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EU Approves Bailout Plan for Greece; Supreme Court Nominee; Oil Spill Health Effects; Dome Didn't Work, What's Next?; Bennett's Loss is Tea Party's Win
Aired May 10, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that does it for us. We'll be back here tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern for two hours.
Meanwhile, Tony Harris picks it up from here.
Hey, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kyra. Have a great day.
PHILLIPS: All right.
HARRIS: Take care.
And live, everybody, from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for this Monday morning, May 10th.
President Obama unveils his second nominee for the United States Supreme Court. She is a lawyer, but she is not a judge.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in a library in South Carolina, in Columbia, South Carolina, when I met Donald. He invited me to go to lunch to buy me a hot meal. I found out after he left that Donald had been homeless, that he was actually living at the shelter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: She lost her job and it changed her life. A woman hits the road, working her way across 50 states in 50 weeks.
Also --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's a question of conservative. I think it's a question of responsible. He was not responsible when he voted for bailouts. It was not responsible to vote to save companies that have virtually stairwayed themselves.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But should his career end over one vote? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His career will end over that vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Tea Party activists claim a victory in Utah. Republican Senator Bob Bennett won't be on the ballot in November.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments, right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And with news about your money, U.S. stocks are soaring today after the European Union approved a bailout plan for Greece. The Dow shot up almost 450 points in the first 10 minutes of trading before retreating just a bit.
Felicia Taylor is following the numbers at the New York Stock Exchange.
Felicia, good morning to you.
Is this buying frenzy really all about the EU's trillion-dollar bailout plan for Greece?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you bet. Absolutely. There is no question about it.
The United States is relieved to see that a European rescue package, that there is that hope that this will be enough to stabilize markets in the near term and prevent any kind of further contagion. That fear being that the financial problems could have spread well beyond Europe and then slowed down the global recovery.
However, there are questions that will remain. They don't yet know exactly how they're going to implement the reforms.
Coming up later this week, the EU is expected to issue a plan as to just how they will implement the package. The concern, of course, had been that the contagion could spread into Portugal, Spain, Ireland. We don't know anything about that yet.
Right now, so far, we're convinced that Greece will be contained. And that, indeed, is what is responsible for the strong run-up in the Dow. Right now the Dow is up 3.75 percent; the Nasdaq up about 4.3 percent; and the S&P up just over four percent.
HARRIS: Well, and Felicia, we should be clear. This is not just a bailout plan for Greece. It is also a plan for other high-deficit nations in the Eurozone as well, correct?
TAYLOR: Sure. Absolutely.
HARRIS: OK.
TAYLOR: And you have to keep in mind also, though, that part of the moneys that are being used in the IMF come from the United States. The United States does contribute money. So don't forget that the United States will be paying a portion of what moneys are being doled out.
And we have to wonder how long that's actually going to be able to last. And is there really a lot of uncertainty around what happened last week? That's the big thing that the U.S. markets are going to be concerned about today, that thousand-pound drop that we saw on Thursday.
The SEC is now meeting in Washington, D.C., with a number of executives from the various exchanges to see what happened and what went wrong, and to see -- because part of the problem is the exchanges don't have uniform rules. Just because the New York Stock Exchange may halt or slow down trading, doesn't mean the other exchanges will have to follow suit. That's been a big question for us.
HARRIS: Yes, get some answers here, because when you see a 1,000-point drop one day and a near 500-point run-up the next, where is the confidence in the markets? What's going on?
Felicia Taylor, we appreciate. Thank you very much.
We'll take up that very question with Ali at the top in the noon hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Got to tell you, with the markets soaring on the news of a bailout deal for the nations in Europe, does this in any way alter your view on the necessity of U.S. bailouts such as auto, bank and housing rescues? Just go to CNN.com/Tony and leave us your comment, if you would. We will read a few of them later this hour, maybe even next hour as well.
