peggy. >> the unimaginable happened. >> male, distraught, said his wife fell overboard. >> it was a boating accident, said eric, and the coast guard agreed. something they see all too often. but soon, secrets emerged that

what really happened to peggy beckler. >> when we come back. >> i thought they would find her. >> maybe alive. >> i did, because she is a fabulous swimmer. >> where was peggy, and what had gone wrong on that boat? >> i had been crying and face is red and i was up set. >> there would be a sea of questions to come. >> you thought peggy faked her death? listerine total care helps prevent cavities, strengthens teeth and restores tooth enamel. it's an easy way to give listerine total care to the total family. listerine total care. one bottle, six benefits. power to your mouth . and for kids starting at age six, listerine smart rinse delivers

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was gone. >> the coast guard immediately launched a search, but by nightfall, no sign of peggy, alive or otherwise. and so eric called peggy's mom, june. >> he says we can't find peggy. and i said what do you mean you can't find her? where is she? what are you trying to tell me? >> eric told june peggy was driving the boat, towing him on a body sudden, a wave wiped him out. he came up from under the water, he said, he could no longer see peggy inside the boat. >> we thought she would be

just thought she would swim out of it. >> you see, approximate peggy was quite at home in the water. growing up, it was the only time she didn't have to wear the back brace and she became a very accomplished swimmer. >> she wouldn't panic. she would swim. because she loved the water. >> the next morning, june and glenn marshall were on the first flight out to california. peggy had been 24 hours. course, the ocean is just bigger, bigger, bigger than you think about if you're in new mexico. >> peggy's friend glenda, tried to stay opoptimistic. >> i thought they would find her. >> maybe alive. >> i did, because she is a fabulous swimmer. >> she went to the beckler house

>> how did he look? >> hisyster rca l. he looked up set as he would be, one would expect. >> she was the best person. >> this video from local news shows a devastated eric. it was now day two of the search for peggy, still nothing. the next day, the coast guard interviewed eric. eric beckler could barely speak. >> what did you take with you? >> we had a couple of bags and a cooler. we wanted to see if we could see catalina, but it was so hazy, so peggy, you know, it was too hazy, we shouldn't go too far out. >> eric told the coast guard he tried to body board on the way

>> eric said they stopped on the water to enjoy some margaritas heg peggy had made and wanted to try the body board again. eric was being pulled on the board. >> it just jerked. you know, just couldn't hold on. the boat was just going incircles. the boat kept going farther and farther away. and i couldn't see any other boats, and i was screaming. and looking around. it was my fault. if i could only see her again. >> and so peggy beckler was

maybe even within sight of the same beach that spawned her marriage. eric seemed devastated, faringearing his wife was dead. >> i was sure they would find her. it would turn out well. >> not just because peggy was a strong swimmer. everyone knew that. linda knew more, about her daughter-in-law. >> you thought what, peggy faked her death, or disappeared deliberately. >> uh-huh. >> coming up, peggy's secret. what was it? stairway and she said i have to talk to you. >> and enter, the bikini model. >> she was just a hot number, as they say.

a brilliant pacific ocean sun set, closed out day three of the search for peggy beckler, and even though family and friends tried to remain hopeful, reality was slowly starting to set in. and it was painful. >> at this point, you didn't think hee was alive any more? >> i kept thinking that she was, but you know, how could she, you know, that length of time. >> unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard convected a re reenactment at sea. they couldn't do it. >> they said it doesn't appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. that's when the coast guard called the orange county sheriff's office. >> detective shawn murphy was put on the case. >> they weren't even to duplicate what was ahead by eric

a wave. >> if peggy's disappearance was no accident, hur fee's job was to find out what did happen. detectives started by re reinterviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with peggy. >> he said his marriage was good, no problems with it. >> you didn't take his word for it. >> no, in our game, we don't take anyone's word into anything. we looked into it. >> they met with the improbably named, kobe laker, eric's best friend and kobe backed him up. >> terrific marriage, no problems whatsoever. >> but if the marriage seemed solid, there were questions about peggy, at least according to linda beckler, eric's mother. linda says peggy told her something in confidence. just before she disappeared. >> she stopped me on the stairway as i was leaving and she said i have to talk to you. she said i'm afraid i'm going to jail. >> according to court documents,

