hello, everyone. i'm kyra phillips at the world headquarters in than thea, georgia. we've been watching opening statements in the confirmation hearings of supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor, but the nominee we want to talk about now is regina benjamin, dr. regina benjamin, president obama's long-awaited pick for u.s. surgeon general. we get the details now from cnn's elaine quijano. >> reporter: president obama is trying to focus his attention on his number one domestic priority

and that's overhauling health care. in the rose garden today the president did announce his pick for surgeon general. she is dr. regina benjamin, someone who founded a clinic to serve the poor along alabama's gulf coast, and today president obama praised her work. >> for nearly two decades dr. regina benjamin has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system. she's seen an increasing number of patients who have had health insurance their entire lives suddenly lose it because they lost their jobs or because it simply has become too expensive. >> and the president also called her an outstanding candidate to be america's leading spokesperson on issues of public health. this afternoon president obama is actually going to be meeting privately on this issue of health care with two democratic law enforcement who really are key in this process. they are senator mac baucus as well as congressman charlie rangel. these are the two lawmakers who are really trying to figure out basically how to come up with a

way to pay for this massive health care overhaul. as you know, kyra, estimated to cost some $1 trillion over ten years, so president obama here at the white house trying to re-focus attention on the health care debate using this announcement as an opportunity to kind of drive home the message that health care reform is something cannot wait. >> of course, we want to push forward on this nomination with a look at dr. benjamin's back story. now our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins me with me on that. she does have an interesting background. >> she's an md and mba, her md from morehouse, university and also her mba from tulane university and she started a rural health care clinic in the gulf coast of alabama. she also sat on the board of the american medical association and was the first person under the a.j. of 40 on the board so here

you see the degrees and health clinic she started and won the nelson mandela award for health and human rights and is also a macarthur fellow and has an interesting background and we talked about how she had to rebuild her clinic after katrina. >> you brought up her interesting point about the two interesting degrees and our sanjay gupta was up for this position as you know and he was maybe concerned about not being able to practice medicine as much as he wanted to. it was going to be more of an administrative position. the surgeon general is very important, but it is very much of kind of a leadership, administrative role. it's not like you're going to be very active in the emergency room anymore? >> correct, kaekt. you are not see patients. you're there to talk about health policy. you're there to set an example of what good health means. we think about c. everett koop back in the day when he said, hey, it's time for americans to stop smoking, so it really is that kind of a job that you're talking about. it's not the -- you're not doing

surgery while you give your speeches. >> and you think of c. everett koop and what you remember him for when you hear that name and, you know, i think a lot of people are looking to her to sort of make a name for a certain subject in the medical field. >> it's interesting that you have to go back that far to really think of someone. i mean, other surgeon generals have done their thing, too, but he stands out and many people have said that the offers of surgeon general sort of needs a bit of an uplift one could say, that we've been for too long without a surgeon general and many people can't even name the last surgeon general. it will be interesting to see if dr. benjamin sort of takes this role and takes it up a level. >> we'll follow t.elizabeth, thanks. >> thanks. >> well, it's a horrific story that we've been following out of florida. three men in custody linked to the killings of a couple with 17 children, most with special needs, but this break in the case might be the tip of the iceberg. more arrests could be down the pike, and the big question why. why might have more than one answer, i guess you could say. let's check in with cnn's david

mattingly for more. >> reporter: people more than one answer and many more answers. the authorities as they were looking into this case saying they were surprised as they started going down the road of looking at the facts that they were finding of how many different tangents it was taking them on. it turns out that this case is a lot more complicated than they once thought. two men, leonard gonzalez jr. and wayne coldiron are the first to be arrested and accused in the brutal double murders of byrd 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, a couple known for their adupgs of a dozen children, many with special needs. >> they had a calling to adopt and loved children that did not see -- that others did not see as normal. to our mom and dad, their children were perfect, angels that god provided them with to

love eternally. they had the ability to provide their children with lives full of fun, patience and love. >> reporter: the billings were 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: 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 worked 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. the two men accused of murder in this case are being held on $1 million bond. they are both charged with murder, home invasion and robbery. kyra. >> you know, i have to ask the question. what will happen to all those children? >> reporter: i spoke with the family today, and we are told that the children will be kept together, and they will be cared for by family. they believe that it was this couple's wish that that would have happened and that arrangements have been made and preparations are being made to make sure that there's long-term care by the family for these children who will stay together. >> a tough story to follow. david mattingly, thank you. a suburban philadelphia club is trying to patch things up with a children's day care camp. the club was stung by racism charges after it cancelled an agreement letting campers use

its pool. the club claims that the issue was overcrowding, not the fact that most of those campers are black or hispanic, but now the state's human relations commission has launched an investigation that the swim club wants to work out a deal. it says that the kids can return as long as safety issues can be worked out. here's a job about as overwhelming as it is morbid, trying to id remains in about 100,000 graves at the burr oak cemetery just outside chicago making sure everybody is resting where they should be. that certainty turned upside down after four workers were accused of reselling graves. reverend jesse jackson wants a wider investigation into all the cemeteries owned by the company that owns burr oak. sheryl jackson shows us how there's no resting of peace for the dead and no peace of mind for the living. >> i just can't understand how people would do that. >> that they have no -- >> i just have no understanding. >> all piled up on top of each

other in one area. >> reporter: sister rosy and ann and their niece janet joseph say they have about 40 family members buried at burr oak cemetery. >> this is their oldest son, our brother lloyd. that's my sister. >> and this is my mom. >> reporter: one funeral program after another shows where their loved ones were laid to rest. now they say there is no rest for anyone connected with burr oak. >> when we finally buried them, they are at peace now, so we can't even say that they are at peace now because they have dug up their remains and done who knows what. how heartless can people be. >> reporter: police say four burr oak employees are responsible for digging up the graves and reselling them. pile and pile of human remains were found above the ground at the cemetery, some mingled and crumbled in the cement vaults they were buried in and other remains scattered throughout the grounds. >> as long as my relatives have been out there, they have may have dug them up and put somebody on tom of them.

>> reporter: records doind kate some graves may have more than one body in them. janet joseph's mother died 20 years ago. information from police leads her to believe that her mother's grave may have been targeted. >> and then to go so far as to dismember the bodies, the bones and put it somewhere else, it's like a serial killer to me. >> reporter: it's already hard enough to bury your mother once. what if you have to do it again? >> you know what, i haven't thought about that. if i have to bury her again, i haven't thought about that? we have so many questions. we have a lot of questions. >> so we're going to hold hands and pray, whatever that needs to be done we will do it. >> reporter: the police have collected over 7,000 requests for grave information. starting on monday you'll have to call that information into the sheriff's department. they want to use all of their man hours to try to solve this crime. cheryl jackson for cnn, alsip, illinois. >> back in washington, fresh

outrage from many democrats over the bush administration's war on terror. it was triggered by reports that former vice president cheney had order the cia to keep a top secret program secret, even from congress. cnn's jim acosta has the latest. >> reporter: in a closed-door hearing late last month, cia director leon panetta told the senate intelligence committee he had just termnated 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: 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 that it might have been improper for the president or the 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 counsellor and former cnn contributor mary matalin accused of white house of 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 terror 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 that the attorney general -- the attorney general doesn't feel the need to go back into it. >> the associated press says that the program cheney didn't want congress to know about was the up close killing of al qaeda operatives. it reportedly was authorized by former president bush but never got past the planning stage. president obama is back in washington today after an international trip that took him to moscow, italy and ghana. before he left africa, he actually sat down for an exclusive interview with cnn's anderson cooper. the president talks about his tour of cape coast castle where africans were held before being sold into slavery, and he also touched on the economy here at home. 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, a place where enslaved africans were once held before being shipped off to the

new world and before being 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 that you've misread the economy. offsaid no, no, no. we had incomplete information and flefrtless you said you would not have done anything differently. >> yeah. >> that seems contradictory. how can you say that if you had known unemployment would have gone 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 million 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 that 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, you know, other social services that are vital, particularly at a time 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? >> well, you know, there a whole range of things, anderson, that we've done. the banks have stabilized much more quickly than we anticipated. they are 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 businesses to get loans, the drop-off of volatility that's taken place, the general trajectory is in the right direction. >> reporter: 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 is still 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. story. i think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is because whether

it's what's happened 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. >> reporter: 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." >> and here's proof that some things will never die. michael jackson's big comeback in london was supposed to be tonight. his death not enough to keep the fans away. and if you were a senator, what would you ask supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor? your answers later this hour.

