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NASA Marks 40th Anniversary of Moon Landing; Foreign Exchange Students Claim Abuse; Day Four of Sotomayor Hearing; Florida Killings About Robbery; Denver Surgery Technician May Have Exposed Patients in Other States to Hepatitis C; Differences Between Senate and House Health Care Bills

Aired July 16, 2009 - 14:02   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are pushing forward now. We are going to head to Capitol Hill.

Historic hearings for the woman seeking to be the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court. It's been a week of direct questions and Republicans say not so direct answers for Sonia Sotomayor. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is bringing in outside witnesses, some of them not so friendly.

Our Dana Bash is live on the Hill with more -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, right now, right behind me, two members of the American Bar Association are testifying. They are the first outside witnesses, and they are, I think, what you would probably call friendly witnesses, because that association gave Sonia Sotomayor just about its highest rating.

But later, as you alluded to, there will be some witnesses for Republicans, one of whom is Frank Ricci. He is the firefighter from New Haven who tried to litigate and tried to get a test, an affirmative action test, taken away. And Sonia Sotomayor ruled in such a way that that wasn't going to happen.

So, that is something that we are going to see throughout the day. However, what was most riveting, I think, here in the hearing room, when Sonia Sotomayor was here all morning, was some exchanges she had with some Republicans, because, look, her nomination, we have been talking about it. Her nomination, there is no question she is going to be nominated barring something really unforeseen at this point. But the question is, how many Republican votes will she get?

And Lindsey Graham, somebody who might be one of those Republicans, he made pretty clear at the end of the day, he believes she is somebody who is going to follow the law.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You're able after all these years of being a judge to embrace a right that you may not want for yourself, to allow others to do things that are not comfortable to you, but for the group they are necessary. That is my hope for you. That's what makes you, to me, more acceptable as a judge and not an activist, because an activist would be a judge who would be champing at the bit to use this wonderful opportunity to change America through the Supreme Court by taking their view of life and imposing it on the rest of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, he did tell her that she said some things that "bugged the hell out of me," specifically her so-called "wise Latina" comment. He got her one more time to explain it.

She said that she regretted it. And then he said, "You know what? I agree with you." And then he said, "Good luck to you." So that was kind of a key moment here in the hearing room.

What happens next, Kyra? Well, the Senate Judiciary chairman, he hopes to have a vote for her in committee next week. That's likely to spill over to the next week. But ultimately, even the lead Republican here said that he doesn't see any reason why there can't be a full Senate vote before Congress leaves for August recess -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Dana Bash, thanks so much.

Well, the best political team on television has been on the edge of their seats all week. Let's run down Judge Sotomayor's best and worst moments.

Joining me now, Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger; Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley; and John King, host of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

Wow. My panel has shrunk. I had 12 of you yesterday. What happened?

(LAUGHTER)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The rest of them are under the table. We have done away with them.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, let's stay on that light note for a minute, because when I reached out to you guys, you pretty much all agreed that sort of the most humorous moment or the lightest moment was when Coburn and Sotomayor got into it talking about gun rights. You wouldn't think that's funny, but here's the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: If I go home, get a gun, come back and shoot you, that may not be legal under New York law, because you would have alternative ways to defend...

SEN. TOM COBURN (R-OK), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You'll have lots of explaining to do.

SOTOMAYOR: I would be in a lot of trouble then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK.

Candy, it started out a little dry, had a little humor there. It got everybody talking.

CROWLEY: It did. And I actually think this happened after the first day of questioning. She seemed to loosen up considerably, and I'm sure she got a lot of "That a girl" on that first day when she was giving testimony, very long days.

Day two and today, she was much more relaxed. I'm sure obviously she gained confidence as she went along.

This was a done deal from the beginning, but I think if you're the person for whom it will be a done deal, you still have your doubts. So, she definitely loosened up, showed some humor, and gave some personal stories sort of at the end when she was talking about why she actually wanted the job.

PHILLIPS: However, quite a different tone today. Coburn bringing up gun rights again, but it was no laughing matter when he looked her straight in the eye and said, all right, let's go back to the 14th Amendment, to slavery, and the right to bear arms.

Let's listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COBURN: Is that not ironic that we now have some kind of conflict that we're going to say that the whole reason in the debate about the 14th Amendment originated from states taking away the rights of people's fundamental right to defend themselves? Is that not an irony to you?

