dick durbin, chuck grassley, meeting with president biden about supreme court picks.ew seconds. >> trace: and it's important to note when you have chuck grassley, the ranking member and dick durbin, and talked to andy mccarthy earlier, about the fact listen, the problem is nobody seems to be really laying down the gauntlet. we have not heard any kind of -- any kind of rhetoric that shows the republicans are going to fight this tooth and nail. >> sandra: this is a pool spray, just happened at the white house, throw to this and see what they had to say. >> two friends down here, a lot of supreme court justices together, senator grassley and i, as well as senator durbin and worked with a lot of nominations overall, and supreme court nominations, and one of the president's most serious responsibilities and as i always said, and went back and looked at opening statements i made, apparently dick -- kind of means we must be beyond 60, chuck, i'm not what it is, a little older. >> 15 or 16. >> i started way back early on, early 1970s. at any rate, what we are going to do, i'v

the chair of the senate judiciary committee, dick durbin, spoke on the senate floor about the retirementthe supreme court justice stephen breyer and president biden's possible replacement. and meeting with the president to discuss the vacancy. john cornyn spoke on the senate floor about justice breyer's replacement and the president's plan to select the first black woman nominee to the court. >> madam president. >> senator from illinois. >> madam president, in keeping with the remarks of the republican senate leader, i'd like to start with recognition of the supreme court justice stephen breyer's contribution to america. on july the 12th, 1994, court of appeals judge named stephen breyer appeared before the senate judiciary committee, the first day of his supreme court confirmation hearing. as he began speaking, judge breyer laid out his interpretation of the law and said i believe the law miss work for people. he argued that our nation's vast web of quote, constitutions, statutes, rules and regulations and procedures has a purpose, the purpose is to help the many different individuals w

the thing that struck me yesterday when i was huddling with other reporters and judiciary chair dick durbin, until they have a nominee they can't set any specific timeline so the idea that they want to go quickly is the only time metric we have. durbin stressed the relationship and long-standing relationship that he's had his fellow ranking member on the committee, chuck grassley. that's something that he's stressed ahead of the meeting that they are going into today and period laid out the other interpersonal dynamics at play here but it will be important to see the way durbin and grassley work together and the other thing here, when you talk about republicans, the panel is correct that gone are the days of 60-plus people voting to confirm a supreme court nominee. that being said. in modern washington to have three, four, potentially five republicans who are open to coming on board here, that would be notable if that's eventually how it shook ow, and when i was talking with durbin yesterday, we tried to get him to give us some names. senator susan collins is one of the senators he's been r

. >> on my show on sunday, dick durbin brought up the idea that ukraine on its own could decide thatomething to that effect. whether this was just him, and, you know, obviously we've heard president biden say, well, ukraine's not ready, you know, we've heard others from nato say they haven't met the conditions. how would one orchestrate something like that? is that the exit ramp? is that a real -- it seems to me everybody is looking to offer putin an exit ramp here. is that the most realistic one? >> well, there's something to the senator durbin idea or comment because, in fact, all nato sessions, all those who have joined nato since its founding in 1949 have all started with a national decision by the candidate country to decide to join. so it is fundamentally at the doorstep of ukraine and the ukrainian people, the ukrainian government to decide if it wants to join nato. the nato treaty actually lays out the citeria for membership and has to do with democratic values and ability to contribute to the collective defense. and most important, and this is the catch, most important the t

he's meeting right now with democratic senator dick durbin, of course, he's chair of the senate judiciaryommittee, and its ranking republican member, senator chuck grassley. the panel oversees the confirmation hearings. >> the president has been facing some conservative outcry over his vow to nominate a black woman. cnn's kaitlan collins is at the white house so what's the plan? >> reporter: this is really the first formal meeting that we have seen since justice breyer did confirm and make it official last week that he will be stepping down from the supreme court if his successor is confirmed by that point at the end of this term. that would be to put it around june or july. so of course the topic at this meeting today with president biden and vice president harris in the oval office is who is going to replace him? that is going to be the next big question for this white house, and president biden has said he will pick someone by the end of the month, he believes, and so today, this is the first formal meeting that we're seeing where they are discussing this vacancy here at the white hous

