i want to bring in leonard leo, the representative of the federalist society.ar a lot about the federalist society good and bad. so, leonard, defend the process a little bit. you heard jeffrey toobin there saying, you will know what these judges would do on roe v. wade, but we will not in the public because they will be coached up to say nothing just like we see in every confirmation process. fair criticism? >> people have been saying for 36 years, going all the way back to 1982, with the nomination of sandra o'connor that roe v. wade would be overturned. so -- 36 years later one of out of nine justices on the court said he would over turn row v wade. thomas. >> clarence thomas who during his confirmation years basically saying, i never really thought about roe v. wade before, then got on the bench and had definite ideas. continue. >> people thought sarah other connor would overturn roe v. wade and she didn't. anthony kennedy. david suter. we know as much as about john roberts and gorsuch. as we knew about kennedy. i think there's a little bit of hysteria right

leonard leo thank you for making the case to the people tonight.e it. >> thank you. >>> democrats don't like that anthony kennedy is off the court, but what can they really do to block a new supreme court nominee? that's on the docket in "cuomo's court." next ng for things they don't want. mom gets the unlimited she needs, dad gets the unlimited he needs, the kids get the unlimited they need. it's big news from verizon. (shoes squeaking) and you could save some money. (scattered applause) wow. all this for us? yeah, and every other family in america. i think the kowalskis are next. (vo) one family, different unlimited plans on the network you deserve. starting at $40 per line. no one thought much of itm at all.l people said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. they thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldn't that be cool? and that's why exxonmobil scientists think it's not small at all. energy lives here. ♪ ♪ wake up early, o. ♪ slap on some cologne ♪ i'm 85 and i wanna go home ♪ ♪ just got a job

the president gets to make the nomination. >> sean: last word, we'll give it to you call leonard leo,. >> i am very confident the president is going to nominate an extraordinary individual. it will be a big bite, sean, as you point out. the american people stand with us. >> sean: cavanaugh, the front runner? >> someone who is being very seriously considered. >> sean: thank you, both. when we come back, sara carter, gregg jarrett, and jim jordan was in the meeting with strzok, straight ahead. you won't see these folks at the post office they have businesses to run they have passions to pursue how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters ship packages all the amazing services of the post office right on your computer get a 4 week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again >> sean: right here reaction. peter strzok >> sean: here with reaction, peter strzok testifying, and his testimony earlier today, ohio congressman jim jordan was there, sara carter is a report, author of -- you see tha

jeff is right about leonard leo's hand in this, but leonard leo has been in close touch with justice kennedy as has don mcgahn. you just can't help but wonder what kinds of conversations went on in terms of going this year, going next year. and the other thing i should say is everyone on that list that we'vethony kennedy. there is no one on that list who we would say that could possibly be a swing vote. no, these people have been vetted the way no set of nominees has ever been vetted except for neil gorsuch. >> by the way, i think it was a great idea that the president did this. i hope all presidential candidates do it. >> did what? >> made this list. made this public list. i think it is great to know who is being considered. >> laura, the last word. >> in many ways this mirrors what happened in 2006 when you had day o'connor leave and alito took her place. i expect this will be very much the same, that somebody to the right of it. but i still think that there is some opportunity in some areas that will have an opportunity to have vetting by members of congress about whether the pers

"the federalist" society led by len in order leo, whose -- leonard leo whose goal is to repeal roe v. wade putting it together and trump rubber-stamping it. given what the president has said, it is virtually certain that members of the list of 25 would vote to overturn roe. so let this be a call to action for americans from all corners of the country to rise up and speak out. don't let this new court, this new nominee, whomever he or she may be, turn back the clock on issue after issue or after issue, because president trump has embraced a hard-right group who has a veto power over nominees. don't let us turn back the clock, america. stand up. speak out. democrats, republicans, liberals, conservatives, all should want a much fairer process. america, tell your senators that if you do not want a supreme court justice who will overturn roe v. wade, those senators should not vote for a candidate from the list. i yield the mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to take another opportunity to pay tribute to justice anthony kennedy, wh

i said to leonard leo, is there one of them that is your favorite? there's a couple that are your favorite? he said we're so confident in this list, you could throw a dart and whoever you -- the dart hit would be a solidly conservative justice on the supreme court. the one area where i would disagree with shannon bream, she said they'll want somebody with a long record on abortion and a lot of these other issues. i don't know that i think that that is true. neil gorsuch didn't have a record on a lot of those issues. they may want somebody that doesn't have a paper trail but are convinced from association, from their general record is a reliable conservative. i don't think it will be a surprise. i think whoever it is just as conservative as neil gorsuch and just as helpful to donald trump giving him a conservative majority on the supreme court. >> dana: john roberts has sent me the list just so i have it here. i remember a lot of these names from the last time around. i have to tell you, i haven't thought about it until this past week. thinking oh, wi

