[laughter] >> senate democrats denounced their republican colleagues for holding up merrick garland's nomination to the court in a conference court of the conference today. senator reid said the majority leader mitch mcconnell cannot prevail on his vow to not hold a hearing or vote for the nominee.

[applause] on thursday, judge merrick garland met with some senate democrats on capitol hill including senator patrick leahy vermont. this photo of was taken before judge garland met with senator majority leader harry reid. also on thursday, senate democrats held a press conference on the steps of the supreme court denouncing republicans for fusing to hold a confirmation hearing for supreme court nominee judge merrick garland. this is 20 minutes. >> after speaking at the center for american progress, senator reid returned to capitol hill where he and other democrats met with president obama's nominee to the supreme court. merrick garland. democrats denounced republicans for refusing to hold a hearing on the nominee. they spoke for about 20 minutes. senator reid: merrick garland is a fineman in every way. his character is impeccable. his record of public service is unsurpassed and his time on the bench has been really very, very exemplary. all we're asking is for the republicans to do their job. now, mitch mcconnell set out and did it publicly his number one goal is to make sure preside

senators today. he met with key democratic leaders including senate minority leader harry reid on thursday. the 63-year-old moderate appellate judge also sat down with ranking democrat patrick leahy ...during his first official visit to capitol hill. leahy wants a vote on merrick by memorial day. florida senator marco rubio is ready to move on after dropping out of the presidential race this week.. and he says he's leaving politics altogether. butted to he says that frontrunner donald trump could be damaging to the republican party and hopes that he can still be stopped. closing arguments will begin this morning in hulk hogan's trial against the website, gawker. the former a leaked sex tape. on thursday, attorneys for both sides worked with the judge to figure out what evidence will be submitted to deliberations. it was determined the jury will only see the edited version of the sex tape. court starts at and 10 news will be to watch the trial live, download our 10 news app. kicks off at macdill air force base. get ready for the best show on in years. 10news reporter sarah hollenbeck is live

bush bibecame president, senate democrats vowed they would -- quote -- "use whatever means necessary" to block the president's judicial nominations. democrats went so far as to filibuster a supreme court nominee. that was the first time in the history of the united states senate that they ever tried to filibuster a supreme court nominee. it was the nomination of justice alito in 2006. the democrats failed. even though they failed, it set a new precedent. some of the leaders of that filibuster were senator barack obama, now president, were senator hillary clinton, then the secretary of state, now presidential candidate, and senator joe biden, now vice president of the united states. senator reid voted to filibuster, as did current senators durbin, senator leahy, and senator schumer -- all part of the filibuster of the supreme court nomination of justice alito by george w. bush. that's the history of how our confirmation process became so political. that's three decades of democrats politicizing the process. that's the precedent for where we are today, and those are the rules that we wi

. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president yesterday, the chief judge of the u.s. court of appeals in washington. garland faces an uphill fight to esident should fill the vacancy on the court. soon after naming garland, the president challenged the republican position. >> it's supposed to be above politics. it has to be. and it should stay that way. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has spoken with garland on the phone. mcconnell sayshere will be no confirmation heang for garland scheduled. at least republican senators are open to meeting with garland in the cong w wks. >> the michigan uber driver accused of killing six people is now suiug uber. in the handwritten lawsuit, jason dalton accuses uber of ripping him off and failing to p

president, the current senate democratic leader once stated that -- quote -- "nowhere in the constitution does it say the senate has a duty to give presidential nominees a vote." the incoming senate democratic leader, the one we'll have next year, should not even wait until the final year of the last president's term to declare that the senate should not confirm a supreme court nominee except in extraordinary circumstances. and we all know what vice president biden said when he chaired the judiciary committee. here's what he said: "it would be our pragmatic conclusion" he said "that once a political season is underway -- and it is -- action on a supreme court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over." that's the essence, mr. president, of the biden rule. yesterday the chairman of the judiciary committee and i personally reiterated to president obama that we will observe the biden rule. the american people deserve to be heard on this matter. that's the fairest and most reasonable approach today. voters have already begun to choose the next president who in turn

the senate decides whether or not to consider it at all. harry reid, the current democratic leader of the senate, said a few years ago, the senate had no obligation to vote on a presidential nominee at all. and he was right on that. we will not be voting on this nominee. the next president is going to make the decision. we'll deal with it then. >> you had a phone call with donald trump. did you call him or did he call you? >> he called me. it was a very pleasant conversation. i offered some obvious advice on the balance issue that it would be a good idea for him to condemn it no matter who started the fight. he appreciated rit. it. we had a good conversation. >> exit polls said people feel betrayed by the republican party politicians, prefer that the next president be a political outsider, again, all above 50%, 56% in north carolina. is this a huge blow to the establishment, establishment republicans in washington, the fact that it's donald trump and ted cruz that look like the only two feasible to get the nomination? >> i'm not quite sure what the definition of establishmen

