, and christians, let's show the world how united we can be. the last call we will take on this topic. for tomorrow's program, which starts at 7 a.m., we will be joined by the former director of the irs exempt organizations division. he did that for 10 years, from 1990 to 2000 and he is going to talk as the former head of the tax-exempt division about the process of tax-exempt laws and how organizations go for tax- exempt status, especially concerning stories of the last few weeks concerning the irs. at 8:30, ken then ken walsh will join us. life oftalk about the u.s. presidents in the bubble. that is tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. us.k you for joining we will see you tomorrow.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] vietname look at the veterans mural. visitors are remembering americans fallen heroes -- the vietnam veterans memorial. plays]

>> test, one, two. >> we will have live shots from ron washington, d.c., all day.

here's a quick look at our schedule today. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor speaks to students about her career as a judge. live remarks from president obama at arlington national cemetery. gabriel giffords receives the profiles in courage award in .oston, later today erected ates were ofe sight of what was left the plaza towers elementary school. c-span cameras were given a tour of what remains of that school following last week's disaster. here's a look.

>> this is the main office area . hallways. main there are classrooms on both sides.

.ou come in to hear this is the cafeteria area. -- you come into here. this is the gymnasium back here. there were kids in the gym, in the hallway back there. these were classrooms here. we can walk into some questions,

if you like. this was a first grade classroom. we're standing in what was a first grade classroom and going into more classrooms. way.allway, going this this is actually the only classroom that was not totally disturbing. you can get an idea of stop what some of the kids were doing as

the tornado came. things of what they want to be when they grow up and things like that. this is the first grade classroom. .hey were all down here this concert and those customs and along here. suv made it all the way into here. all these teachers went into the women's restroom. it was too full. the idea was to have as many

walls as you can. there was this wall and all these people survived here. the vehicle went through that wall and this wall. but they still survived. this way. from theado came southwest. when it came to moore, when

north and then straight east. it stayed straight east until it got past eastern and it shocked a little bit north and continue these for a mile and half and started going north east again. but that's not real, and for it to do that. usually continue north east. this one may direct angles. when it was over, this area -- it was over the school for about three minutes and continue to tear this area up. it was a slower-moving tornado. >> you watched it. backside andn the followed until there was too much debris. my daughter's school was over there. then enlarged telephone call started falling. i cannot get by.

people were yelling for help. a lot of storm shelters were covered with debris. a lot of things you don't think about. we had to deal with that. our home is fine. my daughter's school, the gymnasium was torn up but nothing like this. no one was killed in her school. --t is pretty much obama hates to arlington national cemetery for service.l memorial day he will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. the president will be joined by

chuck hagel and chairman martin 11:00 p.m.ive at eastern here on c-span. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor spoke to students in denver. she talked about racial profiling and stereotypes and her career as a judge. this is close to an hour. [applause] you know, it is still unreal for me when somebody calls may me a rock-- calls star. what i think about me, i don't

think i've gotten old. i still think about me as your age. i was a lot thinner and i didn't have a lot of gray. .nside, i still feel like you what that makes be think about is the only worthwhile thing of today is probably that you got the day off from school. [laughter] and maybe some of you are wondering, what is she going to say to me that will mean something/ ? i do not know i can say something that will mean so much to you in the here and now. all i can do a share with you would have learned through my life so that if you have moments like the ones that i have had in my life that you might remember

my words someday and they may give you some hope for yourself. and i was in your place when you become a rock star white people say i am, you know what you lose? you lose your ability to be in the audience. they put me in the front of the room everywhere i go. sometimes it's just nice to look and listen. i get to do too much talking now. i'm only going to talk to you for a few minutes. then we're going to have a conversation. i hope you'll ask me questions. there are a lot of seats over here. why don't you fill in the seats? do not be ashamed. come on. tell your mom to bring your over.

i didn'ts your age, know there was a supreme court. i'm a dinosaur. in the days before the internet, when you heard a word like supreme court, you had to go to the library and research what it meant. if i heard the word "supreme got to thethe time i library, i did not bother remembering the word or looking it up. i it knew there was a court out there. i hadnly courts understood were the ones that i saw on television. there was a time when television was still black and white. i got to see the first television lawyer.

