. >> justice breyer, the reason that we allow -- >> i just want to know, is it yes or no? in your opinion, does it account to a clear attempt to violate the first amendment in a statute that has general application, does it violate the first amendment? does it abridge the freedom of speech? >> if it's only going to be an attempt and it's not going to succeed, no. the statute you describe is unconstitutional. >> it is unconstitutional. >> that's right. there are all kinds of times -- >> it will have a lot of bad effects, all kinds of chilling effects all over the place. >> if it's defined as not going to succeed -- if the statute doesn't -- >> no, by chance, it happens not to succeed. >> no, justice breyer -- >> in my hypothetical. >> i know. i'm just trying to keep up with it. in the one that you just described, justice breyer, if it is the case that the law is going to go into effect, we do allow, including under first amendment overbreadth grounds, an effort to bring a declaratory amendment action. >> if, in fact, they want it to succeed, that's why they passed it, and t

i'm a good friend of steve breyer. i like him a lot and of sandra day o'connor and of anyone else whose opinions i criticize. >> if they call one of your opinions pure apple sauce? >> that's fine so long as they can demonstrate that it's true. >> reporter: unafraid, a bombastic character who wrote with a vivid, vivid imagine shup, shannon. >> we will remember him that way. brian, thank you so much. >> reporter: no problem. >> our responsibility to shape up the executive and make sure they're doing what they're supposed to or shaping up the congress, that's not our job. our job is to prevent people from being harmed. if nobody is being harmed, we don't get into the matter. and even if somebody is harmed, unless he comes to us, we don't

in 2007 dissent you wrote on breyer, the shear apple sauce of the stat our interpretation should be obvious. are you cantankerous? >> i express myself vividly, and the criticisms are criticisms of opinions not of my colleague. i'm a good friend of steven briar, and of sandra day o'connor and if whoever else whose opinions i criticize. >> if they call your opinion apple sauce? >> fine association long as they can demonstrate that it is true. >> you are 76, will you time your retirement so a more conservative president can appoint a like-minded justice? >> i would not like to be replaced by someone who sets about undoing everything i tried to do for 25 or division years. i should not have to tell you that. sure. unless you think i am a fool. >> the wisdom and wit of antonin scalia and kristen, the wisdom for all of the talk every four years about the future of the court, that usually it doesn't actually move votes in a presidential election but i pick up on what i was asking david, if there is a debate angry debate going on in the senate at time the president say here is my choice, republican

. >> justice breyer, the reason that we allow -- >> i just want to know, is it yes or no? in your opinion, does it account to a clear attempt to violate the first amendment in a statute that has general application, does it violate the first amendment? does it abridge the freedom of speech? >> if it's only going to be an attempt and it's not going to succeed, no. the statute you describe is unconstitutional. >> it is unconstitutional. >> that's right. there are all kinds of times -- >> it will have a lot of bad effects, all kinds of chilling effects all over the place. >> if it's defined as not going to succeed -- if the statute doesn't -- >> no, by chance, it happens not to succeed. >> no, justice breyer -- >> in my hypothetical. >> i know. i'm just trying to keep up with it. in the one that you just described, justice breyer, if it is the case that the law is going to go into effect, we do allow, including under first amendment overbreadth grounds, an effort to bring a declaratory amendment action. >> if, in fact, they want it to succeed, that's why they passed it, and t

. >> watch justice kennedy and breyer. we could see more changes if there are retirements on the court. >> that's true. stevens still apparently doing stevens still apparently doing quite well at age 95, talking, writing, quite out there. so it's i think he is -- all of us are at the age where you never know what's going to happen. the odds, uncertainty increaseses as we get older. justice ginsberg, justice kennedy and breyer, could be there for years, for months. but that is really true for all of us. but of course it does bring attention to the age of the court, the advanced age of some of the justices. i think back to the late 1960s, early 1970s when there was sort of a big burst of vacancies on the court. first the resignations of chief justice warren and fordice and shortly into president nixon's turn followed by the death of justice black and harden. that's certainly not something we will or won't know what happened. but it is a court that will be undergoing some changes in the years if not months ahead. host: did it