disappeared, the couple sold their physical therapy business to another company. but they stayed on as employees. then just four months before peggy vanished, the becklers were fired, amid allegations they had over buildilled medicare for over $1 million. so when linda heard she vanished. >> i started thinking how disturbed she was about going to jail. >> and she wondered if peggy had somehow staged her own disappearance. peggy's friend glenda said no way. >> was peggy beckler capable of committing white color crime, medicare overbilling? >> in my opinion, no. >> but if you're wrong about that, then maybe the idea that she faked her death to escape possible prosecution, would than -- maybe that's more plausible. >> white color crime and faking

family and your chi separate issues. >> glenda said peggy a dorddored her them. >> i would say that people who have never been in the inside of a courtroom or jail cell, sometimes do pretty crazy things when they rel lieds that might happenalize that might happen to them. >> i believe that, but not peggy. >> she did tell the detectives they were having some issues, like how peggy was busy with work and kids, while eric seemed occupied on the volleyball court. >> she confided in me. they were having some financial trouble. >> eric and peggy seemed determined to work everything out. but now peggy was gone and eric was a single dad with three kids under the age of four. and a new player was about to enter the story.

>> yes. >> like countless young women before her, tina had drop dead looks and hollywood dreams. she had done some bikini modeling and had a small part on "bay watch nights." but that turned out to be the peek of her career. soon, she found herself slipping into the darker side of showbiz. she started doing drugs and lost custody of her two children because of it. fell for a succession of guy whose did not treat her kindly. >> i mean, i had an ex-boyfriend put a gun to my head, i was held over the balcony by my neck. >> tina, who was broke and near rock bottom, was desperate. >> i got down on my knees and said i'll do whatever you want, lord, just help me. i can't do this any more. i need to you show me a sign. >> and the universe sent you eric beckler. >> the next day, i meet him and

>> she had taken a modeling gig, eye candy at a trade show. eric was there promoting his new business. it was three months to the day since peggy disappeared. >> he was handsome. >> so there was some serious chem tree from the beginning. >> yes, we went out that night actually. he asked me out that night and i moved in the next day, really fast. >> you don't wait, do you? >> no. not then. >> eric lived in a giant house and drove a porsche. >> i had never been spoiled like that. i remember thinking i was like julia roberts in pretty woman. >> she was moved by eric's story. >> he said his wife died in a tragic boat accident and that they were never able to find her. >> she couldn't help noticing how great he was with his kids. >> he would get on the floor and play with them.

>> she was eager to help while. >> i thought they lost their mom, they need someone to step in and not be their mom, but do things their mom would do for them. >> and when they took the kids to visit the parents, there was a lot of animosity. >> there was a hot young woman replacing their youngmissing daughter. >> shawn murphy also noticed the new woman in his life. >> just a hot number, as they say. and she was cohabitating with him right after this horrible boating accident with his wife. >> so murphy arranged to bump into tina. >> said hey, if you have any information about this boating accident involving eric, your boyfriend, just give us a call, and i gave her my card with my number on it.

tina didn't call. but someone else did. >> coming up, the best friend has second thoughts. kobe laker goes undercover. >> i protected you. i basically made you like lie a saint. >> and the new girlfriend is about to see this case in a whole new light. >> i took a videotape in and i said oh, my gosh what, is this.his other level of clean to it. it just kinda like...wiped everything clean. 6x cleaning my teeth are glowing. they are so white. 6x whitening i actually really like the 2 steps. step 1, cleans step 2, whitens. every time i use this together, it felt like... ...leaving the dentist office. crest hd. 6x cleaning, 6x whitening i would switch to crest hd over what i was using before. i take pictures of sunrises, but with my back pain i couldn't sleep and get up in time.

