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American Morning

Hurricanes and Strong Winds Threaten Gulf Coast; Shallow Water Drilling Jobs on the Line; Chicago Teens Talk About Deadly Violence

Aired July 01, 2010 - 07:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, July 1st.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's an American Morning, but it's Canada's birthday.

CHETRY: Yes, Canada Day.

ROBERTS: So, for everybody north of the 49th, happy birthday to you this morning.

CHETRY: There you go.

I'm John Roberts. Good to have you with us this morning. Lots to talk about as well. So, let's get right to it.

South Texas still being pounded by hurricane Alex this morning. The storm now deadly over the border and a new worry this morning that this violent hurricane will cause even more destruction with flooding, mud slides and tornadoes and disrupt the oil cleanup for days to come.

CHETRY: The offshore drilling ban was only supposed to hit operators in deep water, but as it turns out, drillers in shallow water now say that they're forced to lay off hundreds of workers as well and more cuts could be on the way. We'll tell you why.

ROBERTS: And the name is Chapman, Anna Chapman. We're learning more about the accused Russian spy and her double life here in the United States. It turns out the 28-year-old redhead with the Bond girl looks left a trail of videotape behind.

CHETRY: First this morning, along the south coast of south Texas and northern Mexico, hurricane Alex is unleashing its fury. The massive storm is now responsible for at least one death so far in Monterrey, Mexico. It slammed into the short line with a category two hurricane with 105-mile-an-hour winds just south of the Texas-Mexico border.

ROBERTS: Alex is kick up huge waves and could keep skimming boats up the water over the weekend. The CNN weather team is tracking it for you, Bonnie Schneider in our hurricane headquarters. But first, let's go to Reynolds Wolf on South Padre Island in Texas. What's it like there now, Reynolds?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, what we have here now, John, still buffeted by strong wind gusts. The rain has been intermittent at best. The storm continues to pound the shore lines. You've got the wind, the occasional rainfall, of course, the heavy surf, but also a sense of luck out there.

Just another day out at sea this storm could have been a major hurricane. As it was, there was rapid intensification with this storm as it came closer. And a category two hurricane, but just a little more time on the open water this could have been a real powerhouse.

The storm made landfall about 100 miles from my exact location. We had winds strong enough in this area, 50, 60-mile-an-hour gusts. Strong enough to close bridges to the mainland, in fact, on the mainland, back towards Brownsville, Texas, there was some flooding.

Also two tornadoes confirmed, winds strong enough to knock over a tractor trailer. But in terms of injuries, none to report. Power outages have been minimal at south pad tray area. Some back towards the airport and Harlingen area. So things were certainly quite hairy there for a bit, but could have been far worse.

CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf out there, thanks for the update.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROBERTS: As you just heard, heavy waves are shutting down the cleanup and containment effort 600 miles away from the eye of that storm. Here are the latest headlines from the Gulf of Mexico and the oil spill. The coast guard says rough seas are tossing around miles containment boom, 500 oil skimming ships had to return to shore, and efforts to burn the oil also shut down.

CHETRY: Reinforcements on the way on what's called the largest in the world oil skimmer. A tanker from Taiwan called "A whale" retrofitted especially for the Gulf.

ROBERTS: BP says despite that, drilling continues on the relief well. The two tankers on the wellhead are still collecting oil. Now, they're within just feet, by the way, of the wellbore, but it's still going to take time to get there.

CHETRY: And also fingers crossed as to whether or not that original wellbore was damaged in the explosion.

Admiral Thad Allen turning in one hat, now officially retiring from the coast guard, but remaining President Obama's civilian point man overseeing the oil spill disaster.

ROBERTS: Also developing this morning, police in Oregon have reopened an investigation into allegations that former Vice President Al Gore sexually assaulted a massage therapist in a Portland hotel room four years ago.

Police took statements from the woman back in January, 2009, but initially closed the investigation for lack of evidence. The second look comes after the "National Enquirer" identified the woman. CNN senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin spoke to Anderson Cooper about whether the investigation was reopened solely based on her interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What's obviously very much disputed is what happened in the hotel room. She says that he made a series of sexual advances short of rape but physically painful. She says she was in -- she had to get physical therapy for months afterwards because of injuries that she received. But she then managed to extricate herself from the room and eventually reported the crime. That's what she says.

What's disturbing about reporting on it is that the police have only released her statement --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Spokesman Kelly Cider said Mr. Gore unequivocally and empathically denied this about cushion when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial.

CHETRY: Remember President Obama's beer summit? Now an independent committee says that both Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley share the blame for the racially charged incident in Massachusetts that led up to that beer summit.

The panel assembled by the Cambridge police department said both Gates and Crowley had other options and missed opportunities to ratchet down last year's encounter.

