President Obama's Interview With NPR's Nina Totenberg - March 2016

In an exclusive interview with NPR’s Nina Totenberg, the president explained his decision to nominate Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court and defended his choice, calling Garland “one of the best judges not just in the country, but of his generation.” Obama also blasted the Senate for obstructing the confirmation process, saying if it truly refuses to consider Garland, it would be setting a new precedent and “at that point, the judiciary becomes a pure extension of politics.”
This video is copyrighted by NPR. NPR hereby grants permission for anyone to use up to sixty (60) consecutive seconds of the video and/or audio on the condition that such excerpts are credited to "NPR News." Television usage of interview video/audio must include on-screen chyron to "NPR News" with NPR logo. For permission to use extended clips of the video/audio, please contact [e-mail].
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[@robblevinsky7900]

boy I will miss this guy, it's going to be a HUGE step downward no matter who wins in Nov.

[@JohnJohnson-oe3ot]

+Robb Levinsky unless its Bernie

[@GopalSinghR1]

Obama is a great speaker 👍and npr doing good job

[@ghosthunter1945]

true

[@packbeatsunc]

+Deadlord spacer ...she asked a great question when she said "why are you nominating a white guy? why not somebody else" really taking the true spirit of the great doctor martin luther king to heart in front of the leader of the free world

[@GopalSinghR1]

+packbeatsunc ya that was really a cool question

[@GopalSinghR1]

+packbeatsunc ya that was really a cool question

[@MelindaGreen]

+Gopal singh I wanted him to say "If you like my appointment record, you should just give me this one."

[@nandoGdog]

Love Nina, seen her some years back on a late night talk show and she killed it!

[@paulsalyers4421]

Excellent. Nina rox.

[@duket.8598]

I appreciate that you showed everything (very C-SPAN, but). I appreciate it because it shows context... that we are human... that cell phones go off even when you're with the president of the United States. Often times when you cut and splice we lose a sense of our humanity, I think... thank you for that NPR. And Hey... you got an extra 5 or 7 minutes on top of the 20 minutes /15+5/, so, how cool is that :-)

[@jhouse770]

At around the 14 minute mark, the President admits to helping to socially engineer the Federal court system by installing a majority of 'minorities' as Federal judges. Shouldn't it be based on the content of their character, and not the color of their skin (or sexual preference)?

[@245194LAC]

+Jay H It can be said that there is a bias in this country when it comes to race. That is proved frequently when reading the discourse in the media. When a case comes before the court in which race has no part whatsoever, but the person under consideration is a person, are the white components of the court thoroughly willing to turn a blind eye to the color or are they secretly going to be biased? Were a person of color such as is the case with Thomas, would that not be considered as balancing the court the same way as was the case for gender equality? Contrary to what some people may think, all people are capable of having a comprehensive appreciation and understanding the law regardless of their color so, why not put them under due consideration? And, for the record, I am what is considered to be white but, I think that I am more pink . . . .

[@rokehdokey34]

God damn it, I don't agree with everything he does, but I freakin love this guy. He's probably the dad that let his kids stay up with him and watch Arsenio when they were younger.

[@cacimbocacimbo1199]

The plagurist and political partisan Totenberg conducts the interview as one would expect. A friendly chat with the purpose of achieving a mutual political goal. No tough questions nor the slightest hostility. This is an advert as to why NPR needs to get off the public trough.

[@subgeeze]

+Cacimbo Cacimbo, I'd be interested to hear what question you would have asked.

[@Gwunhar]

What is this? No reassurances about his member? No "that's a nice judge there, it'd be a shame if something happened to his nomination?"

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

The eternal question?

[@benzacct1]

Are there any decent, respectful, unbiased reporters left? Not this one.

[@Fugue602]

Forgot to turn her phone off? You're talking to the president...

[@lhsouthern1988]

the koch brothers are afraid citizens united will be overturned.

[@lhsouthern1988]

Politics as a scrum match is a perfect description!

