratic sources via e-mail and other communications while they were actually in that caucus meeting. And it looks like the Democrats are shifting. Why are they changing and aren't Republicans about to say they blinked?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, probably Republicans are going to say that. Look, and it -- the fact of the matter is that, at the end of the day, when people are going to be analyzing this, it seems to me, at least my analysis I'll give you, is that the messaging war was performed pretty well by Republicans. Democrats did a good job for their base, too. But, overall, Republicans fought back in a concerted way that we really haven't seen during the Trump presidency.

But on the question of what's going to happen right now and why. John, you're right, I was communicating with several Democrat sources in the meeting that Democrats had, trying to figure out if whether what Senator McConnell said is enough. And I got texts from several people who had voted no before saying that they are yeses because they want to try to get past this very, very retched trust deficit that they all have.

And so that is really the key question is, assuming that this vote passes that's going to come up momentarily, assuming that the government is reopened shortly, how will this -- not just necessarily the commitment that McConnell made on the floor, but I'm told by sources in both parties who were involved in this bipartisan series of discussions, John, over the past two or three days, how will they act as kind of a compass for what's going to happen in the future? They say that they are going to. They say that they are going to be a backstop to make sure that the White House and the Republican leadership keeps their commitment on these -- on this immigration issue. We'll see.

KING: We'll see is a great point. And just -- I want to make sure I have the math right. Five Democrats had already broken ranks on the initial vote back Friday before the government shut down. So essentially four or five more is what Mitch McConnell needed, maybe five or six more is what Mitch McConnell needed, Democrats to go into Chuck Schumer and say, we've had enough. Is that math right?

[12:05:11] BASH: Yes, I think that math is right. And my impression, although I haven't actually explicitly talked to enough to get it to 60, my impression is that it will be -- it will -- it would pass with a healthy majority or super majority. That it will be beyond 60.

KING: All right, Dana Bash is going to stay with us too as we watch. We're waiting for the Senate to start the vote and we'll keep that up on the screen and take you there as soon as the vote starts and then track through it.

But let's go over to the White House now and Jeff Zeleny at the White House.

Jeff, just a simple question right here. We've had a United States government shutdown. We are two and a half days into that shutdown. We have not had one public appearance by the president of the United States. And now it appears we are poised to end that shutdown without no meetings with the president of the United States with the key people involved. How will they explain that at the White House that the president, the so-called great deal maker, has been largely irrelevant?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, there's no question the president has been on the sidelines with the exception of working the phones, talking to Republicans only over the last 36 to 48 hours he has been absent. I am told by a White House official just a few moments ago, as Dana and Phil were reporting, the White House is, quote, optimistic that this is going to pass the Senate. They've gotten word from those Democratic senators. They do believe there are 60 votes there and likely is, as often is the case in Washington, there are going to be many more than 60. People are going to climb on this because Democrats do not want to look like they are voting against this.

But back to the president, John. He has been in residence all morning here, I'm told. He has been talking to Republicans only, not Democrats. A couple reasons why. One, some of his advisers believe his conversations with Democrats, like Senator Schumer on Friday, was not necessarily productive. And, two, they think it complicates the message of blaming the Democrats here.

But it is pretty extraordinary that the only time the president was seen this weekend -- and he was here at the White House all weekend long spending a rare weekend here -- was in photographs a few of his advisers sent out. He was in the Oval Office with a phone but he did not say anything publicly. Look for him to address this very quickly after the House votes this afternoon. I am told the president will weigh in on this, of course. Perhaps, you know, take a credit for orchestrating this, for being involved in it.

But, John, it is clear that he has not been a central player in this. All the negotiations have been happening on Capitol Hill.

John.

KING: A number -- a number of Republicans actually saying they hope he stayed quiet because they thought they could make progress as long as the president stayed quiet.

ZELENY: Indeed.

KING: Jeff Zeleny at the White House, we'll get back to you within this important hour as well.

And just anyone just joining us, we are at a moment of truth here. You're watching the floor of the United States Senate. A vote any moment now on what's called a continuing resolution, a short-term spending measure to reopen the United States government. And by all indications from our sources, the Democrats -- enough Democrats now prepared to join the Republicans to make that happen.

So we're expecting a vote in the Senate to reopen the government at any moment. That legislation would then go to the House, which promises to take it up quite quickly. As we watch this play out, drama in Washington, that has consequences around the world.

With us in studio to share their reporting and their insights, Eliana Johnson of "Politico," CNN's Manu Raju, Joshua Green of "Bloomberg Businessweek" and Mary Katharine Ham of "The Federalist."

