senator heidi heitkamp, joe manchin of west virginia, senator joe donnelly. you could talk about the role that michigan senior senator might play in all of this. hugh hewitt, help me understand the political parameters of this. we don't have a nominee yet, yet we have seen a lot of lobbying on capitol hill already. the "new york times" reporting that mitch mcconnell is backing either two candidates, raymond kethledge or thomas hardeman, suggesting they would have an easier path to confirmation. help us understand the divide in the republican party when it comes to the short list. >> it's the key question, david. you've got to make sure that senators colin and murkowski do not lead. you can't take points off the board. and they will be very hard pressed to vote against either judge kethledge or judge hardeman, i believe. on the other hand, how do you get heidi heitkamp, joe manchin and john tess extra under the most pressure, claire mccaskill? i think it is easiest to lose one of the two republicans with judge barrett, because she's so

>> the chances of joe donnelly, joe manchin and heidi heitkamp whenever brett kavanaugh of the supremeing the fact in 2017 they voted for the first supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. they simply wanted to go vote for them. you can put politics considering the fact they were a tough reelection campaign and at least three of them -- elise. this red state democrats, heitkamp, donnelly and manchin are down to the liar. you can also look at mccaskill , but really those three are the ones who got to look out for. >> we have one you left out was jon tester. you did point out that manchin voted for gorsuch as well as joe donnelly. but they voted again sent three. do you think because of the pressure in the fact they are up for reelection that they will perhaps switchover and cassius took out or not? >> it's tough to say. mccaskill will say no. a lot of this comes down to what happens before the votes. if there is a united front in which one of the senators breaks and says they're not going to break for susan collins or lisa murkowski say they will not vote. some of these need to vote no in th

but what is joe donnelly do?ly one of the three that has a democratic base to worry about. >> i'm very much in the camp of winning elections being what democrats need to do. they are out of power. they are out of control. >> they need to win elections. >> you let joe donnelly vote. >> there you go. what you're saying if the choice is. >> alexandria cortez, you know, if she were there she would vote her way and have her issues but joe donnelly have his issues. >> i'll pause it there. we have a lot of foreign policy to cover and i can't wait to hear what daniel thinks. we'll be back with rudy giuliani. russia investigation w president trump's (vo) what if this didn't have to happen? i didn't see it. (vo) what if we could go back? what if our car... could stop itself? in iihs front-end crash prevention testing, nobody beats the subaru impreza. not toyota. not honda. not ford. the subaru impreza. more than a car, it's a subaru. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that go

and ansion, joe donnelly heidi of north dakota. host: joe crowley lost that seat. you tweeted about it in the victory of alexander ria cortez saying politicians face a rorschach test. what did you mean by that? how do you think democrats will tailor eir message or their message? david: mr. crowley was trying to position himself to be the lead next leader to have house democrats. cortez represents a generational breakthrough for the democrats and an id logical breakthrough for the democrats. how much that is going to be repeated, i don't know. i do think her message or what she wants people to remember as her message was something that i'm going to guess that we're going to hear more and more from democrats between now and the election. not so much her message of progressivism. she was a bernie sanders democrat. wants to eliminate ice, the immigration agency. wants free public college for everyone. those progressive ideas i don't think are where the democrats are going to go. but here is what i think they are going to listen to. she said time and time again, we the

one most watches of the midterm elections republican mike braun is looking to unseat joe donnelly inhere president trump won by nearly 20 points in 2016. mike tobin is valparaiso, indiana. >> reporter: the senator joe donnelly is one of those red state democrats tasked with a voting to either approve or reject the president's pick for supreme court judge brett kavanaugh. the republican challenger, mike braun is in the very comfortable position of having a challenger having an opponent who is caught between the will of his -- >> it's tough when you belong to a party like joe does, where he like to vote otherwise but he's got to check with chuck schumer on every vote. i really think that's the case. he knows if he bucks leadership too often, he's going to be marginalized within his own caucus. >> reporter: senator donnelly won't surprise anyone if he votes in favor of kavanaugh. he's a moderate pro-life democrat. he voted in favorite of neil gorsuch. i will take the same approach as i have previously for a supreme court vacancy. i will carefully refer and consider the record and qualif

joe manchin of west virginia, joe donnelly, and heidi heitkamp. >> the new york 11th, joe seat thatlosing that she tweeted that -- you tweeted that politicians face a rorschach test. what did you mean by that? that was a story with multifaceted story lines it, not the least of which mr. crowley was trying to position himself to be the next leader of the house democrats, and the ocasio.of or what she wants people to remember as her message was something i'm going to guess that we are going to your more and more from democrats between now and the election. not so much her message of progressiveness. she is a bernie sanders progressive democrats, wants to eliminate ice, once to medicare to be the sole health care, , i dofree public college not think the democrats are going to go for those progressive ideas. but what they are going to listen to which is what she said, we, the democrats, noble donald trump is, we do not need to spend our campaign talking ill of donald trump and trying to talk people out of voting for democrats voting against donald trump. what does do good is when democrats gi

