tom hardiman reappearing from the president's long list. tell us about him, and what the president is doing with regard to the list as he is in new jersey. >> first, he was the runner-up last time around when the president ultimately settled on neil gorsuch, and he has a great story to tell. thomas hardiman was the first in his family to go to college. he drove a taxi. his father owned a taxicab company, and he drove a taxi to raise some money. he is a known quantity and he serves on the same circuit court as president trump's sister. he is also according to some reporting, one of the choices of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. mcconnell thinks according to "new york times" reporting, he would be easy to confirm. perhaps easier than some of the other folks on the list. we should say though that republicans behind the scenes are doing some battling, providing reporters with conflicting information to sort of get their chosen nominee to the top of the list here. so the caveat of course, is that the president we don't know who he is set

>> i think tom hardiman because of strong gun issues and my understand the interview with the presidentt quite well and he knows d's sister and got her endorsement. i think we will see hardiman pick. i think it's too close to call at the end of the day. heather: all right, we will have you back and hear what you think about ultimate pick. thank you for joining us. >> great, heather. heather: 19 minutes until the top of the hour and what do children trapped in flooded cave, illegal children crossing the border have in common, reportedly a lot, the liberal lawmaker turning the thailand tragedy into political statement. carley shimkus with the outrage boiling over. good morning this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. heather: americans in teenager overseas, u.s. embassy in haiti to stay inside until fu

tom hardiman was on the long list, a runner up for the seat that went to neil gorsuch now justice neil gorsuch. what can you tell us about judge hardiman? >> hey, david. judge hardiman is 52 years old. he was nominated to the federal bench in 2003 by former president george w. bush. and president trump, we're told likes his life story. he was the first in his family to graduate from college, notre dame, as you see there. his father owned a taxicab company. and judge hardiman drove one of those cabs before he went on to law school. hardiman has the strongest record in favor of gun rights. he's voted to restrict challenges from immigrants. and one of the things he hasn't really weighed in on are the big legal controversies of abortion and affirmative action. that is one of the reasons why senate majority leader mitch mcconnell reportedly has settled on hardiman as one of his favorite picks. he thinks that hardiman would be more easily confirmed than some of the other folks on the top three or top four. so at this point, i'm told the president has been fielding calls while he spends time

and tom hardiman. >> adding 21,000 jobs?going after china. >> we will always stand proudly with the brave heroes of ice and our border patrol. >> secretary of state mike pompeo is in north korea looking for a firm commitment from that country

people like them are nominated you'll see a lot of folks might not with regard to ray kethledge and tom hardiman, they're left on by conservatives and records a little bit later so it might take some time. they've almost no prayer with this confirmation. they need every gop senator to get the president's nominees through. democratic leaders meanwhile are hoping vulnerable democrats and red tape holds strong with the party and vote against the president's nominee. >> each senator understands this is an historic decision in the future of the court for a generation or more. they will look carefully at each nominee. i can't predict how all of my 49 colleagues in the senate on the democratic side will vote. it's a 5049 senate. one republican senator can decide the fate of any supreme court nominee. >> or barbara lash or three democrats voted to confirm neil gorsuch and all are open for reelection to republican so they can get at least a couple of those again just to be safe. >> a lot of pressure. thank you so much. let's take a little bit deeper with western university law professor jonathan adler an

bloomberg has learned tom hardiman is a strong contender.e was a runner-up a year ago when the president selected neil gorsuch. you can watch the president's announcement tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. david westin will be reporting from washington. and china making the latest move in the trade war with the u.s. the government told companies to boost imports of products from anywhere but america. last friday, the u.s. imposed tariffs on $34 billion of chinese goods, and beijing retaliated with their own duties on american products. and anthony scaramucci has big plans for sky bridge capital. the financier who was briefly the committee cases chief for president trump is back at the hedge fund he founded. >> i do not think there is any reason why we cannot double the size of the firm in five years, that is 15% growth. sort of like seven or eight from the market, and obviously growing externally through good distribution and adding on products. i do not think there is any reason why we could not be a $20 billion firm in five years. courtney: mor

