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Justice Stephen Breyer, Consistent Liberal Vote on Supreme Court, Plans to Retire; Justice Stephen Breyer to Retire after more than Two Decades on the Supreme Court; Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to Retire. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 26, 2022 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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JOHN KING, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Hello and welcome to "Inside Politics". I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for sharing your busy breaking news day with us.

An invasion warning as the United States puts pen to paper America makes clear it will not budge on Vladimir Putin's central demand to close the door on NATO - joining NATO in Ukraine.

Plus, we're learning the United States and its allies are now deliberating whether to send troops to Eastern Europe before Putin makes his decision. Plus COVID exhaustion brings new intensity to the fight over masks and schools. Virginia is the new hotspot.

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she'll be on the ballot come November, when she'll be 82. Any moment now we expect to hear from the Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But first, some breaking news, a leading member of the Supreme Court is retiring. Let's get straight to CNN's Jessica Schneider Jess huge news.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Huge news, John. This is actually just been confirmed by our Wolf Blitzer that at 83 years old after 27 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer the leading liberal on the court, he will retire.

We're still not exactly sure of the timeline, but presumably not until the end of this term, which ends usually at the end of June. This retirement announcement comes after what has been a persistent drumbeat of calls from progressives to retire from the court dating back now, just about a year.

It was about a year ago, when the progressive group demand justice actually hired a mobile billboard that - on Capitol Hill in front of the Supreme Court urging Breyer to retire. Now we know he will retire presumably at the end of this term.

You know, Justice Stephen Breyer, he spoke with our Joan Biskupic last year, and he talked about what would prompt him to retire. He said it would ultimately be about two things his health and the court. We don't know about any issues with his health.

So presumably, this is all about the court, preserving the status of the court despite the politics that are at play here. Justice Stephen Breyer has repeatedly talked in speeches about preserving the integrity of the court, keeping politics out of the court, not letting politics stain the public reputation of the court.

But now despite, or possibly because of those progressive calls for him to step down the Justice will retire. And of course, Justice Stephen Breyer knows all about the political implications of his position, especially after the sudden death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg that gave that third nominee to Donald Trump now making it a solidly six three conservative court.

Justice Breyer served as Chief Counsel in the 70s to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He helped investigate Watergate, so he knows full well the politics at play here, and how the politics have been even more in the forefront when it comes to this court over the past several years?

Justice Stephen Breyer, he has the relished his position as the leading liberal on the court right now he's the third most senior justice after the Chief Justice after conservative Clarence Thomas. Justice Breyer has talked to our Joan Biskupic about how he relished his role as this leading liberal getting to speak for the liberals first in their conferences.

You know, he's written some important decisions over the past year as well, talking about free speech in schools. So he has been a really vocal member of the court. John, he just put out a book in September, talking about how politics should not permeate the High Court. That has been a consistent message.

But perhaps today, John, potentially, politics playing a role in Justice Breyer's decision to step down after almost three decades, because progressives want to have that chance before the November midterm elections to get a Biden nominee to the court. So big news today, Justice Stephen Breyer, we've learned will in fact, retire John.

KING: And you have to look, the justices all say they try to shield the court from politics, they shield themselves from politics. As you mentioned, Justice Breyer served as an aide to the liberal Senator Ted Kennedy for a long time. He understands politics quite well. He also understands the pressure on him.

It's the raw politics here are if the Republicans take control of the Senate, and if Breyer waited much longer, and we were after the November elections and Republicans were going to take power in January, Mitch McConnell had made quite clear. We won't take up a Biden pick; they'll still be a fight over any Biden pick.

But at least now the president gets to make his pick while he has a 50-50 Democratic Senate with the Vice President Kamala Harris, making the key deciding votes.

SCHNEIDER: Exactly. And still plenty of time left in the courts term. Usually they ended the end of June. So this would allow time for the president to make his pick. We know that during the campaign President Joe Biden pledged to nominate a black woman so we've got our eyes on several.

There's Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson she's currently at the D.C. Circuit. Leandro Kruger is out in California. So a few names there but of course more will likely come out as we enter into this next phase of who exactly will be President Biden's nominee?

