he's leading the american bar association's task force for american democracy alongside jay johnson,nt obama's secretary of homeland security. and the goal leer is to outline meaningful steps that can be taken to preserve and protect our demic institutions. joining me now is jay johnson, former secretary under president obama and cochair for the task force for democracy. secretary johnson, thank you for joining me for what i hope could be somewhat positive, optimistic or uplifting conversation. >> thanks for having me, alex. >> thanks for coming on the set. first tell me about the fact the american bar association is getting involved in an effort to preserve democracy. what legally speaking can and should be done ahead of the next election? >> first of all, it's not just the ada, it's state bar associations that have thrown in with us, and the task force we have assembled are not just lawyers. they're historians. they're people ranging from the head of the urban league to bill kristol, the conservative commentator, all concerned about the future of our democracy. our task force is un

they are co-chairs of the american bar association task for for american democracy. and democracy is at the core of this. thank you for being here. judge luttig, in the sumpimples terms, what does this really mean? >> good morning, poppy and phil. thank you for having the secretary and i on this morning. as our country's preeminent constitutional scholar, professor laurence tribe, and i said in our article in august in "the atlantic," this decision will test whether america is committed to america's democracy, to its constitution and to the rule of law. yesterday's momentous and historic decision was a model of judicial decision-making. it is unassailable in every respect. it was a masterful interpretation of section 14 -- 14th amendment, section 3 of the constitution, and the disqualification of the former president for his insurrection or rebellion against the constitution of the united states. >> mr. secretary, to that point, it's been striking the kind of divide within conservative legal circles over this issue. judge luttig calls it unassailable, a model. a lot

general and deputy attorney general of illinois, as executive vice president and ceo of the american bar association, and in other positions of public trust. today jill is an analyst for msnbc and cohost of the very popular podcast, sisters-in- law. she is also author of the acclaimed book, jill was a big help to me in organizing this program for which i am grateful. please welcome jill wine-banks . >>[ applause ] >> next, a man who is familiar to all of you, bob woodward is an associate editor of the washington post where he has worked since 1971. an iconic figure in american journalism, bob has shared in two pulitzer prizes. first for coverage of the water gate scandal and second is the lead reporter for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. he has written or co-authored dozens of best-selling, award- winning books including the classic, all the presidents men , and the final days, both relating to watergate. and most recently, the trump tapes, and extraordinary work of political nonfiction. ladies and gentlemen, mr. bob woodward. her more than 30 year career as >> [ applause ] >> next, another

she has been honored seven times by the american bar association for her continued excellence in legal reporting. and she is recipient of more than two dozen honorary. she is also the author of the new york times bestseller dinner with ruth, a memoir of power and friendships. of course, i could be talking about nobody in this town but the legendary nina totenberg. legend mary means old. this this. it's really wonderful to be here today. it's fitting that we are to celebrate ruth bader ginsburg and her stamp because rpg quite simply chaed the way the world is for american women. and she did that even before she became a judge for more than a decade until her first judicial appoint. she led the fight in the courts for gender equality. when she began her legal crusade. women were treated. i know this isard to believe for many this audience. women at time were treated by law differently from men. hundreds of state and federal laws restricted what womeno barring them from all manner of jobs rights, even service. but by the time she became a judge in 80, she had literally wrought a revolutio

because of that, the american bar association said we need to have everyone who's going to come out and become a lawyer learn about their ethical responsibilities to the profession and to the public. and that we serve something more than just our clients. so that is why we have legal ethics. sadly, it hasn't totally worked. and i think that is a little bit of what this last part of the conversation is going to be about. but it is just a small way that watergate has shaped literally the lives of every lawyer in this room and in the united states, that this is something we hold up as important, as essential. thank you again so much for being here, and thank you all for everything you've done. i will get out of the way. hist0 years ago and. present day events in the country. many commentators have to draw before we close, i know we are running a little over, but i wanted to spend just a few minutes talking about the connection between these historic events 50 years ago, at a present day events in the country. many commentators have tried to draw comparisons, parallels, between watergate an

as executive vice president and ceo of the american bar association and in other positions of public today, joe is an analyst for msnbc and co-host of the very popular podcast sisters in law. she's also of the acclaimed book watergate. joe was a big help to in organizing this program, for which i'm grateful. please welcome jill banks. next a man who's familiar to all you, bob woodward, is an associate of the washington post, where he has. since 1971, an iconic figure in american journalism. bob has shared two pulitzer prizes, first for coverage of the watergate scandal with carl bernstein, and second as the lead reporter for of the 911 terrorist attacks. he has written or coauthored of bestselling award winning books, including the classic all the president's men and final days, both relating to watergate and most recently, the trump tapes and extraordinary of political nonfiction. ladies and gentlemen. mr. bob woodward. next familiar face. lesley stahl is among america's most respected, experienced broadcast journalists during her more than 30 year career as a 60 minutes corresponde

