family are present. i did not see her mother. part of what will happen here is the vote begins with the senator of hawaii and goes down to senator wyden or oregon. i was told they might be doing it in a more formal sense. i can't tell by looking at the picture if they are doing that. often in an informal vote, they sort of mill around and talk in a casual setting, but everyone seems to realize the historic nature of this. as i was coming over here, i bumped into 10 or 12 senators racing for the elevators. there's very clearly a sense of noting the importance of today, certainly democrats are very excited about it. nine republicans have gone on record saying they would support her and by our best guess, that means 31 would not.

so it is an expected confirmation number that is quite respectable when you put it in the context of chief justice roberts a. we're told that she is in new york and keeping kind of a quiet day and that if confirmed, she would be sworn in this weekend. david and tamron? >> let's bring in mike viqueira. we understand the voting the underway. we just saw senator al franken speaking a short time ago. give us some perspective on the politics of this. we know the senators leaving are not, may vote for sonia sotomayor's con fir makfirmatic the political angle, especially with those with a growing hispanic population. >> that's right.

obviously, al franken is the most junior senator. it's only democrats who serve as presiding officers. but you're right. ever since this nomination was even first floated, the name of sonia sotomayor, the first thing that came up was that wise latina remark and has been a focal point. republicans have strived for years to secure a significant portion if not a majority of the hispanic vote around this country. they failed in that very dramatically in the last presidential election of course, stepping back a considerable amount in terms of the percentage of that vote they were able to obtain. i think what you saw as a consequence is republicans mindful of the fact that they're the base of the party, the republican party, and the

democratic party for that matter, wants to see representatives and senators standing up and fighting against nominations from the other party because of abortion, because of all the other issues that are so near and dear to the base of those parties. you saw republicans fighting against this nomination, but you also saw them treating her very respectfully. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader was on the floor of the senate during this past hour, talking about all the things that he opposed about her. very representative of the majority of the republican conference in the senate. he talked about the wise latina comment, of course. he talked about the so-called empathy standard. that is a principle sent forth by the president time and time again, much of the infuruation of republicans. he was looking for someone who

could supply empathy on the cases in which they sat and sat in judgment. >> mike, we're going to ask you and kelly to stand by. why don't we go ahead and tap in here to the senate floor. a process that kelly and mike have covered so often. we can see all of a senators there, all 99. senator ted kennedy, the only one that is not there. >> i -- >> mr. graham. mr. graham. >> i. >> mr. grassley. no. mr. gregg. i. mrs. hagan. >> i. >> mr. harkin. mr. hatch. no. mrs. hutchinson.

mr. inhoff. mr. knowway. i. mr. isaacson. no. mr. johan. no. mr. johnson. >> i. >> mr. johnson. i. mr. kaufman. mr. kaufman. i. mr. kennedy. mr. kerry. mr. kerry. i. mrs. klobuchar. >> the one that might be used in campaign commercials a year from now might be when senator john mccain, who has a hispanic population of almost 30%, to vote no. that will excite democrats, but again, a fascinating process we're seeing unfolding. again, it's so rare for us to

see all senators sitting there quietly, one at a time going through this audible role call. >> there's no way that anyone should minimize this historic moment on the senate floor that we are watching as the full chamber, as you pointed out, voting on the nomination of judge sotomayor. again, judge sotomayor is on her way to becoming the first hispanic on the nation's top court. joining us to talk about the significance not only as a female, but as what many have called a moderate judge on this panel. dan abrams as well as dr. juan andrade, with us. thank you for joining us. dr. andrade, i'll start with you because obviously, much is made with race in this, from the time the debate started and here we are at this great moment in our

country's history. put it in perspective as we are all aware she's going to be confirmed today. >> it's true. there was a lot said, and perhaps too much said, on race and gender in this particular hearing. and distraction from the real issue here, and that is her qualifications. 17 years of experience on the federal bench, more than any other justice in over 100 years. unfortunately, that was lost sometimes in the confirmation hearings that gave way to more trivial remarks. >> despite the comments and some very negative, especially from conservative talk show radio people, for the hispanic community of the united states, those who are turning out in large numbers to vote and we talked about senator john mccain who plans to vote against this confirmation, he's in a tough battle in his state against the

founder of the minutemen movement. what does this mean for that population who watch this now and might take this decision with them when they vote? >> this is something that we'll see play out next year in the elections and again in 2012. in the last two elections, republicans have lost 53 seats in the house and this appears to be headed in that direction. another reason as to why the latino community will continue to turn republicans out and democrats in. in the last election, we saw an increase -- >> tamron, i want to interrupt for a second. there are now enough votes, she has now essentially been confirmed. let's listen to the end as they make it official. >> i.

