jennifer jans jennifer johnson is here to break it down for us. jennifer? >> reporter: that'sreight, . the president is already interviewing potential supreme court nominees and p he'll make his decision july 9th one week from today. president trump meeting with tha neths prime minister as he narrows his search for a new supreme court justice. >> during the m i interviewed and met with four potentia justices of our great supreme court. they areep orr: t president promises to pick a conservative. democrats and some republicans are looking at the possibility that a restructured court could overturn "roe v. wade." a potential game-changer for the mid-term elections. >> it forces candidates tot tal abbortion, including some who would not. >> reporter: the president faces what could be an embarrassing about-face now from kim jong-un. reports that nce north korea is actually increasing its nuclear arsenal

jennifer johnson is covering all the angles for us this afternoon. jennifer? >> reporter: good afternoon, pat from. a very hot steamy capitol hill, some hut-button issues facingum president including his supreme court nominee. president trump meeting with the netherlands prime minister as he narrows his search for a new preme court justice. >> during the morning i interviewed and met with four potential justices of our great supreme court. people. outstanding >> the president promises to pick a conservative. democrats and some republicans now looking at the possibility a restructured court could overturn "roe v. wade," a potential game-changer for mid-term elections. >> puts abortion back into the front line of the political debate and forces candidates to talk abo it, including some who would rather not. >> reporter: while the president considers his supreme court nominee, he faces what could be an embarrassing about-face from kim jong-un. u.s. intelligence reports north korea is actually increasing its nuclear arsenal at secret sites despite promising to dis

live on capitol hill, i'm jennifer johnson. nks, jennifer. >>> there is new evidence today to support the power of a positive attitude. >> a study shows helping children feel positive aboth r futures can keep them out of trouble. researchers from the children's hospital in pittsburgh surveyed more than 800 teenagers, most young men from low-income neighborhoods and all were enrolled in a vlence prevention program. researchers found the teenagers who felt good about their plans for their future were less likely to be involved in violence. >>> you've heard of carpo karaoke. some are calling this cop pool croak >> two bosrsn police offi are showing off their hidde talents, and they are getting folks in the mood for the fourth. ♪ god bless america ♪ my home sweet home >> sounding pretty good. >> the acoustics are incredible for a car. when they finished singing, the officers got a call say they were on open mikes so apparently they didn't know that. >> sign them up is what i say. >> lovely. >> pretty good. >> a d.c. police officer i

jennifer johnson tracking a search for a justice who could orelp shape the court generations to come. jennifer. >> reporter: that's right, leon. the president has said repeatedly he will make his supreme court pick july 9th and is hoping to get the nominee through before the mid-term elections. president trump zeroing in on the supreme court n revealed on monday. on his short list, four appeals court judges, supporters and critics alike asking if they lp would overturn "roe v. wade." >> this is a list of candidates alist ed by the fed society and heritage foundation, and it goes without saying that most of them will have a stronga anti-roe >> reporter: "roe v. wade" legalized abortion and a new nbc news survey monkey poll says 64% of women saying ithould be upheld. >> looking for someone with tremendous intellect, wants somebody with intellect and someone focused on upholding the estion. >> reporter: one possible contender amy barrett was grilled about her religious beliefs in a confirmation hearing. >> it's a concern when you comen to a issue that a large number of people have fought

jennifer johnson, nbc ws. >>> breaking racial barriers at west point.year-long historyca the militarymy has an african-american superintendant and he's the local guy from here, northern west virginia. lieutenant general daryl williams took the reins there the n leadership is the talk around town. let's take a closer loo here at the general and his extensive credentials. a native of alexandria, virginia, as we said.d graduarom west point in 1983. he is a highly decorated field artiller officer. he served in desert shield, desert storm andon opera iraqi freedom. >> i'm a military brat myself so i'm excited well. this is an accomplishment for anybody to achieve this. so we're, of course,d, exci but what a great message of inspiration that it sends to little black boys and little black girls, psibly those interested in the military. we are so close to all the military bases. we have a lot of military listeners. this caller from adelify weighed in on what this means to him. >> as a retiring lieutenant colonel andio our n celebrating its independence on the f

jennif johnson has retaliated saying why experts fear it's going to cost amerins job. that's right, leon. >> china has filed a second complaint about the world trade organization and several other countries have done the same fscause of these new tarif after months of threats the trade war between the u.s. and this now accelerating. the trump administration has imposed new tariffs on $34 billion of chinese goods. china retaliating, trigger what beijing calls the bgest trade war in economic history and it's still early in the game. >> the thing we're worried most about is the retaliation round after round of trade war whe the 34 million morphs into 1on or 200 bil >> reporter: price tags for american beans, pork and soybeans are skyrocketing in china and evenmaine's lobster industry is bracing for a hit. >> we're going to just hop that we can find another market to absorb the loss that we have in china. >> reporter: u.s. auto dealers expect hefty tariffs on 7 million cars and trucks imported to t u.s. sticker shock could also extend to american-built cars b so many parts

