HARLEY-DAVIDSON. WHAT HE SAID YESTERDAY ABOUT THE
ICONIC COMPANY.
ICONIC COMPANY. >>> BUT WE START WITH THE
POLITICAL BATTLE LINES ALREADY
BEING DRAWN OVER THE REPLACEMENT
FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
ANTHONY KENNEDY.
ANTHONY KENNEDY. WHO HAS ANNOUNCED HE IS
RETIRING.
RETIRING. JUSTICE KENNEDY MADE THAT
ANNOUNCEMENT YESTERDAY SAYING HE
WILL STEP DOWN AT THE END OF THE
MONTH.
MONTH. HIS DECISION PAVING THE WAY FOR
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN
THE HIGH COURT’S MAKEUP IN A
HALF CENTURY.
HALF CENTURY. THE MOVE WILL ALLOW PRESIDENT
TRUMP THE CHANCE TO SHAPE THE
COURT INTO A SOLIDLY
CONSERVATIVE ONE FOR YEARS, IF
NOT GENERATIONS TO COME.
DESPITE HIS REFUSAL TO CONSIDER
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S NOMINATION OF
JUDGE MERRITT GARLAND TO
REPLAYED THE JUSTICE ANTENEN
SCALIA.
SCALIA. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH
McCONNELL SAID HE EXPECTS THE
PROCESS TO BEGIN REPLACING
JUSTICE KENNEDY AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE.
POSSIBLE. >> WE WILL VOTE TO CONFIRM
JUSTICE KENNEDY’S SUCCESSOR THIS
FALL.
FALL. IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT THE
PRESIDENT’S NOMINEE BE
CONSIDERED FAIRLY AND NOT
SUBJECTED TO PERSONAL ATTACKS.
>> ALL RIGHT.
SO JON MEACHUM, YESTERDAY THERE
WERE SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO WERE
SHOCKED AT THIS NEWS.
AND QUITE A FEW PEOPLE ACTUALLY
WITH BLUE CHECK MARKS BY THEIR
NAME.
NAME. SAYING THIS WAS THE BLEAKEST
MOMENT IN THEIR LIVES AND THEY
DIDN’T KNOW HOW THEY WERE GOING
TO MOVE FORWARD WITH IT.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT
DONALD TRUMP DOES THAT WE
CRITICIZE AND TALK ABOUT --
>> CAUSE CONCERN.
>> CAUSE GREAT CONCERN.
>> AND VIOLATIONS OF
CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS.
CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS. JUST FOR OUR FRIENDS THAT ARE
SUGGESTING THE SAME HERE.
WHEN YOU ELECT PRESIDENTS, THIS
IS WHAT HAPPENS.
AND WHEN HILLARY CLINTON DIDN’T
VISIT WISCONSIN AND DIDN’T VISIT
MICHIGAN ENOUGH AND WHEN WE SAW
A YOUNG WOMAN YESTERDAY WITH A
CAMPAIGN MESSAGE THAT WAS MORE
INSPIRING IN THREE MINUTES THAN
WHAT HILLARY CLINTON GAVE US IN
TWO YEARS, THEY CAN -- COMPLAIN
ABOUT INTERNET THIS AND THAT AND
THE PRESS DID THIS AND THEY
SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT.
THE FACT IS -- HILLARY NEVER HAD
A MESSAGE.
A MESSAGE. SHE RAN A HORRIBLE CAMPAIGN.
AND THIS IS JUST, THIS IS A
CONSEQUENCE OF IT.
IS IT NOT?
I MEAN WHAT DONALD TRUMP DID
YESTERDAY IS WHAT PRESIDENTS DO.
AND BY THE WAY, IF MITCH
McCONNELL SUBVERTED WHAT SHOULD
BE SENATE’S CONSTITUTIONAL, THE
NORMS OF CHECKS AND BALANCES,
WELL THEN DAMN IT, DEMOCRATS CAN
TRY TO DO THE SAME THING.
>> YESTERDAY WAS DELIVERY DAY
FOR A LOT OF REPUBLICANS.
AND THE REPUBLICANS I TALKED TO
WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP UNHAPPILY,
BECAUSE THEY WERE FOR JEB
INTELLECTUALLY MAYBE THEY WERE
FOR RUBIO, BY THE END THEY WERE
FOR KASICH.
FOR KASICH. BUT WHEN IT CAME DOWN TO IT,
THEY VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP AND
HE IS PRESIDENT, NOT LEAST
BECAUSE, NOT ONLY BECAUSE, BUT
NOT LEAST BECAUSE PEOPLE, THOSE
PEOPLE WANTED FEWER TAXES AND
MORE JUSTICES.
