>> these are the ones whose wages we're holding down. that's great. >> and you can't hire an employee from one fast food place, maybe they have to sit on the bench for a while. imagine if you lost your job, making $9 an hour, and couldn't get a job at another fast food restaurant. >> that's it for us. i'll see you back here at 3:00 p.m. eastern. >> i'll be watching him at 3:00 p.m. and i'll be back with you at 9:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow. right now we hand it over to our colleague andrea mitchell. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," supreme battle. conservatives rally behind president trump's pick of brett kavanaugh and democrats try to beat the odds. >> my judicial philosophy is straightforward. a judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. >> there is no one in america more qualified for this position and no one more deserving. >> i will oppose this nominee with everything i've got.

reunion delay. the federal judge extending the deadline to reunite migrant children taken from their parents, as president trump issues a sharp message to others thinking about crossing the border. >> i have a solution. tell people not to come to our country illegally. and mission accomplished. all 12 thai boys and their soccer coach now rescued after 18 long days, with the final five making it out today after a dangerous escape capturing the attention of the entire world. >> an absolutely remarkable operation, as the commander said, it has never been attempted by anyone, anywhere. and good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington, where president trump's supreme court nominee is already making the rounds. brett kavanaugh's first stop, capitol hill, with vice president pence to see majority

leader mitch mcconnell, whose strategy denied president obama his nominee, merrick garland, a shot at the supreme court. the most pivotal lawmakers to securing a seat on the high court are four red state democrats, three of them up for reelection this fall. two republicans making women's health a top priority. president trump left the white house this morning for brussels, giving himself rave reviews for his second supreme court pick. >> last night was an incredible evening. brett kavanaugh has gotten rave reviews, rave reviews. actually from both sides. and i think it's going to be a beautiful thing to watch over the next month. but he has gotten rave reviews. >> joining me now, nbc justice correspondent pete williams, msnbc analyst peter baker, and msnbc supreme court contributor tom goldstein, co-founder and publisher of scotus blog.

pete, you broke this story. let's talk about the choice and how they're going to follow up, the strategy for following up on the first impression they made last night with the rollout. >> it's all moving at hyperspeed. justice kennedy announced his intention to retire on june 26th and here we have a nominee already making the rounds. one thing that's going to be different this time is that senators will be around in august and september. normally the senate would be out of town for that. but they're going to be around, working on legislation. so there will be a lot more doors to knock on. i would think the confirmation hearing, maybe early september, something like that. but you sketched out the challenge that the republicans have, which is to hold their own votes, and maybe if necessary pick up a democrat or two to get him confirmed. >> and let's talk about the politics of this, peter baker, the decision that the president made, his calculus, despite some misgivings about some conservatives about the very

close connections to the bush white house. what we really learn in digging down is that ashley kavanaugh, the nominee's wife, was the secretary to george w. bush in the oval office, you don't get closer than that in the white house staff, and that's where they met. >> exactly, ashley kavanaugh was so close to the president that she was the one who came into the oval office in 2004 to tell him that senator kerry was on the phone to concede the reelection. brett kavanaugh is close to the president that he served as staff secretary. everybody in washington knows that's one of the key jobs in any white house. all the paper that comes to the president goes through that office. and brett kavanaugh was in the middle of a lot of important decisions. he was there in 2000 for the recount debate between bush and gore. he was there on 9/11. he was there through many important moments of the bush white house. that was the thing that gave president trump the most pause. he asked his aides, you know, would my base be offended by

this, putting it in terms of as if it was his core constituents as opposed to himself who was offended by the bush white house. he had kavanaugh going back a year when he started the strategy of trying to cajole and convince justice kennedy it was okay to retire because he would put in place somebody that justice kennedy would respect. judge kavanaugh was a clerk to justice kennedy in the old days. >> if you could clarify between having justice kennedy's respect and perhaps preference and the somewhat erroneous reports that justice kennedy somehow dictated this. >> there is some suggestion out there, particularly among progressives that are looking for something nefarious in how this process went down, that there was a deal between justice kennedy and the white house. that seems extremely unlikely. and we do have some direct

