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American Morning
Kagan Selected for Supreme Court; Taliban Tied to Times Square Bomber; Feds to Sue Arizona?; "White Flight"
Aired May 10, 2010 - ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning. Thanks so much for joining us on this May the 10th. It's the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. And we have a lot to talk about this morning. Here are the big stories we're breaking down in the next 15 minutes.
A developing story right now. President Obama will announce his pick for the Supreme Court in just a few hours. CNN confirming it's Elena Kagan, the country's first female solicitor general. She used to teach with the president in Chicago, and she apparently plays a mean game of softball. This morning we're digging into the life and the record of Elena Kagan.
ROBERTS: Not a lone wolf. The White House now says Faisal Shahzad, the man accused of the failed Times Square bombing, got his marching orders from the Taliban Pakistan. The Pakistan Taliban rather, and the United States putting new pressure on its key alley to do more in the fight against terrorism.
CHETRY: And BP preparing to try a smaller containment dome to stop a massive oil leak in the gulf. The first one failed over the weekend when it basically iced up. Another plan offered by a member of the Coast Guard is to plug the gushing well with shredded tires and golf balls. The last desperate option to stop a growing environmental disaster ahead.
And the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation by heading to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: Well, just hours from now, President Obama will nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan is a 50 -year-old New York native. And if she is confirmed, it would be the first time in history that three women have served on the high court at the same time.
Our Ed Henry helped break this story last night. He joins us now live from the White House. And this has been rumored for a long time. It was thought that she might have been the president's pick last year. So why did he decide to go with here this time around, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right, John. She has really been the front-runner all along in this process. And first of all, sources close to the selection process say the president believes she's eminently qualified, a former clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall who rose all the way up to become the first female dean of the Harvard Law School, the first female solicitor general right now. That means she argues on behalf of the federal government before the Supreme Court. So they believe she's qualified.
Secondly, they also note, as you said, she's only 50 years old. So they believe that she will be on the court long after this president has left office, enabling him to put his stamp on the court (INAUDIBLE) that could tilt the ideological balance, because she'll be replacing a liberal and Justice John Paul Stevens. Advisers to the president say he's looking for another ingredient and that's the kind of leadership role that Justice Stevens has played on the court for so long. And they believe that she can have the sort of vim and vigor on the left that we've seen on the right of Chief Justice John Roberts in trying to pull the swing vote here. Justice Anthony Kennedy to the left on some of the key 5-4 decisions.
This White House anticipates that on a whole host of issues from the president's health reform effort to his counterterrorism policies on the national security front, all of these things are going to be going before the high court in the years ahead. They want someone who can maybe shift things ever so slightly to the left, John.
ROBERTS: She pretty much sailed through her confirmation hearing as solicitor general. How confident is the White House that this one won't be a really rough ride?
HENRY: They're expecting that it's going to be a battle of conservatives already saying they don't believe that she's qualified necessarily because she has not served as a federal judge and does not have that kind of paper trail to see what kind of decisions she may have written. And what they do know about her legal record from when she was in the Clinton White House, the legal office here, they believe that she'll be an activist. But I can tell you, White House advisers are saying, look, as you noted, she won 61-31 just last year for solicitor general. That showed that there were Republicans on board as a filibuster proof majority. And they basically said what has changed since last year is that her record -- or is it the politics of the situation. We're going to hear a lot about that from this White House.
ROBERTS: Ed Henry for us at the White House this morning. Ed, thanks so much.
And we want to bring in Richard Socarides now.
CHETRY: Yes, he worked with Elena Kagan in the White House when he was a special assistant to the president. Thanks for coming in to talk a little bit.
RICHARD SOCARIDES, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you.
CHETRY: So you guys worked together starting in 1995 and you've been friends since?
SOCARIDES: We did. Yes.
CHETRY: Tell us a little bit about Elena Kagan as a person but also about the breadth of her experience.
SOCARIDES: Well, she's first and foremost a brilliant lawyer, a brilliant person, someone who engages everyone she knows at work and her friends in amazing discourse on any kinds of issues. You know, you saw that she was a great poker player. You know, she's fun. She's fun to be with. But I think most importantly and what President Obama saw in her was that she is a brilliant pragmatic progressive who is intent on hearing all sides to fashion a solution that works for the most amount of people.
ROBERTS: Not much of a paper trail on her because she's not been sitting on the bench. So do we know how she will rule on controversial issues? Can we get some sort of idea?
SOCARIDES: Well, it's interesting, right, because we're used to seeing appellate judges go on to the Supreme Court --
ROBERTS: And she was nominated for the appeals court.
