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Campbell Brown
Arizona's Immigration Crackdown; President Obama Visits Gulf; Ted Kennedy Files Revealed; Gay Teen's Yearbook Photo Sparks Outrage
Aired June 14, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. Campbell Brown is off tonight. I'm John Roberts.
Day 56 of the disaster in the Gulf, and President Obama has a message for people along the Gulf Coast tonight: Things will get back to normal, but not overnight, and not without a lot of pain and frustration. So, is that a message that resonates with people there on the eve of the president's first-ever Oval Office address?
Also tonight, Arizona is back with a another, even tougher immigration bill, one that would target children born in this country. Could it actually take away their citizenship?
And later: the Kennedy papers. The FBI releases 2,000 pages from its files on the late Senator Ted Kennedy, files full of bizarre death threats and extortion plots.
Lots to get to tonight, but we begin our hour with the number-one story, the president in the Gulf -- at the top of his agenda today, promoting the coast's multimillion-dollar seafood industry, even as residents can smell oil rolling in closer with every wave. But the president came armed with a plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm announcing a comprehensive, coordinated and multi- agency initiative to ensure that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat.
Now, I had some of that seafood for lunch, and it was delicious, but we want to make sure that the food industry down here as much as possible is getting the -- the protection and the certification that they need to continue their businesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The president has a lot of reassuring to do in his address to the nation from the Oval Office tomorrow night. A senior administration official tells CNN that he's going to talk about strategies to contain the oil like.
Our Ed Henry is in Pensacola, where the president is scheduled to tour tomorrow. And, Ed, he spent a lot of time with businessmen today, reassuring people that they can still come down to the Gulf Coast, that the seafood that they eat is safe. He had a feast of it today for lunch. Is he getting the message across that he wants to get across?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, I talked to a lot of small business owners right here in Pensacola. And they're telling me they're still deeply concerned and they want to hear a lot more from the president tomorrow night.
For example, the man who runs this bar/restaurant behind me called The Dock here in Pensacola, he was saying business is off 40 percent right now from where it was last summer and spring. And basically he says it's only going to get worse when the oil arrives. Right now on the beach behind me there were people here today, a lot fewer than normal because they're worried about the oil showing up.
But it hasn't yet shown up yet. When it does, they think business is going to get worse. And this -- this general manager of this restaurant told me he voted for Barack Obama, but he is starting to have second thoughts. He's thinking he should have voted for Hillary Clinton. He told me point-blank, I think she would have had more nerve; she wouldn't have put up with this for so long.
So, it's the kind of those Obama voters right here in Pensacola the president needs to reach tomorrow night. They're very disillusioned, John.
ROBERTS: Ed, as we have mentioned, this is the president's first address to the nation from the Oval Office. It begs a couple of questions: Why the Oval Office? And what are we expecting the president to say tomorrow night?
HENRY: Well, I can tell you that, when you talk to some of president's senior advisers, they were saving that kind of Oval Office address for something really big, a major crisis. They thought about doing it for health care and other issues, but they didn't do it then.
And they realize now this is a monumental crisis. This is the kind of chance where he can grab the megaphone. And the Oval Office offers sort of a rare chance to do that. What people here want to want to hear from the president -- I can tell you I was running around the beach here with Buck Lee (ph), who sort of runs Pensacola Beach.
And he was telling me that more than a month ago, he asked the federal government for just four tractors to help sift the sand behind me once the oil arrives. He said, just this afternoon, finally, one of those tractors arrived, three more still to come. Only one arrived just hours before the president came to town, as if they were trying get it here before the president arrived.
That kind of frustration, I can tell you, by a lot of people here. There are signs on the streets down the road saying, "Mr. President, bring in FEMA." You remember, during Katrina, FEMA was reviled. It's gotten bad enough that some people are saying we need FEMA to help move things along -- John.
ROBERTS: Maybe the president should come down for a couple of weeks and just keep walking up and down the beach. The local officials might get what they really wanted.
Ed Henry for us in Pensacola.
HENRY: Very frustrating.
ROBERTS: All right. Ed, thanks so much.
The president is not the only one expecting answers from BP this week. CNN has obtained a letter to BP from Congressman Henry Waxman wanting to know if fatal decisions were made in the name of saving money. A key piece of evidence, a BP engineer who spoke of what he called a nightmare well five days before the explosion.
The president, meanwhile, is trying to head off a political nightmare. A short time ago, I spoke with historian Doug Brinkley and CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist James Carville.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Doug, let's start with you. Your impressions of the president's trip so far?
