so thank you, senator mcconnell for your example. thank you for your mentor ship and for your friendship and ngratulations once again on reaching this historic milestone today. i yield the floor. >> senator from florida. >> mr. president, while senator from kentucky is here, i want to get his attention and just to say at the very comments that the majority whip has said about the senator, i can add to the accolades of the senator from kentucky by pointing out that he and i have a common trait, a common denominator between us, we both married above ourselves, and the fact that his wife, the honorable elaine chao now our secretary of transportation, former secretary of labor, it is truly one of the remarkable couples in the nation's capital of political leadership. and i congratulate him on the comments from the majority whip today. >> health and human services secretary testified this morning on president trump's prescription drug pricing plan before the senate health, education, labor, and pensions committee. watch the hearing tonigh

leader mcconnell is simile relentle. he never stops working and in his view we both as a conference and a country still have miles to go before we sleep. in addition to confirming the president's nominees, we have a packed to-do list this year that includes finishing the defense bill this week, passing water infrastructure reform as well as a farm bill, combating the opioid crisis and reauthorizing the federal aviation administration and the coast guard. none of this is easy, but one thing is certain -- with leader mcconnell at the helm and with the hard work of those of us here in the senate on a bipartisan basis hopefully, we'll continue to make steady progress on behalf of the american people we serve. so thank you, senator mcconnell, for your emple. thank you for your mentorship and for your friendship. and congratulations once again on reaching this historic milestone today. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, while the senator from kentucky is here, i want

this is advice mcconnell has not forgotten. he and his wife elaine go home to kentucky almost every weekend. he has kept his eye on kentucky matters, both large and small, including disposal of chemical weapons that have long been stored in the middle of kentucky, enacting a tobacco buyout to help local farmers, support for the state's public universities, and his advocacy for workers at the pucah gas fusion plant. kentucky anglers and tourists appreciate helping to enact a law to require the army corps of engineers to allow fishing below the dams on the cumberland river. 20 years ago he created the mcconnell center at the iversity of louisville, attracting a bipartisan parade of national leaders to visit with ten scholars chosen each year from each undergraduate class. each year mitch mcconnell buys 12 season tickets to the university of louisville football games. he says, i have some regulars. we go to every home game and occasionally anway game. we make a day of it. we go out early. one of my friends has an r.v. in the parki

mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate resume consideration of h.r. 5515. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk for the toomey amendment number 2700. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senator from kentucky mr. mcconnell, cloture motion, wegn senors in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the sene do hereby move to bring to a close debate on senate amendment number 2700 to amendment 2282 as modified to h.r. 5515, an act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 m fitary activities of the department of defense, for military construction and for defense activities of the department of energy to prescribe militarysonnel strengths for such fiscal year and other purposes signed by 17 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i send a clot

a favorite of mitch mcconnell.someone who's served in both government and private practice and finally, thomas hardeman. he has a fascinating back story. he drove a cab for some time. first in his family to go to college and he used to sit on the same court as the president's sister. >> thank you so much. laura jarrett. five big names to know. and now to our chief legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. kennedy of course, republican appointee. conservative. but you know, he was the key swing vote going the other way on same-sex marriage, abortion, roe v. wade, is everyone on this list more reliable to be a guaranteed conservative vote on all issues than kennedy? >> every single one of them. that's why they were picked. we're going to hear a lot about their qualifications. about their you know, openness to new ideas. the whole reason they were picked by the federalist society, but the heritage foundation. is to they would be known as hundred percenters. they're going to vote to overroe versus wade. of course it's going to be

mcconnell: so what is the advantage?antage, even though i'll we have one vote out of 100 like everyone else, the majority leader gets to set the agenda. does not always guarantee the outcome but they decide what we are going to do. that makes what deciding what we are going to be voted on, and occasionally, and more importantly, deciding what you're not going to do. ralph mentioned it. the single most consequential decision i have made in my entire political career was to not let barack obama fill that vacancy on the way out the door. [applause] mr. mcconnell: in the president did not blow the opportunity. neil gorsuch was a superb choice. we cemented that for very long time. now, instead we have somebody in that seat was a worthy successor to the intellectual godfather of what most of us believe a judge ought to be. that is someone who interprets or asw as it is written, the constitution dictates. rather than how you wanted to come out. out.nt it to come my favorite saying from justice scalia isn't your not a very good

