for this friday. captioning funded by cbs it's friday, march 18th, 2016. this is the "cbs morning news." president obama's pick to fill the supreme court vacancy gets the seal of approval from senate democrats. but the battle to get merrick garland confirmed is just beginning with republicans saying he'll never make it to the high court. taking on trump.

activists line up to stop donald trump from winning the republican nomination. march magic for the yale bulldogs! >> upsets abound. the first full day of the ncaa tournament delivers thrills to college basketball fans. good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. senate republican leaders are digging in their heels over the nomination of judge merrick garland to the supreme court. garland met with democratic leaders yesterday. both sides are mustering their resources to press their case. garland is expected to return to capitol hill today. don champion reports. >> reporter: senate minority

>> i am confident he is going to get approval. republicans cannot continue this. it won't work. >> reporter: the 63-year-old moderate appellate judge also sat down with ranking democrat patrick leahy during his first office visit to capitol hill. >> you guys are paid to do your job. make up your mind. >> reporter: garland did not meet with republicans opposed to granting him a confirmation hearing. senate majority leader mitchell mcconnell laid the visit as a stunt orchestrated by the white house. former presidential contender marco rubio also stood firm. >> i don't think we should be moving forward on a nominee in the last year of this president's term. i would say that if it was a republican senate. >> reporter: a handful of republican senators up for re-election this fall have indicated they are open to meeting with garland including committee chair chuck grassley. >> if i can meet with a dictator in uganda, i can certainly meet

>> reporter: the white house says it will set up with meetings when lawmakers return from their easter recess in two weeks. garland has spoken with senate majority leader mcconnell over the phone. this morning, some republicans are toying with the idea of confirming garland in the lame duck session, something the white house has dismissed. >> don champion here in new york, thanks a lot, don. new york city police and the secret service are investigating a suspicious letter sent to the home of eric trump, one of donald trump's sons. police responded to a call about the letter at eric trump's new york city apartment last night. a source tells cbs news the letter contained a white powder but that it did not appear to be hazardous. a source close to the investigation says the lerp threat letter threatened harm to donald trump's family if he didn't get

conservative leaders and donors held meetings in washington and florida to consider the trump campaign. some want to press ahead with efforts to try and stop him, but others are resigned to the idea that he will be the nominee. mark albert has more. >> reporter: former presidential candidate marco rubio told reporters thursday, he's done with politics. >> i'm not running for re-election to the senate. as i said, i'm going to finish my term here and then i'll be a private citizen. >> reporter: rubio dropped out of the presidential race tuesday evening after donald trump won the primary in florida. rubio's home state. trump now has nearly half the 1,237 delegates he needs to clench the gop nomination. >> we have to bring our party together. >> reporter: trump warns any plans to derail his candidacy could lead to riots but on thursday a group of activists and lawmakers met behind closed doors to discuss alternatives to

senator lindsey graham threw his support behind his adversary ted cruz. >> i think the biggest to stop donald trump is ted kres cruz and i'm going to help ted in any way i can. >> reporter: an activist group claims it posted the billionaire's personal information online. on the democratic side, senator bernie sanders conceded the missouri primary and campaigned in arizona thursday night. >> with your help on tuesday, we are going to win here in arizona. >> reporter: hillary clinton took the day off the trail to attend two closed door fund-raising events as she looks toward the general election. mark albert for cbs news, washington. president obama has reportedly told democratic donors in private the time has come to unite behind hillary clinton. "the new york times" reports during a meeting last week in texas, the president told donors that bernie sanders' campaign

will end. mr. obama did not call on sanders to quit the race, nor did he explicitly endorse clinton. coming up on "cbs this morning," we will talk to voters who have already had enough of this year's campaign and are less than pleased with the top candidates. another round of severe storms and wet weather is forecast today in the deep south. heavy rain, flooding, and hail remain a threat along the gulf coast from texas to louisiana. the town of deweyville, texas, on the louisiana border, is still under water. the worst flooding there in a hundred years. for the most part, the small town is evacuated and even when the water recede, it will be a while before residents can return. hail the size of tennis balls in some cases fell in the dallas/ft. worth area yesterday. windshields were shattered and

the zoo said the hail killed a number of exotic birds. an americanairlines flight headed from new york airport to raleigh/durham raleigh/durham. . it landed safely. they say a flash and loud back and no one injured. overseas now. north korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile into the sea this morning. south korea said the missile was fired from a site north of the capital and flew about 500 miles before crashing off the north korea's east coast. violated several u.n. resolutions banning the north from testing ballistic missiles. the california university student who wounded four people in a campus stabbing attack back in november was inspired by isis. the fbi said 18-year-old mohamed may have acted alone.

propaganda on his laptop and evidence he visited the isis website. the american who joined isis and surrendered in northern iraq this week says he quickly became disenchanted. >> at the time, i made the decision to go, because i wasn't thinking straight. i didn't see myself living in that environment. you know, i wanted to go back to -- to america. palestinian-american from in september. in flint, michigan, rick snyder faced tough questions and criticism at a contentious hearing yesterday. he apologized and blamed washington bureaucrats. >> we are taking responsibility in michigan and we are taking action, and that is absolutely

too. inefficient >> the city's water was contaminated when flint's water supply was switched to the flint river two years ago to save money. coming up on the "morning news." a fire breathing stunt goes wrong. a man is set ablaze in front of thousands of high school students at a pep rally. later, march madness lives up to its name with an early set this is the "cbs morning news." see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting, you should be

