>> senator tillis: i don't know. i think what we have is an investigation that if we allow it to lead to its conclusion when you get a definitive answer to that question. i don't believe that the investigation is a witch hunt, for example. i think that this is just a way to put this behind us because there's so many other things we want to get to, health care, tax reform, infrastructure. i'm trying to do everything i can to remove these distractions so that i can continue to support the president's agenda. >> chris: what do you make of the big news this week that the special counsel is taking his investigation to a grand jury? >> senator tillis: i think that that's just a part of the process. i don't read anything into it. a grand jury are convened all over this country for good reasons. i don't have a concern -- i'm not an attorney, i'm not a lawyer, i'm not going to get into the procedures. if it gets us to an expedient conclusion, i am for anything that does that. if i happen to think it will probably turn out jus

i'm proud to be here with senator barrasso and tillis. i hope we have support for the efforts here something called the building america's trust act this is really the culmination not just of months but years of work. since i've been here in the senate, we've talked about border security. the one thing that's been lack ing, similarly in the last eight years, has been the political will to do what we know we need to do. that's come up with a plan to secure the border and contains 1 00% situational awareness and 1 00% operational control of the southern border. since 9/11, we've seen how important it is for us to know who is coming into our country and what their intentions are. for too long they haven't had the tools. at the border patrol in particular risk their lives every day to keep us safe. it is inexcusable they don't have the policies in place or the resources to get that done. so what their legislation does is it provides a strategic plan. something we haven't had before. authorizing resources at borders and boosting trade through

republican thom tillis, chris coons of delaware.r coons, you heard kellyanne conway there, no commitment from the president not to fire robert mueller. she says it's not being discussed. your legislation would give a judge the ability to review any decision by the president to fire robert mueller. why do you think it's so necessary? >> well, i think it's a necessary part of just continuing to improve the reputation of independents for department of justice. this is something that lives beyond this special counsel. it provides the president with the opportunity to consult with the ag and department of justice, potentially have one removed, but that have that subject to a judicial review so we make sure it's done for proper cause. >> and the president is calling, and you just heard kellyanne conway repeat it again, the entire russia story a fabrication, a witch hunt, and a hoax. do you agree? >> i'm not sure i agree with the witch hunt. we'll let the facts lead us to whether or not it was a hoax or a distraction. we are where we are,

i'm proud to be here with senator barrasso and tillis. senator johnson will be joining us shortly, and i hope we will have a wellspring of support for our efforts here, something called the building america's trust act. this border security bill is really the culmination not just of months, but literally years of work. since i've been here in the senate, we've talked about border security. the one thing that's been backing, particularly in the last eight years has been the , political will to do what we know we need to do. that's come up with a plan to secure the border so our border maintain 100% situational awareness and 100% operational control of the southern border. since 9/11, we've seen how important it is for us to know who is coming into our country and what their intentions are. for too long, they haven't had the tools and the resources to get the job done. the border patrol in particular risk their lives every day to keep us safe. it is inexcusable they don't have the policies in place or the resources to get that done. so what

i agree with senator tillis, with thom.in everyone's best interest for mueller to be able to carry forward this investigation to its conclusion so we can work in a responsible way to address the real issues facing this nation. it's in president trump's interest, in protecting rule of law for bob mueller to be allowed to continue this investigation until it's conclusion. >> do you see anything that would suggest robert mueller has a conflict? >> no i haven't. i sit on the committee along with chris and i have not seen any evidence to suggest that and that's why i want this investigation to just follow through to an expedient conclusion again so we can get back to fulfilling the promises we made the american people that the president is already working on. we need to be solely focused on that. >> what would it mean if the president fired robert mueller? what would the consequences be? >> i think it's another example -- to me, the reputation of the department of justice has suffered hits in the past. it would be another piece

