Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20180710

Help make President Trump more powerful. We have a new cnn interview. Back at the ranch. The president pardons two ranchers involved a highprofile land dispute that led to the takeover of a wildlife refuge. Why them . And why now . Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Breaking news tonight. President trump lands in europe for the nato summit an gives u. S. Allies more reason to question whether he knows who his friends are. The president declaring that his upcoming talks with Vladimir Putin might be the easiest of them and labeling him as a competitor instead of a foe and also breaking Vice President mike pence defends mr. Trumps new Supreme Court nominee in a brand new cnn interview. This as democrats argue that Brett Kavanaugh chosen to potentially protect the president from the russia investigation. Ill get reaction from a key member of the Senate Judiciary committee. Democrat Richard Blumenthal. The correspondents and analysts are standing by. First, go to the senior White House Correspondent jeff zeleny in brussels for us. Jeff, the president took another direct jab at the european allies just before landing there. Update our viewers on the latest. Reporter wolf, even as the president was landing here in brussels he was escalating that fight against european leaders saying its nearly impossible to do business here in europe. Obviously, escalating the fight about how much the countries are contributing to nato. This would all be somewhat normal if the president was not poised to meet with russian president Vladimir Putin next week. Leaders here believe that that is threatening the solidarity of nato against russian aggression. President trump arriving in brussels tonight with sharp words for American Allies. But a far friendlier posture for foes like russia. The president said that the summit is a bright spot of the european visit. So i have nato. I have the uk which is in somewhat turmoil and i have putin. Frankly, putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think . Who would think . Reporter tonight, u. S. Allies arent sure what to think of the president s warm embrace of putin. The america appreciate your allies. After all, you dont have that many. Reporter eu president tusk taking President Trump to task for repeatedly saying that European Countries are free loaders not paying the fair share on defense. Dear President Trump, america does not have and will not have a better ally than europe. Today, europeans spend on defense many times more than russia and as much as china. Reporter trumps summit with putin casting a shadow over the nato meeting. Asked directly whether russia is a friend or foe, the president chose another word. As far as im concerned, a competitor. A competitor. I think that getting along with russia, getting along with china, getting along with others is a good thing. Reporter what trump is not saying is anything remotely critical of russia. He rarely if ever speaks of the meddling in the 2016 u. S. Election. The ongoing cyber attacks, the invasion of ukraine or the deadly nerve agents in the United Kingdom traced back to russia. Again today, he saved the criticism for european allies. We have a lot of allies but we cannot be taken advantage of. Were being taken advantage of by the european union. We spend at least 70 for nato and, fracly, it helps them more than it helps us. Reporter the only time nato invoked article 5 of the treaty when allies came to the defense of the u. S. After the september 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks. Trump is hardly the First American president to prod allies to spend more on collective defense but his scolding carried a sharper sting coming as he embraced brutal dictators more than allies. Leaving washington today, trump had a bounce in the step after announcing the nominee to the Supreme Court. Brett kavanaugh has rave reviews, rave reviews, actually, from both sides. Reporter the confirmation fight on capitol hill just beginning with democrats and republicans settling in for a summer bat until an already volatile Midterm Election season. Now, as the president begins a whirlwind week of meetings here tomorrow morning inrussels, face to face with many of the european leaders in quarrels with, the question is what happens next . Will he get along with them, escalate the fight . Are they really believing that what hes up to is helping Vladimir Putin undermine democraticled efforts here at nato . Wolf, this is a critical week for the Trump Presidency here, meeting with german chancellor merkel tomorrow and other leaders, uk on thursday and meeting with the queen and, of course, that allimportant meeting in helsinki on monday with Vladimir Putin. Wolf . Critical week, indeed. Jeff zeleny in brussels, thank you. The Trump Administration falling short of full compliance with the first deadline to reunite migrant families and the president doesnt seem to be too concerned. He was asked about the crisis as he was leaving the white house. Listen to what he said. Well, i have a solution. Tell people not to come to our country illegally. Thats the solution. Dont come to our country illegally. Lets bring in cnns ed lavandera from brownsville, texas, near the border. What are you leaving about the fate of the separated families tonight . Reporter hi, wolf. Just a few hours left for the federal government to meet this deadline of reuniting 102 children under the age of 5 who have been separated from their families under the Trump