Good afternoon. Im Chris Matthews in washington. Well, president obama has made his choice, judge Merrick Garland nominated today for the Supreme Court. And now the pressure is on senate republicans, many of them still saying they wont even consider a nomination or a confirmation, with less than a year left in the obama presidency. I have fulfilled my constitutional duty. Now its time for the senate to do theirs. Its the senates constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent. Action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the Election Campaign is over. Well, joining me now is nbc news justice correspondent, pete williams. Pete, thank you. Let me just ask you this, can you answer the political question, maybe its procedural, why are they not going ahead, at least with meeting all the majority members, and especially judiciary members, meeting with the nominee, perhaps holding some hearings and perhaps even holding a vote. The chances of
But last 24 hours have changed that. Starting with Hillary Clinton shedding doubt on Bernie Sanders commitment to the Democratic Party. Do you believe this morning that Bernie Sanders is qualified and ready to be president of the United States . Well i think the interview raised a lot of serious questions. I think that what he has been saying about the core issue in his whole campaign doesnt seem to be rooted in an understanding of either the law or the practical ways you get something done. And i will leave it to voters to decide who of us can do the job that the country needs. Now, that interview resulted in an the Washington Post article with this headline clinton questions whether sanders is qualified to be president. That was the headline of that article. Late last night, sanders reacted in a big way. She has been saying lately that she thinks that i am quote unquote not qualified to be president. I dont think that you are qualified if you get 15 million from wall street through y
Competitor. Peter, let me start with you, covering the Kasich Campaign. This is a guy who has enjergize and seems ready to go. Good to see you. Right now were in a small venue with a big crowd. As john kasich said last night it feels like a switch has been flipped. He initially went as he described it effectively inobscurity and then he is on the eyes of this country right now as he believes he is the candidate who can best compete with donald trump and ted cruz in this state as he described it to me, he is the little engine that can. To give you a sense of how he thinks he can do this, its not here in South Carolina specifically, though they are seeing their audiences grow here, probably 400 people or so arrived. They only had 90 on their rsvp list, they said yesterday more than 1,000 expected at events later this week, its a campaign thats growing but really has its eyes less on South Carolina than it does on other states like michigan, ohio, illinois, pennsylvania, states where the
Just came from the small state of vermont, shes mistaken. We will fight back. I do hope we can raise the level and i hope now and then the media will choose to talk about real issues. Just a short time ago, in an unscheduled stop in the bronx, Hillary Clinton responded. Its kind of a silly thing to say, but im going to trust the voters of new york, who know me, and have voted for me three times twice for senate, once in the president ial primary. Look, i didnt i dont know why he is saying that, but i will take Bernie Sanders over donald trump or ted cruz any time. So, lets keep our eye on whats really at stake in this election. We have republicans whose values are so antithetical to whats right to new york or america. And ill keep doing what i do with my friends for all these years to try to really make a difference in peoples lives. Well, we also watched Hillary Clinton ride the subway, from the bronx to manhattan in new york city also just a few minutes ago, greeting people along the
Good afternoon. Im erica hill in new york. We want to begin this hour with a portion of an interview just into us from an msnbc town hall, which Chris Matthews taped just a short time ago with donald trump. Mathews asks the rk frontrunner about abortion, specifically, whether a woman should be punished for having an abortion if the courts were to rule abortions were illegal. Heres part of that exchange. Should the woman be punished for having an abortion . Look this is not something you can dong. If you say abortion is a crime or murder, you have to deal with it under the law. Should abortion be punished . Well, people in certain parts of the Republican Party and conservative republicans would say yes, they should be punished. How about you . I would say that its a very serious problem. And its a problem that we have v but youre for banning it. Wait. Are you going to say put them in jail . Im asking you. You say you want to ban it. Whats that mean . I am against i am prolife, yes. How