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President Obama to Announce Sonia Sotomayor as His Supreme Court Justice Pick; Minnesota Mom and Cancer-Ridden Son Back Home; North Korea Fires Test-Missiles
Aired May 26, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, President Obama to announce his first Supreme Court pick coming up right now. We've actually already learned who it's going to be.
And he's got his finger on North Korea's nuclear button as well. A look at Kim Jong-Il, the man and the myth.
Back home and maybe ready to abide by court order now. This hour what happens next with the Minnesota mom and her son with cancer.
It is Tuesday, May 26th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Choosing a Supreme Court nominee can be one of the most lasting decisions a president ever makes. And we are now hearing that we know exactly who that person will be. And sources are telling us it will be federal judge Sonia Sotomayor.
Let's get the very latest now from CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, good morning to you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, obviously, the president was working with a short list. It got a lot shorter just over the last 24 hours or so. They are confirming that it is Sotomayor and that that announcement will be coming at 10:15 this morning before he leaves town later this afternoon.
Obviously, the White House thinking, the president's thinking that this is a candidate who has bipartisan appeal, nominated by George H.W. Bush to the federal district. Also nominated by the former president Bill Clinton as well to another post.
So this is somebody who they believe have bipartisan appeal, that she has judicial experience and obviously not to be underplayed by any stretch of the imagination is the fact this will make history.
President Obama is the kind of person who wants to make a mark on his legacy, on his administration and on this court. It is the first opportunity to do so. They believe that they'll have other opportunities as well. But out of the gate, this is for them considered a twofer. A female on the court as well as the first time for a Hispanic to be named to the court. Obviously, it's going to be a process that they're going to go through. They're not going to take this for granted.
White House officials know that this is going to have to move through the Senate. But they are quite confident, Heidi, that they believe they have chosen the right person, that she has the right combination of qualifications. She has a background from humble beginnings, growing up in the housing projects, to go on to Princeton University, to Yale Law School.
She has personal appeal. She has a professional background. And she has that kind of -- that historic mark that this president is looking for. So he believes that he has made the kind of pick that satisfies all of those qualifications.
We've heard him talk about somebody with a common touch, somebody who understands and has had experiences with real people, at the same time has judicial experience. This is someone that the president believes has that unique background, that unique combination. And they believe that they're going to get this through the Senate. Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. I wonder, because, obviously, there will be pushback of some kind from the Republican Party here. At best guess, at least at this point, very early on, what do you think that will be about?
MALVEAUX: Well, already we've seen some opposition groups. They've put out papers. They put out e-mails, flyers, all kinds of things, videos already over the last weeks or so over the various candidates they thought would perhaps be nominated.
COLLINS: Right.
MALVEAUX: For Sotomayor the thing that they bring up is that they believe she's prickly with her colleagues, they disagree with some of her rulings but this is not something that the White House, that the president is concerned about. I mean they've been -- they know that there is going to be this process. They have already started.
She will make rounds on the Hill with various senators. But the White House has been gearing up for this battle. Make no mistake, they are ready for this and they feel that these are the kinds of things that they'll be able to overcome and that ultimately, because she has bipartisan appeal, that is the hope that she'll get through the process.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux for us in Washington this morning. Thank you, Suzanne.
And President Obama making a statement and living up to his promise of change. Now, if confirmed, Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the court and the third woman. Let's go ahead and bring in CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, now live in New York.
So, Jeff, what do you make of the pick here?
(ON THE PHONE)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, she has not -- she has been on the list of possible Supreme Court appointments for quite a long time, ever since President Clinton named her to the Federal Court of Appeals in the mid 1990s. So this is in no way a surprise.
The only real surprise is that President Obama had spoke often of his desire to appoint someone to the Supreme Court who is not a judge, someone who had a different background -- a politician, a governor, even a professor, someone who does not...
COLLINS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... come from that mold.
COLLINS: What happened to that?
TOOBIN: But now he did. He picked a federal appeals court judge, meaning there will be nine former federal appeals court judges on the Supreme Court if Judge Sotomayor is confirmed. But in terms of her qualifications, in terms of her likely confirmation, it's a very strong pick, obviously.
COLLINS: So what's next? Because we always like to talk to you with your background and so forth about the process. What goes on here now?
TOOBIN: Well, what's going to happen now is that she will spend some number of weeks meeting privately with senators, talking to them, letting them get to know her. There's sort of a delicate dance that goes on.
She doesn't commit herself on certain issues but certainly they will ask about her general legal approach. And then probably sometime in July there will be confirmation hearings. At that time, the Republicans may try an all-out assault on her qualifications, on her political inclination, on her judicial approach.
