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CNN Live Today

Nomination Near?; Supreme Choice; Justice Vetting; Hurricane Emily; Police Shooting

Aired July 19, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Residents on South Padre Island in Texas are boarding up windows and setting out sandbags ahead of Hurricane Emily. The storm is now a category one but could pick up steam over the Gulf of Mexico. We have a live report from Texas and details of storm damage in Mexico. That's about 15 minutes away.
DNA tests will be conducted on strands of blond hair that were found attached to duct tape on a beach in Aruba. The test could determine if the hair belonged to missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway. Samples are being sent to a laboratory in the Netherlands and an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses a joint meeting of Congress at this hour. We're looking at a live picture from Capitol Hill. This is only the eighth time a foreign leader has addressed the Senate and the House in the past five years. On Monday, President Bush offered India help with its civilian nuclear power program.

Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. A big day ahead, we believe, so let's get started.

There is word this morning that President Bush may name a nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy today. That disclosure following the president's meeting with a leading senator. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter was called to the White House late Monday. Here you see Specter chatting with Presidential Advisor Karl Rove, who may appreciate the renewed focus on the high court. CNN caught up with Arlen Specter after that meeting. Our Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry joins us from Capitol Hill with more on the selection process.

Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

You're absolutely right. Washington focused heavily right now on the possible naming of a new supreme court justice. A nominee expected to come from the president in the next couple of days, potentially as early as today.

But right now the vice president of the United States, as well as Senate and House leaders are in the House chamber here in the Capitol. They are, as you mentioned a moment ago, receiving a speech. In a few moments, a joint meeting of the Congress for a speech from the Indian prime minister.

And I can tell you that on the way in to the House chamber I caught up briefly with the vice president, asked him whether the nomination is coming today. He just smile and said, good morning. No comment from him, obviously, but a comment from the Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist who when I asked him whether this nomination is coming today, he said "I don't know, but I don't think so." Again, the guessing game continues.

Conflicting signals all around. One signal pointing in the other direction, you mentioned Senator Specter going to the White House last night. He was supposed to be at a softball game with his staff on the national mall last night. Instead, called over to the White House for this meeting with the president about the Supreme Court nomination. The possibility of one coming.

The Specter meeting, of course, fueling more speculation the president is close to naming someone to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the bench. After that meeting at the White House, CNN caught up with Senator Specter when he finally made it to the softball game. Here's what he said about the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, ) JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN: Well, there are certainly no announcements that I'm going to make here on the softball field. And I'm not going to talk about a time line either. I did not go to the White House incognito, so it was apparent that I was there. But I'm sure you'll understand that this is the sort of thing I can't talk about, at least this evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now it's obviously an obvious thing for the president to do, to meet with the Senate judiciary chairman to consult. There's been a lot of talk about how the president's been consulting not just with Republicans, but also Democrats. But also, he needs to woo the Senate judiciary chairman just a little bit. Arlen Specter, obviously, a moderate Republican, supports abortion rights and yesterday, in an interview with CNN, he made clear he's not going to be a rubber stamp for this nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Are you looking for a nominee that's going to keep the ideological balance that's there now? There's a lot of talk about the O'Connor seat being a more moderate seat. Is that the way you view it?

SPECTER: I do. I think it's important to keep balance on the court. And that is in every respect. And I think that Americans are concerned about having somebody who's too far to one side or too far to the other side. And the balance is critical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now this is the first Supreme Court nomination battle that Arlen Specter will be leading as chairman, but he has a lot of experience. He's been through nine previous Supreme Court nominations fights here on The Hill, including the contentious Bork (ph) and Clarence Thomas hearings. He told me yesterday, those were both rock 'em, sock 'em affairs, as he put it. He's expecting the next one to be every bit as big.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed, really interesting to hear your interview with Arlen Specter there because while he is saying that he supports a moderate, that is the very thing that conservatives were concerned about when he was up for the chairmanship of this committee.

HENRY: That's right. And there are some conservatives privately saying right now they're very nervous because Arlen Specter doesn't owe anybody anything. You're right, a few months ago conservatives were holding the possibility of taking that gavel of the Judiciary Committee away from him. Now that he has the gavel, he doesn't owe anybody anything. He can lead these hearings in any direction he wants.

He made clear in that interview, and he's made clear in other interviews, he takes the advise and consent option the part of the Constitution, he takes that very seriously. He is not going to be a rubber stamp, as I mentioned. But it's also clear that he is going to give this nominee, whoever it winds up being, great deference, great respect. And I think it's very likely that in the end that he would support the nominee from the president of his own party. But he's making it clear that he's going to be his own man.

Daryn.

KAGAN: It's going to be interesting. Ed Henry on Capitol Hill.