Administrations zero tolerance policy but its clear the administration wont fully meet this deadline and critics are saying thats not fair. Facing a looming deadline today, immigration officials started the process of reuniting the youngest of children with their parents who were separated under the zero tolerance policy. Cnn witnessed children moved in vans to immigration Customs Enforcement facilities where the reunions took place in arizona and south texas. The reunions were mandated by a federal judge and the Trump Administration will not meet the deadline. In all, the department of Homeland Security says it can reunite 38 of the 102 children under the age of 5 its currently holding but a federal judge says the government should be able to reunite 63 by the end of the day. A department of Homeland Security official defended the agencys efforts to reunite these families. Children. Reporter say the reunions have been delayed by efforts to verify that the detained adults are the biological parents of the children. An example they point to, Officials Say, three adults facing a dna test admitted they werent tests and activists say its a crisis created by the federal government and should be resolved much faster. All kinds of resources into separating them. Could we double those resources back to reunite them . This is a huge nation with great resources. We could have done this in a flash and we can still do it. Reporter Homeland Security Officials Say the reunited families released to navigate the process in the United States. And will be monitored with gps ankle bracelets. Immigration attorney jody goodwin representing 25 families says if the federal government is struggling to reunite this small number of separated children, whats going to happen in a few weeks when roughly 3,000 more must be reunited . If the government could not put together a plan to organize only 100 children to be reunited 2 weeks i think its questionable to reunify 2,900 in 2 weeks. Im skeptical. Reporter so, wolf, that looming deadline is july 26th. The federal government and the aclu which has brought on the lawsuit to create a deadline to reconvene later this week. Dhs Officials Say that this is going slowly because their top priority is the safety and well being of the children and the judge reiterated to the federal government that the deadlines are Firm Deadlines that theyre not aspirational goals. Wolf . Ed lavandera on the scene for us. Thank you. Later, well have more on the reunification deadline today. Ill speak live with the health and Human Services secretary coming up later. Lets get more on this. Senator Richard Blumenthal joining us, the leading democrat on the judiciary committee. Senator, thank you so much for joining us. Why is progress been so slow and what is Congress Going to do about this making sure these kids are reunited with their mothers and fathers . Lets be very clear, wolf. The reason that progress is so slow is because of total incompetence or worse on the part of the federal authorities and they should be held in contempt of court. Individual federal officials. Including possibly the secretary of health and Human Services for this inhumane contempt for basic principles of law. The reason that progress has been so slow . Theres no plan, no system, no path to reunification. I visited the border. I have seen some of the facilities. I have talked to officials responsible for this non policy and including the secretary. And the current chaos is selfinflicted, the result of using intentional harm as a means of supposedly deterring people from coming to this country and you heard it just moments ago in your replay of the president s speech. Tell them to stop coming this country. Theyre using this inflicted pain as a deterrent. Senator, the courts, the federal courts, can issue orders, of course, but they rely on the executive branch to carry out the orders. You are the former state attorney general of connecticut. Is there a recourse if the Trump Administration fails to follow through . There is recourse in the courts and in the orders they can issue. And if the executive branch fails to comply with those orders or fails to enforce them, then it can be held in contempt, hold accountable specific individuals you should the civil contempt powers of the federal courts and the department of justice doing its job or individuals can move for that kind of contempt sanction. It can be monetary. It can also be potentially confinement. Lets turn to the president s new nominee to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Brett kavanaugh. You sit on the judiciary committee. Already released a statement, senator, laying out the reasons youre going to vote against his nomination, confirmation. Why not hear him out first during the lengthy confirmation process, ask him a lot of questions and then decide whether to vote yay or nay . Wolf, i have reviewed judge kavanaughs record at least in major part and i will tell you im increasingly troubled the more i learn and see. I decided to oppose this nomination because the process itself was so really corrupt. The president in effect made himself a puppet of the Federalist Society and other outside rightwing Fringe Groups and never before in the history of our country has a president in effect delegated or outsourced this decision but equally important the president imposed a litmus test and automatically overturned roe v. Wade and the protections of the Affordable Care act like protections for millions of americans who suffer from sickness, including