Vacancy in this report, we want to turn to what he said back in 1982 on the senate floor. It is my view that ofticularly, if the reality divided government during a time of great change in the courts continues in the next administration, future confirmations must be conducted differently than the preceding ones. Presses intentions on processes existing make a restoration of what came before judge thomas is thomasignite ration was a practical possibility. Having said that mr. President , we face one question, can our Supreme Court confirmation process, so wracked by discord be prepared in a president ial Election Year . Mr. President , history teaches us that this is extremely unlikely. Bitter our nations most and heated confirmation fights have come in president ial Election Years. Confirmation fight over raji , thes confirmation senates refusal to confirm four nominations by president tyler in 1844, the single vote badgerons of nominees and black by lameduck president s omar and buchanan in the mid19th century and the narrow approval of justices lamarr and fuller in 1888. These are just some examples of these fights of the 19th only one inrall, four Supreme Court nominations has been the subject of to give can opposition. The figure raises to one out of two when such nominations are acted upon in president ial Election Years. Host that was in june, 1992 and bob cusack 18 years later, that , is where we are at. Bob the process is even worse. Back then they didnt get rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. This is a partisan environment when you have a new Supreme Court nomination and now we are so close to the election and now it is even more charged based on racial unrest in this country on top of a pandemic and we were already headed for a bumpy ride to the election and not got now it just got a lot bumpier. Host we are hearing remarks from bidens remarks. How is it playing out in todays environment . Susan part of the ongoing partisan battle whether or not the senate should take up a Supreme Court nominee. You might recall, at the end of 2016 when republicans did not take up the garland nominee and leader mcconnell often cited the biden rule. There is no such thing as the biden rule but what he was referring to was the speech we just listened to from joe biden in 1992 when he talked about the difficulty and advised against taking up Supreme Court nominees during an Election Year. It definitely played in to that decision in 2016. And of course, now we hear it amended by the majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell, in that this only should apply if the parties are opposite in the white house and the senate. Otherwise, you should move ahead with the nominee and if you look at the statistics for such nominations, that does bear out. If it is the same party, they move ahead with the nomination but opposite party, thats when you end up not taking the nomination. The reason is, its a political calculation. Democrats would be doing, i believe, the exact same thing right now if they had the opportunity to fill this pretty rare vacancy on the Supreme Court to try and shape the outcome for decades to come. And thats what republicans are doing, a political calculation. Each party makes it and thats what you heard in bidens speech in 1992. Thats what you are hearing from republicans in the senate. Host Georgetown University law school in march of 2016, about a month after the death of justice scalia, this from then Vice President joe biden. Senator biden let me set the record straight, if the president consults and cooperates with the senate or moderates his selections, then his nominees may join my support as did Justice Kennedy and justice souter, end of quote. I made it clear that i would go forward with the confirmation process as chairman even a few months before a president ial election. If a nominee chosen with the advice and not merely the consent of a senate, just as the constitution requires. My consistent advice to president s of both parties including this president has been that we should engage fully in the constitutional process of advice and consent. And my consistent understanding of the constitution has been the senate must do so as well, period. They have an obligation to do so. Because there is no vacancy after the thomas confirmation, we cant know what the president and senate might have done. But heres what we do know. Every time as the Ranking Member or chairman of the Judiciary Committee, i was responsible for eight justices and nine total nominees to the Supreme Court, more than i hate to say this, anyone alive. [laughter] senator biden i cant be that old. Some i supported, a few i voted against. And during all that time, every nominee was greeted by committee members. Every nominee got a committee hearing. Every nominee got out of the Committee Even if they didnt have sufficient votes to pass within the committee, because i believe the senate says, the senate must advise and consent. And every nominee, including Justice Kennedy in an Election Year, got an upanddown vote. Host that is then Vice President joe biden during the fight over judge garland that never received a hearing or a vote on the senate floor. Take us back to what you heard from the Vice President four years ago. Bob any time that a politician and he says i have been absolutely clear, when a politician says there, there is murkyness. What he is saying there with the advice and consent and moderation of a selection, that determines how much did the Obama Administration advise with republican senator the Republican Senate and how much moderation was