. << senator patrick leahy (d-vt)/ ranking democrat, judiciary cmte) "it is unprecedente d. it is pure politics." from capitol hill... senator patrick leahy (d-vt)/ fmr. judiciary cmte chairman) "it is wrong. it is not responsible." to the campaign trail... bernie sanders/ (d) presidential candidate) "talk about cowardice! talk about obstructionis t!" democrats are pushing back hard at republicans' refusal to give president obama's supreme e court nominee a vote. senator chuck schumer (d-ny)/ senate judiciary cmte) "let's have a hearing. let's hear from our constituents what they think and then vote -- not say no vote at all." hillary clinton/ (d) presidential candidate) "the people of this country should send a very clear message: that is not the way our constitution works." they point out: anthony kennedy was onfirmed by a democratic senate... in president reagan's final year. eric schultz/ principal deputy wh press secretary) "the constitution does not include exemptions for election years, or for the president's "we're in an election year, so i'm not going to pretend tha

. >> i'm joined now by the top democrat on the senate judiciary committee, patrick leahy of vermont.or, thank you so much for joining me. i'll just start with what the senate majority leader, republican mitch mcconnell, said last night. he laid down the gauntlet, saying the senate will not confirm anybody until after the presidential election. your thoughts. >> well, i think he's making a terrible mistake. he's certainly ignoring the constitution, ignoring responsibilities. president obama is doing the same thing that president reagan did at the end of his term. he nominated a supreme court justice. the confirmation was in the last year of president reagan's term. the democrats controlled the senate. none of us intend to play politics with something as important as a supreme court nomination. and the democratic-controlled senate voted 97-0 in favor of president reagan's nominee. in the last year of his presidency. the fact is when you elect a president, you have to assume if there's supreme court vacancies, he is going to make the nomination. and it would be a sheer dereliction of du

they will be joined by harry bothand patrick leahy will democrats. ryan sandoval has been mentioned as a possible replacement and says he is not interested in the job. he says he does not want to be considered for the nomination. fbi director james comey says the avenue -- says the apple cases the hardest case i have seen in government. members of the house intelligence committee asked about a judge's order to help the fbi unlocked the iphone of one of the san bernardino shooters. >> these san bernardino litigation is not about us trying to send a message or establish some president. it's about trying to be competent investigating something that is an active investigation, so i don't know how lawyers and judges will think about what is the limiting principle. -- apple ceoeo tim tim cook says helping the fbi break into the phone would be bad for america. a friend of the court brief will be filed support apple in its battle against the government. the republican presidential candidates will meet tonight in houston, texas. it's the final debate before s

decrats firing bk: sen patrick leahy: it is precedend. it is re polics. and the supremcourt, of all placesould not be tiedp in po. thpresidt, in californ hoing an aan smit, signalg throh aides i not backing down - that not t way our sys works. the esidt nominates expectinn electi year . that's not t way o system works. still ahead this afternoon-- we'vgot a look at the storms swping acrosthe country.. from mississ tnew york.. but first your forast here at home with meteorologist ssica van meter.. jessica? calmer today, but a retu to cleang skies and calmer winds for your tuesday. temperatures still end up above average he 50's and 60's. mostly clear tonht with lows in the 30's. the above average streak continuefor e re of the week sdayl o warmest day theeebut it'lalso bri strong windsnd very dry air. fire danger will be a concern for ouareas throughout the day. nds calm down by friday with highs staying above averag roughout the weekend. slightly cooler by nt we, still abovaverage, with highs ound 5and some york has spawnedornados in the south d duedeavy

patrick leahy is the top-ranking democrat on the senate judiciary committee. he says scalia's death has the potential to tip the balance of the senate. sen. patrick leahy (d) vermont "the fact is when you elect a president you have to assume that there's supreme court nom... vacancies, he is going to make the nomination. and... it would be a sheer dereliction of duty for the senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote." majority leader mitch mcconnell refuses to allow a vote on an president obama supreme court nominee... the republican party will pay a price in november's elections. now to an incredible story of survival. stranded for a week in the desert, an oregon man says he survived on snow. 69-year-old philip besanson is now recovering at a hospital in california. police say he was driving his pick-up truck from arizona back home to eugene, oregon. his truck broke down just north of reno. besanson stayed in his truck -- drinking melted snow and rationing what little food he had. it's a very remote area, but a highway patrol trooper thankfully stumble

