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Reaction to Obama Supreme Court Nomination; Stock Market Soaring Above Expectations; BP Tries Plan B

Aired May 10, 2010 - 09:57   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Gloria Borger is here, our senior political analyst. She did lose that case before the Supreme Court.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: She did.

BLITZER: It was a unanimous decision against her -- this decision that she made to prevent the Military from recruiting on campus.

BORGER: She did. And in listening to Jeffrey describe what she did I'm thinking it was very Obama-like in the way she did this because she managed to not have them on campus but still allowed recruiting to occur. Then when she lost it, of course, recruiting came back on campus.

But she is somebody who has been out spoken about "don't ask, don't tell" -- the policy of "don't ask, don't tell". And also don't forget as solicitor general she brought the Citizens United case before the Supreme Court which she lost. And that is a case about campaign finance reform which opens the door for corporations to be spending during political campaigns something the President himself chastised the Supreme Court for, Wolf, when he gave his state of the union speech.

That's something that clearly he wants somebody on the court to take another look at.

BLITZER: That was a 5-4 decision.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: Jeffrey Toobin, this whole notion -- she's been solicitor general now for more than a year -- she's going to have to, if confirmed by the Senate, recuse herself on some pretty significant issues that could come before the Supreme Court.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That's true. This has happened before. There have been solicitor generals who were nominated to the Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall in the '60s, Robert Jackson in the '40s and they did have to recuse themselves. It's not clear how many cases. It's probably somewhere between 10 and 20 cases. It's a significant chunk of one year's tenure at the Supreme Court. But when you think about the length of a Supreme Court justice's career it's probably not likely to amount to a great deal, a big percentage of her cases. BLITZER: Well, you can see they are getting ready over at the East Room of the White House. The president will be walking out. I assume the vice president will be there as well. Elena Kagan would be nominated to serve on the United States Supreme Court. She would become the third woman sitting at the same time. That would be a record. Only four women have ever served on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kate Bolduan is at the Supreme Court for us. Kate, you've reviewed what the record that she has and there is no doubt that Republicans and others are going to be doing a thorough search of every word basically she's uttered in public.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf. What is also been noted is the fact that there are fewer words to be searched for Elena Kagan than nominees in the past. Her paper trail, as we call it, is thinner than most. So they will have less to look through while they are looking to scrutinize her views, her jurisprudence. Her views on judicial policy.

It's important to always remind our viewers, Wolf, what really is at stake. As you know, Supreme Court justices, they have enormous power over the daily lives of Americans from everything from individual rights to the reach and scope of government power to matters of life and death.

Just look at the issues the court is facing right now. Just a couple, gun rights, the right to bear arms - they are considering a case about a strict Chicago handgun ban that's a very hot button issue. Another one, juvenile justice, whether life without parole should be allowed for underage criminals. These are just some of the cases there are before the court right now.

When you look at the unlimited number of major issues that could come before this court and this justice if she is confirmed, huge issues. That's why it is so important, this decision, this pick. Every Supreme Court nominee is so important to the president as well as the American people.

BLITZER: Kate, stand by because the president is going to be walking out from that door within a few seconds, we're told. Not very long from now. And for most of our viewers, this will be the initial, this will be the introduction of Elena Kagan. We'll be hearing a lot more about her in the weeks to come. Certainly we'll be seeing her during the confirmation hearings once the Senate judiciary committee formally begins the confirmation hearings.

We know that the White House would like those confirmation hearings to begin around the 20th or so of June. They would like to see a vote either before or shortly thereafter, after the July 4th congressional recess. There is no guarantee that any of that is going to happen. You saw that the doors are open.

Momentarily they will be introduced and they will walk down toward the podium. The president will speak first and then he will introduce Elena Kagan and she will speak. Here they come now. The president, the vice president and the Supreme Court nominee to be, Elena Kagan. Let's listen in to the president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, hello, hello. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Everybody, please have a seat.

Good morning, everybody.

Of the many responsibilities accorded to a president by our Constitution, few are more weighty or consequential than that of appointing a Supreme Court justice, particularly one to succeed a giant in the law like Justice John Paul Stevens.

