elena kagan was highly qualified. my numbers may be off but i think in the justice sonya sotomayor case she got republican votes and i think elena kagan got five. what is going on in the confirmation process? well, i will tell you little story that i heard about the process that is a wake-up call for how broken the system is. so it had appeared right after her nomination that she was calling to get a lot of republican votes. maybe most republican votes. she was a very attractive nominee. i'm going to place just a little bit of water. excuse me. mitch mcconnell the senate republican leader was quite upset by the idea that many in his party might vote to confirm her so he wasn't trying to make. so he went to the national rifle association and he asked them to, quote, score the boat. so if there's any washington insiders here you know that score in the vote means it is a vote in the interest group whether it is the nra or the aclu will list on their final run down on the congressional session how did the members of congr

that is why i did not votes for justice kagan.ing said, when it comes to your question about protecting women's writes, i have been fighting for women's - - rights since i was a teenager. my mother was abused by one of my stepfather's. i have been fighting for women for a long time. if people make clear that they will change roe v. wade, i will voted against that person. i vote for allowing women in combat. if women are raped in key military, i make sure they give the care that they deserve. we agree on those issues and i am glad for it. >> once again, it is important to talk about the senator's records. senator brown has taken some good votes. he has vote for equal pay for equal work. he jumped out there and co- sponsored a bill to potentially block insurance coverage for birth control. senator brown voted against a pro-choice woman. senator brown has been endorsed by anti-choice groups. i do not understand it. the way i see this is, the women in massachusetts deserve a senator they can count on not some of the time, but all of t

he voted against kagan, a very able person.ain, there was this snarky comment, because she'd been dean of harvard law school. oh, well, i'm sorry i voted against your friend, your boss. that had nothing to do with it. that's a denigrating personal comment unworthy of a serious debate. he said he voted against kagan because she didn't have judicial experience. warren, hugo black, felix frankford. that's just an excuse. he voted against alaina kagan because scott brown is more moderate than most republicans but he still was worried about a republican challenge. so he voted against her to kind of pay tribute to the right wing republicans. and he says, yes, he's pro choice, but when the critical question came up of putting someone on the supreme court who will continue to support roe v. wade, he voted no. the argument he didn't vote for her because she didn't have judicial experience is nonsense. that has not been, as i said, the criterion for a lot of the great justices. it was simply based on his needing to throw a bone to the ri

nominated, the last three women supreme court justices who were nominated, justice sotomayor and justice kagan and george w. bush's white house counsel, those three don't have any children. they have devoted themselves time to their careers. that's wonderful for those who want to do it. secretary chao doesn't have children. doctor jerry condoleezza rice doesn't have children. women who want to have a more sensible lifestyle choice, those who want to develop less time to their work and to their family, that is a goal, too. it should not be to make 100% of what men make. it should be to have a satisfying career. there is such a great variety of jobs available. flexible jobs, full-time jobs, they can work 60 or 80 hours a week and make an investment on wall street. women have all these choices. the ones who choose more sensible jobs with lower incomes should not be put down. they should not be made to feel as if they are making a valid choice. >> host: we are speaking with diana furchtgott-roth, author of "how obama's gender policies undermine america" and "women's figures: an illustrated guide t

let me ask you a question about justice kagan.mention the fact that in the till case, the case of folks in massachusetts who are challenging drama that should be recused in that case. the state of massachusetts also filed its own claim and those two cases were decided the same day by the same district judge, but separately and then the court of appeals combined them. does that mean he would have to recuse from both of those cases? >> it would depend on the detail. we will do an inside baseball analysis system being very inside baseball like layers on it. this is the important question of whether we'll have nine justices in the case. i think it's most likely because they were going on at the same time it will depend a lot on the heavy type to go question of she did anything in the massachusetts state case while she was talking about her role and the role of other justices like if i touched it, i am now. i would guess it is likely at the time since the government that he would have enough involvement. i think kerry has it exactly ri