SOTOMAYOR: Senator, would you want a judge or a nominee who came in here and said, "I agree with you, this is unconstitutional," before I had a case before me, before I had both sides discussing the issue with me?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Gloria, she definitely came across with a different tone, both of them today.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, she did. I mean, look, it's very clear that what she is saying to Coburn, as she said all along, is, I'm not going to talk to you about the way I would rule on cases that could come before the Supreme Court, including gun rights, including abortion rights, including property rights, including all the cases that conservatives want to legitimately hear about.

And what Coburn was doing, from his point of view, and in talking to lots of conservatives watching this, they were setting some guidelines for President Obama. These are the issues that we set out in this hearing that we're going to come back to if you have another Supreme Court nominee. And because of her answers, we're going to try and make it a little bit more difficult from Democrats, from those purple states and red states, to vote for her. They were trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible and put the president on notice for the next time.

PHILLIPS: John King, overall review has been pretty good. Democrats and Republicans believe that, indeed, she will be confirmed.

What do you see some Republicans coming forward with, though, however, with reasons to vote no?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think as Gloria just noted, that was part of Senator Coburn's reasoning right there. He is inclined to vote no.

And should he vote no, I will bet you bottom dollar he will say among the things he does not like is one ruling she agreed to on the Second Circuit. It's a New York case saying that New York State has the right to restrict gun rights. And what he will say is he doesn't want someone on the Supreme Court who would vote to give states that right, to restrict and further restrict the right to bear arms.

Several other Republicans have tried to press her on abortion. That could be one reason there. Property rights. Where are we in the war on terror and the government's right to keep people indefinitely?

So, especially in the second and third round, Kyra, you could see the Republicans are inclined to vote against her, being very careful to say, I think you are qualified, I think you're smart, and you've had a great sense of humor, and thank you for your patience, but then laying out the specific issues on which ideologically and philosophically, they disagree. So that when they vote no, they will say, here's my reasons.

You know what else they will say, Kyra? President Obama, as a senator said, it's OK, you don't have to agree with the president. He doesn't have to get his pick. If you have an ideological difference, you have every right to vote no.

PHILLIPS: If you don't mind, you mentioned qualified and smart. That brings me back to you three.

OK. Let's step aside from the quotes here from various senators and also Sonia Sotomayor. And I want to ask each one of you, if you don't mind, quickly, just as a journalist, as three individuals that have covered the court, and also three individuals that have been following every single breath taken here -- Candy, most interesting part for you as it comes to a close?

CROWLEY: What was interesting to me and where I think if there was a mistake made here, and it won't cost her anything, it was today, because Lindsey Graham came out and said, listen, you say all the time that you're following the law. But let's say gay marriage or the right to bear arms. If one of those cases came up, sure, you'd look at the law, they'd all look at the law, but doesn't some of this have to do with your personal feelings? Wouldn't you take into account how you view it?

And she said no. And the fact of the matter is, some of these cases that go up there do, in the end, taking into account the law, depend on how you interpret that law, and how you interpret that law depends on how you feel about things.

PHILLIPS: Gloria, your diary moment?

BORGER: Well, what was the most important thing to me to come out of this that I think is going to be long lasting is that they managed to get the judge to disagree with the president on empathy, and the question of whether empathy is really legitimate when judging. And she came out and said no.

And so as the Republicans call it, the Obama rule on empathy, they now say that they have got a division between his own Supreme Court nominee and the president, and you can bet that if he gets another nominee, they're going to raise that again.

PHILLIPS: The wise American J.K. We're getting the wrap, but I've got to get to your moment.

KING: I would say this, because those are two great points raised by my colleagues, that during the Bush administration, judicial nominations at all levels were very contentious and very partisan. I think both parties proved here you can have a process that is thorough, that is pointed, that has tough questioning, but also has a little bit of laughter, and in the end gets you what you want, which is an up and down vote, yes or no, on the president's nominee. That stripped the partisanship out. I thought it was a pretty healthy discussion this week.

PHILLIPS: John, Candy, Gloria, thanks, guys.

More movement on the murder case involving a wealthy Florida couple with several special-needs children. The safe stolen from the Byrd and Melanie Billings' home recovered, along with several weapons. The law now saying when you boil it all down, the case is about robbery.

CNN's Ed Lavandera on the story in Pensacola.