For nearly 35 years, Justice Stevens has stood as an impartial guardian of the law, faithfully applying the core values of our founding to the cases and controversies of our time. He's done so with restraint and respect for precedent, understanding that a judge's job is to interpret, not make, law, but also with fidelity to the constitutional ideal of equal justice for all.

He's brought to each case not just mastery of the letter of the law, but a keen understanding of its impact on people's lives. And he has emerged as a consistent voice of reason, helping his colleagues find common ground on some of the most controversial and contentious issues the court has ever faced.

While we can't presume to replace Justice Stevens' wisdom or experience, I have selected a nominee who I believe embodies that same excellence, independence, integrity and passion for the law, and who can ultimately provide that same kind of leadership on the court: our solicitor general and my friend, Elena Kagan.

(APPLAUSE)

Elena --

(APPLAUSE)

Elena is widely regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal minds. She's an acclaimed legal scholar with a rich understanding of constitutional law. She is a former White House aide, with a life- long commitment to public service and a firm grasp of the nexus and boundaries between our three branches of government.

She is a trailblazing leader, the first woman to serve as dean of Harvard Law School, and one of the most successful and beloved deans in its history.

And she is a superb solicitor general, our nation's chief lawyer, representing the American people's interests before the Supreme Court -- the first woman in that position as well. And she has won accolades from observers across the ideological spectrum for her well- reasoned arguments and commanding presence.

But Elena is respected and admired not just for her intellect and record of achievement, but also for her temperament, her openness to a broad array of viewpoints, her habit, to borrow a phrase from Justice Stevens, of understanding before disagreeing, her fair-mindedness and skill as a consensus-builder.

These traits were particularly evident during her tenure as dean. At a time when many believed that the Harvard faculty had gotten a little one-sided in its viewpoint, she sought to recruit prominent conservative scholars and spur a healthy debate on campus.

And she encouraged students from all backgrounds to respectfully exchange ideas and seek common ground. Because she believes, as I do, that exposure to a broad array of perspectives is the foundation not just for a sound legal education, but of a successful life in the law.

This appreciation for diverse views may also come in handy as a die-hard Mets fan serving alongside her new colleague-to-be, Yankees fan Justice Sotomayor, who I believe has ordered a pinstripe robe for the occasion.

(LAUGHTER)

But while Elena had a brilliant career in academia, her passion for the law is anything but academic. She's often referred to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked, as her hero.

I understand that he reciprocated by calling her Shorty.

(LAUGHTER)

Nonetheless, she credits him with reminding her that, as she put it, "behind law, there are stories," stories of people's lives as shaped by the law, stories of people's lives as might be changed by the law.

That understanding of law, not as an intellectual exercise or words on a page, but as it affects the lives of ordinary people, has animated every step of Elena's career, including her service as solicitor general today.

And during her time in this office, she has repeatedly defended the rights of shareholders and ordinary citizens against unscrupulous corporations.

Last year, in the Citizens United case, she defended bipartisan campaign finance reform against special interests seeking to spend unlimited money to influence our elections.

Despite long odds of success, with most legal analysts believing the government was unlikely to prevail in this case, Elena still chose it as her very first case to argue before the court.

I think that says a great deal not just about Elena's tenacity but about her commitment to serving the American people. I think it says a great deal about her commitment to protect our fundamental rights, because in a democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.

And I think it says a great deal about the path that Elena has chosen. Someone as gifted as Elena could easily have settled into a comfortable life in a corporate law practice. Instead, she chose a life of service: service to her students, service to her country, service to the law, and to all those whose lives it shapes.

And given Elena's upbringing, it the choice that probably came naturally. Elena is the granddaughter of immigrants whose mother was for 20 years a beloved public school teacher, as are her two brothers, who are here today. Her father was a housing lawyer devoted to the rights of tenants. Both were the first in their families to attend college. And from an early age, they instilled in Elena not just the value of a good education, but the importance of using it to serve others.

As she recalled during her solicitor general confirmation hearings, "Both my parents wanted me to succeed in my chosen profession. But more than that, both drilled into me the importance of service, character and integrity."

Elena has also spoken movingly about how her mother had grown up at a time when women had few opportunities to pursue their ambitions and took great joy in watching her daughter do so.

