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Kagan Confirmation Hearings; Whooping Cough Epidemic

Aired June 28, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, getting a check of top stories for you now at the top of the Hour. Developing political news in South Carolina and a U.S. Senate candidate now under investigation; officials want to know how Democrat Alvin Greene came up with the $10,000 to get his name on the Senate primary ballot.

He's an unemployed political newcomer who couldn't afford a lawyer when facing criminal charges last year. The State Newspaper reported today that he's now under investigation.

Senator Robert Byrd, the nation's longest serving member of Congress died early this morning. The Democrat from West Virginia was 92. We've been in the senate more than a century. Flags on Capitol Hill have been lowered to half staff.

One person is dead and four others have been injured by severe weather at a campground in Michigan. That campground is about 60 miles northeast of Detroit. Several vehicles at that site were overturned by high winds.

Long after President Obama leaves office, his legacy will continue to take shape on the Supreme Court. The justices that he put there could remain on the bench for decades and their legal rulings could ripple across generations, so it's no surprise that nominee Elena Kagan will face tough scrutiny from Republicans when her confirmation hearings begin in about two-and-a-half hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: This nominee has only two or three years of practice, mostly academic and mostly political activities in government. This is the thinnest resume ever. She just hasn't had the depth. She's never tried a case, never cross examined a witness before a jury. This is a severely limited level of experience. I think you can overcome it but it's clearly a deficiency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The stakes of huge and passions are high and the hearings are sure to be contentious. Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us from Capitol Hill. Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. We are not only on Capitol Hill but we're actually on the floor of the hearing room where Elena Kagan will be facing those senators. In fact, this is where she is going to be sitting, this is the seat that she will be taking, the hot seat, if you will.

She is actually going to be introduced by the senators from the state that she, I guess, most recently lived in. She's from New York but she, of course, was dean of Harvard Law School and it will be Massachusetts senators, Democrat John Kerry and Republican Scott Brown who will be formally representing her when she takes the seat here and she faces the senators.

Now, she is somebody who does not have a lot for the senators to look through, like her predecessors have over the last several years. We have had a number of nominees who have served on the federal bench, most specifically on the Appellate Court, so they had reams and reams of decisions for the senators to look through to kind of judge the nominee's experience and how he or she decides a case.

Well, Elena Kagan, who is, by the way, the fourth woman to be ever being nominated to the Supreme Court, she doesn't have that but what she does have is a lot of political experience and a lot of documents that the senators have been looking through that does show her position when she was in the Clinton administration trying to decide and policy policies on hot button issues from everything from abortion to gun rights.

One other interesting note, she actually is no stranger to understanding how this works. Kyra, in 1993, Elena Kagan was working on this committee when Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a nominee and after that, she was actually kind of disgusted with the process because the nominee didn't answer questions and she called the whole process a "vapid and hollow charade." So you can bet that the senators are going to throw her word right back at her.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, it's going to be a tough fight. Well, Dana, there seems to be a sure thing, but Republicans are still preparing for what we sort of touched on, a pretty big fight. And what are democrats preparing in terms of a defense?

BASH: Let me take you over to show you the other side of this room. This is where all the senators are going to be sitting on this panel, on the judiciary panel. And over here, Kyra, this is where the Republicans are going to be sitting.

You heard from Senator Jeff Sessions, who by the way is going to be sitting right here. In the sound bite that you ran from "AMERICAN MORNING" talking about some of the main issues that they are going to be pushing, particularly the fact that she does have a political background. She is, no question about it, a Democrat. She has worked for a Democratic president. She has worked on Democratic campaigns, given to Democratic candidates.

So that is something that they are going to be pushing and questioning, whether somebody with no judicial experience, none at all, whether they really feel comfortable with her giving the kind of impartial opinions that she has to as a Supreme Court justice.

And over here is where the Democrats are going to be. They are going to be talking, Kyra, about the fact that they believe she has just enough ample experience as an academic and as somebody who for the past two years has been solicitor general.

But one interesting thing that we should focus on and that is not all of the liberal groups are that thrilled with the fact that she has no documents, no background, either. They are concerned about her position on things like abortion and executive power. So unclear if that's going to come through with the Democratic Senators who will be questioning her in the next couple of days. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. We'll be following it all.

