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Egypt Elects New President; White House Reacts To Egyptian Election; Tropical Storm Threatens Louisiana, Florida; Tropical Storm Debby Strengthens Off Gulf; Poll: Most Americans Oppose Health Law; Scotus Ruling Health Care Imminent; Atheist Becomes Catholic

Aired June 24, 2012 - 14:30   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The uncertainty over Egypt's first democratic election is finally over and a new political era has begun. Just a few hours ago, the country announced its new president, Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood party.

His rival, Ahmed Shafik, the former prime minister for ousted President Hosni Mubarak came up about 1 million votes short. As the results were announced, this was the reaction of the crowd in Tahrir Square. They were exuberant.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is standing over Tahrir Square on a balcony there. Crowds are still pretty sizable even with nightfall?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, with nightfall the crowds are only getting bigger. In fact, when the announcement was made, I'd say there is maybe one-third of the square was full.

Now it's absolutely jam-packed and more and more people are coming and I expect this celebration is going to go on well into the night. Now it's cool and breezy, so most people -- if you look at the roads down below, people are pouring in.

In fact, Fredricka, I have not seen so many people in this square since February 11th, 2011, when of course Hosni Mubarak, that's the day when Hosni Mubarak resigned and the roar that came up from this crowd when they heard that Mohammed Morsi had been elected.

The only time I'd heard louder roars was, of course, when Mubarak resigned. So this definitely is a landmark day for Egypt, the first time in more than 7,000 years when the people were actually able to elect democratically their leader -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Ben, clearly lots of excitement expressed by the supporters of Morsi, but is there any indication or how are you able to indicate whether this indeed is a reflection of the mood of the entire country, if people are happy with this outcome.

WEDEMAN: That's a very good question because if you look at numbers, it's not quite so clear-cut. Only 50 percent of the electorate turned out and Mohammed Morsi only won 52percent of that.

So we're talking about somewhere between 25 percent and 26 percent of those Egyptians eligible to vote actually voted for him. And many Egyptians were unhappy with the choice that they were given in the second round.

On the one hand, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization many feel is too ideological, too religious. The other choice was, Ahmed Shafik, a holdover from the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

So I know one Egyptian who told me that he would vote in this election, but he would do it wearing surgical gloves and holding his nose because he didn't like the choices that were being presented.

WHITFIELD: Ben, what about women? There had been many women who had expressed their concerns that many of their rights that they have and enjoy right now would be taken away if Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood Party were to be elected and here we are. So are women expressing that same sentiment prior to the vote?

WEDEMAN: Certainly, there's a large sector of the population where women and others who were concerned about the attitude of the Muslim Brotherhood. Mohamed Morsi was stressing that all Egyptians, men or women, have the same rights.

And the other day he did say that when choosing his government -- in fact, when choosing his vice president, he would be considering people outside of the Muslim Brotherhood. He said he might choose a woman.

He might choose a Coptic Christian. He might choose one of the youth, the young revolutionaries from Tahrir Square. So they are at pains at the moment to stress that these impressions -- they want to stress that women have full and equal rights.

Coptic Christians have full and equal rights. But we'll have to see if beyond this moment of celebration that those promises will still stick when he actually starts conducting his duties as president.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ben Wedeman, thanks so much from Cairo. We are awaiting to hear the first remarks from the president-elect, Mohammed Morsi.

And of course, when those comments come, we understand there will be some English translation. When they come we'll bring them to you as soon as we can. Again, another look at a very crowded Tahrir Square on a windy evening as you saw Ben's hair blowing there, which was a very hot day. Perhaps these are indeed winds of change.

All right, the White House is reacting to Egypt's election. It just released this statement, saying, in part, quote, "We look forward to working together with President-elect Morsi and the government he forms on the basis of mutual respect to advance the many shared interests between Egypt and the United States," end quote.

All right, back here, in the U.S., Tropical Storm Debby is strengthening off the Gulf of Mexico. The storm's path is uncertain but people living along the Texas coast to the Florida panhandle are all getting ready.

Louisiana is so concerned about the flooding. The governor has already declared a state of emergency. Southeast of New Orleans, Plaquemine's Parish President Billy Nangesser said they can't take any chances.

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BILLY NANGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH (via telephone): If this thing hangs out there, we've never seen a storm with such different forecasts. You know, one track has it going to Florida, one has it going to Texas and here we sit right in the middle. So we're really concerned about it sitting out there and gaining strength so we're preparing for the worst.

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WHITFIELD: All right, preparing for the worst, all along the Gulf Coast. Alexandra Steele there in the weather center, the map is vast in terms of all the potential bull's-eyes, right?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, this is the earliest we've ever had a fourth named tropical storm in the Atlantic so it is already historic. Now does that portend this to be a very active hurricane season?

Yes and no. I mean, it certainly doesn't portend a very active season on the whole, but certainly a very robust start. So here's the big picture. Here's Tropical Storm Debby. I'll show it in more exact with the radar coming up.

But just a couple of points I want to show you. A broad circulation meaning it is big. Meaning everyone could be impacted from the Texas Gulf Coast all the way to South Florida.

