and i think sonia sotomayor was the best example of it. we're not going to see a mau modification of the mantra, i'm going to apply the law to the facts. that's all we're going to hear. >> all right, so tuesday, come tuesday, the vote is to take place, run us through what we might expect. >> well, you know, again, we have the entire 100 senators who are going to take their shots. it's not going to be at all as controlled as the gnat judiciary but the truth is by the end of the debate and discussion we're probably looking at 80 to 90 senators who are going to support this nomination. why? because she's prudential, she has a record. she's the only trial judge who frankly has been a nominee who will go to the supreme court that's going to be very difficult to suggest that we're going to see anything other than a confirmation. >> interesting. so avery, let's take a look at something right here. i want you to take a walk with me, if you could. help me understand what's going to happen to this panel. because as we see it now, with the current ni

we have got that in sonia sotomayor. coming back to something that chris said, i was struck by charles schumer saying that the supreme court has more flexibility. in comparing the records of judge sonia sotomayor to justice roberts or samuel alito, conservatives will argue that her off the bench comments matter so much is because she was free to say what she wanted to say. megyn: but like chairman leahy is about to get us going -- looks like chairman leahy is about to get us going. >> what we are going to do, we will have opening statements from members. as we all know, the confirmation hearing of judge sonia sotomayor, for justice of supreme court, welcome to the senate judiciary committee, you have been before us before when you were nominated by george h. w. bush for district judge, and when president clinton nominated u.s. court of appeals judge. before we begin the opening statements of the senators i do none know if there are microphones on are not, will you introduce the members of your family? >> everyone who is

would be condemned if that was a conservative cause, that was the politics of the area a. >> sonia sotomayorraduated summa cum laude and earned the highest undergraduate reward. she married her sweetheart kevin noonen and they would divorce seven years later. sotomayor says her acceptance to yale was for affirmative action because her lsat's were low. whatever the scores her intensity made an impression says former classmate and now professor steven carter. >> first in day of class you're sitting there terrified. she's waving her hands and asking some deep questions about some obscure facts in this case. quite irritated on the first day and they eventually came to like her. >> edited an article she wrote for the press tee state hood for puerto rico. >> a tricky subject she navigated well between two extreme positions to find a thoughtful and actually worka e workable. >> according to carter, sotomayor like all yale law students would have been exposed to a concept called legal realism. >> legal realism is a term used to describe an approach to the law that began in yale the first half of the

judge sonia sotomayor's records has been the opposite. glib and dismissive attitude to the rights manifest and her decisions and further demonstrated by her testimony before this committee, in sonia sotomayor's america, but the peaceful citizens who possess firearms or martial arts instruments have no rights which states about respect and those citizens are not worthy of serious explanation as to why. thank you. >> thank you, did i say your name correctly? that was good. thank you. next, we have ilya somin, assistant professor at george mason university school of law. his research focuses on constitutional law, property law and the study of popular political participation and its implications for constitutional democracy. he currently serves as co-editor of the supreme court economic review, one of the country's top rated law and economic journals. after receiving his am a in political science from harvard university and his law degree from yale law school, he clerked for judge jerry e. smith of the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth cir

i support judge sonia sotomayor. i think that the body of her work that i've heard about in the case that she is neutral concerning the law as anyone. i hope people will get away from the mass amnesia and that it will stop pretending that the history of injustice toward minorities in this country is not pertinent. certainly the experience of the judge's such as the types that brought about the dread scott decision -- no one, and certainly not judge sonia sotomayor should back away from the fact that experience and empathy, and as much as judges are not robots, that does not pertain in decision making. host: i want to show you this chart in "the wall street journal" this morning. it is all the supreme court nominees since 1975, beginning with john paul stevens through sonia sotomayor. over here, it has both the committee vote and the full senate vote listings. you can see that some of the more controversial ones include william rehnquist in 1986, a 65-33. clarence thomas, 52-48. and then john roberts, 782-22. 58-22 fo

would be condemned if that was a conservative cause, that was the politics of the area a. >> sonia sotomayorgraduated summa cum laude and earned the highest undergraduate reward. she married her sweetheart kevin noonen and they would divorce seven years later. sotomayor says her acceptance to yale was for affirmative action because her lsat's were low. whatever the scores her intensity made an impression says former classmate and now professor steven carter. >> first in day of class you're sitting there terrified. she's waving her hands and asking some deep questions about some obscure facts in this case. quite irritated on the first day and they eventually came to like her. >> edited an article she wrote for the press tee state hood for puerto rico. >> a tricky subject she navigated well between two extreme positions to find a thoughtful and actually worka e workable. >> according to carter, sotomayor like all yale law students would have been exposed to a concept called legal realism. >> legal realism is a term used to describe an approach to the law that began in yale the first half of th