here with us live this hour the head of that committee, senator dick durbin. >>> plus new msnbc news reporting on those tensions overseas. what our intelligence sources are now telling us on how russia plans to invade ukraine if it happens and the kremlin has plenty of options on the table. >>> i'm kristen welker in washington in for my friend hallie jackson. congressional reporter for "new york times" luke broadwater. thanks to all of you for starting us off this hour. luke, i have to start with you because you along with several of your "new york times" colleagues were first to break this story about the former president's call logs from january 6th. congratulations, great reporting. what can you tell us about these gaps? >> right, so the january 6th committee has been extremely interested in what president trump was doing on january 6th. what steps he took to try to call off the mob or what steps he didn't take. and one thing they were trying to uncover these steps, he may or may not have taken, they got call logs from the national archives and as investigators were paging through

dick durbin and chuck grassley will meet with the president to go over potential nominees to replacewho announced his retirement last week. biden has promised he will nominate a black woman to the high court. the white house is pushing back on the idea that the president choosing a certain candidate just to get bipartisan support, noting ronald reagan pledged to take a woman in 1980, and did so. white house reporter for bloomberg news, the man, the myth, the legend, josh, great to see you this morning. let's talk a little bit about where we see this meeting going, obviously this is a significant moment for this white house, one that may change the conversation and they are certainly looking to, if possible, gain some republican votes even though they can do it with just the a democrats. give us a sense as to where things stand with the scote us search. >> this is in some ways, it kicked off, you know, february is a month where joe biden is going to make his selection, and so this meeting really tees that up, and they've been offering hints bit by bit, of where his thinking is on this

centered dick durbin, chuck grassley, and my hope is that they will move promptly and fairly. judge jackson, congratulations and the podium is yours. let me pull this out for you. presidents can't do much. [applause] judge jackson: thank you very much, mr. president. i am truly humbled by the extraordinary honor of this nomination and i am especially grateful for the care that you have taken in discharging their constitutional duty in service of our democracy with all that is going on in the world today. i also offer my sincere thanks to you as well, madam vice president, for your invaluable role in this nomination process. i must begin these brief remarks by thanking god for delivering me to this point in my professional journey. my life has been blessed beyond measure and i do know that one can only come this far by faith. among my many blessings and indeed the very first, the fact that i was born in this great country. the united states of america is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known. i was also blessed from my early days to have had a suppo

senator dick durbin, as always, thank you so much for being with us.er of the dog" leads the pack including best picture. the other best picture nominees are king richard, west side story, drive my car, don't look up, koda, dune, licorice pizza. the "power of the dog" jane campion the first woman ever nominated twice in that category. lady gaga's film "house of gucci" was left off the nominee's list, all but one category, best hair and makeup. also snubbed the arethra franklin biopic "respect" leaving jennifer hudson out of the best actress and song categories. beyonce and billy eilish earned their first oscar nominations in best original song category. the awards ceremony is sunday march 27ing. >> much to get through here. we did mention quest love's documentary soul. yeah, i hope he wins that. we are homers there, rooting for the home team. it's so extraordinary. i know that you have, obviously, like me, are you blown away by belfast. >> yes. >> what an absolutely beautiful, your interview, was so great and touching. but this is kind of a strange yea

joining us is the chairman of that committee, dick durbin. president biden was on the judiciary committee when he was a senator, he was chair as well. this morning his chief of staff, ron klain, made it a point to say how excited biden was for this meeting with you and your committee. do you have a specific suggestion of whom you would like him to pick? >> no. i'm not going to be giving a plus or minus to any nominee. that's the president's job. he has a good list and i'm sure it's more expansive than the public even knows. i just hope he does his job, does it well and does it quickly. we're anxious to get started in the senate judiciary committee. >> your committee has been sparring over the tone of questions directed at judicial nominees of color. today senator alex padilla called republican lines of questioning demeaning, offensive and just plain wrong. utah republican senator mike lee said the insinuations of racial bias against republicans were the very sort of comment that would incite people to rnanger, acts of retaliation and violence

kelly, dick durbin, chuck grassley, the two men in charge of ushering this nomination through the senate. >> reporter: can't say anything more critical than the judiciary committee is where this begins and sets the course for the nominee when the president ultimate patly tells us who his choice will be. this is important outreach, not only about the institution of the senate and a little bit of an old school throwback, it is important in setting the tone and having a republican in the oval office along with his good friend, dick durbin, who is chair, democrat of illinois, to try to emphasize more of the collegiality at the start, when we've seen that in our modern politics supreme court nominations often go to the far ends of our politics and can be a part of the screeching debate that can take place, to at least begin in a sober, thoughtful, pleasant beginning. and that's where the president started with this. he has not yet taken any questions related to his selections process. we've seen him speak a bit about what he's looking for in a nominee when he had justice breyer with him in th