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I think a lot of it was going around telling locals that their businesses are wonderful, their food is great, that some of the beaches are still open. And he has been kind of in a chamber of commerce mode -- come on down to the Gulf South while you still can.
I thought there -- it has been effective in some ways. He's definitely spending time with Republicans in the area. And he has got -- he is in a kind of conciliatory mode I believe to BP, at least for the next 48 hours. The president is desperately trying to get an escrow account, trying to $10 billion, $15 billion, or $20 billion from BP.
So, this is going to be a very interesting week. And, of course, Thursday, with Tony Hayward and others coming on Capitol Hill, fireworks are going to happen if BP doesn't pony up the money quickly. But I think it was good that the president went down there. And he did mention Louisiana wetlands today, which is always important.
ROBERTS: We will talk about that in just a moment.
James, do you think he should have come to Louisiana again? He went to Mississippi, Alabama. He will be in Florida tomorrow.
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No. No. He has been -- yes, he has been to Louisiana three times, and they have a right to go there. It's two separate events.
What's going on now, I'm just looking for a mayor to get a bad toupee and an ugly green blazer. This is a chamber of commerce thing here. This is sort of boosterism. This is basically tourist industry.
The Louisiana coast is not about beaches. We produce seafood. We produce petroleum. We produce sulfur, all of the kind of things that happen. So, it's a little bit of different thing. What is happening here in Louisiana is our wetlands are probably some of the most valuable land in the entire United States.
ROBERTS: Sure.
CARVILLE: And, so, it's kind of two different things. But he was correct to go there.
ROBERTS: We saw the president there with Haley Barbour a second ago. They were both munching on Slurpees.
And, James, you talk about the importance of the fishing industry there, the seafood industry, the president imploring people to come down, saying the seafood is safe. But when I was down there, from Jean Lafitte all the way to Grand Isle, there wasn't a shrimp boat working that wasn't doing anything other than hauling boom.
And B&G Oysters there, last Thursday, shucked its last oyster. So, is there a little bit of a disconnect with that statement about the seafood being said?
CARVILLE: Welcome, I think, the -- first of all, the seafood that you get is going to be safe. If it is highly tested. And it's -- some of it is still available. So, I don't think so.
And we don't do Slurpees in New Orleans, as Doug (INAUDIBLE) We do snowballs or snow blitzes. You know what I mean. Slurpee is offensive to the Louisiana psyche. But that's just a little point. That's what they do in Mississippi, not us.
But it's a different situation here. But there is no doubt that the seafood is highly -- is highly tested. And what is out there is safe. It's just the supply, because they have shut off the grounds in an abundance of caution, which they should do, is the price is probably up. But I don't think it is unsafe at all and people shouldn't hesitate about eating Louisiana seafood.
ROBERTS: All right, Doug, you mentioned the wetlands a moment ago. And when you fly over that area, you see there has been so much sustenance to the west of the -- the Mississippi Delta. All of those wetlands are just disappearing.
And you think that the president is moving toward something that people in that area have wanted for a long time. And that is restoring the original, the natural flow of the Mississippi River. Are you certain about this?
BRINKLEY: Well, nothing is certain until it happens.
But the wet -- what the president made clear today if you listened to him on his Q&A, is that when you go to a Florida Panhandle, or Alabama, Mississippi, tar balls are coming up. Oil is coming to those white beaches. That can be cleaned in a year or two. You can't get this oil out of the marshlands by just letting it sit there.
So, we are going to have to -- to eventually have the Army Corps of Engineers put water, flood, sediment into the Louisiana wetlands and also things such as a diversion canal through Plaquemines Parish.
We can do it. But we have got to rebuild the wetlands. We were losing acreages, some people say two football fields of land a day, pre-this. And I think what the president is setting up to talk about, a dialogue with the United States in the next week or two, is that oil and gas industry has had 40 years in big shipping, navigation of the wetlands.
And they have been destroyed pre-this BP spell. We're going to have to use this as an opportunity to save America's wetlands. And we need the presidential leadership coming out of the Interior Department on this.
ROBERTS: Yes, James, if the president were to announce a plan to restore the wetlands -- wetlands, that would be huge news down there. People have been clamoring for it for years.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: But it is -- it's some -- it's a huge project. It's something that need to be done right. It would take an enormous amount of money and a tremendous amount of political will. Is there the will and the money there to do it?
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Well, this has to be reflooded. This is -- it must be done. They can't abandon this. It's just -- there's too many resources here and there's too much tradition here.