ROBERTS: Sony it recalling 233,000 laptops. There is concern that the computers can overheat. Sony says it has reports of 30 laptops getting so hot that the case and the keyboard actually warped. Information on which models are affected can be found on Sony's website.

CHETRY: Coming up on the most news in the morning, an accused Russian spy disappears after a judge released him from bail. Now there's an international manhunt underway. It's seven minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Oh, the spies among us. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

New details now about the alleged ring of Russian spy it's in United States. Nine of the ten suspects arrested this week in Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia will be in federal court today trying to make bail.

However, there's a very strong case against that because there's a manhunt on for an 11th spy suspect. Now, wait a second, you're saying, wait a minute, wasn't there already a manhunt for an 11th spy suspect and that person was captured? Yes, that happened. The man was arrested in Cyprus, trying to get onboard an airplane and get out of dodge. But he was released on bail, and surprisingly enough, vanished.

CHETRY: There you go. That's why they're fighting it for the other ten, right, here in the United States.

ROBERTS: They know they're a flight risk. Obviously this guy proved it.

CHETRY: As Deb Feyerick tells us from Cyprus, not easy to get away.

In the meantime, we're also talking about the effects that hurricane Alex is having on the gulf spill cleanup, certainly complicating matters with the huge waves kicking up rough seas and making the skimming efforts very difficult.

Joining us now on the phone is St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro. Are you with me, Craig?

CRAIG TAFFARO, PRESIDENT, ST. BERNARD PARISH, LOUISIANA (via telephone): I am, Kiran, good morning.

CHETRY: Thank you for being with us. Give us the situation given the complications from the hurricane in the Gulf?

TAFFARO: Well, we're actually continuing to have pretty heavy rain bands that have come across the Louisiana coast. And in St. Bernard, what has basically happened is it's really docked our skimming vessels from getting out in the open water where we've been most successful in capturing, to this point, over 350 barrels of oil with skimming vessels.

So it really puts us at a disadvantage of having to wait for the bans to get through the system.

CHETRY: Yes. And then there's also talk -- I mean, this is the earliest we've seen a June hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. I think the last time was in 1995 in the Atlantic hurricane season. If this is just a sign of things to come, what are the other plans in dealing with this? If you guys are having to deal with this several times, it seems it's going to hamper the cleanup efforts.

TAFFARO: Absolutely. We are spending our downtime trying to come with alternatives because, you're right, this weather pattern isn't going away. This is what we're going to be facing for the next several months. So we have to come up with something, otherwise, it forces us into a defensive posture, just waiting, letting the oil come in. And that's not acceptable for us.

CHETRY: And the coast guard said 500 oil-skimming ships had to return to shore. They also reduce the burning efforts as well. What is the plan, as far as getting the ships back into the water?

TAFFARO: Well, we were hoping to start putting some of our boats back in this morning, and we're getting hit with another rain band. Hopefully, it will pass. Here it's just after 6:00 a.m., so we're hoping that we'll get boats out in the next couple of hours to at least get out to where the boom has been laid and try to make sure we secure it if it's been damaged if we can't get all the way to the oil and start skimming.

CHETRY: I know there's a lot of just frustration in neighboring Jefferson Parish as well, that plan to get some of the barges and rocks off of Grand Island and other the places. I guess many local and state leaders saying that the feds are dragging their feet, saying this is a war and we need the ability to fight this now.

Today we're getting reports of baseball-size and softball-size tar balls rolling up on the beach as wel. Do you echo that frustration with how this has been going, day 72, day 73 right now, in terms of the fed approving some of your local plans?

TAFFARO: The problem with delays and waiting is it creates exponentially greater problems. It's not that we wait a day and come back and make up that day. The problems mount when we have delays.

For example, the rocks in Grand Isle, the barges in Grand Isle, it's just silly things have to go through a bureaucratic process when it was a common sense approach and common sense solution.

The same thing with the berms being built on chandelier -- we wasted six days that we would have had a mile of coastline rebuilt. Those kinds of delays are not and cannot be part of this type of approach. If we're really fighting a war, then we have to throw everything at it as quickly and as efficiently as we can and get out of bureaucratic review process.

CHETRY: So are those conversations happening with the administration?

TAFFARO: We're sending the message out, certainly. You know, and the frustration of it really is -- Kiran, is that I think many of the local municipalities have gotten to the point everyone on the ground, coast guard, BP, local municipalities, other agencies that are working in conjunction with the local municipalities, the local governments, are getting the message.

The problem is when it gets from the local municipality and it gets through the Houma process. Houma is where the area command and New Orleans is where the area command is. But when it leaves that area, it seems to find its way into a black hole where things don't happen quickly. And there's a lack of connection, of understanding between what's really going on on the ground and what needs to be supported from the highest level.

