> court observers say it just -- justice kennedy will be the key boat and ruth bader ginsburg sonia sotomayor and elena kagan are expected to agree with abortion providers that the law in texas is too onerous. >>> this afternoon donald trump and hillary clinton closer to securing the party's presidential nominations. both swept several states last night and we have a report on the state of the race coming out of super tuesday. compusa today is calling the results of super tuesday is super search for donald trump. washington post calls in a hostile takeover of the republican party. trump and ar trump separates himself from the race in the republican nomination winning seven states in total compared to three victories for ted cruz and one for marco rubio. his first win over all. hillary clinton trumped for --

position.crt >> this is the third supreme court justice thatat president obama has nominated, it was sonia sotomayor and elena kagan, they were both appointed by him it it is unusual for a present to have a say in three of them republicans say thats with less than 10 months left in office >> it was a big night for the front runners with both donald trump and hillary clinton moving closer to their nominations. >> the republican field narrowed to just three candidates has scott mcleanubie send dc with a breakdown. >> marco rubio said that he believed that the winner of the florida primary would go on to become the republican nominee, something he probably wishes he had not said because the winner of florida was donald trump.bad >> two them by that kind of number is incrediblele. >> in florida, and let's not even close, donald trump trouncing his opponents winning en all 99 delegates in forcing campaign . >> the fact that i have come this far isf evidence of how >> but donald trump cannot capture ohio,, governor john kasich won his home state easily but still has the very unlikely path to the nominatio

placedlighted that he sonia sotomayor on the supreme court. equally happy elena kagan is there and i don't want to second-guess the president's thinking on this but i have so much confidence in the first two nominees and justices he appointed that i think merrick garland will be just as good as his previous two picks. we have many, many years of vacancies to fill. we will undoubtedly have retirement's coming up very soon and i can only think that if it's a democrat who was elected willovember, that democrat take diversity into account. in fact, make diversity a priority, and democratic party -- as a democratic presidents have done in the past. you -- what do you make of some other comments from senate republicans that they would be willing to take up his nomination in the lame-duck -- session?tion ms. aron: i think if senators are going to play games, they ought to really think twice. they all to think about two things. one, the constitutional task ahead of them that asks them to a fair hearinge and fair consideration. two, each of us wakes up

and sonia sotomayor has tried to , be the people's justice. street,oing on sesame she is going on the view. she is dancing salsa on spanish-language television. she is definitely trying to the one of the people. her friendsthat still call her sonia does not surprise me. brian: and what do you think about her going on these kind of shows? gabe roth: i think we are very lucky in the time we live in. all eight of the justices are very intelligent, very thoughtful. we may not agree with some of their decisions, but these are complete rock stars when it comes to their knowledge of the law and their willingness to interact with people. they are funny and engaging. the supreme court press office doesn't release their public schedule. when i worked for a state official, every night we sent out a press release. so-and-so, governor so-and-so is appearing at this place in this time. you are more than welcome to come. justices don't do that. there was an article in "usa today" that said justices rock on the road if you can find them. how much i have learn

i tended to in the past with sonia sotomayor, first amendment case, sullivan case, i asked about criminalbecause of my background as a prosecutor. i want to look at some of the stance he has taken. i personally think we should have cameras the supreme court, because i know you things would like to see things immediately. i'm ask him about that. so i have a lot of good questions to ask him. >> senator, i know yesterday that planned parenthood, cecile richards, not enthusiastic, acknowledging a lot of questions, open questions about reproductive rights. does that issue give you any pous from wh pause from garland's record. >> i want to look at his positions, but for me, what's really important here is the fact that he is someone that is known as being fair. that he has had the respect of democrats and republicans. you look at some of the comments they've made in the past, the fact that he received the votes of senator hatch and senator mccain, senator collins, senator cochran, senator roberts, people who have been here a long time. with senator hatch once saying, challenge anyone to come to

when sonia sotomayor wrote that book, she got separate $1 million advance. because the justices' salaries and income is limited, you want to reimburse the university of oklahoma? great. the bottom line is, what we know about ends and where things tart to get murky. we know he went to the university of oklahoma, but did he stop by some thing else when he was in the area? there is a fine line between maintaining a certain level of privacy. don't know when he visits his grandkids. that's ridiculous. but they are paid for by taxpayer money, and we should know more about who is funding it when they travel across the country. brian: if somebody was to follow how you are doing, how do they get there? gabe roth: fixthecourt.com. our website is updated almost aily with our work, reforms, and ways individuals, who are interested, can get involved. there's a big action center on the top right. there are seven or eight different actions they can take right there. congressman, judicial body, trying to get them to change internal policies that were hopefully trickle up to

