neutral. number two, take the inputs, what the parties put to me. number three, analyze the law. if you were listening closely, you would think this was a conservative judge. so this is an eminently qualified nominee who is likely to pass through the committee and then get confirmation. >> certainly seems like it's going in that direction. thank you so much. i appreciate your time. thanks to all of you. "ac 360" starts now. good evening. two big stories tonight. history making confirmation hearings for ketanji brown jackson, the first black woman named to the court. senator cory booker has just questioned judge jackson and the proceedings have broken for 20 minutes with three more senators remaining. senator amy klobuchar joins us shortly. we begin with the evening's other big story, russia's continued assault on ukraine. we got new video of the battle on the outskirts of kyiv. what you're about to see is a firefight along a rail line about 18 miles northeast of the

city. you're going to hear one of the soldiers who managed to get off three rpg rounds in quick succession shout allah akbar. the one who published this are chickeneck chechen fighters. cnn cannot emindependently confm this. with that in mind, here's the video. [ gunfire ]

. [ gunfire ]

[ gunfire ] >> i'll talk more about this later tonight with cnn military analyst and retired three-star general mark hertling. ukrainian forces also pushed back west of kyiv, the area extensively damaged is important for ukrainians to try to control because it might help prevent russian forces from encircling the capital. pentagon says it cannot confirm the area was retaken, but john kirby did say this. >> we have seen indications that the ukrainians are going a bit more on the offense now. they have been defending very smartly, very nimbly, very creatively, in places that they believe are the right places to defend. the ukrainians themselves several days ago said they were planning on counterattacks, so i think we have seen indications that they're moving in that

direction. >> as for russian forces, they continue leveling cities and killing civilians. something that vladimir putin's top spokesman has denied, and cnn's christiane omunpour has pressed him on. >> russian military are not hitting civil aims, civil targets. >> look, i know you guys say that you're not targeting civilians and you have just told me it was a special military operation which is what i know the kremlin military censorship demands. it is a war and it is an invasion and we're all watching it all over global television. no matter what you tell your own people. there are so many civilian targets that it's hard to count them right now. and you know, you may deny it, but even the chinese, dimitri, even the chinese who are your friends, have expressed a very, very deep concern about civilian targets. the real question is, what is president putin's strategic goal

in blasting the civilian infrastructure of places like mariupol, which we're watching turn to smithereens for the last several weeks now? what's the strategic goal? >> well, the strategic goal is to clear up mariupol for the regimens who are there in a heavily covered environment and by the way, they are simply not letting people out from the city, from the town. and this is a problem. because now we're assuming lots of refugees coming from there, and they simply tell us, they're eyewitnesses, they simply tell us that they were used like a shield. >> putin's spokesman referring to eyewitnesses. the next one is not in russia and not under russian jurisdiction. he's the deputy mayor of mariupol and this is what he's seeing. >> the city is under continuous

bombing from 50 bombs to 100 bombs. russian aircraft drops each day. >> another busy night. more now from sam kiley who joins us from kyiv. sam, you hear the russian spokesperson talking about people from mariupol fleeing into russia, saying they're being held hostage. i wonder what you make of that and his claims people aren't being allowed out. we have seen residents of mariupol using improvised or even unofficial humanitarian corridors to try to seek safety in other areas in ukrainian territory and some of them being shot at. >> yeah, i mean, the claim that people coming occupant of mariupol have gone into russian controlled areas, particularly in what used to be known as the donbas, the areas captured by russian backed rebels in 2014, are true. they're relatively low in number, we understand. these are people who have got family connections, whose russian speaking, may not be

entirely comfortable, maybe deeply reluctant to go into those locations, but they want to stay alive. there is independent reporting on the fact there have been some people fleeing into the russian held areas. the point is that's the only way that the russians are allowing people out of town. the people who have left mariupol going in the opposite direction have had to run a gauntlet of russian shelling, russian random machine guns, children have been killed and injured on that journey. cars have been shot up. it's mostly private cars that have been able to get out. and indeed, we have got reporting today that eight buses, rather 11 buses that were supposed to be going in as part of a government humanitarian mission to help get people out have actually been stolen alongside, and their drivers kidnapped by russian troops on that road between zaporizhzhia and mariupol which is the main evacuation route being taken by those who want to evacuate into