>>chris: leonard leo as executive vice president of the executives society.n washington, is known by a different name. you have been called president trump's supreme court was proverbial how do you plead? >> i don't remember ever whispering and i know he's never whispered. >>chris: leo maybe back in the spotlight this week if a justice on the aging supreme court retires atthe end of the . anthony kennedy is 81 speed of ginsberg, 85 . do you ruth ginsburg, 85. >> - - the odds are high over the next several years you will see a couple vacancies. >>chris: better than 50/50? >> yeah. >>chris: if president trump gets to nominate a justice, that will move the court to solidly conservative. he's been able to get four justices on the court. he organized conservative support for clarence thomas and john roberts and sam alito. his role increased dramatically when candidate trump asked him to draw up a list of potential nominees. >> what you see in that list of 21, now i think 25, is probably the best and brightest individuals on the bench. >> judge neil gorsuch has out

hello, leonard leo.o you want to share what you spoke with the president about yesterday? what did you talk about. >> the president mainly talked about the great meeting he had with justice kennedy and how gracious the justice was and how much the president respects the many years of service that justice kennedy had. >> can you share with us how this list came about and how you decide who should make the list. >> the list was the president's idea. he actually called and asked to meet and suggested the idea of doing a list that was a novel idea. i told him no one had ever done it before, but it was an interesting idea because it would tell people where the president stood on the issue of judicial selection. he decided to do the list. >> what was he looking for. >> one extremely well qualified. people who are not weak and people who are going to interpret the constitution the way the framers meant to it be. >> you're being humble leonard. you have really been credited along with the federal society being i

leonard leo, thank you for that.are at the center of the process so it's nice to talk to you. >> good to talk to you, tucker. thanks. n >> tucker: thank you. well, a year ago buzzfeed released the steel dossier and said at the time it was unverified. they were right. a lot of it is false. now they are being sued for libel. we talk to the man suing them .next. sued for libel. we talk to the man suing them next. you made a promise you agreed to never give up to be a decent neighbor to remember the good people who rise with every challenge to remember their strength when you feel tired to serve with grit and grace you made a promise we did too the all-new ram 1500 and i'm the founder of ugmonk. before shipstation it was crazy. it's great when you see a hundred orders come in, a hundred orders come in, but then you realize i've got a hundred orders i have to ship out. shipstation streamlined that wh the order data, the weights of , everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping ll everything

leonard leo, thank you for that.you are at the center of the process so it's nice to talk to you. >> good to talk to you, tucker. thanks. >> tucker: thank you. well, a year ago buzzfeed released the steele dossier and said at the time it was unverified. they were right. a lot of it is false. now they are being sued for libel. we talk to the man suing them next. jardiance asked: when it comes to managing your type 2 diabetes, what matters to you? you got a1c, heart, diet, and exercise. slide 'em up or slide 'em down. so let's see. for most of you, it's lower a1c. but only a few of you are thinking about your heart. fact is, even though it helps to manage a1c, type 2 diabetes still increases your risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke. jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill with a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit for adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease, significantly reducing the risk of dying from a cardiovascular event and lowering a1c, along with diet and exercise. this really changes things. jard