But it's going to be difficult for the Republicans, because she has been a very distinguished judge for almost 20 years. There has been no ethical controversies about her. There have been no scandals. So it will be very difficult, especially given the historic nature of the pick, the fact that she has a wonderful American dream story as, you know, being brought up in a housing project in the Bronx, in a single parent family home going on...
COLLINS: So -- so she's a great story?
TOOBIN: She is a great story. And that is something that matters a lot in these circumstances. And then here she is from modest circumstances, goes on to graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University, Yale Law School.
She spent time as a prosecutor under the legendary district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, in Manhattan, then becomes a federal district judge appointed by a Republican, the first President Bush, then appointed to the Circuit Court by President Clinton.
It's really tough to find a chink in the armor here.
COLLINS: All right. Well, Jeff, stick around with us if you would, please, because we're going to try to wade our way through all of this information as we get closer and closer to the official announcement coming our way 10:15 Eastern Time here. So stick around if you would.
In the meantime, I want to go ahead and get to Robyn Karr, who is joining us right now. He actually clerked for Sonia Sotomayor and is joining us now by telephone.
Robyn, if you can hear me, tell us a little bit more about that experience that you had clerking for Sonia Sotomayor.
(ON THE PHONE)
ROBYN KARR, CLERKED FOR JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: Hi. Yes, well, I clerked for Judge Sonia Sotomayor in 1998 to 1999. And I was just able to listen to the last bits of what the previous person you were talking with had said. And that's really right. She has an amazing story, but she also is an amazing person, if you know her.
She's someone who really sort of uniquely among people on the judiciary has a real knack for getting to know sort of every kind of person you can imagine. So she was the judge who, in the courthouse, for example, who knew all of the doormen, who knew the cafeteria workers, who knew the janitors, who knew -- she didn't just know all of the other judges and the politicians and so forth but she really went out of her way to kind of get to know everyone, and was well loved by everyone.
COLLINS: Well, it's interesting, because we were just hearing a little bit from our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, who I had asked her what some of the issues may be or what some of the pushback may be on Judge Sotomayor. And one of the things that she mentioned was that she has been known to be prickly with her colleagues. So you would say no to that?
KARR: Yes, I would say no to that. What I would say is she has a reputation for being prickly on the bench, which is a bit different. What that means is that, when she's in oral argument, and when attorneys show up and if they're either unprepared or if they maybe are raising a weak argument, she is very quick.
COLLINS: She's tough.
KARR: And she's very exact and intellectually demanding. So they're kind of -- they'll have a hard time if they show up in her court without really kind of doing their home work.
On the other hand, when it comes to her interpersonal relationships with her clerks, with her peers, she's really just a warm, extraordinarily kind and caring person. And you really see a real person who is just a genuine person. So, no, I don't think she's prickly with her peers. I think she's actually get to know really all eight of the other justices on the court.
I see her interact both with Justice Scalia and with Justice Thomas for the first time.
COLLINS: Yes .
KARR: With Justice Scalia, I saw her introduce him at a conference on legal ethics at Hoekstra University. And I think she was a little bit unsure to what she was going to say or what she was going to do because he had never met her and she's known to be the centrist judge. We call her a little bit more on the liberal side.
COLLINS: Right.
KARR: And she went and she did the introduction and he responded, wow, that was the most thoughtful introduction I've ever received.
COLLINS: Wow. Well, good. Hey, quickly...
KARR: And this makes -- yes.
COLLINS: Robyn, before I let you go, let me just ask you. Have you ever seen her wrestle with a tough decision? Would you have anything to offer for us on the thinking process and how she kind of goes through something that does not come easy to her by way of, you know, making decisions?
KARR: Yes. What she would do is she would absorb all the materials. She would create a process where she has her clerks and the brief and the parties giving her as much input as possible. She'd make sure she answers every detail and she's really non-ideological.
She would try her hardest to keep wrestling with it until she came to an answer without using any kind of previous and political ideological sort of resources.
COLLINS: Understood. All right, well, Robyn Karr, we sure do appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so very much. He ended up clerking for Judge Sotomayor in '98 and '99.
Thanks again, Robyn.
Now the president wanted to have his nominee seated in time for the next session, in October as you would imagine.
Jim Acosta is joining us now from Washington with more on that.
So, Jim, interested to know what Republicans have been doing to sort of prepare for the president's pick, because we have already been learning this morning that this decision really not a surprise.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not a big surprise. Sotomayor has been mentioned throughout this whole process and had emerged as one of the leading contenders in the final days and hours of this selection process.
And what Republicans are saying is -- what they have been saying about judicial nominees for the past several years, is that they don't want to see what they call a judicial activist on the bench, somebody that they say would legislate, try to write law from the bench, instead of interpreting or deciding on law as it's presented in a court setting or in a proceeding.
