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American Morning
Sotomayor on the Hot Seat; Franken to Question Sotomayor; Clinton's Major Policy Speech; "Afghan Star" a Smash Hit; Bad News for Madoff Victims
Aired July 15, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It is a huge day for Secretary Clinton. So what kind of statement will she be making in that big policy speech this afternoon?
We've got two expert political minds coming up. Cliff May, he's the president of a foreign policy think tank. And Karen Finney, the former communications director for the Democratic National Committee. See what they have to say about Clinton's real role in this administration.
And that brings us to the top of the hour. It's July the 15th. It's a Wednesday. Thanks very much for being with us. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Here's what's on the agenda this morning. These are the stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
It is day three for Judge Sonya Sotomayor. She goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee again in about an hour and a half for another round of questioning.
The Republicans on the panel were raising doubts about the first Hispanic nominee's ability to be fair and impartial. She fielded those questions yesterday and will be preparing to answer more today.
ROBERTS: The newest members of Congress, Senator Al Franken, will be one of those questioning the judge today. It's his first real outing on the national stage just a week after taking office. So how is the comedian-turned-senator doing so far? Our Jessica Yellin has got some answers.
CHETRY: Well, this is a fascinating phenomenon in Afghanistan right now -- "Afghan Star." A TV show, sort of like "American Idol," now a smash hit in that nation. Alina Cho with a program that's rocking the ratings and also rattling that nation's religious leaders.
ROBERTS: But first, we're following breaking news out of Iran this morning. The Caspian Airlines passenger jet carrying 168 people has crashed 75 miles northwest of Tehran. Iranian state radio is reporting the jet was heading from Tehran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan when it went down in a field. Police report says it's unlikely that anyone survived. Most of the 153 passengers are believe to be Armenians. Plus, a powerful 5.8 magnitude aftershock hit off the western coast of New Zealand, just 20 minutes after a 7.8 earthquake hit exactly the same spot. The U.S. Geological Survey had issued a tsunami warning. It's since been cancelled, though. They say the quake struck about 100 miles off of New Zealand's south island. There are reports of minor cracks in buildings and food falling from supermarket shelves, but so far, no reports of any injuries.
CHETRY: Well, in just about 90 minutes, Judge Sonia Sotomayor sits before a Senate Committee for another day of questioning. Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us live from Washington.
We saw her -- we got to hear from her a lot more yesterday. How do you think she handled the controversy over some of the comments she made, "the wise Latina woman" comment came up a lot yesterday.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly she handled it exactly the way that the White House wanted her to handle it. And I suspect that we have heard all she has to say on the subject, although we have not heard the last of those questions about her most controversial remark.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): "A wise Latina could, more often than not, make a better judicial decision than a wise white man."
OK, she takes it back.
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: It was bad, because it left an impression that I believe that life experiences commanded a result in a case.
CROWLEY: Seriously. It's not what she meant.
SOTOMAYOR: I want to state, up front, unequivocally, and without doubt, I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know it's been a long day and we'll --
CROWLEY: And so it was as Sotomayor tried to shut down the parsing of her most famous sentence. Not that that worked.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: But do you understand, ma'am, that if I had said anything like that, and my reasoning was that I'm trying to inspire somebody, they would have had my head?
CROWLEY: She had help on the Democratic side, which pointed out repeatedly that no matter what the meaning of her public words, on the bench, nothing in Sotomayor's record suggests she is swayed by race, gender or background.
Take the case of a police officer who distributed racist material, got fired, and filed suit. Sotomayor dissenting from the majority sided with the cop. SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The employee's right to speech had to be respected.
SOTOMAYOR: The situation of that case, that was the position that I took because that's what I believe the law commanded.
SCHUMER: Even though obviously you wouldn't have much sympathy or empathy for this officer or his actions. Is that correct?
SOTOMAYOR: I don't think anyone has sympathy for what was undisputedly a racist statement.
CROWLEY: On some of the more controversial legal and political issues, abortion, affirmative action, post-9/11 anti-terror policy and the right to privacy, there is little in her 17-year judicial record to signal how Sotomayor would vote on the Supreme Court. Just how she wants to keep it.
SOTOMAYOR: And so I feel that I'm threading the line of answering a question about what the Court will do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: She was, in fact, the perfect nominee, at least so far as politics are concerned. She gave up as little as possible and took everything they had to throw at her.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. And you know how this works. I mean, it's the public stage. It's the public forum. People get a chance to hear from the nominee and they also get to hear the type of questions from their senators. But really what is the point of these hearings if we're not going to get, "A," any clue about her judicial philosophy, and "B," sort of a foregone conclusion that she's going to get the approval, the nod?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, you're right. And there are a lot of people complaining in editorials and elsewhere that it makes no sense to have somebody that's going to go to the High Court when you don't know how they feel about the larger issues of the day and how they fit into the law.
