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. welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and all around the world, i'm kim brunhuber this hour on cnn newsroom, the fighting between voisrael and hamas continues but so do negotiations to release more hostages and prisoners. ahead, we'll tell you who the u.s. blames for ending the truce. plus, a historic vote on capitol hill has george santos becomes just the sixth person ever to be expelled from congress, we'll bring you his parting words to his former colleagues. and world leaders at the u.n. world climate action summit are focused on fossil fuels, we'll go live to dubai for the latest on what's coming out of c cop28. >> announcer: live from atlanta this is cnn newsroom with kim brunhuber. it is 4:00 a.m. here in atlanta, 11:00 a.m. in the middle east where combat operations between israel and hamas are heading into a second day following the collapse of a

week long truce. the idf released this video of what it said was a strike against hamas targets operating close to israeli troops in gaza, one of more than 400 targets, the idf says were struck in the past 24 hours. israel has been directing much of its firepower toward targets in southern gaza and released a new evacuation map showing palestinians where they should go. at least 178 people have been killed since the truce ended early friday. despite the resumed fighting a u.s. official says talks to release more hostages are ongoing. the idf believes 136 people are still being held in gaza, including 17 women and children. the families of three more hostages have now confirmed their loved ones are no longer alive. ivan watson is covering this from beirut. what's the latest on the fighting? >> reporter: right, well, in the 24 hours since the truce ended,

the onslaught resumed with ferocity. the israeli defense forces saying they carried out more than 400 strikes in that first 24-hour period. the gaza ministry of health, which is run by hamas, it says that at least 178 people were killed in a that period of time. i want to point out, one of the casualties, it's a journalist, a freelance journalist who was working for turkey's -- agency and he had earlier been injured in an israeli strike that according to the agency's bureau chief in gaza and according to his own media post, social media posts, that air strike had killed at least 45 people from his family, including his mother, his father, his brothers, their children. so that's just kind of one face

of the loss of life now that the hostilities have resumed after that week long respite from the killing. now, as you pointed out, the israeli government says that they're still open, somehow, to resuming the truce, which they're blaming the collapse of it on hamas, saying that hamas was not offering up the names of women that the israeli government and the biden administration believes to be in the custody of hamas, women from the age of 20 to 30, that they say that hamas was arguing were military hostages, whereas the israeli government's saying that they were, no, in fact, civilians who were kidnapped at that nova music festival. take a listen to what antony blinken, the u.s. top diplomat had to say, where he's casting blame on why the hostilities resumed on friday.

>> it's also important to understand why the pause came to an end. it came to an end because of hamas. hamas reneged on commitments it made, even before the end, it committed an atroerks act in jerusalem, killing -- it began firing rockets before it ended and it reneged on commitments in terms of releasing certain hostages. >> reporter: now, one of the militant groups in gaza that is palestinian islamic jihad they've claimed responsibility for firing rockets out of gaza at israeli cities and in the meantime the idf has distributed these maps, that's the israeli military, these maps and leaflets that were dropped over the population in gaza that are

purportedly interactive. they have qr codes that are supposed to indicate safe places that people can go to in the enclave. i do have to stress the fact that electricity is spotty there due to the destruction. people have spotty access to the internet, and also the u.n. points out that 1.8 million gazans, that's more than 80% of the population, has already been displaced by the first month and a half of fighting. so basically you have displaced people who are under bombardment being told to move from one place to another to try to avoid bombardment that is just colossal and ferocious, again, more than 400 targets the israeli military says struck in this small densely populated area in a period of just 24 hours. >> thanks so much for the updates. ivan watson in beirut, appreciate it. hospitals in southern gaza stay palestinian casualties have been mounting quickly since the truce ended early friday.