And what Judge Sotomayor brings to the table here is very interesting, because she has made some comments in the past that conservatives can latch on to.
COLLINS: Yes.
ACOSTA: Back in 2004, Duke University, she said that the Appeals Court is where policy is made. Well, that's going to drive conservatives crazy. In an earlier public setting, she said that, you know, you should not, as a judge, disregard your ethnicity or gender. That, too, will drive conservatives crazy.
But, on the other hand, what the White House will say, what their political allies will say on Capitol Hill is that; look, Judge Sotomayor was put on the bench originally by a Republican president, George H.W. Bush. And the Republicans will say, oh, well, what about David Souter? George H.W. Bush put David Souter on the bench.
But you know, you have to keep in mind, not only are we talking about the first Hispanic judge on the Supreme Court -- justice on the Supreme Court. We're also talking about a woman. And there are a number of female Republican senators who might find it very hard to vote against Judge Sotomayor.
Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, two very moderate Republicans from Maine, are going to be tempted to go along with the Democrats on this nomination. And even over the weekend, Jon Kyl, the number two Republican in the Senate was saying on one of the Sunday talk shows they pretty much don't have the votes to block this nomination.
As Jeffrey Toobin and Alan Dershowitz and others have said on this network earlier this morning, there really aren't any red flags, any known red flags about this justice at this point that would warrant a huge fight on Capitol Hill.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. But you did bring up something that I think we are going to hear a lot more about, those comments made in that panel discussion at Duke University. I have some of it here in front of me. I mean to go further than what you said here about the Court of Appeals being where policy is made.
She said, according to this -- because it is a Court of the Appeals is where policy is made. And I know, I know that this is on tape and I should never say that.
ACOSTA: Right.
COLLINS: ... because we don't make law, I know.
ACOSTA: Right.
COLLINS: I'm not promoting if and I'm not advocating it. It goes on to say a couple more things here.
ACOSTA: Yes.
COLLINS: That I think we're going to hear a lot more about that.
ACOSTA: Yes, that's right. And -- but having said all of that, Mr. Obama was under a lot of pressure from liberals to put somebody on the bench that they could like. And, you know, somebody who has made those sort of pugnacious comments in public settings is going to be very appealing on the left side of the political spectrum.
There are going to be those out there on the liberal side who have been somewhat disappointed with President Obama in the early months of his administration because of issues like Guantanamo, that they feel like President Obama is not exactly doing what he set out on the campaign trail that made him so appealing to liberals.
And when they hear Judge Sotomayor making comments like that, they're thinking well, maybe this is somebody who can go toe to toe with Justice Scalia or Justice Roberts or Justice Alito. Two very, very conservative justices on the Supreme Court. And what liberals have wanted is somebody who can go toe to toe with those sort of justices. Heidi,
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Jim Acosta following this story alongside us. Thanks so much, Jim. I'm sure we'll check in with you a little later on.
Meanwhile, we want to take a very quick break right here. We'll be back in the CNN NEWSROOM's big news on the Supreme Court today. Back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Breaking news, revealing developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: All right. We are back here in the CNN NEWSROOM with some big breaking news today. We are expecting an official announcement from President Barack Obama in about an hour from now regarding his latest Supreme Court choice.
And we have learned this morning that it is Judge Sonia Sotomayor. And you see her there obviously on the screen. So that is what we are talking about today. Who is she and what will happen next by way of the confirmation process. So right now we want to get to the CNN Supreme Court producer on the line with us, Bill Mears is joining us to give us a little bit more perspective here.
Bill, just first off, give us your impression of this choice.
(ON THE PHONE)
BILL MEARS, CNN SUPREME COURT PRODUCER: It's a good, safe political choice. She's got a great personal story, as we talked about. She's a Puerto Rican descent. She grew up in a public housing project in the Bronx near the old Yankee stadium. She's a big Yankees fan.
COLLINS: That will be important.
(LAUGHTER)
MEARS: They will be. Wouldn't be surprised if she wore a Yankees hat at the ceremony in about an hour. And she's got diabetes. And she's had that for a long time since she was a child. She grew up without a father. Her father died when she was a little girl. And her mother, who worked as a nurse, helped raise her and her young brother, teaching them about the importance of education.
And her mother died just recently. And I'm sure she was going to -- the judge is going to mention the sacrifice and the inspiration that her mother gave her throughout her life.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. All right. Well, those are some -- obviously some personal notes there. There will be, obviously, many questions brought up as always when an appointment like this is made and the confirmation process, I'm sure, will be lengthy as usual in cases like this.
In particular, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Maybe you can give us a little background in history on all of this regarding the city of New Haven's firefighters. And there was an exam, or a promotion exam, that she actually ruled on regarding the minorities in that city and the qualifications through this exam.
Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Because it's likely that that will come up, right?
