lisa murkowski and susan collins, according to politico. the fate of the supreme court could ride on these two senators. but how likely is it that collins and murkowski would actually break from their own party? well, we can look at some of their words now. according to politico, collins has said that an outside group should not be dictating whom the senate considers. murkowski says that trump has already kept his commitment to that list of 25 conservative choices by elevating neil gorsuch to the supreme court and that he should extend his search beyond that list. a very interesting comment there. so given that, what you're hearing from republicans, the president is also starting to put the pressure on democrats, specifically potentially flipable senators from red states that went for trump. joe manchin, joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp in particular, heitkamp getting some treatment from the president when he visited her home state earlier this week. >> we need kevin cramer to replace liberal democrat heidi heitkamp in the senate. heidi voted n

murkowski: mr. president, request proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask and ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to members of my staff, allison nichols, sterling againwitch, michael mc cambridge, and ceilia butlered and jonathan slithe for today and tomorrow. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i would like to take a few minutes while we have an interlude here with the farm bill to speak with my colleague, senator sullivan, about the nomination of an alaskan in my view an extraordinary alaska. she has been nominated to serve as the assistant secretary of indian affairs at the department of interior. it is my very strong hope that ms. sweeney can be confirmed to this position before we leave for the 4th of july recess. i see no reason why this body should delay the confirmation. i want to give just a little bit of background and

the two who folks are talking about is collins, murkowski, susan collins, lisa murkowski, both pro-choice, both sending signals that this may be different than last year's battle over neil gorsuch where they voted to confirm gorsuch. indicating maybe the issue of roe v. wade could be preeminent in their considerations on this. it's a big if. would they go to the lengths of voting no, joining with democrats trying to stop a trump pick? they've sent signals that have people talking about it. if you start at 50 for republicans and lose collins and murkowski, that's an ugly four but you're down to 48 for the republicans and then you would be short. remember, we're talking about democrats here, too. a lot of democrats running for reelection this year in states donald trump carried in 2016, some by giant margins. so manchin, west virginia. up for reelection, trump won by 42. heitkamp in north dakota, trump took it by 36. donnelly in indiana, trump took it by 20. donnelly, heitkamp, manchin, they voted for neil gorsuch last year, they're vasing voters in these states so if you had 48 and you got

we don't go piece by piece. >> lisa murkowski, susan. they have been in a swing in situations before. >> that's exactly right. they are not afraid to stand up strong for what they believe in. they are not afraid to vote against the republican tide. so this is why it's important for the president to not have a roe v. wade litmus test for his nominee, whoever that person is. and to even hold out hope that that person could be annan thoepb kennedy-like supreme court justice. remember, kennedy was the justice that wrote the deciding opinion on same-sex marriage. so it could be a republican justice who is very socially progressive. so we'll have to wait and see. but that's what it is going to take to get murkowski and collins on board. >> shermichael, i'm looking at midterm elections looming. the president said he will make his nomination a week from monday, july 9th. with all of this hraoplg, is there a republican advantage to the a quick process or to dragging this out closer to election day, and what's the likelihood this gets done like th

and i asked lisa murkowski and we had a 10-minute diussion on a stairwell and she said roe vers wade is a significant factor but not the only factor for her. she is aware of the pressures she fac already. she is under the pressure cooker a lot considering her independent streak and buck the party leadership.it bus anybody's depess. robert: they are not the onlyer ones u pressure. the red state states, itkamp, joe mamp chin of west virginia. >> and right before the election, they don't want to be getting crossways how trump voters and do they approach this? theys. need democr heidi and you can't alienate them either. you sayi' glad i'm not a senator. that will be a tough and then the interesting thing, say someone breaks away, one of the republicans, one -- what do the democrats do, do they want to put the president trumpominee on the supreme court? it's fascinating the way they have to operate in this eironment. robert: we don't pay enough attention how this administration has overhauled the u.s. courts. and it's not just the supreme courts bute d mcbegan in the white house working w

