i'm also told that chuck grassley of iowa also on the ballot is facing heat from democrats and he's starting to complain at a minimum that he's not getting enough cover from his republicans. >> this is the genius of the garland pick. not only is he imminently qualified as a judicial mind, i think that's fact. that's there. viewers can dispute that, but whatever. he's a brilliant legal mind. if you were at the white house and you're thinking, we need to find a guy who ticks off or causes trouble for mark kirk, kelly ayotte, rob portman and what the heck, chuck grassley, you found it because he's the chairman of the judiciary committee. he's up for re-election. iowans will not tolerate this. already there's been an editorial page -- essays about this saying just hold a hearing. you know who else probably wants a hearing? ted cruz. he's a member of the judiciary committee. what better than to go back to washington and quiz the guy that he'd like to block and earn some free air time in the process? so i suspect there will at least be a hearing. whether he gets a vote before the election, though,

the judicial committee chairman chuck grassley saying okay we will met with garland, but in some cases, including grassley, they will reiterate they will not consider him as a nominee or any nominee for that matter right now. the white house believes there is a chance that some vulnerable incumbent republicans could be won over and public pressure will be strong. the white house is using twitter and hash tags. the president urged people to get involved and get voices heard and work on this to show that garland should have a fair shot. it is strange. on the one hand republicans are saying i don't know why we're talking about this. we made it clear we're not going to hold hearings. you have white house expressing confidence that this nominee will ultimately be confirmed. what it will boil down to is what do republicans see as their least damaging option to consider this consensus nominee or wait and see if there is is a democratic president and who they would bring forward. is it better to be seen now as not obstructing the process or as some republicans believe, are voters going to be m

he won't get a confirmation hearing but there is talk of a possible meeting with chuck grassley. pamela brown is working the story for us. what are you learning? >> we've learned the new nominee merrick garland began reaching out to senators shortly after the president made the announcement. before he heads to the hill tomorrow. and now we're learning the senate judiciary chairman chuck grassley is considering meet with garland in person after recess. the president is clear this decision is about his legacy, not the election. >> today i am nominating chief judge merrick brian garland to join the supreme court. >> reporter: president obama made his case for 63-year-old merrick garland, chief judge for the d.c. appeals court. >> i've selected a nominee who is widely recognized not only as one of america's sharpest legal minds but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence. >> reporter: an emotional judge garland with his family looking on introduced himself to the nation. >> this is the greatest honor of my life. other tha

there are seven senate republicans, including the senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley up for re-election. he is now saying he is willing to sit down with garland, but they will reiterate they will not consider him as a nominee or any nominee for that matter right now. the white house believes there is a chance that some vulnerable republicans could be won over and public pressure will be strong. the white house is using twitter and special hash tags. the president had a special phone call with progressives. he urged them to get out and get their voices heard and work on this to show that garland should have a fair shot. it is strange. on the one hand, republicans are saying i don't know why we're talking about this. we made it clear we are not holding hearings. the white house expressing confidence the nominee will ultimately be confirmed. it will boil down to what do republicans see as their least damaging option. to consider this consensus nominee or wait and see if there is a democratic president and who they would bring forward. is it better to be seen as not obstr

grassley to cave. we'll see if it works. >> a test of the old all politics is local. >> where are the governors? talking to the folks in the gop one of the questions i heard raised was in the history of these white house primaries, governors typically have the best organizes this their states and they often can bring out the people for the candidate they endorse. what is striking in tuesday in three of the big states holding contests, the governors are nowhere to be found. in florida, north carolina, and illinois gop governors in even of those three states, the governors are on the sidelines. and i think as we get closer to a trump nomination and you hear more of this who lost china talk in the republican party, there's going to be finger pointing at some of the governors who stood silent while trump marched to the nomination. >> usually the most disciplined party in our politics is crumbling this year. >> interesting race, senate race in maryland for the chance to replace barbara mikulski. a new poll