Having said that, what we last saw with Robert Bork, who was nominated to the Supreme Court and did not make it, he said -- answered every question quite freely and didn't make it. So since then, really the attitude of any White House, Republican or Democrat, is to say, listen, say as little as possible, just say "Well, those cases may come before me so I don't want to prejudice it." For the senators, obviously, this is the time for them to argue what are basically along party lines. What is the premier thing that you're looking for in a judge? So this is kind of a look at both parties and how they approach this issue. But very little look at how the nominee approaches those issues.
CHETRY: All right. That's how it goes. And you're right, after what happened to Robert Bork, people don't want to put themselves out there like that. They're told not to, and they are certainly coached well from what we've seen over the past few years.
CROWLEY: They are.
CHETRY: Candy Crowley for us, thanks.
CROWLEY: Sure.
ROBERTS: So who should we keep our eye on today in the second day of questioning? CNN has got access inside the hearing room. And that's where we find our own Brianna Keilar.
Brianna, what can we expect today?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, you're going to want to keep an eye trained to the left of Sonia Sotomayor on Senator John Cornyn, Republican from Texas. He has a large constituency of Hispanics, and he's in the situation where he has to come down with some hard questions on likely the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.
Now he wears another hat as well as the chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. He's in charge of getting more Republicans into the Senate. And confirmation hearings are opportunities to fund raise and score political points for the opposition so he's wearing a couple of opposing hats here.
Now to Sonya Sotomayor's right, you're going to want to keep an eye on Al Franken. He is of course only in the Senate, been in the Senate now for a little over a week. Former "Saturday Night Live" comedian. This is really going to give us the first chance to see him really publicly and unscripted perform his duties as a senator.
John?
ROBERTS: All right. Looking forward to that. And do they still have that high-tech footstool underneath the desk for her?
KEILAR: They do, and I've been told not to fool with it.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: There you go. All right, Brianna Keilar, inside the committee room.
Brianna, thanks so much.
KEILAR: Thank you.
CHETRY: And when you say high-tech, you're referring to a folder with a little pad on it and some tape.
ROBERTS: The ultimate low tech of the low tech. CHETRY: How about it?
ROBERTS: It's not one of those $200 ashtrays. That's for sure.
CHETRY: Well, as Brianna mentioned, this is going to be Senator Franken's first big outing on the national stage since taking office. And a lot of people know him for his punch lines, maybe as his character Stuart Smalley on "Saturday Night Live," instead of questions about policy and the Supreme Court.
But our Jessica Yellin is looking at the new guy on Capitol Hill for us this morning.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, John, today, new senator Al Franken will be in the national spotlight. He is the most junior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and will get a chance to grill Judge Sonya Sotomayor. He is already making it clear to everyone that he takes this job very seriously.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN (voice-over): Like a kid starting school, the Senate's newest member was the first to show up for Tuesday's Judiciary Committee hearing and he seems to be making friends.
Seven days into his term, Senator Al Franken is striking a tone that's somber...
SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: I am concerned that Americans are making new barriers to defending their individual rights.
YELLIN: ...and exceedingly deferential. To committee chairman Patrick Leahy...
FRANKEN: I have admired your strength and integrity.
YELLIN: ...to ranking Republican, Jeff Sessions.
FRANKEN: I look forward to working over the years with you and my other Republican colleagues.
YELLIN: And to the committee as a whole.
FRANKEN: I know I have a lot to learn from each of you.
YELLIN: Don't hold your breath waiting for a punch line. No jokes here. The former comedian barely smiled. It's the same serious Franken we saw during his race for the Senate seat. But that voice is instantly recognizable to fans of "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggonne it, people like me.
(END VIDEO CLIP) YELLIN: And that's still how visitors to the U.S. Capitol think of Al Franken.
(on camera): I say Senator Franken, you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm strong enough, I'm good enough and doggonne it, people like me.
YELLIN: But they're flexible, saying he can earn their respect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It depends on what he does when he's in there, not what he did before, but what he's -- what he's about now.
YELLIN: He'll have a chance to show his stuff when he begins questioning Sotomayor during the hearing today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: Over the past few days, Senator Franken has been spotted stopping Capitol police to ask for directions. Clearly, he is the new guy on the job.
Now Franken has said that he plans to lay low, take some time to learn, and he said, though he is the Democrat's 60th vote, he will not rubber-stamp the president's agenda.
John?
Kiran?
CHETRY: Jessica Yellin for us. Thanks.
And you can also watch day three of Judge Sonya Sotomayor's confirmation hearing right here on CNN with the Best Political Team on Television. Again, the hearing is set to get under way in about an hour and 20 minutes. And if you're away from your TV, you can also watch it online, cnn.com/live. It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Big day for Hillary Clinton after being called the invisible woman this week. The secretary of state is set to give a major policy speech this afternoon to the council on foreign relations.
