let's go to nbc justice contour pete williams. pete, you have news on a notice of appeal. >> we knew the government was going to do this. it was a filing before the seattle judge saying dear judge we intend to take the next step. they call it a notice of appeal. basically telling the judge they're going to go to the 9th circuit and trying to get a stay on his order. it's not technically an appeal, but that's the notice they filed. we expect that the request for a stay to the court of appeals out there on the west coast will be filed sometime in the next several hours, probably late tonight, maybe around 8:00 or 9:00 pacific time. and they'll ask the appeals court panel, three judges to put a hold on the judge's order so that the government can resume enforcing the trump executive order. these sorts of filings, this request to put a stay on a temporary restraining order, these are rarely granted. maybe the court will say these ra exceptional circumstances. there's a standing panel out there that receives these requests. they can get

is covering the three big angles of this story, hallie jackson, kasie hunt on capitol hill and pete williams covering the latest inside the justice departnt and the fbi. let's begin a the white house, with hallie jackson, hallie, look, it seems to me -- at least short term the biggest thing to clear up is what did vice president pence know and when did he know it? and at this point, when did he know it? >> reporter: we have new reporting, just in the last couple of minutes, i can share with you, this has been a question that nbc has confirmed via two sources here that vice president pence learned about this warning from the justice department, learned that mike flynn had been inconsistent or

. >>> and for more on where the court action stands, let's bring in our justice correspondent, pete williams. pete, good evening. what happens now? >> well, tonight federal agents appear to be "biding by the cowl explicitly. travelers who arrive from the seven countries that had been covered by the order are once again allowed to enter the united states. iran, iraq, libya, somalia, syria and yemen. and for anyone in those countries that had a visa before the trump order was issued last week, their visas which had been suspended by the executive order are once again valid. they're being allowed to board flights bound for the u.s. now the trump administration is scrambling to get to the federal appeals court on the west coast seeking a stay of the judge's ruling. if the court grants that stay, the executive order would go back into effect. but that's a long shot. courts seldom grant stays like this. it may continue for a while because more court challenges are in the pipeline. jose? >> pete williams, thank you. >>> there will be much mosh on this tomorrow morning on "meet the press." chuck tod

i want to start with pete williams. pete, what does the ruling say?it's unanimous, that's one point. it's not a signed opinion. it's for the court. what it says is the executive order violates the constitutional rights of people who got visas and came here and want to travel and come back. it's a victory for the states of washington and minnesota. they are the ones who rushed to court claiming the executive order harms their residents, stranding foreign college students and faculty who need to travel, making it hard for high-tech companies to do their jobs and splitting up families. the court said the president's order failed to give those people even the barest advance notice or chance to get a hearing which violated their constitutional rights. as for the government's claim the president's authority is absolute over the borders and can't be second guessed by judges, there's no precedent to support that. it's not how the constitutional system works. the justice department says they are reviewing options. the government is likely to go to the supreme

for more, i want to bring in nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, you've been hard at work all weekend long, tracking the ins and outs, the back and forth. how did we get here and what's happening within a few hours? >> well, how we got here is minnesota and washington state went to a judge in seattle and said, you got to -- we want -- we're going to sue this. we're going to say it's unconstitutional and illegal. but before we get to that, we want you to stop the government from enforcing this order for a couple of reasons. one is, they say, it's just went on the books. if you stop it now, you're sort of preserving what the long-standing status quo is. secondly, they say it's hurting us. it's hurting our universities their faculty, their students can't travel. their high-tech companies are economically hurt. and the judge was persuaded that was the right thing to do. the government has gone to the appeals court and said, you've got to lift that stay. the president has sole authority to make these national security decision not the courts. the c

pete williams covers the supreme court for us and that's where we begin with the breaking news. pete, what can you te tell us? >> reporter: lester, good evening. there was drama as the announcement was made. neil gorsuch said, so that was a surprise, was it? with maximum drama in primetime -- >> judge gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support. >> standing here in a house of history and acutely aware of my own imperfections, i pledge that if i am confirmed, i will do all my power permits of this great country. >> reporter: neil gorsuch would bring a westerner senseability to the supreme court. he's a judge on the 10th circuit court of appeals put their eight years ago by george w. bush, easily confirmed. he's not written on any highly controversial cases like abortion but he did write about hobby lobby who said that they should be exempt from the requirements of obamacare. he met his wife while studying in england. he got his first taste of judge ship while in high school. he spent two summers as a u.s. senate p

