Attention in class, you know, be strong and active. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by its hard not to feel pride as a citizen of this country when were in a place like this. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff its been an all day interrogation for Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch, at his Senate Confirmation hearing. The federal appeals judge fended off democrats efforts today to ferret out his views on hot button issues. He also worked to show independence from the man who picked him, under friendly questioning from republican lindsey graham. Had you ever met President Trump personally . Not until my interview. In that interview, did he ever ask you to overrule roe vs wade . No, senator. What would you have done if he had asked . Senator, i would have walked out the door. Its not what judges do. They dont do it at that end of pennsylvania avenue, and they shouldnt do it at this end either, respectfully. Woodruff well have extensive excerpts from and analysis of todays hearing later in the program. Lets go to the other big story of this day, a fullcourt press by the president and the speaker of the house, paul ryan, to pass a new Health Care Bill that would replace major components of the current law, the Affordable Care act, known as obamacare. Time is ticking before a crucial vote in the house on thursday, and republicans know there may not be any democrats who will support it then. Lisa desjardins reports from capitol hill. Desjardins witness the art of trying to close the deal. Do you have the votes . I think so. Desjardins President Trump at the capitol, pushing for votes on the g. O. P. Health care bill, telling members privately their jobs are at risk if they dont pass a repeal bill. White house Spokesman Sean Spicer summed up the argument later. Yeah, i think theres going to be a price to be paid and its with their own voters. Hes going to make sure the desjardins as the white house pushes, g. O. P. Leaders at the capitol are sounding more enthusiastic. I just got to say, editorial, the president just came here and knocked the ball out of the park. He knocked the cover off the ball. This is a big moment and i think our members are beginning to appreciate just what kind of rendezvous with destiny we have right here. Desjardins but destiny requires votes. To win them, speaker ryan and his team did more than invite a president , they changed their bill. Adding 22 pages of policy amendments last night, geared to win key groups. For conservatives, some medicaid changes, like letting states add a work requirement for the program. And giving states the option of a block grant medicaid payment, that would likely cut the program. Finally a new limit from republicans no new states could join the medicaid expansion. Add to that, again, for conservatives, faster tax cuts. This new version would repeal of all obamacare taxes immediately instead of next year. But those changes did not go far enough for some in the conservative Freedom Caucus, like ohios jim jordan congratulations on the new bill. Wasnt as good as we hoped. Desjardins he is still a hard no, as the Freedom Caucus seems split. This is why last nights changes also offer something to a Different Group moderates. For them, republicans added roughly 85 billion in Tax Deductions for health care, with the idea that the senate will target that money more to seniors. As a result, representative Tom Macarthur of new jersey is now a yes. The speaker, the majority leader of the senate and the president have all agreed that they will publicly make it clear thats the only purpose for which theyll support the use of the 85 billion that we put in to the bill. Desjardins but its close freshman dan donovan is still thinking. Im not saying yet. Desjardins its close enough that g. O. P. Leaders are looking for votes from small groups, like members from upstate new york. Last night, republicans added a provision saying billions in county medicaid costs must be picked up by new york state. Representative Chris Collins pushed the idea. It shifts the burden from the local tax payer back to the State Government is how its handled in every other state in the nation. Desjardins but new york democrat joe crowley balked this will significantly hurt individuals in new york who could face a multi billion dollar medicaid short fall if amendment included. Desjardins another key new york democrat, Senate Minority democratic leader chuck schumer, railed against the bill and aimed squarely down pennsylvania avenue. President trump who has tried to put his name on nearly everything in his career ties, steaks, water doesnt want his name on this bill. Well the president himself is here on the hill today to sell the bill to House Republicans. Make no mistake this is trump care. Desjardins democrats hope this Health Care Vote sinks some of these republicans in two years. And, the president in four. But mr. President trump is selling the opposite message, there will be adjustments made, but i think we will get the vote on thursday. It is very close at this hour. Tomorrow could be a key day. House leadership expects an updated score from the Congressional Budget Office on their bill. Remember, initial conclusions from the cbo on the first bill came up with the forecast that 24 million americans fewer would have insurance under the house g. O. P. Plan. Well see if the changes affect that conclusion. Judy . Christa lisa, that would be