Neither she nor Elena's father lived to see this day, but I think her mother would relish this moment. I think she would relish, as I do, the prospect of three women taking their seat on the nation's highest court for the first time in history --

(APPLAUSE)

-- a court that would be more inclusive, more representative, more reflective of us as a people than ever before.

And I think they would be tremendously proud of their daughter, a great lawyer, a great teacher and a devoted public servant who I am confident will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice.

So I hope that the Senate will act in a bipartisan fashion, as they did in confirming Elena to be our solicitor general last year, and that they will do so as swiftly as possible so she can get busy and take her seat in time to fully participate in the work of the court this fall.

With that, I would like to invite the person who I believe will be the next Supreme Court justice of the United States, Elena Kagan, to say a few words.

(APPLAUSE)

Let me get this down (ph) for you.

What a great day.

(APPLAUSE)

SOLICITOR GENERAL ELENA KAGAN, SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE NOMINEE: Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I am honored and I am humbled by this nomination and by the confidence you have shown in me.

During the last year, as I have served as solicitor general, my longstanding appreciation for the Supreme Court's role in our constitutional democracy has become ever deeper and richer.

The court is an extraordinary institution in the work it does and it the work it can do for the American people by advancing the tenets of our Constitution, by upholding the rule of law, and by enabling all Americans, regardless of their background or their beliefs, to get a fair hearing and an equal chance at justice.

And within that extraordinary institution, Justice Stevens has played a particularly distinguished and exemplary role. It is therefore a special honor to be nominated to fill his seat.

I have felt blessed to represent the United States before the Supreme Court, to walk into the highest court in this country when it is deciding its most important cases, cases that have an impact on so many people's lives. And to represent the United States there is the most thrilling and the most humbling task a lawyer can perform.

I have been fortunate to have been supported in all the work I have done as solicitor general by a remarkable group of lawyers and staff, many of whom are here today. They exemplify professionalism, public service and integrity, and I am grateful for all that they have taught me.

My professional life has been marked by great good fortune. I clerked for a judge, Abner Mikva, who represents the best in public service, and for a justice, Thurgood Marshall, who did more to promote justice over the course of his legal career than did any lawyer in his lifetime.

I have had the opportunity to serve under two remarkable presidents who have devoted themselves to lifting the lives of others and who have inspired a great many more to do the same.

I had the privilege of leading one of the world's great law schools, and of working there to bring people together and to help ensure that they and the school were making the largest possible contribution to the public good, both in this country and around the world. I am proud of what all of us accomplished there.

And through most of my professional life, I've had the simple joy of teaching, of trying to communicate to students why I so loved the law: not just because it's challenging and endlessly interesting, although it certainly is that, but because law matters, because it keeps us safe, because it protects our most fundamental rights and freedoms, and because it is the foundation of our democracy.

I am thankful to my brothers and other family and friends for coming to Washington to be with me here today.

And much more, I am thankful for all of their support and loyalty and love, not just on this day, but always.

If this day has just a touch of sadness in it for me, it is because my parents aren't here to share it. They were both, as the president said, the children of immigrants and the first in their families to go to college.

My father was the kind of lawyer who used his skills and training to represent everyday people and to improve a community.

My mother was a proud public schoolteacher, as are my two brothers: the kind of teachers whom students remember for the rest of their lives.

My parents' lives and their memory remind me every day of the impact public service can have and I pray every day that I live up to the example they set.

Mr. President, I look forward to working with the Senate in the next stage of this process. And I thank you again, Mr. President, for this honor of a lifetime. Thank you so much.

(APPLAUSE)

BLITZER: And so that historic moment has now come and gone.

The president of the United States nominating Elena Kagan to be the next associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He cited her excellence, her independence, her integrity and her passion for the law. He was especially proud, he said, "because of her temperament" to nominate Elena Kagan, the former dean of the Harvard Law School.

Jeff Toobin, our senior legal analyst is with us. Jeff, you have known her since you were both students at Harvard. Tell our viewers something we all should know about Elena Kagan.

TOOBIN: Well, I think what you saw is what you see is what you get with Elena. She is confident, she is intelligent. She is short. And you saw all of that today in the ceremony in the East Room. You know, starting when we were 23 years old as first-year law students, she was someone who figured out ways to get along with people of diverse viewpoints.