ukrainian government territory, which seems to be the majority. there's no evidence whatsoever of course they're being held against their will inside mariupol. this is a city that's been entirely surrounded and is being bombarded, now being bombarded, anderson, from the sea, by naval big guns on top of all of the other ordinance being dropped on the heads of the mostly civilian population of that city. >> what do we know about fighting in and around kyiv? we played this video earlier which is a little confusing because it is said to be some chechens fighting on behalf of ukraine. we have certainly heard obviously chechen is ruled by a pro-vladimir putin thug who he put into power after leveling grozny and installing that man in power. are there chechens fighting on the side of ukraine, and just in general, what have you seen in terms of activity over the last day or so? >> yeah, there are chechen units

here, and they have been there, all muslim units, too, as part of the ukrainian armed forces or as militias who were helping to fight off the initial russian invasion back in 2014-2015. most of them have been officially incorporated into the armed forces or have attached themselves to the armed forces. they include volunteers from around particularly the caucuses, the southern caucuses and a lot of chechens who fought against the russians are not happy with the rule of their ruler who has been claiming at any rate from his twitter account to be marching around on the other side of these battles. now, this battle we recorded we are pretty sure we geolocated to the eastern side of the dnipro river. most of the conflict today has been on this side, on the side that i'm on, the western side of the river. and about five to eight miles north of where i'm standing in the northern edges and suburbs of the city where there's been very heavy bombardment, very

visible bombardment along the skyline, as part, we think, of this ongoing ukrainian offensive. >> sam kiley, appreciate it. be careful. first-hand perspective now from a member of the ukrainian parliament. when we spoke just before air time, she was in a village just west of the capital. thank you so much for joining us. president zelenskyy said he believes a compromise may be found with russia, but obviously the fight has to continue. you have been clear, you think ukraine should not cede any land. are you open to some sort of a compromise or some sort of negotiation? >> yes, of course. there's always room for compromise. we can talk about the sums of reparations russia is to pay to ukraine and all the other countries that have been supporting ukraine through the years and through this particular months of escalation of russian aggression. we can talk of a discount, that's the compromise we're

prepared to go on. >> nothing involving land? >> why should we? if ukraine goes in concessions as to land or as to any other of the demands that putin is making right now, we're actually going to be putting the whole world at risk. a very, very big defense and security risk for the framework of peace and security that exists today in the world. if ukraine is going to be ceding any land, we're going to be sending a message to all of the other totalitarian leaders and dictators out there who will clearly have the notion that it's okay to go ahead, to push on with aggression, and then at the end of the day, the international community is going to do nothing and they may even end up as winners with some land slashed off. >> there's been concern by both the u.s. and nato that belarus could join the war, the invasion with russia, could send in

forces. how much would that change the nature of the conflict? >> not much. i believe that the forces in belarus are not as numerous as they say they are. plus, not many people in belarus want to fight. i'm in constant contact with many friends that i have in belarus, belarusians who have left the country, but are still very well well connected and they say all in one voice the russian army is not going to be fighting in ukraine. the only way they can be made to fight is if russian officers are actually put in charge of them and if the death squads are marching behind the belarusian army making them go in and invade ukraine. there have been notices handed in by the soldiers of the belarusian army, and the officers of the belarusian army saying that they will not invade ukraine. and they don't want to do it. and the resilience is very

strong. so even if they do, even if the belarusian soldiers are made to cross the border and walk into ukraine, i doubt that this will be a force that ukraine will really have to reckon with. and i'm pretty sure that most of the belarusian soldiers will just be very happy to lay down their arms and to be taken hostage by the ukrainian military. >> given the success that ukrainian forces have had on the ground against russian forces, are you concerned that russia may just try to do to kyiv what they have been doing to mariupol? essentially just try to destroy the city? >> that is one of the most difficult questions that i have heard over the last weeks. and unfortunately, i have to answer that yes. russia, the war tactics they are employing, they are absolutely barbaric. some call it in the formal

journal scorched earth, but it's more than that. the russian army is deliberately targeting civilians. they're targeting women and children in particular. >> i appreciate your time and please be careful. >> thank you very much. and glory to ukraine. keep supporting ukraine. >> also been checking throughout this entire invasion with a woman living with her three young children in a basement in kyiv while her husband who was formerly a journalist is now volunteering a fight. we spoke again tonight. you're still under curfew now. how are you doing? how are your kids doing? >> well, i cannot say we're absolutely fine, but i try to stay strong, and i try not to panic, and we stay calm, and even to bring some joy to my children before the curfew, i bought them some new toys so they were able to play with them