. >> chris: leonard leo is executive vice president of the federalist society, which advances the causeted constitutional government. in washington, he is known by a different name. >> you have been called president trump's supreme court whisperer. how do you plead? >> i don't remember ever whispering and i know he's never whispered. >> chris: leo may be back in the spotlight this week if injustice on the aging supreme court retires at the end of the term. anthony kennedy is 81, ruth bader ginsburg, 85. >> chris: do you, giving a role, do you think to yourself we are headed into the regular season now? >> every june we think about that. yes, absolutely. the odds are high that over the course of the next couple of years, several years, you will see a couple of vacancies. >> chris: better than 50/50? >> gap. >> chris: if president trump gets to nominate another justice, that will move a court that's often split over two solidly conservative. leo has artie helped get four justices on the court. he organized conservative support for clarence thomas and john roberts and sam alito, but his ro

so you know, let's just say leonard leo has a real ax to grind about the kind of nominee he wants. he's created the 25-member short list that trump relied on and all of those judges have made their jend very clear, too. so you know, it may not be in his interests to assume he's going to be some kind of protective shield that way. >> harry and vanita. >> one quick point, all the op fuss indicationing will go on about cases and judicial philosophy. they'll get this question directly, did anyone say anything and that they'll have to answer. >> thank you both for joining me. ahead the weekend as mass protests against the trump family separation policy have begun. what we know about how these children are being united as children as young as 3 get their own court dates. >>> newly unsealed court documents show paul manafort owed millions to a russian oligarch when he signed onto the campaign. those details after the break. why would a man who is $10 million in debt take a job where he doesn't get paid. wreerd, right? we know that's exactly what the now jailed paul manafort did when he to

reporter: my colleague jon karl talked to the man who helped the president come up with this list, leonard leo, the long-time head of the conservative federalist society. >> should we expect to see a justice like scalia or alito? like gorsuch? >> i think you'll see a justice like neil gorsuch. >> reporter: this week, neil gorsuch, the president's first pick, cast a key vote upholding the trump travel ban. now the president will choose the replacement for gorsuch's mentor, that man in the middle on whom so much has been riding for so long. for "nightline," i'm terry moran in washington, d.c. >>> next, the advances in drone technology that are now saving lives. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to

. >>> ahead on "cbs this morning," leonard leo who helped revise the list of supreme court nominees, he'll tell us what president trump is looking for to succeed justice kennedy. >>> and president trump plans to meet with another controversial world president vladimir putin. bolton spoke at a press conference yesterday after he himself met with few tin. bolton says president trump will ask about the summit. russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. president trump says the meeting will likely take place after the meeting on july 11th and 12th that he's reviewing. >>> the department of health and human services is reviewing the conditions at a shelter. meanwhile david begnaud rode along as officials raided a smuggling stash house in texas near the border of mexico. >> reporter: it was 10:30 a.m. in edinburgh, texas. the deputy was told there are about 45 in there. this is a house in a nice neighborhood. the border patrol invited us to a so-called stash house. i streamed it live on facebook. that's border patrol's local deputy chief raul ortiz. >> they were waiting for a smug

leonard leo, thank you for that.u are at the center of the process so it's nice to talk to you. >> good to talk to you, tucker. thanks. >> tucker: thank you. well, a year ago buzzfeed released the steele dossier and said at the time it was unverified. they were right. a lot of it is false. now they are being sued for libel. we talk to the man suing them next. trust and loyalty. you and lantus. you go together, so stay together. ♪ stay together with a $0 copay, you've got zero reasons to leave, and every reason to stay. lantus is used to control high blood sugar in people with diabetes. do not use lantus to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you're allergic to insulin. get medical help right away if you have a serious allergic reaction such as body rash or trouble breathing. don't reuse needles or share insulin pens. the most common side effect is low blood sugar which can be life-threatening. it may cause shaking, sweating, fast heartbeat, and blurred vision. check your blood sugar

. >> reporter: leonard leo of the federalist society helped to haft that list. on "cbs this morning" he downplayed the threat to abortion rights. >> i don't think people should be worried about "roe v. wade" or any other particular case. >> reporter: but the vote could hinge on two proabortion-rights republicans. >> i don't think we have a nominee yet. a' reporter: alaska's lisa murkowski and maine's susan collins, who said today she wants a justice who views "roe st wade" as settled law. >> the prudent course is to wait red see whom the president chooses to nominate. r: reporter: senators are discouraged from asking nominees how they would rule on a particular case, so collins and test of the senate will comb through the nominee's record looking for clues once the president announces his pick which, jeff, he says, he will do very soon. >> glor: nancy cordes on capitol hill. nancy, thank you. things got pretty heated today. republicans accused of f.b.i. and the department of justice of withholding documents from the mevestigation into russian meddling in the 201