thom tillis and chris coons. thank you for joining me. senator tillis let me begin with you.ard kellyanne conway. no commitment from the president not to fire robert mueller. she says it's not being discussed. your legislation would give a judge the ability to review any decision by the president to fire robert mueller. why do you think it's necessary? >> i think it's a necessary part of just continuing to improve the reputation of independence for the department of justice. this is something that lives beyond the special counsel. it the opportunity to consult with the ag and the department of justice, potentially have one removed but have that subject a judicial review. >> the president is calling and you heard kellyanne conway repeat it, the entire russia story, a fabrication, a witch hunt and hoax. do you agree? >> i'm not sure i agree with the witch hunt and we'll let the facts lead us to whether or not it was a hoax or distraction. we are where we are and i want to see this investigation concluded so that we can get on to doing the good work the president has already sta

we've also now confirmed the president reached out to senator thom tillis as well. tillis why he was working on separate legislation protecting the special counsel, robert mueller. that conversation, however, is said to have been cordial. with us to discuss this and more, white house reporter for the "washington post" david and cnn political director david chalian and for bloomberg politics. are all of these clashes public and private with republicans one theme seems to be underlining so many of them -- the russia probe. >> yes. clearly the president is consumed by this. i don't blame him. if i was under investigation by a special counsel i'd be consumed also and it would weigh on my mind a lot. it's understandable what he seems incapable of doing, though, is, as aides talked about many months ago, try to dual track things, and wall the investigation off from the business of the white house and trying to pursue the agenda. donald trump doesn't seem capable of doing these walling offs, from these conversations. the other curious thing here is why is the president's a

senator tillis and i serve on the judiciary committee together. he came up to me on the floor and asked if i would be interested in moving on a bill quickly to provide back end protections for the special counsel. if the president tries to fire special counsel robert mule are of the senators that graham and booker have introduced would provide some speed bump, a three-judge panel that would have to review that to see if it's appropriate. the bill that i've introduced with senator tom tillis would allow the special counsel to go to court and sue to be reinstated and a similar three-judge panel would review whether or not he had been inappropriately removed. each approach takes a different side. pre-firing or post-firing so so that if any one of the bills moves forward we've got greater protections for bob mueller and for this important special counsel investigation. >> however good these bills are and how many protections they provide, they still have to get to the floor and so far mitch mcconnell who's run the senate has done it in a particular wa

and then trump dialed up senator thom tillis on the 7th two days before a joint call. tillis is working with chris coons on a bill designed to protect robert mueller, the independent counsel investigating the president's russia connections. a senior political aide also told politico, the president, it seems he is just always focused on russia. one of the reporter who is broke this story from politico, josh s do joins me now. what's the context? >> it seems like the president, when he sees folks on television or hears about a controversial policy or sympathetic that will affect him, he will just immediately dial them up. he will say, get me and so on the phone and he'll express when he's frustrated or concerned or when he wants them to change something. now new chief of staff john kelly is trying to change that a little bit, to try to have a senator breathe, to try to have the call scheduled. to try to put some form and structure into these settings. but president trump likes to call people. and these senators, he sees them as his republican allies. and he often express

the tillis coons bill would be after the fact. it's less intense.ld go back and appeal his firing in front of judges and say i was wrongfully terminated. you'll see different but the same idea. they want mueller to stay in place. >> shepard: it was the last couple days that robert mueller we were informed had hired a 16th lawyer, a prosecutor, to work on this case. what do we know about that prosecutor? >> to be honest, i don't know a ton of health care land, but it's the same thing as a grand jury. it signifies a ramping up of this. each person they add means he's taking this seriously. you can expect the white house on the other end to be pushing back on this. so they're already going through the history of the different -- the mueller team and saying this one donated to the clintons and this one has donated to democrats. look, it's bias. they're setting it up for whatever mueller comes out, if it's negative to trump or his associates, they can say this was rigged from the beginning. >> shepard: where do you see this going in the next couple days?

