Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20170201

Mold of justice antonin scalia. Gorsuch said this in his acceptance remarks. Standing here in a house of history and acutely aware of my own imperfections i pledge if im confirmed i will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the constitutional laws of this great country. Bill senator john cornyn at the white house serving on the Senate Judiciary committee what oversees the hearing for neil gorsuch. It was a surprise. They kept it secret. How did the president arrive at this decision . Good morning to you. A long, deliberative process to get to the announcement last night. Nine months ago candidate donald trump listed names of Supreme Court justices and expanded it to 21. He whittled that list down to six finalists and interviewed four. During the transition he interviewed neil gorsuch at trump tower he knew he had his man and said the judge is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. I studied every aspect of his life. He could have had any job at any law firm for any amount of money. But what he wanted to do with his career was to be a judge, to write decisions and to make an impact by upholding our laws and constitution. The stealth surprise and secrecy of this was almost perfectly executed. A man flew out to colorado. They got on a military plane and flew to washington, d. C. To keep the judge under wraps. The white house even let a bogus news report float around out here. A couple of networks had reported that both judge gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman from the Third District court of appeals were being summoned to washington and the president will make his announcement. Judge hardiman was never asked to come to washington, d. C. He was seen getting in his car yesterday morning but traveling to the eastern part of pennsylvania to meet with the chief judge of the third circuit. But the white house wasnt about to disabuse people of the notion that they were both coming here. Bill whats the reaction from senators involved in this confirmation process, john . A lot of senators in the room last night. A couple of them have been strongly at odds with the president both as a candidate and as president. Senator ted cruz of texas and senator Lindsey Graham. Cruz said he is over the moon about this pick. Listen. This decision is vindicating the promise donald trump made to the American People. He told the American People if he was elected he would not nate a principled constitutionalist to deplace Justice Scalia he i also asked senator graham what he would say to democrats who are still in the senate now who were in the senate back in 2006 who approved judge gorsuchs appointment to the 10th Circuit Court of appeals through the voice vote. Here is what he told me. You lost the election, dont lose your mind, youll look like an idiot. There is no good argument that trump cant make a good pick. I thought they were qualified. Ive tried to play it very fair. Gorsuch will be on capitol hill having lunch with Mitch Mcconnell and the president at 11 30 will meet with a lot of groups to help him make his pick for the Supreme Court and help to push him through. Bill a lot of reaction to come. John roberts leading coverage there. From the white house back to the court with shannon. Shannon judge gorsuch is described as a slam dunk. He served as a law clerk to Supreme Court justices byron white and anthony kennedy. If confirmed he will be the first judge to sit on the bench at the same time as his boss. He received unanimous consent from all of the senators back then including democrats and that could prove to be an issue for the democrats who are still here and plan to oppose him this time around. Judge gorsuch is also described as a clone of the late justice antonin scalia. Check out the picture of gorsuch and scalia that the judge he interprets the constitution understood by the framers more than 200 years ago. He has admired scalia his entire career. Justice scalia was a lion of the law. I miss him. Shannon parallels between the two are eerie. Bill he was on your short list, right . He was on just about everybodys short list, right, shannon . I think in the end it wasnt that much of a surprise, was it . Shannon i would agree with you. I have to get props to our producer months ago picked out gorsuch from the pack. We thought he was the guy and last night the president confirmed. Bill some democrats promising a fight. Senate minority leader Charles Schumer saying this. The senate must insist upon 60 votes for any Supreme Court nominee, a bar met by each of president obamas nominee. The burden is judge neil gorsuch to prove himself to be within the legal mainstream and willing to vigorously defend the constitution. Talked to john cornyn. He will oversee the confirmation process. Reaction to Chuck Schumers comment . He has the hardest job in washington he has to appease the more liberal wing of the Democratic Caucus and still be the minority leader. I hear what he is saying but there are 10 democrats running for reelection in states that donald trump carried. I think they will be looking out for their own interests and i think perhaps they will provide those 60 votes along with republicans to confirm this good and really outstanding nominee. Bill if thats the case you dont think a Nuclear Option would be necessary then. You think you can get the 60 votes. Shannon well, i think our new president , would be eager to go to the states that he carried in the election on november 8th where these democrats are running for reelection in 2018 and make the case. I think he can use his powers of persuasion and popularity to help us get the 60 votes. Bill m bill you mentioned Democratic Senators up for vote in the states where trump won in west virginia, missouri, montana, wisconsin a squeaker and pennsylvania a squeaker. How much do you believe those results matter on those votes for those senators . I think it matters a lot. If the more liberal wing of the party will tell these people to vote to block President Trumps outstanding pick for the Supreme Court, they will have to pay a political price. Im sure theyre calculating how much they want to go with their leadership or how much they want to go with this outstanding pick and the voters in their state. Bill thank you for your time. Much more to come on this as you know. John cornyn from texas. Shannon well get more insight on exactly how President Trump reached such a tough and important decision. Well talk with leonard leo who helped advise the president during the Selection Process. Thats coming up at 9 20. Bill very interesting to hear that story. Good stuff. In a moment lets get to this. A lot coming up. We are waiting two big votes on the hill. The Senate Committee set to vote on attorney general nomination jeff session. We thought it would happen yesterday. It was delayed. The full senate expected to confirm Rex Tillerson later today. Well see whether or not that holds up as the backlash ramps up over democrats stalling confirmation. There is a lot to talk about on this. Im very disappointed in this type of crap. My gosh, there is no excuse for it. Well talk to former u. S. Attorney general Alberto Gonzalez about the sessions vote and more in a moment. Former state Department Spokesman marie harf is here to talk about Rex Tillerson and what he will face as americas top diplomat and this today. Department of Homeland Security chief kelly promises to carry out President Trumps immigration order humanely. Will the administration be able to carry out that vow. Sean spicer from yesterday. It is not a ban. Its to make sure the people who are coming in are vetted properly from seven countries that were identified by the obama administration. A ban would mean people cant get in. G new cars. Youre smart. You already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. Orders were coming at ustouchandgo. It really couldve gone either way. But i had a decision to make. Pancakes, or bacon and eggs . We decided to go with pancakes. Because well, lola can be a real five year old when she doesnt get her way. Home. You gotta love it. And its all thanks to my fantastic mortgage from navy federal. Its not called the mess hall for nothing. Open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. Navy federal credit union. Bill there is a longawaited vote expected to get underway any moments now. The Senate Judiciary Committee Voting on the attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions. We thought we would get that yesterday. It didnt happen. Democrats delaying confirming a number of President Trumps nominees. It has caused consternation including orrin hatch. I think they ought to stop posturing and acting like idiots. Stop holding news conferences and come here and express yourself here and then vote one way or the other. I would like to see somebody with courage on that other side. Bill Alberto Gonzalez, author of true faith and allegiance. How are you . Thank you for coming back on americas newsroom. I dont know what it looks like from your view in tennessee. Mitch mcconnell is talking about idiots and orrin hatch is talking about fools and on and on it goes. At what point does the democratic delay get in the way of President Trumps agenda . Well, you know, obviously i think the president is entitled to his team. It is somewhat frustrating that were experiencing these level of delays. I dont know whether or not what the democrats are saying is true with respect to ethics backgrounds not being complete and perhaps cabinet nominees not being totally truthful. But weve got some very important work that needs to be done on behalf of the American People and the