Transcripts For WCAU NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 20160316

The price. Nightly news begins right now. From nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. President obama has made his move and is tonight locked into had a highstakes staredown contest with Senate Republicans over the future of the Supreme Court. The president has nominated federal Appeals Court judge Merrick Garland regard as a moderate to replace the late conservative justice the late antonin scalia, but even as the president warned against braintree split sizing the processes, the Senate Majority leader said there would be no action taken on the nomination. Republicans demanding the choice be left to the next president. Our justice correspondent Pete Williams has late details. Reporter the president introduced Merrick Garland as a judge who is decent, modest and evenhanded. His long commitment to Public Service have earned him the respect and admiration of leaders from both sides of the aisle. Reporter with his wife lynn watching in the rose garden, garland was emotional. This is the greatest honor of my life other than leanne agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. Reporter one of his two daughters missed the moment, hiking in the mountains. Out of cell service range when the president called. Reporter grandson of russian immigrants garland grew up in chicago. My name is Merrick Garland. Reporter as a federal prosecutor he led the team that brought Oklahoma City bomber Timothy Mcveigh to trial. On the bench hes been a moderate voting to uphold environmental laws but often tough on criminals. Ideologically Merrick Garland is in the center, maybe a little bit to the left. He seems mostly to be a judicial craftsman. Figure out what the law is, not what he might want the law to be. Reporter at 63, garland is the oldest Supreme Court nominee in nearly 50 years, but when nominated for the federal Appeals Court in 1997, he was confirmed 7623 with 32 republican votes, i point the administration now emphasizes. I simply ask republicans in the senate to give him a fair hearing. Reporter but Senate Republicans continue to insist they wont even consider garlands nomination because the next president should make that choice. The decision the senate announced weeks ago remains about a principle and not a person. Reporter so far only a few republicans have said they will even meet with garland. I would not feel comfortable refusing to meet with the president s nominee to the highest court of the land. Reporter the administration has some hope that if a democrat is elected president , the senate would consider garlands nomination in the closing days. Obama administration, and tonight one influential republican, utahs orrin hatch said hes probably be open to that. Lester . All right, pete. So much being framed by this election. On that note lets turn to who the next president might be after very big nights for both donald trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump won four out of five states up for grabs, except for the big prize of ohio where that states Governor John Kasich scored his first victory. The republican establishment is left with limited options to stop trump, including pushing this race all the way to a contested convention. But if that happens, trump is warning of riots. Weve got more on all that beginning with nbcs hallie jackson. Hi, hallie. Reporter hi, lester, good evening. Weve learned that in the last 24 to 48 hours the Cruz Campaign held three meetings across the country about how to get the most delegate support. John kasich brought on a top operative to focus on a contested convention and trump staffers met to game out how to pick up marco rubios supporters. All of them looking ahead at what could happen next in this wild race. Three candidates left. Donald trumps lead almost three times bigger than it was, now three scenarios for the gop establishment. Finally surrender to the frontrunner. Fight furiously against him or find somebody else to take him on. Surrendering to a trump ticket could happen. This was an amazing evening. Reporter before new yorks primary next month. The billionaire or morning joe. You have people on the show all the time talking about stopping donald trump who with calling me to work out a deal where they want to become involved. Reporter more influence for trump, the party cancelling mondays debate after he said he wouldnt show. He still needs 55 of the remaining delegates but thats better math than ted cruz. For john kasich its mathematically impossible, unless he and the stop Trump Movement take the fight to a contested convention. For those that worry about a convention, it will be right in the open. Theres no closed rooms. Reporter even before cleveland, campaigns will security delegates state by state. They are going to find out pretty soon that they signed up for a party and ended up in a bar fight. Reporter talk cruz and kasich could team up. There would absolutely be a place for john kasich, absolutely a place for marco rubio, for many people in the republican field in a future administration. Reporter but if thats not palatable or plausible a third option. Find someone else, like speaker of the house paul ryan. People say what about the the contested convention. I say, well, there are a lot of people running for president. Well see. Who knows. Reporter his spokeswoman insisting