justice steven breyer routinely took positions that scalia opposed. but in an appearance tonight at yale, breyer said the high court will be a grayer place without him. the white house announced today that vice president joe biden will attend scal scalia's funeral saturday. president obama plans to pay his respects on friday when the late justice will lie in repose at the supreme court's great hall. >>> on his final day in mexico, pope francis celebrated mass at the u.s.-mexico border, and he made an emotional plea about the controversial plea of immigration. in the city of juarez, the pontiff urged the world to recognize the plight of those who risk their lives to leave violence and poverty. he asked for open heart, calling the forced migration of thoughts of central americans a human tragedy. >> i think what the pope is also us all to do is to try to step in his shoes and get into the heart of people who are refugees throughout the world, not just those coming to the united states. >> the vatican insists the mass on the border was not a political st

adam: justice breyer. he and breyer went back and forth so much in arguments that occasionally, the chief justice would say, jump in anytime you like. charlie: how many times would he ask questions when you are arguing before the court? how does that work? david: he would jump in repeatedly. other justices were being very active too. it is often the case that the questions are not so much directed at elucidating information so much as to making a point to their colleagues. adam: people keep statistics on this stuff. justice scalia asked more questions than anyone else and got more laughs. the temperature of the courtroom is going to be a less fun place without him. charlie: i want to see some of the things he said to me in my conversations with him. if the language he used was a bit too much, he would tone it down in terms of criticism. adam: i would hate to see the original. david: i was going to say. that would be interesting to read. i think his rhetoric got more colorful as time went on. charlie: he be

lamb: we had our cameras in front of you and justice breyer. scalia: you're going to see if the good guy one of the bad guy one. that is not true unless you believe that every statute ever written produces a sensible result. [laughter] the ideal role for the honest judge is garbage in, garbage out. you are supposed to interpret the statute's reasonably even if you don't agree with the result. it is not up to do you to decide what is garbage. youou bear that in mind eitherbe more careful to praise or criticize judges just because you like the outcome of the case. lamb: you have sent colorful things over the years. justice scalia: i do it in my opinion sometimes. to make the opinions more readable. .hich is a good thing especially dissenting opinions. no reason toly read dissenting opinion because they are on the losing side. if you are a lawyer you want to know what role you have to follow. when you write the dissenting opinion, is mainly for the law students. this center will be published in our system even when they disagree with it. they have

lamb: we had our cameras in front of you and justice breyer. scalia: you're going to see if the good guy one of the bad guy one. that is not true unless you believe that every statute ever written produces a sensible result. [laughter] the ideal role for the honest judge is garbage in, garbage out. you are supposed to interpret the statute's reasonably even if you don't agree with the result. it is not up to do you to decide what is garbage. youou bear that in mind eitherbe more careful to praise or criticize judges just because you like the outcome of the case. lamb: you have sent colorful things over the years. justice scalia: i do it in my opinion sometimes. to make the opinions more readable. .hich is a good thing especially dissenting opinions. no reason toly read dissenting opinion because they are on the losing side. if you are a lawyer you want to know what role you have to follow. when you write the dissenting opinion, is mainly for the law students. this center will be published in our system even when they disagree with it. they have

. >>> right now abc 13 is at a town hall at sweet breyer. state officials, alumnae and community members are there. the school's president talked about triumphs over the last year and what they are planning for the future. items on the table increasing -- recruiting international students, increasing student body and raising more money. you will hear from those at the town hall tonight at 11. >>> one step closer. what we now know about amtrak potentially coming to bedford. >>> a child weekend, but changes possible by the beginning of the week. >>> it was a huge noise. and it just, like, went sidewaysand it just, like, went sideways, and we didn't actually see anything. >> reporter: did you feel it though? >> yes, of course, could you feel it. crashing down in manhaerage you can count on. >> it is the weekend, and it is going to be a good one. dance. >> mark: your weekend dance. >> will: that is a good one too. the good weekend dance. not the bad weekend. >> mark: do you have one? >> will: i do not. you see -- >> danner: you have your weekend

