night. >> looks like times square. >> the other story, that happened a short time, donald trump told "fox & friends" he won't be going to the debate next week. he's done with the debates. >> done with all the debates. >> some of the breaking news that you get when you watch "fox & friends." bill: let's start with a fox news alert. president obama will announce his choice to replace antonin scalia on the high court. the president will speak this morning. who is on the hotter list, what happens next. a huge night in the race for the white house. donald trump surging ahead of ted cruz and john kasich while marco rubio's comes to an end in his home state. and a big night for hillary clinton.

i'm bill hemmer. martha: i'm martha maccallum. donald trump winning at least three states. one is too close to call. it includes a knockout victory in senator rubio's home state of florida. >> we are going to win, win, win and have great victories for our country. martha: trump took the sunshine state by nearly 20 points. and that meant it was the end of the road for marco rubio. >> while it's not god's plan i be president in 2017. the fact i have even come this far is evidence of how special america is.

bill: john kasich won ohio in a winner take all, getting 6 delegates. >> we are going all the way to cleveland and secure the republican nomination. martha: where i this whole thing headed? senator ted cruz still hoping for a win in missouri. boy, is that a squeaker. cruz says he's going forward. he believes the mom nation is between himself and donald trump. >> tonight we continue to gain delegates and continue our march toward 1,237. after tonight america has a clear choice going forward.

martha: tucker carlson is standing by with his analysis of last night. reporter: can there are might want this to be a two-man race, but john kasich has other ideas. he's planning on staying in this at least through the end of april. the pennsylvania victory would almost double his delegate count. he says he's going to keep going. continuing his theme of running a positive political campaign. >> i want to remind you again tonight that i will not take the low road to the highest office in the land. we have got one more trip around ohio this coming fall where we'll beat hillary clinton and i will become the president of the

united states. reporter: it was a huge night for donald trump, taking three or four contests with missouri still out. his victory in florida was massive, trump dipping into a deep well of resentment about status quo politic. >> there is anger. but they are not angry people. they want to seaboarders and healthcare and see things properly taken care of. they want our military rebuilt. reporter: ted cruz insists he's the only candidate who can beat donald trump. his hopes may rest on a contested convention which cruz says he welcomes. >> we had that in 1977 with reagan and ford. then the delegates decide.

that's actually democracy. that's how the democratic process is supposed to operate. reporter: there is a difference between a contested convention and brokered convention. that's the proverbial smoke-filled room. next tuesday, arizona, winner take all states. bill: what do the numbers look like? donald trump this morning is more than halfway on the delegate map. he leads by 200 delegates. that number will change. senator cruz 400. senator john kasich with 138. where do we go from here? tucker carlson who was here last night, magically he has reappeared in the lovely town of

washington, d.c. you say you are con founded as to all the talk you are hearing in washington about a third party candidate. >> there are two questions going forward. who has the strongest claim on the republican nomination and who can beat hillary clinton. objectively you arrive at trump. but the republicans in washington don't think trump is acceptable. they are talking about a third party. it's not going to happen. there is no one to lead the party, and what is he going to run on. but they pulled off the mask and have shown trump's voters what they think of them.e pure on ter those voters. this wound is deep, i don't see it healing and i don't see how they can take the nomination

away from trump. bill: 7.5 million votes already for trump. you made an interesting point last night among the many. you were talking about the citizens united decision that barack obama hates. he loathed that. that's the first amendment, you are aloud to spend as much money as you want. you think of the millions of dollars spent in florida alone against donald trump and you saw the result in that state. it shows all the money doesn't matter. >> it does under cut the rationale for campaign reform. the opposite is what we are seeing this morning. donald trump is not supported by any of the republican donor class. he's not taking much money from donors anyway. they truly hate him and he has beaten the candidates who had

unprecedented donor support. jeb bush and now marco rubio. this is something that rarely occurred to people in washington. elections are about voters. their volts matter more than any other factor in washington. i'm sincere when i say, the middle class gets to vote in primary elections. that's homefying and shocking to people. bill: john kasich says he has concerns about donald trump. does that mean he's change his strategy? >> i don't think john kasich has a path to the nomination. i don't think he will say donald trump is not a good conservative. i think the concerns have to do with donald trump's northerly fitness for office. they are saying donald trump is not just wrong, he's immoral. once you say that, you can't

support him. martha: a major showdown brewing in our nation's capital at president obama prepares to announce his pick to replace supreme court justice antonin scalia. sources say the president is likely to have zeroed in on one of these three individuals. judge merrick garland. sri srinivasan or paul watford as his choice. good morning, shannon. reporter: despite the gop's promise to block any progress on a nominee. we have been tracking six real contenders currently serving as federal judges. all have unique stories and

backgrounds. our best versus is that it's boiled down to two. you mentioned merrick garland. many of the current justices served on this circuit before being elevated to the supreme court. garland has a 19-year paper trail on the bench. that could be a plus or a minus. there is also p soft judge sri srinivasan. he is foreign born. he was born in india and grew up in kansas. he served in the solicitor general's office in the bush and oba administration. he's younger at 29. but republicans including the senate judiciary chair chuck

grassley say it's not going to happen. >> this president will not be filling this current vacancy. but the president indicated he intends to submit a nomination. that's okay. he's constitutionally empowered to make the nomination and the senate holds the constitutional power to with hold consent. reporter: i think the person he picks will tell us a lot about what kinds of fight he plans to have. to put up judge sri srinivasan would ask republicans to block someone who was approved by 90% of the senate. i can tell you some conservative groups put together $2 million ad buys to go after whichever person the president picks.

bill: it will make for an interesting summer. in cleveland and on and on we go. donald trump marching closer toward that republican nomination as of last night. >> when i get 53 in this one, that's with four people. bill: is his voter base putting him in the white house as it stands today? what would his ticket look like? martha: senator cruz and governor kasich say they are in it to win it. is it possible without a contested convention. bill: hillary clinton putting big distance between herself and senator sanders with a big night. now a renewed focus on what happens come november with her. >> if we go forward with this

campaign and we win in november, i know our future will be brighter tomorrow than yesterday. hi, i'm matt mccoy.