an elite prep school against the victim of sexual assault, the district domine with the american bar association was expected not qualify for judicial service, and fortunately today's nominees include yet another head spinning example of the biden administration radical approach to filling the federal bench. the president's nominate to serve as circuit judge for the third circuit court of appeals. since graduating from harvard, he has spent his career in private practice, but for years he also served on the board of rutgers student organization that facilitates and amplifies grotesque anti-semitic activism. for example, on the 20th anniversary of september 11, the center for security of rights at rutgers law school hosted a speaking engagement for ringleader of recent calls for intifada in the united states and a convicted supporter of palestinian islamic jihad. for those who need reminding, palestinian islamic jihad and hamas are holding hostages, including americans in gaza as we speak. american jews are facing and n estimate wave of anti-semitic hate, and this wave is emanating from campus or

mark is a member of the american association of law libraries and the bar of the supreme court of pennsylvania. he's a past chair of the american association of law libraries legal history, rare book specialist interests section. he recently retired as the editor in chief of unbound review of legal history and rare books. and mark has been a long time friend of the historical society and we are so thankful to have him here today to join me in welcoming him him. thank you all for for coming out on such a nasty day to to hear this. it's nice to be back in carlisle. i miss hotdogs and frozen custard at macy's and breakfast over at fay's, so it's nice to be back in town. and i think after this i'm going to head next door to the hamilton and grab a hotdog. but and i spent a lot of time in this place when i was working on on this this book, which which began its life as a master's thesis. i was a regular. and so almost every weekend they would find me here in the library doing research on this. so the strange of dr. paul's super. and i was told by the way a friend of mine who who is austrian told me

mark is a member of the american association of law libraries and the bar of the supreme court of pennsylvania. he's a past chair of the american association of law libraries legal history, rare book specialist interests section. he recently retired as the editor in chief of unbound review of legal history and rare books. and mark has been a long time friend of the historical society and we are so thankful to have him here today to join me in welcoming him him. thank you all for for coming out on such a nasty day to to hear this. it's nice to be back in carlisle. i miss hotdogs and frozen custard at macy's and breakfast over at fay's, so it's nice to be back in town. and i think after this i'm going to head next door to the hamilton and grab a hotdog. but and i spent a lot of time in this place when i was working on on this this book, which which began its life as a master's thesis. i was a regular. and so almost every weekend they would find me here in the library doing research on this. so the strange of dr. paul's super. and i was told by the way a friend of mine who who is austrian told me

bar association in the united states and abroad. dakota stephen breyer sandra worked tirelessly traveling during court vacations to american indian tribal courts. as an aside she and stephen were the first justices to do that. meeting with asian, african, and european judges and planning with bar association representatives on how to advance the rule of law, democracy, and independent judicial systems for the former soviet bloc. sandra was a leader in the aba program promoting the rule of law and emerging nations. she also traveled across the country and world to promote merit-based judicial selection instead of elected judges. always advocating for judicial independence. if all of this were not enough, sandra was instrumental in founding the women's lawyers association and the national association of women judges and frequently spoke at events with the international association of women justices. she sat on countless board of directors for nonprofit and care -- and charitable organizations, each one meaningful. and after her retirement she founded the sandra day o'connor institute, which aims to advance american democracy through civic

bar association in the united states and abroad. to quote stephen breyer, she worked tirelessly, traveling during court vacations to american indian courts, tribal courts. as an aside, she and stephen were the first justices to ever do that. meeting with asian, african, and european judges and planning with bar association representatives about how to advance the rule of law, democracy, and independent judicial systems in the former soviet bloc. sandra was a leader, promoting the rule of law in emerging nations. she also traveled across the country to promote merit based judicial selection instead of elected judges. always advocating for judicial independence. if all of this were not enough, sandra was instrumental in founding the arizona women's lawyers association and the national association of women judges and spoke at events at the international association of women justices. she sat on countless boards of directors for nonprofits and charitable organizations, each one meaningful to her. after her retirement from this court, she founded the sandra day o'connor institute, which aimed to advance american democracy through civics educa

the lawyers don't swear an oath to our constitution, they swear an oath to the bar association which isn't even americanhich point what gives them the right to decide what we doing this country. the voters should have full decision. the true voters, the people who believe in our constitution, i can't believe that anyone would vote for donald trump. he hates women, minorities. i cannot believe he ever got elected in the first place. at this point you should be pulled out of wherever he is hiding and tried for treason and probably executed, it's probably what they would've done in 1776 to that man. everybody says -- host: let's go to don in ohio on the independent line. caller: yes, just to bounce off a couple of callers back, nikki haley is one of the worst war mongers. the idea that women are summit -- going to somehow lead to peace has been proven the opposite by people like hillary clinton and others and they are both bipartisan, democrats and republicans, this is a fatal poisonous situation of politics in this country. i think the media itself is the real problem. people calling in the programs like

the lawyers don't swear an oath to our constitution, they swear an oath to the bar association which isn't even americanch point what gives them the right to decide what we doing this country. the voters should have full decision. the true voters, the people who believe in our constitution, i can't believe that anyone would vote for donald trump. he hates women, minorities. i cannot believe he ever got elected in the first place. at this point you should be pulled out of wherever he is hiding and tried for treason and probably executed, it's probably what they would've done in 1776 to that man. everybody says -- host: let's go to don in ohio on the independent line. caller: yes, just to bounce off a couple of callers back, nikki haley is one of the worst war mongers. the idea that women are summit -- going to somehow lead to peace has been proven the opposite by people like hillary clinton and others and they are both bipartisan, democrats and republicans, this is a fatal poisonous situation of politics in this country. i think the media itself is the real problem. people calling in the programs like th