MEARS: That's right. It's an affirmative action case dealing with so-called reverse discrimination. The test for promotion to lieutenant and captain in the New Haven firefighters were taken in 2003.
The city threw out the results of those tests because so few African-American and Hispanic firefighters qualified for promotion that the city was fearing a discrimination claim by minority candidates. So they threw out the test results. And a group of white and Hispanic firefighters known as the New Haven 20 brought a suit against the city. COLLINS: Now why is this important? We've covered this story here on CNN. And I remember it. Why is this going to become important? Because the timing here is interesting, right?
MEARS: It is. And the timing is probably the most important because it's been recently decided in Sonia Sotomayor's court and now the Supreme Court is taking up that. And we expect that decision in the next month or so.
COLLINS: All right. Well, that is one thing that will obviously come up. Talk to us a little bit further, if you would, about what happens next? Because it's a very interesting process. The official announcement hasn't even been made yet and we're kind of all over this thing. So I don't want to jump too far forward here.
MEARS: Right. The process for her after the announcement will be kind of a little bit of public -- mostly private preparation. She'll meet with some of the senators that will be deciding her confirmation before the Judiciary Committee, but most of her time will be spent behind closed doors and really what is kind of a cram session, kind of a judicial boot camp.
The White House -- will sit down with her behind closed doors. They will act as pseudo senators. They will...
COLLINS: I'm sorry, who -- Bill, who did you say would do this with her?
MEARS: Lawyers from the Justice Department and the White House. There will be kind of a legal team that will be kind of her -- will shepherd her through the confirmation process.
COLLINS: OK.
MEARS: And they will sit with her behind closed doors in a room and they will pretty much have these mock hearings that she's going to go through. They will pepper her with all kinds of imaginary questions that they think will be raised by senators to get her prepared for these hearings....
COLLINS: Right. Right.
MEARS: ... which we expect in July.
COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, we sure do appreciate it. Our CNN Supreme Court reporter. We have Bill Mears on the line with us today.
Thank you so much, Bill. Appreciate that.
The president said over the weekend that he wanted to get the confirmation hearings under way before Congress goes on its break. So Politico.com chief White House correspondent Mike Allen is joining us now live from Washington to talk a little bit more about that.
Yes, I do think it's interesting, Mike, because we've been hearing from the president that he did want to bring in someone for this appointment that did not have a common background, meaning experience from the bench.
You know he was talking about a governor, he was talking about sort of a unique background that he would look for in this decision. And now we have Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
Can you hear me, Mike? Mike, are you with me? I think Mike can't hear me. We're going to check on Mike's audio and we will come back to him just as soon as possible. For now we're going to take a very quick break as we continue our coverage right here on CNN of the new pick by President Obama of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.
Back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: News as it develops as only CNN can bring it to you. See for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: All right. We are covering breaking news this morning, that's for sure. About 45 minutes from now, we expect to hear from President Barack Obama, who will be naming his nominee for Supreme Court justice. And that will be Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
So we're trying to learn a little bit more about her, about her history and decisions, and how this will look regarding the confirmation process. Want to take a moment to bring in Ed Rollins now on the line with us. He's a CNN analyst and Republican strategist.
So, Ed, your opinion or your thoughts right off the top here of President Obama's choice.
(ON THE PHONE)
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, he made a brilliant choice. Obviously, a historic choice, first Hispanic, first Puerto Rican, self-made woman. Went to Princeton and Yale, grew up public projects. You know , so in that sense it's an extraordinary story.
She's -- it's hard to attack her on her experience. She's been on the court -- the Appeals Court and the federal bench since 1991. She's got as much experience as anybody on that court or ever gone on that court in recent history.
You know you may not like some of her decisions but obviously that's the president's prerogative to appoint those people. I think it makes it very difficult for Republicans to attack her without doing further damage to the Hispanic community that's already very important.
COLLINS: All right. We have very little time. And unfortunately we have to get to the opening bell today. And people will be watching that, too. Very quickly, what is this confirmation process going to look like then? Do you think she'll sail through?
ROLLINS: I think she'll sail through. I think -- you know, obviously, any judge gets challenged but at the end of the day I think she -- I think she wins pretty easy.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Ed, we'd love for you to stick around if that's at all possible...
ROLLINS: Sure.
COLLINS: ... as we continue to wade through the information that will be coming through right here on CNN.
So, Ed Rollins, stick around, please.
And meanwhile, traders are returning to Wall Street after a long holiday weekend. Are they rested and ready to buy? Everybody hopes. Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange now with a preview of the trading day.
Hi there, Stephanie. How do things look?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, I think some traders may still be enjoying an extended weekend here but we are looking for a -- I should say a lower opening today.
