will talk to a congressman about immigration and a hearing on the clinton email investigation. congressman henry cuell >> it is not just a moment -- it is not just in fulfillment of my constitutional duty, but with myat pride i am announcing nomination for united states circuit judge anthony kennedy to be a justice of the supreme court. host: that was november 11, 1987. 30 years later, justice kennedy announced that he will be stepping down from the high court at the end of july. this morning on "washington journal," we went to your from you on justice kennedy's legacy, what the court will look like without him, and the nomination and expected confirmation battle to come.

give us a call this morning. you can also catch up with us on social media him on twitter facebook atd on facebook account/c-span. -- at facebook.com/cspan. "the washington post" noting that the justice was a pivotal swing vote. "the washington times" notes middlehe man in the shaped lives." "trumpw york times," looks to shape court as kennedy

retires." trump: we have obviously numerous people. we have a list of 25 people i had during my election. as you know, i added five a little while ago. very excellent list of talented, highly educated, highly intelligent, hopefully tremendous people. i think the list is very outstanding. when i was running, i put down a list of 20 people because not being a politician, i think people wanted to hear what some of my choices may be, and it was pretty effective. the kind ofsee quality that we are looking at when you're looking at that list. host: after the president's nomination, the pic would go to the senate for confirmation. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell discussed his views on the process. the senateell:

stands ready to fulfill its constitutional role by offering advice and consent on president trump's nominee to fill this vacancy. we will vote to confirm justice kennedy's successor this fall. as in the case of justice gorsuch, senators will have the opportunity to meet with president trump's nominee, examine his or her altercations, and debate the nomination. i have every confidence in chairman grassley's conduct in the upcoming confirmation process in the judiciary committee. it is imperative that the president's nominee be considered fairly and not subjected to personal attacks. also yesterday, senate minority leader chuck schumer had some things to say about the upcoming confirmation process. our republican colleagues in the senate should follow the rule they set in 2016

, not to consider a supreme court justice in an election year. senator mcconnell would tell anyone who listened that the senate had the right to advise and consent, and that was every bit as important as the president's right to nominate. millions of people are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the president's nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now as leader mcconnell thought they should deserve to be heard then. that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy. host: taking your calls this morning on "the washington journal," getting your thoughts on justice kennedy's retirement announcement yesterday. the lines for democrats, republicans, an independents. we will put them on the screen. tim, go ahead.

caller: first of all, i would like to make a quick thank you to justice kennedy for all of his years of service. secondly, i would like to make an observation. ishaps what we are seeing justice kennedy, his last vote. he is not voting yea or nea, or with consent -- with dissent or a concurrence. perhaps he is voting with his feet with what he is seeing in the country. although he has been a swing vote, whether it be for conservatives or liberals on the court, perhaps what we are seeing is one of his best decisions that he will ever render. he is looking at the united states landscape and the diminishing of the adherence to the rule of law

that he so admires and loves, and perhaps he said to himself, maybe we need to move further back toward the rule of law and civility and the way the country was founded, so perhaps this is his strategic last vote by retiring under president trump because he understands that president trump is going to appoint someone with a conservative political philosophy that has judicial humility that will adhere to the constitution and probably move the country, basically put the brakes on. perhaps justice kennedy is not happy with what he sees from the left when it comes to the degradation of the adherence to individual rights, whereas the left gets a pass and the right

gets persecuted, perhaps this is his coup de grace of a last vote. he could have stayed on the bench. he already chose his clerks for the year. and all of the sudden, do what he did, perhaps what we are seeing is what will go down in history as justice kennedy's final vote. host: jerry in detroit, the line for democrats. go ahead. caller: good morning, and greetings again from motown. justiceon this is that kennedy retiring is going to have major implications, especially in these dangerous times, because the next justice that donald trump may appoint perhaps might even be even more conservative than neil gorsuch. and like i said, this is going to have major implications on a lot of things. not just civil rights, but also

abortion-rights. all sorts of rights. this is donald trump's way of throwing red meat out to the angry white male archie bunkers who i know are going to start bashing me when i get off. of moldingmp's way the supreme court in his image, so that gives white conservatives the right to take theyrights from people typically hate, especially if the civil rights arena. host: to our independent line, keith is in woodbridge, virginia. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? host: doing well. caller: listening to both previous callers, the caller that was just on before me, i think he has a very good and accurate eye as to what is happening. by justice kennedy being the

,oderate, or the most moderate relatively speaking, on the and,, if you take him out understanding the list that donald trump has, you're going to now move the median of the court so far right that it is going to take decades to of whatte the results the court is going to do with these decisions. a lot of people talk about the rule of law, but the rule of law does not always equal, does not always mean equity in the law. the rule of law, a lot of time, is slanted towards the right and gets away from things like civil rights. i'm an independent, and i am ast watching from dispassionate standpoint.

what i am seeing here is the court is going to go so far right that eventually you are going to have things such as roe v. wade and other things challenged. mitch mcconnell was politically shrewd when he did not bring merrick garland up for even consideration. i think that mitch mcconnell this had a high probability of the outcome being what it is. host: that his keys in virginia. ith in virginia. he mentioned that list of president trump's. was printed in "the washington times." we will tell you about a couple of them, including amy connie barrett from the seventh u.s. court of appeals. she is a relatively new appeals court judge in chicago. last year after a bruising confirmation fight, democrats

lettioned whether barrett her catholic faith play to bigger role in her legal thinking. that question angered religious conservatives, insisting her fate would not interfere with her role as a judge -- her faith would not interfere with her role as a judge. another name on that list is thomas hardiman. those interviewed by president trump last year to fill the vacancy left by antonin scalia's death. he was the first in his family to graduate from college, drove a taxi to help pay for his education. he's a georgetown university law center alumnus. is a favorite of trump's sister, judge merrick and trump barry,- marianne trump with only serves.

reaction. "is a more conservative court ?ood for women mentioned gop hypocrisy every day." "there will be exceptionally strenuous vetting because of the stolen seat," referring to the merrick garland nomination by president obama. "it was inevitable and the truth is there is nothing democrats can do about it. conservatives will likely see two justices before 2020. elections have consequences." brian in illinois, line for democrats. you are up next. caller: good morning. thank you. yes, it is very hypocritical for republicans to launch this nomination three months out for

a vote when they would not approve a justice nine months out. a more alarming thing is going through the comments on the are a lotage, there of conservatives and republicans trying to say to make america great again, calling for the death of the honorable justice ginsburg, hoping that trump will get another pic. they are looking ahead. i just think it is something that a lot of these older people, baby boomer generation, they seem what they are the first generation that doesn't care about leaving their children and grandchildren in a better spot than they were. they would rather be right and further the dissent in this country than actually follow the rule of law. us far as any of them claiming civility or uphold the law, i think it is ridiculous, and i think they are all hypocrites. host: rene in baton rouge, louisiana. line for independents. go ahead. ,aller: i am so happy for him

and i hope he enjoys his retirement. he was born three years after my mother, and she was a pro-choice ob/gyn nurse in her first career. her second career she was a self-employed employment agency counselor. they all have more patience than me. they all have a right to retire. i hope he is happily retired for the rest of his life. host: thanks for the call. is in new- matt york city, republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: go ahead. caller: i think anyone that to, you know,ants job will behis --ebody like him, coming in