information that that's just not true. but it wouldn't be at all surprising if there were conversations that happened. and in addition, it's absolutely the case that the white house has been trying to send signals to kennedy, including through the gorsuch confirmation itself, that it would be okay, that it was a process that he could trust, that his legacy would be secure. so it's i think somewhere in the middle. they were trying to send a message. but it's very unlikely there was an actual deal. >> pete williams, last night among the many things that you contributed to the national conversation was the nugget that in fact justice gorsuch and the nominee, kavanaugh, had clerked together for justice kennedy. that is a rare relationship. that's a bond that is made among clerks, and they're really a family of clerks. >> tom and i were talking about this earlier today. i can't think of a time when there have been, assuming brett kavanaugh gets confirmed, that there would be two clerks who clerked for the same justice on the court at the same time. now, it's not unusual to have former clerks on the supreme

court. the chief justice is one. elena kagan is one. but to have two that worked for the same justice is remarkable. there's that photograph of anthony kennedy standing outside on the lawn in front of the supreme court with his clerks, and there on one side of him is brett kavanaugh and there on the other side is neil gorsuch. you know, brett kavanaugh went to the same high school as neil gorsuch. they clerked for kennedy at the same time. there is a remarkable similarity in their backgrounds. and to some extent, there is a similarity in their judicial philosophy as well. i think there's some divergences. but i think the president is right in saying that brett kavanaugh is more or less someone in the mold of neil gorsuch. >> peter baker, what about the important "minnesota law review" excerpt that is being looked at by both sides? some are saying this was the president's primary goal here, because he's thinking about the

mueller investigation and he's thinking about having a justice on the court who will have to rule or likely have to rule on some very big decisions about presidential immunity and presidential requirements that they testify. and this is what he said, he had a conversion, if you will, after having served on ken starr's investigation and having written key segments of the legal justification on the starr report. >> that's exactly right. i'm sure this will come up a lot at his confirmation hearings. he did go from serving with ken starr in which they did push the legal argument that the president of the united states, at that point bill clinton, had an obligation to respond to legal matters, in that case the investigation into whitewater, and his possible perjury and obstruction of justice involving monica lewinsky. ten years later, having worked in the white house under george

w. bush, it's his view that it's too important that a president not be distracted, he writes, than to have him subjected to criminal and civil procedures. his argument was, look, if president clinton had been spending more time focused on osama bin laden rather than fighting off various legal matters, maybe the country would have been better off. it's an interesting argument. i don't know whether it's a legal philosophy that would be necessarily imposed by the bench. that's something i think the senators will explore in these hearings. >> and he's not saying it's a constitutional requirement. he's specifically saying there should be legislation to require it. >> it's a policy argument, right, rather than a legal argument. >> tom, i'm wondering about the spectrum you're seeing, left to right. this is such a broad brush on anyone's legal writings and experience and projections of where they would rule. but for those who are now saying that he is only marginally to

the left of clarence thomas, that he's to the right of alito, that he's to the right of some of these other justices, so not nearly as moderate or flexible, if you will, in his legal philosophy as tony kennedy? >> i think it's important to realize when you're a judge on the court of appeals, you're kind of hemmed in by existing precedent. so you can't say exactly what brett kavanaugh will be like as a supreme court justice. certainly in a couple of high profile cases, including the immigrant teen who was seeking an abortion, including the health care case, he took a center-right position. but once you have the flexibility of being a supreme court justice, once you in effect are making the law rather than just applying the law somebody else made when it comes to these constitutional issues, then you can show a lot more freedom. i would bet that he will not end up being the court's most conservative justice, but yes, that he'll be more conservative than, for example, the chief justice, which puts john roberts

on the ideological chair of all these hot button issues. >> thanks, pete williams, for breaking this story. >> an eight-minute exclusive. >> that's a lifetime in the world of social media. >> eat your heart out, peter backer! >> exactly. all of you, first class, and thank you very much for starting us off. senate democrats, meanwhile, are trying to rally their base to fight judge kavanaugh's nomination, even if the republican leaders are holding the legislative cards. >> why did the president stick with kavanaugh? because he's worried that mr. mueller will go to the court and ask that the president be subpoenaed. >> if you are a young woman in america or you care about a young woman in america, pay attention to this, because it will forever change your life. >> we cannot go back to a time when women are made criminals for making a choice about what to do with their own bodies. >> through the magic of

television, minnesota senator amy klobuchar joins us now. she serves on the judiciary committee that will hold this critical confirmation hearing for judge kavanaugh's nomination. good to see you, senator. >> glad to be here, andrea. >> the case of the 17-year-old young woman, an immigrant, seeking an abortion in texas, and judge kavanaugh was very much in the minority, overruled by his peers on the d.c. appeals circuit, what does that tell you on an issue of great import to you and other of your peers? >> first of all, our job, andrea, is to do the people's business and not the president's business. and this seat, this swing seat on the supreme court, will decide so many cases that affect people's lives. and i don't see in this nominee someone like justice kennedy who