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bill: i want to bring in byron york. so there are you. i want to show you a couple things and get to comment on this. big city.

chicago, cook county. trump is a winner with 40% of the vote. come down to florida where you are. punch up walton county here. population about 50,000. is that what it is. trump is at 52% of the vote. he's wing in big cities. he's winning rural areas as well. what does it tell you? >> he has an across the board appeal. the win in chicago shows all the chaos of trump's canceled rallies didn't hurt him with republicans. in florida where i am, i believe he won all but one. rubio won miami-dade county, his hometown basically. trump won everything else. cities, rural, suburbs, small,

big, he's been winning ohio. bill: kasich to the left, trump to the right. this is kentucky coal country. west virginia saying pennsylvania steel country. what does this mean in trump's coalition of voters he's putting together. >> it shows he's connecting with some of those voters who have been displaced by economic developments in the past 10 years, their income has been going nowhere since the economic downturn and they are look for something else. we should say ohio is the only state john kasich has won. it's his home state. it's kind of a minimum requirement to win your home state. unclear whether kasich can do as

well. bill: this is missouri as it stands right now. trump and cruz are separated by .2 point. at this hour they are separated by .2 point. you want to make an argument for why all those count. this is a classic case, my friend. >> missouri is one of those ones as far as the delegate race is concerned, when trump and cruz essentially tie, some people think trump will come out just a sliver, just a tiny bit ahead. but when they tie, they basically split the delegates. obviously trump wants to win as many states as he can. as far as the delegate race is concerned, it won't make a huge difference. arizona, winner take all. 58 delegates next tuesday. same day utah goes.

it's not winner take all. it's winner take must. if you break count allocation in utah. if you want to fast forward, go to june, states like new jersey, it's 5 delegates. it could be a good 8 for donald trump. as you reflect on the road ahead, what do you think about it? >> case up is in a spoiler role. he can't win enough delegates to go into the republican convention. trump has a huge advantage right now. there is no doubt. but it's entirely possible to keep him short of the 1,237 delegates required to win the mom nation. tucker carlson was talking about hugh determined his opponent are to do that. the possibility of a contested

convention is still there. there have been 36 contested so far and trump has won 19. in other -- in he other case party officials would be calling for everyone to drop out and unite behind the winner. bill: i thought we had the delegate count. we'll get to it in a moment. thanks, byron york down in miami. martha: president obama about to announce his replacement choice for justice antonin scalia on the supreme court. mitch mcconnell said the nominee may not even get the courtesy call. bill: ted cruz vows to push on insisting the republican race is a two-man race between him and donald trump and that's it. >> going forward the choice is straightforward. do you want a candidate who

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martha: we are awaiting president obama as he get set to announce the nomination to replace judge antonin scalia on the supreme court. let's give everybody a look at the three people think the president is considering. you have merrick garland. >> former prosecutor, 63 years

old. prosecuted the uni-bomber. 19 years on the d.c. circuit. sri srinivasan is 49. born in india. hindu -- would be the first hindu on the youth supreme court. played basketball in lawrence, kansas. paul watford faced opposition on the republican side on immigration and being a contributor to president obama. martha: perhaps as interesting will be the battle whether the republicans have to give this person a fair hearing. mitch mcconnell says we may not do the pe courtesy call.

>> mcconnell said we won't have a hearing because we don't want to alter radically the constitution of the supreme court. democrats including president obama says in 141 years this hasn't been done. there is precedent to do this and you the united states senate has a constitutional duty to do so. the senate has the duty to advise and consent on a nomination but there is no obligation that the senate must act on the president's nomination. there is precedent they can sit back or decline to hear it or put it into holding. martha: by nominating and electing these members of the senate, aren't the people of the united states saying the senate

has a duty to put it forward? >> there is a constitutional responsibility. but there is no absolute obligation. there is no order by the constitution that says u.s. senate you must act on it. there is a sense of discretion. martha: there is a job description. >> that's the president's point going forward. that's what the american people have said with polls going forward that there is an obligation. even "the washington post" says that's a big three pinocchio claim that there is an actual duty and obligation that the senate must act. there is duty and responsibility, but that they must act is not in the constitution. martha: they might bite their

nose to spite their face. >> the white house set up a twitter account. they intend to hold the senate to account. they will seeking to embarrass the united states senate. there will be a conflict of ideals. martha: why not have a hearing. >> if you have been giving advice to chuck grassley and senator mcconnell that probably would have been prudent advice. but the truth is that they have a constitutional basis for what they are doing. whether the people of the youth agree or disagrees, that becomes the political question. and it will be folded into all elections this year. martha: next thing you know it will be two years is too soon and that's the danger of this game.

thank you very much. bill: hillary clinton emerging victorious with four big wins over bernie sanders. what did she say about donald trump. how did marco rubio's campaign collapse? >> i know america can't solve all the world's problems. but i also know when america doesn't lead, it leaves behind a vacuum and that vacuum leads to chaos.

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preparing for a political war over that. more on that coming up. bill: hillary clinton sealing her frontrunner status. four different states, including the important state of til now which seemed to be in jeopardy after a surprising loss in michigan. mike emanuel is on the trail in phoenix. good morning. >> good morning to you. after a big night, hillary clinton is 2/3 of the way to the democratic nomination. clinton spoke to supporters in palm beach, florida about the big challenges facing the next president. she is sounding like she is the nominee talking about breaking down barriers and not building walls. >> this isn't just about donald trump, all of us have to do our part. we can't just talk about economic inequality, we have to

take on all fours of inequality and discrimination. reporter: a majority of democratic voters agree with bernie sanders that free trade deals kill american jobs but more than half of them voted for hillary clinton. bill: is there any sign bernie sanders' diehard supporters are going to go anywhere? reporter: no. everywhere we go his crowds are large and enthusiastic. last night it was deafening in that room. no sign of enthusiasm dropping off. sanders talked about fighting for all americans. >> we have a constitution that grants us -- it's a great document -- a lot of political rights. but i believe we have got to go further than that. and i believe that we have got to guarantee our people economic

rights. i remember the great leader dr. martin luther king jr. reporter: arizona, is an upcoming contest. bernie sanders says he will win in arizona as long as there is a big turnout. bill: thank you, mike. martha: marco rubio exiting the race after a crushing loss in his home state of florida to mr. donald trump. he finished with 27% to trump's 45%. the only county he won was his home county of miami-dade. he had this parting warning for voters. >> i ask the american people do not give in to the fear and frustration. we can disagree about public policy. we can disagree about it vibrantly and passionately. but we are a hopeful people.