president has done his job in making nominations and hopefully the senate will do its job in confirming these individuals because as i said, we have some very important work to be completed. Bill senator Dianne Feinstein said this just yesterday. Were being asked to vote on a nominee that will have to stand up to a president who is clearly willing to ignore the law and even issue orders in violation of the constitution. Bill that goes to the whole immigration thing from over the weekend. I think the question here is democrats feel emboldened, i believe, thats the way i see it at the moment. They are riding a little wave of momentum. I think the question comes back to how long this can last . What is your feeling on that . I think its important for cabinet agencies to have a confirmed head at the top thats been nominated by the president. It is true there is a line of succession within every agency. There is someone to lead the agency. You have career individuals that know how to get things done. Nonetheless, you need that top level guidance. And i have every expectation that Jeff Sessions is going to be confirmed and because of his relationship, the difference between i think because of Jeff Sessions relationship with donald trump he will be able to say no. I think the white house will accept that because of that trusted relationship that he has with his attorney general. Bill tim geithner was approved as treasury secretary and he was busted for not paying taxes. Do you remember that headline . People have been nominated and confirmed despite some issues in their background because at the end of the day, i think the senate comes to understand and appreciate that the president is entitled to his team and there is very important work that needs to be done on behalf of the American People. Bill you wonder how complicated this makes it for President Trump trying to get up and running. From a distance in tennessee how do you view how things are going 13 days in . What does it look like to you . Well, its obviously a great deal of consternation on the democratic side. They are left with very few weapons to deal with donald trump and his agenda. He has been very transparent in terms of expressing to the American People through the election process about his vision for america and he is moving forward at a very rapid pace. And i think the democrats are frustrated because they have very limited tools to respond. So, you know, there is frustration today. You heard senator hatch. His level of frustration is very unusual for someone like him and so im optimistic at the end of the day, weve elected people to the congress that will understand they have an obligation to the American People to get the job done. Bill do you think he is changing the pace by which Congress Works . It is hard for me to gauge that from here. Again, these are individuals that have very extensive assets, perhaps a longer period of time than necessary to go through their financial background but at the end of the day im optimistic it will all get done in an appropriate way and donald trump will have his full complement of cabinet secretaries working very hard. Bill last point. Neil gorsuch, does he get through . Neil gorsuch worked for me. I believe at the end of the day he will be confirmed. I dont believe the Nuclear Option will be exercised. Bill that means they get the votes. They get the 60. I believe they will get the votes. Bill thank you, sir, for your time. Alberto gonzalez live from tennessee. Well talk again. 20 past the hour. Back to the steps of the court. Shannon. Shannon President Trump began with a list of 21 potential Supreme Court picks. How did he decide finally on judge neil gorsuch . Well talk to an advisor who assisted the president every step of the way through this process. Thats next. A fox news alert on the deadly terror raid in yemen that took the life of a navy seal. Defense sources telling fox news the intelligence being collected could be a treasure trove. More on what were learning about that coming up. Shannon President Trump promised quick action on the Supreme Court during the campaign. And he vowed that he was going to nominate a judge in the mold of antonin scalia. Something neil gorsuch touched on last night. It is for congress and not the courts to write new laws. It is the role of judges to apply, not alter the work of the peoples representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. Shannon how did the president make his choice . Leonard leo advised President Trump on the Supreme Court Selection Process and joins us live for a scoop. Good to see you today. A busy day for you yesterday. Last spring this idea of putting together a list of potential Supreme Court nominees was floated. You talked about it. It was unconventional but i think or do you think it was important to voters . It was a brilliant ideas. The president came up with it in late may, early june. It was so very important. What it did was gave everybody a sense of what the president really wanted in the Supreme Court. Shannon judge gorsuch was not on the first list. He put out two lists but made the cut to the second list. Why was he in the mix from that point on . He was in the mix because he had an incredible resume, keen intellect and you could tell from his opinions that he had a high degree of fairness and impartiality which was grounded in a commitment to the text and original meaning of the constitution, which is something the president felt was very, very important. Shannon he has been described the closest match you could probably get to Justice Scalia from this list. He follows his style and philosophy and in many ways tracks with him on key issues and the way he interprets the law as a whole. I think he is the most fitting successor to Justice Scalia and you see it in terms of his opinions and the courage he shows, the way he analyzes cases, his devotion to the original meaning of the constitution. It very much tracks that legacy. Shannon lets talk about the cloak and dagger. We, of course, are trying to track these gentlemen and ladies on the list to figure out where they were over the weekend and the last few days. How did he get the final call . How was he brought to washington well, the president called usually as late as possible. He was flown in by military aircraft. Stayed at an undisclosed location in washington with a friend and was snuck into the white house late afternoon. Shannon you did a very good job keeping it secret and you had the final contenders that we thought were in the mix was a distinguished group. You think the president next time around if there is a retirement or unfortunate passing as we had with Justice Scalia. Does he stick to the list or do you start with a fresh new list or see some of the same names . Hard to know. One option is to stick with the list completely or stick with the list and maybe extend it a bit. I think you could see either possibility. The president is very entrepreneurial. He is always open to new ideas and so you could see a little change. But i think this nomination tells you everything you need to know about what he is looking for and that i dont think will change at all. Shannon conservatives are happy with the pick. Democrats not so much. There will be a huge battle. Interesting that judge correspondent wrote about this in a 2005 article saying the confirmations have become political warfare. The knows what he is walking into. The family goes into it as well. How tough do you think the road will be . Always tough battles. Highly coveted seats. The battle is shaping up different li. Seven democrats who said they wont filibuster. You only need eight to get closer and a number of prominent liberals said although we might disagree with him on some of his decisions he is a very intelligent man, very fair and impartial and deserves to be on the court. Shannon he will be across the street on capitol hill to start meetings with senators and lawmakers. This morning. Shannon do you think he will win some people over . Once they meet him maybe theyll melt a little bit . I dont see how any reasonable person could sit in a meeting with him and walk out sag i might not always agree with him but the kind of man you would want as a judge and if you had a case. Shannon very interesting to talk with you throughout this process and well see how quickly we are or arent doing this again. Thank you so much. Good to see you. Shannon bill. Bill as we wait on that well see the Supreme Court nominee heading to capitol hill this morning and be with mike pence with meetings with Mitch Mcconnell. That meeting getting underway as the senate gets ready for a vote on a nominee to be americas top diplomat. Will Rex Tillerson get his vote today or will democrats delay yet again . With the help of the lowest taxes in decades, a talented workforce, and worldclass innovations. Like in plattsburgh, where the most advanced transportation is already en route. And in corning, where the future is materializing. Let us help grow your companys tomorrow today at esd. Ny. Gov bill looking forward to a jampacked day. What else is new, right . The Senate Holding a big vote on Rex Tillersons appointment as secretary of state. This will be the final hurdle. Standing in tillersons way before he takes office. Ed henry live in the washington bureau. Good morning to you. The delay, does it end today for tillerson . It looks like it will. Just in the last moment weve learned that President Trump is going to be hosting Rex Tillerson for lunch at the white house 12 30 p. M. Eastern time. Tillerson is finally getting a Senate Floor Vote two hours later. 