Ed, thank you.

There is some speculation that President Bush could name a woman, possibly an Hispanic, to the court. And, of course, some of calling, as we were just hearing, for a moderate jurist. Others want a conservative one. Our John King has more on the president's possible pick from our Washington bureau.

John, good morning.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I don't think it's not going to be you and it's not going to be me.

KAGAN: I will go I'll back you up on that.

KING: Beyond that, we don't have a lot to go on, except First Lady Laura Bush gave an interview in which she said she'd like to see her husband pick a woman. Most view that as no accident. She does not speak off the cuff and contribute to the political debate unless she's trying to do something. So there has been great speculation that the president would replace a woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, with a woman.

One name making the rounds in Washington this morning, and we must emphasize this is speculation at this point, is Judge Edith Brown Clement. She is on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has some close ties to some Bush associates. She is known as a good conservative, though not a deep paper trail, so some say that would make a confirmation battle earlier.

But we have heard of other women candidates as well. The president suggested yesterday he wanted to interview some finalists but that he not might not have to interview them all. That led to speculation that perhaps it would be somebody the president knows well. Perhaps a justice who has already gone through the confirmation process. Perhaps his friend the attorney general.

This is largely I think our Dana Bash, at the beginning of this story, talked to an senior aide who called it like picking a pope. And we are literally looking for smoke signals right now. But we do know, Daryn, the president made time on this schedule today to have some interviews. He's with the Australian Prime Minister John Howard right now. So he is not, as we say, eminently making his choice as we speak.

But we have been told it could come as early as today. We also, though, have been told by other officials that the president is down to the point now where this is about comfort level. He wants to meet face-to-face with the finalists, then he will make his decision. So if the president has a meeting today and it doesn't go so well, this presumably could go on a few more days.

Now the White House says two things to consider. One is the simple math. They want to get this pick confirm and on the court by October. To do that, to have courtesy calls on the Senate before it goes into recess next Friday, they say the president most likely, and I was told definitively this morning, will do this within the next 72 hours. Will it come today? It certainly could. We're being told it could come today. We're not being told that that's definite just yet.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Well we're ready if it does.

To expand the field of possible choices even more, President Bush last week suggested it doesn't even have to be a judge.

KING: He said that and others have talked about what Democratic Senator Pat Leahy called going outside the judicial monastery. Sandra Day O'Connor was the only member is the only member, she's still on the court is the only member of the court who has been elected to anything. She was the Arizona state senate majority leader before she became a judge. And some say it's good to have a politician on the court. Someone who has real-life experience, who's been yelled at by their constituents, who knows what people on the street feel about issues, whether it be abortion or the right to die or something like property rights.

But in today's age I talked with somebody who's very closely involved in this process this morning. In today's age, with 24-hour cable, with millions of dollars about to be spent on television ads, they say it's very difficult to pick a politician, because that politician, if they've been elected to anything much higher than dog catcher, Daryn, is on the record on issues like abortion, on issues that will be the centerpiece of what we expect to be an ideological battle. So there's been quite a bit of speculation. The president could go outside the judicial monastery, as Senator Leahy called it. But if he does, I think he will be quite carefully. I was told this morning not to look for that.

KAGAN: All right. Well you'll be looking for something. And we'll be checking back with you.

John, thank you.

John King live in Washington, D.C.

President Bush's choice for the bench will be scrutinized on all political corners. Our Candy Crowley reports now on one current justice who blew into Washington under the radar but who has now become a target for conservatives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are lifetime appointments, which can make history and shape legacies.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll tell you how I look at this. Not in terms of some specific imprint, but I want it said when I'm about about 90, 24 years from now, that I made a superb choice, and I think it will be so writ.

CROWLEY: He's not 90 yet, but history so for, as written by conservatives, is not so writ.

RICHARD LESSNER, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: It's turned out to be quite a disappointment because Mr. Souter is clearly squarely in the middle of the liberal camp that the liberal majority, actually, on the Supreme Court.

CROWLEY: Conservative groups know what they want in a Supreme Court nominee, someone who will protect the unborn. And they know what they don't want, another Justice Souter.

GARY BAUER, PRES., AMERICAN VALUES: I don't think this President Bush wants to be embarrassed by his court nominee.

CROWLEY: Souter is not the first Supreme Court nominee to backfire on supporters. President Eisenhower called Chief Justice Earl Warren, my biggest mistake. One of the most active courts in history, the Warren court overturned the notion of separate but equal public education and ordered school desegregation. Conservative Richard Nixon was Souter-ed by Justice Harry Blackman, author of the majority opinion in the Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion.

Conservatives say Souter got by them because he didn't have much of a paper trial on their issues and they took his conservative judicial bent on the faith of Republicans who vouched for him. This time around, no blind dates.

