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 JudiciaryCommittee 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 CourtSelection 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 y