go back in your head, kagan, sotomayor con la roberts, alito, breyer, ginsburg, thomas -- all of them. i think we are getting a pretty much what we expect from these justices. but i think it is worth thinking about that what we see is what we get, and presidents, to an extent we journalists do not fully acknowledge, presidents tell the truth about what they want in supreme court justices. president george w. bush said he wants to appoint justices in the mold of scalia and thomas. obama spoke of his admiration for justices ginsburg and breyer, and come next november -- i do not think there will be in need between now and then -- but we should listen to what the presidential candidates say, and that is likely what we will get in our next supreme court. with that, i look forward to taking precautions and answering them. [laughter] estion?ot a qu [unintelligible] that is a great question. could you repeat it so it goes into the microphone? >> sure. with respect to justice souter, when he left the court it marked the first time in modern american history where the court did not have a memb

. >> another dimension, it has been called to mind in this question that justice sotomayor was cross-examined in a rather aggressive way concerning her statement that a woman, i think she went on to say hispanic woman -- >> wise latina. >> you are running way ahead of me. could understand a lot of things much better than people, certainly such as i, and perhaps even you. so we are talking both about, so to speak on ethnic and cultural background and gender. they are affecting the way people understand what justice is. >> well, she -- i thought she answered the question pretty well. she got confirmed. the fact is that at the same time, the justice alito understands some of those cultural issues. it is interesting. the supreme court of the united states today has no protestants on the supreme court. isn't that interesting? we basically have catholics and jews. >> i have been very worried about that, i will tell you. [laughter] >> i mentioned it because i thought it was keeping you up at night. the fact is that i have no doubts that they each will do what they said in their nomination, which is

very important milestone in the country, 1981, the first woman on the court. 2009, sonia sotomayor, the first hispanic justice. as an overlay to that you have the evolution of six catholics and three jews. i actually think that is not very important and very significant. because john roberts and samuel alito were not appointed by president bush because they are catholic, but they were appointed because they're conservative. the real divisions in the country now are ideological more than religious, or racial. president obama didn't the point sonia sotomayor patricia's catholic and elena kagan because she's jewish. he appointed them because ideologically they were in line with them. but i think it's actually one of the good things about american society that religious differences have faded to the point where the fact there are no protestants on the supreme court is, so what? and that's really sort of my reaction is so what. >> state courts are grappling with cameras in the courtroom, and we note from kathie that there's not likely to be cameras in the supreme court anytime -- >> the famo

kagan, sotomayor, robert, alito, breyer, ginsburg, thomas, all of them exactly as expected. i don't say that as a bad thing, i think it's a good thing. presidents should know what we are getting. i think we are getting pretty much what we expect from these justices. but i think it is -- it is worth thinking about that what we see is what we get. and presidents to an extent that i think we journalist don't fully acknowledge, presidents tell the truth about what they want in supreme court justices. president george w. bush said i want to nominate in the mold of scalia. obama spoke in favor of justice ginsburg and breyer. i think he did appoint justices like that. come next november -- i don't think there are going to be any appointments between now and then, listen to what the presidential candidates say, that's likely what we'll get in the next supreme court. with that, i look forward to taking your questions, and answers them. [laughter] who's got a question. yes? [inaudible question] >> you know what, that's a great question. could you repeat it so it goes into the micropho

when he introduced sonia sotomayor to be his nominee for the supreme court, in introducing her, he saidect people who would interpret the law, not make the law. that's one of the talking points for the right wing. the president didn't need to say that. everybody knows or should know that judicial figures, especially supreme court justices, are essentially policymakers. everybody knows that. and he should have, you know, not essentially thrown that ideological, that rhetorical bone, to the right. he seems to have a tendency to do that. >> i want to play, we've got a sound bite from congresswoman maxine waters who is talking about the fact that blacks and other minorities have borne the brunt of this great recession. i want to play it for you and get your reaction. >> our people are hurting. the unemployment is unconscionab unconscionable. we don't know what the strategy is. we don't know why on this trip he's not in the black communities. we don't know that. >> what do you make of representative waters and what he's voicing as a concern for at least in some parts black america. >> couple

my good friend and colleague justice sotomayor had talked about this. she had been a judge for very long but she said the experience of judging on the supreme court was different because all the cases were so much harder. they don't get to the supreme court unless they are very difficult and you don't have any kind of backstopped. . the decision you make as the final decision and that increases the sense of responsibility and pressure. even when you come from a circuit court, there are real differences in the experience of being a justice that a number of my colleagues have talked about. because i had never been a judge, there were some things i had to figure out that other colleagues have already figured out. that was certainly true of what i will call the mechanics of the job. people have a very different styles in this respect and they had figured out what to do. there is the question of how you deal with your clerks and what do you ask them to do and what functions your clerks perform. how do you write opinions? do you read the first draft or did yo