CHETRY: Certainly a shame as you guys continue this fight and the oil keeps spewing. Thanks so much for joining us this morning and giving us your insight and your take on what's going on today. St. Bernard president, Craig Taffaro, good luck to you.

TAFFARO: Thank you, John. Thank you, Kiran. You guys take care.

ROBERTS: All right. You bet. Craig, thanks so much. The offshore drilling ban wasn't supposed to impact drillers in shallow water. So why are they being forced to cut jobs. We're live in New Orleans with details on that, coming right up.

Sixteen minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes now after the hour. Right now, there are many people in the gulf out of work, and not just because of the oil spill, but the government's ban on offshore drilling which a judge recently said must go away.

CHETRY: That ban was not supposed to impact drillers in shallow water, but as it turns out a lot of shallow-drilling jobs are also on the line this morning.

CNN's Money Steve Hargreaves is live in New Orleans. Explain how this happened, Steve.

STEVE HARGREAVES, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, the government has been trying, has been issuing new safety rules on requirement. And the drillers have been trying to comply and the government has been trying to review all the permits. But it's been a slow process. And they haven't issued any new permits to drill basically since April 20th.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a well that I believe was probably initially drilled in the 1960s or '70s. Most of what we're drilling here on the shell is stuff that is under pressure. We need to re- stimulate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're the largest shallow water jack-up provider in the Gulf of Mexico. We have several thousand employees here in the Gulf of Mexico and in several countries around the world.

HARGREAVES: How have you guys been affected by the BP spill?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're afraid we're not going to be drilling soon. We've already had several rigs that have gone idle because the federal government is not issuing new drilling permits. We've heard rumblings and rumors that drilling permits will be issued. But since April 20th, we haven't seen a single new drilling permit in shallow waters.

HARGREAVES: How many people could add to that impact?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're afraid that there's about 50 available jack- up rigs that are in the Gulf of Mexico. We think that by mid-July, late July, all but one or two of those jack-up rigs will not have permit and work to do and we'll be sending these workers home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they do stop our drilling in the gulf and if the rigs start rolling down, people will start losing their jobs. In our area, you know, people make pretty good money work out here. When those people lose their jobs, they're not spending money, so it trickles down through the whole economic system in the area.

HARGREAVES: You guys feel like you should be able to be allowed to continue drilling before the "Deepwater" investigation is complete, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. We've been drilling these shallow water wells since the Truman administration safely and without major incident investigation. And as you've seen as you walk around the rig, our safety equipment is sitting on the rig itself. We don't need robotics. And we don't need to go down a mile to the seafloor to intervene with our safety equipment. And the world knows what a blowup preventer is. Our blowup preventer is sitting right on the rig. But we do support the administration's imposition of new rules and safety requirements. We think they're a good idea. And we're already complying with those rules. But there is a lot of uncertainty.

When is the rule-making going to stop? When are the new requirements going to stop coming out? And that uncertainty makes rig owners look for work somewhere else. Five months will really cause these rigs to leave. Three months will really cause these rigs to leave. Rigs are going to leave and we are going to start dismantling an industry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: So here's what's confusing, Steve, the federal government says we will permit wells that are above 500 feet of depth, as long as these operators can adhere to the safety requirements. The drillers say that they can operate safely. So where's the disconnect?

HARGREAVES: Well, the drillers say they can do this safely. But there are a lot of people that say, you know, we should hold off a little bit. Environmentalists point to spills that have happened in Mexico and Santa Barbara fairly recently, Australia. And they say that the government should have the time to reform their oversight agencies and really get this thing right.

You know, there's a lot of sympathy for these guys down here. But you know, I talked to one restaurant owner in Pensacola, and he says, you know, he feels bad for the drillers but he says, no, something like the BP incident can never happen again. And he says, you know, if these guys can't drill, well, they're just going to have to get in the unemployment line with everyone else.

ROBERTS: Right. OK, Steve Hargreaves for us this morning from New Orleans. Steve, thanks very much for that.

CHETRY: This is a region that just keeps getting hit. Because of Alex, there's about a quarter of the oil production that's also halted some of these rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico. So, it's difficult.

ROBERTS: They always have to evacuate the rigs when the bad weather moves in. But you know, just in terms of the shallow water drilling, too. Remember that well, 1979, off the coast of Mexico. It was only 200 feet deep. They couldn't close it for 10 months.

CHETRY: Right. And people are likening that to this situation right now. How do they finally get it to stop?

Well, CNN is your source for news about your money. Just head to CNNMoney.com to learn more about the BP spill and, of course, the economic impact it's having in many, many regions.

In the meantime, a huge Supreme Court decision repealing Chicago's handgun ban. The city is dealing with a very deadly year, 209 homicides so far. Ahead, we're going to talk to some of the city's teenagers to ask, why do they fight?

Twenty-four minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Your top stories just four minutes away. First, though, an "A.M. Original," something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.