So, we're hoping that the president will address this tomorrow night. We think it's the biggest -- by far, it was the biggest environmental issue in the United States prior to this catastrophe. It certainly is now as a result of it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And as BP goes to Washington this week, we will have more with Doug Brinkley and James Carville coming right up.
And later: the never-before-seen FBI files about the lion of the left, Ted Kennedy, revealing an ominous pattern that followed the late senator for decades.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: This week, nearly two months into the oil spill disaster, BP's top executives will finally face the rage of Washington head-on. On their itinerary, a Wednesday meeting at the White House with the president himself. Then, Thursday, it's off to Capitol Hill, where the company's CEO, Tony Hayward, goes before an angry Congress.
Today, the president said BP seems to understand that its best is still not good enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: After seeing an initial oil collection plan from BP, we went back to them and said that they need to move faster and more aggressively, and they have now come back with a plan to accelerate steps to contain over 50,000 barrels a day by the end of June, two weeks earlier than they had originally suggested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Back now with Doug Brinkley and James Carville.
And, James, the president's Oval Office address tomorrow night, 56, 57 days into this now, what practical value do you think an Oval Office address will be?
CARVILLE: Well, I think, as Doug points out, this is the biggest environmental catastrophe in the history of the country. And I am delighted that he is doing this address.
And I'm going to be listening very carefully to what the president has to say. And I think this idea of setting up this fund, if they are able to do that off, is going to be a major achievement. But the most important thing is what he says and that's we will be listening to tomorrow night.
ROBERTS: Doug, the mantra has been in recent days make BP pay. There's talk of forcing them to have as much as a $20 billion escrow fund here to pay for the cleanup, to pay for the repair of the wetlands, to pay for the lost economic damages.
Does the president, in your estimation, effectively have his foot on the neck of BP?
BRINKLEY: I think he does right now., because, on Thursday, Democrats on Capitol Hill are going to have at it with BP. And they want $20 billion.
The president on Wednesday is meeting with BP. And he could say, look, we will go $10 billion or $15 billion now. That means BP might have to put $2 billion, $4 billion in an immediate cash fund to pay people in the Gulf South who have lost their work because of the spill. And other monies will come from that billions down the line.
I would think if you are BP now, you are better off paying the $10 billion, the $15 billion, the $20 billion, and get welcomed back into the company of great companies, that you are no longer a bad enemy of Louisiana. You could start working for wetlands restoration. And people will start getting paid. But the trick is going to be if the federal government gets this, let's call it $15 billion, out of BP, that it is going to have to be paid out properly. It's going to be a very large administrative task.
And as much as President Obama today praised Thad Allen, rightfully so, of doing a great job, I'm worried about the administration of a fund like this. We need a large kind of Gulf recovery program which becomes an act to get these monies to the people, the fishermen, the motel owners, et cetera, who need the money.
ROBERTS: James, first of all, to this idea of BP and the economic impact that it has on the company, it has lost half of its value. There's talk that it may go into bankruptcy, talk that they may not be paying their dividend this year, that BP may be forced to sell off some very lucrative assets, like some of its oil leases, in places like Alaska in order to stave off or emerge from bankruptcy, should it go into it.
And countries like the Chinese would love to get their hands on some of those oil leases. As angry as the nation is at BP, do we need this company? And do we need it to be healthy?
CARVILLE: What's the message if we say, gee, BP, you go out and you act negligently, and you ruin all these people's lives, but you are too big to fail, so we're not going to hold you responsible?
I don't care what they have to sell off. If people's lives are ruined, they should pay for it. And, by the way, they're perfectly capable of doing this. They made $17 billion last year. They made like $6 billion in the first quarter. They're a nice fat cow. We can go -- we will milk it here for a while. They will be fine. I wouldn't worry about them. I really don't -- I'm not worried about them.
ROBERTS: All right.
Doug, what do you expect the tone to be at that meeting between the president and BP executives on Wednesday?
BRINKLEY: I think that they have already pretty much worked out a deal here. I think this -- what we're calling the escrow, the redistribution of monies back to the Gulf South, is close to being done. I think lawyers are looking at it.
I don't know whether the figure will be $10 billion or $15 billion or $20 billion, but I cannot imagine you want to have BP kind of not getting a deal with the president on Wednesday and then going to Capitol Hill and meeting that buzz saw. If that happens, then you are looking at the U.S. federal government, the Justice Department vs. BP. And it's going to be an ugly fight. So, I think it is a better form for the government and BP to work in -- in tandem this week.
ROBERTS: James, finish us -- finish us off here, because you talk about the Gulf Coast, particularly Louisiana. There's a complex interrelationship between fishing and tourism and the oil and gas industry.