senate democrats led by robert menendez of new jersey recently put out their version of a plan to tackle puerto rico's growing debt crisis, and we've been discussing the plan this morning with senator menendez, the main sponsor of that legislation. he's in washington, d.c. with us this morning. senator, time is of the essence here. we kind of illustrated that. however, do you think this is gonna get through the house? because republicans are for sure gonna put up their arms and >> well, first of all, joe, we welcome any initiative that basically deals with what puerto rico fundamentally needs. it needs broad restructuring. anything short of that doesn't help, and then, secondly, it needs equity and growth and opportunity in how its treated as american citizens. so i'm willing to work with anyone, republicans or democrats alike, but, remember, while republicans have a majority in both houses, here in the senate, because of the rules, they will need democrats to approve any provision. so there is plenty of room for negotiation and compromise as long as the goodwill to help the people of pu

democrat voted for justice kennedy. host: let me turn over to john bresnahan. mr. bresnahan: senatorhy, i want to talk about some of the very personal nature of the fight now over the impending supreme court nomination. a number of democrats have gone to the floor, including minority leader harry reid, and personally criticized the chair of the committee, senator grassley, your old friend, colleague, saying he is capitulating to the republican leadership. they're calling him incompetent -- failed leadership. is it surprising -- the personal tone of the attacks on grassley? i want to get your reaction. sen. leahy: well, senator grassley and i have been friends for years. our wives are friends. but i think all of us were very, very surprised that almost immediately after the news came out that justice scalia died, he joined with republican leader mcconnell saying no matter what the constitution says we are not going to have a nomination or a hearing on a supreme court nomination. as you know, you spend enough time on the hill, there are a number of his public and -- republican colleagu

. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the presiden democratic senators. 63-year-old merrick garland was troduced by the president troduced by the president was has to be.sed to be above e o and it should stay that way. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has spoken with garland on the phone. mcconnell says there will be no confirmation hearing for garland scheduled. at least republican senators are open to meeting with garland in the coming weeks. >> the michigan uber driver accused of killing six people is now suing uber. in the handwritten lawsuit, jason dalton accuses uber of ripping him off and failing to pay back wage boston he's suing for $10 million. according to police, he said a devil figure on uber's app was controlling him when he allegedly killed the six people. uber responded saying it's hard someone who refuses to take responsibility for his own actions. >>> and this case in d.c. just keeps getting weirder by the day. disturbing details about the death of a police dete

the democrats were in control of the senate. president reagan's last year in office, a presidential election year. every single democrat voted for his nominee to the supreme court. i know my good friend from iowa has said that somehow this effort is directed at him. i say it is really not about him or any one of us. it is about the constitution, which is more important than any one of us. the oath the president has taken to uphold the constitution, which requires him and it requires us to exercise our consent to vote yes or no, but we cannot sit here in closed-door meetings and agree that we will vote maybe. the american people want us to do our job. we are paid to do our job. every single day, we are paid to do our job. voting maybe is not an option. i say to the chairman, senator grassley, we have been friends for a very long time. i hope while we disagree on this we will continue to be friends. we have worked together on legislation and oversight matters as well as nominations. he is absolutely correct. we have cosponsored a l

i realize there are so many others but he got elected and is doing his job. >> how do senate democrats keep this issue alive if the story doesn't change? >> if what the press wants, and i'm not suggesting you do but to have a grandstanding everyday i would hope the press will talk to the legal scholars, both republicans and democrats as to what they think. i will give you one example. some of you have been here long enough to remember president ronald reagan and senator goldwater the best-known conservative republicans. senator goldwater recommended sandra day o'connor. she had a full hearing and was voted on and became the first woman to serve in the united states senate and is now retired she has made it very clear publicly that she thinks we should go forward with the nomination

democrats have only 10. here's nancy cordes. >> reporter: arizona senator john mccain has called trump's views uninformed and dangerous. but that hasn't stopped his democratic senate challenger, anne kirkpatrick, from running ads like this. >> no matter what donald trump says, john mccain would support him for president. >> reporter: new york senator chuck schumer warned today that strategy will be replicated in dozens of races across the country. >> donald trump won't make america great again, but he will make republicans minority again. >> reporter: unlike mccain, many republicans have been reluctant to outright denounce trump. they fear that weakening the likely nominee will lead republican voters to stay home in november, hurting gop candidates down the ballot. but today, the senate's democratic leader, harry reid, said that silence is giving his party fodder, too. >> some of these people are running for reelection. rob portman, roy blunt. i just don't know how these people could run and say why i'm supporting this guy for president. he can't-- and he can't run away from it. he's the nominee. >> reporter

