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Jan Brewer Press Conference; Key Arizona Immigration Plank Survives; Tropical Storm Debby Drenches Florida; Tropical Storm Debby's Slow March; Turkey Recovers Jet Plane Wreckage; Blowback From Immigration Law; Response From the Latino Community; The Ripple Effect; Alabama's Similar Immigration Law; "Young The Giant"; History Made, Challenges Ahead
Aired June 25, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It gives me chills thinking about that movie, "Deliverance." Suzanne, thank you so much.
Hello to you. Happy Monday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. I want to let you know, any minute now, take a live look, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, he is going to be speaking out publically here today about the huge ruling. Thumbs up from that photographer. Yes, it's a clear signal. From the Supreme Court ruling on Arizona's controversial immigration law. We're going to hear from her. We'll take that live when she steps behind that podium.
But the Supreme Court strikes down most of Arizona's immigration law today, but both sides here, if you've noticed, are claiming victory. In fact, this is a live picture, I'm told. Let's just listen.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED)
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Act. Arizona has been preparing for this day. Because the facts have too often been lost in the rhetoric, let's reflect on what has brought us here today.
Arizona did not ask for this fight, nor did it seek out the task of having to confront illegal immigration. We cannot forget that we are here today because the federal government has failed the American people regarding immigration policy, has failed to protect its citizens, has failed to preserve the rule of law and has failed to secure our borders. The failure to secure the boarders has created issue we now face regarding illegal immigration. And Arizona, without question, bears the brunt of that failure.
We also cannot forget that President Obama and his party had both houses in Congress for two years and could have secured our borders and fulfilled the promise to fix our broken immigration system. They failed. In response, Arizona had no other choice but to act. And Arizona did so by following, not changing, federal law.
Instead of devoting resources to suing states like Arizona, the federal government should have spent time, money and energy on fixing the problem. So today is day when the key components of our efforts to protect the citizens of Arizona, to take up the fight against illegal immigration in a balanced and constitutional way has unanimously been vindicated by the highest court in the land. The heart of Senate Bill 1070 has been proven to be constitutional. Arizona's and every other state's inherit authority to protect and defend its people has been upheld.
I prayed for strength, and I prayed for our state before I signed Senate Bill 1070. I did so because I firmly believed it represented what was best for Arizona. Border related violence and crime and the significant financial costs due to illegal immigration are critically important issues to the people of our state and to me, both has governor and as a citizen.
As I have said, this is the day that we have been waiting for. And, make no mistake, Arizona is ready. We know the eyes of the world will be upon us. We know the critics will be watching and waiting, hoping for another opportunity to continue their legal assault against our state. But I have faith in our law enforcement. Our brave men and women in uniform have been trained so they are able to enforce this law efficiently, effectively and in harmony with the Constitution. Civil rights will be protected. Racial profiling will not be tolerated.
Senate Bill 1070 is equally committed to upholding the rule of law, while ensuring that the constitutional rights of all in Arizona are protected, including prohibiting law enforcement officers from solely considering race, color or national origin in implementing its provision. In fact, under my direction, Senate Bill 1070 was amended to strengthen and to emphasize the importance that civil rights are protected.
Arizona is prepared to move forward to enforce this law that we have fought so hard to defend, ever mindful of our rights, every faithful to the Constitution and ever worthy of the blessings of God, who has given us that, that we share together as Arizonans and as Americans.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, you -- governor, you mentioned (INAUDIBLE) and I appreciate that. But there were three other sections of the law you signed and defending. Including one that would make it a state crime not to have federal papers, one (ph) that would make it state crime not to work. And the full court -- the full court essentially said with (INAUDIBLE) from Mr. Scalia that, no, you can't do that. So how do you defend having signed something like that? How do you defend having declared that constitutional two years ago, only to have the high court slap you?
BREWER: Well, today, the state of Arizona and Senate Bill 1070 was vindicated. And the heart of the bill was upheld unanimously.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, how effective can (INAUDIBLE) without the enforcement (ph) (INAUDIBLE) considering some of the Obama administration's rules on who they're not going to deport anymore? BREWER: Well, with section 2B being upheld, it says that local law enforcement can assist the federal government in the right to ask, under reasonable suspicion and whenever practical, to confirm the legal ability of someone being in the state of Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the point that I think that (INAUDIBLE) Jeremy's question is, if they have decided, the president's (INAUDIBLE), and today they also cancelled the state's 287G status, that they're not going to pick them up, what's the point? So you stop, you determine somebody's illegal. ICE says, so what. So you let them go. So you've accomplished nothing.
