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Hurricane Emily Making Landfall; Who is John Roberts?

Aired July 20, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. We begin with a story breaking right now. Hurricane Emily making landfall as we speak, powerful category-three winds smashing its way onto Mexico and Texas. We are, of course, live in the path of the storm.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad. Another day ahead of dangerous and deadly heat across the United States from New England to California. It's hard to escape it. Just how hot will it get? We are tracking the forecast ahead.

And watching for a heated battle over President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, Judge John G. Roberts. The battle lines being drawn already. The first demonstrations are planned on this AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome. I'm Miles O'Brien.

COSTELLO: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad. The latest on Hurricane Emily just ahead.

O'BRIEN: But first, appeals court Judge John Roberts, wasting no time, just hours after being nominated to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Roberts has scheduled visits today with several top lawmakers.

COSTELLO: He's not wasting any time. He's making the morning headlines as well. "The Washington Post" with a picture from last night's announcement and a pair of stories, one calling it a, quote, "move to the right." And another citing Robert's conservative credentials. In "The Washington Times," the story saying "easy times seen for judicial nominee." "The New York Post" going with the headline "The Right Stuff."

O'BRIEN: And yet we're already seeing signs the fight is ahead, if not in the Senate, with interest groups opposed to Judge Roberts.

NOW, the National Organization for Women, calls him a stealth opponent of women's rights. The group is calling an emergency protest at the capital today, not wasting any time. And neither are we. We have two reports, Joe Johns on Capitol Hill, Bob Franken at the White House.

First, Joe, what's the early reaction there?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, first of all, Judge Roberts left his home bright and early this morning, preparing for a big day, while people all over this town are preparing for a big fight. The fact of the matter is he is expected to come here to the United States Senate to meet particularly with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, most of whom, quite frankly, already know him. A lot, of course, will be made in the next weeks ahead of Senate staffers poring over his record.

The fact of the matter is the Senate pretty well knows him, because he went through confirmation not too long ago for the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Now, Senate Democrats, of course, and Republicans trying to appear very reasonable, quite aware that the eyes of the nation are on them, even while conservative and liberal activists groups are out there really preparing for a huge PR war. Let's listen to Senator Chuck Schumer and John Kyl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), SEN. JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: There's no question that Judge Roberts has outstanding legal credentials, and an appropriate legal temperament and demeanor. But his actual judicial record is limited to only two years on the D.C. Circuit Court. For the rest of his career, he has been arguing cases as an able lawyer for others, leaving many of his personal views unknown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON KYL (R), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I suspect that people who are very skeptical about his views will bore in, in every way possible to get any kind of hint from him that they can about how he might rule in a future case. Expressing his view about a case, fine. Expressing how he might rule in the future without knowing the facts of the case, a much different question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The Senate will go out on recess after the end of next week, and they'll have a long recess, during which time there will be an opportunity to take a second look at his record -- all with a view toward trying to get him on the court before the first Monday in October.

Back to you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Joe Johns on the Hill. Judge Roberts will be making the rounds today, as we said. He will start his day with breakfast at the White House, and that's where we find CNN's Bob Franken.

What do you think, Bob? Tough confirmation battle ahead? It sort of seems it could go either way.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Democrats are going to be doing their research. The liberal interest groups are going to be doing their research, to see if they really can put up in a graceful way a very tough battle. They're going to have to decide whether this is a battle worth fighting. John Roberts comes to the process as somebody who has bipartisan support in Washington. He's been part of the establishment here, the legal establishment here, for much of his life, and he has friends on both sides, all sides of the political spectrum. And the president is counting on that. After he had spent the day and his people had spent the day pointing us in frenzied ways in the wrong direction, the president finally pointed to John Roberts.

The whole process started with an interview last Thursday of Roberts. Now the president had known John Roberts for some time. As I said, they've both been in Washington throughout much of their adult lives. Roberts then went off to London, where he was teaching a law course, but then the president called him. While he was lunching with the Australian prime minister, he made the announcement. He called him and said, OK, you're going to be the guy. Meet me at the White House. And they had dinner last night. They're having breakfast this morning. Roberts is going to need a lot of energy, because he's going to be spending a lot of time on Capitol Hill today, and then a lot of the summer defending his record, trying to be confirmed by the time the Supreme Court reconvenes in October -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Bob.

