President Obama Nominates Sotomayor for Supreme Court
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I choose to be a lawyer and ultimately a judge, because I find endless challenge in the complexities of the law. I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights.</s>TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Let's get a conservative viewpoint on the announcement. Robert Alt is a senior legal fellow with The Heritage Foundation and, Robert, good to see you. You know, there was criticism this morning, even before the official announcement. Some saying her record is hard left. Do you agree with that assessment?</s>ROBERT ALT, SENIOR LEGAL FELLOW, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: There are certainly things in her record that are disturbing, both in her rulings from the bench as well as statements that she's made outside of the bench that suggest not nearly hard left inclinations, but a desire to make policy from the bench. And I think that would be disturbing, not just to conservatives.</s>HARRIS: Robert, what's your view of the take?</s>ALT: Well, I actually have to say, despite the fact that she bandied about even before Obama took office, I was somewhat surprised. I think it's a pretty hard left choice. And given some of her statements, you know, along the lines of suggesting that a Latina woman makes better decisions than white men from the bench, as well as, you know, other statements suggesting that she doubts whether or not any judge actually can be impartial in those cases. I think that those statements will not sit well with many Americans who think that, you know, judges should actually be applying law rather than their preferences.</s>HARRIS: Hey, Robert, correct me on this. Does she say would make better decisions or could make better decisions?</s>ALT: Her statement was -- to be precise, was, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."</s>HARRIS: OK, would hope. OK. In your view, was this a demographic choice, a representative pick?</s>ALT: Well, I certainly think that that weighed fairly heavily. You know, the difficulty...</s>HARRIS: In what way, do you think, Robert?</s>ALT: Oh, no, I mean, I think it was widely believed that Obama was looking to appoint a female nominee, and if he could appoint the first Hispanic to the bench, that that would be a positive factor for him.</s>HARRIS: Judge Sotomayor was first appointed, as you know, to the federal bench in, what, 1991 by the first President Bush. How strong a challenge to this pick do you expect from the political right?</s>ALT: Oh, you know, in terms of that, I think at this point it's probably a little too soon to say. I think that what you'll see, though, is a searching inquiry into her record. I mean, we're going based upon a limited number of statements that we already have, but the nominations of Alito and Roberts really changed the standard for the am of evidence that senators required. And I think that you'll see that more searching inquiry apply to Sotomayor.</s>HARRIS: Do you expect the suggestion to be made or raised in a straightforward way, or that she is not -- she does not have the judicial muscle, the temperament, to handle this job? That she's not smart enough to handle this job? Let me just be blunt with it.</s>ALT: Well, there have been reporters who have already raised those sorts of criticisms not from the right, but actually from the left. Some of her colleagues and some clerks for other liberal- leaning judges on the second circuit raise those sorts of claims. So whether or not they will be raised -- interestingly enough, those claims seem to be coming from the left, which desire to have a real intellectual heavyweight nominated to advocate their causes.</s>HARRIS: We will explore those claims. All right. Robert Alt, we appreciate it. Thanks for your time.</s>ALT: Thank you. She grew up in a New York City housing project and is poised to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court. President Obama has chosen Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee. She says it would be a profound privilege for her to serve.</s>JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Thank you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life. You have nominated me to serve on the country's highest court and I am deeply moved.</s>HARRIS: And we begin our coverage this hour with White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, as always, thanks for the next opportunity to speak with you. How did the president come to this decision?</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it was interesting, because it was over the weekend that he spent a lot of time thinking about this. He had interviewed all four of the final candidates by that time. That happened, and all four of them were women, by the way. We are told that he made up his mind after the weekend and picked up the phone and called Sotomayor about 9:00 last night to give her the news that she had always been a leading candidate out of the pack here, that it was his instinct that really said she was the right one. It was nothing specific that put her over the top, per se, but he did interview her on Thursday, met with her for about an hour or so. There were three things that the president mentioned that were really important in his Supreme Court pick. The first one, obviously, was intellectual heft, that she has the kind of legal background, judicial experience necessary. Secondly, was to recognize the limits of the legal system of the law. He says to interpret the law, not to make the law. And third, was something a little extra, something special, Tony, something that he referred to as the common touch. Take a listen.</s>BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She has never forgotten where she began, never lost touch with the community that supported her. What Sonia will bring to the court, then, is not only the knowledge and experience acquired over a course of a brilliant legal career, but the wisdom accumulated from an inspiring life's journey.</s>MALVEAUX: It was Thursday that he met with Sotomayor at the White House for about an hour or so. This was the candidate that he knew the least, but White House aides in background briefings this morning are telling us that that interview was really critical, that he felt very comfortable with her, that he knew that she was the one, that she was the right fit. She and the other three finalists have been filling out their Senate questionnaires, all of them asked to do that about a week or so ago. But no one knew who was actually going to be chosen until late last night, Tony. And I have to tell you, it was a very interesting ceremony this morning in the East Room, very unique. She recognized her mother, who was in the front row. Her father had died early on in her childhood, said that her mother was quite inspiring. And a lot of people in that room were crying, tears, very emotional about that moment when she said that she was full of gratitude. And President Obama obviously using that, using the background, using her full life story to make the case that he believes she's the right choice -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: Boy, we were all wishing there was a camera in that room on the judge's mom at that announcement, because we knew that it was an emotional moment for mom. Our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux for us. Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.</s>MALVEAUX: Thanks.</s>HARRIS: You know, it is one of the most enduring decisions a president can make. So we want to take an in-depth look at President Obama's Supreme Court choice. For that, let's bring in Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger in Washington, and our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, in New York. And Jeffrey, let me start with you. And I've got a bunch of questions for Gloria as well. Jeffrey, would this pick if confirmed, change the ideological balance of the court in any significant way?</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Probably not, and probably not immediately, because Judge Sotomayor, if she's confirmed, will probably be a moderate liberal, very much in the mold of what David Souter became on the court. So, the ideological balance on the court, which is currently four very conservative justices, four pretty liberal justices, and Anthony Kennedy, in the middle as the swing vote. So, this would probably be, at least initially, simply one liberal replacing another. But, you know, Byron White, who was on the Supreme Court for many years, used to say, when you change one justice, you change the whole court. So there will be subtle changes in the dynamic, for sure, if she's confirmed, and this is very likely not President Obama's only choice for the court. So, over time, there could be a lot of changes.</s>HARRIS: And boy, Jeffrey, Robert Alt was with us just a moment ago, senior legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation. He said he was a bit surprised by the choice. He thought it was a hard-left pick. Is that evidenced by the record of this judge?</s>TOOBIN: Well, I think hard left is going to be a tough case to make. Certainly on the -- in the range of federal appeals court judges, Judge Sotomayor is on the more liberal side. But appeals court judges are bound by Supreme Court precedence, so they don't tend to go off on their own making new policies, making new law. They are very constrained in what they can do. So I think making the case that she's hard left will be difficult, but there is evidence in the record that she is definitely a liberal on certain issues.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>TOOBIN: And if that is something that is disqualifying for a Supreme Court nominee, she could be in some trouble. But given the way that the Senate is made up today, that's probably not the case.</s>HARRIS: And Jeffrey, appreciate it. Got to let you go. You've got to get to CNN International. Let's bring in our political analyst, Gloria Borger, in Washington. And Gloria, what can you tell us? What is it, oh, in the last few days, maybe weeks, maybe a little longer, that tipped the balance in the direction of Sonia Sotomayor? There were so many good choices out there, many have said, for this president.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, in talking to one White House source, and as Suzanne Malveaux just reported, really I think it came down to kind of a personal decision on the part of the president. He had interviewed four nominees. I believe she was the last one to be interviewed last Thursday. She had spent about six hours at the White House, one hour with the president himself. And I was told -- and this is a quote from a senior administration official -- she won it in the interview. So there must have been a real sense that they share the same philosophy. Remember, he talks about empathy, he talked about life experience. And as others have pointed out on CNN this morning, her life experience, being raised by a single mother, is not that different from Barack Obama's life experience when you think about it. And he's clearly made the case that he wants somebody on the bench who understands the life of real people.</s>HARRIS: Yes. Hey, Gloria, frame this up for us. What is likely to be at the heart of the Senate confirmation debate on this pick?</s>BORGER: Well, it's interesting. I've talked with a bunch of conservatives this morning who are going to be leading the fight on this outside the Senate, and their notion is -- and it always does come back to this -- is she an activist judge? Does she believe that you should make policy from the bench? But interestingly, it's not so much the court decisions that she's done that they're looking at, although there will be some of those, but there are no real sort of abortion issues, for example. What they are really going to be looking at and what they are gathering are speeches she has made, panels she had served on, her public utterances, if you will, about the role of the court. In particular, one, in 2005, at Duke University, where she said that the federal court of appeals is where "policy is made"</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>BORGER: Now, you know, that could be a problem for her, because there are lots of folks in the Senate who don't believe you should legislate from the bench, that that is, in fact, the job of the Congress.</s>HARRIS: Hey, Gloria, you're our senior political analyst, so I'm going to ask you a political question here.</s>BORGER: Go ahead.</s>HARRIS: I asked this of Candy just a few moments ago. Has the president, with this pick, essentially taken a major voting bloc off the table for Republicans?</s>BORGER: Well, it clearly did not escape them that she is Hispanic. It clearly did not escape them, in talking to folks at the White House, let the Republicans make a fight against an Hispanic nominee, the largest growing population in this country. These votes are up for grabs in the future for both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. You had a very divisive fight over immigration reform that split the Republican Party down the middle. I think this president might like to do that again. I mean, clearly, the fact that she's Hispanic was a factor.</s>HARRIS: See, I think that's the answer. I think that's part of the calculation here.</s>BORGER: Sure.</s>HARRIS: Our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, from Washington. Gloria, great to talk to you. Appreciate it. Thank you.</s>BORGER: Thank you. Sure.</s>HARRIS: Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's first choice for the United States Supreme Court, just one of the faces of this story that we are following today. And in 45 minutes, gay couples get California Supreme Court's decision on Proposition 8. And North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il thumbing his nose at the world again with more menacing moves today.