ryan will not accept a nomination, but ryan said something similar before running for vp and house speaker. Three scenarios, no one obvious outcome still four months from the finish line. Hallie jackson, nbc news, houston. Reporter this is Peter Alexander in cleveland. Before republicans uncork the confetti here, what might have been Donald Trumps coronation could instead be a contested convention where no candidates won a majority of delegates. Those delegates you keep hearing about unanimously. Reporter yeah, those guys. Based on the primaries and caucuses the Republican Party will assign more than 2,400 of them. Right now trump is trouncing the competition but still has a long way to go to secure a simple majority. He needs to win 55 of the delegates going forward. Thats not undoable, but its also not not a layup. Reporter today trump warned bad things would happen if he doesnt get the nomination. If were 20 votes short or if were if were, you know, 100 short and were at 1,100 and somebody else ask at 500 or 400, i dont think you can say that we dont get automatically. I think youd have riots reporter last time a heated primary season ended without a clear nominee, 1976. Ronald reagan challenging incumbent president gerald ford, but ford convinced enough delegates to lock up his bid on the first ballot. Trump could try to do the same. That floor fight would happen here at clevelands quicken loans arena, home of lebron james and the cavaliers where a contested convention this summer would be the political equivalent of overtime. Heres how it works n. First round most delegates are bound to vote for the candidate they represent, but if theres no clear winner they keep voting and more and more delegates become free agents to pick whoever they want, and get this. The partys delegates get to create additional rules one week before the convention. Theres nothing to stop them from making it easy for a new name to be added to the mix. An astounding race now potentially on track for a chaotic conclusion. Peter alexander, nbc news, cleveland. Lets turn over to the democratic side now. Hillary clinton scored a clean sweep of Bernie Sanders last night, winning five states, including ohio and florida and building her sizable delegate lead. Clinton, now turning her sights on targeting trump and hes targeting her right back. Nbcs Andrea Mitchell on a nasty fight already beginning. Reporter game on. Hillary clinton and donald trump going after each other as though they were already their partys nominees. Today trump firing off this instagram video. Ridiculing clinton as a weak commander in chief against putin and isis, showing her barking like a dog as she told a joke on the campaign trail. The tag line. We dont need to be a punchline. After clinton ridiculed trump in her victory speech. Our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. Reporter clintons strategy, dont get in the mud with trump as some of his republican rivals did, go after him on policy, on immigration, the ban on muslims, embracing torture, highlight how he dodges questions about foreign policy. Today on morning joe. Who are you consulting with consistently so that youre ready on day one . Im speaking with myself, number one, because i have a very good brain, and ive said a lot of things. My primary consultant is myself, and i have you know, i have a good instinct for this stuff. Reporter Clintons Campaign spokesman telling me today with Hillary Clinton in a general election matchup, the contrast will be clear on issues of who supports a minimum wage increase, who supports pay equity for women, who supports defending the president s executive actions on immigration. Reporter the risk trumps ability to make his rivals play defense. Hes ready to keep hitting hillary hard. Frankly hillary is a disaster, you know that. You know shes guilty. We have numerous polls that show me beating heresly and i havent even started on her yet. Reporter but before clinton can fully engage trump, she has to win the nomination. Today her Campaign Says Bernie Sanders wont be able to overtake her, a claim sanders strategists strongly reject vowing to fight on. The open question. How much damage can sanders do to clinton before the bigger battle she expects with donald trump . Lester . Andrea mitchell in washington, thank you. An american student from the university of virginia has been sentenced to 15 years in hard labor in north korea after he was convicted of stealing a sign while at a hotel with his tour group. He was shown in a video presented by the North Koreans as a confession and later seen breaking down as he learned his punishment. Our chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel has details. Reporter 21yearold Otto Warnbier looked disoriented at the top court where the university of virginia student pleaded for a light sentence. Please save my life. Reporter he didnt get one. 15 years hard labor. I beg that im only human. I have made the worst mistake of my life. Reporter but his crime, a human rights group, was more like a college prank. The ohio native allegedly stole a propaganda banner from his hotel. He said in his confession it was for a church group back home in exchange for a used car. North korea found him guilty of subversion. Former governor build richardson who has negotiated with north korea in the mast is working to secure his release. Im trying to get him released hon