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Sonia Sotomayor Takes Oath as First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice; Democrats Accuse GOP of Orchestrating Shoutdowns at Town Hall Meetings; Hurricane Felicia Fizzles; Taliban Chief Believed Killed in Missile Strike
Aired August 08, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As I said, we've seen Justice Kennedy walk in -- I apologize again I did not get a chance to see ...
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I will tell you Elaine Quijano, we have been given word that in fact Justice Anthony Kennedy is in the room. So we are getting very close, and we see some more people walking in. Is that Chief Justice John Roberts? Yes, I believe, he is about to walk in with Sonia Sotomayor, and the oath will be taking place very shortly. It will be very short, but let's take a listen as we watch it play out, history in the making.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE: -- as a member of the court on September 8th, in a special session of the court. To administer the oath this morning simply so that she can begin work as an associate justice without delay.
Now, I'd like to invite Mrs. Sotomayor, the judge's mother, and her brother Dr. Sotomayor her brother, to come forward. Judge Sotomayor, are you prepared to take the oath?
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: I am.
ROBERTS: Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Sonia Sotomayor do solemnly swear.
SOTOMAYOR: I Sonia Sotomayor do solemnly swear.
ROBERTS: That I will administer justice without respect to persons.
SOTOMAYOR: That I will administer justice without respect to persons.
ROBERTS: And do equal right to the poor and to the rich.
SOTOMAYOR: And do equal right to the poor and to the rich.
ROBERTS: And that I will faithfully and impartially.
SOTOMAYOR: And that I will faithfully and impartially.
ROBERTS: Discharge and perform. SOTOMAYOR: Discharge and perform.
ROBERTS: All the duties incumbent upon me.
SOTOMAYOR: All of the duties incumbent upon me.
ROBERTS: As associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
SOTOMAYOR: As an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
ROBERTS: Under the constitution and laws of the United States.
SOTOMAYOR: Under the constitution and laws of the United States.
ROBERTS: So help me God.
SOTOMAYOR: So help me God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations, and welcome to the court.
NGUYEN: And there you have it. History has been made. Justice Sonia Sotomayor has officially been sworn in. Her title now will indeed be associate justice, and I want to bring in CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who has done a lot of research and followed the Supreme Court over many, many years.
And Jeffrey, you watched this. Unlike the presidential oath, there were no problems or hang ups in this one.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): No. John Roberts, I thought it was the better part of valor to take a piece of paper with him so he could read it and not try to remember it. But it was a -- it's a much longer oath than the presidential oath. It would be hard to memorize, but, look, this is a big deal. It's a big event. There have only been 111 Supreme Court justices in the history of the country, and now we have the first Hispanic, third woman, and third New Yorker on the court right now.
NGUYEN: And for the first time, Jeffrey, we are seeing this televised. Why do you think that is?
TOOBIN: Well, that's a very interesting development. Because the court is extremely reluctant to allow television cameras into any part of its operation. One of the interesting and more forthcoming aspects of Judge Sotomayor, or now Justice Sotomayor's testimony during her congressional hearing was her statement that she has had good experiences with cameras in the courtroom. So she is more open to that.
Certainly this was a decision made by Chief Justice Roberts, but I think noting Justice Sotomayor believes that this is not such a terrible thing probably played a factor, just by way of comparison. The justice she's replacing, David Souter, known as the most implacable opponent of cameras in the courtroom he famously once said there will be cameras in the courtroom over his dead body. So we may see a little thaw on that subject in the future.
NGUYEN: But you know what's so interesting, several current justices have indeed expressed some concern over oath taking and saying that it's inappropriate and a display of political theater, yet we're watching it live, just did, today.
TOOBIN: Actually what John Paul Stevens said was, he didn't like that it took place at the White House. That's where the last two justices, Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts were sworn in. He thought it looked too much like a political event for the incumbent president. So I don't think Justice Stephens or any of the other justices were concerned about public oath taking, they were concerned about the location.
So the fact that the ceremony was moved to the White House was a visual representation of separation of powers, and the fact that Justice Sotomayor, though she was certainly appointed by President Obama, is in no way beholden to him, is not responsible to him, is not part of the executive branch, part of the judicial branch. And I think that is the message that was sent by holding this ceremony at Supreme Court rather than the White House.
NGUYEN: Yes, and in fact that President Obama himself wanted to see this swearing in take place at the court rather than the White House. Look at the timing of this, 11:00 A.M. on a Saturday. Why this particular time?
