first, i think we're going to pat leahy, the chairman of the judiciary committee. if i'm correct. w you've just taken a lunch break. are you about to take your lunch break and then go into your witnesses this afternoon? >> actually, we've gone back to the witnesses, the aba there, senator whitehouse, sheldon whitehouse of rhode island is chairing for he. we're going to take turns on these witnesses. you know, i was there for all of judge sotomayor's testimony, but on these panels of witnesses, we traditionally, most senators are not there. we have different senators take turns. >> well, when do we expect to hear from frank ricci and what do you think the impact of his personal story will be? >> i don't think it will affect the outcome at all in that case. it was very clear that judge sotomayor not only followed precedent, the district court below followed both second circuit and supreme court precedent. would people rather have had a different outcome? sure. i imagine most people would. and if the case would come up again now, there would be a different outcome, because the supreme

first, pat leahy, chairman from vermont. followed by jeff sessions. each senator will be allotted 30 minutes. keep in mind that there are 19 members of the judiciary committee. the first round of questioning is not expected to wrap up today. megyn: other headlines this morning, the house is expected to release a massive health care bill today. nancy pelosi says that she expects a vote by august recess, but anticipates big differences on how to pay for this thing. police in florida say that more arrests could, in the murders of byrd and melanie billings. they adopted one dozen children with autism and down syndrome. they were shot multiple times by intruders in their home. police have made four arrests, but they believe that six to eight people could be involved. videotape shows a man in a mask. they were in and out of the home in under 10 minutes. scrub began to -- scrub thbed again, the endeavor did not lift off last night. is that during special report? bret: indeed. megyn: you cannot get away from that launch. the mission has been grounded for a mo

>> i talked to pat leahy, reading with stoudamire, -- sotomayor, and he said the format will be different. on monday, they will do the general introductions. they will make speeches and the judge will take up the baltimore remarks -- ultimate remarks. it is a significant expansion of the time. normally it is 10 minutes, but they are trying to expand it to a full half hour. these are going to be long discussions. tuesday would be nine interviews as they go around the confirmation table. wednesday, a closed session to talk about her fbi background check. and then 20-minute question spree the length of these questions will be the kind of thing that could affect the dynamic. republicans will have to grow her fourth 30 minutes at a clip. jon: is that the down side to such long questioning times? >> it remains to be seen. no one with adequate and pull its had time to discuss issues, but there is the possibility senators will spend some much time bloviating that they will now give her a chance to explain her views. jon: fox news is the place to go for the confirmation hearings. judge sotomayor w

he's pat leahy. >> we ca get ba and, in der in the room. and judge, good to have you bac here as recall, we left at senato klobuchar, you're next and i'll yield to senator klobuchar. >> thaou very much, mr. chair. welcome back, judge. it's good to see you again. i enjoye our conveation and what i most remembered out that is that you confeed th you once brought winter parka to mnesotan june. i will not hold that against you this week. i know you have many friends and family ere, but it was really an honor for me to meet your mom. when president obama fst announced your nomination, i love t story about how your mo saved all her money to buy you and your brotr the first set of ecyclopedias in the ighborhood. itreminded meof when my mom bought us sig cloe paid areas. to me, they were the window of thworld. from the time you were 9 years old,your mom raised you and your brother o her ow she struggled touy those on her nue's salaryt she did itecse she believed deeply in the value of education. you wenton to be to in our class andgo to law hool. a

reading her remarks, she was almost finished when she asked for an additional 20 seconds, it made pat leahy look pretty petty. after she finished that, she was consoled by senator schumer, who made it clear that they thought the whole thing was silly. worth noting, al franken got his first opportunity to speak publicly. that and arlen specter being undemocratic side made for additional entertainment. tamara is the big day for q&a. -- tomorrow is the big day for q&a. megyn: shannon has been watching these proceedings for us as well. any surprises? >> and no surprises, nothing we did not expect. we heard some previews from gop senators, things that had not been discussed as much, like wise latina comments and other things. constituents being very interested in the vissue of gun rights, something that resonates with democrats and republicans. a number of gop senators have talked about the issues of international law. this has been debated greatly, and the judge has made comments that we can find good ideas there. i found a forward to a book in 2007 where she talks about being open to the quest

