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American Morning
Confirmation Hearings Begin for Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor; Sotomayor's Brother Discusses Growing Up With the Judge; Prices Fall at the Pump; Did Cheney Break the Law?; Obama Defends Stimulus; Moderate Alcohol Consumption Might Reduce Dementia Risk; U.S. Cautiously Supports Pakistan-Taliban Talks
Aired July 13, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: That brings us to the top of the hour.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's 7:00 a.m. here in New York. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday, July 13th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And, good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Here's what we're looking at today. What's on the agenda. The stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next fifteen minutes.
In about three hours' time, history will unfold as the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor begin. Democrats have the votes to confirm her, but Republicans plan to use her own words against her. We're live in Washington with what Sotomayor can expect.
CHETRY: Well, there are some serious calls from Capitol Hill this morning. Democrats leaning on President Obama to launch new investigations into the Bush White House after revelations that former Vice President Dick Cheney kept a CIA anti-terror program secret from Congress. Two Democratic senators, including Senator Dianne Feinstein adding that the former VP might have broken the law. Our Jim Acosta is tracking this one.
ROBERTS: Plus, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is all set to step down from office later on this month. But she says she's not leaving politics and might even campaign for some Democrats. Find out why, just ahead.
But first, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor headed for the hot seat today. In about three hours, she's going to face the Senate Judiciary Committee.
CHETRY: A lot of court watchers say that her confirmation may be a slam dunk depending on how she does in the next few days. But Republicans are ready to hit hard with questions, and a list of witnesses, and the nominee's own words.
CNN's Brianna Keilar is live in the hearing room where all of this will take place, and all eyes will be on that spot this morning.
Good morning, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran and John. When this confirmation hearing gets under way today, this is where it's going to begin with the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy. He's a supporter of Sotomayor's, of course, and he'll be giving his opening statement.
But we're going to be paying particular attention to what comes from this man, Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the committee as he lays the groundwork for the kind of objections that we're going to be expecting from Republicans throughout the coming days. And this right here is the seat. Of course, the hot seat where Sonia Sotomayor will face this committee and talk about her personal story but also about the type of justice she would be on the Supreme Court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Sources close to Judge Sonia Sotomayor say she has felt overwhelmed at times by the intense scrutiny but also surprisingly upbeat about her moment in the national spotlight.
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I hope that as the Senate and American people learn more about me, they will see that I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.
KEILAR: The White House and Senate Democrats want to highlight that experience -- her own personal story. Growing up in a Bronx housing project where her mother raised two children alone after Sotomayor's father died when she was 9, her Ivy League education, stellar legal career and how she would make history as the first Hispanic justice.
THOMAS GOLDSTEIN, SCOTUSBLOG.COM CO-FOUNDER: It's a step forward for the country having someone who's in a permanent lifetime appointment at the highest levels of the government, who has this background, both economically and ethnically, is a big deal. It's a moment. It is a step forward where we have accomplished something as a nation.
KEILAR: Democrats have the votes to easily confirm Sotomayor. But Republicans promise to raise tough questions about her past statement that a wise Latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. Her views on gun control, property rights, abortion, and her ruling as an appeals judge against white firefighters who claimed reverse discrimination when promotional exams were scrapped after too few minority applicants scored well. Two of those firefighters will testify against her.
Ken Duberstein has successfully advised five high court nominees as a top Reagan and Bush aide. His advice for Sotomayor...
KEN DUBERSTEIN, FORMER REAGAN CHIEF OF STAFF: Don't embellish. Don't, you know, shovel. These senators have great shovel meters because they've experienced that for years. Tell it straight. Tell the truth always. Be prepared for the one question you don't want to be asked because everybody doesn't want to be asked some question.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And, John and Kiran, just want to give you a quick peek behind the scenes. As you know, Sonia Sotomayor has suffered a fractured ankle right after being nominated.
This is a bit of a contraption that's just been jerry-rigged here to support her ankle which, we know, gets uncomfortable. Looks like it's made of a cushion, a binder, part of a stepping stool and some book tape here to keep her comfortable throughout the hours and hours that she'll be sitting right here in this hot seat.
CHETRY: McGyver made that, huh? The binders and tape. At least they were thinking about her.
Brianna Keilar, pretty neat to get a look inside there this morning. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: That is a high-tech piece of equipment they've got underneath that desk.
CHETRY: How about it? The tape -- hopefully the tape will hold through this week's confirmation.
ROBERTS: Wow. There you go, folks, the naked truth. The inside look from Brianna Keilar this morning.
CHETRY: Hey, you know what? Budget cuts going on right now. You know anything? Give them an extra dime.
ROBERTS: You know how much they spent on putting that thing together? Are you kidding? It's the government.