BREWER: I believe that we have accomplished a lot and that it was upheld by the United States Supreme Court. And that we will move forward instructing law enforcement to begin practicing what the United States Supreme Court has upheld.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, there is -- there's going to be, and the court recognizes, that there will probably be challenges to section two. You guys lost on three of the provisions and you did prevail on section two. But it looks like there's an opening there. Like some people saying, she's characterizing this as a broad victory and it's not.
BREWER: Well, this certainly is not the end of our journey. We fully expect lawsuits to be filed and that this portion of the law be challenged. And we will be getting ready and prepared if that takes place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What -- what makes this a victory then?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor, how (INAUDIBLE) change things logistically for police? I mean (INAUDIBLE) what exactly is going to happen and when?
BREWER: Well, I think the court upheld the ability of local law enforcement to assist the federal government in immigration laws. Meaning that they have the authority under reasonable suspicion to question someone, who has already been apprehended, to certify whether they are -- have legal status in Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does this really change anything, governor?
BREWER: I would think that it would be in effect immediately. You probably might want to speak to a lawyer. But my personal opinion is, that when it's upheld by the Supreme Court, that it would be effective immediately.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) but one more -- one more question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) change anything? (INAUDIBLE) university law professors have said that state cities and localities already had the right to check for immigration and working with ICE. Does this really change anything on the ground in Arizona?
BREWER: I believe that it does. I think that section 2B was the heart of the law. I think that's where the majority of the concern was, whether local law enforcement had the ability to seek information from people that they apprehend in the middle of a crime. And now it has been validated unanimously by the United States Supreme Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all for being here. Thank you.
(END LIVE FEED)
BALDWIN: So, this is the first time we have seen the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, speaking publicly, reacting to this law and reacting really to the ruling from the United States Supreme Court. We're going to talk to Jeff Toobin a little bit about what the governor was -- her point being that she does feel vindicated. She kept referencing the heart of the law, section 2B. what is section 2B? How might this effect other states here? We're going to go through all of this. Got to get a quick break in. CNN NEWSROOM will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, so we heard from the governor of Arizona just a little while ago. So let me just back up here and give you the big picture. And that is the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court today struck down most of Arizona's immigration law. But both sides -- both sides here really claiming victory.
First, I just want to walk you through the three major planks that are now officially out. So watch this with me.
The first would have allowed police to arrest immigrants without a warrant if they had probable cause -- a crime had been committed. Number two here, the second made it a crime for illegal immigrants not to carry registration papers or a government ID. And the third would have prevented illegal immigrants from trying to get jobs here in the U.S. So those provisions, boom, they're gone.
But the part -- and this is what the governor kept referencing as the heart of this SB-1070, this Senate Bill 1070 -- is really the most contentious. And that is, it says police can check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws if they have, and I'm quoting, "reasonable suspicion that the person is in the U.S. Illegally."
So, let's go to legal analyst, our senior legal guy, Jeff Toobin, at the high court.
And just so I'm clear, in Arizona now, with the upholding of this section, section 2B of this law, if someone say, you know, Jeff, runs a stop sign, gets pulled over and there is this reasonable suspicion, that police officer can legally ask that individual to show immigration papers? And that's what the governor of Arizona was staying she feels vindicated because that was upheld, correct?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Correct. That's exactly right.
This provision was nicknamed the "show us your papers" law. BALDWIN: Yes.
TOOBIN: Which was basically saying to the police, if you have reasonable suspicion to stop someone for any purpose, whether it's jaywalking or running a stop sign, as you point out, or DUI, if you have reasonable suspicion at that point, you are allowed to add immigration --
BALDWIN: What does that mean?
TOOBIN: You're allowed to ask for immigration papers.
BALDWIN: Reasonable suspicion. Define it.
TOOBIN: Now you need to go to law school. It's where these things get very murky. Reasonable suspicion is not as much as probable cause, but -- and not as much as proof beyond a reasonable doubt. But it is a suspicion that is reasonable. I'm sorry to, you know, be defining these terms loosely --
BALDWIN: So nebulous, my friend. Yes.
TOOBIN: But courts have the same trouble. They don't -- these terms are very difficult to define.
BALDWIN: So because it's so difficult to define, and we know how 2B stands as of now, but there are other states, as you very well know, Jeff Toobin, with similar provisions, i.e. Alabama. So this particular immigration status, this provision could still be challenged. I think to quote you earlier, you referenced this as something like legal trench warfare. I mean we're in for more challenges.
