Next president. Tonight the current president iss suggesting republicans are full of bluster, but they, not democrats, hold the power to control the prococs. Our justice correspondent Pete Williams begins our coverage. Reporter the body of Antonin Scalia arrived overnight, the casket draped inn an American Flag flown from texas whereree died in his sleep at a private guest ranch. The judge, when i found him saturday momoing, was in complete repose. Reporter on the court scalia was one of theheost influential conservatives in more than a g geratioio and his criticism could be stinging, even for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, his ideologigil opposite and traveveng xansions. She said sunday were best buddies. How is it that youre able to zing somebody, your friend Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the next day go to the opera . Because the next day she will be equal opportunity zingers. Reporter among popoibilities to succeed him, esvein vasan and jane kelly and merrick garlanded a patricia millett. For now the Supreme Court is evenly split between conservatives and liberals wititut antonini scacaa so some of the big cases could end in 44 ties. On immigration a tie would block president obama from enforcing his plan to allow up p to 5 Million People herereillegally to stay on on abortioio a tie would restrict restrictions on abortion in texas to remain i i force or in the case of a force the court could choose to withhold its decision and order the case to be reargueded when theres a ninthth justice. The justices havee the ability to take a case when theres a tie andndut it on a shelf and come backt a year later, conceivably even two years late sneer in momorn times the longest stretch the thout all nine justices is just o or a year, and that was nearly 50 years ago. The juststes are now in their midwinter break and will be back on the bench a year ago today. Leftner. No matter who it is the president picks the republican leader in the senate and many of the leading gop candidates s s no one should get a vote and the seat should remain empty until the next president nomomates a successor. That could leave t ts battle raging for well over a year as nbcs andrea m mchell reports. Repororr the babale over the Supreme Court instanany redefining the president ial race. Republicans on the trail today. I intend to make 2016 a referendum on the u. S. Supreme court. Were not moving forward on a nominee until after the election. The republicans should not allow it to happenen reporter political wars exploded within hours of Antonin Scalias death. H. Playing to the republican base, senate leadede Mitch Mcconnell vowowg to block any obama nominee. Saying the next president should fill president obama quickly pushing back. I plan to f ffill responsibilitieseso nominate a successor in due titi. Reporter democrats today arguing there is plenty of time to confirm a nominee. I think we ought to talk about this, the cocotitution of the united states. Reporter and no excuse to leave the court grgrgrcked, potentially for another year. It would be the height of irresponsibility for the r rublican leadershipipot to havee fromomhe president. Reporter so who will the president choose . The smart political bet, a moderate federal judge supported in the past by republicans, much harder for them to reject. So far most republicans up for reelection in swing states seem to be following their leader, but depending on whom t t president picks could it backfire . Even helping democrats retake the senate. Still in the president ial race its a rallying cry for republicans, especially ted cruz, a former Supreme Court give up the u. S. Supreme court for a generation by allowing barack obama to make one more libibib appointee. Reporter and senator leahy told nbc that president obama already has his list. In fact, the presidede is likely to consult republicans a a well as democrats to see e any potentntl nominee has a chance of getting aaote despite the pressure from republican l lders to block any action. Lesterer andrea mitchell, thankkyou. As the fight over the court plays out on thth campaign trail there are alsoew fights exploding within the Republican Party as donalaltrump launches multiple attacks, threatening to once again sue ted cruz and taking aim a a george w. Bush over 9 11, right as the former president hits the campaign trail in support of his brother. We get theatest from nbcs peteralexander. Reporter hee back. Former president george w. Bush on the campaign trail, this time for jeb in South Carolina. Thank you for your hard work for jeb. Which is to vote for him on saturday here in the great state of South Carolina. Reporter 43 aiming to make his younger brother 45 rise to the white house, appearing together for the First Time Since jeb announced. Thanks to brotherer for giving us something to do today, something importanan immroud of his candidacy, and im really proud to have been ininted. Reporter r ut on this president s day donald trump is trying to crash the party, attacking w. Today over 9 11. The world trara center came down during his reign so its like, you know, he was the top. Reporter and for invading iraq. You had him on the aircraft cararer saying all soror of wonderful things. The war was essentially over, guess what, not over. Reporter punctuatinin the fiery debate. George bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes that. One was a bite. We never should have been in iraq. Im sick and tired of him goingng after my family. R rorter will trumps attacks against the bushes backfire . George h. W. Bush and carried South Carolina in thehe president ial primacy. Jeb is betting his brother, the former commander in chief, can still bring in voters. Here the military community is a key constituent, generating more than 150,000 jobs and nearly 20 billili for the states econony. Today trump is again threatening to sue ted crcr, calling him unstable and the biggest liaia hes ever come across. He doesnt even have the right to serve of as president or even run ass president. He was born in canada, so i will bring that lawsuit if he doesnt apologize. Reporter c cz brushing off the threat saying trump has lost it. This is the most rattled ive ever seenn donald, his press Conference Today where he stood and vented. I guess the only planks one can have i i that his poll numumrs in South Carolina must be plummeting. Reporter and tonights crowd by far the biggest that jeb bush has seen all campaign season. Earlier today his brother reflecting on his pasttresidential primaries says he ers to focus on losses, a Glass Half Full man. In five days the bush family will find out if the theres still reason for optimism. Lester. Peter, thank you. An unexpected battleground has opened up in the democratic race between Hillary Clinton and bernie sanders. With just five days to go until the nevada caucus eds clinton is hitting the trail hard there. For months many believed she would win the state, but now as our Kristen Welker reports, thats a big estion mark. Reporter after losingew hampshire, second clinton is tryingngo come back withth win in nevada. I hope youll come out and caucus on saturday. Reporter today she again tried to paint senator sanders as a candidate solei focused on wall street. I am not a singleissue candidate because this is not a singleissue country. Repororr sanders has d dmissed that criticicm, and today beforere raucous crowd of 9,000 in michigan said hed met w wh the families impactt by the flint water crisis. Ive just come from a meeting which w w one of the more that i have ever attended. Reporter Clinton Campaign answering, releasing a video toutinggn endorsement from a group of flint ministers praising her for highlighting the problem. They need to fix flint. Reporter its an issue that resonates with africanamericans, including in states like nevada where in 2012 r rghly 15 of voters were black and another 15 hispanic. Nbc news political analyst john rosten says its hard to getet accurate pollllg, but he believes clinton has a slim ad. The Clinton Campaign has to be worried about t t t whole millen yell fect, young voters deciding too r rister on saturury to support bernie sanders. Reporter nevada was supposed to be part of clintons firewall and now thats in play, voters in reno understanding the divide. Weve got a big uprising. Reporter what are you planning foror this weekend . Hillary clinton. Repepter why . I want to see a woman handle the office. Planning tooampaign in florida. Instead, she sent her husbanding there so she could focus on courting voters here. Meanwhile late tonight her Campaign Officials announced they are opening an office in flint, mimiigan. Lester. Kristen, thank you. Tonight a massiveve storm is moving across a huge part of the country. Its being felt from the gulf coaoa all the way up tomaine. Snow and ice in the north and tornadoes ripping off roofs in e south. A huge e ss all from the same weather system. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren has details. President t day brought a fresh coat of snow to the Nations Capital as a colossal storm system spread misery from the south to the midwest and northeast today. This t tster was spotted in alabama. In louisiana this afternoon another tornado t tched down damaging aizza hut and injuring two. Thehear was shaking. I seen it like coming at me. It was scarere in mississippi a high school nearly crushed when a twister tree, and Mother Nature wreaking havoc in kentucky w wre even snow applause couldnt stay on slickckroads. Major highways finally did reopen after two massive pileups in pennsylvania and indidia this weekend. Its been 30 years. Probably one of the worst crashes that ive ever seen. The east still hasnt thawed out after record low temperatures. On sunday boston hit minus 9. Watertown, new york, saw 37 below and new york city was the coldest its been in 100 years. S. Ive never known cold like that, ever . A warmup is expepeed. By tomorrow were looking at temperaturur that are anywhere from 5 to alalst 20 degrees above average. Lots of rain. Airport delays. We go from frost to flooding. Reporter an upcocong thaw that may bring everything but relief relief. Kristen dahlgren, n n news, new york. We turn overseas now wherer dozens of civilians including children have been reported in air multiple hospitals and a s sool were hit. Nbcs keir simmons has gotten rare access inside syria, and as he reports this all comes the same week that a tentative asefire is supposedd to take effect. Reporter a desperate search for survivors. At least 3 hospitals wards wrwrked. Estimated 50 dead, the u. N. Says. Bies had to be rescued. Is video from opposition activists of a newborn in the