kennedy who likes to joke that the two people who justice kennedy hired with the worst grades were me and brett kavanaugh. it is good company. one thing that has been really noticeable, and jane, maybe this is a question for you, is that more and more people are doing the supreme court clerkship later in their key greers -- later in their careers. abouthat reflect anything the clerkship, the changing nature of the clerkship? jane: from my personal experience, it was their preference. justice sotomayor preferred people who had worked in the real world. --re was some of what what of what justice kruger was talking about, more people speaking to you are both as a person and lawyer. another component is she just wanted people who were plugged in in the real world. justice gorsuch, we have a joke on the committee that at some point we will run out of professors who want to clerk for him. he is cycling through old law clerks, professors. pinpoint aw if i can broader trend, but it seems as though the justices are increasingly preferring folks of a little bit more experience. it makes sense. you want f

kennedy who likes to joke that the two people who justice kennedy hired with the worst grades were me and brett john: i agree. this is kind of a corollary to my point previously that there are a lot of people who can do his job. i know supreme court clerks who are not very good lawyers or not very good writers. i know plenty of people who were never supreme court clerks who are vastly more talented. i think it is a very inexact fit. on the whole, they are a tremendously talented lot. if -- i think the odds are pretty good that they are a candidate, and i think this is why they command such a premium, because there has already been a difficult screening process. we hired two supreme court lerks this year. one of them, i was so impressed. she got this prize at harvard in like eight classes. the next one had 15. eal world. justice gorsuch, we have a joke on the committee that at some point we will run out of professors who want to clerk for him. he is cycling through old law lerks, professors. i don't know if i can pinpoint a broader trend, but it seems as though the justices are increasingly pref

john roberts is no brett kavanaugh. john roberts will allow for evidence to be submitted and thatted, and i pray to god in the senate, senate republicans, there will be some white jim baker, some like senator irvin from north carolina, and others, that will have steel in their backbone, calcium in their backbones, and a compass that points towards moving ourss and from this failed apprentice presidency. and my last comment is this, when we get a new administration, all of the candidates that are lying now, and i agree with the previous caller, it may be elizabeth warren who was the presidential candidate, but i think that in all of the democratic individuals that are vying to become the nominee, you have the best interviewing process for the next administration made up of stellar candidates that will fulfill cabinet positions, where we now have just acting directors. host: i will leave it there so we can hear from marion and burbank, california. you say no. caller: definitely, definitely no. this president is the most a

president trump, brett kavanaugh, they had their own access to media. they can call a press conference and rebut those negative allegations, right? i submit that those high-profile public officials are in a very, very rare defamation case. the supreme court has not done a good job defining who qualifies as a public official. that definition has been expanded beyond recognition. here's some of the other government employees that the lower courts have said are public officials. a taxicab inspector for charlotte, north carolina, public official. a county engineer for allen county, ohio, public official. a social worker employed by the alameda county social security agency, public official. a municipal building inspector for a small city in connecticut, public official. the sheer number of citizens who work for our federal, state and local governments is enormous. now, it is not just public officials that actual malice standard applies to. it's also public figures in this category that the court created called limited purpose public figures. this limited pu

and then republicans rammed through brett kavanaugh without a fair process. the number nine on the supreme court is not a magic number. it has been changed to times -- it has been changed seven times before. we think that we need to add two seats. some people say four. some people have different plans for how to change the supreme court, but these are the kinds of things that we cannot resign ourselves to the fact that we will have trump judiciary in , addition to stealing obama's seat, publicans blocked him from appointing 50-60 judges. we should seriously look to expand the lower court, as well, because that is the way we are going to get some greater balance in the shorter term, in addition to the step-by-step measures. with that, i don't know if anybody has any parting thoughts. i suspect we have already run over our time, but i did want to give folks if they had any parting thoughts from anything that they did not get a chance to say during the response to a question or otherwise. if not, thanks to the center for american progress for this opportunity an

host: do you think congress should overturn brett kavanaugh -- impeach brett kavanaugh? guest: i do. we had a rally yesterday to mark the one-year anniversary of his confirmation. there is a lot of basis for reopening an investigation into brett kavanaugh, but the main argument i would make is we never had the full investigation that we ought to have had before he was confirmed in the first place. thatact that he is there, he was confirmed, makes him an illegitimate justice considering that congress, the senate purposely did not seek out documents from his time working in the white house that may have shed light on his views on these hot button issues and also we now know, based on the new york times report, the fbi was so constrained and how it did the follow-up background check that it was not allowed to do interviews of corroborating witnesses that could have corroborated the accounts of accusers like deborah ramirez. our call on the house democrats, who now have the power of the gavel on the house side, is to do the fact-finding. do the investigation that the senate

