secret cia program from them. now there's growing pressure on the white house to act. plus, did the former vice president break the law? our answers ahead. and she may be leaving office at the end of the month. but alaska governor sarah palin says she is not quitting politics. along with an upcoming book, palin says her future plans could include supporting democrats. we'll explain that one straight ahead. just hours from now, president obama's supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor heads to capitol hill to begin her senate confirmation hearing. >> it should provide plenty of political drama as well. democrats are confident she'll become the first hispanic justice on the supreme court. right now, republicans are poised to hit hard on a number of different issues. cnn's bri anna keilar is in washington following it all this morning. what can we expect today as the hearings open up? >> as you know, sotomayor has been studying up in a small office next to the white house for weeks now preparing quietly for these hearings looking at

every aspect of her past. this is an historic moment and one that her colleagues say she is ready to embrace. sources close to judge sonia sotomayor says she has felt overwhelmed at times by the intense scrutiny but also surprisingly upbeat about her moment in the national spotlight. >> i hope as the senate and american people learn more about me, they will see that i am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. >> reporter: the white house and senate democrats want to highlight that experience. her own personal story. growing up in a bronx housing project where her mother raised two children alone after sotomayor's father died when she was 9. her ivy league education, stellar legal career and how she would make history as the first hispanic justice. >> it's a step forward for the country. having someone who is in a permanent lifetime appointment

at the highest levels of government who has this background, both economically and ethnically, is a big deal. it's a moment. it is a step forward where we have accomplished something as a nation. >> reporter: democrats have the votes to easily confirm sotomayor. but republicans promise to raise tough questions about her past statement that a wise latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. her views on gun control, property rights, abortion and her ruling as an appeals judge against white firefighters who claimed reverse discrimination when exams were skrapd after too few minority applicants didn't score well. they've advised five high court nominees as a top reagan and bush aide. his advice -- >> don't embellish. don't, you know, shovel. the senators have great shovel meters because they've experienced that for years. tell it straight.

tell it the truth always. be prepared for the one question you don't want to be asked because everybody doesn't want to be asked some question. >> coming up at 7:00 a.m. eastern, we've got some amazing access. we will take you right on to the floor of the hearing room where sonia sotomayor will begin her historic confirmation process later today. >> looking forward to that, brianna. the confirmation hearings could last all week. here are some of the highlights you could expect to see. today at 10:00 a.m. eastern, each of the 12 democrats and seven republicans on the senate judiciary committee get ten minutes to make their opening remarks. judge sotomayor will then be sworn in and make her own opening statement. tomorrow, each senator gets 30 minutes to question the judge. that's when we really begin to see potential fireworks here. alabama senator jeff sessions is really the one to watch here. he's like three take on a

prosecutorial role as the ranking republican on the committee. minnesota's newly sworn in democratic senator al franken will also question judge sotomayor. on wednesday, sotomayor supporters like mayor michael bloomberg will testify. the committee will hear from critics like frank ricci, one of the firefighters that lost a discrimination suit before sotomayor. the supreme court reversed her ruling last month. do you want judge sonia sotomayor's nomination to the supreme court? head to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. cnn is the place to watch the confirmation hearing. full coverage on air and online. it all starts at 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning. kiran? >> there's a big debate going on this morning after's discovery of a cia counterterrorism program that was kept secret from congress since 2001. the order to keep turned wraps, stoed have come straight from former vice president dick cheney. now some democrats are calling

for an investigation and republicans are firing back accusing the left of playing politics. our jim acosta tracking the story live from washington this morning. so a lot of buzz over this one. what are the new developments this morning, jim? >> well, kiran, the law basically requires the cia to brief congress on its activities. so the question raised by this latest revelation involving former vice president dick cheney is whether laws were broken. and if so, what then? in a closed door hearing late last month, cia director leon panetta told the senate intelligence committee he just terminated a secret counterterrorism program. so sensitive the panel was told that during the bush administration, former vice president dick cheney himself had ordered the cia to conceal it from key members of congress who hear top secret briefings. the so-called gang of eight. >> he did brief us, and in the course of the briefing, he did say, because i believe somebody

asked a question as to why it was never reported to us, that the vice president had given the directive that the program not be reported to the congress. >> reporter: the matter has once again put cheney at the center of a heated debate on the limits of white house powers. >> there is a requirement for disclosure. it has to be done in an appropriate way so it doesn't jeopardize our national security. but to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal. >> to somehow suggest it might have been improper for the president or vice president to keep an important program secret, i mean, that happens every day. >> reporter: little is known about the secret program, only that it was initiated after the 9/11 attacks and that it may never have been fully operational. former cheney counselor and cnn contributor mary matalin accused the obama white house are disclosing the program out of pure politics. >> every time they get in trouble, which the president's poll numbers are slipping, and

his health care and global warming initiatives are under assault, they dredge up a darth vader story. >> reporter: but it's a story that comes as attorney general eric holder just might name a prosecutor to investigate the bush administration's harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects. something republicans would rather avoid. >> so the question is did they go too far in some of these areas? i hope that we don't feel -- the attorney general doesn't feel a need to go back into it? >> reporter: as for cheney, he could not be reached for comment, but members of congress are looking at changing the law to keep them in the loop. one proposal would expand the number of lawmakers who would be briefed on the cia's activities from 8 to 40, but so far, the white house wants none of it. kiran? >> all right. jim acosta for us this morning. thanks. here's a quick check of other stories new this morning. alaska's soon to be ex-governor sarah palin says she's not leaving politics after stepping

down later this month. page says along with plans to write a book, she's also going to campaign across the country for candidates who share her political views, and those candidates could include democrats. >> we're also minding your business this morning. gas prices looking like the silver lining in these tough economic times. this morning they are down again for a 22nd straight day. right now the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas, $2.53 a gallon. >> and bruno scoring big at the box office. sacha baron cohen's latest comedy taking in more than $30 million over the weekend. "ice age: dawn of the dinosaurs" held on to second place while "transformers: revenge of the fallen" fell from first to third. it's 8 1/2 minutes now after the hour. taking its rightful place

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welcome back. it's 11 minutes after the hour this morning. a quick check of some of the new stories. duval patrick, massachusetts's governor, take iing a stand. park officials warned the cuts could force them to close two zoos and put down more than 200 animals. patrick yesterday accused zoo animals of creating a false and inflammatory scale. vice president joe biden's wife is having surgery in a few hours to relieve some shoulder pain. j jill biden will have the procedure done in philadelphia and will be released later today. the vice president will spend today and tomorrow with her in delaware. lance armstrong remains soiledly in third place this morning after the ninth stage of the race. today is a rest day for the cyclers. armstrong is already eyeing next year's race when a reporter

asked him if this could be his last time through. he answered probably not. maybe one more tour. >> he's doing well. only eight seconds off the lead. and really playing in his favor. the alps are coming up. they just went through the pirniece. the alps are coming up and the second stage is called the giant of provance, this huge mountain. he's such a great mountain climber, he can put a lot of time into some people just before he wraps it up. we'll be watching this closely. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor takes center stage on capitol hill. the senators examined her legal history and attempt to divide how she would rule from the highest ghourt the land. she's expected to be confirmed easily. so what can we expect from the upcoming week's worth of hearings? joining me, karen finney, and ron christie, republican strategist. ron, let's start with you. there's some division in the republican ranks over how these hearings should progress.

some think it's an opportunity to energize the base by going after her hard. there are a lot of republicans who say, wait a minute. we're trying to make this a bigger tent. we don't want to alienate hispanic voters and women's groups who want to see her confirmed. what's the best strategy here in approaching these hearings for the next few days? >> good morning. i think the best strategy for republicans and democrats alike is to look at the justice, to examine her record and treat her with the dignity and respect she deserves. i think that there will be plenty of opportunities for republicans and looking at her judicial opinions and looking at her judicial philosophy to ask questions as to what sort of jurist she might be if she's elevated to the bench. i think it will be a long process. she should be given a fair voerkts an opportunity to express herself but this should not be an opportunity for people to turn this into a partisan witch hunt on either side. >> you heard it's going to be a fair process but it will be a thorough examination of her judicial philosophy. any potential pitfalls? any problematic issues in the

next few days? >> i hope that the republican members of the committee were listening to what ron was just saying and, indeed, we do have a fair -- because i agree with ron. it should be -- it's one thing to ask tough questions. let's hope they are thoughtful and fair questions. look. i think what you're going to see from the judge is a very thoughtful person. someone who is, you know, pretty strong law and order judge. this is a woman who 98% of the time has voted with the mainstream. about 94% of the time those were unanimous decisions. so what she needs to do is really talk about her judicial philosophy. i'm sure she'll be asked questions about specific cases and a number of different issues. and she's got to give a sense of her thinking as a lawyer and as a judge. and i think she'll do great. this is a woman who has faced any number of pretty high obstacles in her life and conquered them. >> one particular case that comes to mind is the new haven firefighters. that one is certainly going to come up. and the "boston globe" talked

about all of this and republican strategy. ron, let me put this to you. it said "republicans on the senate committee plan to portray her as apart from the mainstream on racial issues. the strategy intended to send a message to president obama in deciding future nominations. think twice before picking a liberal. gop spokesmen acknowledge somewhat opening they are unlikely to derail sotomayor's nomination, so they're instead looking ahead to the appointment battles to follow." do you think that's an accurate reflection of the strategy? >> i don't think so. i think republicans are looking at this particular nominee and her philosophy and opinions and the "boston globe" mentioned the ricci case. that is one specific area where republican and democratic members on the judiciary committee can ask her, will she interpret the law, will she look at the institution and uphold that evenly without looking at particular gender or racial identification? so i think the ricci case will give members and the american public, most importantly, the opportunity to hear how she might rule in the future. >> the thing i would add to

that. i think this morning what we'll get the opportunity to hear oh, this week we'll get the opportunity to hear, again, what was the legal thinking behind that decision? there's been a lot of hyperbol ne the media and blowing this as racially motivated. let's hear what the law said. what was the legal thinking behind that decision? >> let me switch gears here and pick up on the news about dick cheney, the former vice president in this secret counterterrorism program that we don't know a whole lot about. ron, do you think he's in trouble? dick durbin suggests that it could have been illegal what the vice president did. there are calls for an investigation. do you think he's in some hot water here? >> no. john, i think the notion that the president or the vice president of the united states had classified information should come as no surprise to anyone. i think every time the obama administration seems to get in trouble on intelligence matters, they say, oh, well, dick cheney did something secret or something. >> ron -- >> karen, i think it's true. it comes as no surprise.

director panetta disclosed a program that had not been taken off the ground, had not been initiated. when the facts come out, the american people have the opportunity to hear what the heart of the matter is the vice president, has usual, will come out just fine. >> i don't think the vice president, as usual, has come out so fine. part of the problem is that time and again over the last several months and years, things we were told by the bush administration turn out not to be true. unfortunately, the vice president seems to be at the center of a lot the -- of so many of these things. clearly a decision was made by vice president cheney that -- and he gave the order not to have congress briefed. i think that there are some serious implications to a lack of trust between, you know, the administration and congress if he felt they couldn't be briefed. i think that's an important question. he unilaterally makes that decision, and now we're hearing that potentially laws may have been broken. obviously, when leon panetta learned about this program he had a different point of view, and he believed that congress should have been briefed. >> quick last word, ron.

