here is john thune, republican senator from south dakota.hink about that, sir, when you hear threats like that, when you see both sides want to come together, get something done or sort of falling on deaf ears? >> i understand the president's frustration about the border and about immigration, melissa. there is no question it's a broken system that needs to be repaired, however, i do think that the best way to do that is in a context of probably a non-shut down situation. we here in the senate have to complete our work and get the appropriations bills passed before the end of the year at september 30th get them on the president's desk to avoid the specter of a government shut down. i think president is typically does is probably a negotiating tactic but in the end i think it is important that we keep the government up and functioning and address the immigration issue in timely and orderly way. melissa: seems like with all respect timely, orderly way passed a long time ago and that foals are frustrated this is such a monster issue, yet there

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john thune, r-sd:>"when jaws came out i was in 8th grade and i was just completely mortified and fearful of ever getting in the water again." but since then - - south dakota senator john thune says he's developed a healthy respect and appreciation for the ocean predators. he says congress must ensure the laws that protect sharks have teeth. in washington, im drew petrimoulx (grant)(grant)(grant) (grant) senator kamala harris introduced legislation to provide rent relief for working families struggling to pay bills. the announcement came today...as the cost of housing continues to rise in california and across the country. the rent relief act would create a new, refundable tax credit, providing families with more money. the refundable tax credit will be available to individuals who live in rental housing and pay more than 30% of their gross income for the taxable year on their rent...that includes utilities. eligible peeople would qualify for the tax benefit by determining the total amount spent yearly on rent, taking into account the family's annual income, and a rate of the federal gove

they are sill are -- we know you interfered in our eltions, so john thune is a member of leadership at least sensitive to what i optically a very awkward trip. >> optically do they have to do it on the fourth of july? that's the this that really sticks out like a sore thumb on this thing? >> you know, nyleon, so of these things that they do. this feels reallye l 6 on the outrage meter here. but that's -- there i not downside from looking pro-russia to republicans. ink about ainute. >> you know, we' all wondered what would ronald reagan think if he were alive today? you know. the his republican party is a pro-putin party or coming acro -- i don'tant to say pro-putin but certainly comfortable with him. >> mm-h. >> that isuite -- quite a sea change in what is clearly an authoritarian regime in russia. not had a democracy and it's not necessarily back to communism but it's back to authoritarian. >> and speakingf authoritarians, talk about north korea, okay. nbc ns reporting there's new evidence they have stepped up their nuclear produdion program trying to hide some of their facilities.

senators john thune, bob corker, jeff flake, they say farmers need trade deals, not welfare. >> this $12 billion announced today suggests that this is going to be a longer-term problem than the president said, you know. trade wars are easy to win, not so much. >> an admission that the president's trade policies will hurt american farmers. the aid to farmers kicks in in september. many notice that's just in time for elections. but the "wall street journal" editorial board says that fixing a problem of his own making won't fool voters. trump may think that his farm tariff bailout will get republicans past the november election, but sooner or later, bad economic policy becomes bad politics. >>> president trump drawing comparisons to george orwell after turning his appearance at a vfw convention in kansas city into a campaign rally. the president used the event to defend his tariffs on u.s. trading partners, telling his supporters, we don't apologize for america anymore. then he took a page straight from orwell's classic "1984." >> what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's

take senators john thune, bob corker, jeff flake. say farmers need trade deals, not welfare. >> this $12 billion announced today suggests that this is going to be a longer-term problem than the president said, you know. this trade wars are easy to win, no, not so much. >> the aid starts in september, just in time for elections, but the "wall street journal" editorial board says that the president fixing a problem of his own making will not fool voters. "trump may think his farm tariff bailout will get republicans past the november election, but sooner or later, bad economic policy becomes bad politics." >> wow, okay. joining us this morning to talk about all this, cnn politics senior writer and analyst harry enteron. good morning to you, sir. >> hi, harry. >> good morning. >> the "wall street journal" is one thing, but we have republican senators from iowa, nebraska, wisconsin, harsh criticism of the president's tariff plan and this welfare, essentially, to farmers. what's the impact? >> well, i think the impact is that this election

john thune told me he was wearing thin on pruitt. pruitt was supposed to testify citol hill some time in august before the senate environmental and public committee. but he was able to escape in time before he was able to go urn the grilling. robert: it s alle was isolated in the end, in the cabinet. didn't have aelationship with chief of staff john kelly. and his own staff was burning him in these congressional testimonied. the one person that was on his side was the most important onet which w president of the united states. and the reason they were able to keep that close relationship was he spent a lot of time in the white house. if youook at his resignation letter which was so effusive. he literally diafied. i was blessed with this opportunity. that is what trump likes. he likes that loyal and that praise and ha closeness. that's what kept him onboard for so long when even people close to trump who wanted to advance trump's agendaere fed up with him. that's what ultimately led in the end to his exit. robert: but is a revealing m