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that area. three mobile homes were destroyed. five people living in one of them were injured. the other two thankfully were empty. and it's something that nasa hates to see, lightning strikes around the space shuttle, but there you go. "endeavour's" liftoff last night was scrubbed, of course, while nasa checked for problems. technical problems caused two delays last month. lightning strikes saturday and sunday caused two more, and tonight nasa is hoping that the fifth time is a charm. the shuttle's 16-day mission is to install the final section of the science lab from japan named kiva which is japanese for hope. tonight's launch is scheduled for 6:51 p.m. eastern. let's bring in chad myers. we'll be watching that closely. i know you will be. >> i will. i wouldn't want to get back in my car after lightning hit, it let alone get into space shuttle that has to go into space. >> don't want any bad luck but fifth time's a charm? we hope so because if we don't get it in today and tomorrow, there's going to be a much longer delay because other

vehicles have to go up there and then the shuttle wouldn't have its priority. there we go right there. not a shower in the sky around the area. you don't want rain about 20 miles around the launchpad as well, just in case of the emergency landing and procedures, but showers across parts of the north and parts of the northwest. hot in florida, 90. enough for the afternoon showers. just trying to launch a shuttle when you don't need rain in any place in florida is going to be a difficult proposition in july and august, because literally it rains almost every day when you get a little bit of an onshore flow which is the marine layer as it comes in here. you're going to get that front. there's going to be showers just about every day. the biggest shower activity will be along a front with severe weather possible across parts of alabama but i believe, i think that probably the biggest chance of severe weather will be up here and i'll circle a smaller spot right over the bad lands and over rapid city, and those areas there, anywhere from devil's tower eastward right into rapid city, that's the area that i'm most concerned about today. other than, that we're going to see some showers. we'll put them all back right

here, showers across parts of raleigh, that will continue and showers west of atlanta. so far all the airports, not one airport delay at this hour because the showers that we do have aren't close to any big airports yet. kyra. >> that's good news. thanks, chad. >> you got it. >> today was the day the king of pop was supposed to defend his throne at london's e02 arena, the first of many shows in michael jackson's comeback tour. of course, those shows will not go on but guess what. fans showed up anyway. cnn's phil black in london. phil, and it's quite a crowd. >> reporter: yeah, it is, and it's building, you're right. the show can't go on today, but try telling that to these people. you can see some of britain's most hard core michael jackson fans. they said they were determined to come along today and have a great time and pay tribute to their hero. this was suppose the to be the first of 50 concerts cold out at the '02 arena, the venue you can see just here. that was a million tickets. that makes for a lot of

disappointed fans, but these hard core michael jackson fans, essentially a coalition of michael jackson fan groups that have organized this event here today, mostly via the internet, text messages, facebook, twitter this, sort of thing and you can see they are here to have a good time. some have described it as a vigil and others say it is certainly a party. let's see if we can talk to some of these guys, just bear with me one minute. hello. >> how you doing? >> reporter: you're live on cnn. >> how you doing? >> reporter: tell me why you're here today. >> i'm here today to represent the great man who has been the number one legend, the greatest entertainer who ever lived. we love you, michael. >> reporter: there you go, kyra. some of the british fans here today saying that they think british michael jackson fans are among the most passionate in the world. these guys are trying to prove it today. >> all right, phil. i know it's hard for you to hear, but is it possible that you and your photographer could kind of maybe spin around and give me any idea how many people

are there? >> reporter: i'll try and give you a sense of that. we'll pan right here. just pan from the dancers across the crowd here and there will be easily several hundred people here today. this is really only around the start time of this event. it's about 6:00 p.m. local time. they are hoping for many hundreds, possibly many thousands. you may have seen the large video screen in the background there. they will be playing his music, his videos there. they say there will be lots of singing, lots of dancing. as you can see it's already started, kyra. >> yes, i. poor phil. so they are not getting a refund from the tickets. basically they are making their own show. >> reporter: basically. the fans have options here. they can get refunds if they want them, but many of them are holding on to the tickets as a souvenir of the man they loved and admired so much, kyra. >> wow. phil, good luck. >> well, why did it take a month before the iranian government told a mother that her son was dead? we're going to tell but her

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well, of all of the nominees to the nation's highest court to go before the senate judiciary committee, very few have been women. only one has been hispanic. sonia sotomayor, federal appeals court from new york, president obama's pick to replace retiring supreme court justice david souter. as you know if you've been

watching cnn, the confirmation proses is well under way. republicans are building a case for bias in the guise of empathy. >> such an approach to judging means that the umpire calling the game is not neutral but instead feels empowered to favor one team over another. call it empathy. call it prejudice or call it sympathy, but whatever it is it's not law. >> expect to hear the word empathy a lot this week, including from the panel that we've assembled in our d.c. bureau. welcome senior legal analyst jeffrey stoobin, gloria bornlger, cnn political correspondent candy crow by, alex castellanos and former senior aide to president clinton maria echaveste. i think we need a couple more analysts, guys, what do you think? >> yes, this side of the table is not filled. >> candy, you want to fill up the other side, lord have mercy. where do i even begin. i guess -- why don't we go ahead, maria, and start with you because i remember reading what you wrote and also what you've said in light of this whole

discussion, empathy, sympathy, prejudice, whatever you call it. it's not the law. i was kind of hoping we'd hear a little something else today, but this seemed to be the only thing that created a lot of fireworks. you're probably not surprised, but you also think it's been a bit blown out of proportion, right? >> i absolutely do. i think what's happened is lines are being drawn in. the focus on this word empathy as somehow code for prejudice is really quite unfortunate. i know that president obama was seeking someone who was going to bring some practical common sense experience and somehow when you listen to senator sessions it becomes that it's going to be -- sotomayor is going to be prejudiced against all kinds of groups and favor one group over another and i think it's quite unfortunate. i'm hopeful that the questioning will reveal that in fact she is quite a moderate jurist and will be a real asset to the bench. >> alex, a number of critics coming forward saying, well, that's all republicans had so

really that's all they could throw out there and she can pretty darn well is what they are saying. >> she certainly has an impressive record and great life story, but it's the first time that i remember seeing a supreme court nominee's impartiality questioned like this. we've seen people questioned on their ideology, on their experience, on their qualifications, but can she be impartial in the eyes of the law, and i think it's a question of which way the river runs here. we all bring different experiences to our work, but does this justice to be believe that the law is the ultimate goal and that our experience is something we have to transcend to get to age partial judicial system or does she believe that the law can be perfected by going beyond it and coloring it with our experience, and that's what i think this senate committee is going to wrestle with. >> alex, you gave me the perfect segue with the word experience. let's take a listen to what senator lindsey graham had to say today. >> it just bothers me when somebody wearing a robe takes the robe off and says that their