diabetes, heart, stroke, pregnancy, obesity. These kind of preexisting conditions are real and present. Finally, very, very importantly to me, this nominee will be the swing vote in deciding whether or not the president can pardon himself or his cronies, whether he can be forced to come to obey a subpoena, to testify before a grand jury. These kinds of decisions require him if confirmed to recuse himself in my view. And i think this nominee has shown exceedingly excess deference to the president of the United States, to his powers saying, for example, the president should be able to fire a special counsel. That is all deeply troubling to me. Well, do you believe, senator, that the president nominated kavanaugh specifically to try to isolate himself from the russia probe, kritdiciting f the reasons youre putting forward . The appearance is certainly there, wolf. The appearance is important because the credibility and legitimacy of the United States Supreme Court depend on the trust of the American People in its complete independence and what the president s done here is not only outsource this decision to right wing Fringe Groups and also in effect put loyalty to himself once again above the merits and here the apparent deferences that this nominee to show to the president to fire the special counsel or to hold unconstitutional as he did the Consumer Financial protection board or other kinds of measures of president ial authority, he would enlarge that power when the American People are deeply concerned about an Unchecked Executive Branch and president in essence out of control declaring himself above the law. Senator, before i let you go, as you know the president s now in brussels for meetings this week with the nato allies and visits the uk before he heads off to the meeting with putin in helsinki next monday. He says the Putin Meeting may be the easiest of them all. Does that kind of rhetoric make you worry about the survival of nato . Im really alarmed by that kind of rhetoric. To say that russia is a competitor, not a foe, in fact, theyre an enemy and an adversary. Put season a kgb thug. Attacked this country. He continues to attack this country in the domains of cyber and social media. And will continue to do so unless hes forced to pay a price and instead the president is talking about rolling back sanctions on the russians, following the ukraine attack. He is in effect making our allies our adversaries and that is deeply alarming to me. This kind of rhetoric is undermining one of our strongest alliances in the world that goes back to world wars and the afghanistan conflict when these allies have shed blood and incured costs and made sacrifices at our side and the president is just really disgracing the proud traditions of our Nato Alliance. Thanks so much for joining us, senator blumenthal. Thank you. Up next, the question Vice President mike pence refused to answer as cnn pressed him on the president s new Supreme Court nominee and Pence Insists the administration has a clear plan to reunite immigrant families. Why is tonights deadline being missed . Stand by for that brand new interview. Touch shows how we really feel. But does psoriasis ever get in the way . Embrace the chance of 100 clear skin with taltz. Up to 90 of those with moderate to severe psoriasis had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. Most people were still clearer after one year. With taltz, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. Dont use if youre allergic to taltz. Before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. Taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, symptoms, or received a vaccine or plan to. 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[ coughs ] [ screams ] [ laughs ] whoa, whoa, whoa. Your one item would be the name your price tool . It helps people save on car insurance. Why wouldnt it save me . Why . What would you bring . A boat. Huh. We are following multiple breaking stories including Vice President mike pence defending the nominee in a cnn interview and skirting sensitive questions about the fate of roe versus wade. Chief Political Correspondent dana bash sat down with the Vice President in the office. The Vice President was there to escort kavanaugh around as he started getting some briefings up there, meeting with senators. What happened . Reporter well, he was. He was talking to senators and also through the media with interviews like ours, their constituents and i started by asking the Vice President for his response to some disappointment from some antiestablishment Trump Supporters that Brett Kavanaugh is another ivy league nominee and the ultimate washington insider. My response is that President Trump set out to keep his word to the American People that he would nominate once again a justice to the Supreme Court who would faithfully interpret the constitution as written and looking at the extraordinary body of work, more than 300 opinions of judge Brett Kavanaugh, you can see the kind of principled jurist who fits right in the model of a justice neil gorsuch, justice antonin scalia. I think people who share the president s vision for the court come to see this good man and see that strong record that theyll come to the same confusion. In 2006, Brett Kavanaugh testified that roe versus wade is settled law. You campaigned extensively on the notion that roe versus wade should be consigned to the ash heap of history. Are you worried he wont follow what you want to do . Dana, as you know, im prolife. I dont apologize for it. Im