Bill in is the news of the moment. Fox news confirming that democratic california senator Dianne Feinstein has died at the age of 90. She was currently serving a sixth term in the senate, winning election in 1992. Described as the year of the woman in that election. She would become the longest tenured woman serving in the u. S. Senate. Rest in peace, god rest her soul. We watched her with her Health Continueing to decline over the past year. A fighter to the end. Im bill hemmer. Dana has the day off today. Welcome to the coverage of the ongoing story. Im jacque heinrich, this is americas newsroom. She has battled Health Problems and multiple hospital stays battling shingles earlier this year. She missed a pair of votes yesterday afternoon and she was also absent from a Senate Judiciary committee meeting. The senior senator from california was 90 years old. Bill one of the images that comes to mind immediately is what we saw recently, the effort she made to fly across country and really show up on capitol hill in a wheelchair in order to perform votes in congress. She lived quite a career. Just really an incredible tenure she led there. This news coming as a surprise. There were rumblings of this earlier this morning. This all just coming together in the last 45 minutes or so. The news coming out she has passed away. Bill considered a democratic centrist. Center left for most of her political career. Not aligned with the progressive that has developed in the Democratic Party today. What does gavin newsom do . He has indicated, as has been reported, that he would appoint an africanamerican woman to her position, as you see the image of feinstein that we just saw about a month ago in washington, d. C. We all knew at the time, jacque, she was not doing well. Was fighting to hold on. That was clear from her return in washington. She was a moderate democrat. Six decades of political experience shaping National Security policy and big on gun control reform. Career first, first woman for the San Francisco board of supervisor, first woman senator for San Francisco. First woman senator from california. She was on the Board Of Supervisors when the mayor was murdered. Huge career. Bill she oversaw her share of American History and saw it from a lens that was far closer than many of us could ever see it. Back in early august when she fell at her home in San Francisco and went to the hospital, had a number of scans. The scans cleared her, but that was an indication again of her Failing Health that we saw about a month and a half ago. Well talk to byron york and chad pergram. With us in studio in new york is the host of Fox News Sunday shannon bream. Welcome to our coverage. Your thoughts as we watch the passing of an American Legend in congress. A legend. I cover the Supreme Court and nomination and Confirmation Battles she has been in the middle of so many times. Even in recent years you think there were some on the left who thought she wasnt tough enough on some of these nominees that came before her. You got the sense she wanted to have a conversation that was respectful and feel the nominees in the seat were taking a lot of fire. She took a lot of heat for some things she said about peoples religious beliefs and convictions and how it may affect them on the bench but cordial with them noting they had children and she related to the position they were in. I think the Confirmation Battles she has overseen that have been very contentious. Bill the Kavanaugh Hearing comes to mind because of the way it was carried out. What about her role during that hearing . You think about the fact this letter came forward at some point that had been directed and she would have had knowledge of it that once we thought that Confirmation Battle was done that whole conversation reopened it. So she found herself in the center of that battle over reopening another investigation, another flank of that conversation. Bill the last minute during that hearing and shocked a lot of people at the time. She played a Critical Role in the middle of that. That one went several rounds as we remember. That was anything but a typical Confirmation Battle. She was right in the middle of that. Over time she had moved a little to the left from a centrist. That sort of colored the more recent coverage of her. Do you think that that is, you know, what people will remember most looking back at her entire career . They will see her as a trailblazer. I love that we have the old clips. She was breaking glass ceilings in the 60s. She was the first in a lot of things she did. She was somebody who fought hard. She was a servant to her state and country. Whether you agree with her or not she was committed to the battle. I think she garnered a lot of respect on both sides of the aisle for her staying and fighting power, whether you had enormous Policy Differences with her or not. I love we get to walk through steps of her life and she was somebody constantly pushing the boundaries for Women In The World of politics. Because of her i think women now on capitol hill would say in many ways she blazed a lot of trails. Bill well get a lot of reaction throughout the next hour. Bret baier joins us the host of special report. Good morning to you. Good morning. Bill oftentimes we turn to you based on your time in washington, d. C. How do you reflect on the life of Senator Feinstein in the early hours of this announcement . Listen, i think shannon is right. She was a trailblazer on a number of different fronts. You remember her time when