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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama Bypasses Senate; Palin's Tea Party Talk, Bin Laden's New Threat
Aired March 28, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The waiting game timed out in Washington. Coming off his health care victory, President Obama bypasses the Senate on 15 administration nominees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: The Republican Party has taken a position where they are going to try and slow and block progress on all fronts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Osama bin Laden's new message threatening Americans.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, TERRORIST LEADER (through translator): My message to you is about our prisoners who are in your custody.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: The White House has a message for him, too. But top officials just don't agree on it. We check in with one of the few journalists that ever interviewed bin Laden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need a new pope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A Pope with a problem. Why there is growing concern Pope Benedict failed to protect more than 200 children. We travel to Milwaukee for a special "Faces of Faith."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And welcome to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING for the 28th day of March. Happy Palm Sunday to you. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Thanks for spending part of your Sunday morning with us.
And let's get right to our top stories.
Holy week for Christians begins this morning with Pope Benedict XVI celebrating Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter Square at the Vatican. It comes at an especially tough time for the Roman Catholic Church which is mired in a priest sex cover-up scandal in Europe.
HOLMES: Hopes are dimming for 46 missing South Korean sailors. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued shortly after their ship sank Friday night in the Yellow Sea. But since then, no survivors, no bodies have been found. The country's defense minister says the ship appears to have been split in half. The navy plans to salvage the ship in an effort to learn what happened.
CHO: Former First Lady Barbara Bush in the hospital this morning. Mrs. Bush is expected to be there for the next day or two for routine testing. It's not clear exactly what type of testing. But a spokesman says there is no emergency. A staff aide says the 84- year-old has not been feeling well for about a week.
HOLMES: And just when you thought things couldn't get more partisan, it looks like the divide between the White House and Republicans could be growing. President Obama is making 15 so-called recess appointments. These are appointments of some of his nominees who didn't get through the approval process. And he decides to go ahead and put them in place while the Senate is on recess.
One in particular, the guy you are seeing there, has really triggered some intense opposition. Now, this is the labor lawyer, Craig Becker. He has been nominated to the agency that oversees relations between unions and employers.
CNN's Candy Crowley asks the top White House aide about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Senators, Republicans, wrote to him and said, please don't do a recess appointment with Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. They think that he is a union plant, if you will. They think that he will do check card. They think he is bad for this board. And yet, the first thing the president did, of course, was to go ahead and do that recess appointment.
Was that necessary?
AXELROD: Well, he made a series of recess appointments because, Candy, we are in a position where the Republican Party has taken a position where they're going to try to slow and block progress on all fronts, whether it's legislation or appointments. Just to make the comparison, at this point in the Bush administration, there were five appointees who, on the floor of the Senate, who had not been approved when the president, that President Bush, made 15 recessed appointments.
We have 77 appointees who have -- who have not gotten a vote because they've been held up by the Republican Party. Some of them are in very sensitive positions in Treasury and Department of Homeland Security and on boards like the labor relations board that -- where there are a huge number of vacancies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we're going to explain this little more in-depth in about half hour. Our Josh Levs is taking a closer look at the nominees and give us more of an explanation about these so-called recess appointments.
And a look ahead to what President Obama has on his plate this week.
Tomorrow, he's going to be a credentialing ceremony for foreign ambassadors and then he'll host a Seder dinner that's marking the beginning of Passover.
And then, Tuesday, he'll sign the health care fixes bill that passed last week. Later, he'll meet with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House.
And then on Wednesday, he's giving a couple of speeches, including one on workplace flexibility.
Thursday, he's off to push his plan for health insurance reform in Portland, Maine. And then he'll attend a Democratic fundraiser in Boston.
And then, Friday, the president is talking jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina.
CHO: Well, the Tea Party express will make two stops in Arizona today, Phoenix and Flagstaff. It's all part of that well-publicized 44-city tour that ends in Washington on April 15th, Tax Day.
Yesterday, Sarah Palin stirred up the crowd during an appearance in Democratic Senator Harry Reid's hometown.
CNN's Jessica Yellin was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of people pulled into this small town of Searchlight, Nevada, many coming from out of state, to kick off a nationwide cross-country tour by the Tea Party Express. Folks here delivered their message that they want smaller government, the repeal of the health care law, and here in Nevada, the defeat of the state's senior senator, Harry Reid.
