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Kavanaugh seems very likely to overturn the affordable care act. thats another rationale. his writings on roe v. wade are very troubling. it seems like he would overturn the womans right to choose. if you want to get to no, you have ample ways of doing it if youre a senate democrat right now. >> of course, process doesnt seem to motivate people at large the way policy does. but we do have this strange precedent with the last vacancy on the court being created by the death of antonin scalia. febr...

Committee. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me on. >> what is your reaction to the presidents nomination? >> im a little sort of stunned at the way this has all played out. if you look at the 20 or so people, the one person who could be most assured to rule in his favor is this judge. he picked the one guy who has specifically written that a president should not be the subject of a criminal investigation. which the president is right now. so this seems to be, of all the peopl...

President could have caused for himself, now he has that insurance policy. he has this get out of jail free card. and sifting through 20-plus names, as well as all the others he could have considered, he picked the one, its not just that he said a president couldnt be indicted or held accountable for his actions. he goes as far as to say even an investigation. even being in the midst of a larger investigation. this could distract a president from other urgent work. youre right, rachel. its a cho...

>> you are a trained lawyer and you have expert opinions on these things as well as observing them through a political lens. the way i understand judge kavanaughs writing on the subject is not just that he said a president definitively cannot and should not be indicted when in office. but that he said a president shouldnt be subject to criminal prosecution or any civil lawsuits while in office. that a president should be exempt from accountability on either criminal or civil law while in office ...

Especially since we have someone who has clearly said they have a strong opinion should any of those issues come before the supreme court. we know now the ideas that are not settled law, that the president can pardon himself. whether he can just dispense with a criminal investigation. a lot of these issues could come right before that judge. >> you are a trained lawyer and you have expert opinions on these things as well as observing them through a political lens. the way i understand judge kava...

Subject to those charges. five guilty pleas. one sentence. people all swirling around this president. we have a bipartisan group on the senate side saying the russians did indeed attack us. all of this is going on now and it is like im watching a bad movie. that now the president of the united states has indemnified himself by picking the one person he knew would have his back. the one person who would give him shield from anything that might come at him. even though we see that numerous people ...

What about the notion of this guy, when he gets to the supreme court, could be handed the case of the trump presidency, in effect, pulling himself out of the case, recusing himself from that case. >> a few things. first of all, he said that in 2009 on the bench. ten years before that, he didnt have any trouble with the distractions that he bedeviled president clinton with it. >> worked with ken starr. >> then saw better of it, and says the president should not be subject to this. he says congres...

President. dahlia, thank you very much. good to have you with us tonight. >> thank you. i want to bring in my good friend chris matthews, the host of "hardball" on msnbc. who has covered any number of supreme court fights. chris, it is good to see you, my friend. what is your reaction? >> my first reaction is how smart you are. i think this guy was promised to judge kennedy that he would be his replacement. i think thats what theyre going to sell him as. did you notice the little thing there. he...

But under the standard, first, he will not commit to recusing at the hearings. hell say hell think about it. and when push comes to shove, i think he likely will not. >> peter, some will look at what we just aired and find some of the democratic lawmakers vein-poppingly loud. and others will agree. how is this shaking out in your early reporting, having followed the turns of this, following you on twitter all day? >> look, this used to be a different type of process, back when president clinton ...

Never applied to any other u.s. president ever. the snapshot of whats going on right now includes the fact that the presidents first national security adviser has pled guilty to a felony charge. he will appear in court tomorrow. a federal judge is about to hold a hearing on the start of his process. the presidents campaign chair is three and a half weeks into solitary confinement, awaiting the start of two federal trials. the presidents longtime personal lawyer has just secured the legal service...