i'm angry, mad that chief justice john roberts. but you hear people all across the front of the supreme court steps, for and against, and that's what our democracy is all about. i'm very thankful. i thank god for that. nobody's killing one another over this. but, you know, again, i think we're going to make -- make out of lemons, the shock in the decision, particularly in regard to saying that this is okay, because it's a tax. well, how about the anti-injunction act in regard to that. and whether or not this case is right. and the other thing, in regard to -- think about this. justice roberts said that in regard to the medicaid expansion, the states now not forced to accept the expansion and lose all of the medicaid participation. so a lot of those, a lot of those patients which the obama administration thought would go into medicaid, rather than the exchanges, with all the federal subsidies, think about what that's going to cost the taxpayer is all those patients several billion across the country will end up in the exchanges rath

robert gibbs is coming out finally. i think the bottom line is there's going to be a lot of questions obviously about exactly what the house knew b, when they knew it. but also the question of race. it was just about a year ago this summer when the president kind of slipped up in that news conference when he was asked about the arrest of henry louis gates in came bridge, massachusetts, and he made some comments that he pulled back on. and it ended up leading to that beer summit with the police officer involved, gates and the president. suzanne malveaux spoke earlier to a white house aide who said, there's no plans for a beer summit one year later this time involving shirley sherrod or anything like that. but you have to wonder about the fact that race has obviously been a difficult issue for this white house to deal with. >> we'll let you take care of that. on our side, the president doesn't have to have a meeting with shirley sherrod. she's right here with me in the studio. she'll be watching the press conference. she'

of a surprise considering roberts' history and reputation. a conservative justice, he was nominated to the court by president george w. bush in 2005, confirmed by the u.s. senate, but then democratic senator barack obama voted against that nomination. but when it came to obama's signature legislation, chief justice roberts sided with the majority. those regarded as the court's four liberal justices, yes, roberts agreed with his fellow conservative justices, including kennedy, that under the commerce clause, the individual mandate would be unconstitutional. but he argued that it was constitutional and justified as a tax and ultimately it was the roberts' court, roberts' swing vote, that handed a democratic president his landmark victory. >> earlier today -- >> so you go to your doctor, your sent in for a test, your insurance pays. but then you find out if you had paid in cash, it could have cost you much less. wait until you hear this. te cer? oh, you're good! hey, did you know that honey nut cheerios is... oh you too! ooh, hey america's favor

, something robert didn't like at all. june 25 last year the obama care decision the central achievement of his presidency august 5-4 decision where chief justice roberts shocked everyone, myself very much included, voting to uphold the law, that makes up for everything else h that decision got other wake the obama presidency would look very different. >> david, anthony kennedy would have done that wouldn't have been that shocked but for the chief justice you john roberts, to do it, it says a lot about where he is coming from. >> it does. and there's a lot -- there are a lot of indications that at the end of the day john roberts placed the reputation of the court above all other considerations, because if he had gone against obama care, down 5-4, five conservatives voting it down there was a real fear the court would seem poll lit side, the indications are that he went the other way. what's striking to me there were actually two republicans who really helped president obama get re-elected. one was john roberts that decisio

that line from chief justice roberts sticks in my head. not only in the terms of the broccoli argument if you will but the exercise hypothetical is a good one as well. i believe it was brought up by justice scalia who said if this is good for everyone to be part of the health care market, maybes -- will improve everyone's health, they will be able to afford it, why can't you force people to exercise. because exercise is directly linked with having better health. it would bring down premiums, lower the cost of health care across the board. why can't the government compel people to exercise. that was one of the hypotheticals thrown out there as well. >> jeffrey, i don't understand, you made a point earlier that the solicitor general donald verrilli didn't do an excellent job answering these conservative justices' questions as if he had not been prepared. but none of these arguments are new arguments, jeff. we've been hearing these for months if not years including the broccoli argument and all of these arguments. i don't understand how a sol

. >> thank you, robert, and congratulations. i hope it was as good for you as it was for us. >> he's trying to bait me, and i'm not going to bite. >> you said obviously there's going to be some bumps in the road and the military needs to lay out a clear path. what is going to be the role of the president, the vice president, the secretary of state publicly over the next weeks and months? do they now pull back and say, okay, this is really up to the egyptian people now and we're not going to intervene, or do they keep up the public pressure with statements? >> i think, again, first and foremost, this was always about the people of egypt. this always was going to be solved by the people of egypt. no statement here, no -- no comment that was made here was going to i think bring the fundamental change that people were looking forward to in egypt. we talked about it a lot here. i think the people in egypt, again, they had their concerns, and they are not going to be the definition of how to solve those concerns is not going to be --

