i am don lemon. it is midnight. and you are looking, live, at the supreme court of the united states, which like many of the nation, is grieving the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg. she was 87. she passed away surrounded by her family at her home in washington. but her life and groundbreaking career, her 27 years on the bench as a hero to so many. her strength as she held off the limits of age and the ravages of cancer. joining in the court's legal arguments from her honest bed. all that gave her rock-star status, as rbg. but there is little time for anyone to grieve, right now.

justice ginsburg's death comes only 46 days before election day. a crucial, presidential election. and the crucial questions will be, will the president try to put a third justice on the high court, with time running out before the election? will leader mitch mcconnell be able to get it through for him? and will enough senate republicans join in -- join in lockstep, i should say, to do what they do and block president barack obama's from another justice antonin scalia when he died before the presidential election. if he loses the election during what would be his final months in office and what happens if a close election goes to the supreme court like it did in 2000? so many, many questions. and more breaking news, now. the former president barack obama just released a statement about the death of ruth bader gi ginsburg and what he thinks should come next and i want to read it to you. says ruth bader ginsburg fought

to the end through her cancer with unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals but she also left instructions for how she wanted her legacy to be honored. four and a half years ago, when republicans refused to hold a hearing or an up-or-down vote on merrick garland, the senate shouldn't fill a seat on the supreme court until a new president was sworn in. that we apply rules with consistency and not based on what's convenient or advantageous in the moment. the rule of law. the legitimacy of our courts. the fundamental workings of our democracy, all, depend on that basic principle. as votes are willing being cast in this election, republican senators now called to apply that standard. now and the coming years with decisions that will determine whether or not our economy is fair, our society is just, women are treated equally, our planet

survives, and our democracy endures, are too consequential for future generations for courts to be filled through anything less than an unimpeachable process. that is from former president barack obama. i want to bridng in now dana bash, cnn's chief correspondent. and manu raju. hello, to both of you, again. dana, listen. president obama's making it clear that democrats should fight this with all that they have got. the question is, what can they do? >> vote. they can vote. in -- in november. which is the message that he has, here. i mean, he's not just speaking as a scorned president. scorned because it was his nominee, merrick garland, who never even got a hearing because mitch mcconnell, who is now in the driver's seat with this vacancy potentially, said, no,

it's -- it's not okay. we're not going to do this during an election year. but, beyond that, don, as you said, i think it's important to underscore he is trying to give democrats a roadmap for messaging on this. and that is just talking about and reminding people how important the supreme court is to everyday lives, in so many ways. again, talking about women -- women are treated with equality. our planet survives. the economy is fair. yes, that all kind of comes to a head with the presidency and -- and with congress. but the supreme court is very, very much at stake. always was. and historically, at least in recent times, it is the republicans who have galvanized their voters to get to the polls with the supreme court in mind. i mean, it -- donald trump, when he -- early on in the primary process, in 2016 -- put out a

list of conservative judges or justices that he would pick. that helped him get cred, street cred, with conservatives. democrats are more enthused and more motivated by supreme court issues. but not as much, historically, as republicans. and what the former president is trying to say is, remember, that matters, too. >> i want to bring you in, now, manu. mitch mcconnell already sending a message out to senators saying, hey, listen. just basically, have a poker face, right? don't say anything. >> yeah. and his concern is that too many senators will come out and say essentially what obama is saying that -- wait till the elections in november. let's see who the winner is. then, let's decide. he does not want senators to get locked into that position because in order to get someone confirmed before the end of the year, which is his goal and his plan, he needs to ensure that they have no fewer than just

three -- no more than republican defections, at this point. now, what mcconnell is looking at here is trying to get someone confirmed by the end of the year. so that means, before november will probably be difficult. historically, it's been about two to three months for a supreme court nominee to go through the process. what's more likely is they will try to get someone confirmed in a post-election, lame-duck session of congress. and that raises all other sorts of complications because, one, republicans may get squeamish about moving forward if, for instance, president trump loses in november, he will be out of office at the end -- in january. and if the republicans lose the senate majority in november, they will lose their majority in january. some republicans may feel uneasy about moving forward in that lame-duck session. and so, that will be something they'll have to consider. also, there is a question about if the arizona republican senator, the appointed senator, martha mcsally. if she loses her special

