If confirmed by the senate, i will keep an open mind in every case and i will always strive to preserve the constitution of the United States and the american rule of law. So kavanaugh is a graduate of Yale Law School and clerked for Justice Kennedy. In 1993 he met ken starr during a Justice Department fellowship and became a key staff member when starr was the independent counsel investigating the white water and clinton lieu ensky scandals. Kavanaugh helped write the final report to congress that laid out 11 possible grounds for impeaching president bill clinton. He served as george w. Bushs white House Counsel and Staff Secretary before he was nominated to be a federal judge in 2006. He was confirmed at that time by a vote of 5736. Now, Brett Kavanaughs nomination sets up an extremely
consequential confirmation battle. Within minutes of trumps announcement, several Top Democrats voicing their intention to vote against him. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer put out a saying that by selecting kavanaugh, trump has been reproductive rights on the chopping block. He went on to say i will oppose judge kaf kavanaughs nomination with everything that i have. Top republicans are rallying around trumps decision to nominate kaf now. Mitch mcconnell called him a superb choice, but with a razor thin majority republicans have no room for error. All eyes may be on Susan Collins and lisa murkowski. Senator colins said she will conduct a careful vetting of the Supreme Court nominee. Murkowski said she intended to review his writing on and off
the bench and pay careful attention to his responses to questions posed by my colleagues. Judge kavanaughs views surrounding investigations of a sitting president are drawing renewed attention following his nomination last night. In a 2009 article in the Minnesota Law Review kavanaugh suggested president s be exempt from criminal investigations and civil suits while serving in office. He wrote congress should consider passing a law, quote, exempting a president while in office from criminal prosecution and investigation, including from questioning by criminal prosecutors or defense counsel. He went on to say, quote, we should not burden a sitting president with civil suits, criminal investigations or criminal prosecutions. The president s job is difficult enough as it is. Now, some Top Democrats are seizing on this in relation to the on going russia probe. Of course, watch this. You pick the one guy who has specifically written that a president in fact should not be
the subject of a criminal investigation, which the president is right now. So this seems to be of all of the people the most selfserving person he could choose in order to protect himself from thinks criminal investigation. Hes a political animal. He has been for a big part of the formative years of his career. And so he thinks of this, i think, as, wow, we need to make sure that the United States of america stays safe by protecting the president from, what, from investigation . From indictment . From prosecution . Thats what troubles me about the whole picture here. By the way, coming up on morning joe this morning, a big morning for them, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer will weigh in on kavanaughs nomination. Joining me National Political leader from bloomberg news, sahil kapur. Thank you for joining me. I appreciate it. Lets talk about judge kavanaugh. We know he has a long list, shall we say many decisions and writings that a lot of people will sift through from both sides of the aisle to make sure theyre making the correct vote or not. We also know a lot of democrats are going to seize on his stance with regards to roe v. Wade. That has been the talk really of washington and out side of washington in the leadup to President Trumps announcement from last night. Where does Kavanaugh Stand on this. Well, so the issue of roe v. Wade is going to be enormously consequential to this Confirmation Hearing because Brett Kavanaugh could be the fifth vote on the Supreme Court. I emphasize could be, to overturn roe v. Wade or at least weaken it substantially. You can imagine a scenario where a block of five solid conservative justices if kavanaugh is put on the court will up Hold State Laws that, you know, states like texas and mississippi tried to pass that would make abortion virtually inaccessible in parts of the
country. Thats what is on the table. He does not have an extensive paper trailer Public Record on his personal view of roe v. Wade, but the fact he was picked by President Trump who has promised to appoint justices who would overturn roe v. Wade and the fact he was vetted by the federalist society, which is a group of very conservative lawyers and one of their precepts is that it is terrible law, that gives us a hint of where he is likely to come down on this. He has an extensive paper trail to say the least, which is one of the reasons it seems Mitch Mcconnell didnt endorse him when advising President Trump as to who he thought should be the scotus nominee. Lets talk about the Impeachment Hearing that judge kavanaugh was involved with. He had a Front Row Seat to the Impeachment Hearings as i mention earlier for president bill clinton. He later changed his opinion on investigati investigating sitting president s. What could that mean for President Trump as the mueller
investigation is lingering . And is there any reporting to indicate at all that the president chose kavanaugh because of where he stands on this issue . That is unclear. I think the president had a long, you know, complicated list of reasons for choosing kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was added to his short list i guess not really that short of potential justices after he was curiously omitted from the first one. This is someone tipped on the right to be a future justice for i think more than a decade now. He served on, as you mention, ken starrs Prosecution Team. After that he served in the Bush White House for a number of years. At the end of the tenure he changed his mind you know, his previously restricted view of president ial power when he went after bill clinton on starrs team, he decided president s deserve more leeway and should not be indicted. That could be consequential if theres an indictment coming as
to whether a president can be indicted. We are looking at a Supreme Court divided with four democrats and five republican appointees. He could be a decisive factor. I think we can agree it will be a decidedly conservative Supreme Court going forward. Thank you very much appreciate it. Thank you. Breaking news this morning. The final fales of the mission to save the four remaining boys and their soccer coach is now underway. Were told 19 rescue cave divers are in the cave as we speak right now. Theyre also expected to emerge with a doctor and three Thai Navy Seals who have been at the boys side. Four members of the soccer team were rescued yesterday and four others on sunday. We are told two from sundays rescue are being treated for mild pneumonia. The other two from sunday are in Good Condition but being monitored. Theres in word yet on the conditions of those rescued yesterday. But, again, Rescue Efforts are
