he made one bipartisan nomination.charles evans hughes, the courts leader over the new deal, announced that he was stepping down in 1941. fdr wanted to appoint his attorney general robert jackson. as he delivered it, he spoke with the outgoing chief and the associate justices who urged him to act with dispatch.. he called juice to a white house meeting were he chief declared that justice stones of record gave him first claim on the altar. honor. roosevelt consulted ustice frankfurter for one more comparison of the stone-jackson candidacy. ff preferred thh attorney general because of their close friendship, but the sitting justice observed -- stone had seniority and to do some experience. an official independent and a new dealer, frankfurter asserted at stone's republican credentials were an asset. is the entry into world war ii seemed a near certainty, frankfurter advised roosevelt that a bipartisan pick for chief justice would serve the president and the court well in the days ahead. fdr advice to jackson that he coul

and i want to congratulate you on your nomination. we are now beginning the end of an extraordinarily important process. short of voting to go to war, a senator's constitution is obligation to advise and consent on supreme court nominees is probably his or her most important responsibility. supreme justices be ford liar. once the senate confirms a nominee, she is likely to affect the law and the lives of americans much longer than the senator who's confirmed her. as senators, i believe we have an obligation not to the base our decision on empty political slogans or on charges of guilt by association or on any litmus test. instead, we should focus on your record and your answers to our questions. which will allow to us determine whether you have the qualities necessary to serve all americans and the rule of law on our nation's highest court. over the years, as chief of staff to then senator biden, teaching at the duke law school and as a senator myself, i've thought a lot about the qualities i believe a supreme court nominee should hav

chairman, thank you for your work on this nomination. republicans are committeed to conducting this hearing in a respectful manner. serious questions will be asked, miss kagan will be given amp opportunity to respond. she certainly has numerous talents and good qualities but there are concerns about this nomination. she has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years. it is not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiced law and not with the intensity and duration from which i think real legal understanding occurs. miss kagan has never tried a case before the jury. while academia has value there is no substitute i think for being in the harness of the law, handling real cases over a period of years and what the record does reveal is a more extensive background mixed with law. her college thesetithesis affir activists tendencies of the court but complained that they could have done a better job of justifies their act varieivism. she took leave from teaching at law school to work for this committ

we love more about the supreme court nomination about -- of all in a cake in. "washington journal" is next. . . benefits, medicare payments to doctors. you can watch the senate on c- span2. president obama leaves the white house for wheaton, maryland, outside of d.c., where he will host a health care town hall meeting. "the wall street journal" says the president will reopen oil drilling, shallow waters but with new safety requirements in place. the continuation of a very busy week here in the nation's capital on june 8. as we continue to follow the money here in washington, we find this story. off-lead in "the washington post." we will cover the peter orszag speech on all of this on tape today. we will show it to you a bit later. we want to get your thoughts on this latest proposal by the white house to cut 5% of the budget across the agencies. we will read more but here are the phone numbers first -- the post goes on to say that republicans have that leslie hammered obama and congressional benefits for their role driving budget deficits to record levels. they

i was in the senate when john paul stevens was nominated, nominated by a conservative republican president. it was overwhelmingly democratic senate, and he was confirmed in two and a half weeks. he made courtesy calls to a number of senators. that is not going to be the same for his successor. she has made courtesy calls. i think she has talked to practically every senator, but the questions will be significant. i am concerned with the trend becoming active in this court. we have seen a lot of long standing laws being overturned. you have basically saying men can be paid more than women. we had to rewrite the law. that was the first law president obama signed into law but we all feel women and men should get paid for the same kind of work. the turning back the award of the exxon valdez, i wonder if the supreme court would do that today after what has happened in the gulf, and the most egregious decision, citizens united, which says corporations can be involved in political campaigns, can be involved in spending in political campaigns, something we said could not be done. british petroleum

stone's nomination met with unanimous acclaim. for his nomination recommendation, but as a cheap and associate justice, stone earned another award. it is a bipartisan price. in the documented illustrations of his suggestions to the president, stone, recommended a democrat, cardoza, to a republican, hoover. truman knew all four supreme court appointees well. still supported burton believing his senatorial experience would serve the court well. stricken by a fatal hemorrhage while presiding over the court on the bench in 1946, chief justice stone was replaced by a german appointee. -- stone was replaced by a truman appointee. justice frankfurter continued his influence as his tenure move towards its conclusion in the 1960's. his position would be vacant. john f. kennedy said that replacing frankfurter with another jewish justice was too obvious and cute. nevertheless, kennedy did so. according to president had help. lyndon johnson looked to sitting justices to confirm hiss appointments. his long time friend did not want to ascend th