election november 3rd, her democratic opponent, mark kelly, could potentially get sworn in before the end of that month, november. and that could narrow the majority from 53-47 to 52-48. and making it even harder for them to confirm a nominee. so there are, still, a lot of considerations, at this point, for mitch mcconnell. that's why he is saying don't lock yourself into a position. let's talk more about it. and then, the arm twisting, undoubtedly, will come as they push for this nominee and try to limit defections and get someone confirmed before the end of the year. >> dana, i want to ask you. i want to get to lindsey graham. but i want to ask you, why would mitch mcconnell make this statement, tonight? why wouldn't he wait, maybe, until tomorrow? give people a chance to digest it. bringing -- listen, just a question, not a criticism. but i am just wondering because the whole reason we are talking about this because he released a statement saying we're going to do this, you know, by the end of the year. rather, than just waiting. what's -- what's the point? >> to make it -- to -- to end

any speculation and make it very, very clear that this is his intention to -- to fill the vacancy. and the speculation is simply because of his own actions, in blocking the democratic president's nominee four years ago, citing the same things. now, they argue, and manu knows this because he's heard them say this so many times in the hallway. that it's different because, at the time, it was a democrat being president and a republican-led majority. and now, that it's the president and the senate who are the same parro party. but i mean, that's not what they said back then. >> no. >> they said it was because the people's voices have to be heard. and it was quite clever that, when the democratic leader, chuck schumer, put out his statement tonight, he obviously, intentionally, did almost word for word, what mitch mcconnell said four years ago about

america's voices need to be heard. like voters voices need to be heard. meaning, wait till after the election. >> just to add to what dana is saying. one thing you are also starting to hear from republicans is some republicans say we need to get a ninth justice confirm bid november because of election disputes that may occur on november 3rd. so if this goes up to the supreme court to determine the winner of the presidential election or to deal with election disputes, we need a tie-breaking vote potentially. now, that was not their concern back in 2016 when there were eight justices and that supreme court vacancy was left open until 2017. but, nevertheless, that is an argument that will be made in the coming weeks as a push will be made to try to get this done before november. even though there may not be time before november. but certainly, republicans think there will it be time before the end of the year. >> we'll get to lindsey graham later until the program. thank you. appreciate it. laura coates.

want to bring her back in. she is our cnn legal analyst. laura, thanks for joining me and helping me out here. so let's talk about sort of procedure here. how could a -- how this is going to affect the country -- how could a 5-3 conservative court factor into the election? >> well, first of all, the numbers. we sti you still have a majority, 5-3. you know that. but i think the biggest issue here is what will be the consequence? and can there actually be decisions made if you have less than nine justices? remember, merrick garland was somebody who was not treated with respect, shall we say, for almost a year that he sat there trying to figure out if he was going to be given the courtesy of an actual hearing. we know, of course, he was not. but there were cases that were able to go forward. and it was to, really, the detriment of certain case if there was a tie to have presidential value. but the supreme court could operate with less than nine

justices. is that ideal? obviously, we want to have a definitive marn definitive majority. we want to have a definitive way to have some presidential value be set. but how will they go about deciding who should be an appropriate replacement for the late justice ginsburg? my main concern has always been when you think about this, don, there is no constitutional requirement that whoever the person is going to be the successor has to be the mirror image, ideologically, of the person who is no longer holding that position. that's not the case. however, there is this idea of either -- it's a matter of hyper-partisanship. a matter of hypocrisy. that should not rule the day when we are talking about filling the void of what's supposed to be the pinnacle of objectivity in our country and that's one concern i think everyone should have right now. >> so president trump put out his list of justices. what do we know about who might

