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Regina Benjamin Nominated for Surgeon General; Two Arrests in Double Murder of Adoptive Parents; Relatives Hope for Answers about Desecrated Cemetery; Congress Investigates Secret Program from Bush Years; NASA Hopes to Launch Shuttle Tonight; Jackson Fans Honor Him in London
Aired July 13, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. And hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the world headquarters here in Atlanta, Georgia. We've been watching opening statements in the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, but the nominee we want to talk about now is Regina Benjamin, Dr. Regina Benjamin, President Obama's long-awaited pick for U.S. surgeon general.
We get the details now from CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's at the White House -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, President Obama, just back from an overseas trip, is trying to focus attention on his No. 1 domestic priority right now, and that is overhauling health care.
As part of that, in the Rose Garden earlier today the president did announce his pick for surgeon general. She is Dr. Regina Benjamin. She's someone who founded a clinic to serve the poor along Alabama's Gulf Coast, and today President Obama praised her work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For nearly two decades Dr. Regina Benjamin has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system. She's seen an increasing number of patients who have had health insurance their entire lives suddenly lose it because they lost their jobs or because it has simply become too expensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And the president also called her an outstanding candidate to be America's leading spokesperson on issues of public health.
Now, this afternoon President Obama is actually going to be meeting privately on this issue of health care with two Democratic lawmakers who really are key in this process. They are Senator Max Baucus, as well as Congressman Charlie Rangel. These are the two lawmakers who are really trying to figure out, basically, how to come up with a way to pay for this massive health-care overhaul. As you know, Kyra, estimated to cost some $1 trillion over ten years. So President Obama here at the White House trying to re-focus attention on the health-care debate, using this announcement as an opportunity to kind of drive home the message that health-care reform is something he thinks cannot wait -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Elaine Quijano, thank you so much. And of course, we want to push forward on this nomination with a look at Dr. Benjamin's back story.
Now our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me with more on that. She does have an interesting background.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She definitely does have an interesting background. She has an M.D. and an MBA. We don't always often think of those degrees as going together.
She has her M.D. from Morehouse University. Then she also has an MBA from Tulane University. And Dr. Benjamin also started a rural health-care clinic in the Gulf Coast of Alabama. She also sat on the board of the American medical association and was the first person under the age of 40 to sit on the board.
So here you see her degrees. You see the rural health clinic that she started. She also won the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. She is also a MacArthur fellow. So she certainly has an interesting background.
And I think we've talked a bit about how she had to rebuild her clinic from Katrina.
PHILLIPS: Well, you bring up an interesting point about her two different degrees. And our Sanjay Gupta was up for this position, as we well know. And I think that he was maybe concerned about not being able to practice medicine as much as he wanted to. It was going to be more of an administrative position.
The surgeon general position is very important, but it is very much of a kind of a leadership, administrative role. It's not like you're going to be very active in the emergency room anymore.
COHEN: Correct, correct. I mean, you're not there to see patients. You're there to talk about health policy. You're there to set an example of what good health means.
We think about C. Everett Koop...
PHILLIPS: Right. Right.
COHEN: ... back in the day when he said, "Hey, it's time for Americans to stop smoking." So it really is that kind of a job that you're talking about. It's not the -- you're not doing surgery while you give your speeches.
PHILLIPS: And that's right. You think of C. Everett Koop. And that's what you remember him for.
COHEN: Right.
PHILLIPS: When you hear that name and, you know, I think a lot of people are looking to her to sort of make a name for a certain subject in the medical field.
COHEN: Right. Because -- because it's interesting that you have to go back that far to really think of someone. I mean, other surgeon generals have done their thing, too, but he stands out.
And many people have said that the office of surgeon general sort of needs a bit of an uplift, one could say, that we've been for too long without a surgeon general. Many people can't even name the last surgeon general. It will be interesting to see if Dr. Benjamin sort of takes this role and takes it up a level.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow it. Elizabeth, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's a horrific story that we've been following out of Florida. Three men in custody linked to the killings of a couple with 17 children, most with special needs.
But this break in the case might be the tip of the iceberg. More arrests could be down the pike, and the big question: why. Why might have more than one answer, I guess you could say.
Let's check in with CNN's David Mattingly with -- for more -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Possibly more than one answer and many more angles. The authorities, as they were looking into this case, say they were surprised as they started going down the road of looking at the facts that they were finding of how many different tangents it was taking them on.
It turns out that this case is a lot more complicated than they once thought.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Two men, Leonard Gonzalez Jr. and Wayne Coldiron are the first to be arrested and accused in the brutal double murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings. Authorities say expect more.
SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: We're looking for multiple suspects.
MATTINGLY: Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan will not discuss a possible motive, why anyone would want to kill the Billings, a couple known for their adoption of a dozen children, many with special needs.
ASHLEY MARKHAM, DAUGHTER OF MELANIE BILLINGS: They had a calling to adopt and loved children that did not see -- others did not see as normal. To our mom and dad, their children were perfect, angels that God provided them with to love eternally. They had the ability to provide their children with lives full of fun, patience and love.
