Anchoring an NBC News special report on Wednesday about President Obama nominating federal judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, Today co-host Matt Lauer asked justice correspondent Pete Williams: “Senate Republicans have vowed to block any nomination that comes from the President....what message is the President sending with this pick?”
Williams replied: “The message is that he's trying to make it harder for Senate Republicans to oppose someone who’s not only well liked, but has a good reputation in town and a wide breadth of experience.”
Fellow co-host Savannah Guthrie turned to Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd and gushed over Obama’s political strategy: “I mean, certainly, the White House is trying to put Senate Republicans who have vowed to not even bring any nominee up for vote in a tighter spot in an election year, saying, ‘Look, this is someone who’s known as a non-ideological judge, a centrist. This is the best you're gonna get.’”
Todd praised Garland as the most reasonable, moderate choice:
...he is the perfect pick if they ever have to have one with a Republican Senate....the best way to compare him is this is the Democratic Party’s version of Anthony Kennedy. Right? A little more center-left....[Obama] didn't check a political box with this one. [Garland] being 63, this is the President not trying to change the court for an entire generation. He is putting real pressure on the Republicans to sit here and stick by this pledge that they’re somehow not going to even have a hearing.
Lauer whined: “Yeah, not even have a hearing, not even have a courtesy call meeting....Does he go up to Capitol Hill and just start knocking on doors?”
Again playing political commentator, Williams predicted:
He’ll probably do that, yes....he will be well coached now by an entire White House operation...Maybe they’ll try to get pictures of him knocking on doors that won't open, but they'll certainly try to show the meetings, the courtesy call meetings he will have with Democrats. And the Democrats, you can expect, will try to play up that difference and say, “Look, the guy should be treated with more respect than this.”
Guthrie reiterated how “Judge Garland is well respected on both sides of the aisle” and noted: “The White House is circulating quotes from none other than Senator Orrin Hatch saying how much he appreciates, respects, and loves Merrick Garland in years past.”
Todd proclaimed: “Look, I think there’s going to be pressure. There are a group of Republican senators that are running for re-election in swing states and blue states and I’ve heard from people with them, these Republicans are more worried about this issue, obstruction of the court, than they are Donald Trump.”
Following the Rose Garden announcement of Garland’s nomination, Lauer touted the President lecturing the GOP: “He said what happens now has to be above politics. He urged members of the Senate to be fair and said he has fulfilled his constitutional duty and he urged senators to fulfill theirs.”
Moments later, Todd cheered: “And the President is walking a tightrope here, but he may have made the perfect political pick he could have made. Still may not get him, but I think he made the perfect pick.”
Here is a full transcript of the March 16 coverage:
11:00 AM ET
MATT LAUER: In just a moment, President Obama will announce his nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: It will happen right there in the White House Rose Garden and it will be Merrick Garland, a 63-year-old chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals from the D.C. Circuit. He’s a former prosecutor, oversaw the Oklahoma City bombing and the Unibomber cases, and a long-time judge on the federal bench.
LAUER: Of course a lot at stake here, it’s an election year. Senate Republicans have vowed to block any nomination that comes from the President. We're going to talk about the pick with Chuck Todd in a moment. But first, let's bring in NBC justice correspondent Pete Williams. Pete, what do we know about him and what message is the President sending with this pick?
PETE WILLIAMS: The message is that he's trying to make it harder for Senate Republicans to oppose someone who’s not only well liked, but has a good reputation in town and a wide breadth of experience. And we expect, Matt and Savannah, to hear from Judge Garland when the ceremony begins, that’s the usual tradition here. But the White House is already saying he has more federal judicial experience than any other Supreme Court nominee in history.
GUTHRIE: Well, Pete, that brings me to Chuck. I mean, certainly, the White House is trying to put Senate Republicans who have vowed to not even bring any nominee up for vote in a tighter spot in an election year, saying, “Look, this is someone who’s known as a non-ideological judge, a centrist. This is the best you're gonna get.”
CHUCK TODD: Third time he’s been vetted for a Supreme Court appointee. I would – you and I were told six years ago, he is the perfect pick if they ever have to have one with a Republican Senate. Well, lo and behold, President Obama has to deal with a Republican Senate. He is probably – the best way to compare him is this is the Democratic Party’s version of Anthony Kennedy. Right? A little more center-left. And as you and I were just discussing before we went on, he didn't check a political box with this one. Being 63, this is the President not trying to change the court for an entire generation. He is putting real pressure on the Republicans to sit here and stick by this pledge that they’re somehow not going to even have a hearing.
LAUER: Yeah, not even have a hearing, not even have a courtesy call meeting. So, what, Pete, does Judge Garland do? Does he go up to Capitol Hill and just start knocking on doors?
