i am deeply honored to be nominated to fill his seat on the supreme court. thing . my mom and dad are here i am their only child so when people ask what it's like to be an only child i say it depends on who your parents are. i was lucky my mom was a teacher in the one nine hundred sixty s. and seventy's she taught history at two largely african-american public high schools in washington d.c. mckinley tech in h.d. woodson her example told me the importance of equality for all americans my mom was a trailblazer when i was ten she went to law school and became

a prosecutor my introduction the wall came in our dinner table when she practiced her closing arguments her trademark line was use your common sense what rings true what rings false that's good advice for juror and for a son one of the few women prosecutors of that time she overcame barriers and became a trial judge the president introduced me to night as judge kavanaugh but to me that title always belonged to my mom my dad went to law school at night while working full time he has an unparalleled work ethic and it's passed down to me his passion for playing and watching sports i love him dearly the motto of my jesuit high school was meant for others i've tried to live that

creed. i've spent my career in public service from the executive branch in the white house to the u.s. court of appeals for the d.c. circuit i have served with seventeen other judges each of them a colleague and a friend my judicial philosophy is straightforward a judge must be independent and must interpret the law not make the law a judge must interpret statute says written and a judge must interpret the constitution as written informed by history and tradition and precedent for the past eleven years of taught hundreds of students primarily at harvard law school i teach that the constitution's separation of powers protects individual liberty and i remain grateful to the dean who hired me justice alaina kagan as

a judge on hire for law clerks each year i look for the best by law clerks come from diverse backgrounds and points of view. i am proud that a majority of my law clerks have been women i am part of the vibrant catholic community in the d.c. area the members of that community disagree about many things but we are united by a commitment to serve father john engler is here forty years ago i was an altar boy for father john these days i help and serve meals to the homeless and catholic charities i have to spirited daughters margaret in lies margaret love sports and she loves to read lies a lot of sports and she loves to talk. i

have tried to create bonds with my daughters like my dad created with me for the past seven years i have coach my daughter's basketball teams the girls on the team call me coach k. . i am proud of our blessed sacrament team that just won the city championship. my daughters and i also go to lots of games our favorite memory was going to the historic notre dame u. conn women's basketball game at this year's final four unforgettable my wife ashley is a west texan

a graduate of abilene cooper public high school and the university of texas she is now the town manager of our community we met in two thousand and one when we both worked in the white house our first date was on september tenth two thousand and one the next morning i was a few steps behind or as the secret service shouted at all of us to sprint out the front gates of the white house because there was an invalid plane in the difficult weeks that followed ashley was a source of strength for president bush and for everyone in this building through bad days and so many better days since then she's been a great wife and inspiring mom i think god every day for my family. was

. at. tomorrow i begin meeting with members of the senate which plays an essential role in this process i will tell each senator that i revere the constitution i believe that an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic if confirmed by the senate i will keep an open mind in every case. and i will always strive to preserve the constitution of the united states and the american rule of law thank you mr president thank

. you for watching al-jazeera these are pictures live from the white house where president donald trump has just introduced his nominee brett kavanaugh as the next supreme court justice can i began his career as a client to justice kennedy who is retiring at the end of the month and that suits

whose job he's taking the fifty three year old is popular choice for conservatives because of his stance on abortion immigration and gun rights let's bring in john hendren who's joining us live from the white house he's been listening to that john it's my understanding that nominees normally take about ninety seconds or so that to make a brief speech of thanks to the president for the nomination but mr comey has gone on for much longer than that and of course he's going into a great deal of background about his his family and his legal standing and his his his legal history in the decisions that he's making we can't forget of course this is not the end of the deal he still has to face these congressional these hearings to put him into place possibly by october. that's absolutely right and by picking cavanagh trump has taken on a massive battle one he knew he was going to be taken on and that is because cavanagh has a long record first as somebody who worked in the white house under president

george w. bush and then you know as somebody who worked for kenneth starr who prosecuted president clinton led to his impeachment trial this is a guy with a long paper record the democrats are going to be able to poor through and ask multiple questions they want to drag this thing out until the november midterm elections when they hope they will have charge of the senate and then they could absolutely turn this thing around entirely as you say cavanaugh was longer than most of these justices and the reason they're so short is that they don't want to say anything that would prejudice people either way but you notice he was very careful just to talk about his family about his judicial philosophy saying things like i will rule on the log be independent i believe in a separation of powers that protects individual liberty anyone on to say i will keep an open mind in every case so not a lot there that was controversial that we can expect people to really target but