The big attraction for the day, of course, was Sarah Palin. She is a darling of the crowd, the movement's biggest rock star. And she delivered her message with force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: What is going on in our country? What is going in D.C.? Washington has broken faith with the people that they are to be serving. That's why here in Searchlight and across the country, we are sending a message to Washington. It is loud. And it's clear. And in these upcoming elections, we are saying that the big government, big debt, Obama/Pelosi/Reid's spending spree is over. You're fired.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, Palin also had a word for the media. She accused the press of mischaracterizing her comments, specifically, she said, when she indicated it's time for the movement to reload, she meant it's time to go out and vote, not to commit violence.
This whole event was held in Senator Reid's birth place of Searchlight, Nevada. And Reid gave a statement to CNN actually thanking the Tea Party activists for coming to his hometown, spending money here and stimulating the economy. But, he said, the election will be decided by Nevadans, not by folks from out of state.
Now, from here, the Tea Party Express rolls on across the country. It plans to end in Washington, D.C., on April 15th, Tax Day.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Searchlight, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: "You killed me guy. I'm going to kill yours." That's essentially the message we are getting now from Osama bin Laden. A new threat surfaced this week believed to be from the al Qaeda leader. In it, he vows to execute Americans if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is executed.
Mohammed is about to stand trial. He's accused of being the mastermind of the September 11th attacks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BIN LADEN (through translator): The day America decides to execute them, it will be responsible for our execution of every one of you we capture.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, Peter Bergen is our security analyst and one of the few Westerners to ever come face to face in an interview with bin Laden.
Peter, always good to see you here.
Some U.S. intelligence officials called the threat from bin Laden, this latest one, absurd. Does he have the ability to deliver on the threat he seems to be making now?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, you know, al Qaeda has executed Americans routinely for years. You know, one of the most well-known examples was the American Jewish journalist, Daniel Pearl, who was executed by al Qaeda in early February of 2002. So, this hardly represents a new shift in al Qaeda's doctrine.
Their ability to kidnap Americans, you know, probably they can continue to do that. But I don't think this is any big change in al Qaeda tactics.
HOLMES: You -- let me ask you then because you keep up with bin Laden and al Qaeda better than anybody out there. So, is there anything about this threat that stood out to you?
BERGEN: Well, no, I think, T.J., the main thing is this is sort of a proof of life; one of many proof of lives that bin Laden has continued to deliver. You know, he's 53. He doesn't have life- threatening illnesses.
And occasionally, he'll produce a tape that is somehow related to what is going on in the news. Obviously, the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the possible disposition of that trial, will it be civilian, will it be military. That's something that's been on the news.
Similarly after the Christmas Day plot, the foiled attempt to bring down Flight 253 over Detroit. Bin Laden commented on that. So, you know, these are not unusual -- these messages from him.
HOLMES: And you said proof of life. Is he trying to prove that he is alive to Westerners, but also prove it to his own troops?
BERGEN: I think perhaps -- a good question to you, T.J. -- I think perhaps more of the latter. You know, there's been some indication that people within al Qaeda are saying, you know, we need bin Laden to step up to the plate, what he's done lately, he needs to give us more direction. This maybe is part of it.
HOLMES: Now, as far as rallying the troops, why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? Is he also a pretty symbolic figure? You just mentioned there a second ago that, you know, that's just current. That's kind of what's in the news. But also, it's important to step up and say, hey, I'm taking up for my guy, someone who's come to be -- that they could rally around.
BERGEN: Well, certainly, what bin Laden says, is taken seriously by al Qaeda and other people in the jihadist militant movements.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has a certain amount of notoriety. But he has never really been the subject of a lot of al Qaeda propaganda. And so, you know, by making him sort of cause celebre on this tape, that does represent something of a new development, T.J.
HOLMES: Are we going to see this have any -- what impact would you say this latest statement is going to have?
BERGEN: I think very little, you know? Whether we're not going to -- you know, it's not going to have any impact on where the trial is held for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. That's a political decision that's being made at the White House, as we speak.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Peter Bergen for us this morning -- always helps us put these in perspective. We have to pay attention to these tapes. And sometimes, we have to remember what we have seen a lot of these and have to remember what the results of those were as well.
Always good to see you here with us on Sunday morning. You enjoy the rest of your day.
BERGEN: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right -- Alina.
CHO: T.J., thanks.
You know, we're watching the weather, of course. If you're traveling today, you may want to keep an eye on the eastern seaboard. There could be some delays. We're going to check in with Reynolds Wolf for details.
Plus, our Josh Levs finds out how the 2010 census will handle the homeless. Will they be counted?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: I was a little in to it there. We're back.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. We're so glad you're with us on this Sunday morning.
If you're traveling today, it could be dicey in parts of the Southeast.
HOLMES: If you're traveling, you are travelling.
CHO: I am travelling.
