>> dickerson: welcome back. cbs news contributor frank spoke with group of florida republicans and democratic voters who oppose both hillary clinton and donald trump. let's listen to some of their conversation. >> you don't trust hillary clinton? >> not at all. >> you don't trust donald trump? >> not at all. >> how could you be more qualified than hillary clinton? >> she doesn't done anything that make her qualified. >> united states senator. secretary of state. >> i'm sorry to say -- first lady. >> flip flopper. for me, i see character because people stand on issues can change as we have all seen. character defines who you are. not what you do. >> titles aren't accomplishments. >> i'm going to play for viewers at home that clip that you reacted to then understand why

you resented it so much. you talk about leveling with the american people, have you always told the truth? >> i've always tried to. always. >> some people are going to call that wiggle room that you just gave yourself. always tried to i will never lie to you. >> but that's -- you know you're asking me to say, have i ever, i don't believe i ever have. >> what was wrong? >> you could turn off the sound and still see on her face that she was lying. she was the worst liar i think i've ever seen in my life. >> she lied about lying. >> for me it comes down to literally a bottom line decision to what length am i willing to go t rump out o white house. >> why do i have to pick lesser of two evils to run the free world. supposed to be the greatest country on earth right now we're being forced to pick the lesser of two evils. >> all these people keep saying that, there's two donald trumps, first off i'd like president

with one personality. but if that other personality is better can we see that, please? he already said he's a chameleon he'll be totally different. even if he changed we would know if that is the real donald trump? >> i'm 46. i have voted in every single election, always for republican i will not vote if it's donald trump. >> how can you not? >> because i'm not bound to my party i'm bound to my country and to my dog and myself. >> country is more important. because neither candidate is acceptable they're going to be lot of republicans like me who are going to hope for broker convention. somebody is going to merge from the convention and have it acceptable, conservative real republican. >> great opportunity is what we're demonstrating. there's a great opportunity for someone and that person better come forward fast because if the republican put donald trump and

democrats put hillary clinton the worst turn out election ever. >> i have been voting straight republican over 30 years at this point in time i need to be able to look my grandson in the eye and tell him that i voted with principle. i supported a candidate of principle right now we don't have one. >> dickerson: frank luntz is with us, how hard was it to find -- >> rediluted less than 24 hours. there are so many, if you asked me i'd say about 15% of the electorate right now none of the above. never been this high this early in the campaign. >> dickerson: what about the democrats versus republicans, some people say false equivalence, yes, people are unhappy with hillary clinton, perhaps, but there is absolute terror in the republican party. >> the difference is that it's trust. it's integrity with hillary clinton and trump it's unpredictability both of them are poisonous. you can see the new electorate right now. each week demonstrations get

worse. the rejection of the other side gets worse. unwillingness to listen and try to decide who is telling the truth and who is best to lead us becomes more and more difficult. i've never seen so many republicans rejecting the likely nominee. i've never seen so many democrats saying i will not vote for her. this is significant. >> dickerson: remembering in '08 there were lot of clinton supporters we're never going to vote for barack obama. had that close to 50%. so, give me a sense of how these voters, can they changed? anything trump or clinton can do? >> so much easier to take someone who has got a positive image make it negative than take someone negative image make it positive. donald trump's case his language, his tone, his demeanor has brought so many people into the republican party that don't consider themselves republican but they are voting for him because they believe that he appreciates their anger. but he's losing a greater number

of people in the general election and fact the protests work for him in the primary they make him more lickly to win. the until the owel independent, moderate voters don't like this at all. if hillary clinton's case she's got to be careful because bernie sanders voters are so devoted to him, so committed to him. not because of policy but also because of persona they think he's honest and direct and sincere. this campaign is not going to be about policy between now and november about who they are. >> dickerson: republican side just quickly, so, senator cruz versus hillary clinton does better in the general election than donald trump? >> oh, boy. i think cruz does better because it's not just about who they are it's also about how they think and plans for the future. economic policy he has advantage. social issues, she'd have advantage on foreign policy is a wash. with donald trump i don't know what he's going to say.