and we have every right on hope actual. we are the descendants of go-getters. in our veins runs the blood of people who gave it all up so we would have the chances they never did. we are all descendants of someone who made it the purpose of their lives. martha: he got a lot of credit for a gracious exit speech last night. joining me is eboni williams and brad blakeman. it's good to have you here. this man had so much promise going into this race. there was discussion about him running for president, the last presidential election. he made a strong speech at the convention. there is a lot of hope. when you look at what happened to the marco rubio campaign. take a look at some of these moments and we'll talk about it. >> the people of florida can't stand him.

he couldn't get elected dog catcher. >> he led the charge to fix this immigration problem that existed for 30 years, then he cut and run because it wasn't popular. >> half of the things marco said are flatout false. >> when you are governor a state the memorized 30-second speech where you talk about how great america is doesn't solve one problem for one person. >> marco is not a great negotiator, i saw him melt down and it was the saddest thing i have ever seen. martha: millions spent on anti-march dough ads and you see what happened on the stage at those debates. what do you think about that? >> i think marco like the 13 who came before him were seen as the establishment. marco is a u.s. senator and they were late to diagnose the real problem not only in the republican party and the nation as a whole. they are sick and tired of

washington and a do-nothing congress and a president who uses powers, extraordinary from the constitution. marco didn't stand for things people could repeat. like donald trump. you can ask the average person, what do you like about donald trump? he's going to make trade fair again and fix immigration. you couldn't pin marco down to three or four things and say this is what he stands for. he's one of the leading rising stars in the republican party even though he lost. but it wasn't marco's time. this is the angst you are seeing in the republican party, the throw the bums out. it has to be seen whether donald trump can get to the 1,237 to gain the nomination. martha: it was said it's hard to find states where he's likely to win. though there was a lot of

support for him, it didn't show up on primary days. >> the gop base stated early on in this process that they were looking for two things. number one, a fighter. he was trying to be this hopeful, optimistic candidate. and it just didn't work. the gop establishment has been demonized and the gop base feels no one is siding with them and their values and conservative ways. marco rubio wasn't presenting that with the back and forth on the gang of 8. the other thing and brad talked about this as well. marco represented something that was potential. he was on the cover of "time" magazine, the republicans savior and what he could mean for the future of the gop. right now the gop feels like they need someone who can get it done right now. they look very diametrically

opposed but they are both outsiders. they are both made careers are of siding against the otherness. and i think that's why they are the last two standing. martha: there is no doubt the gop race, all of these people who were, 17 of them. and the party itself, did not recognize what donald trump so clearly recognized early on. this need, this broken nature of the feeling of so many people who felt their voice was not being heard, that they sent people to washington who felt they did not serve them once they got there. that being said from a purely political stand point. was it a mistake for all of these guy to the go after each other early on rather than go after donald trump? >> absolutely. they discounted donald trump. they didn't think he was going to be around. he was the elephant in the room. there is no doubt if they had gone after donald trump on the issues, they would have had a

better shot of taking him down early. but the fact of the matter is, donald trump identified something the others refused to confront. not only did he identify it but he poke to people in a language that career politicians are averse to. he took it on head on and spoke in a language the people understood. and that's a good part of his success. >> you have to be true to yourself and when marco rubio went after donald trump and the hands thing, it never felt right with people watching it play out. it didn't feel like him, and politically that's always a mistake to get away from who you are. he admitted as much talking about that moment. thank you very much. we'll see you next time. bill: all eyes on the fed today. we'll know more about interest rate and the economy later today. we are trading lower as we await

the fed. we'll keep an eye on the markets throughout the show. president obama will make big news this morning. he will announce his nominee for the supreme court. but republican leader say they will not consider anyone until after a new president is in the white house in january. the battle ahead here. martha: donald trump moving closer to his party's nomination. will the party unite behind hip or are we head for chaos in july in cleveland when we come back. >> we have to bring it together. we have something happening that actually make the republican party probably the biggest mitte biggest political tory anywhere in the world. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs

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bill: our next guest orchestrated to try to keep trump from reaching the magic number before july. you say after last night the media is coming around? >> this has bent biggest media debacle in a presidential campaign in my lifetime. not just the press mock and minimizing it. but missing the magnitude of the public anger and frustration that has enabled him to win all these state. with all this chatter about delegate math and contested convention, some til think it will be a contested convention. bill: trump has 7.5 million votes. does the party want to take those people and chuck them to the side?

>> i'll make a caveat. it depend on how cruz does in the remaining 8. but if trump goes to cleveland, if the party elders and remnant of the establishment who are so opposed to this outsider billionaire were to try to hijack the nomination and take it away from him, which they could downed the rules, they will rupture the republican party, the millions who turned out will be furious, and i think it will be a precipitation for disaster in the fall. bill: john boehner in florida endorsed paul ryan for the nominee. here is the case for there not being a brokered convention. you had to go physically in person to talk to one. >> the.

reporter: the media want some kind of drama going into cleveland. so i think barone has a point. i think anybody close to the 1,237, trump or possibly cruz will be making deals and building alliances before they get to cleveland. we have telephones and skype and twitter. it's likely this will be settled before the convention. but the media junkies hope it won't because none of us ever covered a contested convention. bill: brokered and vengs and contested conviction are different. brokered is more serious. >> somebody is trying to do the brokering and make deals. that's part of politic. you have to get to the deal.