mcconnell, republican sen. john cornyn said not going to happen in terms of delay get, this is going to get done before the midterm elections. shannon: the president touting the summit with vladimir putin but everybody who matters to this onboard? >> european allies don't like vladimir putin with the idea of this pres. getting closer to vladimir putin, the summit will be july 16th in finland, second big summit in the span of a few weeks after singapore with a north korean dictator kim jong un. this is a chance to sit down with vladimir putin and talk about national security issues, paving the way, the national security adviser, john bolton, who met with him in russia after the meeting, a top vladimir putin aid reiterated russia claimed they did not metal in the 2016 election, the president tweeted the same, russia says it did not metal in the election, the president's critics not having any of that saying this show why they believe the president is too cozy with vladimir putin, the russian ambassador said calle

rule, they waited -- >> to be consistent with the mcconnell rule. but when you look at the way the republicans approach the supreme court, you cannot look either at principle or precedent or at process. you can only look at one thing. and that is power. the desire to seize control of the supreme court for right wing and big corporate special interests. that is just the record that has developed through the 5-4 decisions and the record of justice gorsuch and a record that americans need to look out for. because as bad as it is to have big corporate special interests tants legislature and our politics, once they start pulling strings on courts, things get really bad. >> but you heard senator orrin hatch say there is a difference between waiting until after a presidential election and waiting in advance of a midterm election. because as you know, president trump is president for the next two and a half years. >> a presidential appointment still needs to go through a senate confirmation. and there is as good a chance right now that democrats will take t

she says, quote, mitch mcconnell should follow the mitch mcconnell rule. let the american people have a say. dick durbin, number two democrat in the senate, makes the same case today. quote, senator mcconnell set the new standard by giving the american people their say in the upcoming election before court vacancies are filled. with so much at stake for the people of our country, the u.s. senate must be consistent and consider the president's nominee once the new congress is seated in january. senator kamala harris, also on the judiciary committee, also seen as a rising star in the democratic party with a growing national profile. she makes the same case. quote, the american people who are set to vote in less than four months deserve to have their voice heard. we should not vote on confirmation until they have voted at the ballot box. all saying the same thing. and then there was this from senator chris murphy of connecticut, one of the brightest lights in the democratic caucus. he was right out of the gate with a statement calling this a, quote, red alert

the senate should follow the mcconnell standard. senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts a likely democratic president the -- mitch mcconnell should follow the rule. >> senator mcconnell set the new standard by giving the american people their say in the upcoming election before court vacancies are filled. >> also on the judiciary committee seen as rising star, she makes the same case. the american people who are set to vote in less than four months deserve to have their voice heard. we should not vote on confirmation until they have voted at the ballot box and then this from senator chris murphy, he was right out of the gate with a statement calling this a red alert moment for the american people and explained what he meant to reporters. >> it is absolutely hypocrisy for them to move forward on a vote now when he wasn't willing to do that in the 2016 election. >> we hold mitch mcconnell to the precedent he set in 2016, it is not something that i agreed to, but he should expect to be consistent. >> senator murphy will be joining u

mitch mcconnell wants it done as well.hank you very much for that report. >>> let's go to capitol hill right now where republicans and democrats already are clashing over jis tustice kennedy's replacement even before the president has named a nominee. phil, democrats say republicans will be hypocrites if they hold a confirmation vote before the midterm election, right. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. one name, merit garland still ringing in the ears of democrats from 2016. the supreme court nominee of president obama was not even granted a hearing because mitch mcconnell citing what he called the biden rule said in an election year he couldn't have that. well, democrats are now saying that's fair play. then neither should president trump's nominee in an election year. take a listen to democratic leader chuck schumer. >> our republican colleagues in the senate should follow the rule they set in 2016 not to consider a supreme court justice in an election year. senator mcconnell would tell anyone who listened that the senate

the fight has already moved to the hill where mcconnell says they'll vote by fall.emocrats say it must wait until after the midterms, but they're in the minority. meantime, the white house says the trump meeting with putin is on. they're just waiting to work out the details. all part of our world as "the 11th hour" gets under way on a wednesday night. >>> good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. this was day 524 of the trump