Dana Bash, thanks.

We're going to have live coverage of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings beginning at noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.

As the Senate prepares for those confirmation hearings, the current Supreme Court is expected to hand down some decisions this hour. We are being told that one of the biggest cases to come before the court in years involves gun control and that decision did come in, ruled unconstitutional.

That ruling sure to stir strong emotions now on both sides of the debate. The case of McDonald versus the City of Chicago challenges the city's long-standing ban on handguns. The man following the challenge is Otis McDonald, the long-time community activist who says he just wants to protect his home and himself in a high crime area.

McDonald's case argues that the 1982 gun control law violates his constitutional right to keep and bear arms. But the ruling will ripple across the country as local communities wrestle with the issue of limiting handgun ownership. Once again, ruled unconstitutional with a 5-4 vote.

We'll have more coming up in the next 45 minutes.

Well, he served longer than any other U.S. senator and now he's gone. West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd died early this morning at the age of 92. When he entered Congress in 1953, a postage stamp was $0.03. Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, they were all in office.

Joe Johns joins us on the phone from Washington. Joe, the senator was known as the king of pork, and he was somewhat proud of that title, wasn't he? You actually got to know him very well and have a pretty good personal story.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Right. He was well known, I think, as the king of pork and he really didn't shy away from that because he was certainly a supporter of congressional prerogatives, meaning that he believed the Congress was supposed to control the power of the purse and he used that to try to put in roads and infrastructure for the state of West Virginia. Some of those things were actually very badly need, you must say.

You talked about my personal story. He was probably the first United States senator I ever interviewed. I had the privilege of sort of in a strange way following his academic path. I went to Marshall University where he went. I went to American University Law School where he went. And so along the way there, there were so many people who thought very highly of him because he was always very careful about sending money back to them. But he was quite a character. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, he was. You know, you talked about the controversial issues surrounding him, talking about the Ku Klux Klan, but you've also pointed out that this was also someone that endorsed Barack Obama.

JOHNS: Right. Well, that's the thing. When you watch people who are in Congress, there is at least one way you can judge their legacy, and it's sort of two tests, I think. The first one is how effective were they and how much did they keep up with the times.

And I think on both counts, both the critics and the supporters will say he was a very effective legislator, and he was also a guy who really evolved. He went from being a member of the Ku Klux Klan, from being a senator who opposed the Civil Rights Act to becoming one of the senators who very early supported Barack Obama's run for president, and you have to remember, he came from a state, West Virginia, that did not at the end of the day, you know, vote for Barack Obama in the majority when he was running for president.

So in that way, Robert Byrd, and in other ways, really sort of evolved in his views on a lot of things, but there was one thing he never changed, and that was his notion of standing up for the separation of powers for controlling the f power of the executive in relationship to the legislative branch and trying to keep a strong Congress and a strong Senate. That was one of his hallmarks.

PHILLIPS: Joe Johns, great insight. Thanks so much.

As we look at the live pictures, flags at half staff there at the Capitol. And if you want to read more about the career of Senator Robert Byrd, head over to cnn.com/politics. There you will see a photo gallery as well as reaction to his passing. That's CNN.com/politics.

And another death to tell you about. This one connected to the nation's highest court. Martin David Ginsberg, husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died yesterday at his home in Washington. Ginsberg died of complications from cancer. The Ginsbergs had been married for 56 years. He, too, was an attorney. Martin Ginsberg was 78 years old.

Former vice president Dick Cheney could be released soon from a hospital in Washington. Cheney was admitted Friday with an irregular heartbeat. A family friend tells CNN the former VP is feeling much better now.

And it's day 70 of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Tropical storm Alex definitely a huge concern for oil cleanup efforts going on in the gulf. And while the storm should stay away from the spill area, oil recovery efforts would be shut down for two weeks if a hurricane or tropical storm did move in.

Also, for the first time tar balls have washed up on the Mississippi shores. Cleanup crews had been deployed. So far no beaches are closed and BP says that today it spent around $2.65 billion on the response. The money includes containment, relief well drilling and paying claims.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf tracking tropical storm Alex for us. So what you do think?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I am thinking this thing is going to get stronger. I think it's going to continue marching its way to the northwest but after that, right now, it looks pretty interesting. We got a few ideas. Two things that may happen.