SOCARIDES: She was nominated, never got a hearing but almost 10 years, you know, quite a while ago by President Clinton. There's a different kind of paper trail I think we'll find with her. You know there are memos to the president. I already know the reporters are looking through her files in the Clinton library. She served as President Clinton's deputy domestic policy adviser for a number of years when I was there, too, and that's how I know her. So, you know, there is a different kind of record but not a judicial record. I think it's great that we'll have a young person and someone who's not been a judge on the court.
CHETRY: It's interesting you said that she would be the only person that hasn't been a judge before. When people were asked, seven in ten, this is according to "Washington Post" poll, thought that serving as a judge was a factor, in fact, one of the most important factors of being a Supreme Court nominee. Will that hurt her in any way?
SOCARIDES: Well, you know, she's had judge-like experience. She clerked for two federal judges, one on the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Thurgood Marshall. She is now in a job as solicitor general which is known as the tenth justice. She advises the Supreme Court on the government's position on these cases, so she's certainly familiar with the role of a judge. She was dean of a law school. She's been around lawyers all of her life. She's certainly the intellectual equal of any lawyer. I mean, she's had two of the most important legal jobs in the country as dean of Harvard Law School and as solicitor general. So she hasn't been on the bench but she's had a lot of judicial experience.
ROBERTS: And one of the last without judicial experience was William Rehnquist back in -- SOCARIDES: Yes, right. I guess --
ROBERTS: believe so.
ROBERTS: He came into the job without that much experience but did pretty well.
SOCARIDES: Progressives, they definitely hope that she doesn't turn out like William Rehnquist.
ROBERTS: Well, what about that? Can she be reliably progressive on the court or might she be like John Paul Stevens for Gerald Ford a real surprise?
SOCARIDES: I think if you look at her background and the breadth of her experience, you know, she comes from New York. Her father was a tenants rights lawyer. Her mother was a teacher. She, you know, comes from progressive Democratic politics. I think she's very much -- her politics, I mean, you know, we're guessing a little bit here because I think she's been careful, especially lately not too say too much about what exactly her politics are. So we're guessing a little bit. But I think her politics are definitely in the mainstream of Democratic Party thought, very much like President Obama's politics. And that she will be, you know --bills coalitions to guide the court in a way consistent with President Obama's overall philosophy of governing.
CHETRY: Quickly, do you think she'll have any trouble getting the nomination?
SOCARIDES: I think --
CHETRY: Getting the approval?
SOCARIDES: I think we will have a fight but not an all-out war. I think that, you know, the fact that she has been confirmed before recently by the Senate will make it a lot easier for her. There's certainly no skeletons in her closet because she's just been through it.
ROBERTS: Richard Socarides, it's great to have you with us.
SOCARIDES: Thank you. Thank you.
ROBERTS: And we'll check back with you a little bit later on this morning as well.
SOCARIDES: OK, great.
ROBERTS: And stay with CNN because President Obama plans to announce the nomination this morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We will bring it to you live as soon as it happens.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, a hung parliament in Great Britain. There is still no power sharing deal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Talks stalled after seven hours of negotiations yesterday. And there are concerns that a hung parliament could further fracture Britain's fragile government and rock its financial markets. Both parties will meet again today.
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven up, 27 down, that's baseball perfection and that was Oakland's Dallas Braden yesterday, tossing just the 19th perfect game in major league history as the A's beat the Tampa Rays 4- 0. Before this, Braden was best known for a simmering feud with the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez. Not anymore though. Braden now has his own place in baseball's record books.
CHETRY: Singer and actress Lena Horne has died. Her signature song, "Stormy Weather," a fitting symbol for her long career. Lena Horne was a trailblazer knocking down racial barriers and paving the way for future generations of African-American performers. She'd been in failing health and died last night in New York. She was 92 years old.
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour now. Reynolds Wolf is in the weather center in Atlanta. He's got a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. And what happened to May? Oh, my goodness.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know, man, definitely. And quite a few changes in the forecast. We're going to see even more today.
You guys brought up the two words, "stormy weather." We could certainly see that in parts of the central plains. So let's go right to the map and show you what we're talking about.
Mainly into parts of Kansas and Oklahoma later today, we could see some strong storms right now. Most of the rainfall is now moving into parts of the northern plains and into Memphis and Kansas City. Look for the showers to really intensify. Some stronger storms, possibly some tornadoes into the afternoon hours for much of the central plains. Some of the roughest spots that I mentioned could be in Oklahoma and into parts of Kansas. I would say between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 is where things really could get interesting.