leader mcconnell is simply engaging in hypocrisy. whomever the president picks, it is all too likely they're going to overturn health care protections and roe v. wade. we don't need to guess. president trump has said time and time again he would appoint judges that would do those two things -- overturn roe v. wade, overturn health care protections. on november 11, 2016, then president-elect trump said, quote, i am pro-life. good judges will be pro-life. in a debate against secretary clinton, then-candidate trump said, because i am pro-life and i will be appointing pro-life judges, i think that we will go back to the individual states. unquote. it is impossibly -- i am -- it is impossible to conclude that president trump will appoint a justice whom we can have faith will leave roe v. wade unsettled law. president trump said in his own words that he wants to give them a justice to give the court a majority to overturn roe v. wade. so count on it. president trump will in all likelihood nominate a justice willing to send roe, quote, back

i understand it the power mitch mcconnell has. you heard him in the top of your segment.said we will confirm president trump's nominee this fall. he hadn't looked at what the nominee is or what the qualifications are of that nominee. he's going to confirm. that's astonishing for the senate majority leader to say. president nixon advanced two candidates in two years. you may remember this. haynesworth and carswell. both of whom were dinged in the senate judiciary committee and the full senate because they were so unqualified. this is 1969 and 1970 when nixon lost two supreme court nominees because he selected people who were incompetent and could not have done the job and who were proven to be racist. this is a process that is a constitutional process designed to protect this country for generations to come. and to have the senate majority leader, that's why when i hear this matter of raw power, he's going to insure the confirmation of whoever the president puts forward, every senator should bach at that. every senator should recognize that individually they have a constit

and they are trying to hold mcconnell up here. and i think that there is a school of thought that like let's just get it over with and move on. but there are lots of democrats who are saying not so fast. do they have any leverage? i don't think so. >> that is the question. >> they gave it away. >> they gave it away. >> they didn't give it away. i think that is a fake you news issue, democrats gave it away. that the democrats had the filibuster and they threw it away on neil gorsuch. the republicans were going to get rid of the filibuster whenever the democrats invoked it, whether this nomination or the next one. so the idea that the democrats in the senate sort of made this terrible mistake by forcing the republicans to get rid of the filibuster, i think that is a phony argument. because the republicans were going to get rid of it to confirm anyone. i don't think it matters a bit. >> that is just not correct. i mean you've got some stodgy republicans there who really don't want to change many things including the majority leader m

mcconnell, will there be an ed henry president? >> a shannon bream precedent cited by laura ingraham? >> shannon: thank you very much. great happy with this. our next guest will play a pivotal role in the upcoming debate over justice kennedy seat on the courts. both as member of the senate judiciary committee and welcome happens to be on the short-list himself. senator mike lee, republican from utah, joins us. great to have you. >> good to be her. stu and your reaction. you and i've been trying to figure this out. we talked about it last night with her and i was >> he has been on the court for 30 years. he saw an opportunity and took it. he's given good service to the country and he has been a stalwart defender in many instances of federalism, separation of powers, freedom of religion. i think this was a big decision certainly one that portends a lot of interesting activity. >> shannon: let's talk about the activity and senate. senator dianne feinstein, top democrat on judiciary says there should be no consideration of a supreme co

mcconnell wouldn't be happy couldn't keep to what he said last time let the people decide. wait until we have a election. >> there are a couple republicans. >> she thinks rovio weight is a threat that is the thing, not every republican is painted the same. they don't margin lockstep like democrats do. >> of vision in our party. >> you guys always come through. in west virginia with joe manchin, this means something. if you want to make this about handmaid's tale that will motivate people. >> great to have you together. political programming note. tomorrow night bret baer and martha maccallum i in orlando moderating a debate between the past two republican candidates before the governor, tune in is congressman rod santos and adam putnam go to 5 at 6:30 used in which is a trump fbi agent peter stzrok meets with lawmakers and catherine herridge, what happens next. >> shannon: knew tonight, disgraced fbi agen >> new tonight the disgraced fbi agent who texted about stop donald trump's election was grilled for hours by lawmakers. good latte saying unfortunately fbi counsel ordere