justice kagan is recused from that case, as well. so it's going to be very, very hard.ce kennedy normally a swing vote descended strongly from the last time affirmative action was upheld. it is hard to figure out how texas is going to get majority votes in that case. but they're fighting hard and i'm sure are as optimistic as can be. >> great speaking with you. thank you so much for your insights. >> thank you. >>> coming up next, president obama's big lead in ohio. what's making the difference there in the buckeye state? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." we break out new behr ultra with stain-blocker from the home depot... ...the best selling paint and primer in one that now eliminates stains. so it paints over stained surfaces, scuffed surfaces, just about any surface. what do you say we go where no paint has gone before, and end up some place beautiful. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. behr ultra. now with advanced stain blocking, only at the home depot, and only $31.98 a gallon. so it can feel like you're using nothing at all. bu

gdp kagan higher. retailers posting good earnings. can we get the turnaround to change the dynamic? >> housing looks like it is picking up. in my area, the real-estate agent says business is starting to pick up if you have that effect there will be retail sales read in the numbers are up 5.5%. the people get nervous the economy could grumble about 27 it is all government spending. [laughter] >> i live in the bubble economy. >> the number looks better. >> thank you for coming. we appreciate your time. >> why the pentagon goes after the man who killed loathsome a bin laden and south carolina has a tough [ mission: impossible theme plays ] target acquired. check. check. rjcheck. check. target in the pool. squeaks ] no! there's my angel. make u:oupervised pool access an impossible mission. gerri: now democrats' turn to rally the troops in charlotte north carolina. the challenge is to recapture the enthusiasm from 2008. we have brit hume. welcome back. good to have you. what do we expect? >> certainly the democrats assize the argument republicans have not countered, they will take everyb

gdp kagan higher. retailers posting good earnings. can we get the turnaround to change the dynamic?it is picking up. in my area, the real-estate agent says business is starting to pick up if you have that effect there will be retail sales read in the numbers are up 5.5%. the people get nervous the economy could grumble about 27 it is all government spending. [laughter] >> i live in the bubble economy. >> the number looks better. >> thank you for coming. we appreciate your time. >> why the pentagon goes after the man who killed loathsome a bin laden and south carolina has a tough act to follow. thanks for calling the ged pep talk center. jerry stiller speaking. your level 7 "in your face" pep talk. i can keep pushing you. believe me, i'm good at it. but at some point, you're gonna need to start pushing yourself. once you've got your ged diploma, you'll feel so good about yourself. you tell 'em! can't change your past, but you can definitely change your future. that makes me so happy, i'm ready to bust out and dance. debra: mr. trejo, can i transfer this guy to you? my gentle techniqu

gdp kagan higher. retailers posting good earnings. can we get the turnaround to change the dynamic?housing looks like it is picking up. in my area, the real-estate agent says business is starting to pick up if you have that effect there will be retail sales read in the numbers are up 5.5%. the people get nervous the economy could grumble about 27 it is all government spending. [laughter] >> i live in the bubble economy. >> the number looks better. >> thank you for coming. we appreciate your time. >> why the pentagon goes after the man who killed loathsome a bin laden and south carolina has a tough south carolina has a tough act to follow. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. dad, we want pizza. you guys said tacos. [ female announcer ] it doesn't always work out that way. you know what? we're spending too much money on eating out anyway. honey, come look at this. [ female announcer ] my m

let me ask you about justice elena kagan. carrie mentioned in the case of folks in massachusetts who were challenging doma that she would be reduced in that case. the states of massachusetts filed its own claim against doma and those were decided the same day by the same district judge that separately. the district's -- the court of appeals combined them. does that mean she would have to recuse from both of those? >> it would depend on the details. we do an inside baseball analysis, layers upon it but this is the important question carrie finds. whether there are nine justices in the case and most likely there are two lawsuits but going on at the same time. it will depend on the highly technical question whether she did anything in the massachusetts state case. and her rule -- if i touched that i am out. i would guess it is likely at the time since she was in the government as the lawsuit was going on that she would have enough involvement and carrie has a right that the government -- they obviously want her but expect her to

