bader ginsburg, perhaps the most liberal member of the court. >> it was a wonderful friendship even before their time together on the court of appeals they both served. on as has been reported, the families would have dinner together on new years eve. and i remember years back, sitting there and feeling comforted that my father had such a wonderful friend on the court and that my mother also was so close to her husband marty who was a wonderful man. it was wonderful to see, although they didn't always agree on cases there was still that strong friendship between my father and that colleague. >> your homily for your father was very beautiful. and that's the right term, right? >> he would prefer sermon. >> okay. >> but you persuaded him that was wrong. >> one of our last conversations, we had that argument yet again and i think i got him around to my way of thinking. >> so i'll go with you, given that you're the judge here. and you started it with a very interesting writerly, sermonly method. you started talking about, well, let's take a listen. >> we are gathered here because of one

everybody knows that he and ruth bader ginsburg, one of the liberal justices on the court, were, in her words, best buddies. he pushed away the modern convention that you're not allowed to be friends with people of differing political views. second is his keen legal mind. i know jeffrey and joan will have more to say on that. third, for conservatives he was truly a beacon for three decades, somebody whose views of the law and the constitution they could follow and admire. and while liberals and conservatives and democrats and republicans came and went in this town, he was always there. >> you can't exaggerate how important he was. >> that's right. every supreme court justice has a vote. and everybody vote is the same. but there are very few justices who leave a legacy of ideas that go well beyond his individual influence. when you talk about originalism, the idea that the constitution should be interpreted as it was understood by the framers, an idea that leads to very conservative results in the modern day, no abortion rates, no gay rights. the other idea is textualism, the idea that l

scalia and liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg had a friendship, an odd couple they were called. >> they were polar opposites on the bench. scalia was a conservative. ginsburg was a liberal. but they were able to bridge their differences and build a long lasting, deep friendship over the last several years. in fact, they traveled the world together. there's a picture in justice ginsburg's office showing them riding an elephant together. she once joked she was sitting behind scalia to more evenly distribute the weight. they like to give each other a hard time. another fun story was they went parasailing together. and justice scalia admired her courage but was also worried she was going to float away. they'd make appearances together in public, talk about their friendship, the fact they spent new year's eve together. there was even an opera named after them. and so they really shared a lot of interest and had a deep respect, despite the fact they had different ideologies. >> pamela brown, thank you. >>> just ahead, remembering harper lee, an author who cherished her privacy while making an

maybe some of our viewers don't know his best friend on the court was liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg. >> that's right, jake, they were best buddies on the bench. scalia called them the odd couple because they had such different ideologies but they rode elephants together, they went parasailing together and they were best of friends. what was interesting here today was that people showed up to pay their respects like the ones behind me in line and not all of them share scalia's conservative ideology but they wanted to come here and pay their respects because scalia was such an influential judge. he really changed the way people looked at the law and he dedicated 30 years of his life to service. on this somber afternoon at the high court, president obama and the first lady arrived to pay their respects to justice antonin scalia. the first couple paused at the flag-draped casket as scalia's former clerks stood guard. they'll be taking turns through the day and night. one of his clerks, jamison jones. >> it was a really touching ceremony this morning. justice scalia was a brilliant mento

ruth bader ginsburg. anthony kennedy. and chief justice roberts. what's -- where anthony kennedy is standing, that's where justice scalia used to be. the senior associate justice, the longest tenured associate justice always sits to the right of the chief justice. and justice scalia was such a big presence in the courtroom right next to the chief justice that it is going to be very weird, frankly, to be in that courtroom on monday without chief justice, without justice scalia there. i've been going to supreme court arguments for more than 20 years and i've never been to a supreme court argument where antonin scalia was not a participant and usually the loudest and most vociferous participant. >> about how he changed the oral argument process, and how much that evolved under him. >> that is a big, big change that happened at the supreme court. in the 1980s, it was a very quiet bench. you had chief justice warren burger. you had justices like thurgood marshall, like william brennan, who very rarely asks questions. they really were very reticent to ge