i think justice roberts, chief justice roberts needs to make sure the other justices understand, they have to understand the conciliatory tone is important not just for the court but for the american people. we've all seen in the last week or so, that the polls have shown the american people are dissatisfied with the rulings of the u.s. supreme court, and not just conservatives and not just liberals. but this's been a 44% approval rating, one of the lowest approval ratings for the u.s. supreme court in the last 25 years. and many people believe that it is personal, or political motivations that are ruling in the court's decisions and not objective legal analysis. i think the chief justice has to see beyond politics, and even though he is conservative, he has to understand, and i think this opinion shows that he does understand the american people are looking at the court, they know it's their branch of government creating the law of the land and they want to see a more conciliatory court. >> constitutional expert, appreciate the insight. wolf, again, a 5-4 decision, the chief justice

justice roberts will get in a little practice. history won't repeat itself from the 2009 inauguration flub. suzanne malveaux reminds us how everything went down then and what we can expect now. >> i barack -- >> i will execute the -- faithfully the office of the president of the united states -- >> it was a slip of the tongue, a stumble over words both president obama, a constitutional law professor and chief justice of the supreme court john roberts should have known like the back of their hands. but the mistake made for an awkward moment in the middle of a solemn occasion. the swearing in of the first african-american president in front of a crowd more than a million strong on the national mall. robe robert's flub was significant enough that the oath had to be taken again. the very next day at the white house. >> i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. >> reporter: cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin wrote an entire book about this awkward moment in presidential history titled "the oath." did

. >> reporter: well, the latest we have from press secretary, robert gibbs, in the briefing that i just jumped out, the meeting started a little bit late, and we're still waiting for a read-out on that. but as we talked about this morning, tony, he's the former senate majority leader, senator tom daschle, he was obama's first choice to head up the department of health and human services and sois as an informal adviser to the president. and gibbs said he does listen to what daschle has to say on the issue. so, we're hoping to get a little more of a read-out a little later today, tony. >> kate, as i asked a moment ago, i thought you asked a really good question of robert gibbs during the daily briefing, you wanted to know if the president has learned anything during the congressional recess. and he was reluctant to take

i came back and said to robert wagner and said, she's not here. and he said, well, the dingy's gone. and i knew that she wouldn't really take the dingy because she was really deathly afraid of water and if anything she would have asked me to take her ashore or do whatever she wanted to do, she would have definitely asked me like she did the night before. >> so what did you suspect at that moment had happened? >> i was trying to believe that maybe she really just did in a rage, maybe she just really got in the dingy and went ashore. i said to robert wagner, i said, well, let's turn on the search light to see if we can see her. he said, no, we don't want to do that right now. i said, well, maybe let's call in to the restaurant and he said, no, he said we don't want to do anything right at the moment. so we waited and finally after a couple hours, robert wagner called into the restaurant and said no one was there and the restaurant had been closed so they came out "the splendour," and that point they said we need to contact the coast guard and start

i think it may be robert griffin iii the man to beat. trent richardson from alabama and wisconsin's monte ball and the honey badger lsu defensive back matthew. he don't care. he just takes what he wants. the teddy bear toss is a holiday tradition at many hockey arenas. the calgary hitmen scored their first goal in sunday's game, fans threw 25,000 stuffed animals on the ice. the players took them to 50 local charities yet. since 2003 the team has collected more than 186,000 stuffed and i mals for hospitals and charities. this is great. teams, junior teams, minor league teams across the u.s. and canada do this every year this time of the year. it's a really cool thing. >> not only is it fun but what a great way to give to charity. >> absolutely. the kids definitely appreciate it. and, you know, fans, they love that. they love tim at the bow in denver. another fan has jumped on the tim tebow bandwagon. photo shopping the quarterback's head into the music video for "all do i is win." ♪ every time i step up on the field everybody's hands go

robert d. champion. >> they say it was important for them to take part in this event a great event, to some of the best bands across the country to perform here at the georgia dome, it attracts thousands of people, parents, students who want to see the bands perform and the champions say their goal is to get the message out about hazing, and this is only the beginning for them. they've also started an online campaign. they are on twitter. they are on facebook. they even created their own video, a psa with students and high school and college saying, i am champion. we are champions. basically people saying they are against hazing. the champions say that this is important for them to be on the forefront of this issue. >> us being there, i think, is important as a reminder. to let the students know, you know, that that bad side of it that's going on, it doesn't have to be. and that to put out the message that we're are not against the music at all. i mine, my son loved music. and i love music as w

this is the funeral of then senator robert f. kennedy and once again, because it was running late, they had to do it in the evening and senator kennedy was, of course, there, as well. and now. >> now in the dwindling light of day, the family of senator kennedy has gathered, the final brother being laid to rest. >> that's the grave site of senator kennedy. you can see the astroturf atop the excavated site that was dug earlier this morning. three brothers, three funerals at arlington national cemetery. >> present arms. >> it's a certain fittingness in having a burial at the dying of the day because we know that the sun will come back again tomorrow. and as we think of teddy, we know that his new life begins, and as we look at this great family, we're sure that new life is already beginning and that new great things are happening. mr. vice president, vicki, members of the family, it is for all of us a very special time in our own lives, in your life and the life of our country. and so begin in the name of the father and of the son a