merrick garland. Many people said was he was a moderation. But this is paula politics as susan was talking about and it was an Election Year and Mitch Mcconnell decided that he was not going to move on that nomination and not going to be hearings on that nomination. That was backed by his Committee Chairman at the time, chuck grassley. Therefore, the nomination didnt go through. There was tremendous pressure, and a lot of people thought the republicans would bend. There is a different timing. That was in february and march. Here we are much later in the Election Year and thats where democrats are certainly pointing that out and the differences. Both sides are having to adjust and clarify what they have said over the last four years and now obviously going back all the way for biden, decades on what he has said and he has said a lot because he served six terms in the senate and two terms as Vice President. What he has said on Supreme Court nomination has varied a bit as it has for republicans, too. Host we will come back to the Supreme Court nominations. Lets take a look at back at the early career of joe biden. He ran for the u. S. Senate when he was 29. You have to be 30 years old to be sworn in. Shortly after that, in a tragic accident, his wife and daughter killed just before christmas and back in 2006, we sat down to talk with him about that tragedy. Senator biden they were Christmas Shopping headed back toward my home in the station wagon. No one knows for certain what happened, but pulled out of an intersection in a semirural. Tractor trailer came down the hill and broadsided them. I never quite frankly wanted to know and i didnt want to pursue if anybody made a mistake. My wife and daughter were on one side of the car and killed immediately. My two boys were on the other side of the car and thank god for my volunteer firemen and used the jaws of life to get my sons out. My whole career is sort of i owe the volunteer firemen, they saved my life, home in a fire and incredible people. And that happened on december 18. My sons were badly injured. My son beau was in a body cast, ankles to neck, both arms, both legs area did fully recovered thank god and hunter had a fractured skull, was banged up as well, but he recovered fully and both grown men and i am proud. Host where were you . Sen. Biden i was down here in washington, i came down here using senator byrd office interviewing perspective staff and i got the call while i was doing that and they had some young person call me and say there was a slight accident and the young woman, volunteer from campaign thought it was a small accident. I just knew. I said she dead, isnt she . No, no, senator. But she was. Look, you have been through a lot of this yourself in your personal life. And we both know there is tens of thousands of people going through what you and i have been through without the kind of support you and i have had. But it does make you realize how many truly courageous people are out there. Host 2006 interview. Susan, that clearly shaped his early Senate Career and for a while he considered stepping down not taking the seat. Susan he was sworn in the hospital rooms with their sons there. It defined him as a politician and continues to define him as a candidate for president. As it probably would anybody to go through an experience like that to lose his wife and daughter and his two sons gravely injured while he was taking office. It absolutely defined him. And the way it continues to define him now and make him a candidate that is more human to voters. You often hear politicians are always trying to show their relatable side when they run for office. You watch the Campaign Videos at the conventions and hear the testimonials about them and certainly President Trump and his campaign are trying to humanize him more. Biden comes with that built in. I think the reason he does stems back to that absolutely horrible tragedy that started right at the beginning of his own political career. Host bob, your thoughts as you listen to that. Bob it is an emotional interview and he was in pain then and still in pain now. It is something you are never going to forget and it is how you view life and how others going through tragedy and someone who wanted to run for president and ran several times for president , you want to show empathy. And he really has an ability to do that. He has flaws as a candidate. He has made a lot of gaffes but he shows empathy and relates to people and thats why he won the nomination this time around and he is leading the race now, long way to go. But i do this think those experiences, tragedy in his family life, beau passing away, it has a profound effect on anybody and it did on joe biden. Host you mentioned campaigns, he has run on three separate occasions, getting the nomination this year, but first announcing back in 1987 and we were in wilmington, delaware. Senator biden 15 years ago we said the key to restoring confidence in our traditions and institutions was Public Officials who would stand up and tell the American People exactly what they thought. And what i said that day in 1972, i mean to be that candidate and with the griss of with the grace of god and the support of the American People, i mean to be that kind of president. Host susan, why did he run and why did his campaign flame out . Susan he was compelling at the time and a very exciting candidate. He shook up that race getting in as someone young and compelling from delaware. I think he probably could have gone pretty far in that primary, but he was derailed and the issue was about a speech he delivered that people accused him