Americans are waking up to a huge story this morning. The passing of Justice Scalia. Hes being remembered for his brilliant legal mind and fiery style on the bench. And abc news chief anchor George Stephanopoulos joins us on this day. Hell anchor a special edition of this week later this morning. This is such big news, dan. Justice scalia, such a towering figure. The longestserving member of the court. One of the courts most powerful pens. A pillar of the conservative movement. His death puts the Supreme Court right at the center of this election. Sends the stakes through the roof. The court divided right down the middle. If the democrats or president obama choose the replacement, its a liberal court. If the republicans do, its a conservative court. It affects just about every big issue. It affects all levels of government. Rare situation. George, its great to have you here in studio. As we look at the man and his threedecade legacy, youre looking at a live picture outside the Supreme Court. Where flags are flying at half of the country. Our Team Coverage begins with hi, jim. Reporter good morning, paula. Justice scalia had two passions in life. The law, and hunting. This weekend, he came out to west texas to shoot some quail. But he never made it to the this morning, the body of Supreme CourtJustice Antonin Scalia arriving in el paso. Officials telling abc news the 79yearold legal icon died saturday in his sleep from apparent natural causes. Antonin nino scalia was a larger than life presence on the bench. A brilliant legal mind. With an energetic style. Incisive wit. And colorful opinions. Reporter he was on a hunting an avid hunter, he even persuaded fellow Justice Elena kagan to shoot skeet. Law enforcement sources saying he left dinner early and went to his room, feeling ill. When he didnt arrive to breakfast saturday morning, a Person Associated with the ranch went to check on him. He was found in his room, unresponsive. The Catholic Diocese of el paso administering his last rites at the ranch. A hearse then carrying his body towards el paso. Condolences pouring in from former president s, current candidates, and government officials. House Speaker Paul Ryan saying, i learned so much from this man. I knew him. I respected him. I looked up to him. We all did. At this point, no autopsy has been performed. The body has been brought to el paso. In fact, the justice of the peace declared him dead over the phone and then came out to the play involved and turned the the fbi is also investigating. George . Justice scalias opinions are legendary. Sharp, elegant, funny, and sarcastic. He was a hero to conservatives. Inspired a generation of legal thought. Abcs terry moran has covered his tenure for so long. He joins us from mexico city. Good morning, terry. Reporter good morning, george. The Supreme Court had never seen anything like Antonin Scalia. He was the courts first italianamerican. He was also a highvoltage intellectual. Who developed a great theory about the constitution and the law and the proper role of judges in our system. And he did all of it laughing. Its hard to imagine that great without him. I, Antonin Scalia, do solemnly swear. I, Antonin Scalia, do solemnly swear. Reporter Justice Antonin Scalia was an american original. A towering icon of conservative jurisprudence. A man who loved his life in the law. I like figuring out the right answer to legal questions, believe it or not. Reporter nino scalia, as he was known to friends, served three decades on the Supreme Court. And in those years, he became a pivotal figure. A justice who did more than hand down rulings. He wanted to change the law itself and the court. Through his spirited and forceful advocacy of what he called textualism. His strict interpretation of the constitution. He was unafraid to take a stand and seemingly incapable of backing down. Famously lashing out at critics of his finding in the 2000 bush versus gore election dispute. I and my court owe no apology whatever for bush versus gore. We did the right thing, so so there. Get over it, its so old by now. Reporter it was that brashness which cemented the courts first italianamerican justice in the publics mind. A vivid writer, his opinions take no prisoners style. He called the majoritys reasoning in a 2013 defense of marriage act case legalistic arglebargle. And slammed the courts decision on the Affordable Care act as jiggerypokery. How can the government federal government establish a state exchange . That is gobbledygook. Reporter in cases big and small, his wit lashed out in legal arguments. He loved to get a laugh. Okay, you cant refuse your money or your life. But your life or your wifes . I could refuse that one. Tongue landed him in trouble at times. In 2015, scalias comments about affirmative action drew protests. You know, when you take more, the number of blacks, really competent blacks admitted to lesser schools, turns out to be less. Reporter but his friends and his colleagues say behind the combative mind and fiery words was a warm man and a close friend. Forging an unlikely bond with ginsburg. Fellow new yorkers candid about their friendship, despite fiercely opposing political views. We agree on a whole lot of stuff. We do. Ruth is really bad only on the kneejerk stuff. [ laughter ] she is reporter Antonin Scalia grew up in queens, new york. Attending Xavier High School in manhattan before georgetown and harvard law school, where he met his wife maureen. Maureen is an extraordinary woman. And without whom i wouldnt be