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American Morning

Alito To Be Nominated For Supreme Court; New Orleans Recovery; Honoring Rosa Parks

Aired October 31, 2005 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story this morning, and we are watching the White House for this. President Bush will announce his pick for the Supreme Court nomination. Samuel Alito, we are told, is the man who will be named. We're going to carry that for you live at 8:00 a.m. Eastern when it happens. We've got full coverage of this story. Obviously, we're going to get to that in just a few moments.
It's been interesting, though, to see Miles in New Orleans because, of course, you were there and I was there, and to see how things have changed and maybe more importantly have not changed over the last two months. It's been two months already. I think we've got Miles up still. Let's bring him into this conversation.

So, Miles, camped out on Canal Street where we have both been, and you've obviously been before, what's the biggest thing you notice?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Power. It's, you know, I've got take a look over here. We've got this is Sean Reilly, who we're going to talk to in a moment. Look at the Walgreens. Look at the neon lit up there. Now you might think, well that's great, the Walgreens is open. But when you pan down, of course, there's a dumpster blocking us. The store is still closed. So you've got a real mixed bag here. You've got the lights on, you've got traffic but you've got boarded up stores, you've got piles of garbage, and then right next to it you'll have a souvenir store wide open. So it really is a whole range of things right now.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Is the remember the stores that they were looting, the Sacks and the Brooks Brothers that are on that very she she (ph) corner there. Are those back? Because, of course, those have big, you know, home offices behind them. Any intent to bring those back soon?

MILES O'BRIEN: You know, not yet. No. And, you know, the big issue and we're going to talk to Sean Reilly in a moment about this who's on that commission that's trying to get things back together here. The real big issue, and you've heard this time and again, is the workers. Where will the workers live? They're not here in this city. Many of their neighborhoods are without power, without water still and that's the real problem right now. Those trailers we keep talking about, they aren't here yet.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Can I ask one quick, tacky question? Does it smell? It smelled so badly when we were there.

MILES O'BRIEN: No. No, it's all that I am glad to report to you, Soledad, this morning, the smell you smelled here is gone.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, well that's good news. All right, Miles, we'll check in with you in a little bit. Thanks.

Want to get back to our top story this morning. We were talking about Samuel Alito. He is now the choice from President Bush to be on the Supreme Court. We're expecting that the president's going to announce that, in fact, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We're going to carry that for you live when it happens.

First, though, Dana Bash it at the White House for us. She's going to talk about that. Also CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley and Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider. He's in our Washington bureau this morning.

Hey, guys. Good morning to all of you.

Dana, let's begin with you, if I may. Scalito (ph). That's kind of an interesting nickname. We talked to Jeff Toobin about that just a moment ago. What's the White House saying about that?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know it's interesting, Soledad. One of the first things the senior official told me this morning, very early when they're sort of trying to lay the groundwork for it, the way they would talk about Samuel Alito, was to push back immediately on that nickname, Scalito, which is certainly one of the first things you see in any bio you pull up on him. Referring to the fact that he is sort of in the mold of Antonin Scalia. And the reason somewhat the same is, as what Jeff Toobin said. They say here certainly he may end up where Scalia does in terms of a decision, but they're trying to make the point that he is somebody that Samuel Alito is somebody who is congenial, who is somebody who can forge consensus, trying to make him like John Roberts in that way, pointing to his personality as one of his positive qualities.

But I can tell you, it's very different from, in so many ways, from the Harriet Miers nomination. And what's a nomination without talking points, right, Soledad? And this is what we've gotten from the White House this morning. And the very first thing it says about Samuel Alito is that he is well qualified to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. And it goes on to talk about his 15 years on the federal bench, 15 years before that working for the Justice Department where he even argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court.

Every single step of the way here, the White House is trying to learn lessons from the Harriet Miers nomination, things that went wrong there. The very first thing we heard about Harriet Miers was that she's a trailblazer and actually they were trying to defend the fact that she didn't have any judicial experience. So certainly that is the kind of thing that we're going to likely hear from the president in about a half an hour.