mitch mcconnell, you don't have to like him to know what he's up to. who is better at parliamentary procedure? >> can your party get. >> i put my money on chuck schumer. >> do you have enough strength to hold this vote off till the voter vote in november? >> chucking is an incredible leader. he cares deeply about this issue. he's reaching out to all of us. because he knows how critical this is and he needs all the soldiers on the field. and i believe that he is committed to this and he is going to fight to the end to make sure that the right thing happens. >> what's going on in the democratic party? you're a progressive and young and new. you've had a political history of real substance as attorney general. i know all elections are local. tip always said all things local. i don't think everything's local. a young hispanic woman was able to knock off a brand name product of this country, joe crowley. she's 28 years old what's going on? >> what's going on is that i'm seeing it around the country. there are people who have never run for political office,

there is no mcconnell rule. there is the biden rule which was established by then senator joe biden when he was chairman of judiciary. then senator biden said it is improper to confirm a supreme court nominee during a presidential election year. we are not in a presidential election year. we are -- have midterm elections but we have those every two years anyway. we have a presidential, of course, every four years. >> you believe there will be a vote before the midterm election? >> i do. i think there will be a long confirmation hearing. i hope it's orderly. i hope everybody has plenty of time to ask questions. i know who i'm looking for. i want a cross between socrates and dirty harry. i don't want a hater. i want a whip-smart man or woman who understands the role of the united states supreme court vis-a-vis congress and the president. i think neil gorsuch was an excellent choice. i don't know if justice gorsuch has a twin sister or twin brother. if he does, that's the kind of person i would look for. >> you wan

mcconnell does not care about that.g to both him and his top advisers. >> phil mattingly on capitol hill. >>> angela, let me go to you. what should senate democrats do. >> they have to raise hell. and i say that -- i said it kind of -- whatever, but i mean seriously. this is a decision that doesn't just impact our lives next year or the next two years, supreme court justices are lifetime appointments for those who might have missed it. so this is something that has the ability to reverse course on key decisions that impact our every day civil rights and overall human rights. you're seeing civil rights organizations that are in a legal space pushing out information right now and hashtag save scotus and people understand -- >> and when you say raise hell. what do you mean? what do you want democrats to do. >> being firm, when there was a point in time recently where you did not want a justice appointed before an election. let the people speak loud and clearly, we're in the middle of primary, why can't you decide this on t

leader mcconnell is simile relentless. he never stops working and in his view we both as a conference and a country still have miles to go before we sleep. in addition to confirming the president's nominees, we have a packed to-do list this year that includes finishinghe defense bill this week, passing water infrastructure reform as well as a farm bill, combating the opioid crisis and reauthorizing the federal aviation administration and the coast guard. none of this is easy, but one thing is certain -- with leader mcconnell at the helm and with the hard work of those of us here in the senate on a bipartisan basis hopefully, we'll continue to make steady progress on behalf of the american people we serve. so thank you, senator mcconnell, for your example. thank you for your mentorship and for your friendship. and congratulations once again on reaching this historic milestone today. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. . nelson: mr. president, while the senator from kentucky is here, i want to

and amul thapar who was a frpro jay from mitch mcconnell.re was not a hint of moderation in any of their records, stone cold conservative which is a grand tradition in american law. but it is definitely not anthony kennedy's tradition and it is a tradition that will allow for an expansion of second amendment rights so you can have a bazooka as well as a hand gun. end affirmative action for african american students. if you are a religious person, you can band gay people from your store, restaurants. these are the issues that are going to come up. and that is why these people, as mike pence pointed out. >> another name pointed out is from utah. >> i don't think it would really succeed in that at all. i think the politics here are baked in on both sides. i was a great fan of justice kennedy and will continue to be so. he has a strong libertarian aspect that i enjoyed. the fact is, that the one thing you can't say about president trump is that he failed to deliver on his promises more than any president in my lifetime, he has made good on his p

i asked mitch mcconnell about this. said are you happy you did this, after the supreme court ruling yesterday on the travel back. he said we now have a center right court. all i was doing is applying the biden rule. a reference to joe biden who said in the mid 90s we shouldn't do anything until after the next election. chris murphy from connecticut, he said wait a minute. the shoe is now on the other foot, senator. listen. >> we're four months out from an election that controls the senate. it's hypocrisy for the majority lead tore move forward on a vote now when he wasn't in the 2016 election. >> don't underestimate how big these justices will be in the mid-terms, confirming them right before the election and whether or not the democrats can get energized on their side. shep? >> shepard: what would an energized democratic side be able to accomplish? >> the question is unclear. we asked chuck schumer about that yesterday before justice kennedy retired. he didn't give a very good answer. so that's an unknown. they've neve