. >> leonard leo of the federalist society helped to draft that list.cbs this morning, he downplayed the threat to abortion rights. >> i don't think they should be worried. >> for could hinge on two pro abortion rights republicans. lisa murcowski and maine's susan collins who said she wants a justice who views it as settled law. >> the prudent course is to wait and see whom the president chooses to nominate. >> senators are discouraged from asking nominees how they would rule on a particular case, so collins and the rest of the senate will comb through the record looking for clues once the president announces his pick which he said he will do very soon. >> hundreds of protesters demonstrated from portland, oregon to brownsville, texas. they blocked offices and courthouses and several were arrested. meanwhile the flood of migrants entering the united states illegally continues. federal agents near the mexican border invited david along for a raid. >> it's another layer of the story. over the last two weeks we have been here, we showed you where people we

and i also think -- i've seen leonard leo of the federalist society said we don't feel pressure to choose woman because of the current composition of the court and i like leonard but i'm not sure what you means because there are twice as many men as women and why would that make sense when women are half of the population so it is a good opportunity to bring more equity and also i think it would be something that would be appreciated by those female senators. >> do you have any favorites in the race. >> again, i obviously don't agree. i think we should pick the best jurist. if it is a man or woman, great. there is a wide range of folks that are qualified on the list. two friends of mine. tom hardiman who was the runner-up last time and brett kavanaugh is the front-runner and for the reason he was justice kennedy's clerk in the past. and so if you want to make justice kennedy feel like he's going away to a safe place, pick a protege to pick his seat. >> and the idea that i said a woman should be chosen and you immediately go to that

i think the list is very outsta the man who helped the president come up with that list, leonard leo, the long-time head of the conservative federalist society. >> it's a transformative opportunity for the president, for the country. >> reporter: to transform the supreme court? >> well, to transform the rule of law in our country. >> reporter: it will be an epic battle. republicans have just a one-seat majority in the senate, and democrats are insisting there should be no confirmation vote until after the midterm elections. >> millions of people are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the president's nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now. >> reporter: the republican senate leader say there must be no delay. >> we will vote to confirm justice kennedy's successor this fall. >> reporter: it was mcconnell who blocked a vote on barack obama's nominee merrick garland until after the 2016 presidential election. and then, he orchestrated a change in senate rules. the so-called nuclear option, to get president trump's pick, neil gorsu

leonard leo join "us weekly." put this in perspective. how big of a deal this opening it. >> sure, justice kennedy has been on the courts for over 30 years and played an important role to fashion so many different areas from gun rights to freedom of speech. separations of power. it's a big deal. >> bret: the process. whispers the gorsuch blueprint is what is going to move forward. >> yes. president had enormous success in nominating gorsuch. i think that will be the process going forward. another nominee like him. >> bret: the sense this will happen quickly? is there a timeline? >> usually it takes the white house 2 or 3 weeks to get the nomination out and 70 to 100 days for the senate to confirm. you are looking at the fall. you could have somebody seated before the october term of the quarter. >> bret: what about the democrats including the senate minority leader saying this needs to wait until after the election? >> the president appoints justices to the court. it's one thing to say just before a presidential election, we should have a

leonard leo and president trump's attorney on the phone who does legal work for me.t everybody some>> [laughing]. >> sean: your reaction -- this is history. this is generations. is an opportunity now for -- this is a big deal. the philosophy of the president in making this decision. >> well, look, i litigated cases in front of anthony kennedy for 3 decades. 80% of the time he ruled in our favorite. 20% of the time he did not. he was always a professional. when we disagreed, his vote counted more than mine. at the end of the day, more times than not he went with us. it was not a consistent conservative philosophy in the mold of now justice gorsuch or scalia. the president now has an opportunity to nominate a justice in that judicial philosophy that the president talks about. putting someone on the court that has the supreme court philosophy or constitutional philosophy. a constitutional conservative. you amend the constitution through a process and i think that's what you will see in the supreme court nominee. >> sean: kennedy didn't have a consistent judicial philoso

this weekend, chris wallace has an interview with leonard leo, a key adviser to president trump. that's here on the fox news channel and check your local listings for air times on your fox affiliate. an election south of the border. voters in mexico prepare to choose their next president. how this could impact relations with our southern neighbor. heard break gripping a small community. how annapolis maryland is honoring the victims of the mass shooting. >> much like police, local newspapers become a family and their family suffered a tragedy yesterday. our hearts go out to them. we'll be thinking of them as we move forward and wish them the best as they try to deal with their grief. alright, i brought in new max protein ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't. i'll take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. new ensure max protein. in two great flavors. new ensure max protein. ...and our tempur-pedic helps us make it all work.. my tempur-pedic relieves pressure like no other mattress. and we stay cool and comfortable all night long.