vermont democrat pat leahy's chairing senate confirmation hearings. >> i suspect she'll be confirmed. i would hope, though, that senators will make up their mind based on what they hear in the hearing. >> republicans will demand sotomayor's view of the nation that instead of the traditionally disspation gnat and objective approach to judging based on facts and law and the constitution, judges that according to president obama should also factor in empathy. >> it it is a dangerous philosophy, and if anything, from ler speeches, judge sotomayor may be beyond that. she really validates and says it's legitimate for a judge to bring their personal by wases and prej prejudices to bear in the decision-making process. >> an an appeals court judge first tapped for the federal bench by the first president bush, sotomayor said that sex and ethnicity will make a difference in judging. more than once she has said "i would hope that a wise lat teen latina woman with a are richness of experiences would reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." that's a big tough issue

the chairman pat leahy addressed those in the room acknowledging it was the gop's senator's rights to push the vote off for another week and this must still go for a full senate vote next month when it's expected. republicans have stated their support and senator susan colins from maine being the latest one and john kyle from main thinks this could be wrapped up in four days, since democrats have a 60-vote majority on the senate and four republicans are on board with this. sotomayor has strong opposition from staunch conservatives. senator john sign of south dakota said he would vote no. senator mitch mcconnell from kentucky the minority leader has reservations about her record and sotomayor's ability to be unbiased on the bench. the judiciary committee has been looking over her last official response to questions from the senate, a written response sent over yesterday. much answering questions that came up during the hearings, questions about abortion and gun rights and capitol punishment. we'll have more on this story at 5 and 6. >> thank you. >>> now to president obama's push on th

if that she's trying to deflect that, pat leahy gave her the opportunity to do it in the opening.down on it, didn't let her off the hook. they're also looking at affirmative action, at guns, at a lot of these other hot button issues. so far she's sailing successfully forward. but we've got a long way to go. we're talking about 7 out of 18 senators questioning her. there's still the possibility of mishaps, stumbles along the way. i'm not talking about her poor ankle. she's sitting there stoically. i can tell you from past ankle injuries, it's difficult to sit for that many hours without putting your foot up. because it does swell and it's very painful. >> they were supposed to give her a break to get up and exercise. i'm looking here, just the way i like to do things, study the republicans. if you look at the seven republicans, however, sessions has pretty much staked out a position for the nomination. that's fair to say. john cornyn has the job of rallying republicans in the next election. he's forced to vote the way he is. kyl has been so right politically for so many months now,

lots of speeches and key power players to look at on each side and of course, the chairman, pat leahy he's been on the committee for some time and first time chairing had a court hearing. and dick der ben, number two leader, the whip and chuck schumer, a pit bull part and al franken's debut on a committee. he only made it to senator week and he will be on the committee as well and jeff sessions of alabama leading the opposition and chuck grassley of aye on the committee since 1981 and orrin hatch, going back decades and lindsey graham is a tough partisan and three others, tomko burn one of the senators in all of it and two members of the leadership, cornyn and kyle and arlen specter used to be a republican and now a democrat and sure to be entertaining as we go forward, bret and megan. >> thanks, carl, questions and controversy surfaced over this nominee's record, but what are the issues and will her record hold up? for those answers, fox news kronl shannon bream is at the u.s. supreme court. . >> hi, this is the first time that the public hears from judge sotomayor, she will have a c