>> nbc's pete williams in our washington bureau.hank you for joining me. >>> now let's go over to bill crystal, he joins me here on set in new york. bill, let's first talk about what we are -- what we were just talking about with pete williams, which is that this ban is something that is getting a lot of negative attention out there. specifically from protesters around the country, but also from some people in donald trump's own party. who are hearing a lot of pushback against it. my question to you is, how much political capital is the trump administration willing to spend to get this thing through? >> i think it is hurting donald trump. what struck me over the last week was republicans on the hill who have been bending over backwards in senate and congress to give donald trump the benefit of the doubt. starting to break ranks. mitch mcconnell on the sunday shows suddenly wouldn't support the immigration ban the way it was, certainly wouldn't support donald trump about vladimir putin where he seemed to say putin is a killer, but so

incredible to me that we have a court case that's going on so long. >> nbc news justice correspondent pete williams in washington for us this afternoon following the twists and turns. pete, let's just start with the main arguments made on this very interesting, first time i've listened to a conference call with three judges on live television. it was quite fascinating. >> the basic claim here is the government says this appeals court or this district court judge's order should be lifted so the government can enforce the ban. who gets hurt most? is the government hurt the most by keeping the stay in effect that stops them from enforcing the travel restrictions, or are the states hurt more by keeping the ruling in place? that's the immediate question before the court but as you heard, craig, they got into a lot of other questions that touch on it, such as did the president act legally, did he act under the constitution? is this a discrimination against muslims. bottom line the question is, is this temporary stay on enforc g enforcing -- whether it's legal and constitutional. >> pete it also seemed as

our justice correspondent pete williams has more. >> security worthy of a presidential motorcade sped joaquin guzman the two miles from a high-security jail to the federal courthouse in brooklyn this morning. better known as el chapo, he was abruptly taken from a prison in mexico two weeks ago and flown to the u.s., accused of importing more than 200 metric tons of cocaine into the united states. mexican authorities had phone calls to arrange an interview with actor sean penn hemmed lead to his capture. his lawyers say the only way el chapo's wife could see him today was by coming to court because he's in solitary confinement 23 hours a day. no family visits, no phone calls. >> it's extremely restrictive. we believe he should be allowed permission to eventually visit with his wife to make phone calls to our office without further restrictions. >> but prosecutors say his violent history makes all the security essential. they cite his two successful escapes from prisons in mexico. most recently through a tunnel on a modified motorcycle. and murders of rivals by the sinaloa cartel he ran

nbc's pete williams is here to explain it all. pete? >> andrea. here's what they said in their reply brief, we think you should lift the judge's order entirely, let us enforce the entire trump executive order. but at the very least, if you're inclined to rule for the states -- i should say at the very most, the most you should do is give an exemption and let us enforce the order for everybody but people who, in essence, have already come into this country. people who got visas, came in here, were scholars, people worked for companies. then went overseas and want to come back. or people who were here and now are stuck overseas and worried they can't come back if the trump order goes back into effect. so, they raised that for the first time as a potential fallback. they say, this is the people the states were most concerned about, university, faculty, students, people who work for high-tech companies. so, if you have to do something for the states, limit it that way. >> and would they in their brief permanently put these people in a special category

nbc news justice correspondent pete williams explains what comes next for the white house. >> all the justice department is saying tonight is that it's rewi a virtual certainty the government will try again hoping to get from the supreme court what it couldn't get out of the appeals court. it may filing something as early as tomorrow. with just eight justices, there is a chance of a tie which would let tonight's ruling stand meaning the government would be blocked from enforcing the executive order. the message seems to be if the white house had limited the executive order just to people in the seven countries who want to come here for the first time, that would have been much harder to challenge in court. it's because the order was so much broader, covering people here with green cards, people who already have visas and want to travel and come back, that the court said it harmed the states. doreen. >> pete williams, thank you. >>> we have a lot more to come from the white house tonight, including potential ethics violations by top aide kellyanne conway. another late night in the sena

