stay tuned to cnn. we're going to get updates on what happened throughout the morning. there's other big stories we'll break down for you in the next 15 minutes as well, including supreme court nominee sown ya sotomayor on the hot seat. yesterday she insisted she never let her background or personal opinions influence the decisions as a judge, but some republicans challenge that. >> lindsey graham said that i will make a better senator than x -- because of my experience as a caucasian male makes me better able to represent the people of south carolina, and my opponent was a minority, it would make national news and it should. . >> just a moment, how sotomayor challenged that and what she said about row v. wade. former vice president dick cheney ordered the cia not to

tell congress about a secret plan to kill al qaeda leaders. we're live in washington with new details on whether the former vice president may be called to testify. and we begin with judge sown ya sotomayor getting set for the second day of questioning in a bid to become the first hispanic supreme court justice. >> she appeared cool, composed, fielding every question senators threw her way in a six-hour-long grilling. briana keeler joins us from capitol hill. many believe sotomayor's chances of getting confirmed are looking pretty good. >> it's senator graham who said monday that unless she had a meltdown, he expected sotomayor to be cop firmed. well, certainly she's stayed within the lines of her very deliberate answers. >> reporter: as sonia sotomayor took the hot seat prepared to answer republican questions about her controversial

off-the-bench remarks, democrats launched a preemptive strike. >> here's your chance. you tell us what's going on here, judge. >> patrick lahey gave her a friendly audience as she explained her wise latina reaching a better conclusion than a white male. it was a misunderstanding, she was trying to inspire hispanic students. >> i want to state up front unequivocally and without a doubt, i do not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment. rfrmgt it wasn't enough for republican critics who pressed sotomayor on whether she could be impartial. >> i'm very concerned what you're saying today is quite inconsistent with the statement that you willingly accept that your sympathies, opinions, and prejudices may influence your decision making. >> as i've ibd kated, my record shows that at no point or time have i ever put my personal

views or sympathies in the influence and the outcome of the case. >> reporter: through hours and hours of testimony, sotomayor scribbled notes and was careful with her answers. on row v. wade and a more recent supreme court decision upholding the ban on late-term abortion, sotomayor said she accepts those decisions. >> all the precedents of the supreme court i consider settled law. >> reporter: as for the past comments, the judges must at times using hearts to make description, a description republicans prized as inappropriate, sotomayor distanced herself from the man who nominated her. >> i wouldn't approach the issue of judging it the way the president does. the job of a judge is to apply the law. so it's not the heart that compels conclusions in the cases. it's the law.

>> reporter: sonia sotomayor will spend several hours today in the hot seat. eight senators have a chance to ask their questions including al franken. this is the first chance to see him give a public performance. >> looking forward to the rest of the proceedings today. thanks so much. what do you think of sotomayor's hearings so far. log on to cnn.com/amfix. let us know. you can watch the hearings live here on cnn. if you can't make it to a television set, you get them on your computer at cnn.com. house democrats are moving closer to calling dick cheney to testify about whether he broke the law. now, at issue are reports that cheney ordered the cia to keep congress in the dark about a classified program that never got past the planning stage. cnn's jim acosta live in washington. what are democrats saying about this possibility that he may have to testify? >> well, it's interesting, kiran, because the vice president has been very outspoken over the last couple

of months on the obama administration. but during this matter, he's been curiously quiet. democrats in the house are raising the stakes to find out whether cheney did in fact ordered the cia not to tell congress about the terrorism program. they just asked cheney to pay them a visit on capitol hill. >> democrats are determined to investigate whether former vice president dick cheney directed the cia to withhold information from congress about a secret counterterrorism program. >> why is it that the vice president thought it was too risky in some way to inform the congress about this? i think we have to dig deeper. >> if it comes to the point where you may have to ask the vice president to come to capitol hill and testify? is that something that should be discussed at least at this point? >> i think it should be discussed. >> reporter: the chairwoman of a key house intelligence subcommittee said even cia director leon panetta was in the dark about the operation.

