tomorrow night congressman doug collins,en greg abbott among our -- congressman greg abbott is gorsuchs 49 years old. so we' going to have -- charles:e's going to be there a long time. lou's next. lou: president trump and conservatives nose-to-nose on the fate of the speaker's health care bill. ahead of a critical vote thursday. president trump on capitol hill today where he lobbied house republicans for about 40 minutes, warning of political consequences if lawmakers vote against the legislation. and president trump singled out one of the bill's chief critics urging his support. >> i like rand paul, i think he's a good guy, and he's speaking from the heart. but i think we have a bill that's going to be negotiated. i really like rand and i respect rand but i think he's

hopefully going to come along. i hope so. lou: what will he do? senator rand paul has the answers. he's among my guests here tonight. also tonight supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch says judges must stay out of politics, but he is caught at the center of the biggest partisan political battle in years. >> when i became a judge, they gave me a gavel, not a rubber stamp. >> the question now, what are his chances of winning over eight democrats to meet a 60--vote threshold? we'll take up the judge's full day of confirmation hearings, and constitutional law professor josh blackman join me, and the trump administration ordering airlines to ban electronics larger than a cell phone on flights from eight muslim countries. but will the hysterical left and the national left-wing media call that technology bigotry? the president says making america safe again is his

number one priority. good evening, everybody. president trump today making a huge push for ryancare telling reblicans in a closed-door meeting they could lose seats and the house majority if they fail to repeal and replace obamacare. the president predicting victory as he left the meeting. >> terrific people want a health care plan. [inaudible]. lou: the president's appearance on the hill coming a day after republican leaders made several last minute adjustments to the speaker's bill to win support for reluctant conservatives. among the changes, allowing states to require medicaid recipients to show proof of work and allowing states to choose a medicaid block grant over the current cap system.

our first guest tonight predicting the republicans' obamacare light measure will fail to pass in the house thursday. he's fighting for full repeal. joining us tonight senator rand paul, a member of several key committees, including foreign relations, health, education, labor and pensions. senator, great to have you with us. >> thanks, lou. lou: start with the president calling you out nicely. he seems to be a rand paul fan. he likes you very much. he would like your vote. is he going to get it? >> well, you know, i have a lot in common with the president. we both ran on repealing obamacare. conservatives across the country, we won in 2010, 14 and again in 16 on repealing obamacare. i think that brings us altogether. but we ran on repealing it, not replacing it with obamacare light. and i think paul ryan's plan one, won't fix the problems. i think it will continue to allow the insurance premiums to skyrocke a i just don't think it fixes the problems.

we didn't run on replacing obamacare with obamacare light. so i'm a no vote and will continue to be. i think there are enough conservatives in the house to bring this to a halt, and my prediction is that ryan will pull the bill within the next 24 hours or he'll take a vote and he'll lose. at that point, conservatives will have earned a seat at the table and can negotiate on a real repeal, and we should replace it with market forces that bring the price of insurance down. lou: those premiums,s a point out, will rise in the first two years according to the projections by the congressional budget office. also a great concern to conservatives. the penalties that are being paid to insurance companies as a result of not taking on insurance, there is a very limited window here to create an architecture for market forces, is there not?

>> i think it's an acknowledgment they're predicting the failure of obamacare light even if they pass it. they billed into it bailouts for insurance companies. i'm not interested in bailing out the insurance companies. i'm interested in empowering the consumer to make the consumer king. so my replacement strategy is let everybody in america join a buying group. imagine the 37 million people that are members of aarp, what if they had one person negotiating for them? can you imagine the market forces of 37 million people bringing down prices? that's what i'm for. i'm not for subsidizing and keeping the prices up for insurance companies. i'm for giving everybody the ability and freedom to join a group to bring prices down. lou: and to be clear, the tax credits that are envisioned under the speaker's bill would do precisely that, which is move money toward the insurance companies are rather than to the individuals.

it's a remarkable design, as you say, perhaps flawed. what else can be done to get passage in the senate and in the house? >> i think the only way this can get done is you need to separate repeal and replace. we need to have a clean repeal. done with obamacare, repeal as much of it as we possibly can, and then let's have a separate replacement bill. i frankly think can you get democrats on board to vote for buying pools or co ops to let people have more freedom to join a group to bring down prices. it's the only thing that will really bring down price. you got to get rid of insurance mandates and join a pool to bring down prices. if you look at what going on, they're admitting failure, $100 billion to bail out the insurance companies. insurance companies have doubled profits under obamacare. i am not feeling sorry for the insurance companies. they've doubled profits and the ryan plan will continue that.