we will head out to indiana where red state democrat joe donnelly is up for tough reelection facing a tough confirmation vote on supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. and nancy pelosi feeling the wrath on social media for how she referred to 9/11. >> i said when i had the commission reformed. the louisiana purchase, is complete! instant purchase notifications from capital one . technology this helpful... could make history. what's in your wallet? at outback, there's one way to cook a steak. perfectly. and three ways for perfect shrimp. introducing steak & shrimp, starting at $15.99. whether you choose bbq, garlic butter or sweet & tangy shrimp, it'll be perfect. hurry in! steak & shrimp ends soon. i never count the wrinkles. and i don't add up the years. but what i do count on... is staying happy and healthy. so, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. new boost® high protein nutritional drink now has 33% more high-quality protein, along with 26 essential and minerals your body needs. all with guaranteed great taste. the upside- i'm just getting started. boost® h

that will be followed by indiana senator joe donnelly august 15. what senate democratic leadership said, and how does that play into the strategy in opposing the nominee, which won't have his senate judiciary confirmation meeting until september? >> you do have the first two democrats announcing they will meet with him. leadership,cratic members of the judiciary committee, say they are not going to meet with him until they get a deal on documents from his time working in the george w. bush white house, where he was staff secretary and legal counsel. you had some back and forth among leadership blaming democrats -- that same bill ours trying to stonewall -- are trying to stonewall them. sayingy came out democrats are trying to go on a fishing expedition. it seems like there is an impasse on what documents they will request. >> you can tweet jordain carney, read her work. we want to thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me on. journal,'s washington live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up saturday morning, nat

election year, because you do have these trump state democrats, it's going to be pretty hard for joe donnellyheidi heitkamp, joe manchin. >> but there's also going to be a lot more material yet to come. they have something like 6,000 pages to go through. we're going to see a lot of this stuff leaked out. it's going to put a lot of pressure on the real divide within the democratic party. that's going to be a big difficulty. >> and the pressure is going to be intense. it already is intense from their own party leadership. what they're being told is vote no, we're going to work really hard to take over the majority in the fall in the senate, and we'll get our way the next time. those are lots of ifs. >> i want to show you this dnc e-mail. say no to the kavanaugh e-mail. the word "president" is misspelled. the democratic party did that. get an editor. this is the intensity you're talking about. they say, you know, he'll throw out obamacare, overturn roe v. wade, excuse trump in the investigation. we don't know that. but that's what they believe based on earlier rulings. >> i think the question is

mansion, joe donnelly, and heidi heitkamp. >> let's talk about one election in particular, the new york 11, joe crowley losing. you tweeted about it, saying politicians face a rorshach test as they assess the defeat of joe crowley. what did you mean by that and how do you think democrats will tailor their message ahead of the midterms? david: this is a story with multifaceted story lines behind it, not the least of it that mr. crowley was trying to position himself to become the next house leader of democrats. and not that -- not just that ms. cortez represents a generational breakthrough for the democrats. an ideological breakthrough. we don't know how much that will be repeated. i think that her message, or what she wants people to remember as her message was something that i'm going to guess that we are going to hear more and more from democrats between now and the election. not so much her message of progressivism, in which she is a bernie sanders democratic progressive, wants to eliminate the ice agency, free public college for everyone, those progressive ideas i do not think are w

now he's under pressure, even on indiana airwaves to do the same for kavanaugh. >> will joe donnelly to the extreme left or confirm a new justice and protect our rights. >> the story remains the same. >> reporter: todd huff says his listeners want donnelly to give kavanaugh an unbiased look, absent of politics. >> people are tired of the vitriol. folks want a fair hearing for this guy. when you hear democrats come out and say we're against this guy without knowing who he is -- >> reporter: with the race neck in neck, indiana voters think donnelly will need to cast a trump-friendly vote. >> i think he'll have to vote in favor of the nominee. then we'll see where the chips fall. he could still lose in november. >> reporter: donnelly has been noncommit tall on this vote, releasing a statement saying he will take the same approach he did for the last supreme court veigh can circumstance adding that he, quote, will carefully review and consider the record and qualifications of judge brett kavanaugh. most senate democrats have been refusing the meeting with judge kavanaugh, demanding repub