he hosted a fundraiser for susan collins one year after she supported brett kavanaugh, their preferred pic for that supreme court vacancy. there is an tidiness to that that i think is not sitting well with voters in maine. this term, i suspect we are going to get to it shortly -- there is an abortion case the supreme court decided to take up last week, and susan collins, when she decided to vote for brett kavanaugh, said she was confident he would uphold roe v. wade and would not do anything to constrict abortion rights in this country. she has a lot riding on how brett kavanaugh rules in the upcoming case with the louisiana abortion law. host: is the supreme court a winning issue in national elections? donald trump wanted to put the supreme court in the ballot in 2016. he released his list of potential nominees. you are talking about the kavanaugh hearings, and the senate did not flip after the kavanaugh hearings. guest: no, but you did see a huge backlash among suburban college-educated women based on that hearing. it just so happens that the constituency was not well represented in

remember diane feinstein with the charge against brett kavanaugh and set i put it in my desk drawer and forgot about it for a month and just so happened to bring it out on the cusp of the hearing so that brett kavanaugh and his allies could not prepare for the charges? same thing with adam schiff. he knew it was coming and didn't give anyone a heads up because he did not want to allow the president or the allies to see this was all about. it was a coordinated political attack. host: what do you think he should have done before the whistleblower process was complete? guest: if you are the chairman of the committee and a true whistleblower comes forward, why wouldn't you tell the republican ranking member? is a bipartisan committee. you immediately go to the minority and say we have this whistleblower statute or you look at the statute and see where the person is supposed to go with that, should it go to the fbi rig? ig?he fbi or the the whole idea of a whistleblower is that it is nonpartisan. it is not political. go. need a safe place to i believe in whistleblower but the sad thing is we

can you give me a feel how you saw gorsuch, brett kavanaugh, how you got a feel for them today and in the questions they asked and where they might go in this case? engagedof the justices with the briefs and arguments. there are a lot of hypotheticals. if you have a woman in this situation and a man in this situation, is sex the reason for the difference in treatment? i think there are a lot of questions about the text of the statute. the court has been focused on the text of the statute, as it should be, and thinking about the fact sometimes you apply a statute and await that might not have been expected when passed. if it applies to your situation, it applies. that was the similar result in a case a few years ago in which a plaintiff alleged he was subjected to sex discrimination when he was arrested by a bunch of other men on an offshore oil rig. the supreme court held unanimously it was sex discrimination and a violation of title vii. it was written by the late justice antonin scalia, who said this was not the principal people. congress was not concern with this when it passed but

brett and teresa, where are you? take about. -- a bow. these two families because they are really emblematic of each and everyone they are proof that you give american farmers and workers a level like an hour farmers and ranchers can compete and win with anyone in the world. that's why since the first day of this administration, we have been opening up markets all around the world. donaldud to present trump renegotiating our trade agreement with south korea. earlier this week, the president signed agreements with japan that will expand digital trade and agricultural trade by billions of dollars a year to japan. >> the president has also put china on notice that the era of economic surrender is over. we have taken a strong stand demand china open their markets to what we make and what we grow and treat american businesses fairly. the president has been taking a the lastand, but just few weeks china announced the purchase of more than 2 million metric tons of soybean. heres i learned on the way , we are going to welcome a chinese delegation

applause] i know that many of you are saying the same thing as the man with perfect attendance, jim brett, i've never gone to any event he was supposed to be that and was not at. every new england council event, he is always there. today he is unfortunately at a funeral. he is not here today, so larry will do the q&a part. we have been training him on this for days on end. he is very good. next week we are back at the institute of politics. a whole series of things coming up in the future. very excited. governor very special who has come quite a long way this morning. governor steve bullock, montana's former attorney general and was elected montana's 24th governor in 2012. just to put that into perspective, our own governor and he isthe 80th, the 24th, just a little .ifferent phrase [applause] has broughtlock people together. he was born and raised and has fought on behalf of students, workers, and families. he ensured that his own three children, all young montanans are able to enjoy the same opportunities afforded to all of us. working with a republican legislature, he passed in earned