TOOBIN: Right. And what Justice Kennedy did in his opinion for the majority is he went one by one through these provisions. And he said no to three of them and yes to one of them.
Now, in the subsequent couple of hours since this opinion came down, I've been re-reading the opinion, trying to figure out the distinction between what's bad and what's good. It's not easy. It's not a simple distinction. And I am certain that as these other state laws get tested in court, other courts are going to have trouble with this distinction. So the last word on what's permissible for states to do in the area of immigration has not been written. That much I am sure.
What states are going to have to do is say, our provision is more like the show us your papers law than the other three laws. But it is not entirely clear what the division between the two is. So there are going to be lots of court challenges. There are already lots of new laws on the books. And all the courts are going to try to interpret Justice Kennedy's opinion in a way that gives them meaningful guidance about how to resolve the challenges to the remaining laws.
BALDWIN: OK. So if you're re-reading things, I'm feeling better since this doesn't really seem all that clear. Perhaps this part of it. And as we --
TOOBIN: You know what? It doesn't seem clear because it isn't clear.
BALDWIN: OK. So it isn't clear. What will be clear, perhaps, moving ahead here to health care. We know that the Supreme Court will be coming down on a ruling on that on Thursday. And just remind us why. I mean this is -- are they just saving sort of the most significant piece of legislation for last? And what should we expect?
TOOBIN: Well, it is the tradition at the court that the most controversial and significant opinions are at the end of the term. And Thursday is the very last day of the term. In part, that's just a practical reason because they tend to -- the controversial cases tend to generate a lot of opinions from several different justices. And it takes a long time to put them all together.
What makes this especially complicated is that there are so many moving parts to the immigration -- to the health care case. I mean there's an argument that the whole controversy is premature. That the law is not in effect yet. The court shouldn't deal with it.
There's the issue of the individual mandate. The requirement that everyone American have insurance. Is that constitutional?
There's the issue of, if that part is unconstitutional, what about the rest of the law?
BALDWIN: Right.
TOOBIN: Can you separate out? Can you severe the individual mandate? There's Medicaid that's controversial. I mean there are lots of different parts of this law.
The most simple resolution, and certainly the one the Obama administration wants, is --
BALDWIN: Upholding (ph).
TOOBIN: If it's affirmed.
BALDWIN: Right.
TOOBIN: If it's not affirmed, things get very complicated.
BALDWIN: OK. Well, we will go through all of that Thursday.
TOOBIN: Thursday.
BALDWIN: At least we now have a date, Jeff Toobin.
TOOBIN: That's right.
BALDWIN: We have a date. Thank you so much.
But before we get to that, I want to stay on immigration, because that's really just a huge issue here on the campaign trail. Mitt Romney, by coincidence, or perhaps by design, is, in fact, in Arizona this hour. I want to read part of the statement he issued out today. Quote, "today's decision underscores the need for a president who will lead on this critical issue and work in a bipartisan fashion to pursue a national immigration strategy. President Obama has failed," he says, "to provide any leadership on immigration."
Meantime, President Obama, he says he's pleased but he's also concerned about the part of the law that was upheld that Jeff Toobin and I were just talking about here. In a statement the president says, "what this decision makes unmistakably clear is that Congress must act on comprehensive immigration reform." He goes on, "a patchwork of state laws is not a solution to our broken immigration system. It is part of the problem."
CNN's national campaign correspondent John King joins me.
And, John, a little bit, it seems like, for both sides in the decision. What is the early impact on the race for the White House?
JOHN KING, CNN NATIONAL CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's to be determined, if you look at it. You make the point, isn't it delicious Governor Romney, by pure coincidence, I guess, happens to be in Arizona today.
BALDWIN: Right.
KING: It will be interesting to see if he speaks publicly to the citizens of Arizona. That is a state that the Obama campaign was watching closely. They think if John McCain had not been the nominee four years ago, maybe Arizona would be in play. One of the reasons they think Arizona could be in play, we lean it Romney right now, is the grow of the Latino population.
So, how will this impact Latino mobilization, motivation to vote in November? Hard to say, Brooke, because, remember, they're glad three of the provisions were struck down, but a lot of the Latino community is furious that that provision, 2B, the show me your papers provision, was left in. Well, Arizona will start implementing that, enforcing that beginning today or tomorrow. Guess what, as we get closer to the election, that's when you're going to have some test cases. At least some test publicity cases. And then maybe some challenges heading into court. So let's watch how this plays out between now and the election as Arizona actually starts to implement the law.