Three days in. Can the Democrats, if this vote goes as we expect it to go right now, can they say they got what they wanted? What they said going in was we want a vote or a deal on DACA, the so-called dreamers. Understanding in that, if you didn't get the deal as part of this legislation, that you at least had a commitment to have a process where you had some certainty you could get something to the finish line. Is this enough? Do they have -- can the Democrats make the case publicly they have certainty they can get something to the finish line, or certainty that they can get vote in the Senate, which given why this happened in the House in recent years doesn't mean much?

MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They can't say that the uncertainty that this will get over the finish line. We don't know what's going to happen in the House. We don't know what President Trump is going to do, if it even gets out of the Senate and gets out of the House. The most they can do is say that there's going to be an effort to try to bring this to the floor before February 8th, which is what Mitch McConnell said on the floor, was he hoped and he intended to bring to the floor. And he said, we bring it after February 8th only if the government is open.

So what does that mean? That means the Democrats can't essentially shut the government down over the next continuing resolution and demand they move on immigration because McConnell won't move then. Democrats will probably come out and say, we've gotten McConnell to a place he was not before. He is assuring us we're going to move on this. And we will fight the next government shutdown fight if he does not live up to his commitments. But I am told, John, some progressive senators are not happy about this. There's probably going to be a deep divide in the Democratic caucus we'll see play out in the coming days.

The progressives. And I think we'll see this more on the House side than in the Senate side thinking their party blinked. That if we went into a shutdown, if we decided to vote for a shutdown, to hold out for a deal for the dreamers, we don't have a deal. We have a commitment to go forward.

Let's listen. These were the key words this morning. The majority leader, Mitch McConnell -- and we may interrupt. If he starts to speak again, if he starts this vote, we'll interrupt this. But these were the key words this morning. The Senate came into session. A bipartisan group of about 25 senators, Democrats and Republicans, had been pressing for an end to this and they told the majority leader, give the Democrats something. This is what he was willing to give.

[12:10:13] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Should these issues not be resolved by the time the funding bill before us expires on February 8th, so long as the government remains open, so long as the government remains open, it would be my intention to take up legislation here in the Senate that would address DACA, border security and related issues. Let me be clear, this immigration debate will have a level playing field at the outset and an amendment process that is fair to all sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It's that last part, level playing field, an amendment process open to all sides. Democrats in the Senate can make the case, OK, we will get to put our proposals forward. But, again, let's assume -- we're waiting for this vote -- that they vote here to reopen the government. And we're talking in 24 hours not about a shutdown but about back to the immigration debate. Is there any guarantee that something that passes the Senate would even be taken up by the Republican House?

ELIANA JOHNSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "POLITICO": I don't think the progressives who are lodging complaints against reopening the government or against the position of their caucus here are wrong. The -- I'm really struck by the fact that Democrats, if they reopen the government today, haven't gotten anything or anywhere. They're in precisely the same position that they were when the government shut down on Friday. They've made absolutely no progress because Republicans were vowing to move to immigration after the government funding roadblock on Friday. So they're in exactly the same position that they were three days ago. And it's not clear to me they got anything except for the bad press that accrued to them from this shutdown.

KING: Their bet -- the Democrats' bet is that by November, when there's an election, this will be forgotten if the government reopens. And that the president is so unpopular, that that's what will carry the day in November, not that the Democrats stumble into a shutdown or have a miscalculation during the shutdown. That's their bet, that we're having this conversation in the middle of January and by November this will be long forgotten and then it will -- then the question will be, did they get an immigration deal, did they get this (INAUDIBLE)?

But Dana made this point earlier. On this one, the Republicans did have a disciplined strategy to say the Democrats were shutting down the government to protect illegal immigrants. And is that what you want, American people? And it's a national conversation but it also matters most in a handful of states that the Democrats -- if Republicans want to keep their Senate majority, does he wait for this vote. They want to knock off a couple of Democrats this year. One of them is John Tester from the state of Montana.

Listen to the White House budget director here, Mick Mulvaney, saying, people of Montana, when your senator comes home, don't believe him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICK MULVANEY, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: Yes, I think the folks who hold the cards here are the Democrats who say they want to work across the aisle, the ones who go home. John Tester, who goes back to Montana and says, you know, I'm -- vote for me, I'm a really good bipartisan guy. I can work with Republicans. Folks like that who are now here in Washington not doing that. Those are the folks who hold the keys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: There have been a lot of question in the first year of the Trump administration. Do they have a good political operation? Do they have -- do they know how to coordinate with the Republican leadership? Can they message on big policy questions? On this one, Democrats don't like the messaging, but disciplined, right?

MARY KATHARINE HAM, SENIOR WRITER, "THE FEDERALIST": Well, and this is -- I do have to give a little bit of credit to the Trumpian/Schumer shutdown, which I think was good branding. But one of the reasons they're winning on message is because the facts were pretty cut and dried here, is that Democrats wanted this one particular thing. They were otherwise indisputably happy with what was in this bill and didn't really object to it. Now we have the same bill, slightly shorter timeframe, as we had last week, and in the immortal words of "The Wedding Singer," perhaps that could have been brought to our attention on Friday.