CHETRY: Well, Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings could last the week, so we're going to show you right now some of what you can expect in our "AM Extra."
Today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, each of the senators, there's 12 Democrats and seven Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. They're all going to get a chance to make a ten-minute opening remarks. Then Judge Sotomayor will be sworn in. She's going to make her opening statement as well.
Then tomorrow, each senator gets 30 minutes for their questions to the judge. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is the one to watch. He takes over as the ranking Republican on the committee. Also, Minnesota's Democratic Senator Al Franken will also get to ask questions. One of his first big duties since being sworn in last week.
Then on Wednesday, Sotomayor supporters, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York will testify. The committee will also hear from critics like Frank Ricci. He's one of those New Haven, Connecticut firefighters who lost a reverse discrimination suit before Judge Sotomayor. The Supreme Court, of course, reversed that ruling last month.
So, a lot to watch as the week goes on. But today, mostly opening statements and we're going to hear from her for the first time as well.
ROBERTS: Fireworks probably start tomorrow.
Well, today is the beginning of a historic journey for the Supreme Court nominee. But in order to understand what Judge Sonia Sotomayor is really all about, what shaped her into the judge that she is today, it helps to see where she came from. Our Jason Carroll joins us now with all of that.
Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Yes, what we wanted to do is reach out to someone who really knows her best and that would be her younger brother. Juan Sotomayor says his sister has been working hard preparing for her confirmation hearings, but that's not unusual because he says she has always worked hard even from a very early age.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Senators want to learn everything about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her confirmation hearing. Her brother, Juan, remembers learning very early his sister loves the law.
DR. JUAN SOTOMAYOR, BROTHER OF JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: It was indelible in my mind, and it was really one of the earliest memories we have.
CARROLL: To explain, he walked us down memory lane in the Bronx where they grew up in a public housing project.
(on camera): Up here on the second floor.
J. SOTOMAYOR: Right, where the air conditioner was the room that my sister and myself shared.
CARROLL (voice-over): In the '60s when Juan and his sister were growing up, she wasn't interested in watching "The Munsters" or "Bewitched."
J. SOTOMAYOR: My sister forced me to watch "Perry Mason" and "Judd for the Defense."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever seen this before, Miss Candy (ph)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
J. SOTOMAYOR: She knew she was going to be a lawyer.
CARROLL: Big dreams for the inner city girl whose parents came to the United States from Puerto Rico. The children lost their father when Sonia was just 9. Their mother who eventually became a nurse, a strong believer in education.
J. SOTOMAYOR: My mom knew that education was the essence of realizing your dreams, getting out of your situation and moving ahead.
CARROLL: Sotomayor worked hard, earning top marks as early as elementary school, sharpening her skills and helping her brother deal with neighborhood thugs.
J. SOTOMAYOR: My sister always used to have to come over and defuse situations.
CARROLL (on camera): How did she do it?
J. SOTOMAYOR: She negotiated.
CARROLL (voice-over): Her brother says she's ready for Washington.
Even the senators who are going to be asking her stuff about gun control, they'll be asking her about abortion.
J. SOTOMAYOR: She'll handle it the way she sees fit. She is her own person.
CARROLL: Since her nomination, critics questioned her intellectual depth. Some called her a racist citing a speech she gave in 2001 as an appeals court judge saying, "A wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
J. SOTOMAYOR: We were raised to treat everyone equally no matter what color, no matter what race.
CARROLL: Juan Sotomayor says his conversations with his sister focus on family and talking about growing up together.
J. SOTOMAYOR: All right. This brings back memories.
CARROLL: Like at the Catholic school they attended or the job at Zaro's (ph) bakery where they worked as teenagers.
J. SOTOMAYOR: As you know, my sister's first job.
CARROLL: He says his sister worked so hard it was a tough act to follow, but it taught him something else.
J. SOTOMAYOR: So, I decided right then and there I would never follow in her footsteps again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, that's true. He did not follow in her footsteps. Instead of a career in law, he chose the medical profession and became a doctor. He will be at his sister's side in Washington for the confirmation hearings just in case she needs a little moral support from her little brother.
ROBERTS: Great you got him to come down to the Bronx and walk around with you.
CARROLL: Yes, all the way from Syracuse. He's a doctor up there, an allergist. Apparently, quite a good one, too.
CHETRY: I bet their mom is so proud of both of them.
ROBERTS: Yes. Jason, one of the remarkable things about her too is that in all of the major steps in her life...
CARROLL: Yes.
ROBERTS: ... she was mentored by some -- which really shows the importance of mentoring people.
CARROLL: Shows the importance of mentoring. And what he really wanted to stress also was the importance of education on their lives, how much the mother -- their mother had made that a priority and how much it really carried them through some really tough times.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Starts in the home. That's for sure.
CARROLL: Yes.