gdp kagan higher. retailers posting good earnings. can we get the turnaround to change the dynamic?looks like it is picking up. in my area, the real-estate agent says business is starting to pick up if you have that effect there will be retail sales read in the numbers are up 5.5%. the people get nervous the economy could grumble about 27 it is all government spending. [laughter] >> i live in the bubble economy. >> the number looks better. >> thank you for coming. we appreciate your time. >> why the pentagon goes after the man who killed loathsome a bin laden and south carolina has a tough act to follow. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have

i know you adjust its kagan were very close. that test is a jeb has to a secret judicial character, has to have a good temperament and actually has to have some corporate more judicial experience. i was one of the reasons i did not vote for justice kagan. i wish her well. i hope she proves us wrong. that being said, when it comes to a question of protecting women's rights, i've been fighting for women's rights since i was six years old, since i had to battle but my mom was abused by one of my stepfathers. i've been fighting as a teenager in the same way, so i've been fighting for women for a long, long time. i will make sure that somebody's going to try and the judges that they are have made it clear they will try to change roe v. wade. listen, we are both pro-choice. i'm a moderate pro-choice republican. working on the violence against women act, allowing women in combat if women are in the military i want to make sure it to get the coverage they deserve. so we agree on those issues and i'm glad for it. >> once again, i think i

deal with justices breyer and kagan saying come over with me to the medicaid limitation?nk on the other issue, it was nice if that wasn't a partisan thing. whether that was implicit or explicit, what was nice is we didn't see another bush vs. gore. we had one institution in d.c. >> in 30 years we'll find out it was an explicit deal. has chief justice roberts put himself where kennedy is? >> he's a conservative. i don't expect that he will swing left lots in the future. in fact, he will be able to look us all in the eye and say in the most important case ever, i didn't vote party line. >> eliot: get out of jail free card. he's given host by a whole host of editorial pages who will say he did us one big one. akhil reed amar, thanks four your wisdom on these top issues. >> thank you. >> eliot: will iran threaten us with nukes or is benjamin netanyahu threatening us with iran? that's coming up. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate safe driving bonus check? what is that? so weird, right? my agent, tom, said... [ voice of dennis ] ...only allstate sends you

i read that as shorthand for please take this case because justice kagan is refused -- is recused from the other case. of course they filed the petition the same day, so it suggests they were thinking of us. it is not clear how the department of justice has standing to appeal in this case because they really -- they are arguing the defense of marriage act is unconstitutional. the court found it was unconstitutional said that is one reason the court would be hesitant to take this case and this applies to several other cases. there are two others. there is when servers as u.s., a new york case -- all of these have been petitioned by the supreme court. that petitioner was a person and one below. some of them also have additional vehicle issues that would make it unlikely the supreme court would want to take them. marriage was conducted in canada and the corps would have to answer a question that turns on new york state law as to whether it's valid new york and there are reasons they may not be great vehicles. the reason wealth down to the massachusetts case and the california case that ha

the chief justice will say, justice geoghegan -- justice kagan has circulated an opinion. i see four people have not voted. why is that? we can talk about the issues. sometimes, we continue the discussion in conference after a draft circulates. sometimes, we do that on paper. but our rules are informal enough so that if somebody wants to bring something back to the -- we call the nine of us "the conference" -- if somebody wants to bring something back, we can do that. our rules are not so rigid that somebody who feels more conversation is needed would not have the opportunity to do that. >> although much of the press tends to focus on when justices disagreed, in some cases, what is so exceptional is that you can get even five extremely smart but very independent thinkers to all agree on the same wording about a complicated issue. >> we do agree on things more than people know, and more than we are given credit for. many of our opinions are unanimous. many of them are 8-1, 7-2. as you say, even the ones that are just five of us require a number of people to come together an