i'll speak to senator chairman dick durbin, ahead. >>> hello. i'm dana bash in washington where the state of our union is watching with horror, but also admiration. we have breaking news this morning that ukraine has agreed to talks with russia as russian forces continue with their invasion. meetings are scheduled for monday morning local time, but russia is cranking up the pressure. russian president vladimir putin ordered nuclear arms to be placed on high alert, a potentially destabilizing move in an already volatile situation. this after a night of attacks on ukraine's two largest cities, kyiv and kharkiv. the mayor of kyiv said this morning that there are no russian troops in the city after ukranian forces destroyed a column of russian carriers and other vehicles on the kyiv outskirts. cnn is reporting that according to two russian officials, they are meeting stiffer than expected rtesistance from ukranians. the u.s. removed russia from several banking systems known as s.w.i.f.t. this would be a big move for an economy russia's size. let's g

senator dick durbin, appreciate you being with us this morning.>> all right, just in, weekly jobless claims. cnn chief business correspondent "early start" anchor christine romans here with the numbers. >> the numbers declined, 238,000 first time jobless claims in the week. that's a good number. what this chart is showing you, john, is that where we are in the job market right now is not a story of layoffs any longer at all. this is a story of people quitting their jobs and looking for higher pay, and better positions. that is the theme, the trend in the job market. the four-week moving average of the jobless claims, not to get too wonky, the lowest since 1973. the trend here very good. layoffs are not the hallmark of the job market anymore. it is resignations. you look at total quits last year, more than 47 million people quit their jobs, that's an astonishing number and it shows you the churn in the labor market, going for better pay, for entirely new industries and they're being recruited. the wall street journal had a story this week about how

he's scheduled to meet with judiciary chairman dick durbin and ranking minority member chuck grassley. the white house said mr. biden will consult with them and hear their advice. last week justice stephen breyer announced that he will retire at the end of the term. he's served for nearly three decades. mr. biden has pledged to nominate a black woman to the high court. >>> investigators in california are trying to find a motive after a firefighter was shot and killed while responding to dumpster fire. 47-year-old captain max fortuna was shot before dawn yesterday in the city of stockton. police say a 67-year-old man was detained at the scene and they found a gun. the fire chief said fortuna's death was his worst nightmare. the mayor called him a hero. >> this is a sobering reminder of the many sacrifices our firefighters make day in and day out in service to our community. >> fortuna had been a firefighter for more than two decades. >>> and all federal prisons in the u.s. were placed on a nationwide lockdown after two inmates were killed at a federal penitentiary in texas. the "associ

the president is meeting in a few minutes with the judiciary committee, chairman dick durbin, his counter part committee meeting chuck grassley at the white house. we don't know what they'll discuss but we can safely say it was almost certainly going to be around the scheduling so the nominees' hearing can get underway. you'll remember president biden himself was once the chairman of the senate judiciary. he knows well how all of this works. and an important update for you. democrat joe manchin said he supports the president's promise to pick a black woman to sit on the court, saying, quote, the time has come and i think it is great to have this many extremely qualified people can serve justice. he went on to say the appointment would create a, quote, balance to represent who we are as a nation. now, manchin's support is notable because democrats need 50 votes to push this through and manchin doesn't always vote the way the president would like him to. in past years, one vote wouldn't have mattered all that much. it used to be american senators supported the country's supreme court nomine

biden is seeking advice about the vacancy from senate judiciary chairman dick durbin and ranking member chuck grassly at today's meeting he worked extensively with both lawmakers during his time up the senate the meeting comes on the heels with top leaders about the process. >> i am confident that the president will select an outstanding individual to s breyer's seat, and we intend to move quickly on our constitutional duty to act on his nominee when announced >> the american people handed president biden a dead even senate, 50-50. i suggest that president biden bury this in mind as he considers whom to nominate to our highest court. >> reporter: while democrats hold only a slim majority in the senate chairman durbin says he's spoken to several republican senators open to the idea of considering a biden nominee for the court. so frances, there's a chance we could see some bipartisanship in this critical decision >> imagine that in this day and age. all right, brie, thank you >>> an urgent effort continues to keep tensions from boiling over at russia's border with ukraine. this morning s

i've met with the chairman, the ranging members of the judiciary xhae, senator dick durbin, chuck grassley, and my hope is they will move promptly and i know they'll move fairly. judge jackson, congratulations. and the podium is yours. there you go. presidents can't do much. thank you. >> thank you very much. i am truly humbled by the extraordinary honor of this nomination and i am especially grateful for the care that you have taken in discharging your constitutional duty in service of our democracy with all that is going on in the world today. i also offer my sincerest thanks to you as well, madam vice president, for your invaluable role in this nomination process. i must begin these very brief remarks by thanking god for delivering me to this point in my professional journey. my life has been blessed beyond measure and i do know that one can only come this far by faith. among my many blessings, indeed, the very first is the fact that i was born in this great country. the united states of america is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known. i was also blessed fr