something.t me something.taught me your parents will hate me saying that. too much of anything can be bad for you. taught meperry mason about something called loitering -- lawyering. it was a profession i knew nothing about. all of a sudden, television exposed me to this different career. i started to examine it and think about it as a possibility for myself. but what wasn't a possibility was becoming a supreme court justice. if you don't know what the

supreme court is, you don't know what a supreme court justice is. point.t is the you can dream unless you know what the possibilities are. dreams do not just pop pop into your head. dreams are things that you learn about, that give you hope about something you can become. how do you find those dreams? you find them the way you are right now, by taking a chance and applying for a competition and hoping that you get picked as the 100 in this room. the others who tried, you did

something just as important. you tried. about. what life is to learn about your possibilities you have to try things that could be scary. how many of you have travelled and spent the night here last night? your parents did not come with you, if a teacher came with you or sponsor came with you, that it was a little frightening. when you go away from home at your age -- the only people i ever stayed with it was my family. unless you are willing to do things you are a little afraid of to learn new things, you cannot dream. you can dream but you will not really know where your possibilities are. and so i am proud of all of you

for taking the chance to learn something new. not everybody in the room is going to become a lawyer. maybe one of you one day will be on the supreme court or maybe you'll be on the u.s. supreme court and i hope i'm around to see that. i'm going to make a promise i might regret. if anybody watching this today in this room ever becomes a justice, i will swear you and. ok? in. will swear you i happen to like the law. one of the purposes of my book -- it was written for you.

i am giving the cap at away. you are all going to get a copy. thank you. supremegift of the court to the state of colorado. [applause] it is signed and dedicated to each of you. the reason i wrote the book was for you. it is for the hope that anyone who shares any part of real- life that could be like mine and i have had a lot of challenges in life. and had a juvenile diabetes i've been giving myself insulin shots since i was 8. my dad had a drinking problem

and he died when i was 9. i grew up in a housing project in the bronx. i spoke english. i spoke spanish before english. when i went to college, i had to teach myself how to write english at the right way because i wrote it very poorly. guess?ou gueshat would you i am on the supreme court and i write every day. i did not know my possibilities. i wrote this book so that anyone who ever feels like they are not sure about what they can do, they can look at my life and i

hope say to yourself, she is just like me. i.she could make it, so can that is the message i want you to carry away. it is not anything special that i have, except one thing. "i doys knew how to say not know." i get a lot of lawyers that come to the supreme court. they get questions from the judges. they do not know the answer. instead of saying "i do not know," they try to believe they know. i sit there scratching my head -- not in front of them but inside of myself. you crazy? due

why are you trying to make believe you do not know something?" you sit in a classroom and the teacher is talking. believe youe making understand because you are ashamed. "you are not being clear. i do not understand." every single time i did not know i had enough confidence to say, i do not know. that takes courage. most people don't have it. need something you do not a special skill to do. you needge you when

something that is neknew, look t that fear in the face and say,, i'll figure it out." onooked at perry mason television. i eventually learned about the supreme court and to learn more about the law. i will read you a little bit of my book. my childhood ambition to become a lawyer had nothing to do with middle class respectability and comfort. some lawyers make a good living. i understand the job was to help people. as thestand the law

force for good -- i understood the lot as a force for good and for resolving conflicts. the law gives structure to most of our relationships, allowing us to promote our interest at once in the most harmonious way. overseeing this noble purpose with this passionate wisdom was a figure of a judge. all kids have action heroes. astronauts, firemen, commandos. my idea of heroism inaction was a lawyer. a judge being a kind of super lawyer. the law for me was on a career but a vocation. i found my passion. that is what you should be looking for. i really believe that what you do best are the things you are passionate about, the things you

like. important have to be to anybody but you. you watch television and think, i hope hegovernor -- is not here. the president, vice president, senators -- those are the important people in life. but soo important jobs, does everybody else. the school bus driver who takes you home at night, the person who helps your parents with their food or their home, anybody, any job helps and serves people. that you doortant what you are doing well and that you like doing it.

