Reporting thats president obama told a group of donors that bernie is nearing the end of his white house bid. He said the party should soon unite behind Hillary Clinton. At the white house today, josh earnest disputed the report, claiming the president was not taking sides and was only making a case for party unity before novembers general election. Byh these reporter remarks the president , even though they are being denied by the white house, accelerate efforts to get sanders out of the race . John well, lets first start the disputing of the report is not categorical. President obama could say, what hes reported to have said without taking sides. He could say Bernie Sanders time is coming to an end. That party needs to be unified. Barack obama can read the delegate totals as well as anybody . Recognizes what most people recognize which is that Bernie Sanders is unlikely to be the nominee . E party needs to unify an order to keep a republican from succeeding him and donald trump . I do, too. I believe obama said something close to this and i think it is the case that a lot more democrats because of obama are going to start saying the same thing soon. Mark the clinton people intended to wait a little bit more to start this drumbeat the that they have started it in huge successof her on tuesday and impart because of donald trump looks like he may be cruising to the nomination. They do not want a democratic fight that goes through june if trump has got this thing sewn up. I think president obama is reflecting that reality and that will now drive it. John president obama and the clintons have one thing in common they both understand the value of money in politics and how important it is to have a lot of it in order to win tough races. But Hillary Clinton does not want to spend money beating someone she has a ready beaten, when she could be saving that money to take on someone who is going to give a hard fight, whether that is donald trump or somebody else. Mark iron rule. Say something at a texas fundraiser even if itll get out. The president knows that rule. Some important updates in the republican race. Ted cruz is are going for the last couple of days that john kasich is so far behind he is waging an absurd and quixotic campaign for the republican nomination. Two of john kasich former rival seem to agree. Remember that fellow marco rubio . He was in his Capitol Office today to something he probably had gotten had wished he had gotten on tuesday, stranding ovation. Last night according to a minnesota newspaper, marco rubio told supporters that cruz was the only conservative left in this race. Now lets talk about it even bigger uturn. Lindsey graham said this about ted cruz a month ago. Senator graham if you killed t ed cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate, nobody could convict you. You that might leave thinking of that the days that senator graham would support senator cruz would be the day that takes started fly. Apparently that day is upon us. Alert. News pigs are flying because Lindsey Graham is supporting ted cruz for president. Yep. John that is correct. The Lindsey Graham is hosting a fundraiser for ted cruz on monday. Graham says in order to stop donald trump he will help cruz in every way i can. Why are rubio and graham siding with cruz over kasich . Mark Lindsey Graham has thought for a while the john kasich would not enough not have enough strength to slow down donald trump who looked at the map and the money and the message. He believes a more conservative person which cruz is the only way to stop him at the convention. It is not some new love or appreciation for ted cruz. It is the cold hard reality from grahams point of view that cruz to stopnly vehicle donald trump. In the case of marco rubio, i think john kasich does have some positions that are more moderate. I think some people the party, conservative activists and others, are saying we want a conservative nominee. That leaves us one choice which is ted cruz. Even though john kasich is conservative in a lot of ways. John i agree with everything you said that i have one additional layer, which is that both of these guys are United States senators. And ted cruz is also a United States senator. Much though he pretends sometimes he is not. Senators are sticking together not surprising. The fact that more governors have not rallied to john kasich is surprising. Im not surprised to see a couple of guys who are membered along with 10 crates of the worlds socalled greatest deliberative body are backing their friends against the governor of ohio. Mark the group of conservative activist who met in washington by phone today thinking about getting a third kennedy in the race, ted cruz has pickup some conservatives. Through the interest in to see if he can build momentum. Now that you do not have election contest every week, it will be hard for cruz or kasich to build up the kind momentum to become the decisive alternative. John even the bell went off, wishes say the john kasich did get the endorsement of the former governor of utah. Mark cruz had a better day on that front. As previewed on tuesday, john kasich started going after donald trump a little bit more aggressively today. In response to the comment, trump made about how he thinks the grassroots would respond if the party had to wrestle the nomination away from him in cleveland, kasich tweeted. Donald trump said there could be riots and also from kasich. This implicit acceptance of violence is pulling people apart. Tedthe case of a contes convention, a possible white night is the House Speaker paul ryan who is the guy behind the podium chairing the convention. Here is what ryan said today when he was asked for the obtained time about whether he would accept his partys nomination if the Convention Ends up deadlocked after multiple ballots. Paul ryn it is not going to be me. Runningd be somebody for president. I made