supreme court sonia sotomayor confirmation hearings. >>> families of the victims killed in the crash expected to file what is believed to be the first of many lawsuits. >>> manny no more. the team decides to part ways with acta. thanks for joining us. it is monday, july 13th. kim is here and she has not a be bad forecast. it is summer so it is a little warmer but -- >> but tolerable because that humidity is m.i.a. we don't care. just keep it away. great to see you. an fyi. i'm simulcasting live from my blog on my laptop. we have a nice group of chatters including patty. yesterday we hit 90. yes, that's a little warm for us but that 90 is something we . ve not done since neju thne so, yes,the re heat and humidity we normally associate with dc sumter time weather has been m.i.a. and that's been great. annapolis 73. 70 gaithersburg. 72 manassas and quantico. here's how it looks on the satellite-radar loop. plenty of sunshine. we will keep the showers to the south across north carolina today. we can thank northeasterly winds for flexing its muscle and helping to shove the humidity to the

, the delaware senator, when joe biden left the seat, is wrapping up his questioning of judge sonia sotomayor in the last few minutes. they will be questioning and talking to judge sotomayor and they'll be talking about her background check, her fbi background check. they're going to do that because some of it has -- you know, there's security issues, so that's why they won't poe in public. but when they come back, there will be two more democrats to watch who will be questioning the judge. one is al franken. we heard sim just a couple of days ago for the very first time really as the united states senator when he gave his opening statement. and it was very interesting to hear the fact that he said he's not a lawyer. he's obviously a brand new senator, but he wants to bring the perspective of regular americans, because most americans aren't lawyers either. i can tell you just from watching al franken over the past couple of days, it's been noteworthy that he hasn't been doing much at all except watching intently. watching the judge. watching the other senators, the way they question and reall

sonia sotomayor facing big questions. in fact, some say she is offering little in return. >>> but first, new details in the killing of a prominent florida couple. police now say they are going to interview two more people shortly. investigators stress they are not suspects, but one may be tied to the crime. this comes after the arrest of an eighth suspect yesterday. police found pamela long wiggins in alabama. she is being charged as an accessory after the fact. seven men are charged in the murder of byrd and melanie billings. a safe and other item rs missing from the home. earlier, a sheriff appeared on "american morning" talking about the progress. >> we have two additional persons of interest and they are persons of interest. of the two, we think one could have a tie to the case, but again, we've got extensive interviews to conduct, both with this individual and those that had association with them. hopefully, we can conclude this quickly. we believe that this case has had so many odd twists and turns, that this may be

a television and radio entrepreneur share their personal perspective on why the nomination of sonia sotomayor -- >> latina women for many people are maids. that's why i don't like the name marina. sonia is trying to say, i'm not a made. >> are you serious? >> oh, yes, i went to law school. >> do you fight this stereotype? >> we battle it on a daily basis. you show up to court or a law firm and people thought you were the court reporter or somebody's assistant. >> but then there is that wise latina comment. >> i had a problem with folks like cnn continuing to repeat this one quote which if you read the entire speech she gave, you see the quote is completely out of context. that's one thing for political folks to take that out of context to try to attack her. >> jackie, i have to tell you, she wishes that she had not used that language. >> of course she did. >> she says, what i was trying to do fell flat. >> if you had read the entire speech, you would have seen that. cnn and everybody has the whole speech. it is a better sound bite and better to sell papers to just pigeon hole her. there was n

it was nearly five hours in to the first day of judge sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearings before s was finally sworn in. judge sonia sotomayor has spent the past three months meeting 89 senators but publicly saying nothing since her nomination was announced. that changed on monday. >> the task of a judge is not to make law. it is to apply the law. >> reporter: in a short, but empassioned opening statement, judge sonia sotomayor, whose father died while she was a child and went on to a successful legal career and judgeship laid out her resume and laid the credit for it all on the woman who raised her, her mother is a lena. >> on her own minute mother raised my. she taught us the key to success in america is a good education and she set the example. studying alongside my brother and me at our kitchen table. >> much of the first day consistented of a back and forth first jab between both sides. the public laid in to sonia sotomayor early saying they want to know about her statement that her gender and latina heritage influenced past decisions. >> i will not vote for and no senator s