what i really want to do is empower the consumer so we bring down the insurance rates and bring down the ability to the insurance company to make money off the taxpayer. lou: if i may say, senator, you have defined the conflict point that is driving, motivating so many conservatives and that is the involvement of the insurance companies centrally in this plan. let me ask you, mitch mcconnell, the majority leader saying that as he put it, i would hate to be a republican to vote that prevented us from repealing obamacare. may include dave bratt in the house, jim jordan, mark meadows, leading the freedom caucus, they say there may be as many as 50 no votes against the speaker's bill right now, that includes of course moderates as well as conservatives. how many votes against it in the senate by your tally?

>> well, i have my count 30 to 35 conservatives in the house, and i think between 3 and 6 conservatives in the senate are nos. possibly more. i will tell you the people i know opposed to obamacare light are the strongest opponents of obamacare. so no one is going to accuse us at home or otherwise of not being sufficiently against obamacare. we're for repealing it. we're just not for replacing it with another federal government program. we want to replace it with freedom, choice, competition. we don't want another program. and one of the things about the ryan program is that the subsidies they give to families may encourage businesses to drop their insurance and dump people into the individual market where you don't have very good protections on price or very good protections of a member your family gets sick. lou: senator rand paul, always good to talk with you, thanks for being with us tonight. >> thanks, lou. lou: we're coming right back, much more straight ahead. a lot more. stay with us.

supreme court justice nominee judge neil gorsuch in ten hours of confirmation hearings. >> i have no difficulty ruling against or for any party, but there's no such thing as a republican judge or a democratic judge. we just have judges. lou: we take up day two of the gorsuch hearings with the judicial crisis network's carrey saboreno next. and president trump ordering nasa to refocus efforts on deep space exploration. will we finally see a manned flight to mars? it's our little differences, that can make a world of difference. expedia, everything in one place,

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. lou: a full day of hearings for supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch. some of the more insightful quesoning coming from senator ted cruz who talked about democratic opposition to judge gorsuch's nomination. >> do you share the view of the democratic attacks that originalism is somehow a quaint and outdated notion of reading the constitution for what it says? >> no one is looking to take us back to the horse and buggy day or quill pens or to turn back the clock on anything. the point is to apply the law in a way that allows us to be

able to say as judges, it's not what we wish. it's what the law was understood to mean. lou: the interaction with senator cruz among the highlights of the day. then there were low lights, if you will, senator ben sass of nebraska talked for five minutes and 48 minutes before his question mark appeared. >> let's engage in a little thought experiment. 30 or 40 years from now, when you retire and hang up your robe and you're out fishing or sitting on the front porch of your surely lovely home, and you look back over your career, how will you know if you were a good judge? lou: penetrating, don't you think? joining me to discuss judge gorsuch's testimony today, carrie sevino, chief cncil policy director for judicial crisis network. former supreme court clerk for justice clarence thomas. carrie, great to have you with us.

i have to say there were moments like that with ted cruz which there was a master class it seemed to me going on in law, that is that part of it which i could comprehend. and then to see al franken and ben sass and their nonsense, it was frankly stultifying, appalling, your reaction? carrie: actually, i thought there were educational moments that came out of the interchange with senator sass as well. i have to agree, i thought senator franken was as usual not really hitting it clear with the points. he seemed to, you know, like all of the other democrat senators we saw today. trying to lay the groundwork for gridlock. hoping to find something they can point to and say this is why i want to block a vote with this guy. that's what the base is pushing them to do. at the end of the day, they couldn't lay it on him. he clearly explained why so many of the cases they nitpicked and cherry picked out

of his records weren't that unanimous or explained why the law compels his results, and i think he gave great answers on his judicial independence, no one is above the law, including the president, and trying to explain how you have to look at it as about the politics. at the end of the day, if they can't vote for neil gorsuch, i don't think there is anyone this president is going to put up that the democrats will be willing to vote for. lou: the judge said he had written 6 million words or participated in them over the course of his career, and then there are sorts of -- i thought many were insipid questions, lazy questions about what was in the 6 million words. no one seemingly willing at ast on the democratic side to take time to read them. gorsuch today said a good judge doesn't give a wit about politics or the political implications of their decisions, and then occurred this at the end of the day. this exchange between senator