Let's first talk about where it happens to be. Right now, the storm is moving just towards to the west northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula. The peninsula itself almost impossible to see, all covered by the high cloud cover and the low clouds, you can see, of course, on our satellite.

Now, on both sides of the peninsula, we had one thing that was really helping drive the storm, and that would be warm water on both locations. Now, it's going to be moving into an area where there's going to be minimal shear, shear, strong upper level winds that could actually destroy this, just rip it apart. Well, we're not expecting much in terms of the shear.

So with that in mind, the storm has the opportunity to do two things. One, move to the northwest and the second, strengthening. Look at some of the numbers here. If you zoom in a little bit, you'll see winds expected to reach 100 miles per hour as to getting early Wednesday, then by Thursday, winds 110 miles per hour possibly with gusts up to 135.

Keep in mind though, the farther out this extrapolates, the less accurate these things tend to become. We're talking about a storm, a spinning storm on a rotating plane, very hard to forecast. And I'll tell you, Kyra, you take a look at that cone of uncertainty. There's a chance that the storm can make landfall perhaps in Mexico, maybe even in Texas or really just die out all together. Let's hope for option three. Let's send it back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Reynolds, thanks.

Americans against offshore oil drilling join hands in protest Saturday. The Hands Across the Sand event took place on beaches from coast to coast. Hands Across the Sand was founded by a Florida restaurant owner two months before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.

As we first told you in the beginning of the hour, the U.S. Supreme Court extending gun rights to state and cities ruling that Chicago's 28-year-old strict ban on handgun ownership is unconstitutional. We take a closer look at what this means for gun control measures in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Gun rights, rather, and tobacco, decisions coming out of the Supreme Court right now. Our Kate Bolduan was inside and I believe just came down the steps to the camera just to get us the information right to us. Kate, thanks so much. You hustled right out of there. Why don't you go ahead and start with gun rights?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, I actually jumped out just as gun rights happened. So I'm still waiting for word from Supreme Court producer Bill Miers (ph) on the tobacco case. So let's stick with gun rights at this point.

Blockbuster case. Big decision here on the second amendment, the right to bear arms. In a 5-4 ruling, the majority Justice Alito and the majority ruling that a strict Chicago handgun ban that's been in place for almost 30 years is unconstitutional.

I'm going to read in part as we're still going through this really thick ruling. Alito writing in part in the majority opinion that it cannot be doubted, he says "that the right to bear arms was regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the state legislated in an even-handed manner."

As usual, a lot of legal jargon. What this really means, bottom line, is that the Chicago handgun ban went too far but here in this sentence, the justices seeming to indicate, Kyra, that reasonable gun control regulation, reasonable gun restrictions could be OK, but at least in this case, this strict Chicago handgun ban is unconstitutional.

Why is this such a big deal? Gun rights is a big deal no matter what but this further validates what was hinted at two years ago in the landmark Washington, D.C. handgun ban case, but because D.C. is a federal district, when the justices struck down that handgun ban, it only applied to the federal government and federal districts.

This finally helps to answer the question of how does the right to bear arms, how do these laws apply to states and cities, and we see here that the justices really giving some power behind the right, further validating the right of the individual to gun ownership.

The ripple effects of this decision will be felt across the country for years to come because the justices leave some questions unanswered when it comes to other issues of gun control, like concealed carry, guns in the workplace. All of those things will be handled in the courts for years to come and now courts across the country will be taking a fresh look at this issue because the justices have given some clear guidance here today, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. You got gun rights here. Now, Bob Mears, your producer just called into our control room, Kate. With regard to tobacco, we're hearing that the court is refusing to hear appeals over the government's ability to collect $280 billion from the tobacco industry for the alleged fraud in marketing, Kate. BOLDUAN: Yes, there are actually other big cases that we're waiting to hear today, Kyra. Probably, one of the headlines that we forgot to say at the top because we're so excited about this ruling on handgun. This is the last day of the term for this Supreme Court term this year. So this is one of the big cases that were heard throughout the term. They come down with these rulings because the justices needed more time clearly to work through these.