The president enters this debate leading among Latino voters. He has about 65, 66 percent if you look at the national polls. That's the number he received in the 2008 election. So he is in great standing right now. Yes, there's disappointment. He didn't pass a national immigration law. He promised he would introduce one in his first year. Yes, there's a disappointment among higher unemployment in the Latino community than the country at large.
But it is Governor Romney who's in the box because if he tries to reach out to the Latino community with softer rhetoric, the conservative Republican base will say, hey, wait a minute, you're supposed to stand with Arizona and be tough. So, the governor's statement, that's pretty smart politics. Blame the president. Blame the president. Blame the president and try to steer away from the controversial part.
BALDWIN: Yes, we sense the theme. And then the governor of Arizona saying vindicated. Vindicated because she says, you know, the heart of this piece of legislation is upheld. I cannot wait to see your interview with her. I know she's been on your show a bunch. The governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, on your show tonight at 6:00 talking, of course, about the ruling today. And we'll be looking for that on "JK USA" tonight, 6:00 Eastern Time. John King, thank you.
We have a lot more actually happening here in the next two hours. Take a look at this.
Ten inches of rain. Tropical Storm Debby flooding Florida, spawning a tornado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I went and got my wife and my dog, put them in the hallway there and I said it was coming. And about that time it started blowing real hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: One of America's big allies has a new president, Mohammed Morsi. With the democratic election over, what can the U.S. now expect from Egypt?
And it's music Monday. Up and coming rock band Young The Giant. They thought about turning down the big stage on MTV, and these days they're glad they didn't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How people connect is so strong and almost unthinkable for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The news is now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Florida, dare I say, bracing for even more rain as Tropical Storm Debby steadily churns in the Gulf. Florida Governor Rick Scott, has, in fact, just issued a state of emergency for folks there. But, really, when you look across the state, look at this. Thank you i-Reporters for your videos here. Entire neighborhoods under water. The waves indeed. Significant storm surge and a possibility of up to two feet of rain threaten a large portion of Florida. This storm has already killed one person. A victim of a possible tornado near Sarasota. And in some places, people had to be rescued because of the high flood water trapping them in their homes. CNN's John Zarrella is in one of the hardest hit areas. He's in St. Pete Beach, Florida.
And, John, what are the people telling you? What are you seeing?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Brooke, just about anywhere in the state of Florida felt the effects from this tropical storm over the past 48 hours, whether it was tornadoes or water spouts or heavy rain, flooding, beach erosion. You name it, we got it here in the state of Florida.
This is a community called Pasagril (ph) and you can see there, there is a giant oak tree knocked down last night. They already started the clean up here. Power has been out for about 18 hours. The bucket truck is up. They're mulching some of the debris that came down here.
What happened here last night, as we turn -- you still see the white caps out there on the water, Brooke. But what happened last night is that at about 8:00, they had some heavy wind, heavy rain. It may have been a tornado. May have been a water spout. They're not positive yet exactly what it was that came through here. But we're going to show you some real damage that they had here. They had about eight houses severely damaged. You can still see the standing water here.
BALDWIN: Yes.
ZARRELLA: And one of those homes severely -- buildings severely damaged. Look back here before we throw it back to you. Knocked off its foundation. Fortunately, nobody was living in there at the time.
BALDWIN: Oh, wow. Look at that.
ZARRELLA: But completely knocked off -- yes. Yes, completely knocked off its foundation. The people next door scared to death, they told us, when they heard that coming down. So, you know, not a real bad, serious storm right now, but don't tell that to the people in this community.
Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes, I was just about to say, I think probably the person who lives in that house off the foundation would disagree with you.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
BALDWIN: John Zarrella, thank you so much.
Chad Myers, I just want to bring you in.
So we're talking -- you know, we saw the home off the foundation. We're also talking, you know, trees down.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.
BALDWIN: We're talking sink holes. But also gators. MYERS: Sure.
BALDWIN: This is Florida, right?
MYERS: Yes, of course.
BALDWIN: Out of the swamps and into the town.
MYERS: You put that -- you put that much fresh water into a swamp and the gators are going to try to move somewhere else. Exactly right.
BALDWIN: Yikes.
