Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With John Berman And Poppy

Waiting for photos of that private swearing in and then the next one, ethe public one in th rose garden with the president. It has been more than a year since Antonin Scalia died and now gorsuch is taking the oath. He has taken the constitutional oath. His family was there and his wife held the family bible and his kids were there. All the justices and most of the spouses were there,er including maureen scalia. Justice scalias widow. The whole party will move down the street to the white house and there that will be the judicial oath. Thats a different oath given really just to justices and judges. And neil gorsuch ask that Justice Kennedy deliver that oath and the reason is why is gorsuch served as a clerk for kennedy. That is a little bit of precedent, poppy. This is the first time that we have a former clerk who will sit on the bench with the justice who he worked for. So, its symbolic and, poppy, new precedent here at the court. Its fascinating. Now, they have a full bench, which means no more 44 ties like they were facing before. Ariana, thank you so much. Lets talk about all of this with Cnn Supreme Court legal analyst and former federal prosecutor and here on set with me,er the one and only jeffrey toobin. And it is now this morning and the oath, the nine. 14 months of eight justices. You know, its really important when you think about how long these justices serve for. Neil gorsuch is young for a nominee to the Supreme Court. He could serve 30 or 40 years and we think today that we know the issues that he will be confronting. The controversial issues like church state and abortion rights, gay rights. Who knows what it will be in 30 years. The only thing well know for sure is that the Supreme Court will have the last word and neil gorsuch will be one of the nine. Indeed. The Supreme Court, joan, will also have the last word this, you know, these nine justices on the president s attempts at imposing that travel ban. Thats right. Theres so many issues. You know, were talking about lots of different chapters of social dilemmas coming before the Supreme Court and were likely going to see chapters of how neil gorsuch himself rules as a justice. Hell be tested right away because well have hell sit starting next monday. This thursday hell actually be in conference with his fellow justices. So, well see in the next couple of months indications of how he will rule. But there are so many months ahead and Justice Kennedy, the man whos going to administer the judicial oath had several chapters of his own life back in 1988 and who would have predicted that he would be the deciding votes on abortion or gay rights. Neil gorsuch painted himself as someone in the mold of justice scalia, a conservative, but well just have to see how his life unfolds. How his judicial record unfolds with the issues that will come. Right. Laura, to you. He cannot, as he joins the high court, he cannot rule on cases that have already been heard, but not decided, obviously. But there is a mechanism by which he could break a 44 tie, is that right . It is. Unless he has heard an oral argument, he cannot then rule on the case. But, if there is a 44 decision, the court could ask for a reargument. A reoral hearing on the actual merits of the case and he could participate in that and then rule. That would have a huge impact on cases although had a 44 split and the law of the land created or maintained by the lower court, he could actually be a part of those cases, as well. Right. Because if there is a 44 tie the decision of the lower courts holds until there is a tiebreaker. Interesting. He has already been privately sworn in and we are waiting for photos from that. And then have the public ceremony in the rose garden with the president , et cetera. The other justices will be there including Justice Ginsburg who has been very critical of the president. Of then candidate trump. He gave an interview not the sitting president. Then candidate. Our own joan got Justice Ginsburg to say incredibly inappropriate things for a justice, in effect, how she thought if donald trump was elected president , she was going to move to new zealand. By all accounts, she has not moved to new zealand but continued to serve on the court. But just indicative of how politically divided this Supreme Court is. You know, the difference between the democratic appointees and the republican appointees is really profound. Four democratic appointees. Justice ginsburg, Justice Bryer and the now republican five and the differences we see in congress and the race for the white house are often reflected in the Supreme Court. Even though, i should know, joan, they should not be whatsoever. They are justices and also, lets just be frank, they are human. Talk more about that moment as you do have rbg, the notorious, as you have Justice Ginsburg going to the white house to the ceremony today. Well, this is an interesting moment politically because as jeff probably remembers back a couple decades ago, there was no ceremony at the white house like this. Its actually controversial within the court family. I think this was started during the Ronald Reagan years where one of theaths was taken at the white house. And several of the justices, includi including chief Justice William rehnquist resisted it. They felt that the ceremony signals to the public that there is more