as we speak today, 136 men and women who i have nominated for key positions in the federal government are still awaiting a vote on the floor of the senate. all are highly qualified. very few are controversial. the vast majority already have support from both parties, but most of them are seeing their nominations intentionally delayed by republican leaders or even blocked altogether. they cannot get a vote. what this means is that at a moment when our country is facing some each challenges, time will we need all hands on deck, we cannot get the qualified people we need to start the jobs that were appointed to do. look, the nature of our democracy is that we will always have disagreements and debates, even he did once. that is healthy and important. but let's argue over genuine differences, over ideas and policies, and going to those debates with an open mind, a willingness to find common ground, and a conviction that in the end, one way or another, we will have a vote to decide them. next week i will be meeting with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss how we can transition away f

i was in the senate when he was nominated. nominated by conservative republican president. it was an overwhelmingly democratic senate and he was confirmed in two and a half weeks. and he made courtesy calls on a number of senators. that's not going to be the same for his successor. she has made the courtesy calls. i think she has talked with practically er senator. and but thh questions will be significant. i'm concerned, for example, with the trend of the court, it's become a very activist court. we have seen a lot of long-standing law that has been overturned, for example with the led better case. you have basically saying men can be paid more than women. we had to rewrite the law. the first law that president obama signed into law saying we should all feel that women and men get paid the same for the same kind of work. so turning back the award in the exxon valdez, i wonder if the supreme court would do that today as they watch what's happening in the gulf. and i think the most egregious decision the citizens united, which has the interesting effect, this is the one that

at the time of the respective nominations. but simply other news this crowding out the nomination. host: last question. we don't have it on a graphic. but you could tell us a statistic, when you ask people today whether it matters and nominee is male or female? guest: basically, most of them, above 60%, say it doesn't matter. what does matter, truthfully, is they are less interested in -- i think the sense of diversity is a bit different now. host: what does diversity mean? guest: over 60% say ty wish the nominee was not from harvard, yale, or columbia. there is a sense that perhaps we are a little less averse than we need to be in terms of background, the legal training of the people nominated for the court. host: thank you for being with us. we have the full result -- a result of the ball on our website, c-span.org. and questions about the interest inelevising the court's >> starting monday, what's the confirmation hearing for supreme court nominee elena kagan. will testify before the senate judiciary committee. watch the hearing all live beginning at 12:30 p.m. eastern on c-span

state republicans also nominated tim scott for a u.s. house seat. he would be the state's first black g.o.p. congressman in more than a century. scott defeated fall thurmon, son of the late senator and former segregationist strom thurmond. and prosecutor tryerks gouldy won the republican nomination for another congressional seat. he attack sitting congressman bob inglis for voting to bail out the financial industry. inglis was the fifth incumbent turned out of office this year. and in utah, another new republican face emerged, attorney mike leigh, winning the nomination for u.s. senate. >> we face a federal government that thinks they can be all things to all people but it solves all the world's problems just by giving more money. money that hasn't yet been earned. because the people who will one day earn it have not yet been born and in some cases their parents haven't even met. >> reporter: utah republicans ousted bob bennett at a state convention last month. for more on the primary and the historical results in south carolina, we're joined by amy

we don't have to wait for the nomination papers.here is a precedent that you have a hearing before you actually get the papers. the senate can't technically confirm without the nomination papers being here. if we are ready to go by next monday and those papers are not here, we will go. it will be no later than tuesday. technically, they have to have the papers and i expect we'll get done by monday. >> [unintelligible] >> the issue i raised with general petraeus at the last hearing and the issue with which i am very much interested in is to what extent the afghan army will be in the lead in kandahar. that is critically important because the people in afghanistan need to see that their army is in control and taking the lead against the taliban rather than outsiders taking the lead. i have been pressing our generals. i pressed general petraeus last week on this issue. it has been something i have been focused on right from the beginning. that will be the main point that i will be talking to him about. we will again want to hear his sta

