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CNN Live Today

Judge Owen's Controversial Record

Aired May 24, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, HOST: We have some encouraging economic news to pass along. Earlier this hour a national trade group announced new figures on existing home sales. They set a record last month, 4.5 percent increase. It's the fastest pace on record. The National Association of Realtors says that adds up to more than seven million single family homes and condominiums changing hands just over the last month.
Let's give you a quick look right now at the judicial nominees who have come to personify the deep divisions on Capitol Hill. And as we do that, live pictures from the floor of the Senate. That's Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy talking about the nominees and the deal that was struck between moderates and the senator.

Priscilla Owen is a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, is nominated to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That's in New Orleans. She drew fire for rulings on consumer rights and minors seeking abortions. Her supporters say she is fair.

Janice Rogers Brown sits on the California Supreme Court and is nominated to the federal appeals court in Washington. Her critics say some of her rulings opposed affirmative action and limited abortion rights and corporate liability.

And William H. Pryor is a former Alabama attorney general who is nominated to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His writings on abortion and homosexuality have drawn fire.

So the three embattled nominees all have drawn the fire of abortion rights supporters, but the first to face an up or down vote -- that's Priscilla Owen -- has some personal matters that uniquely align her with the president.

Our chief national correspondent, John King, has details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Priscilla Owen is an evangelical Christian, a Sunday school teacher and Texan, which of all the fights over the president's judicial nominees, makes this one personal.

To supporters, a soft-spoken, meticulous jurist who knows her job is to interpret the law, not write it.

GREG ABBOTT, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: She is a person who believes in what's called strict construction. She will not legislate from the bench.

KING: To critics a conservative ideologue, bent on using judicial powers to erode abortion rights and to protect big business at any cost.

CRAIG MCDONALD, TEXANS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE: Owen is unique. We term her a serial activist.

KING: Priscilla Owen was born in a small farm and fishing village. From the beginning, an animal lover. Her father died when she was just 10 months old. Faith was a constant as was determination.

Treasurer of the Richland High School class of '72, then Baylor and Baylor Law. The highest score on the state bar exam in 1977 sent her into private practice with a focus on energy.

Then came 1994. Texas elects its judges, and Owen was an overwhelming underdog when she agreed to run for the state Supreme Court. Her political consultant had another underdog on the Texas ballot that year, Karl Rove was as much a winner come November as Priscilla Owen and George W. Bush.

Eleven years later Rove was the deputy White House chief of staff, a key Owen backer and such a larger than life presence in both Washington and Austin that Owen backers feel compelled to play down his role.

ABBOTT: Karl Rove isn't the one who scored the highest score on the state bar exam. Karl Rove is not the person who did all the great things that Priscilla Owen did, either as a lawyer or a justice. He didn't write opinions for her.

KING: Owen is active in this evangelical church, and advocates of abortion rights see religion, not an even-handed jurist, in opinions that a minor seeking an abortion must demonstrate she understands some women have experienced severe remorse and regret, and demonstrate she has considered that there are philosophic, social, moral and religious arguments that can be brought to bear when considering an abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth, the whole truth and nothing...

KING: Back in 2002, Owen told the Senate Judiciary Committee her language had nothing to do with her faith.

PRISCILLA OWEN, JUDGE: It's straight out of a majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court.

KING: Another abortion case put her at odds with Alberto Gonzales, then an Owen colleague on the Texas high court, now the Bush administration attorney general.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I've never accused her of being an activist judge. KING: But five years ago Gonzales said Owen and two others on the court wanted to go beyond the state legislature and create hurdles for minors seeking to bypass parental notification, something Gonzales characterized as unconscionable judicial activism.

Again, Justice Owen told the Senate her position was consistent with U.S. Supreme Court rulings and that personal views never affect her legal judgments.

OWEN: My position is that Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for many, many years now.