reasons i tell in the story they reargue the case months later, the new solicitor-general named elaina kagan argued it and tried to save it but by that point the conservatives were really out to get the mccain feingold law and they wound up killing it, most of it. >> rose: but the point here is that it became an argument for being able to spend a whole lot of money on political campaigns. >> right. at the heart of citizens united is a metaphor, which is, spending money is equivalent to speech, spending money is like carrying a sign or giving a speech, that if you interfere with spending an individual or even a corporation spending money, it is like telling them that you can't speak. now, that is contrary to decades of supreme court precedent. it is true that there is -- are elements of speech to spending money but th the court has said, you know, the i it can be relatd the way speech can sometimes be regulated, and what justice kennedy's opinion in citizens united did is say essentially no, it can't be regulated, so, you know, a lot of people ask well citizens united is it going to be reined

three women supreme women's supreme court justices who were nominated, just as sotomayor, just as kagan harriet meyer who was george w. bush's white house counsel who later withdrew her nomination, those three don't have any children. they devoted themselves full-time to their careers and that is wonderful for those who want to do it. my boss secretary chao doesn't have children. secretary condoleezza rice does not have children but women who want to have a more flexible lifestyle choice and who want to devote less time to their work and more time to their families, that is a valid choice. the goal should not be to make 100% of what men make. the goal should be to have a satisfying career and the wonderful thing about america is there such a great variety of jobs available. part-time jobs and flexible part-time jobs and full-time jobs where you can work 60 to 80 hours a week. women have all these choices and the ones who choose more flexible jobs with lower income should not be put down. they should not be made to feel as though it's a bad choice >> we are at freedomfest in las vegas an

she is particularly enamored of her new colleague, elena kagan, and her choice is to be the singer liberalon the supreme court,. >> so i think that she is going to be okay. [laughter] if obama is reelected and it is looking that way, i was not pandering, but i was making another one of our excellent productions. i don't think any of the conservatives will leave voluntarily. that is starting to be a pretty old court in justice kennedy and justice leah -- they are both 70 sixer sold. you know, you don't always get choice. i think that if romney wins, ruth bader ginsburg will try to hold on for the next four years. if obama wins, kennedy and scalia will try to hold on, but you never know what'll happen. >> can you speculate what was in roberts mind when he famously replied that the job of the justice was just [inaudible] as opposed to change the rules? >> well, that is the most quoted thing he has ever said. 80% of the time, critically about him, look, we all, supreme court justices included, perceive ourselves in certain ways and i don't think john roberts it's up in the morning and says i a

elena kagan, solicitor general. but you don't have a thurgood marshall, who had experience in civil rights or practical -- >> real life experience. >> experience and real life experience that could connect to ordinary citizens. and so i think that diversity is something we've lost and has been an -- >> and what's interesting -- >> imptant part of theourt >> is that it's not a partisan question that katrina is raising here. i mean, my two favorite justices were republican appointees, justice souter and justice stevens. they were incredible. they were evenhanded. they were serious and sober. they never would have gone along with this and didn't go along with this idea that somehow corporations should be treated like citizens for the purposes of political free speech -- >> so what's happened? >> well, part of it is this story of the extremism of the republican party today. because after justice souter was named to the court, the slogan, the mantra within the republican party was "no more souters." they really are impos

justice kagan is on my left and justice sotomayor is on the other. these young women are not shrinking violets. they're very active in questioning. now the perception is yes, women are here to stay. when i'm asked when with there'll be enough, i said, when there are nine. [laughter] [applause] there have been nine men and nobody has raised the question about that. >> you would often say something and it would be ignored. then a male colleague might say the same thing and people would say, what a great idea. does that cover still happen to that ever still happen to you? can you reflect on why inclusiveness in our society is still such a continuing challenge? >> it does not happen now only because of a very good job i have. there are only nine of us. when i speak, my colleagues listened, just as i listen to each of them. but that experience, women of my generation, all of them have had. when a woman spoke, it was time out. noune -- most of that is gone. >> the challenge of gender discrimination is one that you spend a lot of your career fighting. and i