you don't know what he's going to say. i don't think donald trump knows what he's going to say. >> dickerson: frank, thanks so much. we'll be right back with our panel.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. >> dickerson: we're back with our politics panel. susan page is washington bureau chief at "usa today." reihan salam executive editor of the national review. ruth marcus is columnist at the "washington post." jonathan martin is national political correspondent for "new york times." susan i want to start with you where.

is the republican race now as you see it? >> john kasich told you there have been ten contested conventions only three wept with the front runner. one contested convention since we went to modern primary system went with the front runner that was gerald ford in 1976. like it or not donald trump is likely to be the republican nominee for president that can be really messy convention or can be a relatively smooth convention. but the fact is, he is by far most likely nominee going at this moment. >> we won't know until california which is last day of voting june 7. california and new jersey two, large states will cast their ballot. in california is district by district with possibility of g.o.p. race coming down to a ted cruz, john kasich, donald trump battle. heartland of santa monica, marin county. to decide who next g.o.p. nominee is. >> dickerson: reihan, if you are not certain about donald trump or your actively trying to work

against him where does the smart activity go? do you get behind kasich, ask kasich to drop out. >> kasich has a lot of decent qualities, someone who would farewell in general election he's from the midwest, a big swing state. also true that it is impossible for him to win and the idea that he is going to be the one coming out of brokered convention just defies comprehension. it speaks to level of self dilution, there have been a lot of did he have looksal candidates. ted cruz is very flawed but what is also true he has very strong consistent position on immigration, one can imagine some of the voters that donald trump energized going behind -- along with ted cruz it is very hard to imagine many other republicans pulling that off. and the other difficulty is that conservatives have to move at parallel track which is thinking hard about a minor party race as well doing both of those things at once. trying to deny trump the nomination while also trying to

organize outside of the party if necessary to give conservatives a place to work is going to be really challenging. >> dickerson: you need third party creation. ruth, donald trump's meeting with washington republicans this week, he's talking about phone calls with mitch mccontinental and paul ryan and unity. what about those republicans who are getting there. >> there are some republicans getting to yes but lot of republicans getting to, omg with donald trump. i think we need to sort of pause and appreciate the pigs flying moment that we're in right now. to have lindsey graham endorsing ted cruz -- have republican establishment which ted cruz has spent his entire time in washington and before. now, trying to coalesce around ted cruz is remarkable. the trump outreach to the establishment is interesting but what we see with trump is there

is kind of one part outreach then two steps of riots. just behavior and comments that are not acceptable to the republican establishment. one quick thing i find the third party piece, i know you guys wrote about it. very far fetched. make it very difficult. >> one point there it is very difficult to get somebody on balance lot to run as independent which is where what they're looking at doing is piggybacking. the modern parties, libertarians, already have access. and doing that makes a little bit easier. it's still certainly long ball of the hail mary, if you do it with part -- >> dickerson: already exist? >> that's the other republican party? >> that's the other challenge, too. you have to convince them that that is what you're doing. >> what is the goal? >> stop trump.

>> then what happens? >> who will not vote for donald trump or simply not going to tush out when you think about ballot races, the party apparatus going forward not obvious the third party would be vessel for the party to come. another thing that frank pointed out earlier if you look at young people, 18-29 voters they choose bernie sanders by wide margin. the republican party needs to think around that. donald trump, lot of voters frankly not going to be -- >> there's not a strategy that works. republicans i've talked to off the record, republican officials here in town think they're going to lose in november. the strategy is way to lose presidency built hold the isn't at, way to lose the white house but not have the party. that is discussion. they are not of one mind of whether ted cruz or donald trump

is the smarter bet. if what you're thinking about is post 2016. >> the gap between what they say privately what they're willing to do public the gap is vast. >> but there is way to stop donald trump. the problem is, that they are divided between two candidates trying to stop him. and there's a very familiar divide, the pretrump divide. establishment and conservative. they can't figure out who should stop him, hard for the folks to get behind ted cruz. mitt romney and lindsey graham trying to make it easier but still very difficult. >> one of them would say the word endorse within they talked about ted cruz. >> the state of g.o.p. we have to lose with cruz it's important. >> astonishing, right? they are trying to save their party by nominating somebody they assume will lose the presidency. >> at the same time, i think that the notion -- i disagree with frank that donald trump would be a less strong candidate against hillary clinton and ted cruz. i think that the clinton

