he also chose antonin scalia, in part because it's italian american. that's according to his white house counsel. isn't it important to have a diverse group on the bench? >> not just diversity of personal identities and backgrounds, diversity in career experience as well so that the people who are making important decisions as judges don't just come from, i'll say it, the federal prosecutor, former federal prosecutor bubble or from big corporate law firms or so on. some of these folks are public defenders. share lynn eiffel ran the naacp non-profit. different backgrounds of people bring these things into how they see cases. yes, it is critically important that women -- and as we were talking about with gloria earlier today, four of the justices on the court could be women soon. yes, that is critically important. just as important, though, as diversity in professional experience. >> i want to know, gloria -- >> and don't -- >> go ahead, go ahead, gloria. >> i was just going to say, don't forget, these people are appointed for life. >> yeah. >> so, they

he also chose antonin scalia, as i said in part because he was italian american. is according to his white house counsel. is -- isn't it important to have a diverse group on the bench representing everyone in this country, elliot? >> let me say, hey, not just -- not just diversity of personal identities and backgrounds. diversity in career experience, as well, so that the people who are making important decisions as judges don't just come from -- i'll say it -- the federal prosecutor -- former-federal prosecutor bubble or from big corporate law firms or so on. some of these folks are public defenders. cheryl eiffel whose name has been thrown out ran the naacp defense fund. sort of a nonprofit. different backgrounds people bring in how they see cases so yes, it is critically important that women -- and as we were talking about with gloria earlier today, four of the justices on the court could be women soon. yes, that is critically important. just as important, though, is diversity and professional experience. >> i want to know, gloria, what -- because -- go ahead.

the image of that news that came to us one day the supreme court justice antonin scalia had tragically passed away. and we all remember what happened next. it was the same republican leader who sent the word out to his republican members, don't even entertain the possibility that president obama is going to fill the vacancy on the supreme court. we are going to keep this vacancy open in the hopes that we can elect a republican president to fill it. now, that was eight months at least, maybe ten months before the election. and it was a first time in history of the united states that a republican leader of the senate used his power to browbeat his members not even to meet with merrick garland, the president nominee, president obama's nominee. they wouldn't even entertain an office meeting with him to discuss it. it was out of the question. the supreme court was going to eight members and not one more, because the was an election coming and republican opportunity in that election. and so that's what happened. you remember it well and i do, too. so when i hear about preserving the sanctity

breyer told "the new york times" last year he was reminded of something justice antonin scalia once told him, saying, quote, i don't somebody appointed who will just reverse everything i've done for the last 25 years. >> i do not intend to die there on the court. i hope not. >> reporter: the front-runner is believed to be d.c. circuit court judge, ketanji jackson, a former clerk of justice breyer who has gone through the senate confirmation process. >> that someone who comes from a background like mine could find herself in this position. >> reporter: also believed to be on the list other women. senate democrats are pushing for a bipartisan confirmation already reaching out to republicans. >> i did talk today with the chairman of the judiciary committee. we talked a little bit about the timetable. as you know, i felt that the timetable for the last nominee was too compressed. >> reporter: president biden only needs a simple majority to confirm a new justice due to senate minority leader mitch mcconnell's 2017 change in senate rules for supreme court nominations. that means democrats coul

he told "the new york times" just last year that he was reminded of something justin antonin scalia told him. he said, i don't want somebody appointed who will just reverse everything i've done for the last 25 years. and he told george stephanopoulos he looked forward to life after the supreme court. >> there are many different considerations and -- that i do not intend to die there on the court, i hope not. and i'm thinking about them, considering them and that's as far as i'll go. >> and he's earned this retirement. we remember that interview with george. terry with us tonight. and you remembered there justice breyer spoke of respect for his fellow justices regardless of their differing viewpoints. he believed that the court obviously should be apolitical. he talked about this over his 27 years on the court. but he also certainly knows the magnitude of this decision, the timing of this decision, just howdy vildivided this nation is. >> reporter: that's right, david, and those divisions central tio the timing of this division. justice breyer is trying to give president biden and senate

the single most conservative supreme court justice of the 20th century antonin scalia was confirmed by the senate 98 to nothing in 1986 and in those days everyone in the senate believed that the only reason to vote against a nominee for the supreme court was that the nominee was plainly and qualified to be a judge. early in the 21st century when chuck schumer was still a relatively junior member of the senate he publicly mused about the possibility, just the possibility of voting against a supreme court nominee, simply because he disagreed with the nominees opinions, and that was considered heresy in the senate when chuck schumer first mentioned it. now? it is the norm. in the senate. the vote for joe biden's nominee for the supreme court is going to be [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> by the way -- [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] , >> that is the way joe biden thinks. joe biden knew how strong a vice president from candidate kamala harris would be because he saw her on the presidential debate stage just as barack ob

