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Judiciary Committee Takes Up Holder Confirmation; Secretary of State Designate Clinton Referred to Full Senate

Aired January 15, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: She responded to their questions and now Hillary Clinton waits for their response. Live this hour, a Senate panel votes on her nomination for top diplomat.
Plus frigid front. An arctic blast that's made the Midwest shiver move east.

It is Thursday, January 15th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Still burning out of control. The warehouse in Gaza City where the United Nations relief agency stores all of its humanitarian aid. The compound was hit repeatedly by shrapnel and artillery, injuring three workers.

Israel's defense minister calls the shelling of the compound, quote, "a grave mistake."

You're looking at some live pictures coming in to us here at CNN. And the U.N. chief meeting with Israeli leaders at the time says has he conveyed his outrage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The time has come to for the violence to stop and for us to change fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza and to pursue, again, the peace hopes for a two-state resolution, which is the only road to lasting security for Israel.

We don't have any more time to lose. We must end the civilians suffering now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Ban Ki-moon is in the region trying to broker a cease- fire here.

In the meantime, want to get you back to these live pictures just coming in to us now at CNN. And bear with me as I just read to you from some of our producer notes here. We do have a producer in Gaza who is now confirming that building that you see, that black smog coming off in Gaza City has offices for Reuters and other media organizations. Obviously, been hit in this ongoing fight in the area.

Reuters is reporting at this time that all of its employees are uninjured, but two employees for Abu Dhabi Television were injured and have been taken to an area hospital for treatment.

We, of course, will stay on top of this story for you. But once again, just reminding you what you are looking at now, this is a building in Gaza City that has offices for Reuters and other media organizations.

Learning from Reuters that all of its employees are apparently uninjured at this time. Two employees for Abu Dhabi Television, though, were injured and have been taken to an area hospital for treatment.

Once again, dramatic pictures coming in from the fighting in the Mideast. We are going to stay on top of the story and have correspondents in the area. We'll get back to this just as soon as we have more information.

Meanwhile, just five days now until the inauguration and the Senate is moving quickly to get most of Barack Obama's people in place.

Here's what we're waiting on this hour. The confirmation hearing for Eric Holder. He is the president-elect's choice for attorney general. We'll have more on that in just a moment.

Also this hour, we'll see the hearing for secretary of the interior nominee, Ken Salazar.

And the Foreign Relations Committee vote on Hillary Clinton's confirmation. Afterwards, they'll hold a confirmation hearing for Suzanne Rice picked to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. So, obviously, a whole lot going on this morning.

We want to get back to Eric Holder now, though. The attorney- general nominee is likely to face some tough questions on his work during the Clinton administration when he was the number two at the Justice Department.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is joining us live on Capitol Hill this morning for this part of the story.

Brianna, good morning to you. This was a -- relatively controversial choice when it was first announced by the Obama transition team.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this is probably going to be the most contentious confirmation hearing that we see.

Eric Holder, for the last several years, has been a bit of a rainmaker in private practice. However, before that, in the Clinton administration, he was the deputy attorney general and there's a couple of things that happened under his watch there that are expect to get a whole lot of attention today, probably from Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate judiciary committee that is holding this confirmation hearings.

Now the first thing has to do with Clinton's last-minute pardon of fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich, someone who fled to Switzerland in the '80s when he was being tried for tax evasion and his wife or his ex-wife had donated money to the Democratic Party and to the Clinton library.

And again, this pardon happened at the very last minute. Apparently, Holder had told Rich's attorney that he could appeal basically directly to the White House, so the sense being that Eric Holder really didn't stand in the way of this pardon. Something that in 2001, shortly after this happened, he told a congressional committee that he would have done differently. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: In hindsight, I wish that I'd done some things differently with regard to the Marc Rich matters, specifically I wish I had ensured that the Department of Justice was fully informed and involved in this pardon process.

But let me be very clear, be very clear about one important fact. Efforts to portray me as intimately involved or overly interested in this matter are simply at odds of the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, the other issue is likely to be the pardoning of many members of a Puerto Rican Nationalist group that decades ago had been involved in domestic bombings. Now, the people who were pardoned had not been convicted of murder, but they had many years more on their sentences to serve out. And you know, basically in a post-9/11 era where terrorism is such a salient issue, this is something, Heidi, that is likely to get a lot of attention today.

