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Scalia's Death Leaves Undecided Cases; Heated Republican Debate in South Carolina. Aired 4-4:30p ET
Aired February 14, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIN SCALIA, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I, Antonin Scalia, solemnly swear.
WHITFIELD: Rembering Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Antonin Scalia was larger than life presence on the bench.
WHITFIELD: His powerful voice, a remarkable life and some unexpected friendships.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had dinner together. And Justice Kennedy.
SCALIA: Well, that's the first intelligent thing you have done.
WHITFIELD: His death already creating partisan clashes.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it is up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. It is called delay, delay, delay.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Donald Trump is president, he will appoint liberals. If Donald Trump is president -
TRUMP: (inaudible) let me tell you, I'm going to turn this around.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think it looks good that the Republicans would deny this president the right to exercise his constitutional responsibility.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The simple fact is the next president needs to appoint someone with a proven conservative record similar to Justice Scalia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All in the NEWSROOM.
Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
This breaking news in the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
A source tells CNN Scalia's family decided not to perform an autopsy. The decision was supported by the Texas Justice of the Peace. Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to a hunting retreat in that state of Texas. He was 79 years old.
Headlines across the country are calling Justice Scalia a force in the courtroom, a powerful voice on the bench and memorializing the lasting legacy he leaves behind. As the nation reacts to his unexpected death, the reaction has been what it will mean for the Supreme Court and the cases the justices are reviewing right now. It opens the opportunity for a liberal majority on the bench under President Obama. Democratic appointees have not held the majority in the high court for more than 40 years.
Let's talk about this with CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju and he is in Washington. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was quick to say that he didn't think the president should even nominate a replacement for Scalia. President Obama vowed very quickly he will be nominating someone. So how long could this process really drag out?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Quite sometime, Fredricka. I mean, if you look at historical president, typically Supreme Court nomination processes take about 67 days, that's on average since 1975. The longest being when Robert Bork's nomination was rejected by the Senate three decades ago. That took 108 days. This is poised to smash that record.
I mean, we are looking at right now where McConnell is saying that the president should not nominate anybody. If he sticks to his demand and decides not to allow a confirmation vote on the Senate floor and if they deny a confirmation hearing in the Senate, judiciary committee then it is almost certainly likely that there will be no nominee confirmed this year. That means it will drag on into the next presidency.
It could take two or three months in the next administration. We can look for more than a year until there is a Supreme Court nominee. The question is whether or not political pressure will force Republicans to change (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: So wait a minute, Manu, so I'm hearing a couple of things. There could be the issue of just delaying it, dragging it out. But then there's the issue you are saying that the Senate majority leader could say altogether, just not to even schedule confirmation hearings just don't even allow the process to happen, even if there is an appointment.
RAJU: That's right. The first step is what's going to happen in the Senate judiciary committee. Chuck Grassley is the chairman of that committee and yesterday, he issued a statement saying that there should not be a nominee this Congress. But he did not say he would not hold a confirmation hearing. Now, to ask the Judiciary committee whether or not Grassley would hold a hearing, they said that they're not going to comment beyond his statement. Similarly, Mitch McConnell said "there shouldn't be a nominee this Congress" but didn't say he would not hold a confirmation vote. We expect them probably not to have a vote because the pressure is going to be pretty intense not to but they have not taken that position quite yet, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Wow. OK. Manu Raju, thank you so much, from Washignton.
RAJU: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: So during last night's debate, Republican presidential candidates paused for a moment of silence to honor Justice Antonin Scalia. The news of Scalia's death came just hours before last night's debate and was a major talking point of the evening. The Republicans then squared off on who should replace Scalia and when.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not a living, breathing document - it is to be interpreted as originally meant.
BUSH: The next president needs to appoint someone with a proven conservative record, similar to Justice Scalia, that is a lover of liberty and then fight and fight for that nomination to make sure that that nomination passes.
[16:05:00]
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We ought to let the next president of the United States decide who is going to run that Supreme Court with a vote by the people of the United States of America.
CRUZ: We are one justice away from the Supreme Court that would undermine the religious liberty of millions of Americans. And the stakes of this election for this year, for the Senate, the Senate needs to stand strong and say we're not going to give up the U.S. Supreme Court for a generation by allowing Barack Obama to make one more liberal appointee.
TRUMP: This is a tremendous blow to conservativism, it is a tremendous blow, frankly, to our country.
I think it's up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. It is called delay, delay, delay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And from there the mudslinging really started. Making last night's debate one of the most heated of the 2016 election season so far. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Biggest liar. You are probably worse than Jeb Bush. You are the one single biggest liar. This guy lied - let me just say, this guy lied about Ben Carson when he took votes away from Ben Carson in Iowa and he just continues. Today we had robo calls saying Donald Trump is not going to run in South Carolina where I'm leading by a lot. I'm not going to run - vote for Ted Cruz, this is the same thing he did to Ben Carson. This guy will say anything. Nasty guy.