then there's tom hardiman. he's out of pennsylvania.g because he was the runner-up the last time around for justice antonin scalia's seat. president trump really likes his life story. first one ever in his family to graduate college, drove a cab for a while. he also has a second amendment opinion that conservatives really like. finally, there's judge amy coney barrett. she's a trump nominee just recently. she hasn't got that many opinions, right, but she was at notre dame law school for years, and she wrote a lot about religion. during her recent confirmation hearings, the democrats, diane feinstein particularly kind of went after her on her religion and said something like the dogma lives loudly in you. and afterwards, conservatives were furious. they said, look, feinstein is looking for a litmus test here on religion, but they also think that she might be a vote to overturn roe v. wade. so that's sort of the top list. that's where we are. >> in politics, a lot of people outside the beltway think that if you have a clean slate and peop

mitch mcconnell thought about all four of the candidates he said the president should focus on tom hardiman raymond kethledge, the least possible counter to that. you are never going to get democrats on board. but it might be better with those individuals. >> mitch mcconnell is make an argument that the lower the profile, the better candidate they are. president trump is looking to get the best justice. he understands this will be a terrible fight no matter who nominates. my sense is he's personally concerned with the issue of who is going to make an excellent justice. we saw that with neil gorsuch. he picked somebody he thought was a committed conservative who would be able to serve on the court to mold the opinions of the court it wasn't the easiest fight. there were probably art -- there were probably others who were easierer, and mire sense is that's what he's doing on this pick. neil: i want to get your take on the wisdom of rushing this. you could look at how things are going in november. that republicans pick up seats in the senate. this wheeling and dealing to win over a couple of d

so, you know, he seems to be as tom hardiman, a judge that lives in pennsylvania and three of the four live in pretty key states for 2020. but hardiman seems to be emerging as the slight favorite. but knowing this president, you know, the surprise to me is going to barrett, the woman who is from indiana. i think the president lovers the theater of all of this and i think there is a part of him that would love to see the woman be a decisive voice. >> and she could potentially be an energizer for the republican party leading into the 2018 mid terms. how much of a calculus do you think that is to the president about up coming election? this is something that is going to sit on the court for four decades. should that even come into the conversation whether or not it could help energize voters? >> it shouldn't and historically it hasn't. but the court has become so politicized in recent years starting before trump that a lot of people are losing faith in the court. it is supposed to be nonpartisan. you're not supposed to be able to predict the outcome. but here we are. a lot of things decli

sides and someone who tries to keep open mind and perspective nominees like raymond kethledge and tom hardimanwritings show they are fair, they listen to arguments on both sides and analyze carefully and when they take a position, they then say these are what the other people have said about them and that's really at the end of the day that we want. we want that in a judge and senator collins and murkowski and others who went through gorsuch process saw that in nile -- neil gorsuch. chris: you just mentioned four names, is it fair to say those are the front runners at this point? >> no, those are certainly people who are under very serious consideration, two of them as you know, chris, are people who were through the process to some extent before. chris: hardiman and kethledge. >> he has 300 opinions, respected by both sides of the spectrum and amy barrett, former law clerk to justice scalia, someone who, again, people across the ideological greatly admire. chris: i want to ask you about circuit court judge kavanaugh. should ill-serve the public interest in terms of financial and security cris

mitch mcconnell thought about all four of the candidates he said the president should focus on tom hardiman kethledge, the least possible counter to that. you are never going to get democrats on board. but it might be better with those individuals. >> mitch mcconnell is make an argument that the lower the profile, the better candidate they are. president trump is looking to get the best justice. he understands this will be a terrible fight no matter who nominates. my sense is he's personally concerned with the issue of who is going to make an excellent justice. we saw that with neil gorsuch. he picked somebody he thought was a committed conservative who would be able to serve on the court to mold the opinions of the court it wasn't the easiest fight. there were probably art -- there were probably others who were easierer, and mire sense is that's what he's doing on this pick. neil: i want to get your take on the wisdom of rushing this. you could look at how things are going in november. that republicans pick up seats in the senate. this wheeling and dealing to win over a couple of democrats

there's still much reason to believe that brett kavanaugh is among the leading contenders, as is tom hardiman, as is amy coney barrett. but raymond kethledge is also in the mix. all are deeply conservative. they come from that list of some 25 conservative judges that were put forward by the federalist society and other conservative groups here. the speed at which this is moving is pretty extraordinary. about 12 days or so ago, justice anthony kennedy announced his retirement was happening. so this announcement tonight certainly is coming fast. they're pushing for a fast confirmation. wolf, that is anything but certain. democrats also gearing up for a fight. this is already playing out in midterm election fights across the country, particularly in that battle for the senate. in missouri, for example, one important senate race, the republican candidate there already on the air advertising about this. so wolf, this is going to be front and center in the midterm elections. but most people here at the white house do not know who the selection is going to be. in fact, all of them know it is going t