was, when the president considered sonia sotomayor. and again when the president considered elena kagan, he was left at the altar, both times. the president liked him in the previous two sessions. that's the impression that we've gotten. i just think that this was the time. he's the right man for the job, meaning that politically he's the best fit. he never really questioned whether he'd be a good judge or not. >> let's talk about precedent, peter. petes -- tell us about the president, what it is the republicans are doing. it's never happened before. >> not like this. certainly been instances where one part has on nomineesstalled of the other president's party, in an election year. but nothing like this, where they've basically tried to hold out for an entire year, not in anyway.imes 19th century stuff we could go into. >> or not. >> or not. is in fact unprecedented in that sense. this is what merrick garland was intended for. president did consider him in '09 and '10. in case of emergency, break glass candidate. the president didn't n

we had the historical election of barack obama and two more changes with sonia sotomayor in 2009 and kagan in 2010. and citizens united has replaced bush v. gore as a bit of a rallying cry at least. and yet bush v. gore endures for many of us. just when i think people have stopped thinking about it or stopped asking about it, i'll give a speech somewhere, just like last summer in connect where the first question was, and what about that bush v. gore? so it endures and mainly from folks on the left. but we're here today to take into account both sides and look at not just what happened back then but how the ruling has reverberated through the years. and joining me, i'll start with my immediate left here. judith browne-dianis, co-director of the advance project. she was on the ground in florida and ever since to ensure voting rights. next to her, rick hassan, university of california irvine law professor, and a prolific writer on election law. just this morning, crack of dawn, he sent two more pieces that he had just written commemorating bush v. gore and i think probably your name com

justice sonia sotomayor, "how will we ever have a government that functions?" the government had given the little sisters an out, simply sign a form, letting the government step in and order the nun's insurance company to provide contraceptive coverage, they would still be complicit and conservative justices seemed to agree. said chief justice john roberts, "they think that complicity is sinful." now, without justice scalia, the court appears divided 4-4. a tie vote could keep in place those rulings against the little sisters, but, scott, it would set no nationwide precedent. >> pelley: jan crawford covering the court tonight. jan, thanks so much. a blizzard buries spring. on that's next. m ...what we're building together... ...and could this happen again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? i spoke to my doctor and she told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots. but eliquis also had significantly

for example, sonia sotomayor... >> yes. >> hinojosa: ...who was actually in the same room of jennifer lopez, and all the young women wanted to get the autograph from sotomayor. >> ah-hah! >> hinojosa: that was who they... you know. i'm thinking, "wow, this is"... so talk a little bit about how that popular culture interpretation of beauty, and how... how far along have we made it? >> part of beauty has to do with money. beauty... >> hinojosa: just a part? >> ...my next book, actually, is called the truth about beauty, and it's going to be mostly pictures and just a little bit of text, because there's not a lot to say. beauty is a mixture of sex and money, youth, and wealth. so what... the image of youth doesn't change that much. so we always want to see young people as beautiful. but who has the power and the money, that can change over time. and so our ideas about what is beautiful... so you just mentioned beauty as intelligence and power in terms of sotomayor, but we can also talk about beauty, just plain old sex beauty, as having broadened since the 20th century. >> hinojosa: so yo

in 2009 when sonia sotomayor was nominated for the supreme court, it was quickly reported that she saidin a speech that a wise latino woman in a bonus of her experience would come to a better decision than a man who had not had such an experience. wind she said it and when they were pouncing on her for saying it ruth bader ginsburg spoke out from the supreme court and said sotomayor was right. and sotomayor had to eat her words to get on the supreme court of the united states, a complete be defensible behavior. once she got on, having life tenure, remember, means never having to say you are sorry, what was the first thing she did? she wrote her story and she shared the fullness of her experience as a wise latino woman with the rest of us and we have seen her doing it ever since. of ginsberg's project of america becoming more and more inclusive is beautifully rendered in this evolution of the answer to your question. >> michele obama is walking a fine line, required to walk as fine a line as any black woman has had to walk. she says i am a statistical anomaly. she says i am not supposed

he has a point guard in elena kagan, power forward in sonia sotomayor, now looking for a swingman, someone persuade conservative justices to come over to the liberal or -- liberal side. the president is happy for merrick garland to get on the court. he is aware that there is a chance the republican intransigence will continue. this is designed to make republicans pay a price. confirm my nominee or refuse to or vote guy a hearing down and eminently qualified to judge and we win the political battle because it looks like congress is totally dysfunctional and not doing its job. david: i want to talk about the campaign. i will have you look at my --omberg here come a chart the chart of the hour, looking at the partisan gap between democrats and republicans, focused on the bloomberg comfort index for democrats, seeing that ick up. -- t hillary clinton on the democratic side and donald trump on the republican side -- are we starting to see that become something more acutely in the focus of voters? john: enthusiasm can matter a lot in the general election and turnout is one of the key factors. --