experience makes them better than someone else. i think your experience can add a lot to the court, but i don't think it makes you better than anyone else. >> candy crowley, it's bothering him. >> it is, and here's what's interesting is what's bothering them, and you heard lindsey graham say it, is what she said once she took off the robe, so you see the democrats pushing back this morning saying let's look at the cases she's decided because they believe that the picture of sonia sotomayor based on the rules that she's made is different from some of those public statements that she's done in a variety of forums, so you can see the democrats are going to kind of go that way but, yes, in this case, this was -- there's no apparent prejudi prejudice, no kind of emotive thing that colored how she judged, so, yes, totally bothered. you saw the parameters here. you'll see the republicans say we're really worried that you're bringing prejudice to the table. it will affect your rules, and

see the democrats saying, look, she's completely well qualified and let's look at the cases. >> jeffrey, we heard prejudice, empathy, sympathy, racist, that whole discussion. there was a little bit that was alluded towards the issue of abortion, but other than that, i mean, we didn't hear anything yet about introducing death penalty, affirmative action, gun rights. were you surprised or no? >> well, it is interesting because so many of recent confirmations have dealt with the subject of abortion rights. we haven't heard about the death penalty. we haven't heard about gay rights which is certainly the biggest hot button legal issue in the world today. that has not been the focus of the republican challenges. what is still a very hot legal subject, the subject of affirmative action. may the law allow a university, may allow an employer to consider race as one factor in establishing its student body or its work force?

democrats by and large say yes. republicans say no. this issue is very unsettled at the supreme court. they are really divided about 4-4 with anthony kennedy in the middle on that, so that issue, affirmative action, racial preferences, that's really the heart of what we're hearing about today. >> what are we going to hear more about in the next couple of days, gloria borger? looking at all of the subjects or the subjects that i had pointed to, do you see this still sort of weighing heavily throughout the week, or do you see the tables being turned on another subject matter? >> well, i think there's an awful lot of case law there to be examined because she's been a judge for 17 years, but i do think we're going to hear a lot more about affirmative action. i think one thing we didn't hear about this morning that i'm sure we will hear about is how she feels about guns and gun control and the second amendment because there's a ruling that she made that's a little controversial with some conservatives.

we're going to hear about the consideration of foreign law and whether she thinks judges should look at foreign law or not. conservatives say no. others say why not, and then, of course, we're going to hear more about her speeches and this wise latina woman comment and this notion of empathy, and what does -- what search think -- what does empathy mean? does empathy mean i feel your pain and, therefore, i'm going to rule for you, or does it mean i understand where you're coming from? i understand your perspective, but i'm not going to impose how i feel on you. it's just important that i understand how you feel, so we're going to -- we're going to hear an awful lot about that, particularly since it was barack obama who injected the word empathy into this whole debate. >> gloria, jeffrey, alex, maria and candy, thanks, guys. i have empathy for all of you as you continue on to a very long

we week. >> the court of cnn right there. thanks, guys. we asked to you share your thoughts on what you would ask judge sotomayor if you were in those hearings. >> thanks to all of you for sending in your thoughts. a huge explosion in eastern pack continue has killed at least 11 people, including 8 children. it occurred in the punjab province. dozens of houses were destroyed there. at least 50 people were injured. some people were trapped inside the wreckage. the cause sun known. reports say the blast was centered in a house used as a religious school for young girls and as a meeting point for anti-western militants. an iranian mother had to wait nearly a month before her

worst fears had b her son were confirmed. the 19-year-old was buried yesterday in tehran. human rights activists say he was at least one of at least 20 people killed during last month's iran election protests. after his disappearance, his mother made repeated inquiries. activists say that the iranian government finally notified her saturday, 26 days after her son's death. costco members may have big bucks buying their jumbo packs of tea or giants jars of mayo but they are being fleeced out of millions of dollars in renewal fees.

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well, folks in grand beach, michigan, on the southeast coast of lake michigan are being warned to stay inside and lock their doors but just until police catch two escaped convicts from just across the indiana border. here's the deal. three convicts slipped out over the weekend through tunnels out of the maximum security prison in michigan city. one of the men, convicted killer charles smith, was caught this morning in a grand beach

driveway by a bodyguard of chicago mayor richard daley who has a vacation home nearby. still on the loose are mark booher, also a convicted murder and rapist. lance battreal. congresswoman sheila jackson lee wants an investigation to determine whether the murder of a gay sailor was a hate crime. seaman august provost iii was standing guard at camp pendleton near san diego last month when he was shot to death and his body burned. navy officials say another sailor has been implicated, but they don't think the attack was a hate crime. lee, a texas democrat, says that more facts are needed to be uncovered here, and she met with the provost family in houston yesterday. turning to news for your wallet now. many costco customers are outraged over what "consumer reports" calls a membership renewal ripoff. for years if you allowed your membership to lapse and waited for months to sign back up, the company would automatically date your renewal on the date it expired, not the date that you

signed back up. in short, you paid a membership fee for a period of time that has already passed. that means that some 12 million costco members were fleeced out of some $40 million over the past eight years. well, that set off a class action lawsuit. now to avoid the problem now, this is what you have to do. just go to the renewal desk at costco and ask what the actual renewal date was and have that reflected on your new membership card. speaking of new renewals, job opportunities in the environmental field are expected to skyrocket in the next few years. stephanie elam is at the new york stock exchange with more on where you might be able to find your next job. hey, stephanie. >> hey, kyra, yeah, that's right. want to get good information out here for people looking for jobs, jobs in health care and the environmental sector are growing even though the rest of the u.s. economy continues to lose jobs. that's expected to be central to a new report from the white house's council of economic advisers. it's due out later on this afternoon. the report looks at how the labor market is expected to

develop over the next few years. of course, we know how much of a beating it's taken since the recession started more than a year and a half ago. almost 6.5 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in december of 2007, so the purpose of this report is to get an idea of likely changes in the labor market, including an anticipated shift from financial services position to those in growing sectors that are expected to really transform the economy. that means openings in the much buzzed about green jobs sector. the report is also expected to highlight opportunities related to reforms in the health care system as well. the white house predicts some manufacturing jobs will return along with construction jobs as the $787 billion stimulus plans starts to kick in. we'll get full details at 2:30 eastern time when all that have data is released, kyra? demean jobs being clearly seen as the next frontier, and president obama has made it clear he wants to make sure

workers have the skills needed to compete, right? >> definitely. we've heard a lot from him recently about this, and part of the report today will discuss the type of skills and training that will be most relevant and growing occupation including green jobs. the system really needs to prepare people for those positions and now the president's opinion piece in "the washington post" yesterday spoke to this saying jobs requiring an associates degree are projected to grow twice as fast as those requiring no college experience. the president said it's never been more essential to continue education after high school. he wants community colleges to make their programs stronger and more affordable. he said in the past that he wants the u.s. to lead the world in college degrees by 2020, and that obviously sounds far away but it really isn't, so before we go away though, kyra, i want to let you know stocks are solidly higher at this time. maybe they are happy that you're back with us. we're seeing triple-digit gains on the dow as investors gear up for a really big week of corporate earnings and also some economic data. it's not the lazy days of summer around here, kyra.

>> always make me feel so much better. thanks, stef. >> thanks. >> well, if you're a ghost or poltergeist, here's some advice for you, think before you haunt because the living might just drag your invisible other worldly butt to court. i'm going to walk over to the international desk to find out about a genie who is in big, big trouble. po@@ies who need assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little or no cost to you.