Now in terms of delays, obviously in places like, say, Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, you might see some backups there. Maybe in Dallas, too, where the high will be 89 degrees, 68 in Washington, D.C., 61 in New York. Again, a cool morning for you in Boston. Also, 59 degrees the expected high and 52 in San Francisco.
Guys, that's a snapshot of your forecast around the nation. We've got more coming up straight ahead. Let's send it back to you in New York.
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds, thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETRY: And still to come on the Most News in the Morning, he did not act alone. The Obama administration for the first time connecting the dots between Times Square bombing suspect, Faisal Shahzad, and the Pakistani Taliban. We're following developments live from Washington ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twelve minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
This morning, his mission failed but the White House now says Times Square bomb plot was hatched in Pakistan with the Taliban directing would be bomber, Faisal Shahzad.
ROBERTS: Top administration officials say new evidence has convinced them of Shahzad's Taliban connection. Here's what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CBS' "60 Minutes" last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are connections. Exactly what they are, how deep they are, how long they've lasted, whether this was an operation encouraged or directed, those are questions that are still on the process of being sorted out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is following developments for us this morning, and she's live in Washington. Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. A week ago administration officials were saying they thought Shahzad was operating alone. But the investigation has taken a different turn and now administration officials are saying definitively, Shahzad was working with the Taliban in Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: It looks like he was working on behalf of the Tehreek-e (ph) Taliban Pakistan, the TTP. That's the Pakistan Taliban. This is a group that is closely aligned with Al Qaeda.
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We know that they helped facilitate it. We know they helped direct it. And I suspect that we're going to come up with evidence that shows they helped to finance it. They were intimately involved in this plot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Neither Brennan nor Holder provided any specifics. The development is an important one because the TTP, believed to be responsible for the assassination of Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has never before been implicated in an attack inside the United States. Brennan and Holder gave no hints as to whether Shahzad had other associates here. Pending investigation is continuing.
John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: And meanwhile, the attorney general also made some comments about Miranda rights. What did he say?
MESERVE: You know, Holder revealed that Shahzad was questioned for about four hours under the public safety exception before being read his constitutional rights. Shahzad is still cooperating, providing information to interrogators. But Holder says the government needs greater flexibility to question terrorism suspects than is provided right now. He said the administration would look to work with Congress to carve out new exceptions.
The issue of reading Miranda rights to terrorism suspects became a flash point in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Christmas day bomber, with some Republicans arguing terror suspects should be treated like military detainees not criminal defendants. It has surfaced again since the arrest of Shahzad.
Kiran and John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us in Washington -- thanks so much.
And coming up at 6:40 Eastern, we're going to talk with the customs and border protection officers who made the dramatic arrest of Faisal Shahzad at JFK Airport. Robert McConkie, Paul Casquarelli and Frank Formato joining us this morning. Looking forward to hearing from them.
CHETRY: Yes, it'll be great to hear from them how it all went down.
Meanwhile, coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, the problems in Greece are far from over, but there is a bright spot this morning and Christine Romans has a preview for us.
Hey, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
After a really brutal week last week, we have Dow futures up 400 points, huge rallies across the globe for stocks. Why? An unprecedented, almost $1 trillion rescue for Europe to make sure that Greece's problems don't cause a global crisis.
I'll tell you more about that right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Nineteen minutes past the hour right now, Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Stock futures up somewhere between 350 and 450 points this morning, and a lot of it is news about Greece.
ROMANS: Right. A lot of excitement yesterday about a huge war chest that was hammered out yesterday by European nations. A war chest of loans and guarantees to protect the European Union from a spreading Greek debt crisis. This is essentially European leaders and central banks getting together and saying we are not going to let this spread to other countries. We are going to defend these countries and prevent a debt crisis from getting worse.
So you've got Dow futures up sharply. You have European stocks up sharply. You have French stocks up 7 percent -- 7 percent is a huge move for stocks. You've got British stocks up about 4 percent this morning.
Let's take a quick look at what this plan entails. It's really big. It's $570 billion of government-backed loans from the Eurozone countries. It's a $77 billion stabilization fund, economic stabilization fund from the EU, that's bigger than many people thought, and another 284 billion in loans from the IMF. The total there, more than $900 billion.
Separately there's another plan for the Fed and also -- the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States -- also Canada and some others to come together to do some emergency kind of programs to make sure lending keeps flowing, a program that's meant to improve lending. Because what happened last week, we started to get concern that some of these European banks were starting to get a little more cautious about lending to each other. And when you have the banks cautious about lending in the middle of a debt crisis, that becomes a problem.