But what kind of statement will she, or should she, make? We've got two top political minds here to help us break it down.
Cliff May is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy. He's in Washington for us this morning. And Karen Finney is the former communications director for the Democratic National Committee. She joins us here in New York.
So the speech today -- there's been a lot of talk, Karen, of her being in the shadows over the last few weeks. Is this a break-out moment for her?
Karen Finney, communications director, Democratic National Committee. You know, I think this speech has actually been planned for some time. And what you're going to hear is really a discussion from 30,000 feet looking at our foreign policy, sort of the new direction we've been trying to take in the last six months. And so, she'll talk about how everything we've been doing from what is it going on in Honduras to Iran to Afghanistan, how that's all interconnected. So I think you're going to hear that.
You know, anybody who knows Hillary Clinton though knows she's not been sidelined. It's interesting we heard some of the same kind of talk when she first got to the Senate and what she did there was put her head down and get to work. That's exactly what she's done at the State Department, logging nearly 100,000 miles in the last six months.
ROBERTS: No question that she was one of the most respected senators in that body.
FINNEY: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: A lot of people still feel that way about her as secretary of state.
Cliff, though, you have been somewhat critical, shall we say, of the administration's foreign policy, it's policy of engagement. Some Republicans have put the label of "soft power" on it. Hillary Clinton going to make the case today that it's "smart power."
Can she win you over?
CLIFF MAY, PRESIDENT, FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY: Absolutely, she can. I have great hopes for this. Look, I don't think that the definition of power in Washington is whether you get to go on TV or in front of the council on foreign relations and get to explain or spin a foreign policy.
Where the rubber meets the road is whether you make policy. Now Hillary Clinton, I think, is one of the tougher, even more hawkish members of this administration. I hope her council is being listened to by President Obama.
Take Iran, which is one of our biggest foreign policy challenges. Both Hillary and Obama have said that Iran getting nuclear weapons is simply unacceptable. I do not blame or criticize Obama for using outreach, showing respect for Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. But I think that, we are sort of at the end of that road, that's not going to work.
So the question is, do they, for example, now signal their support for bipartisan legislation that would give Obama the tools for serious sanctions, cutting off gas supplies, something that would really put the squeeze on Iran, which during the campaign Obama and Hillary both said they were in favor of.
CHETRY: Karen, do you agree with Cliff that there is no sense in pursuing talks with Iran because it leads nowhere?
FINNEY: Well, look, I think what you're going to hear the secretary talk about certainly none proliferation is a key goal of the administration. But again, this administration -- we tried cowboy diplomacy. Didn't work. Really tanked our relationships around the world. So the secretary and the president have been working very hard on rebuilding those relationships and sort of again setting a new course.
And, again, what's been a little bit different, not just in tone, but in substance, diplomacy obviously is an important part of what we're doing, but so is development. And that's, you know, been a key part of what she's been trying to do.
ROBERTS: But let me put this out to both of you. And, Karen, maybe you can go first with this. Does she need to talk tougher than this administration has talked thus far, that the president has been -- was criticized for his response to the situation in Iran.
We remember during the election campaign, Hillary Clinton called his position on meeting with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba and others, quote, "dangerously naive."
FINNEY: Yes. You know, here's the thing. What we hear about and what we see publicly is not always what's happening behind the scenes. So I think, you know, you always have to remember that on foreign policy there's sort of what's going on in front of the cameras and then what's going on behind the cameras.
And I feel pretty confident. I don't think this president or this secretary of state are going to be pushed around by any country.
ROBERTS: Cliff, are they talking tough behind the scenes, just not in front of the camera?
MAY: John, I need not put too further point in this. I agree with you that words matter, but it's not about talking soft or talking tough entirely. At the end of the day, it's more than about words. It's about policies. And so far, what we've had is a policy of outreach. Obama said he was going to do that. He should do it. When that doesn't work, with Ahmadinejad, with a Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, then you need tough policies in place in order to change behavior that threatens the United States and its allies. It's not just a matter of talk here.
And, again, I hope that Hillary Clinton is very much in the policy debate inside the administration and that we'll soon see tough policies as well as tough words.
FINNEY: Well, in fact, she is actually. And she talks to the president and senior administration officials on a daily basis. I know that she and the president have a very good working relationship. He respects her opinion. He consults her opinion. She's going to be at the White House later today, in fact, meeting with the president.
And, again, I think both this secretary of state and this president made it clear, you know, there's the talk and there's the policy and the actions, and they'll take the tough actions we need to take, if need be.
ROBERTS: It's worth pointing out, though, that there are some very powerful personalities within the White House as well.
FINNEY: Very true, but we need all the help we can get given what we're facing on the world scene.