They are, I believe, are waiting for four full opinions. We are going to be running back in and will be taking a look at each of these opinions, so we can give you a clear idea of exactly what the justices are saying. But at least we know, big blockbuster case and ruling here on the Chicago handgun ban case. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kate Bolduan there at the Supreme Court. Kate, thanks so much.

Quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: In Afghanistan, June has become the deadliest month for NATO troops in the near nine-year long battle. At least 99 of our men and women killed so far this month since the fighting began. 1,100 American troops have been killed. Yesterday on ABC's "This Week," CIA chief Leon Panetta put the conflict into context.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, CIA CHIEF: There are some serious problems here that we're dealing with, a tribal society. We're dealing with a country that has problems with governance, problems with corruption, problems with narcotics trafficking, and problems with Taliban insurgency.

And yet, the fundamental purpose, the mission that the president has laid out is that we have to go after Al Qaeda. We got to disrupt and dismantle Al Qaeda and their militant allies so they never attack this country again.

Are we making progress? We are making progress. It's harder. It's slower than I think anyone anticipated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And for more detailed breakdown on coalition casualties in Afghanistan, let's go to CNN's Josh Levs. Josh, this morning, we've gotten word of another British soldier killed in a gun battle and sadly we have a few more days before we turn the calendar page.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's in fact, it's that death that brought the coalition deaths for this month already up to 99, which is by far the highest of any month since the war begin.

Before we dig into some numbers, obviously each person is a face and a name and a story. Let's just show you one of the latest - happens to be a U.S. casualty this month. This is Robert Rebke (ph), 20 years old. And our affiliate, on WATE, spoke with his high school principal. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WATTS, SOLDIER'S FORMER H.S. PRINCIPAL: Knowing Robert like we do, if they asked him to do anything else, he would volunteer. He was all about doing anything anybody needed. Robert was one who would say, I'll go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: He had 65 days left in his rotation when he was killed. Let's do this now. I want you all to see how this month compared to other month. I have a system here that's going to help me do that.

I'm going to start showing the coalition deaths, just over the past year. Watch what happened with this line over the past year. There was a jump when there was some activity last year, and then, look, there was a lull, and now, boom, way, way, up to the 99 mark here. Now, often when you see a spike in deaths, it's because troops have been sent into tougher environments, because they're taking on some new missions to try to really combat some of the problems inside Afghanistan.

But this right here is a stark reminder of how much it has jumped. This is not the deadliest month for the United States. I have those figures for us too. If you watch what happens here, you see we're at 46 right now. It's not the deadliest we've had, we actually had more last year in October. That said, it's still a spike.

And these do follow the same patterns. You can see right there, the U.S. has the highest number of troops within the coalition. So any time you hear about a spike in coalition deaths, it's a spike for the United States as well.

Let's remind everyone, you can learn all about all of these troops, you can see their names, their faces, who they are at cnn.com/homeandaway. And anytime you click on any home town of typed in any name, it will give you the n opportunity to learn about all of the people who have served our country, fallen heroes right here. Cnn.com/homeandaway. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Josh, thanks.

You mentioned homeandaway, we are making a commitment honoring our fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's our daily tribute, as Josh just said, it's called "Home and Away." And you can actually be a part of it. We'll tell you about that in just a minute.

But first, we want to lift up Corporal Jonathan Porto. He died in combat in Afghanistan in March. Jonathan's mom told us he loved being a Marine. He even thought boot camp should have been harder. Jonathan also loved his family and he was so excited about being a dad. Jonathan's daughter was born two months before he died and he never got to meet her. But Jonathan's mom says she'll get to know him through all the stories that the family will tell her.

Well, we want to know more about the stories that you have, about a loved one who made the ultimate sacrifice. Just go to our website, cnn.com/homeandaway. And you'll see a map of the U.S. on the left. All you have to do is click on your service member's hometown, pull up his or her profile and send us your memories and pictures and they'll have a cherished place in our memorial.

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PHILLIPS: In California, whooping cough outbreak has already killed five babies and infected more than 900 people. It's rapidly spreading and is highly contagious. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with more. So Elizabeth, it's the state's worst outbreak in, what, five years?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

PHILLIPS: What is going on?