CHETRY: Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Great piece. Thanks, Jason.
We want to hear from you, by the way. Do you support Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court? Head to our blog at CNN.com/amFIX and let us know.
And a reminder, CNN is the place to watch today's confirmation hearing all week long for that matter. Full coverage on-air and on- line at CNN.com/live starting at 10:00 Eastern.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says don't look for her to leave politics anytime soon. Palin is leaving office on July 26th, but she told "The Washington Times" along with plans to write a book that she'll be campaigning across the country for candidates that share her view on limited government, national defense and energy. And she would campaign for Democrats as well.
ROBERTS: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on a mission overseas to reassure nations that the U.S. dollar is strong and that the Obama administration has a sound financial plan. Today, he meets with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
And tomorrow it's on to the Middle East for talks with top government and business leaders from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
CHETRY: And "Bruno" scoring big at the box office. Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy taking in more than $30 million over the weekend. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" held on to second place. And "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" has been falling from first to third.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Oh, yeah. Could be hearing a lot of that coming up in the next few hours because less than three hours from now, the historic confirmation hearing of Judge Sonia Sotomayor gets under way. It could be must-see political theater.
She's got a long judicial record and she has made some controversial public statements, and this is one of them/
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
S. SOTOMAYOR: Court of Appeals is where policy is made, and I know -- and I know this is on tape and I should never say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, much was made of that. For some perspective on that off-the-cuff comment, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us now live from Washington.
You know, Jeff, the goal for the nominees here when they go before the Judiciary Committee is to say a lot but at the same time say nothing or not much of anything. John Roberts who prepped Sandra Day O'Connor back as a 26-year-old said, "The approach was to avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues likely to come before the court." So how do you expect that this is all going to proceed?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: And since it's the Supreme Court, every legal issue in the world might come before the court. So say nothing. You know, Arlen Specter, who used to be chairman of the committee, liked to say that Supreme Court nominees say as little as possible in order to get confirmed. It's another way of saying the same thing.
The judges want to stay out of trouble. They want to avoid creating new controversies. So, unfortunately, in my view, they really don't engage over the big issues that we know they have feelings about, but they dismiss as possibly coming before the court.
ROBERTS: In fact in 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she was being confirmed actually said, talking about -- you know, I guess they were trying to figure out how she would rule from the bench. She said, "No hints, no forecasts, no previews." She refused to answer questions in vast areas. John Roberts did the same during his confirmation hearings a couple of years back. So, what sense can Congress really get of how they would rule from the bench?
TOOBIN: Well, basically, you better look at their record. That's going to be the best guide to what their future performance will be on the Supreme Court. The hearings -- you definitely get a sense of their personalities. And that's not trivial.
John Roberts is an extremely engaging, very polished person. Samuel Alito is a shyer, more bookish type. And I think that you saw during their confirmation hearings.
You also have a sense, for example, about Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion rights. Roberts and Alito were very grudging in their acknowledgment that it is a precedent of the court. Democratic nominees, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Ginsburg, have been much more happy to acknowledge that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land and certainly gave the impression they had no interest in overturning it. That will be something to watch for today.
ROBERTS: Yes, you know, they're going to focus, Republicans, I guess, when they come after in the next few days on impartiality, I imagine they'll probably raise that New Haven case, her wise Latina proclamation, her role on the board of the Puerto Rican legal defense and education fund, her consideration of international law and try to iron out cases in the United States that are unsettled. Are there any potential problematic areas, any pitfalls for her that you see?
TOOBIN: Well, I think you put your finger on the three key areas that they're going to go after because they all sort of build together. That is her comment that a wise Latina might make better decisions than a white man, the Frank Ricci case, the New Haven firefighter case involving reverse discrimination and the Puerto Rican legal defense fund, which is in fact, a very well-respected group, but in the '80s took some positions that now look pretty liberal.
The collective effect of those three factors, some Republicans will argue, show that she has a bias in favor of affirmative action plaintiffs, identity politics, you know, old-fashioned liberalism. Now there are very good arguments against that. There are many affirmative action cases or Latina rights cases where she's voted for the defense. So she certainly will have an answer ready on those questions. But that's going to be, I think, the gist of what you hear from the Republicans.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to all of that coming up in the coming days.
TOOBIN: John...
ROBERTS: Yes.
TOOBIN: It's the nerd Super Bowl. I can't wait. I love this.
ROBERTS: All right. And you'll have a front row seat, I'm sure.
TOOBIN: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Thanks very much to Jeff Toobin this morning. By the way, Jeff Toobin, the author of one of the definitive books in the Supreme Court, "The Nine," is a great read. Make sure you pick it up.