So who is John Roberts? He is currently a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. You know that much. He has argued 39 cases before the Supreme court, more than any sitting justice ever did. He is considered a strict constructionist. You've heard that term a lot. It means essentially he interprets the Constitution pretty literally. Roberts clerked for Justice William Rehnquist. He was a lawyer in the Reagan and first Bush administrations. Both his bachelors and law degrees are from Harvard. He is 50 years old, born in Buffalo, New York, raised in Indiana, married with two children, a boy, four, and a girl, five. Friends describe him as a devout Roman Catholic -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And we're going to be talking much more about him throughout the morning on AMERICAN MORNING.

But now to another big story this morning. Right now Hurricane Emily is making landfall in northeast Mexico. The eye of the storm crossing over the coast within the last 30 minutes or so. The category-four hurricane is packing 125-mile-per-hour winds and higher gusts. Parts of south Texas already seeing battering wind and rain. A high storm surge and isolated tornadoes are possible there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at what's happening on the ground. Chris Lawrence is on South Padre Island, Texas. You heard Chad mention that. Randi Kaye is in Monterey, Mexico. Let's head first to Chris. Southern Texas spared a direct hit from this hurricane. So I can see what it's like, though, now, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, a lot of people here on South Padre Island and across South Texas very, very happy right now that we did not catch the eye of this storm, because it is still pretty strong here. We'll get these incredible bursts of wind and rain, then it will die down to almost nothing, and then the bursts come back again. And each time, they seem to be getting stronger than the time before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): This is what it looked and sounded like on South Padre Island as Hurricane Emily hit land. The winds started gusting hours ahead of the storm, making some families think twice about sticking it out.

CLAIRE BLAND, STAYING PUT: We were at the third story of the house down there, and it already sounds incredibly loud, and I had to stop and think, do I really want to do this?

LAWRENCE: Just 100 yards from the ocean, Netabeth Bryant didn't want to chance it. She put her mattresses up on the bar, filled her sinks in case the water goes out, and headed for higher ground.

NETABETH BRYAN, LEAVING HOME: If we do have a tidal surge, this place could be underwater. So I think I want to get out of here.

LAWRENCE: Police allowed people to leave the island Tuesday night, but closed the only bridge to incoming traffic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Now, the winds got so bad earlier this morning, topping 50 miles an hour, that they completely shut that bridge down. So anyone who is here on the island is going to have to stick it out here. But so far, we've still got power, we've still got water, which is a lot more than you can say for some of the other hurricanes that have hit the United States over the last couple years -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You got that right. Thank you, Chris.

CNN's Randi Kaye is in Monterrey, Mexico, a city of over one million. She is right in the path of the storm. She joins us now live via videophone.

Randi, have there been evacuations there?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

They were asking folks here to evacuate yesterday. They do it the old-fashioned way here. They were going door to door in the low- lying areas of Monterrey. Those are the areas along the Rios Santa Catarina (ph). That's the main river that runs right through the heart of Monterrey. They were giving them flyers. They were asking the residents to evacuate their homes in those areas by 8:00 p.m. last night. We're not sure if they did. But they do know what is coming, because of what Gilbert did to this area back in 1988, and left 260 people dead and billions of dollars in damage and massive, massive flooding -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Randi Kaye in Monterrey, Mexico this morning. Stay with us all morning for continuing coverage of Hurricane Emily. CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, more on our top story, John Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court. We'll ask Senator Ted Kennedy what he thinks about the pick. And we'll also be joined by CNN's senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin. He'll tell us how Roberts could affect the balance of the court.

And later, another big story: the heat wave baking much of the country now. We're looking at how people are coping in these dangerous temperatures. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We return now to our top story. President Bush's nomination of Federal Circuit Judge John Roberts to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. What makes the battle over Roberts so pivotal for all Americans? Joining us now to tell us, CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Howdy.

COSTELLO: Lawyers love this guy?

TOOBIN: You know what, I mean, he -- In a field that's sort of obsessed with credentials, this guy may have the best credentials in America, just Harvard College, Harvard Law Review, Supreme Court clerkships, the White House counsel's office, solicitor general. He is -- he does have sort of the dream resume.

COSTELLO: Yes, dream resume, but he's only served two years on the appellate bench.

