re-election races, typically a time frame for confirming a nominee takes between 2 and 3 months. it's highly unlikely someone could get confirmed before november, after november, it's possible, but that calculus gets complicated if the republicans lose the majority if the president loses re-election to joe biden and at that point, will other republicans say, the voters spoke, the new majority needs to come in and confirm a nominee? that is not the view of mitch mcconnell who says he will move forward to confirm someone, this is different than 2016 when he sat on president obama's nominee. let the voters decide, he's saying that's different because there was a democrat in the white house and a republican senate. he's going to put in order president trump's nominee before the end of the year. >> let's get analysis on thisp. thank you.

gle gloria, did you hear mitch mcconnell's statement? he says point blank it's going to go up for a vote. >> i think donald trump, wants to get his name out there as quickly as possible. wouldn't surprise me if he nominated a woman to replace her. i think he wants to use this to get the base motivated. don't forget he had been losing a little bit of support from evangelical voters. he can say, look, i'm going to nominate someone who is prolife and this is important to me and of course it's important to mitch mcconnell, because judges have been his resondetre this past year. you have republicans who are in tight races or what if the senate changes hands. i mean, we just don't know how this will play out. i can guarantee you on both sides, this is going to be the

base of both parties. why doesn't biden give his list. i'm wondering now whether this changes the calculation on that, and whether joe biden would feel the need to say this is the person i want on the court or whether he would hang back on that. i've texted a couple people, i don't have an answer on that yet. >> jeff toobin, there's a special election in arizona, mark kelley who's running against the incumbent republican was to win that or to -- it was to win that against the republican, if they were to win that then that would be one less vote in the senate, i think mark kelley would get sworn in right away. >> you know what, that's news to me, i don't know the law in arizona. it's important to recognize that

all the new senators come in on january 3rd, the president comes in on january 20th. so the window of the lame duck period is not until january 20th, it's only until january 3rd. it's a tight time frame, if there's one thing i've learned in covering the united states senate is you don't bet against mitch mcconnell. he's a master of deceiving and there are a lot of variables here, and he's not in control of all of them. he does not have a lot of votes to play with. let's be honest, his position is the height of hypocrisy. he can invent some reasoning that it was different when obama was president because there was a republican senate at the time. he didn't say that at the time.

that never came up at that point. it's irrelevant. there were 11 months left in barack obama's term and mitch mcconnell and every single republican said too late. here we are with two months left in donald trump's term and they're saying that's fine. that is hypocrisy it's not complicated to understand and good luck to the republican senators who are trying to explain to those swing voters. >> decrying hypocrisy, i understand, there's plenty of things that are hypocritical that get done these days all the time. >> it's unwise to bet against mitch mcconnell. the incentives come from their voters.

>> there's nothing mitch mcconnell cares more about than the courts and nothing more in the courts than the supreme court. so, you know, he is going to be on a mission to get this nominee who will certainly be coming in the next week or so. and almost certainly amy coney barrett. he is going to be on a mission, but he's not in control of this process. and the public and how interested the public is and how much swing voters care. it's one thing to say, donald trump to his base, i am going to appoint someone who will appoint roe versus wade. is that going to get him a lot of votes in the suburbs? his base wants a very right wing nominee, he's not just returning for the president of his base, he's running for president of

the united states and those positions on social issues, on gay rights on civil rights, on abortion rights, they're not popular with most of the country. we'll see -- as i said earlier, it is not a done deal one way or the other. >> getting new information, this comes from npr, it's from, i think it's -- it's from her granddaughter, the granddaughter of ruth bader ginsberg. this is what her granddaughter said. just days before her death as her strength waned ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter saying, my most fervent wish is i will not be replaced until a new president is installed. jeff, certainly a new president,

meaning not donald trump? >> let's not kid around here, ruth bader ginsberg was a liberal democrat. she was indiscrete before the election in 2016 displaying her contempt for donald trump. and so -- i mean, she wants to be replaced by a democrat, period. and i don't think that's a surprise, i don't know how many votes that will shift, either among the citizens or senators, but that is an unusually blunt statement from an unusually blunt justice. >> david gergen is just joining us now. how do you see the political battle that is about to be waged? >> mitch mcconnell has just