chuck grassley and john cornyn. and they said it would be a mistake to consider garland during the lame duck session after the elections. grassley called it intellectually dishonest since the republican party line all along has been to let the people decide in the upcoming election. other republican sources i've spoken to have said garland has the best chance of getting through in a lame duck if a democrat is elected president so we'll certainly have to see what happens here. >> pamela brown, we'll be watching. >>> announcing that nomination, president obama talked about garland's work at the justice department where he oversaw the federal spbs to the oklahoma city bombing. in the aftermath of the devastation that left 168 people dead, including many children, the president noted how garland worked side by side with first responders and served a community that was in obvious, horrible pain. >> merrick also made a concerted effort to reach out to the victims and their families. updating them frequently on the case's

one, as manu mentioned, chuck grassley voted against garland back when he was coming to the senate for a confirmation on the bench where he currently is. but not just him, mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader also voted against garland. so you have those two -- that kind of precedent. in addition to the fact that they are already pointing to some important cases that make republicans very upset on detainees and on guns that, from their perspective, even in the best of worlds, even in not an election year, that would have made him, they insist, a tough -- an energetic debate about his nomination. i don't see any movement on that and, as i said earlier, i spoke to lindsey graham, a senator on the judiciary committee who said that he has said to the president, even if he picked me, lindsey graham, i would lead the charge against me because you are the one who picked me in an election year. so i think that sums it up. >> and douglas brinkley, one of the points that has been illustrated in terms of the republican senate's unwillingness to hold hearings, a few weeks ago when the democ

chuck grassley and john cornyn. and they said it would be a mistake to consider garland during the lame duck session after the elections. grassley called it intellectually dishonest since the republican party line all along has been to let the people decide in the upcoming election. other republican sources i've spoken to have said garland has the best chance of getting through in a lame duck if a democrat is elected president so we'll certainly have to see what happens here. >> pamela brown, we'll be watching. >>> announcing that nomination, president obama talked about garland's work at the justice department where he oversaw the federal response to the oklahoma city bombing. in the aftermath of the devastation that left 168 people dead, including many children, the president noted how garland worked side by side with first responders and served a community that was in obvious, horrible pain. >> merrick also made a concerted effort to reach out to the victims and their families. updating them frequently on the cas

. >> we hope they will prevail on chuck grassley and on mitch mcconnell to do their job. >> reporter: for garland, this day is especially poignant, having been passed over twice before for a seat on the high court. >> mr. president, it's a great privilege to be nominated by a fellow chicagoan. i am grateful beyond words for the honor you have bestowed upon me. >> pamela brown joins me. is the judge himself going to meet with skeptical republicans or can he? >> well, there certainly is a divide in the republican party with the senators, who is going to meet with garland and who isn't. so the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell spoke to him on the phone but said he will not meet with him in person. chuck grassley, the chairman of the judiciary committee, seems to be noncomittal and then there are other who say they will be happy to meet with him in person, such as senator collins. but what's clear here, most of the republicans are sticking to the party line that they will not hold a hearing. they are sticking to that and the white house, though, is holding out hope that without the p

expect protest back home in these vulnerable republican senator states and including chuck grassley, even though he is probably solid for reelection. democrats are going to focus on him and hope he cracks before july and one thing carol, the white house is keeping a close hold on this nomination right now. they have not informed capitol hill yet. our producer just ran into the harry reid, so it's still some anticipation about who the nominee will actually be. >> just to reiterate how unusual this senate opens up at 10:00 this morning. just about an hour. and by 10:15 eastern republican wills take to the floor and start pushing back on a nominee, and they don't even know the nominee's name yet. >> that's right. actually this is rather unprecedented in modern times. norms since the mid 1960s.g the- since then any nominee who has not pulled themselves out of conversation or withdrawn in anyway, they have gotten confirmation hearings. so republicans say it is not unusual if not unprecedented to have a nominee nominated and confirmed but it is also unprecedented not to have a confirmation