if you lose collins, if you lose murkowsky, obviously now you're down to 48. and for the moment, that's not enough. kbu the flip side. if you take the 48 and look at the democrats there are democrats who are running for re-election this year in states that donald trump carried. states not just that he carried, but carried in a landslide. so those democrats, tremendous political pressure on them. in particular joe manchin, west virginia. heidi heitkamp, north dakota, you played trump in north dakota this week. joe donnelly in indiana. trump winning these states by 20, 30, 40 points in 2016. all three of these last year voted for neil gorsuch, trump's first supreme court nominee. we run 48 on the last screen. if you have those two republican defections, if heitkamp ends up being a yes vote that would be 49. donnelly, that would be 50. manchin that would take to you 51. there's a track record, these three already voted for a trump supreme court pick. all three of them are fighting for their political lives this year. in states that trump won in a landslide. that'

to push hard on susan collins and lisa murkowski. a sign that the white house recognizes the importance of those senators, nbc news is reporting tonight that white house council don mcgahn reached out to susan collins and lisa murkowski to discuss the vacancy. the two confirmed the call to nbc news. and sarah sanders tweeted senators collins and murkowski met with donald trump tonight to discuss the future of the supreme court. she also says, quote, potus team also talked with more than a dozen other senators today as part of an outreach to get views and advice from both sides of the aisle. so we're still very early in the nomination process and the strategy of the two sides are still being worked out. one thing is certain. the people who may ultimately have the most power to influence who becomes the next nominee to the supreme court are the american people. as joe biden said today, the price to be paid for putting our values at risk must be clear now. joining us now christopher khang, now the chief council of demand justice, and al

mccain gets the credit, but murkowski and collins voted no as well. so we have to walk and chew gum at the same time, make the argument on precedent, but then go out and build a grassroots army of people in those states and throughout the country who are going to make the case that there will be a price to be paid at the polls if republicans insist on pushing this nominee, a potentially radical nominee through. so we've got to good out there and build a movement at the same time that we make the argument internally to our colleagues. >> i feel like the reaction yesterday, the reaction this week to the muslim ban ruling, the reaction today to the supreme court's ruling on you know rights which overturn in order than 40 years of precedent in terms of protecting union rights in this country, those were depressing developments for democrats and centrists, i think. they weren't necessarily unexpected developments, but they were nevertheless depressing. when the kennedy retirement news came out, i think people sort of thought maybe clarence thomas might ret

if they put pressure on collins, flake, and murkowski, they can turn around what they're trying to do here. >> jeff flake at 8:57 tonight, knowing what he said in his little known comments on sunday and tuesday, issued a statement that doesn't really say anything. he said, as i have said before, approving a principle conservative who will interpret the constitution rather than legislate from the bench should be our top priority. standard language in the press releases. and then he simply said, as we turn toward filling its seat, i look forward to the senate fulfilling its responsibility of providing advice and consent during a robust confirmation process. that's jeff flake not saying he will, he won't, not saying anything, but he's got to be thinking tonight about what he has been saying before tonight. >> the most crucial question for jeff flake is, if you have qualms about this presidency, if you give speeches to the american people saying that this president is flouting norms and laws and rule of law and democracy itself, the one step he can take to end that, to actually discourage

they can try to swing a couple of republican senators like lisa murkowski. susan collins of maine. but they might loseouple because some democrats are in tough reelection fights in states trump won big andhey might lose them. so there are not a lot of good options >> i think we need to really think about the -- what the eademocratic partydership is doing.

so on that hand, yes, it applies a lot of pressure to senators murkowski and collins. i really think the pressure, laura, like you would probably agree is on the legal community. the organizations like the national bar association and the hispanic national bar association and they have been pretty quiet in the jushld nominations front for the last year. it is time for them to step up. some of us have to renew and pay our dues but that is an important role they have to play. >> big victory, though, for senator mitch mcconnell who has been a stalwart in trying to get as many conservatives on the bench. republicans are happy today. >> i think you can hear republicans singing oh, happy day from capitol hill. donald trump didn't have enough wins going into the midterm election but you're talking about two supreme court appointments within 18 months and the tax bill. that is enough to campaign on. and i took care to note that mitch mcconnell said this is confirmed in the fall. that gives a lot of republicans time to go to the constituents and say i'm part of the trump agenda