50 plus 1 and you don't want to go to the 07th ballot. there can't be a brokered convention. john boehner may want paul ryan to be president. but they don't pull the springs anymore in this fractured age. bill: media debacle. there he is. howard kurtz. martha: governor john kasich picked up his first big win in his home state. so what is the road ahead for john kasich. >> before we are republicans and democrat we are americans.

martha: north korea sentencing a college student to 15 years in prison and hard labor. he's accused of stealing a banner at a hotel. what a disturbing story this is, ben. reporter: this is a complete sham of a trial at a time the country is pushing and threatening the u.s. and other countries around the world. the student was a paraded in front of the cameras after the shocking announcement he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. the trial lasted one hour. after the sentencing he broke down. >> my brother and sister need me. i beg of you, i'm only human.

i have made the worst mistake of my life. reporter: warmbier was arrested while on a tour group. he told reporters he wanted the banner as a trophy. reporter: the dictator kim jong-un has labor cams, and there are reports of torture and abuse. bill clinton went to the country in 2009 to help secure the release of two on the per americans. but that took a long time. it seems he may be there for a very long time. martha: a bad situation for him

and his community. bill: president obama will soon announce his nominee for the supreme court. martha: donald trump speeds forward in the race for the republican nomination. governor cruz and kasich not slowing down. what does the road ahead look like as america's newsroom rolls on the day after super tuesday 2. >> if we remember the common sense free market principles that build america, the constitutional liberties that build america, once again standing together. we can will morning in america. is always blue. and the kids always eat their vegetables. because the salad there is always served with the original hidden valley ranch.

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martha: we're working to confirm information coming out here. the president is set to name his nominee to replace justice antonin scalia on the court. fox news has confirmed that it will be, we're working on that. we have three names in the hopper right now. all right. we can now confirm it will be d.c. appeals court judge merrick garland who said to be someone president has considered in the past. he is 63 years old i believe. we'll have more details coming out on him of course. the republicans said they will not even have a hearing nor will they have a courtesy call with the person the president picks. that will be a tough road as they go forward. this person has vast experience. we'll show you a little bit the background on him. why it may be difficult for republicans not to do perfunctory on this individual of the president. breaking news on the supreme

court story. meantime donald trump thumb 7ing the competition. kasich took ohio as he promised he would. heartbreaking night foreign rube who lost in a big way in his home state. missouri, we always have one happening out there, still too close to call. ted cruz would love to have one win. we don't know if that is to be. trump so far winning 18 states, 621 delegates. that gives him over half of the half of those needed for republican nomination. welcome, everybody. lots going on. hour two of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. how about missouri, four candidates, .4 of a point between all four of them. remarkable. >> so very hard to see which way that was going. so really anybody's guess. good old-fashioned election. bill: meantime despite missouri donald trump edging further

ahead, building momentum with at least three more wins. trump celebrating his victory last night in palm beach, florida. >> this is really interesting process. it is an amazing process. it is really tough. if you get to the end you can handle a lot of things including pressure, that i can tell you. there is nothing like it. lies, deceit, viciousness, disgusting reporters, horrible people. some are nice. [cheering] some are nice. some really disgusting people back there. and i just want to say, we're going forward and we're going to win. but more importantly we're going to win for the country. we're going to win, win, win. we're not stopping. we'll have great victories for our country. bill: all right. hillary clinton and donald trump and all the states and all the counties, they were in the same county last night, palm beach. hillary clinton, another big winner sweeping to victory by

wide margins in florida, ohio, and north carolina. that gives her 65% of the delegates she needs for the nomination. while well on the way to that nomination, keeping a close eye on the republican competition. just listen. >> you know, running for president is hard but being president is harder. it is the hardest, most important job in the world and no one person can succeed at the job without seeking and finding common ground to solve the problems we face. if we work together we can make a real difference in people's lives. if we reach out to treat each other with respect, kindness and even love, instead of bluster and bigotry, if we lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down. [cheering] there is nothing we can't accomplish together. martha: a very happy hillary clinton last night. chris stirewalt joins us, fox news digital politics editor. we watched a little bit of

trump, a little bit of clinton there, big winners last night. is that what the race looks like? >> depends how much snap the republicans have left in them. they are tired. donald trump is wearing them down to a nub. he keeps winning. his margin in florida was tremendous. and he keeps winning. missouri he has got a lead. republicans have a choice. donald trump can't get to the nomination outright if things keep going as they're going. martha: where else does kasich win? where else does cruz win? how does that happen? >> there are places for cruz to win. he could win in utah. trump could win in arizona. there are about 40% of the delegates remaining. trump needs to win 60%. the question for republicans do they want to take it to the convention. trump threatened there will be riots and violence. martha: could be right, chris. >> we've already seen violence at his events. martha: absolutely. >> republicans are staring down fairly unappetizing choice.

do you fight trump all the way to the end, or do you allow your party to be subsumed. when he talks about getting in lines the party getting in line like chris christie did with him, not him in getting in line with the party. republicans have a tough choice. they have to figure out what is their best bet, not just for the presidency, and senate, what about down ballot, do you suck it up get behind trump or fight it to the end. martha: think about millions and millions dollars spent on trump dumb program got them absolutely nowhere. >> right. martha: we're getting back to breaking news on the supreme court. bill: fox news alert now. sources confirming with us president obama will announce merrick garland as pick for supreme court as his nominee just under hour ago. we should see them live at white house. kevin corke live from the north lawn. what are you learning, kevin? reporter: good morning, bill. irright. we've been talking about a

number of names since the sudden death of justice antonin scalia. merrick garland, listen this is man highly guarded by both conservatives and liberals. he is a harvard law school graduate. he clerked for supreme court justice william brennan. what is perhaps even more important he served under both republicans and democrats. carter, bush 41. clinton administrations. he is the chief judge of the heralded d.c. circuit court. many people, people, i'm sorry in many people's opinion, that is sort of like the aaa of the supreme court. so he is obviously very, very highly regarded. the president in a statement saying i'm fulfilling my constitutional duty. i'm doing my job. i hope our senators will do their jobs and move quickly to consider my nominee. that is a statement from the president. of course we're looking forward to him making this nomination choice official. about an hour from now, over at the rose garden, i will be there with you. show you something else very quickly, bill.