COLLINS: Yes, and I wondered, too. There had been quite a bit of discussion about Eric Holder when he made the decision that he did, even though he said, you know, I wish I had thought a little bit more about it, if he is a person that will be able to act independently of some political pressures if, in fact, this is a confirmation that goes through.

KEILAR: And that's really the concern of some members that we're going to see. Especially in -- that was one of the complaints you heard of critics of Alberto Gonzales serving under President Bush. So you're going to be hearing people echoing that concern that they've had from the past when they question Holder today, Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. We'll be watching it closely. Thanks so much.

CNN's Brianna Keilar for us this morning on Capitol Hill.

As we just state earlier, we are also awaiting a vote on Hillary Clinton nominated for secretary of state. Of course, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held her hearing on Tuesday and they are now scheduled to vote on the nomination at the bottom of the hour today. We're going to bring that to you live. President Bush's farewell tour continues with a stop at the State Department this morning and a televised address tonight. The president is scheduled to speak about foreign policy achievements at the State Department stop next hour. And tonight, we should hear well wishes for the next president and a thank you to the country.

You can see the president's farewell speech live right here on CNN. That coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Vice president-elect Joe Biden is saying good-bye this morning as well. He is set to give his farewell address to the Senate next hour. We're going to bring that to you live as well.

Biden has been representing Delaware in the Senate for 36 years.

Hillary Clinton also expected to give her farewell address to the Senate later this morning.

A lot of good-byes going on today.

Roland Burris, though, wants to say hello. He's on his way to Washington this morning. He's scheduled to be sworn in later today as the junior senator from Illinois taking President-elect Barack Obama's seat.

Senate Democrats finally accepted Burris' credentials after a week of wrangling over Rod Blagojevich's Senate choice.

We know President-elect Obama is a devoted family man and now, a public glimpse at some private thoughts.

"Parade" magazine asked Obama to share his thoughts what he wants for his daughters. In a rare open letter, Obama writes, in part, "I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours.

In the end, girls, that's why I ran for president, because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation."

Barack Obama's voice.

Tuesday, of course, the big day. Barack Obama takes the oath of office, but our coverage of the inauguration begins on Saturday so tune in for NEWSROOM live from Washington at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, followed by a special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9:00 and "D.L. HUGHLEY" at 10:00.

That's on Saturday night only right here on CNN.

But even before he is sworn in, the president-elect is making his push on Capitol Hill for federal bailout funds. And now some lawmakers are pushing back.

A Senate vote today could block the release of the remaining $350 billion in that financial rescue fund, at least for a while. Democratic leaders are hopeful they have the votes to kill the resolution but say they're not sure.

Our Christine Romans is here now with the money side of this story. Your money, in fact, it's a good reminder. It is our money. It's not some pile of money that the government has that they're going to be doling out, Christine.

But what happens if the Senate blocks these funds now?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If the Senate blocks the funds, the president can simply veto that resolution and then the funds go out. I mean a lot of folks saying that they expect that eventually after the political fight in the processes that you're going to see the $350 billion available.

We know that Americans want more details about TARP funds. We know that a recent Gallup Poll shows that 62 percent of Americans believe they -- we should block it unless the details are provided on how the funds will be used.

We know that over on the House -- on the House side, that Barney Frank and others are pushing that some of these funds be used, instead, for homeowner relief, for foreclosure relief, and have far more strings attached than what we've seen so far.

So, you know, it's a good old-fashioned political battle here. And of course, it would be pretty unusual and comfortable, I think, for a president as soon as you come into office and immediately be, you know, going there...

COLLINS: Sure, but...

ROMANS: Going there against his -- a Democratic-led Congress.

COLLINS: Absolutely. But -- it kind of seems like if you look at the very bottom line to all of this, that the vote is almost moot. Obviously, it makes Barack Obama...

ROMANS: Yes.

COLLINS: ... go ahead with something that would be a tough decision to do. But he has already said that yes, if I get a no in both Houses, then I'm going to veto it. So I guess it's just a question of whether or not he's going to keep his promise.