today. sorry. >> it's okay. >> but today in the afternoon, there were missiles that were -- they were hit in the sky by air defense system. but the parts of the missiles, they fell in our neighborhood. and one just fell into the river very close to the beach where we usually swim in the summer with children. and the other one, it fell on the buildings and caused a fire. and the disturbing message for me is that this happened in the middle of the day. so before missiles were falling, like, at night or very early in the morning when we were hiding in the shelter. and this time, it fell in the afternoon when usually we go home, you know, for a couple hours. that means it comes closer to us. >> and you can hear that?

>> oh, yes. we could hear it very clearly because we went a little upstairs just to see the light from the windows, from the basement, and all of a sudden all of the glass was shaking. and there was one loud explosion and like everybody stood still. then there was another explosion. and i said, run into the shelter. and we started running, and we ran. and yes, later we found out what was it, because when it happened, you do not understand what's happening. but you know what my husband told me later, he said, if you hear the explosion, it's good because that means you're still alive. so it's good. >> you were saying -- i mean, all the time we have talked, you spend so much time trying to make life as normal as possible for your children. i know you said right before the curfew, you got some gifts for them. what did you get?

>> we were just, you know, before the curfew, there were long queues everywhere to all of the supermarkets here, so i decided not to stay for such long time. so i just was like walking in the neighborhood, looking, what is available. and what was available is a shop where i could buy toys. so i just said, okay, kids, you can go and choose whatever you want. and katia had chosen a paper house. >> a doll haouse? we're seeing it now. it's beautiful. >> it looks like she wants to have a feeling of home. having her home is very important to her. and he picked up a police helicopter with police cars because for him, i think it's very important to feel protected and to protect the others. and there is still justice

because they say what's happening right now is not fair because this is what i'm telling them, and what they understand. >> so i know last time we spoke, you said he wants to now be a military pilot, so he has the police helicopter now, i guess, to practice a little bit. i love what you said, so interesting what you said, that katia, that the doll house for her is important because the idea of having a home is so important. >> yes, yes. exactly. exactly. >> does it -- the last time you were home or one of the times you were at home, i remember you saying, i mean, the apartment that you lived in before the war, that you said to the kids at a certain point, we're going to go home, and you meant back to the basement, that home has become the basement. do you think katia feels that way? >> a little bit. a little bit. we brought already so many things here into the basement.

we made this place like almost like home. we have here our pillows, our small blankets, some toys. we sleep here all the time. so it's already almost one month that we sleep here in the basement. and we really feel here more relaxed and protected than upstairs on the eighth floor. and i don't want to lose this home while we are at war to move anywhere. and we have this illusion, illusion of safety here. >> you feel the basement is safer than the lottery of staying in an apartment? >> yes, yes, for me, this is my maybe subjective feeling, but i feel here -- i know that here i can fall asleep and i can feel relaxed. and i know that children are relaxed if they see me relaxed. and they can sleep if i can sleep. and i know that it's only me

left, my husband is on duty, so he's not available right now. so three kids, they are my responsibility. and i just need to be safe and strong enough. and i have decided to stay in kyiv, not to move anywhere, but if it's here, i have to be as safe as possible because i'm not going to be a martyr. yes, i don't want to die. i want to survive and i want my children to survive, and in this situation, i think i'm doing the most of what i can do to keep them safe and at the same time to be useful for my country and to win in this war. >> i know you were able to see your husband, i think it was yesterday, for about 30 minutes. we have some video of him playing with the kids. it seems so normal, that scene. if you looked at it, you would never know what was going on

outside. >> yes. yes. and basically, what you see, this mess around the room, is normal for us, too. basically, how it looked before the war. it's not because of the war. this is our normal situation when children mess around like our living room is like a big playing room where they do different kind of things. yes, and they really wanted to eat him, to kiss him, to bite him, to hug him. yeah, they miss him a lot. >> yeah. well, i'm so glad to talk to you, and i wish you will. and i wish you continued strength. >> thank you very much. thank you. hope to see you again. >> yes. we will. >> we will take up the apparent ukrainian counteroffensive shortly with mark hertling, next, with supreme court hearings for ketanji jackson in a brief recess, we'll look at