LESSNER: This court is very narrowly divided on many issues of great interest, on the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage. And with a court that's divided five to four on so many of those cases, we're not willing to buy a pig in and a pope (ph). And so we want someone who's judicial philosophy and who's jurisprudence is well known and established.

CROWLEY: Paper trials may reduce the high court's surprise rate, but they won't eliminate it. There is something about the view at the Supreme Court that can change a jurist.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And so the eyes will be on the White House today. Our Bob Franken is our White House reporter today. Just out of what they call the gaggle.

Did you learn anything in today's news briefing, Bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the gaggle is the daily almost daily, on the record but off camera briefing where the value is, oftentimes, that we learn what's coming during the rest of the day. Well this was not one of those days. Scott McClellan was in his usual deflective mode. Would not advance the story on the record about the prospects for the naming of a Supreme Court nominee. Only to say, "the president is closer today than yesterday." Well, thanks a lot, Scott.

We do not know that there's going to be an announcement today. We have been told by any number of sources here at the White House and elsewhere that it's prospect that there's going to be an announcement, prospect that the president might meet with some of the nominees that he's considering. Perspective nominees.

But first he has meetings with the Australian prime minister this morning. Then there's going to be a news availability during the 11:00 hour Eastern where you can bet the questions will be more about this than Australian/U.S. relations, at least when they come from the U.S. reporters. The president will give us his latest thinking on this. And, of course, he made it a point yesterday and has in the past to say that he does not necessarily have to meet with potential Supreme Court nominees if he already knows them.

One of the names that's been circulating out there, Judge Clement, is somebody that has been known to the Bush families for quite some time. I just put that in there so you can increase your speculation if you want. But never forget that sometimes somebody puts out somebody who is not really going to be the nominee just to deflect, just to obscure who it turns out to be. We'll see if that's the case. But, as you can see, the intrigue is running heavy at the White House as everybody's trying to grasp at straws and thus far not even catching that.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob Franken live at the White House. We certainly will be checking back with you later today.

Thank you.

Well, the announcement of a Supreme Court nominee would certainly shift the spotlight away from Karl Rove and the CIA leak investigation. Rove's reported leak of an operative's identity to a journalist has been a distraction for the Bush administration in recent days. It also has grabbed the attention of many Americans.

ABC News did a poll asking three out of four American whose responded to their poll, they say they believe that Rove should be fired if he leaked classified information. The ABC poll also suggested credibility issue. Only one quarter of the respondents say that the White House is fully cooperating with the leak investigation. The president may face more questions about Rove in the next hour. Mr. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard will hold a news conference. Our live coverage begins 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

A lot to talk about with Hurricane Emily. That's coming up with our Chris Lawrence in South Texas.

Also, can a U.S. citizen be held without charges? That is the debate over the so called enemy combatant Jose Padilla. The government said, yes. Today a federal court hears both sides.

Plus, outrage after L.A. police shoot and kill a baby after a standoff with her father. Now the Reverend Al Sharpton tried to calm the community. Find out how when he joins me live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL SHARPTON: To give trust in the mayor as we look for these investigations to bring the truth. We stand with this family because we want them to know that we have to be able to see our goals (ph) that (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And they are superstars in the world of tennis, but what are the Williams' sisters like off the court? Venus and Serena stopping by to tell us about their new reality show.

That's all ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: CNN is your hurricane headquarters. We continue to follow the track of Hurricane Emily as it moves closer to Northeastern Mexico. Right now it is a category one storm but it's expected to gain more strength before coming ashore late tonight or early tomorrow.

Hurricane Emily first struck Mexico as a powerful category four storm. It came ashore more than 24-hours ago on the Yucatan Peninsula. Since the storm passed, residents have been cleaning downed trees and other debris. There were no reports of deaths at that site. The storm's eye passed near the colonial city of Merida. Power was knocked out along the coast. Many tourists were unable to evacuate from the area's beach resorts in time. They were forced to ride out the storm in their hotels.

There is concern about Emily in South Texas this morning. And that's where we find our Chris Lawrence. He is on South Padre Island with an update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): At South Padre Island, everyone prepares in his or her own way. A lot of businessmen boarded up the windows at their stores, while a few boys put their boards to a completely different use. To some, sand was just a means to start building the perfect castle. For others, it was the only thing that may help fortify their homes.

Officials in South Texas have been keeping an eye on Emily since it ripped through Cozumel and Cancun. Then churned into the Gulf of Mexico.

DAN QUANDT, SOUTH PADRE ISLAND OFFICIAL: Worst-case scenario would be if the hurricane turned north on us.

LAWRENCE: Dan Quandt says South Texas could be hurt, even if it doesn't get a direct hit.