MATTINGLY: The Billings were shot to death in what authorities still call a home invasion, but now it appears to be much more.
MORGAN: We are very anxious to share this story with the citizens of Escambia County and with the nation, if you will. It's going to be a humdinger.
MATTINGLY: Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr. was also arrested, but he is not accused of being a killer. He's accused of tampering with evidence: allegedly attempting to conceal damage and paint this old red van, identified as the vehicle used in the Billings' break-in.
More suspects and arrests are promised in a case that has become filled with unexpected twists.
MORGAN: This is like a movie script, all right? And the more we delved into this and worked this case, the different avenues that it would go down.
MATTINGLY: But no matter where this case turns, it remains a senseless tragedy: a large family, brought together by love and kindness, now thrown into pain and turmoil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: The two men accused of murder in this case are being held on $1 million bond. They are both charged with murder, home invasion and robbery -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You know, and you -- I have to ask the question. What will happen to all those children?
MATTINGLY: I spoke with the family today, and we are told that the children will be kept together, and they will be cared for by family. They believe that it was this couple's wish that that would have happened and that arrangements have been made and preparations are being made to make sure that there is long-term care by the family for these children who will stay together.
PHILLIPS: A tough story to follow. David Mattingly, thank you.
Well, a suburban Philadelphia swim club is trying to patch things up with a children's day-care camp now. The club was stung by racism charges after it cancelled an agreement letting campers use its pool.
The club claims that the issue was overcrowding, not the fact that most of those campers are black or Hispanic. But now the state's Human Relations Commission has launched an investigation, the swim club wants to work out a deal. It says that the kids can return as long as safety issues can be worked out.
Here's a job about as overwhelming as it is morbid: trying to I.D. remains in about 100,000 graves at the Burr Oak Cemetery just outside Chicago, making sure everybody is resting where they should be. That certainty turned upside down after four workers were accused of reselling graves.
Reverend Jesse Jackson wants a wider investigation into all the cemeteries owned by the company that owns Burr Oak. Cheryl Jackson shows us how there's no resting in peace for the dead and no peace of mind for the living.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just can't understand how people would do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That they have no...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just have no understanding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're all piled up on top of each other in one -- one area.
CHERYL JACKSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sisters Rosy Lumsden and Ann Slay and their niece Janet Joseph say they have about 40 family members buried at Burr Oak Cemetery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's Ike and Tina Manning. This is their oldest son, our brother Lloyd. That's my sister, Ersine (ph) Manning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is my mom.
JACKSON: One funeral program after another shows where their loved ones were laid to rest. Now they say there is no rest for anyone connected with Burr Oak.
ANN SLAY, RELATIVE BURIED IN BURR OAK: When we finally buried them, well, they're at peace now. So we can't even say that they're at peace now, because they have dug up their remains and done who knows what. How heartless can people be?
JACKSON: Police say four Burr Oak employees are responsible for digging up the graves and reselling them. Piles and piles of human remains were found above the ground at the cemetery, some mingled and crumbled in the cement vaults they were buried in; other remains scattered throughout the grounds.
ROSIE LUMSDEN, RELATIVE BURIED IN BURR OAK: As long as my relatives have been out there, they have may have dug them up and put somebody on top of them.
JACKSON: Records do indicate that some graves may have more than one body in them. Janet Joseph's mother died about 20 years ago. Information from police leads her to believe that her mother's grave may have been targeted.
JANET JOSEPH, RELATIVE BURIED AT BURR OAK: And then to go so far as to dismember the bodies, the bones and put it somewhere else, it's like a serial killer to me.
JACKSON (on camera): It's already hard enough to bury your mother once. What if you have to do it again?
JOSEPH: You know what? I haven't thought about that. If I have to bury her again, I haven't thought about that.
SLAY: We have so many questions. We have a lot of questions.
LUMSDEN: So we're going to hold hands and pray, whatever that need to be done we will do it.
JACKSON: The police have collected over 7,000 requests for grave information. Starting on Monday you'll have to call that information into the sheriff's department. They want to use all of their man hours to try to solve this crime.
Cheryl Jackson for CNN, Alsip, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And back in Washington, fresh outrage from many Democrats over the Bush administration's war on terror. It was triggered by reports that former Vice President Cheney had order the CIA to keep a top secret program secret, even from Congress.
CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a closed-door hearing late last month, CIA director Leon Panetta told the Senate Intelligence Committee he had just terminated a secret counterterrorism program, so sensitive the panel was told that during the Bush administration former vice president, Dick Cheney, himself had ordered the CIA to conceal it from key members of Congress who hear top secret briefings, the so-called Gang of Eight.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA), CHAIRWOMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: He did brief us, and in the course of the briefing he did say, because I believe somebody asked a question as to why it was never reported to us, that the vice president had given the directive that the program not be reported to the Congress.
ACOSTA: The matter has once again put Cheney at the center of a heated debate on the limits of White House powers.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL), MAJORITY WHIP: There is a requirement for disclosure. It has to be done in an appropriate way so it doesn't jeopardize our national security. But to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in Congress is not only inappropriate; it could be illegal.