Now the Supreme Court vacancy. The president's choice to fill it is Solicitor General Elena Kagan. He made the announcement just last hour in the White House East Room. If confirmed, Kagan would be the fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and the first justice since the early 1970s without judicial experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 KAGAN, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I am honored and I am humbled by this nomination and by the confidence that 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 in the work it can do for the American people. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: She enjoys an occasional cigar, a hand of poker, and a night at the opera, but her 50-page-plus resume shows her passion is the law.
CNN's Kate Bolduan profiles Elena Kagan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elena Kagan, here, congratulating retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on his long and distinguished career.
KAGAN: If you ever argue before the Supreme Court, beware, underlying Justice Stevens' extraordinary politeness, extraordinary courtesy, danger awaits.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Now, the solicitor general could fill the very seat Justice Stevens is vacating at the end of this term.
KAGAN: Thank you, Justice Stevens.
(APPLAUSE)
BOLDUAN: A 50-year-old New York City native, Kagan is a former dean of Harvard Law School, where she also received her law degree. She worked in the Clinton White House and is currently the federal government's top lawyer before the Supreme Court. She's argued six cases herself since taking over the job in 2009.
During confirmation hearings for that position, some senators were skeptical Kagan had the necessary experience because she's never been a judge and had at that point never argued a case before the Supreme Court or any court for that matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you going to handle that and how are you going to prepare yourself?
KAGAN: I'm very confident that I'm up to this part of the job as I am to all of the many other parts. I think I bring up a lifetime of learning and study of the law and particularly of the constitutional and administrative law issues that formed the core of the court's docket. I think I bring up some of the communications skills that have made me, I'm just going to say, a famously excellent teacher.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. That is Kate Bolduan reporting.
Elena Kagan has already been through a Senate confirmation process when she was nominated for solicitor General. She was confirmed by a vote of 61-31.
Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash joins us now.
A good moment there, Dana.
Look, we're going to be talking with Republican Senator Jeff Sessions in just a moment. As you know, he is the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, and will be questioning the nominee.
Give us a bit of a preview as to what we can expect from the hearings.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you mentioned that Elena Kagan has already been approved by this Senate last year, but that was as solicitor general, as a political appointee. And in statement after statement after statement, even from Republicans who voted for her, they said voting to approve somebody who will have a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is very, very different.
And the Senate judiciary chairman, Patrick Leahy, just had a press conference moments after the president formally introduced Elena Kagan, who said that -- Leahy said that, look, he hopes the process will go smoothly, he is very glad that he picked somebody from outside the "monastery," meaning somebody who actually does have no judicial experience, because he thinks that that would be a good addition to the current court.
But he also said, look, Republicans -- he said if the president sent "Moses the lawgiver," some Republicans would object.
Having said that, what is very interesting is that I just interviewed the number two Republican, the Republican who counts the votes, Jon Kyl, who happens to be a senior member of the Judiciary Committee. And I asked him if he thinks a filibuster in the United States Senate, where Democrats no longer have a filibuster-proof majority, is possible. He said it's actually unlikely.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: Obviously we want to do our job of due diligence. Who knows what we might find in her record once these things are sent up to the Senate and we begin to read them. I doubt that there is anything there that would occasion a filibuster, but I'm not going to commit anybody. I think it highly unlikely that her nomination would be filibustered, however.
BASH: And why do you think that is? .
KYL: Well, because she's nominally qualified. And by that I mean she's obviously very intelligent. She's a very charming individual . She has a background in law, she knows the law. And, you know, those are basic requirements for a Supreme Court justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: But as Senator Kyl said to me, look, we're talking eight minutes after she's formally been nominated, and there is so much that they don't know about Elena Kagan. And this bears repeating.
I know we've been talking about it a lot this morning, because not only has she not sat on any bench before, so she doesn't have a list and a record of rulings, she also has a very short paper trail of writing and of speeches and of hints that senators normally use as to where she might stand philosophically and how she might rule on the bench. Now, Senator Kyl has actually -- he surprised me. He's a Republican who said, look, I don't think that it's appropriate for us to delve that deeply into how she might rule, but other Republicans may not agree with that. And, in fact, most interestingly, Tony, other Democrats might want more information. Some of the most liberal activists who are very up front on judicial picks, they're very skeptical about their own president, about the fact that he picked Elena Kagan without a lot of information about how she may rule.