TOOBIN: Well, there is a great desire on the part of both Justice Sotomayor and her new colleagues on the court to let her get to work. She could not start participating in the informal work of the court that goes on over the summer without being sworn in. You never know what can happen. Even over a weekend, and the idea is just that to get it done. Most swearing ins of justices have taken place within 24 or 48 hours after the vote in the Senate. So this is not unusual.
NGUYEN: It was short, sweet, to the point and it is official. She is now the associate justice on the Supreme Court. Jeffrey Toobin, as always, thanks so much for your insight.
TOOBIN: Nice to talk to you, Betty.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: There it is, judge, now Justice Sotomayor is a source of pride certainly for the nation's Hispanics. CNN's Susan Candiotti is in New York's Spanish Harlem this morning following what I assume is a celebration and jubilation.
Good morning, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in a restaurant here in East Harlem, where we are (INAUDIBLE) ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so moved by this movement, that it's for real. I am so proud of her. I have two daughters and one is 16, and she (INAUDIBLE) history and I explained to her before today what they meant for her. Sotomayor is a trailblazer. (INAUDIBLE) There are so many other women who have greatness in their lives, but this proves that -- if you operate at the highest level of integrity there is nothing that you can't accomplish.
CANDIOTTI: Wonderful. If you could speak with her directly what would your message be to her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My message to her would be thank you, because justice has been served.
CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much. (INAUDIBLE) You have organized this, why did you try to bring people together for this moment?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well I'm very proud (INAUDIBLE) celebrating Justice Sotomayor. (INAUDIBLE) I'm very proud. The first African- American president to make this historic nomination. (INAUDIBLE) culmination of (INAUDIBLE). We know in this country (INAUDIBLE).
And she has defined for us, she has defined (INAUDIBLE), she has demonstrated commitment and passion and dedication and support. (INAUDIBLE) all of that. That she was able to come as far. So we are very proud of this moment. I give my thanks to her, it's women like her that have paved the way for me and many others (INAUDIBLE).
CANDIOTTI: We really haven't met anyone who knows her personally, but -- and this - what did this woman reflect to you, she grew up in public housing (INAUDIBLE) ...
NGUYEN: All right. We're having a little bit of audio difficulties at the very obviously festive event where Susan Candiotti is. Taking a look now live at the Supreme Court where the swearing-in has just occurred for the new associate justice on that court, and that being Sonia Sotomayor.
MARCIANO: Tough to cover a party. You know?
NGUYEN: And they were excited, and so should be, because this is quite a historic moment.
MARCIANO: Absolutely. There she is once again. Short and sweet, brief and accurate with Justice Roberts actually reading the oath.
NGUYEN: When in doubt, make sure you have notes.
MARCIANO: Coming up, in October, actually, CNN will present "Latino in America," a look at how Hispanics (INAUDIBLE) politics, business, schools and culture in America. "Latino in America," only on CNN this October.
NGUYEN: President Obama says that he is encouraged by a new report showing a slight decline in the unemployment rate. This is the first time though that that's happened in 15 months, but the president says it's too soon to start celebrating. In his Saturday radio and internet address he once again made his pitch for health insurance reform calling it essential for economic growth. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This month's job numbers are a sign that we've begun to put the brakes on this recession, and that the worst may be behind us. But we must do more than rescue our economy from this immediate crisis. We must rebuild it stronger than before.
We must lay a new foundation for future growth and prosperity and a key pillar of the new foundation is health insurance reform. Reform that we are now closer to achieving than ever before. There are still details to be hammered out, there are still differences to be reconciled but we are moving towards a broad consensus on reform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now in response, republicans say a nationalized health care system is not the answer. Instead they want lower taxes, less regulation, and reduced litigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MCDONNELL, (R) VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's why we are committed to helping more Americans to get the health care coverage they need, not through nationalizing the system with a costly government-run plan, but rather by supporting free market incentives to help small business owners make coverage more accessible and affordable.
In ensuring that Americans can keep their individual private policies. Government must be more efficient and more accountable, which is why we are calling an end to the new government spending that is leading to an exploding deficit and burdening our children with the new debt they will have to repay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So where do you stand on this issue? Well this is what we can tell you right now, passions over health care reform they continue to flare up at town halls all across the nation.
MARCIANO: CNN's Mary Snow has learned, with people being so disruptive, some members of congress are actually changing their plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Tampa Thursday, democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor tried to talk health care reform over the shouting.
REP. KATHY CASTOR, (D) FLORIDA: We're not going to stand for this any more.
SNOW: It quickly turned ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off of me! UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody back up!
SNOW: Castor was eventually escorted out, an early ending left participants frustrated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They think they're exercising their right to free speech but they're only exercising their right to disrupt civil discourse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somewhere in a lot of the screaming back and forth, no one got heard.