ROMANS: That, and also how much of a fight these, you know, these lawmakers are going to make. You know they're trying to look good at home, too. I mean if most Americans don't want this and most Americans don't like the fact that they passed it in the first place, they don't like how the first half of the money has been spent, then, you know, they have to kind of get there out on the record that they don't like it.

Now you have -- you have Republicans who are sort of leading this charge but there are also Democrats who don't like the way that this is done. As I said, they want more homeowner relief and the like. And there's also a big debate about whether that $350 billion that was spent in the first place was a, quote/unquote, "failure." There are some people who are strong defenders of how that money was spent and saying that, you know, we don't know what it would have looked like if they hadn't put so much of that money into the bank.

So it's a -- very big...

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: ... kind of ugly political battle but I think the bottom line for people to realize is that your Congress already passed these funds, all $700 billion.

COLLINS: Exactly.

ROMANS: And they have this little -- this little escape clause that now they're fighting over for the second half of it.

COLLINS: All right, great, because there are a lot of questions about that this morning.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: I'm glad you cleared that up. Meanwhile, though, and talking about ugly. Not a good week on the jobs reporting either.

ROMANS: No. The most recent unemployment claims numbers, 524,000 people in the latest week lined up for unemployment benefits for the first time. 524,000. That is a big number. Anything under 400,000 shows a labor market in distress.

That's 500,000 people a week, Heidi, are lining up for the first time...

COLLINS: Boy.

ROMANS: ... to get their unemployment check and some people are telling me they think it -- it would really be higher if people could get through on the phone lines and could actually get processed because there's -- there's really a problem with that in some states.

And then we have more job cuts this week. So we know these numbers are going to keep going up.

Look at that. Motorola, Cessna, Cummins -- that's an engine company -- Neiman Marcus and Google. Google had never fired people. Never, you know, has layoffs. They are laying off a hundred recruiters.

COLLINS: Boy.

ROMANS: Why do you need recruiters in a -- in an economy like this?

COLLINS: Yes. Exactly. All right, Christine, we're continuing to look at the numbers.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: Sure do appreciate it. Christine Romans for us this morning.

ROMANS: Yes.

COLLINS: Well, it looks like a lot of people could actually use help from the financial rescue fund on the home front. More than 2.3 million American homeowners face foreclosure proceedings last week.

Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is joining us on these numbers.

Boy, Gerri, break down these foreclosure numbers for us.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you know, they're remarkable, really unprecedented.

Let's take a look at those numbers. 3.1 million American households in foreclosure last year, that's an all-time high. What does that include? That includes default notices, option sales, bank repossessions, you name it. It's a whole gamut. Up 81 percent from 2007. That's up 225 percent from 2006.

And get this, Heidi, that means 1 in 54 homes in this country in some stage of foreclosure. Really remarkable.

I want to show you the numbers, too, from December because this, too, came as a big surprise. People even followed the numbers. We had expected to get some kind of relief here in December because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they both decided to have a moratorium on foreclosures in December, a little holiday lull, if you will.

Didn't happen. The foreclosure filings, they went up yet again. You can see what's going on there.

And let's take a look at the worst hit states. Now, you know, this has really been a story of the southwest, the south, Nevada leading here, Florida, Arizona. As you can see, this is really hitting the Sun Belt hard.

And the -- one city in this country that really has become sort of the poster boy for this entire problem, Stockton, California. 9.5 percent of homes in foreclosure. 1 in 10. So if you live in Stockton, California, if you're not in foreclosure, a neighbor is or somebody you know very well is.

Really disturbing trends and very disturbing facts.

COLLINS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIS: Go right ahead. COLLINS: Sorry, I was just going to say, Gerri, really quickly, if you are in danger of foreclosure, what is the first thing that you do?

WILLIS: Well, you definitely call your lender. I know that a lot of people are frustrated they haven't gotten relief but that is your first step.

I want to show you some phone numbers here that you can call today...

COLLINS: Great.

WILLIS: ... to get some help. Let's take a look at those. First up, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They have a great Web site. Also a phone number, you can see it right here, 800-225-5342.