proud to be part of an administration that advanced prolife policies but what i can assure you is that what the president was looking for here was a nominee who will respect the constitution as written. Who will faithfully uphold the constitution in all of his interpretations of the law. Do you want roe versus wade to be overturned . I do. But i havent been nominated to the Supreme Court. Youre part of the administration. Kavanaugh has. You campaigned saying you will find nominees to overturn roe versus wade. Will you be disappointed if he is given that opportunity and he doesnt . Will you be disappointed . As i said, i stand for the sankty of life. This administration, this president are prolife but, you know, what the American People ought to know is that as the president said today this is not an issue that he discussed with judge kavanaugh. I didnt discuss it with him either. What we really focused on was the character, the background, the credentials and the judicial philosophy. But, again, you campaigned so aggressively on finding a nominee who would overturn roe versus wade. Do you feel confident, can you assure the people that voted for you on that notion that this is the man who will do that . Well, what i can assure people that voted for us is that this will continue to be a prolife administration. From early in this administration, President Trump has taken decisive steps to advance prolife values at home and frankly in foreign aid around the world but what i can also assure people is the president believes that the proper consideration for a nominee to the court is not about litmus tests. Frankly, we have seen an enough of litmus tests over the decades. What we dont want is to have people go to the courts with a specific objective or policy criteria. We want people to go that respect the constitution, respect the constitution as written, will not legislate from the bench. Right. President trump and i are absolutely the president did say that judge kauf inaugurate is exactly the kind of jurist that the American People in the majority want to see on the court. The president did say he wanted a litmus test. Lets move on to Something Else going on and thats at the southern border. It looks like your administration is probably going to miss a Court Deadline of today to reunite all children under the age of 5 with their parents. If you are going to separate families isnt it your responsibility as the leader of the government, isnt it the administrations responsibility to figure out how to get them back together . Yes. We have been working very diligently in that regard. I think 102 children that were separated from adults of that number as of todays deadline i believe we will have reunited 54 of those children. But that means that over 50 children under the age of 5, you have children, i have a child, are not with their parents. Is that acceptable . Well, not necessarily the case. But should even one child under the 5 . Well, what we dont ever want to do is return a vulnerable child age 3, age 4 to someone who may be a threat to them, who may be a human trafficker, who is not their parent. And frankly, the number has win knowed from 102 to the 70s through our vetting process. We have actually in this process found that people who represented themselves as parents turned out not to be the parents. We have found out that there were individuals with strong criminal backgrounds that had children with them as they crossed the border. But ron johnson, the chairman of the Homeland Security committee in the senate, a fellow republican, he is very upset at your administration. He said, if theyve got a process, not revealing it to me. These are human beings. Well, i spoke to senator johnson today and were going to continue to work with members of congress in both parties. Was there a plan . Of course theres a plan. Look. We have a crisis at our southern border and when people come into the country illegally as was the case under the obama administration, at times when we prosecute people for entering our country illegally theyre separated from their children for a period of time. Those children are dispatched to relatives or to foster care and we know where they are. And theres a plan to reunite them and do it in a way thats careful and thoughtful. I was in Central America last week meeting with the president s of el salvador and guatemala and honduras and i said to them, this exodus must end. Judge told the Administration Today it should reunite 63 separated children under 5 by today. 12 others will take longer because the government say it is location of their parents are not known. Wolf, because they were deported. Hard to believe this is still going on. Thank you. Coming up, much more from the Vice President in his interview with our dana bash. Does he agree with the president that Vladimir Putin is a competitor, not a foe . And full court press. Republicans pull out the stops to promote the president s new nominee. Do democrats have any chance at all of keeping him off the u. S. Supreme court . Stay with us. Youre in the situation room. Oh. Even with insurance, we had to dip into our 401 k and it set us back a little bit. Sometimes you dont have a choice. But it doesnt mean you guys cant get back on track. Great. Great. Yeah. No judgment. Just guidance. Td ameritrade. Tap one little bumper and up go your rates. What good is your insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. 