all of a sudden, the brett kavanaugh hearings have an and abortion becomes a very big issue not just in ohio, but nationwide, because there is a possibility for roe v. wade to be overturned with a conservative majority on the supreme court. a lot of people think kavanaugh is what kind of pushed republicans over the edge in 2018. everybody was kind of, even up until present day, two days before the election, was kind of thinking that democrats had a real shot at taking the government here -- governor of the seat here. -- governor's seat here, and that did not happen. i expect abortion plays a big part in that here, because the antiabortion people are very active in politics. they get their members out, especially when there is an abortion issue -- maybe not necessarily on the ballot, but being played out in politics. host: joanne is next from oregon, line for democrats. joanne, is that right? boring, oregon is where you are from? caller: no, portland, oregon. host: ok, go ahead. caller: thanks for letting us have our opinion. this question is kind of for the last guest you had on, may

applause] i know that many of you are saying the same thing as the man with perfect attendance, jim brett, i've never gone to any event he was supposed to be that and was not at. every new england council event, he is always there. today he is unfortunately at a funeral. he is not here today, so larry will do the q&a part. we have been training him on this for days on end. [laughter] he is very good. next week we are back at the institute of politics. a whole series of things coming up in the future. very excited. we have a very special governor who has come quite a long way this morning. governor steve bullock, montana's former attorney general and was elected montana's 24th governor in 2012. just to put that into perspective, our own governor sununu is the 82nd governor and he is the 24th of montana. just a little bit different. bullock, 53 years old, is a proven leader who has successfully brought people together to get things done in the state of montana. he has spent his career fighting on behalf of workers, students and families. to makenor, works montana stronger for future generat

i said brett, this will go so fast. this will be so easy. you are perfect. [laughter] president trump: you have the perfect family, the perfect wife, the perfect education, you are the best student, you went to the best school. they have been talking about you for 10 years. this will go quick and easy. [laughter] president trump: so much for predictions, folks. but we stuck with him, i will tell you. a lot of people did. [cheers and applause] president trump: plenty of people said cut him loose, president. cut him loose, president. you know that. you know, the people in this room -- i love you, i will not reveal your name, but the people in this room said cut him loose, president. i said, i can't do it. he has done nothing wrong. they are phony stories about him. they are made up, like they were made up by -- about me and other people. we got him through, and i have a lot of respect for the people who went up there and injured a -- and they endured a lot. that was the worst thing we have seen in this country for years. justice kavanaugh, the worst moment in

their brett is buttered. they blocked it until it died in the senate and it never went anywhere. at the time, it had the support of richard nixon after he became elected president. it had the support of george w. -- hw bush, congressman. it had the support of bob dole. this was not a partisan issue because people understood that majority rule was the essential foundation of a democracy. and i think that it is unfortunate that all of the splits have gone in one direction, as i think the professor pointed out in the last session, that it does not necessarily have to go that way, and we have seen republican presidents as recently as a -- seen republican presidents as recently as george w. bush winning by a substantial margin in the popular vote. something like since 2002, which is only 17 years ago, 47 states have elected republican governors. republicans do not have trouble winning popular votes. it is, i think it is a misunderstanding of how the incentive structures of our current system have worked the way campaigning happens, and leading to the kind of candidates we have, making

152 federal judges to apply the laws written, including two supreme court justices, neil gorsuch and brett kavanaugh. know, when i got into office, they say the most important thing a president can do, i actually think it is defense. they say the appointment of federal judges. how many do you have? i have none. none. i said, how many federal judges do i have? sir, you have 142 federal judges. i said, you don't understand the question. that is impossible. that would mean president obama did not appoint 142 judges. you get none. you are doing a bad job as president because you are representing a different philosophy, very different. i said, check it again. they said, 138. actually, the number is 142. we were right the first time. 142 judges. within two months, we will have john and ted and all of these great congressmen, we will have passed 182 federal judges. [applause] pres. trump: and then they say, obama, wasn't he such a wonderful president? how are you a wonderful president when the most important thing you can do, you hand it over to the republicans. 142. how is that good? i mean, how