they will be joined by harry reid patrick leahy.ck leahy is the singular ranking member -- senior ranking member. scarlet: thank you. u.s. markets set to close in less than 30 minutes. a mixed session with the s&p and dow losing ground, but the nasdaq holding onto gains. let's go to abigail doolittle. tell us why the nasdaq is outperforming. >> it is because of biotech. technologybiotech index is up nearly 1%. the week has been a bit of a seesaw. it is right now on pace for a weekly close of higher than more than 1.5% for the second week we gain -- weekly gain in two weeks. this is being driven by they contacted, including amazon, facebook, apple and intel. shares of the chinese internet technology company are down more than 10% on the week after the company actually be fourth-quarter earnings in revenue estimate by gross margins were done 18% on a .ear-over-year basis all of this has taken shares back below the two of day moving average for something that would be bearish. have typically recovered pretty quickly after the most we w

patrick leahy / (d) former chairman - senate judiciary committee :12-:18) "this country has not gone with a year-long vacancy on the supreme court since the civil war." democrats are outraged by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's declaration he won't consider a nomination until the next president takes office ... and the battle has spread from congress to the campaign trail. (sot hillary clinton / (d) presidential candidate :31- :39) "the senate has a duty to consider that and to decide whether or not to confirm whoever the president nomimites. (applause) (sot donald trump / (r) presidential candidate :40- :44) "i'm not saying that obama shouldn't do it. i'm just saying the republicans should not allow it to happen." republicans are vowing to make this election a referendum on how the next president will fill that open seat. (sot sen. marco rubio / (r) presidential candidate :51-:55) "we were reminded saturday evening by an untimely death of what the stakes are in this election." (sot sen. ted cruz / (r) presidential candidate :56- 1:00) "we are one justice away from losing our

president obama is set to meet with senators mitch mcconnell, harry reid, chuck grassley and patrick leahy tuesday. they're looking to fill the seat left behind by late justice antonin scalia, who died earlier this month. republican presidential candidate ted cruz is being compared to an unlikely person. here's a clue. we'll explain the chilling comparison next, and the surprising number of americans who believe it! and.. it's hollywood's time to shine this weekend. but will sunday's oscars still resonate with performers of color? good morning las vegas anchor dayna roselli finds out in a special one-on-one interview. tonight...partly cloudy. side of thevalley... just two days to until hollywood's biggest night! we're talking about the oscars! we're talking about the oscars! there's a lot of build-up and excitement, but also a lot of controversy leading up to the show. a lot of fans will be watching host chris rock.. and how he handles questions surrounding diversity in the show. good morning las vegas anchor dayna spoke with our abc entertainment correspondent in l-a about the controversy

majority leader mitch mcconnell and minority leader harry reid would be joined by chuck grassley and patrick leahy... the top-ranking members of the senate judiciary committee. republican leaders consider any nominee to the supreme court until after the election. in less than 30 minutes, the g-o-p presidential candidates will take the debate stage in houston. it's their last face-off, before super tuesday-- when republican voters in 11 states, will have their say. the democratic candidates.... are preparing for their next contest this weekend. bazi kanani reports. in the last debate before super tuesday, frontrunner donald trump could take fire from both sides. senators marco rubio and ted cruz... both questioning trump's conservative credentials at a fox news forum last night. cruz: "if donald wins the general election, who the heck knows what he would do as president?" rubio: "we are not going to allow the conservative movement to be defined by a nominee who isn't a conservative." a new poll shows trump 16 points ahead of marco rubio in his own home state of florida. that could push rubio to get

that top democrat patrick leahy cause this is wrong, irresponsible and unprecedented to even block a vote by the president's nominee even in his last year of office. chuck schumer says there should be a hearing and a vote. on the campaign trail, we're hearing from both hillary clinton and bernie sanders saying that this is sanders calling them cowards for not voting. on the other hand republican candidates insist even if they went through a hearing and vote, that justice would not be in la place in time to affect the cases ongoing. remember, we're already in the middle of the term. and overnight a "washington post" op-ed was posted by the top democrat haley reed, he says this that this is nakedly partisan. so where we are now, nothing likely to come out this week. next week or in following bikes we m weeks we may start to see names come out that republicans insist they won't even consider. >> tracie potts, thanks so much. >>> happening today, activists and cattle rancher cli cliffen bundy is at the time in court. bundy's son staged an armed sit-in at a wildlife refuge last month. >>>