i'll wind my way. >> robert, this one is on the jobs bill. when the white house was unrolling these various initiatives, the point was made frequently that these were all interlocking pieces of one package to create jobs. this is a partial move. is the white house concerned that given the health care debate and other items that are waiting on the agenda that this is just too slow in coming and these integral pieces will, in fact, not be passed by congress? >> i think i mentioned a few minutes ago that the president will assume -- the president and the economic team will soon start working through the next step of this. there have been meetings already here this past week to talk about the small business aspects, whether it's, as i mentioned, zero capital gains, whether it's depreciation, whether it's a $30 billion in lending to small businesses through smaller community banks. so we talked about this, i think, many weeks ago, that we understood that this was not all going to be engrossed in one big bill. and the president will continue to wor

you're thinking it's julia roberts. she is in, you know, she has a happy marriage with two cute little kids and all is well for her. so what is the grade then? >> i'm going to give it a "c." i'm probably a little bit higher -- yeah, i will admit i'm a little higher than most of the critics. most of the critics i can tell you on my site that 36% of the critics on rotten tomatoes have said or only 36% have said the movie is good. most are really saying it's kind of a disappointment. i actually surprisingly was kind of okay with it. there's good chemistry between javier and julia roberts and again for the audience this movie is made for, fans of the book, you'll be just fine. you'll enjoy it. but if you're coming in cold, you're not a fan of the book, haven't read it, you might want to skip this one. >> okay. so next up talk about a right turn here. the sly stallone movie "the expendables." let's roll that clip. >> drop your guns! >> i'll take the one on the left. >> take the two on the right and leave the rest alone. >> y

roberts has had brushes with health issues, including cybers and one as recently in 2007 and roberts who has argued 25 kisses doesn't think that chief justice's health issues impacted his decision. >> think the idea that his health somehow influenced this is silly. this is a real legal question and he is the consummate lawyer and there was no reason to believe that anything external influenced him. >>. >> reporter: and the big picture goes without saying that chief justice roberts is very conservative and he's not somehow moving to the middle and this is an inusual case and there are likely to be more health care cases related to the president's plan and roberts and their colleagues will get other chances to show their stripes. chances to show their stripes. joe johns, cnn, washington. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> raging fires in the west and a blistering heat and fires in the extreme portion of this country. extreme weather is impacting tens of millions of americans and your neighbors and 14eds. we begin with the thunderstorms, nearly 4 million homes are without power r

but this today showed roberts had kind of a deep thought. he really played the constitutional lawyer and justice here. and i think his stock goes very high just as charles evan used it with fdr and social security. a republican that backed social security. >> doug brinkley, we appreciate you. thanks for coming on. >> thank you. >> what a day it's been. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me. i'm going to turn things over to wolf blitzer. he's in washington. "the situation room" begins now. >>> thank you, brooke. upheld landmark u.s. supreme court ruling with some surprise twists. cnn's jeffrey toobin was inside the court when it all came down. is the ruling a political game changer? we're going to hear what president obama and mitt romney had to say. plus, what all of this means for you. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta has the real world impact of the health care reform ruling. >>> and a historic house vote on whether to hold attorney general of the united states, eric holder, in contempt of congress. that vote expected this hour. i'm wolf blit

remembering the dean of the senate, west virginia's robert c. byrd passed away today at the age of 92. >> i'm in for tony harris. we will have those stories and your comments right here, right now in the cnn newsroom. >>> can you imagine? this is the job interview of a lifetime. president obama's supreme court nominee will certainly face tough question es about her qualify figures. the confirmation hearing begin around 12:30 eastern time and republicans are still not ruling out a filibuster. congressional correspondent dana bash live from capitol hill with a preview. let's begin with the layout of the room. this seems so daunting. the panel on one side and at one lone table the nominee. >> reporter: let's start with the panel. i'm on the floor of the committee room where the hearing will begin in an hour and a half. this is where the panel will be sitting. they will be giving opening statements today along with elena kagan today, and the real grilling will begin tomorrow and likely the next day. over here is where the republicans will be sitting

from chief justice john roberts. >> are you prepared to take the oath? >> i am. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, sonja sotomayor, do solemnly swear. >> i sonja sotomayor do solemnly swear. >> that i will administer justice without respect to persons. >> that i will administer justice without respect to persons. and do equal right to the poor and to the rich. >> and do equal right to the poor and to the rich. and that i will faithly and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as associate justice of the supreme court of the united states of america. under the constitution and laws of the united states. so help me god. >> congratulations and welcome to the court. >> lots of firsts taking place today. it's the first swearing in to be televised. this one taking place at the white house. that's why we go to elaine. the first hispanic american. give me an idea what meeting will take place between she and the president? >> that's right. of course this is a huge victory for president obama, his first high court a