If you want a counselor, your debt is out of control, you're about to lose your house, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 866-845-2227.

Watch out for foreclosure scams that's my last word here.

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: They are rampant. If you get an offer in your mail to save your home, don't believe it.

COLLINS: Yes, you got to really check that out. And there's a couple of stories this morning.

Thanks so much, Gerri. Great reminder.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

COLLINS: Appreciate it.

Meanwhile shoveling the snow is bad enough but when you've got to do it in the brutal cold you're hearing that in a lot of states right now and soon even more.

We'll talk more about the weather. But first, more live pictures coming in to us right now. We are monitoring this developing story out of Gaza City right now. That black smoke that you are looking at, according to our producers in the area, the building holds building holds offices for Reuters and other media organizations. It's been hit in all of the ongoing fighting in that area.

Again, Gaza City, these live pictures coming in from -- we are learning from -- you hear the explosions there right now as we are live on the air. We continue to follow this story very closely.

I want to point out that Reuters is telling us all of its employees are uninjured but two employees for Abu Dhabi Television which is also housed in that building you're looking at, were injured and were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

That's the latest information that we have in an ongoing and very violent day once again in Gaza City. You're live right here on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.

COLLINS: An arctic system with its grip on the Midwest now reaching to the east and south so watch out. Bitter cold and gusty winds have followed snow in a number of states, even in Minnesota where residents are used to the cold, but double-digit below zero temperatures are a real slap in the face.

That's the kind of cold that hurts.

The extreme weather leading to hazardous driving conditions, as you might imagine. There were at least four fatal highway crashes in Ohio and Indiana yesterday. And it took longer for accident victims to get to the hospitals. At least two medical helicopters were grounded in Ohio by blowing snow.

Rob Marciano is standing by now in the severe weather center to talk more about this.

I don't even know how many days in a row we've talking about this brutal cold. But it is not seeming to let up.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. It's -- actually been getting worse. And so much so, Heidi, that we -- reports of thermometers actually freezing across the Midwest. So we've got them up on the map and it's actually no joke. I mean some of these temperatures are just dangerously cold.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes, and I did see the snow in New York City, by the way. Beautiful, beautiful if you can handle the snow in New York City.

MARCIANO: Different town.

COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: Certainly from the window, from -- on the right side of the window.

COLLINS: Exactly, from inside.

All right, Rob, we know you're following it. Thank you.

MARCIANO: All right. Yes. COLLINS: Meanwhile, we are following the violence in the Middle East. We're going to get back to some of these live pictures for you with our correspondent from Jerusalem in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Covering the angles, uncovering the details, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Quickly now, I want to get you back to this breaking news situation that we've been covering in Gaza City where a media building has been hit.

Our Paula Hancocks is reporting for us now live from Jerusalem this morning.

Paula, what more do we know at this point?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this is a news building which has news agencies like Reuters and other international news outlets and they came under fire as there was heavy fighting this morning in the center of Gaza City.

Now we know at least two Abu Dhabi TV employees were injured in the fighting and we know that they've gone to hospital and certainly the Foreign Press Association calling for this to end immediately as journalists, as well as many civilians, are getting caught up in the violence.

And also, we know that the U.N. Central Depot for their aid in central Gaza City has gone up in flames. Thousands of pallets of food, of water and fuel have just gone up in smoke.

John Ging, the head of the UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency in Gaza says he believes it was Israeli tank shells and also the controversial white phosphorous shells. He says that international staff believes that the white phosphorous was included as well. That's heavily restricted under international law.

Israel, at this point, though, saying it is not definite. It is -- its own shells that put the building in flame. But Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general, is in town and he says he is outraged -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Certainly an awful lot going on yet again as continue to follow this morning no only on the -- military front, if you will, but also on the diplomacy.

Paula Hancocks, for us, live this morning out of Jerusalem. Paula, thank you.

A mother and a daughter connected by blood, divided, though, by beliefs. Both once lived at a polygamous compound. Why they went their separate ways.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Quickly now, want to get to the opening bell for this Thursday. You see just about ready to ring the opening bell. This is Operation Warm -- there it is. A live shot for you there.