>> the only thing i can say is when you hear statements like clearly the vice president knew, clearly the vice president acted in a unilateral matter, i think the facts are clear, we don't know what the facts are, karen. rather than make this a political issue, we should wait to see how this comes out. >> we already learned the vice president was the one who ordered the cia. he made that decision. are you disputing that? >> at 6:18, the -- >> are you now the timekeeper? what is this? >> i think american people want to hear the president and vice president take steps to keep information secret to protect the american people. >> but we can follow the law and keep america safe. >> i think we have followed the law. and -- >> we'll find out. >> there was one -- >> i have to get in the middle. that's going to have to be the last word. it's 18 1/2 minutes now after the hour. good to talk to both of you. karen and ron, thanks so much.

♪ reach for the sky almost 22 minutes after the hour now. welcome back to the most news in

the morning. who says size doesn't matter? tall people apparently make more money than shorter people. studies in australia and here in the united states suggest that, on average, tall people make almost $800 more per inch. so if you do the calculation, someone who is 6 feet tall earns nearly 6 grand more per year than someone measuring 5'5". being tall builds self-confidence and that builds leadership qualities, two keys to build success. >> why are all the really rich hollywood actors like 5'5"? >> george clooney is not that tall. neither is tom cruise. >> tom cruise say lot taller than george clooney. >> you know, no. >> it's as it should be. tall people should be paid more money. >> what? >> i'm 5'8 1/2" and i think that's the way it should work. >> i felt bad looking at petey.

his face was falling during that. this is all averages. you, of course, can -- you are the master of your own destiny. >> you can fight back against the hedgeimony of tall people. >> christine romans is off today. so we have gerri willis in. >> goldman sachs, 3.48 per share. last quarter $3.39. goldman sachs does a lot of trading. risk taking is back and they are beb fitting from it. they are responsible for something like a quarter of all trading. trading in bonds, currencies, you name it. and interesting to see this company will have such a dramatic turnaround. as you know, they had $10 billion in t.a.r.p. money. they paid that back and they are back with a vengeance. they're going to share it with

employees as well. they'll put aside some $18 billion for compensation and benefits of their 28,000 employees. you do the math, $600,000 per person. and, of course, top producers make far more than that. so you can see people are going to get a lot of money this year. people out there thinking we gave you this t.a.r.p. money and now you're making billions and billions of dollars. >> what do they do with all the toxic assets? how do they get rid of them? >> i think they are still hanging on to them. >> the reality -- >> it's what rugs and brooms are for. >> put it under the rug. that's right. >> that's the problem in the first place, wasn't it? >> hiding your problems. >> if you remember, goldman sachs is sort of the legendary firm. hank paulson, robert rubin, two treasury secretaries that came from goldman sachs. lots of leadership in the financial world coming out of goldman sachs. and now they are back with a vengeance. in fact, some of the analysts expecting that even the $3.48 number could be beating.

they could come in with earnings of $3.90 a share. a lot of americans thinking, why can't you share some of that money since we shared with you. >> exactly. >> gerri willis, thanks so much. >> "minding your business." stick around. coming up in 15 minutes, anderson cooper's exclusive interview with president obama. he talked to him in ghana the other day. one of the big topics, the economy and whether the white house will get behind the idea of a second massive stimulus package. goldman sachs doesn't need it, though. 25 minutes after the hour.

welcome back. pennsylvania senator arlen specter has now asked the justice department to look into the philadelphia swing club that turned away dozens of black and hispanic kids from a day camp. was it a simple case of overcrowding or something more sinister? we're now hearing from some of the club's members and its leadership. susan candiotti with a follow-up to a story you saw first on "american morning" on friday. >> reporter: john, kiran, good morning. after a hastily called meeting sunday, the valley swim club voted nearly unanimously that it was time to try to work things out with the day care center. this after a deluge of media attention, racism allegations, even moving a scheduled swim meet. we've also obtained e-mails that indicate a war of words among club members. some defending their leadership. others saying they mishandled the situation. in the end, the swim club spokesperson told cnn it wants to settle the controversy. in her words, as long as we can work out safety issues, we'd

like to have them back. but the day care center's director is skeptical, as she put it, they should have done that before. those children are scarred. how can i take those children back there? some of the center's kids said when they showed up to use the pool for the first time, some club members made racist comments. the director apologized. he said he cancelled the group's contract because of overcrowding and nothing more. earlier, he said it was because the youngsters changed the atmosphere and complexion of the club but later explained it was a poor choice of words. the club said after being served with a subpoena for its records, like pennsylvania's human relations commission and getting legal advice, it was time to extend an olive branch. the day care center says they'll look over the offer when they get it and then consider it. john and kiran? >> susan candiotti reporting for us this morning. thanks so much. checking top stories. democrats on the hill leaning on the white house this morning. they want the president to launch new investigations into

the bush administration's counterterrorism policies. and the head of the senate intelligence committee, senator dianne feinstein, says former vice president dick cheney could be a criminal. there are allegations the former vp ordered a cia anti-terror program to be kept secret from congress. we also have a miraculous rescue to tell you about this morning. chinese officials say three minors have been found alive after they were trapped for nearly a month. 25 days these men reportedly licked moisture from the tunnel walls to survive. their mine flooded last month killing at least one person. 12 other men are still missing. china's coal mines are among the deadly nest the world. 3,000 people killed last year. state lawmakers in california say they might finally be close to a deal with governor arnold schwarzenegger to close the $26 billion gap in the state's budget. both republicans and democrats say they hope to reach an agreement by the end of the week. right now, state contractors and suppliers are getting paid with ious. republicans and democrats

taking aim at each other in a new round of ads online and on tv. and under attack, the president's stimulus plan and also the record of senate minority leader, republican mitch mcconnell. so who is telling the truth here? bill adare is the founder and editor of the website politifact.com. that's where we go to get the truth about a lot of this. he's checking the facts, breaking out his truth-o-meter from the washington bureau. good to see you. >> good morning, kiran. >> let's start with this ad. a tongue and cheek ad from john boehner where he was releasing the proverbial blood hounds to search and sniff out the stimulus money. let's take a look. >> in north carolina, they used stimulus money to hire one new state worker. his job? apply for more stimulus money from the taxpayers by the way of the federal government. >> all right. there you have it. so they used the money to hire one new state worker. and his job was to apply for more stimulus money. you ran that through the truth

meter. >> we gave this one a false on the truth-o-meter. it's not true. it's a great catchy phrase but it's just not backed up by the facts. there is, indeed, a city worker who was funded by stimulus money, but that worker is not applying for more stimulus money. that worker is overseeing the grant applications for a new police station and doing some other tasks. but it's not the way it's portrayed in the ad. that one gets a false. >> boehner has been hitting this, where's the stimulus money message pretty hard. he also said last sunday there hadn't even been one contract that was signed on a stimulus project in his home state of ohio. that turned out to not really be true either? >> apparently the "cleveland plain dealer" looked into this and found it's not true that there was some $50 million, $52 million in contracts under way. and this is why it's really important to check these things out. a lot of claims being made without a lot of attention to the facts. >> all right. well, next up we have another

ad. and this is the one that came from the dnc, the democratic national committee, and took aim at republican senator minority leader mitch mcconnell. we'll take a look at part of that ad now. >> when it came to supporting legislation to create and protect kentucky jobs, he said -- >> no. >> help for the unemployed. >> nope. >> health care for ken condition's children? >> no. >> fair pay for women? >> nope. >> there you got some pretty bold claims. what does the truth-o-meter say? >> a barely true. this one -- this is sort of a classic attack ad. it has a grain of truth in it. indeed, senator mcconnell did vote against the stimulus, as did most republicans in the senate and voted against schip, the children's health insurance program. and that's what the ad is based on. but there are many other votes he's taken where he supports helping people, helping the unemployed, helping children for health care. so this one gets a barely true.

it is sort of a deja vu. it's like we're back in the campaign again. >> and lastly, we want to check on a campaign promise. this is prt from president obama. talking about health care reform. he said he'd get everybody around a big table, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, insurance and drug companies. he said he wanted people to see who is on the side of, you know, your everyday patient and who is on the side of some of the political interest. let's listen to what else he said. >> what we will do is we'll have the negotiations televised on c span. the people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who is making -- who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. >> so this is a big issue. and as we speak, the president is trying to make a deal on health care legislation. are we going to see this c span bill? >> not so far. we have rated this a promise broken on our obameter.

there is just no sign of these big c span sessions he talked about. instead what we've seen is the same old, same old. a lot of things happening behind closed doors. and this is a reminder, i think, that as a candidate, then senator obama talked about changing the ways of washington and he's discovered as president that's not so easy. >> yeah, that's very true. all right. well, thanks for keeping all of them honest. you can read more about today's truth-o-meter. check out the entire political scorecard. bill, we'll see you next week. welcome to the now network. population 49 million.

right now, 1.5 million people are on a conference call. 750,000 wish they weren't. - ( phones chirping ) - construction workers are making 244,000 nextel direct connect calls. 1 million people are responding to an email. - 151 accidentally hit "reply all." - ( foghorn blows ) that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network bringing you the first wireless 4g network. - sprint. the now network. - ( whoosh sound ) deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. here's a quick check of the "a.m. rundown." we're tracking supreme weather right now at 6:45 eastern, we'll be checking in with reynolds wolf. then at 6:50, eastern, a potential deal to end the attacks on u.s. troops in afghanistan. pakistan's in the mix here. but there is a catch. we'll have more with michael ware. also at the top of the hour, senate confirmation hearings start today for president

obama's supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. we'll look back at her childhood in new york's housing projects and how it helped prepare her for the big day. meantime, president obama is back moem in washington this morning. before he left ghana over the weekend, he sat down for an exclusive interview with anderson cooper. >> he talked about the tour of the cape coast castle where african-americans were held before being sold into slavery. >> reporter: the president and his family arrived in ghana on friday. on saturday they came here to cape coast castle, ace place where enslaved africans were once held before being shipped off to the new world and shipped off to america. i had a chance to tour the castle with the president. first, we sat down and talked about the news of the day. vice president biden said you misread the economy. you said, no, no, no, we had incomplete information. nevertheless you said you would not have done anything differently. how? that seems contradictory. if you had known unemployment was going to go to 9.5%,

wouldn't you have asked for more money in the stimulus? >> it's not contradictory. keep in mind that we got an $800 billion stimulus package. by far, the largest stimulus package ever approved by a united states congress. and the stimulus package is working exactly as we had anticipated. we gave out tax cuts early so that consumers could start spending or at least pay down debt so they could at a later date start spending. we put in $144 billion to states so that they wouldn't have to cut teachers and police officers and other social services that are vital, particularly at a time of recession. and we always anticipated that a big chunk of that money then would be spent not only in the second half of the year but also next year. this was designed to be a two-year plan and not a

six-month plan. now it may turn out that the enormous loss of wealth, the depth of the recession that's occurred, requires us to re-evaluate and see what else we can do in combination with the -- >> possibly a second stimulus? >> there are a whole range of things, anderson, that we've done. the banks have stabilized much more quickly than we anticipated. they're not all the way to where we'd like them to be, but we've seen significant progress. >> you still see glimmers of hope? >> if you look at both the financial sectors, the ability of the businesses to get loans, the drop-off of volatility that's taken place, the general trajectory is in the right direction. >> after our sit-down interview, the president and i had a chance to tour the castle together. do you think what happened here still has resonance in america? that the slave experience still

is something that should be talked about and should be remembered and should be present in everyday life? >> well, you know, i think that the experience of slavery is like the experience of the holocaust. i think it's one of those things you don't forget about. i think it's important that the way we think about it and the way it's taught is not one in which there's simply a victim and a victimizer and that's the end of the story. i think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant is because whether it's what's happening in darfur or what's happening in the congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists. >> i also talked to the president about the personal impact of being in africa with his wife and kids. we'll have that tonight on

"360." >> you can see anderson's entire exclusive interview with president obama in africa tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. now 43 minutes after the hour. mom was diagnosed with moderate alzheimer's.

it was tough news to hear. everything changed. i didn't know what to do. right about then, our doctor mentioned the exelon patch. he said it releases medicine continuously for 24 hours. he said it could help with her cognition which includes things like memory, reasoning, communicating and understanding. (announcer) the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers or who take certain other medicine should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems, such as bleeding may worsen. mom's diagnosis was hard to hear, but there's something i can do.