humanitarian grounds but keep the politics, the bad relationship between the u. S. And north korea out of the equation. Reporter the warmbier family has stressed that their son has apologized and called for his release. The white house today accused north korea of holding him as a political pawn. Lester. Richard engel tonight, thank you. Now to one of the wildest prison escapes weve ever seen, all caught on camera, the video under wraps for quite some time just released though showing inmates escaping not by hopping a fence or digging a tunnel. Instead they hopped a ride aboard a helicopter that landed right on the roof. Nbcs blake mccoy has the tape. Reporter watch closely as a hijacked helicopter hovers above a canadian prison yard. Two inmates grab a rope below, but unlike the movies they are unable to physically pull themselves up. The helicopter forced to land on the prison roof. For more than six minutes plays out as unarmed guards watch helpless to stop them. The escape took place in 2013 at the st. Jerome Detention Centre near montreal. The tape, newly released. Eventually the prisoners were successful, dangling to the freedom of a nearby getaway car, so what went wrong . Well, i think everything went wrong and youd almost have to ask what went right . Reporter critics have scald for increased security at canadian prisons. The Prison Guards have to have the capability to respond to armed intruders, and in this case either they didnt have the capability or they lacked the desire to do so. Reporter because while the great escape plot may have played out more like gump dumper it the did work in the two were captured several hours later. Both men remain behind bars. Blake mccoy, nbc news, chicago. This wills late word that the worlds busiest subway system will reopen at 5 00 a. M. In an unprecedented move the d. C. Metro was shut down for emergency inspections and repairs. As nbcs tom costello plains is its just a symptom of our nations much larger crumbling infrastructure. Reporter a stressful commute in the Nations Capital today. A drastically different day for commuters who normally ride the rails. Reporter has hundreds of thousands of subway riders turned to car pools or buses or teleworked from home. The entire system shut down. Safety crews today found two dozen frayed and charred power lines after an underground fire on monday and a smoke event last year killed one. Nine dead in a 2009 crash. None of us have in good conscience could send the trains out even with full knowledge of the participants of what the situation was knowing the risks that we had. Reporter Public Transportation experts say d. C. Is symptomatic of detained mass transit systems nationwide with backlogged maintenance now totaling 86 billion. The 40yearold system is a worn out system unless you invest in it continuously. Reporter not just subways, a quarter of the nations roads are in disrepair. 70,000 bridges structural deficient. Among the most iconic washingtons duquesne Memorial Bridge connecting Arlington National cemetery with the lincoln memorial. Meanwhile, is transportation secretary today said the d. C. Subway system has a call tour of failing to take safety seriously. The culture down there has to change and we cant enable the continuation of the safety failures any longer. Reporter subway managers say the system should reopen for the morning rush with federal regulators and Congress Demanding a renewed emphasis on safety. Tom costello, nbc news, washington. Theres a lot more to tell you about tonight, including a shocking waste of costly cancer drugs. Why medicines worth billions of dollars are literally being thrown away, and were all getting stuck with the tab. Also, after sharing the screen with the likes of ryan gosling and Arnold Schwarzenegger a what if one piece of kale could protect you from diabetes . What if one situp could prevent Heart Disease . One. Wishful thinking, right . But there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease. Pneumococcal pneumonia. If you are 50 or older, one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia, an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. Even if you have already been vaccinated with another pneumonia vaccine, prevnar 13® may help provide additional protection. Prevnar 13® is used in adults 50 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. You should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. If you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine. Common side effects were pain, redness or swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, less appetite, chills, or rash. Get this one done. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13® today. My wife and i are now participating in your mutual fund. 