. -- merrick garland. what were the mistakes by the republicans? sen. heitkamp: they should have given him a hearing and voted yes or no. gone through the process. mitch, hepect for said i'm not going to do it. he meant it. the point i have made is for how many years, the courts have always been political. ish about be pollyanna- this, but we have taken it to a other level. this is a huge voting issue for the right. they will other level. this is a huge voting plug theil kinds of behavior as long as they get a judicial nomination. what they have ignited with all a bigs, it will be floating issue on the left, more so than it has ever been. this is a bad trend for the supreme court. >> at some point, the democrats will regain control of the senate. what about the issue of payback? you know, when people said, why would you even gorsuch after what happened to garland, i said, two wrongs do not make a right. at some point, some of the has to be the adult in the room. let's go back to doing this the right way. you can take your vote one way or another, but le

but now we have this notion, ever since the merrick garland situation, when mitch mcconnell said then people will decide our next justice. that's actually not how it's set up. it's not a popularly -- it's not an elected position. it's an appointment for life. it's meant to be insulated from public opinion. so, i think it's quite troubling to imagine that twitter is deciding who will hold the next seat on the supreme court. >> one of the themes in your work -- and einstein once said it -- is that, in american democracy there seems to be gyroscope, just when it's tipping one way it knows how to right itself. do you think we have, in our history, in our dna, and going forward, the mechanisms to right ourselves when we seem to have become so divided? >> i do. i do. whether that will happen, i don't know. and i work pretty hard to hold onto that hope. i think a lot about the speech that frederick douglass gave in 1894, shortly before his death, to an audience of schoolchildren in manassas, virginia, black schoolchildren, and he -- think about everything that he had achieved that had been

let's go back to merrick garland. what were the mistakes by the senate republicans? sen. heitkamp: they should have given him a hearing and voted yes or no. gone through the process. again, out of respect for mitch, he said i'm not going to do it. he meant it. he wasn't going to do it. the point i have made is for how many years, the courts have always been political. let's not be pollyanna-ish about this, but we have taken it to a whole new level. this is a huge voting issue for the right. they will plug their nose on all kinds of behavior as long as they get a judicial nomination. what they now have ignited with all of this, it will be a big voting issue on the left, more so than it has ever been. this is a bad trend for the supreme court. >> at some point, the democrats will regain control of the senate. it happens. democrats have the house. what about the issue of payback? where does that put each party? sen. heitkamp: you know, when people said, why would you even consider gorsuch after what happened to garland? i said, two wrongs do not make a right. at some point,

i think we live in a merrick garland dominated world if hillary clinton wins the election. that is a hypothetical that could have happened. one other question, lee. ifssume from your data that an historian were writing today and looking at the supreme court over time, justice kennedy has been the most dominant justice by far in a very long time. >> on virtually any indicator i can think of. if you can think of when i have not -- >> i am not a data person. but i don't understand your data. in virtuallying is every year of the roberts court, kennedy was in the majority over 90% of the 5-4 decisions. >> i am not making a point that these cases are dominant. i totally agree. i just think it is interesting when we talk about median justices. i find it interesting to stress. let me put it this way. talking about kennedy as the median justice i think gives a lot of emphasis to a strict left/right attitudinal model of voting. i think it is useful to point , and in particular students, that it is not all that. much of it is that. the attitudinal model is not wrong. legal realism is

they went with the nerd merrick garland. plus, when i tell people i like beer, they find it charming. >> i have had an epiphany. i guess the world needs me to be president after all. >> yeah, that was not the lesson at all. >> i want to be president again. i want to be president again. >> listen, donald, every time a bell rings, someone you know quits or goes to jail. >> the next morning, the real president lumped snl in with the one sided coverage and suggested without basis it was defamation. i think not long ago he was hosting. he's been on the show. >> just laugh it off. >>> it took 15 weeks, but the defending super bowl champs finally looked like that. led bewednesday again by nick foles. the eagles took a 30-13 lead in the third quarter on the strength of three rushing touchdowns. philly had to survive late with the game-tying pass. their pittsburgh counterparts turned in the other sunday shocker in the nfl. steelers limited tom brady and the patriots to just 7 points. there's your team photo. always the celebrations.

no, they went with that nerd merrick garland but when i say i like beer, they find is charming and notgood health care. >> do i think this is going to be the thing that crafts some type of bipartisan health care agreement? of course not. >> people don't realize i have a lot of friends who are democrats. >> it will be interesting to see who the president is talking with -- about when he says democrats will help him on that issue moving forward. >> another day of resignation at the white house. >> secretary of the interior ryan zinke announced he is out.