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Gloria borger, i want you to listen and all of the viewers to listen first of all to some of the comments President Trump has made over the past couple of years or so about the russian leader Vladimir Putin. Listen to this. Donald trump is a friend to putin. Well, actually, putin did call me a genius and he said im the future of the republican party. I think put season a strong leader for russia. Put season the leader of russia. Russias a strong country. If he says great things about me, i say great things of him. Very smart cookery. Much smarter, much more cunning than our president. Put season a nicer person than i am. Putins fine. Hes fine. Were all fine. Were people. Wouldnt it be nice if we got along, as an example, with russia . Im all for it. Putins a killer. A lot of killers. Got a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent . Do you think Vladimir Putin is a friend or a foe . I really cant say right now. As far as im concerned, a competitor. A competitor. From today calling him a competitor rather than a friend or foe. Gloria, if the president doesnt see putin as a foe who can we expect from the meeting next monday in helsinki with the russian leader . Well, its hard to know, wolf. I think thats what the nato allies are worried about. I think thats what a lot of conservatives are worried about, wolf. The Heritage Foundation tweeted a note to the president saying, russia is an aggressor. Ukraine is a victim. And pointing out to the president that he ought to keep that in mind. And these are from people who are conservative antiputin and want to remind the president that just because he likes authoritarians doesnt mean that he ought to try to cut deals with them without the rest of his team around him. I think one concern, quite honestly, is trump going to want to meet within on one with Vladimir Putin . Will he have his advisers with him . Will we have transcription of the meeting . These questions remain to be answered. Important questions. Mark preston, theres a pattern we have seen of the president praising adversaries and alienating key allies. Europe or canada. How do you explain that . Well, wolf, the short answer is that there is no explanation because it absolutely makes no sense. Not only do we have President Trump criticizing our nato allies, attacking the eu, just criticizing anybody whens a loyal, dependent ally of the United States. But at the same time, then he turns and then he says all of these great things as we just showed there a moment ago of him praising putin. So that in itself is perplexing. You have to wonder whats the long term lasting damage . We are living in a moment right now, we are a society that oftentimes cant look that far ahead an you got to wonder what the lasting, lasting problems are going to be because of this. Wolf, just imagine this. Could you imagine if an american citizen died here in the u. S. Because of a russian nerve agent and the Prime Minister of the uk may went and sat down and had a meeting with him . Can you imagine that . Number one ally deciding to do that. Thats insane in itself. Sabrina, the president continues to take issue with the nato allies. Saying the u. S. Is being treated very, very unfairly. It has been treated unfairly. He says for decades. What are the implications of these comments on the eve of this nato summit . Well, the president has latched on to the issue of commitment to defense spending an its fair to say that Trump Administration is not the first to complain that some nato countries are not paying their fair share. But what is distinct about President Trump is hes actually willing to weaponize his position in a way that threatens to upend americas relationships with some of its closest and most longstanding allies and this fixation on the 2 number that nato countries to pay at least 2 of the Gross Domestic Product toward the military, military planners actually tell you that theres no magic number and for the president to singularly focus on the issue threatens to alienate close partners and distracts from the concerns facing nato coming to discussion about reforms that need to be made on the National Security front. Susan, another sensitive subject, theres a growing chorus of people as you know on the left arguing that if confirmed President Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to recuse himself from decisions related to the special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. What is the basis of that argument and do you believe theres any chance kavanaugh would sit those decisions snout. Well, i think the basis of that argument is a perception that donald trump selected kavanaugh because of prior statements that kavanaugh made, that trump might think he would rule favorably to him in the russia investigation. I actually think the law review articles misread and kavanaugh probably takes positions adverse to the president but the question is whether in confirmation hearings if there is an appearance that the president made the selection to benefit himself on the questions will kavanaugh commit to recusing himself to remove the appearance . I think its unlikely to happen. Unlike the lower courts, thes not another justice to step in and rule on a particular case so this might be an issue that the Senate Democrats decide to push very hard on but its unlikely that kavanaugh will agree. Yeah. Important point. Guys, stand by. Were getting some new details right now about secretary of state mike pompeos recent meeting with north korean officials in pyongyang. Michelle kosinski learned the talks went worse than things