of serving with justice david souter. from my experience, there has not been a more incisive question than justice david souter. i remember when i was prepping one of the arguments, one of the things we really wanted to do was get the court to have a line of questioning about stripping eightieth corpus and whether it was -- we spent weeks trying to figure out, we bracing king about this line of questions. we didn't get just this stevens to do it. in the dna argument which i did in march there was a lot of questioning of is worried about getting, and sure enough, justice david souter was the one to lodge that folly of questions. his opinion on the dna case was a really moving opinion. event code to conservatism. it is about substantive due process and the need to go slow. that is not something we have traditionally seen a lot of in the supreme court for right and left of the court, justice david souter is staking that position in that case. it will be one of his great legacy for the court. >> i will miss justice david sout

certainly wasn't the ce with david souter, who did surprise the bush administration.chris: in this case we don't have a paper trail on rowe v. wade. >> that's true. she's made decisions on abortion pro tegs, funding for foreign organizations that provide abortions. the assumption is that the president never asks about abortion, but a the nominee does not want to be put in the position of saying before the nate, well, senator, i told the president what i think about abortion, but i'm not telling you. chris: by the way, you're not supposed to ask that particular question. war the rules, by the way? >> there aren't any rules. president bush wanted to say the republicans always wanted to say we don't have a litmus test, and this is something the democrats have picked up on and followed through on. they don't want to ask that question because they think they know the answer, and they don't want to know for sure. chris: the president took a while to pick, but he picked among a number of women. more women coming? >> well, there's two women out of the nine members, which is a

the idea was that the new york yankee -- to david souter in cases like this, where the court is no longer clear. we have not mentioned, sotomayor. we have not mention this, and this is an interesting split. i do think that this case has hardly any thing to do with her nomination, having looked at this over the last couple of weeks, it seems to be clear, that the president was clear on this matter. the decision was determined by this, and the reason that the opinion is short is because this is controlled by the precedent. the judges saw this is exactly the same way and decided this 3-0 in favor of not second- guessing the test results, and they chose not to publish this so that the results and the fact of the shortness of the opinion, this is a 100 page opinion. there was a review where the law would have been tossed out, and every member of the court wrote like they were making a change adopting a new standard. one thing that is clear is that you are not to anticipate changing the law, you will apply this as this exists at the time. there is an interesting aspect of this, just for the ent

yesterday, president obama's pick to replace retired justice david souter managed to sidestep questions on abortion and gun control but she defended her controversial remarks on race, gender and the law against republicans concerned that she could bring bias and a political agenda to the bench gentleman what i'm confused about, are you standing by that statement or are you saying that it was a bad idea. >> from the attention that my words have gotten and the manner in which it has been understood by some people that my words failed. >> the full senate will likely confirm sotomayor early next month. >>> following terrible scene on a major interstate this morning, straight ahead, an explosion sends flames high in the air and even causes part of an overpass to collapse. >>> more questions surrounding the death of michael jackson. the case being investigated as a homicide. you are watching fox 5 morning news. it is now seven minutes after 5:00. medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chem

there's not much room to go left of david souter. i don't think her replacement of souter does anything except ensure a liberal vote past the time when souter would have retired in any event. they're going to change the court today but it will entrench liberal block on the court. >> finally, judge bork, if you had it to do over again, if you were back in that chair once again, is there anything you would do differently if it meant you would be confirmed? >> yeah. i don't know if it would mean i would be confirmed or not, but i think i could have been more intelligent in my approach and more aware of what was taking place. i kept responding to questions as if it was a rational discussion, which it wasn't. i think i would have taken that into i count more if i were to do it over again. >> given that, what's your best advice to her? >> don't lose your temper. she'll be confirmed if she doesn't, as they said, if she doesn't melt down. there's no reason why she should melt down. if she maintains an even emotional temp, she'll be confirmed

the 55-year-old court after peels judge is president obama's first pick to replace david souter. the white house hopes sotomayor will be confirmed by august. she will face questions over her past ruling and qualification. >>> manny acta apparently fired now. he tells multiple sources he was let go last night as manager of the washington nationals. insides are say nats bench coach jim rigle machine will take over for the remainder of the -- jim riggleman will take over for the remainder of the season. >>> d.c. councilman david catania is holing a hearing today on city contracts with nonprofit its agencies after the washington city paper reported some irregularities with the contracts run out of councilman marion barry's office. there are allegations of forge the documents and ghost employees on the payroll. last wean, the city council announce and independent investigator is looking into the paid contract that barry awarded his former girlfriend donna watts brighthaupt. questions were raised after she accused barry of stalking her on the 4th of july. he was cleared of those stalki