>> meet willia-- pete williams, thank you. president trump paid a visit to central command in tampa for american military operations and the meetings in western asia. while speaking to troops, he lashed out over media coverage of terror attacks and what he perceives as a lack of coverage. this after he raised eyebrows with remarks defending vladimir putin. nbc white house correspondent hallie jackson has details. >> for a president fighting what he calls fake news -- >> it's phony stuff. >> donald trump appearing to deliver his own today about terror attacks abroad. >> it's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported. and in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. >> it's not clear what the president is talking about. his press secretary promising a list of undercovered instances, but no specifics about any attacks deliberately not reported. >> the media doesn't always cover the events to the extent that others might get covered. a protest will get blown out of the water and yet an attack

officials tells nbc's pete william they are not contemplating flynn with lies but answers were ambiguous. >> did you fire mike flynn? >> mike flynn is person -- and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it. he is a man who there was a certain amount of information given to vice president pence who is with us today and i was not happy with the way that information was given. he didn't have to do that because what he did wasn't wrong, what he did in terms of the information he saw -- what was wrong wa the way that other people including yourselves in this room were given this information. it was classified information and given illegally. that was the problem. >> did you direct mike flynn -- >> no i didn't. >> excuse me. >> no i didn't. >> i fired him because of ha he said to mike pence simple. mike was doing his job. >> we have all angles covered. let go first to you kent, and the report that "the washington post" says about general flynn. >> well greta, nbc news pete william is reporting that fbi agent who conducting interview said he did not lie to them. i wen back to the in

let's to go pete williams right now. he mentioned that antonin scalia was in his view, a lion of the court. the reports that you had on earlier. does this change anything in terms of the supreme court direction? >> no, not immediately. because gorsuch will fill the vacancy left by antonin scalia. you lose a conservative on the court and you substitute a conservative. it won't change the direction of the court. here's one thing to note. he did talk about clerking for anthony kennedy. if he is confirmed, we believe he would be the first supreme court justice in american history to serve alongside a justice for whom he once clerked. so that would be very unusual. if the name gorsuch is unusual to him, his mother ann gorsuch was appointed e. pap.a. the administrator. >> the democrats would oppose anyone they think is out of the main stream. looking at what we know about judge gorsuch, is that an easy one for the democrats to block? >> in a normal political environment, i would say no. the antagonistic relationship that alrea

our justice correspondent pete williams has details. >> reporter: unusually strong criticism tonight from president trump's own supreme court nominee neil gorsuch about mr. trump's biting critique today of three federal judges. the president was on the attack barely 12 hours after last night's appeals court oral argument on whether to keep enforcement of his immigration executive order on hold. connecticut democrat richard blumenthal said today that gorsuch told him during a courtesy visit that the president's comments were, quote, disheartening and demoralizing. >> he certainly expressed to me that he is disheartened by the demoralizing and abhorrent comments made by president trump about the judiciary. >> reporter: a gorsuch associate confirmed the comments. they followed mr. trump's speech today to a law enforcement group. >> i listened to a bunch of stuff last night on television that was disgraceful. i don't ever want to call a court biased, so i won't call it sbis biased, and we haven't had a decision yet. but courts seem to be so political. >> reporter: he noted that a federal

joining us now to break it all down, thank goodness, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, great to have you here on the show this sunday morning. i know you stopped by yesterday. you predicted there was going to be a lot more confusion in the days ahea what does this latest move in this latest ruling mean, and have we heard yet from the government itself? >> what we have really right now is the absence of ruling. the government went to the ninth circuit court of appeals on the west coast just after midnight eastern time and said, please, put a hold on the judge's order. it was the judge's order in seattle that basically stopped enforcement of the trump travel restrictions. now the government is treating people from those seven countries affected by the restrictions as though the restrictions were never in place. so the government went to the court last night and said, you've got to stop enforcement of this judge's order. let us continue. this is the j uj thudge that hat down, james robart. the attorney general of washington is the one who brought the lawsuit. the gove