2 30 p. M. Eastern on the floor of the senate. Now that republicans like marco rubio said they would not block him at the committee level. Tillerson has the votes on the republican side. Maybe a few democrats as well to finally get through. Thats important with the refugee issue out there and so many other global hot spots. The key here, though, you can take a step back. Tillerson will be only the fifth member of the trump cabinet confirmed after elaine choi was confirmed late yesterday and sworn in by mike pence as the new transportation secretary. Only five confirmed after about two weeks. Significant because remember barack obama had seven, two more on day one. Not after two weeks, but on day one. Republicans on the hill getting frustrated. Senate democrats now basically shutting down committee action. You can see empty seats there before the finance committee. Republicans like orrin hatch getting frustrated that democrats are blocking others. Im very disappointed in this type of crap. My gosh, there is no excuse for it. An oldfashioned hissy fit. The level of incompetence in this administration is staggering. Were in a crisis of competence. Bill the democrats are exercising their prerogatives with Chuck Schumer saying there is incompetence in the white house. Thats their justification but some economists saying that particularly blocking a new treasury secretary is causing uncertainty in the markets and that is getting dangerous. Bill you dont want to mess with that. Ed henry in d. C. Shannon. Shannon all right. Once tillerson is confirmed he will face new challenges as the head of the state department. Our next guest has firsthand experience there. Lets bring in marie harf, former state Department Spokeswoman and fox news contributor. Great to see you today. Great to see you. Shannon tell us a little bit about the culture at the state department and what it is like to walk in as the new guy with tens of thousands of employees, of diplomats to really raise morale and get on the same page . Rex tillerson has a lot of challenges here. Youve seen a state department in the past few days over 1,000 Foreign Service officers have signed a dissent memo disagreeing with Trump Administration policy. There is no deputy secretary that has been named. No person thats been named to head embassy security. Rex tillerson is walking in with big challenges. It is a place that prides itself on working for democrats and republicans. And he will walk in having to rebuild some trust and having to rebuild a Senior Leadership team that dont exist at the moment. Shannon what were hearing from folks who have met with him, the diplomats are saying theyve been impressed with him. He is a listener and wants to solve some of these problems and bridge some of these gaps. It sounds like he is getting good marks so far. I know there are those concerned about whether he will advocate for state Department Employees and u. S. Interests or whether he will be able to stand up to the president if the two disagree on things. How does any secretary of state find that sweet spot with a president with whom they are never going to agree 100 . Thats right. I think there are some challenges here. The Trump White House has moved forward on pretty big policies that involve the state department including the refugee ban. It is not clear that Rex Tillerson was consulted at all or in a very serious way on this. I think it remains to be seen whether he will actually have any influence at the Trump White House. There is always a tension between the white house that wants to do what it wants and the state department or the Defense Department and what weve seen so far is a Trump White House that isnt really listening to the agencies or its own cabinet secretaries. I think its challenging. Shannon what weve been told by the administration there have been months and weeks of conversation and coordination with state department folks and dhs. I want to play a little bit of what secretary kelly from dhs had to say moving forward with this particular order. These orders are a matter of National Security. It is my sworn responsibility as the secretary of Homeland Security to protect and defend the American People. And i have directed departmental leadership to implement the president s executive orders professionally, humanely and in accordance with the law. Shannon they say theyre going to enforce them and they say they werent caught offguard, that they knew about this. Were hearing a different story from a lot of people at the state department. I have a lot of friends and former colleagues still working there who have expressed in this pretty unusual dissent cable, this memo they sent forward that they are concerned about this. That they are worried this isnt actually the threat. No syrian refugee has committed a terrorist act in the u. S. They are getting questions from other governments saying look, you are coming to us and asking for our help in the fight against isis and yet you are telling us we cant travel to the u. S. I think that its only week two here and the Trump White House has already seemed to alienate big sectors of the federal Government Workforce that actually do the daytoday governing. I think Rex Tillerson will come into the state department that is nervous, that is worried, that wants to support the administration but also wants their expertise to be recognized and listened to. I dont know if thats going to happen. Well see. Shannon you are well aware of the fact in 2011 president obama put a sixmonth freeze on iraqi refugees coming into the u. S. I talked with ryan crocker about that yesterday and asked him what the fallout was from that. He couldnt point to any. We have to have a very delicate relationship with the iraqis. We have personnel working sidebyside with them but he couldnt show it destroyed any relationships or made a difference. Something when president obama did the left did not blow up about this and these seven countries in question were designated back in 2016 by the dhs under president obama. Well, the 2011 pause was in response to a specific threat that we had gotten that we thought people we had evidence that people were using these refugee flows to possibly come into the u. S. And commit acts of terrorism. So it was in response to a threat and because of that we tightened our vetting. We made it harder for refugees to come here and we demanded more information from refugees. Shannon do you think the threat has changed . Were constantly hearing terror groups are saying its a great way to get into you the nighted states. We care about refugees but is the threat unjustified this president versus the last one would make a similar call . Well, i havent heard from anyone in the Intelligence Community or the Homeland Security community that in this case there is a specific threat driving the new pollz. There was one in 2011. We tightened procedures because of it. This seems to be a much broader across the board, you know, lets lump all these countries together. If we look at the actual threat, who has killed americans in terrorist attacks . Not refugees, not syrians, it is people from countries not on the list. Quite frankly. Which is per perplexing. Shannon we know there are those who have come to the country who have been arrested from some of these places. Thank you for insight on it. Bill here we go again back in washington Senate Judiciary committee will try for the second day in a row a vote scheduled for the ag nominee Jeff Sessions. Will democrats delay continue . There is this today, check it out. If you breathe air, drink water, take medicine or in any other way interact with the courts, this is a very bad decision. Thats it. Nancy pelosi not shy about her opposition to nominee neil gorsuch. Is this criticism fair . What else is on her list and what kind of confirmation fight is congress in for now . President trump promised the American People if he was elected he would nominate a principled constitutionalist to replace Justice Scalia and tonight he kept his word and honored that commitment. Tonight was a big, big deal. Clinically proven to help reduce hunger between meals. From metamucil, the 1 doctor recommended brand. And for just 15. 99big festival of shrimp you can pick 2 of 6 new and classic creations on one plate new flavors like sweet bourbonbrown sugar grilled shrimp and bold firecracker red shrimp are too big to last so hurry in. On a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. And if you do have an accident, our claims centers are available to assist you 24 7. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Bill in is what were tracking and jumping to a number of hoops now on these nominations again today. Here is what we think we know. Senator orrin hatch is calling his committee back to again consider the nominations of health and Human Services secretary nominee tom price and the treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin. The hearing has begun. Democrats delayed both Committee Votes yesterday and plan to do so today. Were hearing the committee will vote to suspend rules that require democrats to be present. Remember all the empty seats yesterday morning . Were watching it and keep you posted as we get more information. Thats moving on the hill. There is this from last night. Take a listen. Your family is concerned and all those if you breathe air, drink water, eat food, take medicine or in any other way interact with the courts, this is a very bad decision. Well outside the mainstream of american legal thought. Bill long list there. Nancy pelosi and democrats hammering away at the nomination already. Various pundits and lawmakers on the other side of the aisle say neil gorsuch is the perfect pick at the moment. He is a home run. I am very, very happy. I dont know how you smear a guy like this. He is a guy sitting on a federal Appeals Court. He has a sterling rofrmentd he has the best education on the planet. How can he possibly be unqualified . Bill make a prediction. Is he on the Supreme Court in three months . Absolutely slam dunk. I agree. Bill joe trippi drinks water, breathes air, Brad Blakeman watches cable tv, talks a lot. Gentlemen, good day to both of you, wow. Quite a list. Brad, you start. You say democrats would be wise to play chess and not russian roulette. Thats right. Here is the reason. This is an exchange of a conservative for a conservative on the court. I can understand the democrats if there was a liberal position open. Thats not what we find here. The republicans have the votes necessary if they go the Nuclear Option. If democrats dig in their heels and not give the president what he deserves. Elections have consequences. Im quoting barack obama. We won, the court vac aon vacancy was there and the president has a right to exchange a conservative tore a conservative. Donald trump wouldnt pick somebody that democrats would support out of hand. Democrats need to do their constitutional duty. Give the guy a fair hearing and a vote. You can do it nice or we can do it ugly. Its up to you to choose. I dont think so. I think in the end he is going to be confirmed. I would be shocked if that didnt happen. The republicans have the votes. But all this constitutional duty stuff and its just like not there for democrats given what happened to merrick garland. Thats whats going on here. Whats happening is the decorum in the senate has been breaking down for a decade or more now. Garland was really the final straw by the way, democrats deserve a lot of the reason for that. Harry reid and the whole thing has been both parties. But the final straw i think was garland and then you see it now with schumer voting against senator mcconnells wife in her confirmation. That is unheard of. Bill you echo some of the comments in the new york times. The stolen seat. Thats what Steven Crowley writes about that. There is breaking news now on senator orrin hatch. He has delayed the rules that require the other party to be present for a vote in committee and in the democrats absence, they have voted a moment ago to approve tom price head of health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin to be the next treasury secretary. I dont understand all the rules on committee, brad, but does this make it a done deal for these two cabinet members . Yes, it does. Its unfortunate that orrin hatch had to do Something Like that because democrats shirked their responsibility. The bottom line is well protect this country both economically and National Security and democrats are either going to help or they are going to hurt the process. But in the end were going to get our nominees through and again, as joe pointed out, the decorum in the senate has deteriorated and what the American People cant stand. They want action. Bill joe, hum, why the delay when you consider six cabinet members had already been confirmed for president barack obama on the day he was sworn in . Do you think these delays are justified, joe . Well, in price they were all kinds of questions about his financial dealings and other things and its not clear that what democrats in the senate are saying they werent truthful with him. They wanted to have further hearings to get to the bottom of a lot of the questions they had. At least these guys are getting hearings. Merrick garland didnt get one for 10 months. This is what im saying it is a breakdown in the senate and what has happened with orrin hatch doing this today is its a further breakdown. It is now well hold the hearings, well hold votes without the other party. Bill do you think democrats can stop gorsuch or not . I dont think thats likely to happen. I think over time but i do think his hearings will be really tough, yeah, because they are going to unlike garland he will get one and for the republicans expect no, it will be easy, theyll just roll over and lets do a voice vote. Thats crazy. It is not going to happen. Bill were watching the news from the committee and congress. Thanks to you. Enjoy breathing your air and eating your food and watching your cable tv. Back to the court and shannon right now. Shannon were getting breaking details on the deadly terror raid in yemen. More on who we lost and the potential terror intelligence we gained. Jennifer griffin will join us to break it down next. 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Well sort it out as we go as we jump through the hoops of capitol hill. Big developments on that. Shannon bill, a fox news alert as we learn more information about that raid, the antiterror raid in yemen the claimed the life of a navy seal, william ryan owens. Defense Officials Say the raid yielded a large amount of intelligence comparing it to the haul from the 2011 raid in pakistan that killed osama bin laden. National security correspondent is live at the pentagon jennifer griffin. You learned more about the raid by the seals this weekend in yemen. What can you tell us . Senior military sources tell me the seal team gathered a large amount of intelligence during the raid. Almost as good as a reference to the bin laden raid. Sensitive information was seized. Weve learned the seals managed to grab a laptop, 10 cell phones, thumb drives, documents and a couple bags full of material. It was the first ground assault by u. S. Special Operations Forces in yemen since 2014. Since that time the u. S. Military has mostly carried out drone strikes in yemen. Some are calling it a botched raid. Were hearing otherwise. There were losses, as you mentioned one Seal Team Six member was killed during the mission. Six other Service Members were bounded and a 70 Million Dollar aircraft was lost. The commander approached the compound the hard way. The only way to judge the Missions Success will be the final analysis of the materials that were gathered. The pentagon said that a number of women took part in the fighting. Back to you. Shannon jennifer griffin. Thank you for the update from the pentagon. Bill lets go inside the Committee Room. Senator orrin hatch is taking questions. Just drop in on this real quick. There is no excuse for what they did yesterday and no excuse for them not coming today. We notified them and they just plain a cheap political ploy. They should be ashamed. They should be ashamed. Bill for two days in a row the usually reserved orrin hatch has been rather outspoken. Today he calls it a political ploy. Yesterday he said he was tired of this and im quoting now. Tired of this crap, end quote. His directive aimed at democrats on the committee. Break here, back in a moment. Breaking news on the hill as this happens. G moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. With taltz, up to 90 of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. In fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. Do not use if you are allergic to taltz. Before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. Taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. Inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. Including worsening of symptoms. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Nows your chance at completely clear skin. Just ask your doctor about taltz. Bill here is what we know. That Senate Finance committee moments ago by way of voice vote with no democrats in the room have approved the nomination of Steve Mnuchin to be the next treasury secretary and tom price for health and Human Services. That will have a lot to do with obamacare. The committee changed the rules because democrats for a second day tried to boycott that meeting. Republicans then changed the rules that required that had required democrats to be present for the vote. 140 the nominations have been approved and should go to a full senate maybe later today. Stand by on all that. Its happening now on the hill 10 00 east coast time. Shannon President Trump is sending his choice for the Supreme Court to capitol hill. Judge neil gorsuch and Vice President pence meeting right now with Mitch Mcconnell. Welcome to a new hour of americas newsroom. Im live from the Supreme Court. Bill good morning again to you. Federal Appeals Court judge from colorado, a conservative bent, neil gorsuch nominated for the highest court in the land. In the very end it was a surprise. The secret was kept until 8 00 prime time in washington, d. C. Last night. President trump calling his qualifications beyond dispute. Judge gorsuch last night describing his view of serving on the bench this way. Practicing in the trial work trenches of the law i saw, too, when we judges don our robes it doesnt make us smarter but a reminder of what is expected of us. Impartiality, independence, collegiality and courage. As this process now moves to the senate, i look forward with speaking with members from both sides of the aisle. To answering their questions and to hearing their concerns. I consider the United States senate the greatest deliberative body in the world and respect the Important Role the constitution affords it in the confirmation of our judges. I respect, too, the fact in our legal order it is for congress and not the courts to write new laws. Bill that from last night. No leaks, no leaks. Not even peter doocy got the word. Live on the hill now. Peter, good morning to you. Do we know how much judge gorsuch will interact with lawmakers today . How many he will meet with and for how long . His meetings with lawmakers who may be skeptical about his nomination will be later. Today its a meeting with the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell saying he is confident gorsuch will join the Supreme Court and reminding people to ignore a lot of the noise of people who are coming out and criticizing the gorsuch pick. He says the only people who will have a say in this belong in the senate, are senators. The democrats are going to object to whoever was appointed. If it hadnt been one argument, it would be another. The house wont have any involvement in this. This will be a senate issue. Now some of the republicans critical of President Trumps actions since he took office are praising the Gorsuch Nomination like senator Corey Gardner who just days ago spoke out about the executive action on immigration. You saw a jurist of outstanding capabilities. Somebody who will do their best efforts to defend the constitution. This will be a hard pick for people to oppose. A onetime trump rival senator ted cruz said this morning in november when people went to the ballot box they werent just picking a president but a direction for the Supreme Court and cruz also a fan of this pick. Bill back with you in a moment when we get headlines. Four minutes past. Shannon. Shannon okay. You saw what happened just moments ago. We want to bring you a little sound if we can get it from senator hatch. Senate republicans in the finance Committee Said were moving forward. If democrats dont show up and boycott the vote, thats fine. But in the meantime the nominees for hhs and treasury are going to move ahead. Senator hatch was asked about it afterwards. We have a little of what he had to say. Everybody on the committee was notified. You notice we had every republican here. Every republican was sitting in their seats this morning. Not one democrat. No, look. Im a very forgiving person. All we have to do is start acting like this is a committee that should act well. It always has in the past. Never had anything like this happen in the past. And well get together and well make things work in the future, but there is no excuse for what they did yesterday and no excuse for them not coming today. We notified them and they just plain they did a cheap political ploy and they should be ashamed. They should be ashamed. Shannon lets bring in chris stirewalt. When you hear Something Like senator orrin hatch using words like crap. Those are fighting words. He is fired up. For people beyond this zip code to understand the enormity, the ranking dude. For him to say first of all, for the democrats to boycott these hearings was if not whole unprecedented, a massive departure from the norm. They felt they had the political cover to do it because of the outrage over trumps restrictions whether were calling it a ban or not. The ban not ban on refugees, and people from those seven countries. Democrats thought they had the leeway to pull what hatch called a stunt. Hatch called their bluff and said he was going to do it. Now, what is the repercussion and the reprisal from democrats when you are in this era of shifting norms that we are right now . You wonder is there going to be a counter volley from the democrats . Shannon they are so many battles still going on. This afternoon we have the vote on the senate floor for Rex Tillerson, a Supreme Court nominee. We hear democrats lining up saying listen, ill let him get the procedural vote to move on. Others saying no way, no how. Well filibuster this guy. They arent playing nice aross the stt on capitol hill. If there are eight democrats who will join republicans in voting to end the debate and move to the vote, it would go smoothly and gorsuch would be quickly approved. However, they may decide they want to hold the line and not give him those 60 votes that he needs right now. Then it triggers a much more interesting debate. The more interesting debate is are republicans prepared to change the procedural rules so it only takes 51 votes to end debate on a Supreme Court justice and were changing. Shannon the rules of the senate and everything moves forward from now on. Im hearing from republicans and democrats alike they dont want that to happen, many of them. Nobody wants it. There are some more radical members just as there were among democrats when they first triggered the Nuclear Option for lower Court Appointments and other executive branch appointments, when they did that, there were radical democrats who wanted it for everything. They said go whole hog. There are radical republicans who want whole hog majority rule 51 votes done and done. Most senators in both parties say wait a minute. We dont want to end up like the house. We dont want to end up a bunch of people chasing each other with bats bashing each other. The civil war was tough on everybody. Shannon it was in many ways. Lets talk about senator graham. He is somebody who has gotten a lot of heat for voting for president obamas nominees who are now on the bench here. He talked about that last year. He said ive taken a lot of crap voting for the president s nominees. Its what you have to do. Here is what he said now. If we have to use the Nuclear Option over this guy it would be sad. No democrat can say he is not qualified and if youre trying to say you shouldnt allow him to pick anybody because of garland, i dont buy that. In the last year of a president ial term one person has been confirmed after the primary process started. We did nothing wrong. Shannon okay. This guy was unanimously by a senate vote in 2006, voice vote. No opposition to him then. Very well qualified whether you like his philosophy or not. Thats some good hair, i have to tell you. He hunts and fishes. But do we have democrats who take the Lindsey Graham way of voting and say not my pick but the president , elections have consequences. Weve seen a handful like joe manchin on the trump train and seems to be okay will this stuff. Eight democrats is a lot. Republicans paid no political cost and maybe even obtained a political benefit for refusing to hold hearings on merrick garland. It didnt hurt them. There will be democrats who say to Chuck Schumer hey, it didnt hurt them, the blockade didnt hurt them. Lets do it back to them and test it out because it didnt hurt the republicans. So thats where we are. Chuck schumer, his first test. Does he want this one . The other thing is, this is whats really interesting, for democrats concerned about trump, dnc called trump the other day tyrannical, they said he is a tyrant and if they really think thats the case, one would suppose they would rather want gorsuch to be confirmed quickly. He takes a seriously circumspect view of federal authority and president ial powers. Shannon he is all about that big time. I saw somebody write an article in the last day talking about how trump may regret picking him because he is so stringent on separation of powers and limiting each branch to stay in their lane. I can see if gorsuch gets confirmed ruling against trump and people saying wait a minute. He gave you the job. Shannon justices have ruled against obama, too. Bill waiting on a vote. We expect the advancement for the nomination of Jeff Sessions for attorney general th. Is another one where democrats have been successful in dragging out debate yesterday and delaying the vote until today. The finance committee changed the rules a moment ago to push two through. Judiciary reconvening at 10 30 eastern time, 20 minutes from now. And they, we believe, will hold the vote then. Well have more on that when it happens. Jeff sessions in his absence there has been a lot of news that applies directly to the department of justice with the immigration order from over the weekend and on and on and on. At the moment President Trump is meeting at the white house on behalf of African American History Month. Other africanamerican leaders, daryl scott, the pastor, his wife as well. Director of communications for the white house are all gathered in the roosevelt room. Well hear comments in a moment. I believe some of the first comments will be not only a welcome but commence about judge gorsuch from last night. Here we go. Tape play out. Lets watch. Hello, everybody. You have been so helpful. We did well, the election came out really well. Next time well triple quadruple it. This is africanamerican History Month. This is our little get together. A few notes during this month we honor the tremendous history of the africanamericans throughout our country. Throughout the world when you really think about it, right . This is one of unimaginable hard work and faith in america. Ive gotten a real glimpse during the campaign. I went with ben to a lot of places that i wasnt familiar with. I want to thank ben carson heading up hud. Thats a big job and a job that is not only housing, it is mind and spirit, right, ben . You understand that. No body is going to be better than ben. Last month we celebrated the life of Martin Luther king junior whose incredible example in unique in american history. You read about dr. Martin luther king a week ago when somebody said i took the statue out of my office. It turned out that that was fake news. [laughter] it is one of the favorite things in the we have some good ones. We have lincoln, jefferson and dr. Martin luther king and we have but they said the statue, the bust of dr. Martin luther king was taken out of the office. And it was never even touched. So i think it was a disgrace but thats the way the press is, very unfortunate. Im proud we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about reverend king and so many other things, Frederic Douglas is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and being recognized more and more i notice. Harriet tubman, rosa parks and millions more black americans who made america what it is today. Im proud to honor