remarks came before meeting with the top democrat and republican on the top senate committee, chair dick durbin ranking member chuck grassley. vice president kamala harris also attended. pres. biden: i hope this won't last too long, folks. look, i invited -- we're different parties but two good friends down here. we've done an awful lf

visit ncicap.org] >> president biden will be meeting with dick durbin and democratic members of the committee>> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse through our collection of c-span products, apparel, books, and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan and every purchase supports our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org. >> tensions along the russia u.k. and border remain high. were concerns that a russian invasion would cause humanitarian effects and migration crisis in europe. the atlantic council will hear more about that friday at 12:30 p.m. eastern live on c-span, online at c-span.org, or you can watch full coverage on c-span now, our new video app. ♪ >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span two, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. 2:00 eastern, abraham lincoln scholars talk about the 16th presidents speeches and what they revealed about his views on the constitution. we feature the annual lincoln form at gettysburg with discussions on abraham lincoln and the civil war. exploring the american story. watch american

. >> today, senators bernie sanders and dick durbin debated tensions between russia and ukraine at whether russia has a legitimate security interest on its border with you great. senator sanders: i would like to ask unanimous consent to put into the congressional record an open letter to the washington leadership from the russian congress of intellectuals, who states, "our position is simple. russia does not need a war with ukraine and the west. such a war is void of legitimacy and has no moral basis." a very brief statement made by russian intellectuals. ing officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president, as i speak today, europe for the first time in almost 80 years is faced with the threat of a major invasion. a large nation threatens a smaller, less powerful neighbor, surrounding it on three sides with well over 100,000 troops as well as tanks and artillery. my colleagues, as we have painfully learned, wars have unintended consequences. they rarely turn out the way the planners and experts tell us they will. just ask the officials who provided rosy scenarios for the wars in vie

he is hosting dick durbin and chuck grassley as he considers a replacement for retiring justice stephen breyer. the president says he is committed to nominating a black woman to the high court for the first time, following through on a promise he made in 2020. in north carolina, thousands are forced to evacuate their homes after a raging fire tore through a fertilizer plant this morning. firefighters went door-to-door with warning reasons -- morning residents -- war residents that chemicals at then site could cause an explosioning. firefighters had to pull back from the scene and leave behind an unmanned truck to pump water on it. no injuries were reported. the winter olympics in china may be more of a drag on beijing's regional economy than a boost. covid flareups and pollution curbs are weighing on consumer and industrial activity. a ban on public spectators means there will not be the usual bump in tourism that a city hopes to gain from hosting the games. the olympics begin on friday. in pro football, it's official, tom brady is retiring. the quarterback is stepping away after 22 sea

a bipartisan delegation, including senator lindsey graham from south carolina, a republican, dick durbin from illinois, a democrat. they pledged support. we also know house speaker nancy pelosi had a meeting with u.k. prime minister boris johnson in which they also discussed possible sanctions which would include possibly preventing russian access to u.s. dollars and the british pound. we are likely to hear more from the president today. manus: ok, we will track the story, and you can jump on your bloomberg. we have a full blog, everything happening in markets. let's get to maria come on the ground. you've been tracking the ministers yesterday. the reaction from europe. emmanuel macron, the man who brokered the potential dÉtente just 24 hours ago. what are we hearing on the latest on sanctions? maria: as you say, yesterday we heard from the french president, emmanuel macron, his voice matters. he was a leader in europe trying to broker a de-escalation until the last minute. as you know, the french are holding the rotating presidency of the european union. we heard from the major european

judiciary committee wants to see a swift process and we have heard from different members, the chairman dick durbin is saying he wants to see conversation before april and it goes to the full senate for a vote, the vetting process has been already done. she previously confirmed by the senate. it goes to a white hot level of scrutiny when you are talking about the supreme court even though in her federal position now, she has a lifetime of appointment, it bumps up to a higher level. there will be politics and republicans who have had a different contender in mind. there was a lot support of michelle childs in south carolina. that moment has now passed and and the focus now will be for judge jackson. that'll begin in earnest with the hopes of getting this done quickly. >> two years to date since he made that promise. thank you pete williams and kelly o'donell and omiko, thank you for being with us. up next, we'll bring you the dramatic scenes at the border. you are watching "jose diaz-balart reports." "jose "jose diaz-balart reports. a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a l