HARRIS: Yes, that she might not be liberal enough.
BASH: Exactly.
HARRIS: Right. OK.
Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.
Good stuff from you.
We'll take it up with Senator Sessions in just a couple of minutes.
Dana, appreciate it. Thank you.
BASH: Thanks, Tony.
Stocking up on seafood. Louisiana supply hit by the oil leak. How locals are racing to keep it on the menu.
And the markets have been open for more than an hour and a half now. Let's see, where are the latest numbers here?
Still a big day. What a run-up, 390 points now. We have been as high as 450 points, in positive territory.
We'll follow these numbers of course throughout the day for you, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Twenty days now since oil began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, and officials still don't know how to stop it. Plan A failed. A 100-ton containment dome became clogged with crystallized methane gas while being lowered a mile deep into the ocean.
Engineers now have Plans B and C ready to go. They are considering using trash like shredded tires and golf balls to clog the damaged blowout preventer on the well, or they may try using a smaller containment box that might be less prone to clogging.
If or when they plug the leak, they will still have to worry about the crude caking up the bottom of the sea. That's where most of us get our shrimp and oysters from. People are already lining up to grab as much seafood as they can. Restaurant owners are worried about where their next shipments will come from.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is already more difficult. Do I expect some shortages? It possible that our restaurant may not have oysters from time to time this coming summer? Yes. And we worry about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Louisiana supplies 50 percent of the nation's seafood total and more than 50 percent of the nation's oysters. So where are we going to get oysters from if it's as bad as it looks?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Got to tell you, perceptions of toxic seafood sounds bad enough, but there is another problem. Volunteers and fishermen who rush in to help with the cleanup may actually be putting their health on the line.
Rob Marciano talked about it with some of them in Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Clearing the oil is a big job, and the pros can't do it alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a safety training class.
MARCIANO: So the call has gone out to recruit the locals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're going to be working in contaminated water, you'll have to have boots -- rubber boots.
MARCIANO: Hundreds have already volunteered to help and safety training like this is being held across the coast.
CAROL VAUGHN, BEACH CLEAN-UP VOLUNTEER: Why are they getting volunteers when they have contractors?
MARCIANO: A reminder that cleaning up oil is a dangerous job.
VAUGHN: Hearing today, the type of equipment you have to wear to pick up trash off the beach was a realization that this is real and it's happening.
MARCIANO: Some volunteers who pitched in after the Valdez spill are still sick. Due to financial sediments, many can't even talk publicly about health problems, but it is bad. DEBBIE TAYLOR, BILOXI REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: I have long-term effects, some central nervous system effects and who's to say we won't see that here. It think it's just going to be a wait-and-see game.
MARCIANO: Debbie Taylor is on the frontlines at Biloxi's Regional Medical Center where preparations are already underway.
Some of Taylor's first patients could be these fishermen.
(on camera): Normally, these boats would be out trying to net some shrimp. But the oil spill has put a stop to that, so they sit and they wait. Some of these boats may actually be out working for BP trying to clean up the mess.
(voice-over): BP is already holding informational sessions. Phillip Nguyen now wants a long-term contract to clean up. He runs two shrimp boats that now sit idle.
PHILLIP NGUYEN, SHRIMP BOAT OPERATOR: Unpredictable for the future of the shrimp business and shrimp industry, we need some sort of financing income from somewhere.
MARCIANO: The Coast Guard performs safety checks before each vessel is approved for duty.
Safety for the boat, but what about the crew?
RICK COW, FISHERMAN: We're worried about that too, but working and we've got to do it, you know? You got to take risks on that.
MARCIANO (on camera): So you need the money so you start doing it?
COW: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
MARCIANO: Rob Marciano, CNN, Gulfport, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is the ranking Republican on the Senator Judiciary Committee which will consider Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. Senator Sessions joining me from Capitol Hill.
Senator Sessions, good to see you. Thanks for your time.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: Nice to be with you this morning.