now he's under pressure, even on indiana airwaves to do the same for kavanaugh. >> will joe donnelly left or confirm a new justice and protect our rights. >> the story remains the same. >> reporter: todd huff says his listeners want donnelly to give kavanaugh an unbiased look, absent of politics. >> people are tired of the vitriol. folks want a fair hearing for this guy. when you hear democrats come out and say we're against this guy without knowing who he is -- >> reporter: with the race neck in neck, indiana voters think donnelly will need to cast a trump-friendly vote. >> i think he'll have to vote in favor of the nominee. then we'll see where the chips fall. he could still lose in november. >> reporter: donnelly has been noncommit tall on this vote, releasing a statement saying he will take the same approach he did for the last supreme court veigh can circumstance adding that he, quote, will carefully review and consider the record and qualifications of judge brett kavanaugh. most senate democrats have been refusing the meeting with judge kavanaugh, demanding republicans produce p

same three democrats to vote for his nominee this time that note -- that voted for , joe manchin, joe donnelly, and heidi heitkamp. >> let's ramp up -- let's wrap up talking about the election, joe crowley losing, and the victory of alexandria across your cortez -- alexandria ocasio -cortez. willo you think democrats tailor message ahead of them in terms? >> this is a story with multifaceted storylines behind it, not the least of which that mr. crowley was trying to position himself to be the next leader of the house democrats, not the least of which cortezdria ocasio- represents an ideological breakthrough for the democrats. whatthink her message or she wants people to remember as was something i will guess we will hear more and more from democrats between now and the election. not so much from her message of aggressive is a -- progressivism. she wants to eliminate ice, wants medicare to be the sole health care provider for the country, wants free public college for everyone -- those progressive ideas. i don't know whether that's when the democrats will go. but here's what they will listen to

joe donnelly in indiana, heidi heitkamp in north dakota, and joe manchin, all of those states will be first to introduce this new nominee. then on the flip side on the left, you have three of those for being targeted on the left to say, hold the line, with democrats. >> ed: let's take one step back and think about where we all were two years ago in 2016. the anticipation and most of the mainstream media, all the political geniuses. hillary clinton was going to win, and if they were going to be nominations to be had it would be people on the left. instead donald trump wins against all odds. he got the tax cut through government repealed the individual mandate, and he's working on immigration. he wanted to get the infrastructure plan but now he has to supreme court picks and the opportunity to reshape this court for 40 years. >> >> bret: think about that as an issue as we closed in on election day. that was a driving issue especially for evangelicals who came out in droves for donald trump. they knew this was a possibility, this day, this moment for kennedy, the swing vote, to step asid

but, what does joe donnelly do? he's the only one of the three that has a democratic base towo y about. >> i'm veryuch in terms of winning elections being what mocrats need to do. they're out of power. they're out of the white house. theye out of control o state legislature. they need to win elections. you let joe donnelly vote however hes to vote. >> if the choice is -- >> cortez, you know, she would vote her way. she can have her issues. let joe donnelly have his and vote his way. >> we have a lot of foreign policy to cover. i can't wait to hear what danielle thinks about what happened in north korea >>> we'll be back with the russia investigation with president trump'slawyer, rudy president trump'slawyer, rudy giuliani.my mom's pain from moderate to severe rheumatoi arthritis was intens i wondered if she could do the stuff she does for us which is kinda, a lot. and if that pain could mean something worse. joint pain could mean joint damage. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop further damage enbrel may

were people like joe donnelly and joe manchin, do you really want to sacrifice your political careeror cory booker? is that worth it to them for whatever they completely fought for? but if there are actual questions they have about the way this person interprets the constitution, this is the time to do it. and if you are completely opposed to that and philosophically opposed to originals if that is in fact what judge kavanaugh claims to be, go ahead and post those questions. that's what these meetings are for. it's much better for the senators to meet one-on-one and raise these questions before the stupor grandstanding is stupid grandstanding that will take place. >> it isn't just about democrats politically but then you are telling her constituents that these issues and this person are not important enough and they can sit in that court for decades. they are actually saying they are not taking any of it seriously. >> in the hearing they will give you 5 minutes, they will giving you sheets and a video. and maybe try to influence this person, and they are putting up a stigma. >> i don

they're talking about joe donnelly, joe manchin here. is there a way for the red state democrats to win or is this a lose-lose situation? >> i think the democrats are going to do what right for the constituents and that includes -- >> they voted for gorsuch. >> now we're in a place where we're dealing with issues like protecting the aca and roe v. wade. now we're in a place where these democrats are going to stand up for their constituents and that includes their constituents who have pre-existing conditions, includes women who need health care assistance. so i think that they're going to do the right thing here and stand up for the constituents. that's what they've always done. that's why they are empowering the states. >> you think they'll block it? >> i think they'll stand up for the constituents and i think they'll do the right thing. >> what constituents? >> because they're democrats and n. -- in a red state. >> i think the democrats will stand with a woman's right to choose and will do the right thing. what we know about these nomi

