The president said im going to veto the legislative appropriations bill and we will let the Voters Decide in november whether we want to pay these legislators, you are effectively stopping an institution from working. If the senate said the justices are coming to us, they want security for the institution, and we are going to decline to in an appropriations bill because we are matt at them, you them, you are preaching a duty thats implicit in the document. To make the other branches function as intended. Finally, theres a certain irony here, any members of a certain part are very upset with president obama for taking executive action on some subjects and not changing the statutory law. There is a statute on the books that says there shall be nine members of the Supreme Court. If you want to change it to eight, passed a law, ok . Pass a law. Thats not what i think anyone wants to do the everyone recognizes there is a duty. The question is i think everyone agrees want of timing and one of degree. But you have to have a reason. Elected officials are accountable. This is not a it is a duty to the taxpayers and to the voters. And ultimately they are going to decide whether the reasons being offered for not proceeding with a hearing on this nominee are good and sufficient. So you are saying everybody agrees its a matter of letting people decide. Its a question of whether the people deciding if the senate is doing its job or, as the republicans would argue, a matter of the people deciding what direction the court should go. Thats right. I sat next to senator kennedy in february 1988 on the floor when he managed Justice Kennedys nomination. Chairman biden had had an aneurysm and was very, very ill at that time. That vote went through 97 to nothing but it did not occur to us, well, its an election year, Michael Dukakis could win, and we dont have to go forward. Obviously there are differences about that nomination. It was a the second nomination for the position. Third i guess. We dont have to go forward. Obviously there are it also was obviously a vacancy long before the final year, but a note made when the Senate Judiciary committee did meet and discuss the nominations, and this is sort of a final point, obviously there are lots of discussions about chief judge garland, and i encourage everybody to participate in those discussions. But looking beyond that, a point made by senator graham when the Judiciary Committee met was that the eventual endpoint of this is getting rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, the next time you have a nonfilibuster majority of the party as the president. What do you have to say about that . Do you want me to go first . Look, the controversy that associates itself with filibustering judges is a deeply divisive matter here in the senate. Deeply divisive matter. In the first filibuster of additional appointment was in 1968. That was a bipartisan filibuster, but at the time that that was done, i can read the words of senator mansfield was majority leader, bill hard it was managing the nomination on the floor talking about the terrible president was going to set if nominations were resolved on that basis. It was a motion to proceed and it went down 4543. They could not get votes anywhere close. Then, in the early 20th century, that president was defeated again and again on the Appellate Court level. It led to substantial aggravation that have led to the possibility in 2005 of the Nuclear Option. To lead to the senate going to the brink and then having again a 14 the grid which i personally endorsed and said thank god they did it because it brought the senate away from the brink. And then finally the brink was crossed in 2013. I cannot say because he has not told me why senator reid excluded the Supreme Court from that, although some might conjecture that it was because you only get to vote for the Nuclear Option if you exclude the Supreme Court found out. But you may know better. I actually have an unorthodox view about this, which is the think about it, Justice Scalia was absent that it was asked what provision of the constitution did he like the least . He said it is too hard to amend the constitution. Why do i bring this up . A justice can change fundamentally the interpretation of the constitution. And the degree of consensus required, 51 votes, is really not consistent with the constitutional framework. It would be better for the court as an institution if two things were true. One is the parties could agree on nominees, as they often do. And second, that they agree on a Going Forward basis that, to quote another song, you cant always get what you want. The president gets to decide that you have to take account of the balance of power as senator hatch said, you know, elections matter. The 2014 election matters. I would submit just one last point. Merrick garland is reflective of the balance of power. This page. Hes even older than i am, is itself [laughter] is itself a compromise. And if you read his opinions, this is not someone who should be on that optimistic note, that weve all come together and find consensus for judicial nominees in the future, as the reporter i will thoroughly enjoy finding a way to see people trying to pursue that. But also getting great headlines when its not the case. I really appreciate everybody showing up this morning, and thank you. [applause] and i apologize but i have to run over to the Supreme Court for opinions and arguments. So thank you so much. Is that it . [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the White House Correspondents Association is hosting its annual dinner this evening with speeches from president obama and the featured