This is a group that actually is a nonprofit that distributes warm coats to a whole lot of people across the country. And that is a great thing for right now because we've been talking about this brutally cold weather for quite some time.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street, the Dow's losing streak has now hit six. But will some surprisingly positive news out of the banking sector help turn things around today, make things warmer, if you will?

(MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: Very good. All right, Susan. Thanks for the background on that. Sure do appreciate it. We hope it will be warm on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today. Thanks so much.

Also, Eric Holder hoping for a warm reception today. Confirmation hearings going on for him. He, as you probably know, is up for attorney general of the United States. This is before the Senate judiciary Committee, full committee hearing, actually, taking place in the Russell Caucus Room. We will bring that to you live.

Plus, we are awaiting a vote on Hillary Clinton, as well, nominated for secretary of state, as you know. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is gathering right now, preparing to vote any moment on her nomination. We'll bring that to you live as well.

Getting a taste of the outside world. But preferring the seclusion of a polygamist ranch. CNN's Gary Tuchman returned to the Texas polygamist ranch, where children were removed last year and he spoke with a young woman whose mother took her away from the compound years ago, but their beliefs led them along separate paths.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the Texas ranch owned by the polygamous sect known as the FLDS, a ranched close off to most of the outside world, is this young lady named Betty, and she hopes to be married soon.

(on camera): Would you like some day to have a sister wife or two?

BETTY JESSOP, FLDS MEMBER: Yes. That's a part of my religion.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): We had been invited to the ranch to do a story on the hundreds of children who had been returned after this past Spring's police raid. The day after we talked to 19-year-old Betty, we drive 45 miles from the ranch to attend a book signing. Carolyn Jessop says she was forced to marry a 50 year old man she despised when she was 18. She has written a book called "Escape," in which she writes about her harrowing escape with her eight children from the FLDS in 2003. But in 2007, one of those children, a daughter, decided to go back. In the book, Carolyn Jessop writes, "when she left, she promised to call, but none of us have been able to reach her by phone since her departure."

That child is Betty.

(on camera): What was it about the outside world that you disliked the most or that you were most scared of?

JESSOP: Mostly, it's shallow. I couldn't find any satisfaction in anything there.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): We tell Carolyn at the book signing, which has security guarding her because of the proximity of the ranch, that we will show her our interview with Betty.

(on camera): Do you miss your mom?

JESSOP: Of course.

TUCHMAN: I mean, do you wish she would come back?

JESSOP: If she would do that, that would be amazing.

CAROLYN JESSOP, LEFT FLDS: I could cry. I miss her. I mean, she's changed, you know? She looks like she's doing OK, but I miss her.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Carolyn's ex-husband and Betty's father is Merryl Jessop. He waved to us outside a Texas court this week. He is charged with presiding over an underage marriage. He has pleaded not guilty. Carolyn says Betty is one of his 54 children.

JESSOP: I'm beyond grateful to be back. I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

C. JESSOP: So grateful to be here and the expression.

TUCHMAN: Our interview with Betty was being observed by one of the FLDS leaders. But she nervously acknowledged she communicated with her mom two weeks ago.

(on camera): When you miss your mom, do you still love her?

JESSOP: Yes. Of course. On her birthday, I sent her a text that said "Happy Birthday," and she sent back, "thank you. We love and miss you and hope you are well."

TUCHMAN: How did that make you feel when she said she loved you? Was it emotional?

JESSOP: It was good to see.

C. JESSOP: It's comforting that there is some communication that I still have with her, and that even in front of other people, that she knows, she has to be incredibly careful what she says, that she would admit that made her feel good.

TUCHMAN: The FLDS says Betty is free to go if she wants. Carolyn says there is enormous pressure on her not to. But --

(on camera): Do you think you will be together someday?

C. JESSOP: I do. I really do. I love her.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But Betty says that will only happen if her mother comes back to you.

(on camera): If you could spend a week in the outside world, would you do it?

JESSOP: I spent four years. That was enough.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Carolyn Jessop gave Betty life, but she no longer shares it.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, El Dorado, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.

COLLINS: We've been talking about the deep freeze in the Midwest. It's now heading east.