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here's something over the international desk that we don't hear every day, but today, we did. a family in saudi arabia taking a problem genie out of the bottle and into court. when we think of genie, we think of barbara eden, sweet, beautiful, funny, a dream come true. but get into the mindset of the folks at the international debt. specifically mohammed, who monitors the stories coming out of his home country. you told me about this, i didn't believe you. i gave you the what the heck are you talking about. you said i'm serious. >> yeah. i covered a lot of really strange stories out of saudi arabia. a lot of people shake their heads and go it can't be. this one's definitely the strangest. the family close to the holy city of medina in saudi arabia, according to a saudi newspaper, this family is suing a genie for haunting them, abusing and

harassing them. apparently the genie steals their mobile phones, throws rocks at them when they leave the house. the family has lived in the same house for 15 years. in the past two years, they say they sensed this spirit and now they want the court to take care of it. >> okay. we know in the states there are those that believe in spirits and ghosts, so tell me, how much of this is really sort of a far-fetched old tradition versus a serious part of the culture? >> i mean, in western culture, you have the idea from movies of the big, bubbly, singing, smiley genie that wants to make the master happy or you think barbara eden in "i dream of jeanie." >> that's what i grew up with. that's not what you grew up with. >> no. no. over there in islamic cultures, many believe in the existence of genies, and they have a lot more menace to them. they are more sinister over there. people believe they can possess you, they can be demonic, they

can cause trouble. >> how do you gather evidence in something like this? how does this move forward from here? >> that's the strangest thing about this, is that the family has now been relocated to a temporary residence, because the court, the actual court in this city, has deemed they need to investigate this because every member of the family is participating in the case. the judge has said to local media it's not just one person claiming this, it's the whole family. we have to investigate, we have to verify. they relocated the family to a temporary residence. meanwhile, i don't know, they send in ghostbusters, i don't know if they have equipment, i don't know how they verify the genie is in the house. a good legal source said to me if they can actually get the genie to court, at least it will be out of the house, maybe that will satisfy the family. >> we'll follow the story. don't want to lose any of this. okay. thank you so much. other news to talk about at the international desk, this got us talking today as well. new worries about kim jong-il's deteriorating health. does the 67-year-old reclusive

north korean leader have pancreatic cancer? media citing unidentified intelligence sources saying he does. south korea's unification media flatly denying it. recent video of a frail-looking kim jong-il marking the 15th anniversary of his father's death, that's everything that's been fueling the speculation. we will definitely follow up on this story. swine flu giving up its secrets. research done on monkeys, mice and ferrets shows the h1n1 virus spreads throughout a patient's respiratory system and causes lesions. so-called seasonal flu doesn't. blood tests show survivors of the brutal flu epidemic of 1918 seemed to be immune to swine flu but not to the regular kind. read more about it in the journal nature. we all heard a glass of wine is good for your heart but a new study shows that alcohol is good for the brain, too.

on the story, cnn's necessitatenecessitatemedical correspondent, elizabeth cohen. >> i'm not 75 yet. we're close. not quite there. >> this is -- we have all heard glass of wine, good for your heart. researchers said golly, what does it do to your brain? they took this large group, more than 300 senior citizens, the average age is 75, and asked them hey, how much do you drink. then they followed them for six years to see who developed alz hi alzheimer's disease. what they found is when your brain is on booze, two drinks a day or one drink a day, one to two drinks a day, you get a 40% reduction in the risk of dementia. i should add that the folks who drink more than two drinks a day were sometimes more likely to get dementia so this is not a case where more is better. you want to stick to the one or two. >> what about other types of

alcohol? gin, vodka -- >> keep going. >> jack daniels. >> i want to get a specialized martini in here. what's so interesting, people have red wine stuck in their head and really, it doesn't matter what kind of alcohol. these folks are drinking one to two alcoholic drinks per day. let's go over what a drink is because some people go to new orleans, you get the hurricane things. a drink is 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or one ounce of hard liquor. i'm not really sure why we have the lime there. but the lime is not required. i think that's a lime. >> yeah, that looks like a lime. that works. >> if you want to add the lime, that's fine. >> let's talk about what lime does. >> that will be the next segment. >> not to throw you for a loop, but the other story we were supposed to talk about about cussing and pain, apparently if you cuss, it makes the pain go away a lot quicker? >> yes. you are able to withstand pain

better. this is actually fascinating. the researchers in england who apparently had a lot of time on their hands, they took some college students and made them stick their hands into freezing cold water which is really unpleasant, and they told them swear your head off, use the worst words that you can think of, then they told them okay, now try it and don't swear. they were able to keep their hands in longer when they swore. >> this was your cussing alcohol/irish segment brought to you by kyra phillips. thank you so much. we will get much more serious now. we will send it back to wolf blitzer and the best political team on television for more on the sonia sotomayor confirmation hearings. >> thank you, kyra. the hearing is getting ready to be gavelled once again. they have been in a break for lunch for about an hour and 15 minutes or so. you're looking at that senate hart office building room, the senate judiciary committee. the folks are all coming back. sonia sotomayor will be walking in momentarily. she's still hobbling a little bit, having suffered that fractured ankle. she's got a special device, as

you know, to keep her foot elevated during the course of these hours she has been before the hearing. at issue right now, that building, the supreme court. she is slated to replace david souter on the nine-member panel. these are historic hearings, as all of our viewers know, because this is a lifetime appointment. she could be a supreme court justice for many decades to come. this is something that has significance on so many issues. we're watching all of this with jessica yellin, our national political correspondent, who is in the hearing room right now. give us a little flavor of what we can expect. we're going to be hearing first from four democratic senators. >> reporter: among them will be senator al franken, who will be making his debut appearance on this committee, and also, senator arlen specter, who in days past had been the ranking republican on the committee, when he changed parties, of course, he has lost his seniority so he will be speaking toward the end.

so some changes afoot in the judiciary committee. then of course, the big moment is when the judge herself will speak. it's always interesting in the senate, they get to listen to one another, the senators do, for about three hours before you ever listen to the person everyone's here for, the judge herself. and we expect her to focus heavily on her own life story, her back story as a not well-to-do girl who grew up in the bronx, et cetera. we're told to expect her to speak in real person terms about how she knows what the judge's role is in an average american's life. she's not some ivory tower legal theorist but a person who applies the law to the real world. we all look forward to her comments. we expect them sometime before the 3:00 hour. >> basically what we are going to see is the chairman, patrick leahy will gavel this hearing to order, then four democratic senators in this order, amy klobuchar of minnesota, ed kaufmann, the delaware senator, he replaced joe biden, arlen specter, the former republican,

now the democrat, he used to be the chairman of this committee. now he's one of the junior members, almost the most junior member, but al franken, who was just sworn in the other day, is the most junior member. he will speak last. each is expected to speak for around ten minutes. then senator chuck schumer, member of the judiciary committee, and senator gillibrand from new york state, she took over for hillary clinton, they will introduce sonia sotomayor and then sonia sotomayor will speak. arlen specter is speaking to al franken, the two new members, at least the new democrats on the committee, arlen specter was a long-time republican for pennsylvania, was up for re-election next year. he will be running as a democrat. al franken, the one-time comedy writer, comedian, actor, now united states senator from the state of minnesota. just sworn in the other day after a long, long battle against the former incumbent, norm coleman. we've got a great team here to

assess what's going on. let me introduce everybody once again. gloria borger is here, senior political analyst. jeff toobin, senior legal analyst, author of one of the historic books on the united states supreme court, a major bestseller now out in paperback. maria teaches law at the university of california berkeley, formerly served in the bill clinton white house. alex is our republican strategist and knows a great deal about what's going on politically, and other matters as well. candy crowley is our senior political correspondent. let me play a clip, jeff, i will start with you. before we play the clip, maybe we should go back to the floor. there she is, sonia sotomayor is walking back in wearing the blue outfit, the nice suit. she's walking in. you see her hobbling a little bit. a week after the president nominated her to the supreme

court, she fractured her ankle and she has been in a cast. but she's moving. earlier on, she was on crutches. you got to feel sorry for her after that ankle break, to go ahead and meet with almost 90 united states senators, doing these courtesy calls. she's getting ready to sit down. her family, by the way, is with her, including her brother, who's a physician, lives in syracuse, new york, an all allergist. another product of the south bronx. she does have, by all accounts, an amazing, amazing personal story. republicans are certainly sensitive to that. am i hearing something going on? there he is, patrick leahy. >> if we can get back in order in the room.