the white house set up a twitter feed specifically for the nomination process. pretty interesting. they're trying to get their message out, right? they want to get their perspective. they want to engage the public whether or not this particular nominee deserves an up-or-down vote. merrick garland set to be the nominee, bill. bill: that is part of the story as you mentioned there at the end, kevin. what is the chance that mitch min, chuck grassley, take up this nomination in a hearing? reporter: good question. my gut says, especially if you listen simply to chuck grassley the answer's no. not going to happen. let me show you what he said about it on tuesday. >> the president hasn't indicated he intends to submit a nomination. that's okay. that is his power. he is constitutionally empowered to make the nomination and the senate holds the constitutional power to withhold consent as we will. reporter: okay.

so, if you listen to him, it's clear. he is simply not going to allow merrick garland to have up-or-down vote or even a hearing. i want to caution everybody, bill, sometimes the bluster gets a bit ahead of reality. i'm not suggesting that chuck grassley can't change his mind. i'm not saying he won't stick to his guns. it is possible he could soften. right now they're saying they simply won't go forward with it. we'll watch together. as you pointed out earlier, i heard you say it, should make for incredibly interesting summer. bill: kevin corke from the north lawn. martha has more now. martha: let's bring in shannon bream who has more information on merrick garland who we will know very well. he was born in chicago. he has chicago in common with the president. what else do we know about him, shannon. reporter: to me if the president picked merrick garland and we have more sources telling us that it suggests the nomination is going nowhere.

he is respected by lawmakers on both sides of aisle and intellect and 63 he would not be a considered a legacy pick for the president. we would expect the president if he thought his nominee had a real shot to pick someone younger. garland currently chief judge of d.c. circuit. one level below the supreme court. we talked about several current justice on the bench. served as d.c. circuit, feeding ground to the nation's highest court. graduated first from his class, harvard undergrad. went to graduate from harvard law, magna cum laude. clerked for justice brennan. he worked many times as federal prosecutor. gives him unique background. he oversaw the investigations into the oklahoma city bombing and also into "the unabomber" case. he has this mix of both federal public service and also now on the bench but has served in private practice. he is somebody well-regarded. i think that one of the reasons president chose him he had

bipartisan support in the past. let's keep in mind he has been on the bench for scores of years. probably 19 or 20. that leave as long paper trail. something you wouldn't want to see in serious contender or nominee. it gives critics all kinds of things to pick through, looking at things he authored as majority opinion writer. things he streeted for. dissents he has written. he gives them so much material. this is something the president has to consider. not something you would normally see in a serious contender, martha. martha: that is such an interesting take, shannon, especially there is the feeling that the president has considered merrick garland before considering nomination. he is putting merrick garland forward, wants to give him a nod. i appreciate your service. i think you're a wonderful judge. in a perfect world i would love for you to be on the supreme court but sounds like nothing you're saying adds up to actual

recipe for getting him through? >> he has had qualifier had bipartisan support in the past. he didn't have a cakewalk in the senate. it was something like 76-23. he had some gop support. he is brilliant guy. a number of sitting republican senators who have sung his praises. not that he doesn't have bipartisan support but fact is, unless something radically changes with the gop in the senate he is not going anywhere. garland was on the short list five, six years ago when looking at nominations of sotomayor and kagan. he was well-regarded. window would be better as serious nominee back then. at 63 less of a serious contender we would think if a president wants to leave legacy on court. martha: any indication there will be a change from the gop on the senate side and that they will say it is our responsibility and advise and consent to have hearing give him that much? >> we have heard some peeps from

a couple of gop senators, well, i think maybe we should consider doing this. zero of them on senate judiciary committee though. every member of the gop senate judiciary committee signed on letter, no way they would move forward. not one of them would break ranks on committee. that would be the first place the nomination would have to go for vetting. but there are procedural ways that the democrats could force the nomination to the senate floor, skipping that whole committee hearing. part of this process. even there you would be talking about getting 60 votes to break a filibuster. nobody can conceive you would peel off that many republicans to make it happen. so looks like absent some radical change, it just doesn't have the legs to go anywhere but again merrick garland, greatly, widely respected for his intellect and background. that is not the question in this case. martha: great points, shannon. so interesting. we're going to take a quick break. shannon, thank you so much. bill: there is a lot more to react to on this. judge andrew napolitano, he knows her rec garland.

has known him for years. we'll talk to the judge on this nomination next. this clean was like, pow!

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bill: back to breaking news. we have a name. merrick garland will be put forward by the president 44 minutes from now. judge andrew napolitano with me now, fox news senior judicial analyst. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: you know merrick garland personally or professionally?

>> professionally. consummate washington, d.c. insider, he worked for republicans and democrats. was a prosecutor in the george h.w. bush office and nominated to court by president bill clinton. taking off on great research and background our colleague shannon bream gave to us, it is difficult -- dangerous to appoint someone who the supreme court that has 19 year track record because people will find something to address and i suggest this is not win for the president. judge garland is the most conservative nominee to supreme court by a democratic president in the modern era and is put there in my view, as a nominee to frustrate the process. if he gets on the court, he is not justice elena kagan. he is not justice sonia sotomayor. he does not think about the law the way barack obama does.

so barack obama does not get the opportunity to appoint antonin scalia's opposite number. if he does not get on the court, then we're still at a stalemate. so in my view this is lose/lose for the president. bill: your observation is that the president is challenging republicans on this nomination? >> my observation that the president is more interested in the politics of the process, attempting to pry lose republicans who actually like judge garland and agree with him, than the president is interested in his own philosophical legacy on the court which he has in justices sotomayor and kagan. bill: 19-year history. he has ruled generally how? >> we have -- bill: center-right? >> yes we looked at his rulings on first amendment, freedom of speech, his rulings on fourth amendment, searches and seizures, relationship between the states and federal government and his rulings whether the court should defer to the decisions of administer of agencies. almost always on the side of the government.