(announcer) visit exelonpatch.com for free caregiving resources. there you go. a live look this morning at the space shuttle "endeavour" still trying to take off. tonight at 6:51 eastern, nasa will be trying once again to

launch the shuttle. bad weather forced them to scrub two launches over the weekend. "endeavour's" 16-day mission includes five space walks. they're also installing a space porch. how about that? for japan's kibo. >> i've had flights like that. delayed, delayed. >> reynolds wolf is checking the weather at the kennedy space center. pretty spectacular nightening strikes to get the shuttle grounded over the weekend. >> looking at again a chance of another coin toss. a 50/50 proposition. you can understand why they are so careful. you have the space shuttle with lightning strikes eight times hotter than the surface of the sun. not a combination you want to be dealing with with high octane fuel. a chance of some showers and storms. right now currently three big weather stories. first and foremost will be the strong storms we're seeing through the southeast. could cause delays in atlanta, maybe over to birmgham and even say tupe low, mississippi. that's what's happening now. later on today, the chance of strong storms across parts of

the midwest and into the mississippi valley could occur between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00. same story in the morn plains back into big sky country. however, when you get to parts of texas, you'll see hot. a lot of heat out there. they had temperatures with the heat index over 100 degrees. up to 115. just the surface temperature in dallas today, 104 out by the trade mart. we're just talking extreme heat. if you are taking the trip down parts of i-35 into austin, you'll be deal with the same thing. much more humid along the coast. 105, 106. pure misery during the summer. atlanta 81. 87 in washington, d.c. in new york for john and kiran, your high temperature today of 81 degrees. that's a look at your forecast. let's send it back to you in the studio. >> reynolds, thanks. could the united states soon be talking with mullah muhammad omar, the taliban leader? michael ware joins us from baghdad coming up next to tell us that it's a distinct possibility.

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coming up on nine minutes to the top of the hour. a story you'll see only on cnn. pakistan's military says it is in touch with the top taliban leader in afghanistan. and that they can bring him to the negotiating table to talk with american officials. the white house said to be considering the plan. our michael ware broke this

exclusive story. he joins us live from baghdad with the very latest. the white house's special envoy to the south asia region, holbrooke, richard holbrooke, said he sees this as being a step forward. the pakistani officials are in touch with elements of the taliban. we remember during the election campaign that then candidate obama said america has to talk to its enemies, michael. >> that's right, john. and this is quite potentially the first major development in what's going to necessarily have to be part of a political process that will eventually end this conflict in afghanistan because this conflict is not going to be won with bombs and bullets alone. the generals and the diplomats all agree on that. now the afghan president hamid karzai has been reaching out to the taliban. but the taliban are in their sanctuaries in pakistan. so the true hope for any kind of dialogue still lays or lies with

the pakistani military. and their acknowledgment that they are in touch with the top taliban leadership has been welcomed by the u.s. let's have a listen to what ambassador holbrooke told me just the other day. >> the united states supports any effort at reconciliation as long as the efforts at reconciliation include laying down your arms, accepting the constitution and, michael, i want to stress this, breaking with al qaeda. >> now, according to the man known as the godfather of the taliban, the former head of pakistan's equivalent of the cia, hamid gall, a man who has possibly decades long personal relationship with osama bin laden, also told us in a separate interview that such a break between the taliban and al qaeda may, indeed, be possible. john? >> what are the chances, do you think, that american officials might ever sit down with mullah

muhammad omar? he was one of america's most wanted. >> indeed, john, there's still a $10 million u.s. bounty on his head. but i can tell you that diplomats are telling me a list of at least four senior afghan commanders, that they are willing to talk with. and it just so happens that not only are they the most powerful commanders, but the same four commanders that the pakistanis say they are prepared to bring to the table. and, indeed, as to the white house, the obama administration's willingness to talk to this taliban leadership, again, the president's personal envoy said that the door is open. let's listen once more to ambassador holbrooke. >> let me be very clear. i'm neither going to rule out or rule in anything on such a hypothetical basis. and i'm not going to get drawn into speculation on an issue

this complicated. but i want to underscore existing policy that has been addressed by everybody in the u.s. government from the president on down. there is room in afghanistan for taliban people who have fought with the taliban, who are willing to participate in the political structure, who are willing to disassociate and renounce al qaeda and who are willing to lay down their arms. >> baby steps on what most likely will be a long road, john. but is this perhaps the first we've seen of a potential end to the conflict that has rapidly become president obama's war? john? >> fascinating developments. great job breaking that story. michael ware for us in baghdad. thanks so much. again this moerngs all eyes will be on capitol hill as sonia sotomayor, president obama's first supreme court nominee, gets ready for her confirmation hearings. we'll take a look from someone

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this is a live look inside the hearing room where those confirmation hearings are set to get under way in a couple of hours for president obama's first supreme court nominee pick. sonia sotomayor. we'll get a look inside the hearing room where she's going to sit and where the senators who will be questioning her from the judiciary committee are going to sit as well. brianna keilar will be joining us in a couple of minutes. it's 57 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. here are new developments in the brutal murders of a married couple known for their giving nature. known for adopting special needs children. authorities in florida now say the investigation is turning out to be, quote, something bigger than anyone first thought. here's cnn's david mattingly.

>> reporter: two men, leonard gonzalez jr. and wayne coldiron are the first to be arrest and accused in the brutal double murders of bird and melanie billings. authorities say expect more. >> we are looking for multiple suspects. >> reporter: escambia county sheriff david morgan will not discuss a possible motive. why anyone would want to kill the billings. known for their adoption of a dozen children, many with special needs, the couple was shot to death in what authorities still call a home invasion. but now it appears to be much more. >> we are very anxious to share this story with the citizens of escambia county and with the nation if you will. it's going to be a humdinger. >> reporter: from there the details being made public are few, but authorities are talking about a case far more complex than it first appeared. involving more people than just the three men spotted on surveillance video invading the

billings home. >> leonard patrick gonzalez sr. was also arrested, but he is not accused of being a killer. he's accused of tampering with evidence. allegedly attempting to conceal damage and paint this old red van, identified as the vehicle used in the billings' break-in. more suspects and arrests are promised in a case that has become filled with unexpected twists. >> this is like a movie script, all right? and the more we delved into this and work this case, the different avenues that it would go down. >> reporter: but no matter where this case turns it remains a senseless tragedy. a large family brought together by love and kindness now thrown into pain and turmoil. david mattingly, cnn, pensacola. that brings us to the top of the hour. it's 7:00 a.m. here in new york. welcome to "american morning" on

monday, july 13th. what's on the agenda. stars that we'll be breaking down. in about three hours time, history will unfold as the confirmation hearings for sonia sotomayor begin. democrats ha vie to votes to confirm her but republicans plan to use her own words against her. we're live in washington with what sotomayor can expect. >> some serious calls from capitol hill this morning. democrats leaning on president obam to launch new investigations into the bush white house after former revelations that former vice president dick cheney kept a cia anti-terror program secret from congress. two democratic senators, including senator dianne feinstein adding the former vp might have broken the law. jim acosta is tracking this one. plus, alaska governor sarah palin is all set to step down from office later this month. but she says she's not leaving politics and might even campaign for some democrats? find out why just ahead. first supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor headed for the

hot seat today. in about three hours she's going to face the senate judiciary committee. >> a lot of court watchers say her confirmation may be a slam dunk depending on how she does sd in the next few days. republicans are ready to hit hard with questions, and a list of witnesses and the nominees own words. brianna keilar is live in the hearing room where thafls will take place and all eyes will be on that spot this morning. good morning. >> good morning, kiran and john. when this confirmation hearing gets under way, this is where it will all begin. patrick leahy is a supporter. he'll be giving his opening statement. but we're going to be paying particular attention to what comes from this man, jeff sessions, as he lays the groundwork for the kind of objections we're going to be expecting from republicans throughout the coming days. and this right here is the seat. of course, the hot seat where sonia sotomayor will face this committee and talk about her personal story but also about the type of justice she would be on the supreme court.

sources close to judge sonia sotomayor say she has felt overwhelmed at times by the intense scrutiny, but also surprisingly upbeat about her moment in the national spotlight. >> i hope that as the senate and american people learn more about me, they will see that i am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. >> reporter: the white house and senate democrats want to highlight that experience. her own personal story. growing up in a bronx housing project where her mother raised two children alone after sotomayor's father died when she was 9. her ivy league education, stellar legal career and how she would make history as the first hispanic justice. >> it's a step forward for the country. having someone who is in a permanent lifetime appointment at the highest levels of the government who has this background both economically and ethnically is a big deal.

it's a moment. it is a step forward where we have accomplished something as a nation. >> democrats easily have the votes to confirm sotomayor, but republicans plan to raise questions about her past statement that a wise latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. her views on gun control, property rights, abortion. two of the firefighters will testify against her. ken duberstein has successfully advised five high court nominees at the top reagan and bush aide. his advice for sotomayor -- >> don't embellish. don't, you know, shovel. the senators have great shovel meters because they've experienced that for years. tell it straight. tell it the truth always.

be prepared for the one question you don't want to be asked because everybody doesn't want to be asked some question. >> just want to give you a quick peek behind the scenes. sonia sotomayor has suffered a fractured ankle right after being nominated. this is a bit of a contraption to support her ankle which gets uncomfortable. looks like it's made of a cushion, a binder, part of a stepping stool and some book tape here to keep her comfortable throughout the hours and hours that she'll be sitting right here in this hot seat. >> mcgyver made that, huh? binders and tape. at least they were thinking about her. pretty neat to get a look inside there. >> that say high-tech piece of equipment underneath that desk. >> hopefully the tape will hold. >> the naked truth. the inside look from brianna keilar. >> hey, budget cuts going on right now. >> you know how much they spent on putting that thing together? your kidding? it's the government.