by a democratic senate. i just want to say some of the things i have been hearing today have made me a little bit irritated. i thank the chair for his indulgence and all my colleagues. >> i seem to be the last person sitting or standing and i asked permission to include my remarks in the record but i want to be associated with the number of my colleagues including senator feinstein and senator schumer. >> recess. >> get you out of here. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> this weekend on booktv, live all-day coverage of the tucson festival of books from the university of arizona. it begins saturday at noon eastern, and sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern. featured authors on saturday include historian douglas brinkley on fdr, and author and attorney, linda hershman on the supreme court. sunday's featured authors including margaret reagan on immigration, linda and filipe on race in america, and a politics panel on voting rights, and independent voters. throughout our live coverage of the few sewn -

side, senator bernie democratic side, senator pulling the win in kansas. let's look at the e eakdown -- >>> the breakdown for the democrats, senator sanders was democrats, senator sanders was.47.1% -- >>> we now head to the northeast and a big win for ted cruz in maine here this evening cruz in maine here this evening, a surprise win for ted cruz. evangelical base not really there in maine. here is how it is falling -- >>. >> in nebraska, senatorerniey that state's caucus. breakdown -- -- >>. >> we head to louisiana, another win for hilary clinton. we'll look at those numbers coming up in just a moment. donald trump, a big one for% him. his first win of the night in louisiana as well. -- -- a big win in louisiana tpo+/ donald trump an the numbers go down from there. kentucky. that race is still underwayty hour. no winner identify hourur no winner identified in the kentucky caucus, but you >>> >>>. >> live in the plex with more, alex?0 . >>>reporter: a big night for both pears, but not necessarily for the front runnerves an the ra

. >> senate democrats rally outside the supreme court, urging republicans to act. >> if merrick garland can' t buy it -- get bipartisan support, nobody can. >> have the guts to vote yes or >> republicans found no hearings, no votes. the nra is strongly opposing judge garland' s nomination. after examining his record on the second amendment. from washington, i' m tracy potts. michelle: new information today, the deputies that it failed to arrest the donald trump supporter who separate budget protester have been suspended. it shows 78-year-old john mcgraw posting -- punching a protester who was being removed from a rally in fayetteville. mcgraw was like to stay in the rally and was in charge to the next day. the sheriff says the failure to act by the deputies on scene won' t be tolerated. three of those deputies are of the job for a week and two others are suspended for three weeks. from this getting national attention again today for what many are calling a warning of what will happen if he doesn' t get the nomination. the frontrunner talked to cnn on wednesday about the possibility of a

senate democratic leader harry reid slammed what he called the moral cowardess of senate republicans. he says they failed to stand up to front runner trump. he went so far as to accuse mitch mcconnell of giving trump a slap on the wrist when he says something de testable, then committing to support him in private. reid went on to call on senator mccom and house speaker paul ryan to find the backbone to say enough. mcconnell hasn't responded but speaker ryan did talk about the future of the republican party there would be riots if he's not nominated. ryan made it sound more than ever like a contested convention is coming to cleveland. >> nothing has changed other than the perception that there's more likely to become an open convention than we thought before. so we're getting our minds around the idea that it could very well become a reality, and therefore those of us who are involved in the convention need to respect. that. >> ryan also addressed his predecessor's decision to throw his name into the ring as a potential gop nominee. ryan said he saw john boehner last night and used the

i'm anne-marie green. >>> senate republican leaders are digging in their heels over the nomination of judge merrick garland to the supreme court. garland met with democratic leaders yesterday. both sides are mustering their resources to press their case. garland is expected to return to capitol hill today. don champion reports. >> reporter: senate minority leader harry reid. >> i am confident he is going to get approval. republicans cannot continue this. >> reporter: the 63-year-old moderate appellate judge also sat down with ranking democrat patrick leahy during his first office visit to capitol hill. >> you guys are paid to do your job. make up your mind. >> reporter: garland did not meet with republicans opposed to granting him a confirmation hearing. senate majority leader mitchell mcconnell laid the visit as a stunt orchestrated by the white house. former presidential contender marco rubio also stood firm. >> i don't think we should be moving forward on a nominee in the last year of this president's term. i would say that if it was a republican senate. >> reporter: a handful of republican senators up for re-election this fall have indicated they are

