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. forces from conservatives to activists line up to stop donald trump from winning the

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 leader harry reid. >> i am confident he is going to get approval. republicans cannot continue this.

>> 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,ertainly meet with a decent person in america. >> reporter: the white house says it will set up with meetings when lawmakers return

weeks. garland has spoken majority leader mcconnell over the phone. this morning, some republicans are toying with the idea of confirming garland in the lame hing the white house has dismissed. >> don champion here in new york, thanks a lot, don. 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 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. close to the investigation says the lerp threat letter threatened harm to donald trump's family if he didn't get race. conservative leaders and donors held meetings in washington and florida to

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 rubioreporters 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 r: 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 delegates he needs to clench the gop nomination. >> we have to bring our party together. >> reporter: trump warns any plans to derail his candidacyo riots but on thursday a group of activists and lawmakers met behind closed doors to discuss alternatives to the gop front-runner.

>> i think the biggest tos ted kres cruz and i'm going to help ted in any way i can. >> reporter: an activist group claims it posted the al information online. on the democratic side, senator bernie sanders conceded the missouri primary and campaigned in arizona thursday night. >> with your help on tuesday, to win here in arizona. >> reporter: hillary clinton took the day off the trail to attend two closed door events as she looks toward the general election. mark albert for cbs news, washington. president obama has reportedly tolddonors in private the time has come to unite behind hillary clinton. "the new york times" reports during a meeting last week in told donors that bernie sanders' campaign was nearing the point where it will end. mr. obama did not call on

did he explicitly endorsen. 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 > 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 toe town of deweyville, texas, on the louisiana border, is still under water. the worst flooding there in a hundred years.he small town is evacuated and even when the water recede, it will be a while before residents can return. the size of tennis balls in some cases fell in the dallas/ft. worth area yesterday.e shattered and greenhouse roof was destroyed. the zoo said the hail killed a

an americanairlines flight new york airport to raleigh/durham raleigh/durham. . it landed ay a flash and loud back and no one injured. overseas now. north korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile into the sea south korea said the missile was fired from a site north of the capital fore crashing off the north korea's east coast. violated several u.n. re from testing ballistic missiles. the california university student who wounded four people in a campus stabbing attack back in november was inspired by e fbi said 18-year-old mohamed may have acted alone. isis propaganda on his laptop and evidence he visited the isis website. the american who joined isis

this week says he quickly becamesenchanted. >> at the time, i made the decision to go, because i wasn't thinking straight. i didn't see myself living in that know, i wanted to go back to -- to america. >> mohamed jamal khweis is a erican from virginia and says he joined isis in september. in flint, michigan, rick ough questions and criticism at a contentious hearing yesterday. he apologized and blamed ats. >> we are taking responsibility in michigan and we are taking action, and that is absolutely essential here in washington too.

>> the city's water was contaminated when flint's water supply was switched to the flint river two years ago to save money.ing news." a fire breathing stunt goes wrong. a man is set ablaze in front of hool students at a pep rally. later, march madness lives up to its name with an early set of upsets in the tournament.ews." see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasisat i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works.tyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 5% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur...

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opioid-induced constipation,erent type of constipation, which may need a different approach. longing for a change? have the c doctor about oic, and ask about prescription treatment options. a high school pep rally stunt had fierying in florida. a pyrotechnics crew member filled his mouth with flammable liquid and hoping to have and instead it backfired and his face caught seconds. he was rushed to the hospital and treated for those burns. none of the students witnessing the chaos were > photographs of kurt cobain

seattle police say the rock star used it to commit suicide nearly 22 years ago. the photos were releasedter a request from cbs news. some conspiracy theorists police. an isis recruiter in new york is sentenced. those are some of the headlines on the morning newsstand. the rochester democrat ande 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 he tried to recruit, actually, traveled to syria to join the militants. the "los angeles times" is reporting a witness account of a deadly fall from a hotel. a grapher was at the site when the worker fell

the worker was not supposedhe third floor. "time" reports apple ceo tim cook's version of the company's battle with the fbi in an exclusive s why he thinks the government is overreacting to the investigation of the san bernardino massacre. the fbi wants apple to develop software to carried by one of the killers. cook said it would put millions of people at risk. bune" reports closing arguments in hulk hogan's lawsuit against gawker. hogan said it violated his privacy when it posed him having sexnd'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 internet in his