Also it is moving very slowly, meaning it won't be a quick hitter, meaning 10 to 15 inches of rain not out of the question so it will slowly plod north-northeast or whatever direction it is going and it is moving very stationary now.

So we're going to see a lot of rain with it. It is soaking Western Florida right now but the key, the future of this is uncertain. This is what we call the spaghetti models.

Meaning each of these lines, different colors, is a computer model forecast to where this will go. You can see the divergent nature of the path of this thing. That's what's making the track so difficult.

National Hurricane Center though does have its track and it does have it moving west-northwest even becoming a Category 1 hurricane potentially making landfall on Wednesday.

So it's a slow mover, no question about it. And you can see, here's where it is now. Maximum sustained winds now at 60, gusts to 70. But flooding, isolated tornadoes really could be a big part of this as well as the winds. A lot more coming up in a little bit. WHITFIELD: All right, Alexandra, thanks so much for that.

All right, most Americans say they don't really like the president's health care law, but ask for specifics, and you may be surprised by the answers you get.

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WHITFIELD: At some point this week, the U.S. Supreme Court will announce its rulings on whether the president's health care reforms are constitutional.

While we wait, some interesting poll numbers to consider, 56 percent in this new Reuters poll say they oppose the president's health care reforms.

CNN's Kate Bolduan reports on what the justices are now considering.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Long days and late nights at the Supreme Court as the justices rush to finish what Justice Ginsberg recently called the flood season.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Many of the most controversial cases remain pending so it is likely that the sharp disagreement rate will go up next week.

BOLDUAN: The biggest case this session and the biggest in at least a decade -- the president's health care law. The election year blockbuster argued for more than six hours in March, has far-reaching implications from Main Street to the campaign trail.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm actually continuing to be confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the law.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I'm elected president, I will repeal Obama care and I'll stop it in its tracks on day one.

BOLDUAN: The nine justices face four separate issues in this one case -- the centrepiece, will the individual mandate requiring nearly all Americans to have health insurance stand or will it fall?

And does the rest or any of the law survive if the mandate is struck down? Does the law's expanded Medicaid program unfairly step on state's rights?

Or will the court call for a legal time-out until the main provisions go into effect, though this option is unlikely.

THOMAS GOLDSTEIN, SCOTUSBLOG.COM PUBLISHER: There's going to be a bottom line of whether the mandate is constitutional or not. I would be shocked if we didn't know that after the decision. Then it gets a little bit more complicated.

BOLDUAN: Key to the decision may be these two men -- Chief Justice John Roberts and the traditional swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy. Both seemed skeptical of the government's case.

ANTHONY KENNEDY, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: You create Congress commerce in order to regulate it?

BOLDUAN: Yet they asked tough questions of both sides giving hope to the law's supporters it may survive at least in part.

JOHN ROBERTS, SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE: I don't think you're addressing their main point, which is that they're not creating commerce in health care, it's already there and we're all going to need some kind of health care -- most of us will -- at some point.

BOLDUAN (on camera): After the decision is handed down, the big question quickly becomes what now? House Republican leaders have made clear if the law is not completely thrown out, they'll vote to repeal whatever's left.

And for weeks, both the White House and congressional Republicans have been quietly strategizing their message so they are ready as soon as the decision comes. Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And she was one of the most prominent Atheist bloggers on the internet. And now she has shocked some of her readers by converting to Catholicism. We'll hear why in her own words.

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WHITFIELD: Leah Libresco was one of the most prominent Atheist bloggers on the internet. She often talks about math as well. It was her passionate writing about religion that helped raise her profile.

So it was a surprise to many of her readers when she announced she was converting to Catholicism. I spoke with Leah Libresco about her conversion and personal journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEAH LIBRESCO, ATHEIST BLOGGER TURNED CATHOLIC CONVERT: One thing that kind of happened is I thought it was a lot more plausible, but not necessarily true, in the same way I'm a big Harry Potter nerd and I can see how the whole world works and think about the dynamics of that world without thinking it's true.

That's kind of how I came to se Christianity, a really well thought out interesting system that a lot of smart people had worked on, but I didn't think it was actually a true system.

WHITFIELD: So before you came to that conclusion, would you have considered yourself an atheist?

LIBRESCO: Yes. And I considered my atheist while I thought it was coherent, but false also.

WHITFIELD: And then what was the turning point for you? What happened when you went from being an Atheist to, OK, this is more than just an interesting, intelligent discussion, but now I'm willing to embrace that religion, might be for me?

LIBRESCO: It was kind of the same thing with any scientific theory almost that it had more explanatory power to explain something I was really sure of. I'm really sure that morality is objective, human independent, something we uncover like archaeologists, not something we build like architects.

And I was having trouble explaining that in my own philosophy. Christianity offered an explanation which I came to find compelling, especially because it had done other things that were good moral teachings that surprised me that I came around to.

WHITFIELD: What's this transformation been like for you, to go from being an Atheist, self-described Atheist to now being a practicing Catholic?

