{"id":1849,"date":"2017-04-02T12:26:26","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T16:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=1849"},"modified":"2017-04-02T12:26:26","modified_gmt":"2017-04-02T16:26:26","slug":"mtp-exclusive-senate-leaders-disagree-on-scotus-nominee-mcconnell-gorsuch-will-be-confirmed-this-week-schumer-highly-highly-unlikely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2017\/04\/02\/mtp-exclusive-senate-leaders-disagree-on-scotus-nominee-mcconnell-gorsuch-will-be-confirmed-this-week-schumer-highly-highly-unlikely\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP EXCLUSIVE: SENATE LEADERS DISAGREE ON SCOTUS NOMINEE – MCCONNELL: \u2018GORSUCH WILL BE CONFIRMED THIS WEEK,\u2019 SCHUMER: ‘HIGHLY, HIGHLY UNLIKELY’"},"content":{"rendered":"

McConnell on knowing anything about Trump\u2019s surveillance claim: \u201cThe answer is no\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Schumer calls on Trump and Senate to \u201ccome up with a mainstream nominee\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Former FBI agent Clint Watts: \u201cHow many times the [Trump] campaign picked up on lines that were promoted by the Kremlin, or vice versa, \u2026 was ironic\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

APRIL 2, 2017 — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)<\/strong> told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Chuck Todd that \u201cin the middle of all these other things that are swirling around, there are two things you can depend on: the Senate Intelligence Committee\u2019s bipartisan investigation, and of course, the FBI conducting a criminal investigation\u201d — notably not listing the House Intelligence Committee\u2019s investigation which is currently under scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou asked me if I knew anything about alleged wiretapping by the previous president. The answer is no,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ahead of this week\u2019s Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, McConnell said that \u201cNeil Gorsuch will be confirmed this week. How that happens really depends on our Democratic friends, how many of them are willing to oppose cloture on a partisan basis to kill a Supreme Court nominee, never happened before in history, the whole history of the country.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)<\/strong> exclusively told Todd that \u201cGorsuch will not reach the 60-vote margin \u2026 Instead of changing the rules, which is up to Mitch McConnell and the Republican majority, why doesn’t President Trump, Democrats, and Republicans in the Senate, sit down, and try to come up with a mainstream nominee?\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Former FBI agent Clint Watts<\/strong>, now a Robert A. Fox Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, also joined the show after testifying on Capitol Hill earlier this week about Russian information operations. Watts expanded on the use of Russian propaganda by the Trump campaign: \u201cThe synchronization at times, how many times the campaign picked up on lines that were promoted by the Kremlin, or vice versa, created lines that were then the Kremlin promoted back into the U.S. base, was ironic. It was hard to see that with any other campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

On if Trump was targeted by the Russians to help spread fake news, Watts said: \u201cThey just knew that he was opportunistic during his campaign. So if you put stuff that helps his campaign, he will likely use it \u2026 But they also pushed for Bernie Sanders at times too. They would go on the left and the right. It’s bipartisan.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

This morning\u2019s roundtable was comprised of Robert Draper <\/strong>of GQ and The New York Times, Eugene Robinson<\/strong> of The Washington Post, MSNBC\u2019s Greta Van Susteren <\/strong>and Amy Walter <\/strong>of The Cook Political Report.<\/p>\n

Read the full transcript of this morning\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

For more from moderator Chuck Todd throughout the week, watch <\/strong>MSNBC\u2019s \u201cMTP Daily\u201d<\/strong><\/a> weekdays at 5 p.m., and subscribe to the <\/strong>\u201c1947: The Meet The Press Podcast\u201d<\/strong><\/a> for on-demand interviews.<\/p>\n

MANDATORY CREDIT: NBC\u2019S \u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n