COHEN: You know, whooping cough comes and goes. You get these outbreaks and then five years later you get another one. And what's interesting about whopping cough - I shouldn't say interesting, what's really difficult about whooping cough is that babies are not fully vaccinated. So a baby gets a shot at age two months, age four months and age six months, but they are not fully immune until six months of age. So when there's whooping cough all around them, they're vulnerable, which is why you've seen five babies die in California.

PHILLIPS: Now, five deaths, that's serious. So what can parents do to protect their babies?

COHEN: You know, it's actually very, very simple. Parents need to get themselves immunized against whooping cough. And people don't really think about this but adults are supposed to get a vaccine against whooping cough every 10 years, and I think most people don't know that.

In fact, many doctors know that, many doctors fail to tell their patients, hey, especially if you're a parent, you should get vaccinated against whooping cough. The reason, Kyra, is something called cocooning. The theory is that if the baby isn't immune to whooping cough, at least the mom, the dad, the baby sitter, everybody else, it will help cocoon that baby, give that baby some protection.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, the cough, whooping cough, has that tell-tale sound, rather. Are there any other signs that parents can look for?

COHEN: Right. Take a look at this, it's especially important if you live in a place where whooping cough is in the community. It starts with something like a runny nose and congestion, which, of course, kids get quite often but if it progresses into something much more violent and much more constant, so if your kid is just coughing every so often and then they are coughing more and they are coughing a lot, and they're coughing quite violently, you want to watch out for that whooping because that's what it sounds like, a whoop, hence the name. The real name, by the way, is pertussis.

But these are the signs that you want to look for. If you're hearing about whooping cough around in your community, you want to get to the pediatrician's office.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Elizabeth, thanks.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: An immigrant comes to America with nothing in his hand but he build up a family business selling seafood, and now the oil spill has taken away his livelihood. And he doesn't know what he's going to do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, there may be no legacy more lasting for any U.S. president than choosing a Supreme Court justice. In just about two hours from now, confirmation hearings begin for President Obama's latest nominee. Elena Kagan will face tough questions. Some Republicans say she was too political when she worked in the Clinton administration. They also point out that she has never been a judge.

Kagan is President Obama's second nominee to the nation's highest court. His first, Sonya Sotomayor was confirmed last August.

Everyone's wondering where Elena Kagan stands on certain issues, and Wall Street and corporate American are no exception. Patricia Wu joins me now live from New York. So, Patricia, what do we know about Elena Kagan's business leanings?

PATRICIA WU, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We don't know a lot. So, a Case Western (ph) business law professor tells us Kagan has less direct experience with business law than any nominee in 30 years. And her scholarship hasn't really touched on business issues.

But here's what we do know. From 2005 to 2008, while she was dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan was also a paid adviser to Goldman Sachs. She advised the Global Markets Institute, the bank's public policy research unit. The advisory council met once a year, but it was not involved in any investment decisions. That's important to remember because the SEC has charged Goldman Sachs with fraud.

Now, according to her financial disclosure form, Kagain was paid a $10,000 stipend for her work at Goldman. That's pennies compared to the huge bonuses that we've seen doled out on Wall Street. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Is her advisory role at Goldman even relevant here?

WU: There are a lot of different opinions on that. One legal scholar we talked to called it a, quote, "sideshow." After all, you could argue Kagan's position was pretty minor and wasn't very high- paying. It might not say anything about her views.

But, on the flip side, a Tulane business law professor says it could indicate she might be protective of big banks. And that's more important than ever now. Why? Two words: financial reform. House and Senate negotiators hammered out a compromise bill last week, and you can expect plenty of legal challenges to financial reform over the years. And if Kagan is confirmed, she'll be ruling on those cases.

For now, big business isn't saying where it stands on Kagan. The chamber of Commerce hasn't issued an endorsement yet. It will decide after the hearings but before the vote. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Patricia Wu, thanks.

We will have live coverage of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings beginning at noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

Day 70 of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Tropical storm Alex is definitely a concern for oil cleanup efforts in the Gulf. While the storm should stay away from the spill area, oil recovery efforts would be shut down for two weeks if a hurricane or tropical storm did move in.

