president obama orders flags at half staff this morning upon the death of u.s. justice ant anyone scalia. >> died in his sleep on a trip to west texas. his death has evoked an outpouring of sorrow. and with his death the campaign season takes on entirely new shape. i'm christi paul. >> and i'm victor blackwell.

>> now setting up an election year fight that should shift the balance of the supreme court. >> this morning we're following reaction from last night's debate. jim acosta from washington, good morning. >> good morning victor and christi. justice scalia dead at the age of 79 while on a hunting trip in texas he was said to have gone to bed not feeling well. found unresponsive in the afternoon. and appointed in 1986 by president reagan. first italian american on the high court. a strong vocal conservative voice. a critic of row v. wade and a dissenting voice in last term's same-sex marriage case. criticized recently for his comments regarding affirmative action. and who will succeed him now? and who will appoint that person.

president obama said he intends to make the nomination in due time. but republicans made it clear in the senate they did it almost immediately they want the next president to fill the vacancy. and just scalia's death and the battle for his replacement on the bench loomed large at last night's republican presidential debate in south carolina. cnn's ryan nobles joins me now with a reaction from the gop hopefuls. they disagreed over a lot last light but on one thing this next pick should go to the next president. ryan good morning. >> jim good morning to you. and while politicians from both sides of the aisle are making sure to honor the memory, the political battle of who will replace him started immediately. >> a moment of silence for justi justice antonin scalia.

>> to get political. >> delay delay delay. >> one by one, the gop candidates plays homage to the conservative lion and predicted any obama nominee to replace him would be unsuccessful. >> no doubt barack obama will not have a consensus pick when he submits that person to the senate. >> promising to nominate quickly and warning senate republicans not to play games with the court. >> for the senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. these are responsibilities that i take seriously as should everyone. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell could on the president to wait and leave the decision in the hands of the voters and winner of the race for the white house. any obama nominee will have a tough time being confirmed. >> the practical consequences that no one will be appointed that is not a consensus choice.

>> and as the president and senate leader squabble, it will be against a backdrop of increasingly visive presidential election. hillary clinton rushed to support obama's right to pick the nominee and the senate to confirm. >> it is outrageous that republicans in the senate and on the campaign trail have already pledged to block any replacement that president obama nominates. the republican candidates vowed to stand in the way and once elected nominate a conservative in the mold of scalia. one of the most important judgments for the men and women of south carolina to make is who on this stage has the background the principle, the character, the judgment and the strength of resolve to nominate and confirm principled constitutionalists to the court. >> setting the stage for a rocky few months in washington with the future of the supreme court

and the white house in the balance. >> and i'm jim, item sure you know these being been on the campaign trail these candidates have already talked quite a bit about who they will nominate. now that becomes even more important on the campaign trail. >> reporter: that is right, many of these candidates often site justice scalia as someone they will want to pick for the circuit court. iowa republican senator came out with a statement last night, saying it's been standard practice to not confirm presidential nominees during a presidential election year. we know that is not the case because justice anthony kennedy

who is the most consequential supreme court justice rights now. he was nominated in late 199 7 but confirmed february 3rd if i'm not mistaken by a vote of 97-0. what do you make of this and how should president obama handle this do you think? >> well i think it is going toeb that one of the big debate, if not the big debit issdebate iss of the year. barack obama will pick someone who he think deserves to be on the supreme court and someone who has a real chance of getting through. but the reality is no one is going to get through this year. in a presidential election cycle as vicious as this one is and is bound to be and is bound to be even worse, there just won't be anybody. so we're going to have till november just a frozen

environment between the white house and the senate over the supreme court nominee. and i think it is going to be the big issue on the campaign trail. >> absolutely. and the supreme court docket is obviously loaded with a lot of important cases. they are every year of course. and, you know, this races the prospect of a 4-4 tie on the supreme court from time to time. what happens next do you think? >> well as you said this is a monumental shift. and we're halfway through this term right now. the justices are coming off their winter recess. and in fact there are big cases this term. affirmative action. immigration. abortion. when the court is split 4-4, that means that the lower court decision stands. there is no precedent shl value and the lower court decision will stand.

there is a challenge to public unions. the unions won at the court and the conservatives liked therm poised to go against the union t if it's 4-4 that won't happen and the unions could win. but it could be different in these other cases. there are a lot of big issues that will be decided or not between now and the end of june. >> and when the president had vacancies during his administration he appointed two women, two women who he thought would be reliable liberals or progressives on the court. sotomayor and kagan. they were not big battles. the congress, the senate essentially went ahead and did their duty there and conceded that the president has essentially the right to nominate who he wants to the high court. who do you think the candidates could be this time around? and obviously this is a very different situation this time around. >> as you said the climate has changed with these confirmation

hearings. and over the years they have gotten more and more difficult. so right out of gate one of the top nominees is a judge named srini srinivasin. his name could be in play. and garland. is another. i think he's 63, 64 and usually a president would maybe won't someone younger but he's can considered a moderate. he might be in play. there are women. and another judge, jane kelly out of iowa she might be interesting for her iowa connections which might attract grassley. and senator klobuchar, for instance. it depends how he's going to make the pick. >> and just very quickly, could the president potentially avoid a bitter partisan battle here if

he were to to attempt to nominate maybe a moderate? and i'm not saying he would nominate a colon powell or bloomberg but somebody rather tempting for the republicans to go along with? could he do something like that to change the dynamic? >> he could try that. and very well might but his idea of a moderate will not be the ted cruz tea party republicans idea of one, hence i think it won't happen. the president will come up with a name. it will be a good one. and it will probably, you know, have a large chance of succeeding after the election if the democrats win. but i see, you know, gridlock. we keep talking about the political gridlock and dysfunctionalism in washington. we're now looking at judicial gridlock. >> thanks for joining us this

morning. lots more to talk about from last fight's gop debate. details on how marco rubio used his hispanic heritage to take a jab at ted cruz who also is a of cuban descent. and we'll hear from scalia in his own words and the importance of the job. >> will you ever retire? >> of course i'll retire. certainly i'll retire when i think i'm not doing as good of a job as i used to. that will make me feel very bad. your path to retirement... may not always be clear. but at t. rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. for over 75 years, investors have relied on our disciplined approach to find long term value. so wherever your retirement journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. call a t. rowe price retirement specialist or your advisor