thrown down the gauntlet, we're going to have a titanic fight over this. yes, as jeffrey has said, it will mobilize a lot of people on the right, a whole hunger to overturn roe versus wade to get social issues on the 6-3 court, they will think donald trump has delivered on his promises. this will unleash a fury among democrats. for all the obvious reasons. it's so brazenly con temp tuous of fair play. it's hypocritical, you're going to see that the republicans will pay a price at the polls this november. another one of the things, it's more likely that donald trump -- i think it makes it more likely that joe biden will win the election. it makes it more likely that the democrats will take over the senate. if biden is the president next year when he tries to heal things, it's going to make

polarization even more poisonous, almost irreversible. the filibuster could easily go out of the anger that's caused over something this unfair. i think this is a big big deal, it could change the elections, and i think my bet is it will change the elections in donald trump's favor not the other way around. you. >> mean in general? >> it will change the equation in joe biden's favor, not the other way around. i think this plays into biden's hands, because the unfairness, it's so -- it wreaks of hypocrisy. and i think people are going to want to pay a price for it. >> do you think it's possible, and this is hypothetical, depending on what happens, but if joe biden gets elected and in a lame duck session they do confirm a nominee of president trump's choosing. do you think the democrats once in power would try to then

expand the number of justices on the supreme court? >> that's a darn good question, anderson, i've been wondering about that myself. that's something i don't know. it's really hard to do, but there are going to be a lot of people on the left that feel they're entirely justified. this will wind up being two seats that the democrats will feel have been stolen from them. we hear all the time the president talking about the election is stolen, here it's the court that's being stolen in the minds of most democrats. >> david gergen, thank you. a arianne is joining us by phone. what do you make of mitch mcconnell's statement. >> it's the next big fight, that's what's interesting about it, we saw what the last fight was over brett kavanaugh, and that was after the gorsuch, the whole gorsuch nomination hearing. anderson, it's interesting, the one thing i wanted to talk about is the fact that ruth bader ginsberg began this last supreme

court term with her fourth bout of cancer, she was heading into this unbelievable term with those big issues. in january she thought that she was cancer free and she told cnn. but then in february she got these new tests, and what's remarkable about it, she didn't talk to the public about it like she had in the past. she just dug, in and she -- she dominated oral arguments on an abortion case. and then covid came and the court was closed down. she had a health mishap during those telephonic arguments, she called in from the hospital and continued to pepper the government on women's health care issues. that kind of shows the woman that she was and at the end of the term, after the term had finished she was also working on a book that was going to be

released. one of her former law clerks amanda tyler was working on a book, talking about her history in the area of gender rights. until three weeks ago, they were trading information on the book. ruth bader ginsberg was marking it up. she often said she was going to do the job until she could no longer do the job, that's what's really extraordinary about it, that she was working right up to the end on her legacy, and on the issues that defined her legacy. >> we have amanda tyler joining us now. >>amanda, thank you for being with us, thank you for the loss for you. can you just talk about your thoughts tonight, and also, the woman that you came to know? >> devastated. i have -- there's no other word.

i think all of us who had the privilege and true honor of serving as a law clerk to the justice are -- we're just reeling tonight. it was one of the greatest honors of my life to be her law clerk. it was so extraordinary of an experience -- it was such an extraordinary experience. she was my idol, you know, and how many people get to say that they worked for their idol? >> did you interview with her for the job? >> i did. >> that's got to be intimidating. >> it was. but she put me at ease right away. i was pretty nervous, though. >> what was she like to work with? >> she was meticulous. she had the highest standards, i like to analogyize working for her being on a sports team with someone like michael jordan. she was so great, she made everyone around her do their best work and be at their best.

it was just awesome to be able to be a part of that. >> i mean, i'm not a lawyer, i never worked for a judge or in a law firm, can you give me an example? i mean, how does that actually play out in an office setting? is it, you are discussing something and she -- the way she makes you think about it is different? >> well, she would involve her law clerks, she's the justice and she made the decisions, but she would work with her law clerks extensively on drafting the opinions and that was an extensive and drawn out process, because every single word had to be doing something in the opinion. the opinion had to be written in an accessible way. it was very important to her that anyone could pick up one of her opinions and understand it, whether they were a trained lawyer or not. and so there was a lot of back and forth. and her editing remained -- i