i've been extremely grateful for the additions of elena kagan and sonia sotomayor.ing up -- ♪ john: joining us now, former congressman gerald ford, jr., also an nbc political analyst and dan senor, the founder of the foreign-policy initiative. neither of you are here as surrogates today. you are here as friends. you are here as friends. we will start with republicans. >> why would you start with republicans? it's so less interesting. john: i will start with you. christie said she would rather vote for hillary clinton than donald trump. would you vote for donald trump? >> i'm not voting for donald trump. i'm confident marco rubio will be the nominee. i think there will be a another republican in the general election. john: who would that be? >> i'm not going to throw out names. john: i asked this question -- is this right now an existential crisis for the republican party? >> you have a guy who is leading the polls right now against a fragmented field who just said last night that the chinese government's treatment of the citizenry in china is a model for how we shou

i am delighted that he placed sonia sotomayor on the supreme court. equally happy elena kagan is there and i don't want to second-guess the president's thinking on this but i have so much confidence in the first two nominees and justices he appointed that i think merrick garland will be just as good as his previous two picks. we have many, many years of vacancies to fill. we will undoubtedly have retirement's coming up very soon and i can only think that if it's a democrat who was elected in november, that democrat will take diversity into account. in fact, make diversity a priority, as democratic presidents have done in the past. ms. kim: what do you make of some other comments from senate republicans that they would be willing to take up his nomination in the lame-duck session? ms. aron: i think if senators are going to play games, they ought to really think twice. they all to ink about two things. one, the constitutional task ahead of them that asks them to give the nominee a fair hearing and fair considerati. two, each of us wakes up every morning

sonia sotomayor and more than we saw for elena kagan. why this difference? >> some of is it that we have access to tools we didn't have frankly early on in the presidency. we have been more effective at using things like facebook. scott: the instagram and facebook accounts followed by millions. there is a new twitter handle. driving the useers to a highly produced even emotional video introducing garland. >> my father would be very proud. scott: why the global blast when only those on the hill have final say? perhaps because it is about using the links to lure in voters and hoping they will convince congress to confirm. the white house admits it has never been this aggressive in using social media and other platforms to push supreme court nominee. the president plans to pressure congress in other ways, too. >> the other thing that is important, scott. we don't believe that people should be using politics as an excuse not to do their job. >> those they blame use once said a president should wait when campaign season is underway. >> why is it different now tha

justice sonia sotomayor pointed out that one of the undue burdens in the is law this. a nonsurgical abortion, a woman can take two prescribed pills at home. but if the law stands, she has or pay for a hotel to get those two days of treatment. driving 200 miles to do something you can do at home.trage if you told men they had to go to albany to masturbate? and meet with a counselor 24 hours ahead of time.ing to fantasize about? oh, from the progressive ads? [ laughter ]he end, it was justice ruth bader ginsburg who, when the lawyers representing texas continued to claim that the omen's health, cut to the chase and pointed out that, quote, "a woman has the fundamental right to make this choice for herself, but for now, the choice is in anthony kennedy," who is the swing vote in this case. a four-four vote mean the texas right. it shouldn't be harder for women to access health care than to access "uptown funk." this has b [ cheers and applause ] we'll be right back with more "late night."e ] so my kids don't have to forage, got two jobs to pay a mortgage, and i've also go

those being sonia sotomayor in 2009 and elena kagan in 2010.is a very delicate balance to select a nominee but coming up, we will talk about the nominees, some have bay area ties. and which one may appeal to both sides of the aisle. >> i am anxious to learn about that. >>> residents of san jose will have a chance to weigh in on how the city should regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. allie rasmus is on live with us now. what is on the agenda tonight? >> reporter: the topics all have one thing in common, how should the city regulate the medical marijuana industry given that the industry and state laws about it they be changing. especially if there's a referendum later this year to legalize recreational marijuana. some council members have said it is a good idea for the city to get ahead of the state regulations. tonight, the council will ask for public input. in medical marijuana meeting is scheduled for 630 tonight at city hall. they are talking about specific things when it comes to regulating the industry and dispensaries in the future. t