she's probably just about where david souter is on the ideological spectrum in terms of being a liberaloo much of a change in terms of the voting. in fact, on some criminal law matters, she might be a little bit to the right of him. but you're right to talk about what goes on behind the scenes and in conferences, because another woman coming on to the bench would certainly add a new voice in that way. the ferris latina voice, the first hispanic ever in u.s. tree on the bench. i think she might offer a new experience to the justices. she also is one of the few justices in recent history who comes from a, you know, lower middle class background. we have to reach back to clarence thomas, to somebody who really experienced a near poverty in her youth. so i think she'll add a new experience to the court, but in terms of building a coalition, i think it will be too early to see, because as you know, andrea, these justices work over the long haul. they lay some seeds, that don't actually start to grow and really bloom until later in their tenure. >> justice thomas is notoriously quiet, silent

if confirmed, sotomayor would replace david souter who is retiring. . >> learn more about the south carolinaerial killer, patrick burris killed five and shot a cop. he was killed yesterday in a north carolina home. after officers say he fired on them. and wounded an officer. police in north and south carolina are now saying he had a criminal past. and that he had done time for extortion, and larceny. >> the weapon he shot the officer with, last night, is the same officer that all five of our victims, same weapon that all five victims were shot with. >> police are still working to find out why the five victims were his targets. >> new mexico teen is in the hospital after police tase her in the head. the 14-year-old and her mother were in a fight and went to the police station for help. then the girl ran off. right in front of a patrol car. and across the street without looking for traffic. the officer believes the only way to stop her was to tase her. the girl is now recovering in the hospital. >> cecil county sheriff's deputy got an indecent surprise when he pulled over a man for speeding. t

i don't think she will be as complicated a judge as david souter. her life is much larger than her idology and backing off the latina woman statements are appropriate, but i think she meant them when she said them. >> you can -- >> i think she -- >> i was going to say, bill, you can really see some of these republican members like lindsey graham, orrin hatch and even chuck grassley they're really struggling to decide how they're going to vote. this is not easy for them at all. >> it isn't. and there's two other things there that i'm proud of. they didn't patronize her. they were pretty tough. they were tougher, actually, than i thought they would be. they were afraid and asked her tough questions. she needs to be treated like everyone needs to be treated. second, one gets a sense among a number of these senators and i have to say some of our best team members are on this committee that they're really trying to be thoughtful and kaun conscientious. how i'd vote, i don't know. but i'd tell you in two years from now she would be confirmed. two years fr

expected to cruise to confirmation during a senate vote next week to fill the seat vacated by justice david souter. >>> 5:31. this news is going to rattle the inner circles of baltimore. >> john paterakis, who built the bread business into an empire has been indicted and he's not the only one. abc2 news sherrie johnson has more. >> reporter: new charges have been filed against baltimore city councilwoman helen holton and yes, a prominent developer. the person responsible for building harbor east. the new charges have been filed against developer john paterakis. he's charged with one count of conspiracy to violate campaign finance law. the charges stem from a poll conducted for councilwoman helen holton. according to the indictment paterakis paid for part of that poll. holton faces two counts of conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws, she could face a year in prison and a $25,000 fine on each of those counts. another developer, ronald lipscomb, admitted his role for part of that. he's already pleaded guilty and in doing so court documents show he implicated paterakis. in a statement holton's a

they say she'd be at about the same spot in the legal spectrum as david souter, the justice she'd succeed. she grew up in a bronx public housing project, losing her father at age 9 and raised by a hard-working mother. a prosecutor and a federal judge. >> it is a very powerful position. the responsibility is enormous. >> reporter: but she's be pressed for an explanation of her now well-known statement that a wise latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion as a judge than a white male. some republicans say her record shows she's too willing to allow her own feelings to intrude. something they say that's at odds with other judges. >> with who have laid out the traditional way in which you decide cases with impartiality and just using the law. she, of course, looks to other factors like empathy, like whether it's popular in foreign countries and th sort of thing. >> reporter: republicans will ask about a ruling she endorsed that said the second amendment protection of the right to own a gun does not apply to the states, an issue that has tw divided the federal courts, an

probably the best thing about being on the supreme court is the privilege of serving with justice david souterrom my experience, there has not been a more incisive questioner in so many ways than justice souter. i remember when i was prepping the hamdan argument, one of the things we really wanted to do was get the court to have a line of questioning about habeas stripping and whether or not it was violated. we spent weeks trying to figure out how can we bait justice stevens into asking this line of questions. didn't really get justice stevens to do it at the argument. but justice souter really got that argument. and i've never really seen him in such powerful terms attacking the government on this whole suspension line of questioning. a three- or four-minute colloquy with paul clement. on the other side in the d.n.a. argument which i did in march, there was a line of questioning i was really worried about getting. sure enough, justice souter was the one to launch that volley of questions. and his opinion in the d.n.a. case, i think, is a really moving opinion. it's a kind of ode to conservati