>> the magazine looks at how ike adele into his comedy. corden will reach the one-year mark as host of the show next the "the late late show with james corden" airs at 12:00 eastern on cbs. a nun is caught on tly stealing from a pennsylvania store. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. my psoriatic arthritis caused joint pain. just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and i was worried about joint damage.r joint pain from ra can be a sign of existingt joint damage that could only get worse. helieve pain and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous

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the country. a nun is accused of shoplifting. police say surveillance video them. it added up to about $23 worth of coffee, snacks and ficials 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 rare blue diamond ring could fetch a fortune. hena daniels is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. dow jones sent into positivehe year.

the s&p gained 13 points and the nasdaq finished 11 points higher. the dow and s&p arethey 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 oil. above $40 a barrel yesterday for the first time since december. two tuna recalls to report bumblebee is recalling chunk light tuna that could lead to life-threatening illnesses. the specific cans were produced in 2016.union seafood is recalling chicken of the sea brand because the tuna might be undercooked.o the company's websites. google had criticized the program. it was concerned that t-mobile was slowing down the speed ofs. certain customers are allowed to stream movie and tv services

their data usage.pany is sale. it acquired boston dynamics in 2013 '13 there. the unit has products that can be released in the near term. a ring that shirley temple going on the auction block. the blue diamond 9 1/2 carat wring has a presale $225 million. her father bought it for her 12th birthday in 1940 for >> 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.

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oday'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!s little rock ties it up against purdue in the closing seconds of their ncaa tournament matchup. the teams duel through two overtimes but in the end, 12th trojans upset purdue 85-83. fountain first full day of tournament action another tournament seed scored a big le playing in its first ncaa tournament game since 1982 upset

it is the ivy school's first win during ever. one shell-shocked baylor player didn't appreciate a reporter's line of questioning after the game. >> how did yale outrebound >> you go up and you grab the ball off the rim when it comes off and you grab it with two hands. you come down with it and that und so they got more of those than we did. >> a little sarcastic. a last-second layup sends next round. the road doesn't get any easier for providence. they will face number one seed 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. seeds kansas and virginia also advance. the top seed in the west, oregon, plays holy cross tonight.

is on tap today.ff at noon with dayton taking on syracuse right here on cbs. finally, arizona coach sean e 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 thanitis. before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swellingweeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. fatal infections, lymphoma, and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you startng xeljanz, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region

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me in 50 years, crews delivered mail to cuba directly from the u.s. among the first letter senders, president obama. a cuban woman's request that he come visit her home for a cup of cuban coffee next week. the president replied to 76-year-old yarza that he hopese time to check out the world famous brew. well, the president is making time for a little baseball while in cuba. he'll be in attendance for theame between the tampa bay ray and the cuban

it will be the first time a major league team plays in the island nation since the did it in 1999. a battle between a man and a sea lion in northwest, oregon. thousands of sea lions have returned to theocks in his tore tor toria. >> reporter: the sea lions are back to eat more migrating salmon and ey wait to regain control of one of its big docks on the columbia river. the port has entertained some yieds to ideas to get their dock back. remember last year that whale was supposed to scare the sea lions?

the port has flown tej nothing has worked so far to scare the sea lions away. they unveiled something that looks a lot more promising. inflatable air dancers. check out what happens when they turned them time. your initial assessment of this for all intents and purposes ave worked a little bit? >> it's about as aeped nticipated. we knew there would be an he bright colors we knew would detract the sea lions. >> reporter: the defense league says if this is all about money, the port should bethe sea lions to stay. >> these guys are such a huge draw for tourists and we have 24 cruise ships coming to town. sea lion says with the money, the port could be charging people to see the sea lions up close and could have built themselves a new set of docks long ago. time will tell if theseir dancers work or

plot themselves right back down on the docks. they have come to call home in the spring and summer monthstoria. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," a look at each presidential lan and how it would impact your wallet. plus, the stars of vinyl olivia wilde and bobby willio. and take you to detroit for the latest pizza craze. that is the "cbs morning news" for this friday.