be nominated, in place of justice ginsburg, laura? >> we know, strategically, he may look to have somebody who is a woman. he meet think to himself, okay, there is a transferability, an interchangeability, to have someone who will draw in women voters. he's struggled with suburban, college-educated, women. this might be a draw to put out there to say, well, look, if you go with me, here's who it will be. a list of people who, of course, are going to be beholden to the principles he's talked about since 2016, including the idea of putting roe v wade back on trial. i'm sure. and a number of issues on terms of immigration, gun control, things that he has held dear for the course of the administration. of course, the problem in this is that if you are looking for a supreme court justice, in the confirmation process, one of the first questions you are going to

hear them asked is how much they value precedent? and whether they have preformed opinions about how things should operate? if they have preformed opinions, it doesn't bode well for their objectivity. gorsuch had this problem. sotomayor. all of them. so it's going to be a conundrum for the president and not being willing to show their hands enough to make the senate not want to confirm them. >> laura coates, thank you. and again, laura, i really appreciate you helping us out. and in long evening. i will see you soon. i want to bring in now, joan. joan, appreciate you joining us. you spent a lot time in chambers with justice ginsburg. 20 years of conversations. i'm sorry for your loss. i should say that.

but what was she like? >> thanks, don. you know, i -- i was with her as a journalist. but she -- she would tell me so many things. just in january, of this year, i remember going to see her. and she said to me, with so much enthusiasm that it's hard to talk about it now, i'm cancer free, she said, because she was getting checked all the time. remember, her cancer episodes date back to 1999. and with the colorectal cancer. and then, 2009 was when she first had the pancreatic. but it's obviously the pancreatic and the liver that metastasized for her. but she was so optimistic and she was fighting it. and she was excited about where the liberals were headed. this was a good term for the left wing, even though they were already in the minority with only four votes. so she would talk about that. and then, the other time -- well, there have been plenty of

times. but the other instance i think got her the most news and she had to express some regret about was, in 2016, i happened to see her right before the republican convention. and donald trump was obviously on his way to becoming the dv t -- the republican nominee. and she said, you know, he seems like such a faker. he's got such an ego and he won't turn over those tax returns. and there was a lot of pushback, including from the presidential candidate donald trump, who said her mind is shot. she should leave. and she wasn't going to go anywhere, then. but she did apologize. well, i shouldn't say apologize. she did say that she regretted speaking out, that way. she never, quite, apologized. and she never, quite, was sorry for her view about donald trump. and even this term, when his tax

document cases were before the supreme court, she brought it up again during the public arguments. about how he had never turned over his tax returns, as all other presidents had. so, don, she just got more outspoken with -- with her tenure on the court. and kept moving, fracnkly, over to the left more. she didn't start out as a strong left-winger. but that's certainly where she ended up. >> do you think, though, this donald trump administration and presidency is different? you can see, now, the hypocrisy that is about to play out before us and over the coming months. did she move to the left? or is it just because of the kind of administration, the kind of person that donald trump is, she didn't care for him so she spoke out about him? >> that's such a good question because the court, overall, has grown so much more conservative. not just because of the two

trump appointments but the appointments of george w. bush. of chief justice john roberts and samuel alito. the court shifted more to the right because of them. and she was, already, before this administration, inching more and more to the left. but i think you touched on so many of the administration policies that were being tested at the supreme court, she really did have to plant her flag to the far left, in a way that she just wasn't open to compromise on -- on the kind of policies he had. she was, often, by herself or with justice sotomayor on the far left. not like justice steven briar and kagen. so i think there was a bit of a reaction to what was happening with the court majority.

and when i think back to what mitch mcconnell said in february of 2016, right after antonin scalia's death. and he said, that very night that we all learned about his death, that he was not going to help move any nominee of barack obama. and he ended up getting his way, even though so many people thought it was so surprising that, just in the moments we had heard about justice scalia's death, he was already making such a strong statement. and here we are, again, with the same escort of scenario but it's the reverse. where he is saying we have to -- that the republicans have to be able to move an appointee through. and i think, don, what you are going to see is a fight between mitch mcconnell's will, here, and the memory of ruth bader ginsburg. who, as you noted earlier in your program, said she did not want to be -- have her successor named by this current president. >> yeah.