At Harvard Law School in the '80s, it was a very politically polarized place. And on the "Harvard Law Review" where we worked, the magazine, lots of people had very different political views and there were a lot of people who didn't get along with each other. And Elena Kagan was someone who got along with everybody. That is something that's been true throughout her career whether it's in the Clinton White House or in the solicitor general's office or in her brief time in private practice. The real question we don't know, and I don't know, is where she stands on a lot of important legal issues - abortion, separation of church and state, affirmative action. Those are the kind of questions the Senate is going to want to get answers to. I'm betting that she's going to stonewall them just like most Supreme Court nominees stonewall the senators.

BLITZER: That's how they usually do it. They don't want to be specific for good reason.

Ed Henry is over there in the East Room. Ed, what was it like inside? Who did the president invite - actually, Ed's not yet ready. We're going to go to Ed in just a moment.

But Gloria is here. Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst, she made a brief statement.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: She told us a little bit about herself, her views. She's going to be silent now between now and the time she appears before the judiciary committee.

BORGER: She will. And as we were discussing earlier, she's really criticized senate confirmation hearings as being vapid and hollow. We're going to see if she gets to answer questions in the way the senators would like her to answer those questions. One thing that struck me though, Wolf, about what we just saw is that Joe Biden is also somebody who has known Elena Kagan for quite some time.

BLITZER: He was on the judiciary committee.

BORGER: He was on the judiciary committee. He hired her to work for him during the Ruth Bader Ginsburg confirmation process. So she knows something about how these things work. You see that the president who not only served with her at the University of Chicago but the vice president who has a relationship with her and the vice president also met with her himself before she was nominated.

BLITZER: And she also had a policy job in the Clinton White House in addition to being the associate counsel, she later was involved in domestic policy.

BORGER: That's right.

BLITZER: She got involved in all sorts of issues. I remember covering the Clinton White House at the time and she was very visible at the time, behind the scenes but very visible, very involved.

BORGER: Right. Absolutely. So she knows the political process very well. And so she knows what she's going to be up against. But as Ed was saying earlier, there were seven Republicans who voted for her in the Senate when she was confirmed as solicitor general. So they're hoping to get a few more. BLITZER: And I noticed, I'm looking at the list. Orin Hatch was one of them who voted to confirm her, John Kyle -

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: The number two Republican from Arizona, voted to confirm her. Let's go to the hill. Dana Bash is our senior congressional correspondent - Dana, we're already getting some reaction from Republicans and others.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned two Republicans, Senator John Kyle and Senator Orin Hatch who actually did vote for Elena Kagan for solicitor general, but both, as we talked about earlier, have put out statements while she was speaking actually, saying clearly that they do not see a political appointment that vote as the same as a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

In fact, Orin Hatch who's said very, very positive things in the past about Elena Kagan just said that his conclusion will be based on evidence, not blind faith and that Republican leader Mitch McConnell again, as Elena Kagan was speaking at the White House released a statement promising Republicans will ensure that there is a vigorous debate.

And one other interesting buzz word that we saw in Mitch McConnell's statement that I have been hearing all morning from conservative activists, that they will try to make sure, at least try to make sure, that Elena Kagan will not be a, "rubber stamp for any administration."

The point that I have heard in talking to conservative sources is that we are probably going to hear talk that, look, she was the president's solicitor general. She has been a very active Democrat, even though not active in terms of judicial writings and that they are going to make the point that she's going to be on the Supreme Court, possibly and probably trying to decide on issues that have to do with the president's administration.

For example, first and foremost, health care policy, it is likely to come before the Supreme Court. How will she view that? Will she recuse herself? Those kinds of questions are just some examples of what we're hearing that she has in store for her on Capitol Hill.

BLITZER: It does, once again, demonstrate the importance of elections. This president, President Barack Obama, he nominated and got confirmed Sonia Sotomayor to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. She's only 55 years old. She'll be there for many decades to come.

And now, only 50 years old, Elena Kagan, if confirmed, she would be there for decades to come. The Obama legacy would stay for a long time. Ed Henry is over there at the White House, our senior White House correspondent.