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SCHNEIDER: And enter into the politics that will no doubt play into this decision John.

KING: Jessica standby and continue reporting. I want to get to our Chief White House Correspondent, Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, again, a decision that inside the White House they wanted, they wanted very much for the President of the United States to get to make a choice here.

And they wanted very much that if Justice Breyer was going to retire, that he do it as far away from the November elections as possible, so that Biden can make the case I'm President, we have the majority, the American people don't vote till November, we're going to do this now.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's one of the most delicate situations that any White House has to deal with. And of course, the timing is everything for a White House. We've seen how it is played out before the last three justices that were confirmed to the court.

And John, we are getting the first reaction from the White House now from Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who has just tweeted, it has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire and how they want to announce it. That remains the case today.

And she says we have no additional details or information to share from the White House though, of course, typically, these announcements are something that are done in conjunction with the White House, they typically communicate beforehand that this is something that a Justice wants to do.

We're still waiting on the details of how Justice Breyer has decided to do this. But of course, he is someone who does have close ties to this White House; some of his former clerks are top aides here at the White House inside the West Wing in the Biden Administration.

And so of course, this is a significant moment for this White House and for this president to be able to make a decision, potentially of some of the he wants to put on the court. And it remains to be seen how Justice Breyer is going to move forward with this announcement how it will be done in conjunction with the White House.

They're not offering a lot of details right now and declining to comment any further on that. But it is certainly a significant moment. And you're right, John, it is one that the White House wanted to see. It's one that every White House wants to see to be able to have that kind of a lasting impact.

And it was certainly one that Biden's predecessor had with those three justices that he put on the court. And so of course, this is going to raise so many questions, as Jessica was just noting about who was going to be on this list.

And one thing that this I should highlight is remember when the White House announced that they were going to be releasing those visitor logs, those were the logs that of course Trump and the Trump Administration had said they were not going to make public because they didn't believe.

They believed it was a matter of national security, not to know who was coming in and out of the White House. I remember when the Biden Administration announced they were going to be releasing the visitor logs. It did have a little asterisk at the bottom of this announcement saying that, for example, potential Supreme Court Justice Nominees would not be considered public and being made public in those visitor logs.

If that's someone who came and met with President Biden, of course, that is where the focus is going to go here. Who does President Biden want to pick? Who do they - how do they get this done? What's the reaction on Capitol Hill and of course, the president himself his reaction to this.

KING: And so Kaitlan, stand by I want to come back to you in a minute to talk about the process. We know as you've noted, whether viewers like or dislike President Trump's picks, they had a process in place and they were ready to move at a moment's notice.

I want to come back to that in a minute. But I want to get some important perspective now from our veteran court watcher, Joan Biskupic. Joan you have interviewed Justice Breyer several times. I've loved your interview with him a few months back where he bristled at the political pressure on him to resign.

But clearly a man who was on the court for some time, but came out of democratic politics, understood that pressure understood the calendar understood the midterm election clock, and now this momentous decision.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, that's right, John. And I think he you know, he was under a lot of pressure last year to go. He resisted it plainly thinking that he had this year. But by virtue of picking the last week in January, as he has, he's trying to leave nothing now to chance. This is the earliest we've had an announcement in a calendar year since 1993, when Justice Byron White announced in March. So this is a very early time to alert the president. I'm sure part of it was the pressure that he was, he has been feeling.

But the other element, I'm sure, John, is are highly partisan times that he has seen the confirmation process spiral out of control, and does not want to leave anything to chance. He is likely to condition his retirement on the appointment of a successor, which hasn't been done since 2005 when Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stepped down.

So that's a big difference and the difference of the timing of January. And, you know, look, he has been here since 1994, a democratic appointee, a man who had served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he understands the politics of the moment. I'm sure that he's, you know, tried to do this in a careful way.

I presume right now he's trying to personally tell his colleagues on the court, now that it's out here in the open; they last met as a group last Friday. They're not going to meet again as a group until later in February so this I'm sure is going to be both predictable for some of his colleagues.

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BISKUPIC: But also sort of surprising that he chose this early point of January. But again, it shows us, John, the times that we're in right now, when the Senate hangs by a single vote for the Democrats; Joe Biden should be able to move an appointee this summer and before the court begins his next term in October.