you arelike doing it, going to be giving to others. i found my passion in a law. you can find it in almost anything you do. as long as it is legitimate work. that would be a bad thing. as long as you are doing thating that is gainful, you like doing, you are going to be giving things to other people. so you can walk around this building and you'll see all of the art. these are people who create things. they are doing this for a love. they are seeing a piece of art and a managing the joy -- and they are the imagining the join

others will take from it. i don't care what you pick. just pick something that excites you. that is what will make your life meaningful. that, i think, will give you joy, and it will give joy to the people around you. talking?ne enough should i let you ask questions? i am grateful that you are here. did not leave without seeing the center. it is extraordinary. it is and ensure -- interactive center. it teaches you about the state

of federal courts in colorado. before you leave, go and learn something about it so you can say with knowledge, i do not want to be that. [laughter] please. who is going to be brave and ask the first question? i saw your eye. tell us your name and where you're from. >> i'm from colorado. colorado. morgan from i was wondering the biggest challenge from being a latino woman that is a lawyer and who became a supreme court lawyer. what was the biggest challenge for you? theirple organize dealings with other people.

stereotypes.ve it is a way to simplify life. complex.ngs are very you have to make a lot of effort. get to know somebody you have to spend a lot of time and make a lot of effort. a lot of people to not know how to do that. a lot of people during my -- a lot of people looked at me and said "a poor latino from new york, she cannot be smart enough." there were a lot of people who believed that during my nomination process. it was very hurtful. very near graduated the top of my class at college.

i have lots of really important jobs. people were still saying i was not smart enough. i knew that was because of stereotypes. something we all have to spend time fighting. sometimes makes you look at somebody else and say, "they are not really pretty." because you do not spend any time getting to know who they are inside. learning that becomes from the doide -- it has nothing to with what a person looks like on the outside. the personality they give the world -- you need to take time to do that. that has been my biggest challenge. dealing with people's expectations and having fun proving them wrong. [laughter] [applause]

you guys are good. to dot did you like growing up besides watching "perry mason?" >> do you know why i am walking around? --nickname when i was a kid it was a name i family made up because i was seen as a hot pepper. i could not sit still. sorts ofd give me all labels. i was constantly on the move. im said that at 7 months old went from the floor, stood up, and ran. i never walked. i still do that.

i cannot sit still. playing cowboys and indians. back then you had to use a lot of imagination. i do not want you to think i was that poor. i was poor but not starving poor. it was a different world. we did not have as many toys, we did not have as many interactive toys. we had to play games. i would spend hours playing an ever standing still. -- and never standing still. i got into fights with my younger brother and he talks about it all the time. i loved reading. wasmportant as television to giving me the sense of possibility of being a lawyer, the world open for me when i read. myn i found books i found

rocket ship to the universe. i say that literally. among the books i love it was science fiction, mysteries, history, books about other cultures. i cannot travel to those places, i never imagined i would take trips i take now. who would thought -- who would have thought i would be in colorado? i had to visit those places in books. so i spent hours and hours reading. my mother says i never came to the dinner table with out a book. now my friends to fight about whether that is good or bad and telling their kids the cannot read or play games during dinner. i do not know what the right answer is but those of the things i like doing.

>> what is the best piece of advice you can give to high school students that would like to become successful leaders? >> i think i give it earlier when i said take chances. failure hurts. and no failure ever feats -- ever feels good. it can be mortifying and embarrassing. i talk about some failures in my book and they really sting. the hardest thing to do is to take chances where you can fail. most of us like the security of doing the things think we can do. it took me until i was 15 years old to do it, to take dance classes.

everytime i female cousins were taking dance class as i was outside chasing fireflies. and i cannot sit still long enough to watch and listen. it took me until i was 50 to figure out how to do it. i felt awkward. i am not a good dancer. but i try. that is the vice. -- that is my advice. take a course that you do not think you can do. try a new activity after school. it looks like fun and you might as well try it now. when you get to college might not have the time. take chances. i'm linda go to that end. -- i am going to go to that end.

was onet to know what of the first opportunities that you went after to get where you are today? going away to college. no one in my family had graduated from college in new york when i was growing up. my cousins were just going to college. all of them are going to local colleges. upad a friend who called me and said i had to apply to these ivy league schools. i said to him, "what are i whatve schools that co --

are ivy league schools?" afford to go. not he said they will give you a scholarship. how much does it cost to apply? says they will waive the fee. i got in. if i had known how hard it was to get in i probably would not have tried because i would have thought that -- why take the risk? but i took the risk. decide whether i would go. me, "whyother said to are you going so far away from home? all of your cousins are going to local colleges." and i loved my grandmother and it was really painful for me to "i think this education

will be important to me. that was the first step to the rest of my life. not that i could not have gotten a good education near home. people from my college from around the world, from every place in the country, and they taught me so much about things i did not know about. being away from home gave me a chance to learn about different places and the place of living and the different opportunities that i had. it was safe because i still had to go home at the holidays. i had been skipping at home with my mom. when i got really lonely i took a bus and came home. start withaway did college.