HOLMES: Trying to travel.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are revealing our secrets here. Yes. Yes, absolutely.
I mean, anyone that's going to try to get out of Atlanta today, you're going to -- you might have a few issues. In fact, the airport, there are already some delays. And the reason why is right here behind me.
Take a look at this map. You see this frontal boundary that's coming through. You have a little bit of a gust, you see some scattered showers that are popping up, a few impulse of energy just of Chattanooga. But if you look at this last little burst right about -- boom -- right there, just west of Jasper, Alabama. All of that is going to be coming through. That is the main frontal boundary. And when that frontal boundary comes through, what we can anticipate will be possibly more delays and later this afternoon into the early evening, you see that severe storms. You could see those in terms of severe thunderstorms, possibly some damaging winds, small hail, you could see some heavy rainfall, maybe even flash flooding in spots of poor drainage and low-lying areas. And you can't rule out the chance of maybe an isolated tornado or two.
Now, that's going to be limited at this time, it appears, mostly to Carolinas, Georgia, sliver of Tennessee, and possibly even central and south Florida. But when you make your way up to the eastern seaboard, scattered showers can be expected from, say, the nation's capital, even to New York.
Now, Atlanta, for the time being, as we take a look at a live image, you will see some rain drops out there. Again, rain drops all over the place. There goes the windshield wiper right there for the lens. I guess the lens wiper be a better -- a better thing to call it. And you can see the low clouds. More of those can be expected on the way.
Meanwhile, the rough weather yesterday was across parts of the Central and Southern Plains. But today, it's going to be much better. High pressure is building in, very calming effect on the atmosphere.
Out to the west coast, it's very good for southern and central California and the Great Basin. Once you get north of San Francisco, into Portland and into Seattle, rain can be expected. Some snowfall into the Cascades.
Your temperatures along the Cascades, pretty cold high up. But down at the bottom like, say, near Seattle, 57 degrees, 63 in San Francisco, 80 in Los Angeles, 57 in Kansas City, 61 in Atlanta, 79 in Miami, and 51 for New York.
That is a wrap on your forecast. We've got more coming up straight ahead here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. See you in a bit.
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(MUSIC)
CHO: You're up.
HOLMES: You are now.
HOLMES: You need a little a Pitbull to get you going in the morning.
CHO: Welcome back, everybody.
Everyone counts. You know, that's the goal of the U.S. Census, of course. But, you know what? Some people are harder to count than others.
HOLMES: Yes. The homeless, even those who live on more unconventional means, they still need to be counted. But they make it pretty tough for the census workers out there.
CNN's Josh Levs is here with more on the story and why this is so important.
Good morning to you, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, guys.
Yes, it actually is very important because we're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars that the U.S. government distributes across the country based on what it finds. And in some cases, that can have a real impact on the homeless in America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE DOMMER, LIVES IN LAS VEGAS TUNNEL: We come into our living room area. Table here, knick-knacks and stuff.
LEVS (voice-over): When we met Steve Dommer last year, he proudly showed us the living space that he shared with his girlfriend, Kathryn.
DOMMER: Everything is kind of up if you had (INAUDIBLE) -- everything is up on milk crates, simply, because we have a lot of water running through here.
LEVS: But it was not intended to house either of them. They were homeless living in tunnels that divert flood waters beneath Las Vegas.
DOMMER: We're wandering into total darkness.
LEVS: As Dommer gave us a tour of the tunnels, he turned his camera light off to show us the pitch black where he lives.
When it comes to the number of homeless in America, the U.S. Census is also in the dark. It tries to count everyone living in the U.S., including people who do not live in conventional housing or who are experiencing homelessness.
"IRON," LIVES IN LAS VEGAS TUNNEL: This is where I sleep.
LEVS: He calls himself "Iron."
"IRON": It's a blanket on the ground to stay off the ground, cushions, some pillows.
LEVS: The homeless have no address and get no mail. If they choose to be counted, they will have to find homeless shelters, soup kitchens, or Census Bureau assistance centers to fill out forms, or be at the shelter on the day census workers come to take a tally.
Matthew O'Brien, author of "Beneath the Neon," has a charity that helps get housing for the homeless and takes social workers underground. MATTHEW O'BRIEN, AUTHOR, "BENEATH THE NEON": They've been offering these people everything from housing to mental health counseling to drug counseling, or whatever they would need. I've always thought that more should be done.
LEVS: More will be done if more people are counted. The higher the number of homeless in the census, the more government services are provided.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: You know, I've been following the census now for weeks. And, by the way, credit is where it's due. Our producer, Nesta Distin, has really been looking into that and gathered a lot of the research there.