>> he wasn't even informed about it. >> reporter: published reports indicates the program was aimed at capturing or killing al qaeda terrorists. without confirming the existence, an official told cnn, it should come as no surprise that we would go after the bad guys, the terrorists, especially what president bush said about osama bin laden. >> wanted dead or alive. all i want, america wants him brought to justice. >> lynne cheney said democrats are targeting her father to protect nancy pelosi who came under fire when she accused the cia of lying in congress. >> if they want to go to the american people and say they disagree with the notion that we ought to be capturing and killing al qaeda leaders, it's going to prove to the american people one more time why they can't trust the democrats with the national security. >> reporter: the white house is approaching with caution. >> the president believes that congress should always be

briefed fully and in a timely manner in accordance with the law. >> reporter: whether it's cheney and the cia or the jus us department investigation to interrogation methods, robert gibbs says the president's views are not changed. >> our efforts are better focused looking forward than looking back. >> reporter: as for liz cheney, she's said publy she does not know whether her father instructed the cia to withhold information from congress and even the house intelligence committee admit they don't know all of the details of the operation. they're now asking the cia for documents related to the program. john, kiran, we did get a response from the cia late yesterday. i'll read it to you. spokesman george little for the cia said director panetta has ordered a thorough internal review which should result in lessons learned on congressional reporting. so that key phrase there, lessons learned, inld kates that they realize that the congress

should have been informed about this. >> all right. see how that turns out. jim acosta for us, thanks. breaking news this morning. a new message from al qaeda's second in command, alan al zakawari warning they have a religious duty to fight the jihad in the united states. zawahiri says it poses a grave danger to the country's existence and must be challenged. the message was on radicalists' websites. sarah palin is preparing to step down as governor of alaska. the latest charges, allegations she abused her office by accepting a salary and using state staffers. it is the 18th ethics complaint filed against palin. the third since she announced she was resigning 12 days ago. she took to twitter to talk a little bit more about that, asking whether or not these

wasteful ethics charges are the result of not saying when the filer begged for a job. she's referring to somebody so far filed five ethics complaints against her. three have been dismissed. a battle erupting over reports of a custody deal for michael jackson's children. debbie rowe tells cnn a report in "the new york post" said rowe was paid $4 million so jackson's mother could raise the three children is, quote, completely false. a custody hearing for jackson's hearing scheduled for next monday.

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yes, we are following breaking news at 12 minutes past the hour. out of iran, a plane crash, a caspian airlines passenger plane carrying 168 passengers and crew crashed 75 miles northwest of teheran. you're looking at the latest pictures in cnn in the crash site and the debris still smoking in some cases. everyone onboard is feared dead. iran state radio reporting that the jet was heading from teheran to the armenian capital when it went down in a field. the reports say the wreckage was engulfed in flames making it unlikely that anyone survived. most of the 153 passengers are believed to be armenian. there were also 15 crew members onboard. stay tuned to cnn for the latest update throughout the morning. other breaking news we're following for you this morning. moments ago, a major earthquake off of the southwestern tip of the -- the south island of new zealand. measured 7.8. jacqui jeras is monitoring it for us at the weather center in atlanta. 7.8 is a big earthquake.

>> that's a really big earthquake. that happened just off the shore. that's the big concern when something like that happens. you have a threat of a tsunami. a tsunami warning has been issued for the island of new zealand. it happened just off of the south island, you can see the star. this is what we call the shake maps for the areas that can feel it. it was mostly felt across southern parts of the island here. this is a moderate feel. doesn't look like it was felt real strong. we're trying to get a handle on the depth of the earthquake. how deep it is has a huge impact on what kind of impact it's going to be having on the surface. we know it's less than 100 kilometers, 62 miles. that doesn't tell us a lot. we're going to keep oh looking into it and tell you what we find out. 7.8 is a very powerful earthquake and a tsunami warning is in effect for new zealand. >> u.s. geological survey puts the depth at 20 miles. >> 20? >> but the proximity to the southern coast there, i expect