Also, for the first time, tar balls have washed up on Mississippi shores. Cleanup crews have been deployed. So far, no beaches are closed.

And BP says that today, it's spent around $2.65 billion on the response. The money includes containment, relief well drilling, and paying claims.

Many Vietnamese came to the Gulf Coast with nothing after the Vietnam War. But they worked hard and they made their livelihoods in the seafood industry. Now because of the oil spill, they are forced to start over again.

Our T.J. Holmes joins us live from New Orleans with one family's story. Hey, T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra. We've been hearing so many stories of course here from the Gulf in the past 70 days now. So many people tied to New Orleans, and the Gulf have literally been doing this all of their lives. This is in their family. Their fathers and grandfathers a part of the fishing industry.

But some people here, the Vietnamese Americans, this is all they have known of their American lives. This is all they have done since they have gotten here. This family I met -- it was amazing to me in that this is all they have known. And as of today, Kyra, their business has shut down. But their attitude is, it's just down time for the next phase of their American dream.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And usually during the summer, imagine the crowd stacking high along the ceiling.

HOLMES: How long has it been like this now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since the oil spill.

HOLMES: Ever since the oil spill. So is this the last of it. This is the last of the Jennifer Le crab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Last of it.

HOLMES (voice-over): After a decade, the Jennifer Le Seafood Company in Biloxi is down to this -- a few baskets of fresh crab. And the owner, Thi Van Le, has no hopes that more crab is on the way any time soon. So as of Monday, he's shutting down the company he built from scratch, the company he named after his only daughter.

(on camera): Do you have any ideas yet what you're going to do?

THI VAN LE, OWNER, JENNIFER LE SEAFOOD: Me?

HOLMES: Yes.

LE: I don't know what now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said like coming over to America, he had nothing in his hand. So this is just like the same thing again.

HOLMES (voice-over): The oil disaster forced the closure of the gulf waters where Le's suppliers catch crab. His supply has essentially been cut off. Le and other Vietnamese-Americans in the gulf are in a particularly dire situation -- 80 percent of them work in the seafood industry. Many have been doing this work since they fled their country after the Vietnam War to start a new life in the United States, and it's all they know how to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my job. This shrimp boat is my job. Shrimp boat is my job. So I don't plan to go nowhere.

HOLMES: Can Nguyen (ph) is a shrimper who's been getting by working on the vessels of opportunity mobilized by BP as part of the oil spill cleanup.

(on camera): How long can you sustain this? How long can you make it by going out and working for BP before you run out of money?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hmm. I have no idea.

HOLMES (voice-over): The Les are ready to start over but for sentimental reasons not quite ready to let go of this place.

(on camera): Why not just sell it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's saying, how much are you offering?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Kyra, I liked that lighter moment there at the end.

Of course, we talked to so many people who are losing their livelihoods, businesses, losing money, and it's affecting people in different ways. But the Le family was amazing to me in that they're taking this in stride. Their attitude is, Kyra, and he told me this. He said, "Look, I got out of Saigon when Vietnam fell. I made it to this country with nothing. I survived Hurricane Katrina. I will survive this oil disaster as well and move on to the next thing."

He is not upset with BP. He says he's not upset with the government. He is just going to once more in his life buckle down and get the job done. And that's what he's ready to do.

PHILLIPS: And have you heard conflicting stories about the Vietnamese community being able to find work with BP and not being able to find work with BP because of language issues?

HOLMES: The language barrier is huge and so many people, just like you saw there, their daughter has to translate for them. They have that. But other families do not. So, other community organizes and advocates have been trying to help the best they can. So, that's why many in the Vietnamese community have been missing out, if you will, on some of those opportunities. But some report it's getting better.

And the other part of that, still, Kyra, is they are conflicted. They say if we go out and work for BP on some of these vessels, start bringing in some salary, then that means we are making money and we're not able to file claims with BP. So, what do you do? Do you balance out to make more money going out, or are you going to make more money by getting the $5,000 check every month from BP?

So, it is just a double-edged sword for many in this community, and especially the Vietnamese.

PHILLIPS: Yes. T.J. Holmes in New Orleans. T.J., thanks.

A killer storm hits Michigan, tossing trailers, shredding trees and taking at least one life. A up-close look at the campground where it all happened.