>> i'm scared to say it because it may doom him, but my hometown favorite, tom hardiman, i think might qualify there. but everyone on the list i think will be pretty much of the same stripe and join the so-called conservatives already. i think i second what mac has to say about stock rising and falling. but having worked it from the inside, i think i want to report that some of the stock rising and falling really has nothing to do with what's going on in the middle of the administration. nevertheless, i think the name that has popped up most recently besides amy barrett and brett kavanaugh is raymond kethledge. one quick point about brett kavanau kavanaugh, you say he's an establishment person. he's not only that. he was very involved in the impeachment of clinton. he wrote much of the starr report. democrats would make him own it if he's chosen. and that might not be the focus that trump most prefers in the coming confirmation battle. >> yeah, there's a lot of politics. but when you strip that stuff away and you go into america, there is a lot of talk about what's at stake, abortion b

well, i think many of the names that are floating around already, brad cavanaugh, amy barrett, tom hardimanre people who are pretty reliably out there on the short list and are folks that the white house counsel don mcgahn would want to screen and interview and the president possibly interview as well. >> let me just cut to the heart of this. there is the whole question, obviously he wants someone who is conservative. that's the definition of what he's looking for and the defense of his list, but when it comes to roe versus wade, today in a press briefing sarah sanders le fused to answer if roe v. wade is settled law. does the president of the united states consider it to be settled law? >> i've never talked to him about it. he's never asked me about abortion or roe v. wade. when the list was being put together, no candidate was talked to, no question was ever asked of them. he's never asked the question of any supreme court candidate during the interviews. i don't know whether he thinks roe v. wade is settled law. i think that what any very good candidate for the supreme court would believ

. >> and he was also, i believe, with both tom hardiman and neil gorsuch.y will tell him, don't do it, that will be suicide. we'll try to figure that out. but the question is is trump crass and unsophisticated enough to try to broach it? and then, of course, the first question in confirmation proceedings will be, has anybody asked you anything about this? they'll go through a litany, you know. it would be perilous not to mention dishonorable for any nominee to lie about it. it would be a very stupid idea for trump to do. that doesn't mean, of course -- >> that he would do t. >> that's right. >> you wrote an open letter, jennifer ruben, to jeff flake. the new justice would not on any case involving the president's conduct in the investigation during the campaign. he or she would not sit on whether self-pardon is valid nor would he or she sit on a case whether trump can simply decline to respond to a grand jury subpoena. >> there are a couple reasons for this and then i want to pickup on what harry just said. we cannot trust donald trump who takes loyalty ple

tom hardiman's people were saying -- the reason is the president didn't make the decision until late. he called kavanaugh. he called on mcgann. he had told three other people that they were on the list and because the decision was so late, the white house had to prepare four background packages, even asking each one of the nominees who they would put on their guest list if they were chosen. >> laura: how depressing. if you are one of the other people and you have your guest list, that's kind of sad. i feel bad for them. >> laura: this information was out there so people supporting the individual candidates that we've been asked for a guest list to that must mean our person is the candidate. when it came down to it, it came to brett kavanaugh who the president said all along he was the front runner. he believes he can gain get confirmed through the process. by the first of october. leonard will tell you that's an important date because of they can't get it done by then, it might get kicked until after the election. what democrat is going to allow a nomination to come to the floor befo

another top contender is tom hardiman.y 53 years old and he's important because the president really liked his personal story. it was the first in his family to graduate from college. he drove a cab for a while. and the president liked what he could bring to the table. he was the runner up last time around. and there are two other people we don't think that they're in play tonight, largely because they're in their home states. but one was ray kethledge. he was considered gorsuch 2.0 because he shares the same judicial philosophy as neil gorsuch and scalia. finally judge amy coney barrett. president trump put her on the bench for the lower courts. she doesn't have a very big track record of opinions, but she has a lot of academic writing on religion. and some people here thought that maybe she would be a vote to overturn roe v. wade. and that's what these protesters are talking about tonight on both sides of the issue, anderson. >> are there any potential wild cards at this point? >> reporter: boy, we don't think so. we've

and expanded to include tom hardiman from the third circuit in pennsylvania. vanaugh and hardiman are getting the most look right now. it was suggested to the president over the weekend that hardyman and kethledge would see the smoothest paths to confirmation leonard leo said on abc this week yesterday that would be a detriment. >> i think that first of all, with regard to ray kethledge and tom hardyman, there's a little less known by conservatives. their records are a little lighter. it might take some time. the president ran on the supreme court issue and it greatly enthused voters. there are people who are well-known and distinguished records. >> on twitter, the president said an exceptional person will be chosen. they're holding it close to the vest ahead of the primetime announcement that will happen at 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight. becky? >> kayla, thank you very much. we'll be watching. as mike mentioned earlier, maybe it will get leaked a little early. we'll have to wait and see kayla tausche. >>> a trade war is under way the 25% tariff on soy bones is hit