robert zimmerman, also getting a good laugh. he is a former cnn contributor. and a member of the democratic national committee. so clearly herman cain has everyone's attention now. but eric, here's a question. is it going to translate into campaign money for him in states where he is lagging? he needs the money to stay in. >> i'm not sure that it matters at this point. because you've got iowa and new hampshire moving up their caucuses and primaries to january. you did have a month into 2012 where he could raise extra money. now that's going to be curtailed. through christmas, people are not giving a lot of money. he had a surge of fund-raising at the end of the last quarter. still only $2 million or $3 million compared to perry and romney who had 15 and 20 on hand. and they have the money to be able to lay a ground game in an iowa caucus state which is different than running a primary state. cain said he's going to bypass the nevada caucuses for now. that is more for fund-raising than solidarity with the other candidates. >> go ahead, robert. >> eric, it's ver

. >> before i ask you, robert what you're feeling and all that, give me an idea, what was it about, robert, that you saw. you said u, you know, he is the one. >> directed me in his direction, because he already done -- you'd already done, how many pieces? >> three. >> like plea piece three piece. then i asked to you do pieces for the first because i was so impressed. goodness, this man is so talented. >> he didn't grow up as dancer? >> not with alvin ailey, but robert will tell you about that, i'm sure. it was pretty much a no-brainer. wow. the talent, the integrity. the understanding of past, present and future. the dynamic of how he relates to people, and how he -- you're sittinging here, how you relate to people and how you relate, i love that you love dancers, and love the mantra of aly, which is dance came to be delivered back. the heard an soul of him. >> wasn't there a tradition kind of set by alvin ailey. were you a dancer, and then he plucked you, and you said i'm going to break with tradition but still went with your gut looking for "the" person who could best lead and bring some

robert? >> hello. >> we might have -- it looks like we lost robert's connection. we will try to get him back up in a minute. patricia? >> i think i know that robert would have liked barack obama to handle his phone calls. >> you answer for robert and then give me yours. >> you don't need your audio, robert. i'm going to stay neutral on this, that's my job, but to cheri's point, i think republicans are most worried about getting a 3:00 a.m. phone call to ron paul because he probably wouldn't answer the phone call. he takes his foreign policy to such an extreme. no foreign aids, no foreign intervention. i think that's the gop that most voters are worried about. >> robert, do we have you back? robert, do we have you back? okay. here's what i'm concerned about. i want to make sure we have balance here, so why don't we do this. if it's okay, can we take a break and try to get -- okay, fantastic. we're going to take a break. we're going to get robert zimmerman hooked back up -- he is? okay, robert,

senator robert byrd, a washington legend. how his health could affect the president's political agenda. >>> president obama is back from the g-20 tonight, a weekend full of meetings and photo ops, but what else did they accomplish? >>> and the oil finally washes ashore in mississippi. gulf residents keep a close eye on the path of tropical storm alex. >>> and there's been a tragedy at a michigan campground. severe weather strikes tonight. four people are dead. >>> hello, i'm drew griffin. don lemon is on assignment. we're tracking a developing story out of the nation's capital. legendary senator robert byrd of west virginia has been hospitalized. his office describing this as seriously ill. byrd has served in congress longer than any american in history. elected to the house in 1952, to the senate in 1958. he has been there ever since. let's bring in cnn senior political editor mark preston in washington and cnn's joe john who's joins me by phone also from d.c. mark, what do we know about the senator's condition and his healt

we'll have to see what happens, how this plays out, brooke. >> what about robert wagner, kareen? what is his publicist saying today? >> of course he's speaking out. he says the actor's family fully supports the efforts of the l.a. county sheriff's deptd and trust they will evaluate whether the any new information is valid and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit for the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death. brooke? >> kareen wynter in los angeles. thank you. >>> you're going to hear directly from the captain who says robert wagner is in fact responsible for natalie wood's death. >>> next on "reporter roulette," a public water line hit by a sib better attack. brian todd is following the story from washington. brian, what happened? what do you know? >> brooke, we know that there are documents that indicate that it was an attack but the department of homeland security is not going that far yet. they say it was definitely a failure of a waterpump and the department is saying right now they don't want to go so far as to say that t

i'm robert shapiro. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. at legalzoom we'll help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack, it's my head. this is made for pain. [ male announcer ] bayer advanced aspirin enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes extra strength relief to the sight of your pain. feel better? yeah...thanks for the tip! brad needs car insurance, but, uh, brad doesn't want to spend too much. who's brad? this is brad. ahh! well, progressive has lots of discounts for a guy like brad. brad's intrigued. paid in full, safe driver, multi-car, going paperless -- all can help brad save a bunch. sign brad up. cool! jamie wi

