of towards the center, ideologically, but he is no anthony kennedy. brett kavanaugh succeeded anthony kennedy who was the sentist swing vote justice. judge kavanaugh is much further to the right, so we can expect this court to be much more conservative. some people, brooke, are casting chief justice roberts at the center now, the middle justice, but he will be no swing vote. he will probably, at best for the liberal side, inch a little bit over to their side, because of his interest in trying to steady the court. that s he will be the man to watch, more so than justice kavanaugh, as we go forward. and another thing about the biography of the justices that people have pointed out, talk about their pedigrees. justice kavanaugh s addition to the court reinforces the harvard, yale, ivy league makeup of these justices. we have five justices who attended harvard, four who graduated from there. justice ginsburg, as you
clerks. all four are women. if confirmed, i ll be the first justice in the history of the supreme court to have a group of all-women law clerks. let me bring back sarah pitlick. she clerked for then judge kavanaugh on the court of appeals, from 2010 to 2011. so, sarah, welcome back to you. you know, we ve heard justice kavanaugh, you know, certainly talking about the women who deeply influenced him, as he was introduced to the country by the president. he spoke about, also, women who he s hired in the past like you. what s your reaction to him bringing on all women clerks? well, it s not at all a surprise to anyone who s been a part of his clerkship recruitment process. as he described in detail in his confirmation hearings, he has always really since assuming the bench in 2006, he has always paid special attention to trying to level the play iing field fo
out. and this. the nation s deadliest transportation accident in nearly a decade. 20 people killed. and now we ve learned that the limo and the driver should not have been on the road in the first place. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome to the lead i m jim sciutto in for jake today. we begin with breaking news. brand-new cnn polls revealing how americans feel about the president, the two political parties and the newest associate justice of the supreme court. both during and after the battle to confirm brett kavanaugh. all coming less than one month from the midterm elections. cnn s political director, david chalian, at the magic wall with all of the results. david, president trump up, down, or about where he was? no, he s up from where he was last month. let s take a look at his overall approval rating, jim. brand-new numbers from cnn conducted by ssrs, right now, 41% approve of how he s handling his be jo.
sounding these alarm bells and saying that something has to change. sure. you ve been fortunate to see a lot of these places that, you know, could disappear, and you realize just how valuable, how precious this planet really is. john sutter, thank you. if you want to read about this report, just go to cnn.com. i m brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me. the lead with jake tapper starts right now. donald trump, who suggested that ted cruz s dad played a part in jfk s assassination says the kavanaugh allegations were a hoax. the lead starts right now. breaking news. brand-new cnn polls showing president trump revealing how americans feel about the president, the two political parties and the newest associate justice of the supreme court during and after the bitter partisan battle. then, the mid terms are less than a month away, but some politicians already have 2020 vision. wait until you see who is visiting all-important iowa, and who president trump is singling
about half the speech praising the work that the audience does every day. the white house had billed this speech as one focusing primarily on law enforcement and border security, but, of course, trump took the opportunity to hit some of his favorite midterm themes, unemployment rates, fake news, congressional democrats blocking his funt iding, and most of all justice kavanaugh. because as we know, trump and his allies have been hoping to use the bitter confirmation battle we just saw unfold as a way to motivate republican voters who might otherwise be complacent heading into the midterms. republicans need to make up that enthusiasm gap. they ve been long lagging behind democrats in terms of voter energy. now, trump will have several chances to do that this week. he ll be heading to hawaii, pennsylvania, ohio, kentucky for rallies this week. and trump also took this opportunity to put to rest a story that has, at times, threatened to overshadow his agenda, and that s tensions with his d