Ed, it's interesting how the sheriff also said more motives might pop up.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, they have been saying that all along, which just kind of seems to keep the intrigue kind of going here. But I think they are kind of slowly starting to back away from any kind of big conspiratorial issue going on here.

In fact, one of the issues that has led to a lot of that is the talk of the DEA involvement. We had been told by DEA authorities -- and they reiterated this today -- that they have been called in to assist in this investigation. But that was actually coming at the ire of various members in the Billings family, and that had been communicated to us through their attorney. And they were rather upset about that, the inference that the DEA investigation would somehow be connected to the Billings family.

That led the sheriff here this morning to come out and talk about that the reasons the DEA has been called in to assist in this investigation has to do with further investigations and looking into the suspects in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: "DEA is providing investigative assistance at the request of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office. No additional information is being provided at this time." That's a statement from the DEA.

Now, to put that in context, the DEA was called in on the suspects in this crime, to assist us in that area. The individuals that are currently incarcerated. So they are assisting us in any area that developed from that.

And additionally, I will restate, which I believe I stated numerous times last night, that the Billings family, to the best of my knowledge, is not the focus of any investigation by the DEA. And I'm not sure where that may have started, but please, today, let us put that to rest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And a lot of that starting as people looking early on into this investigation into the business dealings of Byrd Billings. And he had done very well for himself, a used car salesman and also had a finance company. People looking into whether or not that might have played a role in that.

Also, investigators saying here, Kyra, that they have recovered the safe and weapons and what they believe to be the murder weapon in this case. And this coming just hours after the eighth suspect was arrested yesterday afternoon after being interviewed here in Pensacola by authorities.

Authorities aren't saying whether or not that that eighth suspect was the person who led them to these discoveries, but it came just a few hours after all of that. And video images here late at night of that safe being brought in here. But authorities aren't saying what they have recovered from inside that safe. They are just saying that they are in the process of processing that safe as we speak -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera.

We'll stay, of course, on top of the investigation.

Thanks, Ed.

Straight ahead, give us our soldier back. That's what the U.S. Army is telling Afghan militants on paper and in no uncertain terms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Pushing forward in the CNN NEWSROOM, U.S. troops issue a blunt new warning aimed at the Afghan militants who are apparently holding an American soldier hostage -- If you do not release the U.S. soldier, you will be hunted."

Our Barbara Starr working her sources at the Pentagon.

And once again, Barbara, for those that didn't see our Q&A last hour, let's talk about those pictures for a moment and just clarify that the soldier you actually see in those flyers is not the missing soldier.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Kyra.

U.S. troops have been handing these flyers out in eastern Afghanistan. These are graphics essentially showing a generic, if you will, U.S. soldier, no identifying marks, no face, no name tags, none of that, but trying to show a representation to the people of eastern Afghanistan that there is a U.S. soldier missing.

A U.S. military member went missing on June 30th. There was an announcement about that. They have been looking for this man ever since.

These leaflets, these flyers that you see up right now, are not him, of course. They are graphic representations that the military has made on computers and is now distributing.

This soldier missing for two weeks. They are searching for him. And now they are approaching the people of Afghanistan, looking at every avenue to try and get him back -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And it's been 17 days since we have actually heard someone from the military come forward and tell us about an effort that's been going on. But you say this isn't the first, that there has been a secret effort, if you will, looking -- or out there trying to find him.

STARR: Right. Yes, absolutely.

They are really anxious to get him back, obviously. They believe he is in the hands of Afghan militants, Taliban, possibly a very notorious warlord named Saraj Hakani (ph), someone very well known to the U.S. military and to U.S. intelligence.

So, part of the strategy that has emerged here is in fact to try and keep this very low key, very quiet, work the problem very discreetly, and see if they can get him back. But they are moving through these towns and villages handing out these flyers, hoping that somebody has seen something and that they will approach U.S. military forces and tell them where this young soldier is being held -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And you are saying, too, that there's a notion that he may be on a specific side of the border.

STARR: Well, this is the issue. (AUDIO GAP) they do operate on both sides of the border, both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they pretty much have had free movement across that border.

So, once the U.S. military determined that they do believe he's in Hakani's (ph) hands, the concern has been that they might have moved the young soldier across the border into Pakistan. That would make it very tough to get him.

They don't know for sure. It's one of the theories they have. But they are distributing these flyers on the Afghan side of the border, so that's a big clue that they are still working both sides to try to get him back -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon.

Thanks, Barbara.