>> my gosh...elena kagan. >> she may recuse herself.y she let elizabeth warren practice law. >> she is innocent as charged. it is perfectly fine. >>megyn: thank you both so much. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. so when the conversation turns to your financial goals... turn to us. if you need anything else, let me know.

frankfurter, brandeis, confirmed overwhelmingly, and so recently now, imagine sonja soto mayor or elena kagan strong feelings then just like they do now. they found a way to come together to govern as a snags. there has been a time when you did on all kinds of budget issues, you would come together and say we'll get something done as a currenountry. >> when we talk about more are bipartisanship is that because of blue dog democrats, a group of southern segregationists that kept voting with republicans, is that why it looked like bipartisanship? >> that's right. i think racial issues create internal division which allowed southern democrats to vote with republicans which made it look like more bipartisanship. and, in fact, there was, we saw those cross-party coalitions. >> but the cross party coalitions didn't mean there was this ideological give and take, and moving people forward. >> the example i just gave, it was republicans, bran dice and frankfurter and douglas or medicare social security. it was republicans fighting democrats. there was more you diversity. and not as focused as on how t

. >> elizabeth warren said when you're voting for him, he's going to vote against ee lan in a kagan.rry i didn't vote for your boss. i thought that was pretty hilarious. concern, you've been covering this race. i want to hear your thoughts on it after we take this break. >> sure. >>> kevin, i really like the piece you wrote for the national review about this race, and one of the things i thought was interesting was just these two personality studies of people in some ways there's an interesting fact about the two people. they're both american meritocratic people. they're hard working, come from different backgrounds that weren't in the inside of the american elite. one's a senator, one's a harvard law professor that we learned from the debate. what's your sense of the shape of this? it seems to me the fundamental is can elizabeth warren hang republican around chris brown's neck? >> it's a weird race. to have republican in massachusetts is unexpected. everyone loves having scott brown in that seat is a thumb in the eye. he's not conservative. he's kind of a main lady except he's in th

she criticized him for voting against president obama's supreme court nominee elena kagan. brown said i'm sorry i did not vote for your boss. it is a pattern of painting her as an elitist. host: yesterday on the senate floor, something unusual happened. senator reid interrupted senator al franken of minnesota and said there would be no more votes last night so senators could go about their business and indirectly referred to scott brown and whether he would go would depend on the senate vote. senator reid cleared the table. guest: reid said this is not my first rodeo and brown is not getting out of that debate, we want him debated. this is a very important race for harry reid to keep his job as senate majority leader. he wants elizabeth warren. host: let's listen to how elizabeth warren responded to the opening charged by senator scott brown last night at the debates in boston. [video clip] >> what this race is about is the issues. that's what is important, not if someone says a few good things some of the time but how someone votes all the time it. senator brown wants to r

and that doesn't count our wonderful supreme court justices, it elena kagan and sonia sotomayor. [applause] and of course as debbie said, the president work so worked so hard for health care reform. now insurance companies will no longer be able to charge us more for coverage than they charge for men. [applause] and they have to cover basic reprentative care like mammograms in prenatal care with no co-pay. [applause] and for the young people in this audience you can now stay on your parents insurance until you are 26 years old. [applause] and if you have a preexisting condition like breast cancer or asthma or even pregnancy, your insurance company will no longer be able to discriminate against you. [applause] as a teacher i'm grateful for the actions that the president has taken to make it easier for our students to get a college degree. he has double funding for pell grants, five hard to keep the student loan interest rates low, cut taxes that could save families $10,000 over four years. president obama took these actions because he wanted to make sure that all of our kids and g