she served alongside Barbara Boxer from california. It was a powerful 12 punch for the california democrats. She held close to her believes on the left side of the spectrum but she had a great rapport with her colleagues on capitol hill. Left or right i would say she was really engaging. I think at the end obviously her capacity diminished and there was real concern about how she was going to be able to continue. Its a sad day but it is also a reflection of her long career that was really storied when you think about women in politics. Bill it may not be too soon to reflect on who succeeds her, bret . She comes from a state that is increasingly progressive. You have a governor gavin newsom who has shown himself to rise in democratic ranks over the past two years. What does he do with this seat now do you believe . You know, its fascinating. This is a real choice for gavin newsom to determine what to do. The person who is appointed, you know, will have to run again and very soon. So it is a seat that was coming up that was already a contested primary. So i think that this is an interesting choice. Whoever is that person automatically gets a headsup, a leg up on the field as far as a reelection possibility. Bill Thanks For Jumping on the phone. Back to you when the news develops. Dana lets bring in chad pergram over on capitol hill to pick up where bret left off. Chad, you know better than anyone that there is already a jump ball on who may succeed Senator Feinstein. You have at least three house lawmakers already in a competitive contest. Lay out for us where things are headed, what that race looks like, and also if newsom, the governor there, has indicated he has any favorites who he might nominate to succeed her . Just how fast gavin newsom might appoint somebody. Other circumstances you might think it would come really fast. They are trying to avoid a Government Shutdown. On the senate bill they have the votes to pass the bill. It is not like they need her vote. This is not at least the way things are arranged now down to the razors edge. We dont know just how fast he could make that appointment. Again, this really raised a lot of hackles with barbara lee from california who has been in office since the early 1990s, saying you said, governor, you were going to appoint a black woman. A senior woman, a served as the chair of the congressional black caucus. Why arent you appointing me . She thought she had been sidelined in the process a little bit. That would give barbara lee a Leg Up Running against katie porter and adam schiff. The favorite of the former House Speaker nancy pelosi to take that seat. We dont know exactly who he might appoint. Again, the quickness, is it something that will come right away so they can vote as early as tomorrow on trying to keep the government open . Or if we get into a Government Shutdown and some other legislative solution materializes and it is a razor wire vote and they need that vote. We dont know that yet, jacque. Speaking of how important her vote is, the margins, the way that they are, you talk all the time about how important the math is. It is going to be more difficult today to get to 60 votes on anything because Senator Feinstein is not there today and it will take some time for the governor to replace her. How does that impact this is happening at a very heightened tension moment where you are trying to fund the government that expires tomorrow night at midnight. How does that impact things . It is a precarious situation but not as you might think because of the reasons i stated. They had 3 4 of the senate, 77 members voted on a test vote on this bill on tuesday. Not quite as many on a test vote later in the day yesterday. They will be able to get cloture to overcome a filibuster. That comes tomorrow. Something later on maybe they need that. If you have a narrow senate always, you if you are the Senate Majority leader, chuck schumer. You want as Many Democrats there as possible. It is about the math. We learned just yesterday that the democratic senator from michigan has covid and announced she would be out for a few days. Something like that, these real world circumstances, start to interfere with the vote matrix on the hill especially as you try to fund the government as we get right down to the post here at 11 59 p. M. Thinking of her family and children. Terrible loss for them. Chad, stand by. Thats what you get in a 50 50 senate. First reaction from members of congress. The first is from a republican. Marco rubio writes this. Senator feinstein was a political pioneer. Intelligent. Hard working, treated everyone with courtesy and respect. May god grant her eternal rest. If you follow marco rubio on twitter every morning he sends out a passage from the bible and his last line there would go right to that point. Peter doocy joins us live from the white house. What is the initial reaction, if any, from there today, peter . Nothing yet, bill. We believe President Biden is still in the residence here at the white house but 25 minutes from now he is supposed to load up in the motorcade to give remarks next hour in arelington, virginia at the chairman of the joint chiefs mark milleys retirement ceremony. We would expect the flag on top of the white house to be lowered any minute now. It happens pretty quickly. President biden has been in washington, d. C. As well worked alongside Dianne Feinstein for a long time when he was in the senate. I went back when she announced that she was not going to run for reelection in february, he