[indiscernible] i don't know what to say. time to lose a justice like kennedy when you have a monster like donald trump. that people can join us in our protests at 11:00 a.m. before the white house because of the zero-tolerance policy. i would like everyone there to protest against donald trump's decision to imprison those children. host: who's us? who is organizing this? caller: students for good governance, and some of the other parties. everybody is coming. we cannot tolerate this policy of donald trump bringing people in cages and then coming out and

speaking good about it, and then writing executives. it is just another stop for , andity best for publicity nothing -- for publicity, nothing actually happened. people just have to come forth and deny president trump's decision. this is a very important moment. host: speaking the family separation and the judiciary, a ruling less today -- a ruling yesterday on what should happen to those children who were separated from their families. a judge in the u.s. district court ruling that ordered children must be returned to parents. that is the headline from "the washington times." tuesdayte, "the ruling gives the government just 14 days to reunite children under

five with their parents and 30 days to connect the rest of the more than two dozen children who had been separated and were being held in federal health department dormitories. the ruling is a near total victory for immigration rights activists and a major setback for the trump administration." the judge said the government can still prosecute those who cross the border illegally, but not at expense of parents' rights to be with their children. caller: good morning. i am kind of sad and by kennedy leaving, because at least he had a heart. he was a staunch republican, but at least he had a sense of fairness. you don't see that with the republican party anymore. they are ruthless. they blocked obama's choice. mcconnell done all kind of evil stuff to fight against obama.

i want democrat leadership to stop being so fickle. i want them to fight like the republicans fight. crooked, everything they can do to keep power and run this country to the ground. our country should be a more inclusive country. a melting pot. we can all get along together. we shouldn't be hating other people because of their skin color is different, but this is the way this country is going. canada is a way nicer, understanding country than the united states. i'm not going nowhere. i'm united states citizen. i've worked here. i've paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes here. i'm going to stay here and fight. i want the democrats to fight. host: that is david in flint, michigan, mentioning mitch mcconnell. in a column in "the new york times," "the upcoming confirmation represents an opportunity for a crowning judicial tryouts for o'connell

-- tryouts for mcconnell, who led the blockade in 2016. rulesicans altered senate to deny democrats the opportunity to filibuster the nomination, as well as future supreme court choices. the procedural change, which followed a similar 2013 democratic effort to speed confirmations from lower court judges, means that republicans can confirm a second trump republicanly votes, though they only hold a very narrow 51-49 majority." sen. mcconnell: are democratic colleagues have done something today that is unprecedented in the history of the senate. unfortunately it has brought us to this point. we need to restore the norms and traditions of the senate and get rid of this unprecedented partisan filibuster.

presidentvote on the said on november 1, 2013 is a majority vote on all nominations. >> the precedent of november 21, 2013 did not apply to nominations to the supreme court. those nominations are considered under the plain language rule 22. the point of order is not sustained. >> eye appeal the ruling of the chair. -- i appeal the ruling of the chair. host: that was mitch mcconnell last year, invoking the nuclear option. hears harry reid from 2013. sen. reid: republicans, and attendance -- democrats, republicans, independents are fed up with this obstruction. they want us to work for

american families again. mr. president, i'm on their side commode is why i propose an important change to the rules of the united states senate. the present republican leader himself said, and this is a the senate has" repeatedly changed its rules as circumstances dictate." he's right. in fact, the senate has changed its rules 18 times by sustaining or overturning the ruling of a presiding officer in the last 36 years. during the 10 years of republican and democratic majorities. the change we propose today would ensure executive and judicial nominations and up or down vote on confirmation. yes, no. the rule change will make closure for all nominations other than the supreme court a majority threshold vote, yes or no. the senate is a living thing. to survive it must change, as it has over the history of this great country. oft: the consequent of all

that from 2013 to 2017 is that now in 2018, it will take just 51 votes to confirm the next justice of the supreme court. getting your thoughts this morning the day after justice kennedy announced his retirement , he will be officially stepping down at the end of next month. let's go to jorge in new mexico, line for democrats. caller: thank you very much for taking my call. i appreciate c-span. please give me a moment because i am in mourning. i appreciate justice kennedy's service to this country, but i would also like to point out all of the other people who go without proper recognition. by uncle just passed away. her name was robert -- my uncle just passed away. his name was robert menendez. he fought in vietnam. he passed away sunday.

you know, we are losing all the real patriots. the people who gave blood. they used to give money, but now they just put it on everybody else. i think that i really don't know what to say. i think that america is backsliding. i think that they lost their moral compass. michael goodenough go and fight in foreign lands to come back to uncle did notmy go and fight in foreign lands to come back to this place and see children from foreign lands being caged. i think it is disgusting. i am flying my flag at half staff.

to -- wehat we need are spending all this money on weapons of war, but we are not taking care of our veterans. the number one rate of suicide right now. our farmers, we are not taking care of those who feed us. host: my condolences for your loss. alex is in consulting you on the line for republicans. caller: yes, i'm one of those angry white r.g. mugger republicans wanted your colors referred to us as. of course, that's what archie bunker republicans -- archie ne ofr republicans o your callers referred to us as. of course, i saw maxine waters calling on republicans to be surrounded. the hypocrisy of the left. i say president trump is doing a

great job. he will pick a great supreme court justice. we are moving ahead, and we are prosperous now. let's have the rule of law in immigration and other things. i wish you a good day. host: the president on his twitter page yesterday, talking about his concerns about comments by democratic leaders. two tweets from last night. "in recent days we've heard rate is at -- we've heard attacks on our courageous law enforcement officers. extremist democrat politicians have called for complete elimination of ice, left-wing activists trying to block ice jobsers from doing their and publicly posting their home addresses, putting these selfless public service in harm's way. these radical protesters want anarchy, but the only response they will find from our government is law and order." caller: a caller mentioned that

this is a "strategic move," like his last statement, his last declaration by actually deciding to retire. as far as a conservative view. perhaps it would be a strategic view, the it wasn't as much a conservative agenda, but maybe he did it to galvanize the independents under democrats and in the other party -- and any other party that is not just in this cookie cutter democrat republican game. maybe he did it to galvanize the public, to wake them up and help them see that we have to do something in order to improve the state of our country at this point in time. host: if that is the case, do

you think it is going to work? caller: you know what? i hope. is what --position galvan's asian -- galvanization is what is needed to do something. you can see it. latinayork you have the cortez, she was able to beat the , who i think was 10 times, as far as moneywise, spent for every dollar that she spent he had 10 times more. there is something going on. sometimes when times like these vested prior caller was very sentimental about people being caged. that galvanizes people, when you use innocent children. it is a very complex situation.

the conservatives want to view it as a decisive, beautiful declaration, a strategic move. they could also be something to wake us up. host: you mentioned that new york race. the victor, 28-year-old alexandria a coffee of cortez -- cortes.ia acasio we are going to be talking more about that with congressman henry cuellar, the democrat from texas, later in our program. jack is in new york city on the line for republicans. go ahead, jack. caller: i think whoever donald trump picks will be a disaster. a disaster pic. i am going to the protest before the white house on june 30.