appeared. What are the sources telling you . Reporter this is a source with familiarity of the discussions saying that the sense in the white house is that this trip of pompeo back to north korea to meet with at the very least kim jonguns righthand guy went about as badly as it could have gone. That ultimately the north korean side seemed to be in the words of the source messing around and not really serious at that point about moving things forward. Also, pompeo was apparently promised at some point this meeting with kim jongun himself. And that never happened. So that sent a very bad message that things are at the very least not going the way the u. S. Would like them to go. Pompeo also had gifts to bring to kim jongun that he wanted to hand deliver. One was, yes, this cd of elton johns famous song rocket man and some other gift because he never got did meeting with kim jongun he wasnt able to give those gifts and just took them with him onward on his trip and we heard the president today confirm that that cd was part of the Little Package that he was going to bring. So where does that come from . According to a source who has familiar the i with the matters, when President Trump met with kim jongun at their summit, President Trump according to this source asked kim jongun, do you know where i got the nickname for you . Little rocket man. That kim jongun said, no. He did not. President trump said, it was from the elton john song. Asked him had he heard of it . Kim jongun said he had never heard of elton john. The source said trump then told him, well, he is really good. Im going do get you the song. Ill send it to you. And that trump also asked kim jongun according to this source did you mind when i called you little rocket man . And were told that kim jongun said, no. He did not mind. Where does this all leave us . Clearly, pompeo did not get any furthering. That they would have liked to have seen, maybe a time line of denukizati denuclearizati denuclearization. Refused to meet with him on this third visit to pyongyang. Michelle, thanks very much. Excellent reporting. Also breaking right now, President Trump arriving a little while ago in belgium for a very important nato summit. As he left the white house and via twitter in the flight across the atlantic, the president complained that nato allies arent paying their fair share. Nato leaders have made it clear they arent happy about the president s criticism and getting an enthusiastic reception. Guess where. In russia. Lets go there. Senior International Correspondent fred polite pleitgen is in moscow. Tell us what the russians are saying about this. Reporter yeah. Not unhappy and the permanent representative to nato saying the rift in the alliance is, quote, music to Vladimir Putins ears. Now, she also says she believes that President Trump actually values the Nato Alliance and very tough on Vladimir Putin when they meet in helsinki at the beginning of next week. But, of course, americas allies arent so sure and the russians are hoping that theres a Good Chemistry between the two men. Heres what we heard. President trump in europe for three tough meetings. With American Allies and adversaries. Clear on which meeting hes most comfortable with. I have nato. I have the uk which is in somewhat turmoil. And i have putin. Frankly, putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think . Reporter President Trump ripped into americas nato partners saying they dont spend enough on defense while the u. S. Shoulder it is bulk of the alliances costs. European politicians calling on trump not to forget who his friends are. Dear america, appreciate your allies. After all, you dont have that many. Dear mr. President , please remember about this tomorrow when we meet at the nato summit. Reporter the loss might be the kremlins gain. Vladimir putin Spokesman Says the russians have nothing to do with the turmoil of america and allies and not unhappy about the weakened alliance. Translator this is an alliance constructed for confrontation in our attitude based on this belief. What the alliance is doing longterm, i mean, them getting closer to our border and expanding military infrastructure towards our borders just proves the essence of the alliance. Reporter pundits and politicians feel President Trump might be moving america away from its european allies and closer to russia. State tv joking that the brits staged the recent poisoning of two people with novichok used to poison a former russian spy in england earlier this year to derail the summit. Translator theres a vast field for conspiracy theories gibb that trump is coming the uk and with the summit coming up, theyre gearing up to place blame on us and prepare trump with the meeting with putin. Reporter the allies watching the nato summit and the meeting looking to see whether americas president really will have an easier time with the russian leader than with longstanding partners. And, wolf, following the past couple of days and the kremlin careful with the statements that it has been giving saying, look, we dont want to expect too much from the summit right now and good that the men are talking to one another. However, if you listen to pundits in russia, politicians, as well, they do believe that it could be the steppingstone for very Good Relationship between Vladimir Putin and President Trump, wolf. Lots at stake on monday. Fred, thank you. Coming up, democrats accuse President Trump of picking Brett Kavanaugh for the u. S. Supreme court to foil Robert Muellers investigation. Should kavanaugh