peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the new york times and nbc news political julie, julie, what are you hearing on capitol hill about these two reporter: reporter: well, we re hearing very different things privately and publicly and it is in part because age and the issue of health concerns that have plagued the senate and also washington in general have been the topic of conversation, not just this year, but in the years and before. and so privately in the case of mcconnell, for example, we are hearing some concern from his colleagues that he may not be as sharp as he was before he suffered that fall in march, that took him out for about a period of a month. he dealt with a concussion and broken rib during that incident. he had some falls following that, including that strange moment that you re seeing all over your screens that you were just playing and another fall actually that my colleague garrett haake reported earlier this week that happened when he was depla