Page 18 - Consensus Builder News Today

Namely, your answer to the question i posed to mr. olson. namely, why isnt the snow jeffs amendment, which was picked on by congress itself, and which is argued by the nra, an appropriate answer to this case? >> that was my third point, justice stevens. >> all right, sorry. >> so well just skip over the second. >> this offers a little clue into kagan the attorney, and possibly kagan the justice. but remember, it is two very different things to argue a case before the high court, and then to sit ...

"cnn newsroom" with tony harris. anything can happen. president obama calls his latest supreme court pick a trail blazing leader. and a consensus builder. solicitor general elena kagan must be confirmed by the senate. last hour i talked to jeff sessions, the ranking republican on the senate judiciary committee about kagans nomination. is never having been a judge a disqualifier for you? >> no, its not. but i do think a person whos had very, very little legal experience, in terms of -- i think ...

School, the first woman to hold that job. you may have noticed something missing from the kagan resume. she has never been a judge. white house correspondent dan lothian is here. and dan, is this a potential problem in the senate confirmation hearing for elena kagan? >> reporter: on the one hand, people might argue that because she has not been a judge, she does not have that kind of experience. on the other hand, it could work to her advantage, because she doesnt have a paper trail, as you know...

It thats the kind of nominee that gets the pu full support. even republicans in the senate she is had a distinguished career. no one would argue. she is a brilliant individual. she is got a fan it is tick resume. she was known as being a consensus builder. as dean as harvard she brought together students and faculty and was a bridge builder. >> i want to stop you right there. we will be back with more on this in just a few minutes.

The nominee, partner in a firm, thank you for joining us. >> tamron, thank you for having me today. >> absolutely. any time. take us inside the process you were part of in the selection. >> i was not a part of the process in actually selecting the nominee. thats rather uniquely the presidents process. as was the case with judge sotomayer, he cast a wide net, looked at a number of people, had in mind some very strong qualifications. someone of unquestioned integrity, someone who is qualified, who...

A list and always a short list. well talk about some of the top contender here. we have elena kagan, the solicitor general. she argues cases for the federal government in front of the supreme court. she was also one of the final candidates in last time, the court had a vacancy last year, actually, and also judge diane wood who served on the seventh circuit court of appeals in chicago, also a finalist for the last vacancy as well. shes known as a real consensus builder, similar to what justice st...

Shes the only sitting justice that was a federal trial judge. in other words, out in the steestee street, knowing the way people think. the great thing about kagan is she is something the supreme court needs, a consensus builder. when she was a dean, richard, she was right wing, left wing, and everyone knows that. the other candidates are brilliant, but on the issue of street creds, no one can touch kagan. >> is that important? >> its important, but its also important she step into the shoes of ...

Walker bush, those were the people who ran politics, government, business. he is the last one. he is the last world war ii veteran in a position of prominence. and that had an impact, his intense patriotism, his concern about the rules of war, which came through in the guantanamo cases. so i think the ideological makeup of the court will not change that much. youll have four liberals, four conservatives. anthony kennedy in the middle. but the fact that stevens is not there will make it a differe...

Started out as a right dissenter justice and the court has gotten increasingly conservety. no one things of him as a far left. i think the president will by nature, not so much as compelled by his own politics will be hook looking to appoint someone who shares the moderate to liberal views on this. >> are there those who come to mind, who will be the top choices at this point in the running? >> a clear front-runner is alain in a kagan, her qualifications are beyond question, bipartisan support f...

>> this is really the anthony kennedy court. there has never been a justice that wields the justis that anthony kennedy wields at this moment, and i think john is exactly right. the job of the next justice will be to build bridges to anthony kennedy. who can do that? one of the curiosities of the current court is that all nine justices are former federal appeals court justices. there are no politicians. there are no law professors. there are no people who were in business. this is unusual in sup...