>> justice breyer. he and breyer went back and forth so much in arguments occasionally they'd say jump in anytime you like. >> rose: that's good. how many times would he ask questions when you were arguing? would he have a few questions and then come back. >> he'd jump in repeatedly. other justices were being very active too. you often -- it is often the case the questions are not so much directed at eliciting answers as much as making a point. >> people keep statistics on this stuff and justice scalia asked more questions than anyone else and got more laughs than anyone else and the temperature of the courtroom is going to be a less fun place without him. >> rose: i want you to see some things he said to me in the conversations we did. he said if he thought the language he'd used was a bit too much he would tone it down in terms of a criticism or go into the heart of a fellow jurist. >> man, i'd hate to see the original. that would be interesting to read. particularly i think his rhetoric got more and

professor of constitutional law, who served as special counsel assisting the white house on justice stephen breyer's confirmation hearing in 2005. he advised several senators on the nomination of john roberts as chief justice, then testified in confirmation hearings for justice samuel alito. he served as special counsel to chairman patrick lahey, and on the nominations for sonia sotomayor and elena kagan to finally, jamaal greene, in addition to being the vice dean at columbia, he teaches and writes on u.s. constitutional law and theory and the federal courts. from 2007 to 2008, he was the alexander fellow at the new york university of law and was law clerk to justice paul stevens on the supreme court. he received a jd from yale law school in 2005, where he served as the "article" editor. these are some pretty heavy-duty professors. i have also heard from some more conservative leaning professors who believe the same thing, that the constitution is the constitution, that shall means it shall, that people have a duty to do their job. i am sure all of our colleagues were shocked when justice scalia di

justice scalia and justice breyer did that in my case. grace: senator chuck grassley joined other prominent gop senators saying president obama should not appoint scalia's grassley claimed it's been standard practice over the last 80 years not to nominate or confirm a supreme court justice during a presidential election year. turns out justice anthony kennedy was nominated and confirmed in 1988, the year george bush was elected president. senator joni ernst is in germany at a security conference but released a statement saying. -- statement saying justice scalia was a passionate defender of our constitution upholding the principles on which our country was founded. elizabeth: attorney general miller says there's an iowan who might be on the list to succeed scalia. judge jane kelly serves on the u.s. court of appeals for the eighth circuit. she and president obama were law school classmates. eric: iowa dci officials are investigating a shooting in eagle grove. authorities tell kcci two people were involved in sundays shooting but are still

> your first alert traffic is we've got a busy independence boulevard eastbound at independence and breyer creek road. a lot of activity an accident at independence and briar creek road. and another problem at randolph and coleville. monroe is a great alternate route. and more accidents on independence an accident at conference drive, independence as well as independence boulevard and cross point circle. that right lane is blocked but again monroe road is a great alternate route. back to you. >> thank you. >> what did we hit? 60? >> 58. >> it felt warmer. >> well, are you wearing a dark suit. >> i was outside without a jacket and it felt great. >> if you are in the sun we take a shade temperature if you are in the sun it will feel warmer than that. either way you slice it it was pleasant. >> more for the weekend? you will be happy. here we go. sunset shaping up and it feels great. 55 . let's get you out to happy hour. hope you had a good week. temperatures are not going to fall back that fast. and late tonight 46 by 11:00 p.m. through the overnight talk about the overnight lows, this is no

breyer wood was closed because they had no way to heat the school or prepare meals for kids. at nearby kip charter school classes started late. and we will havav continuing coverage of the storm clean up. coming up at 5:00 you will hear from a mother who sacrificed her body tok protect her kids during a tornado. >> right now we are days away from the south carolina democratic primary and candidates are out right now trying to score last-minute hillary clinton's husband president bill clinton was in rock hill helping gain support for his wife. michael clark was at today's event. so what did president clinton have to say? >> president clinton talked about everything from job creation and especially race issues and that is important because african-americans will makeup more than half of the voters casting a ballot in the primary on saturday. another stop on the campaign trail for former president clinton. while hillary clinton makes her pitch to voters in the palmetto state bill clinton spoke to a packed house in rock hill. >> how do we make america whole again? we should not b

speaking at yale university yesterday, justice stephen breyer wouldn't comment on the battle to replace scalia but instead remembered him as a decent man. >> i'd like to have maybe 15 seconds of silence for justice scalia who was a good friend and really a life force of the court and it's going to be a grayer place without him. >> meanwhile the white house has announced that the president will not attend the funeral and instead, the president will pay his respects tomorrow when he lies in repose in the court's great hall. vice president joe biden is scheduled to attend scalia's funeral. >>> 36 days after they won part of the historic $1.5 billion powerball jackpot, the florida winners have finally come forward. they are claiming a 1/3 of the january 3rd winning equaling almost $327 million. and until yesterday, they didn't tell anyone they won except for relatives and their financial advisors. >> the first day i arrived late to work they all suspected i won. [ laughter ] >> so i had to say i didn't purchase a ticket and i didn't lie. >> and with that lucky ticket, they decided on a lump