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PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now.

The Supreme Court this morning striking down the city of Chicago's ban on handguns. The 5-4 ruling is a victory for gun advocates. Attorneys challenging the statute argued that the 1982 gun control law violated the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Senate confirmation hearings begin 90 minutes from now for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Kagan is currently the nation's solicitor general, arguing cases for the government. If confirmed, Kagan would be the first nonjudge in decades to sit on the high court. One person is dead, at least four more injured after a suspected tornado in a Michigan campground. It happened last night sixty miles northeast of Detroit. Vehicles and trailers were also tossed about.

It could mean more road rage, distracted drivers, but more importantly, more money for cash-strapped California. Advertising on your car's back bumper. You might see it down the road. We'll explain.

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PHILLIPS: Cash-strapped California may have found a new revenue stream, electronic license plates for motor vehicles. Here's how the proposed e-plates would look compared to today's conventional tag. The digital plate would sport an approved advertisement, like the one you see here for the Boys and Girls club. Sound crazy? It's already passed the California Senate with by -- with a unanimous vote, rather as for a study bill. And with the state budget deficit swollen to more $19 billion, the bill's author says that his e-plate idea merits consideration.

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CURREN PRICE, CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR: These digital plates are not unlike the vanity plates that have been very popular, not just in our state but throughout this country. And, indeed, in California, there's a whale plate, for example, that's generated $3.8 million from about 125,000 motorists.

So, we think the potential is there, and this technology would permit a variety of pre-approved ads or messages to be displayed only when the vehicle comes to a stop.

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PHILLIPS: Well, if approved, Price says that California would be the first state in the nation to embrace the e-plates, but probably not the last.

BP has cut checks totally over $100 million to people affected by the oil spill in the Gulf. But those people could owe the IRS money come tax time.

Alison Kostik in New York Stock Exchange with more of the details. So, let's talk about what the means. The money is considered taxable income?

ALISON KOSTIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of that money is considered taxable income, Kyra. It depends on how the IRS classifies it. The way the law works, if you were paid by BP for lost wages, that money is taxable. But payments for property damage or physical injury are generally not taxable.

But there are some nuances and special circumstances, so what the IRS is doing is holding what it calls a Gulf Coast assistance day when people can ask the IRS directly about their payments. This will happen in seven cities in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. This is going to be held on July 17th. It can people some one-on-one attention with the IRS agents and get their questions answered.

The IRS is also planning to launch a toll-free hotline. Good news there to get some answers to some important questions.

As for stocks, they struggle right now. They are struggling to stay on the positive side. We have little news moving the markets, kind of a continuation of last week's sell-off. The Dow Industrials only up by one point; the NASDAQ down by 1. We're kind of in that flat-line mode. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Alison, thanks.

The Supreme Court out just minutes ago with a ruling against a Christian campus group. The Christian Legal Society chapter of the University of California Hastings College of Law claimed that the law school should officially recognize the group. The court disagreed, pointing out that the student group discriminates because its core membership is limited to those who share its beliefs on faith and marriage. The ruling was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was on the bench a day after her husband's death.

A group of New Yorkers, out, proud and Catholic. These folks have plenty to say, but their parade banner doesn't. It's blank, at the request of the archdiocese.

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PHILLIPS: They're out, and they're proud. Gay pride on display and on the move in cities across America. A thumping disco beat moved half a million marchers and spectators through the streets of San Francisco Sunday, where the gay pride parade is celebrating its fortieth anniversary.

Same story, opposite coast. New York City's Pride Parade also brought out about 500,000 people, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson. And the rainbow flags were flying high in the Windy City with a few new sports additions to this year's parade lineup. The Stanley Cup made its way through the city along with a float from the Cubs.

Those marchers will tell you colorful parades are meant to draw attention to issues impacting gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people. And a group of gay Catholic New Yorkers have been marched behind the banner of their church for over a decade. That is, until this year when their banner was blank.

Here's Susan Candiotti.

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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stephanie Samoy is an enthusiastic parishioner of St. Francis Xavier Church.

STEPHANIE SAMOY, PARISHIONER, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH: It's the gospel in action. It's - that's what it is, we're living the gospel. People are living the truth of Jesus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life.