>> what mcconnell did was follow the bad rule. which former vice president biden then senator biden established when he was chairman of judiciary was that you don't consider a supreme court nominee during a presidential election year because obviously the president, whom ever it is appoint the nominee. >> but the -- >> we just confirm. we advise and offer consent. if it were an election year we could have that debate for a president. but it's not a presidential election year and the biden rule doesn't apply. all senator mcconnell did was follow senator biden's advice when he held up the appointment to wait on the past presidential election. >> just looking at my twitter feed i can tell you liberals, democrats are fired up about this right now. >> sure. >> they want to see a fight over this, they want to see this get delayed until january. >> of course they do. >> you know as well as anybody how slow the senate can move. >> some are political. i think there are many democrats who see it my way. they just want somebody straight up w

as snore mcconnell felt should be heard them. anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy. >> reporter: republicans have countered 2016 was a presidential year. this is a midterm year and that is the apples to apples comparison regardless of the rules or the precedence, the chamber will continue and will vote by this fall. for mcconnell, just the judicial in general, the most important issue for him personally. one that he talks about constantly, the republican machinery here, millions of dollars from outside groups, urging senators to support this nomination is soon to be kicked into gear. republicans are clearly moving forward on this. >> so is there anything democrats might do to delay or block the confirmation. until after the midterm election? >> if every single republican votes for whoever trump nominating that individual will be confirmed. it will only take 51 and republicans have the number of senators to move that on your own. that is why you are hearing a couple of things from democrats. one, they want t

mitch mcconnell and transportation sec.chao are the latest targets, leading an event at yorkshire university when they were confronted. listen. [shouting] jillian: homeland security secretary kirstjen neilsen, sarah sanders and florida atty. gen. pam bondi have all been harassed in public places seemingly in response to democratic representative maxine waters fueling the fire. >> if you see anybody from that cabinet you get up and push back on them. >> california congresswoman later walking back those comments but last night shield a group of reporters off camera when asked about the remarks, judicial watch filing an ethics complaint. >> she is in signing violent assault and riot against trump cabinet officials reflects poorly on incredibly of the house and that is an ethics violation and the house of representatives needs to decide whether they will allow the house to be used as a platform by one of its members to incite violence. >> reporter: andy biggs introduced a measure to censure waters and called on her to resign ov

>> senator mcconnell did, yes. >> under what gooiz?i think he thought the democratic administration was trying to undermine a republican candidate and i took great umbrage at that and told him, senator, i would not in any way politicize any type of intelligence and so i want to make sure that you understand this is the considered view and assessment and intelligence from cia and so i let it be known in no uncertain terms i did find that comment of his a bit repugnant. >> i'm not questioning the legitimacy of the investigation into the clinton administration and bill clinton, but i want to show all -- this is called a witch hunt and now mitch mcconnell, heidi, wants this to wrap up quickly. they got a lot of witches at this point and at this point in the clinton investigation, i don't know how many they had but it wasn't 19 plus. and so i'm confused as to how mitch mcconnell could say that without laughing? maybe speaking sarcastically. or maybe just admitting that he is blatantly being a trump stooge at this point? >> let's just put on

jennifer, majority leader mcconnell says the process is going forward, full steam ahead. walk us through the key republican senators that could play a factor here. i'm thinking, jeff flake, of arizona, who has already said he wanted to hold up federal judge appointments until we make some progress here on what president trump is trying to do on tariffs. >> i think what people have to understand is this matters hugely. what we talk about is the ability to criminalize abortion and other reproductive rights. that was the fifth vote that justice kennedy essentially maintained for his many, many years on court. whatever else he will say about him. every one of those people on donald trump's list will be willing, will be anxious, to repeal any notion of a constitutional right to privacy. they consider it to be a judicial monstrosity. so with that in mind, i think senators collins, senators murkowski, have to understand that a vote for any of these people on that list is a vote to criminalize abortion and potentially criminalize birth control. it's that important. as far as othe