. >>> and live confirmation hearings for judge sonia sotomayor. our brianna keilar is live on capitol hill right in the middle of it all to tell us about what we can expect to hear today. >>> also look at this video. two tornadoes ripped through minnesota. we'll tell you where and where that severe weather bull's-eye is headed today. >>> today we begin with breaking news out of iran. a caspian airlines jet went down 90 miles northwest of the capital of tehran. iranian television there says 168 people are dead. an area commander says the plane just disintegrated. there are no known survivors. the russian-made plane was flying from tehran to armenia. it is unknown at this time what may have caused that crash. >>> it is day three today for supreme court nominee judge sonia sotomayor. she'll face more direct questions from the senate judiciary committee this morning. yesterday she was quizzed on hot-button issues like roe versus wade and on her word choices. cnn's congressional correspondent brianna keilar joins us now live from capitol hill this morn

they have hit back fast today, wolf, in particular when she was attacked, sonia sotomayor was attacked by her comments about a wise latina woman and senator sessions suggested that the president himself and justice ginsberg disagreed with her remarks, criticized sotomayor for those remarks, the white house corrected that rapidly saying that they say that her comments were not fully and well articulated but they understand her sentiment was well intended. what i should -- the larger point here, wolf, is that the senators on the republican side are clearly laying out markers for what we're going to see for the rest of the week. this emphasis on the question of empathy serves two purposes for them. one it obviously says something about what they believe is trouble in their judicial philosophy but it also goes to remarks she made in speeches, not to her case work as a judge, and why that's relevant is because in past hearings these nominees have avoided answering questions about any decisions they have rendered saying in the future i might have to make a decision like this, and i can't com

. >> los dos republicanos de mÁs alto rango, votarÁn en contra del nombramiento de sonia sotomayor. > hinchas a celebrar la victoria de mÉxico en la final de la copa oro. >> bienvenidos a esta ediciÓn del noticiero univisiÓn, Última hora. un horrendo crimen tvythghydkph unidos. una mujer asesinÓ a su bebÉ recién nacido y comiÓ partes del niÑo. >> saliÓ herida y con la boca llena de sangre, la mujer que aparentemente asesinÓ de la maára mÁs salvaje a su bebÉ. >> h@h@tvythgntkph@h@tvythgcílp mirando a su hijo, y luego apuÑalÓ varias veces al hijo. mordiÓ sus deditos y los comió. >>abÍa cortado varias partes de su cuerpo con un cuchillo. >> cuando lo apuÑalÓ, lo abrió y estaba comiendo sus intestinos. >> la mujer dijo que escuchÓ voces, que el diablo laÍa llevado a hacer eso. >> ella se apuÑalÓ en el pecho, y tambiÉn se quiso cortar la cabeza. >> la mujer sufrÍa de depresiÓn postparto o problemas mentales. Ésa entraba y salÍa constantemente de centros psiquiÁtricos, la hermana porque llamÓ a 911. los vecinos se mostraron sorprendidos. >> tiene que estar demente o desquiciada. >> serÁ ev

some republicans argued that the reversal shows that sonia sotomayor is bias in cases. despite that, she appears to have enough support to be confirmed. >>> if she is confirm, sonia sotomayor will become the first hispanic woman to serve on the supreme court. >>> inball county, police say a shootout broke out during a drug exchange in essex. two men showed up to do a drug deal and began shooting at each other. one is in stable condition and charges are pending. >>> when maryland delivers the worst disasters will master's degree -- maryland be ready? live with details on who can join up and what to do in the event of a disaster. >> reporter: to answer the question, anyone who can lend a helping hand if it's flash flooding or a major flu pandemic pandemic. they started looking for better ways after katrina. >> to make sure that they're line up and ready to go in the event of an emergency or disaster. >> reporter: some of the people met in baltimore where the governor announced the formation of a civic guard. he's not asking for volunteers to rush into burn buildings but h

sonia sotomayor.e'll look back at her childhood in new york's housing projects and how it helped prepare her for the big day. >>> meantime, president obama is back moem in washington this morning. before he left ghana over the weekend, he sat down for an exclusive interview with anderson cooper. >> he talked about the tour of the cape coast castle where african-americans were held before being sold into slavery. >> reporter: the president and his family arrived in ghana on friday. on saturday they came here to cape coast castle, ace place where enslaved africans were once held before being shipped off to the new world and shipped off to america. i had a chance to tour the castle with the president. first, we sat down and talked about the news of the day. vice president biden said you misread the economy. you said, no, no, no, we had incomplete information. nevertheless you said you would not have done anything differently. how? that seems contradictory. if you had known unemployment was going to go to