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senate judiciary confirmation hearings on supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson are going late into the evening. they pick up again in a few minutes with questions remaining from three more senators. we'll speak with senator amy klobuchar on what is a history making night. first to catch you up on what's happening, here's paula reed. >> on the second day of her supreme court confirmation hearings, judge ketanji brown jackson forcefully pushing back against gop attacks accusing her of being lenient in sentencing child porn offenders. >> as a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, i was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth. the statute says calculate the

guidelines but also look at various aspects of this offense and impose a sentence that is, quote, sufficient but not greater than necessary to promote the purposes of punishment. >> those guidelines she says are out of date, as they suggest tougher sentences based on the number of photographs received in the mail. >> and that made total sense before, when we didn't have the internet, when we didn't have distribution, but the way that the guideline is now structured based on that set of circumstances, is leading to extreme disparities in the system. >> but republican senator josh hawley still used his entire allotment of time to talk about the issue. >> judge, he was 18. these kids are 8. i don't see in what sense they're peers. i have got a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 16-month-old at home. and i live in fear that they will be exposed to let alone

exploited in this kind of material. >> this particular defendant had just graduated from high school. and some of perhaps not all, when you are looking at the records, but some of the materials that he was looking at were older teenagers. were older victims. attempting to take into account all of the relevant factors and do justice individually in each case. >> today was the first chance lawmakers had to question jackson with another big focus being her previous representation of guantanamo bay detainees. >> federal public defenders don't get to pick their clients. they have to represent whoever comes in, and it's a service. >> the issue touched off this tense exchange. >> suggested the president of your own party released him.

>> i'm suggesting the system has failed miserably and advocates to change the system like she was advocating, would restore our ability to protect this country. we're at war, we're not fighting crime. >> senator ted cruz zeroed in on critical race theory, the idea u.s. systems are inherently racist, using charts and books. it was one of the few times jackson appeared visibly annoyed. >> do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist? >> senator, i have not reviewed any of those books, any of those ideas. they don't come up in my work as a judge. which i am respectfully here to address. >> democrats, though, opting to use their time to highlight the historic significance of her nomination and provide a reprieve for jackson during the grueling day-long hearing. >> i think you're doing very well. and as you can see, this is a bit of a tough place.

>> paula reed, cnn, washington. >> we're joined by senator amy klobuchar, member of the senate judiciary committee. how do you think judge jackson is doing so far? >> she is such a strong person, anderson, and she showed incredible grace under pressure. 11 hours of grilling and counting with more to come. she has shown she's smart, that she knows the law, and she's been able to explain the role of a judge. you know, it's not to make policy. it's to make tough decisions about cases. and the other thing that got a little lost as i was listening to all of the recordings that just played, you know, her brother was a police officer, served in the military. her uncle was a detective. her other uncle was the chief of police in miami and she's received a letter of endorsement from the fraternal order of police, people who know her well, that have seen her perform

as a judge. and i think all of that came up, but the biggest thing that came out was her humanity, her role as a mom, and balancing that with her job as a judge. and just really what a good person she was. there was a lot of good energy and optimism. and i can't say that it comes at a time where as you just pointed out on your program, we're in the middle of this horrendous, horrendous attack on ukraine. it makes us realize how important our democracy is. and as we're coming out of this pandemic, our moment to connect again, not be 300-plus million silos, but actually participate in our democracy face-to-face, respect each other's views. that's the timing of her incredible nomination. >> we heard a number of senators, republicans, trying to pin down judge jackson on her view on critical race theory, suggesting also that she's lenient on child porn sentencing. which she obviously forcefully

disputed. i wonder what you make of those kind of lines of questioning? >> okay, first of all, on policy front, i remember being at other hearings, including justice coney barrett's hearing. and many, many times she said that is not my role as a judge. my role is to decide cases and not policy. she didn't answer those questions. i have had many, many people before her, including democratic nominated, republican nominated judges. that is nothing new at all. that's not their role. secondly, when it comes to the cases, it was pointed out by some of my colleagues, our republican colleagues that were making such a big deal about this, they have supported judges who of course have given similar sentences in these cases. in particular cases. we have seen that before. it's just one of the things, a supreme court nominee, highest office in the land, when it comes to the judiciary, you answer questions.