KING: Those who paint Owen as zealously pro-business cite rulings favoring Enron and other energy interests and the heart- breaking case of Willie Searcy, paralyzed and on a ventilator at 14 after a 1993 car accident. The family won a more than $30 million verdict against Ford, but Owen sided with Ford on appeal, ordering a new trial because the suit had been filed in the wrong county.

What stunned family attorney Jack Ayres even more than Owen's ruling was that it took her 16 months to write it.

JACK AYRES, SEARCY FAMILY ATTORNEY: I felt that my client and I had been ambushed. My view is that in this instance, what happened was the court decided that they were going to reverse the case, and they had to find a way to do it.

KING: And Ayres was stunned by this. Even as they ordered a new trial, the justices separately issued this awkwardly worded paragraph, in which they conceded they should have put the case on a fast track.

AYRES: I've never seen anything like this. I'll be in my 35th year of practicing law in Texas.

KING: Owen noted in Senate testimony that Willie did not die until three years after her ruling, but also said she was not proud of how long it took to decide the case.

The chief justice at the time says Owen and the entire court should have done a better job.

TOM PHILLIPS, FORMER TEXAS CHIEF JUSTICE: She works very hard and is very diligent, and sometimes some work gets behind other work when you're -- when you're doing everything. The Miles case was not our finest hour.

KING: But Phillips supports to Owen and says her record is being distorted.

PHILLIPS: The idea that some of these groups are bringing out that she has an agenda, that she's not following the law is just absolutely false. She is a rule of law judge.

KING: There is no question Justice Owen find herself in a partisan brawl that goes well beyond any one nomination. But the fact that she was renominated after Democrats defeated her a first time and that shares the president's Texas roots makes this one unique.

John King, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: In our "CNN Security Watch" this morning, at the age of 68, officials say he wanted to build a bomb and sell it to al Qaeda. Ronald Grecula is from Pennsylvania, and he was arrested Friday in Houston, Texas. Authorities say he offered to build and sell a bomb to an undercover FBI agent he thought was an al Qaeda operative.

The U.S. attorney for the southern district of Texas talked about the man's suspected intentions with CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SHELBY, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS: We don't know what his final abilities would have been but we know what his expressed intent was. And he certainly took actions to further that by traveling to Houston, by coming with the equipment that he had, and with the materials that he had, and then taking the undercover officers over to the welding shop to show exactly what materials we would need to construct the bomb. That evidence is some level of involvement, more than just talk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And now Grecula faces up to 15 years in prison without parole.

In the nation's capitol, it has happened again for the second time in less than two weeks. A small plane violated restricted air space over Washington. Monday evening, two Air Force F-16s were scrambled to intercept the Cessna C-340 plane. The video right here shows them dropping a flare to alert the plane's pilot.

Officials interviewed the pilot when it landed at a destination in Maryland. Nearly two weeks ago, another small plane breached air space over Washington, causing the evacuation of several buildings. This time, there were no evacuations, but the Senate did recess briefly.

So in a situation like that, should the government be able to shoot down a small plane? The Associated Press reports the Department of Homeland Security is debating that very question.

Hundreds of aircraft violate the capitol no-fly zone every year. Some U.S. Coast Guard planes now have the authority to fire warning or possibly disabling shots.

Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

There is trouble on the water in northern California. Still to come, two fishermen on the rocks, a look at how they made it to safety. And what if sex offenders want to pop the blue pill? They probably won't be getting Viagra through Medicare any more. We'll explain, coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mothers taking antidepressants during the last trimester of pregnancy may put their newborns at risk for a condition some call neonatal behavioral syndrome, says a new report.

Babies with the syndrome develop withdrawal-like symptoms such as jitters, irritability and respiratory problems after birth. But the symptoms often go away often within weeks.

Many doctors caution that for some severely depressed mothers, the benefits of taking the drugs outweigh the short term risks for their children.