we have to put that in front of collins and murkowski. they have to be more worried about getting eelected than getting a primaried by a trumpite. that's what our forces have to bring to this fight. >> cheryl lynn. >> i'm not a politico. i concede i don't have all of the numbers. i don't want to put it down it these two senators. we're in a moment in which every senator has to confront himself. i understand it the power mitch mcconnell has. you heard him in the top of your segment. he 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 coul

it's doable. >> susan collins and murkowski both voted for gorsuch. is he pro-life.is a case now because things are different they now feel compelled to not vote for someone who might overturn abortion and roe v. wade. most important thing from the white house sources i've been talking to, the most important thing to the president is that person is young, is going to be pro-life and super conservative. >> he wants them in for 40 to 50 years. he said today. >> the same thing the republican leadership did, we need to do the same thing. there should be no nomination till after the midterm election. >> peter how do they stop this? they do have the number. it seems to me people in the past have been able to stop these things. >> it's about emotions. and right now, you've got the minority leader of the senate, chuck schumer standing in front of a bunch of microphones begging for fairness. we've both been in the senate. there's procedural parliamentary rules where they could slow it down long 0 enough to put pressure on elected and candidates right now. >> the pressure on t

and we don't know exactly how far susan collins and lisa murkowski are willing to go on the issue of abortion. and right now that is all of the talk. that is what everybody is talking about because it is believed to be the first thing that could go if this court swings dramatically to the right. so i think we really don't know how they're going to move their weight around in the senate with it so narrowly divided, every senator on the republican side has a lot of power to kind of affect -- maybe not the timing but the tenure of the debate about the justice. >> with 25 candidates, there are some on there who are conservative, young, and that the president thinks can get through the litmus test of susan collins and senator lisa murkowski for blowing up his nomination. he doesn't want that to happen. >> and is there anything realistically you think the democrats could do to prevent a roll call vote on the floor of the united states senate until after the mid-term elections? >> i think obviously it is very hard. but i also feel that we've seen some extraordinary things happening in polit

susan collins and lisa murkowski and senator donnelly, senator man chin and senator heitkamp.said to unveil it before he leaves for a trip to europe. both parties bracing for a showdown. on this one they have a process. they have to understand the importance of reaching out. lisa murkowski, susan collins, two republicans worried about the swing vote with anthony kennedy gone. new restrictions on abortion could come into play. critical. with john mccain absent, if you lose a republican, you're going to lose a democratic vote, so you bring in three democrats that are likely to be your target of opportunity here. >> this is one of the big things the white house is hailed as doing smoothly last year. that was the nomination and confirmation of neil gorsuch who is a chief justice now. don mcgahn, the white house council, is having a meeting now while the president decides what the supreme court will look like for the next few decades. we were told short after we found out kennedy was retiring that they will move this quickly and now we're seeing how quickly they want this to go. a

murkowski 2022.have a less of incentive to vote for this justice if they disagree with him because of political calculus or re-election worries. that's something that the president is thinking about. >> sure. they're not up for re-election. the red state democrats, joe manchin, heidi heitkamp, different story. the president is trying to woo them saying you could help me out here by voting for my supreme court nominee. >> a former republican senate leadership aide told axios that this is a terrible position for the red state democratic senators to be in. they're the most vulnerable. they voted for gorsuch before and now they're stuck with voted for the next nominee and depressing the democratic voters or voting against the nominee and will rile up and fire up the republican base in their states who are already sort of inclined to vote in a republican senate tore replace them. it looks as if they have no choice but to go with neil gorsuch. >> trace: and i want to get your take on the timing here. maybe

when you look at this razor-thin majority, where is colli and murkowski going to go?t >> i exp that. first susan collins had a consistent answer and was asked about this and she said sher won't e ask a judge how he or she will rule on a specific case but she grills them on precedent and she personally believes that roe versus wade is settled law. and isk lisa murkowski and we had a 10-minute discussion on a stairwe and she said roe versus wade is a significant factor but not they o factor for her. she is aware of the essures she faces already. she is under the pressureco er a lot considering her independent streak and buck the party leadership. but it is anybody's depess. robert: they are not the only ones under pressure. the red state states, heitkampjoe mamp chin of west virginia. >> and right before t election, they don't want to be getting crossways with trump voters and how do they approachhi they need democrats. heidi and you can't alienate them either. you say i'm glad i'm not a senator. that will be a toughci on. and then the interesting thing, say someone bre