talking about doug jones, joe manchin, joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp. did the president expect to get their support? >> if the democrats actually look at the qualifications of judge brett kavanaugh they have no choice but to confirm him. if it is based on pure politics some will do what they usually do. hold up the stop sign, fight to the death to stop him, but if they are being honest and it is a matter of policy and principle and personal qualifications, the professional and personal pedigree of this man and his time on the bench already, then if they are being honest and they are doing what they promised their voters they would do, which is to make sure that the judiciary is filled with folks who are faithful to the constitution and won't make up the law as they go along. that's all the president asks. i think whether you're a red state or purple state or in cycle or not in cycle, if you're honest about the process you'll give this man his due and a thumbs-up vote. everybody should be concerned. every voter out there represented by a senator who said

talking about joe donnelly, particularly in light of the nomination, it just says joe donnelly has hisork cut out for him. can you tell us why? easy for has not been donnelly to navigate the stennett -- senate in a state where president trump one by 19 percentage points. he is constantly having to try to appease his democratic base, but also recognize that his constituents largely support trump. thisis no different -- really could not come at a worse time for him, this decision on whether to support brett kavanaugh, with his election coming up in less than four months. he seems to expected to be a pretty tight race with the wealthy republican businessman. everything he does is being even more closely examined. host: initially, what has aboutr donnelly expressed the nominee? anything significant or can you tell us? week: he was in town last for a campaign event and he said when he met with president trump recently about a range of issues that included who he would be nominated to the supreme court, donnelly urged him to nominate someone who was "moderate and common sense." he said if th

heidi heitkamp and joe donnelly and joe manchin. one that is not in place is doug jones.istmas time. he's not up for election this fall at all. he will be up in a couple years that could be a pivotal vote. present this in a different format than what we saw in the spring last year when neil gorsuch was up before the senate. >> we keep hearing this will be a bruising battle, the democrats will string this along. you know the ins and outs of senate and the rules there. could they swing this passed the election? >> that would be very hard. part of this is because there's never been a filibuster of a supreme court justice before. abe fortis who was on the court already, he was filibustered. there's never been a filibuster. mitch mcconnell had a problem last spring. he realized because of the narrow divide in the senate, there was almost no way that they could get neil gorsuch on the supreme court. he changed the senate precedent. you talk about rules. the senate operates on two things. a book of rules, that is thin a few pages and a book of precedent about that wide. he was a

he believes he's got a good chance with joe manchin, joe donnelly and heidi heitkamp. joe donnelly according to one report i saw was asked to the white house tonight for the nomination announcement. he deferred saying he wants to meet the nominee in person first to get a measure of them before he goes in public with any kind of level of support. it's all very fluid right now, neil. we're working our sources trying to get a name. the president wants to play this close to the vest. we're still trying. >> neil: so far he's doing just that. thanks. meantime, carrie is here with the judicial crisis network. thanks for coming. >> thanks for having me. >> neil: what came into this play with this decision? obviously conservatives seem to rally around the names that we think of. any chance there's an outside name or two that we do not? >> sure. he's committed to choosing someone from the list of 25. most people agree that some on these four that we've talked about and any of them is an excellent pick. i'm excited to see justice barrett or justice kavanaugh or justice kethledge

we're looking at susan collins, lisa murkowski, joe donnelly, mnuchin, and heidi heitkamp.sibly cause some issues given her strong christian views. she's been very up front about that. i would say, though, with her in particular, she did say during her confirmation hearing last year of her current position that she has no interest in overturning roe v. wade. "the new york times" reported on that. i know that the response to hear could be pretty fierce. but she did that in the hearings. i think with kavanaugh, he may be seen as too establishment for the trump administration, and i think you could potentially see some trump supporters say we're not draining the swamp if you bring back people from the obama administration. we don't know what's going to happen, per se, but i think the reality of the situation is regardless of who the pick is, i think that this is a big big win for republicans having this supreme court nomination this year. >> yeah. and broadening this out, i want to look at the politico report which looks at a number of court battles linked for the pick for the

so he's telling joe manchin, joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp that it doesn't matter, if you're in close races, it doesn't matter if you have a political future. that's how important this is. speech he was interesting to me, and i don't think this is lost in the american public. it's not about are you pro-life or pro-choice, how do you feel about this issue or that issue, it's do you think that a judge should be doing magic tricks with the constitution to make it say something it doesn't? 's and that what it's really supposed to be about? >> andrew: that's exactly right and what's really lost is what terrific craftsmen of the law these four finalists are. it really shouldn't matter. they're all very much committed to what ought to be conservative principles for interpreting the constitution. >> kennedy: we heard a lot about that after the death of justice scalia. >> andrew: if he could rank them, probably amy coney barrett of the top and we don't know enough about thomas hardiman to my mind but as to the other three, whoever said you can throw a dart and end up with a great judge, i thin