. >> up next, thom tillis has introduced a new measure. constipated? trust #1 doctor recommended dulcolax. use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes. and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax. designed for dependable relief. that's why at comcast we're continuing to make4/7. our services more reliable than ever. like technology that can update itself. an advanced fiber-network infrustructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. >> a look outside the beltway at the queens city. charlotte north carolina. as robert muller's investigation heats up there is a moved by senators from both parties to protect his special counsel from being fired. our next guest, thom tillis cosponsored a bill this week to do that. senator, why did you introduce the legislation and how would it work? >> well, the reason we introduced legislation, this is somet

lou: thom tillis himself comes out as a republican sponsor of this legislation.ave got to say, i am going tonld as kind as i can. he's not particularly bright here. mike: i spend a great deal of time in the carolinas. i hear on my radio show from north carolina residents who are so livid at him. the word is rage. they can't believe it. his voters, his constituents. north carolinaians say it's intended just for president trump. he said on the sunday morning shows saying we'll have this around for long time. this is directed at president trump. voters will have long memories over these acts. lou: tillis is shocking. he's obviously a sellout and not being very bright here. and i just can't even imagine how dumb the republican party leadership is until i start looking at some of the rank and file like tillis. what in the world? and of course -- charlie: maybe there is some good principle here and some sort of principled stance here. i don't know. but the idea that this is what they are going to prioritize their efforts is stunning to knee when they can't do the simpl

our next guest, thom tillis cosponsored a bill this week to do that.enator, why did you introduce the legislation and how would it work? >> well, the reason we introduced legislation, this is something that i talked about last year and the year before under the obama administration. for the legislation does is codify the recent procedures in the department of justice for the only thing it as is a review after the fact, after special counsel has been removed subject to a three-judge panel. so we can make sure that it was done for proper cause. >> your cosponsored democratic senator chris coons says the reason that this bill was introduced and is on the screen, is to expressly design to threaten the president's power to act in an abrupt and inappropriate way. he say you have been thinking about them for years. but there seems to be some belief in this and it is certainly backed up by what the senator said about this president and his reaction. very negative reactions to special counsel robert muller's investigation. >> i think that is right. that is wher

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tillis' office said, hey, it was a cordial conversation. mind you, the president may have cordially informed him he doesn't want his bill going anywhere. >> we need to remind viewers when robert mueller was nut putt in place, the president said, fine, put a special prosecutor in place. i'm okay with it. bob corker was speaking last friday about the president and his ability to get anything done. >> absolutely. >> i want to share that for a minute. >> the president has not yet -- has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate. >> i mean, this for me has been stunning. i watched it over and over. bob corker saying that the president hasn't shown the stability or the competence and so much of this goes back to russia. when i speak to people inside the white house, they tell me even when we have the president flying straight, as soon as you get anywhere near russia or his taxes the wheels come off. what do you know? >> absolutely. and let's keep in mind, bob corker was considered for s

, the senator, who is also working with a democrat here, and that's significant because tillis is not a name that you here with graham and flake and mccain who have come out before against the president. this is different and if you hear senator chris consequence talk about it, he says, yeah, senator tillis came to him on the floor this week and said he said i want to do something and i want to do it today. i think that indicates to you the level of concern from republicans, from the presidents own party after his attacks with jeff sessions laying the groundwork to try to fire bob mueller. the administration publicly says no, the president doesn't really want to fire bob mueller. i think you're seeing republicans ensure that that doesn't happen or at least there are protections or mutting in more federal sort of judiciary oversight over that. and as they say, is they want to make this, the people response organize these bills that there are three coequal branches of government. they want to make sure that the executive branch doesn't kind of smack down on them too hard. >> great to se

over the legislation tillis is presenting to protect the special council robert mueller. sort of give jundges a say. he did call and said hey what are you doing here. russia seems to loom over everything. >> sure. this is at the center of the president's frustrations with everything, particularly within his own party. what is interesting is we talk about what can rch the do to hold this president accountable. or when will we see this break? the russian investigation is one way they're kind of holding their ground against trump because they are in charge of congress, all the committees looking into this and they have been largely supportive of the special counsel, robert mueller. that combined with the russian sanctions the president had to sign, this is a way for republicans to hold their own against donald trump and he's certainly frus freighted with that. but he's also important to know he hasn't figured out how to have any leverage with these republican senators he needs. he hasn't been able to fill ure out what enkournls them and that's been apparent in all of the neg

