nine justices. watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern monday morning and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. joe biden and president trump are both on the campaign trail today. president stops in toledo, where he is expected to focus on the economy. that is live at 1:00 -- 1:15 p.m. eastern. the president heads to florida for his first public event outside the white house since being treated for coronavirus line at 7:00 p.m. eastern in sanford, florida. online at on c-span2, c-span.org, or listen on our free c-span radio app. siobhan hughes covers congress for the wall street journal. with the hearings come up and the jute -- in the judiciary committee coming up, we have spent an hour talking about

these four days worth of hearings siobhan hughes, welcome. how did these hearings compare with ones in the past given we are now operating under the pandemic. four days for the nominee. caller: four to -- guest: four days is about the standard for a lot of people who have been tuning into the supreme court nominations only recently, it might feel a little different. that is because the brett kavanaugh nominations were so contentious. it did go on for longer than normal. four days is about right. we will start monday with opening statements from senators. we will hear from a neat -- amy coney barrett. divebsequent days, we will into very intense questioning of her by the senators. finally, there will be an outside panel that the senators will question. that is the format. that is standard. what is not standard is that we are operating in a pandemic.

this is going to be a hybrid hearing. at the start, some senators are going to appear remotely. two of them have tested positive for coronavirus. mike lee and tom tillis. a thirdsalad -- senator, ted cruz, had interactions with mike lee, so it is unlikely he will participate in person. however, a lot of democrats have said they are going to show up in person in spite of their reservations about safety practices of republicans, some pre--- the supreme court nomination they say is too important to participate virtually. in large part because there can frequently be technical problems. snacks interrupt the flow. ist: senator lindsey graham, this his first hearing with the supreme court nominee? guest: yes. that would be. in 2019, he is a

new judiciary chairman. this is going to be the big time for him. however, it is not going to be his first big moment. fidemented his bona amongst the brett kavanaugh sneered aten he democrats, he said they had tried to destroy justice kavanaugh's life and he hopes they never get power because of what they would do with it. host: let me play feel the comments of lindsey graham. the most recent things we are hearing. on handlinganning the hearings beginning tomorrow. [video clip] askeduary 2019, i was what would you do if there is an opening? wasugust of this year, i asked by nbc if there is an opening on the supreme court, what would you do? we will see what the market bears. i am going to lead the charge to

confirm judge amy barrett to the court, and i can tell you this. if chuck schumer and democrats were in charge, they would be doing the same thing. we have had 19 nominations in an election year, 17 of the 19 have been confirmed when the president's of the same party as the senate. when it comes to democratic judges, give them a fair shake. -- i gave them a fair shake. comes to republicans, my colleagues want to destroy them. i am hoping this hearing does not turning -- does not turn into the kavanaugh debacle. we are moving forward. we are doing nothing unusual here in terms of how the senate operates. host: siobhan hughes, he hopes it won't turn into a debacle. what are some issues that could come up with judge merrick that could be controversial? guest: probably the number one

thing at this moment is roe v. wade. this is going to cut and a couple of different directions. democrats are likely to go on the attack against her out of concern that her personal views are going to seep into her rulings, should any roe v. wade issues come before the court. the big thing that has happened previouslye undisclosed advertisements, pro-life as -- pro-life advertisements have emerged. in one of the advertisements, roe v. wade is called barbaric. the statement is that life begins at fertilization. it says we oppose abortion on demand. those are already flags for democrats. republicans, this is going to cut in another direction. republicans say democrats have

an anti-catholic bias. democrats are essentially imposing a religious test and trying to ban anyone with catholic feelings from serving on the supreme court. the stakes are high. these are topics that sway a certain segment of the voting population. on that of senators diocese in that committee room are up for reelection. among them, lindsey graham. host: amy coney barrett is no stranger to the jewish area committee. she served -- the judiciary committee. recently confirmed -- tell us a bit about her. barrett isconey catholic. she grew up in louisiana in a close knit community. she attended law school at notre dame. her big kid rental is that she was a law clerk to former justice antonin scalia a, a leading light of the

conservative movement. like him, she has known as a textual list and an originalist. that means she views statutes on plain language. she does not try to read congressional intent. she interprets the contrast -- the constitution under her understanding. is importantogy because conservatives view it as a way to push back against decades of liberal activism. that, as an appeals court judge, she has taken some positions that lean conservative enough to believe she is going to take a conservative approach in her rulings, should she lend on the some pre--- should she land on this supreme court. she would be the youngest justice. a mother of seven. universally, she is viewed as having the credentials for this position.