not what one would expect from a democrat. bill: okay. the president is afforded the nomination. >> yes. bill: the senate committee is afforded by way of the constitution the right to take up the nominee or not? >> yes. bill: what do you believe the senate republican committee will do or judiciary? >> i think when the president speaks in about 45 minutes he will argue that the senate has a duty and obligation to evaluate this nominee. that is not the law. the law in the constitution is the senate makes its own rules, it moveses at its own pace and it can not be told what to do by the president. i think, for better or for worse, i'm not evaluating politics, just constitutionality of it, the senate will stand firm and have constitutional and legal right to do so. there may be political repercussions to that. the president will attempt to

pry lose republican senators in tough re-election battles who don't want to defend standing firm as part of their re-election campaigns and he may succeed there but the decision whether or not to hear this nomination, whether to give it an up-or-down vote is not made by the 54 republicans in the senate, made by one of them, mitch mcconnell, majority leader. bill: half dozen republican senators up for re-election. this is harry reid on the floor. do we want to drop in quickly? >> this nominee will fall upon the senate for its advice and consent. for 100 years we had these hearings in public. back to justice brandise's hearing. republican leaders made clear he and his kook discuss have no intention of considering the nominee. hard to comprehend but that's what he said. appears at this stage basically all republicans are falling in line with this. i hope that president obama's nomination of an exceptionally-qualified and consensus nominee will persuade

senate be republicans to change course. i do hope they will do their constitutional duty, giving president obama's nominee, a meeting, a hearing and a vote. he is doing their job this morning. republicans should do theirs it point forward. mr. president will you announce what we're going to do the rest of the day? >> under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany -- bill: so we, we're about 40 minutes away on the clock now from seeing merrick garland in the rose garden. we'll see it here on fox news channel. while i have a minute here, if judge, if the scenario you laid out for us goes according to that plan or outline you gave us, that would suggest that merrick garland doesn't get a hearing and doesn't get a confirmmation. that would suggest a center-right candidate under a liberal president is given a

pass by republicans who rule the committee. >> yes. bill: that would be the next president, be it hillary clinton or whoever the republican nominee is, perhaps donald trump, they would then have the decision come january. >> yes. bill: the court would sit at 4-4 for the next nine months? >> not necessarily 4-4. chief justice roberts is very adept at crafting compromising majorities. the chief justice also has the ability, if a vote is 4-4, not to release the opinion and to keep the opinion until a 9th member of the court joins. bill: mike lee is coming up in 30 minutes. >> senator lee has great insight into the operation of the supreme court. he clerked for justice sam alito. senator lee would be a prime contender for this seat if it is still open and if donald trump or ted cruz or even john kasich becomes president. mitch mcconnell is making calculation. the calculation is that the

republican will win in november. because if hillary clinton wins, you will not get a merrick garland-like nomination. you will get a much farther to the left nomination than judge garland. bill: what is fascinating about all this justice scalia, the announced death of this supreme court justice was only a few hours old when mitch mcconnell made his statement by way of twitter i do believe. >> yes. bill: where he said no nominee will get a hearing until you have a new president come january. >> justice scalia told me personally many times, his greatest fear was being replaced by a justice who would be his opposite number and would undo much of what he tried to do. judge garland is not that person. he is profoundly not justice scalia's opposite number. he is more pro-scalia than anti-scalia. bill: your prediction is what then? >> political side of our team could make a better prediction than i do but it seems now that the republicans are standing firm.

will they feel the same way in august? only time will tell. bill: so the white house is 11:00 a.m. quickly the whole debate will shift to capitol hill. >> absolutely. bill: judge, thank you, speaking of capitol hill, martha has that angle now. martha: we want to bring in chad pergram, our senior capitol hill producer. chad, merrick garland was confirmed in 1997 by majority with both parties participating including seven current republican senators. so how can they say this is someone they will not consider? >> well, sort of the endgame the president played at start to put republicans in a tight position. they amped up the attention on chuck grassley, the chairman of the judiciary committee. who initially indicated he would hold hearings but now said there is no way. there is very arcane process which, if you look at it, i'm not even going to get into the weeds because it is really tough where you could try to force the nomination out of committee and on to the floor and force a

vote. it is a nonstarter. it is so complicated there is no way. once the president sends this nomination to capitol hill, it is administratively referred to the judiciary committee. if chuck grassley just wants to keep it there and hold no hearings it is pretty much stuck there. what would, what i would expect to see in the coming days and weeks here and probably running through the campaign is merrick garland being paraded around capitol hill, going and doing courtesy calls with democratic senators. mitch mcconnell and majority leader, grassley indicated they saw no value meeting with potential nominee. so this would probably be on the democratic side. chuck grassley is up for re-election this year and that's a race that is not necessarily at the top of anybody's list but the former lieutenant governor, agriculture commissioner, is running for that seat now, democratic candidate. that, she came to today toll

hill last week -- capitol hill, last week, people thought there would be a chance to put the seat in play or force grassley to burn a lot of cash in that seat. harry reid, the minority leader, was just on the floor and he said quote, i have no idea how hard this must have been on the president. he said that i hope the president's nominee is qualified and will cause senator republicans to change course and accept a meeting and hearing. that is going to be the line you're going to hear day after day. why don't you meet with him? why don't you at least consider this? martha: politically, chad, it plays into what democrats said about republicans all along. that they're obstructionists and won't this strengthen that argument? >> and, martha, that is the thing too is that, you know, mitch mcconnell when they got the majority said we're going to have a functioning senate. he was often touting how many more votes and votes onments. democrats will quibble with that, okay, we agree maybe there has been a little more action there but this is fundamental issue. republicans will say this is such a toxic environment no way

we could do this. you know, in this election environment. orrin hatch, who chaired the judiciary committee at one point, been a member of that committee a long, long time, i asked him just the other day, is this worse when it comes to the judiciary, supreme court nominee and he pointed out that he thought it was even more fierce and more toxic back in 1991 when we had clarence thomas. that is kind of history on this you started to see this history of politicization with these supreme court nominees starting in 1987 with robert bork taken to a new level with clarence thomas in 199 is. now we have this. at least on democratic side people are very concerned setting a bad precedent. martha: you got to wonder what the response of the american people will be as they watch this process and they see at that it become as quid pro quo. you know, how are you any better if you want to take the same policy that you didn't like,

