blumenthal of connecticut. also with us, former assistant united states attorney. she's a criminal justice instructor at pace school of law and an msnbc legal analyst. senator blumenthal, you called the kennedy announcement earth-shaking and gut wrenching. moving forward, what's the game plan for democrats? what's the topic? >> the american people should have a voice. this vote should take place after the election when a new congress is seated. a decision of this historic magnitude requires a lot of deliberate consideration, it requires more than the few months we have before this election. and the republicans ought to adhere to the mcconnell rule that these votes should not take place in an election year so we'll take this case to the american people.