released a long statement. A lot of accolades. At the end he wrote over the three decades ive known her diane and her late husband, richard, became dear friends to jill and me. I have served with more u. S. Senators than just about anyone. I can honestly say that Dianne Feinstein is one of the very best. I look forward to continuing to work with her as she serves out her term. That sadly is not going to happen but we expect a lot more reaction from President Biden either as he gets into the motorcade or steps up to the microphone next hour. Bill. While you are there have you heard anything about whether the president is going to delay his plans this morning . Or make some remarks at the white house . No, we havent heard anything. We would expect he will keep to his schedule because it is not his event that he has at 10 30. Chairman of the joint chiefs over at Handerson Hall across the potomac. It wont be long until there is an opportunity for him to speak about this. Thank you, peter. Expect he will make remarks there. Bill another statement from another republican Thom Tillis Out of north carolina. He writes Senator Feinstein was a trailblazer, lived an incredible life dedicated to public service. One of the most effective legislators in recent memory because of her willingness to work across the aisle in good faith in order to solve complex problems. It was an honor to serve with her, susan and i extend our deepest condolences and prayers to her family and staff during this difficult time in a can tankerous see that is quite a statement. Always working in faith to solve complex problems. Brit hume joins us by telephone. How does sthe rank . She was a trailblazer, as many have said. She was a democrat through and through but she was not a particularly partisan actor. And she was a gracious woman and wellliked as you heard from other tributes on both sides of the aisle. And it was very sad that toward the end she had obviously deteriorated mentally and was painfully obviously senile. But there was a tendency to forgive her on that score simply because people had liked her so much and she had been such a dignified and gracious figure for so long in the u. S. Senate. There is a lot of reporting when you talk about her having some mental challenges toward the end of her life, that her staff was heavily advising votes and things like this. She had very clear positions on things. Did that at all seem to be out of step with her whole career and her Voting Record that she had amassed over so many years . I think so. I think it was she had been in had her full faculties, cases where staff were sitting next to her and telling her what to say, how to vote, what to do and all the rest of it. And she, i think, you know, she clearly was not herself as weve known her. She hung on for a long time and, of course, this situation with staffs is something to behold, because the reason they work for senators, these many of these Staff Members in the house and senate is to exercise what political power they are able to as assistants. When the Assistant Job becomes the brains and the operation, thats not how things are supposed to be. I know had she be her full self she would have not appreciated that. Bill if Memory Serves were you covering congress in 1992 when she was elected . I was covering the white house in 1992. Bill so bill clinton is elected and she comes in in the democratic wave. Yeah, 1992 i was covering the white house. Bill let me jog your memory. How significant was her election . Was it so . She had been the mayor of San Francisco and well regarded. So it was and while everybody likes to say that she was a trailblazer and i suppose she was, she was not an ardent feminist in the way that you might expect or think. She just seemed somebody naturally suited to take the job in the senate and she was. I well remember having lunch in the Senate Dining room some years back with ted cruz trying to figure out why i had been so critical of him. And she was there having lunch with a soviet ambassador. He told her something she thought was positive for some Disarmament Proposal or whatever it was but progress toward something the United States was interested in doing at the time. I wish i could remember exactly what it was but i cant. She came over afterwards and we spoke and ted cruz was a very partisan figure. I was intrigued to see how she would sort of act toward him. She was characteristically gracious and friendly in the way that she was and i thought well thats Dianne Feinstein and how she is. Bill thank you for your reflections today. Thank you. Bill dick durbin, senator from illinois, democrat writes this. She was my friend and seat mate on the Senate Judiciary committee for more than 20 years. Always a lady but never backed down from a cause she thought was right. She has written a great record in areas like the Assault Weapons ban, violence against women and so many other areas. Weve lost one of the real leaders in the senate end quote from dick durbin that shows through the statement how many issues she has been involved in during her career. Critical ones, too. We can expect a lot more from her colleagues after they dropped flowers on her desk this morning. Lets go to William La Jeunesse in los angeles. You have been reporting on the Potential Path for a successor here. What is happening in l. A. This morning . Well obviously it will come out. We want to talk about moving forward, right . It was two years ago during the recall election Governor Newsom promised to appoint