leonard leo, it is not just abortion, it is eliminating affirmative action, it is eliminating the pobltd of any sort of gun control. you think -- we talk about bump stocks, tprebfor example. the conservative view is you cannot regulate anything related to guns. allowing greater use of the death penalty. allowing religious people to exempt themselves for from the more and more government requirements. this is the agenda these 25 skwruplgs we judges were picked to advance. >> as jeff of course will know, they did explicitly say there was room for reasonable gun restrictions. the problem is over the period of the last 40 years you had a center right republican tradition. they were conservative. like kennedy, they weren't necessarily doing mattic. the national unity in the court that the court can reflect depends on swing justicesment a lot of them came from republican presidents from nixon on. that tradition seems to be decimat decimated. >> i want to be clear about one thing here. i'm so sorry. the argument about whether this is a good or bad thing is a separate thing. this just is. i'm ju

his name is leonard leo a member of the federal society and he is here in studio 57.e will discuss what the president is looking for as a successor to justice kennedy. >> we were there when a federal agent talked to a i.c.e. spokesman after he claims the trump administration told him to lie were an administration raid. >> a new app in that tells parents why babies are crying. all that plus your eye-opener, your world in 90 seconds. we'll see you at 7:00. >> thank you. >>> concord is paying $5.5 million to build affordable housing. developers say 13-13 will be a five-story complex on galindo street near downtown. it will house veterans, seniors, small families and people with disabilities. developers hope to get additional funding for this project from the state. >>> oakland's got some fresh new pavement coming up. summer of paving kicks off today and if all goes as planned, the city of oakland is set to repave at least 25 miles of city streets over the next few months. repaving work will start on east 16th street from 35th to 37th avenues. some of these neighborhoods

. >> i want to play you -- leonard leo, a lot of people don't know who that is but he is basically the person in charge of selecting judicial nominees for the president, vetting them, a very powerful individual. he was on cbs "this morning" and this is what he said about the roe v. wade issue. >> roe v. wade has been a scare tactic that's gone back 36 years. all the way back to justice sandra o'connor's nomination to the court. nothing happened to roe in that period of time and for me it's not about roe v. wade. for constitutional conservatives it's about interpreting the constitution as it's written and interpreting the limits on government power because that's the way to preserve human dignity. >> i hear you but should we be worried about it going away? >> i don't think people should be worried about roe v. wade or any other place. >> do you buy that? >> no and who care what is he thinks anyway. it's what president trump thinks. president trump told the american people i intend to overturn roe v. wade so whatever he thinks, he's not the one choosing the justice and president trump pu

he was ultimately unsuccessful so the pruitts eventually relied on leonard leo who is a conservativeer in town and runs the supreme court process for the administration and a lot of judges to get this other paid job. >> and also held on that trip to italy, right? that pruitt took that raised so many questions. whais the epa saying about this?ot>> they commenting at all, but it's, you know, the repeated stories of his effort to get her a chick-fil-a franchise and using anything that we employed last week and efforts to basically for months and months to find work for his life because scott pruitt was telling his aides that he needed more money and could not live in washington on the salary of being administrator. >> the president continues to voice his support of scott pruitt because he's executing the president's wishes inside of the epa, right? rolling back a lot of these regulations. the president just last week said, and i quote, people are really impressed with the job that's being done at the epa. thank you very, very much, scott, meaning scott pruitt. and republican senator jon

leonard leo of the federal society noting the democrats have been saying that for decades. >> the left has been using the roe v. wade scare tactics since 1932. -- 1972. for 30 years, nothing has happened to roe v. wade. we know a lot about the justice roberts as we knew about kennedy when he was nominated. so i think the abortion issue is a scare tactic. >> melissa: so i'm very excited to be on the couch with you because as the story goes, you are responsible for justice kennedy. tell us the story. >> bill: no, no, no. that is a bit much. no. after -- when the process started, bob bork was famously "borked." >> melissa: a verb now. >> bill: one of the worst things that happened. we talk about the civility war. in the modern time that is when it started. '87. nothing like that had been seen before in recent times in the senate. >> melissa: interesting. >> bill: the way he was attacked. back alley abortions and all of that. people were shocked but that was one of the great divides. judge ginsberg. there were a couple of problems but marijuana was a problem. not that he as a kid had smoke