This is all a very big attempt to stop what has been happening from Europe from tearing apart the European Union and spreading to the rest of the world.
ROBERTS: Do you have a Romans Numeral?
ROMANS: I do. The number is nine. And this is why this morning's rally in stock futures, if it lasts, is so incredibly important --
ROBERTS: Because there were nine down sessions prior to today?
ROMANS: There were. Last week was the ninth biggest drop in the history of the Dow. The ninth biggest in just one week, point drop, that was a really big move. It's why what's happening in Europe. It's why what is going on with the rescue plan. It's why it matters to you. Because last week all of these concerns brought down stocks to the ninth worst week in history.
CHETRY: Some of the analysts are saying this bailout plan is the shock and awe the markets needed to see to feel secure again, so we'll see.
ROMANS: Yes, shock and awe is absolutely right. A lot of people are shocked by how big it is. It has a lot of work to do from here on out, but the markets are moving very strongly and decisively this morning.
ROBERTS: See if they stay that way.
ROMANS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Thanks. Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business." Next up on the Most News in the Morning, well, it didn't work. Efforts to stop the flow of oil from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico with the containment dome failed. We'll tell you what BP is going to experiment with coming up next.
It's 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Pretty cool. That blinding light this morning was the sun shining off of a high rise. It's a gorgeous shot of New York City this morning.
ROBERTS: Very lovely, very lovely.
CHETRY: Welcome back. By the way, 25 minutes past the hour right now.
The first attempt to contain a massive oil spill in the Gulf failed over the weekend. What happened is ice-like crystals clogged the containment dome as soon as it was lowered to the ocean floor. So what happens now? BP is preparing a smaller dome to try to capture the spewing oil.
ROBERTS: Meantime, the situation is growing desperate. One Coast Guard official actually suggesting that crews may try to stuff the leaking well head with shredded tires and golf balls to try to plug it up.
Our Rob Marciano has been tracking the cleanup and the potential health risks. He's in Pass Christian, Mississippi this morning.
What's the situation like there today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, John with the slick over 6,000 square miles, bigger than the size of Connecticut, they are continuing to scramble and they can't plug the leak.
So from the Florida Keys to the Texas border, people are prepping and trying to protect the shoreline as best they can. Commercial and recreation fishing boats are heading out and being asked to help. Amateurs on the ground also stepping up to the plate.
But make no mistake about it, cleaning up oil is risky business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): Clearing the oil is a big job, and the pros can't do it alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a safety training class.
MARCIANO: So the call has gone out to recruit the locales.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're going to be working in contaminated waters, you'll have to have boots -- rubber boots.
MARCIANO: Hundreds have already volunteered to help and safety training like this is being held across the coast.
CAROL VAUGHN, BEACH CLEAN-UP VOLUNTEER: Why are they getting volunteers when they have contractors?
MARCIANO: A reminder that cleaning up oil is a dangerous job.
VAUGHN: Hearing today, the type of equipment you have to wear to pick up trash off the beach was a realization that this is real and it's happening.
MARCIANO: Some volunteers who pitched in after the Valdez spill are still sick. Due to financial sediments, many can't even talk publicly about health problems, but it is bad.
DEBBIE TAYLOR, BILOXI REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: I have long-term effects, some central nervous system effects and who's to say we won't see that here. It think it's just going to be a wait-and-see game.
MARCIANO: Debbie Taylor is on the frontlines at Biloxi's Regional Medical Center where preparations are already underway.
Some of Taylor's first patients could be these fishermen.
(on camera): Normally, these boats would be out trying to net some shrimp. But the oil spill has put a stop to that, so they sit and they wait. Some of these boats may actually be out working for BP trying to clean up the mess.
(voice-over): BP is already holding informational sessions. Phillip Nguyen now wants a long-term contract to clean up. He runs two shrimp boats that now sit idle.
PHILLIP NGUYEN, SHRIMP BOAT OPERATOR: Unpredictable for the future of the shrimp business and shrimp industry, we need some sort of financing income from somewhere.
MARCIANO: The Coast Guard performs safety checks before each vessel is approved for duty.
Safety for the boat, but what about the crew?
RICK COW, FISHERMAN: We're worried about that too, but working and we've got to do it, you know? You got to take risks on that.
MARCIANO (on camera): So you need the money so you start doing it?
COW: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: It is a desperation like that that has officials worried because a lot of fishermen, quite frankly, they talk pretty tough.
