Reporters about why he decided not to attend the meeting at the white house with President Trump will also hear from the Senate Democratic whip dick durbin. Sen. Schumer good afternoon, i am proud to be joined by my colleagues here this afternoon. With just three and a half short weeks to go before christmas, that to do list in washington is long and complicated. Deal toto reach increase in defense spending as well as programs which the middle class relies on for jobs. We need to write an appropriations bill, and we need to extend funding for Community Health standards. Chi and protect dreamers. In order to get all of this done in the next few short weeks, all parties need to engage in good faith negotiations to reach an agreement. That is what we hoped would happen at todays white house meeting. Unfortunately, the president had other ideas. Twe this morning, the president et made sure that todays meeting was nothing but a photo op. These issues are far too serious for these kind of ga