Investors are rattled by North Korea's nuclear testing that we heard about this morning. The country defied the United Nations and reportedly fired two short-range missiles earlier today.
Another tough housing report also pressures stock. S&P and Case- Shiller say home prices tumbled more than 19 percent in the first quarter. This marks the largest drop on record. And in about a half hour as well we'll get the latest reading on consumer confidence.
The conference board report is expected to show that Americans feel a bit better about the economy. The hope for Wall Street is that more confidence will lead to more consumer spending.
And oil prices, got to take a look at those. They are down more than $1.50 trading near $60 a barrel. This comes ahead of an OPEC meeting later this week. The cartel is expected to lead output unchanged since the global recession has cut its demand.
You see there, got some military ringing the opening bell. The end of fleet week so taking advantage of it. So we're in the early going on right now. We're taking a look at the numbers and we are off to the downside slightly. The Dow off seven points at 8263.
And one thing we'll be keeping our eyes on today as well, Heidi, is GM shares are tumbling about 8 percent. As you know, the automaker really is running up against a deadline today to make a deal with its bond holders. So all three of the major indices in the red at this point, Heidi. Back to you.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. I appreciate it. Stephanie Elam. We'll check back with you a little bit later on. Thank you.
For now, though, we want to go back to our Republican strategist Ed Rollins. We've asked him to stay on the line as we continue to a little bit talk more about President Barack Obama's nominee for Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor.
So, Ed, all right. So the take is, it seems to be relatively unanimous here that it's an historic appointment, that she is a self- made woman, that she will likely sail through confirmation and wouldn't be very smart for the Republican Party to try and block this confirmation.
So what are we talking about today then?
VOICE OF ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I -- you know, I think obviously any Supreme Court justice gets challenged today. And I think to a certain extent they'll examine her record very carefully, the decisions that she sat on. But you know, at the end of the day it's just awfully hard to beat back someone with her credentials.
You know certainly no taint of any personal scandal, certainly someone who has been confirmed twice by the Senate and for the second highest Court of Appeals in '96. So, you know, my sense is it will turn out to be a brilliant choice.
COLLINS: OK. Very good. Ed Rollins, we sure do appreciate your time here today.
ROLLINS: Great.
COLLINS: Republican strategist. Always like checking in with as many people as we can when we get big news like that. So of course, we will continue to do that here throughout the morning.
Again, I want to remind you the official announcement will be coming from the president in about 45 minutes from now on Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
We are going to try it again with Mike Allen of Politico.com as the president did say over the weekend he wanted to get the confirmation hearings under way before Congress goes on its break.
Chief White House correspondent, Mike Allen, joining us now from Washington.
Hi there, Mike.
MIKE ALLEN, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESP., POLITICO: Yes, good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: There you are. OK.
ALLEN: Thanks for having me.
COLLINS: So -- yes. Important, obviously, timing wise to get these confirmation hearings going.
ALLEN: Yes. And, Heidi, this is already a fight between the White House and Senate Republicans. The president is saying he wants someone confirmed before the Senate goes on its August recess so that that person will have time to get ready, get up to speed before that fabled first Monday in October.
Republicans are saying, what's the rush? We're going to do the investigation we need to do. We might need September in order to finish the hearings. Nobody's claiming that she's not going to be confirmed. Nobody is claiming that this is going to be derailed. But they say that they're not going to take the time. They're not going to do shortcuts.
And they say she knows that she's the nominee. She can read up on the cases. And so they're pointing to October as that deadline.
COLLINS: OK. Is that reasonable?
ALLEN: That's what the fight is going to be about. I think you're going to see the White House point out the Republicans when they were in the majority were all about doing it in a hurry.
COLLINS: OK.
ALLEN: Republicans do think that there's a few threads on the sweater that they can pull on here. They're going to point out that Judge Sotomayor got 29 votes against her confirmation before. They're going to call her not a consensus pick. They're going to say that of the four finalists that were widely reported, she's the one that they feel is most liberal or they most complained about.
But Heidi, when you see the president in the East Room 45 minutes from now, we're going to hear him telling a story about experience that as a litigator, a prosecutor, appellate and trial court judge, that Judge Sotomayor comes to the Supreme Court with more federal judicial experience than anyone in 70 years -- anyone in 100 years. More overall trial experience than anyone in 70 years.
He's also going to talk about that incredible personal story that we had. You know that was a big clue, Heidi, over the weekend when the president talked about how he wanted someone who have the common touch, who had experience beyond just academia and the trial court.
Judge Sotomayor, raised in a housing project in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium. Lost her dad at age 9. Her mom is a nurse. Diabetes in her family. So she's had a lot to overcome to get where she are (sic). We're going to hear a lot about that story from the president as he comes out.