jennifer johnson, nbnews. >>> we have a lot more still to come tonight on news 4 a 6:00, including amystery at ie local convene store. a husband and father killed earlier this morning. customers coming by to pay their respects today. vid culver with the latest on the investigation. andracing against the clo the rains in thailand. the urgency tonight in the effort to rescue that group ofu soccer players. >>> still watching this situation at the statue of liberty tonight. the protester on the statue doing her best to aolice. amelia? > and, jim, i'm tracking thunderstorms and rain north and west of town, including this thunderstorm around ballenger ricreek. in fre. i'll have the latest on who could be dealing with rain for fireworks tonight coming uin my updp at >>> back to those live pictures from the statue of liberty. a woman at an immigrati protest earlier today climbed up the base of the statue and nows sh hiding under lady liberty's foot as police try to reach het. we'll you know if they are able to get her down. this is an immigration policy protest. a >>> now look at some of the

nbc's jennifer johnson has the story from washington. >> reporter: president trump's team on offense saying the president did not know about his son's meeting with the russian lawyer in trump tower in 2016, but mr. trump's former attorney and fixer, micichael cohen, is willing to say candidate trump had advanced knowledge. >> i believe don jr. and the president in light of learning michael was taping conversations -- >> reporter: federal investigators reportedly have more than 100 recordings cohen made with meetings with clients, but trump team say none talk about that meeting. >> now i listened to many, many hours of tapes. the man is a pathological manipulator, liar. >> reporter: cohen's lawyer released a tape where the president allegedly made a play mate to a playboy model. the president blasted mueller on twitter and said he's willing to shut down the government if the democrats do not give us the votes for border security, which includes the wall. democrats say it's the republicans stopping reform. >> democrats want to work on a bipartisan reform package so address all issues a

jennifer johnson has the latest. >> reporter: facing negative headlines from coast to ast, president trump today in damage control mode telling americans what he wouldn't tell vladimir putin. >> i acceptur intelligence community's conclusions that russia's i meddling 2016 election took place. >> reporter: while still saying there was no collusion, the president said he misspoke yesterday when he said he saw no eviden and no motivation for russian interference. >> i don't see any reason why it would be. the sentence should have been i don't see any i reason why wouldn't be russia. >> reporter: lawmakers on both side condemning the president's words in helsinki. >> in my mind the weak e.motor pathetic display by an american ident that i've ever witnessed. >> it was a stunning betrayal of the country and inexplicable at so many levels. >> reporter: president trump sided with vladimir putin over his own intelligence agencies who all concluded that russia meddled in the 2016 presidential eaections. >> they i didn't in elections, it's really clear. should be no doubt about that. >> reporr:

nbc's jennifer johnson has our story tonight from washington. >> reporter: president trump ready for prime time. a monday night announcement on his pick to replace supreme court justice anthony kennedy. >> this person will do a great job, but i'm very close to making a decision. have not made it official yet obviously. but we're very close to making a decision. >> reporter: democrats claim the president's final candidates are all hand-picked by conservative groups like the heritage foundation and federalist society. >> i've never seen a president of the united states in effect make himself a puppet of outside groups. >> reporter: four conservative candidates are reportedly the finalists. brett kavanaugh, thomas hardiman, amy coney barrett, and raymond kethledge. all could potentially try to overturn roe v. wade and other precedents, but conservatives dismiss that. >> we only have a single individual on the court who has expressly said he would overturn roe. >> reporter: still no assurances from gop leaders. >> precedent is important, but press dent is not the only thing. we have had

jennifer johnson joins us now with new information on the supreme court searct just came out in the lastew minutes. jennifer? >> reporter: president trump held an impromptu question and answeio se aboard air force one where he announced he'll make his supreme court pic by money as he repeatedly said and will announce it to the u.s. an the world at 9:00 p.m. >> reporter: president trump flying into red state montana to rally the base against democratic senator jon tester. nbc news has learned the president's search has narrowed toppeals court judges brett kavanaugh, amy coney barrett and raymond kethledge the president's top three picks are all conservatives and democrats are gearing up for a fight before even hearing the nominee's name. >> what the american people b nd concerned about is we're talking about changing the balance on the supreme court that's going to affect their. righ >> reporter: republicans point out that justice anthony kennedy was consided a conservative pick and turned into a pivotal swing vote. and l of this hedging hemming and hawing around what this person is going

jennifer johnson is the breaking details. jennifer, what do we know? >> that's right, pat. to montana on a plane, but he did tweete that did accept the resignation of epa chief scott pruitt about half an hour ago. just yesterday pruitt and president trump were together at the white house for july 4th,s butou know, scott pruitt has been marred by many, many controversies. he had -- he is facing more than a dozen ethics investigations, everything fro getting a sweet deal on his condominium here in washingtc. to travel expenses to security expenses and even spending a lot of money on fancy pens so scott pruitt, as you said, is out as epa pat?f. >> we know congress wants to conduct an inveotigation of pruitt so what happens now with him wand that? >> well, as i said, scott pruitt s facing over a dozen ethics investigations. those investigations will continue. now, he's also -- aside from all the scandals, heee also has trump's point man for rolling back a number of environmentalg tions put forth by the obama administration, including boosting the continued burning of fossil fue