roomvery parent in this who does not want you to go away, you are going to hate me today. >> i would like ask -- as humans we profile people but with the you feel about racial profiling and what is your favorite baseball team? [laughter] up in the brous so what other team am i going to love other than the yankees? bronx therein the is only one team. even when you leave the bronx there is only one team. that.le egotistical about i am assuming you are asking about racial profiling in police work. i talked to you about the dangers of stereotypes and that

holds true in context, whether it is in police work, in choosing people for any kind of job. what you'rers in doing up using profiling without thought. by that i mean if you are policeg -- if you are a officer or anyone else thinking can be used to prove something you are going to be disappointed. that is not the way the world works. are there indicators that have to be listened to? absolutely. been following the news about the boston bombing and criticisms about whether they justified or not on following up on the activities of the two young men who were involved -- is that profiling? could be. is it something you cannot

ignore? sometimes not. there is a fine line that the society walks in trying to be fair. as long as you understand that whatever you do in life do not do it without thought. understand the purpose of what you're doing and that will give you better answers. back to you. >> my question is kind of complicated. i was watching one of your interviews with pbs. you were talking about how paulme court justice john stevens said "no one is born a supreme court justice, they simply become one." in the interview you said you

haven't become one yet. through all of your challenges in our life and your obvious position now, why did you say that? >> is a fair question. meant it is you grow in every position you are in. every day of your life you should spend trying to learn something new. i walked into a job at the justice on day one and i had been a judge for 17 years. being a justice is something new. it is a different sort of judging. it is the same on a lot of issues. the questions are much bigger. questions that do not have clear answers. when cases come to the supreme court is because generally there is a conflict in the courts below. different justices of looking at the same question and they are

coming to different answers. theefinition as it comes to supreme court it becomes clear. -- it is unclear. if the precedents are not so clear and it is unclear then we have to do something else. we have to establish the framework of answering that question. that is a different kind judging in some way. because of that, each day that i may just as now i am learning how to do that better. -- each day i am a justice now i am learning how to do that ,etter, to think more precisely to understand better the consequences of the decisions we make and the why and how to avoid bad ones in the future. no court is perfect. we grow. what i meant in that interview was i was not born a justice and that is what john paul stevens was saying.

he grew into a legend after 30- odd years in the court. he was saying to me to become a legend. that gives me a lot of confidence in knowing that i was growing. not besions today will as good as the ones 10 years from now. they will not be as good as the ones tomorrow. let me go to the other side so i play fair. the young man with blond hair. >> i am just to a from a colorado springs. very cute outfit. [laughter]

>> thank you. you noticed? >> on the whole you have a lot of problems in our life with diabetes and everything. that is really hard to get past. what drew inspiration from that? these little things add up and in your case they want so little. >> they can be overwhelming at moments and they feel that way a lot of times. there was one gift i got from my diabetes. it was the gift of understanding how pressure shapes you. diagnosed, over 50 years ago, taking care of the disease is very different than it is today. roomny diabetic in this understand that diabetics can live a full life spans with many

less complications. when i was first diagnosed it was the very beginning of taking care of diocese. most people were predicted to die young. thepect not to live past age of 40. when i turned 50 and had my closest friends with me. i told them that story. i saw a niche a thought i would never reach. i thought iage would never reach. it taught me that if i wasted any minute of my life that it would be criminal. that is what has kept me going every time i wanted to give up and walk away i think to myself i have got a gift, why am i throwing it away?

i can take joy from having you tell me my out it is nice. i can smile. that is all it takes in life, to look at a sad moment and at the same time think of the times. they exist, too. in the greatest of the stairs, and i have had some, deep within my memory i find a moment of joy to keep me going. that is all i can ever say to people in hard times. it will pass. you almost have to ride it out. and seek out that next moment. >> thank you. [applause]