everybody should come, please. jack calling in on our line for republicans. staying on the republican line, landon is in richmond, virginia. go ahead. caller: yes, good morning. i am a black man in america, and i've been a republican all my life. i think about the supreme court. thurgood marshall was a black man on the supreme court. how he really was a decent ballast -- how it really was a decent, balanced court. everybody is thinking doom and gloom just because trump is president, but the united states has gone through these types of turmoil for many years. this is how democracy works. you make adjustments.

you have problems. you make adjustments and you correct the problem. , blackdon't understand people in america have been here for 500 years. what we have done as blacks, we the factor oneen many things like racism and money, especially because lacks don't really have any money. i vote as a populist. i vote for whoever i want to vote for. but i still have the republican attitude. everybody refers to lincoln. lincoln did not free the slaves. the slaves had to be freed through a constitutional amendment. being black, i appreciate the different types of people that we've had in the supreme court.

they are talking about this young lady who beat this democrat in new york in a puerto rican district. why didn't to say new yorkers do anything to try to help people in puerto rico? he didn't do anything for his people. this white guy i see now that is the head of the dnc, let me tell you about him. he used to be head of the labor department. all of us people who work and aboute contractors, think tom perez. when i saw him being the democrat, i just gave up on the democratic party. host: as we noted earlier, yesterday justice kennedy

informed president trump that he will be stepping down at the end of july, 30 years and seven months after his nomination to the supreme court. in today's op-ed pages of "the washington post," a professor at harvard law clerked for justice kennedy, talking about those months in 1987 leading up to kennedy's nomination. --nnedy made as to the hyatt made it to the highest court of when the reagan administration look for a safer voice. it turns to the soft-spoken, bookish californian who ran his father's law practice and taught constitutional law before becoming a respected appellate judge on the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit. the senate confirmed kennedy 97-0 on february 3, 1988."

there is a story from "the new york times" back in 1987, talking about him start -- talking about ginsberg withdrawing his name as a clamor, citing marijuana . he acted after disclosures about his personal and professional conduct, culminating with justice ginsburg's admission he had smoked marijuana several reagan,mbarrassed mr. justice ginsburg withdrew his nomination. time for a couple more of your calls. gary in virginia on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i appreciate this show. just wanted to get a quick point.

i hear a lot of people calling this morning, and the word hypocrisy is being thrown around a lot. it seems like that's what this country has turned into, from a democracy to more of a hypocrisy. i really appreciate the work that maxine waters does for this country. stuff she think the pulled the other day was wrong because it plays more into what the republican party is known for. question why the judge decided to step down now. was it his choice? , you know,thing that it just seems very odd to me at this time. now the republican party, they are going to vote for a new one where they stopped obama from nominating a judge. you see the hypocrisy there. and we just sit back and watch it because there is nothing we can do about it. trump has stripped us of our

voices. him talking about congressman waters' low iq, i would challenge you to take an iq test. the guy is really an idiot. host: market is in maine on the line for independent -- mark is in maine on the line for independents. caller: it seems odd that he dropped the bombshell now. hello? host: i'm listening. caller: because it is going to cause this whole thing up again. about the lot now mcconnell rules, and i don't blame the democrats for bringing that up because of what happened with judge garland. they can go back and talk about judge bork and all this stuff that happened with him, but at least they got hearings. judge garland did even get a hearing. -- didn't even get a hearing.

that is more of an upfront hypocrisy. i just think is too bad because it is going to cause a holster -- a whole stir. mcconnell said with garland we are not going to pick a judge during an election year. is going to create more division. it might be a point where one of -- a point-- al where one of the other callers said this is going to galvanize. my concern is i cannot fathom why he would drop it now. we knew this was coming, but make it for the beginning of the year so we have the elections over. it just seems odd. host: got your point, mark. up next, we will be joined by pennsylvania republican congressman keith rothfus,

member of the house judiciary committee. we will talk about the retirement, yesterday's failed immigration vote, and other news from what has already been a very busy week in washington, d.c. later we continue the conversation with texas democratic representative henry cuellar. announcer: the c-span bus is traveling around the country on our 50 capitals tour. in fairbanks,d alaska, asking folks with the most important issue is in alaska. >> the most important issue to , i think that for a nation built on immigrants and adversity, we are finding it hard to embrace our differences as a good thing.

that is creating great divides and greater conflict then we really need at the moment. we should be focusing our problem-solving skills on something more important, not how we are different because it is our differences that make us great. >> the most important issue to me is, particularly in the the ideaates, we have that we are falling behind in arctic policy compared to other nations. it is important for the public to understand and our federal government to work harder on making arctic policy a bigger issue than it is currently. >> i'm a dentist here in fairbanks. i've been here since 1976. . i went to school at the university of michigan.

dental health is a very important issue here in the state, whether it is in the city, in the small rural communities, especially out in the bush, where there's no access to care facilities. in this state, we just finished a mission of mercy, were retreated thousands of people free of charge. i think it will be our second here in fairbanks. course,ate sector, of the biggest burden, the offers great treatment in the bush areas where there's no private practice. anyway, i encourage everybody to remember their digital hygiene. >> i'm a 32 year resident of fairbanks, alaska.

most important issue to be currently is our political divide. i was raised a moderate republican. i am worried about the future of our country because it just seems like there's no room for moderation anymore. ,hat we have is conflict nothing really gets done and our political parties. i would like to see some changes in that respect. worry about our worldwide standing. throughout history we have been looked at as problem solvers and the deliverer of good. i think that is changing, and it is a big concern to me. announcer: be sure to join us july 21 and 22, when we feature

our visit to alaska. watch alaska weekend on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we had here republican congressman keith rothfus, number -- member of the house judiciary committee. i wouldn't you think of democrats' call to put off the submission process until after the american public has weighed in the of you november elections. rep. rothfus: i don't think we need to do that. we have a majority rule in our country. we have a president that is going to begin nomination, and they should go ahead and have hearings and have a vote is fall. host: do using the supreme court nomination becomes a new focus of the 2018 elections? republicans had been planning on running on the tax cuts. rep. rothfus: i think it is another issue people are going to be talk about it.

i talked to a lot of voters not to have a with the choices of clinton versus trump, but the president trump because they knew the supreme court was going to be an issue. host: what do you say to voters whenever have the supreme court in this fight to come? how has the: supreme court got to this point would have gotten so powerful? when you take a look back and see how the court has ruled over the decades and taken more and more power. you see it begins to act like a sleeper legislature -- a super legislature. everything becomes a battle. fundamental individual liberties, freedom of speech by a 5-4 vote. these are very important issues, and the country is engaged on the. desk on them. -- on the. host: you know one of the potential nominees, thomas hardiman of the u.s. court of appeals for the third circuit.

how do you know him? rep. rothfus: i know him from pittsburgh. last time i think he was a runner-up when gorsuch got the call. i made a few phone calls just checking in, seeing what was going to happen. east andas driving everyone thought he might get the nomination, so it is a very intriguing practice they go through. host: what are your thoughts on thomas hardiman's judicial style? for be your vice -- what would be your advice to the president? rep. rothfus: i offered the last time i saw him. i said that thomas hardiman is a good man. we are talking with congressman keith rothfus of pennsylvania. a republican joining us. you can call us if you what to join in.