. -- nominated ms. kagan as justice stevens replacement. this is half an hour. [applause] >> what do you say when you introduce a man who has been coming to these events for more than 50 years? [laughter] everything that is interesting has already been said. likely, not -- everything that is not interesting has been said, too. [laughter] i will be brief. john paul stevens is a man of chicago, born and raised in hyde park. he attended the university of chicago laboratory schools. he attended the 1932 world series, which the cubs lost. [laughter] in fact, no one in this room was alive when the cubs won their last world series. [laughter] john paul stevens attended jakarta -- college in chicago, law school in chicago, practiced in chicago and served for five years, on the senate. even after he was dragged off to washington in 1975, he remained our circuit justice. this year, he became the second justice to reach the age of 90 while in active service. the other was oliver wendell holmes. [applause] his pred

to be nominated. as senator graham tomorrow south carolina said, during the alito hearings that elections of consequences and the president gets to pick what he wants an and that's why the democrats should get in line and vote for alito. he said is same thing during the sotomayor's confirmations. this president gets to a point someone unless there's an outrageous why you should vote fence them you should sort of go along. that's how some republicans view it and some democrats too. host: next call from pennsylvania. democrat line? call cow this woman scares the be jesus out of me for two reasons. first and for most, her adamant - stop against the second amendment right of this country and her views on foreign courts decisions. nothing to do with this country. people got to remember one thing. without your second amendment rights you have no first amendment rights. host: what have you heard or read that elena kagan has said about the second amendment? caller: she does not believe in it. host: where did

and who else should be nominated? and i've been listening this entire period here.ithin the first 25 minutes the first time that mr. hillyer you mentioned anything about the christian and a portion issue, okay that's very - commemorative there. and then the other thing that i thought, well, while i was sitting here, our forefather's had no experience in anything either. okay? i think they were justified and today it's what our fundamental values that count and that is what has brought us to the present day and mrs. kay fan is a beautiful person, yes, i agree. but the fundamental principals are missing there. i would like you to comment obstacle that. guess gues ge gu guest: there are people that are left of center that i don't think would get more than two or three votes against them in the entire senate. walter dillinger was a former solicitor general i think. merrill garland on the circuit of appeals. those are two names that spring to mind clearly left of center, but who would engender almost no opposition. the second question, peter, was it about - host: foundin

his nomination now goes to the full senate for a but. to watch this hearing online, go to c-span.org. house and senate negotiators met today to work on the financial regulation bill. that is next on c-span. last week, a u.s. army captain received $25,000 and pride in exchange for contracts to a company inflated corp. -- inflated prices. the hearing on wartime contract is let appeared after that, if you missed it, but confirmation hearing for david petreaus as the next commander in afghanistan. all this week on c-span3, we have a live confirmation hearing coverage for supreme court nominee an elana kagan. you can watch this on c- span.org, and each day we read or -- reair in its entirety on c-span2. the house-senate regulation confirmation reconvene to make changes because of a number of republican objection. you need 60 votes in the senate to move this forward which the democrats did not believe that they had. [inaudible] >> i am sorry. i thought it was on. no bill has been reported and i'll have reconsideration of the acceptance of the

but i was there when he was being nominated for chief justice. i asked him to recuse himself from a case called laird versus tatum. now the laird case involved the nixon administration surveillance of americans. as the justice department's legal expert, when he's working with the justice department for the nixon administration, he testified before congress about that case. but then after his confirmation, he was probably five justice majority in the very case in which he had testified. and he voted to dismiss the complaint alleging unlawful surveillance of lawful citizens' political activity. now our supreme court justices have to make up their own mind back and forth with justice scalia about some things in his relationship with the former vice president and ruling on cases involving him. i regularly ask questions of nominees, not just for the supreme court, but further courts about potential recusals. now, senator sessions and i sent you a questionnaire and in that we had the question recusal. and you answered it, appears to me, very seriously.