with the possible exceptions of those up for re-election in big red trump states that might be joe donnelly or heidi heitkamp in north dakota or joe manchin, west virginia, also likely to get no votes from susan collins and maybe lisa murkowski from maine and alaska respectfully, i think when the drama is said and done, that will be what it set out. i hope i'm wrong about that but such predictable fallout. what do you think about that? >> i'm not ready to write off any republican. i think lisa murkowski and susan collins ask tough questions about precedent and how judges will rule. they say they have healthy respect for court precedent and will take that into due consideration. i think it is very reasonable to think red state democrats will have enough pressure to cross over. when you look at states these folks are running for re-election in, these states are overwhelmingly backing donald trump and these states have overwhelmingly, when you look at exit polls from 2016, one of the major issues was the supreme court. so i think if you nominate somebody who can defend themselves, go out there

now he is under pressure to do the same for kavanaugh. >> will senator joe donnelly dave to the extremetice and protect our rights? >> the story remains the same. >> conservative indiana radio host tom huff says his listens want donnelly to give kavanaugh a look absent of politics. >> people are tired of vitriol. folks want a fair hearing for this guy. when you hear the democrats come out and say you know, we are against this guy without even knowing who he is. >> with the race neck in neck, indiana voters think donnelly will need to cast the trump friendly vote. >> i think he is going to have to disappoint his party and vote in favor of the nominee. then we will see where the chips fall, because he still could lose in november. >> donnelly thus far has been non noncommittal saying he will take the same approach as he did for the last supreme court vacancy adding that he will quote carefully review and consider the record of the qualifications of judge brett kavanaugh. most senate democrats have been refusing the customary meeting with judge kavanaugh demanding they produce paperwork ab

he told me i will personally talk with the democratic senator from that state joe donnelly, who might be on the fence possibly voting yes, to get him to try to vote yes for this. so far we know cavanagh met one-on-one with mitch mcconnell. also senator chuck grassley. >> in the end, i think his record speaks for itself. most outstanding things that afford this is person a chance for confirmation in the united states senate, to be on the vacancy on the supreme court. reporter: senator chuck schumer says democrats will fight this nominee. they do believe according to senator chuck schumer that roe v. wade could be overturned with this. this meet-and-greet to figure out exactly where kavanaugh is on number of different issues will happen again and continue tomorrow. trish. trish: thank you, edward. we're taking a close look at judge brett kavanaugh, past opinions with former justice department officials tom dupree and gregory garr on his past opinions. before we get to that i want to get to today's intel. you have got to hear this. this is liberal media, minutes after the president annou

thinking about joe donnelly in indiana and heidi heitkamp in north dakota, joe manchin in west virginiaot be so universal. what do you think? is. >> yeah. i think the big problem for the democrats in the reaction to all of this, again, is religion. and several of your guests have brought it up. but in the writing of "game of thorns," bill clinton urged hillary to go to those catholic states -- pennsylvania, ohio, wisconsin, michigan -- they finally let him go. he tried to get her to go to notre dame university for st. patrick's day, she wouldn't do it. and hostility towards the catholic religion, it a makes no -- neil: i don't understand that, doug, because, oh, he's a protestant, oh, he's jewish -- [laughter] i don't see that. but this is the same party that rally, rally ared around a catholic senator who was getting picked apart for being a slave to catholicism or that he would take orders from the pope. they rallied around him and said he's a candidate for president, not a catholic candidate for president. but it's very different now. >> and you know we don't hear a lot of -- we hear

kennedy: if you're joe manchin, joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp, how do you vote?e with your party, or do you vote with someone that voters in your state approve of? >> i think it all depends on how lisa murkowski or susan collins falls. they vote for this justice knowing his record on choice, knowing -- kennedy: what is his record on choice? >> well, there was a case in texas regarding a minor who wanted an abortion, and he ruled against her -- kennedy: he actually didn't go as far right as social conservatives -- >> yeah, but it was far enough, and the question is it far enough for lisa murkowski or susan collins to vote against him. ing that's really the question. i think based on that and also will he go after, if the case comes in front of him -- kennedy: what's more important for democrats, thwarting in this nomination -- >> no, no, no, this idea of thwarting the nomination -- kennedy: or having people reelected in critical red state where is the president -- what's more important? please answer the question. >> no, i'm going to answer your question, kennedy.