. >> it's always been a contract contention.of >> chris: leonard leo has been pushing his glass of teae than a quarter-cent the idea that the words of the constitution should be interpreted as they were commonly understood whent was written.ts oue his office there's a photograph of the supreme court's chambers of justice antonin scal m, the primeover of a regionalism over the last half-century.is >> i the inner sanctum of it? >> that's why it's hangingere outside of my office, because this is the place -- this is the temple. >> chris: is modest about what hif role will be iere is another vacancy on the cou, saying it's up to the whe house, but there's little doubt if presidentrump makes anr nomination, leo will be he could not be more committed. >> this is really at the core of his legacy. you were dealing with fundamental traeformation in federal bench, it's about as inspiring and motivating as anytng has been in m professional life. it's likee nothing i'ver it's really incredible. >> chris: leo wouldn't tell us if he has a favorite for the supreme court that list of 25. he says you c

i will say, i did a power player with leonard leo, who will be an enormously influential person in this. one of the top people in federalist society. he helped draw up the list of the 25 conservatives, most of them judges as we mentioned, senator mike lee not a judge, but the choice will come from, and i said to him what are the key issues, he said it's observing the constitution and originalism, interpreting the constitution as was written and commentsly understand in the 1780s. that has to do with separation of powers and limiting the bureaucracy. those are the key issues. >> shepard: chris wallace, can't wait for "fox news sunday" this sunday. >> i can't either. >> shepard: thanks, my friend. >> you bet. thank you. >> shepard: a lot to get to in this very busy news hour. we'll speak with experts on the political side, the legal side, the justice side, if you will and speak to some every day americans as well. ever without this that may be the biggest development in president trump's presidency, there were four or five other lead stories today. we'll mention those as well. just ahead.

leonard leo the executive vice president of the society, i profiled for the new yorker during the gorsuch nomination -- this is at the core of his believes and of the believes of the leadership of the federal society that roe v. wade is a blot on american law, that the issue of abortion should be returned to the state, so states should be allowed to ban it. you know, at this point in the process it's in the interests of the president and his allies to be somewhat vague about the question of roe v. wade and say people have open minds. but don't kid yourself. the whole point of this nomination process is to pick someone who will not be anthony kennedy, who will not vote to uphold roe v. wade. and i don't have the slightest doubt that any of the people on that lest of 25 will vote to overturn roe v. wade. >> maggie, if you chart his evolution on abortion it's notable. he at one point said he was very pro-choice. but it's crystal clear now that he is fully committed to overturning or at least picking a judge he knows will overturn. >> it's a little hard to know exactly where he lands when tha

anybody connected to donald trump or don mcgahn in the white house, president trump's children, leonard leoe federalist society and here are who appear right now to be the leading contenders. first two are former law clerks to justice kennedy. brett cavanaugh from the d.c. circuit here in town. we also have a ray kethledge and on the sixth circuit, from michigan. we also have a woman by the name of amy barrett, a former notre dame professor on the seventh and circuit. and to circle back to my idea of connections, a man who mitch mcconnell really favored and got donald trump to put on the sixth circuit, judge thapar. he could potentially the first asian american justice on the court. and those are just a few of the names. but i would say that donald trump is put on a list of more than 20 names and neil gorsuch, when he was chosen, he was not chosen from the first list. his name came later. so there could be a dark horse here. but i still think that they will confine it to the names we have. but maybe not these four necessarily. although i think they are leading contenders and i think they're