having this discussion during a very busy week in washington. besides what happened yesterday in the supreme court, on the floor of the house democrats for a to move forward second time. how did you vote? vote onhfus: i did not that bill. i think we got 121 yes votes today. think there are only 18 or 19 republicans who did not vote for either measure. i think somewhere in that mix is a working majority would can come up with. i hope is that we've gone back to the drawing board and see what there is like to give me 18. host: this was supposed to be the compromise measure.

rep. rothfus: it was a very confusing process. there was talk over the weekend about adding a couple of measures on e-verify. that was dropped all the last minute. i let the prognosticators make a diagnosis. there are good things in both bills, we've got to be taking a look at it. we know people are coming in. we know we have to do a better .ob a lot of that is going to be at ports of entry. there was a lot of that in these bills, bolstering points of .ntry, what we are doing i think it has gotten a little frustrating.

less friday the president said maybe we should wait until the election, and then yesterday says he supports this bill. i think it would be helpful if we had more input from the administration as we try to tackle this issue over the next few weeks. your do these votes shake confidence in the republican leadership team? host: know. no.rep. rothfus: we have a judiciary midi, a homeland security committee. it would be better if these things were put through somewhat of an ad hoc committee with different factions. i think there are better ways to do it. gopad a very good conference last thursday night. a lot of ideas that put forth. it was really the first full engagement of the rank-and-file on what would become a good piece of legislation. there a plan given to

you on what would happen if this does not pass? anything that would address the family separation issue? i think you can get expert review on a bill like that and get it over to the senate and to the president. host: representative keith rothfus is with us. they're all on the line for republicans -- darrell on the line for republicans. caller: first up on the immigration issue the gentleman i appreciateout, that. the we have to get to a point where we deal with the facts in this country. i am from a 10th generation american. yorkanin's report of new

they became what is known as the greatest generation. the ones coming in from mexico, it is not 2 million or 11 million. it is probably 25, 30 million illegals in this country. not all of them are bad, but here's the bottom line. it has cost of this country billions of dollars between schools, hospitals, everything else. the second point he didn't make we need to declare it problem with mexico because they let this happen. they are letting this happen through the cartels. this is a third world country. this is of even like germany.

andeed to put our foot down tell them you either straighten this out come or not just a wall will go up, but no trade. nothing. you stop them dead in their tracks. and glad you raised the issues of the cartels. .his is a horrific problem i think only 5% of the murders in mexico are actually prosecuted. the cartels are running the show into the country. i think henry cuellar is going to be next. he may have some more insights because these net -- because he is right down there on the border seeing what is happening. i think we do have to have much more aggressive positions. the border protection

fund act, which allows us to go after the cartels that would help fund or the security and .rug treatment programs there is a program called the merida initiative that was started 10 or 15 years ago. i think it is a program where we actually take a look at how we can approve it, help also the law. i perceive the caller bringing up a very serious issue. host: wayne on the life democrats -- on the line for democrats. caller: i'm in favor of controlling the borders, no doubt. but when the man gets up there, as our president, this man has lied so much.

as far as lies a season with the republicans, come on. this is ridiculous. i like what you are saying. something's got to be done. we got a bs and everything else. when you've got a liar of their -- when you got a liar yup that's when you get a liar -- when you've got a liar up ther --all about to say is with nafta, i think he is just trying to find a battle gear -- a better deal for america, whether it is tariffs.is the i like my idea of the border protection fund with the money

these cartels have. that is a way you could get some funding into this wall. what i want to challenge you a little bit as we going to for , a little quote you had come "you people." this ties into the state we are in and the division in our country. are outrs of congress in our districts talking to people all the time, and we see that division. it is really important we try to have conversations with each other. i think it helps to take the edge off. for peoplea time now to demonize each other. kansas have a policy difference anymore. you are evil you -- you can't just have a policy difference anymore. you are evil if you have that position. it is good for us to focus on what does unite us. you go to the declaration of independence, where we hold

certain truths to be self-evident that we are endowed by your creator with certain inalienable rights. to protect these rights, .overnment i look forward to talking to folks during the fourth of july recess. host: using the president has been helpful in what you are asking for? rep. rothfus: i think the president reflects where the country is at. we talked about justice kennedy and division in the country. a remarkable book out now talks relationship between justice kennedy and justice ginsburg -- justice scalia and justice ginsburg. total opposites, but they were able to get along.

when they get a character assassination on justice bork, we just seeing this out there and politics. i think that set us down a different kind of path. host: mary on the line for republicans. go ahead. caller: i will start out to say i am a woman, this is to all males and females of the united states of america. babies.illing innocent all the time everybody was to talk about -- babies all the time. everybody wants to talk about immigration. it is murder when you take the life of a baby. you can call it a fetus or anything you want. once that baby is in your womb, you have no right. you talk about all the immigration that is run on. wake up, america. it is murder. murder. rep. rothfus: again, i think the caller reflect the passion a lot

of folks have about this issue. the ghost of the supreme court that do not 93, and take a look at the 7-2 decision. justice white, president kennedy's appointee, talks about what they had done as rod judicial power -- as raw judicial power. pc states trying to respond to that and come up with even modest restrictions. we passed legislation out of the house of representatives dealing with pain capable unborn children. the united states is one of only seven countries in the world that allows late-term abortions. this is a time at which unborn children can feel pain. when the supreme court steps in as the super legislature and puts together one test or another that really does not reflect with the people can try to arrive at through their

elected representatives, that is where you get a lot of the division in this country. host: do you think roe v. wade will be overturned in the coming years? rep. rothfus: i am not going to make any predictions on that because people were making productions in the 1980's when justice o'connor was appointed. it was on a collision course was itself. you have babies born at 28 weeks alive that can survive. host: i did want to ask you about that hearings they with rod rosenstein, chris wray in the judiciary, oversight and government reform committees. rep. rothfus: i want to see what

the plan is going forward. the inspector general put out a very troubling report talking about bias and insight at the upper lines of the fbi. if there was ever a case that called for the special counsel, it would have been the email investigation. you go back and look at the 1990's, there was a recommended special counsel investigation, but janet reno said no. found himself in this very difficult position that would not have happened had there been a special counsel. you saw director call me making decisions that were politically .riven, is not partisan he repeatedly made decisions on what he was doing because he was concerned about how the fbi or thee conceived legitimacy of a hillary clinton

presidency, therefore he had -- thereforetion he had to take that action. same with the october letter in 2016 where he notified congress. you have a attorney page. very troubling texts back and forth. we are still waiting for documents from the in the eye for the department of justice. i think we are going to try to see the documents we are asking for. listen to it on the free c-span radio app. you can go to c-span.org and watch it as a very at time for one or two more calls. the one for democrats, go ahead. caller: good morning. i want to ask the representative this question. by? rules are we playing

rules?cconnell are we playing by the rules that said president barack obama come a true statesman in the white house, try to put up a judge that republicans said, wait till after the election. let's not be distracted with all stuff from arizona. we are talking about chief justice kennedy stepping down at a critical time before the november election. not talk about the other issues this morning. i will ask you one question. i think you take a look at what was going on at the time that the nominee was nominative. you had a situation where president obama was saying he did not have authority to the deferred action program. then he did the deferred action program.