ROBERTS: Karen Finney, Cliff May, it's great to see you this morning. Thanks for stopping by and much appreciate it.
MAY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Eighteen minutes after the hour
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Dressed as wizards and witches and some of the so-called muggles -- regular people, if you're not familiar with that -- fans lined up across the globe last night for midnight showings of the newest "Harry Potter" film, "The Half-Blood Prince." More than 1,500 midnight screenings sold out completely. The movie, by the way, is a Time Warner product, the parent company of CNN.
But I don't think we're going to get a little something extra in our package.
CHETRY: Brownie points for seeing it.
How about "Afghan Star"? That is not part of the parent company of CNN, but it is the new show in Afghanistan. Sort of like an "American Idol," but it's not only rocking the ratings, it's actually turning things culturally on their heads as well. Some of the nation's religious leaders are shaken right to their core about what's going on.
Alina Cho's been looking into this.
And, you know, this is unheard of.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is unprecedented. You know, it's revolutionary, some might say. Guys, good morning, everybody.
Remember, here in America, we do take shows like "American Idol" for granted, but in Afghanistan, a TV singing contest is downright revolutionary. Remember, under 30 years of Taliban rule, music was illegal. Today, this show is a run-away hit and it's also causing a lot of controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice over): When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, to do this was unthinkable.
AMBASSADOR SAID ZAWAD, AFGHANISTAN: Music was banned. The Taliban banned singing and burned, actually, and destroyed the music instruments.
CHO: But now music is back. And a televised singing competition has become the country's most popular show. It's "American Idol," Afghan style.
Just like "American Idol," fans vote for their favorites, often by texting. In Afghanistan, that's a radical concept.
HAVANA MARKING, DIRECTOR, "AFGHAN STAR": All your votes are all equal. And that's a very, very extraordinary thing for people to try and understand when it -- when they come from a tribal elder's life.
CHO: Even more radical, the participation of women.
MARKING: And any woman taking part is genuinely risking her life.
CHO: Havana Marking directed a new documentary about the 2008 competition in which two women made it to the finals. One is named Setara, and she created a national scandal by moving to the music.
MARKING: It's not Beyonce, you know, but it is dancing. And her head scarf slips and she doesn't bring it back up. This young woman, beautiful, dancing with her hair free. And that symbolizes everything that is forbidden and was forbidden in Afghan culture.
CHO: Setara even received death threats and for a while was forced into hiding.
Religious authorities have moved to ban the show, declaring it un-Islamic. But producers tell CNN, that won't stop them. And Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States says his country won't return to a time when music was illegal.
ZAWAD: Today when you travel in Afghanistan, you will hear music from every car, from every shop, from every restaurant, from every home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Yes, times have changed. "Afghan Star" is playing in select cities across the country. The director tells us she's even trying to arrange a screening for members of Congress. And, guys, she's also hoping to get a copy to the White House. She wants to make sure that President Obama screens this movie himself.
But, you know, remember, you know, this is a --Afghanistan -- I mean, to play music in Afghanistan after 30 years of Taliban rule is really revolutionary. The fact that women are involved in the show, that women can actually vote, that is revolutionary, too. Remember, this is still a male-dominated sort of tribal elder system that's still in place. So, it is really incredible. CHETRY: You were saying they're receiving death threats.
CHO: They were.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: One of the contestants did receive death threats. She did go into hiding for a time. But this is an incredibly popular show. Eleven million people in Afghanistan are watching it. It's the most popular show in the country right now.
ROBERTS: Remember the 1950s here in this country? People said the rock 'n' roll was going to destroy the fabric of America.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: Elvis -- Elvis (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: New kids on the Block almost did it.
CHO: I mean, it's not exactly -- listen, it's not exactly Kelly Clarkson. The mike's plugs are a little bigger. The music's a little different. But it's really popular in Afghanistan and it is revolutionary.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Alina. Very great story.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, she learned to fly at the age of 12. At 15, she's breaking aviation records flying solo. We're going to meet Kimberly Onugike. She joins us about what her next mission is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up about 29 minutes after the hour.
We're "Minding Your Business" this morning. And bad news for many of Bernard Madoff's victims. The trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff's estates warns there is not enough money for all 15,400 people who filed claims.
Meanwhile, Madoff is beginning his first full day at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
Earlier, I spoke with Larry Levine. He's the founder of Wall Street Prison Consultants to find out what Madoff can expect. And as usual, Larry didn't sugarcoat it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What are some of the other folks like in the general prison population who he may at some point mix with?
LARRY LEVINE, FOUNDER, WALL STREET PRISON CONSULTANTS: Well, he's going to mix -- first of all, he's got a 150-year sentence. He gets another 20 knocked off for good time. So, he's looking at 130. He doesn't really have an out date. He's not getting out.