four justices agreed with her on the supreme court including david souter. that is hardly a big repudiation. that is going to be a tough charge to make stick. >> jeff, stick around. i want to talk to you in a moment. >>> new developments in the l m looming custody bamt over michael jackson's kids. >>> a police where slavery still exists, the victims, kids, the conditions they are forced to live in, horrifying. sanjay gupta investigates. ththth >>> there is word tonight the jackson family is negotiating behind the scenes with lawyers for debbie rowe the biological mother of michael jackson's two oldest kids. latoya jackson told the london tabloids she believes her brother was murdered for her money. there was supposed to be a custody hearing for the jackson kids but got postponed for a second time. do we know why? >> a source close to the family told us that katherine jackson's attorney is trying to broker a deal regarding custody. the family is trying to sort out what they want from debbie rowe, michael jackson's ex-wife. we are told the family wants her to

she would replace justice david souter who retired last month. >>> we just learned this morning in germany a man deported from the united states is charged with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder. they retihad those charges file today. he's accused of being a guard at a camp in poland. he denies the charges and says he was a prisoner of war at that time. >>> did dick cheney break the law while he was vice president? a source says the justice department is considering investigating him because of a secret cia counterterrorism program. senator die an feinstein says the new cia chief believes cheney ordered the cia to hide the program from congress. she says that's against the law. the former vice president has not commented. >>> the u.s. will spend another $1 billion on a swine flu vaccine. the health and human services secretary announces it today. she says a vaccine to fight it will be ready by october. there are concerns it could hit hard they are fall. the cdc says 211 people is died in the u.s. >>> the wife of a famous ex-boxer is accused of kills him. >> amanda rodriguez dre

the idea was that the new york yankee -- to david souter in cases like this, where the court is no longer clear. we have not mentioned, sotomayor. we have not mention this, and this is an interesting split. i do think that this case has hardly any thing to do with her nomination, having looked at this over the last couple of weeks, it seems to be clear, that the president was clear on this matter. the decision was determined by this, and the reason that the opinion is short is because this is controlled by the precedent. the judges saw this is exactly the same way and decided this 3-0 in favor of not second- guessing the test results, and they chose not to publish this so that the results and the fact of the shortness of the opinion, this is a 100 page opinion. there was a review where the law would have been tossed out, and every member of the court wrote like they were making a change adopting a new standard. one thing that is clear is that you are not to anticipate changing the law, you will apply this as this exists at the time. there is an interesting aspect of this, just for the ent

i think this will be a different record than david souter's. i think she's larger than this carry couture of her. you don't graduate on affirm action. i think this is going to be an interesting judge and not one who will always displease conservatives. >> a prosecutor, a corporate litigator, this woman has real life experience. >> your liberal friends worried about her? do they think she's going to surprise the president? >> i hope so. >> i believe she will make a fine justice of a supreme court. what you have seen in judge sotomayor's background is a woman who is quite poised, qualified. i was impressed with her knowledge of the law and, again, i think she should be confirmed. she preside over 3,600 cases. >> this isn't the one to fight. you're going to have a gunfight at the okay corral sooner or later but it's not the case. talking about kennedy replacing justice kennedy, then you'll see. >> then we'll go to the corral. attention focused on the hearing is this week, normally rehash the sunday sound, but i want to go back a few days because t

>> what's going to happen is david souter, who was a moderate, who really bent to the left but not always will be replaced by a moderate who sometimes leans to the left but not always. so what it gets to the end of the day, we're essentially seeing a replacement. the difference though is that sonia sotomayor will bring to the united states supreme court something that it's never seen before. and that is someone that grew up in the bronx, grew up in the projects, led a life unlike any of the 110 white males who have served on this bench. and want to know something? the supreme court now is looking a little bit more like america. and that's what's exciting. that's what we're going to see. >> we replace the picture now with sotomayor with souter. we have the question mark here. but in your view it's still a 5-4 generally on gun control or at least abortion rights, but that's a guess because she has no judicial record on either of these issues to make one believe she's an advocate or opponent of eith either? >> well, sort, sort. she was part of a panel, fredericka, that ruled that the united

what they are all trying to avoid is another david souter is what the republicans are trying to avoid, which is exactly, you know, as mark was describing, someone who portrays themselves as one thing and then once -- >> do you think did it on purpose? >> no. . i think as a nominee, you don't know what you're going to face on the court and how you're going to react to the facts of a case and that he was just not -- >> she is what she is. she is not going to be a big surprise because she has, in many ways over the years on the bench and in her public speeches, revealed basically her sensibility. we know that. >> but not on abortion. that is one thing. when she was asked by senator coburn about abortion today and why would your former law partner, your mentor, think that you will rule this way on abortion, she said, i don't know, because i haven't told anyone. the president didn't ask me that. i thought it was striking that dr. coburn, as a medical doctor, would ask 38-week, not even the most pro abortion rights person would suggest that you would do something to a child in the 38th week