supported by chuck grassley. >> he praised her in the past. >> unlikely to support her now. this president is expected to announce the selection in a couple weeks. facing strong opposition from the senate republicans. they say they will block any nomination the president sends up. >>> defense secretary ash carter coming out against the so-called back door to give the government access to encryption protection data. carter told the security experts, he wants common ground with privacy advocates over access to an encrypted iphone belonging to one of the san bernardino terror suspects. building a so-called back door into devices is not a realistic option. >>> the president goes to milwaukee to congratulate for an enrollment contest. not everyone celebrates. wisconsin is one of six states suing over the affordable care act. governor scott walker claims it is anything but affordable. >>> another scott. astronaut scott kelly was in space for a year. early this morning, he touched down in houston on a nasa plane. he reunited with his family. nasa studied the differences of the two

. >> you can go easily back to the time capsule and find orrin hatch and chuck grassley praising this guy. that is not the case here. you think he has the case of becoming the nominee at all? >> i think it is a did thing for him the honor of his life is nominating. it is hard to imagine how he gets on the supreme court. at least before the presidential election because republicans on capitol hill, a lot have said they won't meet with him, much less schedule a hearing. far be it from a vote. it is hard to see his path. maybe something happens if hillary clinton wins. they take it up in a lame duck session. people are not talking about that. it is a long way off. you know, it's hard to imagine. >> a lot of people saw this as an unusual pick. merrick garland is 63 years old. you don't usually see that. it would shorten the time he would serve in the supreme court if he were confirmed. the white house seems to say this is the guy who is the least possible controversial pick there is. if you reject merrick garland, this proves your playing politics. mitch mcconnell and other republicans se

does mitch mcconnell and chuck grassley -- >> then they bring garland back. >> you get a better moderate liberal judge than if you let hillary clinton make the appointment. >> the majority of the people think there should be hearings. democrats, republicans, and independents. they do think this is the job of the senate to do this. >> sure. this is political gamesmanship, right? i agree with you. it is a lose-lose situation for the president. i thought he would be put someone in more progressive and liberal. he didn't. republicans said we're not going to hear anybody. >> they put someone up who is real. how is that a lose? >> here's the thing. republicans have been rolled by this president on so many things. the gop base is saying can you stand up just this one time. sadly, america is the political pawn in all this. i just don't think -- keep this in mind. i think we all think the supreme court is a serious issue. it's not even a top ten issue for voters. they may want him to have hearings on it, but this isn't going to define the election. >> the thing is democrats do this -- have done t

he put out a statement saying really agreeing with senator mcconnell, and chuck grassley, saying i think highly of judge garland, but his nomination doesn't in any way change current circumstances. those circumstances being that the republicans just will not consider a nominee, no matter who he is. some is republicans in touch reelection races will feel a lot of pressure, mark crook, the illinois republicans put out a statement saying he wants to consider a nomination. he was one of the toughest in the country. i just talked to kelly ayotte, a new hampshire senator also in a tough race, she says she's willing to meet with judge garland, but does not think the process should go forward. so you're hearing a bit of division within the republican ranks, but for the most part by and large they are united behind the position to not move forward with the confirmation process. they're going to take it to voters and hope republicans reward them with a senate republican majority that could prevent a liberal justice from being confirmed, ashleigh. >> it's always interesting to see each party tossin