here. Reporter his wife and the family they built together, as much a part of his life and legacy as the court and country he served. That seat on the Supreme Court, something he always cherished. Many times dodging questions about stepping down, saying there was only one thing that could make him walk away. I will certainly retire at the time where i perceive that i am not as good as i used to be. That ive ive lost a step. Did. Love him or loathe him, and americans did both, he was the kind of man to inspire those kinds of emotions in americans. He was certainly one of the most consequential Court Justices in american history. And terry, when you go back through his opinions, where is the most sweeping victory . The most searing defeat . Reporter you know, probably his biggest victory was on the second amendment. Finding it was an individual right to wear arms. States, localities, and citizens have rights. His biggest defeat, without question, abortion. He desperately wanted to overturn roe versus wade. And he was never able to. Okay, terry moran, thanks very much. The battle now over who comes next. Its monumental. President obama says hell nominate a successor. It happen. But the balance of power in the court is at stake. Jon karl joins us. The battle lines drawn immediately. Reporter even before immediately, if thats possible, george. Because ted cruz put out a statement that said the next president should be the one that replaces scalia even before the Supreme Court officially confirmed that scalia was dead. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell put out a statement saying much the same thing, less than an hour after the court made the statement. These battle lines were drawn immediately. And in the debate last night, with the republican president ial candidates, all six of them agreed, saying that there is no way that barack obama should be allowed to name the replacement for Justice Scalia. But president obama has made it perfectly clear he intends to move forward. And make a nomination anyway. First and foremost, judge sri srinivasan. Like quite a bit. Hes a former Supreme Court clerk to Justice Sandra day oconnor. He actually serve nd in the administration of president george w. Bush. In his current post on the d. C. Court of appeals, he was confirmed 970. Not a single republican vote against him. George . This debate has just begun. It has. Lets bring in abc news chief legal analyst dan abrams. Dan, good morning. Good morning. A lot of names being floated as potential nominees by the president. These are people that have been confirmed by the United States senate. Your argument is that this is different. Right, theres a short list. A lot of them are court of appeals judges who have gone through this process. Theyve gone to the senate. Theyve been confirmed. Some people will say, wait a second. This person or that person was confirmed with relatively little opposition. The rules are different. Everything has changed now. Two reasons. Number one, the president ial number two, youre talking about Justice Scalia. Justice scalias memory for conservatives is so important that this time, anything that happened in the past is not particularly relevant to what is going to happen now. Point being, its going to be nearly impossible for president obama to get through the senate almost anyone who has been on his short list. How does the Court Function with only eight justices . Can they actually move forward on a lot of the cases in front of them, including cases involving unions and abortion . Yeah, and there are 4 to 4 decisions sometimes. The court has been very often divided 54. Some of the opinions, youll now see 44. What does that mean practically . The Lower Court Opinion gets effectively confirmed. So whatever the lower court decided previously stands. But, the Supreme Court then is not setting any precedent. Opinion in the future to say, aha, but the Supreme Court previously ruled x, y, or z. It remains effectively a local decision confirmed without a definitive opinion from the Supreme Court. Which has the possibility of creating quite a mess for the court system. Is there a precedent for the court having to muddle through down one justice . Yeah. Justices do recuse themselves in certain cases. They say, for example, if theyre relatively new to the court. I was involved in that case as a solicitor general or some other way. So i cant be involved. The court then does sometimes have 4 to 4 rulings. Its rare. The idea that youre talking a year, 18 months, of 44 decisions by a divided court is completely unprecedented. Thank you, dan. He served for 30 years on the Supreme Court. Some are calling him the most influential justice in recent memory. So for more on his legal legacy, we want to bring in veteran washington observer, cokie island, South Carolina. Thank you for joining us this morning. Hi, paula. Good to be with you. First and foremost, how do you think Justice Scalia would want to be remembered . I know he had a legacy of being a constitutional purist. I think that is exactly how he would like to be remembered. As someone who cared desperately about the constitution and followed it to the letter by his lights. And did it with great intellect and some humor and sometimes, scathingly. And, in ways that really could take down the lawyers in the case or his colleagues on the court. Remarkably, given all that, he was incredibly well liked. All right, cokie. Thank you. I know you were up late for the debate last night. Thank you for joining us early