someone who orrin hatch also supported. why not allow the will of the people, the process to work? why say, name an individual, and here you have it, merrick garland, who had republican support and don't honor this man with allowing the process to work its way. >> well, it's not about the process. it's about the principle and the principle is that we should give the voice -- let -- give the people a voice in this. >> in a democracy, why doesn't the process matter? >> the constitution matters. the constitution is what matters. the constitution says the president can nominate and then the president -- and then do the checks and balances of constitution, the senate gets to decide and it's been decided to allow the next president, no matter who that may be, whoever he or she may be, to make that nomination of a lifetime appointment in a lame duck president should not be making a lifetime appointment. that's the way we've been doing this now in this country for over 200 years and it wasn't just barack obama who wanted to filibuster a previous president's nomination. it was also the head

but this is what orrin hatch had to say this morning about how the democrats are handling everything. he was on npr's morning addition. take a listen. >> i might had that if the shoe was turned and if this was reversed and democrats were in the position we are, they would not allow the republican nominee for the supreme court during an election that's half way over. i mean, let's face it. they would not go with that. so for them to act holier than thou is just holier than thou. >> do you think he has a point there? senator hatch also raised the possibility of getting it through the lame duck session in the fall. but that would depend on who won the presidential election. as he said, if the shoe was on the other foot and political roles were reversed, could you not say that modern day democrats would stall too? >> not only honestly, but unequivocally and emphatically, can i say from myself and my colleagues that we would push for a hearing and a vote. not to say how we would vote. i'm known merrick garland for many years. i admire his judicial record. i, too, am a former prosecutor. i,

orrin hatch says he would consider giving judge garland a hearing in a lame-duck session after the november presidential election. jason: donald trump is getting attention today for what many are calling a warning about what will happen if he doesn' the front-runners but to cnn on wednesday about the possibility of a brokered convention. he said there would be rides if a candidate with fewer delegates is chosen to be the gop nominee. the deputies who failed to arrest the trump supporter who sucker punched a protester have been suspended. you may remember this video showing 78-year-old john mcgraw punching a protester who is being removed from a rally. mcgraw was allowed to stay the rally and was not charged until the -- the next day. the sheriff says the failure to act by the five deputies won' t be tolerated. three deputies are of the for a week and two others were suspended for three weeks. michelle: a delta airlines flight was delayed after a passenger' s e-cigarette caught fire. the e-cigarette in the passengers carry on ignited during boarding into -- atlanta. the flight departed for s

when you have orrin hatch who was a chairman of the judicial committee, now is chairman of the finance committee, said you could not pick a finer nominee than garland. why didn't you do that he's complaining to obama. of course i blame them. of course i do. here is a fine man -- >> you don't think they should fight to prevent the change in the makeup as hard as they possibly can? >> it's not been doing in the past. excuses are lame. they are going to wind up as a result of this foolishness, they're going to lose senate seats they shouldn't have lost. i'm glad they're doing it, but mcconnell is leading his senators over the cliff and i'm telling everybody that is watching this, the senators aren't going to allow that. >> a little earlier this morning i was joined by the republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. senator mcconnell, welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> good morning. glad to be with you. i'm going to start with something you said in 2008 about judicial vacancies. here it is. >> our democratic colleagues continually talk about the so-called thurman rule under w

as recently as last friday, republican senator orrin hatch said president obama could easily name him calling garland a fine man adding the president, "probably won't do that because this appointment is about the election so i'm pretty sure he'll name someone the liberal democratic base wants." president obama called on the republican-led senate to do its part in the constitutional process. >> to suggest that someone who has served his country with honor and dignity with a distinguished track record of delivering justice for the american people, might be treated as one republican leader stated as a political pinata, that can't be right. >> republicans on capitol hill like their party at large responded by thrashing around norm defying maximalism. as he did within hours of scalia's sudden death, mitch mcconnell wasted no time in rejecting outright the president's prerogative. >> let's let the american people decide. the senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates. >> several at-risk senate republicans who