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you may be sooo constipated it feels like everyone can go ...except you. opioid-induced constipation, oic, is a different type of constipation, which may need a different approach. longing for a change? have the conversation with your doctor about oic, and ask about prescription treatment options. a high school pep rally stunt had fiery results thursday morning in florida. a pyrotechnics crew member filled his mouth with flammable liquid and hoping to have spectacular results and instead it backfired and his face caught fire burning for about 20 seconds. he was rushed to the hospital and treated for those burns.

the chaos were hurt. photographs of kurt cobain shotgun are now public for the first time. seattle police say the rock star used it to commit suicide nearly 22 years ago. the photos were released yesterday after a request from cbs news. some conspiracy theorists complain police. an isis recruiter in new york is sentenced. those are some of the headlines on the morning newsstand. the rochester democrat and chronicle reports the pizza shop owner who admitted recruiting for isis. the man was given 22 and a half years in prison. he renounced isis before his sentencing. he tried to recruit, actually, militants. the "los angeles times" is reporting a witness account of a deadly fall from a hotel.

the site when the worker fell from the 54th floor on monday. the worker was not supposed to be above the third floor. "time" reports apple ceo tim cook's version of the company's battle with the fbi in an exclusive interview, he explains why he thinks the government is overreacting to the investigation of the san bernardino massacre. the fbi wants apple to develop software to decode-a-phone carried by one of the killers. cook said it would put millions of people at risk. the "the tampa tribune" reports closing arguments in hulk hogan's lawsuit against gawker. hogan said it violated his privacy when it posed him having sex with his friend's wife. the judge ruled yesterday the jury won't have to watch the entire video. "entertainment weekly" says late late show host james cordon

first year of tv. >> the magazine looks at how cordon draws stars like adele into his comedy. corden will reach the one-year mark as host of the show next week. . the "the late late show with james corden" airs at 12:00 eastern on cbs. a nun is caught on surveillance video apparently stealing from a pennsylvania store. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. my psoriatic arthritis caused joint pain. just like my moderate to and i was worried my doctor saidr joint pain from ra can be a sign of existingt joint damage that could only get worse. he prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your

serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. joint pain and damage... can go side by side. ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. enbrel, the number one rheumatologist-prescribed

here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. a 78-year-old pennsylvania nun is accused of shoplifting. police say surveillance video shows sister agnes bagging items and leaving without paying for them. it added up to about $23 worth of coffee, snacks and toiletries. officials from her convent are not talking. sister agnes faces a fine if convicted. on the cbs "moneywatch," the dow is back in black and shirley temple's rare blue diamond ring could fetch a fortune. hena daniels is at the new york stock exchange with that and

dow jones sent into positive territory for the year. the dow jumped 155 points. the s&p gained 13 points and the nasdaq finished 11 points higher. the dow and s&p are near where they were at the end of last year. over a month ago, both were down 10% for the year. the surge is for a price in crude oil. above $40 a barrel yesterday for the first time since december. two tuna recalls to report this morning. bumblebee is recalling chunk light tuna that could lead to life-threatening illnesses. the specific cans were produced in 2016. tri-tri-union seafood is recalling chicken of the sea brand because the tuna might be undercooked. for more information, go to the company's websites. google had criticized the program. it was concerned that t-mobile

video streams. certain customers are allowed to stream movie and tv services without it counting against their data usage. google's parent company is putting its robotics unit up for sale. it acquired boston dynamics in 2013 '13 but growing tension there. the unit has products that can be released in the near term. a ring that shirley temple wore for decades is going on the auction block. the blue diamond 9 1/2 carat wring has a presale price of $225 million. her father bought it for her 12th birthday in 1940 for $2,700. >> don't tell my daughter. she will expect all kind of things! hena daniels at the new york stock exchange, thanks a lot,

the first full day of the ncaa tournament is in the books. we will show you who sweated it out and what is ahead for today. this mom didn't have time to worry about a cracked windshield. so she scheduled at safelite.com and with safelite's exclusive "on my way text" she knew exactly when i'd be there. so she didn't miss a single shot. (cheering crowd) i replaced her windshield... giving her more time for what matters most... how'd ya do? we won! nice! that' s another safelite advantage. thank you so much! (team sing) safelite repair, safelite replace. (baseball on tv in background) with heart failure, danger is always on the rise. symptoms worsen because your heart isn't pumping well. (water filling room) about 50 percent of people die (dog whimpering) within 5 years of getting diagnosed. but there's something you can do. talk to your doctor about heart failure treatment options. because the more you know, the more likely you are...v (dog whimpering)

here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. put them at the line for two shots. hagan is tripling it out and just looking for three. chucks one up. it's good! >> arkansas little rock ties it up against purdue in the closing matchup. the teams duel through two overtimes but in the end, 12th 85-83. fountain first full day of tournament action another tournament seed scored a big

yale playing in its first ncaa tournament game since 1982 upset baylor 79-75. it is the ivy school's first win during a tournament ever. one shell-shocked baylor player didn't appreciate a reporter's line of questioning after the game. baylor? >> you go up and you grab the ball off the rim when it comes hands. you come down with it and that is considered a rebound so they got more of those than we did. >> a little sarcastic. a last-second layup sends providence to the next round. the road doesn't get any easier for providence. they will face number one seed north carolina in the next round. the tar heels struggled in the first half with florida gulf coast but pulled away during the second half to win 83-67.

virginia also advance. the top seed in the west, oregon, plays holy cross tonight. another full day of basketball is on tap today. our coverage tips off at noon with dayton taking on syracuse right here on cbs. finally, arizona coach sean miller looks a little uncomfortable, just a wee bit sweaty as he is watching his game. he sweat actually through his clothes before the halftime. your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels

perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, r r p even without methotrexate.

about xeljanz. 3 3 good morning cincinnati. (ad lib to weather) 3