>> judge sotomayor's hearings could last the week. we'll show you what to expect today on "a.m. extra." at 10:00 a.m., each of the senators. 12 democrats and seven republicans will get a chance to make ten-minute opening remarks. then judge sotomayor will be sworn in. she'll make her opening statement as well. then tomorrow each senator gets 30 minutes for their questions to the judge. alabama senator jeff sessions is the one to watch. he takes over as the ranking republican on the committee. also minnesota's democratic senator al franken will also get to ask questions. one of his first big duties since being sworn in last week. then on wednesday, sotomayor supporters, like mayor michael bloomberg of new york will testify. the committee will also hear from critics like frank ricci. he's one of the new haven, connecticut, firefighters who lost a reverse discrimination suit before judge sotomayor. the supreme court, of course, reversed that ruling last month. a lot to watch as the week goes on. today, mostly opening statements and we'll hear from her for the first time. >> fireworks probably start

tomorrow. it's the beginning of an historic journey for the supreme court. in order to bd what judge sonia sotomayor is really all about, it helps to see where she came from. our jason carroll joins us now with all of that. good morning. >> good morning. we wanted to reach out to someone who really knows her best. and that would be her younger brother, juan sotomayor. he says his sister has been working hard preparing for her confirmation hearings, but that's not unusual because he says she has always worked hard, even from a very early age. senators want to learn everything about supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor during her confirmation hearing. her brother juan remembers learning very early, his sister loved the law. >> it was indelible in my mind, and it was really one of the earliest memories we have. >> reporter: to explain, he walked us down memory lane in the bronx where they grew up in a public housing project.

up here on the second floor. >> where the air conditioner was the room my sister and myself shared. >> reporter: in the 60s where juan and his sister were growing up, she wasn't interested in watching the "munsters" or "bewitched." my sister forced me to watch "perry mason." >> have you ever seen this before? >> she knew she was going to be a lawyer. >> reporter: big dreams for the inner city girl whose parents came from puerto rico. the children lost their father when sonia was just 9. their mother who eventually became a nurse, a strong believer in education. >> my mom knew that education was the essence of realizing your dreams, getting out of your situation and moving ahead. >> reporter: sotomayor worked hard, earning top marks as early as elementary school. sharpening her skills at helping her brother deal with neighborhood thugs. >> my sister always used to have to come over and defuse situations. >> how did she do it?

>> she negotiated. >> reporter: her brother says she's ready for washington. even the senators who are going to be asking her stuff about gun control. they'll be asking her about abortion. >> she'll handle it the way she sees fit. she is her own person. >> reporter: since her nomination, critics questioned her intellectual depth. some called her a racist citing a speech she gave in 2001 as an appeals court judge saying, "a wise latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." >> we were raised to treat everyone equally no matter what color, no matter what race. >> reporter: juan sotomayor says his conversations with his sister focus on family and talking about growing up together. >> this brings back memories. >> reporter: like at the catholic school they attended or the job at czarro's bakery where they worked as teenagers. mingets sister's first job. >> reporter: he says his sister

worked so hard it was a tough act to follow. but it taught him something else. >> i decided right then and there i would never follow in her footsteps again. >> reporter: >> larry: that's true. he did not follow in her footsteps. instead of a career in law, he chose the medical profession and became a doctor. he will be at his sister's side in washington for the confirmation hearings just in case she needs a little moral support from her little brother. >> great you got him to come down to the bronx and walk around. >> all the way from syracuse. he's a doctor up there. an allergist. quite a good one. >> mom must be so proud. both of them. >> in all of the major steps in her life, she was mentored by -- which really shows the importance of mentoring people. >> shows the importance of mentoring. what he wanted to stress also was the importance of education on their lives. how much the mother -- their mother had made that a priority and how much it really carried them through some really tough times. >> starts in the home. that's for sure. jason carroll, thanks so much. we want to hear from you.

do you support judge sotomayor's nomination to the supreme court? head to our blog at cnn.com/amfix and let us know. cnn is the place to watch today's confirmation hearing all week long for that matter. full coverage on air and online at cnn.com/live starting at 10:00 eastern. also new this morning, alaska governor sarah palin says don't look for her to leave politics anytime soon. palin is leaving office on july 26th, but she told the "washington times" along with plans to write a book that she'll be campaigning across the country for candidates that share her view on limited governor, national defense and energy. and she would campaign for democrats as well. treasury secretary tim geithner on a mission overseas to reassure nations the u.s. dollar is strong and that the obama administration has a sound financial plan. today he meets with british prime minister gordon brown. tomorrow it's on to the middle east for talks with top government and business leaders from saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. >> and bruno scoring big at the box office. sacha baron cohen's latest

comedy taking in more than $30 million over the weekend. "ice age dawn of the dine saurss" held on to second. and "transformers revenge of the fallen has fallen from first to third.

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oh, yeah. could be hearing a lot of that in the next few hours. less than three hours from now, the historic confirmation hearing of judge sotomayor gets under way. could be must-see political theater. >> court of appeals is where policy is made, and i know -- and i know this is on tape and i should never say that.

>> well, much was made of that. for some perspective on the off the cuff comment, jeffrey toobin joins us from washington. the goal for the nominees here when they go before the judiciary committee is to say a lot but at the same time say nothing or not much of anything. john roberts who prepped sandra day o'connor back at a 26-year-old said the approach was to avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues likely to come before the court. >> since it's the supreme court, every legal issue in the world may come before the court. so say nothing. you know, arlen specter who used to be chairman of the committee liked to say that supreme court nominees say as little as possible in order to get confirmed. it's another way of saying the same thing. the judges want to stay out of trouble. they want to avoid creating new controversies. so, unfortunately, in my view, they really don't engage over the big issues that we know they

have feelings about, but they dismiss as possibly coming before the court. >> in fact in 1993, ruth bader ginsburg when she was being confirmed actually said, talking about -- i guess they were trying to figure out how she would rule from the bench. no hints, no forecasts, no previews. she refused to answer questions in vast areas. john roberts did the same thing a couple of years back. what sense can congress get about how they will rule from the bench? >> basically, you better look at their record. that's going to be the best guide to what their future performance will be on the supreme court. the hearings -- you definitely get a sense of their personalities. and that's not trivial. john roberts is an extremely engaging, very polished person. samuel alito is a shyer, more bookish type. and i think that you saw during their confirmation hearing. you also have a sense, for

example, about roe v. wade, the issue of abortion rights. roberts and alito were very grudging in their acknowledgment that it is a precedent of the court. democratic nominees, stephen breyer, ruth ginsburg, have been much more happy to acknowledge that roe v. wade is the law of the lan and gave the impression they had no interest in overturning it. that will be something to watch for today. >> they are going to focus, republicans, i guess, when they come after in the next few days on impartiality, i imagine they'll raise that new haven case, her wise latina proclamation, her role on the board of the puerto rican legal defense and education fund. her consideration of international law and try to iron out cases in the united states that are unsettled. is there any potential problematic areas, any pitfalls you see for her? >> you put your finger on the three key areas they are going to go after because they all sort of build together. that is her comment that a wise latina might make better decisions than a white man.

the frank ricci case, the new haven firefighter case involving reverse discrimination and the puerto rican legal defense fund, which is in fact, a very well respected group, but in the '80s took some positions that now look pretty liberal. the collective effect of those three factors, some republicans will argue, show that she has a bias in favor of affirmative action plaintiffs, identity politics. old-fashioned liberalism. there are very good arguments against that. there are many affirmative action cases or latina rights cases where she's voted for the defense. so she certainly will have an answer ready on those questions. but that's going to be, i think, the gist of what you hear from the republicans. >> looking forward to all of that coming up in the coming days. >> john, it's the nerd super bowl. i can't wait. i love this. >> all right. and you'll have a front row seat, i'm sure. >> absolutely. >> jeff toobin this morning.

jeff toobin, the author of 81 of the definitive books on the supreme court, "the nine." it's a great read. make sure you pick it up. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models.

♪ come on, baby make it hurt so good ♪ >> well, we all do it sometimes, right? say those colorful words that we're not really supposed to say. maybe you stub your toe getting out of bed or your boss gives you a new project on a friday

ash or somebody writes myrtle beach in a teleprompter when you are talking about charleston. if you let profanities fly you may have a higher tolerance for pain. our elizabeth cohen will have that story for us. >> interesting. an upside to the down side. >> could you stub your toe and you go -- you can get through the pain more. >> that's why we do it. it's like childbirth, right? what do women say to their husbands during childbirth? >> christine romans is off today. gerri willis is minding your business this morning. one little bright spot out there is gas prices. we've been paying less for gas lately. >> for a lot of us, it's a very big bright spot. the lundberg survey released shows a gallon of self-service regular gas, $2.55. it's down 10% from june 26th. and you guys remember the high, right? it was $4.11 almost exactly a year ago. we're now $1.56 lower than that.

that's the good news. makes it cheaper to do everything. get to work wherever you are going. if you are traveling by car this summer, that's good news as well. why is this happening? crude prices are down. why? because of the economy. the economy is not very good. not a lot of demand for gas and oil. let's take a look around the country. we'll show you about the highs and lows for gas prices. wichita, kansas, has the low at $2.26 a gallon. honolulu the high at $3.20 and atlanta, yes, $2.42 a gallon. big differences across the country due to taxes, transportation, things like that. >> all right. but still, we'll take it. >> we're happy to take it. >> nice it's going back down after it was going up. >> precisely so. >> gerri willis minding your business this morning. reports out over the weekend that the vice president had the cia keep something from congress. it was a secret counterterrorism program. is it true and what would it mean if he actually did? jim accost coming up.

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look at the supreme court. that's where judge sonia sotomayor hopes to be this fall after a confirmation hearing this week. partly cloudy, 73 degrees in washington right now. mostly sunny, high of 86 later on today. we'll be following those hearings all day today on cnn, cnn.com/live beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. a political bombshell has democrats calling on the white house to launch new investigations into the bush administration. lawmakers say they were told that vice president dick cheney kept a secret cia anti-terrorism program from congress for eight years. plus two democratic senators say the former vp may have committed a crime. jim acosta is following this from our bureau in washington. the law pretty clear on this,

right? >> it is. the law basically requires the cia to brief congress on its activities. the question raised by this latest revelation involving former vice president dick cheney is whether laws were broken. and if so, what then? in a closed door hearing late last month, cia director leon panetta told the senate intelligence committee he had just terminated a secret counterterrorism program. so sensitive the panel was told that during the bush administration, former vice president dick cheney himself had ordered the cia to conceal it from key members of congress who hear top secret briefings. the so-called gang of eight. >> he did brief us, and in the course of the briefing, he did say because i believe somebody asked a question as to why it was never reported to us that the vice president had given the directive that the program not be reported to the congress. >> reporter: the matter has once again put cheney at the center of a heated debate.