judge, good to have you back here. as i recall, we left it. senator klobuchar, you're next. i will yield to senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much, mr. chair. welcome back, judge. it's a pleasure to see you again. i enjoyed our conversation and what i most remembered about that is that you confessed to me that you once brought a winter parka to minnesota in june. and i promise, i will not hold that against you during this week. i know you have many friends and family here, but it was really an honor for me to meet your mom. when president obama first announced your nomination, i loved the story about how your mom saved all of her money to buy you and your brother the first set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood. i always remember when my parents bought us a set that held a hallowed place for me. they were a window on the world and a gateway to knowledge,

which they clearly were to you as well. from the time you were 9 years old, your mom raised you and your brother on her own. she struggled to buy those books on her nurse's salary but she did it because she believed deeply in the value of education. you went on to be valedictorian of your high school class and to be tops in your class in college and go to law school. after that, this is an experience that we have in common, you became a local prosecutor. most of my questions during this hearing will be about opinions you have offered -- authored and work that you've done in the criminal area. i believe having judges with real world front line experience as prosecutors is a good thing. when i think about the inspiring journey of your life, i am reminded of other supreme court justices who came from, in your own words, modest and challenging circumstances. there's justice o'connor, who lived the first years of her life in a ranch in arizona with no running water and no electricity.

by sheer necessity, she learned how to mend fences, ride horses, brand cattle, shoot a rifle and even drive a truck, all before she was 13 years old. i also think about justice thurgood marshall, the great grandson of a slave. his mother was a teacher while his father worked as a pullman car waiter before becoming a steward at an all-white country club. justice marshall waited tables to put himself through law school and his mom pawned her wedding and engagement ring to get the down payment to send him to howard university law school here in washington. then there's justice blackman, who grew up in a st. paul working class neighborhood in my home state of minnesota. he was able to attend harvard college only because at the last minute, the harvard club of minnesota got him a scholarship and he went on to harvard, where he worked as a tutor and janitor. through college and law school, his family was never able to scrape up enough money to bring

him back to minnesota for christmas. each of these very different justices grew up in challenging circumstances. no one can doubt that for each of these justices, their life experiences shaped their work and they -- that they did on the supreme court. this should be unremarkable and in fact, it's completely appropriate. after all, our own committee members demonstrate the value that comes from members who have different backgrounds and perspectives. for instance, at the same time my accomplished colleague, senator whitehouse, son of a renowned diplomat, was growing up in saigon during the vietnam war, i was working as a carhop at the a & w root beer stand in minnesota. while senator hatch is a famed gospel music songwriter, senator leahy is such a devoted fan of the grateful dead that he once had trouble taking a call from the president of the united states because the chairman was on stage with the grateful dead.

we have been tremendously blessed on this committee with the gift of having members with different backgrounds and different experiences, just as different experiences are a gift for any court in this land. so when one of my colleagues questioned whether you, judge, would be a justice for all of us or just for some of us, i couldn't help but remember something that hubert humphrey once said. he said america is all the richer for the many different and distinctive strands of which it is woven. along those lines, judge, you are only the third woman in history to come before this committee as a supreme court nominee, and as you can see, there are currently only two women on this committee, senator feinstein and myself. so i think it's worth remembering that when justice o'connor graduated from law school, the only offer she got from law firms were for legal secretary positions. justice o'connor, who graduated third in her class from stanford law school, saw her accomplishments reduced to one question, can she type.

justice ginsburg faced similar obstacles. when she entered harvard law school, she was one of only nine women in a class of 500. one professor actually demanded she justify why she deserved a seat that could have gone to a man. later, she was passed over for a prestigious clerkship, despite impressive credentials. nevertheless, both of them persevered and they certainly prevailed. their undeniable merits triumphed over those who sought to deny them opportunity. the women who came before you to be considered by this committee helped blaze a trail and although your record stands on your own, you also stand on their shoulders. another woman with an opportunity to be a justice for all of us. as justice ginsburg's recent comments regarding the strip search of a 13-year-old girl indicate, as well as her dissent in the lily ledbetter equal pay case, being a justice for all of us may mean bringing real world

practical experience into the courthouse. as we consider your nomination, we know that you are more than a sum of your professional experiences. still, you bring one of the most wide-ranging legal resumes to this position. local prosecutor, civil litigator. trial judge. appellate judge. straight out of law school, you went to work as a prosecutor in the manhattan d.a.'s office and you ended up staying there for five years. when you're a prosecutor, the law ceases to be an abstract subject. it's not just a dusty book in the basement. it's real and it has an impact on real people's lives. whether it's victims and their families, defendants and their families or the neighborhood where you live. it also has a big impact on the individual prosecutor. you never forget the big and difficult cases. i know in your case, one of those is the serial burglar turned murderer, the tarzan murder case. in my case it was a little girl named taesha edwards, an 11-year-old girl shot by stray

gang fire as she sat at her kitchen table doing her homework. as a prosecutor, you don't just have to know the law. you also have to know people. so judge, i'm interested in talking to you more about what you've learned from that job and how that job shaped your legal career and your approach to judging. i'm also interested in learning more about your views on criminal law issues. i want to explore your views on the fourth amendment, the confrontation clause, and sentencing law and policy. i would like to know in criminal cases as well as in civil cases how you would balance the text of statutes and the constitution and the practical things you see out there in the world. it seems to me in cases like fanta and howard that you have a keen understanding of real world implications of your decisions. i often get concerned that those pragmatic experiences are missing in judicial decision making, especially when i look at the recent supreme court case in which the majority broadly interpreted the confrontation clause to include crime lab

workers. i agree with the four dissenting justices that the ruling has vast potential to disrupt criminal procedures that already give ample protection against the misuse of scientific evidence. your old boss, manhattan district attorney robert morganthal called you an effective, fearless prosecutor. he said we want people with good judgment because a lot of the job of a prosecutor is making decisions. i also want to see some signs of humility in anybody that i hire. we're giving young lawyers a lot of power and we want to make sure that they're going to use that power with good sense and without arrogance. these are among the very qualities i'm looking for in a supreme court justice. i, too, am looking for a person with good judgment, someone with intellectual curiosity and independence, but who also understands that her judicial decisions affect real people. with that, i think, comes the second essential quality, humility. i'm looking for a justice who appreciates the awesome

responsibility that she will be given if confirmed. a justice who understands the gravity of the office and respects the very different roles that the constitution provides for each of the three branches of government. finally, a good prosecutor knows that her job is to enforce the law without fear or favor. likewise, a supreme court justice must interpret the law without fear or favor. and i believe your background and experiences, including your understanding of front line law enforcement, will help you to always remember that the cases you hear involve real people with real problems, who are looking for real remedies. with excellent justice and excellent judgment, and a sense of humility, i believe you can be a justice for all of us. thank you very much. >> amy klobuchar is the democratic senator from minnesota. she just wrapped up her opening statement. all seven republican senators delivered their opening

statements earlier in the day. three more democrats are slated to speak before we hear directly from sonia sotomayor. by the way, one of those democrats, al franken, the junior senator from minnesota, in his debut performance as a member of the judiciary committee. cnn.com is streaming all of these hearings uninterrupted. we will take a quick break. we'll continue our coverage of this historic moment in washington right after this. when you have your period, you guard your own movements. it's so difficult to sleep. that's why there's stayfree® overnight.