this morning. Paula and cokie, thank you both. And speaking of the debate, that scalia news played a president ial debate overnight. This debate quickly got nasty. Right after the moment of silence for Justice Scalia. Incredibly feisty. Word liar used so much in a single debate. Lets go to tom llamas for more. Good morning. Reporter good morning, guys. That came from donald trump. On the defense all night. Some of his biggest battles yet it shows how you important South Carolinas primary is. And also how many of the gop candidates want to put an end to the trump campaign. That wild gop debate started peaceful and respectful. The passing of Antonin Scalia fresh on the minds of the six remaining candidates. All agreeing that president obama shouldnt be the one to fill scalias seat on the court. He would ram down our throat a liberal justice. Were not going to give up the u. S. Supreme court for a generation by allowing barack obama to make one more liberal appointee. Reporter then the real fight started. Jeb is so wrong. [ crowd booing ] reporter donald trump booed loudly by the crowd during an epic clash with jeb bush about the bush family legacy. While donald trump was building a reality tv show, my brother was building a Security Apparatus to keep us safe. And im proud of what he did. And hes had the gall to go after the World Trade Center came down reporter and in a rare move, marco rubio coming to jebs defense. The World Trade Center came down because bill clinton didnt kill Osama Bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him. Reporter trump also tangling with ted cruz, accusing him of running robocalls telling voters the frontrunner wouldnt be on the ballot in South Carolina. Thats a matter of principle. Youre the single biggest liar. Youre probably worse than jeb bush. You are the single biggest liar. This guy lied. Let me tell you. He lied about ben carson when he took votes away from ben carson and he just continues. Reporter dr. Ben carson, refusing to join in on the exchanges. Is that really what you want . What we just saw . I dont think so. Reporter and john kasich predicting who will ultimately gain from these brutal attacks. I think were fixing to lose the election to Hillary Clinton if we dont stop this. Reporter now, South Carolinas republican primary is next saturday. This next week may be the most important for jeb bush. Hes looking to revive his campaign. Hell get help from president george w. Bush tomorrow on the trail. Hell likely face an onslaught from trump. Who all week, not only does he not forget, he also does not forgive. A telling moment yesterday, george. Jeb bush and donald trump didnt shake hands yesterday. They went at it so fiercely last night. Last night, donald trump really for the first time in a debate, getting it not just from jeb bush but from all sides. Senator ted cruz, marco rubio. He was a man on an island last night. A lot of conservative writers think last night many of the candidates were trying to take tom llamas, thanks very much. He was getting it from the audience, too. The gloves came off and for more on the debate, we want to bring in abc news analyst matt dowd for his take. Matt, first of all, as we just said, things got extremely ugly. There was a whole lot of namecalling. Are the attacks helping the candidates . Or are they doing irreparable damage to the gop brand . You know, paula, Demolition Derby is entertaining to watch. But after the derby is over, every car is damaged. I think republicans are fast approaching a time of how personal and how visceral and how much namecalling there is that this is not going to do anybody any good in the course of this. They all may survive. But over time, its not going to be a benefit going into a general election. And matt, South Carolina has a history of picking the nominee. Last time was the exception. Newt gingrich won South Carolina, but didnt get the nomination. Trump taking a chance last night by going after the bush family in South Carolina. Which is, you know, that family is loved in that state. Well, as you know, george w. Badly in New Hampshire in 2000. That was basically his comeback. It put him back on the path to win the general election. Theyre wellloved there. What would be interesting to me. Donald trump attacked george w. Bush last night. He attacked lindsey graham, a u. S. Senator from South Carolina. He got booed by the audience. If donald trump wins South Carolina after all that, i think its very difficult to stop him. If hes able to win South Carolina in the midst of all that. Right. But this is a guy who has shown over and over again that the normal rules of politics dont apply to him. That said, is there anybody you think came out well last night . Jeb bush . Marco rubio . Kasich . Well, i think, to me, i had two sort of folks that i thought were winners in the course of it. I think john kasich did. He sort of tried to stay out of the fight. Tried to stay above it all. And i think hes gotten a lift from his second place finish in New Hampshire. I thought he did well. I thought marco rubio, after his where he got attacked by chris christie, i thought he came back and did well. I thought jeb did fine. If i were picking two people i thought won, it would be john kasich and marco rubio. Thank you, matt. We want to remind you george has a big show this morning on this week with guests marco rubio and john kasich. And on the democratic side, the big winner in the New Hampshire primary, Bernie Sanders. Great to have you in studio. A huge story. Everybody