chairman, thank you for your work on this nomination. republicans are committeed to conducting this hearing in a respectful manner. serious questions will be asked, miss kagan will be given ample opportunity to respond. she certainly has numerous talents and good qualities but there are concerns about this nomination. she has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years. it is not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiced law and not with the intensity and duration from which i think real legal understanding occurs. miss kagan has never tried a case before the jury. while academia has value there is no substitute i think for being in the harness of the law, handling real cases over a period of years and what the record does reveal is a more extensive background mixed with law. her college thesetithesis affir activists tendencies of the court but complained that they could have done a better job of justifies their act varieivism. she took leave from teaching at law school to work for this commi

later, president opaw ma's nomination of -- president obama's nomination of james clapper for national intelligence director. both chambers of congress return from memorial day recess this week. the senate gavels in monday at 2:00 eastern to consider three judicial nominations with votes scheduled at 5:30. members could return to work on a package that extends tax credits and unemployment benefits. the house passed that measure before leaving for memorial day recess. we expect several amendments to be offered and debate regarding the budget offset. that's live on c-span2. the house returns tuesday at 2:00 for legislative business before voting on bills at 6:30 p.m. later in the week, a bill that provides the federal housing authority the ability to raise premiums. and a possible small business loan measure, which will create a fund to increase the availability of credit to small businesses. the house is live on c-span. next on "america and the courts," former attorney general john ashcroft on the legal history surrounding the rights of terror suspects. a federal appeals court ruled las

brown: now: day three of elena kagan's appearance before the senate committee charged with her nomination to the supreme court. once again, congressional correspondent kwame holman reports. >> reporter: as the questioning of elena kagan wound down, it appeared the nominee had emerged largely unscathed. the chairman of the judiciary committee-- vermont democrat patrick leahy-- summed it up. >> solicitor general kagan will be confirmed. >> reporter: indeed, kagan managed to sidestep republican challenges on key issues, and democratic invitations to criticize the current court. that, despite pleas from senators on both sides, such as republican jeff sessions of alabama to be more expansive on her views. >> some of the critics who are saying, "who is this nominee? exactly what do you believe?" might find it from the... from the testimony difficult to know if... if, ms. kagan, whether you'd be more like john roberts and more like ruth bader ginsburg. so i think we need to know a little bit more what we can expect of you as a judge. >> reporter: rhode island democrat sheldon whitehouse tried to

chairman, thank you for your work on this nomination.epublicans are committeed to conducting this hearing in a respectful manner. serious questions will be asked, miss kagan will be given ample opportunity to respond. she certainly has numerous talents and good qualities but there are concerns about this nomination. she has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years. it is not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiced law and not with the intensity and duration from which i think real legal understanding occurs. miss kagan has never tried a case before the jury. while academia has value there is no substitute i think for being in the harness of the law, handling real cases over a period of years and what the record does reveal is a more extensive background mixed with law. her college thesetithesis affir activists tendencies of the court but complained that they could have done a better job of justifies their act varieivism. she took leave from teaching at law school to work for this committ

but there is a real slowdown -- nominations are coming slowly but these are nominated individuals who are not getting here is and confirmed. >> and it has been the obama administration choosing district court nominees that the republicans are happy with. [applause] i hate to say it but we need "more sacrificial lambs ear. and then we need the obama administration to do what clinton did not do, keep on nominating them even if the republicans are able to hold a couple up. >> let's focus on questions for anybody. will it take to make a desperate analysis -- desperate --dis parate analysis? it could play a significant factor in affecting people's lives and outcome. congress thought that they wrote that into title from the no. 7 -- title vii. >> it is not say. it is in a safer spot. the opinion clearly that such different impacts the way that congress intended it, it goes right through what congress did and unanimously says that that is the law and find violations. but these are permanent battles. we do not have permanent victories here. there will be a next battle over that. but it is saf

the president will nominate him to become the new commander. as i've said before, general petraeus has established a self is one of the great battle captains in american history. his judgment, intellect, and proven record of success in iraq make him the right choice to lead the military coalition in afghanistan. his mission is, of course, an international effort. we continue to value the contributions of our nato allies and partners and support the appointment of general petraeus. no one, be they adversaries, france, or our troops, should misinterpret this as a slackening of the government's commitment to afghanistan. we remain committed to the mission and to the comprehensive civil-military strategy ordered by the president to achieve our goals. my primary concern over the past few days has been to minimize the impact of these developments on the conduct of the war in afghanistan. the president's decisions reflect a concern. this is the best possible outcome to a -- to an awful situation. general mcchrystal and many of his immediate staff has