And the trick of all this, and it wasn't 2013 with Ted Cruz's wall (ph), this is high stakes stuff. In this news cycle, yes, people may forget faster. This is high stakes stuff. You have to convince your base that, look, it was really important that we stood up and fought, but also, nobody else should blame us and we didn't really get anything but it was righteous. That's what Ted Cruz was trying to do in 2013 and it didn't work.

JOSHUA GREEN, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK": That's exactly what (INAUDIBLE). I mean the reason Democrats are folding their cards as quickly as they are, if they do go ahead and vote to reopen the government, is that the strength and resolve across the Democratic caucus was never very strong. I was speaking to a Democratic senator this morning, part of the central caucus, and it was clear, just from our discussions, that he wasn't going to hold out for even a few more days, never mind weeks and months. And there was never really an -- a clear exit strategy for Democrats that they had any reasonable hope of achieving. I think that's why you're seeing these centrist Democrats bail out as quickly as it looks like they're going to.

RAJU: And it's also -- and McConnell too, his commitment this morning is something that not necessarily that he could even promise on the floor of the Senate to have a fair amendment process, to bring something that would have an -- a level playing field. He needs to have an agreement across both sides, a unanimous consent agreement, to do that. And if someone's not happy with whatever he's bringing forward, they can object and make his promise essentially go away.

[12:15:09] KING: Or if they're not happy with something else. It could have nothing to do with the immigration question, which is thorny enough and more of a -- it's been a quagmire. If they object to the defense spending conversations, for example, they can stall at the Senate. That's why what we're about to hear is so important.

We're waiting for the Senate to have this key vote that could lead to reopening the United States government. We're waiting for the leaders. We're told the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, just out of a meeting with his colleagues. It will be the Democrats who have to deliver the key votes. Senator Schumer due to speak soon. We'll take you there live after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Straight to the Senate. The Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: Thank you, Mr. President.

Now, today, we drink seltzer. Today we enter the third day of the Trump shutdown. The first ever real shutdown to occur when one party controls the entire legislative process. The Republican Party controls the House, the Senate, the presidency, and yet they were unable to keep the government open for the American people.

Leader McConnell knows it takes 60 votes to win passage of a spending bill, and yet he moved forward with a last-minute extension that he knew lacked the votes. Both Democrats and Republicans voted against that bill.

The reason the Republican majority had such difficulty finding consensus is they could never get a firm grip on what the president of their party wanted to do. These days with -- these days you never know who to deal with when it comes to the Republicans. The Republican leaders told me to work out a deal with the White House. The White House said work it out with Republican leaders on The Hill.

Separately, President Trump turned away from not one, but two bipartisan compromises. Each would have averted this shutdown. Each would have led to a deal on the budget and health care and disaster aid and things like opioids and veterans and pensions and on immigration.

My recent offer to the president was a generous one. I put his signature campaign issue on the table in exchange for DACA, and still he turned away.

President Trump's unwillingness to compromise caused the Trump shutdown and brought us to this moment. The facts are well known.

Now I wish to update the Senate on where things stand after this weekend.

Since our meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, the president and I have not spoken. And the White House refused to engage in negotiations over the weekend. The great deal-making president sat on the sidelines.

Despite and because of this frustration, I've been having conversations with the Republican leader over the weekend about a path forward. After several discussions, offers, counteroffers, the Republican leader and I have come to an arrangement. We will vote today to reopen the government, to continue negotiating a global agreement with the commitment that if an agreement isn't reached by February the 8th, the Senate will immediately proceed to consideration of legislation dealing with DACA.

[12:20:25] The process will be neutral and fair to all sides. We expect that a bipartisan bill on DACA will receive fair consideration and an up or down vote on the floor.

Now, it's a shame, Mr. President, that the American people and the Senate have had to endure such hand-wringing, finger-pointing stridency to secure a guarantee that we will finally move to address this urgent issue. It is something the majority could have avoided entirely. A concern the president could have obviates if he were only willing to take yes for an answer.

While this procedure will not satisfy everyone on both sides, it's a way forward. I'm confident that we can get the 60 votes in the Senate for a DACA bill. And now there is a real pathway to get a bill on the floor and through the Senate. It is a good solution, and I will vote for it.

I'm incredibly grateful to the bipartisan group that has come together in recent days to renew the immigration debate with a sense of urgency.

There you are.

I believe that this group has the potential to return the Senate to the kind of place it should be on the issue of immigration, a place for bipartisanship, a place for action, a place for achievement. The bipartisan group, in a very fine way, filled the glaring absence of the president in these talks.