on the limits of white house powers. >> there is a requirement for disclosure. it has to be done in an appropriate way. so it doesn't jeopardize our national security. but to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress, is not only inappropriate it could be illegal. >> to somehow suggest it might have been improper for the president or vice president to keep an important program secret, that happens every day. >> reporter: little is known about the secret program, only that it was initiated after the 9/11 attacks and that it may never have been fully operational. former cheney counselor and cnn contributor mary matalin accused the obama white house of d disclosing the program out of pure politics. >> every time they get in trouble, which the president's poll numbers are slipping and his health care and global warming initiatives are under assault, they dredge up a darth vader story. >> reporter: but it's a story that comes as attorney general eric holder just might name a prosecutor to investigate the bush administration's harsh

interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects. something republicans would rather avoid. >> so the question is did they go too far in some of these areas? i hope that we don't feel the attorney general doesn't feel a need to go back into it. >> cheney could not be reach forward comment, but members of congress are looking at changing a law to keep more of them in the loop. one would expand the number of lawmakers who would be briefed on the cia's activities from eight up to 40. so far, the white house wants none of it, john, and once again, the white house is looking at another situation where it may have to look back to the bush administration. this is yet another revelation facing this former administration the white house has to deal with. >> as a candidate, the president said he didn't want to be looking back but may be forced to. jim acosta for us. thanks. coming up on 29 minutes past the hour. we check our top stories. a former boxing champ's wife now a suspect in his death. arturo gotti was found strangled

to death on saturday morning in a hotel room in brazil. he was 37 years old. brazilian authorities tell cnn they took gotti's wife into custody. police reportedly recovered a blood stained purse strap from the scene and also say there were some inconsistencies in her story. today would have been the opening night of michael jackson's 50-show run at london's 02 arena. that show obviously not going to go on. some fans showed up anyway. the concert promoter is selling merchandise through its website and offering fans a commemorative ticket as an alternative to a refund. >> senator john mccain respects sarah palin's decision to step down as governor of alaska. mccain says he doesn't think his former running mate is kwith her job as much as changing her priority. >> you must have been shocked to see governor sarah palin resign as governor. >> well, i wasn't shocked. obviously, i was a bit surprised, but i wasn't shocked.

i understand that sarah made the decision where she can be most effective for alaska and for the country. i love and respect her and her family. i'm grateful that she agreed to run with me. i am confident she will be a major factor in the national scene, and in alaska as well. >> mccain says palin is qualified to run for president in 2012, but he stopped short of endorsing her saying it's way too early for that. >> this morning, president obama is back home in washington. but before he left ghana over the weekend, he sat down for an exclusive interview with cnn's anderson cooper. the president talked about his tour of the cape coast castle where africans were held before being sold into slavery. he also touched on the economy. here's a preview from anderson cooper. >> the president and his family arrived in ghana on friday. on saturday, they came here, cape coast castle, which is a place where enslaved africans were once held before being

shipped off to the new world and shipped off to america. i had a chance to tour the castle with the president. but first, we sat down and talked about the news of the day. vice president biden said you misread the economy. you've said no, no, no. we had incomplete information. nevertheless you said that you would not have done anything differently. that seems contradictory. how can you say that if you had known unemployment was going to go to 9.5%, wouldn't you have asked for more money in the stimulus? >> it's not contradictory. keep in mind that we got an $800 billion stimulus package. by far the largest stimulus package ever approved by a united states congress. and the stimulus package is working exactly as we had anticipated. we gave out tax cuts early so that consumers could start spending, or at least pay down debt so they could at a later date start spending. we put in $144 billion to states so that they wouldn't have to

cut teachers and police officers and other social services that are vital, particularly at a time of recession. and we always anticipated that a big chunk of that money then would be spent not only in the second half of the year but also next year. this was designed to be a two-year plan and not a six-month plan. now it may turn out that the enormous loss of wealth, the depth of the recession that's occurred, requires us to re-evaluate and see what else we can do in combination with the stabilization -- >> possible second stage of it? >> there are a whole range of things, anderson, that we've done. the banks have stabilized much more quickly than we anticipated. they're not all the way to where we'd like them to be, but we've seen significant progress. >> you still see glimers of hope? >> if you look at both the

financial sectors, the ability of businesses to get loans, the drop-off of volatility that's taken place, the general trajectory is in the right direction. >> after our sit-down interview, the president and i had a chance coto tour the castle together. do you think what happened here still has resonance in america, that the slave experience still is something that should be talked about and should be remembered and should be present in everyday life? >> well, you know, i think that the experience of slavery is like the experience of the holocaust. i think it's one of those things you don't forget about. i think it's important that the way we think about it and the way it's taught is not one in which there's simply a victim and victimizer, and that's the end of the story. i think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is because whether

it's what's happening in darfur or what's happening in the congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists. >> i also talked to the president about the personal impact of being in africa with his wife and kids. we'll have that tonight on "360." >> you can see anderson's entire exclusive interview with president obama in africa tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. %%%%%%%

a live look now at the room where the confirmation hearings will be taking place just a few hours from now. judge sonia sotomayor's hearing begins in just 2 1/2 hours. my next guest ed gillespie knows what it's like to shepherd a judicial nominee through the senate. he played a key role on behalf of the bush administration for the confirmation hearings of samuel alito and chief justice john roberts. thanks for joining us this morning. >> good to be with you. >> you were there for the last two times a nominee was getting ready to sit in the hot seat,

justices roberts and alito. what goes on in the days and hours before these hearings get set to begin for the nominees? >> you sift through the information you glean from the visits, the one on one visits the nominee had with the senators. you try to determine what are likely questions to come up in the hearing. and the nominee in this case, judge sotomayor, obviously, will have some pretty firm views in response to those questions. and you just help in terms of shaping body language and the contours of the response and help give the nominee some guidance as to what to expect from the committee process. you know, judges aren't accustomed to being judged. and that's the position that judge sotomayor will be in for the next couple of days. >> you said some of the issues and some of the things that have come up before. many say one issue for sotomayor that she's sure to be questioned about are those comment she's made at uc berkeley back in 2001 where she said i hope a "wise latina woman with the richness her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who

hasn't lived that life." senator mitch mcconnell said it's a troubling philosophy for any judge, let alone one nominated to the highest court, to convert empathy into favoritism for particular groups. that's just a sampling of what she might get from some of the gop senators. how does she best handle questions about that comment? >> i think she has to make clear that any personal perspective that she is articulated in the past in speeches haven't translated into rulings. i don't know that's that to the case. i think that's one of the things that would be weighed in the course of these hearings. she also said that your gender, your ethnicity, that you bring to bear what facts you choose to see. and i think people ask why would a judge choose to see some facts and not others. she'll be given the opportunity to respond to those questions. those responses are important. this is a lifetime appointment to the supreme court of the united states. you want people going before the supreme court regardless of their race or gender or ethnicity to have confidence that the rulings that will come and be issued and promulgated

won't be based on that race, that gender, that ethnicity. and so these are important questions. i'm glad she'll have the opportunity to public to provide an answer. >> it's interesting because the same came up for samuel alito. i want to read something said during his confirmation hearings. when i get a case about discrimination, i have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of their religion or gender, and i do take that into account. and republicans voted him in, obviously, it was a long party lines pretty much for alito. it's okay if it's somebody from your party or from your world view says it, but if somebody else does, perhaps they are troublesome on the court. >> first of all, that was in response to a question to justice alito. in the hearing he didn't have consistent statements. judge sotomayor said seven times in seven different instances, made a statement that her gender

and her ethnicity make her better qualified. >> right, but the sentiment was still the same. he said he does take into account ethnic background, religion and gender and whether or not anyone suffered discrimination. >> his record on the bench, when you looked at his record on the bench it was aclear he applied the law as written. she'll have to have the opportunity to make clear she applies the law as written. doesn't make policy from the bench as she said was the appropriate role of the circuit court of appeals. by the way, 40 out of 44 democrats in the senate voted against justice alito, which is pretty strong, you know, demarcation, i think, in terms of the traditional view of a nominee. they didn't argue that he wasn't qualified in terms of his experience, his intellect, or the merits of his rulings. they argued they were going to vote against him and some even filibustered him because they disagreed with how they thought he might rule in the future. that's one of the questions republicans will face today.

>> it's interesting. one of the no votes was then senator obama. so it's interesting how things change in the course of -- >> one of the people calling for a filibuster. he called for a filibuster. >> i want to ask you about this because we're in a totally different time and place, i guess, when you look at the makeup of this. democrats have 60 senators and they only need the simple majority. if they have the vote it pretty such a done deal for the most part, right? if you are a republican senator, what is your job today? >> i think the republicans have made clear they are not going to filibuster the nominee. i think their job is to try to discern what kind of a justice judge sotomayor would be in this lifetime appointment on the supreme court and what would the impact of that be on jurisprudence in the future of our country. it's a very important job and whether or not you are able to -- i suspect, by the way, kiran, many republicans may end up voting for judge sotomayor. i don't think anyone has made a

determination at this point one or or another how they are going to vote. and i think that's appropriate. they should listen to the questions in the hearings and the judge's responses. be thoughtful about it, respectful in the process. and i think that's what you'll see. >> i think james inhofe is the one who said he's probably planning to vote against her. other than that, you're right. it will still be open for debate. it's great to get your perspective. ed gillespie, former counselor to george w. bush. >> thanks for having me on. here's your chance to join the conversation. do you support sotomayor's confirmation to the supreme court? do you know enough about her yet? we all know that a moderate amount of alcohol, particularly red wine, can be beneficial for your heart. protective for your heart, right? here's something that would seem to be counterintuitive. alcohol could actually be good for your brain? >> there's a catch. there's always a catch. >> weave got that story coming up. elizabeth cohen will join us for that.

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look at that. new york city, a beautiful day. right now a little bit of cloud. not a whole lot, though. 68 degrees. later on today, mostly sunny with a high of 82. if you are talking about some areas of the country, we should be playing stormy monday. great blues tune. stevie ray vaughn, albert king,

because we've got some storms in the southland. reynolds wolf is in atlanta this morning tracking all of that. you had some pretty amazing storms last night. >> it was coming down like a sack of hammers in atlanta. it was pounding here for a while. i'll show you. we still have scattered showers and storms drifting across parts of the southeast. from raleigh back to atlanta you could nearly draw a line that extends from those two cities and back up through memphis and south of kansas city. there's got to be something connecting all of those. believe it or not there is. that thing connecting it happens to be a stationary front and it's right on that boundary where we have a lot of the moisture coming in from the gulf to the atlantic. you'll have a good chance of severe storms. some later on today through parts of the southern half of the mississippi valley and further to the south. not an issue with rain but a huge issue in terms of heat with high temperatures going up to 104 for dallas. houston going up to 99 degrees. then back to the four corners. 107 in vegas and 112 in phoenix. you bring in some of that

humidity in places like phoenix. not going to be much but could feel like 118. that's the latest, john. let's send it back to you in new york. >> 118? >> yeah, into the valley of the sun. it lives up to its billing. today is one of those times. >> that's where they should launch the shuttle. it would go off without a hitch. >> i would hope so. 50/50 again for the launch tonight because of thunderstorms possibly. >> they've had scattered showers. happens when you have the colliding sea breeze. could happen again today. they are trying to be patient at the launching pad. >> if you think you can brag about your teenager, this 15-year-old just set an aviation record. kimberly, believed to be the youngest african-american girl to fly solo across country. she navigated a single engine cessna through thunderstorms with her 87-year-old safety pilot. one of the tuskegee airmen. an all-black combat unit. so how did it feel? >> yesterday when we were going into texas there was lightning.

and it was really close like on either side of the things so it was kind of nervous. nerve-racking, yeah. >> there you go. she did it. she was nerve-racked. can you imagine her mother? congratulations. >> good for her. that's terrific. so the story everybody is talking about this morning. the benefits of alcohol and heart disease. well documented in a lot of studies. what about the benefits of alcohol and your brain? and how much is just enough? we've got that coming up for you. it's 49 minutes after the hour.