Ed, they got a game plan in place to get her confirmed. ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They do. We saw the strategy laid out almost immediately. When the president (inaudible) in introducing her as the current solicitor general is saying she's the people's lawyer before the Supreme Court, representing the American people.

I will go back to what the president said on April 9th in the Rose Garden, the day that Justice Stevens announced his retirement. The president said that he would pick "someone who like Justice Stevens, knows in a democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens." They are going to play this up as Elena Kagan as someone will stand up for the middle class, will stand up on these issues like Dana was talking about - health care, et cetera.

But you're also hearing, as Dana noted, skepticism among Republicans right away. That's why we're told, earlier this morning, 8:30 this morning, in fact, the president started calling key senators, the majority leader Harry Reid, the minority leader Mitch McConnell, White House aides here saying the president also called the judiciary chairman, Patrick Leahy. He will be overseeing those confirmation hearings. He tried to reach a Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the committee. They haven't spoke yet but likely will do that later today.

Of course, the White House is pushing to get these hearings going as quickly as possible, perhaps even in June. They want get her confirmed in July at the earliest so that they can make sure that well before that August recess when Congress goes home, they want to make sure she's confirmed before that first Monday in October.

BLITZER: And very quickly, the fact that she's only 50, a good eight or nine years younger than some of these other potential candidates. That was a significant factor.

HENRY: No doubt about it. I can tell you in talking to some of the liberal activists who were in this room this morning and will now have to go out and sell this nomination, they say they're happy with Elena Kagan but some of those same people I have been speaking to in recent days were talking about a lot of excitement about Diane Wood from Illinois, for example, a federal judge who is 60 years old. That clearly, age was a factor. She would have excited a lot of liberals but she was 10 years older than Elena Kagan. This president clearly wants to put his imprint on the court long after he's in office.

BLITZER: All right. Guys, thanks very much. This is an historic day. The confirmation process will begin. 50-year-old Elena Kagan nominated to the United States Supreme Court. If confirmed she would replace 90-year-old Supreme Court associate justice John Paul Stevens.

Our coverage will continue on this and all the day's other news right after a short break. Kyra Phillips and NEWSROOM will be coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We know the markets have been on your mind since the Dow plummeted just a thousand points last week. "Just a thousand"? Wait a minute. We just didn't say just a thousand. Let's check the numbers right now.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: (inaudible) just last week.

PHILLIPS: There we go. That sounds just better. Because we don't want to discount those numbers for goodness' sakes. But the good news, up 357 points. We have seen it as high as -- what? -- 419? Something like --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I think 440 I saw earlier or something.

PHILLIPS: -- 440. OK, so we kind of expected to have the rally, right?

VELSHI: Right, there are two things that are going on here. One is that, yes, we saw that big plunge, which wasn't about fundamentals. It was something technical, we'll talk about that in a second.

The second one is we have been following the stuff in Greece and the effects in Portugal and Italy and the rest of Europe. So the European government as well as the European central bank have come together and said, we will shore up the system in Europe, very much like we did in September of 2008 with TARP.

The combination of those two factors, a bad market last week -- an overly bad market last week and the fact that Europe has got a solution to Greece's problems and the contagion around the continent, has created this run-up in the market. We saw it overnight in European markets, we saw the Dow futures up. So we knew it would be strong, this is substantially stronger than most people expected.

PHILLIPS: All right, Christine Romans, that goes to show that other places in the world are not going to let us go into debt.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is essentially Europe saying we have an unlimited war chest here. A trillion dollars that we're going to tap into with bonds -- or with guarantees and assurances to make sure that Greece's problems don't spread around the rest of the globe.

So this is a very big promise that Europe is not going to allow what happened in Asia ten years ago or something, that contagion that just kept going, they're not going to allow that to take down the European unity and hurt the rest of the country.

It's a big very promise. And I will point out -- Ali, I think you will agree with me -- Thursday, they could have done something like this last Thursday and didn't, and that's why the markets were upset. So now they have come out strong. Last night, the president talked to Angela Merkel and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. And it's a pretty big deal on a Sunday night when you have the president of the United States talking to people about debt problems and the sovereign debt.

VELSHI: Well, you remember, Christine, last Thursday, before the markets all tumbled, they were already down because of Europe.