this heritage and well be honoring it more and more. Folks at the table in almost all cases have been great friends and supporters and daryl, i met daryl when he was defending me on television. [laughter] and the people that were on the other side of the argument didnt have a chance, right . And paris has done an amazing job in a very hostile cnn community. [laughter] all by himself. Seven people and paris. Ill take paris over the seven. But i dont watch cnn so i dont get to see you as much. [laughter] i dont like watching fake news. But fox has treated me very nice wherever fox is, thank you. Well need better schools and we need them soon. We need more jobs, we need better wages. A lot better wages. We will work very hard in the inner city. Ben will be doing that quickly. Its one of his big things that he is looking at. We need Safer Communities and well do that with Law Enforcement and well make it safe. Were going to make it much better than it is now. Right now its terrible. I saw you talking about it the other night, paris on Something Else that was you did a fantastic job the other night on a very unrelated show. Im ready to do my part. Im ready to do my part and i will say this, well work together. This is a great group. This is a group that has been so special to me. You really helped me a lot. If you remember i wasnt going to do well with the from Africanamerican Community. After they heard me speaking and talking about the inner city and other things we ended up getting substantially more than other candidates who had run in the past years. And now well take that to new levels. I want to thank my Television Star over here. She have is a very nice person. I dont want to destroy her reputation. She is a very good person and she has been helpful right from the beginning of the campaign and i appreciate it. Very special. And so i want to thank everybody for being here. Could we maybe just go around the room and introduce ourselves and the press can stay for that and im sure they have no questions about last night because it was such a good launch. We have a fantastic hopefully new justice of the Supreme Court and hopefully he will approved very quickly. He is outstanding in every way. Academically he has done almost as well as you did, daryl, in college. [laughter] not quite, right . But he is a great man and i think will be a great justice and he is being very well received. A very big evening. Paris, lets start with you, go ahead. Glad to be here, mr. President. Paris dennard, i represent the 47 publicly supported university which i know you are very much a support of. Pleasure to be here. I would be all i would be in the wilderness. You are so effective and i appreciate it. Bill cleveland, retired Capitol Police officer. Former vice mayor city of alexandria and substitute teacher in Alexandria School teacher. Im a veteran, sir. Im Earl Matthews work for the u. S. Department of defense. Sworn in an hour after you were. Im also a veteran, longtime supporter of yours and worked for you and happy to be here, sir. Good job. Im the Vice President. I think you know me. Im daryls wife. Revival center. From cleveland, ohio, pastor of new spirit. Great amount of support in the Africanamerican Community where we are. We love the lord, we love our new president , and were praying for our president on a regular basis. Amen. The one thing i didnt understand about them, i thought they were married five or six years, they look so young. Should you say how many years youve been married . 35 . 38. But in the lord. [laughter] 35 years. 33 of the 38 under the blood. Im so grateful our president gives us an ear. To listen to the community, to listen. And People Like Us are just here to constantly put that message out into the community and we love you for that. We love you for listening and we thank you for that. Thank you very much. Daryl, pastor new Spirit Revival Center and black trump supporter. But speaking of the community let me say this real quick. I was recently contacted by some of the top gangs in chicago for a sitdown. They reached out to me because they associated me with you. They respect you and believe in what you are doing and what to have a sitdown about lowering the body counts. In a couple of weeks were going into chicago. Great idea. Chicago is out of control. We have to lower the body count. Just the body count. They agree the principles that can do it and straight from the street. No politicians straight street guys. Theyll commit if they lower their body count well do some social programs. They wont solve the problem. What youre doing is the right thing. Well solve the problem for them. Well have to do something about chicago. What is happening in chicago shouldnt be happening. They want to work with this administration. They reached out to me. They believe in this administration but didnt believe in the prior administration. They see hope. Mr. President , im a member of the what we call the media where we try to be fair. [laughter] objective. Not all media seems to be the opposition party. We report. A lot of the media is a lot of the opposition party. Theyre so biased and really its a disgray. Some of the media is fantastic and fair. So much of the media is opposition party. Knowingly saying incorrect things. Its a sad situation but we seem to be doing well. Its almost like in the meantime we won. They really have to straighten out their act. Theyre very dishonest people. Pastor james davis. Mr. President , weve been a supporter of yours from the beginning all longside mr. Michael cohen and dr. Daryl stock with the National Diversity coalition. We brought out a number of people in the black community and were still in support going forward. Youve been great. Hi, mr. President. Yes, i am as you know the former Vice President of the Wonderful Charity that your son founded, the Eric Trump Foundation and been with your family for eight years now, and i was an rnc speaker and will be landing with dr. Carson at hud as one of the senior advisors and director of the office of public liaison. Thats great. You did a fantastic job. Thank you. Im Gerard Robinson a resident fellow at the American Enterprise institute and involved in the trump transition. Ashley bell behind you and some others. Ashley. Good to be with you. I would help run the africanamerican outreach for your campaign. Im willing to help you out at the state department. Thank you very much. Im tucker davis. I ran your campaign in west virginia. Working for you. We did well in west virginia. Coal miners love you. We love them, too. Well put them back to work. I helped launch the video series every week, the midweek message that reached out to millenials and College Students and helped launch the College Republican caucus. Howard university. I heard that. Good job. Great job. Monica alexander, public liaison for [inaudible] mr. President. Rod smith with the Domestic Policy Council and ill be focusing on urban affairs and revitalization. Fantastic. A howard graduate. Thank you. Thank you, everybody, thank you. Bill clearly the endorsement of neil gorsuch after the announcement last night from President Trump. He is calling out the media again. Calling them the opposition party. The issue came about the violence in chicago at this meeting of africanamerican leaders and africanamerican History Month begins today. You heard the gentleman say we need to get the body count down and President Trump saying if they arent going to solve the problem were going to solve the problem. A reflection of a tweet he sent directed toward the mayor rahm emanuel a week ago. We have a lot of movement on capitol hill. The Committee Room for Jeff Sessions now as lawmakers start to get ready for what is expected to be the advancement of his nomination out of committee to be the next attorney general. From then it will move to the full senate. Something that has been delayed at least two days on behalf of democrats. They have been successful in delaying the vote. Well see if it continues today. In the Senate Finance committee 30 minutes ago that delay was overtaken by orrin hatch when he suspended the rules for the presence of democrats in the room. Now its empty. Hatch suspended the rules. They did a voice vote 140 and it advanced the nominations of Steve Mnuchin and tom price. We believe theyre headed for a full vote in the senate. What were waiting on democrats during the tape playout at the white house saying theyll come back into that room and be there in a matter of minutes perhaps and when they do, what will they say about what has just gone down . You heard our debate 35 minutes ago with blackman and trippi. They admitted that the sense of decorum in the senate has broken down. How significant is that . Back in a moment with that and a whole lot more as it moves on capitol hill here in new york and washington, d. C. Plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing i like it start your used car search at carfax. Com 90 of the Worlds Largest supercomputers run on intel . That means you can take a universe of data in your case literally and turn it into medical discoveries, diagnostic breakthroughs. Proof that black holes collapse into one singularity. I dont know what that is. But yes. Innovation runs on supercomputers. And supercomputers run on intel. You are super smart. And super busy. Shannon we are awaiting the arrival of Vice President mike pence and now the Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch across the street from us meeting with Mitch Mcconnell if democrats end of filibustering his nomination senator mcconnell could come under pressure from the white house. It is there to invoke the socalled Nuclear Option to secure the