again, senator thom tillis, really? we haven't even heard his name since he was elected. kevin, thank you so much. and you were very kind and generous, i thought, with your appraisal of him. good to have you with us. >>> joining now, to north korea, u.s. spy agencies detected the communist regime loading two anti-ship cruise missiles aboard a patrol craft on the country's eastern coast. here now to discuss whether this may lead to another missile test in the days ahead, my first guest form u.s. ambassador to the united nations, fox news contributor john bolton. ambassador, great to have you with us. first, your reaction to what's going on in the great district of columbia. i mean, these people are amazing. you can't get them to work while they're there, once they're gone, there's nothing they seemingly won't do or say to get their name in ink. >> honestly, what congress needs to do is pass a tax cut, tax reform bill. the obamacare debacle, i think, will haunt them in districts as i believe you were saying. but honestly for the sake of the economy, this tax cut is critical

just like pam tillis, they sit on the judiciary committee. these important people he's alienating. >> what do you make of the fact, for ten hours they heard testimony about the dossier. i always thought, we heard about the embarrassing claim about the hotel room, whatever you make of that. but there's other stuff that you laid out. the whole history of the russian effort to trap him into a relationship. we understand. we watched the americans. we know how things are done. you bring the wife in and all of a sudden, they're involved in part of kabul. in this case, what is he most worried about? >> well, honestly, we don't know until we see the transcripts of this ten-hour discussion. that's expected to come out as soon as next week. then we co-shuld shed more lighn it. >> we keep hearing the sbimations from adam schiff. there's something there. and trump acts like there's something there. >> the other wrinkle we haven't talked about is abc reported that christopher steele, the former british spy, has met with the fbi and told him who his source

tillis' gamut has worked so far. grant extra 15,000 visas. 15,000 more jobs going to foreigners rather than merge the ailing working class. we invited senator tillis on this program to tell us why he was so committed to. the returned to party last fall. so far he has declined but of course that invitation remains open as always. new email suggests hillary clinton's state department mishandled classified information while giving favorable treatment to donors to her family foundation. we will take a look at those emails because they are super interesting even though they have nothing to do with russia. also, we will go inside a saffolseastled detention center. shocking video from inside jail. jail. stay for years, centurylink has been promising fast internet to small businesses. but for many businesses, it's out of reach. why promise something you can't deliver? comcast business is different. ♪ ♪ we deliver super-fast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more

tillis' gamut has worked so far.nt extra 15,000 visas. 15,000 more jobs going to foreigners rather than merge the ailing working class. we invited senator tillis on this program to tell us why he was so committed to. the returned to party last fall. so far he has declined but of course that invitation remains open as always. new email suggests hillary clinton's state department mishandled classified information while giving favorable treatment to donors to her family foundation. we will take a look at those emails because they are super interesting even though they have nothing to do with russia. also, we will go inside a saffolseastled detention center. shocking video from inside jail. stay tuned. ♪ irst started working with capital one, my dad called them up and asked for "the jennifer garner card" which is such a dad thing to do. after he gave his name the woman from capital one said "mr. garner, are you related to jennifer?" kind of joking with him. and my dad was so proud to tell her, "as a matter of fact, she i

tillis' office said the conversation touched on many things and the conversation was cordial.ally informed his opinion on the fueler bi mueller bill. >> steve, when you hear about manu's reporting, about this potential other avenue to try to have a meeting or gain information, what do you make of sort of this drip drip? >> anderson, it is very, very consistent is what i've seen from russian operations over the years. if you're running an operation where you're trying to penetrate, trying to get into candidate trump's team, what you're going to do is cast a wide net and you're going to reel it in and see what you get, whether it's a paul manafort, whether it's a anyone or dearborn. you're going to evaluate each of these individuals, are they pro russia, are they interested in bending the rules and making money on the side? is it possible that they could cooperate and not understand what they're doing? all of those things are in the spectrum of what the russians could be interested in. so the fact that we have another person who is apparently either interested if having contacts