orrin hatch first raised the possibility after the presidential election, but no longer, now in line with his party. >> the right thing to do is put this over to the next president. >> reporter: the real concern, antonin scalia's death leaves the supreme court ideologically split, so any obama nominee would move the court to the left. even a moderate like merrick garland who hopes he's doing more than going through the motions. the white house hopes to keep the pressure on with pro-confirmation rallies in dozens of cities. in a conference call today with supporters, president obama said, make yourselves heard. >> pete williams at the supreme court, thank you. >>> still ahead tonight, accidental children. a danger in so many homes, that it's sending kids to the emergency room every >>> trying to fire up what if one piece of kale could protect you from diabetes? what if one sit-up could prevent heart disease? one. wishful thinking, right? but there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease. pneumococcal pneumonia. if you are 50 or older, one dose of the prevnar 1

that includes senator orrin hatch who once praised garland. >> i didn't say he belongs on the supreme court. i said he belonged on the d.c. circuit court. >> reporter: chuck grassley announced he's also open to meeting with garland but at this point there are no signs that any of these meetings will lead to confirmation hearings. reena and kendis. >> political lines already being drawn, kenneth, thank you. >>> well, the battle of garland's nomination will run right alongside the ongoing presidential campaign. >> after tuesday night's primary results it's looking more and more likely hillary clinton and donald trump are heading to are a showdown. both of them already seem eager for the fight. it's "your voice, your vote." abc's lauren lyster joining us live with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, reena and kendis. a closed door meeting is scheduled today in washington with some influential conservative leaders to talk and plot a third party run should he become the nominee. in the gop race for president a debate over the next debate. donald trump backing out prompting

impossible to stop, so the growing number of republican senators, including party elders like utah's orrin hatch much to advocate containing trump by trying to influence and work with him. after his response to an endorsement by k.k.k. leader david duke, mitch mcconnell created distance but never mentioned trump by name. >> senate republicans condemn david duke, the k.k.k. and his racism. it has nothing, that is not the view of republicans that have been elected to the united states senate. >> republican house speaker paul ryan took a similar approach, avoiding personal antagonism aimed at trump. the gop front runner cautiously seems to approve. >> i'm going to get along great with congress, ok? paul ryan, i don't know him well, but i'm sure i'll get along great with him and if i don't, he's going to have to pay a big price, ok? the fear is that in november, it's the party that could pay the biggest price. many republicans believe that with trump as the nominee, the port could lose control of the house and senate and even if trump wins the white house, he is running away from positions on

circuit in 1997 and held the support of seven current gop senators including orrin hatch who said his intelligence and scholarship cannot be ask questioned. garland is also a former prosecutor who led the prosecution of timothy mcveigh as well as unabomber ted kaczynski. his confirmation won't be smooth sailing. >> let's let the american people decide. the senate will revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates. >> nbc's tracie potts joins us now with more. what's the issue of this nomination? >> well at issue is whether or not this president should be nominating someone at all. and right now there is a political showdown going on between the white house and capitol hill over that. this nomination less than 24 hours old is now in limbo. >> hard work and fair dealing. >> reporter: a handful have decided to meet with supreme court nominee judge merrick garland on capitol hill today. the white house is encouraged. >> that's a good thing. there's a constitutional responsibility that members of the united states have to consider the n

one of them, utah's orrin hatch, at first raised the possibility of a vote after the presidential election but no longer now in line wh his party. >> we've taken the position that the right thing to do is to put this over to the next president. >> reporter: the real concern, antonin scalia's death leaves the supreme court ideologically split, so any obama nominee would move the court to the left. even a moderate like merrick garland, who hopes he's doing more than going through the motions. the white house hopes to keep the pressure on with pro-confirmation rallies in dozens of cities and a push on social media. in a conference call today with supporters, president obama said make yourselves heard. lester. >> pete williams at the supreme court, thank you. >>> still ahead tonight, accidental poisonings in children. stunning new warnings about a danger in so many homes that's sending kids to the emergency room every nine minutes. >>> also a stunt to try and fire up a crowd at a pep rally goes terribly wrong. >>> a new warning every parent must hear. it's about the risk of accidental poisonin