MYERS: It looks like sink holes will be a real problem after dark tonight. Not because they're going to fall in after dark, because you're not going to be able to see them as you're driving around. Already some Marion County reports up in Duval County. Sink holes happen because the ground is now so saturated. The ground underneath it should have water in it. The aquafur (ph) should be full. It's not full because there's been a big drought there. And all of a sudden this land, that's really not supported, it's like a big dirt bridge. The big dirt bridge gets swampy and very full of water and that dirt just wants to fall in. So watch that later on.
The winds are only 45 miles per hour. The problem is, it's a lumbering storm. It's very, very slowly moving. And it's just dumping buckets of rain up here across -- even this about St. George Island. I just called a couple guys that I know in St. Marks. They told me that that town is flooding because the wind is blowing this way. There's actually a storm surge, even though the storm hasn't made landfall. The wind has been blowing the same direction for so long. He lives (ph) 12 feet above sea level and he has water in his yard. So people that are at sea level, they would have 12 feet on top of where they would be standing. So people getting out of St. Marks there.
I spent a lot of time in that town after Dennis. It flooded tremendously after Dennis. I can't imagine they're picking up pieces again.
Brooke.
BALDWIN: It's awful. We're thinking about them. Thank you, Chad. And, of course, we thank you for your i-Reports. If -- you know, of course, don't put yourself in danger --
MYERS: That's right.
BALDWIN: But we always appreciate those pictures.
Chad, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
BALDWIN: Thus far, it is a war of words. A war of words between two neighboring countries. Syria defends itself for shooting down this Turkish jet and sends a strong warning to NATO to stay away from Syria's sacred ground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: To say tensions are brewing between Syria and Turkey is nothing short of an understatement. That brew is really the potential to boil over here. Turkish media reports that overnight a Syrian general, two colonels and about 30 Syrian soldiers grabbed their families and defected to Turkey. But here's the real concern right now. The fact that this Turkish military jet was shot down by Syrian forces. Syria says the jet was in its air space. Turkey says, not so. The Turks recovered the wreckage of their plane, but never found the two pilots. Turkey says the jet was shot down in international waters and that Syrian forces did not give them any warning whatsoever.
I want to go to CNN's Ivan Watson. He is live for us in Istanbul. Ivan, in addition to what we just reported, you have just found out today that Syria fired another Turkish plane on Friday. This was the search and rescue plane for the military jet that was shot down, correct?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It sounds like the Syrian anti-aircraft defenses had some itchy trigger fingers on Friday. First, according to the Turks their F-4 phantom jet gets shot down off the coast of Syria. They claim in international waters.
The Syrians claim it was in their territorial air space and then when the Turks mobilized a search and rescue team of ships and helicopters and planes.
The Turks now say that one of those planes, which is kind of a chubby propeller, slow moving transport plane called a "casa" was then fired upon once again by Syrian anti-aircraft defenses while operating within Syrian-Turkish-Syrian air space trying to look for the two missing pilots and the missing plane.
Nobody was hurt on that plane. That prompted conversations between the Turks and the Syrians to say, please, can you let our guys try to find the crew of the plane that you just shot down.
BALDWIN: So itchy trigger fingers or not, we know the Turkish officials are scheduled to meet with NATO members tomorrow. This could be a pretty big deal.
Because when you look at Article 5 of NATO's Washington Treaty, in part it states that the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America should be considered an attack against them all.
So basically, you hit one of us. You're hitting all of us. Turkey is a NATO member country. The U.S. is a NATO member country. The question is, are we, Ivan, potentially looking at U.S. military involvement in Syria?
WATSON: Well, it depends really on what the Turks do. I mean, so far they have been very measured. They have been going step by step trying to gather international support trying to make their case not only to their long time NATO military allies like the U.S., France and England.
But also reaching out to countries like Russia and Iran that are patrons of the embattled Syrian regime trying to explain their case and say, listen, this was an act of aggression against us. We didn't bring this on.
Of course, the Syrians are arguing completely the opposite point. I think it's pretty fair to say that we don't think that NATO governments have the appetite to get involved in yet another Middle Eastern conflict.
It's unlikely that they will want to run to Turkey's defense in this case. It's not even really clear yet whether the Turks will ask NATO to intervene on their behalf. We'll just have to watch tomorrow.
BALDWIN: We'll watch them in Brussels. Ivan Watson, thank you so much for us in Istanbul.
The immigration ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court today stirring up a lot of controversies and fears among immigrant communities.
We're going to talk live with a hugely popular California radio DJ who has been swamped with calls. We're going to find out what his listeners are telling him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Back to immigration, and today's U.S. Supreme Court decision here, a lot of people on both sides. Some folks say this was a huge blow to Arizona.