collins and murkowski are republicans for choice. >> exactly.ou have to consider who the nominee is. you have to consider the 150 federal court vacancies. the way it animated the republican base. look at the exit polling. all of our reporting confirms this is a top priority for trump voters. you have republicans responding to that energy in their base. we will see if democrats start to respond in kind in midterms. >> what about the point that noah is making, the democratic wanted to fight last year against neil gorsuch. they did the filibuster. the republican said we will nuke the filibuster. it's gone. democrats don't have that tool. they are sitting on 49 votes. is there any second-guess on that. >> it's interesting. democratic voters are getting quite an education right now about the power of not just the presidency but also what these judicial appointments can mean. i think it is an issue that has animated republican voters, especially pro-life voters for years. they have built -- this is the result of years of republican and right wing infr

say that is a real possibility and that is why i'm looking to people like susan collins and lisa murkowskiith only a 51 vote requirement to confirm the next supreme court justice to really look into their hearts and souls and do the right thing. i'm also looking to mitch mcconnell to do the right thing and for once to follow his own rule. it's so hypocritical but this is something that doesn't bother the republicans and the trump party at all. >> will the supreme court decision yesterday to uphold the third version of president trump's travel ban, do you think it will embolden him on the broader issue of immigration, which is so tough right now? >> trump is very much anti-immigration, especially black, brown and yellow people. so i have very little doubt that he's not even right now conferring or thinking on his own how he can use his pretty much unbridled executive power to issue further executive orders that would relate to immigration. i have little doubt that the supreme court handed him extraordinary powers which the supreme court didn't have to do, but it was a 5-4 decision. we can t

. >> thank you, chairman murkowski. madam chair, ranking member cantwell, and members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you to discuss the important work of the ferc. an independent federal agency that regulates vital aspects of our nation's electric, natural gas, hydropower, and oil pipeline industries. as you know those aspects of the wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce. that determination to build liquefied natural gas terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines, as well as the licensing hydropower project. i am honored to serve as chairman. i joined ferc as chairman in december 2017. by way of guiding principles and philosophy of governance, i place a great weight on your pores rule of law. i believe that any consideration of potential action by ferc, or by any other governmental body, must begin with a from a distance of the applicable legal requirements. and any action taken most satisfied those legal requirements in full. i also believe strongly

i'm hoping senator collins and murkowski will stick by their guns which will change the trump paradigm. you need a majority. we know that the democrats senators will not vote for this person. if you just need one or two republican senators -- i'm hoping they see through this game and they will stick by their positions and then that will then change and upset the president and the commitments he made and maybe we should do like the republicans did. maybe nothing should happen until after the november elections so we know what the senate looks like. >> you gotta worry from your perspective, there may be one or two or three or maybe four democratic senators up for re-election in states that were overwhelmingly won by donald trump who might be worried about getting themselves re-elected and they may vote to confirm as they did for neil gorsuch. let me move on and get your thoughts on foreign policy issues while i have you. the president gave us new details about what's on his agenda for the upcoming summit in held ssinki. he blamed president obama. he said he doesn't want anyone tampering

what do you expect from lisa murkowsky, from susan collins? from any other republicans that may hold up a nomination, that could overturn roe? and then what do we expect from joe manchin on the other side, and heidi heitkamp and senator donly from indiana. are they going to, because they want to get re-elected, are they going to blindly follow wherever trump's nominee takes them? >> well that is where all of the focus is going to be, joe. if you look at the democratic messaging that came out last night, they made it very clear the two things that they're going to focus on with any nominee are the two things that trump quite frankly said would be litmus tests which are the overturning of roe and also the aca. he's actually said that. he would choose, he said that in the past he would choose justice who is support these things. in the confirmation hearings, they will nail whoever the nominee is, on these points. now the two women republicans, yes, there's going to be a lot of focus on them. a lot of focus on the democrats. but i think lisa murko