president obama chose sotomayor in late may to replace justice david souter would retired last month. >>> house democrats hoping to present their plan if health care overhaul today. it includes higher taxes for those making more than $250,000 a year. but republicans want to trim costs. the administration's sweeping health care proposals are moving forward. it is unclear whether it will make it through congress before the august target date of president obama. >>> there are new reports that former vice president dick cheney kept congress in the dark about a counterterrorism program. sources say that mr. cheney ordered the cia not to inform congress about the still classified program eight years ago. they say at the time, cia directors didn't think there was enough information to hold a congressional briefing. the current cia director says he learned about the program last month and immediately canceled t. >>> we are following a developing story this morning out of north korea. dictator kim jong il reportedly has pancreatic cancer. his health is a highly guarded secret in the communist

the full senate will likely confirm president obama's selection to replace retiring justice david souter early next month. and chans are they will do it witht hearing sotomayor's stance on hot button issues including abortion rights and that is just one of the topics she avoided yesterday. >> let's say i'm 38 week pregnant and we discover a small pine spina bifida sac on the lower part of the back of my baby and i feel like i can't handle a why would like that. would it be legal to terminate that child's life? >> you can't answer that we in the abstract because i would have to look at what the state of the state's law was on that question and what the state said with respect to that issue. >> sotomayor did once again defend her controversial remarks on race, gender and the law against republicans concerned she would bring bias and political agenda to the benefit. out. >>> the space shuttle endeavour is on its way to the international space station. >> booster ignition and liftoff of endeavour. >> several pieces came off the fuel tank during lift swrof. >>> we are marking he 40th annivers

he nominated sotomayor to fill the seat of retiring justice david souter. she worked as an assistant district attorney in new york for five years. a federal judge since 1992 and been on the u.s. circuit court of appeals since 1998. what does the public think about sotomayor? they don't get a real vote in this. but cnn deputy political director paul stein hauzer has been looking at the numbers nonetheless. >> that's right, tom. our cnn opinion research corporation national poll, we broke it down by party. take a look at this. our poll suggests a major partisan split over the nomination. you can see from these numbers democrats overwhelmingly, nearly seven in ten think they think she should be confirmed by the support. independents, they're pretty much split over whether the senate should confirm sotomayor. republicans, one in four feel she should be confirmed. the number of in the lower right, 65% of republicans indicating in our survey that sonia sotomayor should not be confirmed. our polling director tells me that number is higher than the number of republ

she is slated to replace david souter on the nine-member panel. these are historic hearings, as all of our viewers know, because this is a lifetime appointment. she could be a supreme court justice for many decades to come. this is something that has significance on so many issues. we're watching all of this with jessica yellin, our national political correspondent, who is in the hearing room right now. give us a little flavor of what we can expect. we're going to be hearing first from four democratic senators. >> reporter: among them will be senator al franken, who will be making his debut appearance on this committee, and also, senator arlen specter, who in days past had been the ranking republican on the committee, when he changed parties, of course, he has lost his seniority so he will be speaking toward the end. so some changes afoot in the judiciary committee. then of course, the big moment is when the judge herself will speak. it's always interesting in the senate, they get to listen to one another, the senators do, for about three hours be

thinking, she will certainly be in the mold of ruth bader ginsburg, the other woman justice, or david soutertreme liberal wing i don't think. and to that extent it will be the mainstream because the court is 5-4. >> thank you for your insight. another big day. david, as you mentioned, quite a witness list. we started our show listening to one of the firefighters in the new haven case. you have to love senator lindsey graham saying there are some things that bug me, but i think you're going through. >> he's always colorful. the fascinating politics to watch now is just for the republicans caught in the middle, they're looking up at real action and they're trying to figure out what's the right political play and watching the squeeze on them is going to be intriguing and seeing how they do it, that will be fab nated. >> and to see how they spin the vote in 2010. all connected. >>> now the latest on the cia's secret plan to use hit squads to kill members of al qaeda. >> "the washington post" reports the program was nearing a new, more active phase just before cia director leon panetta nixed it l

four justices agreed with her on the supreme court including david souter.hat is hardly a big repudiation. i think that's going to be a very tough charge to make stick. >> jeff, stick around. i want to talk to you in a moment. >>> new developments in the looming custody battle over michael jackson's kids. or potential custody battle. word tonight a deal may be in the works behind the scenes. >>> a place where slavery still exists. the victims, kids, the conditions they are forced to live in, horrifying. we decide t. we just know. announcer: finding the moment that's right for you both can take some time. that's why cialis gives men with erectile dysfunction options: 36-hour cialis or cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. don

finally, in the end, justices kennedy and o'connor and david souter got together and fashioned a way by which the court could sustain roe vs. wade, at least in substantial part, and they did indeed strike down not only the one part be the requirement that a woman contemplating an abortion notify her husband that she was doing so. it is -- to my mind it is a classic demonstration of deciding what you want to argue, going in to make this argument and no matter how hard the resistance is to you making your argument, to holding to it, sticking to it until the very, really this bitter end, and then, hoping for the best. and it was a very, very classical performance, by a really talented lawyer, and in fact, to this day, a good many years later, roe still survives in the form of -- that it emerged as a consequence, a direct consequence, i suggest of katherine colbert's argument. >> thank you. >> thank you, paul and thank you, tim for included me on this project. the year 2000 was also a presidential election year. see it wasn't terribly tough to select bush versus gore 2000 as one of the c