>>> hearings are continuing for sonia sotomayor. right now, we'll get right back to them, but i want to check important news that is unfolding. cnn's tony harris is standing by with a news update. the world isn't stopping, tony, just because these historic hearings are under way. >> you said it, wolf. good to see you. let's get to uth stories making news. house democrats plan to release a plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. speaker nancy pelosi expects a vote by the august recess and more changes in the bill are due to likely differences. the plan could cost about $1 trillion over ten years with much of the money spent on people who cannot afford care. >>> new signals on the economy, retail sales are up, so are wholesale prices. the commerce department says last month sales rose 0.6% better than economists expected and a surge in gasoline prices credited for the gains and the government says prices at the whole sale level before goods reached store shelves in june. wholesale prices rose just 0.2% in may. a fourth suspe

de four of the confirmation hearings for judge sonia sotomayor.i will have more coming up. >>> take a look at last night's winning lottery numbers. we hope you had them. >>> the morning, everybody. welcome back to 11 news today. >> thank you for joining us. we have a look at today's forecast. >>> the heat is on. the nights cool days -- a nice cold days are a thing of the past. 74 degrees downtown. 71 degrees at the airport. we were 59 degrees at this point yesterday. there are chances for isolated storms later today. >>> our big story this morning, baltimore county police say there may be an eye witness to the deadly incident on the light will track the claimed the lives of two teenagers. >> our reporter has more on this story. >> good morning. they are looking for a witness that was on board of the train when it hit the two teenagers. the one to talk to the man because of where he was sitting on the train. they are hoping these images from a video surveillance camera will help them find who they are looking for. it was taken on the train that kil

. >>> let the attacks begin, supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor will be in the hot seat today as questioning begins in her confirmation hearing. metro hearing. the head of metro transit goes before congress to testify about the deadly rail accident. >>> and contract controversy, dc council members open a probe in to the actions of one of their own. good morning, everyone. i'm andrea roane. thanks for joining us. today is july 14th. it is bass teal day. kim martucci is here. she has weather. that is still good. we are very happy about this. >> don't shortchange it. it is fantastic. oh, my. in the middle of july, dew points in the 40s is unusual but that's what we have and happy to report the humidity, like the last couple of days will be low. let's get moving. i hahe tve forecast ready tto go. lo albout this fr omco ni beach. th sh otthat is aubeful. this is from one of our weather watchers mark washburn. thank you, mark. check out the pollen. i have been sneezing and i think i figured it out, it is the grass. it is in the auraatmodey.teor g c snyoe areewinge e mthyou m might be allergic to g

senators are wrapping up their questioning of judge sonia sotomayor. the woman that president obama has selected to serve on the supreme court. once the senators have finished questioning the judge, they will then hear from witnesses invited by both political parties who will give their views on whether or not she should be confirmed to the high court. among those witnesses the firefighters who are at the center of a controversial case of discrimination. joel brown reports now from captiol hill. >> supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor returned to the hot seat for the fourth day in a row. so far she's avoided any major mistakes, but republicans kept trying to knock her off of they are script during the second round of questioning. >> is there any personal judgment to be relied upon by a supreme court justice in deciding whether or not the second amendment is a fundamental right. >> you hire judges for their judgment not their personal views or what their sense of what the outcome should be. >> reporter: democrats use the session to support her. >> it i

>> segundo dÍa de audiencias para la confirmaciÓn de sonia sotomayor hoy negÓ cualquier prejuicio racialace estar mÁs cerca la reforma al sistema de salud. las reformas tratando de encontrar salidas para cubrir el enorme costo. 12 defensores de la justicia en mÉxico se convirtieron en vÍctimas de la guerra con los cÁrteles de la droga. el dermatÓlogo del rey del pop tuvo que morar a los investigadores datos personales del artista. >> bienvenidos a esta ediciÓn. en el segundo dÍa de audiencias para la confirmaciÓn de la jueza sonia sotomayor el debate sea calor como. comentarios vertidos hace ocho aÑos cuando dijo que una latinas habÍa llegaría a mejores conclusiones que un hombre blanco, aparecieron como un fantasma hace charla. [ mÚsica ] >> la jueza sonia sotomayor defendiÓ la imparcialidad de sus fallos en la primera ronda de preguntas en su audiencia de confirmaciÓn sobre su cita de que una mujer latina con sabidurÍa llegaría a una mejor conclusiÓn de un hombre blanco. >> "no creo que ningÚn grupo racial o de riesgo tiene una ventaja al remitir con juicioso bro. cada persona tiene ig

. >>> question time for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor.e republicans want answers about what she has said in the past. >>> and there it goes. baseball's biggest bats swing away in st. louis, ahead of baseball's biggest bats swing away in st. louis, ahead of tonight's all-star game. captions paid for by abc, inc. >>> we are following a developing story this morning. southwest airlines has been busy inspecting nearly 200 of its 737ed. they're trying to figure out why a football-sized hole broke up on one of the planes in mid flight. >> the passengers onboard the flight from nashville to baltimore, were remarkably calm, even though they could see the sky through the cabin. the southwest flight was about 30 minutes outside of nashville when passengers said they heard a loud pop. the 373 was flying at about 35 feet when the hole broke open. it caused the cabin to depressurize. and masks dropped from the ceiling. the 126 passengers and 5 crew members kept their cool for another 20 minutes before making an emergency landing at the parpt in charle