was the deciding vote in roe v. wade, or would have written the decision on allowing marriage equality. that's not where he is. you look at his record, not just the case you mentioned where early clearly overruled by his peers on the court, since this young woman had followed every single rule in texas. no, it's also about the decisions he made on things like net neutrality, where he dissented and basically said the sec shouldn't be able to regulate that. or when he said that the consumer protection bureau, which protects people from the abuses of wall street, he said that was unconstitutional. so you see time and time again a pattern where i don't see this spark of independence. i see someone who is very conservative and not that swing vote independent that we wanted to see. >> it would have been very hard to predict. i remember when justice kennedy was nominated by ronald reagan,

and you couldn't have predicted where he was going to end up either. >> well, that's true, except you look at this past record, and by the way, some of your commentators there were talking about it, he has a long record. those 300 court decisions that we're going to be able to look at. there's all his time in the white house. it's going to be really important that the court looks at that. but when you look at the kinds of things that he said and some of the language that he used in that case involving the young immigrant, i think it's very concerning. and i do not see the same trend that we saw with justice kennedy. >> now, a battleground that is emerging, and clearly the white house was tipping its hand last night in the way it was orchestrated, just take a look at how often the judge in his remarks talked about women and women's issues, and women in his life. let's watch. >> my mom was a teacher in the 1960s and '70s.

she taught history at two largely african-american public high schools in washington, d.c. her example taught me the importance of equality for all americans. i teach that the constitution's separation of powers protects individual liberty. and i remain grateful to the dean who hired me, justice elena kagan. my law clerks come from diverse backgrounds and points of view. i am proud that a majority of my law clerks have been women. >> you're getting the theme. >> yes, i do. and i would point out my mom was a teacher too, and one of the reasons she ended up in minnesota is because we had good rules that protected teachers and made sure they got good pay. and those are the kinds of cases that this justice, if he was ever confirmed, would have to rule on. and when i look at, when he's talking about women in his life, i don't doubt his sincerity, but what i do doubt is where he stands on these cases.

and for the first time, i think that this committee has to really push on where this nominee stands on these cases. we have had nominees that answered questions about what they thought about the dred scott case. we have had nominees that said i support brown v. board of education. we would like to delve very strongly into settled law with this nominee. i don't want to hear anymore, well, i can't comment on that. not when a case is 45 years old. >> we of course heard that not only with justice gorsuch and his confirmation hearings, but also frankly with some of the democratic nominees when they were before the court. but how much of this is really aimed at rallying the base for the midterm elections? democrats have not focused as much on the supreme court as an issue, an election issue, as conservatives have. >> well, i think first of all, it's our job to make the case to the american people. if we hadn't made the case to the american people about the affordable care act, it would

have been repealed. but we made the case based on the facts and three republicans joined us. they joined us and now you still have the rule in place that says that insurance companies can't kick you off for preexisting conditions. this administration is, again, testing that. they've taken the position it's unconstitutional. that case is going to come up before this court. so it's our job to make the case on the merits about why this position is so important for the future of americans' lives. and i don't think it's just about our base, andrea. i think it's about the american people. >> do you think you're going to have that opportunity? chairman grassley, your chairman, has said this man is supremely qualified. we know where mitch mcconnell stands. they control the rules, the timing, how long you have to question. >> that is correct, but we will have a hearing, and they do not control every vote on the republican side. we saw that with the affordable care act. they don't control every vote.

>> senator klobuchar, the games are beginning and the stakes could not be higher for all sides. thank you very much. >> very important. thank you, andrea. coming up, strained relations. president trump on his way to brussels right now for a nato summit. but not before accusing nato allies of mistreating the u.s. and hedging on whether vladimir putin is a friend or foe. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. they didn't work for me. i didn't think anything was going to work for me until i tried chantix. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. i needed that to quit. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems,

sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. i can't tell you how good it feels to have smoking behind me. talk to your doctor about chantix.

to have smoking behind me. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. now starting at $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know!

i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's.