had been working with her in the last few months. her editing was as extensive as ever. she was still teaching me to be a better writer even as recently as this summer. >> what was your focus on -- what's your focus on the book that you were writing with her? >> she and i had compiled a book that includes a discussion we had last year about her life. it includes some of her most recent speeches. it includes documents and things that she wanted to put together to tell about her life's work fighting for gender equality, and more generally, to make -- as our constitution's preamble says, a more perfect union. it's a collection of materials and materials we wrote together about her whole career. >> what was it that drove her? i mean, you look at all the sort of -- the signposts along the

way on her career, the loss of her mom, sister who died when she was very very young. her -- you know, having a child right out of college, marrying out of college, having a child, going to lav ard law school, facing discrimination from the dean of harvard law school. please stand up and justify why you're taking the place of a man at harvard law school. couldn't get a job after graduating first in her class at columbia. or tied for first in her class. >> she was tenacious. she was tenacious, i'm sorry, anderson. she was resilient, she was tenacious and she was a fighter. my favorite image of her is of her holding up her fists in a mock fighting mode during her confirmation proceedings. i think that is ruth bader ginsberg in a nutshell.

she was determined, she was not going to let anything stop her from achieving her full human potential. i'm sorry, i hesitate when it becomes past tense. she made it her life's work to make sure that everyone could have the opportunity to live up to their full human potential. that's what she was about, and that's pretty special. she left an enormous legacy. she made our country better. and she did it first as an advocate and then as a judge. i think it was the drive to contribute, to leave the world a better place than she found it that kept her going right up until the end. >> i think the successes she had in her career prior to being on the supreme, it's a testimony to the success she had, i think for many people today, thinking about the obstacles that she faced after graduating first in

her class at columbia, and having been in the columbia law review, harvard law review, not being able to find a job is extraordinary, and the unequal treatment, and that's really what -- she focused like that -- that's what she changed. she focused on gender equality, and made amazing strides. >> yeah, she completely changed the legal landscape in this country. and she made it so, this was not about me, but i want to use myself as an example. it was not a big deal -- >> i think we have issues. your computer froze for a second. you were saying it was not a big deal. >> it was not a big deal for me to go to harvard law school as a woman. it's because of ruth bader

ginsburg and her generation of women that that is possible. i feel so lucky as i do all the women lawyers of my generation that she opened that up, she opened up so much more. she was determined to change the legal landscape in this country for not just women lawyers but women and men so that gender discrimination would no longer enforce outdated gender stereotypes and everyone could live their full human potential. >> amanda tyler, i know it's a difficult moment to talk about her, and i appreciate you doing that. it helps to bring her back. and keep her in all our minds. thank you very much. >> thank you, anderson. i want to go to jim acosta now at the white house. >> president trump finished up that rally in minnesota, he briefly spoke with reporters waiting outside of air force

one. he said he had just found out about the passing of ruth bader ginsberg as he was leaving the stage in minnesota, he said -- and this is what he said a few moments ago. i didn't know that, and then about the late justice, he said, she led an amazing life. she was an amazing woman. interestingly, he did not comment on the vacancy now on the court. obviously, talking to manu raju earlier, the president is expected to seek to replace ruth bader ginsburg, i was speaking with a source close to the president a few moments ago, who said he desperately wants to put another supreme court justice on the high court. we should definitely expect that to happen. in terms of what the president is going to say on that subject. it is possible anderson as he gets back on air force one and heads back to washington. he'll make some comments to reporters on air force one, we may see some bulletins from our friends at the wire service.

i suspect knowing everything that we know, the president conservative base, republicans on capitol hill, who are aligned with mitch mcconnell. they want to replace ruth bader ginsburg on the high court. as of a few moments ago, the president seemed surprised and stunned by the news when reporters mentioned it to him that she passed away. >> donna shalala was a long time friend of ruth bader ginsburg. i'm sorry for your loss. if you could, talk about the person you knew. >> well, first of all, she had a wonderful sense of humor, ruth beginnin ginsburg was a giant. every woman in america ought to say thank you to an extraordinary woman. amanda taylor played division one soccer at stanford and title ix was something that ruth

protected as part of her role as a champion for women's rights. i met ruth ginsburg when she was a professor at rutgers, i was just starting my career, and then we taught at columbia, i used to have lunch with her on a regular basis, when she came to miami, i would try to get together with her. let me say this, marty ginsburg was also an important figure, not simply in her life, he ran the campaign to get ruth on the court. the president, if i remember correctly, president clinton was considering ruth and steve breyer, steve got the second appointment. marty called everyone, ruth couldn't do it, she was a federal judge. marty did a full court press. i mean, he organized that campaign to make sure that we all called the president or in my case, actually went and