And many people down there, Governor Jindal and others, have been saying, hey, wait a second here. We have got the dual tragedies, the dual economic impacts of the fishing being shut down, tourism being impacted, and this six-month moratorium on offshore drilling.
How do all those of things live together? And do you think it is important for the president to end this moratorium as quickly as possible?
CARVILLE: I do.
And I believe that what happened here was shoddy, negligent engineering. I think this can be done. If you get these CEOs to sign off, you get these oil company lobbyists to quit compromising our regulators, and you have a wall between the regulated and the regulator, and you get people like Professor Bob Bea out there to sign off on this stuff, and it can be done safely.
A properly operated rig, I would let my children sleep on it. But it has to be properly operated. It has to be operated with integrity, a company with integrity. And their CEOs have to be on the line for it. And safety has the to come first. We need the oil. It's part of our economy here. We can produce it out there. It can be done safely. But there have to be major, major changes made.
ROBERTS: Great to talk to you, gentlemen, Doug Brinkley, James Carville.
James, it sounds like there's either a thunderstorm coming or Mary Matalin is calling you to dinner.
CARVILLE: Oh, man, that's all right. That's it.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: So, we will let you go.
CARVILLE: We welcome these things in the afternoon. Hallelujah, rain.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: All right. Thank you. Thanks so much, guys.
BRINKLEY: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Keeps it cool down there.
Still ahead: The FBI opens its files on Senator Ted Kennedy, and they're chockful of startling revelations, from death threats to the inside scoop on the family's relationship with the infamous J. Edgar Hoover. We have an inside look. And Arizona's next target: the children of illegal immigrants -- a new proposal to deny citizenship to babies born in the United States. A fierce constitutional showdown is brewing.
That story coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Our number-one political story is something you might call a capital offense. You're about to see South Carolina Democrat Bob Etheridge totally lose his cool. Check out what happened when he was challenged by two young men on a Washington street corner. They had a camera, and now video of the encounter has gone viral across the Internet. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you fully support the Obama agenda?
REP. BOB ETHERIDGE (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
ETHERIDGE: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
ETHERIDGE: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here for a project, sir.
ETHERIDGE: Tell me who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just here for a project, sir.
ETHERIDGE: Tell me who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just here for a project.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, could you please let go of my hand?
ETHERIDGE: Tell me who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just a student, sir.
ETHERIDGE: From?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just students. That's all we are.
ETHERIDGE: I have a right to know who you are.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All we are is students.
(CROSSTALK)
ETHERIDGE: So am I. Who are you? Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please let go of my arm, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir...
ETHERIDGE: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, sir, sir, please...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congressman, please let go of me.
ETHERIDGE: Who are you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The congressman apologized today to everyone involved in the incident.
Well, after passing the country's toughest immigration law, Arizona Republicans are now taking aim at the children of illegal immigrants. A new proposal would deny citizenship to kids who are born in this country if their parents came here illegally.
It's an idea that critics argue flies in the face of the Constitution.
With me now is Democratic State Representative Kyrsten Sinema and her Republican colleague State Representative John Kavanagh, to talk more about this.
Let's begin this segment by reading the 14th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in 1868. It says -- quote -- "All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."
Representative Kavanagh, does this proposal run afoul of the constitution?
JOHN KAVANAGH (R), ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: No, it doesn't, because, if you go back to the original intent of the drafters, specifically Senator Howard, Jacob Howard, it was never intended to bestow citizenship upon aliens.
The idea of subject to the jurisdiction, their definition then was not only legally you can be held under our laws, but you gave sole allegiance to the U.S. And there have been subsequent Supreme Court decisions which have affirmed that the idea of citizenship by birth is only to those who are the parents -- the children of U.S. citizens, sole allegiance to the U.S., not legal tourists or illegal aliens. We're the only country in the world -- only a few countries in the world give citizenship to people who are tourists or illegal residents. It's absurd.
ROBERTS: Representative Sinema, we should point out you are a constitutional attorney.
KYRSTEN SINEMA (D), ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Right.
ROBERTS: Do you agree with that assessment?
SINEMA: Well, unfortunately, John is just flat-out wrong.
The 1868 decision that John is referencing was very clearly the last step in the Dred Scott decision, which is the decision that ended slavery and granted the rights to citizenship to all African-Americans in this country. And since that date, every person born on American soil, save the children of diplomats, have been granted immediate rights of citizenship.
And while John is correct that we are one of only a few countries in the world that grant this right, it's important to note that we are one of a few countries that also protects things like freedom of speech.
ROBERTS: Right.