MORE JUSTICES. THAT’S WHAT THIS WAS ABOUT.
>> AND I WILL SAY IT WAS, AS
SOMEONE, NOAH, THAT WAS VERY
CRITICAL OF GEORGE W. BUSH, WHEN
GEORGE W. BUSH LEFT, I WAS
BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED THE WAY HE
SPENT MONEY.
SPENT MONEY. THE WAY HE RAN UP DEFICITS, THE
WAY HE RAN UP THE DEBT, THE $7
TRILLION MEDICARE EXPANSION THAT
HE DIDN’T PAY FOR.
RECKLESS WARS.
RECKLESS WARS. BUT AT THE END, I WOULD ALWAYS
HAVE TO SAY, BUT HE GAVE
CONSERVATIVES TWO JUSTICES.
AND HE GAVE AMERICA A BIG TAX
CUT.
CUT. AND I WOULD SAY THAT ABOUT
GEORGE W. BUSH, A LOT OF PEOPLE
THAT VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP NOW
WERE PROBABLY SAYING THE SAME
THING ABOUT HIM.
>> YEAH, TO JON’S POINT WHO
VOTED FOR JUSTICES, YOU’RE VERY
HAPPY WITH HOW THIS TERM WENT
FOR CONSERVATIVE CAUSES,
CONSERVATIVE INTELLECTUAL
CONSERVATIVE INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHIESLEGAL
PHILOSOPHIESLEGAL PHILOSOPHIES, IT WAS A GOOD
TERM.
TERM. AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY
HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO PUT
ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE JUSTICE ON
THE COURT WILL ONLY SOLIDIFY
THAT.
THAT. DEMOCRATS APPEAR TO KNOW THAT
THE LEFT IS VERY OUTRAGED OVER
THIS.
THIS. THEY’RE IN AN EXISTENTIAL
CRISIS.
CRISIS. THEY SAY WE NEED TO DO
EVERYTHING WE CAN.
EJDIONNE HAS A PIECE IN THE
"WASHINGTON POST" DO EVERYTHING
WE POSSIBLY CAN.
MISSING FROM THAT IS WHAT WE’RE
SUPPOSED TO DO.
OMINOUSLY SAYS CIVILITY MIGHT BE
AN OBSTACLE TO THAT IMPERATIVE.
BUT TO THE EXTENT THAT THERE’S
ANY GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTION,
ANY MECHANISM THAT THEY CAN
APPEAL TO TO STOP THIS -- IT
DOESN’T EXIST, DEMOCRATS MADE
THEIR BED IN 2013, IT WAS
COMPLETED IN 2017, END OF STORY.
>> IT SEEMS TO ME IF THEY’RE
GOING TO DO ANYTHING, THEY’RE
GOING TO HAVE TO LOOK AT A FEW
OF THE REPUBLICANS, JONATHAN,
WHO WILL BE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE
CASTING THEIR VOTE TO SUPPORT A
NOMINEE THAT WILL END ROE V.
WADE WITH SUSAN COLLINS, WITH
LISA MURKOWSKY, YOU HAVE TWO
REPUBLICANS RIGHT THERE HOW DO
YOU HOLD JOE MANCHIN, HOW DO YOU
HOLD HEIDI HEITKAMP.
>> IF ROE V. WADE DOES BECOME
THE LIT "US" TEST FOR THIS
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. THE I COVER THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN
AND NIGHT AFTER NIGHT YOU TALK
TO PEOPLE WHO WERE SUGGESTING
THEY WERE ALMOST HOLDING THEIR
NOSE TO VOTE FOR THE PRESIDENT,
THEY HOPED THEY WOULD GET A
JUSTICE DELIVERED IN RETURN.
THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF A
LONG-TERM REPUBLICAN STRATEGY TO
FOCUS ON THE COURTS.
YOU KNOW THEY OBVIOUSLY ELEVATED
SUCH IMPORTANCE, THEY’RE ALWAYS
IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANT. WE SAW IN THE CASE IN 2000 THAT
DELIVERED GEORGE W. BUSH TO THE
WHITE HOUSE, IT WAS CRYSTALLIZED
FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE WHAT THE
COURTS MATTER AND YOU’VE SEEN
MITCH McCONNELL, THE DECISION HE
MADE IN 2016 TO NOT BRING
MERRITT GARLAND FOR A VOTE.
DECIDED THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE
THIS COULD GIVE REPUBLICANS A
CHANCE TO RESHAPE THE COURT FOR
DECADES.