let's listen to a little bit more of robert's song here. then i have another question for you. ♪ oh, by gosh, by golly it's time for mistletoe and holly ♪ ♪ tasty pheasants, christmas presents, country sides covered with snow ♪ ♪ oh, by gosh, by jingle it's time for carols and chris kringle ♪ ♪ overeating, merry greetings from relatives you don't know ♪ >> that's so great. listening to carolling, christmas music, it makes you feel so good. i'm bopping in my seat a little here, robert. how good did it feel recording then? general hood, i'll close it out with you to give us an idea of what the drive has been like this year. it's been a tough time for so many families. you have to wonder if donations are up or down. robert, you first. how does it make you feel doing this? >> first i'd like to tell everybody to go to amazon and itunes. you can download this. also, the distribution fee has been lowered. both distribution companies lowered their publishing fee so we can give more money into the pot. the other thing i wanted to say

you can't argue with a big deal. >>> straight to the white house, and that is press secretary robert gibbs in a daily white house briefing. >> go ahead. >> the president told abc it looks like he is suggesting that you guys coalesce around the things that are in the health care reform bill like insurance, and cost containment, and is that what the white house is settling on after the election last night is to scale back the bill? >> well, jennifer, what the president talked to abc about in the to take a step back on health care, doing health care wasn't -- he didn't do it just because it was a hobby. he did it because in traveling around the country durt electk during the election, he heard from americans and small businesses of what they needed. it was a priority then and it is a priority now. we are working through the best way forward as the president continues his commitment to get health care reform done. >> he seemed to signal that you have settled or closer to settle on a way forward? >> well, again, look, a lot of the conversations are ongoing. there are, as you mentioned, on

first of all, robert's right. i told you this in the last hour, t.j., the appropriate message would have been what robert said. make a principle position against the payroll tax cut. explain why it's not something beneficial but instead they didn't play that card and they lost this political fight as patricia described. they have no way to win the political fight here. let me ask you this, if you have no way to win the fight, do you want it to drag on? i think we all know the answer is no. we need to recognize the democratic party has an interest in extending the fight another two months up to the state of the union, a fight that they know president obama can win. republicans are opposed to a tax cut. look, steny hoyer said things we can agree on. two-month bill does not fix that. number two, they all want a year-long bill. why don't they come together -- number three, we should get to work. why don't they get to work right now? the house republicans have put a bill together. forget your christmas break. take a co

john roberts is live this morning. you talked to the top republican on the senate you dish committee a little while ago. senator jeff sessions says she has the thinnest resumÉ ever. >> but at the same time, he's supported people with thin resumÉs before. certainly, senator sessions wants to find out more from elena kagan about her experience, her background, her potential judicial philosophy, the time she spent in the white house. he's concerned she could be more of a political operative than an honest jurist, but remember back in 2005 when harriet myers was first nominated to the bench by president george w. bush. senator sessions said this, quote, it is not necessary she has previous experience as a judge in order to serve on the supreme court. it is perfectly acceptable to nominate outstanding lawyers to that position. i asked senator sessions what's different between then and now, other than the fact this is a democratic, not a republican nominee. >> well, i was a bit uneasy about myers, but i did support her ini

champion, what did robert tell you about the time in the band? did you know that he had been the subject of hazing? >> the culture of hazing is don't ask-don't tell. that is the culture of it. naturally he wouldn't talk about hazing. i'm certain he's talked to them about his experience in the band. >> that's right. his experience in the band, he loved the band. i always called him mr. band. his experience in the band was in his word, great. robert was happy. he loved the band. every band he's been in he's loved performing in the band. there was no moment that he would come and say, i don't like that. that was his life. you couldn't take him out of that band. >> that's not the question. >> absolutely. so much so the first hearing of my son patsing, i almost couldn't believe it. i thought it was some kind of mean joke. you think you're dreaming and you're going to wake up. he was scheduled to come home wednesday so you're still thinking, this can't be true. at the same time, he's away from me. he's away at school. it's still like a distant thing. i

roberts is a militant vegetarian, pacifist, and considers himself an environmentalist. claims has made by manson. he moved to l.a. in 1986 and wanted to be famous, a rock star. ♪ so welcome to the world >> reporter: roberts band new rising son is pure rock and roll. manson's music more folksy and at times downright weird. ♪ >> reporter: today roberts pays the bills working at the blue zebra cabaret in l.a.'s san fernando's valley. >> it's ruined my career. it has got me nothing but grief. >> reporter: roberts just wants to know the truth before the now 77-year-old manson dies. >> if he is my father, then it would be nice to have laid eyes on him and been in person -- person to person with him once in my lifetime. >> reporter: for now matthew roberts lives with a hope and a fear of knowing who his father is. miguel marquez, cnn, los angeles. >>> thanks for watching. you can continue the conversation with me on twitter at kyra cnn or on facebook. cnn "newsroom" continues now with suzanne malveaux. >>> live from cnn headquarters in atlanta, where it's 12 noon, 9:00 a.m