we stopped by pro sports in breyer creek where jerseys and t-shirts were flying off the shelves. it's places like these state leaders want to you shop so make sure what you are buying is reputable. they say there are plenty of scams and counterfeit items. please don't buy from these folks because frequently it's organized crime that gets it here, it's organized crime that sells it. they enlist street people to help sell. >> while it may be cheaper state leaders say there's sometimes even ties to terrorism. the attorney general roy cooper had a warning making sure people do their homework before buying super bowl tickets or travel packages as there are scams out there for those as well. >>> we have the stories and much more about the panthers during the super bowl 50 in a special section of wncn.com. look for the banner on the home page. >>> new at 6:00 -- three teens behind bars in cumberland county charged with throwing overpass. deputies say several 911 calls from drivers led them to mile marker 65 at sherrill baggett road where they say they found the teens in a white bm w. th

fellow justice stephen breyer says his colleagues are all mourning the loss. "he was a good friend and a real life force at the court. and it's going to be a grayer place without him. and a decent man who made an enormous impression." scalia's funeral will be held tomorrow at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception in washington. after the two days of ceremonies have concluded, president obama could announce his choice of a nominee to fill the vacancy on the court as early as next week. award winning author harper lee has died. publisher harper collins reports lee died peacefully thursday. price winning novel "to kill a mockingbird." last year .. harper collins published the sequel "go set a watchman." lee was 89- years-old. we're a day away from democrats facing off in nevada .. while republicans go head-to-head in south carolina. according to a new n-b-c wall street journal marist poll .. hillary clinton is holding a 28-point lead over bernie sanders. however .. within the last month .. democratic lead has been cut in half. both cand

i'm a good friend of steve breyer. i like him a lot. and sandra day o'connor and whoever else is whose opinions i criticize. >> and if they call one you have your pins applesauce? >> that's fine. as long as they can demonstrate that it's true. >> you're 76 years old. will you time your retirement so that a more conservative president can appoint a like minded justice? >> i would not like to be replaced by someone who immediately sets about undoing everything that i've tried to do for 25 years, 26 years. sure. but, i mean, i shouldn't have to tell you that. unless you think i'm a fool. >> the wisdom and wit. of antonin scalia. the conventional wisdom is for all the talk every four years about the future of the court that usually it doesn't actually move votes in a presidential election. but i'm going to pick up on what i was asking david this time, if there is a debate, an angry debate going on in the senate at the time, the president sang here is my choice, republican senators blocking that choice, could this time be different? could it

justice kennedy and justice breyer will also enter their 80s and justice ginsberg is already there. everybody was speculating, could be three, four seats that could open up during the first term of the next president. that's enormously important to the future of the country, certainly to the future of the law, the direction of the law. and so the next -- it's a choice people make about in their election is very much involved not only the economy, not only jobs, not only american security, but who is going to choose the future direction of the highest court in the land. >> absolutely is. and this is already become political. obviously the breaking news is the very sad death of a 79 yaermd supreme court justice antonin scalia who served on the high court for 30 years after his nomination by then president reagan in 1986. of course, with his passing, everyone will mourn, they are mourning, i just read the statement from the chief justice. but it has become political, david gergen, as we look at live pictures of the supreme court as night falls on our nation's capital. the ud adviser fo

host: justice breyer called it the symbol of the american judicial process. when you come to work here, are you conscious of that when you drive appear after doing it for so long. justice scalia: conscious of? host: conscious of it being hard of american society. get used toia: you it. you take stuff for granted that maybe shouldn't take for granted. wearing a granted robe going on the bench. are there special places in italy where you might go to reflect on the history or the predecessors? justice scalia: not really. i hang out in my chamber most of the time. the center of the building, what is the reason the building is here is the audience chamber, where we all are you. suggests,uste nature the ceiling that is so high you can hardly see it from the ground. talk about the process of oral arguments. can you talk about how you use oral arguments, and why in fact there is so much paper needed oral argument is even needed? justice scalia: a lot of people think it is just a dog and pony show. i read a 60 page brief, a 40 page reply brief, an amicus brief from th