LIBRESCO: Well, you know, it is nice to find a community here in D.C. I've scandalized some of my friends. Some of my friends think I'm wrong now, but I'm less wrong than I was. They thought my old position was less intellectually indefensible.

So it is in some ways an improvement. It is exciting to be able to participate in the mass in thinking that it's actually the Eucharist.

WHITFIELD: So some of these friends, have they also been non- believers?

LIBRESCO: Yes. I had kind of a mix of Christians and Atheists both telling me that the things I thought made more sense in a Christian framework than they did in an Atheist one. So I got double-teamed on that.

WHITFIELD: You've blogged about it. You've written extensively about it. What possessed you to do that?

LIBRESCO: Well, originally when I started writing the blog about it, I was dating a nice Catholic boy and we'd have arguments. And it was kind of unfair to ask him to be the sole representative of Catholicism to me.

So the one thing I was doing was to try to crowd source our arguments and drawing another people or check what he was saying and also writing helped me clarify what I was thinking myself.

WHITFIELD: Was it that relationship that kind of enlightened you?

LIBRESCO: Yes. Like all good fights should.

WHITFIELD: And what were his thoughts about you converting to Catholicism? Are you still together?

LIBRESCO: No, we're not, but obviously he's very pleased.

WHITFIELD: How is Christianity, embracing it, becoming a catholic, changed your life and then, speaking publicly about this personal journey.

LIBRESCO: I think one thing that's kind of changed in my life for this is that it's easier for me to reach out to other people because what I want is their good, their moral development, their becoming what they ought to be in a way that before when I thought of morality mainly as a set of rules for me.

Where it's my job to do good things, but it doesn't matter what the people I'm doing them for are like or how they live, all that matters is my own action, was a lot more closed off.

WHITFIELD: Leah Libresco, thanks so much and thanks so much for sharing your story, your personal journey and personal evolution. All the best.

LIBRESCO: Thanks a lot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you can read more on Leah Libresco's conversion on CNN's belief blog at cnn.com/belief. You can also add your own comments there, if you'd like.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK0

WHITFIELD: Even at nightfall, celebrations are still going strong in Egypt's Tahrir Square hours after the country announced the winner of its presidential election. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi is now the president-elect.

He beat Akhmed Shafik, a former prime minister in Hosni Mubarak's regime by just one million votes. This was the first democratic election in Egypt's history.

All right, back in this country, our travel insider takes us to Las Vegas this week. That's where's Kyra Phillips shared some good times with a pair of her childhood favorites, Donny and Marie Osmond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONNY OSMOND, SINGER: This is the weirdest interview I've ever had.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tell me what's weird?

DONNY OSMOND: You're the cameraman --

PHILLIPS: I'm not sure if we talk to your eye or the lens. Where would you like?

MARIE OSMOND, SINGER: Wherever you like.

DONNY OSMOND: What question do you want to ask us, Kyra?

MARIE OSMOND: You have four seconds.

PHILLIPS: I have four seconds? OK, I'm going to ask you a really serious question. Why should people come see you in Vegas?

DONNY OSMOND: Because it's the best show in Vegas. We were just voted -- I'm not making this up. We were voted the best show in Vegas and best performers --

MARIE OSMOND: And best vocalist.

DONNY OSMOND: Not me. Her.

PHILLIPS: Actually Donny and Marie are both amazing, not only does the Vegas show bring back all our favorites, but Marie actually sings opera dedicating the song to her son who passed.

I tell you what. It sends chills up your spine. Donny and Marie are charming, entertaining and funny as ever. So what exactly does it take to have number one records for 50 years and look so good?

DONNY OSMOND: Lots of plastic surgery. OK, you're not going to get a serious answer from us. Try.

MARIE OSMOND: I can tell you? We feel so blessed. I mean, to be able to still be performing this fall will be our 50th year of performing.

DONNY OSMOND: Fifty years in show business.

MARIE OSMOND: Which is amazing since I'm 29. It's miraculous, but we feel so blessed and so fortunate. We go on stage every night. We see multiple generations. I mean, kids from 3 to 80 and all the young ones are coming to see me.

DONNY OSMOND: Yes, whatever. You want a serious answer?

PHILLIPS: Give me a serious answer.

DONNY OSMOND: We work our butts off. We work hard.

PHILLIPS: Yes, they do. They are tons of fun. Go see them. The Donny And Marie Show, The Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas. A little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll. A little bit heart warming nostalgia.

For my entire interview with Donny and Marie, just go to cnn.com. That's this week's "Travel Insider."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: I'll be back in one hour. We'll have a pretty amazing interview with a riveting photographer who is legally blind and just won a CNN I-Report award for his work. I asked Kurt Weston earlier what he hopes to achieve through his work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do want my work to speak to my own personal life experiences and I developed a certain technique in some of my work, which I call my blind vision work, which illustrates the emotional and psychological weight of sight loss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He's legally blind and HIV positive. He has a tremendous story to tell. Stick around and see that later on today beginning at 4:00 Eastern Time. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Stay with CNN. "YOUR MONEY" starts right after this.

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