just exactly what the president said when he got the nomination.he said in ten years we will not be on mideast oil. and i am in total agreement on that. but you have got to have a plan, or nothing will ever happen. it's like a tree. it's like a tree, larry. when was the best time to plant a tree. 20 years ago. just in case you didn't plant it. today is the second best time. you have got to get an energy plan for america. >> larry: well put. can, can bp survive this poor credit downturn? >> well, the credit downturn it started, just before this happened. was aa-plus, then went to aa, now it is bbb. well they're two above junk now. but, sure they can survive it unless, unless the government continues, continues to go after them like they're going after them. i still say, lay off of them and get the well plugged. get the beaches cleaned up. but we are not that -- we haven't lost that much oil to the beaches. so, you know, someplace in here, yes, i think they're going to survive. but if you look at the american assets they have, it is 700,000 barrels o

pistole,'m going to be supporti your nomination. i think you have a set of credentials that sorely need at tsa. and i think all of us on this committeeould believe that that has been vacant far t long for a number of circumstces. but it is aritically important posion. decades ago, you used to justo to the airport and wk on ton airplane when they told yout was time. a lot of younger amerins have never experienced that but you ju boarded an airplane. and then they began to hij airports, particularly to cuba, but some oer locations as well, and pretty sn they started screing passengers to make sure they didn't have a weap when they got on, and the reens has become more intensive and more intrusive and nowada, of course the chalnges of screening are pretty substantial. all of us have wched a 6-year-old child being wanded at an art somlace or a catholic nun being intensively scened, you know, so you watch e things an you just shake your head. on the other hand, we understand we want to get on anirple that is fre of weapons and tha is not

the senate gavels in monday to eastern to consider three judicial nominations. members could then return to work on a package that extends tax credits and unemployment benefits. the house pass that measure before leaving for memorial day recess. we expect several amendments to be offered an debate regarding the bills budgetary offset. the senate live on c-span2. the house returns on tuesday to plot for legislative business before voting on bills at 6:00 p.m. eastern. later in the week, a bill that provides the federal housing administration with the authority raise insurance premiums of fha guaranteed mortgages, and possible work on a $30 billion fund for small business loan measures. it creates a fund to increase the availability of credit to small businesses. the house is live on c-span. >> president obama traveled to brando, louisiana yesterday to talk with residents and officials about the government's response to the gulf coast oil spill. he gives his weekly address from there and discusses the effects of the spill on the likelihood of those who live in the

bush in 2006 and re nominated by barack obama for a second term last august.his scholarly expertise is the great depression and its causes and that, of course, prepared him for the historic task of responding to the second greatest financial crisis in our country's history. he has been at the center of the extraordinary efforts of this country, indeed the world, to rescue us from the frightening near collapse of the national system in the fall of 2008 by making available trillions of dollars in official funds and helping us to understand better what happened and how to respond. for his work, we can only offer our appreciation, our support, and our fervent hope that he and his colleagues will succeed in enabling healthy and sustainable economic growth. the other day, i saw a picture of him standing on the great wall of china. he was much more than an ordinary tourist. for some reason, my thoughts turned to one of his predecessors, william martin, who was chair of the federal reserve from 1951-1970. as i recollect, his travel schedule consisted of trips between

andrew romanov was charging the democratic incumbent for a nomination. he was offered one of three jobs if he would drop out of the primary. the white house first denied the allegations when they came from anonymous administration whistle-blowers, but once the actual e-mail was released by runoff -- by romanov, the story changed. the jobs were offered, but nothing inappropriate happened. after all the stonewalling, what is the latest defense? it was just business as usual. enough is enough. if from emmanuel

at the time of the respective nominations. but simply other news this crowding out the nomination. host: last question. we don't have it on a graphic. but you could tell us a statistic, when you ask people today whether it matters and nominee is male or female? guest: basically, most of them, above 60%, say it doesn't matter. what does matter, truthfully, is they are less interested in -- i think the sense of diversity is a bit different now. host: what does diversity mean? guest: over 60% say they wish the nominee was not from harvard, yale, or columbia. there is a sense that perhaps we are a little less averse than we need to be in terms of background, the legal training of the people nominated for the court. host: thank you for being with us. we have the full result -- a result of the ball on our website, c-span.org. and questions about the interest in televising the court's oral arguments. thank you very much for being back with us -- with us this morning and telling us about the interesting results you found through the supreme court survey. let's get to your telephone calls p