president obama did not appoint sotomayor because she is catholic. ideologically she was in line with him. i think it is actually one of the good things about american society their religious differences have faded to the point where there are no promises on the supreme court, that is so what. and that is my reaction, so what. >> a lot of state courts are grappling with cameras in the courtroom. we know from kathy that there is not likely to be cameras in the supreme court any time soon. >> justice souter said over his dead body in a famous phrase. >> what would help the public's perception, is it a good thing that they do not have them? >> i think it is absurd and ridiculous that there are no cameras in the supreme court. and you can tell how much my opinion matters in that debate. i think there are reasonable arguments to be made -- i am not persuaded by them -- but reasonable arguments that in trial courts for u.s. civilian witnesses and jurors, that cameras could have some effect. but in appellate courts, where you are dealing with professional l

i think the sonia sotomayor will be as liberal as any justice on the court. i don't think we know enough about elena kagan's philosophy to know where she will be on the ideological continuum. we know less about her ideology that any nominee to the supreme court since sandra day o'connor in 11. every appointee had been a federal court of appeals judge for some time ana judge for a long time. kagan had never been a judge on any court before going to the supreme court. that is not disqualifying. many judges brothroughout history had ever been a judge on any court -- brandeis, warren, rehnquist -- but the fact that she had never been a judge means that we don't have access to her prior opinions in judicial philosophy great shot dead five major law review articles, and none of them -- she authored five major law review articles, and none of them said anything but to delet -- none of them said anything particularly controversial. as a result, i don't think we can know where she will be on the ideological continuum. to answer you >> you can watch all this program on

fairing.- the way it works is that justice sotomayor and i sit on the far right of the bench.tice ginsburg sits near the middle. justice o'connor said, "i was hearing women's voices coming from all over," that was a remarkable thing to her. i am sure she remembers those days when she was the only one. i think it is kind of great that has happened. i think -- i am glad to be part of it. >> i think that is a great way to end. we would like to thank you very much. [laughter] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> up next, general james mattis discusses the situation in iraq and afghanistan. after that, google executive chairman eric schmidt talks about google tv. then microsoft founder bill gates talks about the work of the bill and melinda gates foundation. tomorrow on "washington journal ," the former deputy director to the nato secretary general has the latest on libya and nato's role in the area. michelle bernard, ceo of the bernard's center for women's politics and public policy, a former maryland c

bill: you need to keep up the quality of doctor in america sotomayor can patient is taken care of. >>hat's not going to happen. we pay doctors less. bill: check out your article at foxnews.com. alisyn: there are reports -- the tea party force the hands some lawmakers. that earned them a jab from the white house. the vice president apparently come pairing them to terrorists. >> it's deeply disturbing to hear the vice president refer to tea party as terrorists within holding th -- holding a gun toed head and force us to make shuts. clearly they are not rinsing to what americans are saying. alisyn: how influential is the tea party in the continuing debt debate. bill: what happened to 11-year-old celina cass and why has they are stepfather been institutionalized. a criminal profiler looks at what we know so far in her case. really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active

my good friend and colleague, justice sotomayor, said this she had been a judge for an empty number of years. but the expense of the supreme court was different because all the cases were so much harder. and you do not have any kind of backstops. the decision you make is a final decision. that increases the sense of responsibility and the pressure. even when you come from a circuit court, there are real differences in the experience of being a justice that my number -- that a number of my colleagues have talked about. but because i had never been a judge before, there were some things i had to figure out that my other colleagues have already figured out. that was certainly true of what i call the mechanics of the job. my colleagues had been judges before. they knew things like when it was most valuable to them to read the brief. do you read them three weeks ahead of the argument or one week ahead of the argument? or the prior day? and people have very different styles in this respect. they have figured out what to do. the question of how you deal with your clerks, what do you last year

.- the way it works is that justice sotomayor and i sit on the far right of the bench. justice ginsburg sits near the middle. justice o'connor said, "i was hearing women's voices coming from all over," that was a remarkable thing to her. i am sure she remembers those days when she was the only one. i think it is kind of great that has happened. i think -- i am glad to be part of it. >> i think that is a great way to end. we would like to thank you very much. [laughter] [captioning performed by national captionininstitute] [ctions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> coming up next, an update on iraq and afghanistan with general mattis, commander of the u.s. central command. after that google executive chairman eric schmidt and on launch of google tv. then bill gates talks about the work of the bill and melinda gates foundation. i. "newsmakers", we will talk with emmanuel cleaver about the black caucus's view of federal spending and the debt and the cbc's relationship with president obama. "newsmakers" is on 10:00 a.m. on c-span. >> on sunday, a female will