today we found out senate republican leader mitch mcconnell told cnn s manu raju he s encouraging gop candidates for congress to honor the election results in this country saying, quote, it s important for candidates to remember we need to respect the results of our democratic process unless the court system demonstrates that some significant fraud occurred that would change the outcome. i guess it s nice for mcconnell to say that, and it echoes some of the cautions to the party that we ve heard from him in the past like when he blamed trump for the insurrection but voted to acquit the former president during the impeachment trial. now i can hear all of you guys saying right now mitch, please. mcconnell husband had a year to cleanup this party, and frankly, he s blown it. we need to get rid of this january 6th commission and replace it with a november 3rd commission. this january 6th commission is a total sham and waste of time.
today we found out senate republican leader mitch mcconnell told cnn s manu raju he s encouraging gop candidates for congress to honor the election results in this country, saying, quote, it s important for candidates to remember we need to respect the results of our democratic process unless the court system demonstrates that some significant fraud occurred that would change the outcome. i guess it s nice for mcconnell to say that, and it echos some of the cautions to the party that we ve heard from him in the past, like when he blamed trump for the insurrection but voted to acquit the former president during the impeachment trial. now i can hear all of you guys saying right now, mitch, please. mcconnell has had a year to clean up this party, and frankly he s blown it. we need to get rid of this january 6th commission and replace it with a november 3rd commission. this january 6th commission is a total sham and waste of time.
thursday s testimony from judge kavanaugh and his first accuser, christine blasey ford. now, we should note just a few minutes ago they added a caveat. they re only potentially going to vote. but nonetheless, it s been added to the schedule, and it certainly tracks with what many republicans have been saying about the need to vote and the refusal to hear public testimony on thursday from anyone beyond those two witnesses. i m glad we ll be able to hear testimony from both. and then i look forward to an up or down vote on this nomination right here on the senate floor. late today in a letter to ranking democrat dianne feinstein senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley declined to postpone thursday s hearing in light of allegations from the second accuser debra ramirez. also late today senator lindsey graham told cnn s manu raju he s got zero patience, his words, for democratic demands that others testify. again, the committee s first vote is now set for friday with furth
obamacare exchange earlier this year, an additional 1.2 million people signed up. and for years, democratic senator, joe manchin, has run and won on the idea that his party affiliation doesn t define him. here he is just days ago, telling manu raju he s not ready to abandon senate republicans to push a democratic agenda. i have always been to the point to where we have got to work together. you know, you can only do so much by yourself. and you can t make it worse work unless the minority has input. you can t disregard a person that s not in the majority. uh-huh. the senate was never designed that way. his bipartisanship is perhaps his only reason why he has managed to remain in office, as the only democrat holding statewide office in a republican-controlled state. but as political polarization deepens in america, his ability to play both sides may be coming back to haunt him. cnn s dan america joins us, now. dan, great to see you. you traveled to west virginia. spoke with
sexually assaulted them. late today republicans on the senate committee who control the process scheduled their first vote on the nomination for 9:30 a.m. on friday, a day after thursday s testimony from judge kavanaugh and his first accuser, christine blasey ford. now, we should note just a few minutes ago they added a caveat. they re only potentially going to vote. but nonetheless, it s been added to the schedule, and it certainly tracks with what many republicans have been saying about the need to vote and the refusal to hear public testimony on thursday from anyone beyond those two witnesses. i m glad we ll be able to hear testimony from both. and then i look forward to an up or down vote on this nomination right here on the senate floor. late today in a letter to ranking democrat dianne feinstein senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley declined to postpone thursday s hearing in light of allegations from the second accuser debra ramirez. also late today senator linds