>> pete williams at the supreme court, thank you. >>> let's turn now to a cliffhanger over president trump's pick to lead the nation's schools. betsy devos today losing support from a pair of critical republicans. her nomination to be education secretary now appears to be in jeopardy and vice president pence might have to step in to keep it from going down in defeat. kasie hunt is on the hill for us. >> reporter: president trump's pick for secretary of education suddenly in jeopardy tonight. >> i will not, i cannot vote to confirm her. >> i cannot support this nominee. >> reporter: republican senators susan collins and lisa murkowski announced they can't support michigan billionaire betsy devos to oversee the nation's school system. >> i have heard from thousands, truly thousands of alaskans who have shared their concerns about mrs. devos as secretary of education. they've contacted me by phone, e-mail, in person. >> reporter: the announcement sent republicans scrambling on capitol hill because without these two, they have just 50 votes. so with 46 democrats and 2 independents expect

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has more on this. >> reporter: the secretary of homeland security calls for vastly more aggressive enforcement of immigration laws already on books to reduce the number of people here illegally and fulfill a central donald trump campaign pledge. >> most illegal immigrants are lower skilled workers with less education who compete directly against vulnerable american workers. >> reporter: nearly anyone here illegally is subject to deportation, fewer exemptions. any time undocumented migrants are picked up by police for any violation and their fingerprints are sent to homeland security, they could be deported. in theory, even for traffic violations, though homeland officials say they will concentrate on serious offenses. young people like 18-year-old eduardo solis in los angeles, so call dreamjeanneers, children who came here illegally as a child fear what happened. >> as a child i was afraid i would be deported and now that i'm grown up i'm afraid my whole family will be deported. >> reporter: dreamjeanneers like him are allowed to say as president ob

lester. >> pete williams, thank you. let me bring in our political director, the moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd. where to begin here? this is less than a month into the administration. what are the biggest questions the white house needs to answer? >> there's a couple. why was vice president pence kept in the dark about this? not only was he mislead but for him to be kept in the dark for over a week, nearly two weeks about what came over from the justice department. why is that significant? mike pence is the security blanket for a lot of congressional republicans. if it's common knowledge on capitol hill that mike pence is not in the inner circle, that's going to make some congressional republicans a bit more nervous and maybe a lot less friendly to this administration. i think that's a big one they need to clear up because of the conduct itself and politically in order to make sure their relationship with congressional republicans doesn't go south fast. >> thanks. one last note on politics. the u.s. government

our pete williams breaking it down. always great to have you on, sir, thank you for your time. >> you bet. >>> joining me is yamiche and mike. yamiche, let me begin with you. as we consider the back and forth, what type of strong message do you think the trump administration has received from this opposite and equal branch of government? >> the message is really that you are going to have to prove that you are abiding within the constitution and there are going to be judges all over this country who are going to be pushing back against what donald trump thinks is his authority to possibly discriminate against people. i was listening to pete williams talking about this idea of an on/off switch and this idea of it being unconstitutional to have a preference for christians. at the end of the day we're talking about people that have their families stranded in places, people who have visas that were waiting for years and have paid thousands of dollars to try to get to the united states and these judges are in some ways sayin

pete williams has been all over this thing. let's start with logistics, pete. this is going to be oral arguments made by phone. >> right. the lawyers and judges will all be in different places. this is not in the courtroom. this is typical for one of the emergency motions that goes befo before. this is what we have here. the government saying please turn off the government's order that prevents us from enforces the president's order. >> who is presenting the arguments? you heard president trump saying we've got good reputation. who presents the arguments today? >> the justice department lawyer, perhaps it will be the highest ranking person in the solicitor general's office and i assume robert ferguson, the attorney general from washington state who was really the guiding force behind the lawsuit that led to this order from the judge last friday. i should say one other thing about john kelly's testimony in congress. he was pressed by the democrats why these seven countries, why not others? the point he made and the point the president has been making is they're