And a news study out this week found a majority of Americans with Type II diabetes do not have their disease under control, putting them at risk for complications such as stroke, heart attack and blindness. The survey found that 67 percent of those questioned have blood sugar levels that were out of control, even though many of them believed they were effectively managing their disease.

Christy Feig, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at news that is making news from coast to coast.

Two fishermen plucked from peril in raging waters. This was Monday. It happened in San Mateo, California. That's south of San Francisco. The fishermen's boat sank suddenly off the San Mateo coast. The men clung to rocks in the breakwater for about 45 minutes until a Coast Guard helicopter rescued to them.

To Alabama now. It wasn't the wind that got these baseball players running. Gunfire disrupted the game. Late Sunday, the sound of shots just outside the field briefly stopped play. Wow. Police believe rival gangs were involved in that shootout. The game did resume, with Southern University beating Prairie View, by the way, 6- 5.

And in Phoenix, Arizona, mom and children said to be doing just fine. Four of the quintuplets are home now. The littlest one is still in the hospital fighting a little infection. The Moreno quintuplets were born three weeks ago to a surrogate another. Remember that story? Their mom says she spends most of her time feeding and changing diapers.

You think? I think so. Susan Lisovicz is on Wall Street today. Susan, the help she got from the surrogate mother, just the beginning of help she's going to need raising that brood.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I would think so, for the next 18 years.

KAGAN: Absolutely.

(STOCK REPORT)

KAGAN: Susan, thank you.

Still to come, after much controversy, convicted sex offenders will not be depending on you to provide them with little blue pills. We'll explain, coming up.

And he's in trouble again. Still to come, Lionel Tate's recent run-in with the law.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: If you're tired of stashing your cash under a mattress, or in your piggy bank, log onto CNNmoney.com for a lesson in money 101. These 10 tips on banking and saving could help you tremendously.

The first tip, use a federally insured bank account. It's likely your safest bet, because your funds are insured for up to $100,000 by the U.S. government.

When shopping for a bank account options may appear limitless. In order to pick the right one, ask yourself these four questions. How much money will you put in the bank? How many checks do you plan to write? How many related banking services will you need? And how many different types of accounts will you want to set up?

Plus, see if you're making the grade when it comes to Money 101 with an online quiz.

Last but not least, now that you've got money in a safe place find out how fast it will grow with the savings calculator.

You can find it all online at CNNmoney.com/101. From the dot com news desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And this just in to CNN. Here's Jay! Jay Leno making an appearance, well, big smile on his face this morning. He's making an appearance in Santa Maria at the Michael Jackson child molestation trial.

He is expected to talk about a phone call that he received from the accuser's family earlier before their meeting with Michael Jackson. During his testimony, he's expected to talk about this phone call, saying that he was suspicious about the motives of the family and did not choose to deal with them. So more on that just ahead.

Chris Tucker, comedian Chris Tucker, also supposed to make an appearance at the Jackson trial this week.

In other legal news today, Lionel Tate is back in jail. Police in south Florida say the 18-year-old violated his probation, and he tried to rob a pizza deliveryman at gunpoint on Monday. Back in 2001, Tate was convicted in the beating death of a 6-year-old playmate. He was the youngest person sentenced to life without parole in the U.S., but his conviction was overturned on appeal.

In California, potentially damaging evidence against record producer Phil Specter. A judge has ruled that past claims of gun threats against women will be allowed to be introduced at his trial. Interesting hair there. OK. Specter is accused of murder in the shooting of actress Lana Clarkson at his southern California mansion. That happened more than two years ago.

Let's go live to New York state now. President Bush making an appearance. This is at a middle school in Rochester, New York, talking about Social Security, perhaps also about the compromise last night at the U.S. Senate.

Let's listen. Oh, we're not going to listen in now. We'll listen in, in a little bit. Just want to show you where the president is.

Let's check the time right now: 9:51 in Queston, New Mexico, where volunteers raced against time to place sandbags along the swollen Red River yesterday. It is 10:51 in Massachusetts where a nasty Nor'easter is bearing down on the region at this time of year.