But in these times, Justice Breyer probably just did not want to do anything more risky than he had already done in waiting one year.

KING: All right. Joan, stand by as well. We're going to continue our important breaking news coverage. I want to bring in my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, who broke this news for us here at CNN.

Wolf, you are our Senior White House Correspondent back when Bill Clinton put Stephen Breyer on the court his tenure soon to come to an end in this momentous decision by at the beginning of year two of the Biden Presidency.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: It was 1994 you and I remember it well, John. I was covering the White House during the Bill Clinton Administration. And I think we were first to report the news that Stephen Breyer would be nominated to be a United States Supreme Court Justice.

I have now learned, I have confirmed that he will make the announcement together; I'm told with the President of the United States a formal announcement that could come as early as tomorrow over at the White House. But he won't actually leave the Supreme Court until a new nominee is officially confirmed and becomes a Supreme Court Justice. So he will remain for weeks, if not a few months, or whatever it takes to get a new nominee confirmed. He made this decision. It was a very difficult decision for him. He said, you know, a relatively healthy 83 year old, but he realizes obviously, as everyone does, John, you and I do it all everybody does the politics of what's going on right now.

There could be a change in the majority in the United States Senate after the midterm elections. And so this is a good time, if the Democrats, they still have that 50/50 but with the united with the Vice President 51-50 majority if they presumably could get somebody confirmed to replace him.

And as you have reported, and all of us have reported over these months that President Biden has said he would like a black female to be his nominee to be on the United States Supreme Court. We'll see if that happens. I assume it will happen.

I am told he will informally or formally meet with his colleagues on the Supreme Court, the other justices, and let them know of his decision before I'm totally will head over to the White House for some sort of formal announcement with the President of United States and President Biden will, thank Justice Breyer for all the important work he's done over these years.

So this is clearly a significant development, very important development for the United States Supreme Court.

KING: And it will not of course, change the ideological balance of the court, which is now decidedly conservative because of those three Trump picks. One of them, of course, the last one replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg stirring all of the pressure from Democrats who wanted her to resign back when Barack Obama was President.

So that is clearly part of the pressure on Justice Breyer, you mentioned the likelihood of a joint event with the president, which is interesting, because the Press Secretary, keeping her cards close to her vest, tweeting just moments ago, Jen Psaki, it has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire, and how they want to announce it.

And that remains the case today, Jen Psaki for now saying we have no additional details that will be out of respect for Justice Breyer to let him inform his colleagues, as you said, but also to give the White House an opportunity to pair an event in which they never one will thank Justice Breyer.

But number two brace for what even though the clock is on Biden's side, even though the Senate math just barely is on Biden's side will be a bruising midterm election year confirmation battle.

BLITZER: Yes. And, you know, depends on the nominee who the President Biden picks to replace him to succeed him on the U.S. Supreme Court. But presumably, there might be some Republicans who vote to confirm. Usually it goes along those lines.

But we shall see. We'll see what the president nominates we'll see how long this takes. There will obviously be hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee before it goes to the full Senate. So this is going to be a long process. And as I said, Justice Breyer will remain will remain on the Supreme Court until the new nominee is officially confirmed by the United States Senate.

So he's not leaving, at least not yet although I anticipate he will make the formal announcement after he meets informally with his colleagues on the Supreme Court. And then he heads over to the White House. I think there will be some sort of event with the President of the United States.

President Biden really wants to express his appreciation to Supreme Court, Justice Breyer for all the work he's done over these many, many years.

KING: And Biden's relationship dates back to when Justice Breyer worked for Ted Kennedy in the United States Senate so two men knew each other for a very long time. Wolf Blitzer I appreciate the important hustle on this breaking news story for us.

Let's get some perspective now from Steve Vladeck he's a Law Professor at American University, one of our CNN Legal Analyst. Steve so it will be a bruising confirmation battle without a doubt. We'll spend some time on the legacy of Justice Breyer.

But when you look ahead to a Biden getting a court pick in a midterm election year we have lived through some remarkably bruising battles in your past similar or different within the Biden Presidency with a Biden nominee?