Let's check in with a meteorologist from our affiliate KARE in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Jonathan Yuhas is braving those sub-freezing temperatures outside the station there at KARE 11. Jonathan, I don't have to tell everybody probably, but you can't really tell on TV; 21 below with the wind chill? You're standing in it?

JONATHAN YUHAS, KARE METEOROLOGIST: I'm standing in it. This is my office every morning.

COLLINS: I know!

YUHAS: I come out here and do the weather. This is the real deal.

COLLINS: It's your backyard.

YUHAS: It is our backyard. We do weather out here every day of the year, no matter what the weather conditions. Living in Minneapolis and growing up here, you have to embrace it, so we do that here. And I'll show you exactly how we --

COLLINS: How long do you want to go with the live shot here?

YUHAS: Until I freeze. When you see me frozen and not moving anymore, you know we're done, OK? We're finished.

COLLINS: Carry on. YUHAS: I have some things, though. A couple of years ago, it got really cold out here and I came up with an invention I'm going to show you in just a moment. I do want to show you one thing. All of the kids in Miami and Atlanta and Los Angeles won't be able to do this today, but people in he Chicago and Detroit and Minneapolis and Fargo can do it. That is, Heidi, you can actually make bubbles freeze.

It is so cold that when you blow these bubbles, it will freeze and shatter. You may not be able to see that very well.

COLLINS: Cool.

YUHAS: But it is really something else. The bubbles will last for up to five to ten minutes, too. So if I can get my -- my water is freezing here as I'm trying to do this. By the way, if you're trying to ever figure out what this cold feels like, it's very suffocating when it gets this cold. We're 21 below right now. Our wind chill is 37 below. But when you breathe that air in, it really feels like it's crushing your lungs. It gets very uncomfortable.

We don't have a lot of wind today, so wind chill is not a problem.

All right, now I want to show you that a simple couple of pieces of fruit can help you build a house here in Minneapolis this time of the year. What I did was I put out these bananas last night before I went to bed. They are frozen solid now. You can actually, both the peeled and unpeeled version, pound nails into woods with bananas that we froze here in the Twin Cities last night.

COLLINS: Wow!

YUHAS: What do you think that have?

COLLINS: I have not seen that before. I have not seen that before.

YUHAS: We call this the bammer, which is a banana hammer. There are specific things that have to happen for that. That is it has to be colder than 13 below zero and then you can hit the bammer.

COLLINS: Hey Jonathan, I hate to cut you off, but we have to get to some news coming out of Washington, DC, with our confirmation hearings that are happening. But we do appreciate the demonstrations there. We want you to get back inside, because 21 below, real temperature, 37 below with the wind chill. We just saw the banana hammer there.

YUHAS: Let me show you this. Water into a cloud.

COLLINS: There it is, the proverbial water into a cloud. Jonathan Yuhas, our affiliate there at KARE in Minneapolis, thank you. Stay warm.

Quickly we want to get you to this now. The confirmation hearings of Eric Holder for attorney general. This is going on in the Russell Senate Building. And we continue to follow this. We're going to be monitoring it for you and bring you some of these comments just -- actually, we're going to do that right now. Let's listen for just a moment.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: When he designated Mr. Holder, President-Elect Obama said, "let me be clear, the attorney general serves the American people. And I have every expectation that Eric will protect our people, uphold the public trust, and adhere to our Constitution."

The next president understands the role of the attorney general of the United States. I have no doubt that Mr. Holder understands what's required of the attorney general. His experience, the lessons he has learned, will serve him and the American people well. Senator Specter?

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Next to the president of the United States, there is no federal officer more important than the attorney general. The attorney general is different from any other cabinet officer, because cabinet officers ordinarily carry out the policies of the president. But the attorney general has an independent duty to the people and to uphold the rule of law.

The constitution calls for the United States Senate to advise and consent, and I agree with the chairman about the necessity to help President-Elect Obama tackle the problems of enormous difficulties which this nation faces. There is provided in the Constitution separation of power, and checks and balances, so that it is a duty of the United States Senate to exercise its responsibilities and to make an appropriate inquiry.