welker in florida where the president is getting ready to speak from centcom and we start with pete williams on set with us. t what a treat, pete. when might we no whether this executive order lives or dies? >> by this evening. there's one last filing this afternoon and at any point after that the court could make a decision. these are emergency filings. there's a special three-judge panel that hears these and they tend to act quickly. i will guess by tonight we'll know whether they'll continue the stay, which would block the government from enforcing the travel restrictions. >> are those basically the two options, either keep the stay and allow the travelers to come in or not? >> yes. that's the only question before the appeals court, whether the stay imposed by this judge should be lifted. whoever doesn't prevail, whether it's the states or the federal government can go to the full ninth circuit of appeals or more than likely the supreme court and ask again, will you please p put a stay. >> we saw 97 technical companies coming out. why is it -- is it normal for them to come out like this?

nbc's pete williams. we thank you so very much for your time. thanks again for joining us. >> you bet. >> as we mentioned president trump immediately speaking out about the ruling and about the judge. so who exactly is judge james robart? you can open our nbc washington app to learn more about him. >>> let's change gears now. an early morning assault at a bar in waldorf turned deadly, and now detectives are trying to happened. this happened at the beer for you on a crain highway -- or excuse me, on crain highway. police say the men left the bar after being confronted by some suspects, after minutes they were starting shooting. a woman with him was killed, the suspects we are told are still out there. >>> people in montgomery county will have to find some place else to stay tonight after a van crashed into their building. look at this. montgomery county fire and rescue officials sending in these pictures of the damage. this all happened right near the intersection of brigs cheney road and columbia pike in silver spring. three people we are told h

>> pete williams tonight, thanks. >>> in the suburbs of st. louis today, vice president pence visited an historic jewish cemetery desecrated by vandals after a wave of bomb threats made to jewish community centers across the country. the vice president took to the mega phone to declare there is no place in america for hatred, acts of prejudice, violence or anti-semitism. many of the gravestones have already been repaired and a muslim group has crowd funded nearly $100,000 for the cemetery and jewish centers nationwide. >>> with the battle still waging over the president's immigration plans, house speaker paul ryan took fellow republicans on horseback on a fact-finding tour with homeland security officials today. rex tillerson arrived in mexico and will meet with mexico's president who, last month, canceled the meeting with president trump after he insisted mexico would pay for a border wall. >>> president trump has said that proposed border wall will help stop the skyrocketing overdose raid of the u.s., driven in large part by an increase in n

>> pete williams tonight, thanks. >>> and on a cold winter day there's nothing but warmth at the white house today. during the meeting between president trump and japan's prime minister. the president pledged a close economic and military cooperation with japan, all while tensions played out across the country about some of the president's policies. nbc news white house correspondent hallie jackson has more on this tonight. >> a political bromance, budding with a double hug and double hand-clasp between donald trump and japan's prime minister. the two showcasing the strength of their alliance. before heading to the winter white house for some golf at mar-a-lago. shinzo abe showering praise on the president's business acumen. highlighting japanese developments here, even name-dropping trump tower. it's not clear if the president understood all of it. without a translation earpiece. that came later. both leaders announcing they're now working toward a new one-on-one trade agreement. with president trump fresh off talks with another asian power -- china. >> it was a very, very warm conver

justice correspondent for nbc news, pete williams. thank you, sir. >>> a preview of the coming showdown between the white house and the courts, president trump said the court system would be to blame for any future terrorist attack in this country. here's the president. "just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. if something happens, blame him. and court system. people pouring in. bad." i'm joined by republican strategist and msnbc contributor steve schmidt, as well as jennifer daskell, associate professor of law at american university. i want to go to steve on this on the politics of this thing and your general sense. i mean, there is a background here. trump has called one judge, a mexican-american guy unreliable because he might have a prejudice against him. this case, he refers to a so-called judge. i'm going to ask the professor whether that's going to make some of these judges a little bit less happy to go along with the government position here. what do you make of this challenging the court, sort of andy