And I'll tell you, what's interesting is you saw some people there who are really struggling beneath Las Vegas and we have an update for you on this. Steven Dommer and Kathryn actually have an apartment. They got one through O'Brien's local charity.
And the man there you saw named "Iron," who goes by "Iron," he's still living in that tunnel.
Now, homeless people will be counted by census workers nationwide coming up March 29th, 30th and 31st. It's coming up right now this week.
And the last census in 2000, they noted limitations to counting homeless people. And they actually believe that the count last time around, guys, 10 years ago, was inaccurate.
CHO: I mean, that's -- that's not much of a surprise, right, Josh?
LEVS: Right.
CHO: You know, I would imagine that it's really, really tough to count the homeless. Do we even have any sense of how many homeless (AUDIO BREAK)
LEVS: -- statistics. The Department of Housing and Urban Development -- they say there was one night in 2007 when about 670,000 homeless people were counted across the country in this big project. The Congressional Research Service had said it could be over 2 million. But now, we also have a new factor, which is this economy, right?
And we have a lot of states that are saying that because of this economy, the number of homeless is actually on the rise right now. It's increasing -- which it makes it all the more important that people get information right now and ultimately get represented to get those billions from the government for services.
CHO: Josh, thank you.
LEVS: You've got it. Thank you.
CHO: Time now for a look at our top stories this hour.
Pope Benedict XVI is marking the start of the Christian Holy Week. The Pope is presiding over Palm Sunday services this morning at St. Peter Square in Vatican City. Holy Week will end next Sunday with Easter celebrations.
HOLMES: Do you have Butler and West Virginia, in your bracket in the Final Four? Sure you did.
But we got two of the four, and the underdog of this tournament has just been interesting. But we had two of the four who made it to the Final Four yesterday. Yes, West Virginia beat Kentucky, Mighty Kentucky. Finally, they start looking their age, Kentucky, last night. And then Butler, of course, over Kansas State.
We're going to find out tonight the last two. It's either going to be Duke, Baylor, Tennessee or Michigan State -- the last two to make it to the Final Four.
CHO: Which means another late night for T.J., watching television.
If you watch -- if you drive, rather, a General Motors vehicle, you may want to listen to this story. The carmaker is recalling 5,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana passenger and cargo models. The recall affects vans that were built over the past two months. G.M. says the problem appears to be a faulty alternator that can cause the engine to catch fire. So far, though, no accidents or injuries have been reported.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: Well, it's easy -- seemingly, at least. You don't want to do it. But some just throw in the towel. They give up on your dreams in the middle of a bad economy.
What do you? But there is one man who's determined to fight on.
CHO: That's right. We are talking about an amateur boxer that used to be an electrical engineer, that's until he turned his passion for the ring into a viable business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL DELGADO, GYM OWNER: My name is Paul Delgado.
I got into boxing when I was 12 years old.
My dad took me to a local boy's club.
I just fell in love with the club. I saw a lot of little kids doing it. I was fighting a lot in school and my dad told me that boxing would be a good outlet for me.
And I started off kind of rough. I started off with two losses early in my career at 12 years old. But I never quit. That's what boxing instilled in me as an adult, is a "never quit" attitude.
I've always had good footwork. You know, I'm of black descent. So, we like the salsa and dance. So, we've got good feet.
I actually was one of the only college students that didn't have a roommate. But instead, I had a punching bag in my room.
And I trained and got ready for the golden gloves to represent New England in my dorm room, and won it both years.
Keep the hands up. Don't drop them.
I got my engineering degree. I did that for about five years early on in my career. And it was just difficult.
Duck, duck, duck, hit them with the hook. Get out of the way. Excellent. Good job. Roll, roll --
There are a couple of boxing programs around the city, actually two gyms. And I realize I was doing this for everyone else and just wasn't being rewarded for it. And I was putting long hours and decided that it was time to do it for myself.
My wife had lost her job. At the time, I had -- I had -- I had left my job and we just pretty much jumped in deep water. So it was definitely scary.
We're missing somebody here.
I believe in this economy here and the only way that we've been able to make it is because we kept our overhead real low. It's a family-run business -- myself, my wife. I got a couple of independent trainers that work for me as well.
Four, three, two. Good. There you go. Let me see you pivoting on your toes.
My advice is: jump out and do it. This is the right time to do it. Find your passion and go after it. You know, this is the time. You know, small businesses can really come out of this tough economy that we're going in and really rise to the top.
