Tonight it is my honor and privilege to announce that i will nominate judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United StatesSupreme Court. Judge kavanaugh, the d. C. Circuit court of appeals, the father of two daughters. A long time fixture of republican law and politics. He served as staff secretary of the george w. Bush white house. He clerked for a justice he was chosen to succeed. Mr. President , i am grateful to you. And im humbled by your confidence in me. Thank you. 30 years ago, president reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court. The framers established that the constitution is designed to secure the blessings of liberty. Justice kennedy devoted his career to securing liberty. I am deeply honored to be nominated to fill his seat on the Supreme Court. Judge kavanaugh promised to keep an open mind in every case, though he has never expressed outright opposition to the 1973 roe v. Wade decision, he was vetted by the conservative federal society on that and other social issues. Judge kavanaugh does not have any paper trail to speak on on marriage rights. Hes on record of the question of whether a president should be shielded from civil and criminal litigation until they leave office. Hes written that they should, and that could, of course, become very consequential. In any event, as you saw at the top, his nomination has parked protests already, and already lobbying is underway by the white house to overcome it. The targ the so what is the reaction you are getting so far . You need only look to the two leaders in the senate, Senate Majority leader mcmcconnell calling judge kavanaugh an impressive nominee, well qualified for the position. On the other side, Chuck Schumer saying he will oppose judge kavanaughs nomination with everything he has, and he hopes the majority will join him. The real lit the vast majority will align with senator mcconnell. What it really all comes down to right now is five senators, two republicans, Susan Collins who are very key on abortion rights. That will be a big issue for them. On the democratic side, three democratic senators, all of whom are in tight reelection battles in trump won states. They will be key in the weeks ahead, anderson, they will be the senators to close eye out for. They will decide whether judge kavanaugh becomes justice kavanaugh. Both sides are ready for a fight. How is it going to play out in the coming weeks . Look, this is going to be a bruising battle. Ive talked to several sources with outside groups, one of whom told me expect tens of millions of dollars to be dumped in on both sides trying to pressure both the republican senators, and those democratic red state senators to come around, to one side or the other. The reality when you look at the dynamics that are currently at play now is this is going to be a bruising battle. Not one that is going to be done any time soon. It will be a process of about eight or nine weeks im told. It will start tomorrow. Vice president mike pence will join judge kavanaugh in his first meetings with senators. These arent necessarily pro forma meetings, these closed door meetings may be crucial to how senators decide where they are going. After that, the Senate Judiciary skm committee holding a hearing. The key issue when you talk to democrats, all about healthcare and abortion rights, when you talk to republicans, all about keeping things on track. Remember, republicans, if they stay unified, if all 50 present republicans vote in support of the nomination, he will be confirmed. If one or two start to peel off, that is where those red state democrats become extremely key. You mentioned a key issue here that im told democrats are keeping an eye on, a lengthy paper trail from judge kavanaughs time in the bush administration. Expect democrats to key on that. Healthcare, abortion rights, those are the two issues they want to talk about. Those are the two issues they want to bring to the forefront, while they recognize on their own, they cant block the pick, their belief, when you talk to top schumer allis, their hope is they can drive a grass roots reaction to this to keep the red state democrats unified, but also peel off at least one of those possible republicans to come to their side, anderson. All right. Phil, thanks very much. The up coming confirmation hearings going to be closely watched not just by the left, but also conservatives. Many of whom see new members to revisit Supreme Court decisions. Senator santorum, your reaction, are you pleased with the choice . I thought all four of the candidates were extremely well qualified, and they have tremendous records, certainly judge kavanaugh has as big a record as anybody out there. And is someone who i think overall is a good certainly qualified for the job. I think there were concerns from some on the right that his record on some of the issues that you talked about hasnt really been out there. And that, you know, the fact that he is such a longterm d. C. Type of person, that has raised concerns from across the country. I think he has a little bit to prove there. But i dont think its going to be a big hurdle for him. But the fact that he is sort of a creature of washington is probably from the right the biggest drawback in his nomination at this point. You were an advocate for judge hardiman. You