>> the fact is, we have been -- have seen, or at least have portrayed two different sonia sotomayors. there's one, the sotomayor, the judge who you see in her rulings, and that's what the democrats have emphasized, based on precedent, fairly moderate, and then there's a different judge, the republicans would say, that you would see in her speeches. and what they're saying is that it may be just as relevant to look at those speeches, because as an appellate court judge, she's been constrained in applying what may be her own personal philosophy, but in the supreme court, she would be less constrained. that's the relevance, at least, of bringing it up. but it really is interesting that you have one side emphasizing the case law and another emphasizing everything she said outside of the -- >> you've got to take the woman in whole. and the woman in whole is a tremendous advocate of racial and ethnic preferences to create a certain measure of equity in society and diversity in society. every decision that comes down that way -- >> where do you see that, pat? >> i see it -- well, frankly, sh

think back to when sonia sotomayor was nominated by the president. republicans said we can't possibly do this before august recess. there's no way there can be a vote. and the white house said there will be a vote. we are sticking to this. they will never have enough time or as much time as they would like. the white house knows that august recess is a potentially dangerous time if health care reform is still flailing out there, nothing is done, you have statements like from the cbo director that republicans can use to politically beat up democrats. they know that that's a dangerous political time. that's why they want to get this done before. it's why you saw the president come out today. it's why, my guess, you will see him focus heavily in his opening statement on wednesday on health care. >> they're always very worried about that long august recess when members go home and they can hear a lot of negative things from their constituents about what they've been up to lately. let's listen to more of what the president had to say today. >> i realize t

chris, you heard sonia sotomayor's opening statement. she did not address many of the issues, although she talked about the broad judicial philosophy. >> you asked me this before, and now having heard her statement, she was smart not to. this is the first time that most americans have heard her. she did not want to come off as unduly offensive with all that stuff about wise latina and gun- control, likely to come up tomorrow. she and her advisers must think that in the context of a lot of issues that will,, let's introduce ourselves to the -- will come up, let's introduce ourselves to the american people today. she skillfully wove in her, her mother, her brother, all rising together. she talked about her job as an assistant district attorney and the suffering of victims families. real-world experience. she talked about sharing ideas with her wonderful colleagues in working together. there has been criticism that she does not have a judicial temperament, that she is a bear on the bench. most important was the part at the end. it struck me

let's move on to what's happening in washington. >>> from the moment sonia sotomayor entered the hearing room, you could tell it wasn't your typical supreme court confirmation showdown. sure, there was the usual ideological food fight between republicans and democrats, but no one seemed to forget that sotomayor is on the brink of becoming the first hispanic on the high court, and many of the most intense exchanges focused in on race and gender. let's begin our coverage with our national political correspondent jessica yellin. an historic day today and more to come tomorrow, jessica. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. and today's hearing was a careful dance for sotomayor's critics. a number of republican senators said, look, they'd have no problem voting to put an hispanic woman on the supreme court. they just have concerns about this nominee. to anyone who worries she'll make law from the bench, judge sonia sotomayor says think again. >> many senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. simple. fidelity to the law. the task of a judge is not to make law. it is to apply the law. >>

judge sonia sotomayor is tackling questions about her experience and how she would rule from the high court's bench during day two of her confirmation hearings. >> reporter: supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor wants the record to be clear. if she's confirmed to serve on the high court her personal feelings won't decide cases. >> the process of judging is a process of keeping an open mind. >> reporter: it is day two of sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearings. she will field questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. republicans are focusing on what they see as her biases but the top democrat gave her an opportunity to go on the offensive. >> you have heard all of these charges and countercharges the wise latina and on and on. here's your chance. you tell us what's going on here, judge. >> i do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. i do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge. >> reporter: democrats hold a large majority in the senate. so barring any major slipups sonia sotomayor's path t

judge sonia sotomayor called it a business as usual and simple negotiation.it is no negotiation when one party possesses the power through the city to take your property whether you agree or not. in a two page opinion, judge sonia sotomayor's court rejected a landowner's claim, holding the courtroom doors were closed because he brought his claim too late. the logic was of the landowner had to bring it to the extortion -- before the extortion occurred, the result was to violate the constitution, plainly states property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. the supreme court has been clear that you cannot take private property except for public use. prof. ileus allman who has talked about are the matters, said this case was the most anti property rights case since the infamous kelo decision which was decided by 5-4 court a few years ago. claim constitutional projections by an individual american citizen who is standing up for his constitutional rights. in three cases contrary to the plain text of the constitution, judge sotomayor ruled ag