And the people he's going to mingle with, you know, rapists, killers, bank robbers, you name it, they're all in the mediums where he's going. And Bernie is going to be the prize. Bernie's the crown jewel, not Butner. And these people are all going to want to make a name for themselves. So, Bernie's going to be a high-profile target.
I don't see Bernie making it. I see someone taking Bernie out. They'll take him out with a shank. They'll cause a disturbance in the institution. Let's say in the ding hall, in the movie theater, the rec yard. You cause a disturbance on one side, the cops are racing over there. Someone sticking a knife in Bernie on the other side. He's going to leave in a bag or in a box.
ROBERTS: You really...
LEVINE: This man is going to have to watch his back until the day he dies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, as we said, Larry doesn't sugarcoat it. He also said he does not believe that Butner prison is Madoff's final destination. His attorney wanted, and the judge recommended, that he go to Otisville in New York.
CHETRY: You know, what I was wondering though about that is -- I mean, he's basically predicting that he's going to befall violence. Why can't they better control the gang situation and the violence in our prison systems?
ROBERTS: It is -- there's not enough people. As he said, you cause a disturbance one place, you know. Then I guess the guards aren't always thinking about Bernie Madoff. It is, you know, believed that he's going to be in isolation for a while. I mean, he may never even be released to the general population there at Buitner because it is a mental health care facility. He's got a lot of assessments to go through, maybe some treatment as well. So he probably has at least a window of time where he'll be by himself.
CHETRY: That's certainly a far cry from the Park Avenue penthouse.
ROBERTS: I don't know, you lived on Park Avenue lately -- no, kidding.
CHETRY: It is 31 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories. We have breaking news out of Iran where a Caspian Airways passenger jet crashed. 168 passengers and crew are feared dead. Iran state radio is reporting this plane was headed from Tehran to Armenia this morning when it went down in a field and burst into flames just 16 minutes after takeoff.
ROBERTS: Officials calling off a tsunami warning after a powerful earthquake hit off the western coast of New Zealand. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the magnitude of the initial quake at 7.8 and a powerful 5.8 aftershock hit just 20 minutes later. Local police in New Zealand say there is some minor damage and there are also reports of downed power lines.
CHETRY: And democrats saying it is way overdue. They want former Vice President Dick Cheney to talk under oath. They tell CNN they may call him to testify about a CIA program to kill al Qaeda leaders that he, according to them, kept secret from Congress. The Associated Press also reporting that the CIA spent at least $1 million on the program, even though it never went beyond the planning stage.
Well, one 15-year-old girl has reason to brag this morning. She just set an aviation record and she is looking to do many more. Kimberly Anyadike is thought to be the youngest African-American girl to fly solo cross-country. We say "thought to be" because they hadn't tracked such records officially before. But she's with us this morning from Compton California Airport, in front of the plane that made history. Thanks for being with us this morning, Kimberly.
KIMBERLY ANYADIKE, FLEW SINGLE-ENGINE PLANE CROSS COUNTRY: It's a pleasure to be with you this morning. Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, I was amazed when I read about your story. You flew 7,000 miles. You flew from Compton, California all the way over to Newport News, Virginia, and back again in 13 days. What was that like, taking on such a huge undertaking in the sky?
ANYADIKE: It was so amazing. All the people I met, all the people I got to socialize with. I even made a couple new friends. Even meeting some of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen. It was such an exhilarating experience for me.
CHETRY: Yes, it is very interesting. Because with you on that flight was your instructor, Levi Thornhill. He is 87 years old. He was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. How did you get to know him? What was your connection and why was it so important to you have to him there and, as I understand it, many, 50 other Tuskegee Airmen signed your plane. There you see it.
ANYADIKE: Well, I had a safety pilot, his name is Rannell(ph) Norman but Mr. Thornhill he sat behind me and he never complained once. But he was such a motivational person. He's a mentor to me. I met him after I joined the program about two years ago, and the plane that I flew is dedicated to him. So I thought it was a good chance to give honor directly to him.
CHETRY: Well, I think it's wonderful. You know, you fell in love with flying at the age of 12, which is pretty young. You were able to take part in this really special program. It was a Compton- based aeronautical museum. They actually offered aviation lessons through an after-school program for disadvantaged youth. How did you become a lover of flight?
ANYADIKE: Well, I think I've always been interested in flight, but when we read about the (INAUDIBLE) Aeronautical Museum, we thought it was such an amazing way to like put the idea to practical means. So we decided to take a demo flight and ever since - CHETRY: What did your mom say when you came home and said, "Hey, I think I'm going to fly solo across the country"?
ANYADIKE: She was really excited for me because I'm doing something different, something that I want to be doing. So she was extremely excited.
CHETRY: Now as I understand it, it wasn't just smooth sailing the whole time. You guys had had some storms. Right? You encountered some treacherous weather along the way. What was it like dealing with that in the air?