And one quick thing I can tell you, just another lesson learned. One of the first things we heard about Harriet Miers was that the Democrat leader, Harry Reid, actually recommended her. Well, as a matter of fact, when it comes to Samuel Alito, we're told that Harry Reid told the president in private that he would not support that it would be a mistake to put up Samuel Alito. And actually Harry Reid, apparently, did not get the call from the White House, the courtesy call, until about 7:00 a.m. and that was well after CNN and others had been reporting Samuel Alito.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Dana Bash reporting for us from the White House this morning. Dana, thanks.

Some conservatives might say, well, took long enough to learn some of these lessons. Judge Alito should be a welcome choice for them. Democrats, though, likely to fight the nomination as we just heard from Dana. Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is in our Washington bureau this morning.

Good morning once again, Candy.

Tricky, though, for the Democrats, really, because if they come out swinging hard, they energize the Republican base that was alienated the conservative base that really was alienated by the Harriet Miers pick.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And don't forget, we're sort of on the eve of elections, which will be very important elections deciding who controls the House, who controls the Senate. And what we have here are Democrats and Republicans both wanting to please their base groups. I can assure you that the liberal groups outside the Senate will, in fact, be coming out with all the reasons why Samuel Alito should not be put on the Supreme Court and the conservatives will be behind him. He's one of those six names that conservatives always put out there, saying, you know, any one of these six would be fine. He certainly was near the top of the list.

So you do have all of the ingredients here for a knockdown drag out. But Democrats, having just said, well, poor Harriet Miers, she didn't even get a chance to talk in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee before the Republicans just got rid of her, need to walk a fine line. They need to seem as though they are looking at this at all angles.

I suspect you'll see, boy, there's some troubling things in his record. We really need to take a look at it. But certainly he deserves his day in front of the Judiciary Committee and that sort of thing. So I think you will see a measured but slightly negative approach by most of the Democrats. I think those on the left-hand side will be somewhat take a somewhat harder line.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Candy Crowley this morning.

Let's get right to political analyst Bill Schneider with more on this.

You know, I think it was a White House aide, Bill, who said, they blew the rollout. That was the quote, "blew the rollout" of Miers. How's the rollout for Justice Alito going? WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's just beginning to roll out. We'll see in a few minutes when the president announces him. But we do know that Judge Alito comes with certain advantages. Once clearly in contrast with Miers is powerful credentials. Her credentials were a problem. His credentials are pretty strong here.

He went to a distinguished law school. He has a record in both the Reagan and Bush administrations, the Justice Department, U.S. attorney, federal judge with 15 years of experience. Credentials doesn't seem to be a problem. That was Miers' problem.

Another is temperament. Remember that was a problem way back in 1987 for Robert Bork. He was conservative but he seemed to have a convulsive, confrontational temperament. Well, you've mentioned the name Scalito, but he's often described as a mild-mannered Scalia. That is less confrontational, more consensual. Someone who's easier to get along with. So on those two grounds, temperament and credentials, he seems like a strong pick.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We'll see what happens, as we like to say, Bill Schneider. Thanks, Bill. Appreciate it.

We're going to bring you the announcement live when it happens. We're expecting it at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, coming to us right from the White House. We'll have it for you right here.

First, though, a look at the other stories making news this morning. Carol has those.

Hey.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Good morning to all of you.

If you live in Philadelphia, it will not be a pleasant commute this morning. Transit workers are on strike and, you know what that means, buses, trolleys and subways are not running. Amy Buckman of affiliate WPVI's at Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. That's just outside of Philadelphia.

Good morning, Amy.