senator murkowski and i used to get it to us in writing. i think you're working very hard at this. and your relations of keeping us informed has been appreciated. >> 15 seconds. partner you want on those sas hourly updates. okay. we want to make sure nasa is giving you the satellite information you need on an hourly basis. >> absolutely. we' wki with nasa. >> okay. thank you both. >> senator dane >> thank you. last fire season montana was nearly 1.4 million acres burned. we were left with a great deal of dead and dying timber which caused a serious public safety risk. we see significant delays associated with completing analysis of these burned areas and they prevent the salvage and other long-term post fire restoration from being completed in a timely manner. montana scratched their heads trying to get into burned areas to salvage the timber. we know the clock is ticking. i've heard from many montanans who want the forest service to use your emergency situation determination authority to get more sooner. as you know, i encourage you to improve the requests for the fires in montana

please proceed. >> thank you chairman murkowski. madam chair, ranking member cantwell, and members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you to discuss the important work of the ferc. an independent federal agency that regulates aspects of our nations electric natural gas and oil pipeline industries. as you know, those aspects include the sale of lectures at the end natural gas for state commerce. the determination of whether to build natural gas terminals and interstate pipelines as well as the hydropower project. i am honored to serve as chairman. i joined ferc as chairman in december 2017. by way of guiding principles and philosophy of governance, our place great weight on the importance of the rule of law. i believe that any consideration of potential action by ferc or any governmental body must begin with a firm understanding of legal grounding, and any action must satisfy those legal requirements in full. i also believe strongly that ferc's policies and procedures should be efficient and effective.

we have passed net neutrality here in the senate on a bipartisan basis and senator murkowski and senator collins and senator kennedy of louisiana, they voted for net neutrality. we know as senator schumer just said that if the vote was taken right now on net neutrality in the house ofnt representatives t would win. we would be able to put those protections back on the books. millions of people rose up throughout all the last six months and 22 million of them contacting the fcc, chama pai of the sec ignored those 22 million peoplend a by a three-to vote on the federal on they took net neutrality off the books. in other words, they officially strapped consumers of the projections that have allowed economy in our democracy to flourish. now americans will have to blindly trust their cable companies and their broadband companies and theirer internet providers to protect them againstai discrimination. it is a big cable strea dream ce true. they have already won at the fcc and now the c counterrevolutions underway. here in the senate it is already happened. what we need to do now is to have the

. >> good morning ranking member murkowski, thank you to the committee for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the 2018 outlook in the department of the interior's fire management program. as we've already heard this morning, 2018 is shaping up to be another challenging year. the cumulative impacts of tro trout-- drought, invasive species there are landscapes to more, devastating and costly wildfires. we've seen wildfires in the south, the midwest and the southwest. we can expect the fire season in the west to be comparable to recent years as the outbreak of major wildfires in new mexico and colorado demonstrate. we will continue to mobilize personnel, single engine air tankers and others in a full firefighting effort. as the secretary zinke and purdue reaffirmed to all wildfire leadership in both departments, the protection of firefighters and public safety is the top priority for every wildland fire activity, and management decision. effective wildfire response is also built on trust. on teamwork, and on collaboration among firefighters and their partners. a workplace t

the president also met with judiciary chairman chuck grassley, lisa murkowski and lisa collins who are watched closely as the white house vets supreme court nominees. >> the white house claims it cannot keep the country safe unless a federal judge reverses its order requiring the government to quickly reunify families separated at the border. the ruling endangers national security. the administration's hard-line immigration policy is not deterring everyone. cnn's nick valencia was on a ride along with customs as they caught a group of immigrants crossing the rio grande. >> after meet with the leaders of honduras, guatemala and el salvador, pence delivered a clear message. >> among this flood of illegal migrants are human traffickers and violent gang members like ms-13. but most are making the journey seeking economic opportunity. driven by the misguided belief that they can ignore the laws of the united states and enter our nation without consequences. i say with great respect to the presidents gathered here, this exodus must end. >> as of monday, there are 2,047 separated, unaccompani