Stay with us. We'll be back with Jacqui Jeras with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Where are you, Georgeann (ph)? Thanks for coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: There's President Bush doing greetings off of the top of his speech today. He is having a conversation on Social Security. He is in Rochester, New York. We also expect some comments about the deal that was reached last night on the U.S. Senate on U.S. -- on judge -- on judicial nominees and also the filibuster rules going forward.

Let's listen in a little bit to President Bush.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BUSH: ... previously being blocked. These nominees have been waiting years for an up or down vote on the Senate floor, and now they'll get one. It's about time we're making some progress.

It's -- it's important for this nation to address issues. I believe the job of the president is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future presidents or future generations. I believe my job, in representing everyone who lives in this country, is when I see a problem, say to the United States Congress, let's work together to solve the problem. And folks, we got a problem when it comes to Social Security.

First, let me start by saying that Franklin Roosevelt did a good thing when he created the Social Security system.

KAGAN: Listening in just a little bit to President Bush. He's now going into Social Security, but making comments on the deal reached by 14 senators at the U.S. Senate yesterday. The deal allowed for three of President Bush's judicial nominees to come to an up or down vote, something the president has been asking for. Two others, though, will not necessarily be given an up or down vote.

It also saves the option of the filibuster in future disputes. More on that just ahead.

Right now no dispute in some places the weather is very nice and some places rather strange! Here's Jacqui Jeras.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: All right. Jacqui, thank you.

The transition to democracy in Afghanistan already providing great strides for women, but is their effort toward equality already coming at a deadly price?

And a virus passed to others through organ transplants. One donor, four recipients, and three of them have died. We'll find out why we have a hamster video going on there, as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins now.

Let's take a look at what's happening now in the news.

The case against Private Lynndie England in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal could be headed for a full court-martial. That's unless her attorneys can reach another plea agreement with prosecutors. This morning, England waived her right to a preliminary hearing.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 24, 2005 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, HOST: We have some encouraging economic news to pass along. Earlier this hour a national trade group announced new figures on existing home sales. They set a record last month, 4.5 percent increase. It's the fastest pace on record. The National Association of Realtors says that adds up to more than seven million single family homes and condominiums changing hands just over the last month.
Let's give you a quick look right now at the judicial nominees who have come to personify the deep divisions on Capitol Hill. And as we do that, live pictures from the floor of the Senate. That's Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy talking about the nominees and the deal that was struck between moderates and the senator.

Priscilla Owen is a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, is nominated to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That's in New Orleans. She drew fire for rulings on consumer rights and minors seeking abortions. Her supporters say she is fair.

Janice Rogers Brown sits on the California Supreme Court and is nominated to the federal appeals court in Washington. Her critics say some of her rulings opposed affirmative action and limited abortion rights and corporate liability.

And William H. Pryor is a former Alabama attorney general who is nominated to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His writings on abortion and homosexuality have drawn fire.

So the three embattled nominees all have drawn the fire of abortion rights supporters, but the first to face an up or down vote -- that's Priscilla Owen -- has some personal matters that uniquely align her with the president.

Our chief national correspondent, John King, has details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Priscilla Owen is an evangelical Christian, a Sunday school teacher and Texan, which of all the fights over the president's judicial nominees, makes this one personal.

To supporters, a soft-spoken, meticulous jurist who knows her job is to interpret the law, not write it.

GREG ABBOTT, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: She is a person who believes in what's called strict construction. She will not legislate from the bench.

KING: To critics a conservative ideologue, bent on using judicial powers to erode abortion rights and to protect big business at any cost.

CRAIG MCDONALD, TEXANS FOR PUBLIC JUSTICE: Owen is unique. We term her a serial activist.

KING: Priscilla Owen was born in a small farm and fishing village. From the beginning, an animal lover. Her father died when she was just 10 months old. Faith was a constant as was determination.