Immigration Attorney Charles Kuck calls it, quote, "A resounding defeat for legislatures of Arizona and other parts of the United States who think immigration can be regulated on a state level."
Not everyone feels that Arizona or even other states with similar laws have been defeated. That is because one of the most controversial parts of the law gets to stay in.
Arizona police still get to check a person's immigration status if reasonable suspicion exists. Hugely popular DJ, Eddie Sotelo, people known him as "Piolin" issued this statement saying in part, quote, "The truth of the matter is that our people will just always be a target just because of the way we look."
And Eddie is good enough to join me from Los Angeles. Eddie, it's so nice to meet you. Let me just -- for people who don't know you. You know, you broadcast in Spanish. You're a huge voice in Latino community in California.
And so as part of your show this morning, what did your listeners have to say? I'm sure a lot of them called in because of the ruling. What was the majority of the opinion? EDDIE SOTELO, RADIO DJ: Nice to meet you, Brooke. My listeners are worried because with the decision of the Supreme Court. We'd like to find out how the police department, the agents are they going to see us.
How they are going to be suspicious of someone walking on the streets of Arizona and they are going to say, I'm going to ask you for your papers. That's what happened to me.
A couple of months, I went to Arizona and they stopped me when I was driving a car. They stopped me. They asked me for my driving license, you know.
BALDWIN: What did you say?
SOTELO: Of course, I had my driver's license. I asked the agent, you know, the police officer, I asked why do you stop me? He said we have to ask if you have a driver's license.
But I didn't make a violation, traffic violation so that was one of the examples. That's the example that all my listeners would like to, you know, be away from that.
And we would like somebody to explain to us how we're going to, how are we going to be walking on the streets and how the officer from the police department is going to decide who to stop.
BALDWIN: It sounds like that is a huge concern for a lot of people. We just heard from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and she addressed one of those concerns part of the Q and A.
And she said civil rights will be protected. We're also hearing there was a statement from the Attorney General Eric Holder. So I just want to read what he said.
Quote, Section 2, This is the part of the legislation that was upheld, the part you're talking about. "Section 2, it's not a license to engage in racial profiling. I want to ensure communities around the country that the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously enforce federal prohibitions against racial and ethnic discrimination."
He uses the word "assure" and so based, Eddie, upon the listener comments to you this morning, it sounds like they are not feeling assured yet. Is that correct?
SOTELO: No, my listeners, you know, they're not sure what's going to happen. You know, we're afraid because of that. We're in this situation because we don't have any immigration reform. That's why we are like this.
We'd like to find out if we can find a way to work, you know, for immigration reform. That's what we need. We have 12 million people here already working for the benefit of better economy of the United States. BALDWIN: And the president, we heard, there was a statement today also when the DHS, you know, issued this change in immigration policy, calling on Congress, yes to immigration reform.
In fact, you know, you, what was it, just two years ago you interviewed the president. You really pressed him, Eddie, on how could he ask for the Latino vote?
Because at the time, he promises comprehensive legislation reform, final question to you, has he earned your vote come November?
BALDWIN: OK, Mr. President, you know, told me that he was not keen. It's a work that he need to come together, you know, the two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. But we're still waiting for that decision so they can come together and work.
That's what we want. You know, we want to be united because we're so blessed to have the opportunity to be in the United States working for a better life for our families.
BALDWIN: Sure, but has he earned your vote? Without comprehensive immigration reform, has he earned your vote? Yes or no.
SOTELO: Well, at the end, Brooke, I think my listeners, you know and all the viewers, they have the decision who to vote for. You know, I just tell them exactly what happened and exactly what you do.
Here at CNN, you know, you tell them what's going on in the community. What's the necessity, what's happening with the laws like the one we have right now, the 1070. At the end, my listeners decide for who to vote.
BALDWIN: Yes. Eddie Sotelo, thank you so much. We appreciate your coming on for us from Los Angeles. Got to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk live with Senator Gerald Dial of Alabama, one of five other states with very strict immigration policies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The U.S. Supreme Court's decision today on immigration not only has a profound effect on the state of Arizona, but other states as well specifically Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana and Utah.
All these states have similar law to the provisions that were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, not too long ago, I spoke with an Alabama state senator who once pushed for stricter immigration laws in the state.
Only to change his mind and tell me, live on CNN, I'm quoting him, "I made a mistake in voting on this bill as it is today. And I'm committed to trying to correct those mistakes."