HARRIS: Well, it's good to talk to you.
First of all, your thoughts on the nominee?
SESSIONS: Well, I'm happy for her. It's a big day in her life. And the president's known her for some time, back, I think, to the University of Chicago. So she's moving forward in the process. The big step is to be nominated. And then, the next big step is to go through confirmation. So, she should be given a fair, full hearing, be able to answer the charges or questions that arise, and at the same time she should be subjected to real thorough examination.
HARRIS: Yes. So, Senator Sessions, Elena Kagan has never been a judge. Might have been, as you know, but there was never a hearing on her selection to the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Why would you have preferred a nominee who had been a judge?
SESSIONS: Well, I think being a judge and a practicing lawyer, either one, where you are subjected to the discipline of law, dealing with real people, making decisions, and seeing how it works, demonstrating a commitment to the narrow decision-making process of the court rather than to the academic, where she spent most of her life -- they tend to have grand thoughts sometimes. So, we need to make sure that her focus is on the role of a judge, which is to decide disputes and not to impose any values or ideas or concepts she may personally have.
HARRIS: Is never having been a judge a disqualifier for you?
SESSIONS: No, it's not, but I do think a person who's had very, very little legal experience -- I think about two years of private practice -- and no judicial experience, mainly her career has been in academics. Even as dean at Harvard, where you certainly don't have time to practice law, you're more of an administrator, that kind of experience is weak in her case. There's no doubt about it.
HARRIS: You want someone to follow the Constitution faithfully. You have said that on the record.
Have you found anything so far -- look, she went through a confirmation process last year. Have you found anything so far to suggest that she wouldn't apply the Constitution faithfully?
SESSIONS: Well, I think that's the kind of questions we need to explore. And I think she should be given a chance to deal with that.
But there is a philosophy afoot in even our best law schools like Harvard that advocate that judges have the power and the duty to expand the law to divine cultural and social conditions, and be able to move away from even the text of the Constitution, one nominee has said recently. That, to me, is unacceptable and we'd need to get into that. President Obama has indicated that he thinks a judge should consult empathy or the results of a case as the judge decides the matter, and that goes contrary, really, to our historic understanding of the role of a judge.
HARRIS: How do you learn something like that, Senator Sessions, in the Q&A process, whether or not you're dealing with someone who could be an activist in justice?
SESSIONS: I think that's a good question. We look at her writings and speeches -- and some of those have been troubling -- how she's conducted herself in, I guess, a little over a year now as a solicitor General, and maybe what cases she's participated in. That kind of thing.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Yes, help us with our research a little bit here. You mentioned that perhaps there may be some things in her writings that might be a little troubling. And you used the word "troubling." What have you uncovered early in the process that might be troubling to you?
SESSIONS: Well, the thing I was personally involved with was the Solomon Amendment. And what happened was a number of law schools, Harvard being, I think, a leader when she was there, would not allow the military recruiters to come on to the law school to recruit JAG officers for the military because she didn't agree with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that President Clinton had adopted.
And they just wouldn't let them come on campus. We had 1,000 soldiers killed defending free speech and the right of Harvard to exist in freedom during that period of time. So I think that would be something that would be asked.
Congress finally passed the Solomon Amendment that said, no, if you don't allow the military on campus, you cannot get any federal money. And at that point, Harvard backed down.
HARRIS: Let me be clear. As I recall, wasn't the Harvard position not to allow organizations on campus that discriminated, and her reading of it was that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discriminated against gays and lesbians in the military?
SESSIONS: Yes. That's what she felt.
She felt that this was discriminatory, but it was the established policy of the United States, President Clinton's policy. And she could work to change that, but I don't think it was acceptable. I do not believe it was acceptable for her to say you can't even come on our campus because I disagree with your policy.
HARRIS: Senator Sessions, we appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.
SESSIONS: Thank you.
HARRIS: OK. Officials say he wasn't a lone wolf. The Times Square bomb suspect and his possible ties to the Taliban in Pakistani -- our homeland security correspondent will have the very latest.
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The suspect in the Times Square attempted bombing had ties to the Taliban, according to the Obama administration.
Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve joining us now with details.
And Jeanne, first of all, good to see you.
What are administration officials saying?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, a week ago, Tony, they were saying that they believed that this man, Faisal Shahzad, had acted alone, but the investigation since then has taken a different turn. And now administration officials are saying that he definitively was working with the Taliban in Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: It looks like he was working on behalf of the Tariq-i-Taliban Pakistan, the TTP. That's the Pakistan Taliban. This is a group that is closely allied with al Qaeda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We know that they helped facilitate it. We know that they helped direct it. And I suspect that we are going to come up with evidence that shows they helped to finance it. They were intimately involved in this plot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Now, neither Brennan nor Holder provided any specifics.
The development is an important because the TTP, believed to be responsible for the assassination of Pakistan's prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, has never before been implicated in an attack inside the United States. Brennan and Holder gave no hints as to whether Shahzad had other associates here, saying the investigation is continuing -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Jeanne, meanwhile, the attorney general had some important comments about Miranda warnings, didn't he?
MESERVE: Yes. Holder revealed that Shahzad was questioned for about four hours under the public safety exception before being read his constitutional rights. Shahzad is still cooperating, providing information to interrogators, but Holder says the government needs greater flexibility to question terrorism suspects than is provided right now.
He said the administration would look to work with Congress to carve out new exceptions. The issue of reading Miranda rights, of course, became a flash point in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Christmas Day bomber, with some Republicans arguing terror suspects should be treated like military detainees, not criminal defendants. It surfaced again since the arrest of Shahzad -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, for us.
Jeanne, good to see you. Thank you.
Got to tell you, it is a bailout that Wall Street likes. A European rescue plan sends the Dow into orbit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on top stories right now.
President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court today. Kagan would be the fourth woman to serve on the high bench and the first justice without judicial experience in four decades.
BP is looking for a Plan B after a containment dome failed to stop crude from gushing out of a blown-out well. Crews may try a smaller dome. They also could try to plug the well.
And stock markets around the world are soaring after the European Union unveiled a rescue package for Eurozone nations worth more than $1 trillion. The bailout is designed to stop Greece's debt crisis from spreading.
So, with the European Union bailing out Greece in a deal worth more than a trillion dollars, we want to know, does this, in any way, alter your view on the necessity of U.S. bailouts such as auto, bank and housing rescues? Just go to CNN.com/Tony and leave me your comments. We will read a few of them in the next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I got a bit of breaking news for you. The terrific Barbara Walters announced on "The View" this morning that she will be undergoing surgery to replace a heart valve. That news just coming to us here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We will get you more information as soon as we have it. No timetable on when the procedure will take place and how long a recovery time for Barbara Walters, but our thoughts are certainly with Barbara Walters this morning.
Let's get to Reynolds Wolf in the severe Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Yes. OK. Reynolds, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
And still to come in the NEWSROOM, the president says his nominee is one of the nation's foremost legal minds. We will hear from him and the woman he wants to serve on the Supreme Court here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Pictures, information, insight you won't find anywhere else. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. Anything can happen. President Obama has chosen Elena Kagan to be the 112th justice of the U.S. Supreme court. If confirmed, the court would have three women on the bench at the same time. That's a first. Kagan works now as Solicitor General arguing cases on behalf of the government before the Supreme Court. Here's what the president had to say this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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)
OBAMA: 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 lifelong commitment to public service and a firm grasp of the nexus and boundaries between our three branches of government.
She's 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. She is a superb Solicitor General. Our nation's chief lawyer representing the American people's interests before the Supreme Court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: If confirmed, Kagan could help shape the Supreme Court for years to come. She called her selection the honor of a lifetime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELENA KAGAN, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: 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 in 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wall Street up more than 400 points. There was a lot of action at the New York Stock Exchange today. We will talk with one of the traders right here next in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And checking top stories now. President Obama has nominated U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. If approved, she will replace Justice John Paul Stevens.
Back to the drawing board for BP, a containment dome failed to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. They may try a smaller dome or try to plug the well.
