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Senate Gearing up for Supreme Court Nomination Battle; Lance Armstrong's Mom Talks about Win; Is Lance Armstrong Super Human?; Tips on Childcare While Traveling

Aired July 25, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, HOST: Make the rounds on Capitol Hill. Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts meets with a key Democrat in the Senate. We have a live report just ahead.
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The clock is ticking. Countdown to lift-off at CNN.com/shuttle. From the dot com news desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

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NGUYEN: Supreme Court nominee John Roberts returned to Capitol Hill this morning for a fourth day of private meetings with lawmakers who will decide his confirmation.

Now about two hours ago he met with Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And some Democrats are demanding the release of legal advice that Robert provided to two Republican administrations.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House with more on all of this. A busy day.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A busy day, that's right. Hello to you, Betty.

The Justice Department has indicated that it will consider any requests for documents on a case by case basis, but at the same time, of course, the White House has already sent out some strong signals that it will not accommodate any such requests.

Now as you mentioned, as for the nominee himself, the meet and greets continue, if you will, on Capitol Hill. Today, day four of his meetings with lawmakers, the nominee, Judge John Roberts meeting with a key Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California.

Now some Democrats, even as the tone here in Washington has remained civil, some Democrats are saying that they need to know more about Judge Roberts' philosophy. They say that one way to do that might be to get a hold of some of Judge Roberts' working paper. These include some confidential documents that Roberts wrote during his days as deputy solicitor general in the first Bush White House.

But the current Bush administration has indicated that it believes some of those papers are protected under attorney/client privilege. Democrats, though, are disputing that. And beyond the issue of documents, they say they simply need more information.

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SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Where does he stand? Is he in the mainstream when it comes to civil rights and women's rights, workers' rights and protecting the environment? At this point there are unanswered questions. The last time he appeared before the judiciary committee I opposed him, primarily because of what he did not say. When I asked him these questions he avoided them. He can't avoid them.

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QUIJANO: Now on the issue of documents, why is that so important? Because this is the same issue that came up a few years ago with the nomination of Miguel Estrada.

Now, Estrada is a person that President Bush nominated back in 2001 for a position on a federal appeals court. Democrats demanded files from Estrada's 10 years in the solicitor general's office. The White House didn't give them up. Democrats filibustered, and Estrada ultimately withdrew his name from consideration.

Now in the case of John Roberts, the White House making clear it does not want to see the same thing happen again -- Betty. NGUYEN: On a different note, following the Sharm El-Sheikh bombings, President Bush is visiting the Egyptian embassy today. Tell us about that.

QUIJANO: That's right. He is going to be signing the condolence book there at the Egyptian embassy. And of course, this following a White House statement released over the weekend, condemning in very strong terms the attacks at Sharm El-Sheikh as barbaric.

At the same time, we also learned that President Bush himself spoke with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, offering his personal condolences and also the support of the American people -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you.

Here are some other stories making news overseas this morning.

In China, envoys from the U.S. and North Korea had a rare face- to-face meeting one day before six-nation talks officially kick off. But the U.S. envoy says they were not negotiating. Now representatives from six countries are gathering to encourage North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program. North Korea suspended the last round of talks more than a year ago.

Also in China, $940 million in sales just aren't enough for Wal- Mart. The discount retailer has its sights set on edging out the competition. Wal-Mart wants to double its stores by the end of next year. And an official says Wal-Mart plans to operate 55 stores in China by December and 90 by the end of next year. The Chinese market is worth $240 billion.

In the Philippines, thousands of protesters are calling for President Gloria Arroyo's resignation. Some lawmakers filed an impeachment complaint against her hours before her State of the Union address today. It lists 10 charges against Arroyo, among them election fraud and corruption. Now, it's not clear whether the complaint will get enough support to pass.

He is a cycling legend and a cancer survivor. Next, a look at Lance Armstrong's seventh and final Tour De France.

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NGUYEN: Well, he pedaled hard for a place in history. Now a prince of cycling has earned a crowning achievement. Lance Armstrong is savoring his seventh straight win in the Tour De France. He won in Paris yesterday in his final race before retiring.

But what's next? Well, CNN's Carol Lin pondered the possibilities with Lance's mom.

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CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: ... when Lance crossed the finish line... LINDA ARMSTRONG KELLY, LANCE ARMSTRONG'S MOTHER: I have to tell you it was an extremely emotional time for me. And leading up to it, it was emotional but I never realized how it would be when he finished that line. And just thinking that that's his last race. Not to mention the fact that he's obviously won the yellow jersey seventh time in the row. Made history. I mean, all of those emotions were going in my mind and all over me.