SINEMA: And that's part of what makes America the greatest country that it is.
ROBERTS: Representative Kavanagh, this bill specifically targets children as a way of getting at their parents. Now, part of the fabric of American society has been that any child born on U.S. soil, save that of a diplomat, becomes an American citizen. You're as much a citizen as anyone else. Are we compromising a key value of American society here?
KAVANAGH: No, because that was never legislatively passed.
The 14th Amendment, Representative Sinema is correct, meant to give citizenship, rightful citizenship, to freed slaves. It was never meant to give citizenship to foreign aliens. And, again, the author of the 14th Amendment made that clear.
In fact, initially, citizenship wasn't given to Native American Indians under the 14th Amendment. And only later congressional action gave them citizenship, and rightfully so.
And if somebody wants to give citizenship to the children of tourists who are visiting or the children of people here illegally, then the same way Native Americans got it should be the route. They should pass a law adding them to the list of people. We should not be corrupting the true intent of the framers of the 14th Amendment.
ROBERTS: Representative Sinema, when this is taken together with immigration bill 1070, it creates, a broader environment there in Arizona, if we could put it that way. But as much opposition as there is to the immigration bill 1070, there's an awful lot of support for it as well.
And do you think that, by association, this so-called anchor baby provision may actually gain some traction there?
SINEMA: You know, I don't think it will gain much traction, because, unlike SB-1070, it is clear that this bill runs immediately afoul of our U.S. Constitution.
And while I understand that folks in Arizona and across the country support SB-1070, they do so because we have seen no action from the federal government. Unfortunately, the so-called anchor baby bill does nothing to solve the real problems we are facing in Arizona.
And that's the -- a true fact that we are facing issues of crime and violence on our border and in our neighborhoods. And neither 1070, nor the anchor baby bill do anything to address those real issues we are facing in our state.
ROBERTS: Representative Kavanagh, what do you say to that argument?
KAVANAGH: Well, first of all, we didn't pass SB-1070 because we were upset that the Obama administration and Congress didn't give legal status and amnesty to 12 million to 20 million people here illegally.
We passed 1070 because we believe in the rule of law, and the federal government wasn't enforcing the immigration law internally or at the border. So, that's why we passed 1070. And we also believe in the rule of law concerning citizenship.
Now, I don't know how the Supreme Court would rule on a challenge to birthright citizenship. But, clearly, the legislative history of the bill and conflicting court decisions suggest that it's something which really should be revisited, because the stakes are extremely high. Illegal immigration costs Arizona a lot of money in benefits. There's crime associated.
If these people should or shouldn't be citizens, it's something which should be decided by the Supreme Court in light of current facts and the past history of this -- this amendment.
ROBERTS: All right. This is something we will be talking about for some time to come.
Representative John Kavanagh, Representative Kyrsten Sinema, good to see you tonight. Thanks so much for joining us.
SINEMA: Thank you.
KAVANAGH: Thank you.
SINEMA: God night. ROBERTS: Still ahead tonight: obscene messages, extortion, even death threat all targeting the late Senator Ted Kennedy. The FBI reveals disturbing new evidence of a political life under constant threat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Tonight, inside the FBI files on Senator Edward Kennedy. The agency today released nearly 2,000 documents on the late senator, spanning nearly 25 years. In them, evidence the lifelong politician, a man who buried two older brothers both killed by assassin's bullets was himself under constant threat. CNN's Jeanne Meserve has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Senator Ted Kennedy died last year, thousands turned out to show love and respect. But in life, Kennedy was reviled by some people. Scores of death threats are contained in more than 2,000 pages of newly released FBI documents. Kennedy's biographer says the senator was well aware of the danger.
ADAM CLYMER, KENNEDY BIOGRAPHER: He kept Kevlar vests in his closet. Not that he wore them every day, but he had them in case.
MESERVE: Some threats inspired by the assassination of his brothers, President John Kennedy in 1963, and Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968. Immediately after Bobby Kennedy was gunned down, a local official wrote to FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, pleading make certain that Ted Kennedy gets all the protection he needs. We are down to one Kennedy. Hoover responded that he didn't have the authority. And the threats went on.
In 1975, one person wrote, "He should be in the cemetery with John and Robert." It was something that weighed on Kennedy's mind says Adam Clymer.
CLYMER: Well, one time he told several bunch of reporters or who are traveling with them, if he ran for president, they'll shoot my ass off just the way they shot off Bobby's. He was aware of the risk.