garland made his first visit to capitol hill yesterday, meeting with harry reid and senator leahy. democrats are highlighting the meetings as way to push the republicans into holding hearings. >> all we're asking is for the republicans to do their job. >> the american people overwhelmingly believe republicans have the responsibility to do their job. because people get up and go to work every day and do theirs. >> according to politico, democrats are planning to take aim at republican senators up for re-election. top among them, judiciary chair chuck grassley. nbc news has confirmed at least eight republican senators have said they're open to at least meeting with garland, though some say that may not be productive. senator grassley was quoted yesterday as saying if i can meet with a dictator in uganda, i can meet with a decent person in america. but still, several republicans are holding steadfast. utah's orrin hatch who has praised garland in past yesterday said he still supports his party's blockade. >> we have taken the position that the correct thing to do, the right thing to do, it's a

not one democrat went to the floor, stood up and said no, mr. chairman, there may be the senate's history and there may be very good reason for it but i think we should press ahead with an election year nomination anyway. not one. not a single democrat went before and stood up and said no, mr. chairman, i disagree. we haven't located any newspaper editorials taking him to task either. so much for fairness between then and now. so we should keep in mind when we hear all of this outrage today keep that in mind. let me make one final point. if this particular argument were not so transparently absurd it would be worthy of more debate. it is the under that because republican senators met to discuss the issue that somehow we were not being upfront and open. we could get into all of the secret meetings that the other side held before they walked into the the chamber on november 21st, 2013 and invoked the nuclear option but i don't think that would be a constructive debate. everyone in this room knows we meet to discuss importance matters and the reason i know everyone knows it is becaus

the us democratic senate candidate has been going to different polling locations today . he' s meeting as many people as he can before the polls close. sittenfeld is running against former governor ted strickland on the democratic side. on the republican side senator rob portman is up against don eckhart. the cincinnati councilman has been trying to boost his visibility among ohio democrats. he tells me he is excited, and has made his campaign about issues affecting the future of americans. >> i think there' s a big hunger in ohio, and across the country for new leaders stepping up who are going to offer up bold proposals to fix real problems we have, having an economy that works for everybody, making college more affordable,

. 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. introduced by the president 63-year-old merrick garland was introduced by the president democratic senators. introduced by the president democratic senators. introduced by the president the u.s. court of appeals in garland faces an uphill fight to republicans say the next vacancy on the court. soon after naming garland, the republican position. politics. it has to be. and it should stay that way. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has spoken with garland on the phone. mcconnell says there will be no confirmation hearing for garland scheduled. at least republican senators are open to meeting with garland in the coming weeks. >> the michigan uber driver accused of killing six people is now suing uber. jason dalton accuses uber of ripping him off and failing to pay back wage boston he's suing for $10 million. according to police, he said a devil figure on uber's app was controlling him when he allegedly killed the six people. uber responded saying it's hard to know how to respond to someone

i don't recall that ever happening under the former democratic leadership. the senate had roll call votes on four amendments. although the republican leader offered more such votes on democratic amendments. all four of those amendments were offered by democratic senators, and the bill passed overwhelmingly, as amended. this process would have been unthinkable under the democratic leader. it simply would not have happened. you know the statistics. 18 roll call votes on amendments all during the year 2014. during 2015, we had 198 roll call votes on amendments. and only four more republican amendments than democrat amendments. yes, once again then the democratic leader tried to manufacture a controversy when this bill first come to the floor about a week ago monday. this time over some alleged funding for this heroin opioid epidemic. but when $400 million in newly appropriated money for it hasn't even been spent yet, well, that argument by the democratic leader was a tough one to sell. and over the last few days the democratic leader played some games when negotiations on

democrats have only 10. here's nancy cordes. >> reporter: arizona senator john mccain has called trump's views uninformed and dangerous. democratic senate challenger, anne kirkpatrick, from running ads like this. >> no matter what donald trump says, john mccain would support him for president. >> reporter: new york senator chuck schumer warned today that strategy will be replicated in dozens of races across the country. >> donald trump won't make america great again, but he will make republicans minority again. >> reporter: unlike mccain, many republicans have been reluctant to outright denounce trump. they fear that weakening the likely nominee will lead republican voters to stay home in november, hurting g.o.p. candidates down the ballot. but today, the senate's democratic leader, harry reid, said that silence is giving his party fodder, too. >> some of these people are running for reelection. rob portman, roy blunt. i just don't know how these people could run and say why i'm supporting this guy for president. he can't-- and he can't run away from it. he's the nominee. >> reporter: republicans point out t