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also standing by for arlen specter, the newest democrat, and al franken, who just was sworn in the other day. both members of the judiciary committee. they will be making their opening statements momentarily. earlier, the number two republican in the united states senate, jon kyl, spoke out in his opening statement, and he spoke about the president of the united states. >> i respectfully submit that president obama simply outside the mainstream in his statements about how judges should decide cases. i practiced law for almost 20 years before every level of state and federal court, including the u.s. supreme court, and never once did i hear a lawyer argue that he had no legal basis to sustain his client's position so that he had to ask the judge to go with his gut or his heart. if judges routinely started ruling on the basis of their personal feelings, however well-intentioned, the entire legitimacy of the judicial system would be jeopardized.

>> jon kyl speaking out. jeff toobin, he was making a reference to the fact that as a senator, barack obama voted not to confirm justice alito as a justice of the supreme court. explain the background. >> there's really a -- the party putting forth a nominee, the president always says this is something that should be just about qualifications and that's pretty much what obama has said about sotomayor. but the party out of power often says well, no, we got to look beyond qualifications, we have to look at the ideology of the nominee. obama, when he was a senator and bush was the president, he wanted to look at the ideology of roberts and alito. now, the shoe's on the other foot. it's the outside, the senators from the other party, who are saying we have to look at the ideology of sonia sotomayor and it's the obama administration saying well, just look at her

qualifications. >> republicans make the point that the democrats really started this because they voted overwhelmingly to confirm two democratic nominees, justice breyer and ruth bader ginsburg. they were confirmed with a lot of republican support. >> it's gone back and forth, weirdly. in 1987, the big supreme court fight of all of our lives was robert bork. he was defeated, no doubt about it, because of his ideology by a democrat senate. clarence thomas was four years later. that didn't really have much to do with ideology. i think we all remember it had to do with other things. but after that, there was a period of kind of quiet, where the republicans sort of gave in and said okay, clinton's the president, but it is true that the democrats have raised the stakes and fought hard on both chief justice roberts and samuel alito. >> guys, hold that thought. we're getting ready to hear from

arlen specter and al franken. you'll hear those opening statements coming up next. sdmoo

republican turned democrat, arlen specter of pennsylvania, now speaking. >> a century later, there were only 161 signed opinions, 2007, there were only 67 signed opinions. i start on the cases which are not cited, although i could start in many, many areas. could start with the circuit splits, where one court of appeals in one section of the country goes one way, another court of appeals goes the other way, the rest of the courts

don't know which way the precedents are and the supreme court decides not to decide. but take the case of the terrorist surveillance program, which was president bush's secret warrantless wiretaps, and contrast it with congressional authority exercised under article one on the foreign intelligence surveillance act, providing the exclusive way to have wiretaps. perhaps the sharpest conflict in the history of this great country on the article one powers of congress and the article two powers of the president as commander in chief. the federal district court in detroit said the terrorist surveillance program was unconstitutional. the sixth circuit decided two to one that the plaintiffs did not have standing.

i thought the dissenting opinion was much stronger than the majority opinion, and it's a very flexible doctrine and candidly, at least as i see it, used frequently by the court to avoid deciding a case. then the supreme court of the united states denied certiorari, decided not to hear the case. didn't even decide whether the lack of standing was a justifiable basis. this has led to great confusion in the law and it's as current as this morning's newspapers reporting about other secret programs which apparently the president had in operation. had the supreme court of the united states taken up the terrorist surveillance program, the court could have ruled on whether it was appropriate for the president not to notify the

chairman of the judiciary committee about the program. we now have a law which says all members of the intelligence committees are to be notified. well, the president didn't follow that law. did he have the right to do so under article two powers? well, we don't know. within the past two weeks, the supreme court denied hearing a case involving claims by families of victims of 9/11, against saudi arabia, saudi arabian commissions and four princes in saudi arabia. the congress decided what sovereign immunity was in legislation in 1976, and had exclusions for courts but the supreme court denied an opportunity for those families who had suffered grievously from

having their day in court, and one of the questions when my opportunity arises will be to ask you what would be the standards that you would employ in deciding what cases the supreme court would hear. there is currently a major matter at issue on the voting rights act, and the conflict has been present for many years between the authority of congress to decide what is the factual basis for legislation, the standard which justice harlen decided was a rational basis. the supreme court more recently has adopted a standard of congruently -- congruence and proportionality. a standard which justice scalia

has said is a flabby test which invites judicial law making. you will hear a lot in this hearing about judges' responsibility to interpret the law and the statutes and not to make laws. during the confirmation hearing of chief justice roberts, he said in pretty plain terms that the court ought to allow the congress to decide what the factual basis is, and for the court to do otherwise is to engage in judicial legislation. the voting rights case was decided on narrow grounds but it certainly looks, if you read the record that the court is about ready to upset the voting rights case just like it did in eric versus alabama on the americans with disabilities act, notwithstanding a vast record establishing the basis. so i would like to know what your standard will be, if

confirmed. a rational basis which had been the traditional standard, or congruence and proportionality. if you tell me congruence and proportionality, then i will ask you what it means, because it slips and slides around so much, that it's impossible to tell what a constitutional standard is. and we senators would like to know what the standards are so we know what to do when we undertake legislation. your decision on the district -- on the circuit court in a case captioned entergy corporation involving the environment protection agency and clean water act has a special prominence now that we are debating climate control and global warming. in the second circuit opinion, you were in the majority,

deciding that it was the best technology. the supreme court reversed five to four, saying that it turned on a cost benefit analysis. it i think is worthy of exploration, although what you answer obviously is a matter of your discretion as to whether on a five to four decision, it's hard to say who's really right, the five or the four, as a matter of interpreting the constitution or the statute. having a different view, i would be interested to know if you would care to respond when the time comes as to whether you would be with what had been the minority and perhaps a voice as strong as yours in the conference room would produce a different result. it could have a real impact on what we're legislating now, on cap and trade. with a few seconds i have left, i would like to preview some

questions on televising the court. i don't know why there is so much interest here today. i haven't counted this many cameras since justice alito was sitting where you're sitting. you've had experience in the district court with television. you're replacing justice souter, who said that if tv cameras were to come to the court, they would have to roll over his dead body. if you're confirmed, they won't have to roll over his dead body. but the court decides all the cutting edge questions of the day. the senate is televised, the house is televised. a lot of people are fascinated by this hearing. i would like to see the court televised. you can guess that. thank you very much, judge sotomayor. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator specter.

the next statement will be by senator franken and then we will call for the two people who are going to introduce you, and you then, judge, have a chance to say something. senator franken has been waiting patiently all day. i appreciate having you here. please go ahead. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it's an incredible honor to be here less than a week in my term as the united states senator, my first major responsibility is here at this historic confirmation hearing. i am truly humbled to join the judiciary committee which has played and will continue to play such an important role in overseeing our nation's system of justice. chairman leahy, for several years now, i have admired your strength and integrity in leading this committee. i am grateful for your warm welcome and the consideration

that you have given me, sir, and i am honored to serve alongside of you. ranking member sessions, i want you to know that i plan to follow the example of my good friend and predecessor, paul wellstone, who was ready and willing to partner with his colleagues across the aisle to do the work of the american people. i look forward to working over the years with you and my other republican colleagues in the senate to improve the lives of all americans. to all the members of this committee, i know that i have a lot to learn from each of you. like so many private citizens, i have watched at least part of each and every supreme court confirmation hearing since they have been televised and i would note that this is the first confirmation hearing that senator kennedy has not attended since 1965.