AMY BUCKMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here at the Upper Darby bus terminal. This is usually a very busy place. A hub for suburban and city commuters here in the Philadelphia area. But as you take a look behind me here, you can see that there are no commuters, no buses running in the driveways over there. And if you take a look over here, you can see the reasons why. Members of the transport workers union, both the city and suburban divisions, walked out on strike at midnight last night. This is a strike that's affecting about 500,000 commuters in the Philadelphia area, including about 36,000 high school students who depend on SEPTA to get to work.

The main issue in this strike is who will pay for healthcare benefits. The workers say that they've made concessions over so many years they can't afford to chip in for their healthcare. SEPTA, which is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, says they can't afford to pay for all the premiums and they need the workers to chip in. There was some movement where we thought the two sides might be getting closer together last night, but the talks broke off around midnight. And this morning, there are no buses, subways or trolleys running in the city of Philadelphia.

COSTELLO: So good luck in Philadelphia this morning.

Let's turn our attention to Iraq. We just found this information out in the last 15 minutes. At least six U.S. soldiers are dead in violence there this morning. Four U.S. troops were killed in a roadside bombing just south of Baghdad. Two other American troops were killed in a separate attack in Iraq.

In India, security is extra tight around New Delhi after some deadly explosions. At least 59 people were killed over the weekend and more than 200 injured after a series of blasts ripped through the city. The violence comes as people are observing the Hindu festival of lights.

On the subject of hurricanes and relief, there are fears of flash floods and landslides in parts of Central America this morning. Hurricane Beta drenched Honduras and Nicaragua over the weekend. Some areas got as much as 25 inches of rain. Beta was the 13th named storm of the Atlantic season.

So let's see if it's over and let's see how temperatures fare in the United States of America. Jacqui Jeras is at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: We're at the corner of Canal and Barone (ph). Very near the French Quarter. City of New Orleans. A beautiful morning here this morning as a matter of fact. In just a moment, we're going to talk to someone who is part of the commission that is charged with trying to rebuild this city. And we're going to talk to him about what it might take to build a category five levee and how important that will be toward bringing business back here to this city. More ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Judge Samuel Alito is President Bush's pick for the Supreme Court. We're going to hear the president make that announcement live when it happens at 8:00 Eastern Time. CNN will carry that for you. We'll have it right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Before that, though, let's get right back to Miles. He's in New Orleans this morning.

Hey, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Hello, Soledad.

I'm standing right in the median where the street cars come up and down on Canal Street. Take a look at where I'm standing. Dry land. Not too long ago, this was about a foot of water here. The city's on the mend. You see all kinds of evidence of that. You also see a lot of businesses that may never come back. It's a mixed bag.

Sean Reilly is joining us now. He's the chief operating officer of Lamar Outdoor Advertising and he's on the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

Shawn, good to have you with us this morning.

SEAN REILLY, LOUISIANA RECOVERY AUTHORITY: Thank you, Miles. Thanks for having me.

MILES O'BRIEN: Bring us up to speed. You just got back from a trip to the White House to talk to the chief of staff, Andy Card. And part of what you've asked for is a fair amount of money to bring the levees here up to category five levels. What would that take? And is that possible?

REILLY: Well, first of all, let me say that the White House gave us a warm reception. We really got the sense that they're on our side. As you mentioned, Andy Card was there, Al Hubbard was there. Other senior staff members. And they told us that we have more work to do in terms of convincing them that we can afford a cat five levee system for New Orleans. But the most important thing is, they didn't close the door. What they asked us to do was come back with a more detailed plan and, more importantly, a staggered financing plan to pay for it. And that's our charge and we'll do that.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Obviously, that's going to be very expensive. And when you look at these businesses up and down Canal Street here and you see the boarded up businesses here, ultimately having a category five system is going to be very important to getting this economy back to where it was. Because there's not going to be a lot of as much faith in the city. Do you agree?

REILLY: Absolutely. It's really about confidence that we'll be safe. And, you know, the insurance markets have a lot to say about whether or not businesses can actually come back. And those insurance markets will be open if we have a cat five levee system.