And 58 people were killed in attacks across Iraq today. More than 200 are wounded. Most of the attacks targeted security forces. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives while medics were treating the wounded, killing and wounding more people.
Not conservative enough. Utah Republican, Senator Bob Bennett gets the boot. What is if it means for tea party activists? We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Tea party activists taking credit today for halting the re-election plans of three-term Utah Senator Bob Bennett. He finished third in his state's Republican primary over the weekend. Jessica Yellin now with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BOB BENNETT, (R) UTAH: Hi, Bob Bennett. Good to see you. Glad you're here.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): This could be Utah Senator Bob Bennett's last stand.
BENNETT: I've been in the Senate for 18 years. Some of you think that's too long, but the wise ones among you realize I'm just getting started.
YELLIN: He's been was targeted by tea party activists who say he's not a true conservative.
(on-camera): When they say you're not conservative enough is that surprising to you?
BENNETT: You know, my colleagues in the Senate find that hilarious. On both sides, they are, like I'm saying (ph), if you're not a conservative, we don't know what the definition of a conservative is.
YELLIN (voice-over): Bennett has a long record of opposing abortion rights and gay rights, defending gun rights, but those issues barely rate with the tea party. Just ask David Kirkham. His company builds these sports cars, but he's also founder of the Utah Tea Party, and he's determined to boot Bennett because the senator voted for the 2008 Wall Street bailout. (on-camera): Senator Bennett is considered among the most conservative members of the Senate by groups including the National Right to Life Organization, the Christian coalition and liberal groups like the ACLU. How can he not be conservative enough for you?
DAVID KIRKHAM, FOUNDER OF UTAH TEA PARTY: I don't think it's a question of conservative. I think it's a question of responsible. He was not responsible when he voted for bailouts. It was not a responsible vote to vote to save companies that had literally destroyed themselves.
YELLIN: But should his career end over one vote?
KIRKHAM: His career will end over that vote.
YELLIN: Do you regret it?
BENNETT: No, I do not because we were facing a very genuine crisis.
YELLIN: Bennett is no moderate. He voted no on health care reform, no on the stimulus, no on the auto bailout, but he does work across the aisle. Last year, he and a Democrat proposed a health care alternative. The bill went nowhere, but for Bennett, the damage was done.
(voice-over): Many of these Utah Republicans won't forgive him for that health care proposal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you compromise things like that, you compromise your own values.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like we need new people in the Senate who will show that they are conservative.
YELLIN: So, after years as a darling of the right, Bob Bennett could be the first Republican victim of the tea party's anti- Washington rage.
BENNETT: They just want everybody in Washington out. Throw them all out, and we'll start afresh.
YELLIN: Jessica Yellin, CNN, Salt Lake City.
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HARRIS: To remind you to get to the best money website on the web. Ours. CNNMoney.com. And you can see the big story there is the rescue plans. Boosting stocks in a big way. Let's go to the big board because that's where all the action is now. Look at this run- up. 427, 428 points positive territory. Where is Felicia Taylor? She is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange right now.
Felicia, look, a decidedly different move in atmosphere on the floor today compared to last Thursday.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't want to use the word euphoric, but that's, you know, not quite exactly right. But listen, coming off where we were last week, you bet this is a very different mood. I'm joined by Alan Valdes. Tell me exactly where the momentum is coming from today.
ALAN VALDES, DME SECURITIES: Well, you know, I think a lot of it's coming from the short sellers being squeezed. I mean, Friday, leaving here Friday, there were $16 billion with the shorts in the Euro alone. So, a lot of those guys are rushing to cover their shorts. The Euro was at 125. I think it's like 128, 129 right now. So, there's a lot of short covering going on.
TAYLOR: In addition to that, we heard some good news over the weekend from the ECB, basically, helping out the European zone countries, as well as Greece, right?
VALDES: Sure. That's like TARP 2. So, that $1 trillion is going to go a long way to help people out. There's no question about it. So, that eased a lot of minds down here. At least for the short term, that's for sure.
TAYLOR: What about the idea that spread of contagion? Is that still sort of in the markets?