ongoing and officials could say Mission Accomplished by later today. It would be such a positive end to such a terrifying ordeal. Yeah, certainly hoping this thing wraps up and those kids are able to get home safe to their friends and family. All right. President trump does not appear worried by the drastically different views held by washington and pyongyang regarding the latest highlevel negotiations with north korea. Pyongyangs apparent ambivalent attitude towards denuclearization. Yet trump tweeted this. I have confidence that kim jongun will honor the contract we signed and, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of north korea. China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on chinese trade. Hope not. Secretary of state mike pompeo also addressed the situation yesterday while on a surprise visit to afghanistan. Listen to this. We still have a long ways to go, but the commitment that the north koreans made, frankly that
chairman kim personally made to President Trump, remains, has been reinforced. Here is a note. Kim jongun actually did not meet with Pompeo Touring The Secretathe during the latest visit there. He has revealed kim was instead visiting a rural potato farm during that time. Given a weekend extension, the Trump Administration continued to struggle to account for the families separated at the southern border, saying only two of the youngest children have been reunited with parents. A District Court judge extended todays deadline for the government to reunite 102 of the Migrant Children under the age of five, saying only about half 54 kids are expected to be reunited today while 48 cannot be. Now, Justice Department attorney sarah favian said nine of the parents have been deported and nine released making them more difficult to track down. Other parents have criminal records that will keep them from being reunited all together she
said. Exactly two weeks ago health and Human Services secretary assured the senate that the process was organized. There is no reason why any parent would not where their child is located. I could at the stroke at key strokes i sat on the orr portal, with just basic key strokes, within seconds could find any child in our care for any parent. Last night a u. S. District court judge rejected the Trump Administrations request to alter the flores agreement, dictating that children cannot be held in Immigration Detention for more than 20 days. The Executive Order trump signed last month instructed Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions to change the decree to permit a new approach for detaining children along with their parents. The judge wrote, it is apparent that defendants application is a cynical attempt to shift responsibility to the judiciary. For over 20 years of congressional inaction and
illconsidered Executive Action that have led to the current stalemate. All right. Still ahead, everybody, British Foreign secretary Boris Johnson resigns amid the turmoil over brexit. What it means for Prime Minister theresa may who is trying to unite her government on the issue. Later, new reporting that President Trump criticized some of his own aides during phone calls with russian president Vladimir Putin of all people. Those stories and a check on your weather when we come back. This is a story about mail
and packages. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams theyre handing us more than mail theyre handing us their business and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you by staying in rhythm. And to keep up this pace, i drink boost optimum. Boost optimum with 5 in 1 advanced nutrition helps support muscle, energy, bone, normal immune function, and vision. Boost optimum. Be up for life. Could light up the room . Aveeno® positively radiant sheer daily moisturizer. Lightweight hydration for positively radiant skin that lasts. Aveeno®. Naturally beautiful results®. A hotel can make or break a trip. And at expedia, we dont think you should be rushed into booking one. Thats why we created expedias addon advantage. Now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. Addon advantage. Discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. Only when you book with expedia. Locked in the eu system. Johnsons decision follows the resignation of Brexit Secretary david davis and junior brexit minister steve baker just hours earlier. May has named house secretary jeremy hunt, a pro eu figure as the new Foreign Secretary and dominic robb as new Brexit Secretary. The uk is due to leave the eu at the end of next march, but the two sides have yet to agree how trade will work after the separations. Joining me live from london, Nbc News International correspondent cal perry for us. Good morning, cal. Reporter good morning. This is huge news to see that Boris Johnson was stepping down and so many others before him. First of all, what does it mean for theresa may and her standing . Reporter look, this is the first sort of serious political challenge we have seen on her leadership since brexit began. Part of this is a lot of just standard internal politics here
in the uk. Brexit is really being seen as a divisive issue. I dont know theres a better plan than the Prime Ministers plan. Thats what were going to find out. Boris johnson is largely seen as a selfserving politician in the uk. He has taken a lot of grief for the way he resigned, the Photo Opportunity that he created. So well wait to see if it actually creates a leadership shift. I think the more interesting thing is obviously the timing of this, just before the nato meeting and just before, of course, donald trump arrives here in the uk. So talk about that. Why do you think he exited now and was it on purpose because of trumps visit to the area, because of the nato summit. Reporter i mean it is probably more than just his todo list, donald trump coming, to do. I think it gets the most attention right now. Brexit certainly will be the top topic. Listen to donald talk to the chairman of the european union. He said it was the most divisive
issue in the history of the United Kingdom and the european union. Hearing that from the top official inside the commission gives you an idea what we will hear in the brussels discussions. Look for President Trump to come and say outrageous things about brexit to make it more complicated for theresa may. The question is, of course, will he do it before he meets with her, will he do it before he meets with the queen, yasmin. Quickly, i read reports that Boris Johnson could beguning for theresa mays job here. Yeah, look, it seems as though thats his play, he wants to be Prime Minister. I would tell you it is impossible for a politician celebrity to run a country, but it is 2018 so anything is possible. Thats the play, thats the play. Will he become Prime Minister. Anything is possible, cal perry. Thanks, cal. Reporter yeah. Lets get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. Bill, Tropical Chris is safely off the North Carolina coast, but it could turn into a hurricane. Yeah, we thought it could have turned just a couple of
minutes ago. The National Hurricane center gives updates at 5 00 a. M. In the morning and they just reported back and still a tropical storm, it is at 70 Miles Per Hour. It looks more impressive. It actually almost has an eye ot, but the Hurricane Hunters flying through it all night long didnt find it at hurricane strength. We will watch the rough surf continuing, Minor Beach Erosion and that will be about it. 200 miles safely off the coast of cape hat ras. They have it become a hurricane later today. Winds up there about 85 Miles Per Hour and then safely heading into the Open Atlantic and for the most part missing nova scotia and new finland. Yesterday, puerto rico, what was left of beryl went through puerto rico. Finally the rains have stopped but there were add