>> first of all, with regard to ray kethledge and tom hardiman, they're a little less known by conservatives their records are a little lighter so it might take some time. >> is that an advantage though? >> well, it depends. remember, the president ran on the supreme court issue and that greatly enthused voters. it's important to have people who are extremely well known and have distinguished records. >> , senator richard blumenthal, is raising the question saying that this should be put off until after the mid-terms, after the mueller investigation is completed because it would be improper for the president to nominate someone who may have jurisdiction over his investigation. how do you respond to that argument? >> i think it's a red herring. there are always issues that an executive branch and a president deal with on a regular basis that are extraordinarily important and controversial. we don't hold up supreme court nominations or confirmations for those. >> the other big issue that's energizing so much opposition right now is the fear among democrats, among progressives that whoever the

tom thomas hardiman, we didn't mention him, presumably he's one of the people that the president is going to talk to in the next two days. >> thanks so much for that briefing, pete williams, and peter alexander. >>> joining me now, joyce vance, former federal attorney, and nina totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for national public radio. nina, first to you, let's look at what happened with amy comey barrett and dianne feinstein at a previous confirmation hearing when she was nominated for the appeals court. i want to play that, because it became controversial. >> i think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. the law is totally different. and i think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. and that's of concern, when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country. >> first to you, nina, about judge barrett, and her catholic faith, mother of seven, this of course became a controversial issue, but how do they assess how she would adjudicate on this on

tom. talking about hardiman being the top pick. >> sure. judge hardiman is from pittsburgh, and he has the kind of every man quality that i think the president associates with his strongest supporters. he's known to the president, because hardiman was said to have come in second place last time, so the president had spent some time with him. he's also known to the president's sister. he hasn't decided in any cases involving abortion or affirmative action, gay rights, but he has gun rights and has been strongly in favor of gun rights. so i think he thinks that would appeal to a lot of his supporters and hardiman would have no real trouble getting confirmed. >> so he brings up a good point in that there's not a long list of decisions, especially when it comes to roe v. wade with regards to hardiman. that is something that democrats are seizing on. and they feel like it's a way they could feasibly win with regards to this scotus pick, right? they could get some republicans to come to their side. but if they have someone like hardiman, is that

and tom hardiman. >> adding 21,000 jobs?e. >> the committee is so successful the president says i can take this over the top by going after china. >> we will always stand proudly with the brave heroes of ice and our border patrol. >> secretary of state mike pompeo is in north korea looking for a firm commitment from that country to get rid of the nuclear weapons. >> this campaign has never stopped to me. this is hard work and perseverance to get to washington. ♪ who says you can't go back ♪ that's a as a matter of fact. ed: we missed you last weekend. i got you a gift. pete: you mentioned this littllittle bit. abby: so much food on the show. pete: missing so much food. ed: lobster on the grill. steaks. we had the whole deal. you were filling for laura and i was filling in for shannon doing handoff. people were going crazy what's the gift? and then abby wanted -- i think she felt a little jealous. i don't know if this is a breach of etiquette. what about for me? abby: you don't offer one person a gift. he haded what he do you

hardiman for 25 years. any reaction from him tonight? >> look, i mean, i talked to tom, just after, after i got off the show here. about an hour ago. and you know he, he -- this morning when he got the call. he said, look, let me help. brett will be great. great justice. he'll do whatever he can to be supportive of him. he is a very, very bright man. the area of the administration, made the decision, the president really wants to go after the administration, administrative state. that's really important issue to him. important to his base. and there is probably no one has a bigger record on that. certainly been as aggressive on that as judge kavanaugh. i think he is, itching for a fight. sure, discussed here. that to me is, is really part of -- of, of why the president picked judge kavanaugh to make sure that we had some one who was going to be able to really focus the, the nomination, on those issues. maybe not some of the other issue that you talked about earlier. >> i the mean, obviously. you know better than anyone. how contentious the senate confirmation can be. is