a decision over a year ago not to run for president. I believe if you want to be president , you should run for president. People are out there campaigning, they are campus say, there are primaries. That is who we should select from among for our next president. On whatever ballot we are talking about. Lets put this thing to rest and move on. I had six days notice taking this guy. I learned after becoming the speaker that im the chair of the convention. I will have to bone up on the rules. Switzerland, be neutral and dispassionate and to make sure the rule of law prevails and to make sure that the delegates make their decision however the rules require them to do that. Mark john, ryans demuring obviously, although he dr emured about being speaker, too. What a fact about the fact that he is in charge of the convection half on the fact that he could be the white knigh t . Creates certain publications which im going to bet you are going to outline. I will say it creates really bandages. Advantages. Te real if the white knight is going to come in, he is going to have to be drafted. As you point out, hes running the show. And becoming the eventual nominee and a contested convention requires knowledge of the inside game. Ryan will understand the side game this inside game better than anyone when we get to cleveland. Balance it makes it less only because he will be so in mesh and running the thing that the symbolism, the hardest thing about a white knight coming in from the point of you who do not want trump is the symbolism. Added symbolism of the guy who is in charge. I wont say exactly, it is like when dick cheney pick himself to be bushs running mate. The fix would look like it was an even more if the guy in charge of the convention would say, by the way, i am taking this thing. It makes it harder. John its going to be ugly if it happens one way or the other. Anyway, when we come back, why Hillary Clinton is laughing at donald trump and a new web video after this. Mark yesterday we showed you are new web video that donald trump tweeted out showering Hillary Clinton barking like a dog. And Vladimir Putin chortling at her. Today a super pac turn the tables on the donald. Who are consulting with consistently so that you are ready on day one . Mr. Trump im speaking with myself, number one because i have a very good brain and ive said a lot of things. John all right. Of that and think its an merits, what does it tell you about how team clinton is thinking about what it has to do when donald trump goes on offense . Mark my sense is they looked at that web video that trump put o ut and did not treat it like some trifle. They saw and its cutting nature and in the implication of its viral qualities. It did get played a lot on cable. They decided they had to be now. I predict they will be in this mode the rest of the way. He brings a knife, you bring a gun. Because they cannot let trump do to her what he has done to most of his republican opponents. Updatedis is just an modern day version of something you are familiar with that was known in 1992. Become room, to wear has commonplace. Respond to everything always. Do not let anything negative go unchallenged or unreported or unreplied to. I think they learn not just from that web video but from previous ntgles with trump they ca afford to let those go unanswered. They want to throw a big elbow we are notd say, going to be passive. There is going to be a price to pay if you come after us. Mark they also have to get to the point where they can succeed where these other antitrust efforts anti trump have failed on our public side, they have to effectively mo ck him. Trump is so good at mocking others. One of the biggest areas of incongruity drill it if from those who try to take down trump trump is the most easily mocked person and politics. The possibility of a general election matchups and Hillary Clinton and donald trump is one of many factors that is now hovering over the capitol hill fight about whether president obamas pick for the Supreme Court will get a hearing. While Republican Leaders have not changed their position, there are a few gop senators such as jeff lake of arizona that have agreed to meet with the nominee merrick garland. The party is taking a gamble. If republicans are not successful in the november election, i hope we are, but if we are not, then we ought to look at this nomination in a lame duck session in november. I would rather have a leftliberal nominee like nomineegarland, than a that Hillary Clinton, if she were president , would put forward. Mark so, that is one point of view on the republican side. Not necessarily a majority. Today, patrick laid, the democrat from lamont, former chair of the committee called for his college to vote on garland by memorial day. An army of republican and Democratic Senators have been all over cable news the past 24 hours toeing the party line. With all the backandforth there has been since we last spoke about this, which side is winning this tugofwar over girl is . Over garland . John democrats and the white house. Right now the media is with the white house. I think rightly soar. Your hearing some corners of conservative media saying, youre killing yourselves here. Thing that kind of has done damage to the republican brand in the past by seemed to be mindlessly in trenton and. Intaransigent. If you want to shoot them down, shoot them down. But make it look like you are at least willing to do your jobs. Democrats, and politics, the side that is winning is where they are saying the same thing publicly and privately. Democrats are saying we are going to win this. It is easy to find a strategist who say the mistake was to come out early. We are not winning this fight. They think possibly they can hold the line. No hearing, keep the base happy. Some of them are worried about paying a price when Public Opinion is still fluid, but look, democrats often have the