talked to the people in the administration not only leading up to the nomination, but during the last vacancy before gorsuch was nominated. Have you gotten any reaction from him tonight. Look, i mean, i talked to tom just after i got off the show here about an hour ago. And you know, he this morning when he got the call, he said, you know, look, let me help brett, i think brett will be a great justice, and hell do whatever he can to be supportive of him, and you know, tom is just hes a great guy. Hes a, someone who i think respects the jurisprudence of judge kavanaugh, and you know, i dont i dont disagree with that. I think he is certainly a very bright man, and simply has a great record. And the area that i think that the administration at least from my take has made the decision is the president really wants to go after the administrative state. That is an important issue to him, important to his base. And there is probably no one has a bigger record on that, and certainly been as aggressive on that as judge kavanaugh. So i think hes tried to hes itching for a fight on going after the power of the government, you know, this whole chevron deference case, which im sure has been discussed here. That to me is really part of why the president picked judge kavanaugh to make sure that we had someone who is going to really focus the nomination on those issues, maybe not some of the other issues that you talked about earlier. I mean, obviously, you know better than anyone how contentious the Senate Confirmation process can be, is kavanaugh going to face a tougher confirmation battle than others would . Because as you said because of the sheer volume of documents from the 12 years hes had on the u. S. Court of appeals for the d. C. Circuit . Its not really as much i dont think as much as his volume of work on the d. C. Circuit, judge hardiman had more opinions than judge kavanaugh. I think its really the other things that he did. White water, and the bush white house. The clinton impeachment, the bush white house, there is literally millions of pages of documents they are going to have to review. That is sort of the question. Is there something out there . Is there some sort of smoking gun . Now, obviously im sure the administration has done a great job in looking at the background and those sorts of things, but that is that is the only, you know, the only thing is just the volume of things that judge kavanaugh has been involved with is something that should cause a little concern, but, again, im not im not saying there is something out there. Im just saying that that is something that people have to be concerned about. Stay with us if you can, i want to bring in our political panel. Jeff, lets start off with you. What do you make of this pick . You obviously have been, you know, very publically saying you think abortion will become illegal in within 18 months in 20 states. I do. I think donald trump promised the conservative movement during the campaign in very explicit terms, in interviews, in the debates, he said, i will appoint pro life justices to overturn roe v. Wade. I think that is what hes done. Hes got two of them. I think this nomination is more consequential than the gorsuch nomination, because hes replacing Anthony Kennedy, who voted in favor of abortion rights, who voted in favor of same sex marriage, who voted in favor of affirmative action. I think all those things are out the window now. I mean, i think elections have consequences, and this consequence is going to be enormous. What about the implications for the Mueller Investigation . I think, you know, one of the really remarkable things about judge kavanaugh is that he has expressed not that on many subjects he has been pretty circumspect, on this one he hasnt. The president should be shielded from investigations, that they should be shielded from questioning. They should be shielded from having to produce documents, and they should be shielded from being indicted. And i dont think donald trump is much of a legal scholar, but i bet that law review article that he wrote on that subject jumped out at the president and he said you know what, i like that. I want to put that up on the screen, and ask jim about it. Even the lesser burdens of a criminal investigation including preparing for questioning by criminal investigators are timeconsuming, and distracting, he went on to say, and a president who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost inevitably going to do a worse job as president. If i could just add one point, i mean, he didnt say that when he was investigating bill clinton, when he was investigating bill clinton, he didnt care about how busy bill clinton was. So i think there is a there is a there is a creepiness about the timing there, too. Not riddled by guilt. Creepiness. Its a legal phrase you may not be familiar with. Jim, do you think this has a big implications on the Mueller Investigation. The office of Legal Counsel opinion is clear that the president cant be indicted while hes sitting as president. There has been reports that mueller says he agrees. This is not something new. And i think the fact that judge kavanaugh, you know, has that opinion is not, you know, he has been through it. He understands it. And i dont think its all that creepy, because he has been through it, and he