reversed attedly the supreme court, 9-0. time questions at the about the president's nomination. you have to have a nomination than there is a confirmation. someone has a right to confirm or not confirmed. this president will make a nomination, this senate will make a decision on whether to confirm or not confirmed. that is a process we have in our constitution. host: last call, go ahead. my question is, i think our president is doing a heck of a job and i wish the democrats to sevent tried touches whole political game and trying to straighten the country out. if we work with the president and the democrats decide to work with us instead of fighting us we can get a lot done. i'm so sick of hearing these

democrats and msnbc putting them down and all this. i think they are running scared because they know when all this comes out with comey and all this they're going to find out democrats are behind the whole political game of this. guest: i appreciate c-span. i've or should the opportunity callers have to dial in -- i appreciate the opportunity callers have to dial in. we have three branches of government, the judicial branch is conducting oversight right now. we would get to the truth of these matters. host: get your day started with the judiciary meeting starting at 9:00. keith rothfus, republican from pennsylvania,. democratic congressman henry joins us.-- cuellar

later, more of your phone calls on what has already been a busy week in washington dc. we will be right back. >> sunday night. this position details her efforts to prove that children in flint michigan were being exposed to lead poisoning in her book " what the eyes don't see: a story of crisis, resistance, and hope in an american city." she is interviewed by gary peters. >> you have heard there might be led in the water. when did that happen and what were some of the first actions you took? >> the fact that i realized there was lead in the water didn't happen until 2050. it wasn't from seeing patients. wineppened over a glass of with a high school girlfriend

who happens to be a water expert. formerly with the epa. she was in d.c. when d.c. went through a lead crisis. she said, have you heard about the water? she said it's not fine, it is not being treated properly. because of that there is going to be lead in the water. that was the moment i realized i needed to take action. lead levelset blood because that is something the state and county has surveillance programs for. we track this just like flu and hiv. i could not get that government data. i did my own research at our public hospital to see what was happening to children's blood lead levels. it was the easiest research project i have done. what we found was alarming. >> watch afterwards, sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on

c-span2's book tv. washington journal continues. host: we welcome back texas democrat henry cuellar. what is your reaction this morning to justice kennedy's retirement announcement? guest: he played a vital role in the decisions. whoever president trump picks is going to be there for decades. it is going to be unimportant decision. like anything, i am one of those -- i wish it would be more of a moderate type of individual. to the right or not to a still left. hopefully the people in the middle and get the job done. host: the think justice kennedy was that moderate justice? guest: he was. he was picked by president reagan from what i recall. thingsswing on certain

and went certain ways. you need that moderate. judges, have those sometimes he was the swing vote in a very important case. host: should pro-choice advocates be worried about the next court overturning roe v wade? guest: i don't know. i am pro-life. that is something that could happen. it could happen if they pick a that iscourt nominee finally confirmed. that could be a possibility. we have seen landmark cases that stood for many years and then they are overturned over a period of time. host: president trump has put out his list of potential nominees. have you had a chance to go through that list? guest: i have. there is a texas judge. i think it is going to be up to the senate to vet for these

individuals. they can get a general idea of where they will be leaving. chuck schumer says the candidates on that list should be rejected because it was a list created by powerful special interests, do you agree? guest: i don't know who put the list together. i know that was on been a president looked at. i hope that the senate will properly vet these individuals. that person. the supreme court as the third branch of our government plays a vital role in every aspect of our lives. host: congressman henry cuellar with us until the bottom of the hour. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. one of the headlines this morning, democratic soul-searching follows shop in

new york. analysts hail young activist when that the party base once change. the think that's what you're seeing? guest: look what happened with youhere are times where -- always have to take care of your district. you have to -- whatever shifts you might have. at the end of the day we run every two years. you have to make sure you take care of your constituents. tom constituent work whatever the case might be that is important to your constituents. there are a lot of things. if you look at the voters, there were 28,000 people in the primary. it depends who gets out there and gets elected. does this case of german the soul of the democratic party?

no. host: you have raised concerns about the democratic party doing enough to appeal to independents . mother be enough appeal in the wake of a primary victory like this? guest: it is only one case. i have not met this young lady. one person does not change the whole party. somebody else gets elected in a different primary and then, are we going to go this other way? if you have a series of primaries that are going, you set up a trend, but one case does not determine where the party is. on the left of the party will get energized, of course they will. host: a vote on the floor yesterday on the compromise bill. another big news item of the week. how did you vote on that? guest: i voted no because the

compromise bill was a compromise -- or an attempted compromise between the tea party vote and more moderates. to me, when we say compromise there should be a compromise between democrats and republicans. if you look at the last major immigration bill we had a 1986, it was democrats and republicans. democrats working together. the only way we are going to do something is if democrats and republicans -- with democrats and republicans. one party is not going to do it. host: will democratic leadership accept any bill that republicans come up with that includes any money for a border wall? guest: we certainly want to see immigration reform. i live at the border, i drink the water and breathe the air. people,e a lot of including the president, that feel that the only way to secure the border is by putting up a wall. the wall is a 14th century

solution to a 21st century issue. you can put technology, there is a lot of new technology including ai that is available out there. did you know we are losing more portable patrol than we are hiring border control? because either they will go work for ice or cbp. we have to understand what is happening. if you want to stop drugs, look at the latest dea report. where are the most drugs coming in? ports of entry. if you look at the 11 million or 12 night undocumented people we have, 40% of them came through a legal visa program. host: time for some phone calls. california line for democrats, good morning. caller: morning. democrat for about 47 years now. i guess i would be an old crash

democrats comed in on a wild left-winger -- democrats, not a wild left-winger like we have in california. to keep my trying spirits up and noticed the humorous things. just a few observations here. there is all this uproar about these children in so-called cages. times the pope and my friends in the roman catholic church weighed in on the issue. those children are safer in the cages than they would be if we turned them over to the international child left association. -- child molesters association. mind: we have to keep in -- let's look at who is coming across.

the typical person crossing the border used to be a young adult coming over to come work. over the years you started getting families coming in. around 2013 or 2014 you started seeing children coming in without any adult. the unaccompanied kids. now that we are seeing, we still see unaccompanied kids, but what is happening under the policy that trump has or had, we keep seeing him say different things, they get those families and they separate them. how do they do that? when somebody comes across it is a misdemeanor. the pastor public administration and democratic administrations have been doing this as a civil process. trump says, when they take over to the magistrate in front of a judge -- when they take them over to the magistrate in front of a judge they take the kids.