take part if mueller brings a case that makes it all the way to the highest court . And were also awaiting word on how many immigrant parents and their very small children are actually being reunited before the government misses its deadline today. Ill speak live with the health and Human Services secretary alex aczar. Doug, doug douglas were running dangerously low on beans. People love your beans, doug. They love em. Doooooooooug you want to go sell some tacos . Progressive knows Small Business makes big demands. Doug, where do we get a replacement chili pepper bulb . So well design the insurance solution that fits your business. Its a very niche bulb. Its a specialty bulb. So lets promote our Summer Travel deal on choicehotels. Com like this. Surfs up. Earn a 50 gift card when you stay just twice this summer. Or, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com Brett Kavanaugh makes the round on capitol hill. One of the biggest question marks is whether he would take part in blockbuster legal case that might be just over the horizon. Brian todd consulting with legal experts. Tell us more about the possible case. This could go all the way to the Supreme Court. If it does democrats are saying Brett Kavanaugh its not going to be impartial. I am grateful to you. I am humbled by your confidence in me. If and when Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed off to the Supreme Court he could betest legal bat Mueller Probe into possible trump collusion with russia. A looming showdown. Will special Counsel Robert Mueller try to subpoena President Trump to testify before a grand jury. If the special counsel does issue a grand jury subpoena to President Trump think we will see a titanic legal battle from the trump camp. Battle to block the president from going before a grand jury. A battle the president s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been waging in the media. We could have the subpoena quashed. It could go all the way to the Supreme Court. If it does and Brett Kavanaugh is on the bench would kavanaugh have to recuse himself from the case. Kavanaugh wrote in a law review in 2009, Congress Might consider a law exempting a president from criminal prosecution and investigation including from questioning by criminal prosecutors or defense counsel. Tonight, democrats are pouncing on that. He has even argued that sitting president s shouldnt face criminal investigation. No investigation of a president. Is it any wonder President Trump chose kavanaugh from the list of 25 . When we know he is obsessed with this investigation. Legal experts say just writing that opinion doesnt mean kavanaugh would have to recuse himself. The question is whether there is some reason why his impartiality might fairly be questioned. I think that turns much more on his personal relationships, with the Trump Administration, with the president who nominated him. There is so far nothing indicating a personal issue with President Trump would affect kavanaughs opinions on the high court. But can Robert Mueller force the president to testify . President nixon fought a subpoena for his walter gate tapes all the way to the Supreme Court and lost. President clinton tried to fight a subpoena in the lewinsky investigation, he eventually agreed on his own to appear before a grand jury. Giuliani are gutz President Trump should be immune from testimony because the it would be too much of a distraction from the president s job. Legal scholars are split. There is not a lot of case law in the area. What exists favors mueller, not trump in this fight. The president s have been compelled to appear, have been compelled to produce documents unless the Court Reverses the precedent, the president would have to appear. Now, another big legal battle potentially brewing is whether President Trump could be indicted while in office if it came to that. The Justice Department long had guidelines saying a sitting president cannot be in dieted, but that has never been tested in court. If it does get to the Supreme Court, legal analysts say dont expect Brett Kavanaugh to automatically weigh in in President Trumps favor. Kavanaugh they say has voiced many legal opinions very similar to those of chief Justice John Roberts who trump once called in a deep bait, a disaster in terms of everything we stand for. Wolf. See what happens, brian. Thank you. Good report. The looming dead lean to reunite immigrant families. How many children will not be with their parents . Well ask the health and Human Services secretary, he joins us live here in the situation room. K from farm, to pot, to jar, to table. And serve with confidence that its safe. This is a diamond you can follow from mine to finger, and trust it never fell into the wrong hands. This is a shipment transferred two hundred times, transparently tracked from port to port. This is the ibm blockchain, built for smarter business. Built to run on the ibm cloud. You might or joints. Hingain, builtfor your heart. Ness. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Happening, breaking news, the easiest. President trump arrives in brussels for the nato summit. After predicting meeting with russian president vladamir putin may be the easiest of them all. Flynn still talking. Fired National Security adviser, Michael Flynn has sentencing delayed so he can continue cooperating with Robert Muellers russia investigation. Tonight, were learning flynn and his son both have new jobs. Missing the deadline, the Trump Administration is falling short of fulfilling a judges order to