taken against clarence thomas and robert bork, how does that make you any better? >> that is where, what the democrats are talking about here. republicans will say, you know it is our right to do this and we don't think that the right way to go. some people think that republican groups got very quickly to mitch mcconnell, these conservative groups which is why you had the statement just a couple hours after antonin scalia passed away that they wouldn't entertain a nominee which some people found frankly incredible at that point but, republicans will say they don't think this is going to be an election issue. they are confident in that. democrats are not so sure. keep in mind just how long if there is never a hearing, never a confirmation vote on the floor, how long there is growing to be a vacancy here. there is not going to be a new president until january, late january of next year. usually takes about a month or two to vet someone and put them through the process. so we're looking at maybe march of next year, a year from now conceivably if this is the way

this plays out. merrick garland or nobody else gets confirmation hearing or confirmation vote on senate floor until the supreme court is fully stocked, that means the next term of the court goes 4-4 as well. martha: you heard judge napolitano that merrick garland is a choice both sides could be happy with. he is not the opposite of antonin scalia. the belief hillary clinton if nominated, gets nomination of her party and presidency, she would appoint someone who could be the polar opposite of antonin scalia and donald trump this morning said he would look for someone as much like scalia as possible. that would be his measure for picking supreme court justice. chad, thank you so much. >> anytime. martha: great analysis this morning. bill: as we move through this story, 30 minutes away from seeing the president, in a moment, mike lee, republican senator from utah on senate judiciary committee. will the committee do? we'll talk to him live. jonathan turley, constitutional

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bill: we are waiting for the president to make it official that judge merrick garland is his nomination to the supreme court. what a day this is. what's your reaction to merrick garland? he's a remarkably restrained choice for a president who ran on changing the character of the supreme court. he can't renominate scalia. he says i have given you someone who is as far as i can go to the right. judge garland is a moderate.

many liberal groups won't like this. they will right as a move from 1% to 2% milk. there is something in his background the conservatives won't like including gun rights. justice scalia was strong on gun rights. i'm afraid judge garland is not likely to replicate that position. this is really as this administration could go. the republicans can say this is proof we are not making this decision purely on ideological grounds. we are close to a new president and the new president should make the decision.

bill: what we don't know is what was said in the oval office when mitch mcconnell -- we got read on this story. maybe this was all negotiation. is that likely? >> supreme court nominations tend to be a complex dance. it's not clear what all the moves mean. the president is clearly going for a win, in my view. if he wanted to create a political score, sacrifice nominee he would have picked somebody who came with more political backlash. there won't be as much with judge garland. he picked someone who is not likely to be a legacy nominee because of his age and moderate

position. he tends not to push the juris envelope. there is some there like his gun rights votes that will rally opposition and there will be stuff there that i think the left is not going to like any more than the right. but that's the point the white house is trying to make. we are giving you a good faith nominee here. and the question is will you give him a hearing. bill: judge napolitano described his ruling as center right. if that's the case, then napolitano makes the charge this is a political choice on behalf of the white house. do you agree with that? >> i'm not sure how to define that. it's certainly a calculated choice to give the republicans the least amount of grounds to

object to the nominee, to put first and foremost this issue of process since there is not really a live wire in this guy's past decision. he's widely respected. he has a stellar background. nobody is questioning his character or credentials. so they have taken that off the table. what remains the white house will say, basically me, president obama, you don't want me to nominate a nominee, even when i offer you somebody who is moderate. the republicans will say it's not just you, it's the timing. bill: some will describe this nomination as sacrificial. do you see it that way? >> most judges would want this cup to pass from their lips. you could ends up damaged goods. i think this will be his last chance to get on the supreme

court, but he could twist in the wind for months and come out of this with a beating. a lot of judges would not relish that. bill: jonathan turley in washington, d.c., thank you for your analysis. martha: donald trump describing himself as a unifier for the party as he draws new voters to the republican party after yesterday's lands slide victory. he's calling on the republican party to unify and pull together behind his campaign. >> we have to bring our party together. we have to bring it together. plawts we have something happening that makes the republican party probably the biggest political story anywhere in the world. everybody is write being it. all over europe, all over the

world they are talking about it. martha: former massachusetts senator scott brown is supporting trump for president. the word is that eric erickson of red state and others are going to gather to try to continue this anybody but trump or dump trump movement which has had zero success so far. do you think they will get any traction? what do you think about that? >> i already battled with eric erickson, it's people like him and mitt romney included, that don't see the big picture. you have something special happening around this country. you have a whole new briefed reagan democrats. people coming in who haven't voted for a while who are looking forward to participating in the process. to then say if it's donald trump, i'm not voting for him, then they can look in the mirror the day after the election and see hillary clinton about to be

sworn in and know they gave up the judicious positions you are talking about right now, the cabinet secretaries and ambassadors to potentially be the tie-breaking vote in the senate. if you want to make hillary or bernie the president, then shame on you, i'm getting tired of hearing it. martha: there are those who share that sentiment, but others want to dig in until this convention. there is a feeling and a mood out there that will be very just set if they get ignored and pushed after he side in this process. donald trump was arguing this morning that people who speak out against him on television and elsewhere, that they then turn around and call him and offer him support or say let's open the dialogue and let's discuss. do you think that's the case? >> of course. all politics is local, all politics, the machinations that

happen. people are battling, then they get together and run as a ticket. it's not unlike live to see donald trump and ted cruz connect and ultimately be a ticket. that way you will unify the party. they are battling right now, i understand it. i wish they would act for respectfully toward one another, but that's just me. i think either one of them would make a better president than hillary or bernie. you want four more years of him or her and the president or go in a different direction. the senate has the right to advise and consent and be that check and balance. if they don't like trump, the nominee, they have the right to battle on the senate floor. but to think we'll blow it up because you don't like somebody after they have battle from 17 down to 1 is laughable. martha: we are on short time because of the supreme court news.

but hope to talk to you soon. bill: we are going to analyze what happened last night and what happens now. as we await the supreme court announcement. senator mike lee on the judiciary committee will be front and center in this battle next. he's live in a moment. right now, you're not thinking about all the money you saved by booking your flight, rental car, and hotel together. all you're thinking about, is making sure your little animal, enjoys her first trip to the kingdom. expedia, technology connecting you to what matters.