bob corker and thom tillis are not exactly squishy moderates. the fact that they are saying that tells you about where republicans' minds are. and if i'm trump, i would be very worried about that. >> and ron, to the issue we first started to talk about last night, the issue of obstruction of justice when it comes to congressional investigative committees, in this case, senate investigative committees, there's the president on the phone complaining to mitch mcconnell about what the investigative committees are doing in the senate and why isn't mitch mcconnell shutting that down. first of all, he doesn't have the power to shut down those committees but it does raise this interesting issue about is that obstruction of justice. >> yeah. it's a two-fer because it looks like he's pursing a criminal conspiracy and he's doing a poor job of it. yes, mcconnell is the wrong call and mcconnell's obviously calling him out on that. the effort with tillis to stop legislation to protect mueller is trying to block a path to prevent trump from shutting down the c

when we talk about your show this morning, you've got a very interesting guest, senator thom tillis,ublican from north korea, introduced a bill for robert mueller if he's fired by president trump. is this seen as an act of agr aggression by the white house? >> republicans are much more apt to buck the white house on issues of health care, russia. they passed that russia sanctions legislation. the president was forced so sign, even though he didn't want to. and this is pretty remarkable that senator tillis has joined chris coombs, a democratic senator from delaware, to put in legislation if the president fires mueller, there will be a chance for some judicial review. you're also hearing from so many republican senators that would be crossing the reddest of red lines. >> if he fires -- >> if the president fires robert mueller. there will just be an explosion. i would even wonder with the new white house chief of staff, general kelly, would do, if the president tried to take that step. >> george, thank you. a lot to talk about this morning. we appreciate it. george has a big show this m

he was struck by that how quickly senator tillis wanted to move here. the president is not thinking about firing bob mueller. nick, do you buy it? >> no. i think the investigation is starting to zero in on president trump. it started, in particular, we know, with that june 9th meeting that occurred at trump tower. what happened before that meeting with respect to the hacking of documents at the hillary clinton headquarters. and then what happened after that meeting with the dissemination of those documents on wikileaks and through goosifer the russian hacker. i think all of those have the potential of coming up with evidence that contradicts don jr.'s version of events and kushner's version of events. i think he sees himself cornered at this point because as more evidence comes out the noose is going to tighten and i think from his standpoint he's looking to get rid of mueller as quickly as possible. >> can we talk about something the president said last night that struck me. this was regarding russia and russians on his campaign. listen. >> most people

tom tillis' approval rating is 21 percent. and nancy pelosi 27 percent. chuck schumer 26 percent. and mitch mcconnell impressive 15 percent. and despite of two years of nonstop vitrol, trump is beating all of them. and it is it true, some is lacking. it is true that president trump did a lot even without congress to make our life better. consumer confidence and stock market and businesses starting up and wages even and gd. and foreign policy. he has a lot of challenges and his team is forging new alliiances and make sure our allies pay their fair share and not get suckered in a trade deal that zaps our wealth and independence. president trump stream lined regalwayses and red tape in the federal department and given relief to the vets in the va. a phenomenal justice confirmed in the supreme court. and has 29 more to be approved. and on trade. put cheaters on notice and changed the behavior of offending a nations as a result. other than than bernie sanders, he's the only american politician to get tens of thousands of people to show up in a hot summer day a

. >> lou: tom tillis himself comes out as a sponsors of the legislation that republicans sponsor andarticularly bright here. >> i spend a great deal of time in north carolina and i hear from north carolina residents are so livid at him. the words rage. they can't believe it and feel betrayed and his voters and constituents north carolina wrans are saying it is outrageous to be part of the this legislation and he said this is around for a long time. it is absolutely directed at president trump. and the voters are not going to forget this. voters will have long memoriless. >> lou: to me tillis is shocking and a sellout and obviously not being bright here. i just can't imagine how dumb the republican party leadership is until i looking at the the rank and file like lil ils. what in the world? >> and whatever, maybe there is a good principle here in some sort of you know, principled stance here, i don't know. but the idea that this is how they are going to priorityize their efforts is stunning to me when they can't do a simple thing like fulfill a promise to remove obamacare. >> and it r