MESERVE: The FBI even investigated a claim by an inmate that he'd been offered $1 million and a car to kill the senator. The person purportedly making the offer, Sirhan Sirhan, Robert Kennedy's assassin. In 1969, Mary Jo Kopechne was killed when Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge in Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY: No words on my part can possibly express the terrible pain and suffering I feel over this tragic incident.
MESERVE: But the documents show Kennedy's words weren't enough to satisfy everyone. "Why did you kill Mary Jo? Mary Jo will haunt you till doom's day. You will die slowly."
Time didn't stop the threats. In 1985, a woman in Michigan wrote, "Brass tacks, I'm going to kill Kennedy and Reagan. And I really, really mean it."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve joins us now from Washington. Jeanne, so some references to Chappaquiddick in there, but did the documents show whether the FBI ever investigated Chappaquiddick?
MESERVE: They don't appear to have done that. They were told very quickly about it by local authorities. They were told that Kennedy was the driver, something that wasn't made public. But another little anecdote which shows the FBI being a bit more proactive. In the early '50s, Kennedy took a trip to Latin America. He took extensive notes in a notebook which he left behind on the aircraft. It was eventually handed over to the FBI. Instead of giving it right back to Kennedy, the FBI xeroxed the entire thing. That was in those documents released today.
ROBERTS: Well, that's an interesting aspect to all of this. Jeanne Meserve for us from Washington tonight. Jeanne, thanks so much.
Coming up, the unemployed veteran who came out of nowhere to win South Carolina's Democratic primary for Senate. Is Alvin Greene the true blue Democrat he says he is or is he a Republican plant?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Our number one national story tonight, an incredible rescue that nearly went horribly wrong in Oklahoma City this morning. Flash floods trapped commuters in their cars, and a teenaged girl waded into the fast-moving water to help. Watch what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 17-year-old girl was swept away by floodwaters produced by nearly a foot of rain overnight. She managed to climb a tree and wait for help. But the first boat which came to her aid sank, leaving three would-be rescuers in need of rescue themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These were guys out who were out there trying to get this girl. They had to do the same thing. Everybody has got to hold on to a branch. They did hang on until another team of firefighters could get to them and that young woman. But their drama still wasn't over. Look what happened to their overloaded rescue boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got four people that have been saved from the water. Looks like she's fine. She's walking and everything. Great ending, man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The floodwaters receded by afternoon, but flash flood warnings remain in effect in several counties. And more thunderstorms are in the forecast. Now to Washington and Joe Johns with a look at some of the other stories that we're following tonight. Hi, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. An International Red Cross official called it a humanitarian catastrophe. The U.N. is sending an emergency aid team to Uzbekistan after more than 80,000 refugees crossed its borders to escape violence in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. At least 114 people have been killed and nearly 1,500 wounded in Kyrgyzstan, where violent clashes between ethnic groups continue to spread.
Today, U.S. and military officials and geologists identified untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan that are potentially worth almost $1 trillion. The Pentagon says Afghanistan's reserves include iron, copper, gold, critical industrial metals like lithium, a key ingredient in products for medicine to cell phone batteries. But it could take years to reap profit from the buried treasure. Afghanistan lacks even the most basic resources for mining.
Murder suspect Joran van der Sloot has no attorney tonight. His lawyer quit telling CNN he didn't want to be van der Sloot's attorney any more. This comes as new transcripts give shocking new details to the crime. Van der Sloot has also revealed that he elbowed Stephany Ramirez in the face before strangling her. He says, quote, "There was blood everywhere." Van der Sloot is charged with killing Ramirez in Peru. He's also suspected in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway.
And Spirit Airlines announced more flight cancellations today, threatening travel across the country. The airline has canceled all flights through Wednesday, a result of its ongoing pilot union strike. Hundreds of Spirit Airline pilots walked off their job Saturday, after negotiations over pay with the low cost carrier hit a stalemate. So far right now, John, sounds like a ticket to nowhere.
ROBERTS: So you have people mad at Spirit Airlines for charging them for carry-on bags. Now you got them upset because they are stuck in airports. And you get the pilots upset.
JOHNS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Doesn't sound like a very good week for spirit?
JOHNS: And I wouldn't want to be them.
ROBERTS: Right. Joe Johns tonight. Joe, thanks so much.
Coming up, a gay teen senior picture sends her school into a tailspin. Why the young woman's portrait was axed from her high school yearbook. We have a special report from CNN's Soledad O'Brien coming up. And what about those Vuvuzelas. Roland Martin and Mary Matalin face off with the controversial World Cup noisemakers. That is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Well, there's an awful lot of noise out there tonight from the world of politics to the Vuvuzelas of the World Cup. Mary Matalin and Roland Martin take on some of those noisemakers in tonight's "M2."