And behind me in Pass Christian, we just saw three or four boats leave just a few minutes ago to head out to sea to start laying some more of that boon. They have laid about a million feet of it and they have about a million left that they can put out there if they need to, not to mention the skimming efforts underway as the slick continues to grow. Dolphin Island in Alabama, they are setting up snare nets to snare some tar balls that were reported over the weekend and now the slick is beginning to creep farther to the west. So the sensitive areas, the Achapalia (ph) Bay across central Louisiana now under threat.
The weather, John and Kiran, over the weekend has been idea. We have offshore winds and it's an offshore breeze and this time of year it doesn't last long. Winds will shift and that ever-growing slick will take a slow march to the north and get in contact with more sensitive land areas. Folks here continue to battle. It's going to be a long one at that.
CHETRY: And, Rob, we were told it was a long shot, the lowering of the containment dome. But we never heard about the potential for ice crystals to clog the dome. What do you make of that? And what can be done, if anything?
MARCIANO: You know, they never tried this before, at least in this sort of scope. When you're dealing at working at that level, 5,000 feet underground at the incredible pressure and temperatures that you come in contact with. And quite frankly, the chemical makeup of the ocean down there, there's a lot of unknowns and that's one thing they didn't take into account. So there's a lot of smart people working on the project and hopefully they can figure out a solution to that one. And if not that one, maybe just plug it the old-fashioned way, which has been talked about over the weekend. They just want to get it down some way, shape or form.
CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano for us, covering all of it -- thanks.
Coming up in 30 minutes, we're going to be joined by British Petroleum's chief operation officer, Doug Suttles, about the backup plan to the contain the leak and what the company is up against right now and the worst case scenario for the environmental nightmare.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now and that means it's time for this morning's top stories.
Upon further review, the White House says accused Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was not a lone wolf and got his marching orders from the Taliban in Pakistan. Officials say new evidence convinced them of the connection. Shahzad has been cooperating with federal investigators.
Emergency officials say 23 people in Tennessee were killed by last weekend's historic floods. And that means there were 32 fatalities across the southeast. Forty-two counties are designated federal disaster areas. And city officials say the damage in Nashville will cost $1.5 billion. Three members of President Obama's cabinet, the secretaries of housing and commerce will tour that area today.
And CNN has confirmed that Solicitor General Elena Kagan is President Obama's pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan has never served as a judge. She is the former dean of the Harvard Law School. If confirmed, she will be the third woman currently sitting on the Supreme Court, joining Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
CHETRY: Well, we want to dig deeper with who Elena Kagan is and how she ended up in line for such a powerful position with no judicial experience.
Kate Bolduan has been looking into all of that and she joins us now from Washington.
I guess when it comes to the confirmation process -- no judicial experience can actually be a good thing?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It can cut both ways and we'll definitely see that spun as we head into confirmation hearings coming up, Kiran. Well, a young Elena Kagan, she clerked for Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, and he famously nicknamed her "Shorty." Kagan may be small in stature but she has a big resume and now, as we will know, a huge challenge ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Elena Kagan, here, congratulating retiring justice, John Paul Stevens, on his long and distinguished career.
ELENA KAGAN, SOLICITOR GENERAL: If you ever argue before the Supreme Court, beware, underlying Justice Stevens' extraordinary politeness, extraordinary courtesy, danger awaits.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Now, the solicitor general could fill the very seat Justice Stevens is vacating at the end of this term.
KAGAN: Thank you, Justice Stevens.
(APPLAUSE)
BOLDUAN: A 50 -year-old New York City native, Kagan is a former dean of Harvard Law School, where she also received her law degree. She worked in the Clinton White House and is currently the federal government's top lawyer before the Supreme Court. She's argued six cases herself since taking over the job in 2009.
During confirmation hearings for that position, some senators were skeptical Kagan had the necessary experience because she's never been a judge and had at that point never argued a case before the Supreme Court or any court for that matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you going to handle that and how are you going to prepare yourself?
KAGAN: I'm very confident that I'm up to this part of the job as I am to all of the many other parts. I think I bring up a lifetime of learning and study of the law and particularly of the constitutional and administrative law issues that formed the core of the court's docket. I think I bring up some of the communications skills that have made me -- I'm just going to say -- a famously excellent teacher.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: But those same questions about her thin judicial record may return to face Kagan once again in this round of confirmation hearings. But working on her favor, Elena Kagan is known as a strong intellectual and a consensus builder, Kiran, which will serve her well on this very fractured court.
CHETRY: And, you know, as Richard Zacaretti (ph) told us about 30 minutes ago, many refer to the solicitor general position as the tenth justice. So, she is very familiar with court and the court body.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: All right. Kate Bolduan for us this morning -- thanks so much.