STARR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, she was the first female Marine One pilot, and today is her last day in that role. To mark the occasion, today's Marine One crew is made up entirely of women in honor of their pioneer, Major Jennifer Grieves. Marine One, of course, is the chopper that flies the president around.

It's the best news that we have gotten on jobless claims since January. New numbers are out and we'll break them down for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So, how often do we get to say this, news about jobless claims, and it's better than expected? Americans filed 522,000 claims last week. That's down by about 47,000 claims from the week before, and it's the lowest level in six months. The number of continuing unemployment claims dropped by about 642,000 and now stands at 6.2 million. That's the lowest level since mid-April.

Bailout denied. A troubled lender to the nation's small businesses could be headed for bankruptcy.

CIT Group lends money to thousands of small and mid-sized companies across the country. The lender says it's around-the-clock negotiations with regulators about a possible government bailout have failed. Investors don't see much hope for the company. CIT shares have tumbled about 70 percent today.

Unemployment is high and money is tight as the recession drags on, but many financial experts say it's a great time to start a small business.

In this week's "Money & Main Street," you'll meet an out-of-work veteran who is getting a clean start by becoming her own boss.

CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti has her story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the eight years since she retired from the Air Force, Lori Lawrence has had three different jobs. She quit one and was laid off twice. After the last layoff in February, she started rethinking her options.

LORI LAWRENCE, MY PAMPERED POOCH: I started thinking, I'm tired of going through this. What would I really enjoy?

CANDIOTTI: Though her aging husky Cody (ph) is too old to need much grooming anymore, Cody (ph) inspired her to set her sights on opening a dog grooming business in the upscale Atlanta suburb of Peachtree City. But money was tight, so she swallowed her pride and opened a fruit stand.

LAWRENCE: It is not doing anything like what I had hoped that it would do, but it's more money than I had last week.

CANDIOTTI: Fruit is only bringing in a few hundred dollars a week. Compared to that, dog grooming looks like a gold mine.

LAWRENCE: People spent $42 billion last year on their pets alone. You know, it's there. How do I get in? I want in. You know?

CANDIOTTI: Lori attended a number of SBA seminars and Googled business plans of other startups, then drafted her own.

Small business experts Dani Babb and John Rutledge offered to take a look.

DANI BABB, THE BABB GROUP: She has a specific idea in her head about what this is going to look like and what the consumer is going to walk away with.

CANDIOTTI: John and Dani helped Lori reduce her startup costs from $147,000 to just $35,000. They showed her how to save money on labor and equipment. They suggested she look for free advice online instead of hiring an attorney and CPA. And they're helping her negotiate a better lease in that down-and-out commercial real estate market.

VOICE OF JOHN RUTLEDGE, RUTLEDGE CAPITAL: In your plan, you also have things like pet sitting, dog taxi, retail, a bakery. All those things, ways of adding more revenues on just the basic wash your dog.

CANDIOTTI: For the time being, dog washing is all Lori offers, but she hopes to be providing the pampered pooches in her area a full range of services by the end of next month.

Susan Candiotti, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, do you remember where you were when that historic moment for America happened and the world was pretty amazed 40 years ago? Now NASA is out with some newly enhanced images of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission.

We're going to go live to Kennedy Space Center.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And live pictures once again of the testifying. Are we going to go to -- there we go. The mayor of New York you can see there, along with other members of the American Bar Association testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. As you know, Sonia Sotomayor has wrapped up her testimony. Now the ABA, which has showed obvious support for Sonia Sotomayor. Members like the mayor here of New York giving testimony before the committee.

The quest -- all right, well, robbery, pure and simple, that's how the law in Pensacola describes the killing of a wealthy couple with several special-needs children. Just a short time ago, we learned that police have recovered the safe stolen out of Byrd and Melanie Billings's home. Also, several weapons are in the evidence room. One may be the murder weapon, we're told.

Eight people now charged. More people of interest out there, and the sheriff is making it clear to the best of his knowledge that federal drug agents on the case are not focused on the Billings family but on the suspects.

Well, the international space station is preparing for a new group of visitors. The space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts are on their way. But the liftoff last night didn't come without some problems. Foam insulation came off the external fuel tank, and the shuttle was hit at least two or three times. NASA says the damage -- excuse me -- looks to be less extensive than what happened on the last shuttle flight. Endeavour is to rondezvous tomorrow with the space station.