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Were talking billions of dollars of expensive medicines literally being thrown away, and its all because of a onesizefitsall approach to packaging. Nbcs Anne Thompson has details. Reporter Breakthrough Cancer drugs, precious, expensive and wasted, up to 3 billion a year says a shocking new study from memorial sloankettering hospital. Were talking about hundreds of millions of dollars for nearly every drug we looked at going in the trash. Reporter why . Doses of these cancer drugs are determined by a patients weight, but manufacturers sell the drugs in just one or two vial sizes so its harder to tailor the dose. They can get paid for the dose, and if they can put in a big vial they get paid for the trash part, too. Reporter doctors peter bach and len saltz ked the top selling cancer drugs, in medicine thats helping minot live with breast cancer. Its the drug that saved my life basically. Reporter each drug every three weeks cost 9,500 but she only uses 81 meaning her insurance is arguably being charged 1,800 extra for medication she doesnt need. Its outrageous. Its like kicking somebody who is already down. Reporter genentech the maker of the drug says its available in two sizes and its packaged to meet fda regulations so that leftover medication is minimized. Bach says manufacturers need to offer more sizes as many already do overseas. But in changing the packaging, wont you drive up the cost . Not meaningfully. These drugs, you know, they cost 1,000 times the price of gold. They can be distributed in alternative vial size and the cost of making a vial and distributing it is pennies. Reporter all small expense to make sure we all arent paying for waste. Anne thompson, nbc news, new york. Were back in a moment with a big Olay Regenerist renews from within. Plumping surface cells for a dramatic transformation without the need for fillers. 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The clock is ticking to fill out your bracket for the march madness tournament, and just like in years past president obama is getting in on the action. He tells espn hes got two number one seeds in the final with kansas ultimately beating North Carolina for the title. Take it with a grain of salt though. The president has only picked the right winner once, in his first year in office. And the future is now for something movie fans have been looking forward to for years. Remember those selflacing sneakers that michael j. Fox wore in back to the future part 2 flying on a hoverboard in the year 2015. They are now reality as nike announced plans to mass market a selflacing shoe. They are calling it the hirp adapt 1. 0. It has a sensor that automatically makes them tighter. When we come back, after roles in greece and much thousands of people came out today to run the race for retirement. So we asked them. Are you completely prepared for retirement . Okay, mostly prepared . 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Before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had, a seizure disorder, difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney or bladder problems, and about medications theyre taking. Certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body and may increase side effects. The most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. All my life, shes been there for me. Now i am giving back. Ask their doctor about oncedaily namenda xr and learn about a free trial offer at namendaxr. Com. Finally tonight a hollywood great is retiring after a long legendary career that spanned decades. An icon of sorts featured in countless films, tv shows and commercials. But now the time has come to say its a wrap. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer has farewell. Reporter l. A. s legendary sixth street bridge could be tinsel towns best supporting actor. Code 6 at the bridge. Reporter theres samuel l. Jackson and ryan gosling in drive and Arnold Schwarzeneggers last action hero just to name a few. The bridge in the spotlight without ever saying a word. Its very nostalgic to be back here. Reporter director Randal Kaiser put the sixth street Bridge Center stage. Reporter in the 1978 smash grease. I was blown away by just how big the scale is. Grease is the word, is the word everywhere i go in the world people have seen this and seen the sequence and remember it. Reporter built in 1932, the bridge served its time. Its crumbling now. The old concrete falling apart, no longer able to support the gridlock of 15,000 cars every day. The curtain call on this 85yearold bridge is already under way. Its going to take four years and 450 million to build a new one. As if goes in hollywood a newer younger model will take its place. Traffic may move because im happy reporter but progress wont erase the memories of the more than 80 films, tv shows, music videos and commercials. A role that spanned decades. Almost like a character in the movie. Reporter the sixth street bridge at the end of the road after cementing its place in hollywood history. Miguel almaguer, nbc taylor swift in a bikini on a trampoline and making out with her man. Her pdapacked escape with Calvin Harris, now on extra. The worlds highest paid celebrity couple, taylor swift and Calvin Harris sexy snapshots. Are you watching . Yeah. Is the queen of the breakup anthem ready to take this relationship next level . More breaking couples news, mariah carey reportedly getting married on this private island. Will it be a made for e wedding on her new show . And ben afflecks first tv interview about his breakup from jen. I know its been kind of a challenging year. The stars take sides on a trump versus Clinton White house showdown. We could have a female president very soon. Fingers crossed. From scandals Kerry Washington to wendy williams. President trump . And wendy reveals how much weight shes lost and how she did it. You look amazing. Plus the woman behind oscar winner brie larsens killer sthe convinced her to wear this dress. Most revealing thing i had ever worn. Now o