. >> ruth bader ginsburg, supposedly justice scalia's best bud, there, too? >> notwithstanding, profound disagreements about the law. she will be there. she is -- everybody moves up a step in seniority, and, you know, she is now right in the middle of the court in terms of seniority. and it's -- they were very close. they spent new year's eve together. their families. justice ginsburg's late husband marty ginsburg was a famous gourmet chef. antonin scalia a famous gourmet eater. so it was a very good combination. they spent new year evil together. both justice ginsburg and justice scalia were big opera fans. something that they had in common. and they served together for decades. not just on this court but on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. so these people all go way back. >> beautiful. it shows you can bitter disagreement about politics and other things and still remain friends and civil to one another and that should be celebrated on this day. >> it is. and we're in the midst of a presidential campaign that is not always so civil, and there was no disgui

if this had been a ruth bader ginsbu ginsburg, if this had been another liberal who left the court and was replaced, it would not have reached this sort of fight that it's going to reach here. that's why the stakes are so serious because the ideological makeup of the court is at stake for the first time in a very long time. the constitution is very clear about what the senate can do. it can either accept or reject the nominee, and i think politically, republicans who control the senate obviously have made a bit of a mistake here because they came out immediately, literally within hours of scalia's death, saying that they would not approve of anyone that obama picked. well, that's going to make them look a little unreasonable in the eyes of the public. what they should have done is waited, and if you notice some of the smart republicans are doing this now, waiting and saying, we'll see who it is, even though we're likely not tow accept that person. >> we will certainly watch that. i do want to move to the campaign trail now. president obama has said that donald trump will not win, but t

ruth bader ginsburg calls antonin scalia her best buddy. ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so... more pills. yep... another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? for my pain... i want my aleve. get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. only glucerna has carbsteady, diabetes, steady is exciting. clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. so you stay steady ahead. are you powered by protein? we are. milk has 8 grams to help give you energy to unleash your potential. start every day with milk's protein and milk life. i...just me...me andrd my four daughters.... ah, there's a lot of dancing and pageants that go on in our kitchens and living rooms and things like that. i've had to learn to accept certain things like the fact that my toe nails and finger nails are going to be painted constantly. but it's really awesome to watch them at their own things. they're great kids... all o

and on the other side of the spectrum, his colleague, ruth bader ginsburg is the more liberal. despite that, they had a close relationship. their families vacationed together. they shared a love of opera. pamela bruin has moown has more unlikely friendship. >> why don't you call us the odd couple? >> reporter: two polar opposite legal minds with the closest friendship on the bench. >> you know, what's not to like? except her views of the law, of course. >> reporter: sharing a life about ginsburg's sleeping habits, at the state of the union. >> the audience for the most part is awake, because they're bobbing up and down all the time. and we sit there, stonefaced. sober judges, but we're not, at least i wasn't, 100% sober, because before we went to the state of the union [ laughter ] we had dinner together. and justice kennedy -- >> that's the first intelligent thing you've done. [ laughter ] >> so i got a call when i came home, from one of my granddaughters, and show said bubby, you were sleeping at the state of the union! >> reporter: the sharp as a tack 81-year-old admitted sh

until last night, the big question had been ruth bader ginsburg. thought this is one of those demonstrations of how important the election is. that could further direct the future of the court. now you have a leading conservative voice to be replaced by the next year or possibly after this election. on the republican side, how does this change the direction of things there? does it play to ted cruz's advantage? he's got strong conservative credentials. >> if you are ted cruz you remind people and go out every day in south carolina, nevada, going in to the primary thafs fighting for conservatives while donald trump, who is main opponent right now was given six figures in 2006, 2005, 2004 to democrats to flip the senate and they would be in charge of the nominee. let's not be fooled by donald trump claiming he's a great conservative for justices on the supreme court. that's his biggest advantage i see in this election moving forward. bush and rubio need to remind people when they were in the actual fight and what they are criticized for now is the co

supreme court justices antonin scalia and ruth bader ginsburg were polar opposites on the bench, but outside of the courtroom the two shared a bond that bridged the gap of their political beliefs. today justice ginsburg is mourning thes will of scalia, who she called her best buddy. our pamela browns has a look at the unexpected relationship between the two justices. >> why don't you call us the odd couple? >> reporter: justices antonin scalia and ruth bader ginsburg, two polar opposite legal minds with the closest friendship on the bench. >> what's not to like? except her views of the law. sharing a laugh about ginsburg's sleeping habits. at the state of the union. >> the audience for the most part are bopping up and down all the time. it's over, at least i wasn't 100% sober. before we went to the state of the union, we had dinner together and justice kennedy. >> that's the first intelligent thing you have done. >> i got a call and came home from one of my grand daughters and she said, you were sleeping at the state of the union. >> the 81-year-old admitted she had occasional help s