the other day i saw michael's more comments on "cnn" doing a fantastic interview with with orrin hatch about the supremee the court. i think a good show can beas everywhere but you need to start making a lot of noise about those who are doing it right and you need to absolutely object -- we are like the only thing that is democratic in our country is what if we vote in election. we can object to a media that fails us and we had to be making a great big noise. i don't mind going out and petitioning picketing and demanding and you know what's going to happen? there are wonderful journalist at all these networks. people that went in like i did writing down main street in union grove when i was 12 years old who love journalism and no independence of democracy. we must call our remaining journalistic class to a higher level and we must say to those who own our media let the journalists be free to cover an election. let's start covering politics and issues. let's get rid of the silly little game show that they have created. >> we have time for one more question please. >> independent voters

president obama singled out senator orrin hatch, one of seven sitting republicans, who backed garland's 1997 nomination to the d.c. circuit. >> i believe mr. garland is a fine nominee. i know him personally. i know of his integrity. i know of his legal ability. i know of his honesty. i know of his acumen, and he belongs on the court. >> reporter: hatch said today that times have changed. >> there is a world of a difference between being on any circuit court of appeals and being a nominee for the supreme court of the united states when you have ultimate decision-making power. >> reporter: and a handful of senate republicans have agreed to meet with garland, and senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley said he'll consider it. scott, this is a political gamble. republicans want to appear which could ultimately backfire to the benefit of democrats. >> pelley: margaret brennan at the white house tonight. margaret, thank you. well, the presidential election overshadows this supreme court battle, and last night republican front-runner donald trump won at least three more contests. th

he has the support of seven current gop senators including orrin hatch who said his intelligence and his scholarship cannot be questioned. garland is a former prosecutor who led the prosecution of oklahoma city bomber timothy mcveigh and unabomber ted kaczynski as well as the olympics bombing. his confirmation will not be smooth sailing. >> let's let the american people decide. the senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates. >> nbc's tracie potts joins us with more. what's the issue over the nomination? >> reporter: basically he's caught in a showdown between capitol hill and the white house. less than 24 hours after that nomination, -- >> the importance of hard work and fair dealing. >> reporter: a handful of republican senators have agreed to meet with the president's supreme court nominee on capitol hill today. the white house is encouraged. >> that's a good thing. there's a constitutional responsibility that members of the united states senate have to consider the president's nominee to fill a vaca

republican senator orrin hatch who was then chairman of the senate judiciary committee supported his nomination. back then he said in all honesty i would like to have one person come to this floor and say one reason why merrick garland does not deserve this position. he actual accused senate republicans trying to obstruct merrick'sonfirmation of playing politics with judges, and he has since said that judge garland would be a consensus nominee for the supreme court who would be very well supported by all sides and there would be no question merrick would be confirmed with bipartisan support support. ultimately, merrick was onfirmed to the d.c. circuit, the second highest court in the land with votes from a majority republicans. three years ago he was elevated to chief judge and in his 19 years on the d.c. circuit, judge garlandas brought his trademark diligence, compassion and unwavering regard for the rule of law to his work. our circuit court known for strong-minded judges on both ends of the spectrum, judge garland has earned a track record of building consensus as a thoughtful, f