ROBERTS: The investigation into the Times Square bomb plot suspect, Faisal Shahzad, hones on in his alleged connections in Pakistan. Investigators are still working clues here on the ground in New York. But how exactly did the feds get their man at the last minute?
Coming up: we're talking live with the officials who took Shahzad into custody. Wait until you hear from them.
It's 34 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Thirty-seven and a half minutes after the hour.
Now, the White House says there is evidence now that the Pakistani Taliban, a group said who had close ties with al Qaeda, was behind the botched bomb plot in Times Square. And Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department hopes to find a money trail leading straight to suspect, Faisal Shahzad.
Here to talk more about the arrest itself, three men from U.S. Customs and Border Protection who were called into action that night: Supervisor Robert McConkie is here with us, along with Supervisor Paul Casquarelli, and watch commander, Frank Formato.
Good to have you with us, gentlemen. First of all, congratulations --
GUESTS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: -- on a job well done. Lord knows what would have happened if you guys weren't there to apprehend him.
So, Paul, you're there that night. You're the leading team. It's, what it is, it's called the outbound enforcement team, right?
PAUL CASQUARELLI, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: Yes, outbound force.
ROBERTS: So, you're there on the tarmac. You're near the Emirates Plane. Call comes over your cell phone. What happened?
CASQUARELLI: Well, the first thing I did was I dispatched two officers up to the door of the airplane.
ROBERTS: Well, first of all, what did the call say?
CASQUARELLI: The call said that we had a positive no-fly suspect on the Emirates flight that was departing at 23:00 hours. So, the first thing I did was dispatch two officers up to the door of the aircraft to make sure that the airline knew not to leave, that we had to remove the subject off the airplane.
ROBERTS: Now, were you aware what this guy was wanted for?
CASQUARELLI: I was getting information updated as everything was going along and by the time me and Officer (INAUDIBLE) got to the door of the aircraft, we knew the name of the subject and what he was wanted for.
ROBERTS: So, Robert, what goes through your mind when you -- here's the most wanted man in America and he's feet away from you in the plane?
ROBERT MCCONKIE, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: Well, basically due to our training, you know, we put emotions aside and --
ROBERTS: Oh, come on. For a second, there wasn't one of those moments?
MCCONKIE: No, we've dealt with no-fly issues before. And that time when I was in the door of the aircraft, I didn't know exactly what it was. I just knew it was a positive no-fly and I had a job to do.
ROBERTS: So, what did you tell the crew to do?
MCCONKIE: Just told the crew, gave them the name of the individual that we needed. He was seated 34 Charlie. We need this individual to come off the plane, that he was going to be what we call an offload. In other words, he wouldn't be getting back on the plane.
The airline -- because in addition to that, we had the other passengers to worry about also. So, we wanted to make sure it was as safe as possible. So, the airline went and individual came off the airplane. As soon as we got to the door of the aircraft, I asked for his passport and confirmed his identity. At that point, we escorted him down to a secure area.
ROBERTS: And what did he say to you at the time when he came out of the plane?
CASQUARELLI: He spoke to Officer McConkie.
MCCONKIE: When he came off the plane, he didn't say anything. He complied with our request. We took him down to a safe area. The JTTF (ph) secure area, away from the aircraft and the other passengers. We did an immediate pat-down, make sure that he didn't have any other contraband on his body and took him into custody at that time.
When we began to escort him down into the FBI's (ph) holding area, at that point, he -- at one point, he looked over and asked who he was. He was like, "Are you FBI, NYPD?" And I said, "No," I showed him. I said I'm with Customs and Border Protection." And that point, he looked over and said, "OK, I wondered what took as long as he was waiting for you."
ROBERTS: So, he figured he was going to get caught.
MCCONKIE: Yes, sir.
ROBERTS: So, Frank, why didn't they go on board the plane to take him off? Why did they ask for him to leave the plane himself?
FRANK FORMATO, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: Well, they did it for a few reasons. The first thing is officer safety. They don't want to -- if they walk up right behind somebody, they don't want to startle them. They don't want other passengers to think there's something major is going on.
So, the best and the safest way to do it was, just have the airline to page him so this way he would just come up -- come to the front of the plane so the other passengers wouldn't get startled as they saw the officers walk up right into the plane. ROBERTS: Again, you never thought that there was a danger that if you alerted him, that they wanted him, that maybe he might do something on the plane to, you know, prevent him from having to get off or, you know, force you guys to come in and get him?