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the next president needs to appoint somebody with a proven conservative record. >> we are one justice away. >> it is not even two minutes after the death of judge scalia nine children hear their father didn't wake up. his wife sad but, you know, i just wish we hadn't run so fast into politics. >> but they ran into it pretty quickly. but the sunday death of just antonin scalia provided at least a moment in the field that quickly escalated to attacks and joining me, jeffrey, i guess first of all i want to go to you. what did you make of this

eruption between donald trump and jeb bush? i know he likes to tell it like it is but that could be risky down in south carolina. >> well it can and it can't. there is a division in the republican party and the conservative movement between reagan conservatives and as they call them colloquially the bushies. and president bush, 43 and 41 are well loved, well respected, well thought of. but there is a difference on the size of government, there is a role of government. difference with 43 over illegal immigration and he was responsible over comprehensive immigration poreform. >> and just in case viewers

missed. let's play it. >> george bush made a mistake. we can make mistakes but that was a beauty. we should have never de -- we lied. we said there were weapons of mass destruction. there were none. and they knew there were none. there were no weapons of mass destruction. >> i am sick and tired of him going after my family. my dad is the greatest man alive in my mind. and while donald trump was building a reality tv show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe and i'm proud of what he did. >> ben, how do you think this is going to play down in south carolina? >> i think this is one of the biggest vulnerable moments of donald trump's run for the white house. i don't know why he thought this was a good idea. because he literally sounded like you could have taken what he said and put it on the democratic stage and had this debate between hillary clinton

and bernie sanders. this is not something that conservatives are going to connect with. i think it is also a pretty cheap shot, the way that he continues to handle this. and to say you guys lied. his new thing now is to call everybody a liar. but the reality is donald trump during this time frame that he's criticizing was helping harry reed, helping nancy pelosi, was giving six figures to the democratic senate committee to help reelect democrats. so this opens up to that attack. you are saying now you are this republican, this conservative. yet when you are criticizing george bush you were a democrat giving six figures to liberal democrats to undermine the republican movement. and i don't know why he thought this was a good place to start this and to go all in on this and call people liars. the bush family like republicans like george bush especially in national security and 9/11 to use a democrat talking point and

throw that in the face of everybody in the room, i thought i was watching for about 45 seconds of democratic debate. >> it was a soming momee i shocm trump. i've been to trump rallies. he goes after the bush family on just about every occasion they can. they cheer at the trump rallies but they were booing last night. >> trump sort of blamed the audience saying look these are all jeb bush's donors. south carolina is a state that is more military oriented than those who have voted so far and zrump the front runner there. so a big risk. and i also thought it was fascinating to watch jeb bush and marco rubio. two guys sort of battling for the same donor class, the establishment lane, actually

unite on this with rubio chiming in to defend bush's brother. and blaming 9/11 on bill clinton saying it was clinton's fault for not doing anything about osama bin bin laden and that these two who are really competing for a similar pool of votes are were on the same side and tells you about that exchange and about the politics of south carolina especially heading into the primary there on saturday. >> and i guess we'll find out in the coming week here just if there was any damage done to donald trump. it was fascinating television to watch and just sort of unpredictable in terms of what happens next. thank you very much. we appreciate it. we'll get back you do of course. programming note later this week. cnn will host two republican presidential town hall events in south carolina. all six republican candidates will participate. marco rubio, ted cruz and ben carson will appear on wednesday night.

and donald trump, jeb bush and john kasich will appear on thursday night. both events will be hosted by cnn's anderson cooper and will take place live at 8:00 p.m. eastern. opportunity to question the candidates and of course the passing of supreme court justice antonin scalia will be addressed as well. and victor and christi, back to you guys in atlanta. that was some debate last night. i just never thought we would see donald trump and jeb bush go at it over the presidency of george w bush likes that. who would have thought that was the big moment last night but it was. >> and the audience was so deeply engaged. we've seen candidates booed before but last night was something new. next, another big story, the pope celebrating mass in a notoriously dangerous region of mexico. we'll take you there. >> and there is a deadly car pile up. we're talking dozens and dozens

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pope francis in the thick of his visit to mexico calling on bishops to take on the country's drug trade. he says it is a moral challenge to church and to society. >> a mississippi police officer

is recovering after being shot in the head. this happened in clarksdale mississippi. we don't know much about the condition right now. but as soon as we learn more we'll pass that on to you. >> and windchills of negative 40 degrees. can you imagine it? low temperatures in the single digits as record cold is covering the east coast. look at these pictures. you might want to think about just say staying in more valentine's day. wibd chill warnings active now. upstate new york and philadelphia they are expecting a low of 4 degrees today. and snow. >> yeah. and talk about snow? look at this mess caused by snow. a 60-car pile up in pa. three people have been killed. more than 70 part.

this happened on i-78, near fredericksburg. huge mess there. >> justice scalia had a conservative voice that was pivotal on the supreme court most would say. we're talking to a man who knew him so well. one of his former clerks. >> also the tiny town in west texas where justice scalia died. people there are reacting this morning. also, how will this change the presidential campaign?