there are ways that you can be confirmed at a border, but to separate a mom from a kit is something different. the big picture, we looking at about 2500 kids that were separated. if you look at the large number of kids that came in like in my area, we had from october 1, 2017 until now we had over 14,700 kids that came in with no parents. they were separated before they even got here. you have kids that got separated. that is where the focus of the media is. you still have those large numbers of kids that are coming in. how do we address that issue? we don't want them to make that dangerous trip. you put a young girl or young boy in the hands of a coyote, there have been cases of abuse and etc.. that is desperation. we have to do everything we can

to make the situation better in central america. what about the facilities where the children are being held. what are your thoughts on those, are they being safe it is facilities? guest: they have to be under supervision. most of them are shelters and mainly nonprofits, they have to be supervised by hss. -- hhs. , i think hhst it has a couple of facilities. they have to contract out to mainly nonprofits. they have to contract because the government does not have any it is supervised by ice or hhs. i have been adding language

since 2014 to make sure there is transparency. to make sure they are given the medical care and education while they are there. and to make sure that the oversight by ice or by the federal government is provided. >> i want to give you a chance to response to a story in the dallas news. specializes in prisons and operates several the tension facility. and that you have received some $34,000 from their pact in this -- pac in their election cycle. guest: i don't know what they are trying to imply great geo group mainly deals with adults and most of them are criminal aliens. have a rapist or a murderer, do you want to see a catch and release? ice does not have any facilities. they contract everything out. the only part of the government that has facilities is the

bureau of prisons. my question to reporters or anybody else, do you want to most of those kids are going to be held in nonprofit shelters. companies like that deal with adult criminals. do i believe in catch and release?no. if the government does not have those detention centers, are you going to go ahead and let murderers and what the crime might be of those persons, go out on the streets and hurt somebody else? the answer is no. host: portland, oregon, grace is an independent. caller: good morning. host: you're on with congressman cuellar. myst: guest: -- caller: question is about the justice that just retired. are questions about

different things like brown versus the board of education. waslady, i think her name -- i can't think of her name, but she wouldn't give the was brown v.tion, board of education a good decision. she would not answer it. i am skeptical. i am a person of color. there is a whole lot going on and i know that people out there are scared because the country is being brown or black. overturnis, will they brown versus the board of education. if they do that means we are going back to segregation. i will have to move myself to canada. guest: i assume she is referring to the trump administration selecting a new supreme court justice and whether they will

overturn certain landmark cases separationarticular and segregation issue. i don't think they will touch those areas. i think the hot social issues like abortion, we saw what happened with redistricting. areas they will touch with certain areas i don't think they will. i don't think they will get into things that will be racial or that type of category. michigan next, democrat. caller: i just have three comments to make. since 1932 every time the democrats have been in power, the country has done better. the people have done a lot better than they are when

republicans are in power. mexico,,rug issue with drugs are powerful in mexico but the mexican people don't use the drugs. the big problem with the drugs is there is a market for it in the united states. i am married to a mexican woman. time our kids started school they were bilingual. the mexican school -- the kids have to take a second language and the leading second language is english. the number two language is french. they are not coming here ill literate -- coming here ill te.they are illitera doing more from the country -- for the country than they

take from the country. guest: it is important to be bilingual. that is one thing i think a lot of americans are understanding. they thought english was the only thing we need to do. i understand english is our language, and we have to make some people learning was. the more people that are bilingual the better it is. the second thing is, i'm going backwards. your second comment was, drugs coming over here. if you look at it, the most powerful market for drugs is the united states. , $25s been estimated billion or $30 billion a year on drug profits are sent back to mexico. the drug cartels are going to do everything to smuggle the drugs over to the united states. as long as we have this consumption, that is going to continue. columbiaoming in from

areas like mexico and other places. we have to address the consumption part of it. made, when int you say it myra public and friends think i'm making it up. friends thinkan i'm making it up. -- ife have had the best you look at the numbers, that is what we had. in december of 2008, when president bush was finished we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. administration came in and the democrats were here and we started building that road. what trump is seeing now is the upward movement that we built under obama. i have looked at those numbers and i know when i say that.

those of the numbers and we have to face reality. what do we see right now? we are seeing a deficit that is growing. numbers.he latest cbo it is growing incredibly. look at what is happening to the deficit. host: we are going to be focusing on the deficit on monday with a short money segment of the washington journal. stick around for that discussion on monday. time for a couple more calls. frank in pennsylvania, an independent. good morning, thank you for taking my call. i don't understand why american children have to fall behind -- host: fred, that line is not working for you.

we go to helen. good morning and thank you for taking my call. i have a concern when it comes to the supreme court, when it comes to a woman's right for abortion or not to have one. it should be a pro-choice, not someone making a decision for us. ,s an african-american woman abortion is not for me. it is for whoever wants to do it. i am feeling right now, in my 70's, why are you forcing people to have an abortion? they come here alive and you end up shooting and killing them on the street later. which what are you going to have? are you going to let the woman choose what she is going to do or are you going to use your second amendment issued until them later. you're i think what

trying to say is something i agree with. if somebody is so concerned about the unborn am a that is important. if somebody -- they should also be concerned when somebody is born, are you going to provide health care and medical care if somebody needs that assistance? are you going to provide that money for public schools to make sure they can educate. that ifalso make sure they want to go to college they can get the assistance on that. it is not only the unborn. when it comes to supporting people after they are born they don't do that. i want to see the right care for those that need that assistance. host: i want to ask you about land seizures in south texas related to the building of a border wall.

story in the texas tribune about that. can you talk about the status of those? i am: that is a reason why against building a wall. i believe in private property rights. if you owned land for generations you can't have the government come in and take the land away. let's assume this is the river. they will go up a mile away because of the trade we have with mexico. from the riverbank about a mile away where they built a fence, you're going to lose all that property. people have filed losses. from 2008 when the bush administration came in, there are still hundreds of cases that are still pending that have not been decided. it is not the government coming in. there are some wealthy individuals, a lot of them republican, that on land are going to be fighting the government from taking their land away. host: maybe that is a topic we

can talk about down the road. uellar come we always appreciate your time. up next, open phones during a busy week. we could talk about the retirement of justice kennedy, the key immigration vote, if they primary week. any topic you are to talk about. line for republicans, democrats, and a dependence. forcan start elliott as we you this clip of justice kennedy explaining what it is -- calling show this clip of justice kennedy explaining what it is like to be a supreme court justice. >> the fascination of being a judge is the same as the duty of being a judge. , why amto ask yourself i about to rule the way i am about to rule? you must always ask yourself that question. life, you get through can't get through the day without making certain

assumptions, without having certain preformed ideas. in the law, particularly in judging, you must find the reason that is compelling your proposed decision. you must then put that into a form of words, you must then ,sk, is it logical, is it fair does it accord with president, does it accord with the constitution, does it accord with common sense, my ethics and core values? those guys all of us must follow. we must always ask ourselves this question, to keep an open mind and to always ask yourself, what it is that is driving you to make a decision is not in decision, it is fidelity to your

h. this is both the responsibility and the privilege of being a judge. these things weigh on you of course. we mentioned social issues. ourselves, why is judges, justices, five of the nine can make decisions of such great import with respect to issues of social justice. sometimes it is said that the is an anti-majoritarian institution. that we defend the rights of the minority. overtime and over history it is important that the majority accepts those decisions as correct. how does that happen?

it happens because we give reasons for what we do when we write an opinion we try to compel allegiance agreement with what we have done. time it seems most of the decisions of the supreme court have found acceptance in the bench and in the bar. what is most important, in the american people. it is open phones until the house comes in at 9:00. any public policy issues you want to talk about during a busy week in washington. phone lines are your to do with. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. some more news to add to this week. a tweet from the wall street journal, president trump will meet russian president putin on july 16 in helsinki, finland for

the first official summit in the two leaders according to the white house. noting that the leaders will discuss relations between the united states and russia and a range of national security issues. that is the news out this morning. ,lenty of news yesterday besides justice kennedy's decision to step down from the supreme court. it was the last release from the supreme court. that federal employee union ruling, decided yesterday, that decision released. said publiccourt employee contract that require workers to pay union dues. that the major blow boat wednesday long conservative liberal lines overruled a 1977 that fueled the growth of government worker unionization. more than one third of government workers are unionized.