SNOW: Meanwhile, in Oxen Hill, Maryland, another health care town hall meeting took on a different tone.
REP. DONNA EDWARDS, (D) MARYLAND: What I am going to ask you to do, though, is that you have to be respectful.
SNOW: Democratic Congresswoman Donna Edwards fielded questions from a mostly democratic crowd, but it was not without critics including one man who argued the system isn't broken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a difference between broken and tweaking it. There is a small number of people in this country that are uninsured.
EDWARDS: The fact of the matter is, while the system may not appear broken to you, at suburban hospitals it is broken for millions of Americans.
SNOW: As these forums brought tension, participants are receiving detailed instructions of how to act at town hall meetings. Responding to right-wing attacks in the field, reads this e-mail from a group supportive of the president's health care reform plan. "Bring more people than the other side has to drown them out," it said.
On the right, "Rocking the Town Hall's Best Practices," is the title of this circulating memo from a conservative activist informing people to, "Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the rep's statements early." It's enough for one democratic congressman to say he's going to hold his town hall meetings by telephone.
REP. BRIAN BAIRD, (D) WASHINGTON: We do not want to see this kind of mob action that we've seen thus far on either side and I think it's time for cooler heads to say, let's settle down and have respectful differences of opinion.
SNOW (on camera): Congressman Baird says he's held over 300 town halls in the last 10 years, but he says he and other members of Congress have received death threats at their offices and he feels at this point he can reach more people through telephone town halls.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: All right, it's time to take the temperature down just a little bit, that's at least the message from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They ought to be able to be conducted without shouting and shoving and pushing and people getting hurt. I think we can have honest policy disagreements without being either disagreeable or certainly without being violent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: For more on health care, make it or break it month for the issue, you can check out my blog, go to cnn.com/betty.
Hurricane Felicia, a Rodney Dangerfield of storm. Hit it Rob?
MARCIANO: I get no respect.
NGUYEN: That's what we're talking about. Why the hurricane garners less respect as it draws closer to the shore.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Hi, hurricane Felicia, fizzling a little bit, expected to weaken even more as the storm draws closer to Hawaii. But people there are bracing for at least a likely storm surge and the once powerful category 4 storm, hurricane Felicia now down to a cat one. But even if it goes down to a tropical depression it will still bring some heavy rains, which will possibly set off some mudslides.
We talked about that earlier, Reynolds, about the big island, how mountainous it is, and they just get that rain to squeeze out of those clouds and that can be a pain for sure.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Geeks like us, we refer to it as aerographic lifts and that may definitely happen. We could see a little bit of mudslide action on the big island. The key thing that you were talking about, Rob that is just this great to hear is this thing has been weakening.
Let me show the viewers at home why that's been happening. We have a couple things going on between this storm system and the Hawaiian Islands. Just for reference, Hawaiian Islands right over here. Storm, hard to miss. What we've seen is we've seen the thing considerably weaken. There are two big reasons why we don't anticipate this to be a powerhouse.
One reason why is because to have these storms really intensify, you have to have warm ocean water. The water temperatures right about here are about 77 degrees, 77 degrees Fahrenheit. For these systems to remain -- continue with the same strength or rather intensify, they have to have around 80 degrees or higher, that's not going to be the case. So cool waters are really going to hurt.
The thing that's also going to hurt, strong upper level winds that are going to shear the top of this thing apart so that's going to cause it to weaken also. Now the path of this is expected to still march its way off towards the west and as it gets close to Hawaii, maybe early Tuesday morning, around 2:00 A.M., the storm is anticipated to be a minimal tropical storm or a tropical depression. But as Rob mentioned, one of the big threats is going to be the heavy rainfall also (INAUDIBLE) surf along the coast, that's something you can expect.
Something we can expect here at home, which is really no surprise, high temperatures soaring back up into the 90s across much of the southland and back into portions of Texas, where you get the high humidity factored in, too. So if you're planning on going out there and maybe cutting the grass out in Plano, Texas, maybe in Waco, you might want to take it easy.
Meanwhile, 91 degrees in Chicago. As we wrap things up very quickly, chance of severe weather today, mainly western great lakes, also central great lakes, scattered showers along the coast, hot as we mentioned in Texas. Cool and a chance of scattered showers across big sky country.
You, my friends, are up to speed. Let's send it back to you.
MARCIANO: You have just become a hero to those men and women who -- honey, Reynolds said I shouldn't cut the grass, it's too hot.
NGUYEN: Can't do it today, sorry.