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for almost 30 years justice antonin scalia was a great mind on the bench. he influenced a generation of judges lawyers and students and profoundly shaped the legal landscape. he will no doubt be remembered as one of the most consequential judges and thinkers to serve on the supreme court. >> the passing of justice antonin scalia silences the voice of the supreme court's most ardent conservative, piers morgan sat down with justice scalia in july 2012 for an in-depth interview. here a portion of that. >> will you ever retire? >> of course i'll retire. certainly i'll retire when i think i'm not doing as good a job as i used to.

that will make me feel very bad. >> and as we sit here now, what would you say your greatest achievement has been as a supreme court justice? >> wow. i think, despite the fact that not everybody agree withes it. i think the court pays more tx to text than it used to. and i'd like to think that i've had something to do with that. i think the court uses much less legislative history than it used to in the past. in the eighties two-thirds of the opinion would be discussion of the debates on the floor and committee reports and that doesn't happen anymore. if you want to talk about individual -- >> on that point, on the history point. critics will say hang on a second, you are such a constitutionalist.

they debated all of that. that is in its way legislative history. >> what is? what? >> the frame of the amendments and -- >> i don't use the madison's notes as authoritative on the meaning of the constitution. i don't use that. i use the federalist papers. not because they were -- the writers of the federalist papers were present. one of them wasn't. i use them because they were intelligent people of the time. and therefore what they thought this language meant was likely what it meant. >> why do you have such faith in those politicians of that time? >> these days, if the current crop of politicians created some new constitution, people wouldn't have the faith that you do. why are you so convinced that these guys over 2 hundred years ago were so right? >> you have to read the federalist papers to answer that

question. i don't think anybody in the current congress could write even one of those numbers. these men were very, very thoughtful. i truly believe that there are times in history when a genius bursts fourth at some part of the globe. like 2000 bc in athens. and i think one of those places was 18th century america for political science. madison said he told the people assembled at the convention, gentlemen we are endangered in the -- engaged in the new science of government. no one had ever tried to develop science before. >> and i certainly do not favor

tinkering with what they put together. >> very memorable interview. and last night piers morgan set out his condolences writing didn't agree with many of justice scalia's views but it was a brilliant man and great of great principle and integrity. rest in peace. >> the flag of the united states outside is half staff, outside of the supreme court. as we remember the life of justice antonin scalia and talk about what's ahead. and joining me on the phone the honorable lee liborman otis. senior vice president and founder of the federalist society, she clerked more ant anyone scalia and after histoni.

>> enormous loss. he was one of the most consequential legal thinkers i think in the whose ever set on the supreme court. and it's going to be an enormous loss for the court and for the country. >> and what you do think his legacy will be remembered as? >> well he would never have said strict constructionist because he thought that you should interpret the law fairly, not strictly or generously but just fairly. i think that that is fundamentally his most important

contribution is basically the powerful case that he made for the view that the constitution is a law and that judges and justices are supposed to follow it and not the other way around. and when he was appointed to the supreme court, almost everyone who was anyone thought this was hopelessly naive and that no smart person could possibly think anything like that. and i think he changed that dramatically. and mainly because he wasn't only smart, he was one of those powerful intellects in the country. and he was also one of the greatest writers who's ever sat on the supreme court. so when he took the views the constitution was a law and when he made arguments based on the original meaning and when he demolished arguments based on other considerations i think it made a huge impact and changed the entire legal conversation. >> and he was a very outspoken figure obviously. what was it like clerking for him? i remember seeing justice scalia speaking once at the college of william & mary. and he is -- you know, he tells it like it is.

as the his style. >> very definitely. i think, you know, one of the underrated facts about him is that he is a new yorker. and people in new york, you know, do tend to say more what's on their mind probably than people do in washington d.c. and actually that was -- that can come as a surprise to law clerks i think. because you can get into a conversation with him. and he'll ask you what you think. and then you tell him and he says oh that's completely ridiculous. but the thing that was key to understanding about that is that he didn't really mean that's completely ridiculous. he really meant explain to me why you are right and why my objection whatever it is is wrong. because he really at the end of the day was about getting it right. >> and what do you think the president can do next now?

do you buy this argument that he could simple wait and pass this on to his successor? this opportunity to select a supreme court justice? i can't imagine any president giving that up? >> you know, i'm not in a position to talk about that. i really want to talk about the justice and his legacy and i think i will leave the political considerations and the what's next to others. obviously senator mcconnell and grassley have laid down some pretty strong markers about that. and so we'll just have to see. >> all right. well there won't be another antonin scalia and thank you. >> thank you for inviting me. >> and the ket of the scalia has already turned political.

last night republicans did not agree on much but they did stand united on when his replacement should be nominated and that is when president obama leaves the scene that. conversation is next. you need a team... ♪ working together... ♪ doing all kinds of jobs. ♪ and the best place to find the job that's right for you is on the world's number-one job site. indeed. how the world works. you have to feel healthy... on the outside ...at your core. trubiotics a probiotic from one a day naturally helps support both your digestive and immune health by combining... ... two types of good bacteria. trubiotics. be true to your health. may not always be clear... but at t. rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings.

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well this morning u.s. marb marshals who had been providing security for scalia are now helping make arrangements for his return to washington. >> the closest town has just eleven people and this morning we are hearing reaction from

nearby residents. >> as many were enjoying dinner and drinks word of his death is already spreadin ining as a conservative news of the supreme court judge's death has him and others concerned about the future. >> awful that it happened because he's one of the ones that forms the opinions that really mean something for us. >> our thoughts were with having obama leaving office soon, being able to appoint somebody on the more liberal side of the scale for a supreme court justice. and that as a moderate republican is not ideal. >> thanks to our reporter from affiliate kvia in el paso texas. let's turn to last night's debate. full of bitter battled and

heated personal attacks but the field found some consensus in regards of the passing ofjustice scalia. jim acosta is joining us locke with root dotcom politics editor and republican strategist. jim, i want to start with you, these debates had been contentious but i think we saw a very different tone last night. even the audience seemed to be more engaged. what do you make of that? >> south carolina is known for its rough and tumble politics. and this was true to form down in south carolina. and i think it was not too surprising that all of these republican candidates were going to go after donald trump. this might be their last chance to take him down. if he wins the south carolina primary and starts to rolling in nevada and the others, his candidacy is going to be very difficult to stop. i did think it was somewhat