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STEVE VLADECK, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, John, I think Wolf is right that there's a chance this one actually will look a little bit different. I mean, compared to the last two confirmation battles where you had Brett Kavanaugh appointed to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, where you had Amy Coney Barrett, replacing him with Bader Ginsburg.

I think everyone will understand that from the perspective of the court as an institution, Biden appointee might move the dissenters slightly to the left. That is to say, whoever replaces Justice - might be a Justice Breyer might be a little more progressive. But the center of the court now rests with Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, that's not going to change, no matter who President Biden nominates to the seat.

KING: It's not going to change the court balance might change, because now you have this high profile, first resignation and a retirement and then a nominee and a confirmation process. It will put front and center on many of the giant issues in American law right now.

Many of the giant issues that this Court will be considering this term, chief among them, in my view, tell me if you think there's an issue more prominent, the Texas of anti-abortion law.

VLADECK: Not just Texas, John, but of course also the Mississippi law as well that the court is hearing in Dobbs, whether the courts going to overrule its big precedent in Roe vs. Wade, and plan Penn vs. Casey?

John, that's a really important point that if we assume the confirmation hearings are going to take place over the summer that the idea would be to have a successor in place when the court comes back in the fall.

This is going to be on the far side of whatever the Supreme Court does this term with regard to abortion with regard to the Second Amendment rights. There's a huge gun case out of New York with regard to the administrative state with regard to religious liberty.

And so I think it's impossible to predict just how big a deal this is going to be. But it's going to be huge, because we're going to have almost certainly a confirmation battle, in the midst of the Supreme Court handed down what are expected to be pretty significantly pro conservative rulings.

Further emblematic of how successful President Trump was in the middle of the court to the right. So, you know, obviously, it's huge news, anytime a Supreme Court justice retires. I actually think this might be a little bit of a sort of less big deal compared to each of the last three vacancies when Justice Scalia died when Justice Kennedy announced he was stepping down when Justice Ginsberg died.

And John just one last point to sort of put this in perspective, whoever President Biden appoints is going to be the 160th person. And presumably, if they're confirmed, to serve on the Supreme Court, all of that history there has only been six who are not white men.

So when President Biden says he's committed to appointing, a black woman, someone with different someone's going to bring more diversity to the court. You know, that's, I think, another opportunity that today's news presents.

KING: Without a doubt, and the president has been crystal clear that he believes his first pick would be a black woman. Steve, stand by as well. Again, we'll continue our breaking news coverage.

Justice Stephen Breyer, the United States Supreme Court, CNN is told is retiring from the court and official announcement TBD. But we were told that by sources our Wolf Blitzer breaking the news for us moments go.

Let's get up to Capitol Hill and our Chief Congressional Correspondent, Manu Raju. Many, just wow, just in the sense that we know this is a dicey midterm election year to begin with. Now you have a Supreme Court confirmation fight.

Steve notes, Republicans are aware of this will not change the balance of the court. So maybe it's not quite the energy and the fury. But Mitch McConnell relishes these moments, Democrats out there will recoil it by saying it that way, but lay out the landscape for us.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGREEIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is going to be a huge fight no matter what even if it won't alter the ideological balance of the court and the president has a very good chance of getting his nominee confirmed.

Of course, we have a 50/50 Senate and he's Democrats do control the majority. If they keep all their members online, then they can get Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie. And Joe Manchin himself has voted for conservative nominees and more liberal nominees.

He's supported - he of course has been this key swing vote all year long in this 50/50 Senate. He did vote for two of President Trump's nominees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. He opposed Amy Coney Barrett, but he has also supported other justices in the past.

So there's still a very good possibility they can get him on board. He tends to support nominees put forward by a president for other judicial positions. But this is a confirmation process of remains to be seen who the nominee is?

Or remains to be seen how that nominee fares under intense questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee and if any problems emerge from that, not from the nominees past? Now, if you do look also John, back in history during Obama's term having his two nominees confirmed.

Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, there were Republicans who are currently serving in the U.S. Senate who did vote for those nominations that were Kagan had 63 votes back in 2010. And Sonia Sotomayor had 68 votes as well. The Democrats had big majorities at that time.