. >> we hope the saner heads in the republican party will prevail on chuck grassley and on mitch mcconnell to do their job. >> joining us now republican senator john barrasso of wyoming, part of the senate leadership. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >>> hillary clinton the democratic candidate, a former colleague of yours in the senate just issued this statement -- this senate has almost a full year to consider and confirm judge garland. it should begin that work immediately by giving a full and fair hearing followed by a vote. that is what the american people deserve. it is what our constitution demands, and with millions of people's lives in the balance, anything less is entirely unacceptable. are you at least willing to welcome him into your office to sit down with him, to talk with him, to consider the possibility of hearings? forget about a vote for now. >> i don't know that that does anything fair to him. this has all right been excited. this nominee should come from ultimate next president. it's about the principle involved, and i want to give the american people a voice in

other gop incumbents are digging in as well, including iowa's chuck grassley and new hampshire's kelly ayotte. polls had credibility to the gop case, including a recent one from marquette law school that found 65% of johnson supporters wanting him to hold firm against confirming the judge. but surveys also show clear majorities supporting confirmation proceedings. so liberal activists are trying to make the controversy a defining one. >> we think that the republicans are gambling that people won't care about this and that the issue will go away. we're going to try to make sure that the issue doesn't go away. >> reporter: former senator russ feingold, a liberal democrat, is seeking to win back the same seat he lost to johnson in 2010. fine gold tells c nervous sysnnn is engaging in obstructionism. but johnson's chances may be far more impacted by the presidential race, and the senator says that donald trump could actually help his re-election by attracting new voters in rural wisconsin who are angry at washington. >> would you stump with trump? >> stump with trump? just because it rhyme

grassley. >> if i can meet with a dictator in uganda, i can surely meet with a decent person in america. >> reporter: senator mcconnell wrote an op-ed in "usa today" saying, quote, the american people deserve a voice in such a momentous decision. but president obama says the voters did have a voice when they elected him. on a phone call with supporters he said, quote, they didn't add a caveat saying we want you to be president except for your last 300 days in office when you don't have to fulfill your dultys. on the steps of the supreme court today, democrats said republicans are putting politics above the law. >> judge garland is a widely respected legal mind who puts the law above ideology. exactly the type of nominee that republicans profess to love when it comes to the supreme court. you simply can't lay a glove on them. >>> senate minority leader harry reid speaking now up on capitol hill. let's take that live. >> they failed miserably at that and he's going to also fail miserably at this. they cannot succeed in the position they have taken. it's just totally against the american p

>> almost immediately after the announcement, merrick garland spoke by phone to chuck grassley and mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell has said he's not going to meet with him but we're told that grassley is considering meeting with him. other senators have said they will, including senator collins. and so that's what's going to happen. he's going to go to the hill tomorrow, meet with senator leahy and other democrats and really -- we'll have to see if the republicans change their tune. i think the white house is still holding out hope that with public pressure, they will give in and eventually hold a hearing. anderson? >> pamela brown, thanks. let's get perspective on both top stories from atlantic media contributor, peter beinart, on the liberal end of the spectrum, gloria borger and senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. from the right, margaret hoover, jeffrey lord and tara setmeyer and jonathan turley. professor turley, let's start with you. what do you think this says about the nominee and what president obama is trying to do? >> it's a very interesting choice. it's a restrained choice.

>> almost immediately after the announcement, merrick garland spoke by phone to chuck grassley and mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell has said he's not going to meet with him but we're told that grassley is considering meeting with him. other senators have said they will, including senator collins. and so that's what's going to happen. he's going to go to the hill tomorrow, meet with senator leahy and other democrats and really -- we'll have to see if the republicans change their tune. i think the white house is still holding out hope that with public pressure, they will give in and eventually hold a hearing. anderson? >> pamela brown, thanks. let's get perspective on both top stories from atlantic media contributor, peter beinart, on the liberal end of the spectrum, gloria borger and senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. from the right, margaret hoover, jeffrey lord and tara setmayer and jonathan turley. professor turley, let's start with you. what do you think this says about the nominee and what president obama is trying to do? >> it's a very interesting choice. it's a restrained choice.