get republican john thune joining us. thank you so much for joining us. >> good evening, wolf. >> let's go through some of the issues. the president has the relentlessly attacked nato and the leadup to this trip to this summit in brussels. he seems to be much more comfort bulk aseashell with the upcoming summit in helsinki with vladamir putin. its the president putting the very survival of nato right now in jeopardy? >> well, i wouldn't say that. i think it is important that we demonstrate a strong commitment to the nato alliance. i mean this is something that has served freedom loving countries well for half a century. i know we had a volt on the floor of the united states senate. motion to instruct conferrees on the defense authorization bill. basically expressing our commitment to nato. article 5 of nato. obviously the president is interested in seeing nato nations carry the burden for their defense. something we all agree with. in terms of the commitment to the transatlantic alliance. strong coming from the congress.

senator john thune joins us now. senator, welcome to the show. i would introduce the senator from the great state of south dakota talking about sharks. i know it is not funny so why are you holding a hearing on sharks? >> our committee has very broad jurisdiction, stuart, which includes the oceans and national marine fishery service is the entity that manages or i should say shark populations within u.s. waters and they're under our committee's jurisdiction. occasionally we delve into subjects that are not only i think timely but interesting. of course this one has a lot of relevance today. there are a lot of things going on in shark world making and improving americans lives. stuart: mr. senator, you have achieve entertainment status with the united states senate and with "varney & company." we thank you deeply, sir. thank you for that hearing. let's get serious. kevin brady, want as vote on a second round of tax cuts, he wants the vote in september before the midterms. are you deliberately setting a trap for the democrats? >> we'll take a look

senator john thune from the hill.t spot and the victims were two kids. their harrowing ordeal and could it happen again? >> bill: also a jailed american pastor in turkey still behind bars. even though the president called on the turkish leader to set him free. what happens now on his case? one of the senators fighting for his release is live with us next. >> disappointed in the result of the hearing? >> i have read the indictment. i have attended three hearings. i don't believe that there is any indication that pastor brunson is guilty of any sort of criminal or terrorist activity. until her laptop crashed her salonthis morning.or weeks, you never know what the day's going to bring when you're running a small business, it might even bring a blue screen of death. having it problems? ask a business advisor how to get virus and spyware removal, and 24/7 tech support. office depot now offers on demand tech support for as little as $15 a month. ♪ right now, buy one hp ink and get a second at 30% off at office depot officem

the list of senators on this trip include richard shelby, ron johnson, jerry moran, john hoven, john thune, steve danes and john kennedy of louisiana. kay granger was also a member of the delegation. you will notice those are all republicans on this trip. more on that in a little bit. among the russians they all met with was sergei kislyak. he was the russian ambassador to the united states during the russian attack on our lex he is now back in moscow and received tons of awards when he got back. he is now an official. the main thing about all this is that our guests traveled here in order to talk. he means you don't need a back channel secure phone line to talk to jared kushner, right? that was a different kind of dialogue he was working on before in his other job. the head of this inexplicable republican only republican delegation to russia, ahead of this inexplicable delegation to russia today, bloomberg news reported in this adorable headline that the republicans traveling to russia, quote, hope to tell putin election meddling has to stop. before they went, they hoped to tell putin tha

john thune said i hope it is a negotiating tactic.ze the look of the republican leadership. it is one my kids give me when i make a completely hollow threat. what do you make of the reaction of republicans based on the threat of the shutdown? >> on one hand it is understandable. donald trump from the very beginning said he wants the border wall. that is his main brand. republicans have not delivered on. that on the other hand, donald trump is in interesting territory. what he is in danger of doing is implying to his base. those people in the house and senate cannot give me a border walla as it is. why show up to vote. president trump has tax cuts. he will have a second supreme court justice. it is a head scratcher as to why he would bring up the shutdown threat rather than talk about actual accomplishments. >> phil, does president trump care if republicans lose the house in november? an interesting editorial in "the wall street journal" that suggests he may be okay with a nancy pelosi. goes on to say, mr. trump may not welcome a democ