Forty years ago today, a huge boost for American pride. The Apollo 11 mission to the moon launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four days later, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. And today, newly enhanced images from that historic moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: One step for man. One giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN's John Zarrella joins us now from Kennedy Space Center with more. Pretty exciting day historically, and also pretty exciting to see the enhancement of the -- I guess we should say it was film, right?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, I mean, what they were -- the material they were sending back...

PHILLIPS: I'm trying to count back 40 years.

ZARRELLA: ... back from 40 years, well, they had their cameras, and they were recording it back live back in Houston and downlinked in places like Australia.

But you know what, Kyra, you know, we saw endeavour lift off here last night at a little after 6:00 p.m. You were just talking about it. And it was 40 years ago today that one of those guys, a Saturn 5 rocket like that one, lifted off from that very same launch pad, 39a, here at the Kennedy Space Center on that first moon mission. The 16th of July they lifted off.

And you were mentioning that enhanced video that came out. NASA releasing it today. And what they did was they scoured the archives, all kinds of sources, material that came from Australia, material that came from CBS network, material that came from their own archives. And they picked out 15 of the most spectacular scenes, images, and they pieced all that together to -- and enhanced it to re-create the moon landing, the walk of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

And again, they'll be finishing up the restoration of the entire moonwalk video sometime later this year, and of course, then it will be preserved for all of history. And again, as I mentioned, it was Apollo 11 lifting off here on one of those Saturn 5 rockets 40 years ago today, a four-day journey to the moon.

And I was pretty lucky today. I got to host a panel discussion here with eight Apollo astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, including Al Worden from Apollo 15, Edgar Mitchell from Apollo 14 and Charlie Duke from Apollo 16. A lot of great guys here. And we asked Buzz about -- during this panel discussion, you know, what were those last moments like just before Neil Armstrong got them down safely on the moon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUZZ ALDRIN, FORMER ASTRONAUT: There was a time when the low- level light came on, and we were still 100 feet off the ground, and Charlie says, 60 seconds. I was beginning to wonder, but I didn't want to disturb the guy to my left because he was concentrating on what he was doing. All I could do was give him the numbers. But when 30 seconds came, we were descending to 10 feet. And yes, we had it made by that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: He was making reference to Charlie Duke there, of course, Apollo 16, he walked on the moon. But Duke was actually the capsule communicator on Apollo 11. So, a great ceremony here, about 500 people attended.

And Kyra, I want you to take a look at this. You'll appreciate this. Al Shepard, the late Al Shepard...

PHILLIPS: Yes?

ZARRELLA: ... this was his corvette. And there it is...

PHILLIPS: He had some style.

ZARRELLA: ... one of those famous Corvettes. Look at that thing, huh, that the boys used to tool around here in Cocoa Beach on, one of those. Come on down, maybe they'll let us take this thing for a spin on the beach. I doubt it.

PHILLIPS: I was going to say, could life get any more exciting? Oh, hi, I'm an astronaut, I've got a really hot convertible, and I'm cruising the beaches of Florida.

(LAUGHTER)

ZARRELLA: What a life they had. And they went to the moon, by the way.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. Oh, and by the way, we made history.

ZARRELLA: Yes, exactly.

PHILLIPS: Hey, John, stay with me for a minute, will you? Because in addition to all this cool stuff that's been going on today and the fact that you got to be a part of this really neat panel, we want to sort of try and relive the Apollo 11 mission. We want you to do it with us.

And you know how you do it? Well, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is actually Twittering the mission as if it were happening now. So, John Zarrella, stay with me. I want to go check in with our executive producer, Kelly Frank, in our control room. We did this once before -- it was pretty cool -- for "Passion of the Christ" during the holiday.

Now, Kelly, who is our Twitter queen, I guess you should say, she's always keeping me abreast on what they are doing.

KELLY FRANK, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, CNN NEWSROOM: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes, how's this going down? Explain.

FRANK: This is actually a really neat project that the Smithsonian is doing. And they're doing it through Air and Space Museum. And it's called "Relive Apollo 11." And what they're doing is an actual real-time Twittering of the events that took place. In fact, the latest one came about six minutes ago. And it basically says, "Apollo 11 will rotate several times during the mission. Houston reassures CMP Collins they'll take turns looking out the window." And of course, that's a reference to Mike Collins, who was the command module pilot.