the uk, that's a situation that's been going on for a long team. so i have nato, i have the uk, which is in somewhat turmoil, and i have putin. frankly, putin may be the easiest of them all, who would think? >> who would think? president trump's busy week of summits. right now he's on his way to face off against nato allies in brussels. then on to the uk, where theresa may is facing the strongest challenge yet to her government. and huge anti-trump protests in london, ending with the high risk one-on-one meeting with vladimir putin in helsinki on monday. what could go wrong? nbc's kristen welker is in brussels. also joining me, the undersecretary of defense for policy and now a senior fellow at the rand corporation. welcome, both. over there in brussels, kristen, what are they saying?

they've got to be on edge, at least european allies, very off-put by what the president did in quebec, and even what he said today while leaving the white house about nato. >> absolutely right, andrea. they're bracing for another intense encounter with president trump, of course because of that backdrop you mentioned, that g-7 summit which ended in sharp disagreements, the president pulling out of a joint communique, even personally insulting france's prime minister and launching what is effectively a trade war with some of america's closest allies. that's the backdrop. president trump, today, in those comments you said, through tweets, and through his advisers, signaling he's going to push nato members to pay more in defense spending. the president of nato had sharp words of his own for president trump, effectively saying be nice to your allies because the united states doesn't have that many allies. president trump was asked about

those comments specifically. he brushed them aside and indicated he's not going to be deterred, he's going to get very tough with them to pay more. look, the real concerns here, andrea, is that he's going to also make some threats, maybe even take some actions to pull out troops from key areas, and that he might not reaffirm the united states' commitment to article v, which states that an attack on one nato member is an attack on all. real concerns among america's allies that the president isn't going to be tough enough with putin, that he might dangle the possibility of scaling back on sanctions, that he won't pressure putin on meddling in the u.s. election or invading crimea. so again, we have this remarkable moment where president trump seems to be poised to increase tensions with some of the country's oldest allies while looking to a foe, a potential foe like president putin and signaling that he might extend an olive branch.

when our own peter alexander asked if putin was a foe, he wouldn't go that far. he said he's a competitor, andrea. >> you referred to what european council president donald tusk had to say, take a look at that. it sorts of sets the stage. >> dear president trump. america does not have and will not have a better ally than europe. please remember about this tomorrow, when we meet at the nato summit. but above all, when you meet president putin in helsinki. it's about knowing who is your strategy friend and who is your strategy problem. >> christine, where do we stand as the president goes from meeting with the nato allies and making all these threats about downgrading our involvement, about pulling back troops from germany and basis es in europe,d

going into this meeting with europe? >> russia has been trying to drive a wedge between the united states and nato countries for a long time. the smart and strong thing for president trump to do is to go to brussels and take credit for the fact that half of the nato allies are increasing their spending and are on target to meet the 2% goal. and we're doing more than that at nato. we've also created two new commands to be more ready to deal with russia. and we've set up a readiness initiative that will have 30 battalions, 30 air combat squadrons, 30 ships ready to go within 30 days. so there's a lot to be strong about. and that's what president trump should focus on. >> he should actually be doing a victory round here, saying my pressure got nato to step up. >> that's right. >> instead he's just berating them. personal relationships are really important, as he would be the first to argue. why does he take such a rough position towards angela merkel, now towards macron as well, and

certainly towards justin trudeau and theresa may? >> well, i think you say president trump having a lot of grievance around the trade set of issues. and unlike previous presidents, he seems to mix trade and national security in ways we haven't seen before. so i think that's where a lot of his dissatisfaction is coming from. but going into the helsinki summit with putin, i think he want to stand strong with the nato countries. >> and kristen welker, the timing is what is troubling them. agreeing to a summit with vladimir putin and a one-on-one meeting, we've seen how heed from -- how he freelanced in singapore and gave up concessions. >> and given what we've seen in the wake of his summit with kim jong-un, andrea, that's heighteniheighte

heightening concerns among president trump's advisers and our allies. secretary of state mike pompeo came away from meetings in pyongyang whose results were mixed, kim jong-un's officials saying that the u.s. was acting like gangsters. the concern is that that will send a signal to vladimir putin that that will strengthen his hand, going into that key face-to-face with president trump, andrea. >> indeed. certainly the singapore summit was hardly a good way to set the context for his other foreign relationships in europe and particularly with vladimir putin. thank you, christine wormuth, and thank you to kristen welker. overseas today, the british royals celebrating the anniversary of the royal air force, followed by a parade and spectacular flyover of buckingham palace. and as well, we saw the royals all out there on the balcony at buckingham palace. and up next, the triumph in

thailand. a soccer team freed from a cave along with their coach. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." crabfest is back at red lobster! discover our largest variety of crab and crab dishes all year! like new crabfest combo. your one chance to have new jumbo snow crab with tender dungeness crab. or try crab lover's dream. sweet, juicy king crab and jumbo snow crab cozied up with crab linguini alfredo. even our shrimp is crab-topped! so hurry in and get your butter-dunkin' game on! 'cause crabfest will be gone in a snap. and now bring home the seafood you crave with red lobster to go. call or order online today.