Good work. Good work. Good work, brothers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And coming next: a Pope with a problem. Why there is growing concern Pope Benedict may have failed to protect more than 200 children. We are traveling to Milwaukee for a special "Faces of Faith."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Hello again, everybody. Welcome to back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING on this Palm Sunday. It's 8:30 Eastern. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho.
A lot to watch this morning; let's get to our top stories.
At least 321 people dead. More than 250 kidnapped including at least 80 children. Human Rights Watch released those grim numbers from a previously unreported massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It happened last year, the Lord's Resistance Army is said to have carried out the attack over four days in December. CNN cannot independently confirm the reports.
The TEA Party Movement resumes its cross country tour this morning. The party kicked off its 44 city tour with Sarah Palin as the headliner. The former Republican vice presidential candidate stirred up some anti-Obama sentiment during an appearance in Democratic Senator Harry Reid's hometown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Washington has broken faith with the people that they are to be serving. That's why here in Searchlight and across the country, we're sending a message to Washington. It's loud and it's clear and in these upcoming elections, we're saying that the big government, big debt, Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending spree is over. You're fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The TEA Party Express is headed to Phoenix and Flagstaff later today.
And civil rights activist Dorothy Height remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition. That's despite rumors to the contrary. Social media sites yesterday posted some report saying, the civil rights icon had died. Close family friends even called CNN to help clear up the story. Height was admitted to a hospital earlier this week; she just turned 98 years old.
HOLMES: Well, today, of course, Palm Sunday and marks the beginning of a Holy Week leading up to Easter. The Catholics' one of the most revered times of the year. And as congregations across the globe prepare for one of the holiest days, many of them have questions: questions about their faith, questions about their church leadership and questions about the way the Catholic Church has handled the recent priest sex abuse allegations.
I want to turn you now to CNN's all platform journalist, Sarah Hoye who joins us not by phone from Milwaukee this morning where she's been talking with members of a local church. And good morning to you Sarah and there's a specific reason you are in Milwaukee, because this whole sex abuse scandal has now landed at their front door. SARAH HOYE, CNN ALL PLATFORM JOURNALIST (via telephone): That's right, T.J., many locals are in Milwaukee are having to deal with the unearthing of these recent documents relating to a Milwaukee priest accused of molesting students in the '50s, '60s and '70s.
So I came here to get a sense of what local parishioners were feeling. I spent part of Saturday at the St. Alphonsus Church on the city south side. Now, before Saturday evening's mass, I had a chance to speak with a Father Alan Jurkus.
Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATHER ALAN JURKUS, ST. ALPHONSUS PARISH, GREENDALE, WISCONSIN: You want to realize, it's a different ball game now; that you have to really look at it as a legal matter and not just a moral matter. And for people who knowingly and willingly violated the law, there has to be some kind of accountability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOYE: Now, Father Jurkus leads a pretty large congregation. And as you've just heard, he is trying to balance morality with accountability.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a crime. These people should be in jail. They shouldn't be anywhere else. And it goes all the way to the top. We need a new Pope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've very saddened by it. At the same time, it saddens me, because I feel we're losing sight of the good things that the Catholic Church has done and continues to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOYE: Now, that was one of the parishioners who wanted to give her opinion as to what was happening in the recent headlines.
HOLMES: Well, how large of a congregation are we talking about there in Milwaukee?
HOYE: This is a pretty big church here, T.J. There's nearly 7,000 members at this congregation. And they have mixed emotions about this situation.
HOLMES: All right. Well, we need to -- on their mixed emotions there, I am sure you're hearing the gamut there. And we do want to tell our -- our viewers here that we reached out. We heard from the Catholic Church. They responded to the case in Milwaukee involving Father Murphy who is now deceased.
The Vatican says it did not know about the case involving him until 20 years later. Also the Archdiocese of Milwaukee released a statement. Well, I'm going to put this up and read to hear it. It says, "Murphy's actions are criminal. We're sincerely apologize -- we sincerely apologize to those who have been harmed. The Archdiocese in Milwaukee continues to reach out to victims and survivors who are harmed by Lawrence Murphy and encourages them to report any abuse they suffered".
So that story continues and again, our Sarah Hoye there reporting for us from Milwaukee. Sarah, we do appreciate you this morning. We'll be checking in again with her as she continues her reporting from there -- Alina.
CHO: All right, T.J.
The new health care reform line, you may be surprised as just how many young people are actually talking about it. Students are sounding off. And we are listening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back.
A controversial recess appointment, the growing partisan divide in Washington, Sarah Palin and TEA Party, just three of the big topics Candy Crowley will be touching on in less than 30 minutes on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION".
