Moments after President Biden officially nominated Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Friday afternoon, CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell swooned: “No matter what your politics, you couldn’t help but be moved by what just happened at the White House.” She even brought on Democratic Senator Cory Booker to further cheerlead for Jackson during the live special report.
“And this is one of the longest legacy-lasting events that a president can make, is the appointment of a Supreme Court justice, and has now written himself into the history books by nominating the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court,” O’Donnell hyped just as the White House announcement ceremony concluded. She then insisted: “No matter what your politics, you couldn’t help but be moved by what just happened at the White House.”
Chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford joined the coverage and gushed:
Well, I think you could see in the remarks why she’s always been the frontrunner for this position. I mean, not only does she have those stellar academic and legal qualifications – Harvard, Harvard Law, Supreme Court clerk, a federal defender, private practice, the sentencing commission – she also brings that compelling life story that is said to be rooted really in the African American experience. And that will bring a different and many say much-needed perspective to this United States Supreme Court.
Moments later, O’Donnell welcomed on Senator Booker to hail the pick: “And Senator, I know last year that you called Judge Jackson’s work as a public defender, quote, ‘noble.’ Tell us more about what you think of this day and what you know about her qualifications.” He predictably fawned:
Well, I just have to say it’s hard to watch that without getting really emotional. You know, I’m African-American, I grew up in traditions that are very strong in their matriarchal leadership. And to see this barrier be broken, it is so profound. One hundred and fifteen Supreme Court justices in the history of America, 108 of them have been white men. Even though there’s been generations of qualified black women, this is an extraordinary moment, this is an extraordinary moment.
During another CBS special report earlier that morning, when news first broke that Biden was planning to nominate Jackson, correspondent Nancy Cordes gleefully applauded the federal judge as someone who “has a superior intellect and has been on a rocket ship towards a position like this since college.”
CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil got so caught up in all the excitement that he, too, saw stars: “Yeah, and on a lighter note, Nancy, she also reportedly, as a drama student at Harvard undergrad, once partnered in a scene with Matt Damon. I’m hoping that comes up in confirmation.”
Even once he regained his composure and tried to actually ask about “controversial” aspects of Jackson’s legal career, like her defending a Guantanamo Bay detainee, that could be “sticking points” during Senate confirmation hearings, Cordes dismissed such concerns:
Sure, well, I think anyone who has served as a lawyer, who has served as a judge, is going to be asked about specific cases that they have tried or that they have ruled on. So that is something that is to be expected. But she has been through this rigor once before, quite recently when she was nominated by President Biden to serve on the U.S. District Court here in D.C. just last year. And she passed her confirmation process with flying colors, even picking up three Republican votes.
The reporter then assured: “So this is something that she is already prepared for in a way and she has a very large cheering squad around her. Fellow lawyers, friends, family, certainly many lawmakers who already know her who are going to be working with her to help her through this process.” Not to mention liberal media outlets like CBS.
This pair of CBS News special reports did not feature any commercial breaks or advertisers.
Here are transcripts of the February 25 coverage:
CBS News Special Report
8:59 AM ET(...)
NANCY CORDES: President Biden, it is an experience that he talks about with fondness, with reverence, talks about how important it is to serve in that capacity for people who cannot afford private counsel and now he has chosen someone who followed in those footsteps. But who also has been a judge, has worked in private practice and who, according to many people who know her well, has a superior intellect and has been on a rocket ship towards a position like this since college.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Yeah, and on a lighter note, Nancy, she also reportedly, as a drama student at Harvard undergrad, once partnered in a scene with Matt Damon. I’m hoping that comes up in confirmation. I don’t think it will, however.
What will likely come up is her work as a public defender, as you point out, because one of the roles she played as a public defender was to take on at least one case of a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, controversial cases all. What more do you expect from this confirmation process? Where are the – where could the sticking points be potentially?
CORDES: Sure, well, I think anyone who has served as a lawyer, who has served as a judge, is going to be asked about specific cases that they have tried or that they have ruled on. So that is something that is to be expected. But she has been through this rigor once before, quite recently when she was nominated by President Biden to serve on the U.S. District Court here in D.C. just last year. And she passed her confirmation process with flying colors, even picking up three Republican votes.