interesting if the Congressional Budget Office came out with a different analysis. Also striking today the president s warning to lawmakers that they could lose their seats, as you were reporting. How close is do the white house and the Republican Leaders on the hill think this is . I said, is it close . They said, yes, absolutely. We know its close. Were pushing to that thursday vote. Wets lets talk about more concrete numbers. Essentially House Republicans could lose 21 of their members, maybe 22 and still get it across the finish line. I spoke to some members of the Freedom Caucus like thomasy. He told me his personal count has 30, way more than the 21. Its very fluid. Are those hard nose or not, very difficult to say. Its incredibly close if not leaking away from the direction House Speaker ryan wants it to go. Christa as you reported this afternoon, lisa, the white house called in more moderate republicans to try to persuade them. What are the arguments theyre using with them . This is probably the fullcourt press. They want those moderate votes. They are telling those moderates that they believe this whole plan will, in fact, make Health Care Better for those in their district by bringing down premium, offering more choices. Its the core republican argument weve seen, but they have to stare straight in the face of these moderates who have heavy medicaid populations and they are concerned about what will happen to them. Charlie dent is one of those moderate members concerned about medicaid. He walked out of that office. He says he still has the same reservations he had going in. Christa lee Centennial Park finally, if they are able to get it through the house, what are the early indications in the senate . Theres trouble there too, judy. Rand paul and mike lee say they are noes on this exact bill. Mike lee restated his emphatic opposition in the past day. And they cant lose any more republicans than that. But not just talking about moderates, some core members of the Republican Leadership over there like bob corker are questioning this bill and questioning what it would mean for health care in their state. So a lot of questions, not just here, but also on the senate side. Remember, judy, this is on a very fast paste, the idea is to go through house rules tomorrow. They had a long day on the house floor thursday. Then the earliest you could get to the senate is maybe even for a vote on tuesday. Thats the bestcase scenario for republicans. Maybe getting to the white house next week. But right now it also looks like a worst case is possible, which you andry standing here talking about the house vote still next week. All to be determined. Woodruff and a lot of moving parts. Lisa, thank you. Woodruff now back to examination of the second day of Senate Hearings to confirm federal judge neal gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Joining me at the table today pbs newshour hour Supreme Court analyst, marcia coyle of the national law journal. Amy howe, editor of scotusblog. Com. Pam karlan, a professor of law at stanford university, she worked in the Justice Department during the Obama Administration, and ilya shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the cato institute, a libertarian think tank. And we welcome all of you to the program. Thanks for being here. Lets take a look first at just a couple of the exchanges that came this morning starting with a question from the chairman of the Judiciary Committee senator chuck grassley. Can you tell us whether youd have any trouble ruling against a president who appointed you. Thats a softball, mr. Chairman. I have no difficulty ruling against or for any party other than based on what the law and the facts and the particular case require. Im heartened by the support i have receive from people who recognize that theres no such thing as a republican judge or a democratic judge. We just have judges in this country. President trump and others have said you are the next scalia, so i think its only fair to ask you, do you disagree with any of the majority opinions that judge scalia joined in these cases . If i indicate my agreement or disagreement with a past precedent of the United StatesSupreme Court, im doing two things that worry me sitting here. The first thing im doing is im signaling to future litigants that i cant be a fair judge in their case. Then how do we have confidence in you that you wont just be for the big corporations, that you will be for the little man . What i think can give you comfort in this area is, senator, i know a case or two has been mentioned yesterday. Respectfully, i suggest that does not represent the body of my work. Ive participated in 2,700 opinions over 10. 