That was Alabama State Senator Gerald Dial back in December, a Republican. Senator Dial joins me now on the phone. Sir, welcome back. If I can, just ask what's your visceral reaction here to the Supreme Court's ruling today.
GERALD DIAL (R), ALABAMA STATE SENATOR (via telephone): Well, I just became familiar with it a few minutes ago as I have been out busy on this morning.
But I was not surprised that a portion of that bill was struck down. You know, our Alabama bill was very similar to the Arizona bill in many aspects. Of course, we did come back in the legislature this past session and make some major adjustments to our bill.
But still we left in part that I'm very much opposed to and that's the part where it requires schools to determine if students are there and if the students are legal.
I continue to hear from my school, people, administrators and teachers that they are there to teach and not enforce the law. That part is still in our law.
That part is one of the major parts that I wanted to change in our legislation, but we did not do that in the session.
BALDWIN: That was a huge part. That was really the first the nation heard about, you know, children being checked as far as their immigration status goes.
I do want to ask you, you reference major changes. The last time you and I talked, there was a bit of an embarrassing incident in your state when, you know, police officers pulled over two automobile executives, two foreign nationals who, you know, were in your state for work.
They didn't actually have proof of residency, proof of documentation at the time and that's when you really started looking at this law and thought, all right, there needs to be changes. Is that the part of the law that you and your colleagues changed?
DIAL: Yes, we did. That was part of the law that was there and that did cause us embarrassment. One was the Mercedes people and one with the Honda people. Both are major producers of automobiles in our state and one of our major economic drivers that helps us so well in our economy.
That did cause some embarrassment. That's one thing we addressed too. But one of the policies in that is and you know if you go to a foreign country, not just return from one, you have to have your password and proof of citizenship if you're from not that country.
I think what happened, it was maybe we had some overzealous law enforcement people who thought that they should be doing some things that they didn't and they went out.
When they stopped these individuals, they did not have their passport with them. They had them back in their hotel room. It did cause some embarrassment, but it did make us all stop and think. We need to go a little slower on this, but still -- BALDWIN: If I may, Senator, you use the word overzealous as in overzealous law enforcement officers. That's really the concern in these different states.
I was just talking with a radio DJ in California, you know, people within the Hispanic community are concerned there are going to be these overzealous law enforcement agencies who will be pulling people over without this sort of reasonable suspicion. How do you elate fears in your state that that won't happen?
DIAL: Well, you cannot do that. You cannot assure it won't happen. We're going to have instances in that situation. But most of our law enforcement people are going through intensive training. We are re-training them in that area.
We're making them more aware of that law and we hope we can avoid that. But that does not eliminate that you won't get some opportunity somewhere in this state that you will have an individual who will go a little further than they should.
That's just human nature and we certainly are going to encourage them not to do that. But wait, our Department of Public Safety has been training people and we have been bringing in local law enforcement people to train them so they will not overreact in this area.
That's something we all are encouraging them not to do and to be very careful with that and not be overzealous in trying to enforce laws and stretching the laws to the extent they are not intended to be.
BALDWIN: Alabama and elsewhere, State Senator Gerald Dial, I appreciate you calling in again. Thank you.
DIAL: Thank you very much.
BALDWIN: Four bands trying to make a name for themselves. That big break rarely just kind of boom. Today's "Music Monday," I sat down with this one band that had mixed feelings about jumping at the opportunity to perform on a national stage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Let's say you're in a band and MTV asks you to perform on the big stage, the Video Music Awards. You say yes, right? For rock band, "Young the Giant," the answer actually wasn't that easy.
I sat down with the group behind the hits, "My Body" and we talked about life on the road and how a summer inspired their very first album, and why they almost said no to their big break.
On this "Music Monday," here is "Young the Giant."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: The young and the giant, who is young and what is giant?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really doesn't mean anything. We were originally called the Jakes. I guess, you can tell our origins are confusing.
BALDWIN: You all get together, how many years has it been?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This line up has been for like the last three and a half years.
FRANCOIS COMTOIS, "YOUNG THE GIANT": We took time off from school. He told our parents this is what we're going to do.
JACOB TILLEY, "YOUNG THE GIANT": We enjoined like six months of complete debauchery. We were supposed to be writing. We convinced our parents to let us move into New Port Beach.
UNIDENTIFEID MALE: We were just broke.
BALDWIN: Wasn't it "My Body" at the MTV Music Awards where it was like you guys played that and boom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the closest thing to a big break, I guess. We were really apprehensive going into it.