i'm a good friend of steve breyer. i like him a lot and of sandra day o'connor and of anyone else whose opinions i criticize. >> if they call one of your opinions pure apple sauce? >> that's fine so long as they can demonstrate that it's true. >> reporter: unafraid, a bombastic character who wrote with a vivid, vivid imagine shup, shannon. >> we will remember him that way. brian, thank you so much. >> reporter: no problem. >> our responsibility to shape up the executive and make sure they're doing what they're supposed to or shaping up the congress, that's not our job. our job is to prevent people from being harmed. if nobody is being harmed, we don't get into the matter. and even if somebody is harmed, unless he comes to us, we don't have any self-starting powers. we're at the mercy of whoever wants to bring a case or whoever doesn't want to bring a case. >> that was justice scalia on the role of the supreme court. joining us now a former clerk to justice clarence thomas. she is now judicial crisis network's chief cou

speaking at yale university, justice stephen breyer wouldn't comment, but instead, remembered scalia as a decent man. >> i'd like to have maybe 15 seconds of silence for justice scalia who was a good friend and really a life force of the court and it's going to be a grayer place without him. >> meanwhile the white house has announced that president obama will not attend the funeral for supreme court justice antonin scalia on saturday. instead, the president will pay his respects tomorrow when the late justice lies in repose in the court's great hall. vice president joe biden however is scheduled to attend scalia's funeral. >>> 36 days after they won part of the powerball jackpot, in florida, the winners have come forward. that's maureen smith and david couchsmith. they're claiming a third of the winnings equaling almost $529 million and just until yesterday, the couple didn't tell anyone they won except for relatives and their financial advisers. >> first day i arrived late to work, they all suspected i won. [ laughter ] so i had to say i didn't purchase a ticket. so i didn't lie. >>

lamb: we had our cameras in front of you and justice breyer. scalia: you're going to see if the good guy one of the bad guy one. that is not true unless you believe that every statute ever written produces a sensible result. [laughter] the ideal role for the honest judge is garbage in, garbage out. you are supposed to interpret the statute's reasonably even if you don't agree with the result. it is not up to do you to decide what is garbage. youou bear that in mind eitherbe more careful to praise or criticize judges just because you like the outcome of the case. lamb: you have sent colorful things over the years. justice scalia: i do it in my opinion sometimes. to make the opinions more readable. .hich is a good thing especially dissenting opinions. no reason toly read dissenting opinion because they are on the losing side. if you are a lawyer you want to know what role you have to follow. when you write the dissenting opinion, is mainly for the law students. this center will be published in our system even when they disagree with it. they have

we also just saw justice breyer to join us in this conversation. we will stay on the pictures that are live here for the next 20 or so minutes until we actually get under way. before the supreme court, he has taught up at harvard about the supreme court. most recently he is known for something called scotus blog and for fans of the supreme court, it comes highly recommended. tom, thank you for being with us. dia lithwick, fans have listened to her podcast. she is a seniored editor at slate and has written and is spoken a lot about the man we remember today. and ken giasheeno from new york, nyuel school of law. and a specialist in anti discrimination law, among other fields. thank you all for being with us. tom, you getting to first. the influence of justice scalia on this court and on jurisprudence in general. >> you have to understand that when justice scalia became a judge and supreme court justice, there was a settled way almost of looking at the constitution that treated as a vibrant document that could change in its meaning that could be adapt

what the court said, that was stephen breyer who wrote that opinion. the senate this session with it says sit unless session and obama said it's not in session when i think it' not in session. his power is a little limited to do that. that would ex fire when the vacancy ends. so when we have a dual live appointed nominated and confirmed justice to replace that recess appointment. kennedy: let's talk about the absence of scalia's influence on the court. he was -- he claimed to be an originalist. for libertarians who watch this show and for whom liberty is the highest ideal, how important is originalism. >> if you look at the original meaning of the constitution it's a fairly libertarian document in a lot of ways. it places a lot of limits on what the government can do and it recognizes individual rights. those are restrictions on government power meant to protect the individual against the state, against the federal and state governments. a supreme court that enforces those provisions, that's a supreme court libertarians can get behind. kennedy: house t