talked to him, to recommend ruth. and, of course, hillary was already there, but we all got multiple calls from marty. as he called everyone to make sure that we made the case. he gave us talking points. and i'd say, marty, i don't need talking points, i know ruth. but it was a very special time to see her come on the court. and, of course, we're all thankful for the years we had her. our lives will never be the same, will always be better, every woman and every child in america, will have a better life because of ruth ginsburg. >> i don't want to -- i don't know if you want to talk about what happens now, mitch mcconnell has put out a statement saying there will be a vote. i wonder what you make of that? >> that it's in bad taste.

that he should have at least waited 24 hours. at least the president didn't say that immediately, but probably because he was caught short about this. i think that we should take a couple of days and celebrate her life before we get deeply into the politics. >> i want to play, if you can stay for a second, just some sound from justice ginsburg talking about being an attorney. >> i had the idea of being a lawyer was a pretty good thing. you could get a job and work for pay, but you could also help keep the society in tune with almost basic values. i wasn't fully appreciative of the hurdle i would face.

1956 when i started law school, there was no anti-discrimination law, no title vii, certainly no title ix. and employers were totally up front in saying, we don't want any lady lawyers in this shop. >> i think she personally -- i think she -- this is from memory, i may have some of the details wrong, but i remember reading that when she was married to her husband out of college, and she had had a child, they moved to oklahoma where he was in -- serving the military, and that she worked in the social security office and was demoted after having a child, which is just -- again, it's one of those things that at the time that was -- that was something that was common. >> you know, ruth used to -- once joked with me that they had

all these social security cases that came before the supreme court and she had once worked at social security. i think i was sued about 11,000 times a year on those individual cases. but she -- her experience being discriminated against as a woman, as a mother, as a lawyer, she used that to make our lives better. she used that experience to chip away at the law, so that we all had extraordinary opportunities. >> what a remarkable thing to have had her as a friend. >> she was special. >> they don't -- people like her do not come along every single

day. congresswoman -- >> one of a kind. >> congresswoman shalala, i appreciate your time tonight. and again, i'm sorry for your loss. >> you're welcome. our coverage continues on the death of justice ginsburg, we'll return after a short break. to support your energy. so you can take care of what matters most. and try new centrum minis today.

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just about half past the hour, we're looking back on the life and legacy of ruth bader ginsburg, she died today from complications of cancer in washington. in herb years on the court, she did more than most of us would ever dream of doing and she never stopped. i want to take a look now back at the remarkable life from cnn's jessica schneider. >> ruth bader ginsburg aers rise from a humble upbringing is a classic story. >> what is the difference between a bookkeeper in new york's garment distance and a

supreme court justice? just one generation, my mother's life and mine bear witness, where else in america could that happen. >> she was tied for first in her class at columbia law school. >> there were three strikes against her, she was a woman, she was jewish, she had a young child. >> she turned to teaching law and fighting gender discrimination for the aclu. >> very much with the model of the naachp's defense fund, you have to build precedence step by step. >> ginsburg became a federal appellate court judge. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> 13 years later she was named to the supreme court by president clinton, the second woman on the bench. the first, sandra day o'connor was glad to see her. >> the minute justice ginsburg came to the court we were nine justices, it wasn't seven and then the women, it was a great

relief to me. >> as a justice, ginsburg consistently voted in favor of abortion access and civil rights. her best known work on the court, writing the decision to strike down the ban on admitting women. she was known for her bold descents when the court stopped the 2000 florida recount. and ended the contraceptive mandate for some businesses under the affordable care act. >> the court does not comprehend or is indifferent to the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination. >> in 2007 the high court ruled against lily ledbetter, in a high profile pay discrimination case. ginsburg urge ed congress to ta up the issue.