no one knows better, no one, than vermont senator patrick leahy and his extraordinary co-pilot marcel that lake champlain is a great lake. and that's right. [ applause ] and no one has worked harder to make it greater than the leahy team. patrick and marcel are with us. thank you for all that you've done for our lake, all you've done for vermont, all you do for america. we are so happy to have you here. [ applause ] but you know, as the leahy team can tell you, the clock keeps ticking. we're running out of time. and the urgency for us to take every sensible action against climate change has never been greater. california under governor brown's leadership recently passed a bill to divest state funds from dirty coal and explore divesting from big oil. our small state must partner with california which manages hundreds of billions of dollars of state funds and divest vermont of coal and let's do it now. [ applause ] thank you. thank you. i don't need to remind you that vermont is downwind, downwind of the coal-fired plants to our west. where the tail pipe, the tail pipe to their dirty en

patrick leahy (d) ranking member, judiciary committee) "if the republican leadership refuses to even hold a hearing, i think that is going to guarantee they lose control of the senate, because i don't think the today senator harry reid will help n-v energy and sun-power flip the switch on a new solar generating station near nellis air force base. the 15-megawatt solar array panels are near nellis air force base. extra power from the solar panels will flow through the n-v energy grid and back into the local community. this addition, combined with the solar array completed in 2007, will make nellis host to the largest solar power system in the department of defense. with just a handful of games left in the regular season... the rebels will try to keep climbing their way up the mountain west rankings. unlv is on the road tonight taking on the air force falcons. the last time the two met the rebels won 100 to 64. a win tonight would pull unlv up to 7 - 7 in conference play. it would also set them up nicely for saturday's u-n-r... tip time tonight is set for 6-30. a real life milton from

democrats fing back: sen patrick leahy: it is unprecedented. it is pure politics. andndhe supreme places, should not be tied up in politics. the president, in california hosting an asian summit, those responsibilities described in the constitution are iron clad. there are no caveats, he office. and hillary clinton weighing in... unleashing a flflry of tweets overnight aimed at gop senators. hillary tweeting - hillary tweet: (so, a message for senate the scalia succession fight now also a campaign issue for the democrats. sot hillary today now last time i looked, the constitution did nottave a parenthesis. . he an election year). that's not the way our srinivasen of washington, dc and jane kelly of iowa, also washington appeals court judges merrick garland, long on his list, although older at 63 - and patricia millett, an experienced litigator and former clerk for justice ginsburg. president could decide to fire up his own democratic ase... nominating a minority candidate, or another woman... in a deliberate contrast to the majority of the gop opposition in the sena

(sot: senator patrick leahy (d-vt)/ fmr. judiciary cmte chairman) "it is wrong. it is not responsible." to the campaign trail... (sot: bernie sanders/ (d) presidential candidate) "talk about cowardice! talk about obstructionis t!" democrats are pushing back hard at republicans' refusal to give president obama's supreme court nominee a vote. (d-ny)/ senate judiciary cmte) "let's have a hearing. let's hear from our constituents what they think and then vote -- not say no vote at all." (sot: hillary clinton/ (d) presidential candidate) "the people of this country should send a very clear message: that is not the way our constitution works." they point out: anthony kennedy was confirmed by a democratic senate... in president reagan's final year. (sot: eric schultz/ principal deputy wh press secretary) "the constitution does not include exemptions for election ars, or for the president's lala term in office." flash "we're in an election year, so i'm not going to pretend that that's not part of the atmospherics here." republican candidates insist the replacement for ju

mcconnell as well as chuck will be of iowa, and joined by minority leader harry reid and senator patrick leahy of vermont, both democrats. mentioned as as possible replacement for antonin scalia, is not interested in the job. the governor says he told the white house today he does not want to be considered for the nomination. apple asked the judge to vacate in order that would enforce it to hack into the iphone of one of the san bernardino shooters. it says the fbi is seeking dangerous powers. the director was asked about the legal battle by members of the house intelligence committee. this will require negotiation and conversation. but i am keen to keep the bureau out of the policy making business. mark: apple ceo tim cook tells abc news he is prepared to take this to court. apple contends the u.s. cannot force him to unlock the iphone. republican presidential candidates swear off in houston in a final debate tuesday. mitt romney is responding to donald trump's tweet, calling him a fool, after romney speculated on a possible bombshell for the tax return. he tweeted me thinks donald duck prote