here's judiciary chairman chuck grassley. >> if i can meet with a dictator in, in uganda, i can surely meet with a, a decent person in america. >> there you have it. grassley went on to say that during the meeting he will once again make it clear to garland that the senate will not take up the nomination until a new president is elected. live in d.c., we have more on this. good morning. >> republican senators head back home for a two-week recess mounting a two-front war on federal judge merrick garland. one front, repeating rhetoric no one should be confirmed this election year and don't want to discuss whether or not garland is qualified. outside groups on the gop side are planning to litigate garland's record including the gee additional crisis network planning an ad blitz to make the point that gargened is out of the mainstream. now, the president is pushing back telling npr he is extremely qualified and ready for the public relations war ahead. here's what he had to say. >> he is prepared, i think, to take on whatever unfair or unjust or wildly exaggerated claims that may be made b

grassley. >> if i can meet with a dictator in uganda, i can surely meet with a decent person in america. >> reporter: senator mcconnell writes in an op ed in "usa today" the american people deserve a voice in such a momentous decision. but president obama says the voters did have a voice when they elected him. on a phone call with supporters today, he said they didn't add a caveat that said we want you to be president except for your last 300 days in office when you don't have to fulfill your duties. on the steps of the supreme court, democrats contend republicans are putting politics above the law. >> judge garland is a widely respected legal mind who puts the law above ideology. exactly the type of nominee that republicans profess to love when it comes to the supreme court. you simply can't lay a glove on him. >> democrats are holding out hope with republicans going back home for recess today they will face public opposition to their vow of not giving a hearing and change course. meantime, wolf, republican leaders today ruled out confirming garland in the lame duck if a democrat is el

grassley. today he told reporters if i'm willing to meet with dictators the least i can do is meet with garland. we're anticipating some of these meetings to happen after recess in a couple of weeks. but today merrick garland is meeting with democratic -- >> oh, pamela brown, let me stop you right now. we have marco rubio back at work, capitol hill, let's dip in. >> are you going to support him? >> i don't have any announcement on that today. we're still in the process of thanking all the people who were helpful to us but i don't have anything to announce today. >> what did you mean by that comment? >> clearly, ted's positions on issues are conservative so -- but i don't have anything further to elaborate -- i don't have anything to announce today. >> what about kasich? is he not conservative enough? >> i like governor kasich. >> -- time for republicans to coalesce around one of the two candidates -- to be able to stop him? >> i think that's going to happen, with the race narrowed further. i th

perhaps more importantly, she has been strongly supported, at least historically, by senator chuck grassley, the republican senator from iowa who is now the chairman of judiciary committee. the question would be if the white house were to nominate this prominent iowan, would senator grassley feel obligated to hold hearings? he said he won't, but they haven't put a iowa nominee before him neither. >> so 30 seconds. in the vetting process here from the white house, how is she notified? >> because fbi agents start looking through all of your background material. they want to look at your finances, they want to look at, you know, every case that she's done previously. she was just confirmed almost unanimously for her seat on the eight circuit, so she's been through a vetting process in the last few years, but the supreme court is a whole another level of magnitude, and the would be nominee has to cooperate with that. has to provide all sorts of financial records, business records. by the way, just because someone is vetted doesn't mean they'll get the nomination. she's been someone that i and o

chuck grassley, the senate judiciary committee, who's up for re-election, is going to be a prime target, hoping that they will buckle. i'm not sure that they will right now, because they're drawing a pretty firm line, alisyn. >> manu, thanks so much. we'll have more on the supreme court pick as it develops. thank you for that. >>> now to our other top story. of course, the super tuesday results. donald trump winning at least three more states, beating marco rubio in florida and knocking him out of the race. john kasich, though, clinging to life with a big hometown win in ohio. over on the democratic side, hillary clinton slamming the brakes on bernie sanders' momentum. so we will hear from donald trump live in this hour of "new day." but first, let's go to the super tuesday scorecards and break down where the races go from here. john berman has that. hi, john. >> tuesday's not over yet, alisyn. they're still counting, sort of, in missouri. look how close it is. donald trump ahead by 1,700 votes. they want to look at the absentee and provisional ballots there to give us the final call. r