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American Morning

Washington Reacts to Supreme Court Nomination; Hurricane Emily Strikes Texas, Mexico; Heatwave Sweeps Across U.S.

Aired July 20, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: A story that's been breaking all morning: Hurricane Emily, making landfall, packing powerful wind. And the pounding rains over the next few hours could bring the worst damage. We are live in Texas and in Mexico.
Another miserable day of sweltering heat across much of the U.S., hot enough to kill in some places. We are watching the forecast.

And President Bush and Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, already working this morning to clear a path toward confirmation. We're live in Washington with a look at the battle lines on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Good morning to you, I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us.

CAROL COSTELLO, CO-HOST: We certainly are. I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad.

Also ahead, getting a lot of reaction this morning, the Supreme Court nominee of John Robert, setting the stage to the battle ahead.

Actually, Arlen Specter has just begun to speak. We expected this to happen. Let's listen in.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: So the record that he brings is an extraordinary record.

I've heard my colleague, Senator Leahy this morning on National Public Radio and agreed with his approach that we need to proceed with fair hearings and full hearings. And I was pleased to see the Democrat leader, Senator Reid, note that the credentials were credible and that we now had to examine during the course of the hearings to see that he believed in freedom, justice and equality.

And I think that is exactly right, which is the place of the United States Senate on the advice and consent function. Now we move to the issue of consent, to have very, very detailed hearings.

I was a little disappointed to note in the morning's press that NARAL has said Judge Roberts is unsuitable and a divisive nominee with a record looking to disrupt the rule of law. I was just perturbed to see that. I hope that the rhetoric will be low, to give Judge Roberts a chance to be heard.

And I can assure you that the hearings will be full, fair, and complete. And that the 18 members of the judiciary committee will have a full opportunity to examine Judge Roberts and in some detail.

I believe that it is appropriate to ask about the jurisprudence. You've heard me say before that I do not think it appropriate to ask how a nominee will rule in a specific case. Judge Roberts has written some 60 opinions, and we'll be looking those over in some detail. I think they'll be on the best-seller list by the afternoon.

I do not know all the details of Judge Roberts' record. I have met him in the past and know his reputation, but I was interested to see the "Washington Post" today conclude that he's dedicated, talking about Roe, and describing Judge Roberts -- described Roe as "long settled precedent."

We'll be going into that subject in some detail again now, not as how he will rule on a specific case, but his jurisprudence, what he thinks about precedence, about indecisives (ph), and the very important area, which Senator Leahy talked about this morning on National Public Radio, what is his view about respect for congressional enactments.

We have seen a wave of judicial activism, where the Supreme Court has declared acts Congress unconstitutional because, as the court says, Congress hasn't thought them through, which raises the question in my mind, who is -- who is the court to say the Congress hasn't thought them through and the court -- and the court has. So we'll be taking a very close look at all of that.

And the emphasis is on detailed inquiry, into Judge Roberts' judicial -- his ideas on jurisprudence, and we'll be doing that.

I'm sure there are questions. Yes.

O'BRIEN: All right. As it goes to questions, Senator Arlen Specter there, the man who will, after all, preside over the hearings which will be starting soon.

Let's turn it over to Joe Johns on Capitol Hill.

Joe, part of the story now kind of turns into a process story and how these hearings will unfold, witness lists, all this kind of stuff, which of course Senator Specter will be dealing with here. He was obviously very measured in his response right now on this morning. I guess that's appropriate now.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. A lot of Senators on both sides being measured right now, because this is a long process, as you mentioned, and we are only at the beginning of it.

It depends on who you talk to, though. I talked to Senator Barbara Boxer of California just a little while ago. She told me she's already seeing, quote, "red flags." Particularly in the issue of abortion. That's probably the big issue here in this nomination. In fact, Judge Roberts argued before the Supreme Court some time ago a case that hinged on abortion. And he talked about that in terms of the need to overturn Roe v. Wade.

He was asked about that in his confirmation hearing. Said in part, "I do not believe it is proper to infer a lawyer's personal beliefs or views from the arguments advanced by that lawyer on behalf of a client." Of course, in that case, the client was the federal government.

Some other senators, of course, as you said, being very measured, including Senator Edward Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's important to note 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 the period of the last 40 years and even before that. The real issue in these hearings are going to be on who -- Judge Roberts is on whose side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So there you have it. As I said, it's a long process and the Senate goes out of session after next week. They're going to be out for basically the whole month of August. During that time, staff will be going over his record and so forth with a view toward trying to get him on the bench of the United States Supreme Court by the first Monday in October -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: No vacation for the staffers. All right. Thank you very much, Joe Johns.