mr. vitor. no. mr. boin vich. i. mr. warner. mr. warner. i. mr. webb. mr. webb. i. mr. whitehouse. i. mr. wicker. mr. wicker. no. mr. wyden. >> i. >> mr. wyden. i. mr. bennett of utah. no. mr. bayh. i. mrs. hutchison. no. mr. inhoff.

no. mr. begich. i. >> they are just about to announce the final tally here. they've collected all the votes. so we're going to hear the announcement here in just a moment so we'll continue to listen. we're seeing the figure passed up from the clek there from the first row to second row, which will be passed to the presiding officer, which is al franken, and he will announce the result.

what will often hold this up now if there is one or two members who came late or have not voted or changed their vote. there's a small period of time, a window of opportunity for them to do so and again, it's unclear exactly what the discussion is right now, but we expect at any moment we'll see al franken slam the gavel. >> the white house is saying judge sotomayor is going to stay out of the public view today. she's at a federal courthouse in new york watching this as well with a number of people with her. we hope to speak with someone who's with the judge and get the reaction. let's listen back in. >> no.

>> okay. we are pausing and trying to keep an eye on this at the same time. we've got dan -- >> are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? i'd like to make a statement about the galleries. you are reminded that expressions of approval or disapproval are not permitted. on this vote, the yays are 68. the nomination of sonia sotomayor to be an associate justice of the supreme court justice of the united states is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediately notified -- >> so it's now official, the first hispanic to be confirmed. we just got the word that president obama will be addressing the nation at 3:30

eastern time, but let's go ahead and pick it up again with dan abrams. >> when we look at the numbers, soon to be justice sotomayor, she's going to be sworn in tomorrow, 68. you say it's an unfair comparison because these people are not created equally. >> people like to say, well wait a sec. when this person was nominated, this number of republicans supported her. that's to suggest that every nominee is created equal and they're not. to suggest that sonia sotomayor necessarily gets compared, the bottom line is that no matter whether you like her or don't, you heard a lot of republican senators saying they appreciated the work she did. that they thought she was clearly a legal scholar. there was the time when that was

the standard, which was is this person well-qualified. >> if your umpire -- good reality is that they're saying she will be in line with justice suitor. talk to us about the balance of the court. but still on the issue of abortion, both sides claim she might be someone that would benefit their argument. >> democrats are hoping. republicans are fearing. she is far less predictable. meaning that the democrats think they have someone they like. they feel pretty confident about it. the republicans think they have someone they don't really love, but are not sure. unlike alito or roberts, where it was pretty clear, there's a lot of open questions about where justice sotomayor will go on a whole variety of issues. >> talk to us about the dynamic

of having another female justice in the court. i know we don't like to talk about these issues and we want to see these people as blind, but gender obviously does matter. hence the others have said so. >> it also matters in terms of the public's faith in the court. we like our public institutions to reflect the way the rest of the country looks. even if it shouldn't be that way. meaning we don't want to say we need x number of men or people of color. it tends to look more like the court when it looks like the public at large. when you have a single woman or many women -- whatever the case may be, it tends to say wait, does this institution that's so important in our system really reflect me. i think the fact there's another woman up there is very good for those purposes alone.

i don't think she's going to rule on cases based on the fact that she's a woman, but i think that it does matter in terms of public perception. >> dr. juan andrade, the barrier has been broken, just on a pure gut emotional level. the first hispanic on the u.s. supreme court just confirmed. what's going through your mind? >> it sends chills down my spine quite honestly. a very historic moment, very proud. for those of us who have been in the trenches now for three or four decades, just striving for the days something like this would happen. it just confirms america's commitment and fairness and justice for all and of course the constitution. a very, very proud moment in which all americans can take pride. we salute the president, commend the senate. i just can't begin to tell you how proud i am and i'm sure many others are across the country

for this very historic moment that has really just lifted hearts throughout this country from coast to coast and i'm sure around the world. >> thank you both very much and again, tamron, i guess we should remind our audience president obama is going to speak in ten minutes. we're also expected that harry reid will speak on the senate floor. >> he's harry reid now. >> first hispanic, the third woman, the third person of color on our supreme court. on the floor a few minutes ago, also made history by confirming someone as qualified as anyone has been to go in that court. i want to congratulate chairman leahy and the entire committee. they moved this quickly, fairly and with a great deal of dignity.