that the tsunami warning for new zealand probably wouldn't be in effect for too long. >> probably not. close distance. if something were to happen, we would expect to hear something pretty soon. >> jacqui jeras monitoring that for us in atlanta. >> 20 miles deep. they say deep, even though it might be a powerful quake, it might not be as damaging as those close to the surface. >> exactly right. >> keep following that. it's been five months since president obama signed a stimulus plan in to law. more than $250 billion of government spending and tax breaks used to create jobs. but yesterday, the president said unemployment may get worse before things turn around. what's going on. the professor of business at the university of maryland and former director of the international trade commission. an interesting op-ed on this. nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> there's debate on whether the

stimulus is working quickly enough. the president said we're on target. a lot of people are asking, when are we going to see the effects? you, though, say it's doomed to fail? why? >> the stimulus money is very badly spent. we knew the tax cuts from the bush stimulus don't work. people are simply saving it. if you want stimulus to work, spend it on shovel ready projects, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, etc. but only $100 billion of it is spent there. >> shovel ready -- they found it a challenge within the administration to find shovel-ready projects what many are saying in the various states. how do you get that better organized so indeed if the money is there, 10% has gone out, they can get to projects that are ready to go. >> i'm no republican, but what president obama is discovering is how slow the bureaucracy moves. it's very hard to push this kind of money through the system. also, all of the red tape that the government has created doing

construction has made it difficult. i can get the money out there. but obama doesn't seem capable of getting it done. the advisors don't seem to with able to get it done. you have to hand it to the mayors and county executives and say you have to spend x by the end of this year. send them another chunk by next year and say spend it by next year or you don't spend the money. most municipalities have a long list of cash. president obama is not thinking about those terms. instead, he beefs up the department of education. >> what they're saying is some of this money is going to plug budget gaps. we know a lot of the municipalities and state governments are suffering right now. if it's not sort of ear marked for something, it goes to plug the budget holes. how do you know it will go to things like creating jobs, like building roads, jobs, schools, construction. >> you have to require it. you have to say we're giving you $100 billion by the end of 2009.

it must be used for the following projects -- renovating schools, reconditioning hospitals, things of that nature. the state and local governments for all their crying, weren't laying people off. employment was growing through the time the stimulus package was signed. education, noneducation, state, and local. since it's been signed, it continues to grow at the same pace. i can find no effect for the department of labor statistics for state and local employment that would indicate the stimulus is having any effect whatsoever. >> the president is saying we have to have patience when it comes to this and the plan was intended to work not in a couple of months but in two years. you say, though, that patience would fix a normal cyclical problem, a downturn and upturn in the economy. but you're calling this a structural problem and it has to do with the fact that we don't manufacture enough here. what is the solution?

>> well, we import too much from china without selling there. one of the pest cars in china are buicks, believe it or not. they won't buy a buick in the united states. they have a 25% tariff. they require general motors not only to make them there, but to move their suppliers there. that's why the midwest is melting down. not buicks and small cars, it's the high-end products that china's cheap labor doesn't provide an advantage. president obama's windmills are not going to solve the oil problem. we need a real clunker subsidy to get the big cars off of the road. replace the tahoes with the traverses. big car but gets twice the gas mileage. >> the other thing you talked about is the private sector shedding 66 million jobs, half being shed in manufacturing and construction. we know the housing market is struggling. what's the solution if you use that stimulus money to get the people back to work and beef up manufacturing here in our country? >> well,e s essentially, you ha

to recalibrate trade with china. unhinge the currency and manipulate the currency. it's buying $400 billion a year with yuan it prints and giving it to us. keeps the currency cheap and makes it products artificially cheap in our markets. with regard to construction -- we have built too much houses, we're overhoused right now. an excess supply. move the construction workers as i said earlier to infrastructure. rehabilitating schools. the same guy can put a roof on a house can put a roof on a school. >> a lot of good ideas and hopefully we'll see some of this in to action soon. the professor of international business at the university of maryland, good to talk to you this morning. >> nice to be with you. >> 20 minutes past the hour. a car that can help awaken its driver if he begins to doze... keep him in his lane if he starts to wander... even stop itself if he becomes distracted.