openness to considering fairness of the nominee speaking of amy coney barrett has deep indianae joe donnelly is from indiana. if it is her, he's going to be under tremendous pressure. robert: we're all going to try to break the story this pretty hard to break who is on this short list. but we'll try. let's turn to another big story. rmer e.p.a. administrator scott pruitt, despite months of unwaiverupport from president trump, he resigned on thursday. there are multiple probes in his misconduct. along the allegations ex-traff gant travel, office furniture and a sound-proof phone booth. renting a condo asking his staff to put his travel charges on his personal cdit cards and to assign his task of finding his job.a six-figure the mounting scandals generated criticisms from both parties. >> it' unbelievable. any other administration democrat or republican he wouldg have beene month and months ago. >> he is acting like moron. and he needs to stop it. >> in his resignation letter, he said the unrelenting attacks on me personal lip and my family are unprecedented and has taken a sizable toll on all

i want to go back to the three democratic senators you reported on, joe donnelly, heidi hite camp, joe manchin, they're all up for re-election in november in states that voted for president trump. they vot yes on neil gorsuch, but tremendous pressure on them now. do they stay with their party, the democrats, do they risk their own seat here? >> reporter: that's it, david. they're getting it coming and going. tonight, for example, the white house reached out to these vulnerable red state democrats and invited them to the primetime announcement, they each declined. it's one thing to vote for neil gorsuch, a conservative replacing conservative antonin scalia, it's another thing altogether to vote for a swing justice who could overturn roe versus wade. >> for folks at home, it's not just the three democrats, there's two republicans being watched. senators susan collins of maine, lisa murkowski of alaska, both moderates. and terry, they'll be crucial votes here, particularly on the issue of a woman's right to choose, as we just heard from senator collins. >> reporter: that's right. that is

decisions including chuck grassley, susan collins, lisa murkowski as well as democrats joe manchin, joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp so what does the path and the math look like? in the senate? democratic activists are up in arms, they want to fight this. they want to stop this. republicans, at least their leaders, they say they want to get this through before the midterm election. what does the math look like? let take you through it. on paper 51-49 for the republicans. when i say functionally, it may be less. that's because we know john mccain, he has been sidelined for a while now. so if john mccain were to remain sidelined as this process plays out, that's 50 republican votes. that's the bare minimum. that's no margin for error. that's if you lose one as a republican, as the republicans, you lose this battle on a partisan vote. let's say there were 50, mccain remains sidelined, there are 50 votes for republicans. what do they have to worry about when it comes to potential for defection? these are five republicans to watch. for various reasons, to keep an eye on. jeff flake is retiring. he's been

. >> that's not going to be determinative to joe donnelly in indiana or heidi heitkamp in her state.mp won by so much that they're in very, very difficult if not almost impossible races and they're not going to want to make their lives more difficult. >> we saw senator blumenthal, the line of attack which we anticipate from -- democrats are gearing up for war over whoever the nominee is, you know. there's going to be no rights for anyone who's gay, no women will have any rights, you must recuse yourself on a vote, theoretical vote on impeachment. democrats are going to throw everything at this and at the end of the day the governor is right, this is politically untenable. >> but right now it's not -- >> -- for people like joe manchin and heidi heitkamp and joe donnelly. >> we're not seeing democrats gearing up for war. we're seeing republicans gearing up for war around this nomination where you're seeing a profound fissure around this republican party. >> i don't think there's any fissure. >> let me try to connect some of these points here as well. let's say mueller does come forward

particularly joe donnelly in indiana who ran as a pro-life sheriff.nities for both parties to pick off potential opponents to what their party wants. democrats probably have two at best, maybe three but i think really two. republicans have five to 10 that they could possibly pick off. probably closer to five. three to five. both parties have opportunities here. at the end of the day unless the nominee flubs their hearing, you have to presume trump's nominee will get through on a narrow vote. >> sandra: we'll see. that's not without a big fight, right, ari? >> absolutely, it will be a big fight and that's appropriate and healthy. this is how democracy speaks and how issues get vetted and vented and people are able to make their claim. as long as it stays within reasonable bounds this is exactly how democracy works and those senators in tough states, maine for senator collins and indiana, west virginia, the democrats, the people will give those senators an indication which way they want them to go. our process works. >> leland: we have a list from john

joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp are all coming up.you expect the biggest issue to be meeting with them? >> well, i think those meetings they'll talk about his credentials, there is not much else you can talk about with judge kavanaugh. his background is excellent. he is truly the right kind of choice. the kind of choice that was anticipated by the founders when they put the constitution together. and anything that the democrats will be able to use to stop him has to be something in the context of a smear. i don't think you'll have that conversation with manchin, heidi heitkamp or joe donnelly. >> sandra: the former governor john sununu. thank you for your time this morning. >> bill: 21 past the hour. new details coming in on the missing student mollie tibbetts disappearing nearly two weeks ago in the state of iowa. why new evidence is changing where police think she was last seen and controversy with the tsa. a surveillance program apparently not just targeting potential terrorists. how much information does the agency have on you? be

joe donnelly seeking a second term. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. and thank you for your excellent guest as usual. i have a personal, and a question. my personal comment is i am one of the independent voters that trump lost. i completely regret having voted for him in the last election. and i will do everything in my power to change the situation. my question is this -- host: why do you regret it? caller: i have had my internet neutrality attacked. i see a president that appears to angiving safe harbor individual, putin, who seems to be the driver behind state-sponsored cyber attacks. their power grid will be attacked soon. this is an act of war, if nothing else. this is the legal definition of treason. isoray for comfortable about a verydent who has -- i feel uncomfortable about a president will slide since being in office -- about a president who has lied since being in office. i regret my decision. i need to be able to trust the commander -- the commander-in-chief and i don't trust this president. host: thank you for the call from indiana. see a

. >> three democrats watched throughout the confirmation process are senator joe donnelly, heidi heitkampstates president trump won in 2016, and they're up for reelection in november. or let saenz, abc news, capitol hill. >>> opponents of an initiative to split california into three want the state supreme court to pull the measure from the ballot. the initiative calls for breaking the state into northern california in orange, california in blue, and southern california in green. the bay area would be part of northern california. a lawsuit filed yesterday by a group called the planning and conservation league argues it's too drastic a change to state government to go through the normal initiative process. >>> now tomorrow, london breed will be sworn in as san francisco's first female african american mayor. today abc 7 news was at city hall as crews prepared for the big inauguration. it starts at 11:00 a.m. 500 seats will be reserved with another one thousand available on a first come, first served basis. we'll have live coverage tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. on abc 7 news, and we will live strea

joe manchin, heidi heitkamp and joe donnelly of indiana. donnelly may be the most interesting, particularly if barrett is the nominee because she is from indiana. you have an additional wrinkle there with a home-state selection. the other thing we need to look at, and this is on the opposite side, is there may be complications with kavanagh if he is the nominee, from his work in the bush white house that could raise the ire of civil libertarians. there may be a separate issue with him, and these are sort of balancing act questions. oni guess what will be going at bedminster, new jersey, some of them will be right to sort this out. terms of a timeline, what are we looking at in terms of hearings and a final vote? >> i would say we are looking as soon as hearings what is now the end of the iod, or earlyer december. the confirmation vote could be in late september or early october. the question would be whether this gets complicated by the government funding deadline at the end of september, and if they try to get ahead of that, or if they hav

joe donnelly, indiana. donnelly may be the most interesting, particularly if barrett is the nominee, because she is from indiana. you have an additional wrinkle their with a home state selection. the other thing we need to look at on the opposite side is there may be some complications with kavanagh if he is the nominee from his work in the bush theyistration white house could raise the ire of some civil libertarians. i think that these are the balancing act questions and if i'm guessing what will be going on in bedminster, new jersey, some of this will be trying to sort that out. host: in terms of the timeline with the senate in session to much of august, what are we looking at in terms of earrings and a final vote? >> we are probably looking at hearings soon as what is -- as soon as the end of the august or early september. the confirmation vote to move ahead, i would imagine, late in september, early october. the question would really be whether or not this gets complicated by the government funding dead

joe donnelly, joe manchin. but these are so practiced and presentational in terms of how they speak up there that it's unlikely that anybody is going to get up there and say i'm pro-life i'm going to overturn roe v. wade. it's going to be essentially a guessing game for what he'd do on the bench. >> we have to take a break, but carl, i am going to give this to you and i want our viewers to the the headline of your story in the times. who might the fight help, democrats and republicans? it's a great headline. if you want to know what it means, read his piece. in paul ryan comes to the defense of a fellow house republican, one who may run for his job once he leaves. almost $800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. with liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. hey! oh, that's my robe. is it? when you switch to liberty mutual, you could save $782 on auto and home insurance. and still get great coverage for you and your family. call for a free quote today. you could save $782 when