that's what we did on roberts and alito and senator leahy committed to that. i'm -- we'll all try to keep our time down now. most people had most of their questions answered. but there will be a third round. >> you promised the american people they would be courteous, substantive sessions, if you forgive the pun, with the supreme court nominee and i want to thank you because these sessions have been very useful, very good. we've learned a great deal about the law and the supreme court and i think it's a useful service for the american public who are watching right now across the country. senator sessions, thanks very much for doing that. >> thank you, i appreciate your affirmation of that. that's one of my highest goals and i hope people will feel that way when it's all over. >> when the dust settles we will all have at least learned something about the law that is critical to all of us. thank you, jeff sessions, the ranking republican on the judiciary committee. we will continue our coverage of these historic hearings. we are waiting for al franken, he will h

robert kennedy. some call the kennedys america's royal family. in an hbo documentary, it's called "ted kennedy," talks about his own family and his own life. we want to show you parts of that documentary that we have found. here it is. >> from my earliest beginnings, our house has been the scrapbook for our family. all of the really major times of joy and triumph and some of sadness and disappointment have been a part of these pictures. >> i've grown up in a large family. i was the ninth member of that family. the relationship between brothers and sisters was extremely close. all during the 30s and 40s, my father was one that would challenge all the members of the family. he could spot when you were not measuring up and not giving your all. >> that's just beginning of it. we will show you more of this after the break, including a look at ted kennedy as that pudgy-faced kid with his brothers and mom and dad. unbelievable video. something i have never known or seen before. ted kennedy was a college foo

justices roberts and alito. so judge sotomayor, i would like to avoid code words and look for a simple pledge from you during these hearings, that you will respect the role of congress as representatives of the american people, that you will decide cases based on the law and the facts, that you will not pre-judge any case but listen to every party that comes before you and that you will respect precedent and limit yourself to the issues that the court must decide, in short, that you will use the broad discretion of a supreme court justice wisely. let me emphasize that broad discretion. as justice stevens has said, the work of federal judges from the days of john marshall to the present, like the work of the english common law judges, sometimes requires the exercise of judgment, a faculty that inestbly calls into play notions of justice, fairness and concern about the future impact of a decision. look at our history. america's common law inheritance is the acretion over generations of individual exercises of judg

collins was never tried on the attack on robert but robert and his mother's lawyer hope that will change. i want to bring in his mother, colleen, in st. louis, and her attorney in san antonio. colleen, my condolences to you. your son's death was very recent. this is the first time that you have heard that part of your son's deposition describing this alleged sex abuse. listening to it as a mother, how did the words sit with you? >> it's what kind of child is robert? i know he was a very good kid? >> he was a very good kid. he was happy go lucky. he was very considerate towards people. he loved animals, just like everybody else's child, i suppose. >> we're looking at some of these pictures and we're going to click through some of these that you share but i want to warn our viewers, some of them are tough to look at. i've read the depositions. he endured some 200 surgeries. his life clearly physically drastically changed but how was it moving forward, colleen, after he was 8? here is he at christmas time. how did everything change for you? >>. >> everything changed. i had to grief for the

robert? >> is that for me? i'm sorry. that's exact lit point. herman cain is playing the race issue to try to appeal to the extreme wing of the republican party. and when he make the issue that african-americans are brainwashed, he's trying to excuse why he doesn't have support from the african-american community. but when he announce the president obama by saying he's not a strong black man, he's ultimately trying to use the issue of race to play the extreme fringes. >> listening to robert's tone this is why americans are so cynical about this. you get to the top of the pack apparently you have to have your sense of humor taken way. i may not like herman cain's sense of humor, but he has a sense of humor. he is on top. does he say some things. herman cain was running as an insurgent candidate. they rely on grassroots not on money to get attention. one thing they do is they make more bold pronouncements. bill bradley did it when running against al gore in 2000. the list goes on and on. they all do it. >> that is factually incorrect. >> hang on a

you can't help but think about the parents of robert champion. pam champion will be on ac 360 tonight. >>> meantime, the than who john edwards fired takes the stand today. tells his side. and it involves a big warning. h. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. >>> so john edwards sitting in a bar one night, woman comes up, you're more handsome than john edwards is. that chance flirtation involving rielle hunter triggered the events that ended john edwards political career. now edwards entering court ea

joining us right now, his parents pam and robert champion. first, myco condolences to the both of you and just our appreciation for your being here and having the vestrength to ta about this. we saw the autopsy report and read some of the details. mock the details he suffered multiple blunt trauma blows to his body that resulted in internal bleeding and this was an incident of hazing. when you read this report, what did you think about your son's final hours? >> the brutality that he had to endure, the pain and suffering, i wouldn't imagine what my son went through. to see the part where they hit him all over his body. to know my son had to go through something like that. >> do you feel as if you've gotten information -- the kind of information you need to understand what happened to your son? >> i don't have all the information because everyone knows there's a lot of story going around. but what we've learned from the autopsy result is the anguish and pain that my son went through and the thought that he was okay with that, that's totally no