majority leader mitch mcconnell, chuck grassley, harry reid, and ranking member patrick leahy will all sit down with the president at the white house. gunman have forced the way into a hotel in the somali capital of mogadishu. a bomber rammed his car into the syl hotel entrance and then gunmen enter the premises after an exchange of gunfire with hotel guards. early reports indicate three dead and 17 wounded. the hotel is located across in the presidential palace in mogadishu. the islamic extremist group a\ l-shabab claimed refunds ability. to record before the beatles hit stardom is going up for auction. .he 1962 recording was made it had been in the loft of a member of another liverpool band. the demo record is expected to bring in at least $14,000 next month. ♪ global news 24 hours a day powered by our 2400 journalists in more than 150 news bureaus around the world. carol, tracy? leadersonths economic have been calling for better key medication for the people's bank of china. in shanghai the governor said "china still has some monetary policy space and will double instruments to addr

so will senator patrick leahy...the leading democrat on the judicary committee. white house was vetting nevada's governor as a otential courtrt nominee...he says he's not interested. in a statement...brian sandoval said he notified the white house that he does not wish to be considered at this time. decision 2016... the presidentialalhopefuls have their sights set on super tuesday. 12 states decide. the republicans hope their peformance at last night's debate will have an impact down the strch. edward lawrence tells us it was the debate, ontentious! "first of all, this guy is a attacked from the right and the with voters. "anyone who really cared about stage who's ever been fined for hiring people to work on your project illegally. you hired some ..." "no, no. i'm the only one on went on an all out offensive against trump & attackckng not only his immigration ideas but his health care plan, among other issues "so, that's the only part of the plan? juut the lines?" you'll have many different plans. you'll have competition, you'll have so many different plans." "no

. >> i want you to listen what patrick leahy, the top ranking democrat on the senate said about the political cost if senate republicans refuse to consider the president's nominee. have a listen to what he said. >> if the republican leadership refuses to hold a hearing, i think that it's going to guarantee they lose control of the senate. >> that's what you should hope for, right? >> an issue some republicans are concerned about. do you agree? this year is not as friendly of a year for senate republicans as the last cycle. is there any truth to this? >> if he believes that he should be thrilled about this possibility moving forward and congratulations to the democrats if they think it is that easy to win control of the senate. i don't see that. i think, if anything, it would be for -- if republicans do not put up a fight on this one they would be voted out of office because they did not fight for a supreme court justice spot and to see what will happen with this election. remember, republicans aren't saying we are not going to put someone on the court until a republican-backed white house. wh

harry reid judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley and patrick leahy the committee's top democrat. that left vacant following the death of justice skalia. >> sandoval is not interested in filling that seat. he made that statement one day after news broke he was being considered for the job. >> caught on camera a police officer in texas pulls a driver from a burning suv. into a guardrail when the suv caught fire. the officer uses his baton to break open the passenger side window and with some help pulls the man out. the driver suffered minor injuries. >> and checking new across the country now. sea world employees helping a baby sea lion that was stranded in san diego. the animal got stuck when the high waves rolled in. a man also needed rescuing that day when he jumped into the water even though officials shut the pier down. a rescue body set out to save him. 9:30. head into the kitchen. today i guess you are making this exotic dish. it's like indonesian stir-fry. >> tom brady channelling his inner lion king. how he introduced the newest >>> temperature into the 50s by p (vo) with

. >> with new cases of the patrick leahy being confirmed, a south florida man said he caught it while on a mission trip to haiti before health officials were alerted. >> at overnight shooting is police are looking for the person who pulled the trigger. >> in the clear with fantastic weather. can it lasthrough the holiday weekend? >> it was a sight to see for beachgoers with a small plane crashed into the water off the coast of south florida. tonight, we hear from the pilots about how they made it out alive. >> good evening. i'm robbin simmons. >> and i am jeff lennox. the late addition of the night team starts right now. >> this is a late addition of seven is. >> off the top, sudden shock. e leading conservative a voice on the dishes high voice, u.s. antonin scalia has died. >> plaques lower to half-mast for justice scalia the country mourns his death. president obama orders the flags remain down until sunset on the day of justice scalia's burial. officials say he died in h sleep on a trip to texas. >> 's death spurgeon immediate bate about whether president obama should fill the seat

patrick leahy/(d) vermont: "they took a solemn oath, a solemn oath before god, to uphold the constitution." sen. orrin hatch/(r) utah: "the absence of one of the nine justices on the court is far from calamitous, but a hastily made lifetime appointment could be." nevada governor brian sandoval was reportedly being vetted for the position, but the republican governor withdrew his name saying he's humbled and grateful to even be considered. the white house has not given a time table for it's nomination. nissan says it's disabled the app for its electric 'leaf' car. after an australian cyber security researcher found a way to hack into the car's temperature controls, and review its driving record. nissan says there is no safety threat and a new app for the 'leaf' will be launched soon. u-s lawmakers are accusing takata of faking test results to cover up its exploding air bags. their report cites internal documents from takata in the past 12 years, showing the company argued that information about inflator quality and testing was manipulated to hide the problems. the senate committee says one