Treasurer of the Richland High School class of '72, then Baylor and Baylor Law. The highest score on the state bar exam in 1977 sent her into private practice with a focus on energy.

Then came 1994. Texas elects its judges, and Owen was an overwhelming underdog when she agreed to run for the state Supreme Court. Her political consultant had another underdog on the Texas ballot that year, Karl Rove was as much a winner come November as Priscilla Owen and George W. Bush.

Eleven years later Rove was the deputy White House chief of staff, a key Owen backer and such a larger than life presence in both Washington and Austin that Owen backers feel compelled to play down his role.

ABBOTT: Karl Rove isn't the one who scored the highest score on the state bar exam. Karl Rove is not the person who did all the great things that Priscilla Owen did, either as a lawyer or a justice. He didn't write opinions for her.

KING: Owen is active in this evangelical church, and advocates of abortion rights see religion, not an even-handed jurist, in opinions that a minor seeking an abortion must demonstrate she understands some women have experienced severe remorse and regret, and demonstrate she has considered that there are philosophic, social, moral and religious arguments that can be brought to bear when considering an abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth, the whole truth and nothing...

KING: Back in 2002, Owen told the Senate Judiciary Committee her language had nothing to do with her faith.

PRISCILLA OWEN, JUDGE: It's straight out of a majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court.

KING: Another abortion case put her at odds with Alberto Gonzales, then an Owen colleague on the Texas high court, now the Bush administration attorney general.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I've never accused her of being an activist judge. KING: But five years ago Gonzales said Owen and two others on the court wanted to go beyond the state legislature and create hurdles for minors seeking to bypass parental notification, something Gonzales characterized as unconscionable judicial activism.

Again, Justice Owen told the Senate her position was consistent with U.S. Supreme Court rulings and that personal views never affect her legal judgments.

OWEN: My position is that Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for many, many years now.

KING: Those who paint Owen as zealously pro-business cite rulings favoring Enron and other energy interests and the heart- breaking case of Willie Searcy, paralyzed and on a ventilator at 14 after a 1993 car accident. The family won a more than $30 million verdict against Ford, but Owen sided with Ford on appeal, ordering a new trial because the suit had been filed in the wrong county.

What stunned family attorney Jack Ayres even more than Owen's ruling was that it took her 16 months to write it.

JACK AYRES, SEARCY FAMILY ATTORNEY: I felt that my client and I had been ambushed. My view is that in this instance, what happened was the court decided that they were going to reverse the case, and they had to find a way to do it.

KING: And Ayres was stunned by this. Even as they ordered a new trial, the justices separately issued this awkwardly worded paragraph, in which they conceded they should have put the case on a fast track.

AYRES: I've never seen anything like this. I'll be in my 35th year of practicing law in Texas.

KING: Owen noted in Senate testimony that Willie did not die until three years after her ruling, but also said she was not proud of how long it took to decide the case.

The chief justice at the time says Owen and the entire court should have done a better job.

TOM PHILLIPS, FORMER TEXAS CHIEF JUSTICE: She works very hard and is very diligent, and sometimes some work gets behind other work when you're -- when you're doing everything. The Miles case was not our finest hour.

KING: But Phillips supports to Owen and says her record is being distorted.

PHILLIPS: The idea that some of these groups are bringing out that she has an agenda, that she's not following the law is just absolutely false. She is a rule of law judge.

KING: There is no question Justice Owen find herself in a partisan brawl that goes well beyond any one nomination. But the fact that she was renominated after Democrats defeated her a first time and that shares the president's Texas roots makes this one unique.

John King, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: In our "CNN Security Watch" this morning, at the age of 68, officials say he wanted to build a bomb and sell it to al Qaeda. Ronald Grecula is from Pennsylvania, and he was arrested Friday in Houston, Texas. Authorities say he offered to build and sell a bomb to an undercover FBI agent he thought was an al Qaeda operative.