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RAJU: They had 60 Senate seats and ultimately became 59 in that Senate majority, but they were able to peel off some Republicans like Susan Collins like Lindsey Graham, themselves that Senior Republican in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A long time has had a lot has happened in the last dozen years. But there is assuming that some Republicans potentially like Lisa Murkowski, who voted against Brett Kavanaugh on the court she could also be in play here.

So there's a lot of opportunity for the Democrats to get a replacement confirmed, get their party in line potentially pick off some Republicans as well. But this will still be a huge fight. It will still be a big effort and a huge focus of this Senate to get this through. But the chance at the moment, John, the chance for confirmation is high.

KING: You make a key point this puts pressure on the Republicans as well. You mentioned Senator Murkowski, normally a Senator who defers to a president's pick unless that pick is way outside of the mainstream who has a primary challenge backed by President Trump this year, one of the many Republicans.

We will watch as this plays out, Manu standby, get us some new reporting bring it to us if you can. Let's bring back in our CNN Court Watcher, Joan Biskupic. Joan so President Biden has this big decision. He has been very clear he believes the next opening on the court should go to a black woman, an African American woman who would be leading his list of potential choices?

BISKUPIC: Sure, John, you can imagine in our in the country's 230 year anniversary of the Supreme Court 233 years, I think it has never had an African American woman. So that would immediately change the court.

Here are some names that have been in the mix, and they're ones that will be familiar to you. Topping the list is someone who has been a law clerk to Justice Breyer, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on the D.C. Circuit Court hearing in Washington.

It's a very prominent court. President Biden named her to that last year. She has a very distinguished record as a trial court judge and now an appellate court judge. She I think it would be at the top of the pack in terms of her credentials, her background, and for nice symmetry, her connection as a former clerk to Justice Breyer.

Another woman would be Leandro Kruger on the California Supreme Court. She's someone else who's highly credentialed who would be in the mix. A possible late arrival to the candidates that the president might look at would be Judge Michelle Child. She's now on a district court.

But she's been nominated recently to the D.C. Circuit, a very prominent stepping stone to the Supreme Court that Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, they all came from that court, including Brett Kavanaugh.

So I think those John. The other thing I would mention in terms of how the court could change. Of course, it's going to add another liberal, but it will probably be a different kind of liberal. First of all, someone much younger will now have three women on the left side of the bench if President Biden does carry through with this.

The other thing I would say is that we're likely to have a more polarized court. Justice Breyer was able to work the middle a little bit more than some of his colleagues on the left. So that will no doubt change.

Now, in terms of the timetable, I would think that the White House would take a little bit of time to screen some of these nominees, even though several of them have already been through the process recently.

But you know, the confirmation hearing really should start probably, you know, June or July, as they have in the past so that the person could be seated by October.

KING: It will be a fascinating process to watch. Joan, appreciate that reporting. Please stand by for us as we continue our breaking coverage. Let's bring our Legal Affairs Correspondent Paul Reid into the conversation.

Paula, Joan goes through some of the potential choices there she raises a key question about the process, which is how quickly will the Biden White House be ready to move? And again, a giant decision for justice prior to resign? The asterisks, I guess is that it's unlikely to change the ideological balance of the court because the conservative sets have a clear majority. But still, this is a giant choice for the president and a giant change in American legal life.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDET: Absolutely. This is one of the biggest decisions that a president can make. A justice can serve for decades; their decision can last for generations. We saw with Former President Trump he was able to appoint three conservative justices really changed the balance of the court.

He said himself multiple times. It's one of his biggest legacies. But as you said, time is of the essence here. We know several Republicans have made it clear that if they retake the majority in November that they will try to block any of Biden's selections.

So this is likely going to be a process that they're going to want to move forward on quickly. We know as Joan pointed out several of these names that have been floated, these are folks who have already been vetted and that is significant because that's an incredibly time consuming process.

And if you take someone who's already been vetted, you can get them before with a panel more quickly, you can hopefully get them confirmed more swiftly.