the top of the hour. we've all heard that a little bit of wine every day can be good for the heart. but a new study shows that some alcohol can also be good for your brain too. it's counterintuitive. elizabeth, researchers found a reduced risk of dementia among people who drank alcohol every day. >> who would've thought? this is incredible. what the researchers did, they took a group of senior citizens around 75 and asked them how much they drank. here's what they found out is

that the folks who were drinking one or two drinks a day had a 40% reduced risk of developing dementia. but i do feel i need to adhere that the folks who drank more than one or two drinks a day had higher risk of getting dementia. this isn't one of the examples of boy, more must be better. in this case more must be worse. you might wonder why in the world would drinking affect your brain? and researchers aren't sure why it does. but what they do know is often what is good for our hearts turns out to be good for our brains and as you mentioned earlier, john, drinking seems to help your heartd, in moderate amounts. >> two drinks good, more than two drinks bad. i guess they would call that a narrow therapeutic window. we talk about wine versus hard liquor, just wine beneficial snore does hard alcohol count, as well? >> it's not just wine. and i think that's a huge misconception. people think it's just wine. take a look at this. what they have found in all of

these studies is that one or two drinks a day is helpful. what's one drink, 12 ounces of beer would be a drink, 5 ounces of wine, it doesn't have to be red wine, 1 ounce of hard liquor, all of those would count as a drink. i do want to mention from our earlier thing. take a look at this that we that had these blue martinis up here. it doesn't have to be a blue martini, green would work, as well. >> let me ask you this, in the way it goes. so none, though, is better than too much in terms of that, in terms of your dementia? >> yes, what the study looked at people who drink a huge amount, you're probably better off being a tea totaler. and too much alcohol is bad for your heart, bad for your driving, bad for all sorts of things, your liver, the list goes on and on. >> proof positive, though, elizabeth that beer makes you smart. >> too much beer makes you

stupid. remember that. >> where's the groan, where's the groan? >> i didn't even get it at first. maybe i drank too much.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. a developing story on cnn. pakistan's military says it is in contact with the top taliban leader in afghanistan. and they say they can bring him to the negotiating table to talk to u.s. officials. now, the white house said to be considering this plan, our michael ware broke this exclusive story. joining us live from baghdad. michael, white house special envoy richard holbrook says pakistan talking with the taliban is a step forward. and president obama said during the campaign that america has to talk with the enemies. where do you think this leaves us? >> well, this could theoretically be the first -- the beginning of the end. i mean, certainly in terms of baby steps on the long road it would take to reach a political

conclusion. but what's significant this morning, kiran, is that from the president's personal envoy, ambassador holbrook, we're hearing the obama administration's initial response to this extraordinary pakistani offer to help broker talks and also the bush administration waited fruitlessly to hear. let's take a look at what holbrook said about the nature of the pakistani moves to reconciliation. >> the united states supports any effort at reconciliation as long as the efforts of reconciliation include laying down your arms, accepting the constitution, and michael, i want to stress this, breaking with al qaeda. >> and as the so-called godfather of the taliban, the former head of pakistan's equivalent of the isi told me in

a separate on camera interview such a break between the taliban and osama bin laden, a man that this former spy chief has known for decades is possible. so now it's up to the obama administration how they respond to this pakistani offer, kiran. >> the interesting thing when you heard what some of those conditions would be if the u.s. was to talk with omar and others. the taliban is not just against the united states, but also against the government in afghanistan right now. so how would -- how could you trust that if they indeed agreed to lay down arms that when we left that wouldn't change? >>reporter: that's why you need the involvement of the regional players. america shouldn't be, according to some, the regional policemen. that should be up to the pakistanis who share a border there, the indians who have heavily invested in the governments in kabul, and iran.

and we hear from a recent taliban statement that what they're fighting for is self-governance, the ethnic posturings of the south don't feel they have representation in the capital. and that's one of the things they're fighting for. nonetheless, the obama administration is open to these talks in the hope that it will lead to the political solution that everyone's waiting for. again, let's turn to a.m. bas dor holbrook in our exclusive interview. let's have a listen. >> let me be very clear. i'm neither going to rule out or rule in something on such a hypothetical basis and i'm not going to get drawn into speculation on an issue this complicated. but i want to underscore existing policy that has been addressed by everybody in the u.s. government from the president on down. there is room in afghanistan for

taliban people who have fought with the taliban who are willing to participate in the political structure, who are willing to disassociate and renounce al qaeda and are willing to lay down their arms. >> reporter: the first steps in ending what's become president obama's war in afghanistan, we're going to have to watch very closely to wait and see, kiran. >> very, very interesting development, though, michael ware who broke this story for us on friday. thanks. and good morning, once again, glad you're with us, it is 8:00 here in new york on this monday, july 13th. >> thanks very much for being with us. here's what's on this morning's agenda, stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. in two hour's time republicans and democrats will square off over justice sonia sotomayor. in a moment, we'll take you live inside the hearing room to find out what she is likely to face. also, calls this morning for the justice department to investigate the private swim

club that turned away a group of minorities kids outside of philadelphia. claiming that allegations of racial discrimination are untrue. saying it was overcrowding. the pennsylvania human relations commission is now investigating. and we're going to hear how members of the club and its leaders are speaking out and reaching out to the children. a lot of americans are looking for work and a lot of scam artists are waiting in the weeds to rip them off. our gerri willis with red flags our job hunters need to look for. we begin with president obama's supreme court nominee justice sonia sotomayor. poised to make history this morning. her senate confirmation hearings begin in about two hour's time. and while democrats are confident she will become america's first latino justice, some statements from her past could come back to haunt her. brianna keilar has a vantage point this morning, live in the hearing room where all eyes will be on judge sotomayor this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, john. we're watching as last-minute preparations get underway in

this room. about half the seats being taken up by members of the media. all of these tables here are going to be print journalists covering this hearing. and of course, this is where they're going to be focussed. on the seat, the hot seat where judge sonia sotomayor will be talking about her personal story and also telling these members, these senators, part of the senate judiciary committee about the type of justice she would be if confirmed to the supreme court. sources close to judge sonia sotomayor say she has felt overwhelmed at times by the intense scrutiny, but also surprisingly upbeat about her moment in the national spotlight. >> i hope that as the senate and american people learn more about me they will see that i am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. >> reporter: the white house and senate democrats want to highlight that experience, her own personal story, growing up in a bronx housing project where

her mother raised two children alone. after sotomayor's father died when she was 9. her ivy league education, stellar legal career, and how she would make mystery as the first hispanic justice. >> it's a step forward for the country by having someone who is at the highest levels of the government who has this background, both economically and ethnically is a big deal. it's a moment. it is a step forward where we have accomplished something as a nation. >> reporter: democrats have the votes to easily confirm sotomayor, but republicans promise to raise tough questions about her past statement that a wise latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male, and her ruling against white firefighters who claim reverse discrimination when promotional exams were scrapped after too few scored well. two of those firefighters will testify against her. ken has successfully advised

five high court nominees. his advice for sotomayor -- >> don't embellish. don't, you know, shovel. these senators have great shovel meters because they've experienced that for years. tell it straight. tell the truth always. be prepared for the one question you don't want to be asked. everybody doesn't want to be asked some question. >> this is where photographers are staking out the place so they can get a good clear shot of sonia sotomayor when she comes in a couple of hours before opening statements, before the senate judiciary committee. and i want to give you a little look behind the scenes. you may recall that sotomayor fractured her ankle a week before being nominate, this is a

support for her leg. a cushion, a binder, appears to be a foot stool and a book here. obviously she'll be behind bvr this committee hours and hours this week, kiran. >> your tax dollars at work. >> reporter: very scrappy. >> thanks so much for that extraordinary inside look. really appreciate it. coming right up, we're going to talk with senator dick durbin about the upcoming hearings. he's got an appointment this morning, so he'll be joining us in a couple of minutes. and you can watch the confirmation hearings live here on cnn at 10:00 a.m. eastern live on cnn and cnn.com. and there are new developments this morning in the case of that philadelphia swim club that turned away dozens of minority kids earlier this month. pennsylvania senator arlen specter is asking the justice department to look into these claims. was it a case of overcrowding or something else? we're hearing now from some of the club's members and its

leadership, susan candiotti has a follow-up to the story you first saw on american morning friday. >> john, kiran, good morning. after a hastily called meeting sunday, the valley swim club voted nearly unanimously that it was time to try to work things out with the day care center. after racism allegations, even moving a scheduled swim meet. we also obtained e-mails that indicate a war of world. some defending their leadership, others saying they mishandled the situation. in the end, the swim club spokesperson told cnn it wants to settle the controversy. in her words, as long as we can work out safety issues, we'd like to have them back. but the day care center's director is skeptical as she put it, they should have done that before. those children are scarred, how can i take those children back there? some of the center's kids said when they showed if you were the

first time, some club members made racist comments. he said he canceled the group's contract because of overcrowding and nothing more. earlier he said it was because the youngsters changed the atmosphere and complexion of the club. but later explained it was a poor choice of words. the club said after being served with a subpoena for the records and getting legal advice, it was time to extend an olive branch. the day care center's lawyer says they'll look over the offer when they get it and then consider it. john and kiran? >> susan, thanks so much. we're tracking breaking news right now. reports of an earthquake in the indian ocean this morning. the survey says the 6.1 magnitude quake struck a few minutes ago near the southern coast of indonesia northwest of australia, you can see the site of the quake. there is no word whether a tsunami warning has been issued at this point. indonesia was devastated in

2004. also new this morning, three men found alive after nearly a month trapped in a flooded mine in southern china. they managed to stay alive by reportedly licking water that had seemed through the mine's walls. 12 men are still missing. and ten more people have been injured in the running of the bulls in spain. a 27-year-old man died on friday after being gored. despite fierce criticism from animal rights groups the bull runs attract thousands of tourists every year. nine minutes after the hour. stay with us. dick durbin coming right up. it started bubbling. new bounty is thick and absorbent. it cleans the mess with less. then you know what, daddy? it exploded! pssshhh! it hit the ceiling! in lab tests, bounty absorbs twice as much... as the bargain brand. and it's more durable it was really cool. why use more when you can use less? new bounty. the thick quicker picker-upper.