SEN. JON KYL (R-AZ), MINORITY WHIP: To somehow suggest that it might have been improper for the president or the vice president to keep an important program secret, I mean, that happens every day.
ACOSTA: Little is known about the secret program: only that it was initiated after the 9/11 attacks and that it may never have been fully operational. Former Cheney counselor and CNN contributor Mary Matalin accused of White House of disclosing the program out of pure politics.
MARY MATALIN, FORMER COUNSELOR FOR CHENEY: Every time they get in trouble -- which the president's poll numbers are slipping and his health care and global warming initiatives are under assault -- they dredge up the Darth Vader stories.
ACOSTA: But it's a story that comes as Attorney General Eric Holder just might name a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects, something Republicans would rather avoid.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: So the question is did they go too far in some of these areas? I hope that we don't feel that -- the attorney general doesn't feel the need to go back into it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Associated Press says that the program Cheney didn't want Congress to know about was the up-close killing of al Qaeda operatives. It reportedly was authorized by former President Bush but never got past the planning stage.
President Obama is back in Washington today after an international trip that took him to Moscow, Italy and Ghana. Before he left Africa, he actually sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
The president talks about his tour of Cape Coast Castle, where Africans were held before being sold into slavery. He also touched on the economy here at home. Here's a preview from Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The president and his family arrived in Ghana on Friday. On Saturday they came here, Cape Coast Castle, which is a place where enslaved Africans were once held before being shipped off to the new world and shipped off to America.
I had the chance to tour the castle with the president, but first we sat down and talked about the news of the day.
Vice president Biden said that you've misread the economy. You've said "No, no, no. We had incomplete information." And nevertheless you said that you would not have done anything differently.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.
COOPER: That seems contradictory. How can you say that, if you had known that unemployment was going to go to 9.5 percent, would you -- wouldn't you have asked for more money in the stimulus?
OBAMA: It's not contradictory. Keep in mind that we got an $800 million stimulus package, by far the largest stimulus package ever approved by a United States Congress, and the stimulus package is working exactly as we had anticipated.
We gave out tax cuts early so that consumers could start spending, or at least pay down debt so that they could, at a later date, start spending. We put in $144 billion to states so that they wouldn't have to cut teachers and police officers and, you know, other social services that are vital, particularly at a time of recession.
And we always anticipated that a big chunk of that money then would be spent not only in the second half of the year but also next year. This was designed to be a two-year plan and not a six-month plan.
Now it may turn out that the enormous loss of wealth, the depth of the recession that's occurred, requires us to re-evaluate and see what else we can do in combination with the...
COOPER: Possibly a second stimulus?
OBAMA: Well, you know, there a whole range of things, Anderson, that we've done. The banks have stabilized much more quickly than we anticipated. They're not all the way to where we'd like them to be, but we've seen significant progress.
COOPER: You still see glimmers of hope?
OBAMA: Well, if you look at both the financial sectors, the ability of businesses to get loans, the drop-off of volatility that's taken place, the general trajectory is in the right direction.
COOPER: After our sit-down interview the president and I had a chance to tour the castle together.
Do you think what happened here still has resonance in America, that the slave experience still is something that should be talked about and should be remembered and should be present in everyday life?
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think that the experience of slavery is like the experience of the Holocaust. I think it's one of those things you don't forget about.
I think it's important that the way we think about it and the way it's taught is not one in which there's simply a victim and a victimizer and that's the end of the story. I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is because, whether it's what's happening in Darfur or what's happening in the Congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists.
COOPER: I also talked to the president about the personal impact of being in Africa with his wife and kids. We'll have that tonight on "360."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And here's proof that some things will never die. Michael Jackson's big comeback in London was supposed to be tonight. His death: not enough to keep the fans away.
And if you were a senator, what would you ask Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor? Tweet us at KyraCNN. We'll have your questions later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, tornadoes and straight-line winds kicking up a mess in south central Ohio. Check out the destruction here from yesterday's storms just outside of Cincinnati. Several homes there damaged. Trees uprooted and power lines knocked down.
Two twisters touched down in that area. Three mobile homes were destroyed. Five people living in one of them were injured. The other two, thankfully, were empty.
And it's something that NASA hates to see: lightning strikes around the space shuttle, but there you go. Endeavour's liftoff last night was scrubbed, of course, while NASA checked for damage. Technical problems caused two delays last month. Lightning strikes Saturday and Sunday caused two more, and tonight NASA is hoping that the fifth time is a charm.
The shuttle's 16-day mission is to install the final section of the science lab from Japan named Kibo, which is Japanese for "hope." Tonight's launch is scheduled for 6:51 p.m. Eastern.
Let's bring in Chad Myers. We'll be -- we'll be watching that closely. I know you will.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I will. You know, I wouldn't want to get back in my car after a lightning hit it, let alone get into a space shuttle that has to go into space. I mean, so yes, we had to give them a checkup.
PHILLIPS: Don't want any bad luck.
MYERS: Check out the system.
PHILLIPS: But fifth time's a charm? We hope so, because if we don't get it in today and tomorrow, there's going to be a much longer delay, because other vehicles have to go up there, and then the shuttle wouldn't have its priority.