we'll have the top republican on the judiciary committee in here as well as the chairman, pat leahy,nd we want to ask them about that. do you think you exposed anything in her record that maybe helps you politically? and more importantly, we've been through this since robert bjork in the 1980s. the judges in the chair, the nominees don't want to say that much and that frustrates senators, and also frustrates some of the american people. because this american for 30 years or more is going to have a lifetime appointment on the nation's highest court. so we're going to ask them, is there anything we can do to make this process a little more interactive, a little more revealing. >> john, we look forward to "state of the union" at the top of the hour right here on cnn. >>> the latest on that civilian helicopter crash in afghanistan, that is coming up. >>> also, we'll look at the issue that's dividing one of the country's biggest religious groups and how it could affect the way millions of people worship. >>> and a queen pays tribute to nelson mandela. listen a little bit right now to quee

setor pat leahy, chahairman of the senaate judiciciary committ with us here on "the ed show." >>> coming up, sarah pin says e's not out of politics. y would that susurpriseny of us? she'e's raisinmoney. i toldld you tt was going to haen. >>> nenext on "e ed show," it's "psyo talk." republican lawmakekerays a publicic optiowill did kill you. ( conversati ) garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com pking a photo... fomyredit card. here's ononfrom mprom. ,, wt memories. how 'bouone from our golf outg? ( shouting i know, maybe onene omymy first-born son. dada, , mosays the bos goa a go. personalalize yo card by uploaoading... your own photo at capitalone.com. at's in your wallet? ♪ ll & thick from pantene. it just got the good housekeeping seal.. you wanna know why?? the fufull & thi collection reallyeaves the hair full. starting at the roots, youhair lifts up andwa look at alall thisody. and that's gon lt all day. [ stacy ] a little expert advice. full, thick-log results the leading salon brbrand can't beat. full & thickck from ntene. healthy make hpen. i felt amazingly boboxed in nn

lots of speeches and key power players to look at on each side and of course, the chairman, pat leahy he's been on the committee for some time and first time chairing had a court hearing. and dick der ben, number two leader, the whip and chuck schumer, a pit bull part and al franken's debut on a committee. he only made it to senator week and he will be on the committee as well and jeff sessions of alabama leading the opposition and chuck grassley of aye on the committee since 1981 and orrin hatch, going back decades and lindsey graham is a tough partisan and three others, tomko burn one of the senators in all of it and two members of the leadership, cornyn and kyle and arlen specter used to be a republican and now a democrat and sure to be entertaining as we go forward, bret and megan. >> thanks, carl, questions and controversy surfaced over this nominee's record, but what are the issues and will her record hold up? for those answers, fox news kronl shannon bream is at the u.s. supreme court. . >> hi, this is the first time that the public hears from judge sotomayor, she will have a c

we understand even though the committee chairman, pat leahy, a democrat, would like to see it by next tuesday. republicans will probably push it off for another week or so. from what i am seen this week, i would not be surprised if some republicans actually decide to end up voting for sotomayor. shep? shepard: there could be a few of them, as a matter of fact. shannon bream on the hill. thank you. that breaking news from nasa now. the entire space shuttle fleet has just been grounded and an investigation has just been launched. we're just getting in all the details for you and we'll have them next. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. shepard: there is breaking news now on fox news channel. a major announcement has just come out from nasa. word that the agency has suspended all future space shuttle flights, grounded the entire fleet until it figures out why strips of foam fell off the f

of giving us the real world translation of what supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor, chairman pat leahyblican -- ranking republican jeff sessions were really saying during opening day hearings on her confirmation. we start with judge sotomayor herself. >> my career as an advocate ended and my career as a judge began when i was appointed by president george h.w. bush. >> what judge sotomayor really meant, according to the ap, was i'm not as liberal as they say. bush appointed me. the senior guy. when senator jeff sessions said this -- >> i expect this hearing and resulting debate will be characterized by a respectful tone, a discussion of serious issues, a thoughtful dialogue, and maybe some disagreements. >> what he really meant, this republican, this is a life-time appointment, folks, we're not going to roll over and play dead. and my favorite, democratic committee chairman patrick leahy. >> judge sotomayor's journey to this hearing room is a truly american story. >> that was a warning to republicans, if you love america, you're going to love sotomayor or at least do yourself a politic