It's 18 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, we all do it sometimes, right? Say those colorful words that we're not really supposed to say. Maybe you stubbed your toe getting out of bed or your boss gives you a new project at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, or somebody writes Myrtle Beach in a teleprompter when you're actually talking about Charleston.
Well, there's new evidence that if you let profanities fly you may actually have a higher tolerance for pain. And our Elizabeth Cohen is going to have that story for us.
CHETRY: Isn't that interesting?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: There's an upside to the down side.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: If you stub your toe and you go -- you know, you can get through the pain more, isn't it?
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Yes.
WILLIS: That's why we do it.
ROBERTS: It's like childbirth, right? What do women say to their husbands during childbirth?
CHETRY: Christine Romans is off today. And Gerri Willis is "Minding Your Business" this morning. One little bright spot out there is gas prices.
WILLIS: Yes.
CHETRY: We've been paying less for gas lately.
WILLIS: Yes, and it's now a little bright spot. For a lot of us out there, it's a very big bright spot.
The Lundberg Survey released yesterday showed that a gallon of self-serve regular gas, $2.55. That's the largest decline since early December. It's down 10 percent from June 26th. And you guys remember the high, right? It was $4.11 almost exactly a year ago. We're now $1.56 lower than that. That's the good news. Makes it cheaper for you to do everything, get to work, wherever you're going. And, of course, if you're traveling by car this summer, that's good news as well.
Why is this happening? Well, crude prices are down. And why? Because of the economy. The economy is not very good, so there's not a lot of demand for gas and oil.
Let's take a look around the country, and we'll show you a little bit about the highs and lows for gas prices.
Wichita, Kansas has the low at $2.26 a gallon. Honolulu is a high at $3.20. And Atlanta, yes, $2.42 a gallon. Big differences across the country due to taxes, transportation, things like that.
CHETRY: All right. But still, we'll take it, right?
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIS: We'll take it. I'm happy to take it.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Especially what happened last year at this time.
ROBERTS: Nice that it's going back down after it was going up. So, that's good.
WILLIS: Precisely so.
ROBERTS: Gerri Willis "Minding Your Business" this morning. Gerri, thanks so much for that.
Reports out over the weekend that the vice president had the CIA keep something from Congress. It was a secret counterterrorism program. Is it true and what would it mean if he actually did? Our Jim Acosta coming up with all of that. Stay with us.
It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hey, look at the Supreme Court. That's where Judge Sonia Sotomayor hopes to be this fall after a confirmation hearings this week. It's partly cloudy, 73 degrees in Washington right now. Mostly sunny, a high of 86 later on today.
And we'll be following those hearings all day today, by the way, on CNN, CNN.com/live beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern this morning.
A political bombshell has Democrats calling on the White House to launch new investigations into the Bush administration. Lawmakers say they were told that Vice President Dick Cheney kept a secret CIA anti- terrorism program from Congress for eight years. Plus, two Democratic senators say the former VP may have committed a crime.
Our Jim Acosta is following this one from our bureau in Washington this morning. Jim, the law pretty clear on this, right?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, John. The law basically requires the CIA to brief Congress on its activities. So, the question raised by this latest revelation involving former Vice President Dick Cheney is whether laws were broken. And if so, what then?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): In a closed door hearing late last month, CIA Director Leon Panetta told the Senate Intelligence Committee he had just terminated a secret counterterrorism program. So sensitive the panel was told that during the Bush administration, former Vice President Dick Cheney himself had ordered the CIA to conceal it from key members of Congress who hear top-secret briefings -- the so-called gang of eight.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D) CHAIRWOMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: He did brief us, and in the course of the briefing, he did say, because I believe somebody asked a question as to why it was never reported to us that the vice president had given the directive that the program not be reported to the Congress.
ACOSTA: The matter has once again put Cheney at the center of a heated debate on the limits of White House powers.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: There is a requirement for disclosure. It has to be done in an appropriate way so it doesn't jeopardize our national security. But to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in Congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal.
SEN. JON KYL (R), TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE.: To somehow suggest that it might have been improper for the president or the vice president to keep an important program secret, I mean, that happens every day.
ACOSTA: Little is known about the secret program, only that it was initiated after the 9/11 attacks and that it may never have been fully operational. Former Cheney counselor and CNN contributor Mary Matalin accused the Obama White House of disclosing the program out of pure politics.
MARY MATALIN, FORMER CHENEY COUNSELOR: Every time they get in trouble, which the president's poll numbers are slipping, and his health care and global warming initiatives are under assault, they dredge up a Darth Vader story.
ACOSTA: But it's a story that comes as Attorney General Eric Holder just might name a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects, something Republicans would rather avoid. SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: So, the question is did they go too far in some of these areas? I hope that we don't feel -- the attorney general doesn't feel a need to go back into it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: As for Cheney, he could not be reached for comment. But members of Congress are looking at changing the law to keep more of them in the loop. One proposal would expand the number of lawmakers who would be briefed on the CIA's activities from eight up until 40, but so far, the White House wants none of it, John.