WOLF: Got to have those excuses. Take them when you can.
MARCIANO: Thanks.
NGUYEN: All right. So police in Indonesia, have to tell you about this, they believe that they have killed the man blamed for last month's twin hotel bombings in Jakarta and the 2002 Bali nightclub blast. They say he was killed in an 18-hour gun battle between militants and Indonesia's anti-terror forces. Just listen to the firing out here. This was just one of a series of successful anti- terror operations carried out in Indonesia.
In another raid, authorities believe they averted a bomb plot targeting the Indonesian president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF BAMBANG HENDARSO, INDONESIA'S NATIONAL POLICE (through translator): We found 100 milligrams of explosives, two booby traps and three plastic containers of explosives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And police also say two suspected terror suspects died in an early morning raid in Jakarta.
MARCIANO: Pakistan authorities are still trying to verify that the Pakistani Taliban leader was actually killed in a U.S. missile strike this week.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence tells us why his status is important to the U.S. military.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A bomb ripped apart the Marriott hotel in Islamabad. Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, assassinated on the street. In some attacks on American soldiers in Afghanistan. A U.S. counterterrorism official blames Baitullah Mesud for all of it. Quote, "There is no doubt he has American blood on his hands."
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is an individual whose title as a murderous thug was well deserved.
LAWRENCE: In March, the U.S. put a $5 million bounty on his head. A senior defense official says Mesud was watched long enough to develop a pattern of his activities and there is growing confidence Mehsud was killed in an air strike within the region of South Waziristan.
President Obama has authorized nearly as many unmanned drone strikes in six months as President Bush did all last year. I asked a defense official, will this strike give the U.S. leeway to conduct more? He told me, "It gives us room with the Pakistani government maybe and allows a bit more freedom, but not with the people."
MALOU INNOCENT, FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST, CATO INSTITUTE: Certainly officials within the Pentagon will begin telling the Obama administration this may not be an excellent strategy considering that we must win the hearts and minds in this region.
LAWRENCE: Analyst Malou Innocent says Pakistan still sees the Taliban as two groups, good and bad.
INNOCENT: The good Taliban being the militants who pour over the border and attack the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, and those that tie down Indian troops in Kashmir. The bad Taliban are those that attack the Pakistani government and the Pakistani military.
LAWRENCE (on camera): She says the U.S. needs to keep cooperating with Pakistan but realize that this one strike on Mehsud does not mean that all of America's enemies are Pakistan's enemies, too.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: With all the shouting at health care town hall meetings, how many Americans actually say they oppose the president's reform plan? Well, we have those numbers for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, so are these angry protests at health care town hall meetings being orchestrated or just democracy at work? Well some have gotten so loud that no one can be heard. CNN deputy political director Mr. Paul Steinhauser joins us now live. All right, Paul. Here's the question. Are they being orchestrated or is this really democracy at work?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, Betty, I think it appears to be a little of both. Let's first talk about are they organized or orchestrated. Yes, some of these conservative advocacy groups who are opposed to the president's health care proposals on their websites they're posting this list of where and when these town halls are going to be held, these town halls being held by members of Congress. And they're also posting instructions on what to say and what to do.
So I guess that's the orchestrated part of it. But these are also organic in a way as well, I mean we had a CNN poll out this week that showed that people who are opposed to the president's plan are more likely to go to these town halls than people that support his plan. So it seems there is more energy among the opponents Betty.
NGUYEN: If that is the case, how are the democrats responding?
STEINHAUSER: First of all, they're arguing that this is all being organized by the right and we saw a web video they put out, and they've been putting out a lot of e-mails. Secondly, I think they learned their lesson and now they're trying to organize and get their supporters out to these town halls as well because they're doing the same thing as well now that the right is doing it and saying get out to these town halls and speak out -- Betty?
NGUYEN: Let's try to sift through the shoving and all the shouting out there. What does your polling say about the health care debate?
STEINHAUSER: We have a new poll that came out this week, CNN the Opinion Research Corporation national poll, and we found Betty that overwhelmingly Americans say something needs to be done, changes need to be made. But check this out, 50 percent, when it comes to the president's specific plan, 50 percent say they favor it, 45 percent say they oppose.
Americans appear to be divided. Yes, they say reforms are needed to bring down costs and insure people that aren't insured. But at the same time, Betty, a lot of people say they like what they have. So that's the dilemma.
NGUYEN: Just looking at those numbers, 50 percent for, 45 percent against it, yes there is a big divide and maybe that's why we're seeing what we're seeing.
STEINHAUSER: Exactly.