the top democrat on the senate judiciary committee, patrick leahy writes, quote, it is only february. the president and the senate should get to work out delay to nominate, consider and confirm the next justice to serve on the supreme court. now republicans essentially are saying that when democrats back in controlled senate a few years ago they changed nominating process, the threshold for federal judges to serve. that didn't include supreme court justices but they sort of poisoned well back then. we have entered new territory here on capitol hill. the senate is out this week for president's day holiday. he will be back next week. david, cheryl, back to you. david: a lot of big battles coming up. rich, thank you. we'll have more on scalia's life and legacy and as well as the fight for his successor. we'll speak with robert george, one of the best in the world jurist prudence, a dear friend of justice scalia is coming up. cheryl? cheryl: several gop presidential candidates insisting that president obama should not be allowed to name a successor for justice scalia. donald trump back on

i mean, both the governor, peter shumlin, as well as senior senator patrick leahy of the former governoreleine cunanan and yet -- even in his home state -- >> let me just say something. amy, those people endorsed at a very early stage in the campaign. if you look at when someone made the decision, ted leahy -- by the way, congressman peter welch did not endorse anyone. they endorsed very early. they thought bernie would not gain the traction he did. they're probably having a come to jesus moment right now when they see the former governor go on. inigo howard dean as well. >> now. this is not surprising. this is about establishment politics. what bernie sanders showed, even donald trump has shown, is that this is no longer a time for establishment politics, that there is a problem. there is a disconnect between what they do and what they think and what the american people are feeling. bernie captain to that, not just in new hampshire, but around the country. i think it is not only a message of change, but it is a message of incrementalism that actually not only is not working, but here's

. >> senator patrick leahy, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >>> democratic presidential candidatesthey're spreading out to the campaign today. bernie sanders by the way, he's in michigan. we're going to hear why hillary clinton is spending extra time right now in nevada. janet? cough if you can hear me. don't even think about it. i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. yeah...but what about mike? it works on his cough too. cough! it works on his cough too. mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours. let's end this. i drive to the hoop. i drive a racecar. i have a driver. his name is carl. but that's not what we all have in common. we talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. xarelto® is also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. you know, taking warfarin, i had to deal with th

yet madeleine cunanan, our guest today, patrick leahy the senior senator, howard dean who ran for presidentnd was former head of the dnc, or someone, the current or previous does the current governor. so you have all of the leadership there. it is not so obvious. i wanted to put this question to ben jealous, why it is you see these differences all over the country, the leadership dividing from the people on the ground and what you think bernie sanders, why you think that is? not clear to me. the reality is, when you talk to voters on the ground, and asked them what they say, they say it is the establishment doing with the establishment does. i think most voters see that. the most important thing -- i think the governor is absolutely right, we need a democratic nominee to be the republicans at the poll. is every single week, it banker that bernie sanders is that candidate. it is painful for me to be on here with governors on different side because, look, if senator warren was running, we may have found ourselves on the same side. and because it is hillary clinton versus bernie sanders, what

patrick leahy, saying there is no excuse why the senate cannot act. it's only february. we have an entire year, only eight legislative days before the august recess. there's a lame duck session of congress after the elections. there's plenty of time according to democrat to act. you're going to hear that argument being made. i'm sure you'll hear the white house make that argument as well. that's part of the election can bait going forward. democrats are going to make the fact that if republicans hold up a nominee for the supreme court, the supreme court will not be functioning at full force when clearly the senate can act. it's not an easy decision, it's not a decision without political risks. the republicans not to move forward on the next supreme court justice spot. >> thank you very much. stay with us. i do want to bring in our cnn political reporter sara murray live in greenville, south carolina. sara, this comes, this tragic, very sad news of the death of antonin scalia comes hours before the gop candidates take the stage. and as david gergen said, every branch of g

host: that was senator patrick leahy from vermont.e are taking your thoughts on act on the senate should president obama's nomination for the supreme court. here are more details about the passing of justice scalia did turning to winter park, florida, janet calling on the democratic line, what you think? the senatecourse should act on president obama's nominee. i would like to associate myself with remarks from the man in ohio. he may he shall and not or can up someone in this kind of situation. think if this mitt romney instead of president obama, there would be no question that they would want him to the point or nominate a justice and they would act on it. asy need president obama well as they would their own party member. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. i think mitch mcconnell's comments will haunt him and they want the senate candidates throughout this election if they don't follow through and do their constitutional duty to have a hearing on whoever president obama nominates. mitch mcconnell said they wanted t