QUANDT: The reason we're still watching closely is that, you know, the eye is still south of us but that puts us in the strongest part of the storm, up in the northeast part now.

LAWRENCE: Still, some folks are confident the hurricane's worst weather will miss them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So are we worried? No. We're respecting the storm and its danger, but we think we can avoid it.

LAWRENCE: It's a risk a lot of people here are willing to take.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Even if the winds don't do tremendous damage, the rain could be just as big of a problem. The area is suffering from a drought, but the amount of rain that Emily could bring may be enough to flood some of those valley areas.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. You'll be watching it for us. Chris Lawrence from South Padre Island in Texas.

Thank you.

Stay with CNN throughout the day for updates on Emily. We are your hurricane headquarters.

Police in Los Angeles say they did all they could. A mother says they are to blame for her daughter's death. Ahead, the Reverend Al Sharpton weighs in on a standoff that ended with a baby's death. He's just back from the community and he joins me live.

Reverend Sharpton, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check the market open. They've been open about 53 minutes. The Dow looking strong. Actually, both indexes looking strong. Dow up 78 points. The Nasdaq also in positive territory. It is up 17.

To Southern California now. The police shooting of a 19-month- old girl has sparked nightly demonstrations in Los Angeles. Protesters have heckled officers and waved sign calling the officers baby killers. The toddler was killed during a shoot-out last week. Police had been involved in a standoff with the child's father. The man emerged from a house holding the little girl. He was also killed in the shoot-out. The Reverend Al Sharpton has been calling for calm as the police investigation into the shooting goes on. Reverend Sharpton joins me now from Los Angeles.

Good morning.

REV. AL SHARPTON, ACTIVIST: Good morning.

KAGAN: Tell me more about what you're calling for in this Los Angeles community.

SHARPTON: Well, I think that what we need is to really get to the bottom of what happened here. I met with the family and I certainly support their concern that this young baby, 19-month-old, was killed. We've seen hostage standoffs that last for days. This lasted two-and-a-half hour. Yet this issue is also complicated by the fact that one was already hurt by the father and this . . .

KAGAN: One being, one police officer had already been hurt.

SHARPTON: Right. Correct. And this is not as clear-cut as many cases. I think that the difference here is the mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, stepped in, went to the church with the family on Sunday and personally promised to look in and make sure that this comes to a just conclusion. And I said to the community that we can take him at his word. He has been one that has supported justice in the past. And I think that as long as he personally has a hand-on type of involvement in this, that we should see where the investigations lead per his guidance.

KAGAN: I think the exact quote that actually caught my attention that you said is that there cannot be a knee-jerk reaction. That we will always say the police are right. There also cannot be a reaction a knee-jerk in the community that they are always wrong. I have to say this is surprising words from you, Reverend Sharpton. SHARPTON: Well, they're not really surprising. I've said all throughout my career, and I emphasize it in this case, that I think that we are just as irresponsible if we just jump against the police as those that jump for the police. I think that you have to have balance. If you fight for justice, justice means what is right, what is fair, even if it's not to your liking. And though this appears to be something that certainly would raise our attention and is certainly disturbing to the family, we need to sort out the facts. We need to know exactly what happened, compare that to the policy of hostage standoff and make sure that there is a correct ending to this so the community can heal. We can't return this young lady, but we can make sure she did not die in vain. But we should not take that with a knee-jerk reaction.

KAGAN: And it is a tragedy that this young baby has died. But clearly there were problems from the beginning here.

So you go to this community, Los Angeles. This is not your community. You meet with the family. What kind of response did you get, not just from the family, but from community leaders?

SHARPTON: We have a chapter of (INAUDIBLE) network there and I went at their invitation and they all were in a meeting with the family and the mayor, very responsive. They understood our point. Some of them were a lot more outrage's and a lot more wanted to be a lot more active, but many of them said . . .

KAGAN: Anyone tell you to get lost, Reverend Sharpton?

SHARPTON: No. I've been since Rodney King, I've been asked to cover in the Los Angeles our chapter we have a constituency. I've will votes there when I ran for president. No one told me to get lost. And I think what people are trying to do is find a way to solve these reoccurring police encounters in Los Angeles and around the country.

KAGAN: And that really is the backdrop of this one incident, that the history the LAPD does have with this community.

SHARPTON: That's correct.

KAGAN: A lot to look into. Reverend Sharpton, thank you for your time today. Appreciate it.

SHARPTON: Thank you for having me.

KAGAN: They are just so good you might want and you might think that Venus and Serena Williams have no life outside of tennis. You are very wrong about that. Ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, a new reality show starring the sisters gives us a glimpse of what life is like off the court. They're going to be along to talk with me about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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