BALDWIN: Why?
COMTOIS: To be kind of associated with something that big and the other acts were like Top 40 and rap and stuff. Also kind of like the visual aspect.
We were worried they were going to separate us on this big stage. They said we saw this video of you playing at Slims, which is a club at San Francisco and tried to recreate it for that actual performance. They brought a bunch of friends and family and fans.
BALDWIN: It's an emotional song.
SAMEER GADHIA, "YOUNG THE GIANT": They don't think we really when we have written the song was that the meaning that people can take from something. Anyone's idea of what the lyrics mean is equally valid. I think we still feel it in a lot of ways.
BALDWIN: It obviously resonates with a bunch of kids. You have a long line of kids around the corner waiting to see you.
TILLEY: It's like any good song can be taken with many different phases. It can be whatever you make it out to be. That is what a concert is.
BALDWIN: The end of the night when you're on the stage and you mention it's sold out tour, what does it feel like to be on stage? People singing the words you wrote.
TILLEY: It's something that's individual to the player. For me, it's everything I've ever wanted. GADHIA: I think it's a little bit of validation in a lot of ways for us. Every night you feel like you're committing to something. We've been working for this for a long time. To have people connect so strong and almost unthinkable for us in a lot of ways.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Our big thanks to "Young the Giant." By the way, if you want to any or all of my "Music Monday" interviews, just check out my blog at cnn.com/brooke and make sure you comment.
We really read the comments. Let me know what bands you're interested in, who you want me to interview for our future "Music Monday" cnn.com/brooke.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Egypt's new president elect is vowing to unite his country with his power to deliver on that promise. Mohammed Morsi is a strict Islamist who campaigned as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
But he is viewing to respect the rights of women, international agreements and democratic ideals. I want to talk about Egypt's first democratic election in literally thousands of years with Middle East analyst, Robin Wright at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Robin, welcome.
With regard to Morsi, I just want to ask you about his reputation. I was reading an article in the "New York Times" this morning.
Couple of quotes, "Lackluster accidental candidate who was chosen to run." He wasn't the Muslim Brotherhoods first choice. Also quoting him as "an accident of history, he's a fairly unremarkable guy."
Doesn't exactly sound like a resounding endorsement. Does he have the chop to lead a nation who elected him with 52 percent of the vote?
ROBIN WRIGHT, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST: That's a good question, but the other big question is just as important and that is even though he won the presidency, what does that mean today?
The fact is no one is sure how much power the president will have. Egypt is in tremendous political limbo because it doesn't have a constitution and because the military has stripped many of both the legislative and executive powers over the past 10 days, and reserved it for themselves.
So we have a lot of questions about not only the man, but also the very system because Egypt, at the moment, doesn't have one.
BALDWIN: Sounds like we're going to be asking questions here and we won't really have the answers until it sort of plays out. But, you know, you mention the role of the military.
He, Morsi, really issued his first challenge. That being said I want to be sworn in, in front of parliament. His members were dismissed by the military.
The White House have been saying it's looking forward to this completion of a transition to a democratically elected government. But how does that happen? When does that happen?
WRIGHT: Well, it's supposed to happen on June 30th, the transfer of power after 16 months when the military really ruled Egypt. This was to be the decisive moment.
But of course, you can see a stalemate looming until there's some last minute compromise between the military and the new president because he wants to wait until parliament is reconstituted as elected.
Of course, the Muslim Brotherhood has the largest number of seats, almost half. Otherwise, Egypt has to have yet another round of elections to find a parliament.
BALDWIN: What about also, Robin, just the United States, I mean, how does this affect the U.S., the $1.3 billion we give them in U.S. aid. Because this is a man who got his doctorate from the University of Southern California, father of five, is this the kind of guy that the U.S. is willing to can work with?
WRIGHT: And apparently two of his children are American citizens because they were born here. The United States has a lot at stake in Egypt, not just in terms of its size and as one-quarter of the Arab world, the fact it's the intellectual heart and soul of the Arab world, but also because it was the first to make peace with Israel. And of course regional stability really depends on what Egypt does.
It's the largest force militarily in the Arab world and as well as the most important political player. So, the United States has extraordinary interests. And a lot of what we do will be determined not just by the Obama administration, but also by what the feeling is or the fears are in Congress because it ultimately has the veto power over U.S. aid as well.
BALDWIN: We will be paying close attention to what happens in Egypt. Robin Wright, thank you.
WRIGHT: Thank you.