when the whole animating of energy of the united states senate is in effect to try to deny the legitimacy of the president who is democratically elected, the legitimacy of what's called for in the constitution means they really have just gone the extremist route and senate republicans having picked this position that says we're not doing to even hold hearings and a vote on a vacancy in the united states supreme court basically for a year. this is really pretty stunning. >> let's turn now to the race for the white house with hillary clinton and donald trump edging closer to securing the nominations. they are now both setting their sights on each other. nbc's andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: game on. hillary clinton and trump going after each other as though they were already their party's nominees. trump firing off this instagram video. ridiculing her as a weak commander in chief against putin and isis showing her barking like a dog. as she told a joke a on the campaign trail. after clinton ridiculed trumper in victory speech. >> our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. >> reporter: c

first of all, the democratic leader, senator reid, clearly wants to apply a different set of rules when republicans were in the majority than he did when democrats were in the majority. that's really clear. you know, people may get lost in some of the arcane nature and the convoluted nature of the arguments we make on the floorkn the floor, but the american people understand hypocrisy when they see it. and, clearly, senator reid back in 02005 -- back in 2005, made it statement, "the duties of the senate are set forth in the u.s. constitution. nowhere in that document does it say the senate has a duty to give presidential appointees a vote." we actually agre agreed with ser reid then but to have him come to the floor and lambaste the chairman of the judiciary committee and others in a very personal sort of way should be beneath the dignity of this body and of any senator. somehow -- somehow, the democratic leader feels like the rules that apply to the rest of us sumly don't apply -- simply don't apply it him. and he comes down here and tries to provoke fights. we actually have some impor

least 5 have settled. >>> well, those efforts to keep those airline fees in check failed in the senate. democrats on the senate commerce committee tried to prohibit airlines from setting unreasonable fees. they also wanted the transportation department to establish what is reasonable. >> i can't stand that on my -- when i pay for an airline ticket. >> then you have to pay for -- >> all the extras. >> uh-huh, seat belts. >>> when we come back, brazen prison break, hoisted to freedom by a helicopter. >>> and also caught on camera, a quick-thinking clerk saving a baby seconds before a mother collapses. with the pain and swelling of my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... ordinary objects often seemed... intimidating. doing something simple... meant enduring a lot of pain. if ra is changing your view of everyday things orencia may help. orencia works differently by targeting a source of ra early in the inflammation process. for many, orencia provides long-term relief of ra symptoms. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another bio

it sounds like senate democrats plan to pair up with these outside groups to try to increase pressuren republicans in the senate to take up garland's nomination. at least to hold a hearing. and so they announced last week in the senate democrats did, that they would be pairing up with these outside groups and they were going to step up pressure. they were going to try to keep this in the headlines, keep it from fading out of the public eye long enough to pressure the majority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, to take up garland's nomination. now, i don't think they're going to change anyone's mind. i don't think that garland will get a nomination hearing or a vote any time before the november election. at this point this is going to mostly be a political battle where it's democrats try to make republicans look like obstructionists and like they're being unconditional by not considering garland's nomination. >> and the republicans trying to portray the democrats as not obeying what they claim is the biden rule in all that. you said up until the election, what about after that? the

senators, including myself. american voters made it clear they were sick and tired of the bitter partisanship and inaction of the then-democrat-controlled senate, and they were frustrated with the president's overreliance on executive orders to bypass attempts at compromise and cooperation with congress. for the good of the nation, i hope the president and the democratic leadership do not repeat their mistakes of the past. i hope they'll accept, however reluctantly, the fact that the american people will have a voice in this supreme court decision, and start focusing on the issues that concern hard-working americans. i hope the president's final months in office will be spent working with both parties to do great things for our nation. that's what the american people want. that's what the american people deserve. thank you for your time, god bless you, and may god continue to bless the united states america. -- united states of america. has 48 hoursok tv of nonfiction books and authors every weekend. here are some programs to watch for. tonight, a book discussion with city university of new york professor douglas rushkoff, au

so what senate democrats are actually insisting and the president is insisting is that we do something we haven't done for 130 years. of course, the position that's being taken by senate republicans is not a new idea either. as a matter of fact, the democratic leader in 2005 said this. of course, this was when president george w. bush was president. he said, "the duties of the senate are set forth in the u.s. constitution. nowhere in that document does it say the senate has a duty to give presidential appointees a vote." senator reid was entirely correct. that's what the constitution says, as i mentioned earlier, that the president can nominate anybody he wants, but the constitution does not say that the senate is obligated to give a vote to that nominee. i would note, i read some of the remarks that the democratic leader -- i read some of the remarks of the democratic leader this morning. and i want to say he was critical of a story that included my name and the word "pinata" included in the story, suggesting this was somehow a threat. i would be surprised if any person who actually a