blumenthal and judge gorsuch. >> and when anyone criticizes the honesty or integrity, the motives of a federal judge, well, i find that disheartening. i find that demoralizing. senator, i can't comment on specific cases, and i can't get involved in politics. i've gone as far as i can go ethically. lou: blumenthal asking him, again, the question about the response to the president's criticism of district court judges. by the way, i've been critical of three district court judges who wrote decisions against the president's executive order, the travel ban order, the extreme vetting orders, depending how you style them. your reaction to his statement about being disheartened by criticizing the federal court

system? >> i think that was a reasonable statement. he had to be very clear for ethical reasons as he said he's talking in general about attacks in judiciary, that could apply to something trump has said and something president obama said. remember his state of the union address when he took the supreme court to task for citizens united that rated mostly false, they have to take it. so mostly president trump is not the first president to criticize the court. he won't be the last, and i'm sure judges don't like it when they get criticized. that said he was careful not to comment on the specific case, it could easily come before the supreme court. it could come befo the supreme court, i wouldn't be surprise lou: the idea that a person sits on the high court, i have no problem frankly with president obama criticizing courts or president trump. i have a problem with justices or judges who think they're above criticism and the first amendment.

i take that very seriously, and i'm disheartened, as the judge would put it, by such language and a willingness to try to stultify those who would exercise the first amendment. i can't abide it. carrie: well, he certainly can't block him from saying it. it's a first amendment right to say all of that. he was careful. senator blumenthal tried to get him over and over again what about trump specifically said this, can't you criticize that? he said no, i cannot. he was careful to draw the line. a lot of things we would love for him to say, he can't ethically comment on. what would he do with roe v. wade? can't comment. all of these things are likely to be argued before the court. he simply cannot comment on them. he can talk about his record, he did a lot of that. lou: the district court judges who stayed the president's

executive order, i don't like them, i accused them of partisan politics, closing his judicial statements and orders. there, carrie, i did it again, and feel so much better and hope judge gorsuch will forgive me. he was brilliant today, i have to say. and it looks to me like democrats are going to pay a tremendous price if they vote against this guy? >> their base is trying to make sure they pay a price if they don't vote against him. they're going to primary you if you don't do everything to block this guy, gridlock all the way and the majority of the states are states that went for trump and they're up for re-election in 2018. i hope they see the light. lou: there's a whole "saturday night live" routine, by the way, and senator al franken's questioning of judge gorsuch. that was hilarious. carrie, thank you very much. carrie: have a good night. lou: be sure to vote in our poll tonight, the question is --

cast your vote on twitter -- we'd like to hear from you as always, follow me on twitter, "like" me on facebook and instagram. well, "lou dobbs tonight" is the place. president trump signing a bill into law boosting nasa's budget by $200 million to 19.5 billion. the bill asks nasa to create a plan to send humans, humans, people to mars in the 2030s, known only as humans in the 2030s. the president giving senator ted cruz the pen after he signed that bill. texas home to the johnson space center, and the president wouldn't mind having senator cruz's vote on, well, the speaker's health care bill either. on wall street today, stocks posting the worst performance ever the year, the investor view is that there is some uncertainty about health

care legislation. the dow plunging 239. the nasdaq down 106. volume 4.2 billion shares and the yield on the 10-year dropping to 4.23%. shares of apple hitting an all-time high, announcing a new ipad, special editions of the iphone and price cuts and a reminder to listen to my reports three times a day coast-to-coast on the salem radio network. up next, republican leaders confident they have the votes for the speaker's health care bill to pass the house. >> the discussions i'm having are very positive, president trump's visit with house republicans was very persuasive and i have more members, especially undecided now saying absolutely. lou: absolutely. well, we'll find out. that's the subject of my commentary here next. and google under fire. global brand shunning the technology giant because it failed to crack down on extremism.

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lou: a few thoughts as president trump and conservative republicans face off over ryancare. president trump looking to add to his significant list of accomplishments. his 30 executive actions fulfill promises to abandon the tpp, break ground on the border wall, slash regulations and all that in two months. going over to the capitol to meet with house republicans and urge their support for what is now dis -- now called ryancare. his predecessor made only 14

trips to capitol hill in his 8 years. 4 already to obama's 14 in 8 years. the last was in january when his signature law was in crisis. i said it was clear president trump would be a different kind of president with a different relationship with congress than obama. trump seems to like congress, has had dozen of members to the white house while there obama ignored them for his entire presidency. president trump telling them a loss on the vote thursday is not acceptable. joking that if congressman meadows didn't get on board, "i'm coming after you," for his part.