VALDES: Well, you know, the problem is, it's $1 trillion and you have 16 Euro countries voting on this. And it's Spain, it's Portugal, it's Italy. So, we don't know where the money's going to come from. So, there is still that sort of contagion going forward. And it's still very -- I think this volatility that we're seeing is probably going to continue all summer long.
TAYLOR: OK. So, we're clearly not out of the woods yet. One of the most important things today that we're focused on is Washington, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro has asked some of the executives of the various exchanges to come and meet and discuss exactly what happened on Thursday. Recap a little bit about what could have gone wrong and what needs to be instituted to change that from happening in the future.
VALDES: Well, you know, you're right. There's a lot of theories going on, everything from cyber crime, to sticky fingers to fat fingers to whatever, but I think at the end of the day, it's going to come down to fragmentation. When I first started here, if you wanted to buy Ford, there's only one place to buy it over the plus six (ph) behind me. Now, there's 40 different venues. And what happens was, I think shines for the New York Stock Exchange, is we have human intervention. So, we slowed the market down so we could catch our breath when that market, because remember, the markets broke the 50- day move in average, the 100-day, and then 200-day, so it's all these sell programs coming in.
So, we intervened. Humans intervened, and basically said, hey, let's take a breath. And look, when we did that, automatically these programs go to one of the other 40 venues where they're not very liquid and just hit bid after bid after bid, took the market right down instantly in a matter of minutes. And here, we didn't go down.
I mean, if you look at some of these stocks, none of our stocks we trade were busted and nothing sell for a penny here on the New York Stock Exchange, but the important thing is, we have humans. And that's why the New York Stock Exchange, in my mind, is the best platform.
TAYLOR: Alan, thank you very much.
HARRIS: Hey, Felicia.
TAYLOR: Yes?
HARRIS: Felicia, I've got a question for your guest here.
TAYLOR: Sure.
HARRIS: When he talks about a lot of covering going on today by these short traders, what is he talking about specifically here? People who were betting that the EU wouldn't get its act together and come together on a bailout plan, who bet against the EU?
TAYLOR: Tony was asking a quick, you know, quick question about short covering. What exactly did you mean by that? Not only against short covering here in the United States but also with regards to the currency trades that have taken place that was the biggest concern last week on Thursday because it began with the currency.
VALDES: You know, shorting is when you sell something you don't own, anticipating and buying it back later at a cheaper price. So, guys were shorting the Euro. The Euro is at $1.30, $1.28, and got all the way --
TAYLOR: That's the bet that the Euro is going to continue to go down.
VALDES: Going down. So, on Friday, no one thought about TARP 2. There's no talk about it basically, the German (ph) TARP 2, and so, it was trading at $1.25. So, on Sunday, 2:45 in the morning European time, they approved this measure to give $1 trillion in basically stimulus money. And so now, the euro takes off because it looks more stable. It's not going to go down anymore. So, in effect, these guys who bet that the Euro was going to go down to maybe $1.20 now have to cover their risk.
TAYLOR: Because it's going higher.
VALDES: It's going higher. And today, it's at $1.28, $1.29. So, the guys that short at 1.25 are losing three points right now, and you're talking millions and millions of dollars. Like I said, there were $60 billion in shorts just on the Euro that was going to go down.
TAYLOR: So basically, Tony, they were protecting their positions because they were betting that the Euro will continue to go short, meaning down. In other words, they had to protect themselves because the Euro began to trade higher on the news out of the ECB over the weekend.
HARRIS: It's that kind of gathering that a lot of people just can't stand with the markets. Felicia, I appreciate it. And thanks to your guest as well.
TAYLOR: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: We have more on Europe's $1 trillion-plus bailout plan and its effect on the world. Our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, will join me to connect all the financial dots here that may lead back to your bank before it's all said and done.
Plus, she once said, she was a kind of black that white people could accept. Legendary actress and jazz singer, Lena Horne, the great Lena Horne broke all kinds of barriers and became a voice for civil rights. We will look at her activism next hour with our guest, Jesse Jackson.
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