I expect the majority leader to fulfill his commitment to the Senate, to me and to the bipartisan group and abide by this agreement. If he does not, of course, and I expect he will, he will have breached the trust of not only the Democratic senators but members of his own party as well.

Through these complicated and lengthy negotiations, Democrats have always sought to be reasonable, to act in good faith and get something real done. Despite all of our entreaties, the president was obstinate. Despite bipartisan support for DACA, the Republican majority dithered. The Senate has muddled along for too long, content to delay action on our most pressing challenges until the very last moment. That ends today. The Republican majority now has 17 days to prevent the dreamers from being deported.

Mr. President, we have a way to address the fate of the dreamers. Starting right now, instead of waiting until March, with the minority and the moderate middle empowered to bring a bill to the floor instead of being held by the most strident, anti-immigration voices in the Republican caucus. And we, on our side of the aisle, will continue to fight as strongly as we can for the dreamers in the weeks ahead.

I say to all Americans, urge your senators to vote yes on the bipartisan compromise when it comes forward. Write, tweet, e-mail, phone, visit, do everything you can so we can finally pass this bill.

In a few hours, the government will reopen. We have a lot to do. The issue of the dreamers demands resolution. A budget must be written. Health care has to be addressed. Relief provided to disaster-stricken parts of our country. Pensions and opioids. Veterans. Childcare. All have to be taken care of.

The Trump shutdown will soon end, but the work must go on. And it will.

Thank you and I yield the floor.

KING: The Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York speaking there. A lot of political explanation. Some would say spin. Him trying to explain the new Democratic position.

[12:25:06] The big headline, the government will reopen tonight.

And let's listen now to the majority leader.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Indication that he intends to support the measure before us.

I think if we've learned anything -- I think if we've learned anything during this process, it's that a strategy to shut down the government over the issue of illegal immigration is something the American people didn't understand and would not have understood in the future. So I'm glad we've gotten past that, that we have a chance now to get back to work and therefore, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there objection? Without objection, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur with a further amendment in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to HR-195 signed by 17 senators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to HR-195 with a further amendment shall be brought to a close? The yays and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the role.

SCHUMER: Mr. President, before we call the roll, I ask unanimous consent that the Democrats whip be allowed to address the chamber for three minutes with the gracious approval of the majority leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there objection?

MCCONNELL: Without objection.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (R), MINORITY WHIP: Mr. President, let me thank you very much, and thank the majority leader for this opportunity.

And let me thank my friend, my colleague, and our leader on the Democratic side for his passionate, personal commitment to this issue involving the dreamers and DACA. He has been by my side and I've been inspired by his leadership from the start.

And let me thank my colleagues. So many of you cast a vote that was very hard and very difficult because you believed, as I did, that the issue of immigration and the issue of the dreamers is the civil rights issue of our time. You stuck your necks out and said, I'm willing to go on record even if it's going to be hard to explain back home. And I will never forget that.

The question now is how we move forward. What I have seen here on the floor of the Senate in the last few days is something we have not seen for years, constructive bipartisan conversations and dialogue on the floor, not just about this issue, which is obviously front and center, but about the future of this institution and what the Senate will be from this point forward. That, to me, has been encouraging because it says to me that we do have an opportunity to work together.

My special thanks to Senator Susan Collins, my friend, and Senator Lisa Murkowski for joining with Jeff Flake and joining with Lindsey Graham and joining with Cory Gardner and others who have been working on this issue for so long to try to make a positive impact on this debate so that we can move forward. I cannot tell my colleagues how many have come up to me from the other side of the aisle and said, we're with you on this issue. We want to help you get this done. Each of them has a little different take on what that means, but I do believe them. And I do believe we have this opportunity to move together.

Now comes the test, the real test, as to whether we can get this done, whether we can be the Senate again. Whether we can return to a regular order on the floor and constructively have a debate. For some of you, it will be the first time you've ever seen it. But, believe me, it's worth the price of admission. All it to for you to come to the United States Senate. So now we have to stand together.

My last word is this. We have gathered the largest bipartisan group of senators to ever commit to moving forward on the Dream Act and immigration. We have a process. I want to thank Senator McConnell for explicitly saying today it will be a level playing field, it will be open to both sides. We will move to the issue, as you characterized it this morning, of DACA and immigration. Thank you for doing that. I believe that that sets the stage for us to work together.

For the first time in five years, we will have a debate on the floor of the Senate on the Dream Act and immigration. To all the dreamers who are watching today, don't give up. I know that your lives are hanging in the balance on what we do here on Capitol Hill and with the White House. Three weeks from now I hope to be joining you in celebrating the passage with you and your families and your communities of a measure which will strengthen America and give you an opportunity to be part for our future.

Mr. President, I yield.

[12:30:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The clerk will call the roll.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Alexander.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Burton (ph).