of plagiarizing. And that ended it and he returned to his perch on the Senate Judiciary committee where he had become chairman. A lot of people had thought he would be an exciting new person to run for president and shake up the race and all of a sudden it was over based on the accusation that he plagiarized his speech. Host there is also another moment they got a lot of attention after the plagiarism moment. We were with joe biden in New Hampshire in april of 1987, one of those town Hall Meetings and house parties and he had this exchange. Lets watch and get your reaction. What log you what lotta greed you have and did you place . Senator biden i went to law school on a full academic scholarship and only one in my class. And first year in law school i decided i didnt want to go to law school and ended up in the bottom 2 3 and i decided to stay and went back to law school. And i won the International Moot Court competition and was the outstanding student in the Political Science department. I graduated from three degrees. And i would be delighted to sit down and compare my i. Q. To yours. Im not questioning your i. Q. When people are elected to office in recent years [indiscernible] sen. Biden you know what i find kind of interesting . It seems to me if you can speak you are a liability to the Democratic Party. Seems you have become heartless technocrats. It seemed to me you forget that we have never as a party moved by 14 points position papers and nine point programs. We got involved and no one asked dr. King what his legislative agenda was. He marched his attitudes. Womens movement did not move with a Constitutional Movement but marched to change attitudes and this party better understand full well its about time we change our attitude and we begin to change the attitudes of americans about what their responsibilities are to the poor about what the responsibilities are to other people and what our , responsibility in the world is and that requires change in attitudes. Frank, you will see my 15point plans and 19point position papers and you will be able to gary whodgment with knows more about Foreign Policy. Gary or me and Dick Gephardt or i know more about economic policy. But ultimately frank, this country needs a leader and leaders change attitudes about people. It is the ironic twist that in the wake of ronald reagan, the only thing he knew how to do was the one thing that is now being the currency of what is being devalued so much. Iyway, your question before get to comparing iqs. That is from 1987, a lot to unpack there. He went that he would then lose to Vice President h w bush. Your take away. It became very troubling when some of these leading candidates had to drop out. There were questions about what he was saying there about his own personal resume that they had been raised again during this current election cycle about whether he was at the top of his class and he had a all these claims he was making at the time. I think it hurts his credibility, now that he is running again at his age its not as big of an issue and not come up. But you heard him on the defense really talking to the reporter. That was a long and very defensive sort of speech there he gave. And he does that a little bit now on the campaign trail. I think we have seen those clips of him going at it with reporters who are just asking standard questions but he gets very defensive. And almost seems to be on the attack a little bit against the reporter. That is baked in about biden at this point, at least in my experience covering him, he does respond that way when he is on the defensive. When he feels like the question is not a fair one and good at filling in and filibustering and getting defensive at the same time. And thats what you saw in that clip. Host lets turn to another chapter in his chair as the chair of the Senate Judiciary committee and set the stage for Clarence Thomas and the entry of anita hill. Bob this was a very controversial time during the 1990s and Clarence Thomas was viewed as extremely conservative, but an africanamerican republican. And then you had really the circus atmosphere of anita hill testifying claiming that thomas had said things that he adamantly said he did not. It went through the rocky nomination process and joe biden got criticism from the right and the left and it continued and to some degree continues to dog him to this day of how he handled the hearing and this was one of the defining moments of that political year. It was something that had repercussions for year to come. Host lets take you back to october of 1991, the Senate Judiciary committee and the question of what evidence should or should not be allowed. Sen. Biden i will tell you what im going to do, it is appropriate to ask can professor hill anything any member wishes to ask her, to plum the depths of her credibility. It would be appropriate to ask her about mr. Singleton. But it is inappropriate to represent what mr. Singleton says via an affidavit. There is a distinction. So you can ask anything you want you can ask her what santa claus said or didnt say. Whether she spoke to him or not, but its inappropriate to introduce an affidavit from santa claus prior to every member in this committee having an opportunity to check it out for the following reasons. We may find out that santa claus is not real. Therefore, it may not be very relevant whether or not santa claus said something or not. We are all lawyers on this committee with one or two exceptions there is a distinction between a, being able to ask a question, between being able to ask a question to determine the credibility of a wi