Same goes for homeowners. The homeowners will come back, they will rebuild, they'll be able to get insurance if we can assure them that they're going to be safe.

MILES O'BRIEN: So it all hinges on those levees. Do we have any idea have you been able to estimate how high the walls would have to be, how much it would cost to make this area where we walk right now safe for a category five storm?

REILLY: Well, here's the good news. The good news is, we have time to plan. The short answer is, I'm not convinced that that kind of hard detailed work has been done, both on the design side and the finance side. We have time to get that done. The Army Corps of Engineers is going to build a cat three that should be ready by early, mid summer next year. So let's take our time, let's make sure that the numbers are refined, that the science and the engineering are there and go back with a plan that's defensible. And that's our job and we'll do that.

MILES O'BRIEN: But in the time it takes to get this all settled, there's a lot of homeowners who are going to be left hanging. Issues of insurance, mortgages, all of those things, whether businesses will open will be left hanging. That's a difficult thing to ask of people, isn't it?

REILLY: Well, what we're looking for out of Congress and the White House is an expression that it will happen. That it will happen. That expression, that confidence that it will happen will bring people back. It's a five to seven-year process anyway in the construction phase. So if we can commit now that we have a plan, people will come back.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Final thought, just as you walk down Canal Street. You see progress?

REILLY: Oh, absolutely. I mean, you can see the activity. The rebuilding has begun. A lot of work to do, but the rebuilding has begun.

MILES O'BRIEN: Sean Reilly, who's with the authority that's the statewide authority, there's also a citywide counterpart, that is part of the rebuilding effort here. Good luck to you continue that process.

REILLY: Appreciate it, Miles. Thanks for the time.

MILES O'BRIEN: Back to you, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.

Coming up this morning, a reminder, President Bush is set to nominate Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. We're going to bring that to you live. 8:00 a.m. Eastern, we're expecting that.

Also ahead, Jeff Toobin's going to tell us why choosing Alito is going to make conservatives happy. We've got a look at all of that as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A reminder, President Bush is announcing his choice for the Supreme Court. Samuel Alito, a judge for 15 years, is the man he's going to pick. We're going to talk about that more in just a moment. And we're going to bring that to you live at 8:00 a.m. when President Bush makes his announcement from the White House. That's going to happen right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

First, though, let's talk about civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. She lies in honor now at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington. She's the first woman ever to be given that distinction. Kimberly Osias is live outside the Capitol for us.

Hey, Kimberly, good morning.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, usually, it's just an honor reserved for presidents or war heroes. And actually, Soledad, I did a little bit of research. And since the mid 1800s, only 30 people have actually had the privilege of lying in state in the Rotunda. And, as you mentioned, not one of them a woman. And ironically, Rosa Parks was a woman of very simple means, of deep and abiding faith who credited God for giving her the courage and the fortitude on that December day in 1955 when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and reignited the civil rights movement with a new fervor.

And, you know, last night President Bush was one of the very first here in Washington to pay tribute to Parks. While in Alabama, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice credited Parks for actually breaking racial barriers, which opened doors for she and other African-Americans. But it's not just dignitaries marking this occasions, people of all different ethnicities, different ages, men and women from the south land, from the heartland, and also from the north came by plane, train, and, of course, bus to actually pay tribute to a woman who's single act 50 years ago still resonates today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY NORMAN, CHICAGO: Rosa Parks is my hero. So I could have been across the world, I would have been here today. It didn't matter. I mean, she changed my life, you know, because I would be picking cotton now if that had not happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Visitors will actually be able to pay their respects here until 10:00 when her body and the casket will move for a memorial service at the AME Church. Then she will actually be moved to Detroit for another service and a vigil and ultimately a burial there later in a week.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, that's pretty remarkable. I met her many years ago. Many, many years ago and she was already in very frail health. And really just a remarkable lady. I mean, just little tiny lady who made such a big difference in the civil rights movement.