media on their side because of liberal bias. This is the case where the media believes the democrats are doing the right thing. If the whitetime, house continues to perform this way, Public Opinion is going to shift in a way that is going to spook republicans. John jeff lakes giving voice to something a lot of people are thinking. It is not a position of strength they are going to be in trying to negotiate a crazy, a ringed accession. Senator amy clover sure joins us to talk about the Supreme Court nomination battle after these words from our sponsors. John can you feel it . Is sweeping the nation. We are joined by senator amy klobuchar, the democrat from minnesota who sits on the Judiciary Committee. Senator, thanks for joining us. Senator klobuchar very nice. Phoenix, wherever you are, but i am here. Mark i know youve got an open mind about this nomination and republicans may be made a mistake i saying they dont. Im wondering what decisions the judge has signed that concern you, you want to ask him about. Senator klobuchar im actually just starting to look at his record. Picke knew he was the until yesterday. What i do know as a former prosecutor myself is that is not an easy job he oversaw two of the most high profile, difficult criminal cases of our time. And that is the unabomber and the Oklahoma City bombing. He has a strong reputation as a judge. In the criminal area, he has tended to be more conservative than some of his liberal colleagues on some of the cases. I think there are 10 Different Cases like that. So, obviously, that as someone that is a prosecutor, i can understand that and i want to look at what those cases are as well as the rest of his record. I think the main point here today is that as you noted earlier, there are some republican senators, senator col lins said she is going to do her job and meet with him. And five or six of them have agreed to meet withh im. Angus king said it best. Are you just afraid you will like him too much . He is a ogoogd guy. Mark i know you like a blot about him. I take your point the youre probably just now reading into some of his decisions. General areasy where you have got concerns where you want to hear more about . Not where you like what he has done but where you have got concerns . Senator klobuchar again, i literally found out about this yesterday when we were in the rose garden. Were gathering his record and i will see what concerns i have. I tended to in the past with Sonia Sotomayors hearing and el kagan, asked about First Amendment cases in criminal cases because of my background. I want to look at some of the stands he taken. Si think we should have cameras in the Supreme Court. I know you guys would like to see things immediately. I will ask him about that. I have a lot of good questions to ask him. John senator, i know yesterday that planned parenthood, richards came out with a statement that is tepd in support tepid in support of merrick garland. She they knowledge there are a lot of is about his support for reproductive rights. Does that issue give you any pause from what you know about garlands records . Senator klobuchar again, i want to look at his positions. If he has respected roe v. Wade. What is important is if he is someone that is known as being fair, he had the respective democrats and republicans. You look at the comments, the fact that he received a vote senator hatch and senator mccain. Senator collins, center at cochran. Senator with senator hatch one saying, i challenge anyone to come to say why he would not be a good nominee. I will look at the record and i have not made a decision yet. Like everyone else i plan on meeting with him next week but i think what is important here is that we need to have a hearing to ask those questions,yes, i will assess questions at a private meeting that my constituents have the right to know this answer. Mark let me ask you a question on the politics of this. There are a lot of groups on the left who look at this choice and not overly enthused. It is a sense of opportunity missed. This is an overwhelmingly male white institution. They were happy when elena kagan got on the court and think there is room for another woman or woman of color. Do think that president obama played a too timid by choosing a 63yearold white man to fill antonin scalias seat . Senator klobuchar i do not think president obama played it timid at all. My colleagues on the other side of the iowa described his actions in his last year were he focusing and moving ahead on cuba as being far from timid. What i think he has done is pick the person he thought was best for the job. Twice judge garland was close up there for the previous nomination. In one nomination, i nominated elena kagan. One hispanic. Within the first africanamerican president with a number of cabinet members of color, including the entering your journal, i do not think anyone can doubt the president streak read on diversity. Mark im wondering, you know iowa pretty well. What do you think would have to happen within iowa politics, Public Opinion, to cause a senator grassley to change his mind about whether there should be a hearing or not . Senator klobuchar i think that is going to be up to senator grassley. I have worked with him on a number of issues. We have some major bills, delay fwith pharmaceutical companies. I have had a Good Relationship with him. I would hope that i dont know what the numbers show in iowa, but iowa tends to have an open court system. They have had cameras in their Supreme Court in iowa. The Des Moines Register has been really outspoken on this. You look at nationally, as the president noted in the rose garden, 2 3 of the American People favor Going Forward with a hearing. Senator grassley or any other senators do not have to vote for this nominee. But i think they need to hear him out and let their constituents hear him out. This is a Public Servant that deserves it and