KING: More so get him - you'd get that way. Paula I appreciate that very much. Let's bring in for some perspective our CNN Legal Analyst Laura Coats.

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KING: Laura, you've, you know, certainly the Justice Department, you understand how a vetting process works. Paula makes a key point in the sense that some of these judges are sitting on the bench. Some of them have Republican votes to confirm them for lower positions. That could be an asset, if you will, if you're expecting a bruising battle, you have a 50/50 Senate.

And you would like and President Biden certainly would like as a message to the country to get at least a few Republican votes if and I emphasize the if possible?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it certainly would add to the idea if they were now to change their minds because of a Supreme Court opening, it would demonstrate a hypocrisy that someone could be able to serve on a court as sophisticated and well known and revered, say.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals or any other appellate court in this country, and be prepared to do that. But somehow the rules change and your ability and your intellect when it goes to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The proximity from which somebody like a judge justice or Judge Ketanji Brown, for example, to an opening the Supreme Court would really point out, well, why was it OK in this court, but not the other.

And I remind people that there had been more than one Supreme Court justice to come from that. And I think one of the questions people might have is the length and tenure of some of the names that are being floated on the appellate benches. I remind people someone like a sitting justice Amy Coney Barrett had a relatively short tenure as an appellate judge before going on to become obviously a Supreme Court Justice.

And so tenure is not going to be the issue, hopefully, that it was in the past. But overwhelmingly think about what this really means. I only did was that the exercise of the prerogative of Justice Breyer who John.

As you know, and we've talked about this before, has been really persuaded, shall we say, to retire because they wanted the opportunity to have somebody to be appointed. And when he came in, it was a very different era.

I mean, Senator Orrin Hatch, and Bill Clinton had a conversation he recommended, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer is both very viable candidates. And think of how where we are right now where we're even thinking of the prospect of what bipartisanship would look like.

And it comes as no surprise that at a time wrought with the tension we have with very key cases there that who will sit in that seat will be very important, but might not change the ideological balance of the court.

It's more like what happened when they Justice Kennedy - Scalia left the bench and was replaced, so to speak by somebody with a similar ideology, but it would still be impactful nonetheless.

KING: Let me ask you, this is a much more of a personal question than a legal question. But I don't know if we could put up on the screen for a minute those potential nominees to replace Justice Breyer. We know President Biden has said that if he gets a pick, his first pick will be a black woman.

When you look at those judges, and you're right, you just went through these are accomplished legal professionals, accomplished judges, accomplished attorneys, there's no question about their capabilities. And I want to make that crystal clear, no question about their capabilities. But what would it be like for somebody on the Supreme Court finally, who looks like you?

COATES: I would be overjoyed and thrilled to know that somebody who looks like me, and has the mental prowess that each of these women have, and the credibility, the capability. The distinction of having served as judges and as extraordinary lawyers over their time when finally, and I emphasize the word finally, finally been given the opportunity to sit on the highest court in the land.

And it definitely was taken lightly. When we talk about the many decisions that are before the Supreme Court of the United States, I've never had the luxury of leaving any part of my identity at the door before I walked into a courtroom, walked into a boardroom walked onto these various sets on CNN.

I brought with myself the entirety of being a black woman, the lived experience of what that's like in a country like this. And I think it's incumbent upon our country to recognize that if we do not bring all of America and the holistic views of people, including black women, then we are doing a disservice to any objective evaluation of laws in this country.

Just think of what's before this court, just this term alone, the Mississippi abortion ban or we're talking about discussions around the profound disparate impact of these laws against black and brown women in this country. Wouldn't it be great to have a black woman talking about these issues?

How about the discussions about affirmative action, we learned from Justice Sonia Sotomayor where she described herself as the perfect affirmative action baby those years ago describing it unapologetically of the gains and the benefits of having a race conscious admissions process.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a black woman in that position as well? I'm not assuming what their holdings will be. But I am assuming that they will bring their entirety with them and we will be better for it.

KING: The diversity of life experience legal views are up to the justices as you just made clear diversity of life experience is critical in every setting; it would be amazing at the highest court of the land. And again, this is not pure specie. Let's listen to then candidate Joe Biden saying if I get a pick this is what I will do.