There we go right there. Not a shower in the sky around the area. You don't want rain about 20 miles around the launch pad, as well, just in case of the emergency landing and procedures. But showers across parts of the north and parts of the northwest.
It is going to be hot in Florida, 90. Enough for these afternoon showers. Just trying to launch a shuttle when you don't need rain in any place in Florida is going to be a difficult proposition in July and August, because it literally rains almost every day when you get a little bit of an onshore flow, which is the marine layer as it comes in here. You're going to get that front. There's going to be showers just about every day. The biggest shower activity will be along a front with severe weather possible across parts of Alabama. But I believe, I think that probably the biggest chance of severe weather is going to be up here. And I'll circle a smaller spot right over the bad lands and over Rapid City.
and those areas there, anywhere from Devil's Tower eastward right into Rapid City, that's the area that I'm most concerned about today. Other than that, we're going to see some showers. We'll put them all back right here. Bring some showers here across parts of Raleigh. We're going to see that continue; also some showers west of Atlanta.
So far all the airports, not one airport delay at this hour because the showers that we do have aren't close to any big airports yet -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's good news. Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: Sure. You got it.
PHILLIPS: Well, today was the day that the King of Pop was supposed to defend his throne at London's O2 arena, the first of many shows in Michael Jackson's comeback tour. Of course, those shows will not go on, but guess what? Fans showed up anyway.
CNN's Phil Black in London.
Phil, and it's quite a crowd.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is, and it's building. You're right, Kyra. The show can't go on today. But try telling that to these people.
You can see this is some of Britain's most hard-core Michael Jackson fans. They said they were determined to come along today and have a great time and pay tribute to their hero. This was supposed to be the first of 50 concerts sold out at the O2 arena. That's the venue you can see just here.
That was a million tickets. That makes for a lot of disappointed fans, but these hard-core Michael Jackson fans, essentially a coalition of Michael Jackson fan groups that have organized this event here today, mostly via the Internet, text messages, Facebook, Twitter, this sort of thing.
And you can see they're here to have a good time. Some have described it as a vigil; others say it is certainly a party.
Let's see if we can talk to some of these guys. Just bear with me one minute.
Hello. Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?
BLACK: You're live on CNN. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?
BLACK: Tell me why you're here today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here today to represent the great man who has been the No. 1 legend, the greatest entertainer who ever lived. It's all about Michael in the world. We love you, Michael.
BLACK: There you go, Kyra. Some of the British fans here today tell me that they think British Michael Jackson fans are among the most passionate in the world. These guys are trying to prove it today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Phil. I know it's hard for you to hear, but is it possible that you and your photographer could kind of maybe spin around and can you give me any idea how many people are there?
BLACK: I'll try and give you a sense of that. We're just going to pan right here. Just pan from the dancers across the crowd here. There will be easily several hundred people here today.
This is really only around the start time of this event. It's about 6:00 p.m. local time. They're hoping for many hundreds, possibly many thousands. You may have seen the large video screen in the background there. They're going to be playing his music, his videos there. They say there is going to be lots of singing, lots of dancing. As you can see it's already started, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I can. Poor Phil. So they're not getting a refund from the tickets? I mean, basically, they're making their own show?
BLACK: Basically. The fans have options here. They can get refunds if they want them, but many of them are holding onto the tickets as a souvenir of the man they loved and admired so much, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Wow. All right. Phil Black, good luck.
Well, why did it take a month before the Iranian government told a mother that her son was dead? We're going to tell but her ordeal in detail right after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, of all of the nominees to the nation's highest court to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee, very few have been women. Only one has been Hispanic.
Sonia Sotomayor, federal appeals court judge from New York, President Obama's pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
As you know if you've been watching CNN, the confirmation process is well under way. Republicans are building a case for bias in the guise of empathy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Such an approach to judging means that the umpire calling the game is not neutral but instead feels empowered to favor one team over another. Call it empathy, call it prejudice or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it's not law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Expect to hear the word "empathy" a lot this week, including from the panel that we've assembled in our D.C. bureau. Welcome CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, senior political analyst Gloria Borger, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, GOP media consultant Alex Castellanos, and former senior aide to President Clinton, Maria Echaveste.
I think we need just a couple more analysts, guys. What do you think?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this side of the table is not filled.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Candy, you want to fill up the other side? Lord, have mercy. Where do I even begin?
I guess -- why don't we go ahead, Maria, and start with you, because I remember reading what you wrote and also what you've said in light of this whole discussion: empathy, sympathy, prejudice, whatever you call it, it's not the law.
I was kind of hoping we'd hear a little something else today, but this seemed to be the only thing that created a lot of fireworks. You're probably not surprised, but you also think it's been a bit blown out of proportion, right?
MARIA ECHAVESTE, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: No, I absolutely do. I think that what's happened is lines are being drawn, and the focus on this word empathy as somehow code for prejudice is really quite unfortunate. I know that President Obama was seeking someone who was going to bring some practical common-sense experience.