The U.S. attorney for the southern district of Texas talked about the man's suspected intentions with CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SHELBY, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS: We don't know what his final abilities would have been but we know what his expressed intent was. And he certainly took actions to further that by traveling to Houston, by coming with the equipment that he had, and with the materials that he had, and then taking the undercover officers over to the welding shop to show exactly what materials we would need to construct the bomb. That evidence is some level of involvement, more than just talk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And now Grecula faces up to 15 years in prison without parole.

In the nation's capitol, it has happened again for the second time in less than two weeks. A small plane violated restricted air space over Washington. Monday evening, two Air Force F-16s were scrambled to intercept the Cessna C-340 plane. The video right here shows them dropping a flare to alert the plane's pilot.

Officials interviewed the pilot when it landed at a destination in Maryland. Nearly two weeks ago, another small plane breached air space over Washington, causing the evacuation of several buildings. This time, there were no evacuations, but the Senate did recess briefly.

So in a situation like that, should the government be able to shoot down a small plane? The Associated Press reports the Department of Homeland Security is debating that very question.

Hundreds of aircraft violate the capitol no-fly zone every year. Some U.S. Coast Guard planes now have the authority to fire warning or possibly disabling shots.

Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

There is trouble on the water in northern California. Still to come, two fishermen on the rocks, a look at how they made it to safety. And what if sex offenders want to pop the blue pill? They probably won't be getting Viagra through Medicare any more. We'll explain, coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mothers taking antidepressants during the last trimester of pregnancy may put their newborns at risk for a condition some call neonatal behavioral syndrome, says a new report.

Babies with the syndrome develop withdrawal-like symptoms such as jitters, irritability and respiratory problems after birth. But the symptoms often go away often within weeks.

Many doctors caution that for some severely depressed mothers, the benefits of taking the drugs outweigh the short term risks for their children.

And a news study out this week found a majority of Americans with Type II diabetes do not have their disease under control, putting them at risk for complications such as stroke, heart attack and blindness. The survey found that 67 percent of those questioned have blood sugar levels that were out of control, even though many of them believed they were effectively managing their disease.

Christy Feig, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at news that is making news from coast to coast.

Two fishermen plucked from peril in raging waters. This was Monday. It happened in San Mateo, California. That's south of San Francisco. The fishermen's boat sank suddenly off the San Mateo coast. The men clung to rocks in the breakwater for about 45 minutes until a Coast Guard helicopter rescued to them.

To Alabama now. It wasn't the wind that got these baseball players running. Gunfire disrupted the game. Late Sunday, the sound of shots just outside the field briefly stopped play. Wow. Police believe rival gangs were involved in that shootout. The game did resume, with Southern University beating Prairie View, by the way, 6- 5.

And in Phoenix, Arizona, mom and children said to be doing just fine. Four of the quintuplets are home now. The littlest one is still in the hospital fighting a little infection. The Moreno quintuplets were born three weeks ago to a surrogate another. Remember that story? Their mom says she spends most of her time feeding and changing diapers.

You think? I think so. Susan Lisovicz is on Wall Street today. Susan, the help she got from the surrogate mother, just the beginning of help she's going to need raising that brood.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I would think so, for the next 18 years.

KAGAN: Absolutely.

(STOCK REPORT)

KAGAN: Susan, thank you.

Still to come, after much controversy, convicted sex offenders will not be depending on you to provide them with little blue pills. We'll explain, coming up.

And he's in trouble again. Still to come, Lionel Tate's recent run-in with the law.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: If you're tired of stashing your cash under a mattress, or in your piggy bank, log onto CNNmoney.com for a lesson in money 101. These 10 tips on banking and saving could help you tremendously.

The first tip, use a federally insured bank account. It's likely your safest bet, because your funds are insured for up to $100,000 by the U.S. government.