NGUYEN: All right, Paul Steinhauser, as always, we appreciate it.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
MARCIANO: The wheels come off the auto industry laid off workers, put their training wheels on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Happening now in the CNN NEWSROOM, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the 111th justice of the United States Supreme Court just moments ago. She's the first Hispanic to sit on the high bench. Today's ceremony was televised, also a first for the Supreme Court.
And 88-year-old Eunice Kennedy Shriver is in critical condition today at a Cape Cod hospital. Her children, including California first lady and journalist Maria Shriver are at her side.
NGUYEN: The White House is reacting cautiously, but optimistically to Friday's better than expected jobs report. Unemployment dipped slightly for the first time in more than a year. President Obama has said it is a sign that the worst may be behind us in this recession, but he also warned that a recovery has not happened yet, and unemployment may still reach 10 percent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Today we're pointed in the right direction. We're losing jobs at less than half the rate we were when I took office. We pulled the financial system back from the brink and the rising market is restoring values to those 401(k)s that are the foundation of a secure retirement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Michigan's unemployment rate stands at 15 percent now, that's highest in the nation. Most of the lost job there can be linked to the automobile industry, and President Obama is warning those jobs, they aren't coming back so workers need to concentrate on new careers.
Here's CNN's Sandra Endo in Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This doesn't look like your conventional wind turbine.
SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is where Ken Stahovec sees his future, in renewable energy. But walk with to his driveway, that's where his real love is parked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is a very important part of my life.
ENDO: Cars. He's worked in the auto industry for eight years. For a long time with General Motors. But like tens of thousands of other auto workers, Ken was laid off a year ago and his first worry was getting health care for his wife and two kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a feeling that this was going to be bad, and I was right it was real bad. ENDO: They get by on his unemployment and his wife's job working at a veterinarian hospital. But with few jobs available in the auto industry, Ken's being forced to switch gears.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just figured it was time I have to learn something else because the whole industry's going to change and it's going to stay changed.
ENDO: Ken applied to Michigan's no worker left behind program, which helped retrain the unemployed by sending them back to school. He's taking classes in renewable technology.
(On camera): Is the stuff you're learning now though something that interests you or you're just doing it just to try to get a paycheck down the road?
KEN STAHOVEC, FORMER AUTO WORKER: At first it might have been just a new career to earn a steady check, but when you learn more about it, especially with stuff that could relate to cars it does interest me more.
ENDO (voice-over): Ken is one of more than 81,000 in the retraining program which started two years ago. It's in high demand in the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate. Now there's at least a month waiting list to get in.
(On camera): This community college is where Ken got his first degree in metals 24 years ago, now he's back studying a completely different field. Let's take you to where his retraining program first started.
(Voice-over): Linda McClatchy oversees this bustling job center. People are working on resumes and attending job training workshops. More than a million resumes are posted on the state's online talent bank, with only around 20,000 available jobs. The state's retraining program will pay up to two years or $10,000 for schooling in emerging fields, but there's no guaranteed job. The bottom line is, there are no jobs. Not enough jobs for everyone who's looking for one.
LISA OLSON, MICHIGAN DEPT. OF LABOR: The economy will change. The economy will turn around. And there are jobs available. You just have to be willing to get retrained and look at yourself differently.
ENDO: Competition for jobs will still be a reality for many people like Ken.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He took it upon himself knowing that he had to make a change. It was not going to be status quo.
ENDO: And Ken's story is like a lot of these people that are coming in day in, day out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very, very typical.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MARCIANO: Ironically the labor department says the automobile industry added 28,000 jobs in July, that's because GM and Chrysler reopened some plants that they closed during bankruptcy proceedings.
Homes, cars, jobs. Have we turned the corner in the economy like Barack Obama suggests we have this week? That's the topic of our full hour beginning at 4:00 P.M. Eastern time. We want to hear from you. Fredricka is going to be at the helm so send her your comments, Fredricka Whitfield, her Facebook page is there or cnn.com/fredricka.
NGUYEN: Federal investigators are releasing some disturbing details on air travel. On at least a dozen recent flights by U.S. jetliners pilots had no idea how fast they were going. The discovery of faulty air space censors all involve Northwest Airlines airbus A330s and it suggests that equipment problems may be more widespread than previously thought. The faulty censors were noticed when officials began investigating a June Air France crash that killed 228 people.
Congressional greed or just necessary expense? Depends on who you ask.
MARCIANO: This may get your feathers in a ruffle. Some members of Congress are defending the decision to buy new corporate jets that often shuttle lawmakers all around. Supporters are saying they're needed to replace the aging fleet.