And somehow, when you listen to Senator Sessions, it becomes that it's going to be -- Sotomayor is going to be prejudiced against all kinds of groups and favor one group over another, and I think it's quite unfortunate. I'm hopeful that the questioning will reveal that in fact she is quite a moderate jurist and will be a real asset to the bench.
PHILLIPS: And Alex, you know, a number of critics coming forward saying, well, you know, that's all Republicans had, and so really, that's all they could throw out there. Otherwise, she did pretty darn well is what they're saying.
ALEX CASTELLANOS, GOP MEDIA CONSULTANT: Well, she's certainly got an impressive record and a great life story, but it's the first time I remember that seeing a Supreme Court nominee's impartiality questioned like this. We've seen people questioned on their ideology, on their experience, on their qualifications.
But can she be impartial in the eyes of the law? And I think it's a question of which way the river runs here. We all bring different experiences to our work. But does this justice-to-be believe that the law is the ultimate goal and that our experiences are something we have to transcend to get to age partial judicial system, or does she believe that the law can be perfected by going beyond it and coloring it with our experience? And that's what I think this Senate committee is going to wrestle with.
PHILLIPS: Alex, you gave me the perfect segueway with the word "experience." Let's take a listen to what Senator Lindsey Graham had to say today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: It just bothers me when somebody wearing a robe takes the robe off and says that their experience makes them better than someone else. I think your experience can add a lot to the court, but I don't think it makes you better than anyone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, it's bothering him.
CROWLEY: It is, and here's what's interesting is what's bothering them, and you heard Lindsey Graham say it, is what she said once she took off the robe. And so you see the Democrats pushing back this morning saying, let's look at the cases she's decided because they believe that the picture of Sonia Sotomayor based on the rulings that she's made is different from some of those public statements that she's done in a variety of forums.
So, you can see the Democrats are going to kind of go that way but, yes, in this case, this was -- there's no apparent prejudic prejudice, no kind of emotive thing that colored how she judged. So, I think, yes, it totally bothered. You saw the parameters here. You're going to see the Republicans say we're really worried that you're bringing prejudice to the table. It will affect your rulings. And you see the Democrats saying, look, she's completely well- qualified, and let's look at the cases.
PHILLIPS: Jeffrey, you know, we heard prejudice, empathy, sympathy, racist, that whole discussion. There was a little bit that was alluded toward the issue of abortion, but other than that, I mean, we didn't hear anything yet about introducing death penalty, affirmative action, gun rights. Were you surprised or no?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it is interesting because so many of recent confirmations have dealt with the subject of abortion rights. We haven't heard about the death penalty. We haven't heard about gay rights, which is certainly the biggest hot-button legal issue in the world today. That has not been the focus of the Republican challenges.
What is is still a very hot legal subject, though, is the subject of affirmative action. May the law allow a university, may allow an employer to consider race as one factor in establishing its student body or its work force? Democrats by and large say yes. Republicans say no.
This issue is very unsettled at the Supreme Court. They're really divided, about 4-4 with Anthony Kennedy in the middle on that. So that issue, affirmative action, racial preferences, that's really the heart of what we're hearing about today.
PHILLIPS: What are we going to hear more about in the next couple of days, Gloria Borger? Could you even -- looking at all of the subjects or the subjects that I had pointed to, do you see this still sort of weighing heavily throughout the week, or do you see the tables being turned on another subject matter?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think there's an awful lot of case law there to be examined because she's been a judge for 17 years, but I do think we're going to hear a lot more about affirmative action. I think one thing we didn't hear about this morning that I'm sure we will hear about is how she feels about guns and gun control and the Second Amendment because there's a ruling that she made that's a little controversial with some conservatives.
We're going to hear about the consideration of foreign law and whether she thinks judges should look at foreign law or not. Conservatives say no. Others say why not.
And then, of course, we're going to hear more about her speeches and this "wise Latina woman" comment and this notion of empathy and what does -- you know, what does empathy mean? Does empathy mean I feel your pain so, therefore, I'm going to rule for you. Or does it mean I understand where you're coming from, I understand your perspective, but I'm not going to impose how I feel on you. It's just important that I understand how you feel.
So, we're going to -- we're going to hear an awful lot about that, particularly since it was Barack Obama who injected the word "empathy" into this whole debate.
PHILLIPS: Gloria, Jeffrey, Alex, Maria and Candy, thanks, guys. I have empathy for all of you as you continue on to a very long week.
(LAUGHTER)
CASTELLANOS: A few more, we could be the Supreme Court.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Exactly. The court of CNN right there. Thanks, guys. Well, we asked to you share your thoughts on what you would ask Judge Sotomayor if you were in those hearings.
Reschzoo would speed up the process by asking this: "Do you promise to use the Constitution and law to decide all issues before you? Yes? I confirm!"
Journalproject asks, "Is a diversified Supreme Court important to adherence to constitutional principles?" And Stu623 has a simple question, "When can you start?"
Thanks to all of you for sending in your thoughts.