one of the justices has retired, david souter. there's an opening, and sonia sotomayor is being grilled right now by the senate judiciary committee to see if she's ready to step up and become an associate justice of the supreme court. looks like she's not going to have much trouble in terms of getting the necessary votes, but republicans are asking some very, very pointed questions in this, the second round of questioning. we just heard lengthy exchanges involving the ranking republican, top republican on the judiciary committee, jeff sessions of alabama, including this exchange he had with judge sotomayor on the whole issue of judicial activism. >> justice o'connor's truth and approach was that americans in the ideal should reach the same decision if they can put aside all their biases and prejudices. and you seem to say in your approach and throughout that speech that background sympathies and prejudices can impact how you rule, and you could expect a different outcome. how would you respond to that? >> senator, i want to give y

>>> some live looks here of president obama's choice to replace retiring supreme court justice david souter. she is on capitol hill right now, sonia sotomayor, on the right, listening to opening statements from the senate judiciary committee. this is in her confirmation hearing right now. that is senator sheldon whitehouse from rhode island on the left. she's expectsed, ms. sotomayor, to make her first remarks a bit later this afternoon and we'll bring that to you live when it does happen. >>> in the meantime, you can watch the hearing live on our website, if you like, see it in its entirety. gavel-to-gavel coverage there for you, cnn.com/live is where you can find that. >>> now, we were telling you about this thrift store worker who found $9,000 in savings bonds and some jeans. she called the owner, she returned it, and then about an hour later she saw a woman having a seizure. >> and then i just saw some feet fly from under that curtain, and i opened it up, i helped her out, i got her flat on the floor and put her on the side because i had first responder training when i was in high schoo

taking the place of david souter. our understanding from our capitol hill correspondentbyian that kieler, john cornyn going to be asking some interesting questions, and al franken, the brand-new senator out of minnesota will also have his turn at the microphone. today's hearing has been going on for a couple of days. we want to get the latest from our national political correspondent jessica yellin. >> reporter: today new senator al franken will be in the national spotlight. he is the most junior member of the senate judiciary committee and will get a chance to grill judge sonia sotomayor. he's already making it clear to everyone that he takes this job very seriously. like a kid starting school, the senate's newest member was the first to show up for tuesday's judiciary committee hearing and he seems to be making friends. seven days into his term, senator al franken is striking a tone that's somber -- >> i am concerned that americans are facing new barriers to defending their individual rights. >> reporter: -- and exc

in order to get this new position she will be replacing justice david souter as you well know. will also be if making it through the process the first latina on the supreme court panel. so you can see the gaggle of media. the photographers, the still photographers in front of her and then you can see everyone else gathering around, cameras and we could go on and on. we will be covering this live for you and bringing you gavel to gavel coverage of it beginning at 10:00 a.m. about 20 minutes out now, we already saw the judge making her way now into the building. so we will keep our eyes very closely trained on these pictures and bringi you the latest as they happen. taking its rightful place in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe. this is mercedes-benz. >>> president obama fresh from an historic visit to ghana. he praised the country in africa and talked about hope for its future. but as cnn's ed henry tells us, he did not shy away from addressing the problems plaguing the continent. >> reporter: a day of extraordinary moments. none more powerful

the 55-year-old court of appeals judge is president obama's first pick to replaces david souter.ill face requests over her past rulings and qualifications. >>> democrats are expected to present their plan for a health care over haul, including a $550 billion tax increase and higher taxes for those making more than $250,000 a year. the administration's sweeping health care proposals are moving unforward but it's unclear whether it will make it through congress before the president's august target date. >>> this crime shed a negative light on d.c. child and family services agency. today banita jacks will stand trial for her daughters. the girls were found while serving an eviction notice. police say jacks lived with their dead bodies for at least 7 months. a judge will decide her fate. >>> the nationals have reportedly fired manny acta, reportedly last night after the team's loss to the astros. it looks like jim rigleman is the leading candidate to take over as manager for the rest of the season. they go into the all-star break with the worst record. dave ross is saying it will be

she will succeed and we will all assume she will succeed and david souter who was a conservative, yet turned out to be a liberal once he got on the bench. is it possible, we don't know that much about her personal views that she could be a surprise on the bench? >> it's possible. it does happen that judges appointed by liberal presidents don't turn out to be as liberal. judges appointed by conservative presidents like george h.w. bush don't turn out to be as conservative as they thought. the happiest people in town when a conservative republican was asking those questions are the abortion rights groups because they want the answers, as much as conservatives want the answers, they want the answers because just to your question, they are a bit nervous about this judge because her case record, all those cases don't deal with the specifics of rowe v. wade and the cases in the pipeline are not so much about rowe v. wade, parental notification and parental consent and the so-called late-term abortion and several state laws, late-term abortion laws that some made their way up to the court an