no, they went with that nerd merrick garland.i'm threatening violence. >> i had an epiphany. i guess the world needs me to be president after all. >> yeah. that was not the lesson at all. >> i want to be president again. i want to be president again. >> listen, donald, every time a bell rings, someone you know quits or goes to jail. >> that is kellyanne conway. >> yes. >> the next morning, the president lumped snl in with new shows and criticized what he called one sided coverage suggesting without any basis it was defamation. going so far as calling it collusion there in the end. >> he once appeared on "snl." >>> thanks for joining us. i'm christine romans. >> i'm >>> paying $130,000 to stormy whatever and the other one is not a crime. >> he does not tell the truth. >> the public needs to know exactly what happened. >> president trump is not going to get the wall in any form. >> we are going to do whatover is necessary to stop the ongoing crisis of illegal emigration. >> we have to prevent a government shutdown. >> this is "new

no, they went with that nerd merrick garland but when i say i like beer, they find is charming and not like i'm threatening violence! ♪ >>> i believe we are going to get really good health care. >> do i think this is going to be the thing that crafts some type of bipartisan health care agreement? of course not. >> people don't realize i have a lot of friends who are democrats. >> it will be interesting to see who the president is talking with -- about when he says democrats will help him on that issue moving forward. >> another day of resignation at the white house. >> secretary of the interior ryan zinke announced he is out. >> zing zinke is being accused of using finances for his own personal. >> there is no doubt we are a long way away from iowa voters heading to their caucus sites for the 2020 presidential campaign but never too early to get a sense of what iowa voters are thinking. ♪ >>> 7:01 is the time on this sunday morning. we have grateful to have you with us. i'm christi paul. >> i'm martin savidge in for victor blackwell. >> good to have you here, martin. >>> the battle ove

so the same guy who stole a supreme court seat from merrick garland wants bipartisanship.an you believe the balls on that guy's neck? [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] thanksgiving is one week away. so if you like dry, tasteless, white meat, say hello to gop's incoming freshman class. [ laughter ] [ applause ] a company in wisconsin gained attention this week after they gave all of their employees handguns as christmas presents. well, that is appalling. they gave out christmas presents before thanksgiving. [ laughter ] and finally, a 73-year-old woman in florida was arrested last week after she reportedly brought meth with her to a doctor's office to have it tested. said the woman, "oh, no, that means i gave my dealer my urine sample." [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] we have a fantastic show for you tonight. he is a legendary comedian who you can see on his national tour, "steve martin and martin short: now you see them soon you won't." martin short is back, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] he's starring in the powerful new film, "widows," brian tyree henry is ba

. >> merrick garland karl: oh, fine. my point is this. we have been set down a path where both parties are now at each other's throats. that is what i put in my column, that the republicans better not aid the procedures of the democrats because it is our country that is being trashed by this. i do not care if you are republican or democrat. this process stinks. i would not -- here's a guy brett kavanaugh, whom we all , know, brilliant, great integrity and he chose a life of public service rather than to cash in at some big law firm. how many people will say yes, i will subject myself to this kind of use -- kind of abuse. he has undergone seven fbi investigations and not a single hint of this kind of crap. now we get here, if anybody thinks that the things that we have on the table now are the only three by the end of the next week when the fbi investigation is over, you're kidding yourself. more trash will be coming out of the ether. >> we all went through fbi checks to get in the white house they call your high school friends. they call

garland --rick justice merrick garland is not seen as sitting with the supreme court today. unknown tong is not us and it is certainly not unknown in geneva. the attitude of me before you of linkages is going to have to give way to an idea, a cultural to making every country give a net positive contribution. development assistance. i think i'm known only as ddg because people do not want to remember the name of them, they come and go. they chair nothing, with one exception, on behalf of the director general i chair the consultative forum on cotton. four countries are the driving force behind this initiative. they are extremely poor is, they are not very good at growing cotton, they might not like that in the press, but they see a need to improve their yields. they see a need to improve their incomes. what is their net positive contribution when they have nothing in terms of market to offer others? their net positive contribution is they think about what they need that would help them, and they help others actually do the right thing. there is a room full of people, represent