confirmation. Something that mcconnell has signaled he is reluctant to do. Well see what comes out of that meeting and well know, soon. Bill. Bill thank you, all the action is on the hill. Senate Judiciary Committee getting ready to vote on the nomination of Jeff Sessions out of alabama to be the next attorney general. Moving a final vote to the full senate. Awaiting that. Well bring in marc thiessen, a fox news contributor. Good morning to you. We brought you in to talk about this and a few other things. I think we need to reflect on whats happening in the u. S. Senate. The debate we had here between a republican and democrat 45 minutes ago both agreed decorum has broken down in the u. S. Senate between republicans and democrats. This is happening, mark, on the eve of what will be an allout war, an ideological and political war on neil gorsuch. How do you evaluate the state of affairs as it stands right now today then . Well, what were witnessing on capitol hill, bill, is the democrats are experiencing a they arent behaving rationally. You say its a war and they may try to fight a war. Its a war they cant win. The reason they cannot win is because they changed the rules in 2013 to eliminate the filibuster for both cabinet appointees and also Lifetime Appointments to the federal bench at the circuit and District Court level. They cant stop any of trumps nominees for the cabinet positions and quite frankly if they try to block his Supreme Court nomination republicans will simply follow the precedent they set for lifetime judicial appointment and apply it to the Supreme Court. Theyre trying to fight a war they cant win and quite frankly bill i dont mean the interrupt you here. A little bit of drag here. Just listen to senator feinstein from yesterday when she was talking about Jeff Sessions. Remember, he is the guy who came forward from the u. S. Senate and said im getting behind candidate donald trump. Here is senator feinstein from california. He has reinforced and supported the trump mission, style, rhetoric and views. He was the first senator to endorse. He has attended at least 45 Trump Campaign events. He wore the hat. He was a leading voice and during the campaign he spoke at large rallies, smiling while crowds chanted lock her up. Bill why is that relevant when the American People have already voted . By the way, were seeing neil gorsuch in one of the monitors as he makes his way to capitol hill. We expected him at 10 30. If there is any sort of comment he offers i may interrupt you. Go ahead and address senator feinstein there. What does she expect for trump to nominate someone who didnt support him during the campaign . Of course senator sessions supported him. He is very qualified for the job and again, they are behaving irrationally. Think about this. Two weeks into the Trump Administration. Because of democratic opposition the senate has confirmed four trump cabinet nominees. That is the lowest number in over 40 years of senate history. If you think about this, when bill clinton at this time 17 cabinet nominations confirmed. Jimmy carter 12 confirmed. Ronald reagan. 15 confirmed. Barack obama 11 confirmed. Theyve confirmed four trump nominees. This is not rational behavior. They cant stop them. What it has come down to is that they cant accept the fact that donald trump is president of the United States and if they confirm his nominees theyre validating his presidency and they cant bring themselves to do that. They need to listen to Barack Obamas advice. Elections have consequences. Trump won. Bill how do you think the neil gorsuch thing unfolds . How much resistance is there . Is there eventually a concession . You look at some of the Democratic Senators up for reelection in 2018. A lot of them are in states that went heavily for donald trump. West virginia, joe manchin said said he should get a vote. I imagine well hear more of that. What breaks that log jam, marc, do you believe . Trump has put out he wants to use the Nuclear Option if necessary. Right now you need eight Senate Democrats to get to 60 votes to clear him without breaking the filibuster. There are seven democrats who said theyll allow a vote on gorsuch. You need one more democrat to come forward and gorsuch will be confirmed. The fight is over. Either one more democrat will come forward and not have to use the Nuclear Option or if they resist republicans will invoke their precedent and do the Nuclear Option. They can put on a big show for their base and they probably have to because their base calls it a stolen seat. It isnt. Its scalias seat. They call it a stolen seat. They have to feed their base by taking them through the coles. The result is predestined. He will be on the Supreme Court. Nothing democrats can do to stop his cabinet or Supreme Court nominees and they have to get over the fact they lost the election and he is president of the United States and making these appointments. Bill i mentioned west virginia, missouri, Claire Mccaskill has an election in that state. Montana, john tester for trump. North dakota, indiana i think was nine points i do recall. Wisconsin by a hair, pennsylvania is a hair and you wonder how much that matters . I have to think in the end it could matter a great deal, marc. It certainly does. It is not just the cabinet nominees. You have 10 Senate Democrats. The democrats are defending 25 seats in the 2018 election. This field is completely tilted against them. 10 are in states that donald trump won. Some of them as you point out are states that he won overwhelmingly. Now, the question becomes if schumer and the democrats want to have this policy of opposition and obstruction, are they going to force these people to vote and obstruct Donald Trumps agenda on capitol hill and obstruct tax reform and Infrastructure Spending and obstruct his Supreme Court nomination . If republicans can paint those guys as obstructionists to donald trump is states where trump won by 10, 20, 30 points they will not only not make gains in the senate next year you may find a senate where republicans have a 60vote filibusterproof majority. They have to be careful about what they do and start acting rationally. Theyll be in a much worse situation in two years if they dont. Bill nominee for a stolen seat. Gorsuch nominated to the Supreme Court. Almost a year since Senate Republicans took an empty Supreme Court seat hostage. Thats the position by which democrats begin this process. Marc, thank you for your time. Marc thiessen watching all of this. Things are adapting on the fly. Well see what happens from the Sessions Committee hearing thats beginning right now. Thank you, marc, back to shannon on the steps of the Supreme Court just a few steps away. Shannon were joined by thomas dupree, an assistant attorney general on so many topics we can talk to you about. Lets start weve been waiting on senator Jeff Sessions and several delays as we await. We believe well get this confirmation vote one way or the other out of the Senate Judiciary committee. How critical for the Justice Department to have a leader . We need one. Im optimistic he will get confirmed. We saw what happened when you have obama holdovers running the Justice Department leads to conflict. What our constitution envisions is the president will have his team in place. Looks like theyre moving toward that goal and i anticipate that to happen in the very near future. Shannon some are criticizing this administration saying they werent prepared for the transition. When it comes to cabinet secretaries they arent getting a lot of help from the democrats across the aisle and is there any chance it backfires and they end up taking blame for Holding People up like sessions . Were starting to get to that point. It has been a while. You need people in these spots. Thankfully we have someone in Defense Department and Homeland Security and c. I. A. And elsewhere. Attorney general is a critical position. Things are moving forward. At some point you need to let the president put his team in place. Shannon this is a senator who across the street from us on capitol hill has been there for 20 years. His colleagues who know him. Friends with him. He has worked across the aisle. Theyve clashed, hes clashed with republicans and democrats and they have all talked about knowing him and how he operates. They know they dont have the numbers ultimately to stop him. Is this an exercise in futility meant to send him into that position as attorney general battered and bruised if the end game if he gets confirmed what point is there in stringing out the process . Senator sessions is a known quantity. A serious guy and make a great attorney general. So at some point you have to say look, weve beaten the guy up enough. Lets confirm him and let the president put his team in place. Shannon now we watch as we see each of the senators taking a little time to talk through what conversations they may have had with him and what concerns they may have and judge neil gorsuch making his way through the halls to meet with the Senate Majority leader who is critical in guiding the president through the process and getting to the point he will guide him through the hill. You see president mike pence a former member of the hill familiar with how things work. How important are these visits that he will make senator to senator to senator to try to make his case for what kind of jurist he will be . These are critical visits. I think he will put his best foot forward. The senators want to talk to him and learn what makes him tick. Someone like senator sessions, a known quantity to the senate, judge gorsuch is not exactly known and makes sense that the senators will want to have a serious, respectful dialogue to