meadows says he knows the president was joking. some members are saying as many as 50 republicans will vote against the bill despite modest changes speaker ryan permitted. no one can say with certainly how this will conclude and who will win. but the president is outwork everyone opposed to the bill. this might be a terrific time for congress nonmeadows and jordan and senator paul to talk to the president about a deal. after all, the president does like to deal, and the president does have a long established habit of winning when he does so. maybe a win, win for everyone remains possible. we'll see. now our quotation of the evening on winning. on the long view of it all whether in court or politics, sometimes both, this from justice antonin scalia who said quote "wing and losing, that's

never been my objective. it's my hope in the fullness of time the majority of the court will come to see things as i do." senate majority leader mitch mcconnell issues a grave warning to dems who oppose neil gorsuch. >> it looks to me like they are putting themselves in a very untenable position which if carried to it extreme means you wouldn't fill it at all. lou: who said you need snow to ski? we'll show saw different way. we'll show you this incredible one of a kind stunt coming up ngie's list, we believe there are certain things you can count on, like what goes down doesn't always come back up. [ toilet flushes ] so when you need a plumber, you can count on us to help you find the right person for the job. discover all the ways we can help at angie's list.

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our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia lou: supreme court nominee neil gorsuch facing partisan attacks today. deck dur bib challenging his decision in the hobby lobby case. >> congress can chain the law. it can go back to smith versus maryland if it wants to. it could say that only natural persons have rights. it could lower the test and strict scrutiny to a lower

degree of review fit wished. it has all of those options available, senator. if we got it wrong, i'm sorry. but we did our level best and we were affirmed by the united states supreme court. lou: joining me is josh blackman, an adjunct scholar at the cato institute. you must have had a lot of fun today watching much of the testimony. your thoughts about how well the judge performed. >> judge gorsuch proved why president trump selected him. he's very smart. he's very well spoken. he has a deep command of the law and the constitution. an handled all the senator's questions with respect and dignity. perhaps more dignity than the questions deserved. he demonstrated why he was selected.

lou: i thought the moments there between senator cruz and judge gorsuch were a master class in law. it was an extraordinary exchange, i thought. >> you joe senator cruz was a former supreme court clerk. judge gorsuch was a former supreme court clerk. cruz wasn't trying to score cheap points to. he asked him what he thought of the constitution. ways originalism. this was a very profound discussion and we are all better off for listening to it. >> we listened to senator blumenthal remind everyone of what judge gorsuch said at the time president trump was criticizing district court judges who stayed his order. and he said he was disheartened

by those who criticized the court system. as you and i have discussed, what i think most us who were criticizing him as judges, truly profoundly believe in him, that those judges were operating outside any kind of semblance of correct judicial process. and have to receive scrutiny and criticism. it's an important part of our democracy, is itnot? >> judge gorsuch's answer was right on point. he says everyone has a first amendment right including the president. if the president wants to criticize a decision he can. he did say he shouldn't challenge the honesty and integrity of the judges, but their decisions are fair game. lou: i'm challenging their honesty and integrity because i truly believe a fern with

integrity could not possibly arrive at those conclusions. maybe that's unfair. but it's also fair comment stop judicial decisions outside the mainstream. so markedly off base when it comes to both the context of the through, the refusal to look at the language of the order itself, and the constitution. what do you think? >> i'll give you one more, lou. a number of the judges in this case referenced president trump saying it's wroang's criticizing the court. here the judges are crossing a line. they should not be using their opinions to lash back at the president for exercising his the free speech rights. i think that's inappropriate as well. lou: amen, brother. can i say that to a constitutional scholar? >> we are good. no establishment clause on fox news, we are good. lou: the judge, a terrific

judge, what do you think the odds are we are going to see the democrats and the head clown as president trump calls him, chuck schumer continue his venal, nasty destructive ways, and perhaps be maneuvering as the majority leader in the senate mitch mcconnell said to no replacement at all for antonin scalia on the court. >> i think this is the case where republicans want to be thrown in a briar patch. if the democrats try to filibuster gorsuch that will trigger the nuclear option. it only takes a majority vote. harry reid did fit for the lower court. and if that happens, when justice kennedy retires or justice ginsburg retires, the magic number becomes 51, and not

60. but if the democrats try to filibuster, i think it republicans will be all too happy. lou: please roll the video. who needs know to go skiing. the thrill seekers taking their ski to the woods. they are racial over fallen leaves in france. these two skiers dodge, jumping over fallen branches, jumping count hill. we wanted to show it to you. i hope they cleared away the branches before they made that run. leaves or no leaves. up next trump administration warns north korea amid escalating tensions and threats. >> the united states is ex pleerg new range of e security and economic measures to the

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