and she's doing it well. >> it does seem that -- or i'm wondering your perception on how much some of the questioning is based on, you know, hold over anger from the confirmation hearings for judges brett kavanaugh or amy coney barrett. and by the way, we're showing a live shot down a hall, waiting to see the judge coming back from a short recess. >> great. and her parents and her family by her side throughout this entire hearing, by the way. i think that a lot of relitigating that could be done on the past. you heard our republican colleagues bring it up. you know, we could be talking about it all the time, too, because of the fact that one judge was rammed through right before the election, the other judge was held for the opening for a long period of time. but relitigating is behind us. what's in front of us right now is incredible woman, first black woman to be nominated to the

u.s. supreme court, following 115 justices. she's the first one. and someone with such experience, going into this as a judge, she will have more experience than four of the people that currently serve on the court when they were nominated as a judge. so just gives you a sense of why she's doing well in these hearings. >> senator amy klobuchar, appreciate your time. >> great to be on. >> as the confirmation hearings get under way, we'll have more, and next, back to our coverage in ukraine. id-filled aspirin cae is clinically shown in a 7 day study to cause fewewer ulcers than immediate release aspirin. vazalore. the first liququid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing! nina's got a lot of ideas for the future. and since anyone can create a free plan at fidelity, nina has a plan bad on what matters most to her. and she can simp focus on right now.

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we're going to bring you more on the supreme court confirmation hearings in just a moment. right now, we want to switch back to our coverage of the war in ukraine for a broad view of where things stand from outside kyiv, where ukraine is seeing positive signs, to mariupol, where president zelenskyy said there is nothing left there, just ruins like armageddon. >> ukrainian forces are pushing back, close to the capital. they say they have regained control of this road and the surrounding area. it's a short drive from western kyiv. the head of the police released this video of his visit soon after. it shows him reclaiming a melted ukrainian flag from a local police station. he says it is still under fire

and every second civilian building is damaged or destroyed. there isn't much left, but if ukraine can now hold this ground, it could prove crucial in stopping russian forces from encircling the capital. in ukraine's east, the city of kharkiv, another much wanted prize for the invading force has reported a noticeable increase in russian munitions fired from afar. intelligence assessments say that's happening more because fighting up close isn't going russia's way. but still, no city in ukraine has been bombarded like mariupol. there is only daily torment for the hundreds of thousands still under siege there. >> each day mariupol is destroyed more and more until now in our estimation about 90% of our infrastructure is damaged and destroyed. the city is under continuous bombing from 50 bombs to 100 bombs, russian aircraft drops

each day. >> but vladimir putin's spokesman is still comfortable saying this. >> our military are targeting only military goals and military objects on the territory of ukraine. not civil ones. russian military are not hitting civil aims. civil targets. >> one of the still unanswered questions of this conflict, how great are russian losses on the battlefield? the russian tabloid appeared briefly to know the answer. in a report published monday, it said 9,861 deaths had been recorded by russia's defense ministry with more than 16,000 wounded. then, much later that day, the report was edited, and the numbers removed. the tabloid said it was hacked and someone inserted false information. the published figure is notable because it tracks with u.s. defense department estimates of up to 10,000 russian deaths in ukraine. after four weeks, russia's

invasion is stalled with little momentum and no significant wins. no problem, says president putin's spokesman. >> we're speaking about special military operation that is going on. and it is going on strictly in accordance with the plans. and with purposes. they were established beforehand. >> phil black, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >> let's get some perspective from retired lieutenant general and cnn analyst mark hertling. they have the munitions to decimate cities like mariupol. do they have the troop levels to hold, to move into these cities afterward and hold these cities? >> they do not, anderson. you know, what we have to look at is the strategic objectives of mr. putin was to replace ukrainian government and destroy through a battle of annihilation the ukrainian army. that's the strategic objective. his operational objectives were to occupy kyiv and overthrow the

government and then surround the ukrainian army in a battle of annihilation to get rid of them. he has failed in all four of those counts. not only on the strategic basis but on the operational basis. he does not have the forces many people have been saying from the very beginning, he threw 190,000 troops surrounding ukraine four weeks ago, and what you have to consider is not all of those are combat troops. i would say less than 50% are front line fighting troops, because that's how an army works. you have to have just as many people supporting the army as you have fighting. so that means he's got about 80,000 at most soldiers to put in six different places. he does not have the force to overcome some of these cities. at the same time, the ukrainian force, about 240,000 or so when they first started this battle, has a lot better opportunity to move around, conduct this act of defense, and they're doing a phenomenal job in my view right