jennifer johnson has the latest from washington, d.c. >> reporter: as thousands of immigrants are swornas american citizens this fourth of july -- >> in your united states, we never have to look too far to see how immigrants are contributing to the vibrancy and foundational success of our great nation. >> reporter: nbc news has learned the trump administration is now giving migrant parents after being separated from their children this form with two options, leave the country with your kid or leave without them, even those seeking asylum. over 2,000 children have been separated from their parents under the zero tolerance policy. this woman from el salvador hasn't seen her boys for two months. lawmakers concerned of how long it's taking to reunite these families. >> we need to quit playing games. these are human lives we're dealing with and the world is watching. >> reporter: while pressure is mounting for solutions, the republican senate majority leader admits there are no easy answers. >> we've been wrestling with immigration problems for quite a while. it seems not to make any differe

jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. >> still ahead on nbc bay area news, violence at a children's birthday party in boise, idaho. troubling details about what led up to a stabbing spree. >>> plus, tragedy in the tropics after a boat carrying vacationers explodes in the bahamas. the smoke and flames caught on camera. there it is. prices of the season' with savings on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses and automatically adjusts on both sides, for effortless comfort. it's the 4th of july special. save up to $500 on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus 36-month financing. ends sunday. are you two getting along? oh, yeah, yeah. [ hiss ] [ gasps ] [ birds chirping] ♪ no matter what you are they're a perfect match. the new ipad and xfinity stream app. hey guys, i'm home! surprise! i got a puppy. add an ipad to select packages for just $5 a month for 24 months. upgrade online now. you could generate yourat home.rgy, or to save energy, unplug unused appliances. do your thing, with energy upgrade california. into a frightening scene... as a man goes on a stabbing spree. 9 people wer

jennifer johnsons s this walk-back or damage control going to clear anythg up?at remains to be seep. the criticism keeps coming a the president tried to clarify what he ally known the say yesterday. facing negative headlines from eoast to coast president trump in damag control mode telling americans what he wouldn't tell russian president vladimir putin. i accept our intelligenc community's conclusion that russia'seding in the 2016 election took place.hi >> reporter: still saying there was no collusion the president said he misspoke yesterday when he h said saw no evidence or motivation for russian interference. >> i don't seeny why reason why it would be. the sentence should have been i don' see any reasonhy it wouldn't be russia. >> reporter: lawmakers on both sides condemning the president's words in helsinki. >> in my min the weakest most pathetic display by a president that i've witnessed. >> it was stunning and >> reporter: president trump sided with putin over his own intelligenceho agencies all conclude that russia meddled in the 2016 elections. >> they

jennifer johnson is tracking the search for a new justice. >> reporter: late word from the white house that the president spoke to three potential supreme court nominees today. he's going to be doing this all week long, spoke to fours rday. he has said he's going to make his choice known july 9th. president trump zeroing in on the supreme court nominee he'll reveal to the wld on monday. among those said to be on his short li four appeals court judges, supporters and critics asking if one mighthelp overturn "roe v. wade." >> this is a list of candidates approved by the federalistet soc and heritage foundation, and it goes without saying that most of them will have a strongability roe lean. >> reporter: "roe v. wade" legalized abortion and a survey monkey moll show 65% of women believe it should be upheld. the white house avoiding the polarizing issue. >> look for somebody with tremendous interlerkts like it somebody w the right judicial temperament and wants somebody who will be focused on upholding the constitution. >> reporter: one of the supreme court front-runner judge amy coy barre

jennifer rubin and david k. johnson and the author of "it's even worse than you think, what the trump administration is going to america." on the staffing, what does it mean to you that pruitt was finally ousted and bill shine is on his way in? >> let's start with bill shine. if he's the nicest guy that shawn hannity knows, i'd like to take a poll of the women at fox. this in the middle of a me too movement which he mocked, by the way, in his rally today is the infuriated behavior that has women fleeing the republican party. you see that ever widening gender gap. i think part of the motivation was to get him out of the way before the big supreme court rule out on monday because what wants scott pruitt hanging around? there is allegations of improperly illegally altering government documents, so that's out there. let's be honest. trump didn't get rid of him for months and months. and congress, the republican congress didn't exercise proper oversight authority, didn't subpoena documents, asked nicely for some documents, a

jennifer rubin, "washington post" opinion writer and msnbc political analyst and jason johnson, politicalitor of theroot.c theroot.com. i want to start with you dr. koger because you wrote an interesting article that got people buzzing on social media and what you wrote about was a potential sort of parliamentary procedure that democrats could use to shut down the senate, denying republicans a quorum if all 49 democrats refuse to show up. could that work? >> the short sans no. just to explain. i wrote that blog post june 20 which is 33 news cycles ago. and my main point is that the senate should be a deliberative body that debates the main policy questions of our day and that senate democrats could stand up for themselves and break a quorum in an effort to get the republicans to vote on the major things we want them to vote on like family separation at the border. so what they could do is refuse to participate in votes and quorum calls. a quorum in the senate is a majority. so that's 51 senators so if the democrats force a roll call vote and don't participate, the senate comes to a screec