But as Brian Todd reports, critics say that excuse does not fly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brush back from Congress against recent allegations of overspending. A spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee tells CNN the House isn't being wasteful or selfish in the money it's doling out for new gulf stream jets. The defense department had asked for only one new jet.
GEOFF MORRELL, DEFENSE DEPT. PRESS SECRETARY: We ask for what we need and only what we need.
TODD: But the House added two more jets. The price tag for all three, nearly $200 million. But the House committee spokesman says there are a total of seven aircraft that the Air Force plans to replace with these new gulf stream jets over the next few years anyway. By paying for these two extra planes now, Congress is speeding up the process and actually saving money because the newer jets are more reliable and cost less to maintain.
But Steve Ellis, from the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, points out that the two extra planes will be parked at an air base close to Washington, D.C. and available to members of Congress.
STEVE ELLIS, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: They are going to Andrews Air Force base and we are about to spend $133 million so that Congress will have some nice gulf stream jets, the same things that the CEOs fly around in to travel in comfort. TODD: The House appropriations spokesman counters that argument too, saying the new jets are going to Andrews because that's where the fleet of planes that will be replaced is located.
(On camera): And he points out congressmen aren't the frequent fliers. Over the past five years, he says, less than 15 percent of the use of these planes has been by members of Congress. They're mostly used by members of the military and delegations from the White House.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: All right. The other extreme, are you looking for a bargain? Yard sales are a pretty good bet. You won't find a private jet there that's for sure. See what I found at the world's longest yard sale coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: I never realized, Betty that you had so much junk that you gave away.
NGUYEN: Well you know, I should have taken it to a yard sale.
MARCIANO: You should have. I think I found some of it, actually.
NGUYEN: Really?
MARCIANO: No, not really. I hope some of this stuff wasn't yours.
NGUYEN: You broke some of it.
MARCIANO: I did.
NGUYEN: It's a good thing it wasn't mine.
MARCIANO: I was like a bull in a china shop. It's the world's longest yard sale stretches 654 miles on route 127. Actually it started on Thursday, right through Sunday. I stopped off to check out some of the bargains up there in Dunlap, Tennessee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (On camera): It looks to me like an oversized hamster ball. I don't know what kind of critter you put in there but use your imagination. That's pretty much what you have to do here is use your imagination at the world's longest yard sale, and you can find just about anything you need.
A water kettle, a gas can. These tires look pretty new, actually high performance. Not sure what those are. Something for the kids, a baby carriage, all sorts of eclectic things. You name it, they got it.
Forget about those multi thousand dollar kitchens, you come here and you can get set up with just about everything. You have a bunt cake pan, you have a pound cake pan, you have real cast iron frying pan. Talk about years on this sucker, that's got some flavor in there.
All yours for $12. Can't beat that. You're reading that right, $150 for a Goodyear sign. This Coke sign right here, $80. This coke machine, which may or may not even work, $350. Obviously for the vintage collector and one more reason that one man's junk is certainly somebody else's treasure. At least here in Dunlap, Tennessee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Head up there it's happening right now this weekend and it will happen again next year for the 23rd year if you're hunting for bargains or any other weekend. You know "Country Living" has some tips for you, the magazine. First off, be prepared. There are a lot of items to look through, some call it junk. So know what you're looking for and be prepared not to find it, even if you think it's there.
And be ready to make sure that you have cash on hand, because, as I learned, they don't take American Express, corporate card, after I broke a $2 cup. Negotiating is part of the process also part of the fun. Be fashionably late because if you go later, things will be cheaper, but you may not have quite the selection.
If you want a deal, definitely want to go late and, of course, be realistic. Examine every piece that you want to make sure it actually works. There is a lot of stuff out there, Betty, that didn't work. Some lawn mowers that were a good deal but didn't fire up.
NGUYEN: That's why they were a good deal.
MARCIANO: A washing machine that actually had a sign that said $10, great, but it doesn't work.
NGUYEN: I imagine there is a good deal on a teacup out there that's broken, thanks to you.
MARCIANO: I figure if that's the only thing I broke, I was doing good. That $12 skillet, I actually bought it and I didn't haggle. I felt like ...
NGUYEN: So that means you're bringing breakfast for the crew tomorrow.
MARCIANO: I should do that. Whatever's been cooked on that over the years, you don't know.
NGUYEN: That's true. Pretty good season, right?
MARCIANO: I should have brought you something. You know, there was -- it was tough to find good stuff. Trust me, you wouldn't maybe want ...
NGUYEN: Some of the stuff was kind of expensive especially the Coca-Cola memorabilia.