he served the special counsel to chairman patrick leahy and the senate judiciary, committee for the nomination of sonia sotomayor and elena kagan. finally jamaal greene, we are so pleased he could join us. in addition to being the vice dean for intellectuallife at columbia , he teaches and writes in the areas of us constitutional law and beer he and the federal courts, comparative constitutional law from 2007 to 2008. he served as the alexander fellow at new york university school of law. it was a law clerk to justice paul stevenson the supreme court . he received his a.b. in economics from harvard, earned his ged from law school in 2005 when he served as the article editor. so these are heavy-duty professors and i've also heard from a more conservative leaning professor who believed the same thing, that the constitution is the constitution. that people have a duty to do their jobs and i'm sure like all of us, our colleagues were as shocked when justice scalia died. that happened. but when people things happen you have your job to do. and that is really what this is about today. it's about a c

mitch mcconnell, democratic leader harry reid, judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley and patrick leahy, the committee's top democrat. sandoval says he's not interested in filling the seat. sandoval, a republican, made the statement just one day after news broke that he was being considered for the job. he says he told the white house his decision, adding that he has also discussed it with top senate leaders. >> christa: right now people in iran are voting in the first election since last area's nuclear deal with world powers. this is the country's current supreme leader casting his ballot, so they're voting to decide who will control iran's parliament and the group who chooses the islamic public's new supreme leader. more lead-poisoned water worries, if you can believe it, this time in another part of the country inch jackson, mississippi, officials are warning that pregnant women and children should not be drinking the water. they say last june 20% of homes in the city tested high for lead, and now six months later it's still at 10%. however, residents were just told this week. they s

patrick leahy, the longest serving senator has endorsed her, making her an outsider.y that, there's some problems within the clinton camp. they didn't really deny it. there's a big report that they're going to do a lot of firing and do some turnovers as they head down south. here's daniel halperin of the "weekly standard." >> i expect to see, you know, blame shifting, a lot of acrimony inside the clinton campaign and the beginning of a huge transformation within the clinton campaign. if i were a staffer inside clinton world right now i'd be fearful. i'd watch my back because there's really no certainty that you're going to be employed a week from now. >> well, she's having a tough time courting young voters, young women voters in particular. she's trailing bernie sanders by double digits in new hampshire by many of the polls and had that razor thin victory over sanders in iowa. are you getting a feeling one way or the other? >> well, sanders i believe is going to win this state. what's hilarious to me is that bill and hillary clinton are reputed to be the single smart

. >> that was ranking member of the senate judiciary committee patrick leahy with my colleague andrea nomination. here's what trump thought should happen regarding a nominee for replacement. take a listen. >> i'm not saying that obama shouldn't do it, i'm just saying the republicans should not allow it to happen. now, i also said the republicans should not have approved the budget they approved four weeks ago, and they approved the budget. so you never know. they've been very disappointing. >> pete williams is the justice correspondent for nbc news. pete, obviously the president is moving forward. at some point we will hear a name. what are you expecting? what are we looking for next here? obviously the name, though. >> well, we don't know the name. it seems like the white house was most likely prepared for -- not prepared for this vacancy. they probably had other contingency plans. they're now trying to figure out a way, we're told, to find a consensus nominee that would be acceptable to many republicans, certainly not all, but there seem to be some entreaties by the white house to m

leahy has harsh words for gop supreme court vacancy in the story senator patrick leahy says leaving the seat open for a year would look foolish to the rest of the world. the last time a supreme court seat set up on fraser was during the civil war. here's the democrat on the senate floor. >> this past weekend, the nation honored justice antonin scalia.t marc serving on the supreme court for nearly three decades.ad we were at home in vermont when fran w past and frankly we were stunned by the news. i do not often agree with justice scalia but he was a brilliant jurist with a deep commitment to our country, to the constitution and we enjoyed a friendship for decades.t he will be remembered as one of the most influential justices in have b while his family and all of us had a chance to mourn his passing i was shocked in the immediate wake of his death. senate republicans moved quickly to shut down the constitutionally mandated process to fill the vacancy left in the supreme court. within hours of his death being announced, they declared they would oppose any effort to confirm the next supre