judge sonia sotomayor is on the hot seat today. the second day of her confirmation hearings, the supreme court nominee is likely to face tough questions from republican senators concerned about her sbargsity. >>> and two more american marines were killed in afghanistan. they died yesterday, part of that major offensive in southern afghanistan to try to get rid of the taliban. >>> there are growing congressional demands for an investigation into a secret cia operation to capture or kill al qaeda leaders. the plan was kept from congress, apparently on orders from then vice president dick cheney. nancy cordes reports. >> reporter: the cia never briefed congress on a sensitive counterterrorism plan because former vice president dick cheney told the cia not to. that's what democrats say cia director leon panetta told them when he met with intelligence committee members last month right after he laerpd aboearnede program and killed it. >> you can't have a president or vice president or senator that don't follow the law. >> reporter: chen

judge sonia sotomayor fielded questions about her stand on the abortion rights case roe v. wade. she stopped sort of calling abortion sethleed law. >>> health care reform will get top billing as the president and congress and many try to lobby to put their stamp on the health insurance system. house democrats unveiled sweeping legislation on tuesday. president obama wants the house and senate to vote on health reform bills before the august recess. >>> the color-coded system designed to assess the risk of a terrorist attack could be fading away. homeland security secretary janet napolitano announced the 60-day review of the five tier system. she says she wants to be sure it is the most effective alert system for the nation. the current system uses green to signal a low danger of an attack and red is severe danger of an attack. right now it is at code yellow for elevated. >>> the only person to stand trial for the september 11th terrorist attacks will get another shot to make his case in the appeals court. the court of appeals ordered new arguments in the case after one of the jud

i think the chairman is beginning to speak. >> the nomination of sonia sotomayor, the justice of the ed states supreme court, judge sotomayor, welcome to the senate judiciary committee. you've been before us twice before when george bush nominated you and then when president clinton nominated you as a court of appeals judge. before we begin the opening statements of the senators, i know you have family members here. i don't know if your microphone is on or not, but would you please introduce the members of your family? >> if i introduced everybody that's family, we'd be here all morning. >> okay. what i'm going to do -- because some day this will be in the archives transcript, introduce whomever you like and then we will hold the transcript open for you to add any other names that you want. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will limit myself to just my immediate family. sitting behind me is my brother, juan sotomayor, next to him is my mom, celina sotomayor, next to her is my favorite husband of my mom, omar lopez, next to him is my niece, kiley sotomayor, and next to her is my sister-in-

supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor has won the approval of the senate judiciary committee by a vote of 13-6. nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams, joins me now from washington. pete, no real surprise there is, except for the fact that only one republican joined her. >> right, we thought orrin hatch might, but he announced late last week that he would vote against her, largely because we think of her position on -- or his concern about her position on abortion and gun rights. but lindsey graham was the only republican who voted for and his comments were quite interesting, andrea, because he said that he was convinced that her statements and her decisions did not indicate that she decided cases with a personal bias in mind. that was the theme of most of the republicans who said they'd vote against her. and then she said, if she will inspire young women, particularly young latina women, that would be a good thing. america has changed for the better with her nomination. >> you know, you mentioned that he mentioned the latina issue. the republicans are really challenged. at this ho

cbs news, the supreme court. >> each senator has 20 minutes to question judge sonia sotomayor but committee chairman patrick leahy has advised his colleagues against using the full time. >>> harry potter fans lined up to be the first to see the latest movie on the big screen. the latest offering, "harry potter and the half blood prince "is a hit with young and old fans of author j.k. rowling. the film opened at midnight in theaters across the country. >>> you can improve the way you feel with just a few key strokes. we will find out more about that later. >>> but ahead, do those teeth whitening kits really work. lesli foster has the answer. >>> and plus, the story of a man and big bank error and we mean big, 23 quad drillen dollars. that's big. stay with us. 9 news at noon continues in just a moment. >>> if your pearly whites aren't flashy these days but do the at-home kits really work. we see whether you are buy a brighter smile over the counter. >> 25. >> twice a day. >> this is one that we are familiar with. >> three days i'm supposed to have a better smile. >> reporter: three wusa staff

sonia sotomayor is returning to capitol hill for day three of these hearings. she's explained her words of the past, so senators can get a better idea of how she may judge in the future. two words kept coming up through nearly seven hours of questioning for judge sonia sotomayor. the words were wise latina. >> no words have i ever spoken or written, have received so much attention. >> reporter: her 2001 statement that a wise latina, would reach a better conclusion than a white male, was meant to be inspirational. but failed. >> you do believe that the backgrounds will affect the result in cases. >> at no point in time have i ever permitted my personal views or sympathies to influence an outcome of a case. >> reporter: sotomayor avoided sharing her views on many issues. on abortion, she says the supreme court has set a precedent on the right to privacy. on gun rights, she would not get specific. >> like you, i understand that how important the right to bear arms is to many, many americans. >> reporter: republican lindsey graham read anonymous critical evaluation