john thune and jerry moran said ending the election meddling is crucial to better relations. >> if they want to demonstrate to america that they want a different relationship moving forward. obviously staying out of the 2018 election would be a big step in that direction. >> our big message to the russians were, we believe you meddled in our elections and don't do so in 2018 and 2020. if you want this relationship to improve, you need to demonstrate to us that our elections are off limits for your interference. >> so melissa, you always have the best takes on these. do you think it mattered that there were no democrat senators on the trip? it struck some people as a little odd. >> it would have been better to have both parties in the picture. when i think about the last sentence there, that have to demonstrate by not meddling, that will never happen. it's at the top of russia's playbook. we have to be vocal about it, on guard about it. the idea that it's not going to happen again is just nonsense. >> nor are we ever going to get if truth out of somebody like lavrov or putin. lavrov said

listen to senator john thune who is on the senate finance committee. senator thune: i think this is a better course of action. they said they would use legislative approach as opposed to what they talked about previously. i think that makes more sense. if you look at the concerns we've had about potential retaliation from china with respect to the administration was proposing, i think that is walking back from that and, to me, represents a more logical approach. emily: what are we expecting in terms of legislation out of congress? shelly: we are expecting this bill and legislation and it will be more scrutiny and staffing involved. more scrutiny over the companies that are engaging in these deals. we have already seen the impact and the flow and china. some chinese companies that requires into the u.s. go down. we have seen some venture capitalists, chinese venture capitalists pull back a little bit. the idea is that maybe that will happen more. as the u.s. increases scrutiny. to ben's earlier point, there is nothing like telling someone they cannot do

you look at what john thune said, it's a negotiating tactic.itch mcconnell said we will fund government in a timely and ordinarily manner. >> i'm a believer in hitting things head on. if the president wants to shut down the government, that's his prerogative. i don't -- i think it would be a mistake. i don't think it's going to be necessary. >> that's repeated by everybody. it shows you where they are. the big question right now on capitol hill is how serious is he. think back to health care or tax reform. the president diverging from the strategy is not necessarily a rarity. but whether or not he is willing to hold on to that and make a fight out of this is another question. >> is he willing to lose the house over it? >> that's the concern. i will tell you something that's happened over the last couple of weeks, that is, is the white house willing to sacrifice the house because the president wants a punching bag coming into the 2020 election? there's this idea of it will be better to run against congress, better to run against house democrats.

. >> also, republican senator john thune called the threat "a negotiating tactic."eader mitch mcconnell flatly said we will be funding the government in a timely manner. with me now our political analyst rachel and perry bacon from 538. rachel, do the republicans just write this off as bluff? >> i think republicans know this is not a bluff on the president's part. the question here is about timing and that's why you're seeing hill republicans down play this and saying that won't be a shutdown before the midterm elections. the president is well aware that could open their battle to keep the majority and cost them the house and senate. there was a meeting at the white house where mitch mcconnell and paul ryan thought they got the president's approval for a plan to kick any shutdown fight over a wall until after the election. they want to just get a couple spending bills done before the election and not deal with the border security issue because they know it will be contentious until after the midterm bus there is a conservative constituency that thinks a shut down fi

senators on this trip include senator richard shelby of alabama, johnson, jerry moran, john hoven, john thune, steve danes of montana, and senator john kennedy of louisiana. republican member of the house kay granger was also a member of the delegation. you'll notice that those are all republicans on this trip. more on that in a little bit. among the russians they all met with was sergei kislyak. remember him? sergey kislyak was the russian ambassador to the united states during the russian attack on our election. he is the guy who played such a key role in that intelligence operation, those active measures. he's now back in moscow, received tons of awards as soon as he got back. he is now an elected official. yeah, why not hang out with him if you're a visiting american? sergey kislyak told the post the main thing about this is that our guests travel here in order to talk. this is probably good confirmation of a readiness to start a dialogue. to be clear, he presumably means the kind of dialogue that you don't need a back channel secure phone line at the russian embassy to talk to jared kush

republican senator john thune makes an interesting point.ays the translator is someone who is probably not versed in policy and is not going to be able to explain the nuances of what went on there. does he have a point? >> i don't need someone to explain the nuances. i need somebody to tell me what was said, what was agreed to. we don't have that information from this president. all we have is what the russian ministry is putting out. and that is not good enough for the american people and it is certainly not governor in enough for congress. >> are you getting any indication privately, i know corker says that he is considering it, but he says i don't know if it is appropriate, are you getting any indication from your republican colleagues that they feel differently than lindsey graham who says absolutely not, meaning could this happen? >> well, i appreciate that senator corker is willing to consider the idea and see what might make sense. what we need is a commitment from this administration to bring in the officials who can tell us what was