>> the senator will suspend. officers, please remove whoever has caused the disturbance. again, as senator sessions and i have said, this is a meeting of the united states senate. we will show respect to everybody who is here. we will show respect to everybody here. certainly to judge sotomayor, to the senators on both sides of the aisle, and we will have order in this room. >> thank you, senator leahy. >> senator franken? >> thank you, mr. chairman. what i was saying, is this is the first hearing since 1965 that senator kennedy has not been present and i know he's off the committee now, but we do miss his presence. these televised hearings over the years have taught americans a lot about our constitution and the role that the courts play in upholding and defending it.

i look forward to listening to all of your questions and the issues that you and your constituents care about. judge sotomayor, welcome. over the next few days, i expect to learn from you as well. as has been said, you are the most experienced nominee to the supreme court in 100 years, and after meeting you in my office last week, i know that you're not just an outstanding jurist but an exceptional individual and as others have said, your story is inspirational and one which all americans should take great pride in. i welcome your family as well. as most of you know, this is my fifth day in office. that may mean i'm the most junior senator, but it also means that i am the senator who most recently took the oath of

office. last tuesday, i swore to support and defend the constitution of the united states and to bear true faith and allegiance to it. i take this oath very seriously, as we consider your nomination, judge sotomayor. i may not be a lawyer, but neither are the overwhelming majority of americans, yet all of us, regardless of our backgrounds and professions, have a huge stake in who sits on the supreme court, and we are profoundly affected by its decisions. i hope to use my time over the next few days to raise issues that concern the people of minnesota and the people of this nation. this hearing will help folks sitting in living rooms and offices in wenonah and duluth and the twin cities to get a

better idea of what the court is, what it does and what it's supposed to do and most importantly, how it affects the everyday lives of all americans. justice souter, whom you will replace if you are confirmed, once said the first lesson, simple as it is, is that whatever court we're in, whatever we're doing, at the end of our task, some human being is going to be affected. some human life is going to be changed by what we do. so we had better use every power of our minds and our hearts and our beings to get those rulings right. i believe justice souter had it right. in the past months, i have spent a lot of time thinking about the court's impact on the lives of americans and reading and consulting with some of minnesota's top legal minds, and

i believe that the rights of americans as citizens and voters, are facing challenges on two separate fronts. first, i believe that the position of congress with respect to the courts and the executive is in jeopardy. even before i aspired to represent the people of minnesota in the united states senate, i believed that the framers made congress the first branch of government for a reason. it answers most directly to the people and has the legitimacy to speak for the people in crafting laws to be carried out by the executive branch. i am wary of judicial activism. i believe in judicial restraint, except under the most exceptional circumstances, the judicial branch is designed to show deep deference to the congress and not make policy by itself. yet looking at recent decisions on voting rights, campaign

finance reform and a number of other topics, it appears that appropriate deference may not have been shown in the past few years, and there are ominous signs that judicial activism is on the rise in these areas. i agree with senator feingold and with senator whitehouse. we hear a lot about judicial activism when politicians are running for office and when they talk about what kind of judge they want on the supreme court. it seems that their definition of an activist judge is one who votes differently than they would like. for example, during the court, justice thomas voted to overturn federal laws more than justice stevens and justice breyer combined. second, i am concerned that americans are facing new barriers to defending their

individual rights. the supreme court is the last court in the land where an individual is promised a level playing field and can seek to right a wrong. it is the last place an employee can go if he or she is discriminated against, because of age or gender or color. it is the last place a small business owner can go to ensure free and fair competition in the market. it is the last place an investor can go to try to recover losses from security fraud. it is the last place a person can go to protect the free flow of information on the internet. it is the last place a citizen can go to protect his or her vote. it is the last place where a woman can go to protect her reproductive health and rights. yet from what i see on each of those fronts, for each of those rights, the past decade has made

it a little bit harder for american citizens to defend themselves. as i said before, judge, i'm here to learn from you. i want to learn what you think is the proper relationship between congress and the courts, between congress and the executive. i want to learn how you go about weighing the rights of the individual, the small consumer or business owner and more powerful interests, and i want to hear your views on judicial restraint and activism and the context of important issues like voting rights and open access to the internet and campaign finance reform. we are going to have a lot more time together so i'm just going to start listening. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very, very much, senator franken. what we're going to do, move a couple chairs here, just stay

there, please, judge. we're going to have two people who will speak each for five minutes to introduce you. i will then administer the oath of the committee to you. how about that. administer the oath. the oath before the committee. and then we will hear your testimony. so going as we do by seniority, senator schumer, you are recognized for five minutes and senator gillibrand, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman and today is a great national opportunity. it's an opportunity to recognize

that the nomination of one of the most qualified candidates to the supreme court in american history could not have happened anywhere else in the world. judge sotomayor's story is a great american story and i might add, a great new york story as well. consider this. in no other country in the world could a woman from a minority group who grew up in a working class family have received an education at the best institutions and having thrived there, gone on to be a judge and now, a nominee to the highest court in the land. this is because we don't have a caste system in this country or even a class system. 250 years ago, we threw away the centuries-old framework of gentry and nobility. we started fresh with no ranks and no titles. less than fourscore and seven years later, a farmer and self-taught lawyer from illinois

became perhaps our greatest president. so the american story goes and judge sonia sotomayor from the bronx, daughter of a single parent practical nurse, has written her own chapter in it. judge sotomayor embodies what we all strive for as american citizens. her life and her career are not about race or class or gender, although as for all of us, these are important parts of who she is. her story is about how race and class at the end of the day are not supposed to predetermine anything in america. what matters is hard work and education and those things will pay off no matter who you are or where you have come from. it's exactly what each of us wants for ourselves and for our children, and this shared vision is why this moment is historic for all americans.

judge sotomayor was born to parents who moved to new york from puerto rico during world war ii. her father was a factory worker with a third grade education. he died when she was 9. her mother worked and raised sotomayor and her brother, juan, now a doctor practicing in syracuse, on her own. sonia sotomayor graduated first in her high school class from cardinal spelman high school in 1971. she has returned to cardinal spelman to speak there and to encourage future alumni to work hard, get an education and pursue their dreams the same way she did. when sonia sotomayor was growing up, the nancy drew stories inspired her sense of adventure, developed her sense of justice and showed her that women could and should be outspoken and bold. now, in 2009, there are many more role models for a young

cardinal spelman student to choose from. with judge sotomayor foremost among them. judge sotomayor went on to employ her enormous talents at princeton, where she graduated summa cum laude. she won an award given not just to the smartest student in the class but to the most exceptionally smart student who has also given the most to her community. she graduated from yale law school and because we have such an extensive judicial record before us, i believe these hearings will matter less than for the several previous nominees or at the least, that these hearings will bear out what is obvious about her, that she is modest and humble in her approach to judging.