also the temperament. unlike brett kavanaugh, she is unlikely to get into a shouting match with any of the senators. talkedeech she gave, she about how she was raised on the advice of her father. if you don't control your emotions, your emotions control you. she has extraordinary impulse control. i think you're likely to see that in these hearings. the: we are talking about confirmation hearings getting underway tomorrow for judge amy coney barrett. nominated to the supreme court by president trump. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. , (202)dents and others 748-8002. it sounded like she was really top of the list. that appointment was made quite quickly. guest: she was the number one choice. has was clear, and trump

said that she was under consideration a couple of years ago. trump passed on her on the notion that she was saving her for later. the ideas that she is a woman who is replacing ruth bader ginsburg. replacing another woman. tactically, this allows republicans to blunt any criticism that the party is anti-women. mold of ruths the bader ginsburg, her identity, she is nothing like ruth bader ginsburg when it comes to her politics. amy coney barrett has smoothly tried to smooth over this divide by pointing out that ruth bader ginsburg and her mentor, antonin scalia, were very close. they both shared a love of opera and were able to put their ideologies aside and have a real personal relationship. host: let's get to calls. we go to san clemente,

california. ron is on the republican line. caller: good morning. nice to have this discussion about the most important choices we are going to make for our country. most important thing, this is a lovely lady, no one can doubt that. she is beautiful and she has this lovely family, seven beautiful daughters and so on. my first question to her would ,e, as a friendly challenge miss barrett, how would you suggest to tell your daughters whether they can use birth control? i would be interested to know from a position, as a woman, which i am not, i would like to know whether she would suggest to her daughters, when they are growing up, whether they should use birth control. this is an important part of

society. changed everything for everybody. whether you are evangelical, catholic, or anything else, the pill is a big deal. host: siobhan hughes, has she addressed in rulings before, not just abortion, but family planning? tost: the interesting thing me about that question is that there is a supreme court case known as griswold that is a big deal. issue has to do with contraception. republican senator john kennedy had asked her about this in 20 during her confirmation. he asked her what she thought, basically there was a right to privacy in marriage. dim yard.ett she would not comment on that case.

take theeen careful to position that whatever her personal feelings are are not a matter for discussion in this form because what is that question is how she views the constitution. host: you brought this up too, you mentioned a moment ago, amy coney barrett tells the senate as infamous. wade she submitted this material to the judiciary committee. the ads sponsored by the notre dame faculty to support human life. what you think about the timing of that later coming in? -- that letter coming in? guest: republicans have said it is normal to amend your record. that ad was not produced until some outside reporting revealed the existence of things like that. thatrats are likely to use

as a way to suggest that amy coney barrett is perhaps covering up what her true intentions are. advertisements seem to be clarifying a lot of her legal writing. her legal writings give you her thought process, but they should -- they stop short on showing you how she would rule in a case. in missouri, the democrats line. caller: good morning. is a suppose that high moral character. is going to be seated in a stolen seat. i find that not such high moral behavior. question, thee nople that vote single issue longer need to vote for trump.

they don't have to hold their nose. he can't do anything more than pack the supreme court as much as he is doing already. back on the subject, if they were to overturn it, how many republican voters that only vote would they lose? thoughts? guest: this caller has put his finger on a crucial point. while republicans hope the roe issue is going to motivate ,onservatives to support them democrats are also calculating that it is going to drive away suburban women who were key in the 2018 elections. pelosihat helped nancy

in part between control of the house. someone like susan collins of maine is in a difficult position over this. at this point, she has said she is going to vote against any nominee should they come up before the election. this issue alone makes her challenge almost insurmountable. host: let's hear from greg. virginia. independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i wonder if you would be willing to speak to the viewpoints that this shows the supreme court has become too important. it shows the dysfunction in the legislative branch. not the years, they have been able to pass legislation on various issues, it has been kicked to the supreme court to make decisions because legislative people wouldn't consider active judges. we are in a position where every time we nominate a member of the

supreme court, it becomes this major issue when, in fact, it should not be. it should reflect checks and balances, separation of powers. the fact that it has come to that shows dysfunction in congress. hast: i think this caller crystallized the issue. certainly that is the way mitch mcconnell would see it. there is a reason he has focused over the past few years almost single-mindedly on putting conservatives on the courts for lifetime appointments. more than 200 trump appointees have been put on the courts. is confirmed,tt that would be three of nine trump justices. too,licans, and democrats see the supreme court as able to set policy in a way that congress has simply been unable to do. host: the new york times writing

about the hearings this week, democratsdline, " facing confirmation battle, fears feinstein is not up to the task." role in this her upcoming hearing? normally, dianne feinstein who is 87 years old, is the ranking member on the senate judiciary committee. she is already starting to play a more minimal role in terms of the democratic messaging. over the past week i'm of the democratic party has not put her out there at all to talk about any issues. to see likely republicans try to prod her, or intoast other democrats, reprising the line she had in 2017 when she told amy coney barrett something that republicans said crystallized the democrat's anti-catholic bias.