cnn's ben wedeman has our report, we want to warn you, some of the images in his report are graphic and disturbing. >> the pause is over. now let slip again the dogs of war. still alive, someonene shouts aa baby is carried away from the ruins of a house in rafah, children are rushed into the emergency ward, the united nations estimates almost 40% of gaza's population is under the age of 15, thousands of children have already been killed. and that must stop, pleads unicef's spokesman james elder from a rafah hospital. >> we cannot see more children with the wounds of war. with the burns, with the shrapnel littering their body, with the broken bones. inaction by those with influence

is allowing the killing of children. this is a war on children. >> medediation e efforts to exe the truce came to naught. israel continues to pursue its goal of destroying hamas. just be more careful while doing it u.s. secretary of state antony blinken urged the israelis. >> and i underscore the imperative of the united states that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of the scale we saw in northern gaza not be repeated in the south. >> reporter: by friday evening the death toll since the morning shot past 170 according to gaza's hamas-run health ministry, adding to the nearly 15,000 killed before the truce. this man came to the -- baptist hospital in gaza city in search of his little brother only to find him in a body bag. ziad is dead he cries into the

phone. inside medics struggle to save the life of a 2-year-old girl gravely wounded in an israeli strike. since friday morning says hospital volunteer, we've wrapped more than 40 m martyrs from vararious areas w who were bombed in their homes. there's still a chance the truce could be in need of hamas and israel can come to a new agreement, the people of gaza cannot afford to wait. ben wedeman, cnn, jerusalem. let's bring in -- in ramallah, the care country director in the west bank in gaza. thank you for being here with us, we just saw in that package what the resumption of war means for so many people. tell us what you are hearing from your people there in gaza, particularly how this is affecting the most vulnerable.

>> reporter: good morning, kim, so over the last seven days it was a moment for everyone to do two basic things. the first one is to try to understand the level of impact they have on person and life, but also just try to secure some of the basic needs that they were in massive need to. the first part, and of course this includes my colleagues, was very massive in terms of losing their houses, getting to know more confirmation on the people that hay love and lost, and secondly they were not able to secure most of the needs that they have. and the overcrowded shelters that we shab sharing with you all the information around, the lack of food, the lack of fuel, the collapsing medical system continues to have that, seven days of a pause was very important to secure some aid entering, was not enough with the end of the pause, the new map that was just shared on the report by the colleagues and cnn

makes it very difficult, and scary for the people to know that they need to evacuate again for the sixth or seventh time. where they are expected to move to overcrowded shelter in winter with the outbreak of the diseases. >> that's the problem when they're being asked to evacuate, the question is, where do they go that's safe? >> this is exactly what our colleagues were asking us, where to go, we don't know, even the colleagues, they don't know where to go to. there are no places enough to receive people. the designated safe places in these maps refer to the u.n. designated shelters which are already extremely overcrowded and people are sleeping in the outdoors. so they have no place to go to, even in the -- that are not, that are marked for safe, certain locations were bombed yesterday. >> and, you know, you're talking about and seeing in that

package, i mean, the acute dangers of the bombings and then there's sort of the slow motion crisis of disease as well has as you say in these overcrowded shelters, more and more people forced into ever smaller areas with even fewer resources. >> exactly. so already, before, before the pause, the speed of that disease -- reached five times quicker compared to the normal similar conditions of that -- of weather or seasons, now we expect this to even more and more to be much, much bigger with the lack of hygiene practices, the collapsing medical services, where you cannot access medication related to certain diseases and the outspread of water borne diseases and now the cold winter. >> yeah, and the fear is that more people could eventually die from those things, from disease and exposure than to, you know,

injuries from the war. but it's not just the physical health that's in jeopardy, i mean, people had, you know, a week's break from all the attacks, now talk to me about the sense of despair, the mental trauma that must be getting worse day by day, especially for children. >> i can't thank you enough for asking this question so we can give the chance to share what my colleagues were telling me. kids specifically, over the last period, already suffered a lot, with the seven days that had happened they were able to take the breath again, able to go around, even for them, and quoting my colleagues, we were able to see our kids and grand kids' smiles again, with the beginning of the -- with the end of the truce in the morning, with the first bombs, sounds we hear, they were terrified because they thought as kids that this has ended. so imagine reinitiating all of that again, terrified parents understanding what they have already discovered during the

pause with all the losses, and getting themselves prepared for the future with these very scary let me say maps that they have received dividing the blocks in the south into very small blocks where you don't know exactly where you have to go. >> tough for so many people. i really appreciate getting your insights on the situation. hiba tibi in ramallah, thank you so much. >> thank you. if you would like information on how you can help with humanitarian relief efforts for gaza in israel go to cnn.com/impact and there you can find a list of vetted organizations that are providing help, that's at cnn.com/impact. well, friday saw developments in several legal cases involving former u.s. president donald trump, a washington, d.c. federal appeals court ruled trump can face civil lawsuits related to the january 6th, 2021 riot, the decision will have implications in several cases against him. later friday trump lost his bid

to get federal charges against him dropped in the d.c. election subversion case. the district judge tanya chutkan rejected and refused to dismiss. professor ryan goodman has more on her decision. >> so can jack smith prosecute president trump or does he have immunity for the actions he took while president. the answer is, you can prosecute somebody and there's one important line in her opinion, she says defendants trump's four-year service as commander in chief did not bestow on him the divine rights of kings that governs fellow citizens, it's a huge opinion in this case because it means that jack smith can go forward unless she's overturned by the court of appeals, but that shouldn't be happening. >> also friday trump's lawyers appeared in an atlanta court first time in connection with georgia's election subversion case. they argued that the indictment should be thrown out because it violates free speech adding that

if trump wins the 2024 election, the trial would need to be postponed until after his term. now, former congressman george santos was expelled from the u.s. house friday and he's not going quiet in a vote 311-114 santos becomes the sixth person in history to be expelled from the chamber, it comes after an ethics probe found substantial evidence that santos used campaign funds for personal use. santos has been caught lying about his past, and is also under federal indictment for fraud. after the vote santos told cnn, quote, to hell with this place, and declared the house is creating a dangerous precedent for itself. here he is. >> i had no -- >> did you know this was how it was going to go? did you know this is how it was going to go? >> you know what, unofficially no longer a member of congress, i no longer have to -- >> the locks on santos's former

office have already been changed, a special election will be heard early next year to fill the seat. world leaders at the cop28 summit clash over fossil fuels as they look to curb the global climate crisis, live to dubai for the latest that's coming up next, stay with us..

turning to the war in ukraine russia says it's boosting the size of its army by 15%. ukraine's top general has issued a blunt assessment of a long fight ahead. >> reporter: as a harsh winter begins to set in ukraine's war is becoming more difficult, painful and exhausting, as this conflict grinds towards the end of its second year. a stalemate is how the general, commander in chief of the ukrainian armed forces, labeled the war, making international headlines while upsetting president zelenskyy who projects a far more upbeat assessment. but in a rare interview the senior adviser tells me his boss stands by those controversial comments. >> the general was giving an

honest assessment of the war, which was a wake-up call, i think, to the west. >> yes, i agree with you, it's some kind of message and some kind of alarm signal to -- for the riff in society. we are ready to fight our enemy but we need help, we need support. >> reporter: equipment is what ukraine desperately needs, artillery pieces, ammunition, long range missile systems, drones, electronic warfare, and air defense systems. last weekend kyiv experienced how vital those air defense systems are at protecting the population, when russia launched what local officials called an unprecedented number of attack drones on the capital. the general fears if ukraine

doesn't receive advanced weaponry his country faces a very difficult 2024. >> general, is there one specific weapon that would be a game changer in this war? >> i don't think so, but importance of the system is the, i believe, that help us to change the situation concerning the russian air -- superiority of the front line. >> reporter: the problem, however, is that ukraine needs those f-16s now, not in spring of next year, when they're due to arrive. but as russia steps up production, the general's biggest fear is the patience for what is turning out to be a much longer war. >> there are concerns the west is losing interest in this war, and the support is waning, especially in the u.s. amongst republicans. what is your message to those

republicans. >> american support is vital for ukraine, very vital, it's very important for us, what i want said to republicans, they need to understand that now it's your problem to conduct this witar, t if we don't manage to win this war, in future we'll have more problems, not only for our country, for my country, for our populations, but only for europe, a problem for -- also. >> reporter: anna coren, cnn, kyiv. fossil fuels are the top of the list of priorities as world leaders gather for the second day of the u.n. world climate action summit in dubai. the white house is announcing a new rule that would dramatically cut the u.s. fossil fuel

industry's emissions of methane, one of several promises from governments at the summit. bring us up to speed on the latest pledges being made by the u.s. and others there at the summit. >> reporter: well, kim, this is a major announcement by the u.s., through the environmental protection agency, or epa, they are they are announcing much stricter rules when it comes to the production and the offset and the putting off of methane with oil and gas production and exploration. this is important because methane is a much more powerful warming agent than carbon dioxide, and traditionally it's been a bigby product of the oil and gas industry, cutting the allowable methane that will come out of these industries and hoping that this translates to the rest of the world. but the u.s. and other nations, in fact, are ramping up production of oil and gas. i put that question to a leading

climate change expert. you have countries, all over the world, including the uae and the u.s. who are ramping up production of oil. doesn't that completely fly in the face of phasing out fossil fuels. >> yes, it goes in completely the wrong direction, it's really hypocritical, both the emirates and the u.s. are saying they're committed to 1 1/2 degrees but you can't be committed to the paris agreement's temperature limit if you go on expanding fossil fuel production. that doesn't mean we can't make progress here. this is the place where leaders come and have to face the truth about what's happening and i'm still optimistic in a week's time we can walk away with a big step towards fossil fuel phaseout. >> very bold pronouncements on one hand and actions on the other. are the two lining up? >> no, they're not. one of the big concerns that many have about the process here is that we're seeing an awful lot of announcements which are

never followed up. they're never accountable. >> reporter: well, the good thing with the methane rules is that they are enforceable for the epa and the u.s. the worry is that some of these announcements at c.o.p. will be sounding good but not actually acting on reducing emissions. kim? >> david mckenzie in dubai, thanks so much. and thank you for joining us, i'm kim brunhuber for viewers in north america. i'll be back after a quick break, for everyone else, it's "inside africa."

first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones

brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. (car engine revs)k you. (engine accelerating) (texting clicks) (tires squeal) (glass shattering) (loose gravel clanking) welcome back, i'm kim

brunhuber, this is cnn newsroom. our top story, the resumed fighting between israel and hamas. fighting in southern gaza on the ground in the air and with naval forces is entering its second day following the collapse of the truce, israel says it hit more than 400 targets over the past 24 hours. the idf is now warning palestinians in southern gaza to evacuate even farther south as posted an online map showing them where to go. have a look at this, this was the desperate scene as aid trucks were delivering drinking water outside the res crescent hospital to people in the midst of the humanitarian crisis. early friday israel akiezed hamas of violating a deal, it paused the fighting for seven days. during that truce israel was able to recover dozens of hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners and detainees. the idf believes 136 people are still being held in gaza including 17 women and children. despite the resumed fighting,

the talks to release hostages are ongoing. melissa bell is in paris, take us to the latest as the focus of the fighting turns to the south of gaza. >> reporter: you're talking, of sk, about a part of gaza that has most to have the 1.8 million internality displaced palestinians, and that is now the focus of israel's resumed violence there inside gaza, and we've seen those leaflets being distributed that you mentioned a moment ago which appears to be the focus of a great deal of attention, warning them that this is now a fighting zone, and they need to evacuate further south. what the idf says is that this is about protecting civilians and getting them out of the way of fire, but humanitarian organizations point out that there are very few places for people to go. still, this is what the idf had to say. >> it't's not an ideal sitituat in gaza.a. what we e are e doing is the be

thing wewe can in order to disssseminate the ininformation geget it out to o gagazans and e it to them in good enonough tim so that they can actually use it and it can become something that helps them make the right decision. >> there are, of course, questions came about whether people will actually be able to use these qr codes that are on the leaflets, given the very poor reception, the lack of internet services that are so frequent there in gaza. but still, a desperate humanitarian situation that over the course of seven days saw some alleviation in the shape of food trucks, aid trucks that were able to get into gaza. that has now stopped even as the fighting has resumed. >> yeah, and then, melissa, of course, the pope has been getting involved, again, in the conflict, take us through the latest on that. >> that's right, he's been remarkably outspoken and forthright in what he said about the war so far publicly,

describing it not as a war but as terrorism. what we've learned today is more about a phone call that apparently took place between the pope and the israeli president isaac herzog. as the israeli president was explaining the strength of feeling and shock by israelis after the october 7th attacks the pope replied abruptly terrorism could not be an answer from terror. that's the latest, a phone call that took place in october, we just learned about it. the pope being forthright in what he's had to say so far. we didn't know he'd been that fort forthright directly to the israeli president. >> interesting. thanks so much, melissa bell, in paris. we've seen outpourings of emotion many times over the past weeks as dozens of families reunite with loved ones they thought they might never hold in their arms again.

jeremy diamond has one of their stories. >> reporter: waiting 50 days for this moment, embracing his wife and 12-year-old daughter free from hamas captivity. >> i can easily it was the happiest moment of my life. the depth and aptitude of the happiness and the emotion was almost unbearable, in a good way. >> reporter: waking up the next day brought a new flood of emotions. >> i was the first one to wake up and i just wake up and count them, one wife, two kids, and it was so -- it's supposed to be obvious you wake up alongside with your family but for me it wasn't obvious for the last 50 days. >> tell us how they're doing. >> i didn't see anything that's abnormal to this point, they're sleeping well, they're eating well, they're laughing a lot. most of the humor is come from

noam actually. she is giving me a hard time. she's busting my ass with humor all the time. you're too old, not updated, you don't know fashion, you don't know anything. >> reporter: for now the family isn't sharing much about sharon and noam's captivity. >> i can share one thing. this is a matter of privacy, and national security. >> reporter: for the moment they were kidnapped from the kibbutz. until a few days ago you didn't know exactly what happened, what have they told you about that moment, it must have been absolutely terrifying. >> it was absolutely terrifying, and again i don't speak about what happened. >> reporter: he did share his wife and daughter were held alongside four other relatives where noam took on the role of big sister to a 3-year-old and 8-year-old. >> she is a surrogate older

sister for them, and she kept this job all during her captivity, and now the girls are at home, they are adjusting slowly by surely. >> reporter: for his wife that also means fresh grief. >> her brother was killed on the 7th of october. she didn't know what happened. she took it well. it will take time. >> reporter: they are also adjusting to this. realizing that people across israel know their faces, and their story. noam's brother, meanwhile, is savoring the little moments. >> when we eat dinner, and they're -- and my mom brings like a bunch of food that not like most of us won't eat, but she brings it anyway. like little things that you didn't realize how much we missed them, until they actually

happen again. >> reporter: those little moments followed seven weeks of relentless advocacy. but even with his wife and daughter home hen says his work isn't done yet. >> because i tasted the happy ending, i know that my country should do anything to give this experience to all the other members of the kidnapping as soon as possible. >> reporter: jeremy diamond, cnn, israel. gaza residents who had to flee their homes because of fighting now have another problem, the u.n. says about 1.7 million gazans are now displaced, a vast majority of the population. recent satellite images showed up to 50% of buildings in northern gaza are damaged by the war so many people who no longer have a proper roof above their head which they say isn't helping as nights get colder. >> translator: as you can see we were displaced from our homes

without taking anything with us, we now cook over the fire, wash, and cook in a primitive manner. the bitter cold gets intense at night. we did not expect we would escape from our homes and have them destroyed. this means that when we return, we will also live in tents near our destroyed homes. >> getting the humanitarian aid into gaza has become more critical as the fighting resumes, an eyewitness earlier told cnn no trucks were seen crossing into egypt at the rafah crossing after the truce ended. a -- the only way to help in gaza is to pause the fighting. >> there is no other way but for this to end, at least for humanitarian cease-fire, to resume, so that people can be assisted because it's not just a matter of displacement and no space, it's that aid cannot go to these people. >> the u.n. says singer the

weeknd is donating 4 million meals to the world food program, more than 1 million palestinians in gaza are on the verge of starvation and a humanitarian ca cast ro fee beyond reckoning has been unleashed. adam smith says his home in washington state was vandalized urging a spees fire in gaza, baby says he supports humanitarian pauses in the conflict but condemned acts of violence by political extremes last night on salesmen. >> sadly, the extremes on the left and the right have increasingly seen intimidation, and in some cases violence as a legitimate beto advance their viewpoints. it's very troubling. we've seen it on both sides of the political spectrum. we need to have respect for civil society and representative democracy and know how to disagree with each other without going to this level of intimidation. >> the incident comes as the white house and congress face

mounting pressure to publicly call for a cease-fire in gaza. still to come, the name plate is gone and the rock locks to former congressman george santos's office have already been changed after he was expelled from the house. a look at who else is on the congressional wall of shame. that's coming up. stay with us.

wall street extended its gains on the first day of december with all three indices in the positive territory. the nasdaq and s&p 500 up by more than half a percent after the strongest months of the year. the federal reserve is done raising interest rates even though the chairman jerome powell said it's too early to decide. walmart is no longer advertising on twitter, the social media platform now called " "x," america's largest retailer the latest company to pull

advertising dollars after the owner publicly embraced an anti-semitic conspiracy and told advertisers to go "f" themselves, including disney, paramount, and cnn. an analyst had this warning about the future of the social media platform. quote, if anyone is killing "x," it's elon musk, not advertisers. george santos is no longer a member of congress after his former colleagues voted to expel him from the u.s. house of representatives. now, that action friday has only happened a half dozen times in the nation's history. cnn's brian todd looks back at who else has been ousted and what prompted their removals. >> george santos seemingly always wanted to be thought of as exceptional and now he certainly is. historians say you have to be a special kind of scoundrel to be expelled from the house of representatives. >> it's rare for the house of representatives to expel a

member, it's only happened five times before and now george santos makes it number six. >> reporter: the last one was james -- the flamboyant ohio democrat known for evoking a star trek phrase when he was particularly outraged. >> beam me up. >> reporter: he was expelled from the house in 2002 after being convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion, he served seven years in prison. >> he wore a wig that looked like a musk rat, he was a well liked colorful comedic member in many ways but also a crook. >> michael myers was expelled after being convicted for taking bribes. >> the money talks in this business -- >> reporter: this fbi spinning video shows myers accepting $50,000 to help a fictional arab sheik. three congressman were expelled for joining the confederate

army, then this were members who were not expelled but whose corruption was extraordinary. they had cash hidden in a piecrust of democratic william cold cash jefferson, convicted of bribery in 2009. >> there are a loft places to hide $90,000, a freezer is very inventive and creative. >> reporter: prosecutors said duncan hunter took $250,000 in campaign funds and spent it on video games, groceries and other household teles and a $14,000 italian vacation, then he claimed it was all his wife's idea until she called him out on it in court. >> when you're a thief and a cad simultaneously with your own wife it makes you much less sympathetic. >> congressman william graves in kentucky killed a fellow house member, he was not expelled or censured. in some ways scandal has become part of the fabric on capitol

hill with more than 11,000 people having served in the house throughout american history. >> i suspect that as long as money and power cohabit the same place corrupt individuals will try to take advantage of that nexus. >> reporter: some can't shake the habit. michael myers the congress convicted more than four decades ago is back in jail. sentenced last year for taking bribes in a ballot stuffing scheme in democratic primaries, he's 80 years old. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> desperate housewives star felicity huffman is speaking out for the first time about her role in the college admissions scandal known oz varsity blues. she falsified her daughter's s.a.t. scores, the crime that sent the emmy-winning actress to prison. the oscar nominee recounted the moment she was arrested. >> they woke my daughters up at gunpoint, again, nothing new to

the black and brown community. then they put my hands behind my back and handcuffed many e, and i asked if i could get dressed. and i thought it was a hoax. >> just ahead, law and legacy, remembering sandra day o'connor, who was once called the most powerful woman in america. stay with us..

former u.s. supreme court justice sandra day o'connor died friday in arizona at the age of 93. o'connor was the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court. cnn's jessica schneider looks at her life and career. >> reporter: sandra day o'connor grew up a cowgirl from arizona, 25 miles from the nearest town. >> i tend to be a bit of a pragmatist, probably, because we had to solve all our own problems out on the ranch. if the truck broke down we had to fix it. if some animal needed medical attention we had to provide it. there wasn't much we didn't have to do. >> reporter: she had the

toughness ranch life can breed. >> she was incredibly fearless about life, and part of that was because her early life was very hard. her parents died. her grandmother died. she was shuttled back and forth between the ranch and relatives in texas to go to school. and she just became very self-sufficient. >> reporter: o'connor went to stanford in the same law class as future chief justice william rehnquist. they dated for a time and he even proposed. she turned him down by they stayed lifelong friends. upon graduation no law firm would hire o'connor so she eventually helped start her own, later becoming a powerful state lawmaker then judge. >> president reagan today settled the question of when he would nominate a woman to the highest court. >> she is truly a person for all seasons, possessing unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good. >> reporter: in 1981 president

ronald regular began nominated her to be the first woman. the senate confirmed her snamsly, 99-0. in 1988 the justice survived a breast cancer scare, and returned to work just ten days after surgery. her dry western wit remained intact. >> the worst was my public visibility, frankly. there was constant media coverage. how does she look? when is she going to step down and give the president another vacancy on the court? >> reporter: over time o'connor became known as a moderate conservative on the court and often the swing vote on hot button social issues, a reference she didn't like. >> we have an equal voice and i'm no more powerful than anyone else on this court. that's for sure. >> reporter: some criticized her as a fence sitter waiting to see which way the wind would blow.

>> those would be the people who never met her. anyone who's met her knows she makes up her own mind and she's not at all concerned with how anybody else is on the spectrum. >> her most well-known upholding abortion rights, supporting the university of michigan law skeels affirmative action program, and citing with her colleagues in george w. bush in bush versus gore. in 2006 she stepped down from the court who care for her husband john who had alzheimer's disease. she became a nagts advocate for alzheimer's research. >> it does take a stagger toll on the families and the caregivers. i can certainly attest to that. >> reporter: in 2018 o'connor revealed she, too, had been diagnosed with dementia and withdrew from public life. the retired justice was grateful, she wrote, for her countless blessings and experiences, including helping to break the glass ceiling. >> it wasn't too many years

before i was born that women in this country got the right to vote for heaven's sakes, and in my lifetime i have seen unbelievable changes in the opportunities for women. i think it's important, women are well represented, that it is not an all-male governance, as it once was. that wraps this hour of cnn newsroom. i'm kim brunhuber, i'll be back with more news in just a moment.

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