i've said before that justice sotomayor, as soon as she is sworn into office, will bring a wealth of experience and a great perspective that hasn't been on that court in a long time. most of all, she'll bring good judgment. chairman leahy. >> thank you. thank you for your help. i thank all the other senators who joined us on this. you may recall that we talked with the president about the scheduling of this, i said it made sense to give the same schedule that we had for chief justice roberts. i said that schedule was good for him. same schedule was good for her. we followed that schedule with wrour help and with the help of the members of the committee. i am pleased with what's happened. this is a remarkable thing in our history. in my maternal grandparents

immigrated to this country speaking very little english. they told my mother and her siblings, if you work hard, if you strive, you can accomplish anything because this is america. my wife's parents immigrated to this country. her first language was different than the one i'm speaking. again, it was you do anything. you work hard. it's america. you can accomplish. here, we have somebody with a distinguished career as a trial court judge, as a prosecutor, a court of appeals judge. more experience on the federal court than anybody who's been nominated or confirmed in decades. the only person to be there with trial court experience is the leader so eloquently spoke of earlier.

this is -- this is the american dream. it's a dream that we all speak about when we campaign. what we've done now is made it real. >> senator -- >> we have several members of the judicial committee here as well as leadership. >> colleagues to talk include senator feinstein there. there is a huge political dynamic in all of this and for that, i want to bring in josh, a white house reporter for politico. there are some republicans who voted against sotomayor today who are facing a possibly tough challenge in 2010, starting with john mccain in arizona. he's got a state that's 30% hispanic. any surprises in the roll call?

what did you see in this? >> there were no huge surprises. most people came out of the woodwork before the vote. i frankly was surprised that she did as well as she did with republicans. i thought she might pick up six or so. she ended up getting nine. it was only a few weeks ago, the republicans were still making noises about the filibuster against this nomination and she ends up getting so many votes. just seems expectations were out of the proportion. >> senator hutchins in texas, texas hispanic population, 36%. any surprise in what she did? >> yeah, i think a little bit and especially since she thought she would respond to the first hispanic woman on the court, that she might have been more e receptive to those kinds of

messages. the problem you had was a number of republican senators saying that they thought that sonia sotomayor was dishonest in the way she walked away from past statements. once you say something like that, like senator kyl of arizona, it becomes hard to vote in favor of someone. >> also on our list, senator mel martinez. he voted in favor of her, but is retiring. also, bob bennett. the nra came out with a strong statement about judge sotomayor. how much pressure does that put on some republicans? we talk a lot about the hispanics, but the nra in an unusual move which we all noticed. >> i think the nra was kind of the dog that didn't bark, or at least didn't bite after it barked. they weren't clear about whether

they were going to count the vote, then said they'd sort of count it. despite the number of republicans -- then a number democrats as well who had perfect or near-perfect ratings from the nra. their threats on this nomination didn't really come through because we're not entirely clear on where she stands on second amendment rights. >> we appreciate you joining us and we are waiting for the president. he's going to speak shortly. up next, more coverage of this big day on capitol hill. >> we'll continue to look into the politics that played into today's vote and what it has to do with next year's mid-term election.

up next, live remarks from president obama on the first hispanic to be confirmed for the united states supreme court. she'll be sworn in on saturday. >> on this vote, the yays are 68 and the nays are 31. the nomination of sonia sotomayor of new york to be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states is confirmed. during times like these it seems like the world will never be the same. but there is a light beginning to shine again. the spark began where it always begins. at a restaurant downtown. in a shop on main street. a factory around the corner. entrepreneurs like these are the most powerful force in the economy. they drive change and they'll relentless push their businesses to innovate and connect.