>> and i think you're going to see so much more of a public outpouring of outrage, this time, than we did in 2016. >> i do have to say. you know, when you have seen as much as ruth bader ginsburg. you know, 87 years old. in this country and -- and working in this political environment, you realize the height of hypocrisy, when you see it. and she knows, as the constitution said, all men are created equal. and everyone deserves to -- all the rights, under the constitution, as everyone else, regardless of your background, your race, your gender, and so on. and so, i think that -- i just wonder if she became more left-leaning or if the court around her just moved to the right. maybe it's a combination of both. but, joan, thank you so much. i really appreciate you joining us this evening. thank you. much, much more on our breaking news to come tonight. the death of justice ruth bader

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>> i am putting ted cruz as one of the people for the supreme court. right? and you know why i did it? you know why i did it? because i wanted to make sure that i had somebody on the list -- we have about 45 unbelievable people. un -- the smartest. the best. the absolute creme de la creme, right? the best minds in the country. conservative. they believe in the constitution. okay? you know, little things. little things like that. but i said, you know, i have to have somebody that we're going to make sure we get approved. and the only one i could think of is ted. >> so, you know, he didn't jkno, john, about her death apparently. but he knows nothing fires up his voters like his record on judges. >> yeah. and look. trump's record on judges has been the rationalization that conservatives have used when they've been offended by how donald trump undercuts their values across the board. i will say that his idea that

ted cruz would sail through senate confirmation, probably, doesn't track with his colleagues' respect for ted cruz but that's another story, for another day. but this is a very supercharged moment and a very dangerous moment for our country. this has always been donald trump's key argument for why his supporters should ignore all the scandals and the -- >> you said values. can you say, really, in this moment, when you think about the majority, let's be honest. can -- can republicans, can they even use that word anymore, in this moment? when you look at hypocrisy and the so-called values and morals and all of that? none of that, considering who their president is and how they defend him, none of that should even come into play, john. >> yeah but it will because they are betting on the american people having the memory of a firefly. if you do a lot of repetition, and they'll try to separate themselves just enough. it used to be hypocrisy was the unforgiveable sin in politics.

donald trump has blown that up. and we are all going to be living with the downstream impact of that cultural change for a long time, to our detriment. >> yeah. and speaking of, that's perfect lead into what i want to ask ron. let's listen to lindsey graham, shall we? >> i want you to use my words against me. if there is a republican president, in 2016, and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can see lindsey graham said let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination. and you could use my words against me, and you would be absolutely right. we are setting a precedent, here, today. republicans are. that, in the last year, at least of a lame-duck, eight-year term. i would say it's going to be a four-year term. that you are not going to fill the vacancy of the supreme court, based on what we're doing here today. that's going to be the new rule. >> i'll tell you this. this may make you feel better,

but i really don't care. if an opening comes in the last year of president trump's term, and the primary process is started. we'll wait to the next election. and i've got a pretty good chance of -- >> you're on the record. >> yeah. pull the tape. >> okay. so, now, he is in -- he is the judiciary chair, in a tough battle for re-election. what's he going to do, now, ron? >> he's probably going to reverse himself. and you know, the fact that so many republicans are willing to do so, really, is kind of an exclamation point on the trend we have seen for the last several years, especially under trump. their view that any means necessary are increasingly, not only justified but, required to keep power. i mean, this is the same senate republicans who chose not to sanction the president for, you know, overtly extorting a foreign government to manufacture dirt.