HOLMES: Yes. She joins us right now as she always does on SUNDAY MORNING for the sneak peak. Good morning, Candy. And man, after that health care fight, nothing bridges a partisan divide like a recess appointment, does it?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Yes, exactly. Yes it's -- the hits just keep on coming. And in fact, one of the people we have on today is the president's senior advertiser, David Axelrod. And it's -- I ask him and this is such an in-your-face thing to do. The president knew that Republicans specifically had written and said, "Please don't make this a recess appointment."
And by the way, this particular appointment, a man named Craig Becker to the Nation Labor Relations Board, has been controversial with some Democrats as well. And to put that in as a recess appointment is -- certainly doesn't bode well for future cooperation if you thought in the first place there would be any.
CHO: Candy, what did you think about Sarah Palin's appearance yesterday? More style, less substance, a little of both? She certainly fired up the crowd.
CROWLEY: She did. And that was the point. And the pictures were great.
And listen, if you are thinking about running for president and we could discuss that all day long as to whether she is or she isn't, this is a great place to be. You're in front of adoring fans. They don't care what she says. She could read the phone book as they say and they would love her. And to have her sort of kick off this movement and the next sort of visible things that they do is exactly what they want. She is a fave and she proved yesterday why she remains one.
CHO: Candy, you know, she's got a show on Discovery to worry about first.
CROWLEY: Yes, that's right but I don't think that's a heavy lift for her.
HOLMES: Now, what kind of -- we're talking about the heavy lifting, how much -- if she -- how much is this movement going to help keep quite frankly the fight alive over this health care bill? We thought it was over and done and now that it's been signed. We'd move on but that's not going to be the case.
CROWLEY: Well, it isn't. But a couple of things to remember, first, when we look at our polling -- and this has been consistent for some time -- health care is not the top priority of Americans when you ask them what will most influence your vote. They talk about jobs and the economy.
So I think you're going to see a pivot here. I mean, the health care reform debate is pretty new. And also, remember, that the overarching theme of the TEA partiers has been big government. And obviously, the health care reform bill now law, they believe fits into that overall theme; that it is the government overreach, I mean, all of their arguments.
So I think people see them to begin to pivot and health care will be an example of what they believe is happening with the Obama administration.
CHO: And that's absolutely right. A way to sort of say, listen, you need to keep more of your money. Let's cut taxes. Right?
CROWLEY: Right. Exactly. It's about the tag and April 15th is coming, as you know. And that's a -- that's a big TEA party time.
CHO: It is. Candy, thank you.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
HOLMES: All right and you can keep it right here. Of course, she is coming up in just about 19 minutes, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Pacific. Right here on CNN, it's Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: People are still reading the polls out there and if you look at some of the latest Americans appear to be more positive about health care reform, from a week ago at least.
CHO: Yes but then there are students who are really too young to vote. Right now most of them but they're going to inherit any additional cost for years to come.
Just imagine how they feel about it Carl Azuz, from Student News. He's here with a look at that. Hey, good morning.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: It's nice to see you both.
HOLMES: Hi there.
AZUZ: Thanks for having me.
We've had a lot of response from this, from students on this.
CHO: I can imagine.
AZUZ: And just like you've seen them on adults, students are divided. It's a very divisive issue and rather than protesting rallies on the steps of the capital, we are hearing protests and rallies on our blog at CNNStudentNews.com.
So one of the first things we wanted to do in our student audience, throw a quick poll out there and try to get a sense of where they stand, if they think health care reform is a milestone or a mistake. And you can see there from the quick poll, 60 percent of these students who've commented say, it's a mistake.
Now, what's interesting about this topic is they are personalizing it. We don't just have students repeating the talking points from the politicians they have seen. They are talking about how this might affect them and how this directly pertains to them.
And the first comment illustrates that. That one comes from a student named Shelby. And she's talking about how she is the daughter of a father who has been sick half his life. But the health care plan is a milestone for her. She goes on to say, "The only people who believe it's a mistake are those who aren't ill or who can afford great insurance."
But on the other hand, a moment ago, Alina mentioned debt. And that's what Carrie is concern is. She wrote to us saying that, she thinks we should be more concerned what this is going to do to the national debt. "If we increase that, what are the government officials leaving us with when it's our turn to make a difference?"
HOLMES: Wow.
CHO: That's very good.
AZUZ: So we did have a lot of students come out very strongly on both sides of this. And I know the thing is --
CHO: Do you know what the age range is?
AZUZ: Middle and high school students, mostly.
CHO: Interesting, yes. AZUZ: We do have some college students who watch and some people in military bases around the world. But mostly it's middle and high school --
CHO: They are incredibly astute.