So this is something that she is already prepared for in a way and she has a very large cheering squad around her. Fellow lawyers, friends, family, certainly many lawmakers who already know her who are going to be working with her to help her through this process.
ADRIANA DIAZ: And so we’ll see if she’ll get the votes from Republicans in the Senate. Let’s turn now to senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe. Ed, how did we get here? What happened during the 2020 election, what happened in the last administration, that has led us to this pick you think?
ED O’KEEFE: Well, part of the reason why the White House was so eager to announce this by today is tonight is exactly two years to the night that the President, as a candidate, vowed to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. It happened during the CBS debate in South Carolina.
The night before, he had been at a reception hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus and he was pulled aside by Congressman Jim Clyburn, Benny Thompson of Mississippi, and Marsha Fudge of Ohio, they had a conversation in a backroom about the state of play about what it could take for him to win the South Carolina primary and revive his campaign. And depending on who you talk to, in essence, Jim Clyburn said to him, “One thing you can do is promise to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court. Do it in the debate.”
During that debate, the first half of the debate, Biden has said nothing about it. Jim Clyburn went backstage to find him and said, “No matter what the next answer is, just mention it. Mention that you’ll nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court.” The crowd cheered when he did it, Clyburn endorsed him a few days later, things turned around and Joe Biden is now president.
So this is the fulfillment of a campaign pledge not only to a key political ally but to a big voting bloc of the Democratic Party. Black women have been the most loyal demographic to the Democratic Party since the 1970s and there’s been an acknowledgment, as the President, his aides, and others have discussed, that it’s a shame that no black woman has ever served on the high court. He makes that campaign pledge whole today, he helps, you know, address this inequity that many believe has existed, and Kentanji Brown Jackson will replace Stephen Breyer.
(...)
CBS News Special Report
2:22 PM ET(...)
NORAH O’DONNELL: And this is one of the longest legacy-lasting events that a president can make, is the appointment of a Supreme Court justice, and has now written himself into the history books by nominating the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. No matter what your politics, you couldn’t help but be moved by what just happened at the White House. And certainly hearing about Judge Jackson’s life, her parents, their accomplishments and everything.
Let’s bring in CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford. And Jan, you know the Court so well, you know many of those who serve on the district court and others. Describe her qualifications and what she’s done as a jurist.
JAN CRAWFORD: Well, I think you could see in the remarks why she’s always been the frontrunner for this position. I mean, not only does she have those stellar academic and legal qualifications – Harvard, Harvard Law, Supreme Court clerk, a federal defender, private practice, the sentencing commission – she also brings that compelling life story that is said to be rooted really in the African American experience. And that will bring a different and many say much-needed perspective to this United States Supreme Court.
As a judge, on the district court and the appeals court, her colleagues that I’ve talked to said that she is methodical, careful, well prepared, always well prepared, she works very hard, and she has a firm view of the law. So they do not think that she’s gonna get up to the Supreme Court, like a lot of new justices do, and feel a little, like, overwhelmed by the gravity of the place. They believe that she will get to that court and say, “This is what I think the law is, let’s get to work.”
O’DONNELL: And that experience, that real-life experience that you noted, she would be the first public defender, former public defender, and of course the first defense lawyer since Thurgood Marshall.
Let’s bring in Senator Cory Booker, who joins us from the state of New Jersey. And Senator, I know last year that you called Judge Jackson’s work as a public defender, quote, “noble.” Tell us more about what you think of this day and what you know about her qualifications.
SEN. CORY BOOKER [D-NJ]: Well, I just have to say it’s hard to watch that without getting really emotional. You know, I’m African-American, I grew up in traditions that are very strong in their matriarchal leadership. And to see this barrier be broken, it is so profound. One hundred and fifteen Supreme Court justices in the history of America, 108 of them have been white men. Even though there’s been generations of qualified black women, this is an extraordinary moment, this is an extraordinary moment.
(...)