>> i was wondering what it was like growing up with your father because i lost my mom when i was in fifth grade so i wonder what it was like growing up without your father. >> you will read in my book that it was complex because of my dad's drinking problem. it made our house of very unhappy. my childhood was filled with fighting. there was a mixture of sadness but relief. the fighting ended. book theout in my first christmas without my dad. one of the things we had done every year was put up a christmas tree. he knew how to put up the perfect tree.

he would spend hours hiding the wires of every single light, trying. i cannot do it. he did it perfectly. back afterstanding finishing the tree and i picked one with a crooked trump so it looked like charlie brown's 3. i remember realizing that life is complex. you do not have your mom, and that is something you'll miss the rest of your life. you have a relationship with your dad that a lot of people will never experience. it is always a mixture of good and bad. i do not forget about people i lost in my life.

i try to remember the moment of joy. to hold me through the next day. myalk about at the end of book when i was being sworn in as a justice -- my mind raced to of the people that raced -- that played a part in a life. obviously they weren't there but this spirits stayed with me. in the book that my mom is a great lady. not as not -- she was perfect mom. there are no perfect moms or perfect? . there is no perfect anything. there is no perfect borders. what you learn is to look for the good.

good luck. he will hold on. >> i am from colorado. >> we need a map. >> i was wondering how many hours of research you need to do each week per case? >> too many. it is complicated to explain. i do not count the hours. it also depends on the case. about six weeks before cases are heard in court, anywhere from six to four weeks, we get all of the briefs.

with the priest comes the record. it could be a thin volume, it could be multiple volumes. the breeze generally are only about 50 pages but we tell them how to pack those 50 pages so it is really 50 pages full of words we told them. than one partyre so you can have more than one brief period you can have what we call "friends of court." overme cases we have had 100. if you do 100 times 25 to 30 pages, that is a lot of reading. read the supreme court cases on the issue because we have to study them.

articles weead any think are important that the parties have asked us to read. it could be hours of reading. i call that research. i did a lot memo with all of the supreme course -- a law memo with all the supreme court cases. and that we have arguments. if you are talking about ours it is a lot of each case. are writinghen you the opinion, it is your opinion, weeks. every opinion goes through draft after draft. i tend to get an opinion first and turn it around and the coast back and forth.

that is a lengthy process. even when the opinions, from my colleagues, even if i say i agree with you and make sure i am happy with what they're saying -- if i am not i then negotiate with them. all of the judges here know what that is like. drafting anything by committee is very time-consuming. >> i go to st. mary's. i was wondering how you think as a nation we can overcome our differences in order to fight conflict and violence. the hardest issue

people conflict between of for so many different issues has been with us since the beginning of man. i do not have the answer. and think that talking trying to understand the needs of other people is a good starting point. times we think we know what the other person is feeling. we do not really listen to them try to explain what they are feeling and a lot of it. spend time checking our own behavior to figure out if there are things we can do to alter the dynamics. it is a complicated process. it is what i described in my book as putting yourself in the shoes of the other person.

it is only if you start there can you really start to think about how everybody is working together and might be able to satisfy those different needs. conflict is unavoidable. what is not is the ability to listen and talk. in the end we have to try to do that. >> hello. middleom a russell school. do you feel like you have too much power? [laughter] >> yes. one of the reasons i wrote my book is because when i got catapulted in to this new life -- i went from the back of the room to the front of the room overnight. on theo idea i would be

world's state. i am worried every day. how does it change? power can corrupt. if you do not notice it it will take you over. at trying to hard , to still beo me with people as people and not because of my position. that is so easy. i wanted my friends, if they saw me getting too egotistical, to take my book and hit me over the head. the book says thank you in recognizing how much i got from others in becoming who i am. i just try to remember that

every single day. there is something that can be too much power. i am just doing this randomly. everybody suffers from their own type of issues in their life. we are always going to have something that boxes from where we want to be in life. my parents have always told me that despite your problems to not let that take away your education because your education is something powerful in your life. if you ever see that in have nothing in the world. what was your motivation as a child growing up to become as successful as you are today? that lesson from my mother. that lesson is the one i got from my mother.

your parents are right. education buys your future. do anything you want to do well unless you become educated. i am not criticizing there's a lot of sports athletes who don't bother going to college. every time i see that, i think, what limited thinking. don't they know that in every sport game there are complicated strategies about how you play the game? ry is applied in college to certain studies. if they went to college, they would play their game better. and that is true about almost anything, including being