now. although it is very tough. >> so is this -- if it becomes just a war of attrition with russia just slamming missiles into cities, and you know, ukrainian fighters fighting valiantly and pushing back on the ground, how does that resolve? where does that go? >> well, there are going to be some key points. i think we're seeing some of that right now. mariupol is the perfect example. it is exactly like if you -- if any of your listeners want to look at the battle of grozny chechnya in december of 1994 to '95, it's exactly the same tactics and operations the russian forces used there. >> that's terrifying. >> one city of a smaller size with less people. so what we're seeing is they can't hold kyiv, kharkiv, mariupol, attempt to gain in odesa or some of the -- kerr

son, you could go on and name the cities where there's hundreds of thousands of people. right now we're seeing them focuses on mariupol and the citizens are putting up a great fight, although the city is in ruins and it's the kind of thing that mr. putin has done before on multiple occasions. >> yeah, comparison to grozny in the '94-'95 time period, that's a terrifying comparison. that was a hellscape after they were done with it. >> yeah, i think the u.n. called it the most destroyed city on earth. and between 5,000 and 6,000 chechens were killed. civilians were trapped in buildings. the russians said, oh, yeah, you can come out and have a relief column, and as soon as they came out and started doing a column to get out of there, the russians would bomb them again. it is exactly the same tactics that they used before. they should have been held for war crimes then. they need to be held for war crimes now, because they are

targeting specifically civilians. >> it does seem like the u.s. is, you know, trying to provide greater anti-aircraft, anti-missile capabilities to ukrainian forces. how essential will that be moving forward for them? >> well, both the javelins and stingers that we have talked about so many times are important. drones will be critically important. the ukrainians are pushic back with their artillery, and i think that's what we're seeing outside kyiv. in order to have a counterartillery barrage to take out the other person's artillery, you have to have counterfire radar. the kind of radar that tells you where the russians are shooting from. but you also can strike those artillery pieces and some of the tanks with drones and with javelin missiles. i think that's what we're seeing outside the city limits of kyiv right now. the battle that's going on

there, i would suggest in seeing the smoke coming out of that, those are not artillery rounds falling, anderson. those are things burning. and i would bet that it's the ukrainians that are actually having an effect on the russian forces in and around kyiv and some of the other major places. remember, we're four weeks into this. other than mariupol, which has been really destroyed, russia has not taken any other city. and that's just phenomenal based on the objectives that putin had. >> stunning. lieutenant jural mark hertling, thank you. >> more on the senate confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson. back now from dinner break. we'll take you there live next. . like the “visit a doctor anywhere our rv takes us” plan. the “zero copays means more money for rumba lessssons” pla. ♪ and the “visit my doctor while eating pancakes” plan.

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the supreme court confirmation hearings for judge ketanji brown jackson has resumed after a short dinner break. i want to listen in to senator kennedy of louisiana. >> so let me ask you, we can go to the constitution, let's say the bill of rights to narrow the discussion and read about our explicit rights, religious

freedom, our right not to be unreasonably searched or seized, freedom of speech. they're right there. that's why they call them explicit. but the court has ruled we have a butch of unenumerated rights, am i correct? >> the court has determined there are certain personal rights related to individual atonomy that are implest in the concept of liberty or deply rooted in our nation's history or tradition. >> but they're unenumerated. >> yes. >> you've been watching supreme court nominee judge ketanji brown jackson take some questions from senator john kennedy. it's been a long day with

particularly fiery exchanges. i want to play you one now. this is from texas senator ted cruz. >> a retractable battle between -- between the races. it views every conflict as a racial conflict. do you think that's an accurate way of viewing society and the world we live in? >> senator, i don't think so but i've never studied critical race theory, and i've never used it. it doesn't come up in the work that i do as a judge. >> joined now by bakari sellers, also the author of a children's book, new book "who are your people." also nia-malika henderson. and jeffrey toobin. jeff, what do you make of how this is going so far? >> i think the nominees are

doing just fine. what was most interesting to me today is the insight about where the republican party is today and what candidates are trying to do. we just saw ted cruz trying to use critical race theory, which had absolutely nothing to do with the judge's qualifications or her record. he just wanted to make it clear that he was against it. but by far the weirdest half hour that we saw was senator josh hawley of missouri deciding his entire half hour to one case that the judge decided an 18-year-old accused of possessing child pornography. and it allowed senator hawley to talk about pedophilia and pornography in a way that was quite clear an appeal to the qanon folks, a cult that is now a bigger part of the republican party and this weird obsession