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♪ it's the type of town i can spend a few days in ♪ ♪ miami welcome back to the most news in the morning. a live look at miami. sun, surf, and apparently jobs created by the president's stimulus package. so how is the city using stimulus money to create jobs? we wanted to know, so our christine romans hit the road

live in the miami bureau this morning "minding your business." how do i get an assignment like that? >> it's still very early in miami. i'm still waking up and working for you, minding your business and tracking your money. some of the stimulus money is coming here in miami. these are the jobs saved, not just created, but you heard the white house talk about saving jobs, there's $13.4 billion coming to floridament. some of the money is flowing. $120 million has flowed to the coffers of the miami dade school district and they're using the money to save 2,000 teaching jobs. without your stimulus money, 2,000 teachers in the school district would have lost their jobs. there would have been layoffs. so you'll hear a lot of people talking about patching up the road, plugging holes -- not necessarily creating new programs. they would like to start new schools, they would like to start new program, but at this point, they have to save the programs they have. they're not building schools

with that money. they're using it to save teacher jobs. they're asking the school superintendent how he feels about what he thinks when people say, look, we're just plugging holes here. this is what he said. >> look, there is no workforce without education. we know that. underfunding education, creating a position in our country where teachers move our jobs, our counselors out of their jobs cannot be defined as plugging a hole. a teacher does not constitute a hole in a kid's life, nor does a counselor. >> he takes issue with calling it plugging holes. these are livelihoods and these are important jobs that make a difference for society, he says. and he says it's not -- don't just miss saving jobs. these are 2,000 jobs that they will have for the next two years. yet, he goes further and says he needs a better national conversation about what happens two years from now when this money goes away, quite frankly. because they're still going to have the channels they need.

and too much of their revenue over the last ten year, he said, has been based on real estate fees and taxes and also sales taxes and tourism and the like. those things aren't coming back any time soon. he's concerned about what happens next, john, kiran. >> i don't think people mean to be flip. they're saying stimulus money is flowing out meant to create things and invest in things that are going to be long-term help. and, as you said, he's worried about what's going to happen two years down the road when the money is dried up. >> it's a big problem. >> it's great you're out there trying to see how this is working for them. you have a romans numeral for us this hour? >> that number is 697. we take a number and try to put a finer point on the story of the morning. the number is 697. we talked to this school. 697 is the number of school counselors that will keep their jobs for the next two years whose paychecks will be paid for by your stimulus money. something to keep in mind when there's political debate and

arguments over the stimulus money, how it's being spent, whether it's doing any good, do we need another one. these are actual people who we have found here, 697 guidance counselors paid for with your stimulus cash. there we go, there's the romans' numeral this morning. >> try to get rollerblading in before you head back to new york. take care, christine. >> bye-bye. (male announcer) if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots. ask your doctor about plavix, protection that helps save lives. (female announcer) if you have stomach ulcer or other condition that causes bleeding, you should not use plavix.

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a caspian airlines passenger jet carrying 168 people has crashed 75 miles northwest of the capital of teheran. this picture in to cnn. the jet was heading from teheran to the armenian capital of jannat-abad going down in a field. you can see the plane is in tiny little pieces, what's left of it. no one likely survived. most of the passengers are believed to be armenian. breaking news out of new zealand this morning where a powerful 7.8 earthquake hit off of the country's west coast. a tsunami watch has been issued for new zealand's south island where the earthquake was centered. reports coming in of minor cracks and buildings, food falling in supermarket shelves. so far, no reports of injuries. speaker nancy pelosi calling it a, quote, starting point to the path of success.