>> collins, murkowski, the people you just mentioned. >> gorsuch. >> gorsuch too. gorsuch was nowhere near the extreme example. >> on the issues of roe and gay rights, on the issues of affirmative action, neil gorsuch is the perfect template to look for going forward. we don't have to guess here. there is a list of judges the president will pick from. in those list of judges you can read their opinions, you can read their writings before. there is an enormous amount of clarity among all of these people where they're going. and there's an enormous amount of clarity, 99 senators who are voting going forward from where they stand. >> some will be more activist. however conservative they are calling balls and strikes. that's the key question to look for. >> what do you expect, david, to hear from in this process just in terms of questioning? because there isn't really a lot that a democrat can do? >> no. as john said at the top of the show, there really is nothing. everyone will make their case on their issue. >> right. >> there will be some theater as supreme court he

>> well, i think the votes have senator murkowski and senator collins are are absolutely crucial.ublicans are the majority. in the united states senate so their voices are parent. their votes are important and they understand the consequences. i'm sure they wouldn't call themselves proabortion. i'm sure they'd call themselves pro-choice because you know, as pro-choice people, we're not saying women should have abortions or should not have abortions. we are saying they should have that choice. they should have lib rer erty t make the voice for themselves and not have the government or senators sitting in the united states senate or washington or legislators make that choice, so their votes are crucial. we're going to be watching them carefully and the concept that let the decision stand. it's a legal concept called starry desis is. they have made that decision about roe v. wade time and time again. let decision stand. >> all right, thank you very much for your perspective and expertise. we enjoy having you always. >> thank you very much, ana. >> coming up, travel ban. kennedy retir

lisa murkowski blasted this policy. ted cruz, john mccain, "wall street journal." the polling comes out. 58% of republicans actually are in favor of the policy. is this a straight cold political calculation? one the white house thinks is a winner in the midterms? >> the white house we know will pursue further immigration crackdowns going forward. steve miller and company want to have some sort of prize they can show to their base in lieu of a wall. you don't win elections by putting kids behind chain link fences. this president and administration promised they would get tough on people breaking the law. they were going to be a law and order organization. make ms-13 cry for their marries, not the kids at the -- for their mothers, not the kids at the border. i don't know how that helps the republicans in swing states. >> i don't know. there are some people who are just so sick and tired of illegal immigration and the problem it has been for 30 years. honestly since 1986 with the last amnesty. there are people who say the problem is not the government not reacting wel

jeff flake, bob corker of tennessee, lisa murkowski, susan collins of maine.er if they will apply pressure or if they have any ammunition to regarding keeping the center, if you will. >> they could. where they may have more influence is in the process. you know, if mcconnell wants to ram somebody through really fast in the next two or three months and he's said that's what he wants to do, we know how the senate works. if you get two or three standing in the way, it will muck up the system. so that is a place where someone where the moderate republicans could use their influence to try to manage or adjust how the process works. >> shepard: you said two to three months to be rammed through. historically speaking, that would be fast. >> yes. >> shepard: your best observation, the next few months will be something in the way of order because republicans fall in line or will it be something in the way of chaos because individuals want their own say? >> i'd say we're looking at chaos. >> shepard: as simple as that? >> as simple as that. >> shepard: we don't already

my friend lisa murkowski and i have something in common turns out we worked on the transatlantic pipeline in atlanta. on the pipeline after high school i joined the union and i spent the summer working in the kitchen it was an entry-level job i wasn't allowed to touch anything hot or sharp, but it was an interesting summer and all those years later it gave us something to talk about. once we started talking about that, we found ourselves talking about something else we have in common. we are can turn to that the fact kids in rural communities don't have access to the mental health services they need. we met with too many parents and teachers that worried their kidr kids were slipping through the cracks so we decided to team up and now we have a bipartisan bill to bring mental-health professionals in the health service corps into more schools to have access to services. the truth is when women are empowered to contribute fully, we all benefit. we've seen it in the last generation and we are seeing in our politics as women drive the resistance to policies that hurt people and leave our chil

