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Holocaust Remembrance Day; Upcoming Retirement of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Record-Setting Chelonian. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired January 28, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Looking forward to the weekend and bringing you up to speed on current events. This is CNN 10 and I`m Carl Azuz. We`re
thankful you`re watching. Thursday, January 27th marked the 77th anniversary of when the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp was liberated
during World War II. Located in Poland, this complex was the largest death camp that Nazi Germany had. More than 1 million people were killed here in
the early 1940s` and Auschwitz still stands today as a symbol of terror and the holocaust. The vast majority, an estimated 90 percent of those murdered
here were Jews. They were among the 6 million Jews the Nazi`s killed during the world. Millions of others the Nazi`s opposed were killed as well.
That`s why the date of January 27th when Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Army has been designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
It`s marked each year by ceremonies and educational events designed to preserve awareness about it, oppose arguments that deny the holocaust and
prevent future act of genocide.
A letter written shortly after the holocaust ended made news just a few months ago. At a flea market in New York, an author who investigates
heirlooms recently came across this document. It was written by Elsa Lowenberg (ph), a woman who jumped from a moving train bound for Auschwitz
in 1943. According to ABC News, Lowenberg (ph) spent three days walking back to Berlin. She hid out there until she was recaptured in 1944 and she
was held in prison until the summer of 1945. That`s when she penned this letter to her sister who had immigrated to England before the war. Elsa
(ph) told her that the rest of her family had been killed, but the sisters reunited and eventually settled in New York and the letter was recently
returned to their great niece who remembered Elsa (ph) and said her family was in awe.
Up next today, a U.S. Supreme Court justice looks toward retirement and the government looks toward the nomination of his replacement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I`m here today to express the nation`s gratitude to Justice Stephen Breyer for his remarkable career of public service, and his
clear-eyed to making our country`s laws work for its people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: After serving almost 14 years as a court of appeals Judge Stephen Breyer was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in
1994. Justice Breyer who`s now 83 made his decision to retire official this week, saying he planned to serve until the end of the courts current term
in June assuming his successor has been confirmed by then. In a public event Thursday with President Joe Biden, the high court justice said
despite American`s many different viewpoints. They`d come to accept the importance of the rule of law, and he referred to the idea and the views of
some previous presidents that America is an experiment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: You know who will see whether that experiment works. It`s you my friend. It`s you Mr. High School
Student. It`s you Mr. College Student. It`s you Mr. Law School Student. It`s us but it`s you. It`s that next generation and the one after that. My
grandchildren and their children, they`ll determine whether the experiment still works and of course I am an optimist and I`m pretty sure it will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: The U.S. Constitution doesn`t set a limit for how long justices can serve on the Supreme Court. It says only that they should hold their
offices during good behavior. But 2022 is an election year, the mid-terms held in November will determine the make-up of the next Congress. So
Breyer`s been under intense pressure by Democrats to retire during this term, because right now they control the White House and the Senate. The
two parts of the government that nominate and confirm Supreme Court justices and that gives Democrats an easier path to sitting the justice of
their choice. Breyer is considered a liberal justice which Democrats generally favor on the high court while Republicans generally favor
conservative justices.
And though President Biden isn`t up for re-election this November, his recent approval rating reached an all-time low. That`s part of the reason
why Democrats may lose their narrow Senate majority in the mid-terms and that`s why they want to confirm another liberal justice before that could
happen. We`ll be explaining next week how the nomination and confirmation processes play out. But right now, we`re having a look at who may be likely
to get the Supreme Court nomination in the days ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big question now who will President Biden pick? On the campaign trail in 2020, then candidate Biden vowed to make history and
nominate the first black woman to the bench.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I`ve committed that if I`m elected president, have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts. It will be -- I`ll appoint
the first black woman to the court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The likely frontrunner Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson, a Federal Judge and Former Supreme Court Clerk for Breyer.
SENATOR DICK DURBIN: We will start with Judge Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was vetted by Biden and his team just last year and comfortably confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals with three
Republicans joining Democrats in support.
JUDGE KETANJI BROWN-JACKSON, D.C. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS: When you become a judge, you take an oath to look only at the law in deciding your cases.
That you set aside your personal views about the circumstances --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A close second choice is California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger. A former acting deputy solicitor general in the
Obama Administration. She once clerked for the late Justice John Paul Stevens and has argued cases in front of the high court.
JUDGE LEONDRA KRUGER, CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Oral arguments doesn`t very often change the outcome of cases, occasionally it does.
Occasionally oral argument reveals a new dimension. It is also in the United States Supreme Court, the first time that all the judges sit down
together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other names circulating Minnesota District Court Judge Mimi Wright, outgoing NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President
Sherrilyn Ifill, Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Eunice Lee, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and South Carolina
Judge Michelle Childs, who has the backing of House Majority Whip James Clyburn. The man who convinced Biden to publicly pledge to nominate a black
woman.
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES CLYBURN, SOUTH CAROLINA: She has the kind of diverse background in life and education and work. An incredibly smart woman that I
believe would do well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eventual nominee will face a high-profile confirmation process with the 2022 mid-terms looming. Senate Democrats
don`t need Republicans to confirm Biden`s nominee, but Republican opposition could still be a factor.
SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MINORITY LEADER, KENTUCKY: We don`t even know who the nominee is yet. So, that`s something the president has an
opportunity to make should there be a vacancy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoever is picked, Breyer had this to say about the job.
BREYER: Really when you put on that black robe, you understand whatever the appointments process, however politically involved it was. Once you put on
the robe as a judge, you`re a judge and that means you`re a judge for every person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these animals is an example of a chelonian? Squid, Sloth, Tortoise or Crab. Chelonians include turtles,
terrapins and tortoises.
Happy Birthday dear Jonathan. I`m singing to a tortoise. He lives in Saint Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic. He`s making news because
he`s old. How old is he? Jonathan the giant tortoise is celebrating his 190th birthday. Guinness World Records says he`s the oldest chelonian ever
known. For reference, when he was born in about 1832, electric light bulbs didn`t exist, Britain`s Queen Victoria was a teenager and no one had ever
been photographed. But Carl, you might say, I see a picture right here. Yes, from when Jonathan was 50 but there`s no record of his birth. So,
Jonathan could actually be as old as 200.
What a "turtale"? "Turturtell". Of course, he never lived life in the fast lane. He ate a lot of fruit and he stayed out of soup so maybe you could
"terrapin" his longevity on that. For reference, the average lifespan of a rabbit is between three and 12 years. So Jonathan won that race by more
than a "hare". Woo. Friday`s are awesome. Bear River High School gets today`s shout out. It`s great to see our viewers in Tremonton, Utah. I`m
Carl Azuz for CNN.
END