ANYADIKE: It made me kind of nervous because all of these things that I was facing were some new things. So I was just acting upon my instincts and stuff like that, and I've learned to stop over controlling and to be more in control of the plane. So I thought that was a really good experience. So now it's like I'm prepared for the worst.
CHETRY: And you're also prepared, as you want to do, break some more records. This is what you want to do now. You want to become the youngest African-American girl to fly solo four single-engine planes and two helicopters in one day. Where did you come up with that?
ANYADIKE: Well, of course it is a little rivalry between my sister and I, but, of course, it is motivational. So I want to have my license by the time I'm 17 and I thought it was a cool way to kind of live my dream, I guess.
CHETRY: And your sister is older than you. Right? She also set records prior to you getting involved. So, as you said, it is a friendly sibling rivalry. But forget all of this, your ultimate goal is to become a cardiovascular surgeon one day as well. Right?
ANYADIKE: Yes. Yeah.
CHETRY: Well, all right...
ANYADIKE: It's my dream.
CHETRY: It's your dream. I got to tell you, you are an inspiration. I think it is wonderful, and it just proves that you can get out there, think something is impossible, and do it anyway. And so, you've got a wonderful, wonderful story, Kimberly. And thanks for joining us this morning.
ANYADIKE: Thank you so much for having me.
CHETRY: Good luck with all of it. Take care.
It's 36 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Now that President Obama has made history as America's first black president, can Alabama be far behind. The man running for governor of Alabama could be the first major party black nominee ever in that state. Question is, can he win? Jason Carroll joins us now in a special "Black in America" series. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Can he win? Can he win? I don't know. I spent a lot of time with Archer Davis down there in Birmingham, Alabama. He is definitely convinced he can do it. He has a lot of hurdles to overcome. Alabama last elected a Democrat as a governor in 1998. Arthur Davis is not deterred by that. He says not only is the state ready to put a democrat in office, he says the state is ready to elect an African-American Democrat.
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REP. ARTHUR DAVIS (D), ALABAMA: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
CARROLL (voice-over): To supporters, he's the symbol of a new Alabama. A figure showing the state moving past its segregationist history. He's congressman Arthur Davis, trying to make history, too, by becoming the state's first African-American governor.
(on camera): So you really think you can win?
DAVIS: There's no question, I think we can win. When we're running, we didn't think we could win.
CARROLL (voice-over): Davis says he knows and believes in the people here today.
DAVIS: I'm someone who's raised by my mother and my grandmother, grew up in a relatively small town, Montgomery, Alabama.
CARROLL: Davis made his way through Harvard Law School, politics brought him home.
DAVIS: I decided to come back. I wanted to contribute something to the state.
CARROLL: He lost his first bid for Congress in 2000 but won a rematch two years later and has served four terms. But is Alabama ready for a Democratic African-American governor?
PEGGY WALLACE, DAUGHTER OF FORMER GOV. GEORGE WALLACE: Alabama needs Arthur. They just don't know it.
CARROLL: Peggy Wallace has a unique perspective. Her father, former Alabama Governor George Wallace noted for saying...
GEORGE WALLACE, FORMER ALABAMA GOVERNOR: -- segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.
CARROLL: Wallace later renounced his segregationist views, changing times. His daughter supported then-senator Barack Obama during the 2008 election and supports Davis now.
WALLACE: We have many friends that did not and couldn't understand why we voted for Obama, and I'm sure will not vote for Arthur. Some people are just not ready.
CARROLL: To which Davis says...
DAVIS: I think more of them know they're ready than some people think.
CARROLL: Political analysts like Natalie Davis say when talking politics and color, remember Alabama is a red state. President Obama lost the state by a wide margin, capturing about 10 percent of the white vote.
NATALIE DAVIS, BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN COLLEGE: In Alabama, if you're a Democrat running against a Republican, white or black, you have to take 38 percent of the white vote.
CARROLL: She says it's a tall order, but Davis remains confident.
DAVIS: Breakthrough moments often aren't foreseeable. Even just a short time before they happen.
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CARROLL: Well, was this his moment? We're going to have to wait and see. Davis says he is not going to focus on race during his campaign. In fact, he says most of the journalists who ask him about race are from out of state. Davis says his campaign will focus on the issues facing the state.
Will it work? His first big test comes about a year from now during the Democratic primary. You know what is also interesting about this? We did that interview at the 16th Street Baptist Church.
I know you know your history very well, the very same church where four little black girls were killed during a bombing in 1963. You know, a lot of people question whether or not Alabama, how far it has come. But you have to admit, it has come far enough where a black man can sit in that church and talk about running for governor in this day and age.
ROBERTS: Hopefully it's come further than that, too. You know.
CARROLL: We'll see.