you crave with red lobster to go. overwhelming air fresheners can send you running... so try febreze one. with no aerosols and no heavy perfumes. so you can spray and stay. febreze one. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

with pg&e in the sierras. and i'm an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 million trees have died in california. pg&e prunes and removes over a million trees every year to ensure that hazardous trees can't impact power lines. and since the onset of the drought we've doubled our efforts. i grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly it's heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. what guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future.

it is the daring rescue that the whole world has been watching. and now celebrating. 12 thai boys and their soccer coach finally trfree after havi been trapped for 18 days, fried by divers in thailand. on june 23rd, they were trapped as heavy rains flooded the cave's passages. nbc's janis mackey frayer has been following the story from the beginning. janis, i know you're celebrating as well, i can't imagine how euphoric people must be feeling there. >> reporter: everybody was waiting all day for word of what was happening with these last rescues. we knew there were four boys and the coach still in there. as far as the rescue mission was concerned, there were also four divers, including the doctor who had been checking the boys before they were selected to

make the journey out. so when the confirmation started coming, there was true happiness, to see that this was an amazing ending to a remarkable rescue mission. when the last ambulance came down this street, presumably with the coach inside, people on both sides of the street were cheering when it drove past, taking him to the hospital, where the other 12 boys and he will be in this special isolation unit. they are still at high risk of infection. doctors are going to be assessing them all very closely in these coming days. they're showing signs of hypothermia, there have been some cases of fever, some scratches. obviously they're hungry. but for the most part they're doing incredibly well and they are now safe. >> janis, was it accurate that bringing out the strongest first, and these last few boys may have been the weakest and

most vulnerable? >> reporter: actually there wasn't much of an idea of what the order of evacuation was going to be in the days leading up to when the rescue mission was actually announced. and then there was the confirmation from the rescue chief, saying in that first phase, where they brought the four boys out, they brought out the healthiest first. they may not have been the strongest or weakest but they were deemed the healthiest by the doctor who was inside the cave, who did medical assessments of all of the boys, talked to them about who was going to go first. there's a couple of things that could have been in play there. they were probably wanting to test the system of being able to get these kids out. this is when the water levels were still a bit high, the currents a bit strong, and knowing these first four boys were probably going to have to swim underwater for part of the journey. they may have been trying to ensure that they were going to succeed, have the other boys see that they were going to succeed to take the edge off of getting

the rest of them out. >> that's great insight. thank you so much, janis. i know the families are still waiting because of the isolation ward, but at least they can see the boys and i know they're weighed for those reunions. thank you. coming up, the long wait that several of the youngest migrant children still separated from their parents are experiencing. they'll have to wait a little while longer, according to a court ruling. stay with us. your paycheck.

your family depends on it. but if something happened to you... you need life insurance! and chances are selectquote can get it for you for under a dollar a day! selectquote found michael, 38, a $500,000 policy for under $23 a month. selectquote found anna, 37, a $750,000 policy for under $22 a month.

selectquote's secret? they comparison shop select group of great companies like these for your best rate. give your family the security they need... at a price you can afford. since 1985, selectquote has saved over a million families millions of dollars on life insurance. call the number on your screen. or go to selectquote.com. discover what over a million families know. we shop. you save. my mom washes the dishes... ...before she puts them in the dishwasher. so what does the dishwasher do? new cascade platinum does the work for you, prewashing and removing stuck-on foods, the first time. wow, that's clean! new cascade platinum.

until her laptop crashed this morning. her salon was booked for weeks, having it problems? ask a business advisor how to get on demand tech support for as little as $15 a month. right now, save $300 on our hp 2-in-1 laptop bundle

at office depot officemax as government officials try to explain just why they have not yet reunited migrant children with their parents, including toddlers, infants, a federal judge is giving them more time. government lawyers say 54 of the 102 infants and toddlers will be reunited by today's deadline. what about the rest? attorneys will be back in court later today with a new timeline, they say, for reuniting the remaining children with their mothers and fathers. the delays are clearly taking a terrible toll on desperate families.