people who sleep on mitch mcconnell regret it every time.most crafty legislative players we have ever seen. if the democrats think we can make a lot of noise about this, or pick any random guy and decided just because it's the trump nominee. mitch mcconnell has command over this process, they should be mindful about that going forward. i don't think trump will end up appointing a janene pirro to the court, that's be hilarious, but mitch mcconnell is a smart guy, do not underestimate him -- >> so let me -- i just -- >> even though he's got some problems on his end. you don't have a lot of happiness from susan collins, lisa, jeff flake and a couple of others who are nervous this may be an overreach. >> it is complexion issue, two thing. one, to be clear, mitch mcconnell stole a senate, stole a supreme court seat from, then president obama. he stole that seat. that was a seat at president's discretion to appoint a supreme court justice to put someone up for nomination and mitch mcconnell stole that seat. i wanted to be clear. just keep the fact

there's activists calling for pay back to shut down the senate to try to give mcconnell, the mcconnell treatment. we may be entering unchartered territory with the highest stakes decision that will out last the trump era. this backs actuarial. a young replacement could rule for two or three or four decades raising fundamental questions about where we go from here. i say all that. that's the legal substance before you even consider the extra fact that donald trump will be picking a jurist who could ultimately rule on whether trump, the president who came under criminal investigation earlier than any other president in history, whether trump must turn over evidence or give testimony in bob mueller's russia probe. i'm joined by an e steesteemed panel. same question for everyone. what is the significance of kennedy if it moves toward a trump style jurist? >> what we're going to see is another gorsich. he will be much more of a flag bearer. justice kennedy wasn't really a swing vote. i think it's the wrong way to think about him. he hates that term. most of his votes went with be conservati

we'll hear from mitch mcconnell since the justice announcement and we have late-breaking developments reporter: we're learning from the white house the president had a meeting with key players in the senate helping to decide whether or not his next supreme court pick will actually get confirmed. you can see some of the key players like chuck grassley, the republican chair of the judiciary committee and key republican moderates. at the bottom you have joe manchin are all democrats facing re-election in strong republican states that won big for him in double digits. that's interesting because president's critics say he doesn't reach out to democrats and heitkamp praised the fact he's reaching out and con traftd to the protest -- contrast to the protest from senators outside the box denouncing the idea the president will try to get the pick done before the midterm elections though as we reported last night barack obama got a supreme court nominee confirmed before the 2010 midterms and contrast the advice and consent with democrat senators and what liberal commentators are saying like it'

official campaign account tweeted this caption with picture of mitch mcconnell with neil gorsuch inme court ruling. mcconnell blocked obama's supreme court pick paving the way for donald trump to nominate neil gorsuch. this was his you are welcome tweet for anybody who is happy with this ruling, a different response from bernie sanders, the trump administration's travel ban was never about keeping america safe. you need only look at trump's own words to understand this is always been a racist and anti-islamic attempt to ban muslims from entering the country. lindsey graham coming in hot with this tweet saying when the new executive order was issued it is not a religious man, the order was focused on countries are in true states of disarray answered have difficulty -- not coming into the united states. reaction going dn party lines. mike drop and james says congratulations, the supreme court is becoming more un-american court. >> shared got off of the list because they fix those issues in terms of letting people. heather: a new york restaurant welcoming sarah sanders. >> the red hen

but mitch mcconnell is who mitch mcconnell is. and right now, he is blindly, he is blindly a trumpist. and good luck with that. if that's how he wants to be remembered, and that is how he will be remembered. that as well as destroying the way the united states senate selects supreme court justices. that's his legacy. i hope he enjoys it. >> well they all have found a brand that they will live with forever. jonathan turley, thank you very much. >>> still ahead, senate democrats trying to get answers about the border crisis. hhs secretary alex caesar says hundreds of children and families have been reunited. but the numbers don't seem to add up. we still have a lot of questions hanging out there about the fate of these children. >>> plus, how worried are nato allies about a potential summit between president trump and vladimir putin? admiral james stavridis will weigh in on that. this is laura. and tch. and tank. and tiny. and this is laura's mobile dog grooming palace. laura can clean up a retriever that rolled in foxtails, but she