bill: 15 minute from now we'll see merrick garland in the rose garden, the president's nominee for the u.s. supreme court. what will republicans do now? martha: back to last night. donald trump inching closer to the republican nomination. at this pointing his two remaining rivals make enough gains to stop him? that is the question. ed rollins, form assistant to

ronald reagan and joe trippi is the former campaign manager for howard dean. great to have you here. is this trump's nomination or do you believe cruz and kasich when they say hold on, we are going all the way. >> trump is going to win this thing. he has a big night for several weeks and i don't see anything ahead. cruz has a real campaign. trump has a movement and kasich will not win anything else beyond his home state, i think, and hasn't in the past. if conservatives want to rally behind cruz you may be able to stop trump from getting the number. and probably can win it before he gets to the convention in california and new york and other places. martha: there is a story john boehner wants to see paul ryan nominated.

boehner says it was an off-the-cuff comment. are they grasping at straws? >> it's fantasy to think you can force a contested convention, that there is a way top come out of it without the party being divide for a general election. we had this problem in 2008. barack obama was not the establishment pick. once went into the lead, the establishment started to move behind him. it was hillary clinton at the convention who made the motion to make the convention unanimous. that's one way to come out of this. hey, this guy is going to be the nominee, let's start pulling behind him and get the party unified. if they try to keep kasich in, it will draw votes away from cruz.

trying to top him isn't going to work. >> every state that was in play yesterday with the exception of illinois is a critical state to us. if you start playing around with these people who worked hard and supported trump you will have a big impact on this election in the fall. we need to unify behind the lead candidate. martha: we have seen high turnout. do you agree with donald trump's assessment that he's bringing people into the republican party that are democrats? >> there i no doubt about that. yesterday the cuyahoga county clerk said 5% of the democrat voted in the republican early vote. i don't know whether they are going in to help make trump the nominee of the republican party or whether -- it's like different' such a weird year. and the numbers are pretty high.

the point is, in michigan, you look at both bernie sanders and trump pushing hard against bad trade deals, it's clear that there are vote on the democratic side. voter on the democratic side upset about trade and their economic predicament. trump speak to that as well. there are other parts of trump that may hold that back. and hillary clinton could top hip there. but he's not who i would want to run against. i would much rather run against cruz. martha: one analysis says it would be an ugly, unrelenting slugfest. >> here we go. thank you very much. great to see you this morning. bill: senator mike lee is live next.

what move the republicans make now.

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bill: president obama will name judge merrick garland to be his nominee to the u.s. supreme court. republicans in the senate say the next president should get that option. the judiciary committee handles these matters and senator mike lee is my guest, he's on that committee. good morning, sir. will you hold a hearing for judge merrick garland? >> no. we have been clear. all the republicans on the senate judiciary committee have made clear, this is a lifetime

appointment to fill a seat once filled by a judicial icon, antonin scalia. bill: so you will reject his nomination. >> yes. bill: do you know merrick garland? >> i don't. i know a few thing about him. i know he's regarded as a progressive, fairly liberal judge. but that isn't the point here. it doesn't have so much to do with who the president nominated as it does, we are in a presidential election year. since 1888, a senate controlled by a party different from the party occupying the white house that has confirmed a nomination to the supreme court during an election year. bill: this judge has a record

according to judge napolitano of being a center-right judge. does that change your calculation? >> no. i don't care if they put my brother on there or some conservative icon. this is about the principle that we are facing, this is about the fact we are coming up on a presidential elect year. this is about using the historical standard for how much time it takes to confirm a supreme court nominee, the earliest we could get someone confirmed would be may. which means the first arguments they would hear on the merits would be october, just weeks before the presidential election. bill: have you spoken to mitch mcconnell and chuck grassley? >> yes, and we are sticking to our plan, the plan we outlined a few weeks ago. bill: do you know what was discussed two weeks ago when

mcconnell and grassley weren't to meet with the president? >> i'm not certain what was discussed. i had a brief conversation with senator mcconnell afterwar i believe senator mcconnell communicated again the message we communicated in recent weeks. bill: does your position of no, and if the committee continues along that line, what is the impact on the chances of half a dozen republican senators up for reelection in november, what does it do to their campaigns? >> what i heard from most of them so far, perhaps all of them, they understand the need to do this. they understand it's not an easy thing to do, but sometimes this job isn't about being easy. it's about standing behind what we believe is the right thing to do. bill: the white house referred to justice kennedy in the

1980s when president ray began was in his second term. the bruising battle with robert bourke, you had a period of 9 months before you settled on a new justice. i wonder how you counter their arguments, reagan went forward, why not go forward now. >> this was a vacancy that arose not during a presidential election year, but roughly a year and a half before that presidential elect. it arows in the summer of 1987. the only reason that justice kennedy wasn't confirmed until the beginning much 1998 was because there had been a protracted bruising confirmation battle with justice robert bourke. then you had judge ginsburg who was initially nominated and whose name was withdrawn. justice kennedy was the third

one nominated at the beginning of 1988. but this was not a vacancy that occurred during a presidential nomination year. bill: the point is you will reject his nomination. the follow-up question is have you spoken -- when was the last time you have spoken with a majority of republicans on the judiciary committee? >> it was a matter of days ago. as far as i know everybody is still there. bill: their position did not change after a few of days prior. >> that's right. bill: thank you, sir. senator mike lee. that will get a lot of attention in the weeks and months to come. martha: earlier we were speak with chad berman who said this process will not be taken care of until march of 2017. if you wait until the next president.

it could be a long, long time having four and four liberals and conservatives on the court. bill: a 4-4 decision goes back to the lower courts based on the rules. the president will be out in a moment. stay tuned, we'll see the president in moments in the rose garden. jon: a fox news alert. president obama will nominate judge merrick garland to fill the supreme court vacancy left by the leath of judge antonin scalia. heather: president obama is set to make that announcement in the white house rose garden. mr. obama said his choice is

eminently qualified to serve on the supreme court. will the senate even consider his pick? the senate judiciary committee insisting no nominee will get a hearing until after the election. reporter: he's respected on both sides of the aisle for his intellect and relatively mild positions on most things. garland is the chief judge at the d.c. circuit, one level several of the current justices served on the dc circuit before you elevated to the highest court. garland served with a man who is now chief justice of the supreme court, and graduated first in his class from harvard