entertainer, barry wilner Larry Wilmore. Had a roleband has has had. S it now, an interview with the director of the band. What is your job . I am the 28th director of the United States marine band. My job is to lead the band and performances, and a most of the Commanding Officer of the unit. How big is the unit . We have 154 members. It is designed to cover multiple spanitments and a wide of types of performances we are required to do. 50 members, and the band itself is about 154 the whole band . Thats right. We also have a Chamber Orchestra and a number of musicians who double on jazz instruments and r styles that may be required at any time. When you perform at the white lawn, at the south White House Correspondents dinner, how many members, how do you choose . It depends on what the needs are. It can be anywhere from a single musician to more than 100 that might perform together like we do for inaugurations. What is your favorite event . So many to choose. I think one of the things i love about my position is the Great Variety of what we have to do throughout the year. Certainly, we appear over 200 times on average at the white house. Also, performances we do a national chores across as great country, and ceremonies. Every single one of them has a special meaning to me, and i love the diversity. Does change the and with each president . A little bit. There is a tremendous history to what we do. We have been doing this for more than two centuries. The band was founded by an act of congress. A lot of what we do, especially at the white house, has a foundation of tradition. We try hard to cater what we do to each presidency. Not just the musical taste, but the needs of the civic events. Each need has a specific event. And the band has evolved, as our National Culture has evolved, the band has followed suit. Our capabilities and taste, and the kinds of things we have whats your background . How did you get involved . I came into the band as a clarinet player. I didnt necessarily have aspirations to be the director of the band. I was really so fortunate to win a position as an instrumentalist here. I enjoyed 3. 54 years playing in the band for me to move over and become an officer and assistant director. I have background in Music Performance and Music Education and a little bit of conducting. So when that opportunity arose in 2001, it was kind of a chance of a lifetime and i jumped at it, not knowing how competitive i might be and was so fortunate to be given that position an then here i am, 18 years later, director of the band. Its incredible. Did you have to go through marine corps basic training as every marine does . We dont go through basic training. This is one of the unique things about the band. We have such a Specialized Mission to perform music for the president of the United States as directed by the commandant of the marine corps. Theres a certain amount of that isn and experience required to perform, and its expected that would happen before we join the marine corps. So marines are fully trained to do their job when they come in to the marine corps. Basic training, recruit training is an important rite of passage , but i think the measure of a marine is what that marine does through the duration of their career and the level of commitment and attention to duty they have. You will not be directing at the White House Correspondents dinner. Why not . We have a history with a lot events outside the white house that have some sort of residential affiliation. President ial affiliation feare. Ceremonialstrong component to what is traditionally done for the White House Correspondents dinner. Often the band is performing well something is going on at the white house. Some ceremony. Eye on whatkeep your i o is going on and the band . Challenge to real the operation and the just ask of any event, especially at the white house. Especially at the white house because we are trying to make music and responsible for providing the sound track for an event and make that event even more special. But there are a number of moving parts and any commitment we have at the executive mansion. So you have to be ready to change on a moments notice and to be prepared for surprises. That takes a little bit of getting used to. That is the part they dont train you to do when you are training to be a professional musician. That kind of thinking on your feet. I was an assistant director for 13 years and got used to that environment and i became director in 2014. It is one of the most exciting parts of my job to see music and make music that is in the background and creating the tapesty for an event, but at any time, it can become the feature and thrb so many moments that through those moments, the music becomes the entertainment. Have you ever had a president decide to walk up and conduct . We havent had a president walk up and decide to conduct. We did have a president in president bush conduct the band at a White House Correspondent dinner in 2008. We found out he had a little bit of conducting experience and so we were looking for an opportunity he might want to conduct the band and the White House Correspondents dinner might be a great opportunity. To our knowledge, that is the only it was planned in advance. Went over to the white house to rehearse with the president , he practiced on his own and did a remarkable job for a nontrained musician and the curtain opened and led it in in stars andd stripes. We consult with the white house to make for the music we are fits the event and does not overshadow the event. Much of what we do at the White House Correspondents dinner happens before the president takes a stage. We play a lot of patriotic music