the lily ledbetter law was the first bill president obama signed into law. she didn't slow, steven colbert discovered that the hard way, trying to keep up with rbg's famously tough workouts. >> i'm cramping and working out with an 85-year-old woman. >> ginsburg hired a trainer after treatment for colorectal cancer in the late '90s. doctors discovered cancerous growths on her lung. the surgery was successful, but the recovery caused ginsburg to miss hoer oral arguments for th first time in her career. even after losing her husband of 56 years to cancer, ginsburg was back on the bench the next morning. >> i love the work i do. i think i have the best job in the world for a lawyer. i respect all of my colleagues

and genuinely like most of them. her best friend on the bench was the late justice antonin scalia. >> what's not to like? except her views of the law, of course. >> she shared a laugh about ginsburg drinking wine before nodding off at the state of the union. >> i wasn't 100% sober because before we went to the state of the union we had dinner together. and justice kennedy brought -- >> that's the first intelligent thing you've done. >> in her later years, she gained rock star status with millennials thanks to social media. >> it was beyond my wildest imagination that i would one day become the notorious rbg. ♪ >> the nickname was a play on

the name of the late rapper, the notorious b.i.g., there were books, clothing, tattoos, even a pr preying mantis in her honor. and an snl sketch. >> you just got gins burned. >> rbg was a box office hit and gave the justice a new medium to share her love of the law. >> people ask me, when will there be enough women on the court? my answer is, when there are nine. >> here's where we are now. president trump has weighed in after a campaign stop in minnesota. kaitlan collins joins us from there. what did the president say?

>> it was a jarring moment. this news broke just after the president had gone on stage here in minnesota, and so he was up on stage for close to two hours, not knowing the news of what had happened, and honestly, altered his campaign that he's experiencing. and then he found out from reporters as he was walking back to air force one. and he waited. and here's what he said. >> she just died? wow! i didn't know that. you're telling me now for the first time. she led an amazing life. what else can you say? she was an amazing woman, whether you agreed or not. she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. i'm actually sad to hear that. i am sad to hear that. thank you very much. >> anderson, you see there, his

first comments when he found out were focusing on rbg's legacy. he went up the stairs to air force one, they took off a few moments ago. the president nominating someone, and we know this has been someone he thinks could help boost his standing with voters even before there was a vacancy on the court, that's why he unveiled the list at the white house a few weeks ago. this is going to be something that fundamentally shifts the trajectory of this campaign. it's something these candidates are talking about on a regular basis. one problem he's had is with suburban women voters. he thinks if he nominated a woman to the supreme court, it could help boost his standing with women. all of these factors and all of these conversations are going to be something we're discussing over the next several weeks, anderson. >> kaitlan collins, thank you very much. joining me now, dr. sanjay gupta. the struggle that she had had with cancer, it goes back a long

time. and just, it points to the resilience and the strength that she had, it's extraordinary how long she was battling forms of cancer. >> it really was, i mean, we would follow her for some time through these hospitalizations and the various types of treatments, and i remember it was back in 1999. 20 years ago, she had developed colon cancer. and it was -- the first time she got pancreatic cancer was in 2009. it was a pretty early stage at that point. she underwent surgery for it, and she seemed to have sort of recovered from that, and not had any problems, until last year, where there was evidence that there was some recurrence of this cancer, she again underwent treatment for it, you may remember in january of this year, she was cancer free. keep in mind in the midst of all that, she had a bout with lung cancer and she fell and broke her ribs as you heard a few

minutes ago. while they were evaluating her for those broken rib fractures, that's when they found the lung cancer. in january of this year, she thought she was cancer free, it was over the summer that she developed a recurrence. she tried immunotherapy, but there was spread of this cancer to her liver, and most recently it was in july, the types of therapy she was getting at that point were no longer considered curative therapy. i think at this point doctors new whatever treatment she was getting, was not going to cure her pancreatic cancer or even fully treat it. >> and yet she continued to work, that's the thing that's so stunning to me. >> yeah, i mean, she -- it was incredible, some of these therapies are tough. tough for anybody. someone who is much younger, certainly for someone in their 80s, it's a lot to endure, and

she -- as you point out. went through it, and then we were always surprised because we thought she was going to be in the hospital for longer, and then the next alert we would get from her office would say, the justice was discharged from the hospital today, she's -- she plans on returning to work, and she sees no reason she couldn't return to work. it was always pretty remarkable. people talk about her resilience and how tough she was, and her workouts and stuff like that, from a medical perspective, cracking your ribs, going through rib fractures, a lung cancer operation, having all the therapies she had for pancreatic cancer, all of that -- she had a stent put into one of her coronary blood vessels in her heart. it's remarkable. a lot of that started for her in her late 60s. she was already older at that point. and then over the following 20 years, she really went through a lot, and seemed to bounce out of it each time. >> all the things she did over