shocking so see trump and bush clash. that line works well at his rallies. there were a lot of boos in there so i'm anxious to see what the polling looks like after this debate. it is possible some damage was done to donald trump even though it worked really well with his audience. >> let's look at that moment. . donald trump was very aggressive in going in on george w bush as he comes onto the campaign trail at the start of the week about the decision to invade iraq and 9/11. >> george bush made a mistake. we can make mistakes. that was a beauty. we should have never been in iraq. we have destabilized the middle east. they lied. they said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. and they knew there were none. there were no weapons of mass destruction. >> i am sick and tired of him going after my family. my dad is the greatest man alive

in my mind. and while donald trump was building a reality tv show my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe and i'm proud of what he did. >> these candidates all of them have called each other liar on the stump but now they are doing it face to face. >> i thought it was a smart exchange for trump. i think no matter -- what people keep forgetting is donald trump is not playing to who's in the room. he's playing to people watching and there are lots of independents and lots of republicans who agree, who think the war was a mistake. so we have to remember that drumpb isn't playing this like any normal republican. not like his believes line up with any normal republicans anyway. he's playing to a certain audience that's frustrated with government in general and he scored a lot. >> he's got to play the game in front of him and that is south carolina. so in south carolina the bush name is golden. does this hurt him going into

saturday? >> i think it does. when you looblt at donald trump, he really had two tiered support. on one hand conservatives and evangelicals. on the other hand he has independents. which important in south carolina. open primary state, democrats can vote. donald trump pulls in some of that constituency. but here is the problem with what donald trump said. i happen to fall in the conservative line of his camp. and among conservatives george w. bush has 83% approval. it is fine to say we shouldn't have gone into iraq. i happen to agree with him there. a lot of conservatives do. but to call george w bush a liar. it is just a little too far. george w. bush is a hero to many conservatives and i wish donald trump would dial it back a tad. >> jim s the bush, love this bush adoratiodoration,adoration

>> this has been difficult for bush all along throughout his campaign. all you have to do is look at his signs. jeb, exclamation. they don't say jeb bush. however, he is gambling big that george w. bush will be ab asset in south carolina. that is why he's coming in there. if george w. bush were an even bigger asset nationally i suspect he would have been on the campaign trail sooner. so this can be a drag on jeb bush's candidacy. however having said that and i agree with what kaylee just said, you know, these attacks on george w. bush saying that 9/11 happened on his watch t world trade center on his watch is an example of him not keeping the country safe. that might have been a bridge too far and it is going to be interesting to see if donald trump can handle this moving

forward. at the same time you talk to his supporters. you talk to -- people inside the republican party are as conservative as you find them will say the reason they don't like donald trump is because he tells it like it is. that is his brand. the question is whether or not that brand can hold up after last night. >> kaylee and jason, a single name if you can give it. the winner last night? >> donald trump, but he needs to dial back the george w. bush attack. >> donald trump, donald trump, donald trump. >> all right. donald trump both there. jason, and kaylee, thank you. >> coming up at the top of the hour we remember the life of justice scalia. his sunday deadden death has st

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54 minutes past the hour and the crekremlin reporting putin obama spoke by phone this morning on a wide range of topics, ukraine, syria, isis. of particular concern to the white house is russian war planes targeting also civilians. at mu nick conference, are the

russians listening to these kind of complaints? what do we know about the conversations? >> you can certainly tell the russians are hearing the complaints and hearing them loud and clear from all arnett but seem to be impervious to it. accusing nato of being unfriendly and opaque and slipping towards a new cold war. that seems to be russia's defense against the criticism. senator mccain who's been speaking here and whose had a lot of support. he also joining the criticism of russia's air campaign and also the lack of resolve from the white house to deal with this. this is what he said. >> russia has indiscriminately bombed civilians and moderate opposition groups for months

with impunity. u.s. intelligence leaders have stated publicly that russia's intervention has stabilized the said regime and helped it get back on the offensive. and now, as we sit here today, syrian, iranian, hezbollah and russian forces are accelerating their siege of aleppo. it is no accident that mr. putin has agreed on a cessation of hostilities when he did. >> with as a wide sense of the the security conference that it is the lack of leverage that the united states has over russia at the moment that's really leaving the floor open to russia. that there was no way that anyone could get russia to back down and give a cessation of hostilities and syria immediately because there is no leverage and therefore that is why they are continuing the bombs. a lot of frustrations we heard from the opposition about that too. >> nick, thank you so much more the update we appreciate it.

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kind of like this look. i'm calling it the "name your price tool" phase. whatever. you see the flag there at half staff outside of the supreme court this morning after the death of justice antonin scalia. >> 79-year-old died in his sleep on a hunting trip to west texas. scalia's death has evoked an outpouring of sorrow. and with his death the presidential campaign season takes on a whole new shape.

thanks for being i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. good to be with you. the uncompromising voice of conservative. now silent. justice scalia's vacancy now on the bench is setting up a the fight that could shift the balance of the circuit court. >> jim acosta leaving our coverage from washington. good morning jim. >> reporter: this is going to be the debate for the next several weeks here in washington i think. this is the latest video coming in. justice scalia's body arriving at the funeral home in el paso texas, his body was forwarded by u.s. marshals and texas state troopers. he died in his sleep at the age of 79. on a hunting trip he went to bed not feeling well, found unresponsive saturday afternoon. and as for his legacy. it was deep.

very influential. 29 years on the bench. he was the longest serving member of the if current court. appointed by president reagan back in 1986. the first italian american on the high court. a crit oifk roe v. wade. dissenting voice in last year's same-sex marriage cases. he was criticized most recently regarding his comments of affirmative action. and who will succeed him? president obama says he intends to make the nomination in due time. and senate republicans have made it clear they want the next president to fill that vacancy and of course there is a lot of reaction this morning. his death and the battle for the replacement on the bench loomed large in last night's gop. reaction from the hopeful, a rare moment of unanimity last night?