A huge explosion in eastern Pakistan has killed at least 11 people, including eight children. It occurred in the Punjab province. Dozens of houses were destroyed there. At least 50 people were injured. Some people were trapped inside the wreckage. The cause is unknown. Reports say the blast was centered in a house used as a religious school for young girls and as a meeting point for anti- western militants.
An Iranian mother had to wait nearly a month before her worst fears about her son were confirmed. The 19-year-old was buried yesterday in Tehran. Human rights activists say he was at least one of at least 20 people killed during last month's Iran election protests. After his disappearance, his mother made repeated inquiries. Activists say that the Iranian government finally notified her Saturday, 26 days after her son's death.
Costco members may have big bucks buying their jumbo packs of TP or giant jars of mayo, but we're going to tell you how they're being fleeced out of millions of dollars in renewal fees.
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PHILLIPS: Well, folks in Grand Beach, Michigan, on the southeast coast of Lake Michigan, are being warned to stay inside and lock their doors, but just until police catch two escaped convicts from just across the Indiana border. Here's the deal. Three convicts slipped out over the weekend through tunnels out of the maximum security prison in Michigan City.
One of the men, convicted killer Charles Smith, was caught this morning in a Grand Beach driveway by a bodyguard of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who has a vacation home nearby. Still on the loose are Mark Booher, also a convicted murder, and rapist Lance Battreal.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee wants an investigation to determine whether the murder of a gay sailor was a hate crime. Seaman August Provost III was standing guard at Camp Pendleton near San Diego last month when he was shot to death and his body burned. Navy officials say another sailor has been implicated, but they don't think the attack was a hate crime. Lee, a texas Democrat, says that more facts are needed to be uncovered here, and she met with the Provost family in Houston yesterday.
Turning to news for your wallet now. Many Costco customers are pretty outraged over what "Consumer Reports" calls a membership renewal ripoff. For years, if you allowed your membership to lapse, then waited for months to sign back up, the company would automatically date your renewal on the date it expired, not the date that you signed back up. In short, you paid a membership fee for a period of time that has already passed.
That means that some 12 million Costco members were fleeced out of some $40 million over the past eight years. Well, that set off a class-action lawsuit. Now to avoid the problem now, this is what you have to do. Just go to the renewal desk at Costco, and ask what the actual renewal date was and have that reflected on your new membership card.
Well, speaking of new renewals, job opportunities in the environmental field are expected to skyrocket in the next few years. Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on where you might be able to find your next job. Hey, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Yes, that's right. We want to get some good information out here to people who are looking for jobs. Jobs in health care and the environmental sectors are growing, even though the rest of the U.S. economy continues to lose jobs. That's expected to be central to a new report from the White House's Council of Economic Advisers. It's due out later on this afternoon.
The report looks at how the labor market is expected to develop over the next few years. Of course, we know how much of a beating it's taken since the recession started more than a year and a half ago. Almost 6.5 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December of 2007, so the purpose of this report is to get an idea of likely changes in the labor market, including an anticipated shift from financial services positions to those in growing sectors that are expected to really transform the economy.
That means openings in the much buzzed-about green jobs sector. The report is also expected to highlight opportunities related to reforms in the health care system as well. The White House predicts some manufacturing jobs will return along with construction jobs as the $787 billion economic stimulus plans starts to kick in. But we're going to get full details of this at 2:30 Eastern time, when all of that data is released -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, green jobs being clearly seen as the next frontier, and President Obama has made it clear that he wants to ensure workers have the skills needed to compete, right?
ELAM: Definitely. We've heard a lot from him recently about this, and part of the report today will discuss the type of skills and training that will be most relevant in growing occupations, including green jobs. The system really needs to prepare people for those positions.
Now, the president's opinion piece in "The Washington Post" yesterday spoke to this, saying that jobs requiring an associate's degree are projected to grow twice as fast as those requiring no college experience. The president also said it's never been more essential to continue education after high school. He wants community colleges to make their programs stronger and more affordable.
He said in the past (ph) that he wants the U.S. to lead the world in college degrees by 2020. And that obviously sounds far away but it really isn't, so before we go away though, Kyra, I just want to let you know that stocks are solidly higher at this time. Maybe they're happy that you're back with us. We're seeing triple-digit gains on the Dow as investors gear up for a really big week of corporate earnings and also some economic data. It's not the lazy days of summer around here -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You always make me feel so much better. Thanks, Steph.
All right. Well, if you're a ghost or poltergeist, here's some advice for you. Think before you haunt because the living might just drag your invisible otherworldly butt to court. I'm going to walk over to the international desk now to find out about a genie who is in big, big trouble.
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PHILLIPS: Well, here's something over at the international desk that we don't hear every day, but today, we did. A family in Saudi Arabia taking a problem genie out of the bottle and into court.
That's right, when we think of genie, we should think of Barbara Eden, sweet, beautiful, funny, a dream come true. Well, stop thinking about a Westerner for a minute. Get into the mindset of our folks here at the international desk, specifically Mohammed Jamjoom, who's from Saudi Arabia, by the way. He monitors the stories coming out of his home country.
OK. You told me about this. I didn't believe you. I gave you the "What the heck are you talking about?" You said, I'm serious. What's the deal?