Guys, good to see you tonight.
MARY MATALIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The mid-term is on us, John. It just won't go away. Harry Reid, the majority leader, has already spent $10 million running ads. He's 11 points down against a candidate whose positions he has to distort already and he's calling her a kook fringe. Here's his ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Social security. It means independence, a secure income. But shockingly, Sharron Angle wants to wipe out social security.
SHARRON ANGLE, US SENATE CANDIDATE: We need to phase Medicare and social security out.
NARRATOR: She cut benefits for everyone coming into the system. That's Sharron Angle. First, a scientology plan to give massages to prisoners. Now, she wants to get rid of Medicare and social security. What's next?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Wow, a hard-hitting political ad. I am shocked. Republicans and Democrats do these things? I don't know what's going on, Mary.
MATALIN: Parallel universe. Everything in that spot is a distortion. But I'm going to say this again. He's the majority leader. He's down 11 points. And he's down 11 points against what he's describing as a kook (ph). Doesn't that say something about the state of play the Democratic Party going into the mid terms?
MARTIN: Well -- no, it actually has to do with Senator Harry Reid, not the Democratic Party. Just like I don't believe --
MATALIN: OK.
MARTIN: Well, I don't believe that she is fully representative of the Republican Party. Surely, you have to agree with that. The bottom line is this is what we talk about with politics.
You know, he is not popular in Nevada right now. Yes, he is down. But the reality is he was down further prior to this. And so I think it's going to be one heck of a race looking at Nevada, looking at Florida, looking at some key Senate races.
We talked last week about the Democratic Senate race. Alvin Greene, he won, 60 percent of the vote. I actually talked to him this morning on the "Tom Joyner Morning Show." And, Mary, it was weird. I can't, I can't figure out how anybody voted for this guy. But he won.
MATALIN: Hot mess I believe is what that interview was called. Now what does that say about the other Democratic candidate who spent millions of his own dollars and had been in office?
MARTIN: No kidding.
MATALIN: What do you find? What is this?
MARTIN: No kidding. You know what, Mary. And I asked him, I said, first of all, how many campaign rallies did you have? He said well, I had informal campaign rallies. Well, how many? He couldn't really lay that out. He did say that his three priorities are jobs, or justice, as well as education.
I'll tell you he doesn't have a job, so he probably can speak about that. The justice issue, of course, he has a felony charge hanging over his head. And some folks are questioning his education. So maybe his platform is right on target.
MATALIN: Moving to Roland's favorite topic to reward him anything to do with sports. The Vuvuzela, people are concerned that it's making all this noise in the soccer arena. You know, the Saints are famous for making so much noise that the -- it's defensive tactic at this point. LSU makes so much noise they generate a Richter scale response., the earthquake level decibel. So what's the big hoo-ha about noise at a soccer game.
MARTIN: I don't see the big deal. Like I tell you right now, when the 12 men at Texas A&M, and we're rocking at Kyle Field, you hear all kinds of noise. This is dumb. Also, I believe it is insulting to South Africans in terms of what they do. You wanted the World Cup in South Africa, hey, this is what happens. Look, when you go play the Indiana Pacers, they have that Indy 500 sound. A sound just like that of the cars going around playing all the time. And so, I mean, you hear this. So I don't what's the big deal, Mary. I don't get it.
MATALIN: OK. But what is a big deal is we won even though we tied, right?
MARTIN: How did we win when we tied England 1-1? Are we so sorry in sports, in soccer that now a tie is a win? This is nuts. No, a win is a win. A loss is a loss. A tie is a tie.
MATALIN: It is true that we have not have had as good a soccer history as England has. So let's --let's enjoy what it feels like a victory for us. OK, sportsman.
MARTIN: No, I'm sorry, it's a tie.
MATALIN: OK, this is a tie. We agree.
MARTIN: Right. This is a tie. We agree. So, John, you be the tiebreaker. Back to you.
ROBERTS: Technically, it's a tie. Morally, it's a win.
Coming up, imagine being in high school and hearing your picture won't make it into the yearbook. That's what happened to one Mississippi teen. Her school says it's because of what she wore. She says it's because of who she is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: All eyes are on Gulfport, Mississippi this morning as the president arrived for the first leg of his three-state tour. But about 150 miles north of the gulf, in a small town called Wesson, the big news this season was all about the high school yearbook. It was here that a teenager senior picture triggered an unexpected backlash and sparked outrage throughout the state. Soledad O'Brien with one teenager's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Before you went in to get your yearbook, what did you think was going to happen?