COLLINS: OK. Very good. And quickly, though, Mike, before we let you go, we want to get back -- because I thought it was interesting what you said and I do think we're going to hear more about this, as well, about the confirmation process and this battle that you have told us is kind of already going on. Important to look at past confirmation processes because, as we have mentioned, this is the first pick now by a Democrat in eight years. How did it go before? You mentioned Republicans were kind of pushing to be fast. So why do they want to slow down now?
ALLEN: Right.
COLLINS: Important to look further back, is it not?
ALLEN: Right. And they say that they're going to do -- they want to do the investigations they're going to do. But Judge Sotomayor's record is so well known, that's going to be a tough case for Republicans to make.
And what you're going to hear Democrats saying is they're trying to slow-walk this, they're trying to intentionally drag their feet because they want to use this Supreme Court pick to raise money for conservatives, to sort of bring the Republican movement back together.
There's people that have committed millions of dollars to TV advertising on the Republican side not in order to derail this pick. They know that that won't happen. But they're doing it to excite Republicans, excite the base.
But Heidi, I can tell you something the administration really likes about the judge as a pick. She does not have a long record on hot button social issues. There's one abortion case that's going to be portrayed as a case of judicial restraint. But that was a key consideration and one reason that Democrats are very confident that however much Republicans kick and scream, this movie has a clear ending.
COLLINS: Yes. There is a -- the one case in New Haven on affirmative action, of course, that we're going to hear more about. May actually be decided before the confirmation process is complete anyway, but we will continue to look at all of that.
Mike Allen, sure do appreciate your time this morning. Glad we could hear you the second time around.
ALLEN: Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: In the meantime, we want to show you some video here of Judge Sonia Sotomayor actually arriving at the White House. There you see her. So things are moving along as scheduled.
Very quickly this morning, breaking news that we are following throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. President Barack Obama's nominee for Supreme Court justice is Sonia Sotomayor. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live breaking news, unfolding developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM. COLLINS: President Barack Obama making a statement and living up to his promise of change. If confirmed, Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the court. You saw pictures of her there arriving at the White House pending this official announcement coming up in about half an hour from now. And also, the third woman on the bench.
Let's bring in CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin live in New York and also Luis Carlos Velez from CNN en Espanol right next to me.
Thanks, guys, to both of you for being here. A lot to talk about this morning.
Jeff, I want to begin with you. Just remind us, if you would, because you were so well aware of the process here. We've been talking a little bit this morning about how quickly the confirmation process could begin and could end, quite frankly, because of the break that they want to take. And President Barack Obama has said, hey, I want this thing done before we take recess here.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: There are certain laws that cannot be broken. And one law is the Senate gets August off. That's something that is written not in the Constitution. Something even more important than that. The Senate really wants August off.
So, the question is, can the Democrats, can Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, get the hearings done by -- and all the witnesses testifying, of course, starting with Judge Sonia Sotomayor and allow time for debate and have a vote in the Senate before the August recess?
Because if they don't do the August recess, they will have to hold the hearings in September, which raises the possibility that Judge Sotomayor might not be on the bench in time for the first Monday on October, which, as most people know, is when the Supreme Court starts its year.
COLLINS: Right. And so it's going to happen, right?
TOOBIN: Well, I...
COLLINS: I mean this pushes long and you can kind of...
(CROSSTALK)
TOOBIN: This is now being debated. This -- the Democrats want it to happen in July. The Republicans are pushing for a delay. I don't think it's resolved yet. When you're talking about the Senate, it is often prudent to bet on delay.
And I have to say, I think the Republicans have a pretty good argument here. Because you're talking about someone who is going to be a justice on the Supreme Court for 20 years, maybe 30 years.
COLLINS: Of course. TOOBIN: It really doesn't matter that much whether that person is sworn in on August 1st or September 30th. I mean it really doesn't.
COLLINS: Yes, but people have plane reservations. They have beach places reserved. They've to get out of there.
TOOBIN: That's very important.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: OK. Thank you, Jeff. Luis Carlos Velez from CNN en Espanol is joining me now on the set. Because I want to talk a little bit more, Luis, about the historic appointment that we're talking about today. The first Hispanic on the bench. And you have some interesting points to share because obviously you are in this community.
LUIS CARLOS VELEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL; Correct.
COLLINS: And you are hearing what people have to say.
VELEZ: Absolutely. This is very important for the Hispanic community here in the United States. This is a woman, this is a Hispanic woman, getting into one of the highest points in the judicial system here in the United States. So there's demolishes, there's imaginary barrier for Hispanics that cannot get into that high point in -- during the judiciary system here in the United States. So this is very important for the Hispanic community.
COLLINS: What does it mean and what are you hearing about the issues of immigration?