modulated tone, narrowly don't go bigger than you have to, just bring others along, even work with antonin scaliaom you have nothing in common but you can learn from him, maybe he can learn from you, this kind of thing. what happened was 2007, 2006 actually went o'connor retired beginning of the calendar year 2006 in the course of the 2005 term replaced by justice alito, george w. bush, the court wrenched immediately noticeably to the right on a variety of questions including racial equality, and ruth ginsburg started becoming quite alarmed and upset and she started writing increasingly so a few years later when the court overturned or cut the guts out of the voting rights act and there shall be case she gave this descent back, saying you don't need the voting rights act anymore, it's like throwing it away because it stopped raining so when two young women wrote the life of the notorious bj, the name that she got a kick out of it. i was the last eight or so years of her tenure when we needed her voice. we the culture because something was happening at the court, something was happening in america

the late justice antonin scalia and the late justice ruth bader ginsburg, clarence thomas was also a on the u.s. court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. she was a clerk for justice breyer. he has called her brilliant at one of other confirmation hearings, i believe, and she's widely regarded as a front-runner. she was just recently confirmed, so presumably there wouldn't be a lot of surprises if the president were to dominate her. she's also a relative by marriage of former house speaker paul ryan, who's a republican, so she might have some bipartisan support much she's considered one of the front-runners. another one is a california supreme court justice named leondra kruger, who is only 45 years old, but has already been sitting on the california supreme court for several years. she is well known in the washington legal community. she clerked on the supreme court as well, came here after law school and worked as an assistant to the u.s. solicitor general, which meant that she argued cases on behalf of the federal government in the supreme court. she argued 12 cases in the supreme co

he was good friends with his ideological opposite, the late justice antonin scalia, and believed it wasdisagree agreeably. >> there's no reason we can't be friends. there is no reason that human beings cannot differ civilly on matters of great importance. >> reporter: jessica schneider, cnn, washington. >> let's continue this discussion. i want to bring back jeffrey toobin and paula reid and abby phillip. paul, i understand you have more on the short list who are some of the women president biden could be reviewing as potential replacements? >> this is as big as it gets. this is president biden's first chance to nominate a justice on a campaign trail. he vowed to nominate a black woman and we have known justice breyer has been pressured to step down. at the top of the list is judge ketanji brown jackson. she is seen as the front-runner, a former supreme court clerk for breyer and recently vetted by the biden white house and confirmed to the d.c. court of appeals to fill the seat left vacant by attorney general merrick garland. that court is often seen as a feeder for the supreme court.

. >>> february 2016, february 13th, when news broke that supreme court justice antonin scalia had diede day senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said he would not allow a vote on scalia's successor because it was too close to the next election. it was nine months away. it was february and the election was in november. and even a controversial one, it didn't matter that plenty of supreme court justices throughout our nation's history had been confirmed in election years. senator mcconnell says he wasn't going to allow president obama's nominee to not only fill that supreme court seat, he wouldn't even allow hearings for an obama nominee for that court seat, they were going to hold the seat open for more than a year and pretend that president obama hadn't even made the nomination. in so doing republicans were able to throw their proverbial jackets and purses over that scort seat long enough to save it for a republican president to nominate neil gorsuch. for years later, four years later in 2020, another supreme court justice tragically passed away, this time ruth bader ginsburg, her

the late justice antonin scalia and the late justice ruth bader ginsburg, clarence thomas was also audge on the u.s. court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. she was a clerk for justice breyer. he has called her brilliant at one of other confirmation hearings, i believe, and she's widely regarded as a front-runner. she was just recently confirmed, so presumably there wouldn't be a lot of surprises if the president were to dominate her. she's also a relative by marriage of former house speaker paul ryan, who's a republican, so she might have some bipartisan support much she's considered one of the front-runners. another one is a california supreme court justice named leondra kruger, who is only 45 years old, but has already been sitting on the california supreme court for several years. she is well known in the washington legal community. she clerked on the supreme court as well, came here after law school and worked as an assistant to the u.s. solicitor general, which meant that she argued cases on behalf of the federal government in the supreme court. she argued 12 cases in the suprem

after justice antonin scalia died in 2016, mcconnell blocked barack obama's pick, merrick garland, bywouldn't be right to put garland on the high court during an election year. >> we're in the process of picking a president. and that new president ought to make this appointment, which will affect the supreme court maybe for the next quarter of a century. >> then in 2020 justice right bader ginsburg died less than two months before the election. according to pbs, mcconnell called trump the night ginsburg died, urging him to quickly select amy coney barrett. >> mcconnell told him two things. he said, first, i'm going to put out a statement that says we're going to fill the vacancy. second, he said, you've got to nominate amy coney barrett. >> less than a year later, get this, justice barrett actually appeared at an event at the mcconnell center at the university of louisville. she told the crowd this. my goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks. now, where would anybody get an idea like that. the polls show a majority of americans oppos