ROBERTS: All right. Jason, great piece this morning. Thanks.
CARROLL: All right.
ROBERTS: We're just a week away from CNN's examination of what it really means to be "Black in America." Watch stories of people stepping up, taking charge and creating solutions. The documentary "Black in America 2" premiers July 22nd and 23rd only on CNN. It's 42 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. You have to see this video. It was President Obama yesterday, he threw out the first pitch last night in the All-Star game. You know all the pressure's on you. Forget the pressures of the job as leader of the free world. It's can you make it over the plate or are you going to ditch it in the sand? So how did he do?
ROBERTS: Lovely 58-foot pitch, I thought.
CHETRY: All right. Let's take a look. Here he goes, the president hoping he wouldn't bounce the ball. That's a practice try. Or that was the big moment. All right. There it was. Well, it's pretty good.
Not exactly a Nolan Ryan fastball though, but hey, the president still performed a lot better than other big names throwing out the ceremonial big pitch. We have a few for you. Back in 2007, this is Cincy Mayor Mark Mallory who missed home plate by about 30 feet. The YouTube video that's gotten two million hits. Here it is.
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ROBERTS: At some point during your throw, you're supposed to let go of the ball.
CHETRY: He just didn't want to let it go. All right. Well, there you go. Our Jacqui Jeras following the weather for us. It wasn't bad, huh? It was a little high but - it was high, but hey, he made it right over home plate.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Could have had a little more oomph. But yes, make it. That's all that really matters, right? Hey, by the way, the weather for the All-star game, we could be seeing some thunderstorms in there. We've had showers and thunderstorms rumbling through the St. Louis area this morning. You can see more development back here. So something that we'll be watching. That something you are interested in.
Hey, we had a lot of severe weather yesterday across parts of Minnesota. We got pictures in from (INAUDIBLE) this is in Spicer, Minnesota, in the Green Lake area. A tornado ripped through there. There you can see the damage that it did to a house. It also brought a lot of docks and piers that caused some damage in the lake area. And then you can see, a house that's been blown away and all that's left here is just the boat that continues to stay there.
The severe weather threat then today, will stretch further east of there from parts of Michigan, down through the Ohio Valley, and then into the middle Mississippi River Valley. The rest of the country overall is looking really nice especially the coast of the country, out west and out east lots of sunshine. And then yes, the heat persisting across parts of the south.
If you're trying to travel today, thunderstorms move through Chicago a couple of hours ago but we are still kind of paying for it, unfortunately. A ground stop until 8:15 and some delays at La Guardia as well. John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras for us, thanks.
ROBERTS: So here it is. Rocket fuel in a bottle, right? You see these all over the place, these little energy shots.
CHETRY: You try them?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Does it work?
ROBERTS: This is an experiment, of course. I took this at 5:00 this morning. It is five-hour energy. I'm still going along pretty well. Why are we doing this? Because our Sanjay Gupta is going to take a look at these and tell you if they're good and if they're safe. It's the craze about energy drinks.
Stay tuned for that. 48 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: When Supreme Court nominee Justice Sonia Sotomayor made her comment about a wise Latina woman back in 2001, she never imagined the impact that it might have eight years later. Well, not only has it raised questions from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, it is also inspired wise Latina women everywhere.
And who better to document its widespread effects than our Carol Costello? She joins us now from Washington this morning. Carol, how many times a day are we hearing that 2001 comment?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So many times. But there are amazingly a large number of wise Latina women all over the country. At least, that's what they tell me. And they're fans of Judge Sotomayor and they've watched with interest as the Senate Judiciary Committee made up largely of white men questioned the Puerto Rican judge about wise Latinas and white men. Critics watched, too, with a decidedly different take.
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COSTELLO (voice-over): Sonia Sotomayor knew it would be a tough day. Maybe that's why she wore red.
(on camera): I cannot tell you how many women I talked to that commented on her red jacket.
ALMA MORALES RIOJA, PRESIDENT, MANA: I love it. I think it is important, of course, in Washington where we talk about the power of red.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Alma Morales Rioja heads up MANA, an organization devoted to empowering Latinas. And yes, she considered herself a wise Latina. RIOJA: Why is it such a big deal? Wise Latina. Is it partly that people don't usually think of those two words together? Could that be part of it?
COSTELLO: So Rioja's organization is watching the hearings with interest that sharpened Tuesday when senators pounced on Sotomayor's Berkeley speech. The specific line, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male."
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: How can you reconcile your speeches which repeatedly assert that impartiality is a mere aspiration which may not be possible in all or even most cases with your oath that you've taken twice which requires impartiality?
SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much attention.
COSTELLO: Sotomayor says those words were actually a poor play on words, spoken by former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that "fell flat."
SOTOMAYOR: It is clearly not what I intended, which was attempting to inspire young Hispanic Latino students and lawyers to believe that their life experiences added value to the process.