stephen breyer, in the first public appearance by a justice since scalia's death, said his colleagues are all sad: a real life force at the court. and it's going to be a grayer place without him. and a decent man who made an enormous impression." a funeral mass will take place saturday morning at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception. the mass is open to friends and family members. we're following a 10 on your side investigation throughout hampton roads courtrooms. three down, but still one status for a former business owner convicted of fraud in four different cities. he was a headstones dealer who took money from grieving family members -- and then never delivered what they had ordered. investigative reporter chris horne has followed him through the courts for the past year and a the sentence this time? it's another 21 months active time in prison for edward prince. let me tell you about this case and then we'll put it into the context of the the prince is 56 and was already serving time for a previous fraud case. this morning he told marjorie arrington hi

justice scalia and justice breyer did that in my case. grace senator chuck grassley : joined other prominent gop senators saying president obama should not appoint scalia's successor. grassley claimed it's been standard practice over the last 80 years not to nominate or confirm a supreme court justice during a presidential election year. turns out, justice anthony kennedy was nominated and confirmed in 1988, the year george bush was elected president. at a security conference, but released a statement saying, "justice scalia was a passionate defender of our constitution upholding the principles on , which our country was founded." attorney general miller says there's an iowan who might be on the list to succeed scalia. judge jane kelly serves on the u.s. court of appeals for the 8th circuit. she and president obama were law school classmates. laura? laura: two deadly crashes this weekend in central iowa. the first in story county. one teen was killed, another injured after the car they were in lost control and crashed just west of maxwell

judge charles breyer didn't buy that. the crimes you committed were an attack on our democratic institutions. mr. yee, you abused that trust. these are very serious abuses, he said, the most significant crime was that your vote was for sale. the prosecution wanted yee to go to prison for eight years. the judge gave him five. yee rushed out of the courthouse with his lawyer, who did say this. >> he's remorseful. and he's tired of us humiliating his family and tired of this -- what i would call a circus. >> reporter: many of yee's supporters came to court today disappointed at the sentence. among them, nancy lynn yee, no relation. >> they didn't talk about all the good things he's done in many years of public service. >> reporter: three others pleaded guilty. they were sentenced today as well. former san francisco school board president keith jackson and yee's fundraiser received nine years in federal prison. his son, brandon, 5 1/2 years. and sports agent marlin sullivan got 4 1/2 years. vic lee, abc 7 news. >>> leyland ye

there are all the rest of the supreme court justices except for stephen breyer have accepted that. that's an innovation, a philosophy that is something that stood for more than just political conservatism. >> a truly powerful moment indeed in american history that we will continue to observe and watch. the impact of justice scalia will be enormous for years to come. i just want to wrap this up for now. tell the viewers thanks for watching special coverage of justice scalia's funeral mass. stay with cnn for the latest. we will take a quick break and be right back. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. her life's work has been about breaking barriers. and so would her presidency. which is why, for every american who's not being paid what they're worth... who's held back by student debt or a system tilted against them- and there are far too many of you- she understands that our country can't reach it's potential... unless we all do. together. a stronger country. i'm spending too muchs for time hiringnter. and not enough time in my kitchen. (announcer) need to hire fast? go t

justice stephen breyer not to buy president lyndon took 73 days to become firm. let your nominations are very rare happening only five times in the last 100 years. one of them was justice anthony kennedy was eight by president ronald reagan doing a presidential election year. 's confirmation took 65 days. >> knew it six before a new estes can even make it to the bench the high court already faces a defining case in this current term that could and unions of victory. we took her to the steps of the justices are deciding whether workers who choose not to join unions should be forced to pay for contract negotiation. without scalia of observers believe it could ended a 4-4 type that would mean the lower court decision labor unions would win. >> in our society typically people think if you get a service in a benefit you should pay for. you shouldn't get things other people private for free without paying for.the courts ruling could impact public employee unions across the nation unions reps and nurses school teachers and firefighters lose tens of millions of dollars a