VELEZ: Well, some people -- and if you put this story out there in the streets probably people is going to start thinking, you know, everything related to immigration right now is going to be passing by, really easier because Sonia Sotomayor is going to be there.
And the reality is not. She's only going to be one person between nine different judges, a very important body of intellectuals thinking about the laws in the United States. So she's just one part. We have to be realistic about this. It is very important thing for the Hispanic community. But the changes she's going to bring are yet to be seen.
COLLINS: But of course she will be a loud voice and her opinions regarding immigration not known at this point, correct?
VELEZ: We don't know if that is going to change. What is very important at this moment is Sonia Sotomayor is a 54-year-old person. She -- it's coming from a very humble upbringing.
She is the daughter of two Puerto Rican immigrants here to the United States. She -- lack of money for her education and so forth. So this is very important that this is part of the Hispanic story that we all love to hear and say. COLLINS: This is the lead story, no doubt, CNN Espanol?
VELEZ: Yes, absolutely. We're covering this big time over there.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. Very good. Well, we appreciate you being here with us to spend some time.
VELEZ: Thank you.
COLLINS: We're going to be talking a lot more with all of our analysts today, learning more about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, as President Barack Obama's nominee for Supreme Court.
We also, of course, want to know what you think about this big news. So once again, the president's choice for Supreme Court. So please, if you would, check in on our blog. Let us know what you think. And we will share some of those opinions with you.
There's Josh Levs over there right now working the board. We're going to take a quick break, We'll be back in just a moment.
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COLLINS: We do want to know what you think about the big news we are covering today, the president's choice of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court. Check in on our blog. It's at CNN.com/newsroom. Then just click on my name. You see all of the news right there, too.
Let's get more now from our chief national correspondent John King. He is joining us from Washington to talk a little bit more about this pick. And we are also talking with our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin at the same time.
So, John, want to start with you. Listening to you -- sorry, hi, Jeff. Now that you have your glasses on. We're going to go back to John King, though, about more of this information that we are hearing regarding a couple of different opinions and issues that could be brought up in this confirmation process that is likely to happen very quickly, John, with Justice -- excuse me, Judge Sotomayor regarding specifically that panel discussion at Duke University.
I heard you talking a little bit earlier about it. Would love to hear more of what you're saying.
VOICE OF JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Heidi, it's an interesting pick and Jeff knows this better than I do. Some federal judges when they get to the point where I think they might be Supreme Court pick or just out of caution don't give a lot of speeches and don't participate in a lot of these judicial panels or college academic panels and the like.
COLLINS: Yes.
KING: Judge Sotomayor has done quite a few. And in them, she had said things and from the bench she has said some things and I'm not giving the correct citations here but collectively that who you are, your race, your gender, your ethnicity, of course, affect how you would rule from the bench or of course should impact how you look at the law.
And it is things like that that have conservatives up in arms saying, no, a judge is supposed to read the constitution and read the legislative intent of the state legislature or the Congress and when they pass the law and interpret it that way, not interpret it based on, you know, I'm a 54-year-old Puerto Rican woman who grew up in poverty.
And so her compelling personal story is fascinating. Conservatives will say it's great, but it should have nothing to do with how she approaches her work as a judge. That will be a key battle during the confirmation process.
But by all accounts -- I can tell you some people on the left, they're not disappointed but this isn't the pick they would have made either. People on the right are saying this is a liberal judicial activist, which when you add those two up, what you have is a president probably where he wants to be, in the middle.
COLLINS: Who -- as you bring that up, John, who are you hearing that the left, if you will, was more interested in possibly having nominated?
KING: Well, there's a couple different schools of thought. Number one, again, no one is saying they're disappointed and everyone on the left are saying this is a fine, outstanding judge...
COLLINS: Understood.
KING: ... who belongs on the Supreme Court. But some are saying that she's not an intellectual firebrand, someone who could compete with Antonin Scalia or Justice Alito, the conservative brains, if you will, on the Supreme Court. Others are saying that, you know, would have preferred , the president say the governor pick a somebody who's not a judge because now as Jeff was noting earlier all the justices, if Judge Sotomayor is confirmed, will be federal appeals court judge.
They wanted somebody with a diversity background off the bench. Again, the left are not saying they're disappointed but a number of people saying they think the president here just made a safe choice, because he got so much going on right now. Maybe safer toys, they would have preferred somebody made a safe choice.
COLLINS: Yes, and interesting too. You mentioned the intellectual side of things. I'm just looking in and sort of reminding every of her background. Here, let's see.
Yale Law School, Princeton, BA from there, summa cum laude and then some of her academic positions adjunct professor at NYU, a lecture in law. Columbia Law School. What more academia were they looking for, do you think?