. >> shannon: i want to contrast that with someone that leonard leo of "the federalist" society who has been a key voice and guiding the president on the selections, what he has to say about it. >> the left is been using the roe v. wade scare tactic since 1982 when sandra o'connor was nominated. over 30 years later, nothing's happened to roe v. wade. >> shannon: what do you think, pastor? >> well, i think eventually conservative court will either overturn roe v. wade or at least greatly diminish its importance and its power. here's why, shannon. in 1857, the dred scott decision said african-americans were nothing but property to be bought and sold. thankfully that was overturned. roe v. wade is really the dred scott decision of the 20th century. it said children in the womb were not people. they were just biological blobs with no rights. i think you're going to see that overturned. and this is what a conservative court does. in a liberal court, the liberal court creates imaginary rights for some people while erasing real rights of other people. there is no right to abortion in the const

jeffrey leonard leo was out talking about this. a group of thinkers, lawyers, who have helped the white house sort of liaz terks around this. here's what he said this morning regarding where this fight goes. >> two people who were in his words not weak. and thirdly people who are going to interpret the constitution. >> should we worried about roe v. wade going away? >> i don't think anybody should be worried about a particular case. i think they should be worried about having judges who are going to interpret the laws as written. >> so he says no one should be worried about roe v. wade or any other case going away. you also have other pundits saying in 18 months abortion will be illegal in half the states in the country. which is it? >> so i asked former justice john paul stevens whether roe would be overturned if justice kennedy retired a few years ago, and he said yes. there will be the votes to overturn roe. it's possible that chief justice roberts decided for the legitimacy of the court, it's better to chip away at roe rather t

he has been for the last several decades the most important member of the court and right now, leonard leoead of the federalist society is the most important man in america in choosing his successor because i think there's been a lot of admiration for justice kennedy but also for movement conservatives. there's been frustration he has in fact been unpredictable. that unpredictability made him so significant. i don't think that the choice of his successor will be of someone like anthony kennedy. >> that's what we worry about on my side. that's what i'm worried about. >> it is a very impressive list. understand that not everybody described as a conservative judge comes from the same school or emphasizes the same sort of thing. anthony kennedy is a reminder how justices can change and grow once they get on the bench. >> well, maybe we'll bring back the sod dom laws and trump will get his way and we'll have some form of punishment for women who choose abortion. what a world we're headed towards thank you charlie sykes, jonathan it yourly. up flecht with justice kennedy's retirement it's virtua

"the federalist" society led by len in order leo, whose -- leonard leo whose goal is to repeal roe v. wade putting it together and trump rubber-stamping it. given what the president has said, it is virtually certain that members of the list of 25 would vote to overturn roe. so let this be a call to action for americans from all corners of the country to rise up and speak out. don't let this new court, this new nominee, whomever he or she may be, turn back the clock on issue after issue or after issue, because president trump has embraced a hard-right group who has a veto power over nominees. don't let us turn back the clock, america. stand up. speak out. democrats, republicans, liberals, conservatives, all should want a much fairer process. america, tell your senators that if you do not want a supreme court justice who will overturn roe v. wade, those senators should not vote for a candidate from the list. i yield the floor. and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed w

leonard leo says don't let anybody get you caught up in roe v. same scare tactic used in 1982 when sandra day o'connor was nominated and nothing happened. also keep in mind, too. when they were trying to emphasize this to senator susan collins who wrote this in a statement when the job opening says they are not looking necessarily to overturn established law. ainsley: it's very rare that that would ever happen. we saw that with the labor union. they did overturn that because they said it was wrong. but i highly, highly doubt that they will bring that back up. no one really wants to tackle that. steve: both sides want to use the supreme court nomination as a way to gin up their base. this is what the democrats are doing on the left. it's what the republicans are doing on the right. ainsley: scare tactics and to gin up their base. steve: does sound like the president will reveal the name. ainsley: mark levin says he wants a constitutionalist. someone who can look at the law and make decisions. the thing is everyone interprets the law differently de

. >> reporter: i talked to the man who helped the president come up with that list, leonard leo, they. >> to transform the rule of law in our country. >> reporter: it wic battle. republicans have just a one-seat majority in the senate and democrats are insisting there should be no confirmation vote until after the mid-term elections. >> millions of people are just months of way from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the president's nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now. >> reporter: the republican senate leader said there must be no delay. >> we will vote to confirm justice kennedy's successor this fall. >> reporter: it was mcconnell who blocked a vote on barack obama's nominee, merrick garland, until after the 2016 election and orchestrated a change in senate rules, the so-called nuclear option to get president trump's pick neil gorsuch confirmed with a simple majority vote. the republican majority is even slimmer now, and the pressure on these three democrats is enormous. they defied their party and voted for gorsuch. and now they are all up