the last 20 years is just -- it's extraordinary what she did with the time that she had. what a life. >> yeah. >> sanjay, thank you, appreciate it. i want to go to manu raju, covering the angle of what's going to happen now, in terms of a replacement for the justice. which is obviously something that's already being looked at by mitch mcconnell and others. >> mcconnell is making it clear he wants to have a vote on the senate floor before the end of the year. >> let's listen in. >> ruth bader ginsburg was not only a giant in the legal profession, but a beloved figure, and my heart goes out to all those who cared for her and care about her. and she practiced the highest american ideals as a justice,

equality and justice under the law, and ruth bader ginsburg stood for all of us. as i said, she was a beloved figure. as young attorney you all know the story, she persisted overcoming a lot of obstacles for a woman practicing law in those days, as well as she continued until she moved herself into a position where she could end up changing the law of the land or leading the effort to provide equality for women in every field. and she led in the advance of equal rights for women. it's hard to believe, but it was my honor to preside over her confirmation hearing. i got to meet her at the time. and she and her asession to the supreme court. in the decades since, she has been absolutely consistent and reliable and a voice for freedom

and opportunity for everyone. she never failed. she was fierce in unflinching in the pursuit of her civil and -- civil rights of everyone. her opinions and descent are going to continue to shape the basis for our law for a generation. and tonight in the coming days, we should focus on the loss of the justice. but there is no doubt, let me be clear, the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the senate to consider. this was the position of the republican senate took in 2016

when there were almost 10 months to go before the election. that's the position the united states senate must take today. and the election is only 46 days off, i think the fastest justice ever confirmed was 47 days. and the average is closer to 70 days. and so they should do this with full consideration. and that is my hope and expectation what will happen. thank you all, and i'm sorry -- we learned this on the plane ride. thank you very much. >> how do you know -- >> would you change your position on adding justices to the court, sir? >> former vice president biden reacting to the death of justice ginsburg making clear from his perspective that it would be inappropriate to -- for mitch mcconnell to do what he has already said he will do which is

bring a vote on a replacement for justice ginsburg. for president trump. vice president biden was talking about filling the position, i want to go back to manu raju who has new reporting on that. sorry to interrupt you. bring us up to speed. mitch mcconnell issued a statement, i guess it was more than 50 or so minutes ago. >> yeah, he made it clear the nominee will get a vote before the end of the year. that means when the republicans still control the senate, no matter what happens in november, and when president trump is in the white house, no matter what happens in november, trump's replacement will get a vote on the floor of the senate. it's unclear how that will happen, who the nominee will be, and it's unclear whether the republicans have the votes to confirm a nominee. that is the big question we'll be dealing with and reporting out for the next 2 plus months here up until the end of the year, because the republicans can only afford to lose three

senators if they want to get a nominee confirmed before the end of the year, the ultimate question is whether there will be republicans who say, look, we'll agree with what joe biden said, the next president should make that decision. the next senate should make that decision. at the moment, there are only a handful of republicans that we are looking at that could fall in that direction. people like susan collins of maine, lisa murkowski of alaska, mitt romney of utah. more institutionalized senators that are retiring. where will they come down if the democrats win in november. whether they should try to move before november, it's typical 2 to 3 months is the time frame for moving the nominee. it could presumably fast tract. one thing i'm told is whether or not there would need to be nine justices on the supreme court, to deal with any election

disputes. of course we expect there to be lots of legal challenges, potentially, potentially over mail in voting especially if the election is close. that is going to be a discussion here in the senate, whether they fast track a nominee to deal with it. but that raised all sorts of other issues they will have to consider here. the president naming a nominee, who could look over and preside over a dispute or election. those are all major questions that will decide the balance of the court and affect americans lives for years to come. gloria borger, jeff toobin, paul begala. do there have to be nine justices in order for the court to make a decision? which is what manu just raised? >> not at all. in fact, because mitch mcconnell kept antonin scalia's seat vac an the for more than a year, the court functioned fine with eight. you mentioned something earlier that i think is worth focusing

on a little bit, which is that a lot of people think the number of supreme court justices is set in the constitution. it's not. and it's changed over the years. it hasn't changed for more than 100 years, but it is -- if the republicans jam through a second nominee in a second seat that many democrats believe have been stolen, the democrats if they control the presidency, the house and the senate can increase the number of justices. they can add one, two, three justices to the supreme court if -- that's simply a law. it's not in the constitution. and you can be sure if this vacancy is filled under these extraordinary circumstances, there will be a lot of democrats who want to do just that if joe biden and the democrats win in