[@aronax4492]

you game my game

[@aronax4492]

you good man

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Clockers Wild at heart Leaving Las Vegas The rock Snatch

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Categorical imperative

[@laronlemon2723]

When Obama ran the first I was extremely skeptical. Every time he speaks, and every action he has taken has slowly whittled away at my skepticism. He has tried extremely hard to compromise with an irrational congress. His nomination of Merrick Garland to the supreme court was excellent, well informed, and a very moderate decision. Should members of congress decide to implement their previously stated plans to not even give this highly respected judge consideration it is not only a failure to the oath they stated when they took office, it is a failure to those whom they pretend to serve. Remember their names when mid term elections arrive.

[@mikegraves4155]

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Gridlocked

[@hughjames46]

Brilliant man. I'll miss him.

[@marteenmartinez3684]

What preschool am I going to?

[@snakething87]

Good job Mr. President. I'm glad you picked a possible justice based on who was best for the job and not who would fit the spectrum of political correctness.

[@HaoSci]

Liberal says that Garland is pro-prosecutors, and in some cases pro-corporations. The only thing liberal is pro gun control. First, the president vet their records, see if their opinions match that taste of the president, and see if there is any controversy the candidate is involved in, and assess how the nominee could fair in the senate hearing and the senate vote. Second, the president interviews the candidates about their opinions on some of the issues that the president cares about, and maybe about their health.

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Al Pacino or Robert Deniro?

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Math is absurd constructs

[@tyu3456]

He looks so incredibly tired.

[@user-bu4ow2he4w]

Governança social!

[@fyd1872]

Hello

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Blow Scarface All that jazz Lenny Caberet

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Logical positivism

[@robertburr9612]

gotta like this guy....He'd be real third term material if he wanted that.

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Via negativa sativa

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Dialectic of history

[@user-bu4ow2he4w]

policlínica!

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

The deerhunter

[@user-bu4ow2he4w]

Governabilidade?

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Tropist tropical toot -tonic technotronic toe loop

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Pascal’s wager

[@burtonvigil3481]

Hello NPR. I found your discussion on Islam this morning on the radio offensive. Saying people shouldn't say this or that about it. It is fascism more than a religion. You should not be promoting Islam in California. thank you.

[@marteenmartinez3684]

I went to buffet city and ate good

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Brooklyn yoga school

[@jamespeterson4275]

Can someone tell me if there's a hardball question about why Obama picked someone who voted IN FAVOR OF Citizens United!??!?! If you're publicly funded by the you need to be asking these kind of questions... Six minutes in and I'm not seeing anything. Not giving this any more retention time until someone replies with substance of what I'm looking for.

[@OMR6468]

This is the best deal the Republicans in Congress are going to get. We will see if their pride keeps them from realizing it.

[@garudakripa2856]

oyee

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Abstract realism

[@user-bu4ow2he4w]

Fiocruz!

[@kylemeador]

You have to wonder how this saga would play out if the shoe was on the other foot

[@ciaranoconnell4783]

+Kyle Meador To be fair, the Democratic base isn't batshit crazy like the Republican base is. If a Democratic Majority Senate held a hearing & voted on a Republican president Supreme Court nominee, the Democratic base wouldn't go insane with rage, calling them traitors & go after each Democratic Senator that allowed a hearing & voted in vicious & brutal primary battles to get rid of them because they ''betrayed'' the base..Four Democratic Senators voted for Alito. They weren't targeted by hardcore liberals in primary battles to get them out. Bottom line is that the Republican base is insane & treats any hint of compromise as pure treason. As Obama said, Democrats are nowhere near perfect but the Republican obstructionism is the main reason why there is so much gridlock. I don't care what anyone says, Obama did try to compromise with Republicans again & again & what did he get for his efforts? Thrown back in his face. It's the reason why Trump is the front-runner of the GOP nominee for president. The GOP base cannot understand that over 2/3rds of the nation doesn't want what they want. Liberals make up a good third of the country. Another third are moderates and independents that can be persuaded with sound arguments from either side if they are bipartisan enough, not insane hardcore political extremism from the right that treats anything different from that extremism as something to be destroyed. That's 66.6% of America that doesn't want what the Republican Senators are doing.