TOOBIN: Well, that -- but, you know, he's young, which obviously makes him appealing to the president because the president can have a justice serve for 30 years, you know, if he lives a normal lifespan. So, you know, he's got a lot to offer a lot of different groups who are involved in this process.

COSTELLO: And a big plus for the president because he's only spent two years on the bench, is nobody really knows what he'll rule in very controversial issues.

TOOBIN: What makes him perfect in that regard is everybody kind of really knows in some sort of subterranean way that he's very conservative, but Democrats will have a hard time saying, look what he wrote here, look what he said here, because there's very little in the way of a record.

COSTELLO: Let me read you something from the "L.A. Times." This an analysis of John Roberts, Judge John Roberts. "He is described as low key and assiduous. Compared with the other candidates Bush was considering, he almost seems a little boring."

TOOBIN: You know, boring is not the worst thing in the world if you want to get confirmed by the Senate.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

TOOBIN: Sometimes, you know, they talked about him as bland. I mean, you know what, are you going to vote against someone because they're bland?

COSTELLO: It's happened before. Maybe not in a Senate confirmation hearing, though.

TOOBIN: That's right. You could lose a job that we have if you're bland, but you know, it's not one that you're going to lose as a judge.

COSTELLO: Do you think people really care?

TOOBIN: Yes, I do. I mean, I think, you know, you're talking about issues like abortion, affirmative action, posting the Ten Commandments, church-state. I mean, those are issues that affect people at a gut level. And especially with the Supreme Court at, you know, such a close -- so closely divided. You know, I think people do care, and they should.

COSTELLO: Well, something that President Bush said in his speech before he introduced Judge John Roberts to the public, he talked about judges who won't be activist judges per se. I'm not quoting him directly. But that resonates with people, don't you think?

TOOBIN: Well, I think there is some resentment against judges who create rights out of nowhere. I mean, there has been a reaction against courts saying that there's a right to gay marriage when the legislatures and states have not said there's a right to gay marriage. That is sort of the definition of activist judging, and you can be certain that John Roberts is not going to find a right to gay marriage in the Constitution.

But I think, on the other hand, people also want their rights protected. They want a certain right of privacy. That is very popular when you ask about it. Keep the government out of everybody's personal business. So that's the line that he's going to have to walk in a confirmation hearing.

COSTELLO: A final question, when he's before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearings, I know that Democratic senators will ask him very tough questions. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when she was on the hot seat there, didn't answer a lot of questions. She was still confirmed. Might he do the same?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. These judges, soon to be justices, is an art to evading questions in a polite way. They all do it. Some answer more than others. Robert Bork, who was rejected in 1987, many people thought the reason he was rejected is that he was too candid about his views, which were extremely conservative. That's when the Senate was in Democratic hands. The Senate is now in Republican hands. The odds of building up any momentum against Roberts based on what we know now, unless there's some terrific skeleton in the closet, seems very unlikely.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thank you -- Miles.

TOOBIN: All right, carol.

O'BRIEN: Staying on our top story, Senator Ted Kennedy joins us live. He twice voted against Judge Roberts' nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals. We'll see what he has to say about Mr. Roberts now. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Representatives from both parties have praised John Roberts' legal qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court. You heard Jeff Toobin. He called it the dream resume, but several Democrats cautioned his record will be thoroughly reviewed. Well, it should be. It is the Supreme Court. Is the stage now set for a confirmation battle in the Senate? Senator Ted Kennedy is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a veteran of past confirmation fights. Senator Kennedy joins us from Capitol Hill this morning.

Good to have you with us, sir.

SEN. TED KENNEDY (D-MA), SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: You have voted against Judge Roberts in his current positions. Why? And do you think your vote will be different this go round?

KENNEDY: Well, first of all, it's important to know that with a Supreme Court nominee, we're really talking about the rights and liberties, the progress that we have made as a society over a period of the last 40 years, and even before that.

The real issue in these hearings is going to be, Judge Roberts is on whose side? Is he going to be on the side of the polluters, or is he going to be on the side of protecting our environment? Will he understand the progress that we have made on the issues of civil rights? Will he understand the progress that we have made with the Americans with Disabilities Act? That the Congress actually had the power to provide progress for those that have some disability. Workers rights, women's rights. These are the issues that we're going to be questioning the judge on. The American people, bottom line want to know whether he is on their side, or whether he's going to be on the side of the special interests and the corporate interests, and that's going to be the...