the dog that we got into in the reid years and now it's been taken to a new art form-- witness merrick garland-- in the mcconnell years. >>oodruff: like a zero-sum game. >> you only have power as a group. that is what the uteted states ses, and until you learn and figure out how to make things work as a group, you wilt ue to fail, and you will continue to reap the rewards in the public eye for failure. >> woodruff: how do democrats comeack inerms of the presidency, and in terms of the senate? >> donald trump is going to help. i do believe that. i do not think that he is a leaderenhat has the conf of the majority of americans. vedo think we're going to to figure out a way to nominate a candidate for president who is inspiring and who is capable ofv cing people that he or she is capable of getting things to ange. and we've got to do the math because we can't win the presidency just by very blue states. we have to win states like florida and ohio and wiscoin and michigan. and, you know, compete in states like missouri. so we've goto get back to having our elections be moreou inspiring people that

appoint two justices, merrick garland and his golf partner so you get to and 11 member court and you are back in control. democrats are in control of the court but what happens if a republican is elected? you want to go to 13 justices? at certain point you need a bigger building. the hope for the court is that kind of episode or some of the discussion you are hearing now or readers of my book, you will see some institutional pulled back from the court, the best hope for the court such as it is and the chief justice is a conservative, not a moderate, don't confuse them for a moderate but as he demonstrated in the first obamacare ruling in 2012, he was able to put aside his own policy views or constitutional views to defend the court, protect the court institutionally. it is possible to see some effort on the part of this chief to try to rain the court in rather than see it be drawn further into the maelstrom. is it likely? know. but i think it is possible. >> host: i agree with so much of what you are saying. >> guest: finally! >> host: here is the thing that bothers me. i don't know

maybe in the short term but merrick garland then you get to the 11 member court you are back in controldemocrats are controlled then what happens you would go to 13 justices? i think the hope for the court is that type of episode or perhaps some of the discussion you are hearing now, you will see some institutional pullback the chief justice is a conservative. he is not a moderate but just as he demonstrated with the first obama care in 2012 he can put aside his own policy views or constitutional views to defend the core and protect the court institutionally it would be possible to rein in the court and rather than see it be drawn in is that likely? no. >> i agree with so much of what you said. >> finally. >> here is what bothers me. i don't know the answer i can agree on the court striking down all those things where is terrible the court was out of control i even have some sympathy and i will have for the current court arguing it did go much too far and some of campaign-finance but those are two bookends to an extraordinary time when the court got it right they literally pulled into a

but mcconnell, then, we watched him do this with merrick garland and he was happy to have the hell to pay on his shoulders. mcconnell has no constituency he answers to other than the republican donor class and the president essentially. does pressure work anymore on the operators in this sort of game? >> i think it does. i think with the democrats coming in after this amazing blue wave tsunami, whatever you call it, you know, doing the right thing, doing the grown up thing, all eyes are going to be on the senate. >> yeah. >> and mitch mcconnell's running again and there are already lots of funds that are called ditch mitch. he is an astute politician and he's got to get this done. we've got to open up the government and do everything else that we have to do. >> what do you think of that, ben? >> well, i have to say that mitch mcconnell is not someone who's ever seemed to be particularly disturbed by hypocrisy. the man literally could go out one day and say he will never do something and the next day he will do the opposite if that's what he believes, again, his political constituencie

. -- justice merrick garland is not seen sitting with the supreme court today. hostage taking is not unknown to us innocently is not unknown. the -- the attitude of me before you, is going to have to give way to an idea, a cultural shift to making every country given that positive contribution. i work with a con development assistance. i think i'm known as that because no one wants to remember name, they come and go. but they tear nothing with one exception. on behalf of the director general, i chair the development assistance on con. there is a driving force behind the initiative. they're extremely poor. they are not very good at growing cotton. they may not like that in the press but, they see a need to improve their yield. they see a need to improve their income. what is their net positive contribution when they have nothing in terms of a market? to offer others? the net positive contribution is a think about what they need, what would help them and they help others actually do the right thing. there is a room full of people, representatives of countries and

we're going to have 11 justices and take back america garland seat that was denied us. merrick garlandwas barack obama's nominee and we're going to undo what was wrong with , and horses, all it takes is an act ofcongress . to add seats, doesn't take a constitutional amendment, any problem with that? it's legal,? >> i would end up in an hour to sign such a bill and congress's power to do it and i would strongly oppose it if i as i would have had alive during the 1930s. >>. >> it would set a terrible precedent. >> is there an argument that in order to save the institution you have to burn it down? >> i don't agree with that, the institution doesn't need saving. the supreme court is operating, i've never been a complete supporter of everything the supreme court has done. i agree that the definition of an activist is somebody right an opinion you don't agree with and judicial conservative is someone right and you agree with . the debate over whether it's alive constitution or dead is an absurd debate . i used to fight with my friend antoni elliott since i've known since he was a la