dissenting were the more liberal justices, john paul stevens, david souter, ruth bader ginsburg, and david breyer. in the end, with the measured he said was the recount process, as it was described by the majority and as it was going on in florida at the time come is inconsistent with the minimum procedures necessary to protect the fundamental rights of each voter in a state recount. and then it said, the implication was this is one ticket good for one right only. there was plenty of heat on the other side. i will give a snapshot of then junior justice john paul stevens. we will not know the certainty with -- the identity of the winner of this election. the loser is abundantly clear. judith, what do you remember from those 36 days. judith: thank you for having me here. it is great to be in this room with faces that i remember from 15 years ago. they may look a little different. but it is great. just thinking about bush v gore, in some ways, i get some hives thinking about that time. for me, when the decision was handed down, i was in florida. the thing i remember, two days after the election -- a

my second favorite would have been breyer. i think you need a strong voice built for the strict construction side and for the active living document side, because the truth always seems to be somewhere in between. but the thing i'll miss most, i think, is scalia's fantastic wit. it was just wonderful, the way could bring humor in an insightful way into the oral arguments, and some of the other callers said, i was shocked when i heard the news. i also hope that even though i'm a big fan of scalia, i hope hat obama is able to appoint a replacement. have done a es fabulous job, and i've been very impressed living to their oring arguments. host: you mentioned the wit and wisdom of justice scalia, and wee been able to let you listen to the oral arguments that are released now, the same week that they take place, and we showed some of them last night on c-span. you can also check them out on our website at c-span.org. did he have an incredible wit, as you saw in his exchange with brian lamb. from the house leaders, including nancy p

i'm a good friend of steve breyer. i like him a lot, and sandra day o'connor, and whoever else's opinions i criticize. >> if they call one of your opinions pure apple sauce? >> that's fine as long as they can demonstrate that it's true. >> he used a lot of colorful language. >> for sure. some of the most memorable language is what we remember him for. >> we are just getting in reaction from all of his colleagues on the court. i want to read a few of these. we talked about the fact he had close friendships with people he ideologically disagreed with but people very close. he was probably closest to justice ruth bader ginsberg and her husband. here is what she had to say about him. she talked about the fact that we are different but we are one, in talking about an operatic duet, they were best buddies. that's her quote. we disagreed now and then but when i wrote for the court and received a scalia dissent, it was notably better than my initial circulation. she said, he gave me what i needed, he was a jurist with a rare t

distinguished professor of constitutional law, who served counsel assisting the white house on justice stephen breyer's confirmation hearing in 2005. he advised several senators on the nomination of john roberts as chief justice, then testified in confirmation hearings for justice samuel alito. he served as special counsel to hey, and patrick la on the nominations for sonia sotomayor and elena kagan to finally, jamaal greene, in addition to being the vice dean at columbia, he teaches and writes on u.s. constitutional law and theory and the federal courts. he was theo 2008, alexander fellow at the new york university of law and was law clerk to justice paul stevens on the supreme court. from yale lawjd school in 2005, where he served as the "article" editor. these are some pretty heavy-duty professors. i have also heard from some more conservative leaning professors who believe the same thing, that the constitution is the constitution, that shall means it shall, that people have a duty to do their job. i am sure all of our colleagues were shocked when justice scalia died. that happened. but when things

. >> you could see some of the justices, just saw steven breyer there, of course clarence thomas, ruth bader ginsburg who said that justice scalia was her best buddy. and, you know, as i say, this is obviously an affair of state. the vice president of the united states was there. much of official washington. but what you never lost sight of, and that's what i think made this so deeply moving, was this was a death in the personal family of antonin scalia. >> did you get a sense as well -- with the -- clarence thomas reading, the second reading. you know much about their relationship, the two justices. were they close friends? obviously, you talk about it's a rather small network of individuals. nine of them. but were they particularly close? or -- >> well, i didn't really know. everybody knew about the relationship between ruth bader ginsburg and scalia. but the fact that he was chosen by the family to do the reading would seem to say something. and, of course, they were the two on the far right of the court to the degree that we're talking about, an ideological spectrum. they were the