senator dick durbin, he chairs the powerful senate judiciary committee, that's where these all-importantarings will occur. he indicates they are trying to get this done by easter. we have new video this morning from president biden tweeted out of the moment that he informed the judge that she was his choice. >> hello? >> judge jackson? >> yes. this is joe biden. how are you? >> i am wonderful. how are you, mr. president? >> you're going to be wonderful, i would like you to go to the supreme court? how about that? >> sir, i would be so honored. >> i'm honored to nominate you. >> i am just so, so overwhelmed, thank you. >> well deserved. >> lots of happy moment there between the president and his nominee, but no jubilee from republicans who have come out early really against this, they're raising concerns about her -- making an interesting argument about her education, making this anti-intellectual argument, since when is it a bad thing to have ivy league credentials, but also poking at her record on criminal justice issues, as well as her support from liberal groups. mitch mcconnell with

. >> grassley and dick durbin meeting at the white house next hour to discuss the supreme court pick.om that meeting. and jen psaki holding a press meeting as major police union accuse her of laughing off the crime crisis and general jack keane on the russia showdown. is biden wait og vladamir putin to make the first move? we'll ask the colonel. brian kilmeade and more, join us as america reports top of the hour. >> camera does not lie, california governor gavin newsom appears to have misled the public when commenting on being spotted maskless with basketball great magic johnson at sunday's nfc championship between the rams and 49ers. watch. >> i was very judicious yesterday, very judicious and you will see the photo i did take, where magic was kind enough, generous enough to ask me for a photograph and i took the photo. rest of the time, i wore it. >> kayleigh: very judicious, newsom's excuse is not holding up, he was spotted maskless on the ram's fam cam, showing the governor sitting down with his mask dangling from one ear. california indoor mask mandate was extended to mid-februar

i want to start with dick durbin, the senate judiciary committee chairman, talking about these efforts. listen to what he has say. [video clip] >> i would like to put together a bipartisan approach to this. we are trying to protect the integrity of the electoral college vote for the very reason i mentioned earlier, the january 6 assault on the capital by these insurrectionists was an attempt to interrupt this process. the house committee finding last week that there were some alternative false slates being created. that is serious. as far as i'm concerned, that is as close as we can come to insurrection and treason. >> and you addressed that in discussion? >> we do. i am open to suggestions from the bipartisan group. it would be great if we could come to a common agreement. [video clip] >> the best way to characterize how i feel about the electoral count act is that it is flawed and needs to be fixed. where it goes from here, we will have to see. i think the bipartisan group is working on trying to come up with a proposal. i don't have any particular view beyond that, other than that p

democrat senator dick durbin with the lake about justice stephen breyer came from president biden's chiefstaff here and he says ron klain told only a limited number of people adding the white house plan to make an official announcement the next day. today, president biden will meet with leaders from both sides of the aisle to hear their response on a nomination process. listen. >> he is deep in the process and members of both parties on the hill. so tomorrow the president is going to host ranking member grassley at the white house to consult with them. >> ashley: jen psaki would not say whether expects bipartisan support for nominating. >> todd: tom brady breaking silence swirling rumors on let's go podcast. >> still going through the process. when the time is right come i will be ready to make a decision one way or the other just like i said next week. >> todd: espn said that brady will retire after 22 nfl season and super bowl titles. and his agent said, he has not yet made a decision. and also a financial reason to hold on just a little while longer. $50 million with a signing bonus fr

before the end of the month, which is why the consultation process is important here because judge dick durbiniary committee said the process could take 40 days from the time the nomination is made to getting the final confirmation vote and potentially a few weeks from when the nomination is made to get an actual hearing, before the meeting is important to talk about the process forward and any candidates these democrats are pushing, we'll have to wait and see if the president makes clear where he's leaning. >> following manu raju on the hill. thank you so much. >>> still coming up, a democratic candidate who went viral for smoking marijuana in a campaign ad last month, a new one burning the confederate flag. taking political ads to the extreme, that's s coming up. welcome to the next level. what's the plan? save the moon. save earth. when the world is counting on you. i'm going to put this babynto warp speed. buckle up. everybody hang on! anenjoy the ride. wooo. yes! in the allew lexus nx. this is a whole other level of insane. see moonfall, in theaters february 4th. and experience amazing. ♪

we called majority whip dick durbin. he's welcome any time. >> i'm sure he is. >> charles: senator, let's start with this skinny version of it. obviously senator manchin is in the driver's seat there. is there anything that he's listed as something that he would be favorable towards that republicans might be agreeable to? >> i don't think so, charles. however you label this, if you slap lipstick on it, it's still a pick. it's a bloated thing that would exacerbate the inflationary problem, the crisis that we're seeing in the country. the textbook definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods. the democrats wants to spend $5 trillion borrowed and finance it with tax increases. trying to break it down and pass it in pieces doesn't make it any better. it's still wasteful spending at a time when we ought to be focused on dealing with the issues that are front and center for the american people, trying to get inflation under control so that the things that they're buying in their daily lives are not costing

