>>> 6:38 IN THE MORNING. RAND PAUL BLOCKED A BIPARTISAN EFFORT YESTERDAY TO SWIFTLY SEND $40 BILLION IN AID TO UKRAINE. SENATOR PAUL WANTS TO CREATE A SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL TO SEE HOW THE MONEY IS SPENT. CHUCK SCHUMER AND REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL TOOK TO THE SENATE FLOOR TO PRESS FOR A QUICK PASSAGE OF THAT BILL. >> HE IS NOT EVEN ASKING FOR AN AMENDMENT. HE IS SIMPLY SAYING, "MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY." RIGHT NOW, IN CONJUNCTION WITH LEADER MITCH McCONNELL, I'M GIVING SENATOR PAUL AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT. I'M OFFERING TO HOLD A VOTE ON HIS AMENDMENT, EVEN THOUGH I DISAGREE WITH IT. >> UKRAINE IS NOT ASKING US TO FIGHT THIS WAR. THEY'RE ONLY ASKING FOR THE RESOURCES THEY NEED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AGAINST THIS DERANGED INVASION. AND THEY NEED THIS HELP RIGHT NOW. SENDING ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE IS NOT SOME KIND OF PHILANTHROPY. THIS CONFLICT HAS A DIRECT AND MAJOR CONSEQUENCE FOR AMERICA'S NATIONAL SECURITY AND AMERICA'S NATIONAL INTEREST. >> JOINING US AT THE TABLE HERE IN NEW YORK, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR JON TESTER OF MONTANA AND ONE OF SENATOR TESTER'S FORMER COLLEAGUES, CLAIRE McCASKILL OF MISSOURI. SHE IS NOW AN NBC NEWS AND MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST. GOOD MORNING TO YOU BOTH. SENATOR TESTER, WELCOME TO NEW YORK. GREAT TO SEE YOU. >> GREAT TO SEE YOU GUYS. >> LET ME ASK ABOUT THE PACKAGE OF $40 BILLION IN AID TO UKRAINE. IT'S BEEN AN EXTRAORDINARY MONTHS' LONG EFFORT BY THIS ADMINISTRATION AND THOSE OF YOU IN CONGRESS TO GET THE AID TO UKRAINE. DO YOU SEE THIS RAND PAUL STUNT AS HOLDING THIS UP, OR WILL IT GET THROUGH QUICKLY? >> IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THROUGH YESTERDAY. I THINK IT'LL GET THROUGH NEXT WEEK. IT SHOULD GET THROUGH NEXT WEEK. IT SHOULD HAVE GOT THROUGH YESTERDAY. THE POINT THAT McCONNELL AND SCHUMER MAKE ON THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. UKRAINIANS NEED THIS SUPPORT. WE ALL KNOW IT. AND FOR SENATOR PAUL TO HOLD THIS UP IS COMPLETELY INEXCUSABLE. I ASSUME THAT IT'LL BE PICKED UP MONDAY OR AS QUICKLY AS IT CAN. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN DONE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. I MEAN, EVERYTHING WAS READY TO GO. IT IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH THE U.S. SENATE. WHEN YOU HAVE ONE PERSON THAT CAN OBSTRUCT EVERYTHING. WE HAD THIS DEBATE IN JANUARY, WE SHOULDN'T ALLOW THIS. IF GROW WANT TO HOLD THE FLOOR, HOLD THE FLOOR. AT SOME POINT IN TIME, THAT HAS TO END. WHEN IT COMES TO HELP FOR UKRAINE, I MEAN, WE SEE WHAT THE UKRAIIAN PEOPLE ARE DOING. THEY'RE FIGHTING WITH THEIR LIVES TO PROTECT THEIR COUNTRY FROM A TYRANT, AND WE NEED TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY. I THINK THAT'S A BIPARTISAN EFFORT IN WASHINGTON, D.C., BUT, YET, WE HAVE ONE PERSON STOP IT. AND TIME IS IMPORTANT HERE. GETTING MONEY IN A TIMELY MANNER HELPS THE UKRAINIANS DEFEND THEMSELVES. IT'S NOT MONEY, IT'S REPS, FRANKLY. HALF THIS PACKAGE IS DEFENSE, HALF IS HUMANITARIAN. IT IS A LITTLE BIT DISTRESSING AND SPEAKS TO THE DYSFUNCTION IN WASHINGTON, D.C. >> SENATOR PAUL LIKES TO BE THE GUY WHO HOLDS IT UP. LET ME ASK ABOUT A TALKING POINT WE'VE STARTED TO HEAR FROM REPUBLICANS. THIS IS AN AWFUL LOT OF MONEY GOING OUT THE DOOR TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY WHEN WE HAVE ALL THESE PROBLEMS HERE AT HOME. WHY IT PROBABLY GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT BOTH CAN BE DONE IN A COUNTRY WITH THE SIZE AND STRENGTH OF THE UNITED STATES. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THE CRITICISM? >> I DON'T THINK, IN MY OPINION, I DON'T THINK UKRAINE IS THE END OF PUTIN'S THREATS HERE. HE'S ALREADY THREATENED FINLAND BECAUSE THEY WANT TO JOIN NATO. I JUST THINK THIS GUY IS OUT OF CONTROL, AND THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING. THEY'RE GIVING THEIR LIVES UP FOR IT. WE NEED TO DO IT. AND WE ALSO NEED TO TAKE CARE OF THE ISSUES WE HAVE HERE AT HOME, THAT YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT EVERY MORNING. WE CAN WALK AND CHEW GUM AT THE SAME TIME. >> SENATOR, OBVIOUSLY, ANOTHER MAJOR STORY IN WASHINGTON IS THE LEAKED DRAFT OPINION ON ROE V. WADE. THERE WAS A VOTE THIS WEEK TO CODIFY ROE V. WADE. IT WAS OBVIOUSLY DEFEATED. GIVE US YOUR PERSPECTIVE. YOU'RE A DEMOCRAT REPRESENTING A RED STATE. THE FILIBUSTER, SHOULD THAT BE DONE AWAY WITH FOR THIS ISSUE, FOR VOTING RIGHTS? WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THAT? WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE TO PROTECT ABORTION RIGHTS? >> LOOK, WE HAD THIS DEBATE ON A DIFFERENT ISSUE BACK IN JANUARY, AND THERE SIMPLY WASN'T THE VOTES THERE TO DEAL WITH THE FILIBUSTER ISSUE. IT WASN'T ABOUT ELIMINATING THE FILIBUSTER. IT WAS GOING BACK TO THE DAYS WHERE PEOPLE COULD TALK. ONCE THEY WERE DONE, WE VOTED. SO THERE'S THAT. WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH THE SUPREME COURT DECISION, QUITE FRANKLY, WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLE'S PERSONAL FREEDOMS AND WOMEN BEING ABLE TO MAKE THEIR OWN HEALTH CARE DECISIONS, IT IS FUNDAMENTAL IN A STATE LIKE MONTANA. IT IS PRIVACY. WE DON'T WANT WOMEN REGULATED, SO TO SPEAK. I THINK PEOPLE HAVE TO SHOW UP IF THEY BELIEVE STRONGLY IN THAT PERSPECTIVE, AS I DO. THEY NEED TO ELECT THE PEOPLE THAT SHARE THAT PERSPECTIVE. >> SENATOR, YOUR FORMER COLLEAGUE CLAIRE McCASKILL HAS A QUESTION. >> FIRST OF ALL, I KNOW SOMETHING SPECIAL MUST BE GOING ON. I KNOW WHERE YOU'D RATHER BE. YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO BE IN NEW YORK. I KNOW YOU REALLY WELL. YOU WANT TO BE IN SANDY HOOK. YOU WANT TO BE HOME TALKING ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU GOT THE PLANNING DONE. BUT LET ME ASK YOU, FIRST OF ALL, LET'S MAKE SURE EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS, RAND PAUL IS BY HIMSELF HERE, AS HE CONSTANTLY IS. FROM THE OUTSIDE, JOHN, THAT I CAN NOW SEE, THAT'S WHAT FRUSTRATES PEOPLE. WE HAVE RULES IN THE SENATE WHERE ONE PERSON DOESN'T HAVE TO GET ANYBODY ELSE TO AGREE WITH HIM. >> THAT'S RIGHT. >> THEY CAN REALLY LITERALLY HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS FOR NOT GETTING AID TO A COUNTRY THAT'S FIGHTING FOR EVERYTHING THEY'VE GOT FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. HERE'S THE THING INTERESTING TO ME. TRUMP SURROGATES WERE SAYING, DON'T VOTE FOR THIS BILL, INCLUDING DON JR. WHY DO THE REPUBLICANS COWER IN FRONT OF TRUMP CONSTANTLY, BUT THEY'RE WILLING TO DEFY HIM ON THIS? DO YOU REAL RUMBLINGS THAT ANYBODY IS WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP GOING AFTER THEM IF THEY SUPPORT THIS AID? WHY IS THIS DIFFERENT? WHY ARE THEY SCARED OF HIM ALL THE TIME? >> I DON'T KNOW. IT MAY NOT BE DIFFERENT. WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WEEK. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS, YOU KNOW, DONALD TRUMP WANTED TO DESTROY NATO. WHAT WOULD WE HAVE TODAY IF NATO WERE DESTROYED? PUTIN WOULD BE ABLE TO WALK THROUGH UKRAINE AND POTENTIALLY OTHER PLACES, TOO. IF THEY'VE COME OUT AND THEY'VE DONE THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA TO THREAT FOLKS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE THEY SHOULDN'T VOTE FOR THIS, IT IS INEXCUSABLE. AN OLD SAYING, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE. THE UKRAINIANS ARE PROVING THAT. WE NEED TO SUPPORT THEM. I THINK THERE IS A BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO DO THAT. HOPEFULLY FOLKS WILL DO THE RIGHT THING IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. THAT IS OVERRULE WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE SENATOR FROM KENTUCKY A