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. And I've covered a lot of really strange stories out of Saudi Arabia. A lot of them, people shake their heads and they go, it can't be. This one's definitely the strangest. It's a family in the town of Mahd al Dhahab, which is close to the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. According to a Saudi newspaper, this family is suing a genie for haunting them, for abusing and harassing them.
Apparently the genie steals their mobile phones, throws rocks at them when they leave the house. The family has lived in the same house for 15 years. In the past two years, they say they sensed this poltergeist, this spirit, and now they want the courts to take care of it.
PHILLIPS: OK. We know in the states there are those that believe in spirits and ghosts and poltergeists. So, tell me, how much of this is really sort of a far-fetched old tradition versus a serious part of the culture?
JAMJOOM: I mean, in Western culture, you have the idea from movies like "Aladdin" of the big, bubbly, singing, smiling genie that wants to grant the three wishes, you know, wants to make the master happy, or you think Barbara Eden in "I Dream of Jeannie." It's very sort of benificent and a happy character.
PHILLIPS: See, that's what I grew up with.
JAMJOOM: Yes, exactly.
PHILLIPS: That's not what you grew up with.
JAMJOOM: No. No.
PHILLIPS: You learned about a different genie.
JAMJOOM: Over there in Islamic cultures, many believe in the existence of genies, or as they're called, gin (ph). And they have a lot more menace to them. They're a lot more sinister over there. Apparently, people believe that they can possess you, they can be demonic, they can seek revenge, they walk among you, they cause trouble.
PHILLIPS: So, how do you gather evidence in something like this? I mean, how does this move forward from here?
JAMJOOM: Yes, that's the strangest thing about this, is that the family has now been relocated to a temporary residence, because the court, the actual court in this city, has deemed they need to investigate this because every member of the family is participating in the case. The judge has said to local media, it's not just one person claiming this, it's the whole family. We have to investigate, we have to verify.
So, they've relocated the family to a temporary residence. Meanwhile, I don't know, they send in "Ghostbusters." I don't know if they have equipment. I don't know how they verify that the genie is in this house. I had one person tell me over there, a good legal source said to me that, hey, if they can actually get the genie to court, at least it will be out of the house. Maybe that will satisfy the family.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow the story. I Don't want to lose any of this. OK. Take the demons and move on. Thank you so much, Mohammed.
JAMJOOM: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Other news that they're talking about here at the international desk, this got us talking today as well. New worries about Kim Jong-il's deteriorating health. Does the 67-year- old reclusive North Korean leader have pancreatic cancer? Well, there are conflicting reports now. South Korean media citing unidentified intelligence sources saying that he does. South Korea's Unification Ministry flatly denying it.
Recent video of a frail-looking Kim Jong-il that we're now seeing attending a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of his father's death, well, that's everything that's been fueling the speculation. We will definitely follow up on this story.
Swine flu giving up some of its secrets. Research done on monkeys, mice and ferrets at the University of Wisconsin shows the H1N1 virus spreads throughout a patient's respiratory system and causes lesions. So-called seasonal flu doesn't. And get this. Blood tests show survivors of the brutal flu epidemic of 1918 seem to be immune to swine flu, but not to the regular kind. You can read more about it in the journal "Nature."
Well, we've all heard that a glass of wine is good for your heart, but a new study shows that alcohol is good for the brain, too. On the story, CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. She's sober, but we are talking about boozing in the golden years, right, maybe being a good thing.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT; sI'm not 75 yet, right? Right. We're close, but not quite there.
PHILLIPS: How about boozing, period?
COHEN: Right, exactly. Exactly. Well, this is, you know, we've all heard, you know, glass of wine, good for your heart. And so, some researchers said, well, golly, what does it do to your brain?
So, they took this large group, more than 3,000 senior citizens -- the average age was 75 -- and they asked them, hey, how much do you drink? And then they followed them for six years to see who developed Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
What they found is that when your brain is on booze, two drinks a day or one drink a day, one to two drinks a day, you get a 40 percent reduction in the risk of dementia. Now, I should add here that the folks who drink more than two drinks a day were sometimes more likely to get dementia, so this is not a case where more is better. You want to stick to the one or two.
PHILLIPS: All right, what about other types of alcohol? Gin, vodka...
COHEN: Keep going, you know...
PHILLIPS: Jack Daniels.
COHEN: Yes, right, exactly.
PHILLIPS: Can I got into cosmopolitans? I want to get a specialized martini in here. Can we get specific?
COHEN: You know what's so interesting here is that people have red wine stuck in their heads and really, it doesn't matter what kind of alcohol. These folks are drinking one to two alcoholic drinks per day.
And let's go over what a drink is because some people, you know, you go to New Orleans and they get those big old Hurricane things. That's not what we're talking about. A drink is 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine -- red, white, pink, zinfandel, whatever -- or one ounce of hard liquor. And I'm not really sure why we have the lime there. I guess that's just if you want to add it. But the lime is not required. I think that's a lime.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that looks like a lime. That works.
COHEN: That works. If you want to add the lime, that's fine.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about what lime does -- maybe we can talk about the good things that lime does.
