. >> 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 peo

some names that fit that bill include 63 year old merrick garland, the chief judge on the d-c circuit court... 48 year sri srinivasan ... who also sits on that court. he'd be the first indian-american justice. and 51 year old former public defender jane kelly, obama's harvard law classmate. despite vows from senate republicans to block any nomination... the white house argues that history is on its side, and points to the confirmation of justice anthony kennedy... who was confirmed during the 19-88 election year. and days before the critical south carolina primary... g-o-p candidates continue taking jabs at one another. yesterday... george w. bush campaigned for jeb...the first time bush has stumped for his younger brother. the former president took swipes at his brother's biggest "jeb's a man of humble deep and genuine faith. faith that reveals itself in good works, not loud words" trump tried taking the wind out of the former president's appearance by referencing the attacks on 9-11. trump also took aim at ted cruz... and threatened to sue him over his eligibility to run for preside

(gfx w/ bio info) it includes merrick garland -- chief judge of the d.c. circuit court of appeals. he's a moderate who has won praise from republicans. circuit court judge jane kelly - she may win the backing of fellow iowan chuck grassley, the republican chair of the senate judiciary committee. and sri srinavasan -- confirmed as a circuit judge 97-0 just three years ago. he would be the first justice of asian descent. lukas a man was shot and killed by an urbandale police officer early saturday morning. and killed by an urbandale police officer early saturday morning. responding to a drug tip ... police were called to a hotel around 4 o'clock in the morning... upon arrival ... three suspects began fighting with them. during the scuffle ... a man shot at the officers and an officer returned fire ... killing that man. the investigation includes multiple agencies ... with d-c-i and polk county taking part. video will be important to the case sgt. gary lang, department: "video evidence is a key to any crime and our officers have cameras for quite some time." the name of the officer an

also, merrick garland, the chief justice for the d.c. circuit who has been considered for nomination before and who also had a bipartisan support. he clerked for justice william brennan jr. president obama has named two supreme court justices in his term in office. >> thank you very much. >>> it is 5:14. an mba or law degree from cal will come at a hefty price for in-state students. tuition at berkeley state of law has risen sharply. in 2005, annual price, $24,000. now, more than $52000 a year for the law school and nearly $58,000 for the school. state cuts gave them no choice but to eliminate most of the price breaks for in-state students. that's why the lawyers charge so much. >> and it still takes them years to pay back all of that debt. pretty difficult. >>> the markets closed this morning for the federal holiday. >> scott mcgrew gives the silicon valley companies a nice break. >> tired of watching their stocks fall. day after day after day of red arrows. over the weekend, we did learn twitter, still not paying jack dorsey a salary.

a person who maybe merrick garland is a name that has come up a lot, a name that is easier to get through the senate. >> what i know about the president is that he takes this responsibility very seriously. he taught constitutional law at the university of chicago. he is a real constitutional scholar himself. he's going to pick the person who he thinks will be the best justice for the supreme court. and then the senate should do its job. look, they have the right to vote up, down, reject, approve, the president's nominee. that is their job. but it is their responsibility to do that job, to give the person a fair hearing, to let the person make their case, and then to judge that person based on the case they make before the senate. >> ron cling, thank you for coming in on a sunday morning. >> thanks for having me. >>> antonin scalia's death and the question of who should nominate the next supreme court justice was the topic during last night's republican debate. it did not take long for the was easily a rowdy debate. nbc's gabe due tare gutierrez is in south carolina this morning. >> the fu

also washington appeals court judges merrick garland, long on

and merrick garland--another appeals court judge. he was considered for previous nominations. 3 in clarksville, tragedy. corporal "derrick couch" was responding to call saturday night about a robbery at a gas station two people reportedly opened fire, hitting couch in the head. at last check, he is in critical condition this morning... and has already lost an eye. he still has a bullet lodged in his head. both gunmen are now in custody. including a 19 year old man who was turned in to a police station, by his own father. 3 royal caribbean's "anthem of the seas" is back *out at sea this morning. it left from its port in new jersey on sunday. this is the *same ship that hit a rough storm last week off the coast of the carolinas... including forty foot waves. items were tossed all around the decks... but no one was seriously hurt. the ship returned to port last wednesday... giving all the cruisegoers a refund. crews had to repair the ship's damaged propulsion system... before getting the all-clear from the coast guard. 3 and in new hamp