11 1/2 minutes after the hour. a shot live inside the room where the confirmation hearings for judge sonia sotomayor will begin in a little less than two hour's time. she's going to sit before the senate judiciary committee for her support nomination hearing. democrats call it a slam dunk, but republicans appear ready to hit hard, at least examining her judicial record. dick durbin is on the committee

that will question sotomayor, and he's here in new york before heading down to washington. thanks so much for being with us. appreciate it. i want to ask you about the hearings in a moment. but i wanted to start by asking you about the vice president and his potential involvement in keeping this cia counterterrorism program secret from congress. you suggested yesterday that that may be illegal. do you believe, senator, that the vice president has committed a crime here? >> i don't know the answer to that. my information on this is based on public reporting. i was a member of the intelligence committee, i'm not now, i don't have access to classified information in my current position. here's the bottom line, the constitution and law require that the executive branch disclose to congress what they're doing. presidential findings which initiate these programs are disclosed to the intelligence committee leaders and members and we have an accountability, a check and a balance. if that disclosure was not made, if it was ordered not to be made, that's a serious thing. i understand the house intelligence committee is going to take a look into this, i

think it's entirely appropriate they do. >> there should be an investigation hear? >> yes, i think there should. >> let's talk about sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearings. your colleague from the great state of new york suggested she could get as many as 78 votes, about the same level as judge john roberts got. do you agree that's the level of support she'll get? >> possible. but i don't want to try to create expectations that are unreal. i hope chuck is correct. but we want to make sure she's approved and i believe she will be. nobody has worked harder, to my knowledge, supreme court nominee in trying to meet face to face with members of the united states senate. she's sat down with 89 senators, offered to meet with all of them, a few of them said nope, we're not going to meet. but she's gone out of the way to be there, answer their questions, lengthy conversations. they can't argue they don't know her, didn't have a chance to understand her point of view, and she's very good. a compelling life story, longest federal list of federal judicial

experience of any nominee in 100 years and comes across as a person that you understand. could be approved unanimously by the american bar association. >> but do you believe that 78 may be aiming high? >> i'm not going to jump on a number at this point other than i think she's going to be approved, i hope it's a solid number. >> of course, republicans are saying they're going to look at her nomination very fairly, but they certainly will drill down on issues. one being her impartiality. the ranking member, senator jeff sessions talked about that yesterday. let's listen to a little bit about what he said. >> in a number of her speeches, for example, she has advocated a view that suggests that your personal experiences even prejudices, she uses that word, it's expected they would influence a decision you make. which is a blow at the ideal of american justice. >> senator, what's your response

to that? can a judge incorporate their personal experiences in making a decision? >> absolutely. let's be honest about it, sandra day o'connor said that's who i am, that's what i believe. that's bound to be applied to factual situations that come to her as judge. she's going to look at things through her life experience as every judge will. to suggest the judge as soon as they take that oath of office just divorce themselves from their human life experience is unrealistic. senators don't do it, congressmen and presidents don't do it, why would a supreme court justice? but the question is, does she look to the law to guide her? and the answer is yes. and i think that's where she'll be approved. >> another area likely to drill down on is the new haven firefighters decision when she was on the second circuit court of appeals. she ruled in favor of the town and against the firefighters. she was overturned by the supreme court just recently. and republicans, the strategy,

as ins it, is paint her out of the mainstream on racial issues. and as we look at the poll asking about the firefighters, 65% of respondents said yes, they were victims of discrimination. is that a fair question for republicans to ask? is she out of the mainstream on these issues? >> well, it's a fair question to ask, but she was following the precedent of the court, the rulings of the court for 38 years, applied the law, the same law applied at the trial level, appellate level, she did exactly what we asked her to do. and then it was the supreme court that reversed the law. it was the supreme court that saw it differently on a 5 to 4 vote. you can't hold it against her on one hand she needs to follow the law and then criticize her if she does. >> on a completely different topic with georgest stephanopous yesterday. you said well, i think the

senate may look at this a different way. is a that a non-starter, his plan for raising taxes to pay for health care. is that a non-starter in the senate? >> the senate is a different institution. i count votes in the senate, we want republican support, likely to have a different revenue approach than the house of representatives, doesn't reflect my personal point of view, but the outcome if we're going to move it through the finance committee and floor and ultimately pass it is bound to be different. we're going to having a slightly different mix of revenue, more conservative, probably, before it will ultimately -- it almost has to be, but a very small part. hopefully most of it will be savings for current overspending for health care. if we can from doctors and hospitals and not raise taxes, at least raise them as little as possible, that's the best outcome. >> senator durbin, thanks for stopping by, you've got a plane to catch, we'll let you grab that. 18 minutes after the hour. nutrisystem for men:

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♪ 20 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. who says size doesn't matter? tall people apparently make more money than short people. studies in australia and here in the united states suggest on average tall people make almost $800 more per inch. so if you do the calculations, someone who is 6 feet tall earns $6,000 more a year than somebody who measures 5'5". it boosts self-confidence and that builds leadership qualities, two keys to the workplace success. >> aren't our presidents pretty tall historically?

>> not all, no. >> harry truman wasn't tall. >> george w. bush was tall -- >> george bush was what? 5'11", i think. not overly tall. >> well, if you're 5'5", it is. >> everything is relative. >> exactly. well, gerri willis with more. if you're looking for work on those big internet job boards, of course, as with everything, there's scams out there and a lot of con artists are trying to take advantage of people looking for work in these tough times. >> this makes me so angry because these are people who don't need to be put at risk by scam artists and that's what happens here. this is the kind of thing they're doing. asking you for credit reports and sending you to a website where you can get that report and get your information stolen. people creating fake yous and taking out credit in your name. fake job applications. stealing your information from you. fees charge for background checks.

a legitimate employer will never charge you a fee for a background check. typically they're getting you involved in a work from home scheme where they charge you money, give you nothing, or may be involving you in a passing bad check scheme where they involve you in what is really an illegal international operation. so you have to be very careful online, even the big job websites like monster.com out there. that can be a problem too. they've got information that protects yourself on monster on their website. guess what, even simple information, guys, putting up where you graduated from college could be a problem because your student i.d. can be the same as your social security number, particularly for people who went to school many years ago. so be really careful out there. >> what are you going to do beside being extra vigilant? >> extra vigilant, but also red flags. if you see spelling errors, always a problem. online fraud is done by scammers outside the u.s. and first language isn't always english.

if you're asked for a social security number, always a bad thing. if they claim you're going to get rich quick, that's bad. some obvious things there. but i've got to tell you the scammers are getting smarter and smarter, it's tough to figure out the websites that are rogue because they do this in a more complete way. if you have problems go to the better business bureau and report these people because they deserve to get in trouble. let me tell you, they're taking advantage of people who really can't afford to give anybody money. >> folks having tough enough time without -- >> keep your eyes peeled, make sure you don't get involved with anybody you shouldn't. >> words i could describe them with won't be suitable for television. by the way, harry truman 5'9", reports between 5'8" and 5'10", not every president was tall. >> maybe it was tall for them. >> yeah, turn of the century 5'10" would have been, yeah. a little higher than average. >> not such a bad thing. pay linked to height and

blondness. >> let's not get into that whole thing. >> thanks so much. it's right now 24 minutes past the hour. here is kevin shale's comfort suites hotel. here's the spacious room where he relaxed with the free paper... the desk where kevin took advantage of the free internet... and where he grabbed a free hot breakfast to start his morning. so where's kevin? he's out treating his customers to lunch with the money he didn't spend back at his hotel. spacious rooms. free breakfast. free internet. and now when kevin stays three times, he gets a free $50 cash card.

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as our commitment in the war in afghanistan grows, so does the price in dollars and lives. three more american troops died this morning, two of them in road side bombing attacks. now the top commander in afghanistan is again reviewing the strategy and it could mean more u.s. troops in the region. barbara starr joins us now live from the pentagon with more on this. what's the plan, barbara? >> it's beginning to look like more of everything in afghanistan. stanley mcchrystal, the new commander in that war is set to recommend a massive increase in the size of the afghan army, 134,000 is the target for next year. he might increase to a size

double that, put an afghan face on this war, that's the top goal, but here's the problem. with that kind of increase in the afghan troop levels, mccrystal, sources say, may need, may need more u.s. troops to help train, mentor, equip, all this new afghan military capabilities. so that could mean, we are told by key u.s. military officials more u.s. troops headed to afghanistan in the coming year or so, billions of dollars more in u.s. spending, the war that we used to call the forgotten war now many are calling the fastest growing war. john? >> the question many people may have, barbara, is do we have the troops to flood into afghanistan and the numbers that mcchrystal may be looking for? >> well, there was a request on the table for at least 10,000 more troops for next year. if they look at something like that, if they bring that back, they certainly are going to have to continue to lower the troop levels in iraq, but there is a downside to all of this.

defense secretary robert gates has been very cautious saying he does not want to flood afghanistan with more u.s. troops, that will lead to more resentment, but they can't really grow that afghan face of the war without more u.s. help, john. >> barbara starr for us at the pentagon with the latest on that. thanks so much. >> 28 minutes past the hour. we check our top stories. a former boxing champ wife's is now a suspect in his death. arturo gatti found strangled to death in a hotel room in brazil. just 37 years old, brazilian authorities tell cnn they took his wife into custody. police have also reportedly recovered a blood-stained purse strap, this purse strap found from that scene. they also say they were inconsistencies in his wife's story. tonight would have been opening night of michael jackson's 50 show run at london's o2 arena. and while the show is not going to go on, some fans showed up anyway. the promoter aeg live is selling

merchandise through the website and offering fans a commemorative ticket as an alternative to a refund. he respects sarah palin's decision to step down. mccain doesn't think his former running mate is quitting her job as much as changing her priorities. let's listen. >> you must have been shocked to see governor sarah palin resign as governor. >> well, i wasn't shocked. obviously i was a bit surprised, but i wasn't shocked. i understand that sarah made the decision where she can be most effective for alaska and for the country. i love and respect her and her family. i'm grateful she agreed to run with me. i am confident she will be a major factor in the national scene and in alaska, as well. >> well, mccain says palin is qualified to run for president in 2012 but stopped short of

endorsing her saying it's way too early for that. ever since governor palin announced she was stepping down, there has been a lot of chatter about her motivation and her future in politics. mow she says she has no plans to get out of politics. she told the washington times in an interview saying i will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things regardless of their party label or their affiliation. so sarah palin stumping for democrats? david frum is a former speech writer and the editor for newmajority.com. david, good to see you. >> thank you. >> once again, this latest interview by sarah palin has a lot of people scratching their heads. what do you make of what she told them? especially the fact she would go around the country on behalf of candidates regardless of their affiliation? >> well, i think that was the sentence. started well, it started as trying to say something nonpartisan broad minded and tumbled over the cliff into

nonsense. the problem sarah palin has in the states where her own party needs to make gains. states like new jersey, for example, where there's a winnable governor's race, states like connecticut where there's a vulnerable democratic senator. in precisely those statesious those are the states where candidates have made clear she hurts the party, not helps. maybe there's a democrat in arkansas who would like her, but that's not where the fate of the nation is going to be decided. >> chris kristi is running in new jersey, his campaign also said no thanks, but then you have rick perry that said he'd love to have her campaign. what does it say about her brand of conservatism. wanted in texas, not necessarily new jersey. >> rick perry would love her to campaign against another republican in the primary, kay hutchinson. so, yes, in an internal republican dispute, she helps one faction against another. but in national politics, when

the republicans are trying to win the center back, she hurts the party. >> all right. well, according to the "new york times" in late march, there was a senior official from the republican governor's association apparently wanting to help out went to alaska to intervene, i guess, is sort of how this article describes it to help sarah palin and made a to do list for her. make a long-term schedule and stick to it, have staff members set aside ample time for her family, to replenish her spirits and to build a coheent home state agenda that focussed on job creation and ensured reelection. they say she ignored this device and decided to resign. so we're asking, is she her own worst enemy? >> it's hard to read that article and not feel a surge of sympathy for a woman who has been on the receiving end of a lot of very harsh and often very unfair and untrue criticism and took it to heart and she suffered. that's sympathetic, it's also true, though, and that article in mind, being governor of

alaska, state of 600,000 people is really a small-scale organizational job. it does not begin to -- it does not begin to compare to the kinds of challenges that many governors face in the lower 48 states, never mind the presidency. so yeah, we all have trouble sticking to schedules. but that's what you have to do, and if you're going to claim to be a successful executive, those are the kinds of skills you need already. >> at the same time, we still go to the gallup poll showing 2/3 of republicans want her to remain a political figure, at the same time the majority of democrats would like her to leave the stage. what advice would you give her today? >> i would tell her she's probably doing the right thing for her, which is to cash in on her fame while she can. that seems to be the plan. for republicans, i think my advice would be, if you enjoy watching her on tv, watch her on

tv. if you like her speeches, have her speak to your group. if the party is to win elections again, it has to win them in places like connecticut and new jersey and cannot have a texas-only message for a whole country of what texas is an important part, but not the whole. >> you do not think she could help the republicans win in 2012? >> i think we saw in 2008 that her choice by john mccain was one of the most fatal moments in the campaign, maybe not as bad as the collapse of lehman brothers, but when you look at the chart of the collapse of his poll numbers, you can see one of the major inflexion points is her selection. >> david, former speech writer under george w. bush, thanks for being with us this morning. 34 minutes past the hour. we know why we're here.