KING: I don't know. I think that that's -- I don't mean to look at it that way. There are people who -- there's no question if you look at the resume, this is somebody who you would say this is a Supreme Court justice. This is a potential Supreme Court justice.
They're looking for someone who they believe if you're arguing a key case about, say, presidential power or key case about affirmative actions, these issues, who when Justice Scalia where you agree or disagree 100 percent, comes in with this remarkable, brilliant and legal argument. Is she up for arguing with him and shaping the court?
Then they want somebody young. A young -- a young debater. A great debater.
COLLINS: Fire cracker, all right.
KING: Right.
COLLINS: Yes, got it. All right.
And some don't view her as this. Is that fair to her? You know we're going to learn as a student. Remember, this is the most political thing that happens in Washington when it happens. And so a lot of what is said is based on people's personal preferences or their personal ideologies.
COLLINS: Yes.
KING: And the justice often in the middle are caught up in this swirl.
COLLINS: Which is...
KING: And a lot of what he said might not exactly in that reality.
COLLINS: Which is always -- yes, and which is always so fascinating to me that it is the political appointment. And we're talking about judges.
So Jeff Toobin, you heard your colleague there bringing you in saying that you know better than him on a couple of these different points. So what do you think? Does she have the chops to go up against some of the other justices?
TOOBIN: Well, I don't think there's any doubt that she's qualified. The issue is, how liberal is she? Because now on the Supreme Court, there are four or five very conservative justices. Justice Thomas, Justice Scalia, Justice Alito, and chief justice Roberts are all very conservative.
The liberals on the court aren't as liberal as -- they aren't as liberal as the liberals used to be. The president Clinton appointees, Ruth Vader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer. Certainly they're brilliant, but they are also moderates like Bill Clinton.
John Paul Stevens appointed by President Ford is also a moderate liberal. What a lot are looking for is someone like William Brenna or someone like Thurgood Marshall who were the great liberal heroes of the '60s and '70s.
They have not been replaced. And liberals are looking for a fire brand. Sonia Sotomayor, it appears, now we don't know for sure, people change when they get on the court. She doesn't look like a liberal fire brand at this point. She looks much more like Stephen Breyer, like Ruth Ginsberg as a moderate Democrat. Like the president, like Barack Obama has generally been.
COLLINS: Understood. All right. Well, fascinating. And again, we are watching all of this very closely. Hope that you guys will stick around as we continue to get more information and get closer. We're about 20 minutes away now from the official announcement by President Barack Obama, his nominee for Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor.
And of course, we do want to know what you think about this news as we move forward here. We'd love for you to come in and check out our blog. And it is at CNN.com/newsroom, click on my name and we will be watching. We're going to take a quick break. Right now, we'll be back. In just a moment right here on CNN.
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COLLINS: Quickly now, we want to bring in Tony Mauro. He's a Supreme Court correspondent for the "National Law Review." He's joining us live from Washington. Want to talk a little bit more about the breaking news that we are following, Tony.
As you well know, President Obama will be announcing his nominee, his choice for the next justice on the Supreme Court. Judge Sonia Sotomayor. So I've just kind of been asking everybody. Your thoughts off the top of this pick.
TONY MAURO, SUPREME CT. CORRESPONDENT, NATL. LAW REVIEW: Well, it really is a historic moment. She'll only be the third woman on the court, and the first Hispanic. And she'll completely change the dynamics of the Supreme Court.
Whenever a new justice comes on, the court is transformed and she will bring a completely background from what Justice Souters brought to that court. He was sort of flinty New England earner, and she's street wise New Yorker.
Grow up in the South prongs. So brings a completely different life story too the court.
COLLINS: Sure, I'm interested by what you say by way of transforming. Just sort of an inside look. I know you're not there but you certainly have reported on us for a very long time. The Supreme Court. What do you mean? What is that like? I mean do they hold a welcoming party and -- obviously lead to all get to know each other. It's very important.
MAURO: Well, they do. They're all sorts of social events that the justices have with each other. They celebrate birthdays and that kind of thing. But I think it's during the court's conferences when they discuss actual cases when her impact will be the greatest. They used to say to Justice Thurgood Marshall, who is the first black justice, would have as much impact in his story telling to the other justices as in his votes. And Justice Sotomayor, if she becomes a justice, may have the same impact on her colleagues. To bring a perspective of the victims, shall we say, of government action as much as anything else.
COLLINS: Well, it is going to be very interesting. We'll be watching all of it really closely., as you can imagine. Again, we are about 15 minutes away, Tony Mauro. We sure do appreciate your thoughts this morning.
We also would like to hear from you at home. What do you think about the big news, the president choice of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court?
Checking on blue blood. We're getting a lot of comments, it's at CNN.com/newsroom. Just click on "Heidi," and we will be watching those postings. Quick break here. We'll be back in just a moment.
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