so qualified that, last week, republican senator orrin hatch held garland up as an ideal bipartisan choice calling the justice "a fine man" before adding that obama probably wouldn't pick him because he's too moderate, and back in 2010, hatch called garland "a consensus nominee." well, g.o.p., obama picked the moderate, so does that mean senate majority leader and old-age mutant ninja turtle mitch mcconnell will relent in his blockade against an obama nominee? no, it does not. >> according to his spokesperson, mcconnell called garland today to let him know, "since the senate will not be acting on this nomination, he would not be holding a perfunctory meeting, but me -- but he wished judge garland well. >> larry: called him? mcconnell broke up with him over the phone? (as mcconnell) "hi, ms. garland. uh, is merrick home? hey, merrick. this is mitch. how's it going? yeah, me, too. look, i don't think i'll be able to see ya. well, i just got out of a long relationship with another justice. yeah, i do think it was murder. no, they never found the pillow. look, merrick, it's not you. it's me. i

utah's orrin hatch who has praised garland in past yesterday said he still supports his party's blockade. >> we have taken the position that the correct thing to do, the right thing to do, it's a principled position, is to put this on the next president, whoever that may be. it may be hillary clinton. so, you know, that's pretty reasonable approach. >>> there was plenty of finger pointing into the water crisis in flint, michigan. governor snyder said that the water was safe, this while the head of the epa, gina mccarthy accused the state of providing unreliable information. but ultimately conceded that the agency did not respond quickly enough. both leaders took lashings from lawmakers. >> i see responsibility. i see people that are getting fired. i see changes. i see an admission that there was fundamental wrong that happened in the organization. but then when i turn to the epa, has anybody been fired? that's a question. >> no, sir. >> has anybody been dismissed? >> no, sir. you need to have the information to determine an -- >> why do we need an epa? if you can't do that -- >> i'm sorr

reporter: we chased down the republican leaders who are refusing to hold hearings or a vote, including orrin hatch who once praised garland. you said before that he belongs on the court. why not at least consider him now? >> i didn't say that he belonged on the supreme court. i said that he belonged on the d.c. circuit court. >> reporter: why not at least have hearings and consider what has changed since then? >> i think the supreme court has been politicized enough. >> reporter: but late today, signs the republican wall may be cracking. mitch mcconnell, who won't meet with garland, speaking with him by phone. and now other republicans say they will, too, including the powerful committee chairman. what are you looking to hear from him? >> i don't know. he has to talk to me. >> and mary bruce with us live tonight from washington. getting answers from republicans. but republicans have an argument, too, mary, pointing to something vice president joe bide oncen once said. >> reporter: they call it the biden rule, referring to the vice president's comments in 1992, saying supreme court say can si

obama administration, and tonight one influential republican, utah's orrin hatch said he's lester? >> all right, pete. so much being framed by this election. on that note let's turn to who the next president might be after very big nights for both donald trump and hillary clinton. trump won four out of five states up for grabs, except for the big prize of ohio where that state's governor john kasich scored his first victory. the republican establishment is left with limited options to stop trump, including pushing this race all the way to a contested convention. but if that happens, trump is warning of riots. we've got more on all that beginning with nbc's hallie jackson. hi, hallie. lester, good evening. we've learned that in the last 24 to 48 hours the cruz campaign held three meetings across the country about how to get the most delegate support. john kasich brought on a top operative to focus on a contested convention and trump staffers met to game out how to pick up marco rubio's supporters. ahead at what could happen next in this wild race. three candidates left. almost three

could consider garland's nomination in the final days of his presidency, something republican senator orrin hatch says he might consider. >>> coming up, mayor de blasio says he has a solution to the city's transit problem. but it could come at a cost. >>> plus, those rattious see in the subway could be making you feel more than just grossed out. coming up, the impact rodents are having on your emotions. >>> and dave is here. we had some lightning in the sky. but the big question is what will it be like for the st. patrick's day parade? will we get through without a shower? we'll see if we have the luck of the irish as we join you with the full weather forecast in just a moment. stay with us. good morning, this is your captain speaking. it's a beautiful day with sunny skies out of the northeast. blue skies smiling at me nothing but blue skies do i see bluebirds singing a song nothing but bluebirds all day long i've never seen the sun shining so bright. never seen things going so right i'm noticing the day just hurry by when you're in love, my how they fly blue days, all of them gone nothing