AZUZ: They are -- it surprises us. You know, it's always a pleasant surprise --
CHO: I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Yes they're smart kids.
AZUZ: -- see how in tune they are with what's going on.
CHO: Yes.
AZUZ: They're brilliant. And you know, while some -- they said they had trouble reconciling the fact that Congress could do something without popular support. There were others who were saying, look, we're glad we're going to be on our parents' health insurance after college. So it's a deep divide among that student group as well as among adults.
HOLMES: Yes, a lot of them, are they getting their information, they're opinion essentially from their parents? Or are these kids collecting these information from reading on their own and watching their own?
AZUZ: We like to think they are getting a lot of it from CNN Student News.
CHO: Yes, of course they are.
AZUZ: Absolutely, but there is one thing. Maybe you guys can help me out with this.
CHO: Their source for news.
AZUZ: It is. There is one thing though, that I felt was really interesting is that on Facebook, students -- you saw the divide on CnnStudentNews.com, with about 60/40 split, 60 against health care reform. On Facebook, they were more strongly against it.
CHO: Why is that?
AZUZ: And I have no idea, I was going to see if you all had any theories as to why the Facebook crowd would come out maybe 80 percent, 75 percent, 80 percent against it.
HOLMES: Who is in tune? Who is using Facebook? Maybe that says something to us about who is using Facebook, maybe it's -- I don't know, a different culture, maybe under different influences. I don't know. That's a good question.
AZUZ: All those guesses sound good to me, T.J.
HOLMES: They're just guesses though. AZUZ: We don't know.
HOLMES: All right. Carl we appreciate you as always. Keep telling us what that other important group out there is thinking, the younger folks. Thanks so much. It's good to see you as always buddy.
AZUZ: Thank you both, you too.
CHO: Thanks Carl.
You know, making high-level appointments while the senate isn't there. Our Josh Levs will tell us about the president's plan. Hey Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there guys. Who is getting a recess appointment and what about this situation is unprecedented? I'll explain.
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HOLMES: The announcement came yesterday. The controversy came immediately after the announcement. President Obama is going to be making 15 appointments of nominees but these are recess appointments.
CHO: Yes. So-called recess appointments, how exactly does this work? Our Josh Levs is here with some answers.
So Josh, it is really about senators being away from work, right and the president taking advantage of that.
LEVS: Exactly. Yes. You guys remember under the Bush administration, there was a similar controversy for a while. Some people raising questions about appointments he wanted to make during the recess. And a lot of this has to do with the very founding of our country, the Constitution, the way our government works.
Let's start off with the basics here from Congressional Research Service. The president and the Senate share this power to decide -- we're talking the highest level of political appointments in the nation, major federal positions.
The president does have the right to unilaterally fill one while the Senate is in recess if the spot is vacant. And then, that appointment doesn't last forever. It expires at the end of the following Senate session.
So that's what we are looking at here. The president looking at a handful of cases in which he says, "These vacancies matter. I feel like I need to fill them right now." Or he wants to get them in and he is using Senate recess as an opportunity to do that.
Now this is pretty striking. You know our partners at time.com have written about this as well. Mark Halperin has a piece up there right now and this is a quote from that. And he says, "Obama administration appointees have faced an unprecedented level of obstruction in the Senate." And he gives the number here. He says at this time in 2002, President Bush had five nominees pending on the floor and he says President Obama has 77 nominees pending on the floor. So they have gone through the committee. They are at the point of being at the floor -- obviously, a larger number there.
And also, I'll just tell. The 15 nominees President Obama intends to recess appoint have been pending for an average of 214 days. So it is a substantial bit of time.
There is one person I will mention to you. We have been talking about him throughout this hour. It's already a big controversy. I know Candy is going to talk about it more next hour. This is about Republicans and business groups denouncing Obama's appointment of Craig Becker to a national labor relations board.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called it a partisan move. But you know, a lot of Democrats are supporting this. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says these appointments basically combat a Republican effort to stall Obama's nominees.
So Alina and T.J. -- there is the big picture.
Right back to you.
CHO: All right. So Josh, who are some of the other nominees?
LEVS: Oh, yes. You know what? I will mention one. This is an interesting one. A Bersin (ph) -- I think we have a photo of him as well. This is someone who -- let me make sure we get this right -- Alan Bersin, Commissioner -- he's up for Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
And the reason that's a good one to look at is it's a reminder that when we talk about vacancies in the government that can be filled through recess appointments, it is not something that applies to every single position in the whole government, it's just the highest level vacancies that there are, that are political appointees.