the wall street journal noting that the impact of the ruling is likely to stretch far beyond the lowering the club of unions -- sapping the political clout of unions. just a few of the topics we are talking about today. phone lines are yours. kathy in kansas. public to talk about the things the last representative had set up most of the illegal drugs and people coming through the ports of entry. that is true. i have a neighbor who has been deported several times. each time he comes back he comes right across the border, he pays a truck driver to haul him across the border, they pay an agent at the first checkpoint, there is a second little

immigration checkpoint about 30 miles in off of the border and they pay that agent as well. they know whistling to come through. in lanesay i'm working 38, that is the land the truck goes through. host: does he always come back to kansas? caller: he comes after work. his family is here. it takes him a couple of weeks and he will come back. that moore hasc not been done investigating the agents. our agents are just as corrupt as the mexican side as far as letting it come through i think we need to take a hard look at our own agents that are posted at checkpoint. host: nancy in louisiana, line for republicans. caller: i respectfully would like to ask a justice kennedy, please do not resign now.

i am a baby boomer. the thing that concerns me the worked how hard we have during the 60's to get peace and to give women the right to make their own decisions, no matter how people feel. the justice kennedy and the entire supreme court need to bring us back to civility, understanding, and compassion. thank you for taking my call. host: justice kennedy is retiring at the end of july. here is part of the letter that he sent to the president yesterday informing the president of his retirement. saying in part, for a member of the legal profession it is the highest of honors to serve on this court. please permit me by this letter to express my gratitude as having a privilege to seek in each case how best to know and interpret the constitution and the law must always conform with mandates and promises.

samantha, washington, d.c.. line for independents. go ahead. caller: i feel we are at a point in our country now that we either go down the tube into the abyss and we have been thrown their by not just the republicans, but certain people who call themselves democrats. possibly looking at the confusion that trump caused. i am concerned about the confusion that bernie sanders caused. what he did is confusing people so that mrs. clinton would not win. i am not a clinton fan. desires.el his own i can't see anything he has ever

really done as a legislator to help the people he wants to back him, especially minorities. just because you but with somebody does not mean you have really been there for those people. that we asis americans have been blindsided by two types of conmen. people had better wake up to the upt that, if we don't stand and everybody who is a person of isor, a woman, a person who elderly, a person who is a veteran, not falling into the trap that is being set by the russian republicans, because they are controlled by putin, then we have given our country over to become what not to germany was. nazi germany was.

host: president trump expected to meet with vladimir putin. on enough from the white house this morning. they will meet july 16 in helsinki, finland. line for republicans, clinton, go ahead. caller: i don't understand why so many people are upset with our government separating children at the border from their parents. that is like saying every parent crimerica that commits a is going to be put on probation. it makes no sense. illegally, which means there is a consequence for it. the consequence is, it is going to draw more to come and do the same thing. that is why we have to have consequences for people that break laws.

people that were against it would come up with a solution for it instead of being outraged by it. mark in massachusetts, line for democrats, go ahead. [indiscernible] mark, i am not quite sure what you are saying. i thought i heard mitt romney's name. he won his republican primary earlier this week in utah. he now heads to the general election in november for a senate seat of retiring senator orrin hatch. james is in georgia. line for republicans. go ahead. caller: good morning.

first thing i would like to do is i would like to thank c-span archives. as the brits say, bring it, the calm voice of sanity in all this bedlam. i haven't had fox news in about seven years since my mom passed away. i occasionally would catch it. i would also -- i would like to commend chuck schumer. -- i havessing disagreed with that man on a lot of things. he showed a lot of courage to come out there and speak out against what maxine waters was

trying to pull. that is just not right. he was correct, it's un-american. it took courage to do that. i probably disagree with him about everything. is leaps and bounds better than harry reid. host: james, you mentioned the c-span archives and charles krauthammer. you can check out all of our videos featuring charles krauthammer from 1986 onwards. some 36 videos featuring him and our c-span archives. always searchable at www.c-span.org, speaking of the archives. today's news about justice kennedy stepping down, here is more from the archive. susan swain sitting down with justice kennedy in 2009 talking about his love for the law. >> if you had a child or

grandchild who came in and said i would like to be a lawyer, would you say that is a direction i would encourage? >> absolutely. i still miss being a lawyer. , ier some years on the bench would be happy practicing law. i loved it. >> what did you love? indicated, you have an oath and an obligation to defend something that is really basic to the american identity and american ideal. to freedom as we know it. >> you saw that fresh out of law school? >> yes. you are playing a little part. when you have a case involving a misdemeanor, even a felony you are just a call in the wheel. in the wheel. the idea that the government cannot arrest or client without

cause or convict your client without proof beyond a reasonable doubt is so impressive. world does not have freedom, because it can't or does not want it. the jury is out. as to whether or not the rest of the world will choose freedom, we have to make that case. frankly it is not being made. i am not sure we are picking up a lot of ground. >> what do you mean by that? 6 billion people on this earth of humankind. over half of them have to live outside the law. as an obstaclew non-instrument of progress. -- not an instrument of progress. they see the law as a threat, not a promise. they see it as something to be avoided.

i gave a speech not long ago and a great soviet writer who gave a commencement speech. 1970's.he he criticized the united states in the west for being obsessed with the law. , who istounded this man thought understood the , theiples of freedom unyielding indomitable human spirit to write about tyranny. his sense of the law was something cold. we don't -- we think of the law is liberating. we have to teach that. to watch thatant entire interview is available at c-span.org. , theare a few headlines

day after justice kennedy announces retirement. the washington times, america loses man in middle. the front page of the new york --t, their headline, the front page of the indianapolis star focusing on the upcoming nomination and likely nomination fight. they write, trump high court pick good at indiana -- could have indiana ties. one of those leading names. what they get notre dame university law professor and president. nominated her for a judgeship last year. one more from the front page of ,he herald leader at lexington in fight for supreme court seat democrats are largely powerless. some notes on democrats and republicans.

the presidents who have made nominations over the year, from a congressional reporter, democrats have put only for justices on the u.s. supreme court in the last 50 years. republicans have had 14 successful nominations in the supreme court since 1968. getting your calls this morning in open phones. in orlando, line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i have a couple of issues. couple of questions for you. i think bush 4170 don't negotiate with terrorists. yet trump is negotiating with putin and kim jong-un. those guys are sort of like terrorists. coming at the united states, isn't it supposed to be the land of the free? shouldn't our doors the open for

everyone to come in? another issue was sanders and the restaurant. trump can say anything he wants to say and the people, trump supporters, will call up and say her red. as soon as somebody says -- say hooray. as soon as someone says something about their administration, they get the crappy end of the stick. host: bonnie is in maryland. trump: my first point is, and his tweets. he asked so childish it is ridiculous. on russia,xated north korea, he wants the people to stand up like the people in north korea and praise him. why? you are not owed respect, you have to earn it.