ryan, good morning. >> reporter: and good morning to you jim. the republicans didn't agree on very much last night but they did talk quite a bit about justice scalia and the battle to replace him. >> a moment of silence for justice antonin scalia. >> it did not take long for the death of scalia to get political in the debate. >> i think it's you have to mitch mcconnell and everybody else to stop it. it's called delay delay delay. >> one by one, the gop candidates paid homage to the conservative lion and predicted any obama nominee to replace him would be unsuccessful. >> there is no doubt in my mind that barack obama will not have a consensus pick. >> reporter: but president obama is pushing forward promising to nominate someone quickly and warning senate republicans to not play politics with the court. >> there thereby plenty -- there

will be plenty of time to so and for the senate in its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing as well as a timely vote. these are things i take seriously as should everyone. >> the leave the decision in the quote hands of the voters and the winner of the race for the white house. >> the practical consequences that no one will be apointed that's not a consensus choice. >> and as president and senate leader squabble it will be against a backdrop of increasingly divisive election. >> elections have consequences. >> hillary clinton rushed to have to obama's right to pick the nominee and the senate to confirm. >> it is outrageous that republicans in the senate and on the campaign trail have already pledged to block any replacement that president obama nominates. >> the republican candidates

vowed to stand in the way. and once elected nominate a conservative in the mold of scalia. >> one of the most important judgments for the men and women of south carolina to make is who on this stage has the background the principle the character, the judgment and the strength of resolve to not and confirm principled constitutionalists to the court. that will be what i will do if i'm elected president. >> setting the stage for a rocky few months in washington with the future of the supreme court and the wlous in the blanks. -- and the white house in the balance. >> i spent the last new days following marco rubio on the campaign trail. he was already talking passionately about the responsibility of the next president to appoint a conservative jurist to the supreme court. that becomes even more important now going forward. especially in a socially conservative state like south carolina. >> and when you talk to any of these candidates they often mention antonin scalia as someone who they would like to

see on the supreme court, somebody like justice scalia. ryan nobles, thank you very much. for more on the partisan battle over replacing scalia. i want to bring in ariana vogue. and i just wanted to ask you, the reactions from capitol hill were pretty swift and fairly predictable. chuck grassley came out where a statement last night saying it's been standard practice over the last eighty years to not confirm supreme court nominees during a presidential election year. i suppose that isn't really true because justice anthony kennedy was nominated in 1987 and confirmed in 1988. i supposed there the colonel of truth in grassley's comment in that there hasn't been somebody needed to replace on the supreme court every time an election year has come up. so that might mean that that would be the standard practice i suppose to some extent. but the there is precedent for

this, right? >> there is. and if you look at what might have been behind president obama, is that if the president were to wait, for instance, and the next president were to make the nomination, that nomination maybe would come in february. and then maybe a confirmation in june and that would mean the court not only be divided four four the rest of this term but next. this vacancy really effects the current term. when the court is 4-4, equally divided that means the lower court decision is upheld. so we have major case this is term. immigration, abortion, affirmative action. and if you look at one of the cases, for instance, the public union's case the lower court the ruled in favor of the unions but the unions were very nervous. because after oral arguments it looked like the states might reverse that.

if the court -- the justices could decide to hold over some cases but the question is how long? when would there be a new justice put on the bench. >> and arian, i guess one thing i wanted to ask you was there is already a list of potential candidates out in who could be picked for this vacancy. great legal minds out there but could the president try to avoid this partisan battle or too at least minimize it somewhat by making a different kind of choice? somebody who might be considered a moderate? or even a liberal republican just to see if he could get somebody on the supreme court? what is the likelihood that he might try to do that politically to navigate some of this? >> well the president could do that. and if you look at some of the lists out there. for instance, on top the judge sri srinivasan. he was confirmed unanimously by the senate. so maybe for his lower court appointment. so he would still be on top of

the list. and he was actually congratulated by ted cruz at the time at his confirmation hearing. there are other moderates. maybe if if president was replacing someone in the same party he would want to try to get a younger nominee. but merit garland is considered a moderate in some circles. the president could go outside the box. it just depends how he's going to play it. >> that's right. and i suppose the president could tempt republicans by putting forward those two nominees and see what they do. because the republicans do run the risk if they decide not to move on a nominee from president obama they could end with the president hillary clinton or a president bernie sanders where you might have a much more liberal pick. politics aside scalia was a

revered member of the community. we're joined by charles cooper, former supreme court law clerk and chairman of the cooper clerk law firm. and what was your experience like dealing with justice scalia? was he as outspoken and brash and straightforward as everybody remembers him? >> caller: yes jim. good morning. and thank you for having me. i have many many fond memories of justice scalia. it was my great joy to have been a close friend of nino's and also to have appeared before him as an advocate. and the experience both at the personal and professional level is one that i hold very dear and still, you know, really in a state of shock at his loss and

grieving for his family, especially his lovely wife maureen and their children. >> and we've been talking about hiss legacy all morning long. what do you think his legacy will be? how will he be remembered as the supreme court justice? >> well i think -- i think it will -- his legacy primarily will be as the acknowledged leader of a movement in the law called originalism. the simple proposition that the constitution should be interpreted by courts to mean what it was understood and intended to mean at the time the provision was adopted. and that it is not the role of the court to keep the constitution in tune with the times.

that is the role of the people themselves through the article v amendment process. justice scalia was the most passionate and i think articulate advocate for that position. it was one that was reflected throughout his 30 years on the court, not just in his role as the justice and deciding cases and writing opinions. and of course his opinion-writing style was -- is famous. but also, as a scholar he spoke probably as much as any justice in history. at law schools and in -- and, you know, popular audiences. advancing his view of the role of the courts. and i think that will be his primary legacy as history

records his really outsized role on the united states supreme court. >> absolutely and i think ronald reagan knew exactly what he was getting when he picked antonin scalia for the supreme court. chuck cooper thank you for your time. >> next the death of justice scalia has already turned political and took center stage last night in the gop debate. republicans did not agree on much but did stand united on when scalia's replacement should be nominated and that is after obama leaves office. those who worked with him know how his legacy and influence will live on. later we'll talk live with a former clerk of justice scalia coming up. ♪ this is the night...