This is a project that, I talked to a couple of the folks at the Smithsonian, that they put together with basically volunteers. It was preset because they wanted the timing to be perfect. And so, there are about 700 tweets that have been created. And it's going to be automatically generated. And they're going to carry it on -- it started today, and they're going to carry it all the way through July 24th, just after splashdown, when all of the astronauts were there before they met with Nixon in quarantine. So, it's a very cool way to do sort of a real-time history lesson.

PHILLIPS: John Zarrella, listen to Kelly. Splashdown. She's got all the terms. She's talking like a true astronaut.

ZARRELLA: Now, Kelly, here's trivia. What was the name of the aircraft carrier that picked them up?

FRANK: Oh, oh, oh, you know what? I had that. I actually did my research, and now you trumped me. Wait, I'm going to find that. You go right ahead. You keep talking.

ZARRELLA: Because I don't remember. I don't remember I think it was the Hornet, but somebody might correct me on that.

FRANK: You know what? I think that is right. Actually, I think you are absolutely right. It was the Hornet. And the interesting thing is going to be Twitter traffic. It's funny because the folks were telling me, Isabelle (ph) and Victoria (ph) were telling me from the Air and Space museum that the delay is about a minute to a minute and a half on these Twitters. So, they didn't want people to be too critical, and that's because of all the Twitter traffic. So, come Monday at 10:56, I'll be interested to see what's going on.

PHILLIPS: Now, John, does Buzz Aldrin, does he tweet? How do I say it? Is he on Twitter?

ZARRELLA: Does he what? Does he what, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Buzz Aldrin, does he Twitter?

ZARRELLA: No, Buzz doesn't. And you know what's funny. The anchor -- the anchor -- the astronaut who's the commander of this particular space shuttle, he's doing Twittering and tweeting. And he made the remark back during one of his press conferences that before this mission, he had absolutely no idea the difference between a Twitter, a tweet, a Facebook or a MySpace. But now, he says he has it all down, and he's going to be tweeting from space.

PHILLIPS: I love it. All right, there you go. I hope everybody enjoyed that as much as we did. Thank you, Kelly. Kelly just gave me the big wrap.

FRANK: Yes, it's time to go.

PHILLIPS: I know. All right. That was fun. John Zarrella, thanks. Hey, work on that Corvette, OK? We'll go cruising.

ZARRELLA: You got it. Bye, Kyra. PHILLIPS: When it comes to the battle over health care reform, you ain't seen nothing yet. It's actually about to turn into an all- out war, and it's about to get personal. We will have a check-up in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Just a moment ago, we were talking with our John Zarrella there, as he had an opportunity to oversee a panel of Buzz Aldrin and number of those involved forty years ago, with this famous moment, this historic moment for the world. And that was the Apollo 11 moon landing mission.

And we got our question answered. Kelly Frankert EP (ph) is following the whole minute-by-minute unfolding of the Apollo 11 moon landing that's happening via the Smithsonian on Twitter. And I asked John Hay (ph) "Does Buzz Aldrin tweet?" Well, sure enough, he does. And here it is. You can tweet Buzz Aldrin, your favorite astronaut, at TheRealBuzz.

So, there you go. Didn't get a chance to tweet from space, but he is doing it now at TheRealBuzz. Go ahead and tweet Buzz Aldrin right now on his big anniversary, 40 years later.

Well, efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system have picked up speed on Capitol Hill this week. But consensus is still a long way off. Stephanie Elam has our "Breakdown" from New York. Hey, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Yes, three House committees began considering a health care bill today. Yesterday, a Senate committee passed its version of health care reform. Both House and Senate versions create a government-run health care plan that would compete with private insurers. Both versions prohibit insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions. And both mandate that all Americans get health insurance basically by penalizing employers.

Under the Senate bill, businesses that don't offer coverage would pay a $750 penalty per worker. The House version would fine employers by as much as 8 percent of their payroll. There are, however, exemptions for very small businesses in both bills.

The House bill punishes individuals who don't get health insurance. They have to pay up to 2.5 percent of their income. In that case, Kyra, you might as well buy the health insurance because you're going to have to pay one way or the other if health care reform gets enacted. Needless to say, we will be keeping our eyes on this, because this one is far from done.

PHILLIPS: All right, Stephanie, thanks.