we're just getting information that senator pat leahy, chairman of the committee, said he will set athose republicans who step forward and say yes. we're going to see one of the new haven firefighters, frank ricci, whose name has been bandied about quite a bit. is this going to be explosive or is it much ado about nothing? >> i don't know if it's going to be explosive. but it will be interesting. judge sotomayor dismissed that reverse discrimination case and the firefighter ricci, who has dyslexia, who had been working very hard to get this promotion, he had the audio tapes in the car he was listening to to study up and beef up and get ready, he feels like this was not fair, the ruling that judge sotomayor ruled on. there are going to be more than a dozen new haven firefighters behind him. i think it will create a picture. will it be decisive? absolutely not. but that's what will characterize the afternoon. >> norah o'donnell in d.c. we'll be talking to you quite a bit. >>> the latest in the michael jackson investigation and the never before seen pictures of the accident that many sa

pat leahy gave her a softball in having rephrased her comment. it was then brought back to her by jeff sessions the way she actually said it. she said she was trying to be inspirational to latina women and she didn't intend to indicate she would do anything from the bench that was not just the facts. >> unfortunately, she chose her words poorly. i think most people who are sympathetic to her feel that way and i think ultimately she had to admit that when she said it was bad and she was just trying to play on a comment sandra day o'connor had made earlier. i don't think it was an accident that senator leahy also started by ask iing her for her to talk about her experience as a trial judge. >> let's go directly to florida, pensacola, additional arrests in that horrible murder case. >> last thursday, july 9th, a tragedy occurred in escambia, county, with the murder of byrd and melanie billings. where we as a society, and specifically escambia county, witnessed the worse in man. cruelty and indecency. but in the last five days, as the sheriff of esca

pat leahy, the chairman of the committee said a couple of times while all the questions have been askedhave been asked, not all the senators have asked them. then of course at some point this afternoon, the committee will meet with her in a closed session. this is traditional to go over personal matters. >> all right, pete williams on the case. just like perry mason. thank you very much. we'll take a quick break and be right back. >>> this progress should make us hopeful, but can't make us complacent. should provide the urgency for the house and senate to finish health care reform before the august reses. >> president obama in the rose garden, getting that august recess deadline. we go to kelly o'donnell in the senate right now. how realistic is it they could have something by the august recess? >> now, we're seeing president obama become sort of the nudger in chief. he's going to use the bully pulpit, his appearances to hammer away at congress. to put the pressure on them to get this done by the deadline he has set. the house side has gotten their committees together to put together a

bret: pat leahy, putting the senate in recess for lunch.roducts, a court of appeals nominee who was filibustered by the democrats when put forward by george w. bush. before that, diane feinstein, a california democrat, asking a series of questions, judge sotomayor responding in a technical and logical way. nothing surprising there, which is what the democrats want to see as she goes through these friendly questions. megyn: carl cameron, our senior political correspondent, has been watching this whole thing from the skybox. carl, does this strike you as going the way that democrats want it to go, no fireworks apart from the jeff sessions questions? >> the trick to getting confirmed by the senate is to not make any huge mistakes or gaffes. the questioning that she underwent was heavily new ones and deep into constitutional detail. it was fun to look at my colleagues, googling madly to keep up with the senator from utah. but the past statements about being a wise latina were the four most fiery comments. she seems to have repeatedly -- reporte

but pat leahy will play an important role. his take on key issues, like affirmative action, abortion, gun rights, are going to shave off what we see at the hearings today. we have team fox coverage for you. shannon is looking at the cases you are going to hear more about soon. we begin with carl cameron, a preview of what we can expect. >> hello. you have laid out the chronology of the day. it is an advanced master's degree lecture series. we will have an opportunity to hear more about the u.s. judicial system, the constitution, a spectacular display as all 19 of the senators on the judiciary panel would get their chance. they will outline their own philosophy, posting some of the things that they are going to grilled the nominee on tomorrow. democrats are going to be largely supportive, generally, focusing on a positive light. look for republicans to dive into the principal concerns, where judge sotomayor and the president's references to empathy and subjective experience fit into a more traditional view of judging, which has