why is it so hard to take their children and -- so easy to take their children and so hard to give them back? mimi roca joining us, former district attorney in new york, and julia ainsley, nbc news national security and justice reporter. mimi, i don't know how we can justify this. this is a horror that is continuing. it's an ongoing disaster. and there's no evidence that i have seen that they know where some of these kids and parents -- how to make a match. they have no records. >> andrea, i agree, it seems like incompetence at best and deliberate, real evil at worst. and i think there are people, you know, who have said -- called it things in between. but those are sort of the two extremes. but there's just no excuse for it either way. and remember, the president is

doing this supposedly in the name of making our country safer. i mean, that was how this whole thing started, was that his administration implemented this zero tolerance policy on people coming into this country, many of whom were presenting themselves with legal asylum claims, some of whom may be here illegally but not something that could be figured out at the border. and they decided to prosecute, and therefore needed to separate parents and children in 100% of the cases. that's just unprecedented and completely unnecessary. even if your goal is really to help keep the country safer, this is not helping to achieve that goal. >> and it is a violation, julia, of the legal asylum provisions that are universal, that involve human rights, that involve our own state department rules.

there's supposed to be a fair hearing for people who are coming in legally as they apply for asylum. everyone has been swept up in the same policy. >> that's true, andrea, and i'm glad you're getting into that. even when and if they reunite these policies, there will still be a changed policy on asylum. it's something attorney general sessions has already put in the works. they want to take away rights for victims of domestic abuse and gang violence to make these claims. that's exactly what most of these families are coming in and making here. one thing we'll be listening for today from the government is what they propose their new timeline could be. remember, this was just 102 children that they were able to identify under 5. now they'll have to reunite about 2,900 over the age of 5. it was so difficult with this very small population, we can imagine how long it could stretch out. if they miss this deadline, they will definitely i would predict not meet that july 26th deadline to reunite 2,900.

>> part of your reporting has been the nbc news reporting, you and your team, that they deliberately put this challenge to people, to these people, if you want your kids back, voluntarily deport yourself. >> that's right. up until now, the only parents who have been able to see their children again are those who choose to deport. in a lot of cases, they're having to drop their asylum claims. they may have a pending court date before a judge to explain their situation but they're under such distress, to get out of the country to see their children again. what we don't know and what we were able to find out through this court process, hhs loses track of a lot of parents once they deport. there are at least nine parents belonging to these infants and toddlers who have already left the country and the government says it can be very difficult to try to track these people down in their home countries and reunite them at that point. >> of course. but secretary azar of course testified it's just a keystroke, mimi rocah, to find each other,

for these parents to be reunited with these kids. you posited it's either incompetence or evil. i would suggest it could be both, that there is an evil desire to deter by making an example of these people, and then it was carried out with no planning and that that is the rank incompetence that makes it even that much worse. >> absolutely. and you're right, it shouldn't be presented as an either/or, this could be both, and i think that is what we're seeing. we know that this administration -- i mean, look at the supreme court rollout. they did that very efficiently. so they are capable, when they set their mind to things, to making them happen. they don't want this to happen. they want it to be a deterrent for families coming here. back to you and julia's point about asylum claims, these are people fleeing some of the worst violence, you know, the very gangs that he says he wants to

keep out of the country, these are victims of those very gangs in their own countries. >> mimi rocah, julia ainsley, thank you both so much. the nfl players association announced it has filed a grievance challenging the league's new national anthem policy. in may you'll recall nfl owners unanimously approved a new policy requiring players to stand if they're on the field during the performance of "the star spangled banner." president trump has critical of players who kneel in protest. we'll be right back. that goes into making our thinnest longest lasting blades on the market. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. it's about delivering a more comfortable shave every time. invented in boston, made and sold around the world. order now at gilletteondemand.com. gillette. the best a man can get.

but he has plans today.ain. hey dad. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong.