The Supreme Court's decision this week to strike down Chicago's 28- year-old handgun ban is now dividing the city. But if you flip to the newspaper editorials, one thing is certainly becoming clear.

ROBERTS: Everyone agrees that something needs to be done to deal with crime in the city of Chicago. According to "the "Chicago Tribune," there's already been 209 homicides in the city since January.

Our T.J. Holmes talked to some Chicago teens about the violence in their hometown. He joins us now live with part two of our series "Walk in My Shoes."

So, what did they have to say, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we went right to the source here, if you will, John and Kiran. We talked to him. And, John, I think you mentioned those numbers about the homicides and so much focus is put on the homicides, specifically on the shootings. But during the year, there are so many other teenagers who are also injured and sometimes seriously, simply through fights that they have at school. Fights they get into before school and after school. So we went, like you said, right to the source and asked these teenagers, what in the world are you fighting about?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: How many in this group -- you can raise your hands if you want to -- how many you all have been in the past year in a fight, physical altercation of some kind? All five of you in the past year have been in a fight of some kind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last September for me.

HOLMES (voice-over): For these Chicago teens, fighting is a way of life. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like that every day in school. There's not a day you don't see somebody bumping somebody not get into an argument over petty stuff.

HOLMES: Not an accidental bump, but a move meant to intimidate.

(on camera): Why is it so important to be a big man on campus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like if you're a big guy, you want to keep that reputation. So if somebody bump you, you automatically just say something to him because you won't feel like and you will be like, you just got treated like a punk.

HOLMES: Has anything gotten more serious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once I got jumped. I was by myself and I found myself sitting in a group. And then, they were like, you, OK, we're going spare your life today. And that scared me.

HOLMES (voice-over): What these Chicago teens tell us is not unusual. In fact, nearly 40 percent of Chicago public school students were involved in a physical fight.

LILA LEFF, CEO, UMOJA STUDENT DEVELOPMENT CORP.: High school is about young people scrambling for power and influence.

HOLMES: Lila Leff leads a program that in part tries to stem teen violence. She says kids are vying for power and prestige everywhere.

LEFF: In some high schools, the currency is how much money your parents make, or what car are you going to drive when you're 16, or what college you know you're going to get into because you're taking five-day classes. And in some places the currency is your reputation.

HOLMES: Because for many of these teens, a reputation is all they have. Eighty-five percent of Chicago public school students live below the poverty line. Gangs, guns and drugs are all too common in poor neighborhoods.

(on camera): Have you all witnessed some kind of violence? Shootings?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd say my brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They happens every day. It will be mostly over petty stuff.

HOLMES (voice-over): For these teens, the daily threat of violence is all too real.

(on camera): Wait a minute. You all kept it here. You all carry -- you carry this stuff around when you're outside? (CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. If you don't carry -- if you don't carry --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You might as well just lay down over your grave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You might as well dig it yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who don't carry mace?

HOLMES: Wait, what do you carry? What do you carry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I carry a knife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I carry a tape (ph) and mace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I carry a mace, box cutters and (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES (voice-over): These teens have developed a tough exterior in order to survive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I told my mama I got into an argument, you're going to fight her? I'll get your scary (ph) stuff on my face.

HOLMES: An attitude youth violence expert, Dr. Carl Bell, says is no surprise.

DR. CARL BELL, PSYCHIATRIST: The parent is scared something is going to happen to the kid, and that fear turns into anger and the anger gets transmitted to the kid. And the kid is told, defend yourself. Because if you are a punk, people are going to try you.

HOLMES: Leff's program, Umoja, tries to change that thinking. Teaching students leadership skills to help resolve conflict without fighting. These five teens say it's helping them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I learned how to control myself.

HOLMES: Amber was suspended 15 times for getting into fights during her freshman year. Now, a junior, she says she's worked hard to keep trouble at bay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I start looking at a lot of situations different. I started looking at a lot of fights different. Like when people come to me, I'm like, think, I'll be (INAUDIBLE) and I'd be thinking in my mind, OK, it's fine, it's not really worth it. You're going to get 10 days out of school and it's not even worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well, happy to report, you see Amber there who made such an impression there in Chicago. Well, Amber and the other girl, you saw in there (INAUDIBLE) they are involved in the school's program. It's called Peace Circles. It's exactly what it sounds like. They sit kids down who are about to fight and who have some kind of conflict. They sit down and they work it out.

So those two girls have become very active in that. We're told that many students have participated and it's cut down 90 percent. Those involved at least, 90 percent of them don't get involved in the fight.

Also a follow-up on Kevin, you saw there in the piece as well. He's planning on attending Southern Illinois University in the fall. But guys, it's tough. But one step at a time. One student at a time. Really you have to do this. That program in that school issuing some results and they can also show that suspensions are down dramatically at Langley High School there in Chicago.