of a mixing between the judicial and executive branch and the whole point of the Judicial Branch is to be independent of the executive. When it takes place at the white house, as were about to see, that that might send the wrong signal. So, i recently was going through the rehnquist files at stanford and i saw so many different memos among the justices saying, do we really have to go . Look at what it says. It taints the process. I think they feel like the door was opened back in the 80s and its going to stay open. Laura, to you. You worked in the Civil Rights Division of the justice department. I want to get your take on this. A number of big cases from Second Amendment issues to separation of church and state and also a major Voting Rights case. When trump talked about during his candidacy of overturning roe v. Wade abortion rights. But remaining 13 cases that this justice has left in this term have more to do with Second Amendment issues and also religious freedom rights. So, youve got the issue of whether or not a very core constitutional principle whether they can provide financing or grants to churches. The contraceptive mandate that will come in terms of businesses or providing samesex marriage services. He will have an opportunity to argue or hear about and also rule on. Much less of a roev. Wade. But on religion, he has been very clear. He was a justice who was talking about the hobby line of cases and said that a religious Organization Need not follow the obamacare contraceptive mandate. We already know his leanings on that. The other areas are kind of up good frgrabs. A phone note what the junior justice has to do. The junior justice in the conference of the, the nine justices alone meet to discuss cases. The junior justice is responsible for answering the door. For getting papers. And, also, the court operates by committee. Theres a committee on the building. Theres a committee on various procedures. The least desirable committee for the justice to be on is the Cafeteria Committee. The junior justice by tradition always sits on the Cafeteria Committee. Justice kagan was very proud of her contribution to the Cafeteria Committee because she got a frozen yogurt machine into the cafeteria. There you go. Unreal. A big achievement. Hazing of sorts, i suppose. Jeffrey toobin, thank you so much, lauren coates. Still to come, what is next for syria after those air strikes . It really depends who you ask on the president s team. The secretary of state Rex Tillerson meeting with World Leaders right now. Will he give some clarity to what the future of Bashir Al Assad is. Power struggle tensions reach a boiling point between steve bannon and Jared Kushner. The president s message, cut it out. Work it out. In just moments, the nations newest Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sworn in. Well bring that live to you from the rose garden when it begins. All finished. Umm. You wouldnt want your painter to quit part way, i think you missed a spot. So when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day . Aleve, live whole not part. You want this color over the whole house . Right now secretary of state Rex Tillerson meeting with World Leaders in italy. This is the g7 summit where he is expected to deliver tough talk on russia and also the assad regime in russia. Later this week hell go to moscow and all of this as the u. S. Military deploys warships to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against north koreas provocations. We have Team Coverage this morning. Will ripply is the only american journalist inside north korea and Barbara Starr is at the pentagon. We begin inside of north korea. Will . Poppy. North korean government Officials Say they are receiving the message that the United States is sending with its Carrier Strike group headed to the Korean Peninsula and that missile strike on syria,er which th they view as a threat to their own country. The United States is willing to take military action if they feel provoked or they cross the line. The North Koreans say that makes them want to work faster to deliver the missile program. I was with government officials when word came in that the carl vincent was heading back to this region. This government believes the u. S. Is the reason why they have to build nuclear weapons. Why they need a viable nuclear tip capable of reaching the u. S. These weapons of mass destruction are essentially the key to their survival as a nation and the United States would rain bombs down on their homes if their country doesnt develop these weapons. They explain that as why people live in economic hardship. Why many people dont have enough electricity or insufficient food at times. They say these are the sacrifices that they must make in order to develop weapons, protect this country and protect the North Koreans leader jungun. This is a big week for kim. The Supreme Peoples Assembly happening tomorrow. Delegates will vote in favor of what the leader presents before them. On saturday,er the biggest holiday of the year here in north korea. The day of the son celebrating the birthday of north koreas founder. Around this particular holiday, north korea in the past has engaged in what the world considers very provocative behavior including five years ago when they attempted and failed to launch a satellite into orbit. U. S. And south korean officials looking at the satellite data believe north korea could push