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welcome back. we continue to follow big, breaking news. the confirmation of judge sotomayor. she will be sworn in on saturday by chief justice roberts. we've got dan abrams, pete williams, brian williams to give us their perspective. a vote of 68.

including, we're keeping an eye out for president obama who's expected to make remarks shortly. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models.

president obama's going to speak any moment now on the confirmation of the u.s. senate. she'll be sworn in on saturday, but joining us now, a dean of the social justice program at columbia law school. thoo she's a close friend of judge sotomayor and has been watching the events with judge sotomayor this afternoon. ellen, give us the play-by-play. what was judge sotomayor's reaction? >> it was truly exciting. we were in a room with all the judge, many of the judges from the second circuit and district court, many of her former clerks, close friends. we all watched very, very quietly and intently and as soon as people were warned not to

have a reaction, we started shouting and clapping. we took that as a sign to behave otherwise. >> was the judge screaming and yelling, too? how excited was she? >> she was very moved. she took it all in and looked very, very moved and very soon after the vote finished, her phone rang and we were all hushed because we thought it might be the president, but it was her mother. they cried softly together over the phone and we went back to hooping and hollering along with her. >> it has to be incredible. you are witnessing history with a person at the center of it all. is the judge still around anywhere near where you are? >> no. she's off somewhere else. i actually had to leave the room. there's no way i would have heard you or you would have heard me. i can't just pass the phone to her. sorry.

>> that's okay. we started off this story line or this journey with judge sotomayor, because of her background, i think people from all across the country were intrigued by her beyond the politics of it all. what does this mean for so many who are similar to her who had to fight through adversity, but in the end, she's now going to be a supreme court justice? >> as a legal educator at the school where we have people who come from all walks of life, i think it's a really important moment and demonstrates to everybody that if you're really talented, disciplined, have the drive and support of your loved ones, you can show up in places like being a supreme court justice. this is a country in which that kind of thing can occur. >> as you were call watching the role call vote, any reaction from judge sotomayor when a senator would get up and say no? does she take that stuff

personally? >> she did not show any reaction. people have been talking for days about how they would vote, but even if it had been a surprise, she knows that not everybody is going to see the things the way the president sees them and many of us see them. the important vote was the one that put her over the top. >> it's been a pleasure talking with you. again, as far as being in the room for, i wonder if you can describe the thing that will stick out in your memory, when the senate confirms her to be the first hispanic supreme court justice, what are you going to take away from this experience? >> the extreme joy of the people in the room and many people across the country. it was a high-energy moment and a moment that was long overdue and i'm thrilled and i think everything's thrilled that judge sotomayor will be the first

hispanic judge. >> ellen at the courthouse up in new york. thanks so much for calling in. we appreciate it. quite a moment you've been able to witness and good reporting. >> i've always thought that lawyers and journalists were a lot alike. we have to pay attention to the facts. >> and love to hate us. thank you very much. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> congratulations and please pass it along to judge sotomayor. we're keeping an eye out, just got a two-minute warning from the president. let's bring in nbc's pete williams into the conversation here. pete, we just heard from ellen, a friend of judge sotomayor, about the excitement. what happens next? she'll be sworn in saturday. >> we'll be able to see it.

she'll have two swearing ins. that's the normal tradition here and pardon me while i watch for the president. one is the regular oath, then a separate, judicial oath. she'll get the constitutional oath in private with chief justice john roberts of the court, then in front of television cameras, she will take the judicial oath, which is much longer and ornate, and we'll be able to see that. which is a first. i don't think we've seen a supreme court justice take one of those oaths on cameras. it will be in one of the conference rooms of the court, but still, that's a first. then there may be some sort of ceremony at the white house later, but the one that counts is this one. she'll have her formal installation ceremony at the court a little later and then

she'll sit with the other justices earlier than usual. >> here's the president. >> i am pleased and deeply gratified that judge sonia sotomayor has been confirmed as our 111th supreme court justice. want to thank the senate judiciary committee, particularly senator leahy, as well as senator sessions, for giving judge sotomayor a thorough and civil hearing and i thank them for doing so in a timely manner so she can be fully prepared to take her seat this september. the members of our supreme court are granted life tenure and are charged with the vital and difficult tasks of applying principles that are founding to the questions and controversies of our time. over the past ten weeks, members have assessed judge sotomayor's