CHETRY: That's all good news, T.J.

It is though - it makes you stop and think when you hear Amber saying, her own mother said to her, "wait, you didn't fight that girl? What's your problem? Get out of my face." I mean, that's what's being reinforced at home, that also seems like a huge hurdle.

HOLMES: Yes. It all starts at home, of course. We talk about why kids fight. Quite frankly, there's nothing to fight about. They don't have a real reason to fight. The reason they are fighting is because they don't have anything that they feel is on the line.

They don't feel like they have something at stake. They don't have college to look forward to. They don't have anything down the road. So they don't feel like they have anything to lose. And what you have to do is give these kids something to look forward to. Something that's on the line, something they could lose. And they would quite frankly, that would be one way to head off the problem.

ROBERTS: Yes, pride of ownership in something.

T.J., great story. Thanks so much.

HOLMES: See you, guys.

CHETRY: And T.J. is back tomorrow with part three of our special series. He's going to take a look at what it's really like to walk in a Chicago teen's shoes. In fact, he will take the walk with two teens to see how they survive on Chicago's tough streets. That's tomorrow here on the most news in the morning.

ROBERTS: Well, we're past the half hour now. Checking today's top stories across Southern Texas and Northern Mexico, thousands of people are taking cover as Hurricane Alex roars over land. The fear now that the massive storm system could cause flooding and mud slides and kick up tornadoes. Alex is responsible for at least one death, so far, that coming from Monterey, Mexico. The storm made landfall late last night as at category 2 hurricane. CHETRY: And even though Alex is some 600 miles away from Louisiana it is disrupting oil spill clean-up efforts. And it could be for days. 500 oil-skimming boats have already had to head back to shore. And officials say that the hurricane tossed around booms that were meant to keep the oil from spreading. The Coast Guard is planning on doing a fly-over today to assess the impact the storm has had on the spill clean-up.

ROBERTS: Police in Oregon have reopened an investigation involving former vice president Al Gore. A massage therapist accused Gore of unwanted sexual contact at a hotel back in 2006. The police spoke to the woman back in January of 2009. But initially closed the investigation because there was a lack of evidence. Gore spokeswoman says Mr. Gore "unequivocally and empathically" denies this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial.

CHETRY: Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is officially out of the hot seat. But today, supporters and opponents will be testifying in her Senate confirmation hearing.

ROBERTS: Now, senators have been grilling Elena Kagan for handling of the military recruitment issue while she was the dean of the Harvard Law School. And her decisions at the time have drawn mixed reactions from leaders on campus.

Our Jim Acosta is live in Washington for us and joins us now. So Jim, what are people saying about it. Well, you know, she gets sort of a mixed report card you can say, John and Kiran. You know, this week, as you said, Republicans have really grilled Elena Kagan on this issue, accusing her of punishing military recruiters during her time as the dean of the Harvard Law School.

But up on the Harvard campus, it's a different picture. A bit more nuance, a bit more academic in terms of the opinions on her handling of the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Elena Kagan's biggest fight was never in the courtroom, it was on campus. Back in 2004 as dean of the Harvard Law School, Kagan briefly kept military recruiters out of her campus' Office of Career Services. Kagan said the military policy of don't ask, don't tell which bars openly gay members from the armed forces violated Harvard's anti-discrimination rules.

(on camera): Do you think she did the right thing?

SETH WALTON: I think she walked a very fine line.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Seth Moulton, a member of the Harvard Veterans Alumni Association said Kagan tried to strike a balance, restricting recruiters while going out of her way to show respect for the military.

(on camera): Is it fair to say though that she did treat you a little differently during this controversy?

SETH MOULTON, HARVARD VETERANS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEMBER: It's fair to say that. I think a lot of veterans would have like to see her do more. We don't like to feel like the military is a second class citizen when it comes to recruiting.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But Kagan did allow the military to continue recruiting through Harvard's Veterans Association. That disappointed students on the other side of the issue.

ADAM SORKIN, HARVARD LAW GRADUATE: As a student leader of the gay and lesbian group, you know, it had the same effect of allowing the military on campus.

ACOSTA: Adam Sorkin, a former president of Harvard's Gay and Lesbian Association believes Kagan took a pragmatic approach to protect her image and future prospects.

SORKIN: And did that affect her decision? I'm sure it did. Only Elena Kagan can know that. But from the outside looking in, I definitely think that she was cautious.

ACOSTA: But Kagan had another reason to be cautious. Something called the Solomon Amendment, a law that threatens to pull federal funding from colleges that block military recruiters. At her hearings this week, Kagan defended her actions, insisting the recruiters had full access to her students.

ELENA KAGAN, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: The military recruiters did not go down, indeed, in a couple of years, including the year that you are particularly referring to, it went up.

CAROL STEIKER, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: I think it was absolutely the right call.