CANDIOTTI: Founded in the late 1800's, St. Francis Parish was an early leader in fighting for black civil rights and nowadays welcoming gay Catholics.

REV. JOE CONSTANTINO, PASTOR, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH: Perhaps some people come to St. Francis Xavier because they don't feel judged.

CANDIOTTI: Stephanie Samoy gets the message.

SAMOY: I can be fully who I am there in relationship with my partner.

CANDIOTTI: Which is why for more than a decade, St. Francis parishioners have marched proudly with a church banner at New York's Colorful Gay Pride event.

SAMOY: It's important to reach out to all the people on the sidelines, watching and those in the - in the march, that there is a Roman Catholic Church that welcomes you.

CANDIOTTI: But this year, that welcome mat is at least partially rolled up. After a year on the job, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said no more church banner.

Is it difficult for you to tell them that, because people like carrying the name of the parish?

CONSTANTINO: You're absolutely -- and I knew this would hurt them deeply.

SAMOY: What did I think? Well the hell, no.

CANDIOTTI: The archdiocese declined to explain, telling CNN it had no comment.

SAMOY: Your name is important. I'm called by my name. The church of St. Francis Xavier, when people - when we hand out those brochures to say you're welcome, they need to know who we are.

CANDIOTTI: Father Constantino says he thinks the archbishop is concerned about some marchers who promote -

CONSTANTINO: Promiscuity and that's the word I was - a lot of people are not supporting that at all.

CANDIOTTI: So parishioners decided to march with a banner, anyway, a blank banner. SAMOY: For me, the blank banner stands for we've been silenced, you know, we're silenced. Because here, we're silenced.

CANDIOTTI: Instead, marchers are wearing t-shirts bearing the church's name. On the internet, one blogger said parishioners were, quote, "defying the archbishop". And other said the lifestyle championed by gay pride parades is not a Christian lifestyle.

PROFESSOR MICHELE DILLON, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: It is obviously an issue but church authorities -

CANDIOTTI: Sociologist Michele Dillon says the Vatican sends mixed messages, welcoming gay Catholics while calling homosexuality a, quote, "disordered condition".

DILLON: On the one hand, the bishops are asserting their authority. But even when they do assert their authorities, it's not clear that they're going to win. Sot it's a really a no-win situation all round.

CANDIOTTI: For Stephanie Samoy and her fellow parishioners who love their pastor and their church, they hope next year their banner wouldn't be banned.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it's the talk on Twitter and on the blogs this morning. Chris Brown, the tear-jerking performance at the B.E.T Awards last night. But who was he crying for? M.J.? Rihanna? Or his floundering career? We'll take a hard look and check out your opinions, next.

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PHILLIPS: Forgive and forget? Some are calling singer Chris Brown's so-called breakdown last night at the B.E.T. Awards show a comeback moment for him. But before we forgive, let's not forget this is the same guy who pleaded guilty last year to beating his girlfriend, fellow pop singer Rihanna.

Now, back to last night. Here's the moment.

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PHILLIPS: Yes. During Brown's tribute to the late Michael Jackson, Brown begins crying, drops to his knees, looks to the heavens. You get the picture. This happened during his rendition of Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" song. The crowd went crazy.

Let's not forget how Rihanna must have felt when she looked in the mirror post-beatdown and saw the fat lip, bloodied mouth and swollen eyes, compliments of Chris Brown.

So, we're discussing it today. Are we as a nation, society, or as pop culture, far too forgiving and forgetful when is comes to stars behaving badly? That brings us to today's blog question. We want to know what you thought about Brown's breakdown. So far, all the responses are that it was pretty much genuine.

Terrea says, "Emotions like those cannot be faked. I honestly believe he was sincere. Great performance."

Lisa says, "I don't think anyone except God, Chris, and his PR people will ever know how much sincerity went into that performance last night."

And Marlene asks, "Why would he fake cry? As I watched him perform, I said to myself, "He must feel so honored to do this. He's always wanted to perform a tribute to MJ."

Remember, we love hearing from you. Just log on to CNN.com/kyra and share your comments.

That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Brooke Baldwin in for Tony Harris. Brooke?