. >> i'd like to ask you about the friendship that he had, particularly with ruth bader ginsburg. they called each other best buddies and the odd couple. was he the type of person to be able to kind of set aside his political ideologies for the sake of his relationships because they are polar -- they are, you know, totally at different ends of ideological persuasions but then somehow they would come together. >> absolutely. i think you see that also with his friendship with justice kagan. look, justice scalia loved vigorous argument. he loved to have people contest him. he respected people who would engage him. he was fully capable of recognizing the good qualities of people with whom he disagreed on other things and i think you see that affability in his relationships. >> he was very unique. many have said, you know, he's one of a kind. but as the president either considers appointing someone, is it your hope that it would be someone of a similar persuasion, ideological approach to law? >> well, realistically, there's zero chance that this president would select anyone who is any

supreme court justices antonin scalia and ruth bader ginsburg forged an unlikely friendship, even vacationing together. >> very nice person. she likes opera. you know, what's not to like? except her views of the law, of course. >> his death leaves behind a political storm but also a singular legacy. here with me is his biographer, author of "american original: the life and constitution of supreme court justice antonin scalia." thank you so much for coming in. i just want to ask about the size you saw of him that other people didn't. >> i should mention that ruth bader ginsburg returned the favor by saying "i love nino, but i would like to strangle him." >> he has a sense of fun. >> yeah. >> he played poker, he would sing and play piano and there's a lot about his hunting but he really enjoyed hunting and he told me about hunting turkeys and how cunning they were. he said you have to be really quiet because you only get one shot, and i always thought that epitomized his time in the law. you get just one shot and he took it. >> yeah, he certainly did. you were also intrigued by his immigrant st

bader ginsburg. scalia died while on holiday in texas. he was 79 years old. >>> outside the u.s. supreme court, the american flag was lowered to half staff late saturday. u.s. president barack obama offered his condolences. he praised scalia's commitment to the job and his years of service. >> just scalia dedicated his life -- justice scalia dedicated his life to the cornerstone of democracy, the rule of law. tonight we honor his extraordinary service to our nation and remember one of the towering legal figures of our time. >> now fair to say a partisan fight may be brewing over the vacancy that scalia has left behind. it is up to the president to nominate a replacement, and then it is up to the senate to approve or reject that nominee. and one top republican senator hinted that that won't come smoothly. senator chuck grassley said the fact of the matter is that it has been standard practice over the last 80 years to not confirm supreme court nominees during a presidential election year. just a short

and also into his unique friendship with justice ruth bader ginsburg, his sort of ideological contrast. >> he was -- justice scalia was not only a very warm and a very kind man, he was a very engaging -- very interesting and broad and very witty and funny guy. and in a town like washington, d.c. that's become increasingly partisan he's a man that's always had deep and enduring friendships on both sides of the political aisle. he can see the good and the valuable and the funny and the fun and the interesting in everyone. and you know, he was -- he had a tremendous wit. just a tremendous wit. >> tremendous wit. memories from paul cappuccio, a former clerk and very good friend of justice scalia. our thanks to him. later this week cnn will host two republican presidential town hall events in south carolina ahead of the primary there. all six republican candidates will participate. marco rubio, ted cruz, ben carson will appear on wednesday night. donald trump, jeb bush, john kasich will appear thursday night. both town halls hosted by our very own anderson cooper. they both begin at 8:00 p.

and also into his unique friendship with justice ruth bader ginsburg, his ideological contrast. >> sure. justice scalia was not only a very warm but kind man, he was a very engaging, a very interesting and broad and very witty and funny guy. and in a town like washington, d.c., that's become increasingly partisan, he's a man who always had deep and enduring friendships on both sides of the political i'l political aisle. he could see the good and funny and interesting in everyone. you know, he was -- he had a tremendous wit. he just had a tremendous wit. and it many friends all over town. as you know, justice ginsburg and he would always say that they were sort of each other's best friends. there were many other on the other side of the aisle. he was an engaging man. i have many other stories, none of which i'll cover with you here, but the sharpness of his pen reflected also his wit and his fun. he was -- you know, people may not believe this, he was an absolute teddy bear to work for. he was just warm and kind and not demanding and funny and, you know, i used to describe being in his c

as we've learned tonight, he had a real friendship with ruth bader ginsburg. they had if you year's eve dinners together regularly, the two families. so we need to remember that on this evening as well. >> i think that's a very good point, david gergen. as we go to break, let's also remember the fact that back in 1986, this is a justice who was unanimously confirmed by the senate, 98-0. david gergen, thank you very much. i do want to let you know before we go to break later this week, cnn hosts two republican presidential town hall events in south carolina. all six republican candidates will participate. marco rubio, ted cruz, ben carson will appear on wednesday night followed by donald trump, jeb bush and john kasich. that's hosted by anderson cooper at 8:00 p.m. in south carolina, ahead of the primary there, give voters the opportunity to ask their questions directly to the candidates and, of course, the passing of supreme court justice antonin scalia will be addressed as well. we're going to take a quick break. much more on our breaking news when we return.