this is a controversial candidate there is already a protest going on on the steps of the supreme court right now with the national abortion rights action league and other liberal groups opposing this nominee my e-mail right now is filling up just in the course of that speech with liberal or liberal groups opposing this nominee and conservative groups supporting him so the battle has just begun for now thanks very much indeed bruce fein is a former u.s. associate deputy attorney general he's joining us now from washington d.c. we appreciate your time given that the nature of the candidates that were on the list how much of a surprise or not brett kavanaugh to you. i don't think it's a surprise at all i've actually argued cases before him as a litigant as was sitting as in the court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit i think that he had stronger academic credentials than any other candidate she's got a more developed judicial philosophy and you have to remember that

a justice is one of nine and you appoint a justice not only for their own vote but for their ability to sway others and i think cavanaugh was heads and shoulders above the three other candidates on that particular score so i don't think it surprised at all and i do think that most mr trump's presentation in mr cavanaugh was almost was a political campaign peeling less to judicial philosophy than to what people might think they were voting for as a political candidate family values and and bring him forth his action for his family and his and as his parents to show that he's somebody that is a sympathetic character as john was mentioning there senators are going to be grilling brett kavanaugh fairly strongly over the next few months is it going to make much of a difference do you think in the end. i think the answer is no i think in some sense the democrats shot themselves in the foot when they set the precedent of

eliminating the filibuster for all the justices except the supreme court and then with the with the gorsuch nomination even the supreme court then fell away side from a filibuster so they don't have the votes and the fact is a nominee is not going to answer questions like are you going to overrule roe versus wade the abortion case are you going to rule against gay rights in the oberg fail decision upholding constitutional right to gay marriage are not going to answer the question they'll say well look at this now one of the things i think that's been mentioned here is one of the first cases on the docket that he could address is maybe if subpoena issued by mr mohler against mr trump who's going to try to fight it in it will get to the supreme court very fast now the only similar kind of case we have in a situation where a president is looking at a supreme court that composed of people he's appointed is the nixon tapes case in which the four justices he appointed were voting against him and the nixon tapes case and mr cavanaugh despite his general conservative leanings is not at all clear

whether he would uphold the right of a president you know to flout a subpoena issued in the ordinary course of law enforcement because there's precedent in favor of such criminal justice authority so that could be a surprise in this whole exercise we member one of the other surprises that we came from a previous confirmation of chief justice john roberts he was the casting vote that up hailed the affordable care act of president obama so the idea that we're clearly getting set for a whole slew of over rulings in a conservative direction is premature i think as john was talking about there are already protests gathering against this nomination we're seeing some live pictures there from outside the supreme court where people making speeches and so on we are facing the midterm elections in november do you think that this decision is likely to have any sort of bearing any sort of influence on how people might vote and those elections. i do think that's accurate i don't think it's going to have i

don't think the protests are going to have much of any influence on the actual confirmation of mr cavanaugh as a supreme court justice what i do think it's going to do is it's going to i think awakened in greater enthusiasm to turnout for the democrats who are campaigning you listen the supreme court is very very important we need to capture control the senate we need to capture control of the white house in two thousand and twenty because look how important justices are to the future of public policy of the united states but that's only going to be november after there's a confirmation vote so i do think it will and i do think it also helps in some sense give confidence and boy the enthusiasm of the trump supporters who like with gore such a view this is a vindication of his campaign promises but remember this is the second nominee of bush mr trump e.r.d. think capitalized with gorsuch his appointment getting renewed enthusiasm from his base a second appointment is going to be less important on that score why i think it's

going to awaken the democrats more than the republicans is that this nomination is a critical fifth vote that's going to actually change the outcome of the decisions were as gorsuch was a replacing a conservative scalia and so you had a new face but the basic outcome of the cases was the same that's why i think overall in november the democrats will be benefited but let's talk about those two nominations that donald trump has been able to make because democratic and republican governments alike of invariably taken every opportunity they come to stock the deck whatever possible and he was given the opportunity purely by coincidence because the two the two posts came. in donald trump just doing what governments have been doing for many years. no absolutely i mean if you want to take the clearest example of that this was in the liberal direction when franklin roosevelt was elected in one nine hundred thirty six you know he appointed nine justices to the court he failed in this court packing plan but they overturned like

forty cases in only four or five years i mean it was taking a wrecking ball to precedence they were called the lock intervene new york area which was invalidating economic regulation but those those presses were galling by ten pins and most liberals do that was a great great success story for the supreme court and so this is nothing unusual that presidents would naturally seek to appoint justices that they believe will vote for support their political agenda now sometimes they're surprised especially when you have a very young nominee like mr cavanaugh he's only fifty three sometimes what we called the see an evolution they may start on the conservative side and send up liberal like justice harry blackmun or they could stand up on a liberal side and then become more conservative like justice byron white sure remember he's only fifty three years old he doesn't have a huge track record you know compared to some other justices that means that it is destined vote on the supreme court like he has on the court of appeals so they're always no surprise o'henry endings in

a handful of these kinds of nominations bruce fein always interesting to get your point of view on these matters thank you very much indeed for your time. and these are pictures of brett kavanaugh donald trump's nominee to the u.s. supreme court he began his career as a clock to justice anthony kennedy justice anthony kennedy who is retiring at the end of the month and whose job is likely to be taking if he goes through the process of senatorial hearings which are due to find some sort of result in october ahead of the midterm elections which are going to be happening in november he's a fifty three year old and he's a popular choice for conservatives because of his stance on abortion immigration and gun rights. and this is al jazeera these are the top stories the u.s.