Now I know why he doesn't have one endorsement from any of his colleagues.
He's a nasty guy.
CRUZ: I will say, I will say it is fairly remarkable to see Donald defending Ben after he called him pathological and compared him to a child molester, both of which were offensive and wrong. But let me say this, Donald didn't disagree with the substance that he supports taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood and Donald has this weird pattern when you point to his own record he screams liar, liar, liar.
TRUMP: Where did I support it? Where did I support it? Hey, Ted, where did I support it?
CRUZ: If you want to go and watch the video, go to our website at tedcruz.org and you can see it.
TRUMP: Where did I support it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh boy, it wasn't just between Trump and Cruz. Rubio also calling Cruz a liar.
So CNN correspondent Phil Mattingly is in South Carolina for us. Things got very ugly last night. It sounds like it really rattled and got the audience quite excited.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Fredricka. It was a little bit more brawl, a little bit less debate. Look, we have been warning people for the past five or six days on our way down to South Carolina that this was the place where the campaign was going to get ugly and that certainly happened last night. You mentioned the crowd, lots of booing, lots of cheering. A very active, very involved crowd, often booing Donald Trump.
Now, the interesting thing about that, Fredricka, is Donald Trump in every poll we have seen leading up to this point, leading by double- digits. You saw Ted Cruz go after him in a very sharp manner. Part of that reason is when it comes to the South Ted Cruz is somebody who needs to chop away at that lead for Donald Trump.
Another one you heard there, Marco Rubio, as you pointed out, I was just at his event down here in South Carolina, the only people out on the trail today in South Carolina. Marco Rubio's people, feeling very good about what happened last night and that's no small thing. If you remember what happened in the New Hampshire debate, obviously, a big blow to all of the wind at his back, coming out of Iowa. Marco Rubio today saying over and over again that he feels great and he feels like they have momentum. A big week of campaigning ahead for everybody, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. So you are at a Marco Rubio event. Is there a way in which to kind of get a sense from the voters there what they have been thinking and feeling, how they thought he did last night? Whether he was a real standout or whether he was a punching bag?
MATTINGLY: What I think everybody saw - you heard he took a couple of questions and one person actually brought this up. There was extreme disappointment amongs Rubio's supporters after that New Hampshire debate and then the subsequent fifth place finish in New Hampshire. They feel like maybe he has gotten a little bit of kind of his groove back down here.
But look, it is a long week ahead. While Marco Rubio has a very strong campaign team in South Carolina, a very strong operation in South Carolina, he is trailing badly in the polls to Donald Trump. I feel like the team can make it up here but voters here want to see that Marco Rubio has a team that can actually make gains over these next couple of days, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Phil Mattingly, thank you so much.
And later this week, CNN will host two Republican presidential town hall events in South Carolina. All six Republican candidates will participate, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson appearing on Wednesday night.
Then separately, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and John Kasich will appear on Thursday night. Both events being hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper and will take place live at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The town hall will give South Carolina voters an opportunity to question the candidates directly.
The Republican presidential town hall Wednesday and Thursday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:13:35]
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
This note just coming from the White House. The president said he will not rush to pick an appointment to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. By the way, this fall would have marked the 30th anniversary of Justice Antonin Scalia taking his seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, that made him the longest serving justice in the current court. The court he knew he would have to leave one day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PIERS MORGAN, FORMER HOST: Would you ever retire?
SCALIA: Of course I will retire, certainly, when I think I'm not doing as good of a job as I used to. That will make me feel very bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Scalia's untimely death draws his three decades of service to a close but won't independent end the influence he had.
Joining me right now from Washington is Attorney Richard Bernstein, a former Supreme Court clerk and friend of Justice Scalia. Good to see you.
ATTY. RICHARD BERNSTEIN, FMR. SUPREME COURT CLERK: Thanks. It's good to be here. It's a sad day but he led a joyous life.
WHITFIELD: I wonder how you feel. It is a sudden departure. Given you worked with him and you feel like you really have a good handle on his legacy, how did that news sit with you? What do you reflect on when you think of how he impacted your life?
[16:15:00]
BERNSTEIN: I reflect on the fact that the last time I saw him was in October. I was arguing before the court, on the bench and during my rebuttal he gave me a big smile. That is my final memory of Justice Scalia. I lost the case but he gave me a big smile.
WHITFIELD: What do you suppose - how has he influenced you the most as it pertains to how you would carry out your profession? What did you learn from him that you felt, if only I could do that? Or if only I could think like him in this respect, what were those qualities be?