and frankly, both of those issues are ones in which lisa murkowski and susan collins made pledges to their constituents their actions would not hurt, would not undermine. they claim to be pro-choice, to be for roe and access to women's health, and they claim to be supporters of health care and not insuring that people lose coverage. with this decision they'll make a choice about the future that effects both those issues for millions of people. >> donna? >> i don't think democrats will be able to sustain our party if we roll on this nomination. i think it is really critical to getting out our voters for the elections in november. i also think this is really about who we are. in addition to the things that stephanie laid out, we are talking about voting rights, immigrant rights, lbgt rights, and the litany goes on. you wept through the list. i think it is imperative for democrats, senate democrats don't even let a resolution on naming a post office go through unless there's a guarantee we're not taking up this nomination until after the election. >> you're saying shut down the entire s

could this come down to collins and murkowski, two republican senators and the issue of abortion? you the irony here, and that is if you go back a year and a half i guess it is, lose track of time these days, those two very senators along with john mccain helped to sink the health care bill for a number of reasons, the republicans plan to replace obamacare. the big reason for these two women, i interviewed them together, was the issue of planned parenthood which at the end of the day is the issue of abortion. they were upset about the fact that planned parenthood was getting the funding cut and it helped women across the country, particularly in rural areas. my point in telling you the story is that was just legislation. imagine what it is if they care that much about this when you're talking about a ninth seat, a pivotal seat, swing seat on the highest court in the land. so there have been different points of view of united states senators on both sides of the aisle, how to approach questioning a supreme court pick, on whether to ask specifically about a specific case. most supre

opportunity to maybe block that nominee and you put the pressure on senators like collins and r murkowski. >> the state department issuing a new warning holying -- highlighting the dangers of the spating children. saying it can cause lasting damage that can leave them vulnerable to trafficking. i wonder what you make of that report. do you expect it will have any impact on the way this white house actually deals with its zero tolerance policy? >> i wish they would read that report in the white house. the fact of the matter is because the united states for so many years has stood for certain values around the world, that's how our state department operates. what that highlight s how out of step this white house is from the way in which the united states has operated around the world. it is damaging to children to be separated from their families. i also noticed the other day you had the vice president down in brazil meeting with refugees from venezuelvenezuela. we can't let them into the united states but we're welcoming them in brazil. >> ben, stand by with me. president trump is talking

people like susan collins and lisa murkowski have been incredibly thoughtful on helping support women's care. these are the kinds of voices the conversation taz we need to be having activating engaging in people across the country. >> republican senator susan collins of maine said roe versus wade is settled law when asked about abortion rights this afternoon. let's watch. >> well, first of all, i view roe versus wade as being settled law. it's clearly precedent and i always look for judges who respect precedent. >> susan collins is great and said she respects jungs accepts it as it is. do you believe that roe versus wade is safe? >> no, because when a president makes that pledge on national tv and says he's going to stick to it and goes to the measure of saying he would punish women, you have to take what he said during the campaign, he is implementing. and what we don't want is a bench that basically is going to follow that will textualist list being sent to him. it would be one thing if he was calling us and saying i hear you. let's hear who you think or justices that would follow pri

. >> reporter: alaska's lisa murkowski and maine's susan collins who says she wants a justice who views roe v. wade as settled law. senators are discouraged from asking a nominee how they would rule on a particular case, though, collins and the rest of the senate will dig through the nominees' records looking for clues once the president names his pick, which he says he will do very soon. nancy cordes, cbs news, capitol hill. >>> well, president trump says he's looking forward to his meeting with russian president vladimir putin. the summit will take place july 16th in thousands of documents by next week. >>> a september 7th hearing is set for president trump's former campaign aide. george papadopoulos lied last year. he is cooperating with the special counsel, robert mueller's investigation, into possible collusion and the trump cam pape. >>> and first lady melania trump made her second trip to immigration facility. she met with border officials in tucson, arizona, yesterday. she toured a facility in phoenix also. last week she visited a shelter in texas. >>> rescuers in thailand conti

republican senators, collins and murkowski say they are abortion rights supporters and they voted for neil gorsuch last time. with roe v. wade on the line with a 5-4 conservative majority. they may make a move to protect reproductive rights. if senator john mccain is absent this gets more interesting. first of all we wish him the best and hope he recovers. he's in our thoughts. we are not trying to be morbid here. it is about the math. if he is absent then it is 50-49. then it can play out different ways. you could see the democrats needing one to get to 50. anything short of that, that's where we have the big "but" here. there is a big if. there are two. but on the vote there is a big if. if the democrats get all their membership, that's where votes like democratic senators heidi hitecamp comes into play. both in tight races in red states. trump is in her home state now with a rally working to beat in north dakota right now. both voted for justice gorsuch. so if one of them defects to the other side this is over. the best case scenario would be 50/50. that means the vice president mi