DECADES. AND GIVE IT A CONSERVATIVE BULL
BULWARK AGAINST RISING
DEMOCRATIC CHANGES THAT WOULD
SEEM TO FAVOR DEMOCRATS.
THE COUNTRY IS BECOMING MORE
URBAN AND LESS WHITE THIS IS A
MOMENT WHERE REPUBLICANS ARE
GOING TO INSTALL THROUGH DONALD
TRUMP, AN IMPERFECT MESSAGE FOR
A LOT OF REPUBLICAN VALUES, AT
LEAST TWO JUSTICES.
>> YOU CAN CUT THE "PERHAPS."
>> JON, I WAS READING A "NEW
YORKER" ARTICLE CALLED
"McPOLITICS."
"McPOLITICS." AND IN IT, THE JOURNALIST
STARTED WITH A STORY OF BOSS IN
WEST VIRGINIA, ASKING THE
KENNEDYS ASKING HOW MUCH MONEY
DO YOU NEED TO HELP SWING, TO
HELP SWING WEST VIRGINIA FOR
KENNEDY.
KENNEDY. HE SAID -- I WAS LOOKING AT
ABOUT 35.
ABOUT 35. THINKING $3500.
THINKING $3500. THAT’S A HECK OF A PAYDAY.
THE KENNEDYS COME WITH A
BRIEFCASE OF $35,000, HAND IT TO
HIM AND HE OPENS IT UP AND SAYS
OKAY, I’M GOOD.
I’M NOT SAYING THAT’S HOW
POLITICS SHOULD BE.
THE POINT WAS, YOUS USED TO BE
ABLE TO GO TO PARTY BOSSES AND
SAY HOW DO WE WIN THESE STATES?
NOW IT’S NOT WON LOCALLY,
WHETHER BY THAT WAY OR KNOCKING
ON DOORS.
ON DOORS. NOW IT’S, IT’S ALWAYS A NATIONAL
REFERENDUM ON SOMETHING.
AND COURTS ARE PROBABLY THE, ONE
OF THE BIGGEST WAYS
CONSERVATIVES, ESPECIALLY, HAVE
TURNED IT FROM ALL POLITICS IS
LOCAL, TO A McPOLITICS
ENTERPRISE.
ENTERPRISE. >> A FRANCHISE POLITICS.
>> THERE WERE TWO MOMENTS THAT
REALLY MADE THAT HAPPEN IN THE
POST-WAR ERA.
POST-WAR ERA. OBVIOUSLY BROWN, WHICH
RADICALIZED THE WHITE RIGHT IN
THE SOUTH.
THE SOUTH. AND THE OTHER WAS THE ’62 SCHOOL
PRAYER DECISION.
PRAYER DECISION. I’M SURE YOU HAD PEOPLE IN
PENSACOLA, THAT WOULD TELL YOU
IT THAT THE BEGINNING OF THE END
OF AMERICA --
>> FLUORIDE.
>> FLUORIDE. >> WAS 1962.
>> OKAY, OKAY, PRAYER IN SCHOOL.
BUT FLUORIDE WAS A CLOSE SECOND.
>> IT WAS ON THOSE POSTERS.
>> BY THE WAY, THERE’S SOME
PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW THAT.
THAT USED TO BE THE GREAT JOHN
BIRCH CONSPIRACY, THEY WERE
PUTTING FLUORIDE IN YOUR WATER
AND IT WAS GOING TO MESS UP YOUR
BRAIN.
BRAIN. >> THE ANTHONY KENNEDY ERA BEGAN
WITH PARTISAN HYSTERIA.
BECAUSE TED KENNEDY WENT TO THE
FLOOR OF THE SENATE GAVE A
SPEECH THAT IN ROBERT BORK’S
AMERICA THERE WERE SEGREGATED
LUNCH COUNTERS AND BACK-ALLEY
ABORTIONS.
ABORTIONS. IF YOU ASK CONSERVATIVES WHERE
DID THE HYPERPARTISAN ERA BEGIN,
THEY WOULD SAY IT WAS TED
KENNEDY.
KENNEDY. AND DEMOCRATS SAY IT WAS NEWT
GINGRICH.
GINGRICH. >> I STILL REMEMBER WHERE I WAS
WHEN I HEARD TED KENNEDY’S
SPEECH.
SPEECH. AND IT WAS AN OFFENSIVE SPEECH.
IT WAS SO OVER THE TOP.
IT WAS SO HATEFUL.
AND IT DID.
IT ELEVATED SUPREME COURT PICKS
ON TO A LEVEL THEY HAD NEVER
BEEN ELEVATED TO BEFORE.
AND DEMOCRATS FOLLOWED UP, THEN