while dianne feinstein is not going to be stripped of her role as ranking member, you are seeing democrats take steps to minimize her. host: one of the democrats we have heard on the committee about the hearings is chris coons from connecticut. he joined us on washington journal wednesday last week. [video clip] in oure is no precedent history for the senate considering a nominee this close to a presidential election. more than half the states are already voting. others began today. i think it is irresponsible for us to be moving ahead with this nominee. we are going to come a long term, faced the challenges in terms of the legitimacy of the court given the circumstances in which this nominee is being damped through just-in-time to be in place to rule on any decision that could affect the outcome of the election and rule on a decision that would deliver on -- deliver on president

trump's incomplete promise to repeal the affordable care act. host: delaware senator chris coons. some issues of what he said, the legitimacy of the court after this nomination, and concerns therein. guest: chris coons is a delaware senator. he is very close to joe biden. this is a message that is essential for the democratic party. trump is rushing this nomination in order to install a justice in ways that totally go against their philosophy in 2016 when republican said that for a vacancy this close to the election, the american people should have their say. through the ballot. as, this is going to be message that democrats drive hard this week. host: i am pushing this as a campaign issue president trump

with the treat, "fdr's own party told them you could not pack the supreme court. now radical left democrats are pushing biden to do this." we will hear from james in memphis, tennessee. caller: good morning. [indiscernible] i think christie has all the right to nominate ms. barrett. i think the process itself is wrong. miss barrett would never get about -- never have got a vote through the senate if the senate was maintaining the vote threshold. [indiscernible] all other justices before that past. they always have majority rule.

court throughreme that, through this nomination. now, they -- [indiscernible] the only reason i say this is that if they would have left the -- like they would when antonin scalia passed away, if the republicans would have let the democrats have justice carbon -- [indiscernible] they would've had the nomination right there. it would have been a 5-4 court because the nation is split in half. just doing it this way, making this -- all of this is political to me. host: all right, thank you.

guest: the caller is right. so-calleda "post-nuclear world." you only need a majority to confirm supreme court justices. it is a reflection of the partisanship in the country. did it cause partisanship, or reflect it? at this point, it seems like it reflects it. of mitchit the intent mcconnell and lindsey graham to have her nomination voted on before the election? their it is a very much intention to have her nomination voted on before the election. roughly one week before the november 3 elections. there is a little democrats can do to stop it. the only thing that could conceivably get in the way, barring some surprise, is the absence of republican senators due to coronavirus. insideay be sort of an

question, is there any procedural move the democratic leader chuck schumer could pull tomorrow or this week that would delay the hearings? guest: no. there is no move democrats have. a price onpose republicans for going ahead commit maybe telling lindsay -- going ahead, maybe telling lindsey graham he does not have decorum to proceed, but the committee chairman is in charge of his own rules. host: let's hear from edith in oakland, california. caller: good morning. thank you so much. you make my day. i was in the journal for a long time. agree with justice ginsburg when she said the president is the president until the last date, and needs to discharge his duty accordingly. theke what romney said, court was being -- for 40 years.

not, they areare going to try to do with america like banana republic presidents get elected to. turkey. in judiciary, when they get power they need more power. i think this is abhorrent. i wish the wall street journal would shame the democrats and try to bring america to a banana republic. it is kind of true the arguments have slipped. in 2016, elizabeth warren and other democrats said it is the role of the senate to advise and advise and consent except for an election year. is a case to be made that the argument parties make in filling vacancies in an election year depends on whether or not

they have power. host: one more call. greensboro, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i think it is so important to think about what the republicans are really doing regarding the supreme court. this is a time when so many people are hungry. they have no food. they have lost their jobs. rather than taking the next three weeks and getting a stimulus package to help the american people, republicans are focusing on the supreme court nomination. i think that really says a lot about what republicans are about. thank you. speaks to analler issue that is very much on democrats mind. callousness in the priority of senate republicans at this moment. as the caller set, people around

this country are suffering economically. there have been more than 200,000 deaths due to coronavirus. message does, what it send that at this moment when there is so much pain, the only senators in the capital right now are those who are rushing to confirm a new supreme court justice? host: in the hearing that begins tomorrow, you mention a couple of senators won't be there because they have tested positive for coronavirus. what will it look like? will there be an audience? will the media be in the room? guest: there will not be an audience. there will be some media in the room, but must -- much less than normal. it is going to be almost an empty hearing. very different from 2017 where you saw judge merrick, pham -- judge barrett, parents, family ,embers, lawrence silberman

judge mcgann, you could see the force of people behind her. this is going to feel lonely, empty, sparse. host: siobhan hughes covers congress for the wall street journal. we appreciate you joining us to preview the hearings getting underway tomorrow. our live coverage on c-span. senate confirmation hearings for judge amy coney barrett begin today at 9:00 a.m. eastern with opening statements members,ary committee introduction of the nominee, followed by opening statement by judge barrett. watch live on c-span, stream on c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. >> joe biden and president trump are both on the campaign trail today. the former vice president takes a stop in toledo, ohio and the -- where he is expected to focus

on the economy at 1:15 p.m. eastern. the president heads to florida for his first public event outside the white house since being treated for coronavirus. you can watch both rallies on c-span2, online at c-span.org, or listen on our free c-span radio app. >> next, legal experts examine the rule of law and how its protections have recently eroded from its original intent to protect the public from abuses of power. we heard about the use of law and law enforcement against protests, as well as voter intimidation tactics at the polls. held by the brennan center for justice, this runs one hour, 15 minutes. minutes. revitalizeto reform, our system of democracy and justice, holding them up to the twin ideals >> we work to reform, revitalize our system of democracy and justice, holding them up to the twin ideals of democracy and equal protection under the law. we are a nonpartisan 501(c)(3).