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the o shawn murphy, it sounded more than suspicion. taking up with a gorgeous red head, just three months after his wife was lost at sea. but murphy didn't have much more phone rang. >> we got a call from kobe's lawyer saying he wanted to have an interview with kobe.

friend and volleyball buddy. he told detectives the marriage was great. now he had a different story. >> eric has told me on several occasions that he is sick and tired of his wife and he would tell me that he just couldn't take it any more, he was tired of it. >> about seven months before peggy vanished, kobe says he and eric had a conversation that kobe describes as haunting him ever since. >> eric passed me about what i thought of the idea of him killing his wife, and i -- i was in shock. i didn't know what to say. he told me that he was making her take him out to the ocean and dumping him in a barrel. >> when he saw there was a boating accident and she was missing, you knew right then and

he lied to us because he panicked and he was afraid and didn't know what do. >> detectives convinced kobe to wear a wire, and to meter rick at a restaurant in orange county. eric had no idea that police were listening in, even so, he stuck to his story that peggy's death was a terrible accident. >> i was there. i know what happened. it's so hard for me to understand, you know, there could be any other -- people could think anything else. >> you never said, hey, look, man, i don't know what the [ bleeping ] but i'm innocent. i never said anything about anything. do i have to say it every week. >> kobe tried again. >> i protected you. i basically made you look leak a saint in the interview i had with the detectives. >> a dead end. but detectives were now convinced that eric killed his wife. >> even though he didn't lead to anything, that conversation with

suspicious to knowing. >> it moved it over. we knew we had a homicide. >> but knowing it and proving it were two very different things. >> you didn't get the process at the crime scene for almost a week. >> right, right. so that wasn't good. that handed the investigation. >> the boat, said detective murphy warks murphy, was pretty clean. they found blood, just one drop, under one of the cushions, but not enough to determine whether it was human blood. it could have come from a fish. not enough evidence to arrest him for murder, or even prove that a murder occurred. peggy's close friend glenda didn't believe eric was a killer. >> there is no way eric would have done that. no way. >> tina felt the same way. >> i felt the police were trying to frame an innocent man. no way, the way he treats me, no

>> tina also noticed he kept photos of peggy in every room in the house. he could not imagine a man that killed his wife would want to see her face everywhere. >> eric was the answer for your problems for a while, wasn't he? >> yeah, he was. >> so you weren't too anxious to question him. >> no, i believed him. >> after about six months. >> he says will you mary me? >> and you say. >> i said yes. >> you don't say no a lot. >> i mean, he treated me so good. >> she also admits, she newer rick was due to collect more than $2 million in insurance money, once he was cleared in his wife's disappearance. >> and everything would work out. >> everything would work out, yep. >> well, you were wrong. >> i was definitely wrong. >> they had been a couple for two years. still, not married, but living together off and on. one night, tina was showing eric some of her old modeling shots and tv appearances. >> we were looking at my picture, but i put the video in

it just stopped. >> purely by chance, she accidentally recorded a news report about peggy's disappearance. >> the whole screen was just a picture of her face and i said ex ex, my gosh what, is this. >> and she turned to eric. >> he turned white. like he lost the color in his face. she he said how did you get that? >> his reaction troubled her. he hit play and it got worst. the news report did not match the story eric had told her about peggy's disappearance. >> he told me there was three to four-foot waves, it was choppy out there. >> but on the report she went missing there were only two-foot waves and the weather was described as ideal. >> he lied. he lied all this time to me. you know, and he was just really quiet. >> sitting next to you.