LIN: Yes, what is the first thing that you said to him when you got a chance to talk to him?

KELLY: I went down, and it was so neat when he finally got in. And they brought him back. And the first thing I did is I walked up to him and I said, "Son, I'm so proud of you."

LIN: And what did he say back?

KELLY: He said, "Thanks, Mom." He's such a good boy.

LIN: Oh. What is your boy going to do next?

KELLY: I think the future is extremely bright for him. No. 1, he's got a lot more time to spend with his children. And that is the No. 1 reason he's doing this. I mean, he's going to get to attend those soccer games and those swim meets and all those wonderful things that he did with me and that I did with him.

LIN: Right.

KELLY: So, those were great memories for him. And aside from that, family being first, is that he will definitely be more involved than, if you could imagine, than what he is already with the foundation and giving back to the cause of cancer.

LIN: Right, right. I mean, he's going a lot of work to encourage people to participate in clinical trials. And does that translate, though, into a different kind of role? I mean, do we see the possibility of a Senator Lance Armstrong, President Lance Armstrong?

KELLY: Well, you will see on the tapes that John Kerry was actually attending in the area that we were sitting, and he's just a huge fan of Lance's. And he told me, he says, "Now, Linda, if Lance ever decides to get into politics, have him talk to me."

LIN: I bet. Is he a Republican or a Democrat?

KELLY: You know, I'm not sure which party he is. Regardless -- and that was a beautiful thing about John Kerry. Regardless of his party, I -- you know, have been doing this. I know a lot of people. And I thought that was nice of him, actually.

LIN: What about marriage? Maybe some more kids?

KELLY: I think that certainly that's not out of the question. And... LIN: Wait, wait. Are you saying that Lance and...

KELLY: No, no, no, no, no. You're not hearing anything from his mom, because I don't know, but believe me, if I do know you'll be the first to know.

LIN: OK. We're going to count on it. Linda, you must be so proud of your boy.

KELLY: It's wonderful.

LIN: You did well, a role model for mothers everywhere. Linda Armstrong Kelly, congratulations. And please give our best to your son.

KELLY: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. So, was it super human strength or super will and determination? Now that Lance Armstrong has won his seventh Tour De France millions are asking how does he do it? In today's "Daily Dose," senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta tackles that question.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's possibly the best endurance athlete in the world. Most of us know Lance Armstrong's name, but few know how he does it. It all starts with his genes.

GUPTA: Edward Coyle is director of the human performance lab at the University of Texas in Austin. World record holders, Olympic medalists and promising elite athletes all come here to increase their performance. At the young age of 21, Lance Armstrong was one of them. Coyle evaluated his physiology regularly for seven years.

EDWARD COYLE, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE LAB, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: We found that, even at a young age, because of his intense training, he had a big engine, a big heart, and was able to consume large amounts of oxygen. Probably less than one percent of the population would have as much of a genetic head start as Armstrong has.

GUPTA: Lance Armstrong's physiology characteristics are nothing short of astounding.

His heart, it can pump nine gallons of blood per minute, working at its hardest, compared to only five gallons per minute for the average person. In one minute of maximum exertion, Armstrong's heart can beat twice that of a normal person.

His lungs, he gets almost double the amount of oxygen out of every breath that a healthy 20-year-old would. Everyone takes in the same breath, but Armstrong uses his two times more efficiently. He also has more red blood cells to deliver oxygen to his body, meaning he can breathe better at higher altitudes. And that's a key in the treacherous Pyrenees and Alps mountains along the route of the Tour De France.

His muscles, Lance's muscles produce less lactic acid than most people, which means his muscles can go longer and harder without major fatigue.

COYLE: An average person when going to exhaustion would have to stay stopped or wouldn't be able to move for, you know, for 10, 15 minutes. Well, Armstrong is able to recover within just a couple of minutes, within one or two, and then go right back up to maximum.

You know, that's why you'll see him repeatedly trying to break away and then eventually succeeding.

GUPTA: While Lance may have the genetics and conditioning of a world class athlete, he has also had cancer lingering in his genes. He was diagnosed with the disease before ever winning the Tour De France.

COYLE: Lance visited the laboratory eight months after finishing chemo, and, essentially, we found nothing wrong with his body. And that really helped him in giving him the confidence that he could pick up right where he left off.

GUPTA: All of this can ultimately make many people think Armstrong is super human.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy is a super hero.

GUPTA: And that's a question his mother has heard many times before.

KELLY: Is Lance super human? That's a question everyone has asked. He didn't get that way sitting on the couch eating potato chips. So lots of hard work, a lot of dedication.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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NGUYEN: Hard work, dedication, and yes, he is super human. You saw it right there.

