but not justice rehnquist. he was truly nonpartisan and non-liberal or conservative in his approach. he he wasn't the least bit result oriented in his approach to strongly supporting federalism. with respect to the other justices on the court, i don't think there was a liberal group that was controlling the court at the time per look at my own justice byron white. the only justice appointed by president kennedy, he was one of the two in row v wade and he was also at the center in miranda. finally, with respect to the supreme court confirmation process, i just brought along from statistics with me, i know that president nixon, republican nominated william rehnquist to the supreme court on october 22, 1971 when the democrats had a 54 - 44 majority four majority in the senate. he was confirmed on december 10, 1971 less 71 less than two and half months later. so it's incredible how our system has gone to the point where i fear for what will happen next. the democrats elected presidents and the republicans retain th

if justice rehnquist came on, he was ideological.what were then fair favor of? in favor of federalism. that was it. you will notice that it's a strange commitment. it's a commitment to a division of power between the federal and state government. you can call it ideological. it's respect to the outcome of particular cases. the chief justice voted for diane monson's claim to be able to use medical marijuana as authorized law. it's under his rentable commitment to federalism. not because he used as a policy but because he was committed to federalism. that is what this terrible guy, and ever since then, it only got worse. more of these judges have gotten on the bench arguing for things like the federalism or in the recent case of the obam executive action orders , separation of powers. the delegation of powers. we can't have that! that's too ideological. one of the antidotes, i think, is the thesis of my book. it's this way of talking about the problem. it's not the political outcome or the political preferences that differentiate. there are two sides of the court

all the dissents, interestingly, in the case, were and chiefpatriotism justice rehnquist included patrioticng poems, poems and songs and that was really the gist of the dissent, exception tobe an the first amendment for the but justiceg scalia, no matter his feelings weirdoes,ffy bearded he was not willing to create an exception to the first amendment. for'd like to thank you that question because i think there's something of an emerging narrative about justice scalia that, while he talked big about originalism, he decided cases according to the way he wanted them to come out and originalism was a screen. you'll find that in some public some more and also in serious academic writing and i think it's important to push back against that narrative just don't think it's right, as the cases that were indicate and i'd like to add one case to your list, of hismy favorite dissents which is hamdi versus rumsfeld where the interested party was an accused terrorist and the court held that he could be -- that he could be detained without trial subject to minimal procedural protections and justice scalia

steve colloton of iowa clerked for justice rehnquist.k for justice thomas, allison eid of colorado, who is serving on the state court there. so it is an interesting mix of people. there are men and women on this list, state and federal, with all kinds of different backgrounds but one thing in common is that they tend to be conservative and leaning toward the right in many cases on the bench. >> stand by, if you will. we also have simon rosenberg, president and founder of the new democrat network and former bill clinton campaign advisor an larry o'connor host mornings on mall on wmal on washington radio, also editor at large for hotair.com. larry, was this earlier than we thought? bret baier who of course anchors "special report" recently interviewed trump and said he would release this shortly before the convention. now we have this list. why? >> i don't know why but i think it is a smart move. it certainly steers the media narrative for the next couple of days which trump is so good at. it is also also not some crazy statement at a rall

william rehnquist was not in the minority in general. neither was warned berger and yes,er was earl warren -- a republican appointee, but a republican appointee. tawny was supported by all of these jackson democrats and pierce democrats and buchanan court.ts on the mpntrariwise, if donald j. tru is picked, and you have to understand that is a real howibility, my friends -- art sonia sotomayor and elena kagan and ruth bader ginsburg going to react? that's a new york story, too. thing that makes the judiciary powerful is a divided government because it enables the judiciary to be right-wing or left-wing and at least one of the two parties in the divided government is going to be happy with that. so, is hillary clinton in just to win and when the senate and actually when the house -- which could be in play because donald trump could lose the house of representatives for his party? that's going to be a very the likes ofld for the republicans on the court. contrariwise, it could be the case -- both are actually possibilities -- that trump win

william rehnquist was not in the minority in general. andher was warren burger neither was for a warrant yes, a republican appointee, but a liberal republican appointee. it will be a distinctive challenge. tawny was supported by all of these jackson democrats and pierce democrats and buchanan democrats on the court. contrariwise, if donald j. trump , if we the people pick him, and you have to understand that it's a real possibility, my friends, how would these new yorkers like ruth bader ginsburg and sonosite of my art and a lynn kagan -- elena kagan react to that? that is also a new york story. one thing that makes the judiciary powerful is a divided government because it enables the judiciary to be right-wing or left-wing and at least one of the two parties in the divided government is going to be happy with that. so, if hillary clinton manages to win and the senate and actually get the house, which could be in play because donald trump could lose the house of representatives for his party, that is going to be a very different world fo