judge sonia sotomayor has had her day before the senate.n bay buchanan, republican strategist and president of the american cause and back with me is angela bert-murray. bay, i want to turn to you. did republicans score any points or was that unrealistic to begin with? they only have 40 votes in the senate and the best they could do was not let her have a free pass? >> the key here, carlos, is we always knew she would be confirmed. we don't have the numbers as you pointed out. but that we needed to raise some important issues so we could establish what does obama and his democratic friends stand for? and we did that through sotomayor. they clearly stand for race-based justice for affirmative action. her whole life was dedicated to demanding special privileges and special preferences based on jex sex and gender. we established that. by doing so, we let people know we don't stand for that. we are against that. we know that is harmful for white americans and we believe equal justice under the law for all and i think we scored quite a bit on th

sonia sotomayor's years as a corporate litigator exposed her to all facets of commercial law, including a real-estate, employment, contracts, an agency law. judge sotomayor was appointed to the u.s. district court by president george herbert walker bush, presiding over 450 cases and turning a reputation as a tough, fair minded, and thoughtful jurist. she would replace justice souter as the only member on the supreme court with trial experience. participated in over 3000 decisions, offering 400 published opinions, with only seven being brought up to the supreme court, reversing only three of them, two of which were closely divided. the confirmation brings more federal judicial experience than any justice in 100 years, more than any judicial experience in 70 years. as a testament, many independent, national, in legal law enforcement groups have already endorsed her nomination, including the aba, giving her the highest rating of well qualified formidable intellect and record of deciding cases based on the facts and legal issues before her, also -- also faithful in following the law in that

. >>> now to some of the op-ed pieces from "the new york times." >> this first one deals with sonia sotomayor cautious in responding this week. maureen dowd writes a writes a wise latina woman would more often than not know that the gaggle of white republican men afraid of extinction are out to trip her up. i think that's why she didn't go there on abortion, wise latina. >> these hearings were a lot about gender and ethnicity. not only because she made it an issue, but because of the make-up of the senate. that room, on the republican side, there are no women. there are two women on the democratic side and none of the committee any minorities. >> and they don't like the suggestions, that empathy rather than the so-called reality of the law. she kept saying over and over, no, no, my life experiences aren't going to shape what i do. >> and some thought that when lindsey graham used the word meltdown, that's referred to women and toddlers, except that sanford had a meltdown. interesting choice of words. the other interesting column -- what's up with the banks and the rest of the financial indust

>>> also, what have the sonia sotomayor's hearings tot us about her nomination. is it proof that affirmative action works or that it unfairly discriminates against white men? >>> and if you need proof that 60 detectives in the senate guarantees nothing, look no further than the top priority, the employee choice act. why 60 doesn't always equal 60 in the united states senate? >>> plus, the latest tweaks from sarah palin. we begin tonight with the battle over health care reform. kelly o'connell is joining us from capitol hill. also with us is washingtonpost.com's chris zolana. let's listen to what president obama had to say this afternoon. >> now we have to get over the finish line and part of this process is figuring out how to pay for it. i have said that health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade, and i mean it. >> now, it seems to me that this was a direct response to what ceo director douglas elvandorf had to say while testifies on thursday. we'll listen to that. >> we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessa

the importance of sonia sotomayor's professional and personal story cannot be understated. of our most esteemed justices have noted the importance of their own diverse backgrounds and life experiences in being an effective justice. like judge sotomayor, they also understand that their gender or ethnicity is not a determining factor in their judicial ruling, but another asset which they bring to the court, much like education, training and previous legal work. justice anthony scalia said quote, i am the product of the melting pot in new york, grew up with people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds. i have absolutely no racial prejudices and i think i am probably at least as antagonistic as the average american and probably much more so towards racial discrimination. justice clarence thomas said my journey has been one that required me to at some point touch on virtually every aspect, every level of our country, from people who couldn't read and write to people who were extremely literate. >> senator, senator, we are going to have to put your full statement in the record

you are watching 9 news now. >>> today confirmation hearings for sonia sotomayor get underway. welcome back to 9 news. i'm andrea roane. thanks for joining us this morning. traffic producer kris will have the rush hour report in just a moment but we begin with kim's forecast are you all moved and everything. >> for the most part all of my belongings were proved without too many rain drops. if you follow me on twitter you know we are working on a high of 88 today. just one of e thinside rk s. look outside. here's a check on the numbers r etty comfortable here. i like the idea of 61 in gaithersburg and martinsburg and culpeper 64. so pretty decent sleeping weather. scattered clouds this morning. no rain drops with them. building in sunshine in to the afternoon. a seasonal 88. cooler tomorrow and hot on wednesday, 90. angie is off and traffic kris has her back. >> good morning, kim. we have our first incident of the morning. it is in laurel, maryland at laurel bowie road and montpelier drive. report of an accident. we will give you details as they come in. to our cameras and check

