incredible history. they shot all the iraqis which looks like a hair-trigger response. they authorized payments to allow a company to continue in business. the company s under continuing investigation with the foreign corrupt practices act. in 09, blackwater lost its state department contract to provide diplomatic security for officials in iraq because of the nisor square incident in. april 2010, federal prosecutors charged five former senior blackwater officials with weapons violations and making false statements. why in the world would we enter into any new contract with a company like that? i don t think i can answer that in detail. when folks making decisions on those contracts have to look at past performance. obviously the way they worked in the past. things you raised would raise concern, i would imagine. not income the decision chain, i don t know exactly how that decision would have been made by the fks who are making it. ms. ugone, how about you? there are a
ifill: then, we turn to the future of the supreme court, as senate confirmation hearings begin for nominee elena kagan. i will do my best to consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law. brown: we get the latest on the arrest of ten russians allegedly acting as long-term deep-cover spies in the u.s. ifill: and we remember west virginia senator robert byrd, who died today at age 92. could i ever imagined that i would become the longest serving member in the history , the great history of the united states congress. ifill: that s all ahead on tonight s newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ifill: gun rights advocates won a far-reaching victory today before the u.s
i will do my best to consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law. brown: we get the latest on the arrest of ten russians allegedly acting as long-term deep-cover spies in the u.s. ifill: and we remember west virginia senator robert byrd, who died today at age 92. could i ever imagined that i would become the longest serving member in the history , the great history of the united states congress. ifill: that s all ahead on tonight s newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ifill: gun rights advocates won a far-reaching victory today before the u.s. supreme court. that led the list of several major decisions handed down on the busy final day of the court s term. ifi
announce. reporter: they accompanied elena kagan, the first woman to hold the post of solicitor general to the east room. just as john stevens announced the retirement. kagan, 50, would be the numberest nominee to high court since clarence thomas who was tapped by the first president bush. advisors say president obama wanted a nominee to influence the court for a generation and go toe to toe with the conservative wing. elena is respected and admired not just for her intellect and level of achievement but her temperament, and openness to a broad array of view points. law matters, because it keeps us safe. because it protects our most fundamental rights and freedoms and because it s the foundation of our democracy. reporter: senior white house advisor david axelrod said president obama is very comfortable with her judicial philosophy, though she has never been a judge and has a thin paper trail. she has the ability to bring about consensus. reporter: as the first wo
her as a left-wing loon? i don t know about left-wing loon, but i will say this. i would have voted for her for solicitor general for this reason. a person in the united states has got a right to have people with agree with them and that believe with him at his right hand. but when we re talking about someone who s going to sit on the supreme court and make law, if you will, for 30 years and if you see what you did in harvard, the hostility toward the military, ordering them off campus basically and saying that their it was morally outrageous, don t ask, don t tell their policy, which was a clinton policy, this is a woman of hard views, and i think those views are going to be explored and rightly so, joe. and charles, it s interesting i don t know if i would agree with that. not only on the right but also on the left, a lot of people on the left going, she is insufficiently progressive. come on, this is a joke. this woman will not be voting with scalia more than