When shopping for a bank account options may appear limitless. In order to pick the right one, ask yourself these four questions. How much money will you put in the bank? How many checks do you plan to write? How many related banking services will you need? And how many different types of accounts will you want to set up?

Plus, see if you're making the grade when it comes to Money 101 with an online quiz.

Last but not least, now that you've got money in a safe place find out how fast it will grow with the savings calculator.

You can find it all online at CNNmoney.com/101. From the dot com news desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And this just in to CNN. Here's Jay! Jay Leno making an appearance, well, big smile on his face this morning. He's making an appearance in Santa Maria at the Michael Jackson child molestation trial.

He is expected to talk about a phone call that he received from the accuser's family earlier before their meeting with Michael Jackson. During his testimony, he's expected to talk about this phone call, saying that he was suspicious about the motives of the family and did not choose to deal with them. So more on that just ahead.

Chris Tucker, comedian Chris Tucker, also supposed to make an appearance at the Jackson trial this week.

In other legal news today, Lionel Tate is back in jail. Police in south Florida say the 18-year-old violated his probation, and he tried to rob a pizza deliveryman at gunpoint on Monday. Back in 2001, Tate was convicted in the beating death of a 6-year-old playmate. He was the youngest person sentenced to life without parole in the U.S., but his conviction was overturned on appeal.

In California, potentially damaging evidence against record producer Phil Specter. A judge has ruled that past claims of gun threats against women will be allowed to be introduced at his trial. Interesting hair there. OK. Specter is accused of murder in the shooting of actress Lana Clarkson at his southern California mansion. That happened more than two years ago.

Let's go live to New York state now. President Bush making an appearance. This is at a middle school in Rochester, New York, talking about Social Security, perhaps also about the compromise last night at the U.S. Senate.

Let's listen. Oh, we're not going to listen in now. We'll listen in, in a little bit. Just want to show you where the president is.

Let's check the time right now: 9:51 in Queston, New Mexico, where volunteers raced against time to place sandbags along the swollen Red River yesterday. It is 10:51 in Massachusetts where a nasty Nor'easter is bearing down on the region at this time of year.

Stay with us. We'll be back with Jacqui Jeras with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Where are you, Georgeann (ph)? Thanks for coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: There's President Bush doing greetings off of the top of his speech today. He is having a conversation on Social Security. He is in Rochester, New York. We also expect some comments about the deal that was reached last night on the U.S. Senate on U.S. -- on judge -- on judicial nominees and also the filibuster rules going forward.

Let's listen in a little bit to President Bush.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BUSH: ... previously being blocked. These nominees have been waiting years for an up or down vote on the Senate floor, and now they'll get one. It's about time we're making some progress.

It's -- it's important for this nation to address issues. I believe the job of the president is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future presidents or future generations. I believe my job, in representing everyone who lives in this country, is when I see a problem, say to the United States Congress, let's work together to solve the problem. And folks, we got a problem when it comes to Social Security.

First, let me start by saying that Franklin Roosevelt did a good thing when he created the Social Security system.

KAGAN: Listening in just a little bit to President Bush. He's now going into Social Security, but making comments on the deal reached by 14 senators at the U.S. Senate yesterday. The deal allowed for three of President Bush's judicial nominees to come to an up or down vote, something the president has been asking for. Two others, though, will not necessarily be given an up or down vote.

It also saves the option of the filibuster in future disputes. More on that just ahead.

Right now no dispute in some places the weather is very nice and some places rather strange! Here's Jacqui Jeras.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: All right. Jacqui, thank you.

The transition to democracy in Afghanistan already providing great strides for women, but is their effort toward equality already coming at a deadly price?

And a virus passed to others through organ transplants. One donor, four recipients, and three of them have died. We'll find out why we have a hamster video going on there, as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins now.

Let's take a look at what's happening now in the news.

The case against Private Lynndie England in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal could be headed for a full court-martial. That's unless her attorneys can reach another plea agreement with prosecutors. This morning, England waived her right to a preliminary hearing.

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