clifton, is hawaiian. and even more unusually, he's a republican from hawaii. there are not a lot of republicans from hawaii. he was appointed by president george w. bush in 2002. he just took senior status, which means he, like judge canby is on a lesser schedule. it is an unpredictable group. none of the three have records that would lead you to predict definitely how they would come out one way or another. but we'll certainly know more, if not everything, after listening to them ask questions for an hour. >> it will be fascinating to hear the questions from the judges and the responses from the two sides. gloria, have you ever seen a case like this go before a federal panel with so much at stake, so early in a new presidential administration? >> two weeks in, i can't recall. of course not. and i was talking to some republicans today who were