CASQUARELLI: Either that or either he might get startled and do something odd. We didn't know if there was any other people on the plane that might have been with him that, you know, see us walk up and try to take some action as well.
ROBERTS: And on that point, it didn't end there because the plane backed away from the gate and was on its way over to the runway when it was called back again. What was that all about?
CASQUARELLI: That was information that there might be two other passengers on board that might be connected with the same issue. So, they had to bring the plane back.
ROBERTS: What led to you believe that?
CASQUARELLI: Just saw the other names that were given to us by the FBI and JTTF.
ROBERTS: So, were they -- were they similar names to people who are on board the plane? Or --
CASQUARELLI: Yes, they were, you know, possible connections.
ROBERTS: Still haven't got a full explanation who these other people might have been.
CASQUARELLI: No.
ROBERTS: Frank, the incident didn't end there because then you discovered that Shahzad had a vehicle that was in one of the parking lots. He told these gentlemen that he had a gun in the car. What were your concerns there and what did you do?
FORMATO: Well, right there, immediately, my concerns were the vehicle because of what he was suspected of doing at Times Square. That became the major issue. And we had thousands of people in the airport, inbound, outbound passengers.
So, immediately, I called the Port Authority Police and the bomb squad for the Port Authority Police, did an excellent job, they were down there in minutes, and able to clear that vehicle within 20 minutes. So, the one of the many concerns --
ROBERTS: So, you were concerned it might have been booby trapped?
FORMATO: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Yes. All right.
You and Paul went to the Mets game on Friday night where the club honored you there at Citi Field as heroes. What was that like?
FORMATO: It was excellent. I mean, Mets organization, very classy organization, treated us well. I mean, all around, it was very excellent.
ROBERTS: Were you ready for that sort of honor?
CASQUARELLI: That came up a little quick during the day on Friday. So, it was a surprise. It came pretty fast.
ROBERTS: And the big question is: where was Robert in all of this? Why weren't you at the game?
MCCONKIE: I had other arrangements that I had to take care of. It had been a long week and so, I had a dinner that I had to make up for. So -- ROBERTS: So, she didn't want to go to -- she didn't want to go to a baseball game?
MCCONKIE: No, sir.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: I said earlier, maybe she was a Yankees fan.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Hey, gentlemen, it's great to see you this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Congratulations on a job well done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John, thank you very much.
ROBERTS: We hear about the other law enforcement agencies. It's great to see you getting some publicity on this as well because you really were the last line of defense on this case. Appreciate you coming in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thank you -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Great to talk to you guys this morning.
Well, it's 43 minutes past the hour. When we come back, Reynolds Wolf will have the morning's travel forecast right after the break.
Also coming up in just 10 minutes, Betty White turns hosting "Saturday Night Live" -- it was one of the most watched nights in years. And in case you missed it, or you just want to laugh again, we'll have some of the highlights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning, Washington where it's a beautiful day in terms of sunshine, but temperatures feel more like early spring than late spring. Forty-four degrees right now. Later on today, the high only getting up to 66 but lots of sunshine, so it's still be pretty good.
CHETRY: It's so weird it was actually warmer a month ago than it is now.
ROBERTS: I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia over the weekend, and it was warmer there than it was here in New York.
CHETRY: Yes, the winds blew and some cold --
ROBERTS: And met the long way away.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly. Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Attorney General Eric Holder that says a federal lawsuit against Arizona's controversial immigration law is a possibility. Holder telling NBC's "Meet the Press," that justice department could file a challenge to the law if it violates civil rights and leads to profiling. The measure allows police to question a person's residency status based on their appearance.
ROBERTS: America's suburbs are experiencing white flight according to a Brookings Institution study. The Brookings Institution found that a lot of people who are white, younger, and educated are moving back into the city because there are better jobs there and less commuting time. And for the first time ever, the majority of the all ethnic and racial groups in America's largest markets live outside the city. Suburbs now are more likely to be home to minorities and poor and elderly.
CHETRY: Two pains in the neck for Tiger Woods this weekend. Neck pain forcing him to withdraw from the yesterday's final round of the playoffs Players Championship. Tiger says he thinks it might have been a bulging disk in his upper back. Pain in the neck number two, a rowdy spectator who refused to stop heckling Tiger about his ex- premarital affair during Friday's second round. Police had to taser the spectator when he would not leave the golf course. Must not happen very often on the pro tour.
ROBERTS: They're tasering them on the field at baseball stadiums. Now, they're tasering them at the golf matches. What's next? Don't any of you guys get out of line. Believe me.