as we become even more familiar with her incisive mind and balanced views, i am certain that this hearing will prove to all what is already clear to many. this is a moment in which all americans can take great pride, not just new yorkers, not just puerto rican, not just hispanics, not just women, but all americans who believe in opportunity and who want for themselves and their children a fair reading of the laws by a judge who understands that while we are a nation of individuals, we are all governed by one law. mr. chairman, people felt that the founding of america that we were quote, god's noble experiment. judge sotomayor's personal story shows that today, more than 200 years later, we are still god's

noble experiment. thank you. >> senator schumer and senator gillibrand, the from new york, please go ahead, senator. >> thank you, chairman leahy, ranking member sessions, and the other distinguished members of the judiciary committee. for the privilege to speak on behalf of judge sonia sotomayor. president obama has chosen one of the country's outstanding legal minds with his nomination of sonia sotomayor to the united states supreme court. as a new yorker, i take great pride in judge sotomayor's nomination, along with the rest of my state and our delegation, including senator schumer, and my colleagues from the house, congresswoman velasquez, the first woman to introduce me to judge sotomayor and her record,

and congressman sorrano. as a woman, i take great pride in this historic nomination. in the words of san dra day o'connor, it took a very long time, about 171 years, to get the first woman on the supreme court and i thought that we would very likely always have two and eventually more. i am very thankful to president obama and his recognition of the importance of women's voices on the nation's highest court. sonia sotomayor's life and career are a study in excellence. commitment to learning, dedication to the law and the constant pursuit of the highest ideals of our country and constitution. her story's also the quintessential american and new york story, born to a puerto rican family, growing up in public housing in the south bronx and raised with the love of country and a deep appreciation for hard work. judge sotomayor demonstrated a devotion to learning, graduating from princeton and serving as editor on the yale law journal

before pursuing her career in the law. the breadth and depth of judge sotomayor's experience make her uniquely qualified to the supreme court. judge sotomayor's keen understanding of case law and the importance of precedent is derived from working in nearly every aspect of our legal system, as a prosecutor, as a corporate litigator, as a trial judge and as an appellate judge. as prosecutor, judge sotomayor fought the worst of society's ills, prosecuting a litany of crimes from murder to child pornography to drug trafficking. the manhattan d.a. described her as fearless and an effective prosecutor and an able champion of the law. judge sotomayor's years as corporate litigator exposed her to all facets of commercial law, including real estate, employment, banking, contracts and agency law. judge sotomayor was appointed to the u.s. district court to the

southern district of new york by president george herbert walker bush, presiding over roughly 450 cases and earning a reputation as a tough, fair-minded and thoughtful jurist. she would replace justice souter as the only member on the supreme court with trial experience. at the appellate level, judge sotomayor has over 3,000 panel decisions, offering roughly 400 published opinions, with only seven being brought up to the supreme court, which reversed only three of those decisions, two of which were closely divided. with confirmation, judge sotomayor brings more federal judicial experience to the supreme court than any justice in 100 years, and more judicial experience than any justice confirmed in the court in 70 years. as a testament to judge sotomayor, many independent national legal and law enforcement groups have already endorsed her nomination, including among them, the aba,

voting unanimously and giving her the highest rating of well qualified, complimenting not only her intellect but her mature legal mind and her record of deciding cases based on the precise facts and legal issues before her, also faithful in following the law as it exists. she has a healthy respect for the limited role of judges and the balance of powers for the executive and legislative branches. the president of the fraternal order of police also stated she's a model jurist, tough, fair-minded and mindful of the constitutional protections afforded to all u.s. citizens. a nominee's experience as a legal advocate for civil rights certainly must not be seen as a disqualifying criteria for confirmation but instead, as the hallmark of an individual's commitment to our founding principles of equality, justice and freedom. like ruth bader ginsburg, participation in an aclu project

or justice marshall's participation on behalf of the legal education and defense fund, judge sotomayor's participation in the puerto rican legal defense fund demonstrates her commitment to the constitution, constitutional rights and core values of equality as being an inalienable american right and should not be ascribed based on gender or color. judge sotomayor's entire breadth of experience uniquely informs her ability to discern facts as she applies the law and follows precedents. judge sotomayor's commitment to the constitution is unyielding. as she described her philosophy, saying i don't believe we should bend the constitution under any circumstance. it says what it says. we should do honor to it. judge sotomayor' second circuit demonstrates the paramount importance of this conviction. the importance of sonia sotomayor's professional and personal story cannot be

understated. many of our most esteemed justices have noted the importance of their own diverse backgrounds and life experiences in being an effective justice. like judge sotomayor, they also understand that their gender or ethnicity is not a determining factor in their judicial ruling, but another asset which they bring to the court, much like education, training and previous legal work. justice anthony scalia said quote, i am the product of the melting pot in new york, grew up with people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds. i have absolutely no racial prejudices and i think i am probably at least as antagonistic as the average american and probably much more so towards racial discrimination. justice clarence thomas said my journey has been one that required me to at some point touch on virtually every aspect, every level of our country, from people who couldn't read and write to people who were extremely literate.

>> senator, senator, we are going to have to put your full statement in the record so judge sotomayor can be heard. >> may i conclude my remarks? >> if it can be done in the next few seconds. >> one minute. >> well, how about -- >> 20 seconds. i strongly support judge sotomayor's nomination and firmly believe her to be one of the finest jurists in american history. >> thank you. judge, now we will administer the oath. i will let the two senators step back, if they would like.

please raise your right hand. do you swear the testimony you are about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you. please be seated. and i thank my two colleagues from new york for the introduction, and i appreciate it because i know both have known you for some time. judge, you have also introduced a number of members of your family. now the floor is yours. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i also want to thank senator schumer and gillibrand for their kind introduction. in recent weeks, i have had the privilege and pleasure of meeting 89 senators, including all the members of this committee.

each of you has been gracious to me and i have so much enjoyed meeting you. our meetings have given me an illuminating tour of the 50 states and invaluable insights into the american people. there are countless family members and friends who have done so much over the years to make this day possible. i am deeply appreciative for their love and support. i want to make one special note of thanks to my mother. i am here, as many of you have noted, because of her aspirations and sacrifices for both my brother, juan, and me. i am very grateful to the president and humbled to be here today as a nominee to the united states supreme court. the progression of my life has been uniquely american.

my parents left puerto rico during world war ii. i grew up in modest circumstances in a bronx housing project. my father, a factory worker with a third grade education, passed away when i was 9 years old. on her own, my mother raised my brother and me. she taught us that the key to success in america is a good education, and she set the example, studying alongside my brother and me at our kitchen table so that she could become a registered nurse. we worked hard. i poured myself into my studies at cardinal spelman high school, earning scholarships to princeton university and then yale law school, while my brother went on to medical school. our achievements are due to the values that we learned as children and they have continued to guide my life's endeavors. i try to pass on this legacy by

serving as a mentor and friend to my many godchildren, and to students of all backgrounds. over the past three decades, i have seen our judicial system from a number of different perspectives. as a big city prosecutor, as a corporate litigator, as a trial judge and as an appellate judge. my first job after law school was as an assistant district attorney in new york. there, i saw children exploited and abused. i felt the pain and suffering of families torn apart by the needless death of loved ones. i saw and learned the tough job law enforcement has in protecting the public. in my next legal job, i focused

on commercial instead of criminal matters. i litigated issues on behalf of national and international businesses and advised them on matters ranging from contracts to trademarks. my career as an advocate ended and my career as a judge began when i was appointed by president george h.w. bush to the united states district court for the southern district of new york. as a trial judge, i did decide over 450 cases and presided over dozens of trials, with perhaps my most famous case being the major league baseball strike in 1995. after six extraordinary years on the district court, i was appointed by president clinton to the united states court of appeals for the second circuit. on that court, i have enjoyed the benefit of sharing ideas and perspectives with wonderful colleagues.

as we have worked together to resolve the issues before us. i have now served as an appellate judge for over a decade, deciding a wide range of constitutional, statutory and other legal questions. throughout my 17 years on the bench, i have witnessed the human consequences of my decisions. those decisions have not been made to serve the interests of any one litigant, but always to serve the larger interests of impartial justice. in the past month, many senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. simple, fidelity to the law. the task of a judge is not to make law. it is to apply the law. and it is clear, i believe, that my record in two