one of the large gathering of president trump supporters and brett kavanaugh family and friends for the eastern prime time supreme court announcement last night. the president's attorney rudy guiliani scored a front row seat. somehow he must outrank the attorney general of the states sitting in the back. he was seen shake hands with rod o oez oezen stein. rosenstein. guiliani continued to represent

foreign clients including pro ukrainian officials and the group designated as a terror group as recently as 2012. let's get all things supreme court, columnist and msnbc contribute or and a former attorney and assistant to the attorney general during checkpoint administration harry, good to see you. >> likewise. >> usually you are in new york or elsewhere. what road do you think the democrats have realistically to try to block this, given that mitch mcconnell controls the rules, senator grassley controls the timing and the questioning at the hearings. he's got the gavel. and the president has this huge lobbying effort under way. >> i think you answered your own question. it is a very uphill road to defeat this. >> what is their best path? >> their beth past is to have

something we don't know about come forward, some hidden memo in which he scribbled note to myself, if i am working for president bush but on the nominee to the supreme court, i promise, promise, i would overturn roe. this is not going to exist. so absent that, the best course is to -- this is not realistic either -- to hope for flailing around at hearings. judge kavanaugh is very smart. he knows how to not answer questions. so potentially peel off some republican senator, if one republican senator peels off, then can you pressure your endangered democratic senators in red states to hold ranks and hope for the best. this is a very uphill battle. >> harry, one of the big issues that's signature out there in the mueller investigation and rudy guiliani, the president's lawyer. you don't know what is going to

become in august. before labor day, something that will certainly shed a lot of light or put a great deal of focus on what judge kavanaugh wrote in that minnesota article. he was on the star team. he did write the ken starr a part of the ken starr report. people are going to start looking at whether he would be a critical vote against the president having to testify or -- >> i think that is right. there are two brett kavanaughs here, the warrior and attack dog in the ken starr report and the 2009 law review where he sort of rec recants. one thing, remember, mcconnell didn't want caf narcotic. he was one of the two candidates he thought would be tougher and the one kind of glimmer?

democratic strategy you could see is there is such a wealth of material, maybe you can play it out a little longer until it's in the shadow of the mid-terms or the mueller report happens to come out. but that would be the sort of surprise you would need to change the dynamics. >> let me ask you about rudy guiliani. here you got the president's lawyer in the room, front roy seats. what about these potential confli conflicts of interest, how can you have the president's attorney in the high stakes case, couldn't be higher, still representing including clients connected to paul manafort, russian influenced ukrainians? >> totally unseemly. when your client is the president of the united states when your client is anybody, as harry knows better than i do, have you to be careful about conflicts of interest and make sure you are not conflicted. but when your client is the president of the united states, you have to be really super clear that you are not doing anything with other clients, that makes it seem like you are trading on that relationship or

benefiting from thatp a relationship. and this for me we've had so much evidence of rudy guiliani's poor judgment. this is more of the same. >> financial attorneys, by the way, routinely withdraw from these arrangements. is guiliani his attorney, his policy guy, his pam, his spokesman, the deputy president? he seems to kind of want it all and he's stumbled half-clownish and half thuggish making mistake after mistake. i do think here in addition to everything else, it turns out to be false he hasn't done lobbying. >> not registered. >> he's not registered. but the big thing is his defense appears to be, he's not getting paid by the president. it's 100% clear, that's a meritless dvgs as far as the ethics rules go. >> great to see you both. more ahead, stay with us. we'll be right back. shoes, & he's got wide feet.

& with edge-to-edge intelligence you've got near real time inventory updates. & he'll find the same shoes in your store that he found online he'll be one happy, very forgetful wide footed customer. at&t provides edge to edge intelligence. it can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on. that's the power of &. & if your customer also forgets socks! & you could send him a coupon for that item. you might be missing something.y healthy. your eyes. that's why there's ocuvite. ocuvite helps replenish nutrients your eyes can lose as you age. it has lutein, zeaxanthin and omega-3. ocuvite. be good to your eyes.

. >> thank you for being with us. >> that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. follow us online, craig melvin is up next. hey there. >> good to see you. a good afternoon to you, craig melvin here, beltway brett kavanaugh. the washington pick. a washington inside, a go op elite, what is his writings, his

decision, will they tell us about the kind of justice he would be? also, left behind, democrats can only watch as conservatives push towards another supreme victory. they've lost control of congress and the white house. the strategy the democrats seem ready to use now to derail his nomination and missed opportunity, the trump administration blows past a court order deadline to reunite migrant children with parents, the 5 and under specifically. we will talk to one mother searching for her children who are only 2 and 7-years-old, first the suspense is over. now the confirmation battle begins. president trump, the anti-establishment president, has made quite the establishment bid for the supreme court. the president last night nominating federal judge brett kavanaugh to replace retiring justice on the supreme court. tonight the judge making