president has picked a conservative brett kavanaugh as his nominee to the u.s. supreme court if approved by the senate here replace justice anthony kennedy who is retiring at the end of the month can i began his career as a clock to the not outgoing justice kennedy. in keeping with president reagan's legacy i do not ask about a nominee's personal opinions what matters is not a judge's political views but whether they can set aside those views to do what the law and the constitution require i am pleased to say that i have found without doubt such a person can i it is my honor and privilege to announce that i will nominate judge brett kavanaugh to the united states thank you thank you mr president thank you throughout this process i have witnessed first

hand your appreciation for the vital role of the american judiciary. no president has ever consulted more widely or talked with more people for more backgrounds to seek input about a supreme court nomination mr president i am grateful to you and i'm humbled by your confidence in me a federal judge has rejected a request by the trumpet ministration to allow long term detention of mind going children who entered the u.s. illegally the argument presented by the administration was described as tortured in the ruling by the district court judge earlier the top administration told the courts that the government will not meet a tuesday deadline for reuniting migrant children with their parents a crossing into gaza that provides an economic lifeline to its residents has been

shut down by israel the cattle solemn crossing was the only place between gaza and israel where goods could pass humanitarian aid medical supplies and food will still be allowed through but commercial and industrial products will be blocked israel says it's in response to palestinians launching incendiary comments into its territory. but his government's being thrown into crisis by the resignation of two senior ministers both disagreed with prime minister to resume a strategy for leaving the e.u. foreign secretary boris johnson resigned less than twenty four hours after david davis quit as the chief brags it negotiator both unhappy with prime minister teresa mayes plan for a so-called soft brags it. eight of the twelve schoolboys have now been rescued from a flooded cave in thailand where they were stranded for more than two weeks for more boys and their football coach are still inside those are the headlines coming up next on al-jazeera it's talk to others here by phone.

with you in the world is the ability to. see. the time for change has come. that was the message from malaysia's new dida mahathir mohamad off to his shock victory over the ruling coalition in may. mature who turns ninety three next week is the world's oldest head of states he opposed the political forces he was once a part of the united malaya national organization or i'm no which has ruled malaysia since its independence from britain in one nine hundred fifty seven. malaysia is a diverse nation with millions of muslims hindus buddhists and christians living side by side a contrasting place where the old and new come together. but many malaysians have

been angry in recent years over high level government corruption and the rising cost of living prime minister mahathir has accused his predecessor najib result of steven conduits of millions of dollars and embezzling public funds. this week talked to al-jazeera travels to the malaysian capital to sit down with the man fighting against corruption and for a more united malaysia prime minister mahathir mohamad talks to al-jazeera. or minister thank you very much for talking to al-jazeera he welcomes you stepped aside as prime minister in two thousand and three office serving for more than two decades in the top job here in malaysia but you never really left politics you were still very much a dominant figure within the ruling united malays national organization or know as it's known locally and it's been the monopoly holder of government since

monday. asia gained independence in two thousand and sixteen though you resigned from knowing you set up your own party announcing that you would contest the next elections which are eventually ended up winning surprisingly what is it that made you decide to run again for office at the age of ninety two. when they stepped down in two thousand and three i had no intention of being in politics till but after i stepped down and the new leader takes over. a lot of people came to see me asking me to do something because they were not satisfied with the leadership of the successes my successes. i responded to their the lead tried to advise right. but even with the fifth prime minister i had to resign from the by the and came in to have

fim. sat down and give weight to that was. eventually that this. took over but again. people were not happy because of a lot of scandals and involving him a lot of money was lost so again people came to see me as he me please do something well the big news that interested people internationally about malaysia has unfortunately been the issue of corruption in the case of the malaysian investment fund the one of the billion the hundreds of millions of dollars that have gone missing the chief culprits in this were the most prominent culprits in this is the former prime minister najib razak now he appeared in court on wednesday and is now being charged what evidence is there that he stole money i mean why should people believe that he's guilty and it's not just an attempt by you or your allies to get rid of your political opponents. should that be. the attorney

general has good enough evidence to decide to go to the cause i am not involved in the investigation by i know generally that one of the reasons why the people did in one night to go on and he was defeated in the last election because of the scandals involving huge sums of money. which he was involved in and of course the law must see its costs and e.g. fines the navy does of eggs. and the takes the decision so this is a complete separation here between your role in terms of politics on the drug issue in the way in which the legal process is taking place well when they came back one of or promises was that we will on the separation of powers be three and. exact defend the judiciary so i cannot interfere. with what he wants to do

for promising major claim that the money that was in his accounts we're talking about six hundred eighty one million dollars was a gift from saudi arabia to help in his election campaign now either he's telling the truth in saudi arabia has effectively been interfering in malaysian politics by from being somebody is campaign or he's lying and the money was stolen but he's using saudi arabia to try and cover his tracks would also mean that saudi arabia is interfering in malaysian politics or domestic affairs when last some some money moves. there will be a quote that calls in the bank be issued his taxes being me when that deeply it was given to him as a gift. that money he. had . to be taken as that through. he must provide.

documentary evidence legler letters from the bank and also we want to know these two very generous men we just get the money to give so much money but my point here is that is there is aside from the corruption there is a more dangerous issue which is foreign interference in malaysian politics if we are to say that the money did come from a saudi royal who gave it to him for his election campaign then saudi arabia is funding your political parties which is something that i'm not sure malaysians would be happy about of a foreign country dictating who becomes prime minister and if he's not telling the truth then also saudi arabia is interfering because they're allowing him to use their name to cover up the tracks of investment we're disappointed in that. as not denying that the money was given by saudi. at one time he claims but the clip listen and then he leaves so deal and all that but he

has no proof of these so we can accuse saudi arabia unless of course there is proof that the v.a. is in fake right to interfere in politics this isn't the first major corruption case to plague our government in malaysia in fact when you were prime minister the first time around there were kids asians at the time of widespread corruption among some officials but your critics would say that instead of you purposely investigating that you decided to suck the man who claimed to be fighting gets who was at the time your right hand man deputy prime minister on or ibrahim and thrown behind bars do you still stand by what you did back then where they could be because police reported to me that he seemed vollmann is something that he's regarded it's criminal in the beyond the end of police work i can undo it.

anything to put people in jail it was last seen nine months was a trial that's many human rights organizations international where it was criticized always he went to his people when they have their favorites being put before the court they will see that. he's being many pleated then he said they're right they can me in the position but in that in the law according to the laws of the country it is the court. but if you could go back in time would you have maybe investigated it ever further or done something different for you because you now have a relationship which is yet to be amended and that was before there was before on the b.c.s. a police report the only told me because he is very prominent member of the government beyond that the police and judiciary. takes

action not me so i think i am not to be believed for that. but you were head of state i mean you had your introduce the internal security act as. i did in ten that was a new head lifted from the british and that was used by all the primary sis homilies before me the first the second the third and also there was amendments made to routes that made it more difficult for public protests for example. at during my time there was the interviews the habeas corpus in which several people were released on the beach that there was not selfish in evidence for us to defeat the person during my time before that there was no need to have this court was this can be checked with cause the your predecessor promise and. he

called you malaysia's number one. after your alliance with on or by him and the reports more that you made with him now is that for person on that reemergence of a coalition or friendship or partnership whatever it may be called is this a genuine attempt to rectify mistakes and maybe unify malaysia once again or is it as prime minister najib or former prime minister to play games and act to reinvent yourself and maybe lead you back to power where unknown was eight of one of the major parties tyndall position and if we are going to overthrow ninety all the parties and in no position must form a coalition going on their own by themselves they will never be able to defeat him so he was just headed that we form a coalition and whatever may be may have happened in the past that piece not as important as the attempt to with through an end because when the jeep is than the

east that it will for the country so i'm. myself and many other this in the bus accused me of all kinds of. wrongdoing. and we decided that the boss he's a box now we have to come together because the overthrowing of nine hundred eighty s. far more important than our previous quarter what was the thought or so. far as you're concerned what are the main threats to manager. number one cause he was evolved in a lot of scandals including. accusation of he's stealing money from the government not small amounts billions of ringgit and also there was evidence brought by american department of justice we can ignore all these thing and say well this did not happen no one will believe that did happen so we must make

sure that if there is any basis what the condition then he must go to a court of law when he was prime minister he had many plead that. at the end he general he was he was sacked through hard work or do you believe investigator you far did not investigate here even by just before you were supposed to be for the task in a court of law again you were fired and new men at point then who cleared of any wrongdoing but nobody believes that he was free of wrongdoing now and they he not the prime minister and he cannot menu police.