But here's something interesting, Kyra. Greece is a country, where this rally has been centered, Greece is a country where a third of the nation is employed in some fashion by the public service and you have jobs for life and it's a very strong public sector, unionized place.

And what happened is, when the different countries joined the European Union, they don't all have the same rules. They don't all play by the same rules. So Greece has been lagging behind for some time and threatened now to bring the whole operation down because they're all linked.

So this is one of these problems with Europe all being one economic unit. Been a lot of advantages to that, but this was one of the serious disadvantages.

PHILLIPS: And we still don't have a serious answer on what happened.

VELSHI: On Thursday, we still have a straight answer on it.

ROMANS: No.

PHILLIPS: Is it a human error? Was it a technical glitch? Is it somebody hacking the system? I mean, this is the perfect way for a terrorist to bring down our entire economy.

VELSHI: That's a good question.

Well, I mean, Christine, what are you hearing? We have the SEC and the major exchanges meeting to figure this out. We don't know what triggered the first selloffs, the ones that became really bad around 2:00 in the afternoon, but what we do know is a difference in a way the different exchanges handle trading made this a lot worse.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: New York Stock Exchange got everybody to slow down whereas the other exchanges, Christine, went full boar and just kept on trading.

ROMANS: And look, and 70 percent of the trading now in stocks takes place off of exchanges. It takes place on these electronic trading platforms. There was a discrepancy in the trades of the prices of some trades and quite frankly, all hell broke loose.

The fact that, Ali and Kyra, that it's taken so long to figure out what it is is a little concerning to me, because when we have had software glitches and bad trades before in the past, it's been a matter of hours before we figured out what went wrong. This is unprecedented that over a period of days not to know why the Dow was down 998 points.

PHILLIPS: Who investigates something like this?

VELSHI: This is the problem with the financial system. Who investigates it?

At the moment, the SEC is meeting with the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange as we speak, and two other electronic exchanges. But all of these, the different exchanges, there are some trades that went through on the CBOE in Chicago, that's governed by somebody else.

This is part of the problem. It's very hard to get your finger on this. Christine is right. Back in the old days, Christine, if you bought PG&E you had to buy it through somebody who did that trade on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Today, it can be bought in half a dozen or more places around the world.

PHILLIPS: All right.

ROMANS: And I'll tell you what happened, now we're so fast, everything is so fast now that we sacrifice to be able to trade stuff really fast the ability to see what was happening and have more transparency.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned the same thing.

All right, guys, thank you very much. We'll keep track of the numbers.

On one end, a fully loaded SUV in Times Square; on the other end, the Taliban in Pakistan; in the middle, this guy, Faisal Shahzad. Nine days after that filed car bombing, investigators say that they believe Shahzad was working with the Pakistani Taliban. Terrorism adviser to the president says investigators have linked Shahzad to a Tariq-i-Taliban, a group with close ties to al Qaeda.

We're starting to see some economic effects of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, a run on seafood. In Louisiana, people are lining up right now trying to get shrimp, crawfish, oysters. That oil leak cut has cut into the fishing season and the fishing spots. Many people don't know how much longer they can count on the seafood shipments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY CVITANOCHICH, DRAGOS RESTAURANT: This coming week, it's going to be very interesting to see. Do I expect prices to eventually go up? Yes. Hopefully, it'll be later as opposed to sooner.

These are prime oyster-growing areas. In the summer months it's already more difficult. Do I expect shortages? Is it possible the restaurant may not have oysters from time to time this coming summer? Yes. And, you know, we worry about that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We worry about it, too.

Let's take you to the Hill. As you know, Elena Kagan just nominated for the Supreme Court. I understand Senator Leahy on the Hill responding to the nomination.

Let's go there live.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. PATRICK J. LEAHY (D), VERMONT: Some of the great justices in American history, like Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who had been in the Arizona legislature, or Justices Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter, who had been professors and practitioners, or Justice Hugo Black, that great defender of the First Amendment, who had been a U.S. senator, were not federal judges before they were nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist had never been a federal judge before he was first nominated to the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Earl Warren, a justice who came to the Supreme Court with real-world experience as a state attorney general and governor, recognized the power of a unanimous decision in the Supreme Court's rejection of racial discrimination and inequality in Brown v. Board of Education. If you read the history, you saw how he worked for over two years to make sure, on such an important decision, there was a unanimous Supreme Court; that the country could not accept this decision if it was a sharply divided Supreme Court.

And yet we see now in too many recent Supreme Court cases, a narrow majority of five justices joining together to undercut protections millions of Americans count on in their lives and for their very livelihoods.

And I'd hope this confirmation process will be an opportunity for all Americans to see in more detail the impact of the decisions of the nation's highest court on all our lives.

Now, there's no better time to consider these important decisions as we look at the confirmation of the next justice.

That process should be an opportunity for all Americans to learn about the impact of the court's decisions on our lives, not as a venue for partisan political attacks on the president's nominee.

The Senate, and in particular, of course, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will soon begin reviewing Ms. Kagan's nomination.

We've recently reviewed her record in connection with the nomination to be solicitor general. That's the position she -- where she received bipartisan support. In some ways, this makes our job easier, because it was such a short time ago that we had the confirmation hearing of her, went through all the -- really, the same issues that we're going to have to go through again to confirm her as a justice of the Supreme Court.

We'll have an opportunity during the confirmation hearing to ask Elena Kagan about the important role the Supreme Court plays in the lives of each and every American. She will no doubt be questioned about her legal record and how she will approach the law from a different perspective as a member of the Supreme Court rather than as an advocate before the Supreme Court.

I look forward to welcoming the American people into those hearings. We will make sure that there is open -- as open to the American public as possible. We'll give her the opportunity to respond to those critics who began attacking her even before she was -- even before she was nominated.

You know, there are 300 million Americans that are going to be affected by this nomination. There are only 100 Americans who get a chance to vote on this nomination: the 100 United States senators. We have to represent all 300 million Americans in making a decision on a lifetime nomination.

I've often said the Senate is and should be the conscience of the nation --

PHILLIPS: Senator Patrick Leahy commenting on the nomination of Elena Kagan there for the Supreme Court vacancy. Dana Bash on the Hill as well following this for us.

Three woman justices for the first time, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And one's called Shorty. So for somebody who's 5'1" and a half like me, that's OK by my book. Just in that perspective, not taking sides here. I want to be clear about that.

In all seriousness, you heard the Judiciary chairman who is a very, very powerful, important person in this process going forward. He'll be the leader of the hearings to try to confirm Elena Kagan. He's talking about the fact that everybody said at this point there are so many people who are on the Supreme Court who are, quote/unquote, "from the monastery" meaning who served so much time in the judicial world, that it was time to bring in somebody from the outside. That's what President Obama is doing.

One little piece of news. I actually just interviewed, Kyra, John Kyle, who is one of the leaders in the Republican Party here. He is One of the member of the republican leadership and an influential member of the Judiciary Committee.

And I asked whether or not he thinks that republicans might use their tool of the filibuster, if it's at all possible, and that they might filibuster Elena Kagan. He said, generally, that it's only eight minutes old. Hard to tell what they will come up with, but he believes nominally she's qualified and he doesn't think a filibuster at this point is likely.

We'll get the sound for you in a little bit, but that's generally what he said. Very interesting, because traditionally we have not seen filibusters of Supreme Court nominees of presidents from either party. But it is six months to an election, there is a lot of conservative pressure on these republican senators to really push hard.

And guess what, the big difference between the president's first pick, Sonia Sotomayor, and his pick now is the state of play in the Senate. There were 60 votes and a republican filibuster-proof majority, now democrats have just 59.

So that's going to be an inevitable question. Very interesting that one of the republican leaders says he doesn't think at this point -- at this point -- that's likely. It's very early, though.

PHILLIPS: All right. Our Shorty, Dana Bash, live from the Hill. Never short of information, that's for sure. Dana, thanks.

More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: Plan A, Plan B. Well, Plan A's failed; Plan B is on deck. Plans C, D and E are on standby and that's what BP is looking at now, trying to plug up the oil leak in the Gulf.

CNN's David Mattingly live in Venice, Louisiana this morning.

So, David, what the heck happened to that giant containment dome?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, what BP is looking at how is since the larger dome didn't work, they're going to try to downsize and work with a smaller dome.