arms of a firefighter. We dont know the babys name or who the mother is. We have seen manyy childrdr, and i have seen many, many women, they were injurur and they were dead. Reporter hospitals were a deliberate target. Doctors without rders claim, accusing russia or syria. To be today a doctor or a nurse in in thth area controlled by the opposition, its equal to being a criminal. Reporter 700 alal care workers have been injured or 112 medical facilities were hit in 2015. Seaterian ambassador to russia claim u. S. Strikes destroyed one hospital today, an acquisition the u. S. Led coalition denied. Juststays ago a partial ceasefire wasas anoujsed by secretary of state john kerry and u. S. Allies meeting in germany. This has been a period of intensified boboing, particularly in the north of syria. We havav condemned that in the strongest terms. Reporter today syrian president Bashar Al Asasd says he belieies the ceasefire will be difficult to implememt. Just days froro the deadline for a cessation in hostilities announced by secretary kerry last week,nd there l ltle sign the fighting will end. Keir simmons, nbc news, damascus. Thousand flocked to see pope francis today at a stadium in mexicos poorest state. He met witit families at t t event which fofoowed an enorm presided over earlier. And a moving moment from his visit sterday to a Childrens Hospital when a teenage patient sang ava maria for him earnini a kiss from t t pope and bringing those arororo him to tears. Still ahead here toninit, another warning about common heartburn medications. Why the millionon of americics who take them could be at risk of memory loss. Also, the dangerous midair incident that shook up oneef the pilots aboard an guys, its just the two of you. The setting is just righgh ththes something in the air. But hehesshe thing about half of men over 40 have some degree of erececle dysfunction. Well, agra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. Ask your doctor r your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas for pulmonary hypepepesion yoururlood pressure could drdr to an unsafe level. To avoid longterm injury, seekk immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Experience a sudden decreasese or loss in vision or hearing. Ask your doctor. About viagra. Available in single packs. Tired of working for peanuts . Well what if i told you that peanuts can work for you . Thats right. Im talking full time delivery of 7 grams of protein and 6 essentiaianutrients. Ever see a peanut take a day off . I dont think so. Harness the hardworking power of the peaeat. I take pictures of sunrises. Its my job and its also my passion. But with my back pain i couldnt sleep. So i couldnt get up in time. Then i found aleve p p aleve pm is the only one to combine a sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. And nono. Im back. Were b bk now with the new concerns about the prescription meds that so many people take to treat heartbeat and ascid reflux. 15 million americans take them to block stomach acid and researchers suggested last week that the medications may be linked to kids Kidney Disease and bone fractutus. Now another concern being raised, that there is a link to dementia. Nbcs tom costello has the information you should hear. Reporter 34yearold tara had acid refluxux so bad it made her job as a speech therapist nenely impossible. I actually got vocal fold ulcers and vocal fold nodules from it. Reporter she found relief in a medicicion to block stomach acid, a prototo pump inhibitoto among the most common members nexium, prilosec and prevacid but the drugs have been recently been linked to an increased risk of 75 of those who took the medicatatn regularly had a 75 risk of dementia, 4u7 4 boston and women tatang the medication for at least 18 months were most at risk. I mean, being 34 years old, evenn if dementia wouldnt hit me for another 40 orr 50 years, it definitely concerns me that that that that could be part of my future. Reporter the sigh effects may occur, say doctors, because we actually neeee stomach acid to digest our food, ward off infection and to absorb essential nunuients. Today two of the drugmakers told nbc news the medicines are generally safe and effective when used in accordance with the label and to avoid drug interactions, but many doctors are concerned too many patients stay on the drug too long. If you have heartburn that is mild and itt mob to come off the drugs its probably fwoest dooo at this point. Reporter before todays study tara decided to stop t ting all acid reflex medication. Instead, shes changed the result, no more acid reflux and no side effect from the meds. Tomm costello, nbc news, washington. When we come barks you wont believe who ray d like to see more of ththold lady. Id like to see her go back to her more you know social side. vo pro plan bright minin promotes alertness and mental arpness in dogs 7 and older. ray it was shocking. Shes much more aware. jan e loves ththfood. ray she wants to learn things. The difference has been incredible. vo purina pro plan bright mind. Nutrition that performs. This just got interesting. Why pause to take a pill . Or stop to find a bathroom . Cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction ananthe urinary symptoms of bph, like needing t tgo frequently, day or night. 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