And once again, the White House is looking at another situation where it may have to look back to the Bush administration. This is yet another revelation facing this former administration the White House has to deal with, John.
ROBERTS: You know, as a candidate, the president said he didn't want to be looking back but may be forced to.
Jim Acosta for us this morning. Jim, thanks so much for that.
ACOSTA: You bet.
CHETRY: Coming up on 29 minutes past the hour. We check our top stories this morning.
A former boxing champ's wife now a suspect in his death. Arturo Gatti was found strangled to death on Saturday morning in a hotel room in Brazil. He was 37 years old. Brazilian authorities tell CNN that they took Gatti's wife into custody. Police have reportedly recovered a blood-stained purse strap from the scene. He also say there were some inconsistencies in her story.
ROBERTS: Well, today would have been the opening night of Michael Jackson's 50-show run at London's 02 Arena. That show obviously not going to go on but some fans showed up anyway. The concert promoter, AEG Live, is selling merchandise through its Web site and offering fans a commemorative ticket as an alternative to a refund.
CHETRY: Well, Senator John McCain says he respects Sarah Palin's decision to step down as governor of Alaska. McCain says he doesn't think his former running mate is quitting her job as much as changing her priorities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GREGORY, NBC HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": You must have been shocked to see Governor Sarah Palin resign as governor.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, I wasn't shocked. Obviously, I was a bit surprised, but I wasn't shocked.
I understand that Sarah made the decision where she can be most effective for Alaska and for the country. I love and respect her and her family. I'm grateful that she agreed to run with me. I am confident she will be a major factor in the national scene, and in Alaska as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: McCain says Palin is qualified to run for president in 2012, but he stopped short of endorsing her, saying it's way too early for that.
This morning, President Obama is back home in Washington. But before he left Ghana over the weekend, he sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
The president talked about his tour of the Cape Coast Castle where Africans were held before being sold into slavery. He also touched on the economy. Here's a preview from Anderson Cooper.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": John, Kiran, the president and his family arrived in Ghana on Friday. On Saturday, they came here, Cape Coast Castle, which is a place where enslaved Africans were once held before being shipped off to the New World and shipped off to America.
I had a chance to tour the "Castle" with the president. But first, we sat down and talked about the news of the day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (on camera): Vice President Biden said you misread the economy. You've said no, no, no. We had incomplete information. And nevertheless you said that you would not have done anything differently. That seems contradictory. How can you say that if you had known that unemployment was going to go to 9.5 percent, wouldn't you have asked for more money in the stimulus?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, it's not contradictory. Keep in mind that we got an $800 billion stimulus package. By far the largest stimulus package ever approved by a United States Congress. And the stimulus package is working exactly as we had anticipated. We gave out tax cuts early so that consumers could start spending, or at least pay down debt so that they could at a later date start spending.
We put in $144 billion to states so that they wouldn't have to cut teachers and police officers and other social services that are vital, particularly at a time of recession. And we always anticipated that a big chunk of that money then would be spent not only in the second half of the year but also next year. This was designed to be a two-year plan and not a six-month plan. Now it may turn out that the enormous loss of wealth, the depth of the recession that's occurred, requires us to re-evaluate and see what else we can do in combination with the stabilization...
COOPER: ... a second stimulus? OBAMA: You know, there are a whole range of things, Anderson, that we've done. The banks have stabilized much more quickly than we anticipated. They're not all the way to where we'd like them to be, but we've seen significant progress.
COOPER: Do you still see glimmers of hope?
OBAMA: Well, if you look at both the financial sectors, the ability of businesses to get loans, the drop-off of volatility that's taken place, the general trajectory is in the right direction.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: After our sit-down interview, the president and I had a chance to tour the castle together.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (on camera): Do you think what happened here still has resonance in America, that the slave experience still is something that should be talked about and should be remembered and should be present in everyday life?
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think that the experience of slavery is like the experience of the Holocaust. I think it's one of those things you don't forget about. I think it's important that the way we think about it and the way it's taught is not one in which there's simply a victim and victimizer, and that's the end of the story. I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is because whether it's what's happening in Darfur or what's happening in the Congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: I also talked to the president about the personal impact of being in Africa with his wife and kids. We'll have that tonight on "360."
CHETRY: And again, you can see Anderson's entire exclusive interview with President Obama in Africa tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. It's 34 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A live look now at the room where the confirmation hearings will be taking place just a few hours from now. Judge Sonia Sotomayor's hearing to be the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice in that nation's history begins in just 2 1/2 hours. And my next guest, Ed Gillespie, knows what it's like to shepherd a judicial nominee through the Senate. He played a key role on behalf of the Bush administration for the confirmation hearings of both Samuel Alito and chief justice John Roberts. Ed, thanks for joining us this morning.