and it's worth that remembering that the position supported by judge sotomayor was supported by david souter, so -- >> who is retiring and who she will seat. souter and sotomayor saw the case the same way but the majority of the supreme court ruled the other way. >> including justice kennedy who went with the five as opposed to the four. >> indeed, he wrote the opinion. >> hold that thought. i want to walk over and bring candy crowley in because he's going to be testifying later in the week, mr. ricci himself. he's being asked by the minority, by the republicans to come in and make the case why she was wrong in this decision in which she and two other appeals court justices were reversed by the u.s. supreme court. >> what's interesting to me is, and i'm sure you get them, too, of all of the things that we have looked at in case law that we've discussed and her rules, i've got more e-mail on the ricci case than any other single thing about sotomayor and a connection between her decision on that case, actually the decision of the three-judge panel, but she's on it obviously, and her remarks ab

she may develop better over time, but i would say she's got some way to go to catch up with david souter'sd. >> let me make one 12-second remark which is an example of where oral argument was really important was in this northwest texas case where almost the entire excuse that the eight justices used to -- to constitutional avoidance was the single question they asked to the plaintiff's attorney and he answered a simple one-word yes and they built their whole argument about why they could avoid the constitutional question on that one response. so that's a perfect example of what he just said. >> all right. let's turn to questions from the audience. once again, raise your hand. please do wait for the microphone so that the listeners at home can hear and state your name and affiliation. as is tradition and to encourage food fights between the panel if any of the members of the prior panel, it would be first. all right. yes? >> a.l. media. are there any decisions this term that justice souter came to that any of you are certain justice sotomayor have decided differently. >> well, in my openin

now you've seen it live on cnn, president obama's replacement of david souter trying to explain the single most controversial comment of her career, that a wise latina might often reach a better conclusion than a white man who hasn't had the same experiences. >> the context of the words that i spoke have created a misunderstanding, and i want -- a misunderstanding, and to give everyone assurances, i want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt -- i do not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. i do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences. >> and joining me now to talk about the hearings, our wise panel, the high court, shall you say, of cnn, senior legal analyst, jeffrey tooben who has written a book about the supreme court. cnn's senior political analyst gloria borger, cnn's senior political correspondent, candy crowley, republican consultant and contributor alex castellanos and democratic consultant, maria echaveste, i got it all out again. hel

she may develop better over time, but i would say she's got some way to go to catch up with david souter's standard. >> let me make one 12-second remark which is an example of where oral argument was really important was in this northwest texas case where almost the entire excuse that the eight justices used to -- to constitutional avoidance was the single question they asked to the plaintiff's attorney and he answered a simple one-word yes and they built their whole argument about why they could avoid the constitutional question on that one response. so that's a perfect example of what he just said. >> all right. let's turn to questions from the audience. once again, raise your hand. please do wait for the microphone so that the listeners at home can hear and state your name and affiliation. as is tradition and to encourage food fights between the panel if any of the members of the prior panel, it would be first. all right. yes? >> a.l. media. are there any decisions this term that justice souter came to that any of you are certain justice sotomayor have decided differently. >> well, in m

probably the best thing about being on the supreme court is the privilege of serving with justice david souterce, there has not been a more incisive questioner in so many ways than justice souter. i remember when i was prepping the hamdan argument, one of the things we really wanted to do was get the court to have a line of questioning about habeas stripping and whether or not it was violated. we spent weeks trying to figure out how can we bait justice stevens into asking this line of questions. didn't really get justice stevens to do it at the argument. but justice souter really got that argument. and i've never really seen him in such powerful terms attacking the government on this whole suspension line of questioning. a three- or four-minute colloquy with paul clement. on the other side in the d.n.a. argument which i did in march, there was a line of questioning i was really worried about getting. sure enough, justice souter was the one to launch that volley of questions. and his opinion in the d.n.a. case, i think, is a really moving opinion. it's a kind of ode to conservativism. it's wort