>> i yelled at him and i said why is this different than what you told me. he just like got really quiet. >> then she says eric beckler told her a new version of what happened when peggy fell off the boat. he thinks she hit a wake and fell off. he said, and i didn't get to her. and i said didn't get to her or you didn't want to get to her. he said, at first he told me that he didn't get to her. then later he changed it and he said i could have helped her but i didn't. >> that's completely different from what he told police. >> right. >> chilling as that sounded, tina feared it still wasn't the whole story. she was determined to get the rest, but like a career in showbiz, you have to be careful what you wish for. coming up -- >> i'm afraid of you. >> nobody knows anything but you. >> from model and actress to undercover agent, a secret

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check this out, bro. what's that, broheim? i switched to geico and got more. more savings on car insurance? yeah bro-fessor, and more. like renters insurance. more ways to save. nice, bro-tato chip. that's not all, bro-tein shake. geico has motorcycle and rv insurance, too. oh, that's a lot more. oh yeah, i'm all about more, teddy brosevelt. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. tina thought she found happiness with eric beckler, until he changed his story about what happened the day his wife disappeared in the ocean. >> you didn't think about going to police?

not yet. i just felt like he wasn't telling me the truth all the way. i was always afraid because he was always with me. >> afraid, yet they continued to see each other, sleep together, and -- about two weeks after eric changed history, he and tina went to a club and took the drug ex tas see. >> we're both just laying in the bed and staring at the ceiling together. it just came to me and i said to him, i said oh, my god, you hit her over the head. he said how did you know that. >> the fact is, she hadn't known. call it intuition or the effect of the drug or a random guess, but it was an opening, and tina barrelled through. >> i said you need to tell me the truth. he is calmly talking to me and he said i'm going to tell you the truth. we had this huge party so everybody could see how happy we

>> all their friends were there. witnesses to the happy marriage. then a couple of days later, she says, eric told her he took peggy out to sea on that rented boat, and although peggy didn't know it, he took along some weights. >> and then he goes, then i walked up behind her, i said tina, i hit her so hard, she didn't feel a thing. i said what do you mean? he said he hit her over the head with a weight. he told her there was blood everywhere. then eric beckler told her how he got rid of his wife. >> he just -- he did her wrists and her ankles together so she was completely bent in half. he took the two trash bags he had and put her body in it and put the weights and tied it down to the a rope and threw her in. >> two years after she vanished, a stunning confession. >> and you go to sleep after a man -- >> no, actually then we have sex.

because i think that made him feel like i was going to be quiet and you know, that he was, i don't know, sealing the deal with me or something. >> but the deal was not sealed. not with anyone. the case was still open, and detectives had been keeping an eye honor rick -- on eric and tina all along. >> we knew it was going to go sideways. >> because when they go sideways, people start talking. >> that's right. >> and that's what happened, two weeks after eric's apparent confession. a neighbor called 911 after hearing yelling. when police arrived, eric was gone, but tina was angry, and she still had the business card detective murphy had given her almost two years earlier.

met up with tina. >> she told him what eric said. a big break, yes, but not enough for an arrest. tina was pretty far from an ideal witness. detectives knew they would need more than her word against eric. so they asked tina. >> would you be willing to wear a wire. i said yes. >> why would you turn in a guy who had basically taken you from a terrible life and given you a great life. >> because i couldn't live with myself. i mean, no way. >> police planted microphones in her car, in her purse, and on her body. and tina arranged a meeting. she told eric that after the domestic violence call, sheriff's homicide detectives came in to ask questions about eric. it was to get their stories straight in case the cops questioned her again. tina wired up, picked upper rick

restaurant called el toreito. >> were you worried? >> not really. i was worried that i wouldn't get him to confess. >> i had two stories. >> no story to tell. you you weren't there. it was an accident. >> once inside the restaurant, tina tried to getter rick to repeat the details of peggy's death. eric wouldn't go there. >> don't worry about it. details are not important. >> so tina tried to get him to say why he did it. >> i mean, how do i know you wouldn't get so mad at me. >> tina, i've been way more mad at you. >> you know. so how could you do that. >> i don't know. >> no confession, but not a denial either. >> are you thinking to yourself at that point, that's it, i got him. >> i honestly thought it was good, but still thought it wasn't enough. >> but you do know, there was a reason. >> remember, peggy had a life