the first question that i wanted to bri up is why did obama nominate this person? and who else should be nominated? and i've been listening this entire period here. within the first 25 minutes the first time that m hillyer you mentioned anything about the christian and a portion issue, okay that's very - commemorative there. and then the other thing that i thought, well, while i was sitting here, our forefaer's had no experience in anything either. okay? i think they were justified and today it's what our fundamental values that count and that is what has brought us to the present day and mrs. kay fan is a beautiful person, yes, i agree. but the fundamental principals are missing there. i would like you to comment obstacle that. guess gues ge gu guest: there are people that are left of center that i don't think would get more than two or three votes against them in the entire senate. walter dillinger was a former solitor general i think. merrill garland othe circuit of appeals. those are two names that spring to mind clearly left of center, but who would engender a

instead, he nominated someone who is not a strong backer of civil liberties. that is a mistake. it is possible to face down the senate. many persons believe many presidents have done it, and i am regretful that this president has chosen not to throw down the gauntlet for civil liberties. host: our conversation on this solomon. this morning from tampa, florida. caller: iihave been on hold here por awhile, so i apologize if i ask something that was similar to somebody else. i republican. first of all, i am an american, and i am a republican, but i am moderate, independent view. i am quite interested in what mr. solomon's view would be on pavid stockman book, "triumph in politics." he was president -- president reagan's supply-side guru. during his book, i read that president reagan -- i am not young, but not ood either, ronald reagan was my first election. going back and reading a little bit about history, i learned that ronald reagan quadruple our deffcit. he increased military spending, and eventually i learned that he'd quadrupled our budget deficit. bill clinton got us out of

he came here being president -- at least he sought to get the nomination.he was in a very-he was a very influential senator. he was chosen by a committee of senators as one of the all-time five great senators, and those five senators -- their pictures are in the medallions in the reception room just off the senate floor. >> what did his colleagues think were so great about him -- was so great about him? >> there are things that i have outlined. he was a very influential senator. >> was he a good orator? >> no, he was not an excellent orator, but he was a powerful force. >> was he ough? >> he was tough. many people thought he was arrogant. he was area dite -- he was area diet. he was effective as a leader? he was a statement. >> this picture? >> that is a picture of mccarthy, senator mccarthy and senator tidings. >> whose son, joe tidings, also was in the senate? >> yes, and miller tidings lost the election in maryland. as the book will explain, he lost to a man who was a protege of mccarthy. as the book states, mccarthy's diatribes and been victims accusati

i am humbled and honored to be nominated by president ioto the u.s.orces in afghanistan and to have the opportunity, if confirmed, to continue to serve our nation, the nato alliance, our non-nato coalition partners, and afghanistan in these new capacities. at the outset, i want to echo your sloot to the extraordinary service -- your salute to the extraordinary service of senator robert byrd. america has lost a great patriot. how would also like to say a few words about general stan mcchrystal, someone i have known and admired for nearly 30 years. general mcchrystal has devoted his entire professional life to the defense of this nation and he and his family have made enormous personal sacrifices during his lengthy to appointments over the past nine years in particular. his contributions during that time were very significant. i can attest, for example, that the success of the surge in iraq would not have been possible without jennifer -- without general mcchrystal's on exceptional leadership of the forces there. similarly, the joint operations command

we'll talk about the supreme court nomination of elena taken. a couple of live events this morning -- the senate judiciary committee holds a hearing on the exxon valdez court decision and oil spill liability caps. members will focus on a proposed bill that would allow punitive damages in oil spill cases. that is on c-span 3 at 10:00 p.m. -- 10:00 a.m. eastern. president obama will hold a town hall meeting in wheaton, maryland to talk about health care. citizens will be able to participate across the country by telephone. live coverage on cspan and cspan radio. >> candidate in this race has given voters in new hampshire or america up more opportunities to ask him questions and see what he is made of. >> these are the faces you see every day. see some of their early television experiences on this cspan video library. it is 25 years of a video all available free on line. >> federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says that despite declines in financial markets, he does not think the u.s. economy will slip back into recession. he was interviewed by fo