fitness for this work. they've scrutinized her work as a prosecutor, a litigator and as a judge. they've gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law and her determination to perfect our core constitutional rights and freedoms. and with this historic vote, the senate has affirmed that judge sotomayor has the intellect, temperment, the history and independence of mind to ably serve on our nation's highest court. this is a whole for two centuries, that it's not merely a phrase above our courthouse door, but a description of what happens every single day inside the courtroom. it's a promise that whether you're a mighty corporation or ordinary american, you will

receive a full and fair hearing and in the end, the outcome of your case will be determined by the strength of your argument and the law. these core american ideals are the very ideals that have made judge sotomayor's own journey possible. they're ideals she's fought for throughout her career and breaking yet another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union. i'm filled with pride in this achievement and great confidence that judge sotomayor will make an outstanding supreme court justice. this is a wonderful day for judge sotomayor and her family, but i also think it's a wonderful day for america. thank you very much, everybody. >> are you happy with the -- >> i'm very happy. >> president obama at the white

house commenting that with this historic vote, the senate has ratified that judge sotomayor have the temperment, history and independence of mind to serve on the supreme court. i want to bring back in dan abrams. >> dan has interesting insight about the justices we're seeing, that you're seeing more with the background of being actual judges. >> alito, roberts and now sotomayor all appellate court judges. it's almost gotten to the point where people are expected. they say, who's going to be the next supreme court justice? always, we're heavily looking at current appellate court judges. there's nothing wrong with that, but a lot of people would say you know what, the days of earl warren and frankfurter and

black, that also can be good for the court. now, someone like sotomayor has done other things before she was a judge, but it is interesting as we look at how the process is working or has been working, had been finding these judges and that means they've got judicial records, written opinions on a variety of cases. >> during the confirmation process, many said the debate was more about president obama and less about judge sotomayor. this is his first pick. will she be on the hot seat for a while because she is his first election and because of what he says he wanted out of a judge, or justice? >> i think she'll be on the hot seat, but maybe not for those reasons. any quote, newbie, is on the hot seat. and what's going to be his or her first opinion. what kind of clerks is he or she going the choose. i think in that sense, she's

going to be very carefully scrutinized because people are going to try and predict. maybe she'll rule on one case, which is a very discreet issue and people will say, did that mean when the next case comes up with a broader significance, that she'll vote that way. everything she does is going to be watched closely. >> thank you very much. and we're going to continue our coverage here on the big picture, not only of the soon to be justice sotomayor, but also those town hall meetings as we enter this august recess, things are on fire on both sides. you've got democrats saying they're going to challenge people at these town hall meetings that have been taking on the process. very interesting. >> that's right. now that this political fight is over, now it clears the deck for health care reform, cap and trade, the tactics with lawma r lawmakers on their summer

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welcome back to "the big picture." judge sotomayor confirmed 68-31. we've been talking and the political impact. here to make their case -- let's just start. most republicans voted against judge sotomayor. does this hurt them or not? >> it does. sometimes police is just like marriage and you've got to pick your battles. this was a losing battle. they knew that going in. when you look at the make-up in the senate, and they had a nominee who was extremely qualified. all the things we've been talking about today. as a nominee on the bench,

widely respected, had a great story. they never found, i don't think, quality, substantive reasons to oppose her. i think it put them at a disadvantage. >> even if they were perfectly valid reasons to vote against this nominee, given the track record with republicans and hispanics and the trend line we saw in this last election, how can the republicans possibly turn this around in terms of republicans drifting more toward, i'm sorry, hispanics drifting more toward republicans -- democrats? >> i think it would be really unwise, i believe, to assume that hispanic vote on mass, on just one issue or just a few issues. and particularly on this nomination. there are a wide array of issues that they take into consideration when they go to the polls. when you look at the track record when it comes

quite as much as they do other issues in any event. >> you really believe that? you're not nervous at all about this? >> i'm sorry, can you say that again? >> you really believe that hispanic voters will not take this one into consideration? >> i don't think it's the main thing that people are going to be voting on when you get to the 2010 elections or 2012. >> liz, let me ask you, joe scarborough on "morning joe" very popular, well-spoken conservative, he said this morning she's not his kind of judge, but it was just stupid. i believe his word was stupid or not wise for republicans to come out and take this battle on, that she may not be their kind of judge, but looking at the numbers and looking at the breakdown, that it just does not shake out to be a wise decision. >> well, i mean, i think that it's clear that the republican party needs to work harder in terms of hispanic voters and outreach to them, but i do think that that is about more than just this nomination. you know, there are a whole