i want to draw your attention to lisa murkowski and susan collins. why are they critical. because they both have shown that they're concerned about th wade. they are concerned about abortion. with anthony kennedy as the swing vote, this is the first opportunity in many decades for anti-abortion rights groups to get a chance to actually fundamentally reshape and perhaps take on that critical decision. i talk to senator susan collins about this a little bit earlier today. she was very clear. take a look. >> does the nominee have to commit to you that he or she would uphold the precedent of roe versus wade to get your support? >> i always have a thorough interview with judicial nominees for the supreme court, for circuit courts. and one of the questions that i always ask is, do they respect precedent? and from my perspective, roe v. wade is an important precedent and it is settled law. >> so as you can see, she says, look, this is settled and what she wants to hear from any nominee is that they are will respect those precedents. i do think that there are still -- we don't hav

on the republican side, jeff flake, susan collins as well as lisa murkowski on the democratic side. we just showed them there. red state democrats. what does the president do? what does the white house do? it's my reporting they haven't done a ton on the actual pick side. >> yeah, well, they can't do much outreach to convince senators to vote for this pick until they have a pick. so they're going to want to vet these potential nominees. and trump's going to want to meet with them. i think one important factor and you know this based on all the appointments to nominations trump has made before, he values personal chemistry. he's going to want to have the finalists come in to sit down with them. he's going to want to feel like he can connect with this person. like this person is going to be loyal in some way to him. at least he's comfortable with the person. that's going to matter. then they're going to put a lot of pressure on heidi heitkamp and manchin of west virginia. they're going to really feel the heat. and one person to really look at is joe donnelly of indiana. that is a soci

also two key republican votes, senator susan collins and senator lisa murkowski. two votes that will be very crucial on this course. conversations are coming into play about whether or not this next supreme court justice could be a factor in overturning roe versus wade. the president did meet with those senators and senator chuck grassley of iowa, to discuss his next supreme court pick. he said it's going to come off of that list of 25 people they released in the fall. there they are there on the screen. those are going to be people, don, who essentially decide the fate of the supreme court for the next several decades. >> take a look at them. thank you. appreciate it, kaitlan. back now to my folks here who were speaking to me right after this news conference. neil, i just want to get your assessment on this situation. and you think about it, this is june 14th of last year, we were dealing with the awful shooting at the republican baseball practice. remember? in washington, d.c. now we're dealing with this. and i hope just as much sympathy and prayers as we had fo

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 others who might be susceptible, yes, it might be senator flake, but, frankly, you have a lot of senators in western states which are more or less libertarian states. you have a slew of house seats in blue states where abortion rights are taken for granted. and that i think is where the battle is going to be had. that's where the pressure's going to be coming to bear on all of these people, whether you're in a blue state like a congressman from new jersey who might be at risk now because there's a real risk of roe v. wade, and what are these people going to say about what happens the day after? are these people going to promise they will defend roe v. wade and contraceptive rights? if they don't, they are toast in those states. so it matters not only in senate races but in house races. because the house would be in a position then to set up any l

maybe it's for bob corker, maybe it's for flake, maybe it's for senator collins, senator murkowski. margaret chase smith stood up before anybody else and said joe mccarthy was bad for america. and it took the men four years to catch up. somebody needs to be senator smith here. >> harry litman, what is the case you would make from your vantage point to a republican with a conscience, a republican who still believes in the rule of law, republican who didn't like what they say maybe yesterday on the muslim ban being upheld by this supreme court, what's the case that you would make to that kind of republican that john meacham is talking about? >> well, it would depend, of course, a lot on the nominee. i think what jennifer said kind of hits home. you want, you want for the future, you want for any party as america an institutionalist. someone who even more than her or his specific views on individual provisions of the constitution, respects the role of the court, understands the need to check. that is more clear in this president than it has ever been. >>> now, there is a possibility th