O'BRIEN: Well, those are all good questions. Do you have any answers to all of those questions this morning?

KENNEDY: That is really -- the fact is we do not have those answers. It's really an open slate. This process is working now. I commend the president for making the nomination. Now this process is going to move ahead in the Judiciary Committee. In a few weeks, we'll have the opportunity to question. Those are the -- it's really a blank slate there. He's a person of a distinguished achievement, and accomplishment and academic achievement, but his slate is pretty blank on this, and the American people want to know whether they are going to have someone who is going to protect their rights and liberties. We've made enormous progress on civil rights, on disability rights, on workers' rights, on the issues of the environment, and American people do not want to go back on those areas. And today no one really knows where Judge Roberts is on those, as well as the issues of women's rights. So those are the issues that are going to be -- he's going to be questioned on during the course of the hearings.

O'BRIEN: If we were having this interview 20 years ago, the subject would be Robert Bork, and, of course, I think the day after, you had some very strong things to say talking about, yes, Robert Bork's America with back-alley abortions and segregated lunch counters, very strong statements. You are much more conciliatory this morning.

KENNEDY: It was very clear at the time of Judge Bork. We all knew exactly where he was coming from and what his position was on each and every one of those issues. He was nominated because he had those positions on those issues, and it was important the American people understood it. That is not the same situation with this nominee. We have to get and find out about that. That's why these hearings are very, very important. I think they'll be constructed to be positive. They'll be fair and open. I think all of us will learn a great deal. That's certainly the atmosphere that I'm going into the hearings on.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this, he, coming in with so little of a paper trail, as it were, does that make it more important for him to ask very specific and direct questions? And what are the specific and direct questions that you need precise answers to in order to vote for him?

KENNEDY: Well, the basic, overall concept is his view of the Constitution and the constitutional rights and constitutional liberties, and his basic concept about fairness in this whole process. But as I mentioned, each and every one of those areas, on civil rights, workers' rights, environmental rights, women's rights, we have made enormous progress over the period of these last 40 years. Are we going to have a judge that's going to sustain that progress or try to reverse it? On the court at the present time it's evenly divided. We saw Sandra Day O'Connor be the key vote that was out there to try and bring this country together on issue after issue on that. And we want to know whether this judge is going to be that kind of a jurist or not. That's basically, fundamentally, what the hearings will be about. I look forward to them. I'm sure that the American people will learn a great deal from it.

O'BRIEN: Senator Ted Kennedy, thanks for your time. Appreciate it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: On the business front, developments emerging from the first Vioxx trial. Did Merck try to target doctors who were against its drug? Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer. She's "Minding Your Business" with more. Really?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an amazing story, Carol. You know, Monday began the trial for Merck in front of a jury. What we're talking about here is the drug Vioxx. It's a painkiller. Even Merck's own study shows there were problems and increased risk for heart attacks and strokes for people who took Vioxx, which you're seeing right here.

Now yesterday in the trial we heard from a Merck epidemiologist talking about the drug. She was presented with information from the plaintiff's attorney which showed an e-mail which said that the company targeted 36 doctors to, quote, "neutralize." The plaintiff's lawyer told the jury that doctors were to -- the salespeople were to bring them into the fold, neutralize or discredit these doctors who did not use Vioxx.

COSTELLO: Well, how were they going to do that? I mean, how do you neutralize a doctor?

WILLIS: Well, among the recommended tactics in this e-mail, weekend consultant's meetings in elegant locations like New York, Hawaii, trying to encourage these doctors to use this drug.

COSTELLO: So bribery?

WILLIS: Well, I guess you could say that. Of course, it's not uncommon in this industry for salespeople to use all kinds of tactics to convince doctors to use their drugs.

Now, you should know the scientists told the jury there was nothing sinister in what was being done, that this was, in fact, a common practice, and what they were trying to do was educate the doctors. But again, the doctor in the case that we're talking about yesterday actually increased his use of this drug over time after being contact by salespeople.

COSTELLO: It's easier to be convinced on a Caribbean island, isn't it?

WILLIS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Gerri Willis, thanks -- Miles.

WILLIS: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Well, you heard just a moment ago what Senator Kennedy had to say about John Roberts, fairly conciliatory tone. Up next, we'll hear from the man who will actually guide the Supreme Court nominee through the confirmation process. Does he see a tough battle ahead? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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