i tended to in the past with sonia sotomayor's hearing and el kagan, asked about first amendment casescriminal cases because of my background. i want to look at some of the stands he' taken. si think we should have cameras in the supreme court. i know you guys would like to see things immediately. i will ask him about that. i have a lot of good questions to ask him. john: senator, i know yesterday that planned parenthood, richards came out with a statement that is tepd in support -- tepid in support of merrick garland. she they knowledge there are a lot of "is about his support for reproductive rights. does that issue give you any pause from what you know about garland's records? senator klobuchar: again, i want to look at his positions. if he has respected roe v. wade. what is important is if he is someone that is known as being fair, he had the respective democrats and republicans. you look at the comments, the fact that he received a vote senator hatch and senator mccain. senator collins, center at cochran.- senator with senator hatch one saying, i challenge anyone to come to say wh

he has previously nominated and successfully they confirmed sonia sotomayor, as well as' lay that kagan. all right. we're going to go live now to the rose garden. let's listen in. >> good morning. everybody please have a seat. of the many powers and responsibilities that the constitution vests in the presidency, few are more consequential than appointing a supreme court justice. particularly one to succeed justice scalia, one of the most influential jurists of our time. the men and women who sit on the supreme court are the final arbiters of american law. they safeguard our rights. they ensure that our system is one of laws and not many. they are charged with the essential task of applying principles put to paper more than two centuries ago to some of the most challenging questions of our time. so this is not a responsibility that i take likely. it's a decision that requires me to set aside short-term expediency and narrow politic, maintain faith with our founders and more importantly, perhaps with future generations. and that's why i have done my best to set up a rigorous and comprehen

middle of the road than president obama's two prior appointees, justice elena kagan and justice sonia sotomayor. melissa: what do you make of that? >> i make of that that the president is trying to find a way to tease away enough pubs from the mitch mcconnell inspired solidarity that we will not vote up or down. now, i don't know that that will work under the senate rules because under the senate rules, rules adopted when harry reid was majority leader and the democrats ran the senate, the majority leader, not the majority party, the majority leader decides what comes to the floor for a vote. so it doesn't matter how many republicans the president may pry away by variety of political techniques. if mitch mcconnell doesn't want this nominee to be voted on this nominee will not be voted on. melissa: interesting. judge napolitano. thank you very much. always a pleasure. >> thank you. david: in some other news russian president vladmir putin has begun partially withdrawing some warplanes and troops from syria today. putin spokesperson saying this afternoon, decision was not prompted by the kremlin'

to be in their comments sympathetic to puerto rico's position, especially justice ginsburg and sonia sotomayorstion when congress eliminated the ability of puerto rico to use federal bankruptcy laws, and intended not to allow it to have any kind of bankruptcy laws, which is really the issue at hand. so you have the court will have to rule before june or by the end of june on this case presumably, may be more some pathetic than commerce because congress still has not acted. speaker ryan promised in december he would have a bill in the house passed by the house by march 31. well, congress goes out of session today for easter recess and does not come back until april 12 or 13th, i think, and ryan has now posoned his promis legislaon until then. and even then, still not clear the republicans will approve a bankruptcy provision for puerto rico. is still leaves the government of puerto rico facing massive debt payments, i think $440 million due on may 1, and unable to pay. the secretary of education of puerto rico just sent a letter to speaker wright yesterday saying, look, we don't have money in ou

in 2010, garland was under consideration for the supreme court, vacancy that went to justice sonia sotomayor, senator orrin hatch of utah said he had known garland for years and he would be a consensus nominee. but that possible consensus nominee probably won't even get a hearing. >> and i think that's really the optics that the white house is trying to go for here, jose. and if you also look at that graphic we put up there, 1997, judge garland was confirmed with 76 votes to the united states senate. we just heard from mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, that he will speak about this later on today. i think they're going to wait for the formal announcement at 11:00 a.m. from republican sources i have spoken to, expect nothing to change here. what they're going to do is say, hey, this is an issue that should be decided by whoever is the next president. despite the fact that there are hundreds of so days, over 200 days left in the obama administration, this is something that is unprecedented. shouldn't be going forward. democrats are saying not so fast. wait, wait, wait. the president

on a very different note, sonia sotomayor. >> growing up she was diagnosed with diabetes. she early learned early on that she had to fight. at the interview, we put on some salsa music. she stood up x and said, do you want to dance. of course. court justice. >> that's a special interview. you taught me something about interviewing in this book. if you get to interview someone >> exactly. you get to know things that's impossible to know. once i learned realize there were rumors he was going out with an actress. there were two toothbrushes. one was pink. that. >> that was your confirmation? >> yes. >> somebody was waiting for me. >> jorge ramos, thanks for coming. the book is called "take a stand". >>> "good morning america" is brought to you by blue diamond almond breeze. >> you heard the man, bachelor ben here tomorrow night. good morning tri-state.it's 8-57..donald trump is putting in extra effort in ohio today... hoping to use the final hours before tomorrow's primary to pull ahead in a close race with governor john kasich. the republican frontrunner has just added a sto