leonard leo is the conservative legal expert who will help the president make his pick. >> it's a transformativeortunity for the president and the country. >> reporter: to transform the supreme court. >> well, to transform the rule of law in our country. >> reporter: during the campaign, trump promised to only pick pro-life judges. >> i am putting pro-life justices on the court. >> reporter: anti-abortion activists are calling it a pivotal moment while abortion rights defenders are saying they are in dire immediate danger. >> the senate should reject on a bipartisan basis any justice who would overturn roe v. wade or undermine key health care protections. >> reporter: democrats insist there should be no confirmation vote at all until after the midterm elections. they point to the fact that republicans blocked barack obama's last pick for ten months before the 2016 presidential election, but republican leader mitch mcconnell says there must be no delay. >> we will vote to confirm justice kennedy's successor this fall. >> reporter: republicans are dealing with a razor-thin, one-vote majority in th

the white house again has enlisted leonard leo, the executive vice president of the federalist societya conservative lawyers network, to assisted a selection process that is already focusing on fewer than a half-dozen candidates. on wednesday, mr. leo took a leave of absence from the federalist society to serve as mr. trump trump's outside advisor on the nomination. people close to the white house election process anticipated that a nominee will be announced before mr. trump departs for the coming nato summit, which begins on july 11. the wall street journal this morning. and then you have the front page of the new york times story with an interesting take behind-the-scenes. urging a justice to move aside, -- assurances to kennedy about his legacy came from the white house. in a subtle and not-so-subtle way, the white house waged a that campaign to ensure mr. trump had a second opportunity for the administration to fulfill one of its most important campaign promises to his conservative changers, that he would the direction and complexion of the supreme court. so he used the first openi

both with respect to leonard leo, who is coming into the white house, don mcgann, the white house counsel. so i don't think they're going to have to go through the entire list of 25. they've got no need to go anywhere else. >> tom goldstein thank you so much for coming in this morning. a lot going on. >>> still ahead on "morning joe" -- more on the supreme court battle with two members of the judiciary committee, senators dick durbin and richard blumenthal. >>> plus president trump urged republicans in all caps to pass immigration reform yesterday. >> quite intense. >>> hours later, it failed overwhelmingly thanks to the president's own party. >> i don't understand. >> you're watching "morning joe." directv gives you more for your thing. if you've been waiting for a sign to quit cable, then here's some signs. it came from the toaster. now you can quit cable. switch to directv and now get a $100 reward card. more for your quitting cable thing. that's our thing. call 1 800 directv. you always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed? let's say it in a really low voice. carl? lowest pri

so we'll be talking to john bolton but we'll also be talking to leonard leo, one of the top leaders of the federalist society who put together that list of 25 judges and one senator on that list who the president says he will pick his supreme court nominee from. we'll also talk to dick durbin the number two democrat in the house. they're trying to find some way to stop this nomination before they know who it is. doesn't seem likely they'll be able to stop it. >> sandra: it will be quite a battle ahead and there is a serious balancing act that republicans are embarking on here. former governor mike huckabee who was earlier on the program had this to say about the upcoming battle. >> i think the democrats will be unhappy with whoever donald trump puts forward. if he put moses up for the possibility of being supreme court justice, the ultimate law giver of the 10 commandments, they would still be against it. >> sandra: he met with lawmakers at the white house yesterday in what is possibly an optimistic sign how the president is proceeding here. they walked out and some of them saying it w

on that list of 25, which was assembled by leonard leo, a member of the federalist society, who is currentlyk with the president, there is a short list that has been circulated. we have gotten. so names. thomas hardiman of pennsylvania he was pretty much the runner-up last time. so he would be a choice of the president. and. ainsley: and then we have breath cavanaugh of maryland, and amy kony ba barrett. brian: amulthapar and joan larsen and raymond kethledge. i want to warn the viewers cher is not happy. you must call your senators in congress and tell them to fight tooth and nail. democratic congress and senate should have no meetings with trump's nominees. steve: thanks, cher. brian: bad news, it's not going to stop anything u. steve: this is going to show you, it's a good. ainsley: great one. steve: this is what it says in the "new york post." holding court. trump tightens grip on the supremes. this the daily news. we are. ainsley: totally inappropriate. many last night saying they are worried about abortion. abortion could become illegal. they could overturn roe v. wade. steve: that and