lester. >> pete williams in washington. thank you. >>> now to the fire storm surrounding kellyanne conway who went on television and promoted ivanka trump's products encouraging viewers to buy them. members of congress on both sides are asking for it to be looked into. we get the latest. >> reporter: from one of the president's top advisors, a high profile plug. >> go buy ivanka's stuff. i'm going to give a free commercial here. you can buy it online. >> reporter: those comments made from the pitch but a potential violation of federal ethics law that bars government employees from using public office for private gain, including the endorsement of any products. it comes less than 24 hours after president trump attacked nordstrom in announcing it would no longer carry his daughter's products. the company said it wasn't political but based on poor sales performance. both raising red flags. >> i think the american people are fed up with the inability of the president and his staff to separate the interest of the trump family bu

thanks to pete williams and nina, both joining us tonight after the long day in washington, d.c. pete and nina, thanks. when we return after our first break, an "11th hour exclusive," the new jersey governor chris christie takes our question on the supreme court nominee and critical view of the first chaotic days of the new administration. >>> he's going to get confirmed. i took a lot of crap voting for obama's judges. thought they were qualified. tried to be fair to everybody, the best i know how to be, this president won. he deserves the right to pick qualified people, and this is one of the most qualified people i've ever met, so time will tell. >> agree or disagree, refreshing to hear people speak english on occasion. we got one prominent republican's thoughts on the president's supreme court pick. we thought we'd talk to yet another prominent republican on that very same topic, and so we are happy to welcome the sitting republican governor of new jersey, chris christie, back to the broadcast. our friend, nicole, remains with us. thank you for being with us. what do you think

>> pete williams, thank you. >>> there will be much more on this tomorrow on "meet the press." chuck todd will be joined by house minority leader nancy pelosi, vice president mike pence, and house speaker paul ryan. >>> china's relationship with president trump is a work in progress. the president and his new administration have provoked the chinese regime with their support of taiwan. their criticism of china's territorial ambitions in the tough talk on trade with china. the chinese government sees both challenges and opportunities in all of this. more from beijing. >>> this is the beijing -- >> reporter: across china, the news is state controlled and monitored by censors to stay on message. newspapers here are generally a good reflection of what china's government is thinking. and at two of the leading papers where we were given rare access, a prime target these days is president trump. >> he keeps us busy, and he feeds us news every day. >> reporter: editorials warn president trump is playing with fire over taiwan and the south china sea. he's been called a rookie, immature,

pete williams has been following this. number one, what is the immediate impact today, tomorrow, the next day of this new directive? >> none. because the old directive issued by president obama last may was within a few weeks put on hold by a federal judge. it was tied up in court. schools are not obligated to follow the guidelines now so cancelling them has no effect. all schools have to follow title 9, which says they have to provide equal educational opportunities for both men and women, boys and girls. it says you can't discriminate on the basis of sex. the question is is gender identity sex? a memo from the department of education had said yes and that's the core of what the government is now backing away from. curiously in this letter to the supreme court and to the schools they tonight say it's wrong, it's 100% wrong, they just need to study it more. >> so they trashed the old guidelines but any new ones issued? >> not in the sense of the old ones. the old ones said public schools, you could risk your receipt of fed

. >> let's go over to pete williams, our nbc justice correspondent, who is in washington. pete, what is the next step for president trump and if he does go over and amend this executive order as peter just mentioned, is there a way to do so to get around the courts? >> there are a number of options. one is to go to the supreme court. there doesn't seem to be any rush to do that. i'm not even sure that's going to happen today if they decide to do that at all. a second possibility would goo the full ninth circuit court of appeals. doesn't seem to be much point in that. if they do pursue this in court as the president said, it would seem the logical thing would be the supreme court. they haven't, as i understand it, made a decision to do that yet. the other problem here is no matter -- even if they were able to persuade the u.s. supreme court to lift the stay and let the government enforce this order, there's another stay likely coming from the federal court here in alexandria, virginia, which heard argument on a preliminary injunction and lawsuit brought by virginia which mak

pete williams in washington. pete, thanks for the latest on that. >>> meanwhile, donald trump taking on the judicial branch over this very issue in a recent tweet. this has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. i've instructed homeland security to check people coming into our country very carefully. courts are making this job very difficult. and earlier today, an address to the troops at u.s. central command in tampa, trump ratcheting up warnings over mounting threats to homeland security. >> wie up against an enemy that celebrates death, and totally worships direction. you've seen that. isis is on a campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the the world. radical islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11, as they did from boston to orlando, to san bernardino. and all across europe. >> kristen welker is on the ground there in tampa. kristen, this is a continuation i guess of what trump started on social media on twitter over the weekend. he's making the public case agai