. >>> a quick refresher now, may st justice david souter announces he will retire from the u.s. supreme court. 25 days later president obama reveals sonia sotomayor is his choice to replace souter. she'd been a leading candidate for the seat even before souter's surprise retirement. june 29th the u.s. supreme court reverses a second circuit court of appeals panel which included sotomayor in the new haven firefighters' reverse discrimination case. the senate judiciary opens hearings on the sotomayor nomination. no fireworks. and that brings us today to send the nomination to the floor of the senate. >>> you know, there is a striking new twist in the michael jackson death investigation. a source inside the probe tells cnn jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, allegedly injected the entertainer with a powerful and dangerous anesthetic to help him sleep. the drug known as diprivan is only used in hospitals to seven date surgical patients. it might have led to jackson's death. murray said he never gave the entertainer anything that might have killed him. like so many peopl

president obama's choice to replace david souter on the u.s. supreme court.sn't in doubt but the party breakdown is. at least three of sotomayor's toughest republican questioners are saying that they'll vote against her. some other republicans plan to join most, if not all, democrats in supporting sotomayor. so it's just a matter of time before she joins the high court. the white house wants her in place by the start of the new term in october. in the meantime, candy crowley joins me to handicap the voting. first off, you have orrin hatch, jeff sessions, still saying nope, going to vote against her. what's their beef? >> reporter: they believe from her writings and some of her court decisions that she has taken race and gender into account when she made rulings, and when she made these statements and we all remember the wise latina remark. so they believe that's activist judicial activity and they believe that that's how she would act on the court so they're going to vote against her knowing full well, of course, that she will be confirmed. >> so bottom line,

hearings, i think some of the fire out of republicans was tape away because of who she is replacing, david souter. but then you have the other aspect of gun control with the national rifle association has come out against her nomination but not as forcefully as some conservatives wanted and the question is if you vote for sotomayor will you risk your a-plus rating from the n.r.a.? so a lot of factors and they have always given the democrats an upper hand in it nomination. host: bob cusack. if you go to our c-span website and read their work every day. roll call is represented by emily heil. rollcall.com. we thank both guests for being on. earlier this week the president spoke in warren, michigan talking about strategies to improve community colleges and helping students who attend them. here is what he had to say. >> all too often we don't know what happens when somebody walks out of the classroom and on the factory floor or into the laboratory or office. that means that businesses often can't be sure what a degree is really worth and schools don't have the facts to make informed choices about wh

be wrong, but just looking at the record, in some cases she may be a bit more restrained than david souter the irony there. souter was a bush appointee. >> i have a question for the two of you. why is it the republicans have a wheelhouse issue, it would seem to me, the cost of health care, that concerns so many people regardless of political affiliation? why aren't you dealing with this? >> i'm just saying politically this is a home run. the president said we're out of money. now he wants to nationalize health care. talking pure politics, not policy. if i were the republicans, i would clear the deck. i'd say you want a referendum on health care, you want a referendum on the federal government running the health care system, great. clear the deck. pass her. get everything off the stage and talk about this one issue. you're exactly right. it's stupid for keeping sonia sotomayor. >> i would like to engage on this but chris has been yelling in my ear to stop engaging. >> you need to talk less. >>> a harvard professor arrested -- >> oh, i have something to say about this. >> i do, too. i'd be c

david souter cannot be more liberal than his conservative supporters thought.ut it is a stretch to believe that she would act radically different on the high court than she has an 17 years on the federal bench. the fate of her nomination should depend far more on what she has done in the courtroom than on something she said away from it and now disavows. here is "the new york times" this morning. white man's last stand. you cannot judge the judge by her cover. again, that is a writer from " the n.y. times" this morning. do race and gender matter when it comes to a supreme court nominee? our independent line is first up. are you with us? caller: first of all, i would like to thank the c-span staff because without them if this does not get done. they make you all look good. i do not think that race and gender have much to do with it as to how well-connected they are within the republican or democrat party. it seems that our country has run amok in the last eight years here, but it will take a lot to get us back on track. i think she would make a very good judge.

john roberts doesn't believe in it, david souter does. at home, you are an expert on the supreme court, you wrote the fabulous book called "the nine." and you were quoted yesterday at the hearings. all this talk from republicans. he quoted you talking about john roberts, an article in the new yorker in which you say in every case, roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, state over the condemned and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff. the point he was making was there is activism, potentially on the court, but it's not limited to liberals. >> and the other point he was making is that john roberts in his opening statement famously said he sees himself as an umpire calling balls and strikes. and my point was, there is a lot more discretion in being a supreme court justice than there is in being a baseball umpire. and that umpire metaphor was brought up several times. and i think this is one of the things that nominees always do. and judge sotomayor did it yesterday, and said, well, i just apply the law.

conducting a fair and thorough hearing on the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to replace justice david souter. i was especially pleased when judge sotomayor said the hearing was as gracious and fair as she could have asked for. i came to the confirmation process wanting to vote for a president's nominee and the prospect of a woman of puerto rican heritage serving on the supreme court says a lot about our country, america. i like judge sotomayor and respect her service to her community, the judiciary and the nation. as i expect her to be confirmed, i know that her service will continue for years to come. i spent a great deal of time reading judge sotomayor's speeches, articles and cases, and i participated in all three rounds of questions at the hearing. i genuinely wrestled with this decision. i did not use the political standard taken by senator barack obama in 2005 when he voted against chief justice john roberts. he voted no even though admitting that the nominee was qualified, humble, decent and had the temperament to be a good judge. senator obama voted against chief justice roberts beca