find out his approach to the law and thinking about the constitution and base their votes accordingly. Shannon somebody the aba had unanimously approved as well qualified. He made it through without any objections in 2006. This is a different post. He has a record on the bench. The paper is there. The resume. But what we understand is he did connect with the president and now he will have an opportunity to do this with in number of senators. He likes to hunt, ski, fisherman, some of the speeches ive seen theyre very heavy topics but he is a witty guy. He is a smart, nice man. I think he will hit it off with the senators. I think this plays to his strength. He is thoughtful. We saw last night articulate and presents very well. More to the point i think he is a very worthy successor to Justice Scalia and it will shine through. Judge gorsuch cares about what our founders envisions and the text of the constitution. I think when the senators meet him and learn what he is all about he will be confirmed. Shannon well know soon. Other battles need to be addressed first. Tom dupree, good to see you. We await the battle over the vote on senator sessions. Bill weve had a lot of action in the last hour, 45 minutes. Senator orrin hatch suspending the rules in committee which allows the nominations of Steve Mnuchin and tom price to go forward. Democrats sought a delay. That delay is apparently over. The room is empty. We expect democrats to come back in the room for comment. That should be interesting. Dont move. Were watching all of it. Thats all coming up next. Jeff session on deck as well. Back in three minutes. When heartburn hits, fight back fast with tums smoothies. It starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. And neutralizes stomach acid at the source. Tum tum tum tum smoothies only from tums bill the democrat from rhode island. This is the Committee Room that will advance the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be the next attorney general. That is the big action at this hour. As we await that, we say stand by. Shannon one of President Trumps senior advisors is still waiting to be sworn in. Hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci accepted a job in the administration several weeks ago but his appointment has been held up at potentially white house infighting. Lets bring in charlie. What do we know about the holdup . In every white house you have internal battles. Part of this, a big part of this is Anthony Scaramucci, the office of public liaison. An important position for dealing with the business community. He is caught up in one of these political roads. The political battle between the senior white house advisor steve bannon and chief of staff Reince Priebus and scaramucci is on the bannon side of the ledger and because of that priebus is using anything he can to block him being brought on board. Full disclosure, he is a friend of mine and a very smart and capable guy and why priebus. He sold his company before he went to the administration he had to sell his Hedge Fund Business and sold it to a chinese outfit in trump land is bill neil gorsuch now meeting with Mitch Mcconnell. Mike pence. Thank you for being here. It is my honor to escort judge gorsuch to capitol hill for his first meeting. We look forward to the members of the senate to have an opportunity to get to know this judge. As they do, they will come to understand the enthusiasm the president of the United States has for his appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States. In making him available to members of the senate and again grateful for the warm hospitality of senator mcconnell today. Some democrats are saying he is out of the mainstream. Thanks, everybody. Appreciate your time. Paul, can you please turn . Waiting on a nugget there, guys. Didnt know if senator mcconnell would say anything or not. Bret had the Senate Majority leader on last night. Will you use the Nuclear Option and change the rules . Senator mcconnell. Im not going to answer that. Well get this judge confirmed. Bret followed up. Isnt that answering the question . Mcconnell, we are going to get the judge confirmed. So you wont, says bret . The democrats wont be in favor of anyone this republican president would nominate. We have judge gorsuch on capitol hill. The first meeting with mike pence and Mitch Mcconnell is underway. We want to share that with you. While thats happening we have a lot of action in committee for Jeff Sessions. We expect this nomination to move forward today out of committee. If thats the case you might get a vote in the full senate later today. Possibly tomorrow. There has been significant democratic delays this week and overcome some of that senator orrin hatch just one hour ago suspended the rules in the finance committee in order to advance two of these nominations, Steve Mnuchin and tom price. That has happened. It cannot be a satisfactory conclusion for democrats. So we await comment from them as to the mnuchin and price movements earlier today. So lets get a break. The judge is on deck. A lot to get to, folks, a lot moving around and we will, after this. Clinically proven to help reduce hunger between meals. From metamucil, the 1 doctor recommended brand. Abdominayou may have ibs. Ask your doctor if nonprescription ibgard is right for you. Ibgard calms the angry gut. Available in the digestive aisle at cvs, walgreens and riteaid. Bill here we go, waiting on Jeff Sessions. Want to drop into the gorsuch scene meeting with Mitch Mcconnell who 12 months ago said barack obama as president will not be able to get a replacement on the Supreme Court because were already in the primary season of electing a new president. That is where we are today. The judge Andrew Napolitano is here to tackle all this. Good morning. That statement he made, which turned out to be true is what is causing the democrats to claim this is, quote, my fingers in the air, a stolen seat. Were not going to let them fill it. Just the type of blocking that the public will not stand for. Bill the day judge scalias death was announced. It was saturday, late morning, early afternoon. Mitch mcconnell did not wait. Within hours he put out a statement saying the process will not go forward. We will go now with an eightmember court. At that moment did you think that was the right call . No, i did not think it was the right call. I now do believe it was the right call. I was wrong. I thought the republicans would suffer from their unwillingness to permit a vote on judge garland. I also was of the view and still am that judge garland is absolutely qualified and is and was and has been the most conservative nominee to the Supreme Court by a democrat in 70 years since fdr nominated Robert Jackson as attorney general. I believe Mitch Mcconnell did the right thing. Judge gorsuch is a near perfectly worthy successor to Justice Scalia, exactly the type of person donald trump said he would appoint. His demeanor, his academics, his track record is almost un bill this is where we are. A contributor for the hill said this. Constitutional attorney on the screen. Gorsuch is unassailable in his experience, intellect and demeanor. What is left is his conservative view of the law. Reference the 1987 robert bork nominated by president reagan. To return to baseball parlance gorsuch is a heater right down the middle. I fully agree with what he said. Right on the mark analysis of judge gorsuch and the role he will play in this. Bill lets transition to senator franken on screen now. The ongoing battle you have here is whether or not democrats can continue to delay. They have been effective to a point. Now the rules were suspended in one committee an hour ago. How do you believe Chuck Schumer is now handling his position of opposition, his position of resistance however you want to characterize it . Very poorly. The delay is actually hurting the public. The reason we have the spectacle of a deputy acting Deputy Attorney general saying i will not defend the president of the United States in federal court and the president having to fire her sally yates three days ago, is because Jeff Sessions has not been confirmed. The reason he hasnt been confirmed is because Chuck Schumer is delaying the inevitable. I dont believe this is even good for Chuck Schumers a base or his longevity as minority leader. Bill is this getting heated . Senator cornyn was with us earlier today. Disparaging a colleague on this committee and particularly in the colleagues absence is just not its untoward and inappropriate and i object. Bill you think about the decorum of the u. S. Senate in the past 24 hours. Orrin hatch has gone off twice. Usually a reserved guy. Jeff sessions is a member of this committee. When al franken attacked him cornyn says its against the rules. Franken says im attacking him as a nominee. Bill we were told in the Senate Finance Committee Democrats are coming back in. That hasnt happened yet. That Committee Sits empty. When they come back in well see the same thing. There will be fireworks. Bill they cant be happy. They can delay but not stop the inevitable the confirmation of the nominees. Bill lets squeeze in a quick commercial here. More after this. Because you cant trust your body not to grow hair here and you cant trust your coworkers not to nickname you ear hair man. 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Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Happening now starts right now. I fox news inert, senator al franken is a former tv commenter dominic comedy writer. He is battling with republicans over the nomination of fellow senators senator Jeff Sessions. He claims you are uninvolved in civil rights cases that were listed on your