WILLIAMS: He’ll probably do that, yes. And there's been – he will be well coached now by an entire White House operation with outside support to try to push this nominee through the Senate. That's what they normally do anyway, but that'll be an extra – extra important with this one. Many Republicans have told us they won't even meet with him much less, as you say, hold a confirmation hearing or a floor vote, so they’ll try to point up the difference. Maybe they’ll try to get pictures of him knocking on doors that won't open, but they'll certainly try to show the meetings, the courtesy call meetings he will have with Democrats. And the Democrats, you can expect, will try to play up that difference and say, “Look, the guy should be treated with more respect than this.”
GUTHRIE: And Judge Garland is well respected on both sides of the aisle. The White House is circulating quotes from none other than Senator Orrin Hatch saying how much he appreciates, respects, and loves Merrick Garland in years past.
TODD: Look, I think there’s going to be pressure. There are a group of Republican senators that are running for re-election in swing states and blue states and I’ve heard from people with them, these Republicans are more worried about this issue, obstruction of the court, than they are Donald Trump. Okay? And the scariness of that. So the point of this is, here’s what I think’s going to happen. I think they're going to have hearings, I think there is going to be a vote. But I do think it'll get filibustered, but he’ll probably get over 50. And here's what’ll be the magic formula here, if you're the President. If Hillary Clinton wins in November, Garland gets confirmed in December.
LAUER: Still waiting for the President to come out to the Rose Garden. Reince Priebus said recently, Chuck, that they’re going to put together a task force and he said that, “This task force will be the most comprehensive judicial response effort in our party's history.”
TODD: And this is why I think the White House went with Merrick Garland. That is a guy who's been around Washington a long time, he's got a thicker skin. I think that was key here. They had to find somebody who was durable politically. Who could hand what is going to be a hot house.
GUTHRIE: On the other hand, that brings me to Pete. I mean, you have a judge who is somebody who’s got with 20 years of a judicial record to pick through. And I think before I let you answer that question, I think we are about to see President Obama and Judge Garland, the nominee to the court, as they enter the White House Rose Garden for this ceremony.
[ROSE GARDEN CEREMONY]
LAUER: A very emotional Judge Merrick Garland reacting to his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Obama, who described the last three weeks or four weeks as being an exhaustive process. At the end of that process, he ended with one of the sharpest legal minds in this country, a man of decency, modesty, and integrity who has received overwhelming bipartisan praise in the past. He said what happens now has to be above politics. He urged members of the Senate to be fair and said he has fulfilled his constitutional duty and he urged senators to fulfill theirs.
GUTHRIE: And remember, Judge Merrick Garland waiting there, has been interviewed for this job twice before and now he is having his moment. And as I go to you, Pete Williams, it bears repeating that while Supreme Court Justice vacancies are rare, vacancies that would change the ideological balance of the court are rarer still, and that is why the stakes are so high here.
WILLIAMS: No question about it, and one of the main reasons why the Senate is taking the position that it is. If this were replacing, say, one of the court's more liberal members during a Democratic administration, we wouldn't see probably anything like this. I had the same thought you do, Savannah, watching Merrick Garland there. It's always – you know, people on the Supreme Court always say that basically lightning has to strike for you to be nominated to the Supreme Court because there are lots of qualified judges throughout the country, qualified people in academia and political life who could be nominated and who would serve very well. So there has to be a special combination of factors. And I got the sense you did watching this, that one of the reasons Merrick Garland is so emotional is, you know, he's been up to the brink twice before and now it's really happening. Not only is he being nominated to the United States Supreme Court, it's actually happening this time when he is, in essence, twice before been to the altar.
LAUER: Chuck Todd is here in the studio with us. Prior to this announcement, Chuck, so many on the Republican side of the aisle said, “No way. Not now. No hearings. We don't even want to have a meeting.” I watched you going over your phone as this was happening. Is there any crack in that?
TODD: Some crack. I noticed, for instance Roy Blunt, sort of your mainstream conservative senator from Missouri saying he would vote against this pick. But look what he said, “I would vote against this pick,” said nothing about hearings. Now, some other Republicans senators said in releases, “I'm still sticking by my pledge of no hearings, no anything, wait until the election.” And for what it's worth, the RNC has already put out their first fundraising, and how to frame this argument, “Breaking: Obama nominates Clinton judge to Supreme Court.” So using the Clinton name to rally conservatives against this pick, meaning Hillary, of course, not Bill. But still, to go back to the lightning strike metaphor, lightening did strike for Merrick Garland. The only shot he had of getting picked was with a Republican Senate in a politically difficult time. And the President is walking a tightrope here, but he may have made the perfect political pick he could have made. Still may not get him, but I think he made the perfect pick.
GUTHRIE: See if he gets a vote and a confirmation.
LAUER: Chuck, our thanks to you. Pete, our thanks to you as well. We’ll have much more right now on MSNBC and NBCNews.com. Of course, there’ll be a full wrap tonight on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. I'm Matt Lauer alongside Savannah Guthrie. This has been a NBC News special report.