>> or even -- or even hear witnesses when you are talking about it. that's what i was trying to get across with john avlon when i asked that question. but go on. sorry to interrupt. >> this is not guaranteed, though. mitch mcconnell wants to do this. lindsey graham will probably fall into line on doing this. but as several people said tonight, they have 53 senators. the weapons that democrats have are shame and fear. shame, for some of the more senior republicans, who worry about the -- the credibility of the institution. that might get you a mitt romney, lisa murkowski, murkowski at least has made noise about this. but there are a number of senate republicans in very tough races. susan collins said to jonathan martin at "the new york times" she would not do this. for cory gardner to do it would be, in essence, acknowledging that he is going to lose. thom tillis. also, again, could be a very tough decision. so, you know, this is a moment

where -- where history is contingent. it is not, yet, written. and it really is -- what happens will depend on what voters and advocacy groups do, between now and the moment when votes are cast. >> just quickly, before i let you gentlemen go. the american people deserve to have their voices heard on the nomination of the next supreme court justice who could alter the supreme court for a generation. the next president should make this lifetime appointment to the supreme court. here's what he said tonight. to washington to ensure we have an impartial judiciary that upholds the constitution and the rule of law. we will fulfill our obligation to them. president trump's supreme court nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the u.s. senate. that is the definition of hypocrisy. and with that, if you looked it up, his picture should be in the dictionary, next to the word

hypocrisy. thank you, both. i appreciate it. more on the death of ruth bader ginsburg in just a moment. here is a clip from justice ginsburg talking about her youth from the cnn film "rbg" airing tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. >> i love to do the things that boys did when i was growing up. one of our favorite things was climbing garage roofs, from one roof to another. and leaping. leaping over. >> justice ginsburg, we cannot call ruth. we call her kicky. >> she was beautiful. big, beautiful, blue eyes. which you really can't see very well behind her glasses. very soft, brown hair. she had this kind of quiet magnetism. even though she was not effusive. you always thought that she wasn't listening and she didn't know what was going on but she knew what was going on. >> she didn't do small talk. >> no. >> and she didn't do girl chat. and she didn't get on the phone

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here's our breaking news. the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg and the historic sh shutdown -- showdown, excuse me. we're back with douglas brinkley. douglas, trying to get a third justice on the becnch days befoe an election that could end up in front of the court? >> no, nothing like this that we might be seeing right now. and, you know, i feel, tonight, kind of numb. it feels like brought back to

the assassination of -- you know, her death here is a big moment in american history. because donald trump has been trying to do anything to get off of the novel coronavirus. you know, start saying a miracle vaccine was coming earlier today. and now, he has something to push for getting a woman on the u.s. supreme court and being the hero of the conservative movement. and the democrats are going to have to get right back into the fray. and so, what seemed like the big election of our lifetime. the clear choice, between biden and trump, has now just gotten magnified. that this really is a decision about the direction america goes for the next 20, 30, or 40 years. >> yeah. the court has, historically, served as a key check on the executive. can it still perform that

function, as it currently stands, douglas? >> well, it can. we'll have to see what happens with this election. i mean, you had a wonderful talk a little bit ago. what happens if we don't have a ninth supreme court justice. and november 3rd goes haywire. donald trump loses and says he didn't lose. and calls for recounts. and we know what happened, in 2000, with george w. bush and al gore and it got booted to the supreme court after much -- after dangling chads and florida recounts and the like. so we're looking at what could be, after this election, a crazy showdown, if donald trump, for example, says i really didn't lose. but everybody else says he did lose. and then, this will go to the supreme court. i think all eyes have to be on chief justice roberts. he has shown himself to be a person of integrity and a leader, in the last few years. and he has a mighty, big, historical burden on his shoulders as the election

approaches. >> listen. we don't want to lose justice ginsburg's legacy, in a fight that is looming. this is her speaking of her early days as a justice. watch. >> when i was a new justice, invariably, in an oral argument session, one or another would call me justice o'connor. they knew there was a woman on the supreme court so a woman's voice meant it had to be justice o'connor. nowadays, there are three of us. one-third of the bench. >> how remarkable, douglas, was her appointment to the court? >> it was unbelievable. it was a brave move by bill clinton. however, keep in mind, she was considered kind of a moderate when -- in june of 1993, when