bush and clerk for conservative icon chief justice william rehnquist. judge diane sykes has a long list of things conservatives want to see on the wish list. there are three female justices but all liberal and sykes could be a counterbalance, appointed by bush 43 and serves on the 7th circuit. another federal judge appointed by george w. bush, william pryor is a former alabama attorney general caught up in a democratic filibuster and was a recess appointment to the bench. his permanent appointment was part of a deal reached by the bipartisan gang of 14 in the senate in 2005. now top contenders serving on state courts include utah supreme court justice thomas lee, he clerked at the high court for justice clarence thomas, the brother of senator mike lee, they're both the sons of former solicitor general rex lee. and texas supreme court justice don willett is on the list. he worked in the bush administration, not your typical jurist. you have an entertaining twitter feed aimed at mr. trump including this one -- well, tonight, justice willett finds himself

he clerk fod for rehnquist. judge diane sykes. court watchers have felt sykes could be a counterbalance. she was appointed by bush 43 and serves on the seventh circuit where she's ruled against tough gun restrictions, another federal judge appointed by president g.w. bush serves on the 11th circuit. a former alabama attorney general, caught up in a filibuster. his permanent appoint to the bench was part of a deal reached by the bipartisan gang of 14 in the senate in 2005. top contenders serving at the state level include utah supreme court justice thomas lee, he once clerked for justice clarence thomas, the brother of senator mike lee who has been mentioned as a possible supreme court pick and they're both the sons of former solicitor rex lee. texas supreme court justice don willett is on this list, he worked in the bush administration, not your typical jurist. he's got a very entertaining triter feed, several tweets in recent months aimed at mr. trump. including this one quote donald trump haiku. who would the donald name to scot

you have former clerks of justice scalia, former clerk of justice rehnquist.are the same judicial philosophy. no one on the list that is not well qualified. the aba will rank them as well qualified. you lack at the judicial appointments. donald trump is right when he said the lasting legacy of a president is often the supreme court nomination and the supreme court justices and someone has to argue before the court i will take any of them. right now without question these are great nominees. no wonder the left is going ballistic right now. >> we were assured that chief justice roberts would be an originalist. that didn't work out well. >>. >> just had a conversation with people who closely watch the supreme court and they said this looks so good. but what about roberts. what happened with obamacare. people are worried about potential -- keep in mind roberts chief justice of the court. the pick, the selection has to be important. the next president of the united states may very well have the opportunity to really shape the court. >> you are talking about the sup

you've got justices that have served with justice scalia's as law clerks, chief thomas, chief justice rehnquiste with broad and serious credentials, have pun liblished opinions. they understand the role of a justice of the supreme court is not to make law. so i think, look, no matter what anybody thinks, the fact of the matter is, the lasting legacy of a president is often the supreme court of the united states. i think you're looking at the next -- we know we have a vacancy. there may be several others. this is a supreme court for a couple of generations. there's a lot at stake. these nominees are great. across the board. not one in there, you would not be happy to have. >> and jay, you say that as somebody who has argued a number of times before the supreme court. carrie, my understanding is donald trump did a lot of research. he checked in with the heritage foundation, checked in with the federalist society. he ran the list of names by senators and other people. this was a pretty extensive vetting process. are you happy with it? >> yeah. i think all the research really shows. he has the righ

he clerked for chief justice william rehnquist, you know, one of the conservative icons here at the court. also on this list diane sycks, she has long been on the conservatives wish list. female. conservative, served on the seventh circuit. also appointed by george w. bush, notable opinions pushing back really tough gun restriction notice chicago area. another federal judge on this list also appointed by president bush 43 william pryor who served on the 11th circuit. he has been involved in controversial things in alabama. also known because of his initial nomination to the bench by bush 43 was held up in a democratic filibuster. he was in a recess appointment to the bench. eventually part of a bipartisan bill gang of 14 in the senate. he did make it to that seat where he now serves on the federal bench. interesting there are state judges involved here from the colorado supreme court, from the utah supreme court. we have justice thomas lee. he is the brother of senator mike lee, somebody who has also been suggesting as a potential nominee to the court here. he clerked for justice clarence