. >> pat leahy leading the way which is his role there. >> you said yesterday this was a surrogate fight over the direction of the country political politically. at issue here? that's an issue. >> that's what has been litigated before us. you beat me to the punch in your articulati articulation. we will be right back. they are establishing a lot of political territory here and things are getting done this morning. we'll be right back. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthris pain all day. free credit report dot com! tell your friends, tell your dad, tell your mom! never mind, they've been singing our songs since we first showed up with our pirate hats on! if you're not into fake sword fights pointy slippers and green wool tights take a tip from a knight who knows free credit report dot com, let's go! vo: offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage. conci

the democratic chairman, pat trick leahy, is in his home state of vermont, and senator sessions with me here in the theater. mitch mcconnell let it be known on friday afternoon that he was going to vote against sonia sotomayor, and among his reasons he said this. judge sotomayor's written statements reflected a lack of respect for the justice, and therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath. that is the leader of the republicans in the senate, but as the ranking republican on the committee, the man most enmeshed in the details, they will follow your lead more than mcconnell's lead, what is your view on judge sotomayor. >> mcconnell has followed this closely. he's made a number of speeches, he's followed the record, he's a student of law, he takes the judicial matters very seriously and i think his opinion will have a lot of weight. i have not announced what i'm going to do yet. >> here's your opportunity. >> i think i'll pass again at this point. we are looking at the record of the transcripts, the testimony, and the hearing. we submitted some add

the chair of the senate judiciary committee, pat leahy, held a hearing last month on the hate crimesill. attorney general eric holder was the star witness. i attended the hearing and i asked the attorney general point-blank whether a religious leader could be prosecuted under the facts that i just described. i talked to him about a minister in a church who might stand before his or her congregation and argue that the bible states clearly from their point of view that persons engaged in homosexual conduct are sinners, and if after that sermon someone sitting in the congregation, in anger, turns and strikes someone who is gay, can the minister be held responsible for inciting this person to strike someone of a different sexual orientation? this is what the attorney general said in response to this hypothetical, to this question that i raised. he said, "this bill seeks to protect people from conduct that is motivated by bias. it has nothing to do with regard to speech. the minister who says negative things about homosexuality, about gay people, this is a person i would not agree with,"

pat leahy of vermont is the chairman of this to our hearing. -- two-hour hearing. >> we have a quorum. i won i think the members of the committee for their cooperation. want to thank all members of the committee for their cooperation. two weeks ago during our hearing on the nomination of judge sotomayor to the supreme court, we're not perfect, no hearing is, the hearing did provide us a chance to ask questions and also to raise concerns. it gave the nominee an attorney to respond to relentless critics, having had to remain silent for the two months prior to the hearing. finally, her chance to have a public voice. it allowed the american people, most importantly, to see and hear judge sotomayor for themselves. it's interesting that during those four days, almost 2,000 people attended the hearing in person in this room. millions more saw it or heard it, read about it thanks to newspapers, blogs, television, cable and of course, in the judiciary committee, we have webcasting. i believe that president obama's right when he told the american people last may that judge sotomayor will bring

member, orrin hatch, says that he is hoping for a vigorous debate and committee chairman democrat pat leahyred strong praise calling her path to the u.s. supreme court a truly american story. >> i would trust that all members of this committee here today will reject the efforts of pausht sans and outside pressure groups that south to creating a charictu rechlt and the duties that she's faithfully performed for the last 15 years. >> a heckler was quickly removed. if sotomayor is confirmed, she would be the first hispanic supreme court justice. >> president obama has appointed dr. regina benjamin for the surgeon general. she says she wants to help others avoid the fate of dying due to ill health. >> my family is not here with me today being, at least not in person, because of preventible diseases. while i can't -- or i cannot change my family's past, i can be a voice in the movement to improve our nation's health care and our nation's health for the future. >> dr. benjamin also is the first african-american woman to head a state society and mcarthur genius grant. >>> a private swim club accus