bill clinton chose her. she made a lot of friends across the aisle. but she was a fierce fighter for equal rights. believing in the -- in the -- that -- you know, the 14th amendment wasn't just about african-americans or minorities but it meant equal rights for women. and so, she's going to be remembered, don, like eleanor roosevelt, in american history. or hillary clinton. she is one of the giants. and, i know, i really, truly don't think that we would even be using the word gender. was all -- there was so much sexism in america that, you know, nobody -- she almost helped put the word gender into our parlance. and she's influenced so many female lawyers, in this country. she is an icon and a hero to them. she's what, you know, john f. kennedy may have been to a different generation. and, you know, ruth bader ginsburg will live eternal. but we're going to be dealing

with a funeral and memorial ceremony here, with just days heading into the election. her funeral may be on september 29th, when we have a presidential debate. i mean, this is getting to be a real high-stakes drama. and i -- i -- i'm afraid for our country, now, because the divide seems to be growing. but at least we can all be proud our country produced a jurist and a legal mind and an intellectual like justice ginsburg. >> very well put. she was a force, before she -- she even ever put on a robe. she remained a champion of gender equality, as you said. like this. watch this. >> it's amazing to me that, for the first time, women are really listened to because sexual harassment had often been dismissed as, well, she made it up. or she's too thin skinned.

so i think it's a very healthy development. >> what did her work in the '70s mean? did it lay the groundwork for what we see, today? >> absolutely. you know, don, we call, in history, the '60s and '70s, sometimes, the long '60s. meaning she was part of that progressive movement. in the 1970s, she had six cases held between -- before the supreme court. and she won five. she was a legend, in the '70s. but her -- her rock-star status only came later because she wasn't a megaphone shouter, like jane fonda or gloria steinem. she was doing it with this deep, cerebral, intellectual sense. when she was at cornell university, the great who wrote the lead on all these great novels, was her professor. and she learned the power of word. to make every word count. she became an excellent writer.

and so, her personality was not somebody who you felt that steely nature or the blowtorch-like thinking that she had. but it came out when she made the supreme court, in 1993. and now, her name is -- is almost blessed with holy water by the people that care about equal rights in the united states. >> douglas, if you will, i want to just -- i want to read the statement from president obama and get you to react. speaking of writing, good writer and a good orator. ruth bader ginsburg fought till the end with unwavering faith in our dmok emocracy and its idealt she also left instructions for how she wanted her legacy to be honored. four and half years ago, when republicans refused to hold a hearing or an up-or-down vote on merrick garland, they invented the principle that the senate shouldn't fill an open seat on

the supreme court before a new president was sworn in. a basic principle of the law and of everyday fairness is that we apply rules with consistency and not based on what's convenient or advantageous, in the moment. the fundamental workings of our democracy, all, depend on that basic principle. as votes are willing being cast in this election, republican senators are now called to apply that standard. the questions before the court now and in the coming years, with decisions that will determine whether or not our economy is fair, our society just, women are treated equally, our planet survives, and our democracy endures, are too consequential to future generations for courts to be filled through any less than an unimpeachable process. what do you think of that? >> i think it's a very noble statement by barack obama, as usual. but sometimes, when somebody passes, he will give a kind of obituary remark. and that's what you kind of hang on to and remember. it's always very quotable and

lives on in evergreen fashion. but what you just read is barack obama putting his shoulder to the wheel and saying the fight is on. you know, we have been saying what is the soul of america? this is the fight for that soul, right -- right now. and the ghost of merrick garland must haunt him. i would think if barack obama wishes he could have found a way to get him into the court. but the democrats have to remember that they got beat on that. and that, mitch mcconnell's the one that beat them. and there has to become a new kind of resolve, here, that democrats are going to have to go to the mat on this. so we are, now, into a new crisis. a crisis of the supreme court. >> does anything matter, anymore? especially, and i have to be honest, on the republican side, when it comes to donald trump and this administration and the folks who are in office? i am talking about the people in office because i have republican friends that do not condone the hypocrisy that's going on now. the just letting donald trump