house leaders promising to pass the bill. it calls for penalties and employers to provide health care for their workers and individuals who refuse to buy in to the plan. bernie madoff should be up this morning and starting the first full day at the place he'll call home, at least for a little while. madoff will serve out the 150-year sentence, part of it, at the butner complex in north carolina. what will life be like for the high-flying financier. larry lavine served ten years in nine different federal prisons. great to see you this morning. you have personal experience with this. what do you believe bernie madoff's first night in jail was like? >> i don't think he got much sleep. i don't think he was waking up. he had a lot of anxiety. he probably was all doped up on psych meds and he's wondering what's going to happen next. and i know the federal system

like i do, they're going to run him through a battery of psychiatric examinations and medical exams. i don't really believe that butner is his final destination. it's unique because it's a federal correction complex. two medium fci's there, one low fci -- federal correctional institute. but you have a federal medical center there. i have compliants who have been through there after they have been sentenced to get a medical evaluation before he goes to the final institution. >> his attorney and the judge in the case recommended he go to otisvil otisville. >> that's an operative word -- recommend. it doesn't have much will. they recommend it. if the bureau of prisons can't

place him in otisville, they have to explain to the judge why he's not there. is butner -- i haven't checked -- is it within the 500-mile range. >> apparently so. >> that's the often -- >> it's described as him hitting the inmate lottery. it's by some people to be the crown jewel of the federal penal system? is it or is it not? >> no, it's just another complex. i heard that and i wondered where that came from. that might be more hype that someone is spinning around. pensacola, florida, a nice place to go, sheridan, oregon is a nice place to go. i never heard butner described as a nice place. they run the sexual offender treatment program there. i can't see them having a real nice place where they have all of the child mowlelesters house >> what is the environment going to be like for him? high-profile people housed at

butner. he was involved in the world trade center bombing. randy "duke" cunninghamm, jim baker spent some time there. those are the high profile inmates. who are some of the other folks he may at some point mix with. >> first of all, he's got 150-year sentence. he gets another 20 knocked off for good time. he's looking for 130. he doesn't really have an out date. he's not getting out. the people he's going to mingle with, rapists, killers, bank robbers, you name it, they're all in the medium where is he's going and bernie is going to be the prize. bernie is the crown jewel, not butner. these people want to make a name for themselves. so bernie will be a high-profile name. they'll take bernie out. take him out with a shank. cause a disturbance in the institution. the dining hall, the movie theater, the rec yard.

you cause a disturbance on one side. the cops racing over there. somebody is going to sticking a knife in bernie on the other side. he's going to leave in a bag or box. this man will have to watch his back until the day he dies. >> people are going to want to have a piece of him? >> absolutely. not his victims that he has to worry about. he stole, who knows, $20 billion, $3 billion, $40 billion. the people who have that money -- he didn't cooperate with the u.s. attorney. he know where is the money is and he doesn't want to tell who has it. the people who have it, they're going to want to keep it. they'll peel off a few million dollars and they'll get to bernie on the inside. they'll bribe some inmates' families of people who aren't getting out. and somebody will take bernie out. they'll pay off the families, the person on the inside who's not getting released. they're the ones that are going to stick a knife in bernie. you can take a sock -- this is popular inside as a weapon. take a sock, put a few padlocks

in it. put a few bars of soap in it. you bounce it off bernie's head a few times and he's done, out like a light, he's dead. >> larry, always interesting to talk about that. founder of wall street prison consultants. larry, thanks for being with us this morning. good to see you. 

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welcome pack to the most news in the morning. quick check of the a.m. rundown. the stories coming up in the next few minutes. imagine being able to charge your cell phone by walking. you may be able to. a showdown on how billions of your tax dollars are being spent. the controversial fighter jet that president obama wants to see go away and the surprising ally on his side. and secretary of state hillary clinton about to step back in to the spotlight. after months of keeping a low profile. we'll look at whether clinton really was, benched. afghan star doesn't have the same ring to you as "american

idol." it's a new tv show in afghanistan. it's the "american idol" format. it's rocking the ratings and the religious leaders to their very core. alina cho joins us now. "afghan star" like our "american idol". >> we take shows like "american idol" for granted. but in afghanistan, a tv singing contest is revolutionary. under taliban rule, music was banned, it was illegal. new this show is a run-away hit and it's causing a lot of controversy. >> reporter: when the taliban ruled afghanistan, to do this was unthinkable. >> the taliban banned singing and destroyed the music instruments. >> reporter: but now music is back. in a televised singing competition is become the country's most popular show -- it's "american idol" afghan style.