[@malex4321]

Take a look America. This is a special type of person that comes along once or twice in a lifetime. We have been so blessed to have him in the White House for two terms. I am going to miss him.

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

King of comedy Hudson hawk Die hard Black hawk down Pulp fiction

[@vietrofl]

Shame the people causing this mess will not listen to reason.

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Logical nonsense

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

1+2=81

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Laughing lotus

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Kendall Gill Iron Mike Tyson Linda Hamilton Robert Downey Jr. William Bedford

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Cogito ergo sum

[@bobbyrios2400]

6 3 now Conservative???Good job Obama!!!

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

1+3=7

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Existential ennui

[@user-bu4ow2he4w]

#Neo, 21!

[@darrylcrane253]

That’s exactly what it is today the court is so political now it has gotten outta hand

[@samuelfoster4663]

17th like!

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Caveat emptor

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy The little drummer girl Eye of the needle Veil Waltzing with a dictator

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Big night Table one Pool hall junkies The color of money Afterhours

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Ontological logical positivism

[@shada5840]

أوباما

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

Hanuman

[@adeliaadel2867]

Yank 😘👄,, aku tunggu di rumah,, 😊,, ny,, asia obama's

[@user-bu4ow2he4w]

humanístic?

[@donnagjoka2587]

Nina you are not old 😂 .. untill you use all ..

[@lhsouthern1988]

She needs to be on Bill Maher. This woman is the only person who has the credentials to do this interview

[@adeliaadel2867]

😙👨, 🙏🙂,,ny,, asia obama's

[@carneyyuan6422]

奥巴马老了不少，做总统压力大呀

[@bh1520]

19:39 please turn off your phone OK? You are meeting the PRESIDENT,and then where is your RESPECT? HAIL to your president,HAIL to my president.

[@nilesboyer2123]

I don't don't have anything against Obama. just think he's intention and plans didn't work out as well as he hoped.

[@nilesboyer2123]

+BJ Harvey I've been the action of these politicians. I served underneath bush and Obama.

[@nilesboyer2123]

+miles smith actions**

[@nilesboyer2123]

+BJ Harvey TACP.

[@nilesboyer2123]

+BJ Harvey yup

[@nilesboyer2123]

+BJ Harvey right on. a wrench turner is what I'll call him. everytime I deployed I was attached with the army. Obama doesn't have a lot of fans in the service. while I was engaging with the enemy, Obama was on his forth month long vacation playing golf in Hawaii. don't tell anyone. but i actually want trump in the Oval Office.

[@SoCalFreelance]

Figures Totenberg begins by advocating for Garland, what a tool

[@wilhelmmercado9831]

True romance Ronin The professional The mission The devils advocate Sleepers Celebrity Annie hall Manhattan Interiors The sweet and lowdown Hurly burly Bad boys Barfly Johnny handsome Sea of love Angel heart

[@karmamy9416]

uh eer eer uh er er arh argh er argh ur argh

[@pizaz1001]

I'm gonna miss Obama

[@joshmcgill6567]

out of interest, what do american's actually think of Obama? Over here in Britain the consensus is he's done a pretty good job, but what's the opinion over in America?

[@nancyevans3207]

President Obama is a brilliant, charismatic , and knowledgeable leader who has relentlessly worked to solve and resolve some of America's biggest problems.

[@subgeeze]

Excellent. Republicans should rejoice that Mr. Obama cannot run again. And it was so good to see Nina Totenberg; I've always been able to hear her smile -- nice to confirm.

[@guitarhaus]

+Jim Crissman No actually you should rejoice that Obama cannot run again or otherwise we would be living in a Muslim country under "Sharia Law" with the influx of muslims he's bringing into the country

[@davidcooper177]

A corrupt system.