When they tried to lower the 40-foot-tall dome over the largest of the two remaining leaks at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, gas particle crystals formed inside similar to ice crystals forming a slush in there and essentially clogging it up. So they set it to the side and now they're bringing in a smaller dome that they already prepared. And they think because of its smaller size, they'll be able to keep the crystals from forming in there and clogging that dome up.

That's what we are they are working on right now. Downsizing, but staying with the same plan to lower a dome over the largest of the two remaining leak leaks.

PHILLIPS: Got it. David Mattingly, we'll follow up. Thanks so much.

So the San Francisco Police Department under fire. Around 80 officers with prior convictions. That in itself is not the problem, but should defense attorneys have access to those arrest records?

Last week, I talked to San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Where was the oversight, Jeff?

JEFF ADACHI, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC DEFENDER: That's a good question. Everybody watches CSI, it takes a minute to do a record check on a witness.

Let me tell you. Every time I try a case, I get a list of convictions of witnesses that I'm calling in trial. Why didn't they do this for the police? What they're doing here is applying a different standard to the police than they are another witness.

And this is also not good for public safety because it allows officers who have convictions to testify with a false aura of credibility in these cases. Is that the kind of officer that you want on the street?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining me now to respond to that call and the controversy, Gary Delagnes, he's president of the San Francisco Police Officers' Association.

Gary, glad you're with us. And let me just get right to it after hearing Jeff's comments there. When it comes to our cops and their backgrounds, shouldn't the public get full disclosure?

GARY DELAGNES, PRESIDENT, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION: It depends. It depends on what sort of disclosure you're looking for.

Mr. Adachi is grossly overstating what's going on in San Francisco. The Brady Bill, Brady versus Maryland 1963, deals with the fact that the district attorney is responsible for turning over any evidence that may give the defense the ability to discredit an officer on the stand; i.e., that involves for the most part lying, a past conviction of lying or perjury.

What Mr. Adachi is doing is taking it to the next level and saying that we have, like, 80 officers accused of perjury, which nothing could be further from the truth. That's not what's going on here.

PHILLIPS: How do you know that? He says he has got evidence. Tell me where that proof lies in your hands?

DELAGNES: What Mr. Adachi is talking about is now because the district attorney does not have a Brady policy, the department has gone back to 1985 and they are looking through the files of officers for any transgression that could possibly be elevated to the level of a Brady violation. I would guess that we have no more than five or six officers that have ever had a sustained complaint of perjury or any sort of prosecution for perjury or lying. That's just simply not what's going on here and Mr. Adachi is very much misportraying the truth here. In addition to that -- yes.

PHILLIPS: When you see what's at stake, though, with regard to all these cases -- what's happened at the crime lab, allegations of corruption there and then talking about the backgrounds of police officers involved in these cases. I mean, we're talking about hundreds and hundreds of cases, possibly bad guys walking free.

And so, don't you think when it comes to public safety that, hey, in a situation like this, let's be fully transparent about what happened within the crime lab and if there are police officers with bad histories here, with histories of corruption, shouldn't we in a case like this come forward and say, all right, here are the facts. Let's try and work this out so we don't take the risk of dozens of --

(LOSS OF SIGNAL)

PHILLIPS: Oh, we apologize for that. We lost our signal there with Gary Delagnes. We'll bring him back.

But we want to make sure to be fair and balanced in this segment and obviously the issue of the backgrounds of cops being accused of corruption. We'll try to bring Gary back and continue the conversation, if not today, sometime this week. We apologize.

Coming up in the next hour, Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking republican member of the Judiciary Committee. We'll get his opinion of Elena Kagan and maybe a preview of the confirmation process ahead.

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PHILLIPS: That ash cloud that caused the travel nightmare over Europe last month is back. Iceland's busy volcano spat out another cloud. Today it's threatening flights over Portugal. Flights to southern Germany were delayed for hours. The severe weather bull's eye focused squarely on the planes today. Chances for a tornado outbreak is there.

Reynolds Wolf has the forecast and more in the CNN Weather Center.

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PHILLIPS: Thanks, Reynolds.

CNN NEWSROOM along with flood-ravaged Nashville are in for a dose of panic. One of America's jam bands joins us live. How to impact your world, namely Tennessee Flood Relief.

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