OK. Ever wanted to take a romantic vacation but can't figure out what to do with the kids? These days many places have kids clubs, but how do you know if they are safe? Hear an expert's advice just ahead.

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NGUYEN: This just in to CNN, we are getting some new video in of President Bush arriving at the Egyptian embassy in Washington. He is there to sign the condolence book. Now, this is in regards to that bombing, Saturday's bombing at Sharm El-Sheikh that killed 84 people and injured 200. Again, this is new video of the president arriving at the Egyptian embassy in Washington to sign the condolence book.

In other news, parents are often drawn to child friendly hotels and resorts in hopes that the kids programs will keep the children entertained, but do parents subject those caregivers to the same kind of scrutiny they give babysitters at home?

"Conde Nast Traveler" looked into this unsettling issue, and the magazine's editor, Kevin Doyle, joins us with a checklist.

Let's go through this list, if we shall. There's quite a few of them on there. The first one, speak directly with the kids club director. What should you ask that person?

KEVIN DOYLE, EDITOR, "CONDE NAST TRAVELER': Well, yes, before you even book your hotel stay, it's a good idea to call the director of the kids club and ask him or her several questions to make sure that they can answer them in a way that inspires confidence and also that demonstrates a real interest in the well-being of your child.

And the first question you'd want to ask is how many staffers work in that facility? Because experts across the board agree that one of the best ways to prevent trouble is to make sure that children are never, ever left in the care of only one adult. So make sure that at all times there are at least two staffers at work with the children in the facility.

NGUYEN: Yes, and I guess your No. 2 point, make sure the ratio is right. So you said two staffers.

DOYLE: Minimum.

NGUYEN: Say that again?

DOYLE: An absolute minimum of two caregivers at all times.

NGUYEN: I was going to say, because I'm looking at the numbers here. Because you say it should range to 3-1 for children under three. Correct?

DOYLE: Yes, but to keep things simple, it's called two adult or two deep rule. Just make sure there are a minimum of two adults at all times.

NGUYEN: All right. That does keep it very simple. And your No. 3 rule is to make sure the property does background checks on staff.

DOYLE: Yes.

NGUYEN: And I think the fourth one is important, too: see if the staff is properly trained. What kind of training are you looking for?

DOYLE: Well, at minimum, you want to make sure that all staffers are trained in first aid and in CPR. If there's a swimming pool or a beach, you want to make sure that they have lifeguard training. Ideally, at least one member of the staff will be trained in early childhood development. So those are the basics that you should ask for.

NGUYEN: I was going to say, No. 5 is to make sure that -- especially, if you're in a foreign country, that these people taking care of your children do speak English, just in case your child has a problem or a need that needs to be communicated.

But NO. 6 was very interesting to me, as well. We'll try to put that up. It says inspect security systems. All right. How do you go about inspecting a security system when you're talking to somebody on the phone? You're not even at the resort yet.

DOYLE: Well, what you'll want to ask them is what kind of system do you have in place to ensure that only authorized personnel can gain access to the facility? And parents.

You also want to also ask them, "Am I going to be allowed to visit my child unannounced at any time? And can I have full access to all areas of the facility to see what's going on?"

If the answer to that question is no, you should give serious second thoughts to handing your children over or your child over to the care of that facility.

NGUYEN: These are a lot of things on the checklist that you want to make sure that parents are aware of and that these facilities provide. So, with that being the case, there's a lot of requirements here. Can you find an affordable hotel or resort that meets all of these requirements?

DOYLE: Well, yes. Fortunately, most kids clubs that you'll find will meet these requirements. Unfortunately, there are some that will not, which is why we give parents these guidelines. This is in our August issue. It's hitting stands tomorrow.

So, these are the basics. We just want to give you some guidance, but there are places all over the world that offer kids clubs and child care programs that are excellent, secure, and deal with well-screened staffers.

NGUYEN: You know, these are the guidelines, but how often do parents pick up the phone and make these phone calls and ask these questions?

DOYLE: Very rarely. Because usually parents are so thrilled to know that there's child care available that they don't really give it a second thought, and they also assume that staffers working at these hotels would have been screened.

And that's one other important point. The parents should always ask how the staffers are screened. They should -- the hotel should do a criminal records check, a Social Security number verification and a Department of Motor Vehicles records check, in addition to checking references and doing in -depth interviews. So...

NGUYEN: It's so important. It is. I mean, these people are taking care of your children. Kevin, thank you very much for your time.

DOYLE: Thanks very much.

NGUYEN: I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Daryn Kagan today. International news is up next, so stay tuned.

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