$2 million. >> again, she tried to get him to give her a reason. >> what was it about her that made you want to -- >> i felt like i was backed in a corner, like she was gonna steal the kids. >> and eric tried to reassure tina. >> i would never do that. >> she was good. she was really good. >> but the drama wasn't over. tina left the restaurant with eric, still wired up. >> this is where it gets scary. so we're walking out to the car and he says to me let me drive. >> that was not part of the plan. >> we lose sight of them. >> in a movie, this is where you hear the sound of gun shuts. >> that would not have been good. >> in the car, with eric behind the wheel, tina cranked up her acting skills, and -- >> just tell -- i haven't talked about it for over a year and of ma.

>> i'm not making you do anything. you tell them anything. >> i don't care at this point. >> tell them what? >> what? >> whatever you [ bleeping ]. >> don't you talk to me that way. >> now she tried to getter rick out of the car. >> pull my car over. >> i will. >> now. >> i don't trust you. i'm afraid of you. >> i'm just -- all i'm asking -- you don't have to -- nobody knows anything but you. you don't have to tell anybody anything. >> tina hopped in the driver's seat. >> meet me at my house. that's why i'm going to be. >> and just like that, tina drove away from her old life. >> in the end, you got enough. >> oh, absolutely, yeah? >> understand you're under arrest. >> he was arrested and charged with peggy's murder. >> what was it like to get the call that he had been arrested? >> i just trembled all over. i couldn't really believe it.

arrest made headlines, tina made some headlines of her own. put the whole case in jeopardy. coming up -- >> i did not commit this crime. >> eric beckler on trial, and trial too. >> do you think anybody was -- >> no. >> without that statement, they

this a homicide. beach volleyball is a kid's game played by grown-ups, murder

and it's for keeps. prosecutors believed eric beckler was trying to be successful at both. detectives put him in jail, but then two weeks after eric's arrest, came this headline in the local paper. witness in murder case doubts suspect's guilt. tina, who had worn a wire and helped police nail eric, now said maybe he didn't kill her. >> the kids lost their mom and they're probably going to lose their dad for a long time. i felt guilty. >> guilty for a man she was about to marry. >> he tried to hang himself with the sheets. >> that was enough to make you think twice. >> i didn't want him to die. >> you felt guilty. >> i felt guilty. >> you tried to roll the whole thing back. >> yeah, i did. >> but she said she always

and in the winter of 2000, eric beckler went on trial. the star witness, tina, a witness who was to be fair, compromised, not just about her waffling and her own checkered past, but one detail in the story tina says eric told her. defense attorney says it's critical. >> you expect if peggy's head was caved in by 35 pound dumbbells, there would be blood. >> quite a lot of it. >> everywhere. and there wasn't. >> on the stand, tina tried to defend herself. >> i'm a horrible witness when it comes to looking at me on paper. >> do you think anybody would believe you? >> no. you know, i knew that i told exactly what he had said to me, and i knew that i was doing the right thing. i honestly didn't care what anybody thought. >> then there was the conversation she had recorded at the restaurant. eric's own words.

>> nobody knows anything but you. >> barnett offered his own explanation. >> i argued the reason he said it is to shut her up, to calm her down. >> in any event, the defense said, eric never said on tape that he hit peggy. the only person who heard him say that was tina, a drug user, a woman with a fraud conviction on her record. >> without that statement, they have a lot of sir couplecircumstantial evidence. >> another theory. >> she was under a great deal of pressure and could easily be distracted. and in combination with alcohol, she she rarely drank, but she did on that day, could contribute to a lack of care in driving the boat. >> you don't think peggy beckler faked her death? you think she's dead. >> i do not think she faked her