OSIAS: Very frail with a lot of power. I actually spoke to some folks here yesterday who met her as well and said their lives were forever changed.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, wow. Kimberly Osias for us this morning inside the Capitol. Thanks, Kimberly.

OSIAS: Thank you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Our top story this morning is Judge Samuel Alito. Now named as the nominee to the Supreme Court and essentially is everything that Harriet Miers was not. Clear record, lots of experience. Conservatives like him. Why? Let's turn to CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin.

Good morning.

JEFF TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Howdy.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What's to like, if you're a conservative, about Judge Alito?

TOOBIN: Well, if you look at the issue that are most important to conservatives, Alito has a record of, during his 15 years on the bench, of supporting positions that they care about. Most importantly, reproductive rights. Restricting the right to abortion. In this soon to be much discussed opinion in 1991, Judge Alito ruled that a Pennsylvania law that required women to get their to speak to their husbands first before they got an abortion. He ruled it was constitutional. That view was overturned by the United States Supreme Court.

Also, allowing religious expression in public places. That's something that Judge Alito has endorsed. Reigning in the power of the federal government. Where the federal government can trample the rights of the states. Judge Alito has ruled in favor of the state in some of these cases. Those are the kind of issues that matter a lot to conservatives and he's been down the line with them.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And a big difference from Harriet Miers. A little while ago, Dana Bash was reading the talking points from the White House. And the very first line was basically underscoring his experience.

TOOBIN: Well, and it is a remarkable level of experience. I mean, this is very much like John Roberts, sort of central casting background for a Supreme Court nominee. Princeton undergrad, Yale Law School, worked in the solicitor general's office, argued 12 cases before the United States Supreme Court, worked in the Justice Department, United States attorney, chief federal prosecutor in New Jersey. Then 15 years as a judge on the court of appeals. I think the issue of qualifications will cut entirely in his favor. If there's a fight, it's going to be about ideology, it's not going to be about confidence or qualifications.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We want to take just a moment to welcome our viewers who are joining us from CNN International, as we really count down to just a few minutes away from the president making this announcement at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We're told that the president's going to make the announcement and then arrange, really like that, for Judge Alito to go right to Capitol Hill to start the series of meetings that will kick off what ends up being probably his meeting before the Senate. TOOBIN: Right. And, again, the differences with Harriet Miers will be stark, I'm sure. When the president speaks he will talk about qualifications because Judge Alito has remarkable, has excellent qualifications to be on the Supreme Court. And the meetings with senators which, by all accounts, went so badly for Harriet Miers because she was largely unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the kind of judicial issues that confronted Supreme Court justice, we can expect that Samuel Alito will do better.

Also, we have heard, and I think this is how much of this is spin, we don't know Alito is supposed to be a very nice guy. Very relaxed, laid back, friendly, charming. That can only stand him in good stead in these meetings and ultimately in the hearings.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: One would imagine that would go a long way as he makes the rounds. It's going to be though, no matter what, a testy confirmation process.

TOOBIN: Very . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Because even how nice you are, the Democrats are not going to like the (INAUDIBLE).

TOOBIN: Well, and the record is what matters and also the political context is so different. I mean, John Roberts, when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, is was right around the time of Katrina. It had not the political damage to the president and the Republican Party had not sunk in yet. You also you hadn't had the indictment of Scooter Libby. You hadn't had the 2,000th American casualty in Iraq.

You know, the president is in a much more vulnerable position. The Democrats are going to feel, I suspect, somewhat more emboldened. But the fact remains, there are 55 Republicans in the Senate. There are only 44 Democrats and one independent. It is going to be very difficult for any of the Democrats to stop him.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We are waiting for breaking new. The president, as we mentioned, is expected right at 8:00 and we're about two seconds away, to make the announcement. And, of course, that is not who we saw for just a moment. That's not President Bush.

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