bader ginsburg, as brett kavanaugh replacing anthony kennedy, merrick garland replacing anthony v antonin scalia. that's why i think this process is not going to be quite as divisive and contentious as the last few we've seen. you know, from the republicans' perspective, what's the point? you know, if president biden is able to successfully confirm, say, the first black woman in the supreme court's history, they still have a 6-3 majority on the supreme court. they still have what they think is a very strong agenda to use against president biden in the midterms. and so i think this is going to look very different, don, from the last couple of supreme court confirmation fights that we've been through. >> hey, steve, you've been going through this list, president biden's potential short list of picks. who stands out to you? >> yeah, don, i think any conversation's going to start with the same two names. there's judge ketanji brown jackson who's currently on the d.c. circuit. very important appeals court in washington. she spent eight years on the district court bench in d.c. don, as you know, she w

the single most conservative supreme court justice of the 20th century antonin scalia was confirmed by the senate 98 to nothing in 1986 and in those days everyone in the senate believed that the only reason to vote against a nominee for the supreme court was that the nominee was plainly and qualified to be a judge. early in the 21st century when chuck schumer was still a relatively junior member of the senate he publicly mused about the possibility, just the possibility of voting against a supreme court nominee, simply because he disagreed with the nominees opinions, and that was considered heresy in the senate when chuck schumer first mentioned it. now? it is the norm. in the senate. the vote for joe biden's nominee for the supreme court it's going to be a very very close vote. so it is extremely unlikely joe biden will take the chance to nominate someone who has not been through the senate confirmation process like, for example, judge leondra cooker of the california supreme court. there is no doubt about judge cruger's brilliance and qualification having served as a supreme court cl

executive director of the sea boyden gray center for the study of the administrative state at the antonin scalia law school and john malcolm heritage is vice president for the institute of constitutional government and director of the me center for legal and judicial studies. well, i want to welcome you all to the heritage foundation on behalf of heritage in the great center. today has been it's been a special day and it is still a special day. we are delighted to be here honoring the 30th anniversary of justice thomas's appointment to the supreme court as an associate justice. we've been fortunate to have justice thomas here before he was our 2016 story lecturer and we are thrilled that he is here with us this evening. so with that i'm going to turn it over to my co-host jen and i hope you enjoy the evening's program. thank you, john. good evening. the sea boy and grace center is thrilled to host this event with the heritage foundation and commemorate the very significant milestone of justice thomas' 30 years and the supreme court. justice thomas is now the longest serving justice currently on

he was good friends with his ideological opposite, the late justice antonin scalia and believe it's possible to disagree agreeably. >> there's no reason human beings cannot differ civilly on matters of great importance. >> he will somtay on the court through the end of this term. that's five months from now in late june with some cases still to be decided. he will participate in those huge issues to be decided here. abortion right and gun rights among them. justice breyer has already spoken out against some of the court's decision in the past few months that we had calling the decision to let that texas abortion ban after six weeks stand. he called it wrong. breyer does continue to speak highly in general of the work of this court that he will be leaving after serving nearly three decades. >> all right. thank you for that. >> with us cnn court reporter and cnn police correspondent. jeffrey, you're up first. we know that this will not shift the balance of the court but your take on the significance, the impact on the court of this announcement this retirement. >> well, one thing we know is th

was taken that even though there was nearly a year left in his term, president obama's pick for antonin scaliaa's vacancy was going to get neither hearing or even courtesy meetings from republican senators. and once that obstruction happened, democrats filibuster the nominee. they just got rid of the filibuster. and that is the world we now live in. you can get a supreme court justice seed with a fair minority of votes. that is what elie is describing is likely to happen. i think the thing that is really remarkable about the biden administration and gets not nearly enough attention is his salute zealous commitment, not just to getting judges under the federal bench, breaking numbers, doing it so quickly, and really this has been important -- again, i don't think we understand how important. he has been from day one committed to putting judges on the federal bench who are not just diverse, extraordinarily diverse. we have seen records shattered in terms of jurists who come from different racial, gender, lgbtq backgrounds. there is been a real push. it also urgently important to him to put out t