the white house believes senator joe manson, joe donnelly at heidi heitkamp, democrats in tough reelection battles in states president trump won will be hard pressed to not for his nominee. >> there's nobody that president trump could nominate from a conservative bent that will get many democratic votes, but this is a nightmare for red state democrats to oppose a highly qualified nominee. red state democrats are going to have a very hard decision. i hope every republican will rally behind these picks because they are all outstanding. >> after tonight's announcement, president noble hand the nominee off to former arizona senator john pyle who will act as sure but during senate visits and confirmation. the president will head off to brussels for a nato summit where he's expected to push america's allies hard to live up to their nato financial commitments. on twitter today the president fired a warning shot. the united states is spending far more on nato than any other country. this is not fair, nor is it acceptable, he wrote. germany is at 1%, the u.s. is at 4%. many people are concerned tha

majority for the republicans and there are several red state democrats, people like jon tester, joe donnelly in indiana, heidi had -- heidi heitkamp are running for reelection in states that one big for trump and not be hard for them to oppose one of the judges. it would probably take more than one republican to flip >> let's talk about the state ruling today. what do you make of the judges ruling and also i found it interesting his remarks about let's get the politics out of this. unusual for a judge to call for civility? >> it's becoming more and more usual because i think they are getting exasperated. justice kennedy in his last opinion said something like that in the travel ban case calling for everyone to get along so it's a very thorough opinion, 60 page opinion very detailed and careful explaining why most of the three bills were acceptable and only a little bit was not acceptable. undoubtedly the administration is going to appeal, it is an appealable order. they see the sanctuary cities as a political football and i'm sure they will appeal to the ninth circuit. but it's a very solid

joe manchin of west virginia heidi heitkamp, north dakota. , joe donnelly, indiana. donnelly may be the most interesting, particularly if barrett is the nominee because she is from indiana. you have an additional wrinkle there with a home state selection. the other thing we need to look at on the opposite side is there may be some complications with kavanagh if he is the nominee from his work in the bush administration white house that could raise the ire of some civil libertarians. there may be a sort of separate if i were guessing what has been this will bee of trying to sort that out. >> with the senate in session much of august, what are we looking at? hearings as soon as the end of august or early september. the confirmation vote could move earlyin late september, october. the question would be whether or not this gets complicated by the government funding deadline at the end of september and if they tried to get ahead of that or point for the spending bills. bills. ofor the spending judge kavanagh is not as as sheed about obamacare is clinical of chief justice

crossover democrats who voted for neil gorsuch last go around, joe mansion, heidi heitkamp and joe donnellywe will find out about the timeline with the pic on monday, the confirmation in the fall, this is going to move that lightspeed. >> when the president says he is going to get it done he gets it done, appreciate it. new york state trooper gunned down in the line of duty, nicholas clark shot dead while responding to the call a suicidal man in upstate new york, later found inside his barricaded home. dozens of police cars escorted the following trooper from the scene. he was engaged to be married, standout college football player earning a trial with the buffalo bills, trooper clark is the 29th law enforcement officer killed by gunfire in the us this year. the man who stabbed 9 people including 6 children at a birthday party is charged with murder. he could face the death penalty after a 3-year-old girl died from her injuries. police say the attack was likely revenge africa, a temporary resident, was asked to leave the complex the day before. >> you understand what you have been charged w

kavanaugh is expected to meet with joe donnelly and heidi heitkamp in august, both democrats who votedn favor of neil gorsuch. mike emmanuel, fox news. >> investigators working on an update to the frantic search for missing university of iowa students, expected to reveal possible leads into the disappearance of molly to bits, 200 people have been questioned so far. she was lettered from july 18th after returning to a friend's house from a job. he was out of town at the time and called police the next day when she didn't show up for work. >> criminal investigation underway two weeks after 17 people were killed, the boat capsized in a thunderstorm in a lake in missouri. they are suing the operators claiming they ignored warnings, one report claims the victims on board the boat were trapped under the canopy and dragged to the bottom. the company was advised to remove the canopy in 2002. shannon: thank final goodbyes to a washington state officer killed in the line of duty. and police officer diego marino struck by another officer. the 16-year-old charged with second-degree murder, the 8 y

joe donnelly of indiana joe mention of west virginia and heidi north camp of north dakota all three declined the invitation, saying they wanted to first meet the nominee and discuss their judicial philosophy. all three senators are in very tight races in states that president trump want andth republicans and conservative groups are president bushing them to vote yes, on kavanaugh, or risk having re-election bids undermined. liberals on the other hand are demanding senate minority leader chuck schumer trying to strong-arm them into opposing trump nominee all three voted to confirm kneel gorush. but chad burgeon reported he told him he could vote either way. it is worth watching alabama senator doug jones, who is not yet a senator when gorush was confirmed and not up for re-election, but he is a conservative democrat in a very red state. here's jones on cnn. watch. >> i'm going to make an independent judgement and view. should think anyone expect me to simply vote yes, for this nominee, just simply because my state may be more conservative than others. >> because john mccain is fighting brain