ACOSTA: One of Kagan's long time colleagues and former classmates Professor Carol Steiker argues there's more to the story of the former dean.

STEIKER: I think we have a pretty good idea of the kind of person Elena Kagan is. Her political bona fide such as they are, she clerked for two great liberal jurists. She worked for two presidential administrations. She's been a solid liberal democrat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: A solid liberal democrat according to one of her friends. Well, Kagan ultimately lost the battle over those military recruiters. They're on campus today but it looks like she will win the war over her nomination to the Supreme Court. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee predicts she will be confirmed and looking at some of the other comments, John and Kiran from other Republicans on that committee, not only is it doubtful that this nomination will be filibustered, it looks like she may get more Republican votes than previously thought. The reviews are in and she handled herself pretty well during this hearing. John and Kiran. ROBERTS: Yes, the element of humor that she injected into those hearings is very rare too when it comes to Supreme Court nomination.

ACOSTA: It doesn't hurt.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet.

CHETRY: Why was she, by the way, being asked about where she was on Christmas day?

ROBERTS: Well, it was preface to, you know, the whole thing about the terrorism incident and all of that. But it was just interesting Lindsay Graham said "where were you on Christmas day." She immediately launched into the whole thing about the failed bombing attempt and he came back, "I was just asking you where you were on Christmas."

CHETRY: And then she said, like every good Jew, I was at a Chinese restaurant probably.

Well, the Kagan confirmation hearings resume today. You can watch them on CNN online, CNN.com/live. And also there's an app, CNN app on the iPhone. You can watch it there, too.

ROBERTS: Well, with all of the immigration laws being passed at the state level and at the local level. More pressure is being put on the federal government to do something about immigration. Is a reform bill in the offing? And is it even the time to do it. We'll debate the issue coming right up.

It's 38 minutes past the hour.

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. President Obama hopes a speech that he'll deliver in just a few hours will generate support for immigration reform. The president wants what he calls a comprehensive approach to fixing the system and he says, Democrats can't do it alone.

Joining us to offer both sides of this hot button issue from Washington, Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of California and on Capitol Hill, California Republican Brian Bilbray also of California.

Congresswoman Sanchez, let me start with you. You know, two wars, replacing General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan, the struggling economy, the oil spill. A lot on the president's plate right now. Why bring this up now?

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, first of all, it's long overdue. It has been a long time since 1996, since we had a reform bill. We need one because, first of all, it is about the economy. When the economy turns around. We'll need more workers than the ones we have in the United States. So we have to get ready for that. And we should have a process that works where people can come and work here.

Secondly, it's about tearing apart our families. Usually, it's a mother who gets taken away from her children and gets deported. Her children are left behind. And that's not a good thing. That's not what we stand for. But more importantly, as the vice chair of the Homeland Security Committee, I will tell you, I have limited resources. We have limited resources to really train those resources on terrorists who want to do us harm. And so we need to be able to sort of get rid of that haystack of other people who are coming here in an illegal way.

ROBERTS: Right.

SANCHEZ: So that we can open the door to those who want to come and work. We know who they are. And of course, we've been doing that by trying to fortify our borders, both on the northern, the southern border. But also our maritime borders, all our coastal system is also a subject to that.

ROBERTS: Congressman Bilbray, all of these laws that are being passed at the state and local levels, state of Arizona SV 1070, a law that was recently passed in Fremont, Nebraska. Immigration is supposed to be a federal issue. Does the federal government need to step in now and do something about it?

REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: Yes, John. And they should. They should not make the same mistake they did in '96, OF rewarding people for being here illegally. But call on everybody who work together on the bipartisan bill. The Schuler bill which had, you know, over 230 supporters in the last Congress.

The president should abandon the concept of going back to the '86 law and trying to do amnesty again. Let's do something we can all agree on. Let's concentrate on the employment magnet. That's what's (INAUDIBLE) in it. Let's create a simple system and require everybody to use e-verify. A program that the president has agreed for not only the federal government, for all the contractors.

Let's do what we can do together right now, rather than holding out for another amnesty program. We can do this.

ROBERTS: So -

BILBRAY: Bipartisan efforts have been done and people on both sides of the aisle agree, let's concentrate on the employers. Let's concentrate on the simple system of verification, and only after we control illegal immigration should we be talking about any of these other stuff that's being piled in and holding the process hostage.

ROBERTS: Congressman Bilbray, do you believe that if you implemented the e-verify system and you put the onus on employers not to hire undocumented aliens that these people will simply go home? I mean, what do you do with undocumented aliens who are already in this country? BILBRAY: Well, first you do is you stop paying them to stay here. Second of all, you do not tell the world that you're going to reward illegal immigration. I spent most of my time -

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ROBERTS: Sure, sure. But again, what do you do? Do they go home? What do you do with them?