Hey, we want to let you know a little schedule change. It'll be 10:00 this morning, not 11:00 that the president is going to announce Elena Kagan as his nominee for the Supreme Court.
Right now, let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf in the Extreme Weather Center. Good morning to you, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys you're taking --
ROBERTS: By the way, don't get out of line.
WOLF: Hey, fair enough.
ROBERTS: They can taser you down there, no problem.
WOLF: A taser-free forecast.
ROBERTS: OK. Rick Sanchez is on the case. He'll get you.
WOLF: Hey worry only today a bit of get and return of that cooler weather in parts of New York. Enjoy it while you can because sooner enough we're going to have these temperatures, again, think of late August Avenue will be Americans (ph) and then New York or even along west because it's going to have be brutal then. Today, it's going to be cool day for you in the northeast, but it's going to a very tumultuous day in parts of the central plains and also in the mid Mississippi Valley. We'll get a few scattered showers and storms.
We're going to zoom on this location, especially from Kansas City back on parts of 44 from Memphis to Oklahoma City. It could be rough but especially parts of Kansas and Oklahoma later on today. We've got this area of low pressure and plenty of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. That combined with your daytime heating. It could give you some strong storms, not only that, but there's the possibility of large hail forming and maybe some flash flooding, and you can't rule out the chance of a few tornadoes also. So, keep that in mind for the day.
Now, in terms of your forecast a bit farther to the south from the Gulf of Mexico for the oil containment cleanup efforts, you can expect wind out of the southeast run 15 miles per hour. A stronger gust is certainly possible. Wind wave is nearer from three to five feet. Temperature is mainly into the 80s. Pretty comfortable day for you. And then speaking of temperatures in the parts of the southeast, you can imagine, it will be a bit warmer, say in Tampa, 89 degrees.
But then when you factor high humidity, it's going to feel like around 92 or 93 or so. Dallas 89 degrees. It can wrap things up in Kansas City, 58 degrees, 61 in New York and 62 in Salt Lake City, 52 in San Francisco. All seems a bit cooler out by pier 39 in San Francisco. That's your forecast, guys. Let's send it back to you in New York.
CHETRY: Sounds good. Reynolds, thanks.
This morning's top stories are just minutes away including the country's Solicitor General Elena Kagan is President Obama's choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. We have the best political team on television standing by.
ROBERTS: At 07:10 eastern, BP not giving up after their first attempt to stop the oil spill failed this weekend. So, what's plan B for BP? We'll talk with their chief operating officer for exploration and production coming up.
CHETRY: And at 24 minutes past 7:00 eastern, addicted. We meet up again with a young woman who was hooked on a deadly combination of prescription drugs. After being rushed to the hospital, she was told she was 15 minutes from death. So, is she ready to quit? Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY WHITE, ENTERTAINER: I'm not new to live TV. In 1952, I started my first live sitcom which is "Life of Elizabeth," and of course back then, we didn't want to do it live. We just didn't know how to tape things. I don't know what this show's excuse is.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: If you missed it, a lot of people are going to be talking about it at work today. Betty White's hilarious stint hosting SNL, and a lot of the shows funniest female Alums came back as well including Tine Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon. White thanked her fans who took the Facebook demanding that SNL give her the gig while at the same time keeping her tongue firmly in her cheek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITE: I have so many people to thank for being here, but I really have to thank Facebook.
(APPLAUSE)
WHITE: When I first heard about the campaign to get me to host "Saturday Night Live," I didn't know what Facebook was. And now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Right on, Betty, a lot of people feel that way, but many others do not. Betty White helped SNL, by the way, score its best ratings performance since November 1, 2008. That was just before Election Day, and of course, and Tina Fey with the Sarah Palin impersonation, a huge hit then. Another great moment came when Betty joined Will Forte for his MacGruber skit. MacGruber is, of course, the show spin on MacGyver but a little bit dumber.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITE: MacGruber, do you have still have scars when you had your breast reduction surgery?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't, because I never had one.
WHITE: Oh, you're embarrassed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have gone over this before. This is not story time. We are trying to defuse a freaking bomb here.
Nana! She's just playing dead. She does this all the time for attention. Good job, Nana, really mature, 88 years old. Really freaking mature. Everyone knows you're still alive. Check her pulse.
I saw that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: She is hilarious.
CHETRY: She did great. I think she did a great job.
ROBERTS: When you look back over her history going back to the Mary Tyler Moore Show and all that, she is one of the funniest people ever, and it's great to see her at the age of 88 still kicking it, isn't it?
CHETRY: Absolutely. We're going to take a quick break. Three minutes until the top of the hour and your top stories when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