understands it. So i think there is a very, you know, a person is it weird that he has been through it on the other side doing the investigation . No, i dont think its weird. You learn from your experiences, right . And hes come out and made these observations, in the wake of what he worked on under judge starr, and i dont find it all that all that surprising, or intriguing or, you know, the fact of the matter is that the this investigation is taking its course. And its going to run its course. And the investigation is ongoing. The investigation isnt going to stop because judge kavanaugh is confirmed as justice kavanaugh. You know, there is a question and Michael Zeldon raised this earlier in the evening about whether judge kavanaugh would have to recuse himself because hes written about this. And should trumps should the special counsel mueller decide that hes got a spoke that hes going to and the president. I dont think recusal is a good idea. Yeah, exactly. I mean, we should have this is going on currently. There is no personal on this issue of on this issue of ands, because i think you are right. I think mueller, there is a there is a widely held belief that he may just issue a report and leave it up to the house to decide what to do. There is this question about whether he can compel the president to testify and what implications are there in kavanaughs words on that issue . That is the key issue. You are right. I mean, the issue of indictment is off the table. But the fact that he wrote that he shouldnt be questioned, that is likely to become before the Supreme Court. The civil litigation as well. Right. Exactly. And this isnt just academic. This is pending. I mean, this is its not definite that its going to happen, but it certainly could. And when i say it, i mean that there irreconcilable differences in a potential interview between trump and his legal team, and Robert Mueller, and as a result, Robert Mueller decides, okay, i need i need your testimony. Im going to and you. And it will have a fast track to the Supreme Court depending on the timing, Brett Kavanaugh will be senator, do you see this having an impact on the investigation . No, actually, i dont. I mean, i think this idea that you write a law review article and you have to recuse yourself or somehow or another you shouldnt be able to rule on things is absurd. He hasnt been directly involved in this investigation in either side of it. You know, i actually agree with the position that judge kavanaugh has taken, and i think frankly i believe most of the court would, too. And david axelrod, if this were happening to a democratic president would feel the same way. The president needs to be removed from these types of games played, you see this going on in several states where people are indicted, who are in Public Office and its all political. And the president cant be bogged down with things like that. There is a place for this to be handled, and its through the impeachment process. This david, do you want to . Look, there is an impeachment process, there is no indication that this congress would ever act on that. So essentially when you are saying if there is no recourse, and there is no way to compel testimony, and you cant indict and its up to the house, and the house is in the thrall of the president as this house has been, you are krip plicrippling attempt to move forward on an investigation. There is all sorts of people you can interview, you can interview anybody else, just not the president. The idea that you are not going to be able to conduct an investigation without interviewing the president , that is simply not true. There is all sorts of people interviewed before the main person is brought into the whole scene. I dont buy that. Richard nixon wasnt interviewed, and he was brought down why . Because of the people around him that gave testimony. There is plenty of opportunity for political mischief by a special prosecutor without having to talk to the president or and him. The constitution contemplated all of this, right . It was by way of impeachment. That is the rules of the game. As dictated by the founders of our country. Although, jeff, if you are trying to get to intent, dont you have to interview absolutely. And lets not forget that the Supreme Court has dealt with this question at least indirectly in clinton v jones. In the paula jones case, the Supreme Court said, we dont care how busy bill clinton is, he has to give a deposition in the paula jones case. Historically, the courts have been even more solicitous of grand jury investigations. You would think the logic is that the president would have to give grand jury testimony as well. So, you know, its not like we here. Kavanaughs position is much more solicitous of the president s position than the Supreme Court. Kavanaughs position is Donald Trumps lawyers position, period. They have been saying all along from day one that you shouldnt be bothering the president with all of this right now. Some of this can be taken care of if you have civil suits, it should be done after he leaves office, et cetera, and by the way, they dont believe that mueller, they are betting that mueller is not actually going to try and and the president. Whether this affects muellers decision, we have no idea. 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