just like "american idol," fans vote for their favorites, often by texting. in afghanistan, that's a radical concept. >> all your votes are all equal. that's very, very extraordinary thing for people to try and understand when it -- when they come from a tribal kind of life. >> reporter: even more radical, the participation of women. >> anyone who take this is on is genuinely risking her life. >> reporter: a documentary about the 2008 competition in which two women made it to the final. one is named satara and she created a national scandal by moving to the music. >> it's not beyonce, you know. but it is dancing. and her head scarf slipped and she doesn't bring it back up. she's beautiful dancing with her hair free in fact symbolizes everything that is forbidden and was forbidden in afghan culture.

>> she received death threats and for a while was forced into hiding. religious authorities have moved to ban the show, declaring it un-islamic. but producers tell cnn, that won't stop them. and afghanistan's ambassador to the united states says his country won't return to a time when music was illegal. >> today when you travel in afghanistan, you will hear music from every car, from every shop, from every restaurant, from every home. >> reporter: times have changed. now, the documentary, "afghan star" is now playing in select cities around the country, including here in new york. it's making its way to the halls of power -- director havanna martin tells us she's trying to arrange a screening for the members of congress and hoping to get it in the hands of president obama. the fact they're playing music in afghanistan after 30 years of taliban rule is revolutionary. what's revolutionary, remember, this is a country that's really

under the tribal elder system that's male-dominated. so the fact that women are involved, women are participating in the contest and also voting. one woman, one man equals one vote, that's really revolutionary too. it's incredible. >> it is interesting to see if it will change -- the female contestants are risking their lives. >> they are. this woman's head scarf fell. she showed her hair. that's incredible. she did receive death threats. she went to hiding for a while. this is a revolutionary show. a third of the country is watching it so it's popular too. >> alina cho, thanks. >> we'll be right back. [chocolate squirting] [conveyor belt humming] [squirting] [conveyor belt humming] [squirting] (male announcer) something new to crave. [squirting] the cr-v from honda.

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good morning, mr. president. here's your weather forecast for the day. right now, partly cloudy, 65 degrees in washington. going to be beautifully sunny today and hot with a high of 89. 45 1/2 minutes after the hour. let's fast forward now to stories that will be making news later on today. at 1:05 eastern, the president will be in the rose garden to deliver remarks on health care reform. it's going to be hot, they might move it inside. he meets with hillary clinton in the oval office. nasa scientists are wondering if

the sixth time is going to be the charge today. the shuttle endeavour set for a new launch opportunity tonight at 6:03 eastern. bad weather scrubbed sunday and monday's launches. today there's a 60% chance for favorable conditions. you can watch live here on cnn. and every harry potter fanatic this side of hogwarts is getting ready for the sixth film about the boy wizard in theaters today. the midnight showing of "harry potter and the half-blood prince" going to see it. >> hasn't planned on it, i was going to see "ice age 3." >> choices. some researchers are taking a concept to an entirely different level. gary tuchman explains in this "edge of discovery." with every step you take, the body creates energy that usually goes to waste -- until now. >> this particular device is designed to capture energy while you're walking.

>> reporter: it's called the bionic energy harvester. it looks like a knee brace. but there's a generator that harness power from the natural motion of walking. >> muscles are the power house of the body. they're producing the mechanical energy. through the device, that's turned into electrical power. like a battery charger. >> reporter: strap on the two-pound brace and get moving. each step, the device transfers the energy from your step to the batteries. pop those in to a digital camera or cell phone, the more you walk, the more you talk. >> walk for one minute, you can produce 20 minutes of talk time on a cell phone. a lot of power. >> still in the development stage. researchers hope to have it available soon. it gives you a lot more space to roam. >> you become the juice for your devices and for many people that's freedom. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn.

remember as a kid you walked through the halls in your corduroys. it makes a nice noise. >> wouldn't be that comfortable walking around trying to fit them under skinny jeans. it wouldn't work well. >> just the noise. anyways, good idea nonetheless.