and john thune, this is not the right remedy. speaking more than an hour to veterans. >> we don't apologize for america any more, we stand up for america. >> reporter: the president didn't mention putin or the helsinki summit and didn't say whether he intends to go ahead with the plan to strip security clearances from former top intelligence officials simply because they criticized him. paul ryan had this to say about what call a trump enemies list. >> i think he is trolling people, honestly. i think he's just trolling people. >> reporter: all this as some trump supporters can't quit hillary clinton. with jeff sessions laughing along like this to a high school group. >> i heard that a long time over the last campaign. >> reporter: as for that suggestion that the russians are interested in democrats winning the midterm elections, we checked with office of director of national intelligence, they say there's no evidence to back up that assertion. they wouldn't comment on the president saying that. certainly an interesting claim, a c

richard shelby of alabama, john thune of south dakota, two very senior members of senate republican leadershipmmittee chairs. >> it's just so striking for a republican party -- >> it was very surprising. >> it wasn't a secret trip. >> correct. >> but it shows how much donald trump has co-opted this party and brought them along to what he believes rather than what they believed or held true before donald trump was elected. i've asked this question before and i'm going to ask it again. we've got a year and a half under our belts so maybe the answer is a bit clearer. for our nato allies, do they look at what donald trump says or do they look at what his administration is trying to do? for instance, defense secretary james mattis talks about wanting to build up nato. donald trump talks about no one paying up. you have pompeo trying to get north korea to make a deal. then you have the president saying deal's made, done, all great, wonderful. the intelligence community saying russia hacked our election. donald trump saying he believes vladimir putin. so who do they trust? do they trust the president

side of the internet caucus are representative bob goodlatte and represent ennis shoe and also john thune and patrick leahy. this briefing is the second in the skoe the tus tech series which explores how nations's oldest and highest court deals with cases involving technologies. we will havet another event on july 3rd discussing generally how the supreme xoucourt is engaging with technology now and how it will continue to engage with the technology policy issues in the future. feel free to use the #skoe the tus tag throughout the discussion and we hope that you will join us throughout the summer. #scotus. so briefly joining us on the panel is am man da kel lar from the international municipal lawyers association. we have george yi sisaacson who from brandon and he argued the case for way fayer in front of the supreme court and counsel for net choice. to his right we have jennifer platt from the international council of shopping centers and finally mike dabbs from ebay. i want to thank you all for being here. and we are looking forward to the discussion. before we start, i would like to gi

listen to what senator john thune said about that yesterday on this program.nk the thing which don't want to do is if i have senate democrats in competitive states an opportunity to sort of get well on the tax issue right before the election but not give us enough votes to pass it. if we can't get enough democrats to 60, gets something passes the in the senate, get to the president's desk, signed in the law i doubt it would get taken up in the senate. stuart: there you have it. joining us now. cathy mcmorris rodgers, chair of the republican conference. congresswoman, seems to me like putting forward this vote in september before the midterms, it is kind of a trap for the democrats. you're daring them, aren't you to say no to something that benefits the middle class? >> our goal, our goal in taking this vote, we have wanted to take this vote all along, has been part of our priority, is to walk in the gains that we're seeing in tax reform, that are leading to this booming economy. that is the goal of taking this vote. you think about individuals, i look eastern

here is a look at senators patty murray, ranking member of the health committee and john thune, we'll show you these until the senate starts at 10 a.m. eastern this morning. >> mr. president, i come to the floor today to discuss my strong opposition to the nomination judge cavanaugh for a lifetime appointment on the united states supreme court. mr. president, there are few issues i take more seriously as a senator than my duty to consider and vote on supreme court nominees. it was watching the clarence thomas hearings and seeing how

here is a look at senators patty murray, ranking member of the health committee and john thune, we'll show you these until the senate starts at 10 a.m. eastern this morning. >> mr. president, i come to the floor today to discuss my strong opposition to the nomination judge cavanaugh for a lifetime appointment on the united states supreme court. mr. president, there are few issues i take more seriously as a senator than my duty to consider and vote on supreme court nominees. it was watching the clarence thomas hearings and seeing how my voice and the voices of people like me all across the country were not being heard that got me to run for the senate in the first place. and i believe it is one of the most important jobs we have on behalf of our constituents. mr. president, my time in the senate, i've had the opportunity to consider nominees from democrats and from republicans and for each one of these nominees i made by evaluation and based my decision on their experience and record and my understanding whether they would uphold the constitution and protect our rights and freedoms. i