campaign is quite nervous about the prospect of running against donald trump. because who knows. because all those down scale white guys, who knows what -- with ted cruz where he's going what he's going to say you don't know that with donald trump or what voters. >> i was shocked to see lindsey graham, by the way, willing to die on the hill of gang abate style immigration reform. to his credit willing to get behind someone like ted cruz but in creditable to see that position that is rejected by large majority of republicans he is still going to die on that hill. not just illegal immigration also larger concerns but what is the right immigration strategy for the future of this country. and that is something that, if the whole effort to stop trump becomes associated what you might call grahammism or ryanism that's an opportunity for ted cruz. >> dickerson: you're pointing out the contradiction someone who believes in conservation immigration reform, nevertheless being a person who is saying ted

cruz should be the nominee. it's a mixed message. >> pigs are still in the air here. >> more to come. dickerson: right. susan, donald trump said there be would be riots if the nomination were taken from him that was seen as way to -- incendiary things he right? >> both things are right. it's incendiary thing to say not something we've heard them say before. he is right. if donald trump goes to the convention just shy of 1237 but having won the most states, half won by far most delegates getting most votes, do you think -- they're going to go away quietly saying, cruz-kasich ticket, no. there's going to be trouble. i think one of the most disheartening things that we've seen is continuing, escalating vie license at trump rallies by protesters and the much forces against the protesters. i think donald trump should think twice about continuing to fuel that particular fight. >> dickerson: switch to the

democrats ask you this question. if people block the road to obama event in 2008 what would the democratic reaction have been to that the way they blocked roads to the trump event? >> i think you know the answer to your question. and i'm not -- i'd like to say that -- >> dickerson: which is what? >> which is people would -- democrats would have been outraged at the notion of people blocking access to obama events. and i think that actually there is a role for protests, but there also needs to be space, we've talked about it before with respect to black lives matter movement and stopping sanders from speaking. there has to be space for trump to relay his message as odious as it is and there's appropriate space and time for protesters to disagree with that message without squelching it entirely. >> dickerson: what is the role for bernie sanders going forward? >> getting lot of media attention, pushing his message, winning delegates where he can go into the convention with the

ability to leverage the party toward a more populous orientation. keep the pressure on her ideologically more than he is. an actual threat to win the race. >> dickerson: i was struck when senator sanders said, she may have got two million more votes but they're mostly in the south. he has such a message that will break through that that is why he would do well as president in -- >> revolution to -- more successful than any of us would have predicted six months tag to be clear. you're right, the math is hard. hard to see how he gets the nomination. hillary clinton needs bernie sanders on her side. once he finally gets out of the race after the convention she needs bernie sanders to make her case with energizing younger voters because he continues to crush her in that demographic. but to care enough about her candidacy to come out vote in november. >> watch for bernie sanders in the next bit to sharpen his missage against donald trump not as much against hillary clinton because he is looking down the

road as well. >> dickerson: last question. how much can the democrats use what's happening in the republican race right now in the general election against whoever the nominee is? >> they can absolutely use it. particularly hillary clinton to great effect. the trouble is when you have tremendous succession you have the catastrophic success like hillary clinton might have in race against donald trump then democratic coalition becomes so big, so broad, so expansive that you start having more civil wars within that coalition. the bernie sanders challenge represents the future. this party that now seems unified against trump is going to have a lot of fractiousness. that is going to become something that's going to be very interesting to watch. >> prefer democrats right now. dickerson: sure, unsettled -- we'll have to end it there. we'll be back in a moment with a look at the fight over president obama's supreme court nominee. ,,

>> dickerson: we're back with chief legal correspondent jan crawford and attorney. blocked by the senate democrats in 2002.