the list of possible obama nominees includes merrick garland... chief judge of the d.c. circuit court of appeals circuit court judge jane kelly. and circuit court judge sri srinivasan. violent storms. roofs ripped off buildings and thrown across the street. how people took cover in the middle of it all. lifted to meet the pope. just one of the amazing moments during the pontiff's trip to the mexico today. it happened again. bengals q-b andy dalton's luggage goes missing.. just days after it vanished the first time. who disappearing tax refund. it can happen when the government says its keeping your refund. when that is mostly likely to happen to you. you're watching nine on your you're watching 9 on your side at 11 now at 11.. the clean-up after powerful storms tear through many buildings are destroyed. the debris is scattered for miles around. in at least one case... a tornado is suspected. but.. no reports of serious injuries. in central louisiana... a storm hit the town of alexandria. it tore apart a car wash.. and sent the debris flying across the street into a pizza

also washington appeals court judges merrick garland, long on older at 63 and patricia millett, an experienced justice ginsburg. who would scalia choose to replace himself, there were clues in a dissent last june when he called for more religious and geographic diversity on the court noted all stewedied at yale and harvard, five catholics and three jews, not a single evangelical christian, four from new york city. >> reporter: law enforcement officials and the owner of the ranch where scalia died are completely discounting speculation about foul play saying a pillow found in his bed was above his head, not over his face and the reason replacing scalia is so politically fraught his death represents a seismic shift in a court that has had a conservative 5-4 majority for half a century. >> andrea mitchell, thank you. >>> another big story we're following is a monster storm dumping record snow to the north and spawning a tornado outbreak stretching well over 1,000 miles. nbc's blake mccoy with all the weather whiplash details now. >> reporter: this is one of 15 possible tornadoes reported as a pow

such as merrick garland, chief judge of the d.c. circuit court of appeals, a moderate who has won praise from republicans. jane kelly, confirmed unanimously by the senate as a circuit court judge in 2013. was confirmed as a circuit judge 97-0 just three years ago and served in the administration of president george w. bush. he would be the first asian justice. the bar for a supreme court nomination is much higher, especially this one with justice scalia being a conservative icon and his replacement having the potential to switch the balance of power on this court from the conservatives to the liberals. jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> all right. we're going to move on to politics now. just five days until the nevada caucuses and a new sign how close the battle is there. hillary clinton is staying in nevada today where she has three events scheduled. she was supposed to attend an event in florida but her husband the former president will take her place there instead. at events yesterday, she attacked rival bernie sanders

very quickly, though, to follow up on what andrea said, keep an eye on aentleman named merrick garland, a judge in the d.c. circuit. if he -- he has been the president's backup plan for some time, he's always been identified as the judge he would nominate if he were dealing with a republican senate. if the president goes down that road, that tells you he wants to get somebody confirmed. >> we will all be watching intently. >> chuck todd, andrea tchell, thank you to both of you. catch more a little later on "meet the ess." chuck will also be talking to marco rubio, donald trump, and >>> that bitter blast of freezing cold air continues to impact tens of millions of people this morning. the good news, it should soon be over. but t t bad news, you're going to have to make it through today before you see that relief. dylan is here with more on that. dylan, good morning. >> we're breaking records all over and all across the northeast. it came in with an arctic front that moved through yesterday and caused quite a pileup back through parts of eastern pennsylvania. this was out near harrisburg

. >> reporter: among possibilities to succeed him, esvein vasan and jane kelly and merrick garlanded a patricia millett. for now the supreme court is evenly split between conservatives and liberals without antonini scalia so some of the big cases could end in 4-4 ties. on immigration a tie would block president obama from enforcing his plan to allow up to 5 million people here illegally to stay on on abortion a tie would restrict restrictions on abortion in texas to remain in force or in the case of a force the court could choose to withhold its decision and order the case to be reargued when there's a ninth justice. >> the justices have the ability to take a tie and put it on a shelf and come back it a year later, conceivably even two years late sneer in modern times the longest stretch the supreme court has gone without all nine justices is just over a year, and that was nearly 50 years ago. the justices are now in their mid-winter break and will be back on the bench a year ago today. leftner. >> no matter who it is the president picks the republican leader in the senate and many o

the list of possible obama nominees includes merrick garland... chief judge of the d.c. circuit court of appeals circuit court judge jane kelly. and circuit court judge sri srinivasan. violent storms. roofs ripped off buildings and thrown across the street. how people took cover in the middle of it all. lifted to meet the pope. just one of the amazing moments during the pontiff's trip to the mexico today. it happened again. bengals q-b andy dalton's luggage goes missing.. just days after it vanished the first time. who now. disappearing tax refund. it can happen when the government says its keeping your refund. happen to you. you're watching nine on your to bring you wendy' s north pacific cod sandwich we send guys like this... on boats like these... in weather like this... all the way up here... for wild caught fish like this... that we panko bread like this... for a sandwich that' s light, crispy and crunchy. today where' s the beef? means something different. some use beef frozen from far away. but wendy' s believes the juiciest hamburgers are made from fresh beef rai