we're going to be hearing from mitch mcconnell.astern time. and how this process will go. everything has got to go precisely timewise. he'll talk all about it. 4:00 p.m. eastern time on fox news. here's trish regan. hi, trish. trish: we'll all be watching. neil cavuto. breaking right now. waiting on the president speaking momentarily to workers in wisconsin from trade, to putin to the supreme court nominee. a whole lot to say. we are on it for you. i am trish regan, welcome, everyone to "the intelligence report." the president's touring a foxconn facility in southeast wisconsin, talking to workers about economic futures. this is a pivotal time for our country, i know it, you know it and he knows it. the pre

mitch mcconnell blocked merritt garland.o would it be fair game for that to suggest that should happen this time, perhaps you should wait to have a vote until after the midterm elections? >> it's the best argument they've got, but it's not going to fly. we were talking about presidential election years. they're talking about any election year. if you suggested or if there was any reason for that, it would mean 50% of the time they would not be considering these. >> they would absolutely be suggesting 50% of the time. but republicans were okay with 20% of the time. so you're picking a different number. it's not you're saying there shouldn't be a certain number. you are picking a different number. >> my colleagues on the other side of the aisle thhave argued the american people did have a voice when they elected president obama in 2012, but that election was nearly three and a half years ago. since that time, a lot has changed in our country signaling a shift in americans' views in our president and his philosophy of governing

the fight has already moved to the hill where mcconnell says they'll vote by fall. democrats say it must wait until the democrats say it must wait until after the midterms, but they're in the minority. meantime, the white house says the trump meeting with putin is on. they're just waiting to work out the details. all part of our world as "the 11th hour" gets under way on a wednesday night. >>> good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. this was day 524 of the trump administration. and this, according to our friend the historian john meacham was the day the age of ronald reagan officially ended. this was the day supreme court justice anthony kennedy announced his retirement. and before we go on here, just a few things about anthony kennedy. he's been on the court for 30 years. he was reagan's third choice after the first two failed. in the end, reagan went with a northern caliifornian, a conservative, to be sure, but with a libertarian streak. classically trained at stanford, london school of economics and harvard law, kennedy employed a

president trump has absolutely begged mcconnell to do the right thing but mcconnell refuses.resident asked, what is the purpose of the house doing good immigration bills when you need 9 votes by democrats in the senate and the dems are only looking to obstruct. republicans must get rid of the stupid filibuster rule. it is killing you. joining us to assess this. former reagan white house political director ed rollins. is the president right about the 60-vote rule? ed: absolutely. even if we hold the senate it will be by a few seats next time. and it will be the same sort of drill. it ought to be by majority rule. the senate stops everybody that's passes in the house. if you want to get things done -- lou: do you know what motivates mcconnell? ed: he has been the leader forking a long time. democrats or republicans, you get to move an agenda. if you fail to move an agenda you will get voted out of office. lou: if the democrats win the senate by a sizable margin tell get rid of that damn rule. ed: if they are sitting there with 51, 52e2 or 53 votes and nt bat an eyelash by the.

mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, june 26. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. i further ask that following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 2. further, i ask the senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for the weekly conference meetings. finally, i ask that all time during recess, adjournment, morning business and leader remarks count postcloture on the motion to proceed to h.r. 2. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator brown. the presiding officer: without objection. mr

mitch mcconnell is speaking live on the senate floor. let's listen in. >> and the first amendment's right to political speech. as justice kennedy concludes his tenure on the court, we wish him, his wife, mary, and their family every happiness in the years ahead. the senate stands ready to fulfill its constitutional role by offering advice and consent on president trump's nominee to fill this vacancy. we will vote to confirm justice kennedy's successor this fall. as in the case of justice gorsuch, senators will have the opportunity to meet with president trump's nominee, examine his or her qualifications and debate the nomination. is i have every confidence in chairman grassly's conduct of the upcoming confirmation process in the judiciary committee. it's imperative the president's nominee be considered fairly and not subjected to personal attacks. thus far, president trump's judicial nominations have reflect add keen understanding the vital role that judges play in our constitutional order. judges must interpret the law fairly and apply