ED GILLESPIE, FOMER BUSH ADMINISTRATION MEMBER: Thanks for having me, Kiran. Good to be with you. CHETRY: So, you were there for the last two times a nominee was getting ready to sit in that hot seat, Justices Roberts and Alito. So, what goes on in the days and the hours before these hearings get set to begin for these nominees?
GILLESPIE: Well, you sift through the information you glean from the visits, the one on one visits that the nominee had with the senators. You try to determine what are likely questions to come up in the hearing. And the nominee in this case, Judge Sotomayor, obviously, will have some, you know, pretty firm views in response to those questions. And you just help in terms of shaping, you know, body language and the contours of the response and help give the nominee some guidance as to what to expect from the committee process. You know, judges aren't accustomed to being judged. And that's the position that Judge Sotomayor will be in for the next couple of days.
CHETRY: Right. And it's very interesting, you said some of the issues and some of the things that have come up before. And many say one issue for Sotomayor that she's sure to be questioned about are those comment that she made at UC Berkeley back in 2001 where she said I hope a "wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
Now, Senator Mitch McConnell said it's a troubling philosophy for any judge, let alone one nominated to the highest court, to convert empathy into favoritism for particular groups. That's just a sampling of what she might get from some of the GOP senators. How does she best handle questions about that comment?
GILLESPIE: Well, I think she has to make clear, Kiran, that any personal perspective that she articulated in the past in speeches haven't translated into rulings. I don't know that that's the case. I think that's one of the things that would be weighed in the course of these hearings. She also said that your gender, your ethnicity, that you bring to bear what facts you choose to see. And I think people ask why would a judge choose to see some facts and not others.
She'll be given the opportunity to respond to those questions. Those responses are important. This is a lifetime appointment to the Supreme court of the United States. And you want people going before the Supreme Court regardless of their race or gender or ethnicity to have confidence that the rulings that will come and be issued and promulgated won't be based on that race, that gender, that ethnicity. And so these are important questions. And I'm glad she'll have the opportunity in public to provide an answer.
CHETRY: It's interesting because the same came up for Samuel Alito. I want to read to you something that was said during his confirmation hearings. He said "when I get a case about discrimination, I have to think back about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of their religion or gender, and I do take that into account." And republicans voted him in, obviously, it was a long party lines pretty much for Alito. But is this an example of how partisanship can sometimes get in the way that it's OK if it's somebody from your party or from your world view says it, but if somebody else does, they're viewed as perhaps troublesome on the court?
GILLESPIE: Well, first of all, that was in response to a question to Justice Alito in the hearing. He didn't have consistent statements. Judge Sotomayor said seven times in seven different instances, made a statement that her gender and her ethnicity make her better qualified.
CHETRY: Right. But the sentiment was still the same. He said he does take into account ethnic background, religion and gender and whether or not anybody suffered discrimination. I mean, the sentiment is the same.
GILLESPIE: And his record on the bench, you know, when you looked at his record on the bench it was clear that he applied the law as written. I think she'll have to have the opportunity today to make clear that she applies the law as written. She doesn't make policy from the bench as she said was the appropriate role of the circuit Court of Appeals.
By the way, 40 out of 44 Democrats in the Senate voted against Justice Alito...
CHETRY: Right.
GILLESPIE: ... in his confirmation, which is pretty strong, you know, demarcation, I think, in terms of the traditional view of a nominee. They didn't argue that he wasn't qualified in terms of his experience, his intellect, or the merits of his rulings. They argued they were going to vote against him and some even filibustered him because they disagreed with how they thought he might rule in the future.
CHETRY: Right.
GILLESPIE: That's one of the questions republicans will face today.
CHETRY: It's interesting because one of the no votes was then Senator Obama. So it's interesting how things change, of course, in the course of...
GILLESPIE: One of the people calling for a filibuster indeed. Actually, he called for a filibuster.
CHETRY: And I want to ask you about this because we're in a totally different time and place, I guess, when you take a look at the makeup of this. Democrats have 60 senators and again they only need this simple majority. So if they have the vote, it pretty much is a done deal for the most part, right? If you are a republican senator, what is your job today?
GILLESPIE: Well, I think the republicans have made clear they are not going to filibuster the nominee. I think their job is to try to discern what kind of a justice Judge Sotomayor would be in this lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court and what would the impact of that be on jurisprudence in the future of our country. It's a very important job and whether or not you are able to - I suspect, by the way, Kiran, many republicans may end up voting for Judge Sotomayor. I don't think anyone has made a determination at this point one way or the other on how they are going to vote. And I think that's appropriate. They should listen to the questions in the hearings and the judge's responses. Be thoughtful about it, be respectful in the process. And I think that's what you'll see over the next couple of days.