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justice antonin scalia. leaving the remaining justice split 4-4 in ideological leanings. i want to bring in our panel. eric, first to you. trump conceded last night if he were president he would want to nominate a justice, one that could sail through the nomination process. the president may have a couple of candidates who fit that description but will they be blocked? i think it is just a naturally that republicans at this point will say no no no. wait until the next president but they may be tempted to take up somebody who the president puts forward. >> yeah absolutely. donald trump last night was calling on senate republicans to delay, delay, delay. he used mitch mcconnell's name. and that is exactly what mcconnell says he's planning to do. historically it's taken 75-90

days to confirm a supreme court justice and we're talking about eleven months here before another president is sworn in. but last night demonstrated what incredible partisan football this has become immediately. senate republicans are saying there is no chance that they are going to move on a nominee while president obama says he's definitely going to send them one and the presidential election intervened. on the debate stage every republican was saying either don't nominate someone or nominate a consensus pick. hillary clinton meanwhile was hammering republicans for their position sort of elevating this, turning this into a presidential race with the supreme court hanging in the balance. >> and ariireaireral, can you i president obama not picking someone when he has so much time left in office is it. >> absolutely not.

and it was a little disappointing to see the immediate politicizing of it. 75 days. even robert bourque, the most contentio contentious, i think that was something like 114 days. so win or lose, it deserves to be processed. to have the senate majority leader say i'm simple going to extend the disfunction. paralysis that has hemmed up so much of government v disappointing and troubling to hear. i can't imagine the president would say okay i'm a lame duck even though my constitutional authority extends for another year, i'm going to simply throw in the towel and act as if i

don't exist. that's disastrous and not going to happen. >> -- until the end of the dmags? is that how a president romney would act? just wait until the next president? >> i think this is about the legacy of the justice and each justice up there wants to make sure. we've seen justices extend ore shorten their time on the court on purpose to make sure someone like minded to them takes their place. and this isn't politicizing. this is why we select the president to make sure their side gets to keep their people on the court and that is the reason we see people coming off the supreme court at awkward moments. the fact is this is going to be political. as it should be. the supreme court is part of why you pick the president.

i don't think that anyone thought for a moment that scalia would want to be replaced by a liberal judge by barack obama. that would not be what he would want. certainly wouldn't be what others want either. and this is something that is going to be delayed. i do not think this is a liability for republicans. if anything it would be a liability for republicans in congress if they did in fact replace him with a liberal nominee from barack obama who's already put quite a few liberals on the supreme court and it would hurt republicans if they did this now so i just don't see this being that big of an issue. >> and one thing about covering donald donald trump, jeffrey lord, tells you exactly what he thinks. last night, yes are if he were president he would want to nominate somebody. how you deny that opportunity.

>> i think any of those candidates wouldn't want to nominate somebody. and there is precedent right now were delaying and not confirming. lindhened johnson in the middle of the election year in 1968 promptly nominated associate justice fordis who was an old friend and crony and liberal democrat. the republican senators of the day put up a furious fight and he was defeated so there is absolute precedent for this. >> there is precedent for that and also precedent for someone being confirmed in that presidential year. >> the anthony kennedy thing, i was involved in that working for president reagan at the time. that was the bourque seat, if you will. robert bourque was nominated in july of 1987. his nomination failed -- >> of that process. >> so a consuation of the process from july of 1987. >> that is a good point and i think ted cruz brought that up last night.

because there was that chuck grassley statement that came out and said that, yes, kennedy -- that there -- you know, this has bhn the norm for the last eighty years and democrats were saying no no no justice kennedy was named and confirmed in 1988. and so i think these will be the talking points we'll be hearing from the next several weeks. errol lewis. jeffrey lord, eric bradner, thank you very much. the talking points were written i think before the obituaries were written here in washington. this is going to be a big fight here in the coming year. >> no doubt about it. thank you so much jim. always learning so much. listen, there are some other things we need to talk to you about today. >> including a deadly car pile up in pennsylvania. at least 60 vehicles here. dozens hurt.

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blinding snow may have caused this. you can't see all of it but there was a sixty car pile up here near fredericksburg, pennsylvania. three died and at least 70 are injured. as though snow covered doctor all of that snow covered the roads, this happened as record cold too we should point out is moving in all along the east coast. >> beyond pennsylvania, windchills in some parts of the northeast could sink to 40 degrees below zero. woo. we're seeing record lows in new york. zero there in central park this morning with a windchill of 18 below. >> a mississippi police officer

and out of surgery in stable condition but still on a ventilator after being shot in the head. this happened in clarksdale mississippi late last night. he stopped the robbers four blocks after a robbery and that is where he was shot. the two men got away. >> president obama and vladomir putin have agreed to cooperate on syria. they agreed to intensify efforts to put in agreement an syria into action. this comes after french and u.s. leaders criticized bombs by russia in syria. the french prime minister said russians are bombing civilians. but russia says there is no evidence that that is happening. >> we're remembering the life of justice antonin scalia and his legacy. a wicked sense of humor, grounded, feisty, not p.c. and priding himself on that. in his own words hear how he