>> well, we got a statement from one of the people at that meeting, senator dick durbin, and he said the meeting they talked about how senator durbin wants the process to be both fair and timely, and that the nominee will receive a prompt confirmation. but this is actually an interesting part of the statement i want to highlight to you. he also stressed he is confident the president will choose an outstanding nominee from the many highly qualified candidates reportedly under consideration. now, the reason i think that's interesting is because that is subtly trying to push black against republican talking points, namely senator ted cruz and others, who are saying this is an affirmative action pick and that it is racist and discriminatory because president biden said he would nominate a black woman. what senator durbin just did in his statement is say the person will be highly qualified, the qualifications are not going to be in question. and so he mentioned it was a black woman who would be nominated. next we wait for the nominee. senator durbin and senator grassley, the top heads of t

bush nominated her to the dc circuit court of appeals and joe biden along with chuck schumer and dick durbintered her and tried to block her from becoming a judge, not because she was a black woman i'm about because god forbid she actually believed in the constitution and would follow the terms of the constitution. what biden really wants here is a left-wing ideologue, but he also wants to discriminate a stone race because the modern democratic party supports quotas and they support racial determination. maria: wow, you make some good points, senator. do you think he's going to nominate an activist and are you a no vote? >> i have to see who the nominee is before i decide who to vote, but i will say this, if biden nominates a judge in the same mold as the nominee he put forward for the past year, you know it's been stunning. i sit on the judiciary committee and i have seen everyone of these nominees. biden consistently has chosen hard left activists, political activists, brazen you know one of the nominees recently described himself as a wild eyed left-wing activists, those were his own term

president and vice president met with the democratic chairman of the senate judiciary committee, dick durbin, and the ranking member of that committee, republican chuck grassley, to discuss the confirmation process. >> the constitution says, advise and consent. and i am serious when i say that i want the advice as well as the consent -- who phenomenally should be. >> also, yesterday, the president called the minority leader, mitch mcconnell, about the supreme court nomination. at least one republican vote is already publicly in play. republican -- lindsey graham -- said that he supports south carolina congressman -- favorite for the supreme court, michelle childs, who is now a federal district court judge in south carolina. >> i can't think of a better person for president biden to consider to the supreme court that michelle childs. she has wide support in our state. she is considered to be a fair minded, highly gifted journalist. she is one of the most decent people i ever met. it will be good for the court to have somebody who is not at harvard or yale. she is a graduate of south carolina.

i asked senator dick durbin about this earlier this week because senator durbin has been fond of sayingre one heartbeat away from losing the majority and with the supreme court nomination on the table they are for the past year senior senators, the leadership, the staff have been working trying to push their agenda as quickly as possible as if there's no tomorrow. there's a lot of obvious concern about senator lujan, his health. when he can make a return to the senate and just what this means for their agenda. they're plowing through lower level nominations. what about a supreme court justice? how does that go into president biden's calculation? all very key questions we'll be watching for. >> senator chris coons telling our capitol hill team this is a reminder senator lujan's setback, any unforeseen or difficult developments can make that harder. the wish list, you heard a conversation about senator chuck schumer trying to navigate this 50/50 senate. they want to pass a russia bill. they hope to get a few republicans. build back better act, can they revive it? voting rights bill can th

he's meeting right now with democratic senator dick durbin, of course, he's chair of the senate judiciary

will visit with many of the members of the senate, the judiciary committee under a leadership of dick durbin will have meetings. and then we'll move to the floor. we are not going to -- we're going to make it fair, but we're gonna move it in an expeditious way, this is a great nomination, lawrence, in so many ways. that's what i think is gonna make my job easier, that the president has picked someone so extraordinary in her experience, in her brilliance, in her ability to reach out to people on the other side. almost no one who knows her says anything bad about her. and of course, in what she is doing to create what the president has done today is create a more perfect union, of the 115 supreme court justices in our history, only five have been women, to have been african american. of course, this is the first african american woman who makes -- but the president and i have tried to do with many of the nominees to the lower courts is not only have demographic diversity, but professional diversity. this is someone who's been a public defender. we haven't had many of those in our federal court