>> do you think she died accidentally and her body hasn't been found. >> that's right. prosecutor's argued it was eric's doing. >> he had 3.5 million reasons for killing her. and that's what he stood to gain if he had gotten away with it. >> he had a weight tree back at home that appeared to be incomplete. they believe he used the missing weight to kill peggy and sink her body. >> what about the blood? a luminol test, a lot of blood in the boat, but it was cleaned up, and of course, there was tina herself despite her past and criminal record and her drug use, she rang true to you? >> yes, absolutely. >> who would the jury believe? and would tina's past make a difference? >> it doesn't matter what i did

what i did with myself has nothing to do with what he did. >> after seven days, the verdict. guilty of first degree murder. >> you are thrilled the man did it is behind bars, but nobody wins in this situation. nobody. the children now have no mother and no father. so there is no winner. >> but the jury did not believer rick killed peggy for the money. he was found not guilty of murder for financial gain. his at his sentencing, he addressed the judge. >> the accident was a horrible tragedy. it affects our families and a as much as the marshals are hurting, my family is also hurting, because i did not commit this crime. >> the judge sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole. >> linda thinks the verdict was wrong. >> is it possible you don't know

>> oh, baloney. i know him like the back of my hand i. >> i could understand a mother not wanting to believe her son committed a crime. >> listen, if my kid was a druggy, gopher, thief, rapist. >> murderer? >> whatever, well, yeah, but he isn't. he isn't. >> peggy beckler's body has never been found. >> you want to know what happened? you still don't want to hear murder. >> at least you know. >> that's still pretty hard to take. and even with all of this information, we don't have a body. >> are you all right? >> yeah. >> you discover you were stronger than you thought you were? >> oh, yeah. >> peggy's mother and sister ended up raising her kids. and one more person who was stronger than she thought. tina. >> you're leading a different life these days. >> completely different life.

nice guy, and now she is a stay at home mom with five kids. hollywood happy ending, no. sometimes real life is better. that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks this sunday morning, the sudden death of justice antonin scalia and the rarest of events, a vacancy on the supreme court in the middle of a presidential election. how the fight over his replacement could paralyze the senate and all of washington. we'll hear from four republican presidential candidates, nald trump, ted cruz, marco rubio and john kasich. plus, that wild republican debate last night. >> you are a principle -- >> you are the single biggest liar. >> when you point to his own record, he screams liar, liar, liar.

the election to hillary clinton if we don't stop this. >> also, bernie sanders gets a taste of what he may face as he tries to win african-american voters. >>_v i've said black 50 times, all right. that's the 51st time. >> can hillary clinton win by making this campaign a referendum on sanders, not herself? joining me this sunday morning for inside and analysis are gwen ifil, chris, ron fournier and kathleen parker, columnist for "the washington post." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press with chuck todd". good sunday morning. it hasn't happened since 1968. a vacancy battle on the supreme court at this stage of an election year. we learned late yesterday of the sudden and tragic death of supreme court justice antonin scalia.

thought leader, a man president obama last night called one of the most consequential judges and thinkers to serve on the supreme court. scalia's death of course is a personal tragedy for his family and colleagues, but it is also bursting with major political implications. what will his loss due to the balance of power on the court? will the republican senate even consider someone nominated by president obama? how long will this vacancy paralyze the court, and perhaps the u.s. senate? and at last night's republican presidential debate in south carolina the candidates made clear where they stand on this issue. >> i do not believe the president should appoint someone. and it's not unprecedented. >> there's no doubt in my mind that barack obama will not have a consensus pick. >> the senate needs to stand strong and say we're not going to give up the u.s. supreme court for a generation. >> i think it's up to mitch mcconnell and everybody else to stop it. it's called delay, delay, delay. >> we're going to hear from four of the leading republican presidential candidates this

marco rubio and john kasich. the democratic candidates meanwhile were also quick to respond to the vacancy. >> supreme court of the united states has nine members, not eight. we need that ninth member. >> elections have consequences. the president has a responsibility to nominate a new justice. and the senate has a responsibility to vote. >> we'll also be taking a close look at the democratic race and how hillary clinton's team is working overtime to try to turn this contest from being a referendum on her to a referendum on bernie sanders. a lot to get to, but we start with the impact and the implications of scalia's death on the supreme court. nobody better to join me on this than our justice correspondent pete williams. pete, welcome back, sir. let me ask very quickly, we're in the middle of some