thanks to pete williams and nina, both joining us tonight after the long day in washington, d.c. pete and nina, thanks. when we return after our first break, an "11th hour exclusive," the new jersey governor chris christie takes our question on the supreme court nominee and critical view of the first chaotic days of the new administration. g towards earth. how long until impact? less than a minute. what do you want to do, sir? listen carefully... if we all switch to geico we could save 15% or more on car insurance. i like the sound of that. geico. because saving fifteen percent or more on car insurance is always a great answer. anyone ever have occasional y! constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating? she does. she does. help defend against those digestive issues. take phillips' colon health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes? wow! try phillips' colon health. >>> he's going to get confirmed. i took a lot of crap voting for obama's judges. thought they were qualified. tried to be fair to everybody, the best i know how to be, this president won. he deserv

pete williams thank you so much. this morning the president is waking up to this news at his mar-a-lago estate after a fundraiser for the american red cross. kelly o'donnell is in west palm beach. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we know president trump likes to project confidence and he insists that his travel restrictions for certain countries and refugees is legal and necessary for homeland security. but after now two set backs in court and a rough roll out that travel immigration policy is not going as planned. despite a night of high style grand slammer, raising money for president's feud with a federal judge was clearly on his mind. speaking hours before his administration's appeal was denied. the president told reporters we'll win. the president had already argued his own case. in a string of seven tweets saturday. even lashing out at the judge. the opinion of this so-called judge is ridiculous and will be overturned. mr. trump was upset that seattle based federal judge james robart temporarily stopped

we are it covered beginning with the justice correspondent pete williams. back and forth volley in court. >> it was after midnight when the justice department asked an appeals court to put the ruling on hold after the president called it ridiculous and said it came from a so-called judge. they declined to act immediately asking for a response from the two states that got the travel restrictions blocked. this morning, the trump executive order remains on hold. u.s. border officials are proceeding as though it never existed. traveler that is arrive from the seven countries covered fwi executive order are allowed to come here. visas suspended by the order are once again valid. travelers from iran, iraq, libya, somalia and yemen are able to board u.s. flights. when they get here, they are allowed to enter. whatever side loses in the appeals court will try again in the supreme court. it's going to be at least a couple days before we know how it is going to come out. in the meantime, travelers from the seven countries are rushing to get here while they can with e

pete williams, thanks for your great reporting on this. pete in washington, d.c. >>> lee is a lawyer for the aclu, won a stay on the ban in new york in a federal courtroom in this state. fu lee is a state representative from minnesota, one of the two states that successfully won that temporary nationwide halt to the ban. lee and his family came to the united states back in the '90s as refugees from thailand. thank you, gentlemen, for joining us. lee, let's start with you. in your mind, what is the strongest legal argument against the president's actions, keeping in mind what pete just said, that there's two cases here, one is for the stay and the other one is for the constitutionality of the entire order. >> right, so -- >> so i think -- >> i'm sorry, let's start with lee galern and representative, then i'll come to you. >> yes, let me just start with what pete williams said. what the appeals court is making a more straightforward decision, who will be harmed more while the case goes forward, the government or refugees who are in real dange

joining me, kristen welker and pete williams. kristen, the president has gone after the judiciary in a way that is startling to a lot of people. his nominee is up on the hill telling senators privately that he finds that disheartening. but he has not said so publicly. and chuck schumer and others are saying he should say that publicly. what are you learning about whether the white house was given a heads up from judge gorsuch. >> i spoke to a senior administration official earlier today who didn't indicate that the white house was given a heads up but who stressed this point. the white house thinks judge gorsuch should be able to speak his mind, to say what he believes. that essentially, they are not trying to redetermine these meetings that he has on capitol hill. at the same time, andrea, if you look at this politically, politically, it could help judge gorsuch in his confirmation. [ loss of audio ] >> reporter: that he sees a strong distinction between the executive and judicial branches. of course that's something that the wh