Bob Franken at the White House this morning. Bob, the president sounds very confident about his choice. But of course, that's the way you've got to approach these thing, right?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the president can only hope his staff properly vetted the man who he chose to be the nominee. Because to be perfectly blunt about it, the other side now is going to be doing what is politely called opo-research, translate, looking for skeletons.

But in the meantime, the president is proudly showing himself with his selection, John Roberts and the president having coffee in the White House today, making a walk across the way for cameras. So the president could show, as his press secretary said this morning, that he continues to plan to be involved, because this is one of the most consequential decisions a president makes. And now that decision moves to a phase two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATE: Judge Roberts is off to the Senate this morning to begin his consultations. I'm confident the Senators will come to realize what I realize. We're lucky to have a man of such wisdom and intellectual strength willing to serve our country. I'm also confident that the process will move forward in a dignified, civil way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Reporter: And attending this meeting's meeting, also various friendly senators and strategists who will be the constant companions of John Roberts, as he tries to move through tat delicate dance that will take him to confirmation. Of course, Miles, as we often know, that is not always such a delicate dance -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bob Franken. To say the least. Appreciate that.

So who is John Roberts? He is currently a judge on the U.S. circuit court of appeals for the District of Columbia. He has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court, more than any sitting justice currently on the bench ever did.

He is considered a strict constructionist, and that means he interprets the Constitution literally. Roberts clerked for Justice William Rehnquist, at the time not the chief. 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, raised in Indiana, married with two children, a boy, 4, and a girl, 5. Friends describe him as a devout Roman Catholic.

We'll have analysis of the upcoming confirmation process in just a few moments -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It won't be a delicate dance. I think Bob Franken was right.

O'BRIEN: No.

COSTELLO: On to our other big story this morning: Hurricane Emily. The Category 3 storm is thrashing the Mexican Gulf Coast. The effects are being felt hundreds of miles away.

At the center, winds are at least 125 miles per hour. South Texas now getting a soaking. That region expected to get between five and 10 inches of rain. Gusts right now topping 50 miles per hour. A tornado watch is in effect.

Of course, Chad's been monitoring all of it for us. So bring us up to date, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Look at the size of this thing, Carol. All the way from almost Corpus Christi, all the way down into almost Tampico, Mexico.

The eye came on shore, I don't know, about an hour and a half ago. That entire area is now sliding off toward the west, sliding off toward Monterey, Mexico. It's going to be a flood situation up here with this heavy rain blowing on shore.

There's the eye. You can see it ran over the barrier island right there and now it's actually on the mainland of Mexico. Farther to the north, the right front quadrant -- this is the strong side of the storm -- South Padre, right on down through Brownsville and into Harlingen.

Watch up here. And I'm being handed now a new tornado warning. That is for the city of McAllen, for southern Hidalgo County. And that is McAllen by 8:15.

Doppler radar indicated a storm that could produce a tornado near Donna, believe it or not, moving to the west, Carol, at 70 miles per hour. That's how fast these storms are rotating through. And that's why the winds are so strong, as well.

COSTELLO: Understand. Thank you, Chad.

Let's take a look -- let's take a look at what's happening on the ground. Chris Lawrence is on South Padre Island, Texas, Randi Kaye in Monterey, Mexico. Let's head first to Chris.

Any signs of damage?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we started to see a lot of the trees start to go down around here. Starting to see a little bit of damage in that respect, but no structural damage right now, which is the important thing. We haven't seen any roofs coming off, any of the other things that you might find in some of the hurricanes.

But a lot of people definitely trying to wait it out for the next couple of hours. These are probably some of the strongest winds that we've felt so far this morning. So there's a little bit of anxiety right now about how everything will hold up in this next couple hours.

A lot of people here that we were talking to felt if they could just get through about noon, everything would be OK. And if they got through noon OK, then they'd feel a lot better about this storm.

The rain has come and gone. We've seen just an incredible amount of rain for, like, a half hour to an hour. And then it's like somebody flips a switch and turns the faucet off. (AUDIO GAP) through the area here.

Right now, that's that ocean just churning up. I mean, we can look out there now, I can see that ocean just literally beating almost right up here to the hotel, right up to the deck. And that means it's also coming up right to the deck and right to the homes of the people who have built right along the beach here.

There will be some definite danger of some flooding from some of those storm surges. But most people say they're holding up well so far. They're just hoping they can get through the next few hours.