a favorite of mitch mcconnell, first outh indian, asian nominee and he was put on the court. robert: anyone you want to add? >> thomasdi hn. these are all appeals court is a and the reason for that. the republican mantra is no more david suiters. they want to make sure thes are rock solid and appeals court judges write a lot of opinions. >> they have been throughri theer already and have gotten a pretty good look. but they are hoping these people if from are no secrets thatre goi to pop up, all the democrats have going f them is the nominee. >> and i will say some of them met with the president in the first round but some have not. it will be interesting to see who emerges from the contest ofor sts that president trump finds. it is. robert: it does matter. port about the confirmation process, it used to be rowdy events. some things can be unpredictable and something youeport d, two of the most powerful senators, they support abortion rights and voted ainst repealing the affordable care act. they use to frame this battle over the supreme court. when you look at this razor-thin

that's when senat majority leader mitch mcconnell refused toid give prt obama's supreme court pick a vote. >> they should follow the rule they set in 2016. anything, buthat, would be the absolute height of hypocrisy. >> this n is 2016 and right in the president's first term. robert: president trumpt isn' waiting. he has identified potential nomine who could cement control of the supreme court for decades. president trump: we have an excellent list of highly educated and highly intelligent and tremendous people. robert: we examine the impact a new justice could have on policy and the president's legacy with seung min kim of the "washington post." joan biskupic of cnn pete williamof nbc news and carl hulls of the washington times. >> corporate funding is oviding by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. ey understand the challenges of today. and research the technologies of tomorrow.l some c them veterans. our l them part of team. >> on an american cruise lines journey among the rivers, they trace the route by lewis and clark more than 200 years ago. theyravel through american landscap

mitch mcconnell, the majority leader of the senate. so the chinese and the europeans and the mexican who is put these tariffs on whiskey are not stupid and you can see here that brown foreman's stock price, a proxy for what's happening to our business in whiskey is down 18%. >> you're saying mitch mcconnell coddling donald trump when it comes to tariffs actually is hurting people in mitch mcconnell's own district? >> very deliberate retaliation by our trading partners to stick it to donald trump and to stick it to republicans. >> all right. >> and of course harley davidson in wisconsin, right? >> harley-davidson is fascinating. because harley-davidson was his poster boy for american jobs. and another retaliatory tariff was to tax harley-davidson. now they're going to make them outside the u.s. to ship them to europe. >> there are only so many -- not so many, i don't mean it that way. but these are iconic american brands. jack daniels, harley-davidson. a fascinating way to see how those brands get hit first. >>> still ahead. president t

with bernie sanders, the with mitch mechanic -- mitch mcconnell.d something by sacrificing all the norms of the united states senate, something they hadn't done in 150 years plus. and now we have to reap what we've sowed. i'm not sure we understand the gravity of it. >> scott, you need a napkin because you're drooling, you're smiling so much. you're loving this. >> bakari, you left one person off your list. how quickly we forget. we have to thank the man who made this all possible, harry reed who back in 2013 changed the rule. i'm going to go to vegas on friday. i'm going to take harry a fruit basket. he changed the rules for judicial nominations and mitch mcconnell -- >> but they didn't include supreme court justices -- >> and here we are. thank, harry, for making america great again. >> you know what's amazing, scott, throw harry reed in the same category. i'm pissed off at everybody right now. right now we have people not in the united states senate, people not sitting on panels on cnn who are going to suffer because of it. people like white wom

. >> you say this summer will about healthcare how does that go with leader mcconnell's plan? >> ask the american people what they prefer and they want to us focus on healthcare and we're going to use all the tools we have to focus healthcare. >> [inaudible]. >> we don't know. there's agreement. there's no out line. there's just a little statement that says virtually nothing. much less by the way than what president bush was able to get in 2005 and president clinton in 1994. it's much less than either of those, and in each case then north korea backed off. given that they've gotten a lot of the things they've already wanted, the worry, very real, is that they will back off here too having taken their little bag of goies homeng us empty handed leaving the president empty handed so it is too early to say because we don't have anything yet. >> last one? >> [inaudible]. >> the corker amendment, leader mcconnell has said he wouldn't allow to the floor. we would like to see a vote on the corker amendment, and there's been a proposal that makes it far more palatable to many that it b