it was 8-0 rather than 9-0 because rehnquist was the judge -- justice who recused himself, because of his relationship with john mitchell. thinking he was too close to it. that would result in nixon's resignation. he would lose the support of the handful of the republicans on the impeachment committee who had not voted for impeachment, it would become unanimous of the house impeachment committee to recommend at the house there would be impeachment. when senators goldwater and the other leaders of the republican party in the senate went down to advise the senate, the president of what the temperature was in the senate, goldwater said he could not find one vote for nixon, including his own if it went over to the senate. nixon resigns on the 9th, and i think when he called his staff in the next morning, as he was leaving. he got it. he understood for at least a fleeting moment, what had gone wrong. and i think this clip kind of captures it. >> it's only a beginning, always, the young must know it, the old must know it. it must always sustain us. because the greatness comes, not when thin

chief justice rehnquist told me when he clerked in the 1950's, there were horrible animosities on theourt, justices that didn't speak to each other. if you read "the brethren," he talks about how the court was in the 1970's and problems people had can collegiality so it was remarkable during his tenure on the court relations not just with justice scalia and colleagues but relations with members across the court were pretty good despite disagreements over legal issues. >> i don't have much to add to that. i disagree -- agree with it all and you've got my anecdote already and it shows the side of him that was important to see but i would add that this is another narrative that's pushed about the justice by some of his detractors, that he was mean, that he was tough, he was a bully, that he went after people in a mean way and so forth and you know like a lot of narratives, there are grains of truth in that in the sense that he was tough on arguments, not on people, but on arguments that he didn't accept and he wrote some tough things in his opinions but his ability to get along with peop

was he in the rehnquist court? guest: yes.lationships did he have with the other justices, particularly personal relationships with some of the conservative judges? guest: very warm, very cordial, but he was always aware that he came from a completely different background than any of the other justices. he was very aware that. he was very aware that's he was an african-american and the only african-american on the court. sometimes groups, small groups families, tour rest would come to the supreme court and there get on the elevator and thurgood marshall would be on the elevator, tall, black man not wearing his robe. family would turn to him and say, fifth floor, please and thurgood marshall would say with-- fifth floor, okay and he would hit the button and the later they would walk into the chambers into the court itself and they would see a black man who they thought was the elevator operator and if they would see him in his robes now. to be thurgood marshall and to not be bitter you had to have a great sense of humor. thurgo

you think about how the supreme court got along in previous decades and iterations, chief justice rehnquist told me when he clerked in the 1950s there were horrible animosities on the court. you had justices who didn't speak to each other. bob woodward's book talks about the problems. it was remarkable during his entire tenure on the court not just with justice scalia and his colleagues but relationships across the members of the court were pretty good despite the vigorous disagreements over legal issues. >> i don't have much to add to that. i agree with it all. you've got my anecdote already. i think it shows the side of him that was so important to see. but i guess the only thing i would add is that i think, again, this is another narrative that's being pushed about the justice by some of his detractors, that, you know, he was mean, that he was tough, he was a bully, that he went after people in a mean way and so forth. and, you know, like a lot of narratives, there are grains of truth in that in the sense that he was tough on arguments, not on people but on arguments that he didn't accep

was he in the rehnquist court?ost: so what kind of relationships did he have with the other justices? particularly, i mean, personal relationships with some of the conservative justices. >> guest: yeah. very warm, very cordial, but he was always aware that he came from a completely different background than any of the other justices. he was very aware of that. he was very aware that he was an african-american and the only african-american on the court when he was on the court. sometimes groups, you know, small groups, a family, tourists would come to the supreme court, and they would get on the elevator. and thurgood marshall would be on the elevator; tall, black man not wearing his robe.. and the family would turn to him and say, fifth floor, please. and thurgood marshall would say, fifth floor, okay.fl and he would hit the button. and later they would walk into the chambers, into the court itself, and they would see the black man who they thought was the elevator operator, they would see him in his robe now. to b

these are well experienced judges, many clerked for supreme court justices from william rehnquist too kennedy. the state supreme court justice they selected are also outstanding. many of them appointed by republican governors. if you look at that list it is pretty clear that it is not so much about politics, it is about experience, people who are vested in the law, who have careers in the law and made outstanding names for themselves. what i think is most interesting is denise sykes. we thought was her husband, turned out to be her ex-husband was very critical of donald. when donald was running in wisconsin he was one of the biggest critics of donald trump and donald lost wisconsin because the establishment was ganging together. i was going to say good for you, bringing in people who criticized you, that is what donald does. for people who don't know him they don't realize what he does is brings people together. in this case, that is not the case at all given the credentials all of them have, many of them have indicated an antiabortion stance. you have the left out there saying this