>> the senator tillis bill was ridiculous. you don't punt and give somebody else the oversight responsibility. that's the job of the united states senate and house of representatives. kennedy: that was the basis of some of jeff flake's critique saying there has been so much power concentrated in the presidency that congress has to fight to get their share back. so in that regard are people in congress right to push back and openly criticize the president to get some of their powers back? >> senator jeff flake is absolutely spot on. congress has been a threat nick their ability to call out the executive branch no matter who is in the white house. they always talk about the power of the purse, but they never really use it. you can't get to court to extract documents. kennedy: no one in d.c. is properly accessorized. >> i got a new tie. i don't know where it's made. kennedy: it probably wasn't made in a nice factory in oklahoma or utah. >> it was point was made in oklahoma. kennedy: i believe you 100%. always trust a politician.

. >> lou: tom tillis himself comes out as a sponsors of the legislation that republicans sponsor andng to be kind as i can. he's not particularly bright here. >> i spend a great deal of time in north carolina and i hear from north carolina residents are so livid at him. the words rage. they can't believe it and feel betrayed and his voters and constituents north carolina wrans are saying it is outrageous to be part of the this legislation and he said this is around for a long time. it is absolutely directed at president trump. and the voters are not going to forget this. voters will have long memoriless. >> lou: to me tillis is shocking and a sellout and obviously not being bright here. i just can't imagine how dumb the republican party leadership is until i looking at the the rank and file like lil ils. what in the world? >> and whatever, maybe there is a good principle here in some sort of you know, principled stance here, i don't know. but the idea that this is how they are going to priorityize their efforts is stunning to me when they can't do a simple thing like fulfill a promis

happy birthday tilly. >> that is great. big smile on her face. right good reason to celebrate. >> meteorologist, adam joseph is here now. the first day of august and the first day of a possible heat wave. 91 degrees today and stretch the 90s through the rest of the week with pop-ups here and there. the action cam at fairmount park near the please touch me museum. and dots with cumulous clouds. and developed into downpours and a random thunderstorm. we look at stormtracker 6 live double scan and we see one in eastern and southern parts of chester county and malvern and northeastern parts of philadelphia a quick downpour popping up here and lightning and thunder out of allentown a thunderstorm drifting and these are not moving all that quickly and where they popped up they are releasing quite a bit of rain in a short amount of time. otherwise for the rest of the overnight hours, outside of the shot of an isolate the downpour or storm. most of us are quiet and warm and humid. 68 allentown and dover to cape may. sitting at the 70 degree mark. as we g

are look at their willingness to go back in on the health care question and now someone like thom tillis, republican senator from north carolina to shield bob mueller to shield him from the president of the united states. >> you see this branch of government reasserting itself, and mccain as speech where he talked about congress as no subordinate to but a co-equal of the executive branch was a good summary of everything happening on capitol hill, including the russia sanctions pushing back on trump, even mcconnell brushing him off at, no, we're not going to look at redoing the filibuster. you see more and more republicans feeling comfortable like jeff flake pushing back on this administration and you'll see more of that as we get closer to the election season and it becomes clear republicans are not going to be able to use trump no matter how flawed and imperfect a character they see him as and start to see him more as a political liability in their states. if you look state by state, places like arizona ain't very popular. >> mika, heidi brought it up, this is a week that people will lo

here two of the senators sponsoring the bill, thom tillis and chris cooms. listen. >> i think we've already heard strong interest from colleagues on both sides of the aisle supporting this legislation. senators graham and booker also introduced a similar piece of legislation before we went out. >> senator tillis, have you seen anything in this investigation so suggesting robert mueller has a conflict? >> i haven't. i sit on the judiciary committee along with chris or senator cooms and have not seen any evidence to suggest that and that's why i want this investigation to just follow through to an expedient conclusion. >> now, fred, kellyanne conway has come out and pointed out again that some of the attorneys that robert mueller hired on his investigative team have donated to democrats in the past. she actually went on to say the president hasn't even discussed potentially firing robert mueller, but the fact that congress at least some members of congress are taking it as a serious possibility that the president may pursue that course of action, is interestin