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certainly i'll retire when i think i'm not doing as good a job as i used to. that will make me feel very bad. >> and as we sit here now what would you say your greatest achievement has been as the supreme court justice? >> wow. i think, despite the fact that not everyone agrees with it. i think the court pays more attention to text than it used to when i first came on the court and i like to think that i've had manager to something tw that. i think the court used much less legislative history than it used to in the past. in the eighties, two-thirds of the opinion would be discussion of the bbdebates on the floor a the opinion and that doesn't happen anymore. >> on that history point. critics will say hang on a second because you are such a constitutionalist and always go back tot the way they framed the

constitution and so on. they didn'ted all of that. it is in its way legislative history.ebated all of that. it is in its way legislative history. >> i don't use the madison's notes as authoritative on the meaning of the constitution. i don't use that. i use the federalist papers but not because they were the writers of the federalist papers were present. one of them wasn't. john j. was not present at the framing. i use they had them because they were intelligent people of the time and therefore what they thought this language meant was likely what it meant. >> why do you have such faith in those politicians of that time? you know i mean these days, if the current crop of politicians created some constitution, people wouldn't have the faith that, the unburning unflinching faith that you do.

why are you so convinced that these guys over 2 hundred years ago were so right? >> you have to read the federalist papers to answer that question. i don't think anybody in the current congress could write even one of those numbers. these men were very, very thoughtful. i truly believe that there are times in history when genius bursts forth at some part of the globe, you know, like 2000 bc in athens or in florence for art. and i think one of those places was 18th century america for political science. madison said that he told the people assembled at the convention, gentlemen we are engaged in the new science of government. no one had ever tried to design a government scientifically before. they were brilliant men. >> and wish you had a few of them now?

>> i wish by had a few of them now. and i certainly do not favor tinkering with what they put together. >> -- condolences on twitter writing didn't agree with many of justice scalia's views but he was a brilliant man of great principle and integrity. rest in peace. joining us is ed whalen. former law clerk and for justice scalia. thanks for joining us this morning. first i want to start with your thoughts on the justice's passing. >> caller: well obviously like others who knew and admired and loved him i'm very saddened. it is a great loss more the nation. he was a hero and mentor to me. and i'm still absorbing the shock and grief. >> you know, he certainly had his detractors as any passionate juris does. did he revel that position? what did he believe his legacy,

his space was on that court? >> well justice scalia was deeply committed to originalism, the method of constitutional interpretation that he believes to be faithful to the actual constitution. e fought against this notion of a living constitution which is really sort of a zombie constitution that has no inherent meaning instead is infused with whatever meaning current justices want to give it. he had some successes and some big losses but i think over time, as the political meet over particular issues diminishes, his wisdom will be more and more appreciated. >> having clerked for the justice, you spent a lot of time working with him, working for him. i wonder in getting the news of his passing if there is a specific moment that you think of first, one that maybe we don't know about. something about the just that we have not learned about in the last several hours?

>> well i think just think of his love, the vigorous argument, the sparkle that would come into his eye. his wonderful laugh. he loved debate. even as he disagreed with some of his colleagues. he very much liked them. he was just i think a real model of a man. >> let's turn to the future of the court. you wrote something for the national review and i want to put it up on the screen for our viewers. just part of it you said senate republicans would be grossly irresponsible to allow president obama in the last months of his presidency to cement a liberal magen majority that will wreak havoc on the constitution. let the people of america decide the next justice. what do you say to those people who elected in 2012, they have decided who should elect the next justice. he has decided to put forward a

nominee and the senate has responsibility to vote. >> well there are people who elect the senators too to do their job and this is the classic clash of politics. those senators i think owe it to their constituents to stand up for their principles and felt here we are in the midst of the campaign. i think this is an issue that deserves to be decided by the people. and i'm not really sure why progressives who see themselves as champions of the people are so afraid of having this issue be decided by the president that people pick. >> ed whalen, thank you so much for spending a little full-tiof time. thanks.elan, thank you so much for spending a little of your time. thanks. last night's heated gop debate. fights at center stage. some calling ate the slug fest.

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this is the ninth or the tenth debate. and when i've been watching here this back and forth and these attacks. some of them are personal. i think we're fixing to lose election to hillary clinton if we don't stop this. i mean, the fact is, you know, i would suggest why don't we just take all of the negative ads and all the negative comments down from television and let us talk about what we're for and let's sell that and the republican party will be stronger as the result. >> republican infighting. we saw a lot of it last night

during the debate. kasich said he wanted none of it there trying to stay above the fray with that persona on stage last night. but there were other breakout moments. jeb bush putting distance between himself and former president georgia w. bush over eminent domain and hitting donald trump in the process. >> there are all sorts of intrigue about where i'd disagree with my brother. there would be one right there. you should not use eminent domain for a private purposes. >> shouldn't have used i it then jeb. >> but that was his brother. >> pipeline, bridges highways all of that is proper use of eminent domain. not to take an elderly women's home to build a parking lot so high rollers can come to atlantic city. that is not the appropriate thing to do. >> i want to bring in senior cnn white house correspondent jim acosta. also cnn political commentator.

tara setmayer. i want to start with what the debate started with. that moment of silence for justice scalia. tara, elections have conseque e consequences. just look at dr. carson's fall in the polls after paris and san bernardino. do you think that the justice's death dramatically shifts the race? >> i think it highlights the seriousness of the campaign. i don't know that people have really crystallized the seriousness of what it means to run for president of the united states because of the donald trump reality show. and this issue right here. usually the supreme court justice nomination isn't very sexy. eyes glaze over. but that is hugely important and now that we have it in real time and real life, this right here is one of the most important --

important responsibilities of the president of the united states is to nominate a supreme court justice. and the complexion of the court could dramatically change. when you have a 5-4 accord on thing replacing a stalwart like scalia is going to be very difficult. and now if you put someone like donald trump, dud you hear him answer that question last night? it was unintelligible. and compare that to marco rubio or ted cruz or anybody else on the stage minus maybe ben carson. they all refer to the constitution, the importance of it and what that means. donald trump was completesly out of his league on those questions and people need to pay attention. because things like this matter. your interpretation of the constitution and whoa you want on the court and how you would govern as president should matter. not just bluster on one-liners and acting like a petulant child and pointing your finger and say well politics just talk. that is not going to fly.