CHETRY: All right. I think James Inhofe is the one who said he's probably planning to vote against her. But other than that, you're right. It will still be open for a debate. So, we'll see what happens. And it's great to get your perspective. Ed Gillespie, former counselor to President George W. Bush. Thanks so much.
GILLESPIE: Thank you for having me on.
CHETRY: And here's your chance to join the conversation. Do you support Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court? Do you know enough about her yet? Go to CNN.com/amfix and let us know your thoughts.
ROBERTS: Well, we all know that a moderate amount of alcohol, particularly red wine, can be beneficial for your heart. Protective for your heart, right? Well, here's something that would seem to be completely counterintuitive. Alcohol could actually be good for your brain?
CHETRY: There's a catch. There's always a catch.
ROBERTS: There's always a catch. We've got that story coming up in just a little while. Elizabeth Cohen is going to join us for that. How's that for a tease? You would want to stick around to find out what this is all about. It's 44 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Look at that. New York City, you got a beautiful day. Right now a little bit of cloud. Not a whole lot, though. Sixty- eight degrees. Later on today, mostly sunny with a high of 82. But if you are talking about some areas of the country, we should be playing stormy Monday. Great blues tune. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King because we've got some storms in the southland.
Reynolds Wolf is in Atlanta this morning tracking all of that. You had some pretty amazing storms last night too, didn't you?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, man, it was coming down like a sack of hammers here in Atlanta. I mean, it was just pounding here for a while. And I'll show you. We still have some scattered showers and storms that are drifting across parts of the southeast. If you look from say Raleigh back to Atlanta, you could nearly draw a line that extends from those two cities and then back up through Memphis and even south of Kansas City. Now there's got to be something connecting all of those. Believe it or not there is. That thing connecting it happens to be a stationary front and it's right on that boundary where we have a lot of that moisture coming in from the gulf to the Atlantic. It's going to be mixing in with some cooler air from the north. And right along the dividing line, you're going to have a good chance of severe storms. Some later on today especially through parts of the southern half of the Mississippi Valley and then a bit further to the south. Not an issue with rain but it's a huge issue in terms of heat with high temperatures going up to 104 for Dallas.
Look at Houston going up to 99 degrees. Then you get back to the four corners. 107 in Vegas and 112 in Phoenix. Then you bring in some of that humidity in places like Phoenix. There's not going to be much but it could feel like 118. That is the latest, John. Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: One hundred eighteen?
WOLF: Yes, into the valley of the sun. It kind of lives up to its billing from time to time. Today is one of those times.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable.
CHETRY: That's where they should launch the shuttle. It would go off without a hitch, right?
WOLF: I would think so. I would hope so.
CHETRY: 50/50 again for the launch tonight, right? Because of thunderstorms possibly.
WOLF: Exactly. You know, today, they've had scattered showers. Certainly, it happens there when you have that colliding sea breeze. It could happen again today. They are really trying to be patient there at the launching pad.
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds, thanks.
WOLF: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, if you think you can brag about your teenager, this 15-year-old just set an aviation record. Kimberly Anyadike, believed to be the youngest African-American girl to fly solo across country. She navigated a single-engine Cessna through thunderstorms with her 87-year-old safety pilot, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all- black combat unit who served during World War II.
So, how did it feel?
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KIMBERLY ANYADIKE, PILOT: Yesterday when we were going into Texas, there was lightning. And it was really close like on either side of the wings. So, it was kind of nerve-racking, yes.
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CHETRY: Well, there you go. She did it. She was nerve-racked. Can you imagine her mother? Congratulations.
ROBERTS: Good for her. That's terrific.
All right. So, the story that everybody is talking about this morning. The benefits of alcohol and heart disease. Well documented in a lot of studies. What about the benefits though of alcohol in your brain? And how much is just enough? We've got that coming up for you. It's 49 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Eight minutes now to the top of the hour. We've all heard that a little bit of wine every day can be good for the heart. But a new study shows that some alcohol can also be good for your brain, too. I know, it's counterintuitive but apparently, it's true. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta. So, Elizabeth, researchers found a reduced risk of dementia among people who drank alcohol every day in their golden years. Tell us about it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly. I mean, John, who would've thought? This really is incredible. What the researchers did is they took a group of senior citizens aged around 75 and asked them how much they drank. And here's what they found out is that the folks who were drinking one or two drinks a day had a 40 percent reduced risk of developing dementia.
But I do feel that I need to add here that the folks who drank more than one or two drinks a day, they had higher risk of getting dementia. So, this isn't one of the examples of boy, more must be better. In fact, in this case more must be worse.