get away with whatever he wants. does anything -- anything mean, anymore, anything anymore? does anyone's word mean anything, in washington, anymore? >> well, the -- the term grotesque hypocrisy that we are seeing out tof this republican party. it used to be and meant something to be a republican senator. but donald trump has been able to get them to abandon any kind of ethics, and just be in this kind of scorched-earth strategy. burn, no matter what. win, win, win, at all cost. without stopping to think about what it means to our country, long-term. and that's the problem with the modern republican party. they don't care about climate change. they want their money, now. not what their kids or grandkids might inherit. and they are not worried about what this means for how the judicial branch will function, in the coming decades. they are worried about win, win, win, right now. and it's a -- it's sad. we're looking at a decline in our american democracy that

we're in an era, where there are not enough republican senators that would be willing to stand up and say, timeout. wear nwe're not jamming this through. nothing happening beforehand. and we're going to see -- we'll have a further discussion, after november 3rd. instead, don, i'm afraid you might have mitch mcconnell trying to slam this on, immediately, in the coming days. trying to get this done, and make this the issue of the campaign. >> douglas bricnkley, thank you. i am grateful to have your perspective. thank you, very much. appreciate it. more on ruth bader ginsburg, in just a moment. when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management,

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only one other woman served on the supreme court before ruth bader ginsburg. only two followed and remained on the court until this day. jessica snyder looks back at her extraordinary life.

>> ruth bader ginsburg rised from a humble neighborhood to the nation's highest court with a classic american story. >> what's the difference between a bookkeeper and the supreme court justice? where else but in america could that happen? >> reporter: she was smart and tied for first in columbia law school. the glass ceiling stood firm in the '60s and '70s. >> reporter: she turned to teach law and fight gender discrimination for the aclu. she had this idea where you have to build step by step. >> reporter: in 1980s, ginsburg became a judge. >> 13 years later, she was namd

to the supreme court by president clinton, of the second woman on the bench. >> the minute justice ginsburg came to court, we were nine justices. it was seven and the women. it was a great relief to me. >> reporter: as a justice ginsburg voted in favor of abortion access and civil rights. she was also known for her bold decent like the one she wrote when the court stops the ballot recount, struck down the voting rights act and ended mandates for businesses under the affordable care act. >> women can be victims of paid discrimination. >> reporter: in 2007, the high

court ruled against a factory supervisor in a high-profile paid discrimination case. ginsburg urged congress to take up the issue. 20 months later, the first bill that president obama signed into law. after justice john paul stevens retired in 2010, ginsburg became the most senior of her liberal colleagues. she did not slow down. stephen colbert discovered that the hard way and trying to keep up with her. >> i am cramping, working out with an 85 years old woman. >> reporter: in 2018 doctors treating the justice for broken ribs and discovered cancerous growth on her lungs. the surgery was successful but the recovery caused her to miss arguments at the supreme court for the first time in her career. she was treated for pancreatic

cancer but always stayed up in court work. even after losing her husband, she 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 liked most of them. >> reporter: her best friend on the bench was the late justice scalia. >> what's not to like? except her view of the law. >> reporter: they shared a laugh of ginsburg drinking wine before nodding off before the state of the union. >> i was 100% sober because before we went to the state of the union. >> we had dinner together and justice kennedy -- >> that's the first intelligent thing you have done. >> reporter: in her later years, she gained walk star status with

millennials, thanks to social media. >> it was beyond my wildest imagination that i would become the notorious r.b.g. >> reporter: the nickname was planned on the notorious rapper b.i.g. there was a featured film and a documentary posted by cnn. >> people ask me sometimes when will there be enough women on the court and my answer is when you are in line. >> as you noticed how wonderful her laugh was is this amazin

? >> amazing. please tuned in tomorrow night "rbg," thank you for watching everyone.

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for those of you who are joining us at the top of the hour, justice bader ginsburg has died. she was the first woman appointed to justice. justice ginsburg died at home in washington surrounded by family, we were told from complications of pancreatic cancer. she was 87-years-old, despite her long battle and several different forms of cancer and all complications, she seemed to

be i