Independence is a very important item. Harry Doherty was attorney general during the Teapot Dome scandal. So I mention Attorney General Doherty because in coming in, I took a look at the long list of hearings, proceedings which had been held in this room. One of them was Teapot Dome. Another was the sinking of the Lusitania, the McClellan Committee, Iran Contra, many, many hearings.

There has been a question raised as to whether the issues which I have posed for Mr. Holder are political in nature. I have not hesitated to oppose prominent members of my own party, asking pointed questions, which is the Constitutional responsibility of a senator, and making an independent judgment and voting against them when I thought it was warranted. And one of those hearings was held right here in this room.

Almost every major newspaper in the country has commented about the importance of questioning Mr. Holder. As I said on the floor, I have an open mind, but I think there are important questions to be asked and important questions to be answered.

Editorials have commented about the need for the questioning of Mr. Holder based upon some of the factors in his background. There's no doubt, he comes with an excellent resume. But there are questions, nonetheless. So says the "New York Times," the "Washington Post," the "Wall Street Journal," the "Philadelphia Enquirer," the "Rocky Mountain News" and many other newspapers across the country.

The basic issue of national security is perhaps the attorney general's most important responsibility, to protect the American people. And I think we need to know how Mr. Holder is going to approach that job. What does he think about the Patriot Act? What does he think about the interrogation techniques? There's a big difference between what is faced by those who are living the Army Field Manual, compared to what the FBI does, compared to what the CIA does. There are very different lines of questioning.

And I saw that in the 104th Congress when I chaired the Intelligence Committee. I voted against water boarding. It's torture. And I took the lead on the Senate floor in fighting for habeas corpus. And I opposed President Bush's signing statements. So I have no hesitancy to stand up on those issues.

But there's a very important question of balance. We want to find out how Mr. Holder is going to approach those issues. We have major issues of violent crime in this country. Career criminals have to be treated one way. I want to know what he has in mind about realistic rehabilitation, to try to take first offenders and especially juveniles out of the recidivist crime cycle.

We have to know where he stands on anti-trust. We need to know what he will do on the prosecution of white collar crime. There have been a spate of fines which look heavy on their surface, a million dollars, but contrasted with the billions involved in the fraud, it's insufficient. I want to know how tough he's going to be along that line, especially with what we've seen with corporate fraud leading the tremendous financial problems this country has today.

At the same time, there has to be a balance of right to counsel. Mr. Holder authored in 1999 --

COLLINS: Unfortunately, it looks like our transmission there has been interrupted briefly. That was Arlen Specter you were listening to, of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We are watching the confirmation hearings for Eric Holder, who is President-Elect Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general.

A lot to talk about with this particular confirmation hearing today. In fact, we are going to do more about that, about the challenges and some of the complexities in this possible confirmation, with a guest coming up in a little while, in the next hour or so. Meanwhile, we will continue to monitor that for you and get back to in just a few moments here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: All right. We have been watching some of the proceedings here at the confirmation hearings for President-Elect Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, and that would be Eric Holder. We are now looking at the Senate chairman, Patrick Leahy, senator Patrick Leahy. We just also heard from the ranking member, Arlen Spector, there. Also want to let you know something else that we are watching, live there. You see Senator John Kerry presiding over the Clinton confirmation hearing. The vote is actually expected today, I believe. Do you want to listen to this for just a moment?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: -- report her out of the committee, pending receipt of those formal nomination papers on Tuesday. And I would now open it up. I gather one or two senators might want to --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So moved.

KERRY: It is moved. But -- and is it seconded?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Second.

KERRY: It is seconded. And so senator, did you have a comment?

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Mr. Chairman, thank you. I appreciate your introduction, and I appreciate the way you've managed the hearing. Like I think most on this panel, I think Senator Clinton could be one of our best secretaries of state. I will support moving her out of committee. But I continue to have the concern that you have expressed, that this be dealt with in a way that goes further than has to this point.

Senator Lugar offered, I think, a very thoughtful and respectful approach. And so while I certainly will support moving her out of committee, I reserve the right to consider the changes that are made. Because nothing could be worse than to take a wonderful talent like Senator Clinton and have a perception of a conflict of interest that doesn't exist. So with that, I do express my support to move from the committee.

KERRY: Thank you, senator Demint. And we completely respect the point of view that you have just expressed, and obviously, as has been expressed by the committee itself.