the president what dick durbin and chuck grassley and spoke to them. sort of sherpa for this nominee and he's widely respected on both sides of the aisle. i think they're approaching this the right way. they're probably going to take several weeks to consider people. i think they've been thinking about this for a long time but they want to do the touches on capitol hill and make senators think they have input and would ultimately improve the chances this nominee could get public support. you touched on the doug jones and sherpa, information as well, which rewill get into. i find it fascinating dissecting mcconnell's statement after the meeting yesterday. i want to read part of it to understand where i'm at with this. mcconnell's office saying the eventually nominee should believe in judicial independence. now, brian, the reason why i found this part so fascinating was originalism and texturalism, it seems as this if he want a scalia back on the bench. we niece not going to happen with this administration. ruth bader ginsburg argued she was an originali

i interviewed dick durbin yesterday. let me play you what he said and get your reaction on the other side. >> you're confident he can make a pick by the end of this month as he has said he wants to? >> i got my fingers crossed. i want him to do the right thing and take the time to do it well but i'm anxious. the committee will communicate that to the president. we want to get started. we've got our committee staff prepared to start reviewing the nominee that he sends forward. >> as carol was just saying, the political back drop to all of this is democrats are looking for a win in addition for this nomination process to go smoothly. >> yes, we need a win. if you look at the enthusiasm gap in the state and national polling, it's there with black voters in particular but progressives. i think biden here has a real chance and a real opportunity to make gains there. republicans don't seem to know how to position themselves here. you have lindsey graham, who has been favorable to republicans and others who are all offer the pl

at a press conference today, senator dick durbin explained how the two sides came together to make thisl. >> our bill is a compromise, it doesn't include everything that senator feinstein and i wanted, or everything -- wanted's, there are provisions that all four of us very much wanted to include, like an end to a loophole that allows abusers who harmed their partners to continue to have access to guns. but we agreed, that we had to introduce a bill, that would both -- deliver the critical assistance survivors against the country need, and achieve the necessary bipartisan support and passed the senate. >> other senators also gave remarks, and so much did angelina jolie, who has been active on capitol hill aga advocating vacating for the renewal of the act. >> so folks, i'm a survivor. i know first half wet happens when someone you trust abuses you. >> every victim needs to know that there can be a path to justice, that is what's some -- >> the reason many people started to leave abusive situations, is that they have been made to feel worthless. when there is silence from a congress, too

judiciary committee and then a hearing, hearings probably take place within the next few weeks as dick durbinet her confirmed before the recess on april 11th trying to get done about 5 or so weeks. the question will be, can they get the votes? at the moment, a high likelihood they will. democratic senators have expected to be united on this, even joe manchin, kyrsten sinema, and did get three n nominating that time but lindsey graham criticized him for not picking someone he was advocating for, michelle chields, a district court judge but nevertheless likely to get confirmed as this process plays out in earnest next week. >> john harwood, as we just heard from manu, some pushback there from lindsey graham, no surprise because he had been putting for michelle childs, a supreme court justice from his state of south carolina. we also heard jim clyburn supporting her as well. that having been said, she's confirmed on a bipartisan basis three times in the past. despite the partisanship we see in washington today, is there really any concern that there may be some pushback from republicans here? i

said he has no agenda going in, other than wanting to listen to what the president has to say and dick durbin trying to convey a sense of bipartisanship, overseeing this hearing. he said he reached out to republicans, a handful of republicans who he believes could potentially vote for the eventual nomination. he wanted to make clear they'll have time to review this nominee. it's still unclear how many will come down in favor of the president biden's pick but you are hearing some criticism from republicans about exactly how biden has come down and said that he would nominate the first black woman justice ever to serve on the supreme court. a number of republicans said the president should not have come out and made that clear, even as previous presidents have said, like donald trump as well as ronald reagan, that they would nominate the woman justice to serve on the supreme court. one of the republicans is susan collins, a key swing vote on this issue. she, over the weekend, said joe biden handled this in a very, quote, clumsy manner by saying he would nominate the first black supreme court ju

vice president harris and president biden met with senate judiciary committee chair dick durbin and ranking member chuck grassley this afternoon to discuss the confirmation process. >> we have worked on nominations a lot together overall, particularly supreme court nominations. selecting a justice is one of the most serious responsibilities. i am serious when i say that i want the advice of the senate as well as the consent and we can arrive on who the nominee should be. i am looking for a candidate with character, with the qualities of a judge, in terms of being courteous to those before them and treating people with respect, as well as a judicial philosophy that, as has been suggested, knows there are on enumerated rights to the constitution. i intend to get this decision to my colleagues by the end of the month. >> the white house says that senate minority leader mitch mcconnell also spoke to biden today about the nomination. a mcconnell spokesperson said he stressed to biden the importance of a nominee who, quote, will resist all efforts by politicians to bully the court. nbc news has a