COHEN: Right, sure. That will be our next segment.
PHILLIPS: Yes, OK, we'll move on to that.
And not to throw you for a loop, but the other story we were supposed to talk about, about cussing and pain, apparently if you cuss, it makes the pain go away a lot quicker?
COHEN: Yes. You are able to withstand pain better. This is actually fascinating. These researchers in England who apparently had a lot of time on their hands, they took some college students, and they made them stick their hands into freezing cold water, which is really unpleasant.
And they told them, swear your head off, use the worst words that you can think of, And then they told them, OK, now try it and don't swear. They were able to keep their hands in longer when they swore.
PHILLIPS: This was your cussing alcohol-slash-Irish segment brought to you by Kyra Phillips (INAUDIBLE). Thank you so much, Elizabeth.
COHEN: All right, we're going to get much more serious now. We're going to send it back to Wolf Blitzer and the Best Political Team on Television for more on the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Kyra. The hearing is getting ready to be gavelled once again. They've been in a break for lunch for about an hour and 15 minutes or so. You're looking at that Senate Hart Office Building room, the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The folks are all coming back. Sonia Sotomayor will be walking in momentarily. She's still hobbling a little bit, having suffered that fractured ankle. She's got a special device, as you know, to keep her foot elevated during the course of these hours she's been before the hearing.
At issue right now, that building, the Supreme Court. She is slated to replace David Souter on the nine-member panel. These are historic hearings, as all of our viewers know, because this is a lifetime appointment. She could be a Supreme Court justice for many decades to come. This is something that has significance on so many issues. We're watching all of this with Jessica Yellin. She's our national political correspondent, who's in the hearing room right now. Give us a little flavor of what we can expect. We're going to be hearing first from four Democratic senators.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, and among them will be Senator Al Franken, who will be making his debut appearance on this committee, and also Senator Arlen Specter, who in days past had been the ranking Republican on the committee, when he changed parties. Of course, he has lost his seniority, so he'll be speaking toward the end. So, some changes afoot here in the Judiciary Committee.
And then of course, the big moment is when the judge herself will speak. It's always interesting in the Senate, they get to listen to one another, the senators do, for about three hours before you ever listen to the person everyone's here for, the judge herself.
And we expect her to focus heavily on her own life story, her backstory as a not well-to-do girl who grew up in the Bronx, et cetera. And we're told to expect her to speak in real-person terms about how she knows what the judge's role is in an average American's life. She's not some ivory tower legal theorist, but a person who applies the law to the real world. And so, we'll look forward to her comments, which we expect them sometime before the 3:00 hour -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, well, basically, what we are going to see, Jessica, is the chairman, Patrick Leahy, who will gavel this hearing to order. And then four Democratic senators in this order, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Ed Kaufmann, the Delaware senator, he replaced Joe Biden, Arlen Specter, the former Republican, now the Democrat, he used to be the chairman of this committee. Now he's one of the junior members, almost the most junior member, but Al Franken, who was just sworn in the other day, he is the most junior member. He will speak last.
Each is expected to speak for around ten minutes. And then Senator Chuck Schumer, a member of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the junior senator from New York State, she took over for Hillary Clinton, they will introduce Sonia Sotomayor. And then Sonia Sotomayor will speak.
Arlen specter is speaking to Al Franken, the two new members, at least the new Democrats on the committee. Arlen Specter, who was a longtime Republican from Pennsylvania, he's up for re-election next year. He's going to be running as a Democrat. Al Franken, the one- time comedy writer, comedian, actor, now United States senator from the state of Minnesota. Just sworn in the other day after a long, long battle against the former incumbent, Norm Coleman.
We've got a great team here to assess what's going on. Let me introduce everybody once again. Gloria Borger is here, our senior political analyst. Jeff Toobin, our senior legal analyst, the author of "The Nine," one of the historic books on the United States Supreme Court, a major best-seller now out in paperback, I should say. Maria Echaveste is a -- teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley, formerly served in the Bill Clinton White House. Alex Castellanos is our Republican strategist and knows a great deal about what's going on politically and other matters as well. Candy Crowley's our senior political correspondent.
Let me play a clip, Jeff, and I'll start with you. Jon Kyl, the Republican senator -- well, before I play the clip, maybe we should go back to the floor. There she is. Sonia Sotomayor is now walking back in, wearing the blue outfit there, the nice suit. She's walking in.
You see her hobbling a little bit. You know, she's -- a week after the president nominated her to the Supreme Court, she fractured her ankle. And she's been in a cast -- yes. But she's moving. Earlier on she was in crutches.
You know, you've got to feel sorry for her after that ankle break, to go ahead and meet with 80 or 90 -- almost 90 United States senators, doing these courtesy calls. She's getting ready to sit down.
Her family, by the way, is with her, including her brother, who's a physician, lives in Syracuse, New York, an allergist. Our Jason Carroll spoke with him earlier in the day, and another product of the South Bronx.
She does have, by all accounts, an amazing -- an amazing personal story. And Republicans are certainly sensitive to that.
And am I hearing something going on?
There he is, Patrick Leahy.
