There is a possibility they may see some opportunity for some immunity for some president ial decisions. If they decide it that way, it may have to go back down to the District Court which could cause further delay. I appreciate you not being sidetracked by somebody who apparently wants to scream louder than anybody else. Catherine, the lower courts have been unanimous that trump cannot claim immunity. Does that tell you something . I cant imagine theyre going to say a former president has absolute immunity for criminal acts. What will be a win for donald trump is if theyre saying were sending it back to judge chutkan to determine which, if any he would have immunity for and which he would not. Thats a win because that would delay the trial, which is already delayed. So what of course obviously jack smith and Special Counsel is hoping for, a majority of the court will just say, no, absolute immunity from Criminal Prosecution for a former president and clearly jack smith would say this
Check abuses of power especially the use of official power for private gain. Here the Executive Branch is enforcing congressional statutes and seeking accountability for petitioners alleged misuse of official power to subvert democracy. That is a compelling public interest. In response, petitioner raises concerns about potential abuses. But established legal safeguards provide layers of protections with the Article Iii Courts providing the ultimate check. The existing system is a carefully balanced framework. It protects the president but not at the high constitutional cost of blanket criminal immunity. That has been the understanding of every president from the framing through watergate and up to today. This court should preserve it. I welcome the courts questions. Does the president have immunity or are you saying there is no immunity even for official acts . Yes, justice thomas. But i think it is important to put in perspective the position that we are offering the court today. The
for more on this here s our political correspondent alex forsyth a warning her report contains flash photography. it was still dark when conservative mps arrived at downing street earlier this morning. over breakfast, the prime minister was trying to persuade them to back his latest attempt to send asylum seekers to rwanda. are you going to vote against the bill? are you satisfied? they were tight lipped on the way out about whether they d been convinced. some have been clear about their doubts. we are all of one mind on this. we all want the government to succeed in stopping the boats. we all want this legislation to be the right tool to deliver that. and i am genuinely grateful to the government for what they have done to make sure that this is the toughest ever piece of legislation. it is still partial and incomplete. successive home secretaries have been to rwanda, but so far no asylum seekers. some conservative mps say the government s latest attempt still falls short,
deeply rooted amid american conservatism for decades, but the attempt to root it into mesh government has new energy sparked by donald trump s first presidency and now fueled by his promises for a second. they want to tear down crosses where they can. and cover them up with social justice flags. but no one will be touching the cross of christ under the trump administration. i swear to you that will never happen. never happen. what more exactly do christian conservatives want in government. we see hints at the congressional level. the separation of church and state is a misnomer. mike johnson, the speaker of the house said shortly after he was made speaker last year, people misunderstand it. it s not in the constitution, he says. we see it in legislation at the state level from laws that ban abortion based on religious opinions of when life starts, to louisiana s just passed mandate to prominently display the ten commandments it every public school classroom. rulings from
welcome back. 12:00 p.m. eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific. i m in for andrea mitchell. we begin with a major shake up in israel. netanyahu announcing today he is dissolving the war cabinet, which has been responsible for managing the war effort for more than eight months. this comes as israel s military says it will pause fighting along the route in southern gaza for 11 hours a day to allow humanitarian aid in for the millions of desperate palestinians. netanyahu reportedly disagreeing with this pause calling it quote, unacceptable. the idf says it struck targeting after hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets in israel on friday. joining us now, raf sanchez in tel aviv. let s start with you. why did the israeli prime minister dissolve the war cabinet and what does it mean? reporter: primarily because those centrist opposition figures who joined his government a week after the october 7th attack in a show of national unity have now walked out of the government. they left with a p