♪ this is the world that we live in ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. when judge sonia sotomayor made her comment about a wise latina woman back in 2001, she couldn't imagine the controversy it would

have. >> not only did it raise questions, especially for the republicans questioning her on the committee. it also inspired wise latina women everywhere. again, we're saying this was an 8-year-old comment that now because of her supreme court nomination is really in the spotlight. >> boy, it was yesterday, kiran. fans of judge sotomayor watched with interest as the senate judiciary committee made up largely of white men questions from a puerto rican judge about wise latinas and white men. critics watched too. and as you said, they had a decidingly different take. >> sonia sotomayor knew it would be a tough day. maybe that's why she wore red. >> i cannot tell you how many women i talked to that commented on her red jacket? >> i love it. i think it's important, of course, in washington where we talk about the power red. >> she heads up mana, an organization devoted to empowering latinas.

and, yes, she considers herself a wise latina? >> why is it such a big deal? why is latina? is it partly that people don't usually think of those two words together? could that be part of it? >> so the organization is watching the hearings with interest that sharpened tuesday when senators pounced on sotomayor's berkeley speech. the specific line -- i would hope that a wise latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male. >> how can you reconcile your speeches which repeatedly assert that impartiality is a mere aspiration which may not be possible in all or even most cases with your own oath that you've taken twice which requires impartiality? >> no words i have spoken or written have received so much attention. >> reporter: sotomayor said those words were a poor play on words spoken by sandra day

o'connor which, quote, fell flat. >> it was not what i intended which was attempting to aspire young latino students and lawyers who believed their experience is added value. >> reporter: some critical of sotomayor didn't buy her explanation, intimating she was lying with a rhetorical dodge. as for the critics in the senate. >> it still doesn't answer to me the question of whether you think that these -- that ethnicity or gender should be making the difference. >> reporter: she's disappointed. she believes sotomayor's comments are meant only to empower young people and rep pubs should move on. >> should we not be doing as any person going in court would do -- you deal with the facts at hand. and her decision making has shown exactly what she's done. >> reporter: and that's what judge sotomayor did say in the hearings. look at my 17-year record and then decide if my ethnicity or

my gender enters into my decisions. see what happens. >> lindsey graham, he questioned her about it but he said it's not going to make me not vote for you. i just want you to explain what you meant. >> he also criticized her speech writing skills. but decisions i can live with, the speech writing not so much. >> he begged her not to go to speech writing if the judge thing didn't work out. thanks so much. >> what do you think of her explanation of the wise la ttin comment. >> i can -- i'll do it now. >> carol, we'll check in with you a little later. all right, cnn is going to be presented latino in america. a comprehensive look at how latinos are changing america. it's coming up this october on cnn.

back with the most news in the morning.

new details of a home invasion and chilling murder of a florida couple with 16 children. police say they now have all of the murder suspects in custody, among them, a teenager. ed lavandera has new details from pensacola. john, kiran. investigators are now focusing on what brought the seven suspects together to carry out what they say was the brutal murders of the billings. >> patrick gonzalez jr. was the ring leader of the seven suspects that murder eed the billings. he declared his nepinnocence. it's the first time we heard from any of the accused. >> circumstantial evidence and the confession of a mentally challenged person with a long history of false statements and confessions. >> reporter: we don't know who he's talking about but all of the men who carried out what they called the methodical and chilling murders of the billings

coup couple. these are the pictures of the suspects facing murder charges, one we can't show you because he's a juvenile. three are from the pensacola area. the other four are from the ft. walton beach area. some have a military background. the air force con if i wered stallwart is an active duty staff sergeant. they utilized military-style training to rehearse the attack on the billings' home and they used this property here in the weeks before the killing to train. this is where leonard patrick gonzales senior lived, the one authorities said drove the getaway van seen in the surveillance videos. >> a well planned, well executed operation. >> reporter: after saying robbery was one of several possible motives, the authorities burst into the home, killed the couple, then stole medium-sized safe. they squashed suggestions something more sinister is behind the killings. >> the safest, easiest, thing to