array of issues that people vote on. i think if you want a classic case study in the fact that people don't necessarily, you know, vote the way that you might necessarily expect just based on looking at demographics, you know, let's look at who supported hillary clinton versus who supported barack obama last year. you didn't have every woman in this country supporting hillary clinton, and, you know, barack obama failing to attract the support of women. >> but you had most african-americans supporting him, so i guess you could split that argument 50/50. >> that's true, that's true, but i think you're looking at a very large group of voters here, and, you know, they do not vote in a monolithic fashion, and there are a lot of issues that people take into consideration when they go to the polls. i think hispanic voters, like most voters in this country, when it comes to 2010 or 2012 i think are going to be looking at the economy. there's a large degree of concern amongst voters as a whole with regard to the deficit, with regard to the president's handling of the economy, and i think that's what you will see with hispanic voters just as with the rest of the voting population.

>> that i may be the case, but if ari is advising anybody in 2010 and they're running against a republican who voted against sotomayor, i think i can say he's going to tell them to use that video clip of them noting nay. >> this isn't any more discussion about a ju dishl vdi vote. it's a discussion about inappropriate things said by rush limbaugh, by newt gingrich, and some members of the judiciary committee. not all republicans but enough accusing her of being racist. they're probably going to hear about it. >> ari, and liz, thank you very much. the politics on this is going to be fascinating. people do tend to remember these votes. >> i think ari hit it on the head. obviously as joe scarborough put it, she may not be your kind of judge but the language that went around this process really was

ugly when you have someone saying she's a reverse racist and some of the other awful things far beyond that. they may come back to haunt some of the republicans. we'll have to see. our continuing coverage of the sonia sotomayor nomination continues after the break. we got it all covered on "the big picture" on msnbc. it's the chevy open house. and now, with the cash for clunkers program, a great deal gets even better. let us recycle your older vehicle, and you could qualify for an additional $3500 or $4500 cash back... on top of all other offers.. on a new, more fuel efficient chevy. your chevy dealer has more eligible models to choose from - more than ford, toyota, or honda. so save gas... and money... now during the chevy open house. go to chevy.com for details. having to go in the middle of traffic and just starting and stopping. having to go in the middle of a ballgame

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it is almost 4:00 on the east coast. we continue to cover the history that was made today in the u.s. senate. the senate voted 68-31 to confirm judge sonia sotomayor to the supreme court. she will be the first hispanic on the high court in our nation's history. also coming up next hour, there has been an intriguing development down in north carolina in a grand jury investigation into john edwards and how some of his money was spent. his former mistress testified today. intriguing development in that

investigation. we will have the latest. you're watching "the big picture" on msnbc. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models.

this hour on the big picture, the u.s. senate confirms judge sonia sotomayor for the supreme court. >> the yeas are 68 and the nays are 31. >> the debate was feisty and the politics now are intriguing. >> judge sotomayor does not faithfully apply the laws we legislators enact. >> a closer look at the vote by some of the senators up for re-election next year. the mistress testifies, the woman at the heart of john edwards sex scandal appears before a grand jury with her baby. could edwards face criminal charges for misusing campaign money he got to run for president? the nine lives of marian barry, the crack cocaine conviction, the drunk driving charges, allegations of

stalking. tax evasion. can you believe he survived it all? the former d.c. mayor and city council member joining us live. later the republican view of democrat lawmakers town halls. >> they have come back from their districts with town hall meetings and they almost got lynched. >> the right wing interruptions now feature foul language and even a death threat. conservative sites are posting this image of president obama. where is the bashing going to lead? that is today's face-off. and the other things we thought you should know. oh, boy. all that and more this hour on msnbc. >> good afternoon, everyone. i'm tamron hall live in new york. hey there, david. >> hey, tamron. i'm david shuster live in washington. tamron, breaking news continues at this hour. judge sonia sotomayor has made history by