robert zimmerman, crystal wright, robert, is this enough? >> it's the beginning. i think it's so important to remember even though the polls show young people overwhelmingly support president obama's reelection it's determined by turnout. these appearances are critical not just to make it clear to high school students who are not voting age, that they have not only to vote but they have to knock on doors, because they have skin in the game. that is why the president's appearance is so important because while he's advocating keeping interest rates at 3.4% the ryan plan calls for doubling the rates on student loans, $1000 a year more. >> crystal, who will get the youth vote? >> i'm afraid it won't be obama. robert is absolutely wrong, it's the beginning of the end for the relationship between young people and the president. in 2008 he ran on promises of hopes and dreams and changing washington, as we know it and that has gone bust. it's blown up in smoke for young people. 50% of college graduates are under-employed or unemployed. 85% living with parents. tuition has

the united states honors robert m. gates for his extraordinary leadership and for a lifetime of service and devotion to our nation. >> thank you, mr. president, for those kind words and for honoring me in this department by your presence here today. i'm deeply honored and moved by your presentation of this this award. it is a big surprise, but we should have known couple of months ago you've gotten pretty good at this covert ops stuff. mr. vice president, distinguished guests, colleagues, friends, thank you for being here this morning. first i'd like to congratulate leon panetta on his recent confirmation. right after the 2008 election leon wrote an op-ed suggesting president-elect obama retain me as secretary of defense. so when president obama asked for my recommendation for successor, i returned the favor. seriously, this department and this country is fortunate that a statesman of leon panetta's cal better and experience has agreed to serve once again and at such an important time. my parting advice for leon is to

robert gibbs expected to come out and brief us. initially we were told that he might be bringing someone else along to that briefing so we'll be watching to see if that does indeed materialize. but, you know, for this white house, they've been trying to walk a very careful balance, as you've been talking about now all day, between showing support for the protestors and also not really giving any indication that they're backing any regime change in egypt, talking in broad terms about how ejust a minute has been a key partner for the ultnited states. that's something no doubt we'll hear at the briefing today. but the u.s., this administration, continuing to express concerns about the violence by the security forces and the police there in egypt. >> you know, dan, as we look at all of this, it's obvious to any observer here that the u.s. is concerned that how it backs up hosni mubarak, he has been their friend, they have other friends who may face opposition in the days ahead, how they handle this one could mean a lot, just what is th

unfortunately, we have lost our connection to robert reich. we have josh lefs here at the stimulus desk where we are following it. on cnn, we will start covering at 8:00 p.m. tonight, the state of the union. robert reich, we were having a great conversation, and we will catch up with him. gloria borger told me an hour ago that this is a great opportunity for the president to connect. so, gloria, are we seven hours away from the president's speech, and six hours away from our coverage, and i'm hearing from everybody today, that there is either a failure of communication of what the white house is trying to accomplish or a failure to explain exactly how what they have done for the last year is meant to be helping the economy. >> or, a little bit of both, ali. and between when i was here last and now i have been doing some reporting, so let me tell you a little bit about what i have heard about what we might see in the state of the union. this is capitol hill sources, and folks are being briefed as we speak from folks from the white house about w

staff sergeant robert j. miller, united states army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. staff sergeant robert j. miller distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism while weapons sergeant in special detachment alpha, 3312 combined joint special operations task force afghanistan during combat operations against an armed enemy in kunar province, afghanistan, on january 25, 2008. while conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol through the valley, staff sergeant miller and a small element of u.s. and afghan national forces engaged a force of 15 to 20 insurgents occupying prepared fighting positions. staff sergeant miller engaged the enemy positions with his vehicle's turret mounted automatic grenade launcher while simultaneously providing dee tailed descriptions of the positions to his command enabling effective, accurate close air support. following the engagement staff sergeant miller led a small squad storage to conduct a battle damage assessm