there was indeed a bit of the inner yankee, the flinty inner yankee to david souter in cases like that where the court is now no longer so clear. we haven't mentioned ritchie vs. sotomayor. ritchie vs. sew tai mayor. rich itchie vs. destefano. an interesting split, let me just say at the outset, i think this case has hardly anything to do with judge sotomayor's nomination. that having looked at it other the last couple of weeks, it seemed to me clear that second circuit precedent, for better or worse, was clear on this matter. and that the panel eas decision was determined by second circuit precedent and the reason the opinion is a short one is because it is controlled by precedent. the three judges on the sixth circuit saw this case exactly the same way not long after ritchie and decided it 3-0 in favor of not second-guessing the decision to set aside test results in an opinion the sixth circuit chose not to publish so that both the result and the fact of the shortness of the opinion, it's 100-page historic opinion because the court granted review in the case where the law, i thought,

conducting a fair and thorough hearing on the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to replace justice david souter. i was especially pleased when judge sotomayor said the hearing was as gracious and fair as she could have asked for. i came to the confirmation process wanting to vote for a president's nominee and the prospect of a woman of puerto rican heritage serving on the supreme court says a lot about our country, america. i like judge sotomayor and respect her service to her community, the judiciary and the nation. as i expect her to be confirmed, i know that her service will continue for years to come. i spent a great deal of time reading judge sotomayor's speeches, articles and cases, and i participated in all three rounds of questions at the hearing. i genuinely wrestled with this decision. i did not use the political standard taken by senator barack obama in 2005 when he voted against chief justice john roberts. he voted no even though admitting that the nominee was qualified, humble, decent and had the temperament to be a good judge. senator obama voted against chief justice roberts beca

the reason being is that the justice that sotomayor would replace is david souter and in an ideological sense, they are similar. as the court stands right now, four liberals, five conservatives with anthony kennedy often acting as the swing vote. so, if she does sort of fit that role per se, many believe the balance won't change drastically. it will be interesting to see if confirmed and then once on the bench the first decision that she rules on because there's a tough schedule coming up starting in september. >> okay. we'll talk more about that later. samantha hayes, thank you so much for the update. we appreciate it, as always. >>> now, that confirmation hearing, by the way, is streaming live on our website, so if you want to watch it in its entirety, we've made it available at "liflif cnn.com/li. but, you know, during this hearing, i'm sure that you've noticed so much has been made of judge society mare's hispanic herita heritage. we'd like your opinion as to whether you think her ethnic background should be an issue. 1-877-tell-hln. it's 1-877-835-5456. or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln

says well, the probably the best thing about being on the supreme court is serving with justice david souter. [laughter] you know, from my experience there hasn't been a more incisive question in so many ways the and justice souter. i remember when i was prepping the hamdan argument one of the things we wanted to do was get the court to have a line of questioning about the habeas stripping and whether or not the sustention calls had been violated and we spent weeks trying to figure out -- we are thinking justice stevens to ask this line of questions and didn't really get justice stevens to do it at the argument but justice souter really at that argument and probably never had i seen him in such powerful terms attacking the government on this whole suspension line of questioning and three or four minute colloquy with paul clement. on the other side on the dna argument, which i did in march, there was a line of questioning of i was really worried about getting and sure enough, justice souter was the one to launch the questions. and his opinion in the dna case. ode to birdie and conservatism i

we have a vacancy on the supreme court with the retirement of justice david souter and the selectionof his replacement. and i understand that about july 13, the hearings will begin for judge society mare. -- soto mare. -- sotomayor. once a justice is confirmed and is on the bench you don't see a lot of them. certainly not much on television. because we don't have cameras in the supreme courtroom at this point. and you won't see them. in fact, my own -- when i took the oath of office at the u.s. supreme court, i took it in the supreme court chambers. and the president and mrs. reagan were in attendance. i think that's the last time that the ceremony has been conducted there because presidents like to have it on television. so they bring them to the white house and have all the tv cameras. so i think i was the last one sworn in at the court. the selection process normally includes some input from the attorney general to the president by way of the selection. i know that william french smith was the attorney general when i was selected. and he told me that because president reagan had i

conducting a fair and thorough hearings on the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to replace justice david souter. i was especially pleased when judge sotomayor at the hearing was as gracious and fair as she could have asked for. i came to the confirmation process wanting to vote for a president's nominee and the prospect of a woman of the puerto rican heritage serving on the supreme court says a lot about our country, america. i like judge sotomayor and respect her to the committee and the nation. and as i expect her to be confirmed i know that her service will continue for years to come. i spent a great deal of time reading judge sotomayor's speeches, articles and cases, and i participated in all three rounds of questions at the hearing. i genuinely wrestled with this decision. i did not use a political standard taken by senator barack obama in 2005 when he voted against chief justice john roberts. he voted no even though admitting that the nominee was qualified, humble, decent and had the temperament to be a good judge. senator obama voted against chief justice roberts because he thought the n