i questioned brett kavanaugh when i was a member of the senate judiciary committee and asked him as a nominee to serve on the united states supreme court, could he think of any law that tells a man what to do with his body? and the answer was, uh, uh, no. the reality of it is, this is still a fundamental issue of justice for women in america. women have been given the responsibility to perpetuate the human species. our bodies were created to do that. and it does not give any other person the right to tell a woman what to do with that body. it is her body. it is her right. it is her decision. [applause] erin: senator harris, thank you. [applause] erin: senator klobuchar, what would you do to stop states from prevailing? your response? sen. klobuchar: i would codify roe v. wade and make it the law of the land. but what i want to do right now is just say, what if donald trump was standing up here on the debate stage with me? you know what i would say to him? i said, you knew -- you said you wanted to do this in your race for president. you actually said that you wanted to put women in ja

sheems the one person who voted -- sheets one person who voted against brett kavanaugh. i would look at all of the republicans who voted against the president's emergency declaration to take money and build the wall. lamar alexander's retiring. johnny isaac son, the senator, is retiring. there's a few of those people. i mean, lamar alexander is an incredibly serious statesman. i could see him looking at this and just saying, look, the last thing i do in my senate career is not going to be to vote to exonerate a president who has clearly done something wrong. i remain hopeful every day about ben sass. he has broken my heart time and time again. he voted -- he's a tremendous constitutional conservative, and he voted for that national emergency, which i've really never been able to understand. but i know that he's a good person and that he cares about the rule of law and he cares about the constitution. so i think that the difference between the impeachment vote -- and this is something i think people forget. it's one thing for these republicans to have to -- when they're t

152 federal judges to apply the laws written, including two supreme court justices, neil gorsuch and brett kavanaugh. [cheers and applause] know, when iyou got into office, they say the most important thing a president can do -- i actually say it is defense. but they say it is the appointment of federal judges. always when you get in there are none. how many do you have? i have none. none. so i got in and i said how many federal judges do i have? 142 federale judges. i said you don't understand the question. that's impossible. that would mean president obama didn't appoint 142 judges. you get none. or you're doing a bad job as president because you're representing a different philosophy. very different. so i came i said no, no, no. check it again. then they said 138. they came back and said actually, 142, we were right the first time. 142 judges. within two months, we will have john and ted and all of these great congressmen, we will have passed 182 federal judges. [cheers and applause] pres. trump: and then they say obama, wasn't he such a wonderful president? how are you a wonderful pres

in three days at the brink, brett bayer recalls the tehran conference a secret meeting in iran where franklin roosevelt, winston churchill and joseph stalin plan military operations to end world war ii. in it should not be this hard to serve your country, david shulkin describes his time as secretary of veterans affairs and the challenges he faced. also published this week, historian h w brands recalls the settling of the american west in dreams of el dorado. journalist jill stein contends elitism and expertise serve important roles in society in his latest book in defense of elitism. in edison the late pulitzer prize winning biographer edmund morris recalls lesser-known achievements of inventor thomas edison. look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for many of the authors in the near future on book tv, on c-span 2. >> the house will be in order. >> c-span has been providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and corporate policy events from washington dc and around the country so you can make up your own mind. created b

hi, michael. >> for brett and i'll keep it concise. you're clearly skeptical of the idea of developing and exporting the oil under the syrian kurdish control at this point and president trump has talked about bringing in an american company to do this and presumably, the concept is to export it to the krg because there's nowhere else can it can go. you said you look at this with secretary tillerson. what are the impediments to doing this, what are the technical obstacles in doing this? why do you think this is not a feasible approach? >> again, i was working this with tillerson. i will let him speak to it. he knows something about the subject. i think his phrase was i don't want to quote him but that's not how oil works and oil is owned like it or not by the syrian state. that doesn't mean sdf can't help exploit it and make some revenue off of it but that's smuggling. we did look at, the only way to possible do this legally would be an escrow arrangement through the russians that would loop in the syrian government. in which you would

host: a text from brett in wisconsin -- not been ine contact. the only role that i have played, as i mentioned, was to be a part of the legal team helping the house on the behalf of the judiciary committee, trying to enforce the subpoena served on don mcgahn. host: former amicus briefs and that sort of thing question mark guest: -- thing? cocounsel, we were honored to represent the house on a couple of matters. this one was directly relevant to our conversation today. georgetown website, you can read more about their work. we have time for one or two more cap phone calls -- more phone calls. independent line. caller: i would like your best to comment on three things i was interested in. it seems to me that any agreement of aid would have conditions in it. you can call that a quid pro quo , but i wish you would comment on the take care provision in article one of the constitution. the president has the duty to see that the laws are enforced. it was a public scandal in the ukraine, about that firm that joe biden's son was with. the second point is