jan, i'll start with you. what kind of jurist is merrick garland has his has it changed that he's actually nominated someone? >> not in short term it hasn't changed calculus they were going to block whoever the president as isn't for mcconnell said early on would come up. that said i think this pick puts senate republicans perhaps the smallest possible corner because he really is the best pick that a republican senate could hope for from democratic president. as justice we have to assume he'll be much like he is as a judge. on that dc-based federal appeals court now in his 19th year he's been pretty restrained, cautious, not someone who swing for the census try to remake the law as justice. but nonetheless a solid liberal vote that's why republicans are dug in. bows his nomination would change

the balance of the court. that supreme court would be 5-4 liberals, for a generation. >> dickerson: what do you make of the republican strategy to just block? >> look, let me get started with my view which if to say when president puts somebody who is a qualified person the sebate should give him a hearing get him through. i think he is astronomically qualified. the strategy is political strategy, may enormous sense for leader mcconnell to do before the announcement. because it forced the white house to come to the table and put on the table the best qualified person that is the most attractive to the republican party. if the party were 20 points ahead in the polls we were united behind a republican nominee who was clearly conservative the strategy might continue to make sense. everybody knows that's not the case within we come to the primaries in june and it's clear

that best we're going to have a messy contested convention, i think would be number of republican senators who take second look at this and say, you know, it's a high quality person, we should give him a hearing and confirm him. >> i think you can't assume that say president clintonf she's going into the oval office would renominate merrick garland he's 63-year-old white guy. not the kind of home run that these liberal groups had hoped for. and so the argument to miguel's point that republicans could realize that they're going to get a liberal flame thrower come january. they better confirm this now. i think that is why the calculus could very well change in the month ahead. >> dickerson: miguel you mentioned crucial one between law and politics is there any legal or constitutional basis, though, in saying the president canned nominate somebody or if they nominate we're not going to listen to him? >> i think the latter. the latter is clearly okay under the constitution.

all article 2 says president may nominate and meets affirmative consent of the senate to a point. if the senate supposed to do anything whatsoever that is not the consent of the constitution there for the person cannot be appointed. there is nothing the constitution that says that they senate have to have hearings or a vote. if there was, the filibuster which we have had more years and years would have been unconstitutional. >> federal appeals court because democrats filibustered his nomination to the dc based federal appeals court. president obama if you remember for justice alito voted to block, if the senate gets to advise and consent. >> dickerson: where does this put us in the platetization of supreme court picks is this a big break from? >> i think that this lock been politicized. it's like the hatfields and mccoys you look back, this is a bitter battle, most senior

members of the united states senate. this is a separate point but i think you have to give republicans in some ways a lot of credit for being honest about what they're doing. instead of putting nominee through the charade of a hearing and trying to dig up personal attacks to vote them down, they're saying, no, this is not about merrick garland this is about the process. say, for example, miguel estrada was nominated by president bush, they went through this charade democrats did of personal attacks. instead of saying, we're not going to confirm president bush's nominees we don't want them to be on the supreme court some day. at least in this sense republicans are being honest. >> dickerson: about 20 seconds. the -- did you want to -- >> ancient history. seems to me as people we need to focus on where we go to now and when we have a bid from the president who is probably the best qualified person that a any party could have picked the party who rules the senate ought to take it seriously as a political calculation, give this

a fair hearing. >> dickerson: wonderful. thank you so much. we'll be right back. to the fas. and to help you accelerate, we've created a new company. one totally focused on what's next for your business. accelerating innovation. accelerating next. hewlett packard enterprise.

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>> dickerson: thanks for watching. until next week for "face the nation," i'm john dickerson. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org live news streaming to you. any time, anywhere, on any device.

taking the rain on kpix 5. live from the cbs the bay area studios. this is kpix 5 news. spring is bringing rain to the bay area. how long will it stick around? a family making history, and a look ahead, president obama's visit to cuba. how did on man end up dead inside a car? >> a stunning discovery by firefighters and east bay. a body was found right in front of a fire station. ? i have never seen anything like this in my 15 years cedar park mac -- >> reporter: when he