New developments in a story we are following for you. A woman accused of exposing patients to a deadly virus with their dirty needles may have put thousands more people at risk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, a follow-up to a story that outraged us just a couple of weeks ago. We told you about a hospital surgery technician (AUDIO GAP) nearly 6,000 patients in Denver to Hepatitis C all because of her alleged addiction to painkillers. Now thousands more patients at other hospitals may have been exposed also.

Twenty-six-year-old Kristen Diane Parker is accused of injecting herself with Fentinol, then filling the used syringes with saline solution and passing the dirty needles on to patients. How could she allegedly do something so cruel? Well, here's what Parker told Denver police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN PARKER, ACCUSED OF EXPOSING PATIENTS TO HEPATITIS C: I can't take back what I did. If I would have known, it would have been different. Now, I have got to live with what I did for the rest of my life and so does everybody else.

I didn't know that this was going to happen. I mean, to the extent that people would be sick for the rest of their lives because of me. That's something I can't take back.

I know I'm a good person, you know? I know I'm a smart person. I just do stupid stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Parker may be sorry, but now any infected victims have a disease with no vaccine that could lead to liver cancer. Unfortunately, investigators say her outrageous behavior did not start in Colorado.

Now, Northern Westchester Hospital in New York State is reaching out to 2,800 of its patients who may be infected by Parker's dirty syringes. And patients at St. John's hospital in Houston may have been exposed as well. Parker worked in New York and Texas before moving to Denver. We have called Parker's attorney for comment but we have not heard back. We will keep you updated.

As always, Team Sanchez back there working on the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. What you go there, Rick?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: This is unbelievable what's going on in New Jersey. This shooting that we are following now -- apparently we are learning now that this gunman who shot five police officers in broad daylight -- some of them through some walls, according to police -- had a shotgun. One officer shot in the face. Another one shot in the neck, and we are told the suspect was wearing priest's clothing, if you can believe that.

We have just confirmed that the police chief is going to be joining me here live in about 12 minutes to take us through this story and tell us what the update is. By the way, Mike Brooks is going to be joining me on this story as he will on the Pensacola story that we've been following for quite some time.

And then, of course, the video that everybody's talking about. For the first time, we are seeing what actually happened to Michael Jackson when his hair caught on fire during that Pepsi commercial. We will see the video in its entirety, and we'll drill down and analyze on it. And then the question is, is this what started him down the road toward prescription drug abuse? It's an interesting question. Certainly interesting pictures to look at. And we'll have it all for you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Rick, appreciate it.

We want to take you live, once again, back to the Hill for a second. Frank Ricci -- he's that white firefighter from New Haven, Connecticut who is the lead plaintiff in the recent Supreme Court case -- is testifying right now before the committee. The confirmation hearing of Sonia Sotomayor.

You'll remember that this firefighter and 19 others sued the city, claiming discrimination. Sotomayor ruled against them, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision not long ago and ruled in the firefighters' favor.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

FRANK RICCI, PLAINTIFF IN FIREFIGHTERS CASE: -- Firefighters who earned promotions were denied them.

Despite the important civil rights and constitutional claims we raised, the Court of Appeals panel disposed of our case in an unsigned, unpublished summary order that consisted of a single paragraph that made mention of my dyslexia and thus led many to think that this was a case about me and a disability.

This case had nothing to do with that. It had everything to do with ensuring our command officers were competent to answer the call and our right to advance in our profession based on merit, regardless of race.

Americans have the right to go into our federal courts and have their cases judged based on the Constitution and our laws, not on politics or personal feelings.

The lower court's belief that citizens should be reduced to racial statistics is flawed. It only divides people who don't wish to be divided along racial lines. The very reason we have civil service rules is to root out politics, discrimination and nepotism.

Our case demonstrates that these ills will exist if the rules of merit and the law are not followed.

Our courts are the last resorts for Americans whose rights are violated. Making decisions on who should have command positions solely based on statistics and politics, where the outcome of the decision could result in injury or death, is contrary to sound public policy.

RICCI: The more attention our case got, the more some people tried to distort it. It bothered us greatly that some perceived this case as involving a testing process that resulted in minorities being completely excluded from promotions.

That was entirely false, as minority firefighters were victimized by the city's decision as well. As a result of our case, they should now enjoy the career advancement that they've earned and deserve.

Enduring over five years of court proceedings took its toll on us and our families. That case was longer -- was no longer just about as, but about so many Americans who have lost faith in the court system.