>> and something else matters is tone. we saw a bit of the shift who governor kasich has admitted he's not goirk to win south carolina. he tried to stay above the fray. he has this happy warrior tone. is that something that is resonating this cycle? it sounds like voters are more interested in a warrior than the happy. >> well it resonated in new hampshire. the question for john kasich is whether it translates to upcoming states. tara talks about the donald trump reality show. but the reality is for the rest of the republican field is that donald trump is doing extremely well right now because of the donald trump brand. this tell it like it is brand that seems to really appeal to diseffected republicans. a lot of conservative reagan democrats frankly. and when they see donald trump square off with jeb bush they really like it. i go to these rallies just about

every other day with donald trump. and they are just eating it up. this is donald trump trying to rebrand and remake the republican party. and this may be the republican party's last chance to stop him. and the question is whether or not, you know, all of these candidates succeed. you saw them all going after him last night. i suspect we're going to see that the rest of this week. because if donald trump wins the south carolina primary, you know, barring some kind of implosion on his part which is what all of washington has been banking on all along, it is unlikely he's going to be stopped. now jeb bush bringing in his brother. tomorrow george w. bush, the former president that could potentially hurt -- help him down in south carolina because georgia w. bush is very popular. and who would have thought you would see in a republican debate

you would see the leading republican candidate attacking george w. bush. this is a really water shed moment for the republican party because, you know, donald trump trying to remake the republican party. he wants to be the leader of this republican party and to see him go after the family that, you know, led this country through two petsies. >> -- let me -- >> -- during the cycle. >> donald trump trying to take the shine off george w. bush do help his brother in south carolina. is that going to work? >> that is not going to work in south carolina. george w. bush is still very popular there. they call south carolina bush country. to go back to the point of trump trying to rebrand the republican party. he sounded like a democrat last night. that is not conservative. that is not what the republican

party stands for all. donald trump showed his liberal progressive lifetime believes on most things coming into that and almost imploding on the i mean, defending planned parenthood. i was waiting for the code pink chant. i think you're going to see a lot of ads this week in south carolina reiterating the fact that donald trump is not a republican, espousing things that crazy left-wing conspiracy theorist spokes espouse against the republicans. i think that might give some people some pause. the people who are solid with trump, he can say anything he wants. the other folks that are in the middle that maybe just like his attitude but don't really realize the consequences of someone like him, perhaps pointing out the things that came out of his mouth last night that are not republican at all -- >> however -- >> -- may be able to sway them. >> tara, why do you think that republicans cheer at these donald trump rallies? why do you suppose that is? >> we've seen that at this point

throughout this campaign since he launched in july. many people saying that he is not a conservative. it has not worked up to this point. of course, we're just counting down to south carolina. we've got to wrap it there. we've got ten minutes left in this broadcast, and we've got a few other things to get to. s tara and jim, we'll get back to you in just a moment. thank you both. >> thank you. there is so much more to talk about with this debate including clashes over immigration. details on how rubio used his hispanic heritage to take a jab at ted cruz on the issue. that's next. in new york state, we believe tomorrow starts today. all across the state the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. and on long island, where great universities are creating next generation technologies. let us help grow your company's tomorrow, today

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your toothpaste, you know you will have that peace of mind. all right. as we wrap up this morning, we want to give a few final thoughts on the legacy of justice antonin scalia. he was the most senior member of the supreme court, confirmed in 1986 by ronald reagan, considered a stalwart of conservative ideals. i'm joined very quickly with errol louis, our political commentator. errol, when the history books are written, how do you think scalia will be remembered? i think reagan knew -- sometimes supreme court justices are mysterious. you don't know exactly how they're going to turn out once they get on the high court, but i think ronald reagan knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he tapped antonin scalia. >> yes and no. i think the outcome of cases i think is what we look at because we always look at the politics of it. i'll tell you, i heard a couple of supreme court arguments. and just watching the way things

operate at the court is really the result of antonin scalia. it's lively. there's sort of a robust debate. that plus the fact that everyone has to at least encounter or cope with his style of analysis, going back to the 18th century, looking at what words actually mean, pulling out dictionaries. this is something that he brought that has spread all throughout it. it was being taught in law school when i graduated ten years ago. this is something that people really should sort of reckon with as part of his legacy. the whole way we think about the constitution has changed at the supreme court level because of justice scalia. >> ryan, when people talk about the reagan revolution, antonin scalia, i would imagine he might be remembered as somebody who was very instrumental and part of that because he, on the high court, you know, he really was a guardian of reagan conservatism and perhaps even beyond that. he is often mentioned as

somebody, the likes of which, you know, people radwould like see on the high court in the future. when you talk to conservative republicans, they would pick another antonin scalia, isn't that right, errol? >> absolutely. this is what they would like to see. again, mostly in terms of outcome, though. you know, even the candidates who are attorneys i think haven't really properly given him his due just yet. as far as just changing legal philosophy. when you look at the federalist society, i mean, there are waves and waves of groupies who don't just celebrate the life and legacy of justice scalia, but it really tried to replicate it all throughout the law schools in the nation the lower courts, the state courts. so we've got an entirely new way of looking at the law that is really quite deeply grounded. and it is inherently conservative. not necessarily a movement conservative who's trying to accomplish this or that policy

goal, but just a way of looking at the world and looking at the law that says not so fast. and that, to me, is what scalia will always have stood for. >> and now a big opportunity for president obama to influence the high court if -- if he can get a nominee through the senate. errol louis, thank you very much. and victor and christi, thanks for sharing the morning with me. it was great being with you, and i'll send it back to you. >> thanks, jim. always good to see you. and thank you so much. we appreciate you keeping us company in the morning. >> a special edition of "inside politics" starts right after the break.