. >> i ask this because you quote an interview i had with justice breyer when he was insisting, i never heard a word of politics at the supreme court. i told mr. about i always tell my students like a to all of you during every single one of these appearances, don't assume it's all politics. if he think constitutional law is all politics you miss everything beautiful and constraining about constitutional law. and then i do want to so often my students don't believe me. what is your take? >> presidents appoint people to the courts when they believe share their view. that's their prerogative to do that. the problem is at the time that point they don't know what's coming down the pike. so, for example, franklin roosevelt appoints people whom he believes, in fact, knows will support the federal government, the new deal laws. the problem is that issue is resolved by 1942, and then a major issue on the dockets for the next 30 years is going to be civil rights, which hardly anybody saw back in the '30s. and that's when the roosevelt appointees all over the place. now you wrote an article, i al

there's an alternative view, justice breyer, for example, no, the law evolves over time and that there are things that we would not have considered, the question of abortion, not considered by the founders. and you have to look at the spirit of the constitution and let it evolve. the constitution is a living document, not a dead document coming back from the past. and that has been the source of an enormous intellectual fight about the direction of the court. and scalia represented the plins. plier on the conservative player. with his death, there's a giant hole. and i think the question becomes how are we going to go about filling the next space and determining the court. >> senate majority leader just saying that he believes the giants should wait until there's a new president to nominate a replacement for scalia. we'll see how that plays out. please stay with me, david bergen. i want to bring in our correspondent on capitol hill. what do you make of what was just said? >> it's a final say on what republicans will do. they're not going to take up a nominee, no matter what president o

he loved to get into debates frequently with his colleague on the court, stephen breyer, who has a very different view of judicial interpretation and interpreting the constitution. and they went at it publicly. he liked the debate. he liked the law. he used to tell students who came to visit him he relished the discussion. he liked the intellectual combat and he always did so, you know, despite the vituperativeness of his discensents, he enjoyed the public debate. >> he was a native of new jersey, somebody from the northeast, well known in his state no doubt here. and as we look and you were mentioning this before, pete, of the key issue that he was so crucial and so open, if you will, about his opinion on these topics, outside of the court, what will it mean for these specific issues and topics and the votes themselves that you were mentioning earlier? might they be delayed? >> well, it raises the possibility that these cases could ending up in a tie. this sometimes happens, as i say, when justices recuse themselves, take themselves off of the case because they have financial family or

. >> well, i haven't read it in a while, but i believe justice breyer dissented, and all you have to do is read the dissent to see that the four justices at the senate did not believe that the second amendment meant that individuals had the right to keep and bear arms. >> right. and that scalia was aggressive and so you take a matter that matters a great deal, the passing of justice scalia puts that entire question up in the air. so you're going to see a lot of candidate candidates, not only tonight, but through the rest of this campaign and also in the senate talking about and putting tremendous pressure on any republican senator that would even think of allowing barack obama in his final year in office to appoint the fifth and deciding justice, on not only that issue, but how many other issues can you name that are 5-4 right now? this court has been split 5-4 for such a long time that justice kennedy has quietly been one of the most powerful people in this country. you can't really overstate the significance of this tragedy on republican politics tonight and throughout the rest of

the next president will likely have several appointees - justices thomas, ginsburg and breyer are all in their 70s and 80s. the current term ends in june and is one big question mark now. many cases are really close, five to four. and there likely will be ties. in the event of a 4-4 decesion, the case is kicked back and the lower court's ruling stands. in cases like the immigration action by obama, this could be all the difference. expect this issue to get major attention moving forward. if you're looking for something to forward. to do on this valentine's day, you and your sweetheart can head downtown roanoke. today is the last day to skate the ice at elmwood park. the ice rink opens today from noon until seven tonight. admission is six dollars. skate rental is two dollars. all month, we are highlighting couples in southwest virgnina with our "virginia valentine's" segment. couples around the region have sent these pictures in of them and their sweethearts. if you would like to submit a picture of you and your loved one, send it to news at wsls dot-com. be sure to detail how long you

back to the late 1980s and '90s and you could find antonin scalia on the republican side or a stephen breyer or a ruth bader ginsburg on the democratic side and you could find nominees that were deemed qualified, there was a consensus they were qualified, and that was the threshold, and they would get strong support from the other part for their confirmation to the court. there was a sense that, hey, the president of the united states was elected, one of the things that happens when you're elected, you get to pick the people you want to put on the court. if you pick a qualified person, we have no choice but to confirm that person, even if we don't agree with that person ideologically. that's been changing, though. if you look at the votes, this has gone both ways. you look at the votes under john roberts and onso sam alito. the opposition from democrats in 2005 and 2006 wasn't enough to stop either of those nominees, but you had opposition then you weren't seeing 20 years earlier. >> republicans would say that was mounting on the democratic side and the rule changing has happened from both s