COSTELLO: We hope so, too. And we hope your hat stays on. I think you're going to have some more trouble with that, Chris. Chris Lawrence, live in South Padre Island, Texas.

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

Randi, are the winds picking up there now?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are, Carol. We've been out here since about 5 this morning, local time. And it was a beautiful morning. Well, it's certainly deteriorating. The winds are much heavier than they were before. And the temperature has dropped dramatically.

And as Chris was just saying, it's sort of the same thing with the rain here, very heavy, and then it weakens just a bit. But I'm told by Chad Myers back there in headquarters in Atlanta that this is just a very outer band and that we can expect things to get much, much worse here in Monterey, Mexico, in just a couple of hours.

The main concern here is flooding. That's what happened when Gilbert hit here back in 1988, left 260 dead in massive flooding. That's because we are on an inland area, surrounded by the Sierra Madre Mountains, which are about 14,000 feet around the city.

What happens, when Hurricane Emily arrives here, I'm told it will basically climb up the mountain and then just unleash all of the moisture that's packed into that storm down to the lower level areas here where we are in the center of the city. So it's basically like the equivalent of wringing out a dish towel or so.

But the river here behind me as well, this was dry this morning. This river is the Rio Santa Catarina. It goes right through the heart of Monterey. It was dry this morning. It's dry, actually, all the time except when there's a major storm. And already that river is starting to rise. There's now quite a bit of water down there. And during Gilbert it rose to 10 feet high and 150 miles wide. So certainly a concern -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Randi Kaye, live in Monterey, Mexico, this morning.

O'BRIEN: Well, as Emily lashes southern Texas and Mexico and Monterey, a massive heat wave grips most of the U.S. A closer look at the dangerously high temperatures.

COSTELLO: Plus, inside Tuesday's Supreme Court choice, a closer look at Justice John G. Roberts. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: President Bush's pick of Judge John Roberts for the Supreme Court sets the stage for a possible confirmation battle in the Senate. Just how big a fight will it be?

Joining us from Washington, CNN political analyst and columnist for "The L.A. Times" Ron Brownstein. Good to have you with us, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: You are saying this, that the president has threaded the needle. Explain that.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, as the lawyers might say, let's stipulate there will be a fight over John Roberts. In the modern political system, look, the armies are just, you know, mobilized on both sides. There's so much structural polarization built into the way we do business in Washington, there will be some level of fight.

The question is, what level of conflict? And there is the possibility that the president has found the nominee who effectively threads the needle.

Judge Roberts is well respected in Republican circles. He is conservative enough that you don't have the grumbling this morning from those in the core of the president's coalition that you would have had if you had chosen Alberto Gonzales, or even Edith Brown Clement, who was widely discussed yesterday.

On the other hand, Judge Roberts may not be nearly as tempting a target for Democrats as some of the more provocative choices the president could have made, like Michael Luttig or Edith Jones.

There isn't as long a paper trail on him. He's only been on the federal bench for two years. And he is extraordinarily well respected for his legal skills by lawyers on both sides of the aisle. So in both those ways, he reduces the target at the same time that he found a nominee acceptable to his base. That might qualify as threading the needle.

O'BRIEN: In short, how un-Bush-like could he be? I mean, this is a president who literally and figuratively never shirks from a battle or war. Why do you think he did this?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, I think it is not -- that's right; this is a president who has not been afraid of polarizing conflict. I mean, look at nominating John Bolton to the U.N. I mean, that's something you know that you're going to get a big fight about.

Here, I think he has done something that is quite sophisticated and nuanced. On the one hand, Judge Roberts seems to be, by most analysis, clearly more conservative than Sandra Day O'Connor and would represent a clear effort to shift the court to the right.

But he has done it with a nominee who would not be, as I said, the most provocative. And there's the sense here of trying to produce someone who will reduce the risk of a full-scale polarizing confirmation fight.

So in that sense, he's achieving, again, a kind of threading the needle between the goal of making dramatic change, while at the same time reducing your exposure to political risk at a time when your approval rate has been under 50 percent.

O'BRIEN: Well, and that, I guess, is the key point. The president normally doesn't do nuance, but maybe he needs to now.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. This was -- this was not the most provocative decision he could have made. I mean, there were people, clearly, who would have evoked even stronger reactions from the Democratic interest groups and Democratic senators.

This is someone who has the potential of winning enough support in the center that those last few marginal Democrats who really are at issue here. The question is not whether there's a majority for John Roberts in the Senate. I think every -- almost every Republican, certainly, if not everyone, will vote for him. The question is whether the Democrats can muster a filibuster.