BERNSTEIN: No one can think like him. No one could write like him. I think he most influenced me as a man and as a father. He was a tremendously decent human being and a tremendously dedicated father and dedicated husband. I try to be some of those things myself.
In terms of my thinking and my writing, Justice Scalia always got to the heart of the matter, to the core of the matter. Didn't try to skate around it on the edge. As best as I can, I try to do that in my legal practice.
WHITFIELD: He was also very vocal. Other justices kind of took note that, you know, he would be very detail oriented in his opinion and argument and others would joke, does he realize there are other justices in the room here, there are other justices here. They say it with some jest but at the same time that was a remarkable quality about him, wasn't it?
BERNSTEIN: Well, he filled the room whenever he came in it. I think early on in his, as you said, 30 years on the court, some of the other justices were nonactive questioners. So he stood out as an active questioner. On the current court, there are lots and lots of active questioners. And so that aspect of him - the most recent time I was up there arguing and other times I have been out there watching other people argue did not stand out as much in recent years. But he always filled the room. He was, as I said, joyous and larger than life.
WHITFIELD: Richard Bernstein, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. Your reflections.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. There are probably not two people you would expect to see together socially, Antonin Scalia and fellow Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. They were at opposite ends of the political spectrum but they were also best friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:21:35]
WHITFIELD: U.S. 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 the loss of Scalia, who she called her best buddy.
Our Pamela Brown has a look at the unexpected friendship between the two justices.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCALIA: Why don't you call us the odd couple?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, two polar opposite legal minds with the closest friendship on the bench.
SCALIA: What's not to like? Except her views of the law.
BROWN: Sharing a laugh about Ginsburg's sleeping habits. At the State of the Union.
RUTH BADEN GINSBURG, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: The audience for the most part (inaudible) because they are bopping up and down all the time. And we sit there, stone face (inaudible) judges. At least I wasn't 100 percent sober. Because before we went to the State of the Union, we had dinner together and Justice Kennedy brought in -
SCALIA: Well, that's the first intelligent thing you have done.
GINSBURG: So I got a call and when I came home from one of my granddaughters and she said, "Babi (ph), you were sleeping at the State of the Union."
BROWN: The sharp (INAUDIBLE) 81-year-old even admitted she had some occasional help staying awake from now retired Justice David Souter.
GINSBURG: He had an acute sense of when I was about - and so he would give me pinch. BROWN: Ginsburg nicknamed notorious RBG and Scalia known as Nino, have long been vacationed together with their families.
Scalia admiring his pint size partner's taste for adventure.
SCALIA: And Ruth, honest to goodness, went up behind a motor boat in a -
GINSBURG: Parasail.
SCALIA: Yes. She is so light you would think she would never come down.
BROWN: Their political differences an elephant in the room. They aren't afraid to confront or ride as they did in India.
GINSBURG: That was a rather bumpy ride.
SCALIA: And some of her feminist friends gave me a hard time or her a hard time because she rode behind me on the elephant. Big deal. I'm not kidding.
GINSBURG: The driver explained it was a matter of distribution of weight.
BROWN: Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Great humor.
All right. A quick check on the top stories of the day in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the lockdown at Arkansas State University is now lifted. Police search the campus after a report of two men with weapons. No suspects were found. About 20,000 students attend that college.
And Pope Francis on the second full day of his historic trip to Mexico. A short time ago, tens of thousands of people joined the Pope for mass in a notoriously dangerous suburb just outside of Mexico City. He urged Mexicans to transform their country into a land of opportunity where people would no longer feel the need to leave in search of a better life.
[16:25:05]
Interstate 78 in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania has reopened after a deadly pile up there. Three people died after a 60-car accident on Saturday. Intense snow and poor visibility contributed to the collisions involving numerous tractor-trailers and cars.
That will do it for me. Thank you for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
"ALL ACCESS AT THE NBA ALL-STAR GAME" starts from Toronto right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin and the last couple of weekend, I have spent time in New Hampshire and in Iowa covering politics of this presidential election but guess what I get to do today, talk basketball.
We are here in the Air Canada Center here for the amazing all star weekend in Toronto where it is a tad chilly. Although it is heating up inside. It is awesome to be here with my favorite partner in crime, favourite all star, Mr. Steve Smith.
STEVE SMITH: Brooke, how are you doing?
BALDWIN: I'm doing awesome.
SMITH: Happy to have you here with us. It's the 66th all star in Toronto, couldn't get better than this.
BALDWIN: Let's take a look.
The world's biggest basketball stars and a weekend celebration of the sport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy to be here once again. It is an honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like the film festival of basketball, man.