such as merrick garland, chief judge of the d.c. circuit of court appeals, a moderate who has won praise from republicans. jane kelly, confirmed unanimously by the senate as a circuit court judge in 2013. and finally, sri srinavasan, who was confirmed as a circuit judge 97-0 just three years ago and served in the administration of president george w. bush. he would be the first asian justice. >> jon joins us now from the white house. would it make a difference if judge that has already been confirmed? >> well, the bar for a supreme court nomination is much higher, especially for this one. with the replacement having the potential to switch the balance of power to the liberals. >> and dan abrams is here. what happens in a 4-4 tie in a decision? >> there would be a tie. the lower court decision would stand. but it's not precedent. that means the case could end up coming before the supreme court again. >> and if the court was about to hear a case about shutting down abortion clinics, what happens? >> if they were to split, then the low

such as merrick garland, chief judge of the d.c. court of appeals, a moderate who has won praise from republicans. jane kelly, confirmed unanimously by the senate as a circuit court judge in 2013. and finally, sri srinavasan, who was confirmed as a circuit judge 97-0 just three years ago and served in the administration of president george w. bush. he would be the first asian justice. the bar for a supreme court nomination is much higher, especially this one with justice scalia

it's a judge by the name of merrick garland.f 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? >> well, i

there is certainly one man by the name of merrick garland who ined previous vacancies president obama's team has always viewed him as the nominee they would put up if there were a republican senate because he'd have the best shot at getting republican votes. he's not as liberal as sotomayor or kagan. if you see the president go down that road and he names him, that's his attempt of trying to put up a confirmable guy in a republican senate. but he may choose to do something more that excites the liberal base and wants the partisan fight and wants it for the election. i think we'll learn a lot where the president wants to go by the type of candidate he picks. >> thank you, chuck. i know you'll be talking about the horse race too. we'll see you in a few minutes here. >> you got it. >>> stick around for meet the press after "today in new york." his guests on the screen there, marco rubio, donald trump, john kasich. scalia situation and the latest on the sanders and clinton campaigns. >>> in other news, the man accused of a triple murder in staten island is behind bars. michael sykes charged

lisa vasten oig and paul watford and melissa millett and then merrick garland. >>> justice scalia was widely recognized for his writings to constitutional law. we spoke to a georgetown professor who actually argued a medical marijuana case in front of the supreme court and says he lost mostly on scalia's dissent. >> i certainly remember i wasn't really happy with his ruling. he wrote a separate opinion which didn't please me, but he's also visit the georgetown several times, he visited my seminar to talk about his new book. he's been a friend of ghorneorgn and mine. >> and he clearly remembers scalia's questions saying they were the most demanding and gave him the most difficulty in court. >>> it's 4:50. a former new york governor accused of choking a woman at a hotel. eliot spitzer resigned from office back in 2008 after being linked to a prostitution ring. well, police are now looking this to whether he woman thin her mid-20s at the plaza hotel in manhattan. spitzer denies the report. >>> batteries could have stopped the blimp that broke its mooring and flew through hemaryland las y

some names that fit that bill include 63 year old merrick garland, the chief judge on the d-c circuit court... 48 year sri srinivasan ... who also sits on that indian-american justice. and 51 year old former public defender jane kelly, a harvard law classmate of the president. despite vows from senate republicans to block any nomination... the obama administration argues that history is on its side, and points to the confirmation of justice anthony kennedy... who was confirmed during the 19-88 election year. coming up next on channel 2 news this morning... here's what's coming up in your one of the areas that i've been particularly interested in is the area of children. we intend to be sure that everybody in this room and every child in this state is somebody. no matter where they're born, no matter to whom they are born. i want to make sure that every child has a chance to live up to his or her god-given potential. i've spent my life fighting for children, and i'm not stopping now. i'm hillary clinton, this morning... .... the news is back in the "this is channel 2 news, coverage you

also washington appeals court judges merrick garland, considered a moderate, and patricia ma let. for now, the supreme court is evenly split between conservatives and liberals without antonin scalia. so some of the big cases could end in 4-4 ties. on immigration, a tie would block president obama from enforcing his plan to allow up to 5 million people here illegally to stay. and on abortion, a tie would allow tough new restrictions on access to abortion clinics in texas to remain in force. or in case of a tie, the court could choose to withhold its decision and order the case to be reargued when there's a ninth justice. >> the justices have the ability to take a case in which there's a tie and just put it on a shelf and come back to it a year later. conceivably even two years later. >> reporter: in modern ti times, the longest stretch the supreme court has gone without all nine justices is just over a year, and that was nearly 50 years ago. the justices are now in their mid-winter break. they'll be back on the bench a week from today. >> as we said, no matter who it is the preside