BILBRAY: Either a great majority of them will be return down there but we address that issue after we've secured our borders and our workplace. Because while you're talking about, talking about rewarding illegal immigration, how do you expect people around the world to expect that we're going to enforce it when we're openly discussing that we're going to reward 12 to 20 million people with permanent residency if not citizenship because they broke the law. You can't ask people not to come here when you make that kind of an announcement.

ROBERTS: OK. On this issue of border security, the president says he's going to send 1,200 more National Guard troops down to the border. That's not good enough for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and she's up for reelection this year, so it's a hot button issue for her.

Here's an ad that she's running. Let's take a look at that.

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GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: He promised that we would get word from his administration on what they were going to do to secure the border. Well, we finally got the message - these signs. These signs, calling our desert an active drug and human smuggling area.

This is an outrage. Washington says our border is as safe as it has ever been. Does this look safe to you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Congressman Sanchez, Governor Brewer met with the president. That's where she got assurances of greater border security. They got some signs.

Is the president doing enough on border security?

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: Well let me say that this Congress and the president have grown, for example, our border patrol from 4,000 people five years ago to 20,000 border patrol now. A majority of that is put on our southern border, even though our terrorists have come - all known terrorists that have come across have come across the northern border or through our airports.

Secondly, we have more assets, meaning, you know, those planes that fly around that take a look at what's going on there, more stuff from our DOD, from our Departments of Defense. I have things that I can't even talk to you about that we are doing on the border. So, this whole insinuation that somehow we have not done anything is incorrect, including, by the way, now we are stopping traffic before it goes into Mexico to get cash and to get the - the guns that are sold from the 7,000 gun shops that are within five miles of that Mexican border. There are a lot of things we can do. We have also done quite a bit.

ROBERTS: Congressman Bilbray, final word to you here, do you agree?

Is enough being done on the border?

REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: No, now (INAUDIBLE). I was born and raised on the border. The fence is working, but we're never going to control the border until we control our employment facilities that are the draw. If you eliminate the employment facilities, you reduce overwhelmingly the majority of people who'll be crossing that border.

But we've got to be tough enough to be willing to tell our friends, sorry, big employers, they're not going to be able to continue to exploit this cheap, illegal labor anymore. But until we're able to tell our friends no more cheap labor, you're not going to be able to control that border. You're playing a shell game.

We need to control all the employment facilities in the United States, and then you'll see the border problem being reduced down to the drug smuggling problem that we can manage.

ROBERTS: All right. We'll be looking forward to the president's statement today.

Congressman Bilbray, Congresswoman Sanchez, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much for coming in.

BILBRAY: Thank you very much, John.

CHETRY: Well, just in to CNN, Hurricane Alex now downgraded to a tropical storm, but there - it is still a big threat in parts of the country. Bonnie Schneider is in our hurricane headquarters with more on that.

Also, the July 4th holiday weekend outlook, is it going to be nice? Bonnie's going to tell us, coming up.

Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: Just in to CNN, Hurricane Alex now downgraded to a tropical storm. Bonnie Schneider is in our hurricane headquarters, taking a look at it.

I mean, even though we're talking about this downgrade, we're certainly still going to feel the effects here in mainland U.S.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Kiran and John. Though tropical storm may sound like it's less of a threat, but remember, the winds right now are at 70 miles per hour and it only takes 74 and above to be a hurricane. So this is a strong tropical storm. Alex will be downgraded once again probably to tropical depression status later today, but even as that's happening, we're still looking at the threat for very, very heavy rain and heavy downpours.

Here's where the oil slick is, as you can see, closer to Louisiana. Wind and waves will continue to influence areas of the oil slick. The track took it to the south, luckily, but we still have thunderstorms in the vicinity and strong winds coming from the southeast, continually coming from the southeast that will only make things worse for oil coming onshore.

In the meantime, the threat for flooding persists through Texas, Northern Mexico, Louisiana, and even coastal sections of Mississippi and Alabama as we get some heavier downpours of thunderstorms. The flood watches for that reason will actually continue straight into the evening hours, some as late as 7:00 tonight.

You can see they extend all the way towards Biloxi, Mississippi, back out to the west, down through Brownsville, Texas, some areas already reporting flash flooding because we're seeing so much rain. Watch out for that, and also, keep in mind, the rest of the country is looking so much better, drier and whole lot more pleasant in the northeast where you are in New York.

Back to you.

ROBERTS: Bonnie, that's a good thing. Thanks so much. Although it's going to be short-lived because it's supposed to be really hot by the end of the weekend.

This morning's top stories are just minutes away now, including he could be the biggest free agent in history. No, not Larry King. He's sticking around here.

King James is a free man today. Where will LeBron land?

CHETRY: And at 35 minutes at the hour - after the hour, Team USA head coach Bob Bradley. Will the excitement for soccer stick and does he feel like he got robbed by the refs? We're going to talk to him when he joins us live.

ROBERTS: And at 50 minutes after the hour, texting and parenting. Shouldn't your kids be getting more attention than your Smartphone?

Those stories and more, coming your way at the top of the hour.

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ROBERTS: Time for your "A.M. House Call" now, stories about your health. A groundbreaking discovery about the devastating and irreversible Alzheimer's Disease, a new study found a specific combination of tests can best predict your chances of developing the disease.

CHETRY: And it's very important. It's a progressive disease and being able to figure out whether or not you're at risk can make a difference. And here to break it down for us, our own neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from Atlanta. Thanks for being with us.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

CHETRY: Sanjay, you know, a lot of people are very interested in finding out whether they can tell early on which round of testing seems to work the best.

GUPTA: No question about it, a lot of people are looking into this exact question. And what they - what those specifically were trying to answering here, people who have mild cognitive impairment think of that as confirmed memory loss. Who is most likely to go on to develop Alzheimer's Disease, exactly as you mentioned.

All sorts of different tests out there, but what they found it was really a combination of two tests in particular that were the best predictors. One is called a PET scan. This is what a PET scan looks like.

It's going to be a little bit hard to tell, but it's measuring how much glucose is actually being used in different parts of the brain. As less glucose is being used, you can see differences in color here. That is an early sign that someone is more likely to go on to develop Alzheimer's Disease.

Also, if you take a look specifically at - at something else known as a memory test, specifically, where you have - you have a list, for example, of 12 different words and then have the person look at that list of words and then try and memorize them over time and repeat them back five times. That was the second test.

So the PET scan, this memory test, if you did both those tests together and someone did not perform well, they had a 12 times more likely - nearly 12 times more likely to get Alzheimer's Disease within two years.

So, this - this was, as John mentioned, very important because that's the goal, trying to figure out who out of these people is most likely to go on to develop Alzheimer's.

ROBERTS: So what's - what is the benefit, Sanjay, of - of finding out who is most likely to develop Alzheimer's? I mean, obviously, there are benefits, letting people know around them that this is going to happen, caregivers can sort of get in line and all that. But there's nothing in terms of pharmaceuticals or treatments that will ultimately prevent the progression of this disease.

GUPTA: That's right. I mean, you know, as things stand now, that is true, John. But if you look at a test like this, a PET scan, and you understand something more about the way this disease behaves, you can start to get an idea that maybe there's some other ways, some other medications perhaps, other insights into possibly treating it or even preventing it in the future. And I think that - that's one of the real keys here.

But the second thing is - is exactly as you mentioned. I mean, a lot of this is - you know, about one in five people roughly every year who have mild cognitive impairment are going to go on to develop Alzheimer's Disease. If you do the math, over four, five years, it's about half the people who have mild cognitive impairment. So planning ahead is certainly a big part of that.

CHETRY: Scary statistics, and a lot of people are wondering is there anything I can do? Is there anything I can change about my lifestyle that could help delay the symptoms?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, and - and that's interesting. You know, it's sometimes hard to quantify the impacts of things like this. But, you know, for example, if you take a look at simple changes you can do in your lifestyle -- brain food.

People heard have this term before, but there are certain foods that actually really do seem to make a difference in terms of prevention. Antioxidant-type foods, turmeric is a particular spice.

You know, they found in - in many South Asian countries, the rate of Alzheimer's Disease is much, much lower than in other countries, and they attribute that to a lot of the spices, particularly turmeric used in food, 40 percent reduction of risk.

Simple exercising, moving around, that can certainly be helpful. Being social, staying engaged, doing crossword puzzles.

Again, it's tough to quantify the impact on - on many of these things, but they all do seem to help. Being social, as some people have said. Have a Happy Hour every single day. That - that - you know, staying engaged like that can really seem to make a difference.

ROBERTS: You know, some of the people I saw in my - my mother's Alzheimer's, when - I mean, they were chief of surgery at major hospitals, so they would have had a very active brain. They would have been engaged late in their life and still didn't stop the decline.

GUPTA: Yes. There's no question, you know - and again, it's hard to quantify the impact of some of these things, whether it's higher doses of anti-oxidants, whether it's medications like these - these medications that leave us, you know, choline, which is a neurotransmitter, circling around the brain longer and should we be doing that earlier? Is it that glucose metabolism in the brain, should we somehow try and up that earlier in life?

John, these are questions that we still don't know the answers to. And you're absolutely right. It's - it's very hard to predict if one in five people every year who have mild cognitive impairment going to develop Alzheimer's Disease. I mean, that's a huge number, and we got to do better predicting who those people are. ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning with the latest on the Alzheimer's research, and that is definitely some exciting stuff. No question about that.

Sanjay, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thanks, guys,

CHETRY: Thanks, Sanjay.