. >>> confirmation hearings are into a fourth day for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. lawmakers continue to press on the issues, but so far, the judge is not showing her hand. nikole killion has more from washington. >>> today senate it judiciary members finish up their questioning. after that, it is on to the last part, witnesses. after days in the hot seat, from her wise latina comment -- >> it was a bad choice of words. >> to abortion rights. >> i cannot answer that question. >> jet sonia sotomayor turns to listening mode. 30 would assist a have been called to talk -- 30 witnesses have been called to testify about sonia sotomayor. listening to what are her said, two key witnesses, firefighters from the connecticut case where the supreme court overturned a decision that some of your -- that sonia sotomayor had participated in a ruling. new york city mayor michael bloomberg will be one of the witnesses. was the confirmation hearings end, lawmakers are hoping to hold the vote on her nomination by early august. in washington, i am nikole killion. back to you. >>> genera

sonia sotomayor is the first hispanic nominated to the supreme court.at has her nomination told us about where the country stands on affirmative action? former senator john danforth represented the state of missouri for 18 years serving on the senate finance committee. he also guided justice clarence thomas through the nomination process. senator danforth is currently a partner at the law firm bryan cave. senator danforth, there was a discussion this week about affirmative action in america. there certainly was back during the clarence thomas nomination. what similarities and what differences do you see between the clarence thomas week of discussion about that and this week's? >> every case is different. i think the point is that never again is the supreme court going to be made up exclusively of white males. that's just not going to happen. any president is going to be looking for diversity on the court. any president is going to be considering women, african-americans, hispanics on the court, and maybe others as well. that doesn't mean a reduction in

we are told president obama gave sonia sotomayor a good luck call. the president expressed his confidence that judge sotomayor would be confirmed to serve as a justice on the supreme court for many years to come. democrats have the votes to confirm sonia sotomayor but she will face some tough questions in this week's hearing. >> thank you mr. president. >> reporter: a journey that began at the white house heads to capitol hill for nominee of sonia sotomayor. >> i hope the senate and the american people learn more about me. they will see i am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. >> reporter: senate democrats who have the votes to confirm sotomayor are expected to highlight her personal story to win favor. growing up poor in bronx public housing then going on to an ivy league education and now possibly the first latina supreme court justice. a smart approach for sotomayor as well says ken duberstein. >> your personal life and values and impartiality. >> reporter: conservatives have a difficult task a

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today confirmation hearings for sonia sotomayor get underway. good mo

. >> preparing for sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearings. what are supporters and detractors saying ahead of the big event next week. >> it is the obligation of the bishop to say no. >> protesting a abortion, and sonia sotomayor. why some say a state senator's vote on the nomination should keep her from receiving communion. >> one day i was home and decided if you want to do it. >> tennessee mantra travels across sev >> opening statements scheduled monday for the confirmation hearing of sonia sotomayor. fox's jennifer davis is in washington with a closer look at how the nominee and her critics are getting ready for the big event. >> sonia sotomayor he could soon be the first hispanic on the high court. first she has to make it through the confirmation hearings, begin monday. and behind the scene preps are in high gear. >> you want her worst day to be in preparation not with the camera are on, and she is sitting in front of the real-life senate. >> democrats say they are expecting a swift and smooth confirmation for a woman that earned the hi

we want to know what you think about sonia sotomayor's hearings. go to our blog. and you can watch judge sotomayor's live hearings live on questioning day here on cnn. it begins at 9:30 eastern on cnn and cnn.com. >>> major scare at 30,000 feet. southwest airlines flight headed from baltimore to national. had to make an emergency landing after the cabin lost pressure? why? because of a football-sized hole in the fuselage appeared. still don't know what caused it. passengers say they could look through it and see the sky. no one was hurt. and, again, they don't know exactly what caused it. but, all 181 of southwest's 737s were inspected overnight. >>> good news/bad news. fewer americans are driving drunk. in a survey conduct in 2007, just 2.2% had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit compared to 7.5% when the first survey was taken back in 1973. but the survey did find one in six drivers randomly pulled over on weekend nights did test positive for drugs. >>> nasa is going to try once again to launch "endeavour". this is the fifth time the mission had to be de