(voice-over): For 18-year-old senior Ceara Sturgis, her high school yearbook is more than a collection of memories.
CEARA STURGIS, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's about her struggle to be who she is in tiny Wesson, Mississippi, population about 2,000.
(on camera): How would you describe yourself?
STURGIS: 18 years old. I'm gay. I don't like people to push me around especially when I have the right. And I don't give up.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): What she didn't give up on was her fight to get this picture in her yearbook. A picture she took wearing a tuxedo instead of the traditional dress, called a drape. Ceara said she tried taking a picture wearing the drape.
STURGIS: I started crying. And mom was like, well, you don't have to take it. Let's just try it in the tux. So we tried it. And I thought it looked pretty good. Fresh.
VERONICA RODRIGUEZ, CEARA'S MOTHER: First day of school I went to the school and told the principal. And he said, well, girls in drapes, boys in tuxedos. And I said well you know how she is. She's gay.
O'BRIEN: Principal Ronald Greer refused to print the picture of Ceara in a tux in the yearbook. Neither the principal nor the school's superintendent would talk with us. After repeated calls, the district office administrator told us, quote, "We are done."
Back in October, the principal told the Jackson TV station, he wasn't able to comment, quote, "on that particular situation." Ceara and her mom believe the main reason the photo was vetoed, Principal Greer's attitude towards homosexuality. Ceara's yearbook fight made news.
CROWD: Surprise.
O'BRIEN: And rallied gay students and activists in Mississippi. They threw her a surprise birthday party to thank her for being a role model for gay teenagers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
IZSZY PELLEGRINE, GAY YOUTH ACTIVIST: Ceara's story didn't surprise any one in the activist community. We all knew that things like, what happened to Ceara were happening and continue to happen to kids all over the state. I think we are immensely grateful that Ceara was willing and able to step forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, you took mine.
STURGIS: OK.
O'BRIEN: For prom.
STURGIS: It's really tight.
O'BRIEN: Ceara wore a tux. But didn't take a girl deciding instead to take her long time best friend, a boy named Austin.
STURGIS: Oh, you look cute.
O'BRIEN: This tux didn't cause a controversy. But, shortly after prom, Ceara got her copy of the yearbook. Her portrait wasn't in it.
(on camera): Where would you be?
STURGIS: Between there and there.
O'BRIEN: So you should be like right here.
STURGIS: Yes.
I figured that if we kept fighting for, for a little bit they would just end up changing their mind because I didn't think it was a big deal.
O'BRIEN: What did it feel like to not be there?
STURGIS: It made me sad.
O'BRIEN: Well, tell me.
STURGIS: It made me feel bad.
O'BRIEN: I'm not trying to make you feel bad. But I want people to understand because other people will say, oh, for God's sake, it's just a picture. So explain to us what does it feel like to not be where you're supposed to be? STURGIS: It's not fair.
O'BRIEN: Why is it not fair?
STURGIS: I don't know -- OK, let's say we put it in the yearbook, would anyone hurt like I hurt since I'm not in the yearbook? It wouldn't hurt anyone.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): She's thinking about suing. It won't put her picture in Wesson's 2010 yearbook, but she says it may help other gay kids in Mississippi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, now just do a serious face.
O'BRIEN: And at this point, that's what Ceara is thinking about.
Reporting in America, Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Wesson, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And later this week, Ceara's story inspires another Mississippi teen to stand up and speak out. We'll have her story. And later this month, don't miss Soledad O'Brien's "Gary and Tony Have a Baby." That's June 24th here on CNN at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts in just a few minutes. But coming up next, the World Cup rules and late night scores.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": World Cup soccer happens every four years. It's like a Rush Limbaugh wedding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And finally, tonight's "Punch Line." The biggest most spectacular sporting event on the planet. And America's reaction, well, it ain't the Super Bowl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Ladies and gentlemen, can you feel the excitement. World Cup soccer begins today.
(APPLAUSE)
Let me remind you of one thing, we're Americans, we don't care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in the United States, soccer's popularity ranks somewhere between Jon Gosselin and people who give out raisins at Halloween. JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": The U.S. will face England on Saturday. And the U.S. ambassador and the U.K. ambassador have made friendly wager on the game. That's right. If England wins, we have to buy their ambassador tea and crumpets. And if we win, they have to buy us a new ocean.
I think it's a fair deal. I think it's a fair --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And that will do it for us. Thanks so much for joining us. Please join me bright and early tomorrow morning for "AMERICAN MORNING." Among our guests, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, with a preview of the president's address to the nation on the gulf oil disaster.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