5 years, and if you want cases where ive ruled for the little guy as well as the big guy, there are plenty of them, senator. President trump promised a muslim ban. He still has on his web site to this day, hes called for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States. A republican conditioningman recently said the best thing the president could do for his muslim ban is to make sure he has gorsuch on the Supreme Court before the appeals get to that point. Senator, a lot of people say a lot of silly things. Thats more than silly. He wants you on the court to uphold a muslim ban. Senator, he has no idea how id rule in that case, and, senator, i am not going to say anything here that would give anybody any idea how i would rule in any case like that that could come before the Supreme Court or my court of the tenth circuit. It would be grossly improper of a judge to do that. It would be a violation of the separation of powers and judicial impend dense if someone sitting at this table in order to get confirmed had the make promises or commitments about how they would rule in a case thats currently pending and likely the way its way to the Supreme Court. The president S National Security determinations, are those reviewable by the court . Senator, no man is above the law. Woodruff those are just a few excerpts. Those were mainly this morning. There are more were going to show you in main, but lets talk about what we just saw. These hearings are still going on. Theyre expected to go into the evening tonight here in washington. Marcia coyle, first, we heard judge gorsuch say he has no idea how he would rule in that case. He is basically saying to these senators, im not going to tell you how im going to do, what im going to think about any case. Was he successful in really not sharing that kind of information . I think the senators are accustomed to hearing that from Supreme Court nominees. That is a very common response to questions about particular cases that might come before the Supreme Court or older decisions of the Supreme Court. But judy, the thing i took away from the Early Exchange is the emphasis in the questions and in the defense by republicans of the judges independence from President Trump, and this is a burden for judge gorsuch. I think its entirely of President Trumps creation based on his speech in the campaign that he would appoint judges who would overrule roe v. Wade as well as his criticism of federal judges. So i think the question. To me that was a dominant theme on both sides, democrats trying to show he may not be independent, and the republicans buttressing his independence. Woodruff ilya shapiro with the cato institute, is that how you heard what was going on today . Well, i think he did a good job in rebutting any charges that he was a stooge of President Trump of some sort. Im not sure what a trumpian or a populist kind of judge would be. I mean, he was straight from Federalist Society central casting. Im a cardcarrying member of that far right Extremist Organization as some members called it. I think its not going to stick to the wall, trying to call him an associate with some of the more controversial pronouncements of the president. Woodruff pam karlan, same question. Were these senators able to pin judge gore gore in one direction or another today . I think there was one place, and this is interesting given your excerpt, where he did give an indication, in having said to senator feinstein that he wouldnt say anything about which opinions he agreed with or not, he then went out of his way several times to praise Justice Scalias opinion in a case called United States against jones, about g. P. S. Devices about cars. He said the principles of the Fourth Amendment dont change but technology does. Whats interesting here, as senator klobuchar made clear, what else changes . Because if judge gorsuch can say the Fourth Amendment carries through even though James Madison didnt know about technology, what about the fact they didnt know gay people can have relationships the same way straight people. So whats the law . Does the constitution prohibit the president of making xenophobic exclusion comments. I think thats the steak of whats going on in the hearing. Woodruff amy howe, what did you pick up from all of this . As marcia said, there was not a lot of substance. Thats something senators do expect. That carried over even to some other areas where weve gotten some substantive responses from nominees in the past. Senator Amy Klobuchar of minnesota asked judge gorsuch about his views on cameras in the courtroom, and normally what weve gotten from the last few nominees is, you know, something along the lines of well, that sounds interesting, of course id have to talk to my colleagues once i was on the Supreme Court if i were fortunate enough to be appointed, and gorsuch wouldnt even go that far. He said that he hadnt really thought about it, which was kind of surprising, given that it has come up at the last few confirmation hearings. Woodruff he said he was open to it but he certainly wouldnt commit. Marcia, back to you, when senator leahy was trying to get him to talk about the travel ban, the comments that President Trump made during the campaign about whether he would. Whether people who were muslim should be banned and trying to tie it to whats happened more recently, you spoke earlier about this effort to figure out how independent he is from the president. Right. Woodruff was he successful in persuading these senators that he is his own man . Well, i think probably a number of senators have already made up their minds about judge gorsuch and how theyre going to vote or not vote for him. I think judge gorsuch did the best he could in terms of answering the questions. Senator leahy also did the best he could to get him to respond to even broad questions like is a religious test constitutional under the First Amendment. He tried a back door way, a front door way, and it ultimately. The judge would only talk in broad terms. And finally said, it seems to me the facts that youre giving sound very much like cases that are now pending around the country, meaning the travel ban, and so he was not going to tip his hand on that. But youre right. T