six years since former president obama announced now attorney general merrick garland to fill antonin scalia'seat. that didn't work out. >> 1,239 days since one of the most heated confirmation hearings in history. >> did you consume alcohol during your high school years? >> yes. we drank beer. my friends and i. boys and girls. yes, we drank beer. i liked beer. still like beer. >> a good day for beer. 151 days until the end of the current scotus term. >> 701 days since biden's promise to nominating a black woman on the bench. >> i will make sure we in fact, get every representation. >> zero days for some of the right to criticize biden for that promise and argue liberals bullied breyer out of his seat. if everyone votes, it could mean 51 and could require a tie-breaker from vice president harris. >> here are the number of days from nomination to confirmation for previous picks. the shortest of course 30 takes for amy coney barrett. the longest, 106 days for khaeurpbs thomas. 287 days until the midterm elections. so here we go. >> joining us now, justice correspondent for the nation magazine eli

not name another nominee until his second term when he had the opportunity to appointing three, antonin scalia, william rehnquist and kennedy. jonathan turley accused president biden of confirmation bias. while georgetown law's elia shapiro said his pick would be a lesser black woman who would always have an asterisk attached to their name. if anyone should have an asterisk in front of their names, it should know every single one of the 95 white justices that came before thurgood marshall in 1967. talk about exclusionary criteria. white man, white man, white man, white man. conservatives want you to believe the supreme court is a meritocracy. people are chosen for their qualifications, not their issue with roe v. wade. if you were okay with trump and reagan saying he's going to nominate women but you're not okay with joe biden saying he's going to nominate a black woman, you might, you might be a racist. joining me is congressman jones from new york who became the first congressman to call on stephen breyer to retire. when you hear senator wicker and others like him on the right saying this is

characteristics were also on display in a series of appearances with the conservative icon justice antonin scaliafore his 2016 death. >> ah! we're making progress. ( laughter ) >> he had unbridled optimism. >> yang: federal judge vince chhabria, a former breyer clerk. >> when i was clerking for him, he was of the view that he would be able to convince justice scalia that the death penalty was unconstitutional. >> yang: former clerks like chhabria remember breyer as a considerate, though sometimes absent-minded, boss. >> one time, he walked into the clerk's office, and he started talking about a case and he said “okay, here are and i'd like you guys to research this and that.” and then, the-- the judicial assistant looked up and said,“ justice, none of your clerks are in the room right now. they're all outside having lunch.” and he said, “oh, okay.” and he came out and joined us, and sat down with us to talk about the cases. but i want to emphasize that, you know, when it came to writing opinions, you didn't see the absent-minded professor quality in the opinions he wrote because he was always so

assistant professor of law and director at the national security law and policy program at the antonin scaliaty. professor jaffer previously served as chief counsel and senior adviser to center foreign relations committee, senior councils of the house intelligence committee, social counsel to president george w. bush, and consul to assistant attorney general for national security at the u.s. department of justice. mr. charles stimson is a deputy director at the ed wynne mace center for legal and judicial studies and manager of the national security law program at the heritage foundation. before joining the foundation in 2007, mr. stimson served as deputy assistant attorney, assistant secretary defense for detainee affairs. he advised then secretaries of defense, donald rumsfeld, and robert skates, and coordinated the pentagon's global detention policy operations, including at guantÁnamo bay and iraq, and afghanistan. mr. stimson has also served as a military prosecutor, defense counsel, and recently served as deputy chief judge, navy marine corps, trial judiciary. he continues to serve with a

it was antonin scalia when asked does the constitution require discrimination based on sex he said no then further he said the constitution does not prohibit discrimination based on sex and he implored the legislation to take action to provide that kind of protection and antidiscrimination language in the constitution we are one of a handful of countries in the advanced world that do not have this protection for women thank you to the panelist this week marks the fourth anniversary of the me to movement observing the tragedy of domestic violence alyssa milano treated "if all the women have been sexually harassed #metoo we might be a have a sense of the magnitude of the problem since then the phrase originally from founded has been shared millions of times over the world with the #metoo survivors moment for perpetrators we have members here in congress and engage in sexual harassment now held accountable and in the schools and homes in the military at four years later we face the epidemic of violence against women every two minutes in american is assaulted constitutional scholars belie

obama's nominee to fill the supreme court vacancy by the death of justice antonin scalia.n manchester, kentucky, republican line. let's hear from ann. caller: i think the position should be filled by the most competent person who knows the rule of law. not based on race or gender. because, you are talking about the most basic thing. the rule of law. host: ok. tell nick in sarasota, florida, independent line. #-- to nick in sarasota, florida, independent line. caller: i think the president ought to nominate kamala harris. it works out for everybody. it gets her out of the white house. we know it is a liberal position. she will vote liberal. there is no change there. this would give the republicans a chance to all vote for her and not be subject to any attack on somebody else being in there and being called bigots or racist and all of that stuff the democrats like to do. since we are not concerned about qualifications, it is identity politics appointment. throw her right in there. we already know how she will vote. host: heather cox richardson writes today about the supreme