Now, you might wonder why in the world would drinking affect your brain? And researchers actually aren't sure why it does. But what they do know is that often what is good for our hearts turns out to be good for our brains. And as you mentioned earlier, John, drinking seems to help your heart, but again in moderate amounts -- John.
ROBERTS: So, two drinks good, more than two drinks bad. I guess in medical parlance they would call that a narrow therapeutic window. But is it, you know we're talking about wine versus hard liquor, is it just wine that's beneficial to the hear or the brain or does hard alcohol count, as well?
COHEN: You know what, it's not just wine. And I think that's a huge misconception. People think it's just wine. Take a look at this. What they have found in all of these studies is that one or two drinks a day is helpful. What's one drink, 12 ounces of beer would be a drink, five ounces of wine, and it doesn't have to be red wine, it could be white wine. One ounce of hard liquor, all of those would count as a drink. And I do want to mention from our earlier thing. Here take a look at this - that we that had these blue martinis up here. It doesn't have to be a blue martini. It could be an appletini. That would be fine. Green would work as well.
CHETRY: So, let me ask you this, in the way it goes. So none, though, is better than too much in terms of that, in terms of your dementia?
COHEN: Yes, what the study looked at is if you compare sort of tea totalers and people who drink a huge amount, you're probably better off being a tea totaler. You're probably just better off doing none and also too much alcohol is bad for all sorts of things. It's bad for your heart. It's bad for your driving. It's bad for all sorts of things, your liver, the list goes on and on.
ROBERTS: Proof positive this morning though, Elizabeth, that beer makes you smart. I mean, it made Budweiser, right?
CHETRY: Right. But too much beer makes you stupid. So, remember that.
ROBERTS: Where's the groan? Where's the groan? Thanks, Elizabeth. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: I didn't even get it at first. Maybe I drank too much.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A developing story you'll see only on CNN. Pakistan's military says it is in contact with the top Taliban leader in Afghanistan. And they say they can bring him to the negotiating table to talk to U.S. officials. Now, the White House said to be considering this plan. Our Michael Ware broke this exclusive story. He joins us live from Baghdad.
So Michael, White House special envoy Richard Holbrooke says that Pakistan talking with the Taliban is a step forward. And President Obama said during the campaign that America has to talk with the enemies. So, where do you think this leaves us?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this could theoretically be the first -- the beginning of the end. I mean, certainly in terms of baby steps on the long road that it would take to reach a political conclusion. But what's significant this morning, Kiran, is that from the president's personal envoy, Ambassador Holbrooke, we're hearing the Obama administration's initial response to this extraordinary Pakistani offer to help broker talks and offer the Bush administration waited fruitlessly seven years to hear.
So, let us take a listen to what Ambassador Holbrooke said about the nature of the Pakistani moves to reconciliation.
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RICHARD HOLBROOKE, SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN: The United States supports any effort at reconciliation as long as the efforts of reconciliation include laying down your arms, accepting the constitution, and Michael, I want to stress this, breaking with al Qaeda.
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WARE: And as the so-called godfather of the Taliban, the former head of Pakistan's equivalent of the ISI told me in a separate on- camera interview such a break between the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden, a man that this former spy chief has known for decades is possible. So now it's up to the Obama administration how they respond to this Pakistani offer, Kiran.
CHETRY: The interesting thing when you heard what some of those conditions would be if the U.S. was to talk with Mullah Omar and others. The Taliban is not just against the United States, but also against the government in Afghanistan right now. So how would - how could you trust that if they indeed agreed to lay down arms that when we left that wouldn't change?
WARE: Well, that's why you need the involvement of the regional players. America shouldn't be, according to some, the regional policemen. That should be up to the Pakistanis who share a border there, the Indians who have heavily invested in the governments in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan and Iran. And we hear from a recent Taliban statement that what they're fighting for is self-governance, the ethnic posturings of the south don't feel they have representation in the capital.
And that's one of the things they're fighting for. Nonetheless, the Obama administration is open to these talks in the hope that it will lead to the political solution that everyone's waiting for. Again, let's turn to Ambassador Holbrooke in our exclusive interview. Let's have a listen.
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HOLBROOKE: Let me be very clear. I'm neither going to rule out or rule in something on such a hypothetical basis and I'm not going to get drawn into speculation on an issue this complicated. But I want to underscore existing policy that has been addressed by everybody in the U.S. government from the president on down there is room in Afghanistan for Taliban people who have fought with the Taliban who are willing to participate in a political structure, who are willing to disassociate and renounce al Qaeda, and who are willing to lay down their arms.
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MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first steps in ending what's become President Obama's war in Afghanistan, we're going to have to watch very closely to wait and see -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes. Very, very interesting development, though. Michael Ware, who broke this story for us on Friday. Thanks.