november. >> paul begala, we haven't heard from you tonight. you know a thing or two about political battles. what do you foresee? >> well, first my heart goes out to justice ginsburg's family and friends. when president clinton picked her, he said to me, this is the thurgood marshall of the women's rights movement, and he was right. i owe that to her family and friends. i've been texting with members of the senate. and it's extraordinary, the democrats, of course. one member, for example, very institutionalist, a very moderate senator who often seeks out bipartisan compromise sounded to me like he's putting war paint on. this would do lasting damage -- putting someone on the court in the last months of a trump presidency, would do lasting damage to the legitimacy of the court. a more progressive told me, there will be no holds barred if

we move quickly with a nominati nomination. they will move to put four justices on the court. the democrats i have talked to said a republican of alaska said in the past she wouldn't support one. they believe she would stay true to that. chuck grassly. former chairman of the senate judiciary committee from iowa said he wouldn't support an election year father or mother knee. -- nominee. a lot of pressure on mitt romney. and senators up for election. of maine and colorado. and north carolina. even lindsey graham said he would oppose a supreme curt nominee in the last term of the president trump. all the senators i mentioned

have tough reelection bids. this will be an issue. usually only republicans vote far more than democrats on the court. to their credit. a month ago there was a poll for the first time in my experience where democrats cared more abtd court than the republicans. more democrats voting based on the court. i have been talking to moderate people i know in the senate, they don't sound very moderate about this. >> we have been looking on the screen at outside the supreme court. and it's really an extraordinary scene. people are gathering to pay respects to ruth bader ginsburg. i'm not sure that generally happens with the death of a supreme court justice. it may. but i haven't seen something like this. it's an extraordinary testament

to how well known she was. and the impact that she had not only as a justice but for the career she had and all she had done for gender equality and civil rights before. >> had she never been on the supreme court she would have been one of the most consequential figures in the law in the last half century. add the remarkable tenure on the court. the blister and brilliant dissents and majority opinions. she left a huge impact on society. and very much for the better. >> it is. it's an extraordinary idea that people are going to this outside this supreme court and 10:00 at night. on a friday night. in washington. >> it is. and it's shows you that ruth

bader ginsburg is a woman for the ages. and she has affected women in particular of all generations. and of all political stripes because one thing women can agree on is there needs to be equality for them. no matter where you come from. politically. and ruth bader ginsburg tried to hand that to them. every single day of her life. that's what she worked for. and so, i do think she's a justice for the ages. and i do think she she is someone that in a way, although he was a liberal. i get that. she was brilliant, she was friends with scalea and paved the way for women. and i think no matter what police cal persuasion you are. whether you agree on issues.

you can say that was a woman who was a pioneer for me. and for others. and i think that's what you're seeing on the steps of the spreep court. it is political. sure. but lots of women can look to her and say i wouldn't be where i am if it weren't for ruth bader ginsburg. >> you have been written about the supreme court and two books which i have read. which are awesome and fascinating. it's such an interesting institution that people don't really know much about how it works behind the scenes. what role did she play -- obviously on her political position. but just in terms of interacting with all the other justices? >> she was famous for a time for her friendship with scalia. was a great chef. and a great eater.

they would spend new years together and marty was cook. and enjoy his cooking together. that is something that is rare in american politics these days. you don't see the friendships across the aisle in the united states senate the way you used to 20 and 30 years ago. no one should mistake her friendship with the adversary. for the intensity of the feelings. and the intensity of her political and legal passion. which were strong and often during the 20 years in the court. she was in dissent in a lot of important cases. >> stay with us. we have more on the remarkable life of ruth bader ginsburg. at&? yup! and that's faster? faster, yea! but is it reliable? ah huh and secure!

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looking tonight at the scene

outside the supreme court. after the passing of justice ruth bader ginsburg. coverage continues with "cnn tonight." this is "cnn tonight." we have sad breaking news. especially for the entire country. for those who have loved and lost a woman figure in your life. a grandmother figure you look up to, a fighter for justice. it is especially sad in this moment. we are keenly aware of what justice ruth bader ginsburg meant to women all across the country. and in the world. she's dead at age 87. i want to take you to the white house live. flags are flying at half staff. crowds gathering on the steps of the supreme court. millions of americans will remember exactly where they were when they heard the