the democrats sort of nominally have 69 -- 59 votes. there are some republican proposals out there, or democratic proposals with republican support, these would ramp up things like solar energy without greenhouse gas limits. again, that is sort of going into this meeting on thursday with senate democrats where senator reid is going to try to work out whether there is support beyond new electricity standards or on the republican side what senator lugar has called for, diversity standards calling for things like nuclear plants that capture and store their emissions. . you have to have some powerful fuel or diesel engines for your trains and stuff like that. why in the world do we have 12 million vehicles in the world run on natural gas and only 170,000 in the u.s.? why are we not using this natural gas? i hope this is in the energy policy. i think the cap and tax will ruin this country. any tax on oil or coal will drive this further down into a depression. host: is that part of the senate bill? guest: we do not know. there are a couple of

kagan's nomination to the supreme court. the most important qualification for the position is her judicial philosophy, the kind of justice she will be. the evidence for her judicial philosophy comes primarily from her record, and i've touched on some areas of concern that must be examined more closely and then only a few. this is a grave decision. it is about more than simply one person. the liberty we enjoy in america requires that thh people govern themselves and that in turn depends on the kind of justices who sit on the highest court in the land. george washington said this in his farewell address -- quote -- "the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government. but the constitution which at any time exists still changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all. judges who bend the constitution to their own values and who use the constitution to pursue their own vision for society take this right away from the people

eastern for general speeches appeared in votes on nominations begin at 6:00 p.m. later, work on a bill that extends tax breaks and jobless benefits. it could make its way to the floor once again. also work on a house-passed bill that would create $30 billion fund and to help small businesses get credit. follow the senate live on c- span2. the house returns tuesday at 12:30 p.m. eastern. we expect a debate on several bills at 6:30. later in the week, possible consideration of a measure aimed at rolling back the supreme court's 5-4 decision in the citizens united curses the election committee earlier this year. also expected, work on the 2010 spending bill aimed largely at funding military operations in iraq and afghanistan. the house is live on c-span. at our schedule. coming up next, a hearing on the proposed merger between united and continental airlines. legal experts look at the wall between congress and the supreme court. later, defense secretary robert gates and admiral mike mullen testified on next year's defense department budget. sunday on "newsmakers", se

bill maher is the emmy-nominated host of "real time with bill maher" on had hbo, standup comic, best-selling author. we called him today in view of this announcement tonight and asked him if he would come as an old friend. bill will be performing at the orleans show room in las vegas on the 17th and 18th of july and at the ameri star casino in kansas city on july 30th. thank you, bill. >> i'm honored you would ask me to take over the desk, larry, thank you so much. i'm ready to step in at a moment's notice. >> larry: what a -- so you're making an announcement tonight. >> do you want to finish the hour or would you like me to take over right now, larry? >> larry: well, this was tough, bill. it was -- it was time. i was are ready to do it. cnn folks agreed to it. we sat down. we are going to do specials and more time with the family and i want to expand, i want to do other things that i haven't been able to do. >> i am reminded of what my father, who was a broadcaster the day miquel mantle retired, stay isn't some he began the broadcast. >> larry: put me in that class? >> mickey mantle? you ar

choose nominated to the d.c. circuit and that did not go through. after that, she learns to -- not to say many things. she gave her opinion on that issue. she thought that the military " don't ask, don't tell" policy -- she had been forced to allow the military recruits on campus. she allowed them on campus but then decided she would use the excuse of a different circuit that did not become final because it was appealed to the supreme court. she kicked the military off campus again. the law had not been changed and she did not have the right to do that. host: is that reason alone and not to confirm her? guest: there are not many points to work with here. someone with a long experience career might ot stand out completely. that really illustrates a serious problem with her view of the law, that she sees it as more -- of this providing political coverage. that is what we see in our decisions. they are more of a political maneuvering than a legal underpinning. host: let's get to phone calls. houston, texas, on the democratic line, we're talking about t

to be nominated to the supreme court is an honor of a lifetime. i'm only sorry that if confirmed i won't have the privilege of serving there with justice john paul stephens. his integrity, humility and independence, his deep devotion to the court and his profound commitment to the rule of law, all these qualities are models for everyone who wears or opes to wear a judge's robe. if given this honor, i hope i will approach each case with his trademark care and consideration. that means listening to each party with a mind as open as his to learning and persuasion and striving as conscientiously as he has to render impartial justice. i owe a debt of gratitude to two other living justices. sandra day o'connor and ruth bader ginsburg paved the way for me and so many other women in my generation. their pioneering lives have created boundless possibilities for women in the law. i thank them for their inspiration, and also for the personal kindnesses they have shown me and my heart goes out to justice ginsburg and her family today. everyone who ever met ma