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live inside the hearing room where sonia sotomayor will undergo hearings. it's the beginning of a historic journey for the judge. in order to understand what she

is really all about, what shaped her into the judge she is today and helps to see where she came from. and our jason carroll got a real inside look at all of that. what did you find out? >> insight. and we did it by turning to someone who knows her best and that is her younger brother. he says his sister has been working hard, preparing for her confirmation hearings, but that's not unusual because he says she has always worked hard even from a very early age. >> reporter: senators want to learn everything about supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor during her confirmation hearing. her brother juan remembers something very early, his sister loves the law. >> it's indelible in my mind. it was really one of the earliest memories we have. >> reporter: to explain, he walked us down memory lane in the bronx where they grew up in a public housing project. >> up here on the second floor. >> where the air-conditioner was the room that my sister and myself shared. >> reporter: in the '60s when

they were growing up, she wasn't interested in watching "the munsters." >> have you seen this before? >> she knew she was going to be a lawyer. >> reporter: big dreams iff the inner city girl. the children lost their father when sonia was just 9, their mother who eventual lip became a nurse, a strong believer in education. >> my mom knew that education was the essence of realizing your dreams, getting of your situation, and moving ahead. >> reporter: sotomayor worked hard, earning top marks as early as elementary school. sharpening her skills at helping her brother deal with neighborhood thugs. >> my sister always used to have to come over and diffuse situations. >> reporter: how did she do it? >> she negotiated. >> reporter: her brother says she's ready for washington. even the senators asking her

stuff about gun control, they'll be asking her about abortion. >> she'll handle it the way she sees fit. she is her own person. >> reporter: since her nomination, critics questioned her intellectual depth. some called her a racist, citing a speech she gave in 2001 as an appeals court judge, saying that the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life. >> we're raised to treat everyone equally no matter what color, no matter what race. >> reporter: juan sotomayor's says his conversations with his sister focus on family and talking about growing up together. >> all right, this brings back memories. >> reporter: like at the catholic school they attended or the job at zaros bakery. he says his sister worked so hard it was a tough act to follow, but it taught him something else. >> i decided right then and

there i would never follow in her footsteps again. >> and he did not follow in her footsteps. instead of a career in law, he chose the medical profession instead and became a doctor. he will be at his sister's side in washington for those confirmation hearings just in case she needs some moral support from her little brother. >> it was really nice that he came down from syracuse where he practices -- he's an allergist, right? >> yes. and it was so interesting, even to go by their old school and meet some of the people there who remember them from back in the day. and the running theme throughout all of her life seems to be how hard she worked even from a very early age. >> and how much her mom was there to support her and really, really encourage education. and we saw her mom tearing up when she was announced when her nomination was announced. she'll probably be there tearing up today too. >> i read an interesting article about her this weekend, and it seemed to be very little room in

her life for anything else other than work -- >> and the law. who do you support, by the way, or do you support judge sonia sotomayor -- listen, i'm still on west coast time. the confirmation to the supreme court, go to cnn.com/amfix and tell us your thoughts at cnn.com/amfix. >> maybe what you need is a drink. we talked about whether or not having a drink moderate amount 1 to 2 a day may help with dementia. you never know, not that you're suffering from dementia. >> not yet. >> did you also know this? maybe throwing out a swear word or two could help lessen your pain? >> really? depends on where you do it, it might increase your pain. if you did it here. >> depends on how much you like eating soap. elizabeth kocohen with the resus of an interesting study.

pretty shot of new york city this morning. 45 minutes past the hour. we fast forward to the stories that will be making news later today. we'll be keeping a close eye on the market. this week marks the start of second quarter earnings reports, which could spell major trouble for big financial companies.

these reports come on the heels of a four-week market slide. vice president joe biden's wife, jill, is set to undergo orthopedic surgery today taking place in philadelphia. the vice president will accompany her there and also return to washington tuesday. and tonight, 6:51 eastern time, nasa is going to be making yet another attempt to launch space shuttle endeavor. heavy thunderstorms forced them to scrub yesterday's launch and the launch before that. it was also postponed twice last month because of a leak. they haven't had much luck getting endeavor up. they've got that lot of things planned, a number of space walks and they're putting a patio, right, on the japanese space lab? >> apparently so. i don't know if they're going to put some lounges out there, maybe a cocktail table. not sure what's going to go on with the porch. but it should be pretty nice. launching today, may be kind of a 50/50 proposition, maybe towards 60/40 of them not taking off. a decent chance of thunderstorms

into the evening hours. when they get into the vacuum of space, weather won't be an issue. but we're dealing with scattered showers and a few thunderstorms from raleigh over to atlanta and kansas city. in all of these cities where you could have delays. back over to oklahoma city, you're going to go into extreme heat. you're going to be reaching down and turning on that air-conditioner, no doubt with 104 your expected high. and houston, 99, a few stray showers along the coast, but the biggest thing you'll deal with is plenty of heat. highs in 90s, new york with 81 degrees and back over to denver, 81 degrees. a bit farther to the north, could deal with scattered showers and storms in the sky country. especially to the late afternoon and early evening hours, back in the mississippi valley, maybe into arkansas, portions of memphis before the day is out. thunderstorms are a possibility, some may be severe. that is the latest in the forecast, kick it back to you in new york. >> thanks so much. >> so what happens if you stub your toe or you hit your finger

with a nail, with the hammer, or something like that. >> or a nail. >> that would hurt too. >> should you suck it up or let one fly? colorful language. >> yeah, apparently using a four-letter word may help lessen your physical pain. how about that one? >> we're not making this stuff up, folks. elizabeth cohen joins us next to tell us how it works. in these markets, i'm glad i turned to fidelity for an annuity with guaranteed income for life. that's right, guaranteed income for life. my annuity from fidelity means my retirement income is safe.

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so, you know, those not so nice but very colorful words you say when you stub your toe or you hurt yourself. well, if you feel guilty about it, don't. let them fly. there's a new study that says cursing may be good for you. >> elizabeth cohen with us from atlanta. so tell us when and where this works for us, the four letters therapy, i guess you could say. >> i like that. that's a good term for it, kiran. indeed, swearing does seem to be therapeutic. a bunch of researchers who wonder, maybe we swear for a reason. and so they told a bunch of college students to do what i'm about to do, which is to submerge their hand in icy cold water, holy smokes, and believe me, this is my second choice of words, i'd much rather be saying another word. this is extremely cold. they told the students swear, go crazy, say your favorite swear words, and when they were alawed to say those favorite swear words, they could hold their

hands in the water for a lot longer. take a look at this. when they were allowed to swear, the students tolerated pain for 115 seconds, however, i'm sorry, when they weren't allowed to swear it was 115 seconds, when they were, they could tolerate pain for 155 seconds, that's actually significantly longer. and researchers sort of wondered why does swearing allow us to tolerate pain for a longer amount of time? they think it might have something to do with adrenaline, when you swear it lets it all out. it may not be pretty to hear, but lets it out. >> do you still have your hand in the water? >> no, i took it out, now i'm dripping. because i wasn't allowed to swear, i couldn't take it for long. >> well, keeping it reasonable for family television, can you describe what sort of words best help ease the pain? >> yes, what they did was said to the students what are your favorite swear words? what would you say if you hit yourself on the finger with a

hammer. and so the students wrote them down and those were the words they were allowed to say. whatever was your favorite swear words, i can't say them right now. however cnn.com/amfix, we list the swear words they said. cnn.com/amfix. you'll' them all there spelled out. >> really? >> you head to the web. the web you can do everything. i've learned to say sugar and darn instead of my old favorite words. >> yes, absolutely. i have learned that too and i give my girls a dollar every time i swear. so that's how i keep from swearing. >> that's funny. the last time john and i tried to put our hands in ice cold water, we were trying to see what it was like for the guy that dove in and swam in the arctic. i think i lasted for 15 seconds he lasted for about 45, and we made the moment of zen on the daily show. >> maybe if that gentleman, i bet he swore a lot, i'm sure of

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welcome back to the most news in the morning, just over an hour, sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearings will start on capitol hill. and this morning, some legal experts are asking why even bother instead of learning about the nominee, now we tend to get a lot of nonanswer answers. and costello live from washington. >> reporter: everybody thinks this is going to be an exciting confirmation process, a lot of fireworks going on, and there will be tough questions. the thing is, sonia sotomayor really doesn't have to answer them.

>> reporter: the heat is on, right? critics have called judge sonia sotomayor a racist. >> you may want to say a reverse racist. >> reporter: a lover of affirmative action. some on the right are prying for a confirmation -- >> where the country focuses on these hearings and on the meaning of the constitution. >> reporter: in a perfect world, sotomayor's confirmation hearing should be that and more. but scholars say in modern time they've become a little more than photo ops. snapshots. >> they are maddening if you are a law professor because they are really without concept. they are like a slurpy. it goes down quickly and it's gone. >> reporter: blame it on part on nominee now justice ruth bader ginsberg. >> this is the very kind of question that i ruled out --

>> yes. >> reporter: she is the first supreme court nominee who pointedly and repeatedly refused to answer questions on sensitive issues because, we'll let her explain. >> i'm not going to give an advisory opinion on any specific scenario because as clear as it may seem to you, i think i have to avoid responding to hypotheticals because they may prove not to be so hypothetical. >> reporter: the senate itself adopted this unenforceable rule known as the ginsberg rule. and yes it's been used since over and over and over. >> i try to avoid saying whether i agree or disagree with expressing opinion. >> not talk about the particular case. >> i don't think i can express an opinion -- >> i should stay away from a matter that might come before the court. >> reporter: don't expect sotomayor to answer specific questions about her affirmative action case or any other controversial case because she doesn't have to. >> so what will you see?

what will you hear john and kiran, you will hear hard questions coming from republicans. the problem is, sonia sotomayor doesn't really exactly have to answer them. so here's what you'll hear. you hear a lot about her family life, a lot about her background, and you'll see lots and lots of pictures of sonia sotomayor with her mother and you heard jason carroll talk to her brother. he's going to be there too. expect him to be by her side. >> you know, carroll, we were talking about the art of the confirmation hearing with our jeffrey toobin today, and it falls along the lines of she has to say a lot without really saying anything. >> yeah. and jeffrey toobin told me because i, you know, kind of discussed this story with him before i did it. he said unless sonia sotomayor says something absolutely crazy, she will be confirmed because, you know, the democrats kind of rule right now. >> she shouldn't have any problem. chuck schumer is predicting she might get 78 votes in the full senate, which would be equal to