MARCIANO: Yes, you don't need that.
NGUYEN: I wouldn't call it that, but I have no room for it. All right.
Two doctors, in fact, have put their own health care reforms into action. You'll see the results. No frills Medicare, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Two doctors in Rhode Island are putting their own version of health care reform into practice and the bottom line, there's less bureaucracy and more doctoring. CNN photojournalist Bob Pearly shows us in today's "Health Care in Focus" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My colleague and I opened a small practice, I guess it's been a year and a half now. All set? When you walk in the door, you're going to see a big arrangement of flowers where you normally would see a secretary sitting. There's no staff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't have a secretary. We don't have a nurse. We don't have an office manager.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are probably not going to see other patients because we don't double book. We put the bell there because we got tired of hearing people say, "Are you there?" Hi, Jennifer. It's called Ideal Medical Practice. How have you been? Having (INAUDIBLE) patients in your practice allows you to spend more time with them. And the idea is to just lower your overhead. Good. So that you can see fewer patients and spend more time with patients, really focus on quality care. Hello, family medicine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a practice that's been completely redesigned. What can I help you with? We use computers a lot to do what usually a staff does. So, we can click a button and our prescriptions get sent off to the pharmacy, and we can push a button and our referrals get faxed over.
Do you have your insurance card? And our computer automatically e-mails patient before their visit so we don't have to call each one to remind them about their appointment. We wanted to be the kind of doctors we were trained to be. We both really value the relationship with our patients.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're doing a home visit for a newborn. He needs a weight check, he's two weeks old. We commute a lot by going to people's homes. Yeah, this is it. Hi.
Hi.
How are you doing?
Not many people do house calls.
OK, big guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's great for our patients. Lovely for a mom with three toddlers. Big boy!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to get out the door with a newborn. So, it's nice to have them come to you.
See you guys.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what the medical assistant usually does. I mean, in the traditional primary care doctor's office, you need to see patients quickly, every 10 minutes in a traditional setting. You should be good to go. And that's I think where you have the doctor holding on to the door handle saying, everything else OK, right? Nothing else is a problem, because you don't have time to address it if you get a positive answer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like it was I imagined 60 years ago. It's not a stressful work environment. Kind of fun.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Kind of fun. Well, doctors Arena and Denny are part of a nationwide alliance of physicians called Ideal Medical Practice. They call it a Norman Rockwell approach to medicine. Hopefully some folks love it and maybe it will catch on, especially when we're dealing with a lot of debate when it comes to health care.
MARCIANO: More debate, more news, more information coming up in the next hour Fredricka Whitfield.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, good to see you, everything that you need, we begin at noon. All the stuff that you guys perhaps didn't cover.
MARCIANO: We just teed it up.
NGUYEN: Well that's nothing, I'm kidding with you.
WHITFIELD: OK, let it go. Coming up noon hour, former presidential candidate John Edwards, well, his ex-mistress was in a federal court this week. What do you suppose they were talking about? No, not that child, whose is it. Avery Friedman is going to be around to give us a clue why in federal court. All right, also, did you guys go to summer camp as a kid?
NGUYEN: I did. Loved it.
WHITFIELD: I did too, everyone loved it.
MARCIANO: I had bars on it and guards.
WHITFIELD: So it was in the city. OK, yikes, this is scary. Well, in Gaza, Palestinian group Hamas they believe that children should have summer camp there, as well. Christiane Amanpour takes us there. All that straight ahead noon eastern hour.
And of course, we want you to join us in the 4 o'clock eastern hour as well because we'll be focusing mixed messages or are there about the economy. Is it taking a turn as the president said yesterday? We're going to be having a conversation. A number of people are going to be involved in that conversation to say whether indeed we should have our hopes up or if we should stay safe.
NGUYEN: Seems like everyone appears to be optimistically cautious.
WHITFIELD: That is a good word.
NGUYEN: You hear it a lot, I mean the president says, yes, the jobless rate is great, but don't start celebrating yet.
MARCIANO: Little insecurity. You do sound like you have more going on than what we just did in the last hour.
WHITFIELD: Do not feel insecure. We are just kind of taking the baton where you leave off.
NGUYEN: Moving right along. We are looking forward to it too. Thank you, Fred.
MARCIANO: An Alabama county goes bust. Will the state rise to the rescue?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Alabama's governor may call state lawmakers to do a special session as early as Monday.
NGUYEN: They hope to fix a county that is teetering near financial collapse. CNN's Sean Callebs is in Birmingham.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I went for a ride along with Jefferson County sheriff's deputy, Michael Jackson, in a section of the county hit hard by crime.