When we finally won our case and saw the messages we received from every corner of the country, we understood that we did something important together. We sought basic fairness and evenhanded enforcement of the laws, something all Americans believe in.

Again, thank you for the honor and privilege of speaking to you today.

ACTING CHAIRMAN: Mr. Ricci, thank you very much for your testimony.

We'll now hear from Lieutenant Ben Vargas. Ben -- Benjamin Vargas is a lieutenant in the New Haven Fire Department and was a plaintiff in the case of Ricci vs. DeStefano. He also worked part- time as a consultant for a company that sells equipment to firefighters.

Mr. Vargas?

VARGAS: Thank you. Members of this committee, it is truly an honor to be invited here today.

Notably, since our case was summarily dismissed by both the District Court and the Court of Appeals panel, this is the first time I am being given the opportunity to sit and testify before a body and tell my story. I thank for this -- thank you to this committee for the opportunity.

Senators of both parties have noted the importance of this proceeding, because decisions of the United States Supreme Court Greatly impact the everyday lives of ordinary Americans. I suppose that I and my fellow plaintiffs have shown how true that is.

I never envisioned being a plaintiff in a Supreme Court case, much less one that generated so much media and public interest. I am Hispanic and proud of their heritage and background that Judge Sotomayor and I share. And I congratulate Judge Sotomayor on her nomination.

But the focus should not have been on me being Hispanic. The focus should have been on what I did to our new promotion to captain and how my own government and some courts responded to that. In short, they didn't care. I think it important for you to know what I did, that I played by the rules and then endured a long process of asking the courts to enforce those rules. I am the proud father of three young sons. For them I sought to better my life, and so I spent three months in daily study, preparing for an exam that was unquestionably job-related. My wife, a special education teacher, took time off from work to see me and our children through this process.

I knew we would see little of my sons during these months, when I studied every day at a desk in our basement, so I placed photographs of my boys in front of me. When I would get tired and wanted to stop -- wanted to stop, I would look at the pictures, realize that their own future depended on mine, and I would keep going. At one point I packed up and went to a hotel for a day to avoid any distractions, and those pictures came with me.

I was shocked when I was not rewarded for this hard work and sacrifice, but I actually was penalized for it. I became not Ben Vargas, the fire lieutenant who proved themselves qualified to be captain, but a racist statistic. I had to make decisions whether to join those who wanted promotions to be based on race and ethnicity or join those who would insist on being judged solely on their qualifications and the content of their character.

I am proud of the decision I made and proud of the principle that our group vindicated together. In our profession, we do not have the luxury of being wrong or having long debates. We must be correct the first time and make quick decisions under the pressure of time and rapidly unfolding events. Those who make these decisions must have the knowledge necessary to get it right the first time.

Unlike the judicial system, there are no continuances, motions or appeals. Errors and delays can cost people their lives. In our profession, the racial and ethnic makeup of my crew is the least important thing to us and to the public we serve. I believe the countless Americans who had something to say about our case understand that now.

Firefighters and their leaders stand between their fellow citizens and catastrophe. Americans want those who are the most knowledgeable and qualified to do the task. I am willing to risk and even lay down my life for fellow citizens, but I was not willing to go along with those who place racial identity over these more critical considerations.

I am not a lawyer, but I quickly learned about the law as it applies to this case. Studying it as much I studied for my exam, I thought it clear that we were denied our fundamental civil rights. I expected Lady Justice with the blindfold on, and a reasoned court from a federal court of appeals telling me, my fellow plaintiffs and the public that the court's view on the law -- what the court's view on the law was and do it in an open and transparent way.

Instead, we were devastated to see a one paragraph unpublished order summarily dismissing our case, and indeed even the notion that we had presented important legal issues to that court of appeals. I expected the judges who heard my case along the way to make the right decisions, the ones required by the rule of law. Of all that has been written about our case, it was Justice Alito who best captured our own feelings. We did not ask for sympathy or empathy. We asked only for even-handed enforcement of the law and prior to the majority justice opinion in our case, we were denied just that.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for your testimony.

We'll now hear from Peter Kirsanow. Peter Kirsanow serves on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He's a member of the National Labor Relations Board where he received a recess appointment from President George W. Bush. Previously, he was a partner with the Cleveland law firm of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan and Aronoff. Mr. Kirsanow received his law degree from Cleveland State University.

KIRSANOW: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Sessions, members of the committee, I am Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil rights.

(END OF COVERAGE)