>> is robert wagner a suspect? >> no. >> was this verbal communication or do you have physical evidence or physical documentation? >> i'm not really going to comment on the type of information that we have. the evidence or the statements that we're getting from people. >> on the captains coming forward, a book, what he told you recently, do you have more -- >> we have several sources that have come forward with additional information. we have found it to be credible enough to take a look at the case. >> this is not just in fact the captain? >> anybody sneelse? >> so at this point it's an ongoing investigation. by your criteria that you go by when an investigation is going on, at this point, in this new investigation, can you rule out that she was murdered? >> her death was ruled an accident. an accidental drowning. and that's what it is. our investigation, at the end of it, if it points to something else, then we'll address it. but right now her death is an accidental drowning. >> but can you rule out murder at thi

defense secretary robert gates, signed the orders to send the first troops here. the marines where expected to be among the first to arrive, to be fwloeld by a good number of army formses and other support units, all of this aimed at carrying out this policy, this strategy, if you will, of protecting the afghan people and providing enough security to take the oxygen out of the fwanl movement and the insurgents forces. we saw it at work earlier today when we went on a foot patrol with some u.s. force and saw them interact directly with afghan villagers. that's what it's all about. trying to provide this new profile of u.s. troops being here to help, but also here to provide that security to make the taliban realize, they don't have a future in the country. it's going to take a long time to see if all of that works. and security will continue to be job number one. the air force planes you see behind me here, they are a crucial part of that. they are here to work and provide that security to conduct air missions against the insurgents when they find them. but, also,

robert? >> well, i don't think anyone really had their breakthrough moment like gingrich did in south carolina. but without question, rick santorum lost. there's no doubt that he is a zealot when it comes to right wing. romney is looking like a washington insider and in fact someone who wasn't a true conservative. santorum was the real loser but i think all of them were big losers in terms of their ability to reach mainstream independent voters. as long as they chew to define themselves with the extreme right wing of their party, with extreme positions -- >> dana? go ahead. finish your thought. >> as long as they continue to define themselves with extreme right wing positions about immigration or women, or the middle class thanks will lose. >> i'm going have you give you guys an extra five seconds. da dana? >> i yield. >> i don't know where the anti-contraception thing comes from. it's not the 1960s and it wasn't related by any of the candidates last night. no, last night i think newt gingric

robert gibbs said the u.s. relationship with pakistan won't be markedly changed by the reports. >>> bp's board meets tonight. we're expecting a big announcement to follow. reports out of london have ceo tony hayward negotiating his exit from his job after months of p.r. missteps in the gulf oil disaster. his expected successor is robert dudley. >>> arizona's tough new immigration goes into effect on thursday. a new poll suggest most americans want to get tough an illegal immigration. 57% of those surveyed say the government's focus should be on stopping the illegal flow of illegal immigrants to the u.s. >>> time for globe trekking. a u.n. court today convicted a notorious executioner of crimes against humanity on a breathtaking scale. cnn's dan rivers was there. >> reporter: he stood apparently emotionless, he presided over the deaths of more than 14,000 people at a secret torture camp. >> 35 years of imprisonment. >> reporter: he remained impassive. so, too, did those watching on tvs across cambodia as the 35-

it's time to start panicky. >> thanks, robert. >> robert, you're supporting the panic button? >> i'm supporting patricia on this one, will. >> yes. that means you're running towards the cliff. don't mind following them there. >> all right, well, then, taking that in, let's talk about the debate tonight. all right, let's look at the players, romney, gingrich, santorum, paul. let's see, how do i want to phrase this question? do you guys each want to pick a candidate, or maybe give a piece of advice to each candidate? why don't we try that? will? >> going to start with me. that's great. i get to pick how i answer this question. my advice to romney will be, robert hinted into it, you need to come up with direct answers to questions about your tax returns. you have a great answer about bain. stick with it defend capitalism and let the focus be on the others as they mutually destruct as they have for the past six months. advice to gingrich, be nice, be happy, let people identify with you. don't be condescending. you're a good debater, but you don't have to remind us. >> robert? >> o

here is robert bob. he is detroit public schools emergency financial manager. >> significantly, this plan allows us to cut operating costs by approximately $31 million in 2010 and ensures lower maintenance costs with fewer fas -- when fewer facilities come online in outgoing and future years. most importantly for the residents of the city of detroit the parents and children of the detroit public schools this plan offers an investment, potential investment of over $1 billion in city neighborhoods assuming the citizens of detroit approve and take an active role in the approval of a new bond measure some time in the future. i might also add that all of the schools that are to be built and are renovated will improve not only the athletic complexes and will offer health clinics and public spaces. it's important that the investments that we're making in these schools also are investments where in the community themselves can participate in using these facilities after-hours. this plan will coincide with the di

senator robert c. byrd. >> there's a very interesting passage in barack obama's second book, and he talks about how he sought out senator byrd early in his career in the senate. and he used byrd as an example of redemption because he talked about how byrd had been a member of the kkk. but he had turned into someone who was a very strong supporter of civil rights. i think one of the benefits of serving for as long as he did is he grew and he changed. so much many politics is, you're flip-flopping. people should flip-flop more. they should learn and grow. >> he took -- he had been the secretary to senator russell who was the whip. and he did all the choerz for senator russell. senator mansfield encouraged kennedy to jump for the whip. jumped over byrd. byrd was very irritated by this. he still had to do the work. the next two years, he put the votes together and took kennedy out. they didn't always have the great relationship. as an adversary, he could hold his votes better than anybody. he had 47 "no" v