she had been waiting nearly two months since president obama nominated her to replace the retiring justice john paul stevens. then she waited some more as members of the senate judiciary committee made their opening statements. chairman patrick leahy of vermont. >> i believe that fair-minded people will find her judicial philosophy well within the legal mainstream. i welcome questions to solicitor general kagan about judicial independence, but i would urge senators on both sides to be fair. there is no basis to question her integrity. no one should presume that this intelligent woman has excelled during every part of her very and distinguished career . >> reporter: party line divisions were clearly on display. the ranking republican jeff sessions of alabama declared it's not a coronation but a confirmation process. >> ms. kagan has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years. it's not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiceded law and not with the intensity and duration from which i real legal understanding occurs. ms. kagan has never tried a

the bottom line is for a state like south carolina, likely to nominate a woman of indian heritage, sheis the daughter of an indian immigrant and a woman to the head of the government in south carolina is a pretty impressive feat. >> woodruff: i have a feeling all of you at the "washington post" are going to be watching that one closely too. >> indeed. >> woodruff: we are going to have to leave it there. dan balz, amy walter, thank you both. >> brown: again, the major developments of the day. coast guard admiral thad allen said oil collection efforts are gradually improving. b.p. is now siphoning nearly a half million gallons per day from the damaged well. an unknown missing are-- unnumber number are still missing and officials fear the missing could rise. the newshour is always online. kwame holman, in our newsroom, previews what's there. kwame. >> holman: our oil leak ticker now includes b.p.'s projections of the amount of oil it's siphoning from the ruptured well. a follow-up to ray's report on obesity in china last week. we posted answers to your questions about how developing count

and i think it would be very hard politically in a democratic country to take that nomination away, assumingthe votes were fairly counted. as for the larger message, i always detest candidates while they're campaigning so the fact that he didn't campaign he didn't lower himself in my eyes. maybe that's the secret here-- don't campaign. >> lehrer: let's talk for a moment here about the arlington cemetery problem. talk about a b.p. situation. this is-- this is relevant, is it not, similar? >> this is-- if b.p. and that continuing 60,000 gallons a day is a metaphor for government not being able to work , the corporate structure not being able to work, arlington cemetery is a blasphemy of -- and a metaphor of ineptitude. what we found out in this marvelous place, 144 years-- 146 years, since 1864, americans have been buried there, who qualified the standards to meet military service. i mean, there are also kinds of famous people in there. there is audi murphy who killed 240 germans--. >> lehrer: farmersville, texas. >> the most decorated american in world war ii. there are young naval lieutenant

. >> and one of the consequences is a president gets to fill a nomination to the supreme court. that's a power the president has, right? >> yes, sir. >> so it would be okay from your point of view if a conservative president picked someone in the mold of a conservative person. >> i would expect that. >> there we go, good. we'll remember that, okay. we may have a chance to bring ose words back. do you know miguel estrade snarks. >> i do. >> how do you know him? >> so miguel and i were classmates at harvard law school, but we were more than classmates at harvard law school. harvard law school has a w of -- has required seating in the first year, and miguel and i were -- >> trust me, i don't know, because i never could have gotten there but i trust you. >> miguel and i were required to sit next to each other in every single class in the first year, and can i tell you miguel takes extraordinary notes, so it's great. every time you missed something in class, you could just kind of look over, but that's how i know miguel and we've been good friends ever since. >> what's your general o

i don't know, i thought nominating -- or appointing petraeus was like an apology to george bush and dick cheney, an acknowledgement finally that petraeus' strategy with the surge did work which the administration was slow to knowledge--. >> woodruff: when president obama had been critical of it. >> in private i think they knew it worked. in public they can't say it. nonetheless, there are no questions there are people when think petraeus is a great general, think coin is the right strategy. afghanistan is in trouble and it's in trouble in part because the afghans don't seem to be fighting for their country as hard as the americans are fighting and it's in trouble because karzai and many other people think, well, the americans are leaving in july 2011, they're probably not going to beat the taliban and i have to make my own arrangements. there is a failure of military success, and there are doubts about american will. and those doubts, the third issue there, comes out of the divisions in the administration are we going to stay past july '11 or are we not? and those seem to be open questio