what happens right now? the most one with political implications is the immigration decision. >> right. when you have eight justices it creates the possibility of a 4-4 tie. when there's a tie it's as though the supreme court decision doesn't count, the lower court ruling stands and the supreme court decision has no presidential value. so for the immigration policy it would be a defeat for the administration because it would leave standing the lower court rulings that blocked it. for such abortion question which is coming, it would leave the tough texas restriction on access to abortion clinics standing. might encourage other states to try the same thing. for public sector unions though it might be a victory because they won in the lower courts, defeating an effort to try to restrict their ability to raise union dues. >> all right. we are headed for the potential of if the president wants to nominate somebody, he's made that clear. the republican controlled senate doesn't want to consider it. it's possible terms of the supreme court begin in october and end in june. >> right.

scenario we might go an entire term, october of '16 through june of '17 without a supreme court justice because even if the next president appoints it takes time to get through the process. >> two haugt ethoughts, majority decisions are not close votes. the court will continue functioning and do a lot of its business. it does raise the possibility that you won't get what only the supreme court can provide, and that is the final answer. only the supreme court can resolve these things for once and forever. so a lot of these things will just have to keep coming back until the supreme court gets the right combination to make the decision. >> scalia, the way cases are heard, once they're heard, there's an immediate vote that takes place among the nine justice. >> that's right. >> does scalia's vote count posthumously? >> no, not unless the decision was handed down. the rule is votes can shift and opinions can change, you have to be present for your vote to count. >> i want you to talk about one

it's a judge by the name of merrick garland. if there's a republican senate, this is a guy they think they can get through the republican senate. he's considered more moderate than other liberal justices, why? >> because of his record, experience in the justice department, widely respected. i mean, the thing is now presidents tend to want younger nominees. if you look at the most recent trend, they're nominating people in their 50s. that's not merrick garland, but he's the right kind of ideology. >> all right. pete williams, going to be a busy 18 months for you on this confirmation process, i think. >> indeed. joining me now is the first of four republican presidential candidates who are on with us this morning. it's donald trump. mr. trump, welcome back to "meet the press." >> good morning. >> let me ask you first on the supreme court opening. do you have a litmus test? do you have a litmus test on row v. wade? citizens united when it comes to who you might appoint to the supreme court should you become president?

great people out there. diane sikes from wisconsin from what everybody tells me would be outstanding. we need a conservative person. i think that certainly we have some great people. we lost one of the greats. i'd like to have the person tailored to be just like justice scalia, justice scalia was truly a great judge. and respected by all. both sides. >> that's what i mean, how will you determine that? how will you determine whether you got somebody -- >> well, i mean, look, you never know what happens, chuck. you look at where a guy like ted cruz pushed very hard for justice roberts. everyone thought that was wonderful. and justice roberts let everybody down by approving obamacare, twice. i mean, he really did let us down. that's largely cruz's fault and the bush fault because they put the wrong guy in there. that was a shocking decision. so, you know, you never really know. but at the time he looked okay. but he's -- that was a ted cruz mistake because he pushed him

look, we need great intellect. we need i say absolutely conservative. but i think the real plan for it would be somebody just like justice scalia. >> all right. i want to move on to the debate last night. >> by the way which is hard to find. >> yeah, i think a lot of con terve sieve servetives will agree with you. i want to go to the debate last night. your 2008 comments about george w. bush were brought up and this idea that you were surprised at the time that then-speaker pelosi had ruled out impeachment. did you believe that -- and i just want to clarify this, did you believe that there was enough there to bring up impeachment proceedings against george w. bush in 2008 over iraq? >> no. i was in the private sector, so i didn't think about it too much. but certainly the war in iraq was a disaster. no, not to be impeached, but the war in iraq it was a mistake. he just made a mistake. we went into iraq, we lost thousands of lives -- >> but you don't believe it's an impeachable offense now? you were implying it might be in 2008.