right now he is not earning it. host: as a republican did you vote for president trump? caller: no i did not. i knew this was going to happen because from day one, his trump towers, he knew the polish people that built trump tower were illegal. he did not pay them. reason shehe only went to the front of the line was that she married him and her parents are already citizens. do you think a republican will challenge president trump in the primary in 2020? caller: i hope so. it is ridiculous. he is so childish. he does not act like a man, he acts like a child. host: larry in florida on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i am supporting some of the colors who have called in.

class and one of the definitions of terrorist is exactly what they are doing against this country -- russia is doing against this country with the hacking. that is considered a terrorist attack. this president has done nothing to stop this from happening. why is this not something that is being done in congress, somebody should be doing something about this. this should not happen again. is, the children are the ones who are being damaged from this immigrant thing coming in. be -- are supposed to they are supposed to be innocent unless proven guilty, that is the way it is supposed to be. if they are coming out and

saying guilty first before you charge them, that is basically broke a lot of laws. when the law is unjust it is up to us christians to be sure that they should not go with that law. host: that is larry in florida. you bring up russia and election hacking. here is president trump from this morning on twitter. russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our elections, where is the dnc server and why didn't shady james comey and now disgraced fbi agents taken closely examine it? why isn't hillary/russia being looked at? so many questions. that is what the president tweeted this morning. chicago, independent, go ahead. -- i'm i just wanted to so appreciative of the clip you showed of the judge.

he makes a great point about justice worldwide. in iraq, ia judge listened to this on a first-hand story from a woman who was doing my nails and came from iraq after the war. she said judges have to be locked up, they can come out into society, because as soon as they rule against something someone doesn't like they are killed. we have that in the united states and we may not like what some judges do and some judges don't. we do have the rule of law. as you so eloquently talked about, i am very appreciative of the supreme court. i am not freaked out and i don't think it is fair that the media is saying that roe v. wade is going to be overturned. no one is saying that. that is not being said.

that is being put out there as some sort of fearmonger thing. there is a lot of loss that the supreme court hears about the way we live. there are plenty of clips in our archive for you to view. all available at c-span.org. here is one more of justice kennedy in 2016 asked if supreme court justices could serve set terms. >> there are articles on this and how you do it. there have been proposals where every four years, a president can appoint one or two judges or justices. that if one ofn those judges leave the bench, another could replace him for that term. it makes sense. you would have to amend the constitution to do it. one reason to justify long

voice is that you have a that is overturned. my generation did not have a president. mccain would have been a president for our generation. have, in addition to myself, justice ginsburg and justice breyer and justice scalia. disagreed, our beginning points or the same because it is a generational thing. it is important that this court speak over time and life tenure does serve that. you can argue that back and forth. this taking your calls morning before the house of representatives comes in at 9:00. there is a shot of the supreme court there. this mornings about anthony kennedy after his retirement announcement. the last us is worthy of the -- leaving theg

building. the era of us versus them will commence. one more, saying thanks justice kennedy for your years of dedicated service to our nation, people, and justice. tony says, the thing about kennedy is we cannot tell how we would rule in advance of a case. i can tell how ruth bader ginsburg will rule, not only the politics. that is truly bad. says, say goodbye to women's rights, civil rights, and human rights. say hello to your authoritarian dictatorship. you can join the conversation at c-span. from ellicott city maryland, line for democrats, go ahead. i think the reality is, roe v. wade, there is no doubt in my mind within a short amount of time you're going to see these things illegal. they will put it back to the state. all of these places down south and in the midwest, all of those

states will make it illegal for women, for their right to choose what they want to do, they're going to be illegal. these folks keep saying, it is just fear mongering. it will be a reality in a short amount of time, that the trumpet states will make it illegal and they will have to leave those states and go to other places. it will be illegal for a gay couple, the rights of a hotel owner or business owner to turn people away that come there for business, just like with the cake maker. that will make no difference to other places. democrats have to learn this lesson. we have to get rid of our leadership, we need new leadership. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer do not reflect the back majority of democrats out there. democrats have got to get a unified message together. you have to start fighting for the realities of what happens when we don't vote and people like donald trump. he is not a republican.

i had the from supporters call in. donald trump can do and say anything and everybody apologizes for him. they will say he did not mean that. donald trump is the biggest bully i have seen in my lifetime. it is the only time i have ever been embarrassed by this country because of donald trump. this is a bipartisan thing. democrats, independents and republicans that are tired of a guy who stole their party and conservative values have to start to stand up. democrats have start to get together and get a unified message. they don't deserve to be voted for until they start changing these things. you mentioned your concerns about gay couples in the united states going forward after anthony kennedy step down. here is the washington times talking about justice kennedy's most lasting legacy, likely on gay rights where he first rolled with the democratic appointed

justices against the federal 2014.e of marriage act in he delivered the court's opinion in the otter caught hodges case which expanded gay-rights nationwide. at landmark cases were justice kennedy was the deciding goat -- deciding vote. another case was on citizens united, the campaign finance case. the florida presidential election recount, bush v gore and indeciding vote planned parenthood back in 1992 on abortion issues was one of the authors of the plurality opinion that reaffirmed the recedent of roe v. wade. a few more calls. cheryl in nevada, one for independence. no ahead. caller: good morning.

i have a solution for this border debacle. prime minister justin trudeau said that canada will take refugees from central america. i think if we partner with canada and mexico, the first thing we need to do. insulting allies. we can allow canada -- we need to do is stop insulting allies. we can allow canada to set up a refugee camp on the northern border of canada. they don't have to go through due process that is afforded to them. that way canada can take care of them, we can help with a bit of aid, right now we are paying over $300 million a month to detain refugees, because we are separating parents from their children.

we can stop all of this, save money, and handle this in a kind way and a smart, thoughtful, strategic way and resolve this mess. that is my solution. think it will work out. we are helping the people in central america and the united states. we are also helping mexico. they can direct traffic the way it needs to. straight up to the northern border with everyone scattering through mexico. it is a win-win for everyone. host: thanks for the call. chris in pennsylvania. line for democrats, good morning. see that my representative for the 12th district keith rothfus was on this morning. i miss that because i was getting breakfast. our district in johnstown used mercer,aded up by john

a military hop. and a defense contractor. his entire district was literally rewritten. if you look at the 12th congressional district, it is the most ridiculous looking you would intercede. they took out all the unions and working men, all the democrats and swiped them right out of the equation here. rothfus has been nothing but a rubberstamp meant and yes-man for republicans. if the republicans can't get their act together enough to start knocking these guys off and taking them off at statehouse levels where these maps are drawn we are going to continue to be like this forever. we're going to have a bunch of empty suits representing us. host: as i understand it, congressman process and -- isgress and keith rothfus

running against conor lamb, how will he do in that race? i think conorr: lamb will do well. this israel pennsylvania, gun toting, jesus loving folks. rural pennsylvania, gun toting jesus loving folk. i'm not saying that is bad. you're fighting against that base. it will be interesting to see if a republican can stand up against a democrat, a true democrat. james, georgia, just a minute or less before the house comes in. go ahead with your comment. yes.r: on that the only time this country was doing good was when democratics were there.

$13 trillion that has gone up since obama was in there? he wasn't in there for seven years, he spent one year on the golf course. the house coming in for the day. we take you there for life gavel to gavel coverage. we will see you back here tomorrow morning. will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. june 28, 2018. i hereby appoint the honorable carlos curbelo to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy.