democratic president would be eulogizing her today and republicans and democrats alike are coming together to pay tribute to her legacy. >> mark, thank you so much for offering your wisdom and perspective on all this. that will do it for us today. josé diaz-balart picks up the special coverage of the funeral for the late justice, sandra day o'connor, right now. good morning. it's 11:00 a.m. eastern, and 8:00 a.m. pacific. welcome to the coverage of the funeral service for the late justice, sandra day o'connor. president biden and justice roberts will be leading the tributes. the funeral service comes one day after she lay in repose of the court building where she

served. with us to start off our coverage, nbc news white house correspondent, monica alba, at the washington national cathedral, melissa murray, a former law clerk to sotomayor, and laura jarrett, and presidential historian, michael beshlash. >> reporter: josé, we will hear from the late justice's son in addition to her biographer. as you will hear from president biden and chief justice john roberts, it's remarkable because both of them really first met her in 1981. john roberts was working in the reagan administration, in the white house, he was helping to prepare her for her confirmation

hearing, and then, of course, senator biden was somebody questioning her as part of the process, and who engaged with her and even told her that she should use the fact that she was going to be this trailblazer, this first woman to serve as a supreme court justice as something she could use to go out and push the equal rights amendment forward, for instance, and that's something sandra day o'connor pushed back on, saying that would be part of her judicial ethics, and then president biden said it would be a big part of her legacy, and that's something you will, no doubt, hear from the president as he recognizes her as an icon and trailblazer, and he always found she did try, at least, to arrive at a common ground, which is something that the president said in his statements after her passing was something that he

admired, and that i think you will see reflected here today. of course we are seeing the supreme court justices, the current ones on the bench who are here to mark her passing, and you will hear from her family and biographer. in terms of the arc of her live, and the fact that she was really somebody that approached this in a way that the president and everybody else, even if they didn't agree with her completely ideal logically. >> melissa, i think that what monica was saying, sandra day o'connor was known for that, and

how did that cement her legacy? >> well, for much of her tenure on the court, she was so insistent on a moderate path, very much with an ear to the ground where the public was, and she's one of the last justices to have a political career. it used to be a very common profile, and she's the last justice to have come from politics, and she believed the court's legitimacy depended on being in step with the people. i think that's probably right. she was the person who provided the necessary vote for a number of hot-button issues, in planned parenthood versus casey, the case that upheld roe v. wade, she was part of the justices that sought a compromise, and she was the fifth vote to

salvage affirmative action. she left the court after seating george w. bush as president, and alito filled her seat, and he wrote the decision, the dobbs decision. >> she expressed regret over her vote that day? >> that was interesting. she was not one to express a lot of regrets. in this particular case she did say perhaps there may have been misgivings, but she was not that equivocal about it. the one case where she did have reservations was in a case that she truly believed they may have gotten that wrong in judicial independence. >> i know you and her husband very well, michael.

how do you remember her? >> personally, this was somebody with perfect manners and kindne aot of that in public, but always a spine of steel. she was always her own person, for instance, and she would invite friends over from the supreme court and cook for them. our families were together in williamsburg a few times, and my children at the time were maybe under the age of seven, and at the ages of seven and five, i am sad to report, they may not have had perfect behavior, and i would tell them, if you don't behave i will have justice o'connor put you in the stocks, and they say would she's too nice. >> i love that. the importance of manners,

right, michael? >> yeah, we all try to teach our children. >> we do, indeed. she was a trailblazer in many ways, and she was a first in many things. the first woman to serve on the u.s. supreme court. also the first woman in the country to be state senate majority leader. >> yep. >> anywhere, anytime. what is her legacy at the supreme court? >> she is the avatar of a political age and an age on the supreme court that was only 42 years ago when ronald reagan appointed her, but that age, that sub culture no longer exists. it's like ancient pompeii. think of this, josé, in 1981 ronald reagan had to make an appointment to the supreme court. he was the most conservative president at that time in modern times. oddly enough, if you think about it during the 1980 campaign, the year before he made a public promise to appoint the first

woman to the supreme court. that was influenced largely by political handlers who knew that the president was not a warmongerer and would try to negotiate with the soviet union, and one of the others was i would be the first president to appoint a woman. that was there. look at the way that appointment happened. nowadays a republican president, if you look, for instance, president trump, four years before president biden, their records would be carefully looked at to make sure they would be relied on to have conservative positions, especially on roe v. wade and abortion rights, and the president and his entourage met with the candidate concerned and got a good idea of the way they

would behave. contrast that with ronald reagan and sandra o'connor, summer of 1981. reagan barely met her and she knew little about her. he got recommendations from people that knew her in arizona, like senator barry goldwater, who was considered at that time to be mr. conservative, and in the world of 2023, he would be at least a centrist. the fact that ronald reagan, this conservative president wound up appointing justice o'connor, and she had the affect of preserving roe v. wade, and more moderate than the conservative people ever expected, that was a direct influence on the sub culture that we have now, which is never again with a president, especially on the republican side, appoint a justice of the supreme court without knowing

who she is, and without microscopically looking at her voting record or her record in general and assuring conservatives that this is going to be a strong of conservatives they could find, and to conservatives today, sandra day o'connor is the opposite of that. >> i am wondering if any president would act that way in 2024 or going forward -- >> absolutely. absolutely. >> since sandra day o'connor joined the court, five other female justices joined. >> ruth bader ginsburg used to joke when people would ask her in interviews how many women needed to be on the court for the court to reach equality, and

justice ruth bader ginsburg used to say nine. i don't know what o'connor's position was on that, and she sort of had an internalized pbg anxiety feeling like if there was a misstep or if in anybody's eyes she was not up to the task there would never be another woman on the court. and a woman of her generation feeling that immense amount of pressure there. the court has become more fractured since her time on the bench. i think we have seen it on certain opinions and how they talk to each other, and certain tone and tenor i feel has been exhibited in the justices in a way o'connor thought was not a good idea, and her position was

certainly that if there were disagreements those should not be aired in public, and she was a fan of movie nights and barbecues and was the social glue, i think, for the court at that time. >> laura, melissa, michael and monica, if you would stay with us. we will continue this conversation going forward. we will take a short break and we will be right back. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc on this day of celebration and in thanksgiving for the life of sandra day o'connor. ♪ (husband) yoohoo, surprise! (son) dad? (husband) ♪ hey there family! while you're shopping, ♪ ♪ get me a 5g phone, it's on my list. ♪ (wife) seriously? a better plan is verizon. (husband) they'd take this mess? (caroler) ♪ very much so. just trade in that old phone. ♪ ♪ for a free 5g phone, plus netflix and max ♪

(wife) you really just should have done that. (caroler) ♪ this didn't land, she didn't like that. ♪ (husband) honey! i immediately get it! (avo) this holiday turn any samsung phone, in any condition, into a galaxy s23+ on us. and now add netflix and max to your plan for just $10 a month. save big this holiday. only on verizon. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease.

♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. ♪ today, my friend you did it, you did it, you did it... ♪ centrum silver is now clinically shown to support cognitive health in older adults. it's one more step towards taking charge of your health. so every day, you can say, ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with centrum silver.

my daddy's a cowboy, i'm a cowboy and i'm raising a cowgirl. and discovering that my family come from farmers for generations. this life is in our blood. give the gift of family heritage with ancestry. i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

back now to our breaking news coverage of the funeral of supreme justice sandra day o'conner. monica alba is at the washington national cathedral. melissa murraya former law clerk to justice sotomayor, and laura jarrett, and presidential historian, michael. sandra day o'conner was a pioneer in so many things in so many ways. >> yeah, that's exactly right. not only was she the first woman to serve on the united states

supreme court, and she was, as you mentioned earlier, the first woman to serve as the majority leader in the state senate in arizona, and as you noted, ronald reagan made the promise to appoint a woman to the supreme court. the problem, of course, is that the republicans had a poor track record of appointing women to the lower federal benched. jimmy carter, as the democratic president preceding reagan did a great job integrating both courts with minorities and women and none of those appointees were women, and when reagan was looking for his nominee, he couldn't look to the federal bench and he had to cast a wider net and found sandra day o'conner who was in arizona. she had been a standout student at stanford law school and could not find a job upon graduating and she was given an offer to be a legal secretary, and she

raised her children and was active in the goldwater campaign, and that's when she began to make the political connections and that brought her to the attention of reagan. >> as the ceremony is about to begin. michael, things were so different in so many ways, how reagan went about finding her and deciding it would be her. and then, michael, the confirmation for her, 99-0, to quote dylan, was in another lifetime so it seems. >> yeah, dylan was not thinking about this, but that's it,

ronald reagan, when he chose her, he harkened back -- i don't think he did it for this reason, but some of the early founders hoped the supreme court would have politicians on it, people who had run for office, and knew public opinion and knew how to form coalitions, and when dwight eisenhower appointed a justice, he picked earl warren, and that brought together the ruling for brown versus the board of education. that was another way that sandra day o'conner was a welcomed throwback to that earlier period, just as melissa was saying, she served in the state

legislature, and she felt comfortable thinking for herself. the thing we were already all talking about this morning was the fact that when she came on to the court in 1981, this was not a predictable vote then or when she retired in 2005. she always thought for herself. she made relationships with other people on the court and often times had very unpredictable views on issues, for instance, she did not stay on the court long enough to rule on citizens united, which brought a lot of money into politics and much more direct involvement of political organizations than there had been before. in her retirement she said she probably would have voted against that and thought it was a bad development. >> i am old enough to remember, unpredictable vote possibilities. >> you and me both. >> laura, just -- how do you see the justice, you know, justice

o'connor's influence still being felt on the high court today? we are talking with michael about how things are different in so many ways, and is there something you still see as being something that she has been able to keep? >> if we were talking a few years ago, josé, i would say for sure on the issue of abortion. her trajectory sort of personally and on the bench was pretty remarkable. this is somebody whose personal views were adamantly against abortion, but in the '90s, she was the key vote that upheld the constitutional right to an abortion in planned parenthood versus casey, and that was one of the main hallmarks, and she

had a huge impact and the coalition building, but it's really the vacuum, i think, that is felt right now, the idea that those are decisions that have been all but wiped away and gutted and in some ways the justices themselves reflecting back the fractured nature of the country, as you two were just discussing, sort of the predictability of votes. not on everyday decisions, but on the big ones, the ones that touch on social issues, and the key issues that people really care about, about their rights and liberties. those that became fairly predictable and entrenched in two blocks. >> yeah, the predictability of the unpredictable. melissa, in her tribute just

yesterday, justice sotomayor, who has been a trailblazer herself, and you clerked for her, and she referred to sandra day o'conner as her life role model. what do you think she meant by that? >> she admired justice o'connor's trailblazing work in the judiciary, and it was something that justice sotomayor when she was a judge on the second circuit modeled that with her colleagues, and we had lunches with all of the chambers with whom we sat, and we spent a lot of time just building bridges and relationships. she relied on a lot of those relationships in her work. unclear whether she is able to do the same kinds of things at the supreme court given how polarized it is now, and that's

something she modeled after justice o'connor. and her work with a video game company that makes games that teaches children civics was something she inherited and does in remembrance of justice o'connor. >> the giver of life, and will -- >> this is the moment where they are having the reception of the body there in washington, d.c. you know, one of the things -- laura, just reading about her a little more, her favorite quotes, it was something she got in a letter from a supporter. she said she would often times recite this. it said, justice o'connor, do not be intimidated by the men, and you put on your robe.

in so many ways, she was very clear on that. >> she was. as i mentioned, she was somebody of her generation and was used to being in rooms where she was the first and only. at the time when she came on the bench, there was not a women's restroom close to the bench in washington, d.c. and they had to repurpose one for her to use, and she was comfortable being in the male-only spaces. president biden really implored her to use her platform and to use her voice and to not shrink away and to not forget the fact that she has the ability being the first and being the only female on the court at the time to make change. it will be interesting to see if he echos any of that in his remarks today during his eulogy,

josé. >> melissa, just thinking about what we say, what laura was just saying, you know, and this is somebody that, you know, after graduating from stanford university, she couldn't find a job and was only offered legal secretary positions. this is how just times have changed so drastically in so many things, and yet in so many others we still have a long way to go. >> that's exactly right. she had a similar trajectory to justice ruth bader ginsburg, who also faced issues because of her gendering and this was a very common refrain for women lawyers at that time.

we saw that justice o'connor led to justice ginsberg, and then sotomayor, and now these women are doing this while they are mothering school-aged children. this really has come full circle. neither ruth bader ginsburg or sandra day o'conner -- >> melissa, michael, monica, thank you. we now will take you into the cathedral for the services. [ bells tolling ]

[ bells tolling ] i am resurrection, and i am light says the lord. whoever has faith in me shall have life even though he dies. everybody who has life and has committed himself to me in faith shall not die forever. as for me, i know that my redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. after my awaking he will raise me up. and in my body i shall see god. i, myself, shall see and my eyes behold him who is my friend and not a stranger. for none of us has life in

himself and none becomes his own master when he dies. for if we have life, we are alive in the lord. if we die, we die in the lord. so then whether we live or die we are the lord's possession. happy from now on are those who die in the lord. so it is, says the spirit, for they rest from their labors.

good morning. i am the dean of washington national cathedral, and on behalf of marianne buddy, and all of us at the cathedral, we are honored to hold this service today and we welcome you all to this house of prayer for all people. we say good-bye today to a remarkable human beings, justice o'connor was a leader, a trailblazer, a model and a patriot. a devoted member of the cathedral community, she was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule on the bench

to serve two terms, a total of eight years on the chapter, the governing board of this cathedral. always a person of deep faith, she held firm to the highest ideals of her religion and her country. during the funeral for president reagan, justice o'connor stood right in this spot and read from a 1630 sermon by john winthrop, which he wrote now the only way to provide for our posterity is to do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with our god. sandra day o'conner did all three throughout her life and her career, and we are a better country because of it. thank you.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ to the o'connor family, my

wife, jill and i, send our love on behalf of a truly grateful nation for her service. i am humbled to be asked to speak today. to the members of the clergy, the chief justice, justices of the supreme court past and present, members of the bench and bar, members of the congress, distinguished guests and fellow americans, more than 40 years ago on a wednesday in september, 1981, the judiciary committee came to order. i was the ranking member of that committee, and the days' business was momentum. the nomination of sandra day o'conner to become the first woman in american history to

serve as a supreme court justice on the united states supreme court. announcing her nomination earlier that summer, president reagan described her as, and i quote, a person for all seasons and it she was a person for all seasons for the world through her extraordinary service as a justice and, i might add, as a citizen. gracious and wise, and civiled. she broke down the barriers of the legal and political worlds, and the nation's consciousness. to her the supreme court was bedrock, the bedrock of america.

it was a vital line of defense for the visions of our republican. not to pursue power for power's sake, but to make real the promise of america. the american promise it holds, we were all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. the high court, she said, in her opening statement, and i quote, is a body to which all americans look for the ultimate protection of their rights. it's the united states supreme court that we all turn when we seek that which we want most from our government, equal justice under law. end of quote. equal justice under law is as

noble aspirations, and one that sandra day o'conner pursued her whole life. the last justice to have held elective office, she was aspecially conscious of the law's real impact on peoples' lives. one need not agree with all her decisions in order to recognize that her principles were deeply held and of the highest order. that her desire for civility was genuine. her trust in the capacity of human institutions to make life better is what this world was abiding. how she embodied such attributes under such pressure and scrutiny, and help empowered generations of women in every

part of american life, including the court itself, helping to open doors and secure freedoms and prove that a woman can not only do anything a man can do, but many times do it a hel -- a heck of a lot better. excuse my language. our schools and our community centers, and families and in our friendships, yes, america's a land of rugged individualists, adventurers and entrepreneurs, but she knew no person is an island. the fabric of our nation, we are all linked and for america to thrive, americans must see

themselves as not enemies but as partners in the work of deciding our collective destiny. that's the essence of our national experience. a sacred call to democracy she devoted her life to, one that we must continue. i will close with how she closed her opening statement on that september day 42 years ago. she spoke about the power of family. family being the hope of the world, the strength of community, the relationship between ourselves and generations to follow. to her sons, scott, brian and jay, how she admired your intellect, and you may recall that hearing your sense of adventure. we all recall on that day and

all the years after how much she loved your dad, a brilliant lawyer that always, always, always supported her. to the entire family, including the grandchildren, and how hard all these years have been to watch a disease that robbed them both and all of you of so very much, but i hope -- i hope you hold on to what is never truly lost, the love both of them had for you, a love you had for them. a love they shared so freely, and a love you returned with equal devotion. what a gift. what a gift. i hope you find comfort.

the countless families she helped by speaking about your family experiences, it matters. on that opening statement on that day in september, she mentioned how your parents got married in december. here we gather today, a day before what would have been their 71st wedding anniversary. i know the anniversaries and the birthdays, the moments big and small, will be hard without them. but as the saying goes, memory is the power that gather roses in winter. i hope you find the strength knowing your mom and dad are together again this december, gathering roses in winter once again as great americans, both,

great americans for all seasons. may god bless sandra day o'conner, an american pioneer. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> when sandra day o'connor was a little girl growing up on the vast and majestic lady b ranch, she asked her father, why don't we go to church on sunday?

mr. day answered, well, church is too far and the preacher is no good and, he said, church is all around us here. in washington, justice o'connor found her church. on many sundays, she read scripture in the bethlehem chapel here at the national cathedral. her temple, you might say, was the white marble building on 1st street northeast. when she got to the supreme court in september 1981, she was the first woman justice in our history in 200 years. on tv, millions watched as a handsome self-possessed woman disarm the senators. the vote to confirm her was 99-0. the headline on the cover of

"time" read, justice at last. the law, like much else in our society, had long been dominated by men. sandra day graduated near the top of her class at stanford law school, and was able to get only one -- one job interview at a law firm. not for a lawyer's job. the lawyer interviewing her asked, how well can you type? she was never bitter. she went to the local d.a.'s office and asked if she could work there. i have no money to pay you, the d.a. said. i'll work for free. i don't have any space for you. i can sit with your secretary. he hired her and eventually even paid her. so on she went, never looking back, never looking down. returning to arizona, she was elected the first woman majority leader of a state senate

anywhere in the united states. not all the men were glad to see her. i asked a senate staffer how she did it. he answered, she was smart. she was also brave. and importantly, she knew how to listen. when sandra day o'connor arrived at the u.s. supreme court, she found the place to be cold and not just because she missed the arizona sun. at the court's weekly lunches, only about half the justices showed up. so she made it her business to make the justices come to lunch. not to talk about cases or argue over the law, but to get to know each other. if they didn't go to lunch, she would go to their chambers and sit there until they did. when justice clarence thomas came on the court he later told me, he didn't much feel like

going to lunch. but after conference, justice o'connor would walk with him down the hallway saying, clarence, you need to come to lunch. so finally as he told me, i started going to lunch. he felt he belonged. he said, she was the glue, the reason this place was civil was sandra day o'connor. justice o'connor, who had rounded up cattle as a teenage girl, expected you to do your job thoroughly and without complaint. one of her law clerks taped on the wall a photocopy of justice o'connor's hand with in message, if you want a pat on the back, lean here. she was tough, and she could be, as she called herself, bossy. every year she marched her clerks off to look at the cherry blossoms, even when it was 40 degrees and raining. she took them on fishing trips.

when she caught a really wig one, she would yell, hot digity dog. make time for your family, take care of yourself, get exercise and experience the outdoors. have a sense of the wider culture. the clerk said, we were getting not just an apprenticeship in law but in life. she was never small minded. the justices can be critical of each other and their opinions. she didn't do that. when one of her clerks included a sharp rejoinder in an opinion she looked up and said, a little snippy aren't we, and crossed it out. she knew how to be selfless. in 1996, there was way landmar

case in women's rights. justice stephens assigned the opinion to justice o'connor as the only woman on court. she said no. this should be ruth's case, she said, turning to ruth bader ginsburg. justice ginsburg told me, i loved her for that. in 24 years, justice o'connor cast a decisive vote in some 330 cases. that's a lot of power. some pundits began writing about the o'connor court. that's not the way she looked at it. she did not like being called the swing vote. she would say, that sounds fickle. she came to view the court as not the all powerful last word but as an institution that's

engaged in an ongoing conversation with other branchs of government, legislators, executives, federal, state, local. she had an uncanny feel for where the country was on difficult issues like abortion rights, affirmative action, and religious freedom. she knew that when progress comes, it should be careful, thoughtful, considered. she knew this from her own experience. it's good to be first, she told her clerks, but you don't want to be the last. how happy she was to see four women justices on the court. she also told her clerks, never be above taking care of people. in 2005, at the height of her power, she decided to leave the court to take care of her beloved husband john, who had alzheimer's. she explained, he sacrificed his

career for me. now, she said, it's my turn to sacrifice for him. she was devoted to the rule of law. she was relentless about spreading the word, traveling all over the globe to do it. after she left the court, she made a crusade of teaching civics to school kids. the program she created now reaches middle schoolers by the millions. civics, civility, the rule of law. she had a kind of civic religion. not just the law that is written down, but the unwritten rules of fairness and decency and the way we should treat each other everywhere and always. how lucky we were that she was the first. how much we miss her.