the white house says biden will meet with senate judiciary committee dick durbin and the ranking member, the republican truck grassley tomorrow to discuss the confirmation. nbc news reports that 13 potential candidates are under consideration for the high court. today, the senate democratic and republican leaders laid out where they stand on the matter. >> i am confident that the president will select an outstanding individual to fill justice breyer's seat. and we intend to move quickly on our constitutional duty to act on its nominee when announced. i can assure you all senators that the senate will have a fair process. >> president biden was elected on the specific promise to govern. stuart our governing institutions and unite a divided country. the american people -- 50/50. i suggest that president biden bear this in mind as he considers whom to nominate to our house court. >> over the week some republicans raised concerns about biden's pledge to name a black woman to the court saying the field of candidates should not be limited. >> the irony is that the supreme court is at the very

. >> i'm curious, it seemed to be, whether it was a trial balloon or one idea, senator dick durbin onsunday, he said, look, ukraine say sovereign nation if they make the decision publicly they don't want to be a member of nato for "x" number of years, perhaps that's a way to resolve this. do you think that's a real option? >> no, i don't with all due respect to senator durbin. first of all, that would be political suicide for any ukrainian president or any ukrainian government. so, that's not going to happen and when i listened to president zelensky the other day, i was struck how serious they are about their sovereignty. about fighting and the idea that they would forfeit the option of asking them to continue to apply for nato membership. they know that would be like throwing raw meat to the russian bear and probably not go away. >> matt bodnar, putin is headed to china. any insight on what we should expect? >> reporter: sure, well, we actually heard a little bit about this today from putin's foreign policy adviser. and they are kind of setting the station for a very substantial bila

is the example of immigration because in that case, the chair of the senate judiciary committee dick durbin was also the majority with right now, senator from illinois would have been more than happy to have one of his long-standing legislative priorities, the dream act or other immigration related measures put into the reconciliation package, but it was determined by the senate parliamentarian the advice of the senate parliamentarian would be such measures were not primarily related to the budget. they would be sort of extraneous to the budget reconciliation bill and this is where we inevitably get into the limitation of the budget reconciliation process often referred to as the bird rule named for the late senator robert c byrd of west virginia who was the longtime democratic leader and chairman of theappropriations committee . the reality is that if something is not sufficiently budget focused, it's not allowed to be in a reconciliation bill which sort of gets to the point of the problem here for the democrats which is the republicans are often interested in fiscal policy or in some sort

illinois democratic senator dick durbin once the rest of the lawmakers to join their effort. we agreed that we had to introduce a bill that would both deliver the critical assistance survivors across america need. >>and achieve the necessary bipartisan support. new york democratic senator kirsten gillibrand supports the bill and says it's a long time coming. it's common sense. bipartisan. >>and a priority for everybody. so it's the kind of bill that i think can pass the senate right now. jill abram believes there shouldn't be a reason for any lawmakers to oppose it. >>reporting in washington, i'm basil, john. >>and governor newsom also signed a 6.1 billion dollars. small business relief bill. a kron on's tailored sack explains what is in the package. >>on wednesday, governor gavin newsom signed an improved to 6.1 billion dollars in relief funds for businesses and restaurants throughout california. included is 500 million dollars in tax relief for restaurants and venues that have received federal relief grants 100, 50 million in small business grants and 5.5 billion in tax cre

it was interesting to watch senator dickey urbawho is the chair -- senator dick durbin with the chaires she eric committee come out and talk to reporters and say i have talked to a lot of folks. there are a lot of republicans interested, potentially interested in supporting bidens nominee. a lot more names then you would have maybe cast. -- maybe have guest. it leads to this question of how much of a fight do republicans want to put up? how contentious do they want this? are replacing a more left-leaning justice with another one appointed by a democrat. it is not going to change the court. i think a lot of folks are looking at what happened with the kavanaugh hearings in october of 2018. at that time, it was a lot of talk about what this was going to do in the midterm elections. the fact it happened so close to the election, it was so contentious. it did as much to raise the intensity and enthusiasm of republican voters as it did democratic voters. if republicans make this a contentious drawnout process, it could end up backfiring in that it motivates what are now as motivated democra