and get everybody in the mood before the president is announced. And i believe on this particular event, we will throw in some marches that have to do with chicago as a nod to the president s background and when the president is ready to take the stage and president obama and mrs. Obama, one of the things that has been so special to them is the service of our members of the armed forces. They have gone out of their way on so many occasions to acknowledge the service of the men and women in uniform. And we often play a medley of our armed servicess songs. And we do that at the white dinner. Rrespondents and its an opportunity for anybody who has had service or Current Service to stand and be recognized when their service song is played. One of the things that brings the room together and is special to this president. Is your unit responsible for the color guard that comes into the dinner . We coordinate with the color guard. We work with them. Different color guards from different services, sometimes a joint color guard and we work with them with a number of different events and we are always coordinating with them , but that comes from a different section of the armed forces. The music dictates what the color guard does and how they move. How so . We have a traditional set of music to play and march on the colors and the color guard when does a certain maneuver when we play the national anthem. So its coordinated that way. What is your job here with the marine band . Im the Senior Enlisted Leader and drum major for the United States band. That means what . I lead the parades, responsible for uniform, appearance, decor umh and and training. You will be conducting the band. Why have you been chosen for that . The drum major takes this performance because of the ceremonial nature, working with the color guard and the music that we do at the Correspondents Dinner. And whatny bandmembers dress uniforms will you be wearing . Our traditional red coat with blue pants. We typically take 40 members for this. And where on the stage or where at the hilton will be settled . On the stage behind the head table, performing for the guests as they arrive and then for the ceremonial portion in the beginning. Is this the first time you have conducted at the Correspondents Dinner . No, sir. This is my third time. What is the particular challenge to this event . One of the challenges is getting the band fitting the band on the stage because its a very narrow we have to work with. Being able to see left to right. Your back is to the dinner most of the night . Yes, it is. Are you listening to anyone say we are about to begin . The drum major will wear a headset that is looped in to the event staff to get cues when the president arrives and when he is ready to come on stage. When the color guard marches in, who are they are representing . It is typically a joint color guard representative of all services, so youll have the American Flag and then the organizational flags from each service and then additionally, you have two rifle bearers on each side. Theres a lot of ribbons on top of the flags . Those are battle streamers and represent each battle that particular service has taken part in. Perhaps hundreds up there at the top . Yes, sir. How did you get into this business . I was lucky enough to be tall. I started as a trumpet player coming out of high school, i went into the marine corps and was a trumpet player for the first 15 years of my career. Due to my height, most people said you look good in front of a band and everyone will see you. And they trained me how to be a drum major and here i am. You went through basic training as a regular marine. Yes, sir, that is correct. But you knew at that point that you were going to be in the band . I was. We have 10 fleet bands and i actually joined the marine corps to be a trumpet player in our fleet band. They are local bands that are stationed throughout the marine corps, camp le judge, paris paris, neweune, orleans, three in southern california, hawaii and japan. How did this become the president s own band . Thomas jefferson gave us that name after the years after the band started performing and he was very fond of the band and took us on as his own. Do you ever hear John Phillips sousa in your job. In your dreams . No, i dont. I sleep pretty well and they make it easy. Will the band get to eat . Yes, sir. Not in the main room. We get that ahead of time in the holding area. At what point is your evening done . We finish as far as the event time line, we finish fairly early, once the president comes on and play the colors and play the national anthem, we are done shortly after that, we close the curtains and begin the speeches. Are you packing up during the speeches . We actually are. We get out pretty quick. Once the curtain closes, we grab everything and make our way out. Few notes from the low brass. Really punch those a bit. Pick it up. 1, 2, 1. We have a leaders log that said we performed in 1931 and performed relatively sporadically after that and the last years or so, we had a regular appearance at the Correspondents Dinner but music has played a role. There have been a number of guests, artists and singers who have performed. Prior to having a regular comedian, music was the central. Aretha franklin and Barbara Streisand were performer. Music was central. Aretha franklin and Barbara Streisand were performers. And there has been a Strong Military music component to the dinner as well, in addition to the marine band, several other bands have performed. It has been a central part of the musical part of the dinner as well. Beautiful. Just like that. [captions Copyright National cable satellite