DEPUTY MICHAEL JACKSON, JEFFERSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: I feel for the people that are living out here because like I said, the one's that approach me are all scared right now.
CALLEBS: The county which includes the city of Birmingham is in crisis. Dramatic budget cuts mean more than 300 of the nearly 800 sheriff department's employees will be out of work, off the streets and officers are fearful that crime will skyrocket.
(On camera): The people that you have talked to, are they really scared?
JACKSON: They are terrified. You have a lot of elderly people out here living alone and they rely on us to have their back. If we are taken away who are they going to have?
CALLEBS (voice-over): To avoid what officers call open season for criminals, Sheriff Mike Hale is urging the governor to consider sending the National Guard to Alabama's most populous county. Hale has been told he may have to cut his budget by as much as 50 percent next year, from $60 million to $31 million.
SHERIFF MIKE HALE, JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA: What I will have left after furlough is enough to work the jail and a small group to work five or six beats within the county.
CALLEBS: What led to Jefferson County's broken government? Part of the pinch can be blamed on the recession.
(On camera): The big problem, the county instantly lost about $70 million or 25 percent of its annual budget from an occupational tax on income it had collected since the 1980s, even though lawmakers repealed it about a decade ago, courts only recently mandated the county stop collecting that money.
BETTYE FINE COLLINS, PRES., JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSION: We are enduring the darkest hours this county has ever lived through.
CALLEBS (voice-over): Bettye Fine Collins is the county commission president and says there is no quick fix. The commission has already ordered furloughs for 33 percent of the county's employees.
COLLINS: You cannot have more expenditures than you have revenue. So what's the largest area of expense, personnel, which is why we have 1,004 people on administrative leave without pay.
CALLEBS: Among those on furlough, Michael Morrison who has worked three years in the county zoning and planning office.. He predicts major problems.
MICHAEL MORRISON, FURLOUGHED COUNTY EMPLOYEE: It's going to slow down county road construction, it's going to slow down things like road maintenance, bridge maintenance, debris pickup after storms.
CALLEBS: Indeed, look at this massive line. People are waiting eight and nine hours to renew auto tags. Cuts mean there are only three people working inside and a lot of frustrated people outside in line.
ANGIE LAWSON, JEFFERSON COUNTY RESIDENT: It's insane. You have these people over here that want this thing and these people over here that want this thing and nobody will even communicate to fix it. It's just stupid. We could be at a kindergarten class watching this. CALLEBS: Sheriff Hale has so far pushed back and refused to furlough his employees. But if the commission can't come up with the money and the sheriff's budget is cut in half, Deputy Jackson says there will be a lot of people who suffer.
JACKSON: With this cut, if we lose 50 percent of our personnel, it is just letting the bad guys know, hey, we can pretty much go in Centerpoint and do whatever we want to do or any other part of Jefferson County.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Alabama's governor wants assurances that a financial fix for Jefferson County will pass before calling lawmakers to Montgomery.
MARCIANO: All right that's going to do it for us, thanks for having me. Welcome back again.
NGUYEN: Thank you, we'll see you tomorrow morning.
MARCIANO: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: Bright and early 6:00 A.M.
And in the meantime though, there is more news to come. Fredricka Whitfield is watching it all for you. Hi Fred.
WHITFIELD: Hello to you, you all have a great day. This is indeed a historic day. She is now the associate Justice Sonja Sotomayor. History was made last hour at the United States Supreme Court. The first Hispanic and only the third woman to take the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS: Are you prepared to take the oath?
JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR: I am.
ROBERTS: Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Sonja Sotomayor, do solemnly swear.
SOTOMAYOR: I Sonia Sotomayor do solemnly swear.
ROBERTS: That I will administer justice without respect to persons.
SOTOMAYOR: That I will administer justice without respect to persons.
ROBERTS: And do equal right to the poor and to the rich.
SOTOMAYOR: And do equal right to the poor and to the rich.
ROBERTS: And that I will faithfully and impartially.
SOTOMAYOR: And that I will faithfully and impartially.
ROBERTS: Discharge and perform.
SOTOMAYOR: Discharge and perform.
ROBERTS: All the duties incumbent upon me.
SOTOMAYOR: All of the duties incumbent upon me.
ROBERTS: As associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
SOTOMAYOR: As an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
ROBERTS: Under the constitution and laws of the United States.
SOTOMAYOR: Under the constitution and laws of the United States.
ROBERTS: So help me God.
SOTOMAYOR: So help me God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations and welcome to the court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, lots of firsts taking place today. It's the first actual swearing in to be televised.