qanon has with democrats and pedophilia. and i think that was really the agenda that senator holley had that had really almost nothing to do with the nomination. >> i want to play of what he said. >> it really bothers me in every child porn case you've had you've sentenced below the guidelines and below the government's recommendation. and saying that sex offenders are truly shunned in our society, is it your view that society is too hard on sex offenders? you say they truly are shunned in society. you wrote that many of these laws are products of a climate of fear, hatred and revenge. is that still your view? do you think that these laws are too tough, that we're too tough on sex offenders? explain what you meant? in this case in 2013, and it seems to be the same thing you said many years ago. >> senator, it's not the same

thing i said many years ago. many years ago as a law school student i was evaluating a new set of legislation, state laws about registration, and i was analyzing them as law students do. wasn't about the sex crime. it was about the characterization of the law. is it a punitive law? is it a prescriptive law? and how would a court go about determining that? that was the frame that i used then. it could have been about anything. it was about the characterization of legislation. >> nia, i'm wonder what you make of how the judge is doing and the line of questioning. >> listen she's displayed remarkable restraint and patience. i think jeffrey toobin is exactly right, there's a lot of

dog whistling to folks in qanon with some of these questions. i had initially said when judge jackson was nominated, when her name was floated they would try to make her a caricature and make her someone out trying to force-feed children critically race theory, and that's exactly what ted cruz tried to do in the hearings today, asking her a question about whether or not she thinks babies are racist. her answer saying this was well outside the purview of what she would do as a justice and what he has done already as a judge i think is a spot on response. we'll see further what other republicans try to do, but there are many republicans on this committee who want to run for president in 2024, want to be on fox news and want to use this as a fund-raiser so that's what we see for many republicans. overall she's done quite well. there's nothing we saw today

that suggests she won't be a justice on the supreme court. >> if it's a conservative judge we often see grandstanding. it's not out the realm of history we've had from other hearings. >> first and foremost, we've heard these type of questions before. jeffrey toobin slightly older than i am, more of a scholar and said these line of questions remind you of the question thurgood marshall had. the fact is they're trying to make black folk out to be hypercriminalized or sympathetic to criminals as you see that line of questioning. you see the indomtrnation of little white children or little white babies as crt, but you also see something more succinct and profound. one you had two older black

individuals, the parents of judge jackson had to sit in that room with patience and grace and see their overly qualified daughter had to take on this bombardment of asinine, ignorant, anti-intellectual questions thrown at her although she's weekequally if not more qualified to sit on the supreme court. and then you saw a black woman have to be equally if not more qualified sit in front of these lawmakers to ask these questions. i didn't think of it in perspective of jeffrey in term of the most asinine line of questioning coming from josh holley because i actually gave that award to tom cotton. that goes to show you there are many individuals who are not asking these legally succinct questions. you disagree with her about precedent, that's fine. but she's not someone who sympathizes with pedophilia. that's outside the lines and

bounds of what should be asked in some of these hearings. but as nia-malika henderson can probably respond better than any of the threef s on here this is what black women have to deal with on a daily basis. it's a microcosm probably going to backfire on republicans. >> i think that's right. if you compare how she has had to comport herself to the way brett kavanaugh comported himself during his hearing when she was getting tough questioning, the sort of tantrum he threw, the way she's just sitting there taking these questions on goes the show the kind of line and tightrope that black women in positions of power, in trying to get a higher position have to kind of tow the line in terms of their behavior. >> john kennedy, two minutes before we went on the air he said he thought he was praising her, oh, you're so articulate. in 2022 you think praising a black person as articulate is

praise. it just shows we're not as different from 1967 when thurgood marshall who's also articulate was named to the supreme court. >> i thank you. the news continues. let's hand it over to laura coates and "cnn tonight." >> what an articulate, panel. anderson, thank you so much. i couldn't let it go. glad to see you, and yes, i am laura coats, and this is "cnn tonight." president biden's trailblazing supreme court nominee, judge ketanji brown jackson is still answering questions tonight on day two of her confirmation hearings. we're going to check back live shortly on that historic confirmation. there could also be more contentious questioning when senator marsha blackburn is up. and this has been a long day. in fact, 12 hours and counting including a few breaks in between. and it's bee