And also, I encourage to go to cnn.com to see a lot more. If you go to cnn.com right now, on the main page, you're going to see this story right here about these recess appointments. We actually give you a long list of who he is talking about, what their background is and where they come from, all of it; cnn.com.
And of course, I am just going to say it because it is true, latest source and best source for all your political news all the time guys, of course, cnn.com/politics.
CHO: I know it's David Axelrod you saw there on the screen who will be with Candy Crowley at the top of the hour on "STATE OF THE UNION".
LEVS: From Candy tonight. That's right.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks Josh. We'll turn to what the President's going to be doing this week. What's he up to? Tomorrow, he's going to be attending a credentialing ceremony for a foreign ambassador. Then he's going to be hosting a Seder dinner. You remember he did this last year as well. The time was believed to be the first Seder dinner ever hosted by an American president. Of course, it marks the beginning of Passover.
Then on Tuesday, he'll sign that health care fixes bill that passed last week. Later he'll meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House.
On Wednesday, he's giving a couple of speeches including one on work place flexibility.
Thursday, he's off to push his plan for health insurance reform in Portland, Maine. Then he will attend a Democratic fund raiser even in Boston.
Then on Friday, the President will talk jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Now, you remember the so-called party crashers, the president's first state dinner and two people showed up that weren't supposed to be there.
CHO: Remember the Salahis. Yes.
HOLMES: Of course, everybody does.
CHO: The infamous Salahis. Well, surprise, surprise, they have a new role on television.
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HOLMES: The Salahis crashed a party and they crashed their way into a TV deal, it appears. The Salahis if we must remind you, the couple who slipped past White House security and made it to President Obama's first state dinner last November.
CHO: Now remember, they never revealed exactly how they got in but a gig on a new reality show may get them to open up.
Here is Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. and Mrs. Salahi.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their adventure gave the Secret Service a huge black eye and within a few months, the White House social secretary lost her job. They refused to testify to Congress about their actions. And a source close to the couple tells CNN, Michaele Salahi's own mother got drawn into grand jury hearings.
But it now looks like Michaele and Tariq Salahi are getting rewarded for crashing President Obama's first state dinner back in November.
The political news Web site, "The Daily Beast", reports the Salahis have landed roles on the Bravo Network's upcoming reality TV series, "The Real Housewives of D.C."
Howard Kurtz of "The Washington Post" and CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" says, "so much for accountability."
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Undoubtedly, some people will not want to watch this Bravo series, because they don't think the Salahis should be rewarded for their behavior. But there probably will be enough other people who are just kind of interested or curious about these people who have become celebrities thanks to us in the media. They will tune in. That will probably help the box office for Bravo.
TODD: A TV crew from Bravo was videotaping the couple as they pulled up to the White House that night. But contacted by CNN, a spokeswoman for the network said there would be no comment on the show's cast until a schedule is announced. She offered no timetable for that saying they are still in the middle of production.
The Salahis attorneys would not comment. Our efforts to reach the couple through media representatives they'd hired were unsuccessful.
The Salahis have denied crashing the state dinner but they have never produced a written invitation. A grand jury has convened in the case calling among others, the owner of the Washington salon where Michaele Salahi spent several hours before the White House event.
ERWIN GOMEZ, SALON OWNER: I value their privacy. And that is the most important thing for me.
TODD: Since those proceedings, there has been no indication that the Salahis face charges. CNN legal analyst, Lisa Bloom --
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I don't think they will be prosecuted. Four months has passed. I would have expected an arrest to have been made by now if it was going to happen.
RODD: Bloom says if the Salahis are charged, it would probably be for trespassing, a low-level offense she doesn't believe would bring them any jail time and therefore wouldn't interfere with their apparent reality show gig.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY" coming up at the top of the hour.
Thank you, Alina, for being with us this weekend. We are going to get you on that plane and get you back to New York, no doubt about it. If it doesn't work, plane rentals. CHO: Always glad to be here.
HOLMES: We're going to give you a couple of top stories today here we hand it over to Candy Crowley.
Holy week, of course, is beginning. Pope Benedict XVI celebrating mass at St. Peter' Square outside the Vatican. Especially tough time right now for the Roman Catholic Church mired in priests' sex abuse scandals in Europe also ensuing accusations of a cover-up.
Also first lady Barbara Bush in the hospital this morning for some routine testing; not clear what tests Mrs. Bush is having but a spokesman says there is no emergency here. They do expect her possibly to be in the hospital another day or two.
Candy Crowley, big show coming up in just a couple of seconds. "STATE OF THE UNION" starting right now.