COSTELLO: Some bloggers critical of Sotomayor didn't buy her explanation, intimating she was lying with a rhetorical dodge. As for her critics in the Senate...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It still doesn't answer to me the question of whether you think that these -- that ethnicity or gender should be making a difference.
COSTELLO: Rioja is disappointed. She believes Sotomayor's comments were meant only to empower young people and that Republicans should move on.
RIOJA: Should we not be dealing as any person going into a court would do, you deal with the facts at hand, and her decision making has shown that's exactly what she's done.
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COSTELLO: And that's what Judge Sotomayor did say later in the hearings. "Look at my 17-year record and then decide whether my ethnic background or my gender enters into my decision." But, John, don't expect the issue to die today. Expect Republicans to keep on pounding away.
ROBERTS: So at least a couple more days of questioning. So I don't think they're ready to let it go just yet.
COSTELLO: No.
ROBERTS: Carol, thanks so much. And just a quick programming note, by the way, coming this October, CNN will present "Latino in America." Maybe we should change that to "Latina in America." It's a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing this country, reshaping politics, business, schools, churches and neighborhoods. "Latino in America," this October on CNN.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Well, if you're up early like us or you work late, you're probably doing shots. But we're not talking about shots of booze here. We're talking about these little energy shots. You probably see them all over the drugstore these days. They're sold pretty much everywhere.
ROBERTS: The maker promises five hours of energy with no jitters, no crash effect. But you know, they might work, but here's the big question -- are they safe? Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, did a little investigating for us.
I did -- it wasn't a placebo-controlled trial but I'm experimenting this morning, Sanjay.
We talk a lot about these energy drinks, especially being used by a lot of young people to stay up and study but the shots are most popular among working professionals. So what's the verdict? Is it safe for me to do what I did this morning and drink one of these?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you're absolutely right about the demographics. This is targeted towards older people. And the short answer to your question seems to be yes if you just did one of these things this morning. The problem is John, the mentality is often is five hours is good, then 10 hours would be even better, and so forth.
So people not exercising moderation is a problem with this, as it is with so many other things. What we really wanted to do was dissect down what's exactly is in one of these drinks and how does it specifically work. What we found, if you look at the labels, specifically, is you find very high concentrations of B vitamins, several different types of B vitamins - B3, B6, B9, B-12.
We focused in on a couple, B-3 is niacin, for example. That's something that a lot of people are familiar with. They give you 150 percent of what you need in any particular day. In high doses often that can cause sort of these hot flash type symptoms, red-hot tingling skin. Also B-12 is something that a lot of people talk about. You have over 8,000 percent of what you need of B-12. This is a water- soluble vitamin. So it's probably not going to cause much harm even in high doses. What was sort of mysterious to us was the bottom part of that, which is an energy blend. We called the makers of this trying to figure out what's in this energy blend. They tell us there are all sorts of different things, most of which are naturally occurring amino acids in the body just at very high doses. It's the bottom one that's sort of covered up - there you see it, caffeine which seems to really cause much of what the benefits of this are. High doses of caffeine, about 90 milligrams without any sugar is probably how this works, John. Kiran?
CHETRY: There you go. And so some of the questions about it, do B-vitamins really boost your energy? I mean, is that something that we should be taking more of?
GUPTA: If you have low amounts of B-vitamins in your body, it could help. So, a lot of people, for example, who get B-12 shots because of low energy and usually people who are older people who are not getting enough b-12 in their diet seem to benefit from it. If you eating a normal diet and you have regular levels of these B-vitamins, it's probably not going to help.
And that something incidentally the manufacturers concede as well. Even this sort of mixture of the energy blend, no one really knows how that really works. You know, why it would provide energy. It's probably caffeine without sugar. Sugar provides an immediate boost but then you get the crash. Take away the sugar, and you take away the crash.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, it seems to work pretty good. And you know, I actually met the fellow who bottles this stuff at Mardi Gras back in February.
CHETRY: He probably used that a lot at Mardi Gras.
ROBERTS: No. He didn't try it at all. But he seemed to keep going and going and going. Sanjay, thanks very much for being with us this morning. Really appreciate your report. I can't tell you that this stuff really works. Kept me up pretty much today. Thanks.
GUPTA: You're talking kind of fast, John. Yeah. Feeling a little jittery.
CHETRY: Little does he know we secretly replaced it with a placebo and it was just water!
ROBERTS: Apparently they have downers of this stuff now. It's like Jefferson Airplane white rabbit. Thanks, Sanjay.
You can read Dr. Sanjay Gupta's complete report on the 5-hour energy drink on our blog. Just go to CNN.com/amfix. This is also where you can continue the conversation and all of today's top stories.
CHETRY: You want to keep going? You're on a roll!
Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Right now, here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