Is there any further comment? If there is no further comment, we will have a roll call vote. The clerk will call the roll.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Dodd?

SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Feingold.

SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mrs. Boxer.

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Nelson.

SEN. BEN NELSON (R), FLORIDA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Menendez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aye, by proxy. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Cardin.

SEN. BENJAMIN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Casey.

SEN. BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Webb.

SEN. JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Lugar.

SEN. DICK LUGAR (R), INDIANA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Corker.

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Voinovich.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Votes aye by proxy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ms. Murkowski.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Votes aye by proxy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Demint.

DEMINT: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Isakson.

SEN JOHNNY ISAKSON (R), GEORGIA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Vitter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Votes no by proxy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Barrasso.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Kerry.

KERRY: Aye. The clerk will report the roll.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixteen ayes, 1 nay.

KERRY: By a vote of 16 to one, Senator Clinton's nomination will therefore be reported, subject to the nomination papers being received by the committee on Tuesday. Now, I thank all my colleagues for their cooperation in this. Senator Dodd has asked a point of personal privilege. Again, as chairman of the Banking Committee, he is in the middle of major discussions and hearings. So I would like to honor that, and Senator Dodd.

DODD: Mr. Chairman, thank you, very much. And again, I'll be very, very brief. First of all, my apologies to you, Dr. Rice, in -- we're having the confirmation hearings --

COLLINS: All right. As we listen briefly here to Senator Dodd there -- we were listening momentarily also to Senator Kerry, and an informal vote, as they were calling it, in the committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What they were voting on is to move the nomination directly to the full Senate floor, the full committee for the nomination for Hillary Clinton for secretary of state.

In the meantime, got a whole lot going on regarding these confirmation hearings today. We are keeping an eye on several of them happening on Capitol Hill. One more that is getting started at the top of the hour. This, right here, you're watching now is the Eric Holder confirmation hearings for attorney general. We are also watching at the top of the hour the nominee for homeland security secretary.

In the meantime, want to go back to the confirmation hearings of Eric Holder for just a moment.

JOHN WARNER, FMR. US SENATOR: The public record has a complete dossier on this nominee. But given that people in every corner of the United States today are following this hearing, this very important hearing, I would like, with the permission of the chair and ranking member, to briefly summarize how this distinguished American got from his home in the greater environment of New York City, and a household which he proudly classifies as middle class, to become the nominee for attorney general of the United States.

It's truly remarkable. Fortunately, the elders in his household, parents and others, put great emphasis on education. Consequently, he excelled in public schools, and then went on, had the good fortune to get his undergraduate degree and his law degree from Columbia University. And then, rather than go into a top law firm, perhaps a lucrative opportunity, he -- as we say in the trial profession, he plunged into the cauldron of the courtroom to start his career, arguing case after case before the juries and the judges.

Prosecution is a tough way to enter the profession, but both of us chose this course. He was a federal prosecutor in the public integrity section of the U.S. Department of Justice. There he tried many cases and prosecuted successfully wildly heralded public corruption cases against officials from both -- and I emphasize -- both political parties, as recognized by the chairman and the ranking member in their opening statements.

Thereafter, Eric was appointed a DC superior court judge by President Ronald Reagan, recognizing this man's impartiality and his bipartisan approach to the rule of law. We always must come back that the rule of law is the fundamental foundation of this great nation of ours.

He performed his duties on the bench with distinction, won the accolades of both the bench and the Bar. And then was appointed the United States attorney for the District of Columbia in 1993. Having been a member of that office, as I said, two decades before, I wish to point out that the United States' attorney for the District of Columbia has a very wide range of jurisdiction, and much of it relates to common law crime, unlike other U.S. attorneys.

He performed that subject and that responsibility from 1993 --

COLLINS: All right. We are listening into one of the first witnesses, John Warner, former United States senator, from Virginia there in the Eric Holder confirmation hearings, the very start of them, anyway. We heard from the committee chairman, and also the ranking member there. We obviously expect to hear from Eric Holder a little bit later on. We will continue to monitor that, as well as many other confirmation hearings that are taking place today.

A quick break now. We're back in a moment.

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