the button on its sixth nuclear test at any time. That certainly would be a way for kim jungun to send a message to the United States. On a week when he wants to project power and strength both here and north korea and his enemies around the world. Poppy . Thank you very much. Barbara starr joining us now at the pentagon. Can you talk about how big of a deal this is. How significant a move it is. Its not the first time that we had, you know, American Warships moving this way. Well, thats right, poppy. But when it comes to sending a signal, probably no bigger signal, literally, than a u. S. Navy aircraft carrier. The North Koreans see the message, they hear the message. They watch the missile strike into syria at the end of last week and understand that this Trump Presidency is sending the signal to the entire world that its willing to use military force. So, decision was made to move the Carrier Group into the region, in case there is another north korean provocation. But what about the military utility of a Carrier Strike group . Is it really the asset you need and want . A carrier with its aircraft onboard is not going to be able to do anything about a north Korean Missile launch. A couple other ships with the group that do have a Missile Defense capability. They could try and shoot down a north korean Ballistic Missile launch. But will makes the point, the bottom line here is north koreas moving closer to being Nuclear Capable and the National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster talked about all of that. North ckorea has been engage in a pattern of provocative behavior. This is a rogue regime that is now a Nuclear Capable regime. And they agreed that that is unacceptable. That what must happen is denuclearizati denuclearization. The president has asked us to be prepared to give osfull range of options to remove that threat to the american people. And to our allies and partners in the region. But worth remembering that president obamas own director of National Intelligence James Clapper said before leaving office he didnt think much of anything to be done to make north korea give up its nuclear efforts. Thats right. Very important point. Barbara star at the pentagon. Thank you for that reporting. Lets discuss that and more with mike rogers. A controversial oped on the ranking democrat on that committee. Let me just get your take, congressman, on this move. On the clear message from the Trump Administration to north korea. As barbara said, when the pentagon doesnt want folks to know where their warships are headed, they just dont say anything. They were very vokelingcal abou this time. I think its about moving a specific capability. But also this offensive capability of a u. S. Carrier. The other interesting part of this, i dont know if you remember this, poppy. A few months ago the navy s. E. A. L. S were announced to go to south korea to do a joint Training Exercise and they made it very clear that it was the same unit that went after osama bin laden. I find it interesting that the uss carl vincent which was engaged in that is steaming to south korea. I think theres a psychological war fare going on here. If it was an accident, its pretty interesting. It does start to tell the people around kim jungun this is getting serious. If this is ever going to get, i think, mediated to a point where there is not conflict and i talk to a lot of military officers who believe that its on an escalation path, not necessarily by moves that the Trump Administration, but by the military officers surrounding kim jungun. So, we have to find a way to intercept that ramp up towards any military engagement, small or otherwise. Then you have to worry about the miscalculation. Does south korean commander on the border make a miscalculation that escalates the problem here. So this morning you also have a senior official in south korea saying that south korea and china together have agreed to ramp up their sanks against north korea. Any expert you ask it cannot solve its crisis on its own. You need those sanctions, especially when it comes to the money and the banking abilities of north korea to be handled by the chinese. I mean, do you believe that the chinese are really going to do more this time because there has been a lot of talk and little action. Im not sure. I know one thing that china does not want. They dont want more u. S. Forces in the region. That trigger to say, hey, maybe we need to ramp this up and the actions of kim jungun who have not been rational in the past and im not sure i would put the rational stamp on his actions on another nuclear test than other things now. So, there are a couple of things that china can do to help on sanctions significantly. The majority of trade with north korea comes through china. And then a wlblack market activy that sustains the elite of north korea. All of the people who support kim jungun are supported in those black market operations. China could have a significant impact, if they want to do it. It would cause some economic difficulties for them in that region, but it would also really kind of heal north korea or at least for the first time really pinch the people that you need to communicate to that listen escalation is not the path here. South korea and china can come together to work out a package of which we can be a part of. Thats really the right way forward, i think. So, congressman. Secretary of state Rex T