And he has someone in Roberts who may be acceptable enough to those last eight or 10 Democrats, especially those who signed the deal on judicial confirmations last spring, that they would not be able to mobilize a filibuster and this happens without a full-scale, you know, DEFCON 5 political war.

O'BRIEN: So the filibuster deal, which was kind of cobbled together here over the other judicial nominees, became a huge problem just a little while ago, you think that will stay intact here? And essentially, what they agreed to was we will only filibuster if there is something -- not a philosophical issue but some sort of personal issue, some sort of impropriety. Do you think that will hold?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I don't know. But I think with Roberts you have a better chance of it holding. And it's interesting, Miles. Since what they said in the deal was, the Democrats said they would filibuster a judicial nominee only in extraordinary circumstance.

Now, as this has come closer, they've defined that a little further. Most -- several of them have said by extraordinary circumstances, they don't mean someone who is ideologically conservative, but someone who is a judicial activist, who would let their ideology override precedent. That will be the issue.

The other issue, of course, is going to be getting Judge Roberts -- can the Democrats get him on the record more on some of these issues. A big issue will be how much does he have to answer at the confirmation hearings about his views about existing law or potential cases?

That's one way the Republicans have already signaled that they don't believe he should have to provide a great deal of specifics. And Democrats are going to be pressing, in part because there is not that long paper trail.

O'BRIEN: I bet he's practicing his non-answers now, Ron Brownstein. Thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it. CNN political analyst, "L.A. Times" columnist, Ron Brownstein from Washington, of course.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come, chances are, it will be hot where you live today. A closer look at the dangerous heat wave across most of our country. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Much of the United States is in the midst of an unrelenting heat wave. Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada, all topping out well over 100 today. In fact, in Las Vegas, they set a record yesterday: 117 degrees. And they've had highs like that for more than a week now.

Elsewhere, from New York to Sacramento, we're looking at highs in the '80s and '90s.

Dan Lothian, live in Boston, where the current temperature at 9:25 Eastern, is 82 degrees -- Dan. It's not stopping there, is it?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. No, it isn't. Isn't summer fun?

Actually, it really is -- it really is a serious matter here. The Boston mayor has issued a heat alert. And he's opened up a lot of these cooling centers so that folks who don't have air-conditioning, need to get cooled off, can go to these areas.

He's also put out a health warning. As he put it, he wants everyone to have a healthy life during this very difficult time.

Expected to be a bit cooler today. But nonetheless, Boston and other parts of the country are in the middle of a heat wave.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): On the streets of Boston, the heat index might just be measured by how many scoops Peter Barkette (ph) serves up from his Italian ice cart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Try a free sample. It will cool you down.

LOTHIAN: With temperatures topping 90 degrees, public fountains, wading pools and beaches help the overheated cool down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it's this hot out, we have to be at the beach all day.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Heat advisories are in effect all over the place.

LOTHIAN: It's sizzling from coast to coast.

JERAS: The heat is reaching dangerous level across much of the northeast and the southeast, as well. LOTHIAN: In Phoenix, Arizona, the heat wave was blamed for 11 deaths since Saturday, where the mercury has hit 110 for nine straight days.

Air-conditioners have been a necessity. And when they break down, conditions are unbearable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like a sauna. Right inside your house. It was pretty incredible.

LOTHIAN: In Las Vegas, Nevada, triple digits since last week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been 115, 116.

LOTHIAN: All this heat is putting pressure on power grids across the west. In this California control room, managers work to shift electricity to where it's needed most.

North of the border, where it's also steaming, officials in Ontario have had to import power from other regions to keep up with demand. Everyone is being asked to conserve energy.

What's behind this extreme weather?

MICHAEL SCHLACTER, METEOROLOGIST, WEATHER 2000: What we're seeing right now is an upswing in certain ocean currents that are linked to the atmosphere.

LOTHIAN: Back at the ice cart in Boston, the whining index is rising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's too cold, they complain. And if it's too hot, they still complain.

LOTHIAN: Coping with the weather's mood swings, while trying to stay cool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Power officials here have placed crews around the region to respond quickly if there is an emergency. There's also using infrared devices to test their equipment. Obviously, they want to make sure that everything is in good shape to handle the high demand -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Understand that. Dan Lothian live in Boston this morning.

There is much more to come on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Ahead on "90 Second Pop"...

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: Another day, another transformation for Madonna. The material girl shows she's to the manor born in a new photo shoot.

Plus, Jude Law takes a cue from Hugh Grant and Russell Crowe. He says he's sorry for his bad behavior. But do public apologies cut it anymore? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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