say is the primary reason for this is home invasion, robbery. >> reporter: len art gonzales senior and leonard coldiron were occasionally hired to work around the property. but beyond that, there doesn't seem to be any suspects around the killings. ao. >> we found them. >> the oldest daughter of bithe billings stood by the sheriff's side but she left without speaking out. the work isn't done. now several people face murder charges, they're looking for an eighth person who might have had something to do with the crime. the florida secretary's law office said ashlee markham, the daughter of the slain couple is holding a news conference right now. we'll be monitoring it for you this morning. we'll bring you news that comes out of it.

here's on the top of the agenda. the stories we'll be breaking down. issues of rape, abortion, and gun control will be on the table as republicans will fire question after question at judge sotomayor. her answers -- very careful ones. the supreme court nominee will get more of the same today as we look at day two of the heated exchanges and what sotomayor can expect in a few hours. is the secretary of state being sidelined? she's supposed to be the top diplomat. she's been out of the limelight since she broke her elbow last month. some people inside the beltway say the inner circle is keeping clinton out. jill dougherty is tracking that story for us this morning. democrats on the hill have a few questions for former vice president dick cheney. the former v.p. is connected to a secret cia program and democrats clamor to launch a new investigation. the white house says it wants to look forward not back.

jim acosta this morning. we begin with tough questions and careful answers for the confirmation hears for supreme court nominee judge sonia sotomayor. she'll be headed back to the hill for a few hours of day three. press sotomayor on gun control, abortion. others that we'll be talking about today. lindsey graham's exchange on sotomayor's comments on race and the appearance of a double standard. take a look. >> but do you understand, ma'am, if i had said anything like that and my reasoning was i'm trying to inspire somebody, they would have had my head. do you understand that? lindsey graham said that i will make a better senator than x because of my experience as a caucasian male. makes me better able to represent the people of south carolina. and my opponent was a minority.

it would make national news and it should. >> let's bring in our congressional correspondent, brianna keiler, she's live on capitol hill this morning. the response to lindsey gram. what he said at the time. what do you think? >> i think this is what everyone was watching yesterday, kiran. we want to give you a sense right now at what the spectators are coming to see the fireworks. the democrats happy of the performance of sonia sotomayor. she's well within the lines and a lot of the members of the public have been coming in to fill the last two rows of the hearing room are the hispanic americans to see the first hispanic nominee who so far is on track to be confirmed as the first supreme court. >> as sonia sotomayor took the hot seat to answer questions

about her controversial remarks, democrats launched a preemptive strike. >> here's your chance. you tell us what's going on here, judge. >> judiciary chairman patrick l lahey gave her a friendly audience. she said it was a misunderstanding, she was trying to inspire his tpanic students. >> i want to state up front, unequivoc unequivocally, and without doubt -- i do not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment. >> reporter: it wasn't enough for republican critics who pressed sotomayor on whether she can be impartial. >> i'm very concerned that what you saying today is quite inconsistent with the statement that you willingly accept that your sympathies, opinions, and prejudices may influence your decision making. >> as i've indicated, my record shows that at no point or time have i ever presented my

personal views or sympathies to influencing the outcome of this case. >> reporter: through hours and hours of testimony, sotomayor scribbled notes and was careful in her answers. in row v wade and a more recent supreme court decision upholding the ban on late-term abortion, sotomayor says she expects those decisions. >> the president of the supreme court i consider settle law. >> reporter: as about president obama's past comments, the judges must at times use their hearts to make decisions, a description republicans cry as inappropriate, sotomayor distanced herself from the man who nominated her. >> i wouldn't approach the issue of judging them the way the president does. it's the job of a judge is to apply the law. and, so, it's not the heart that compels conclusions in cases, it's the law. >> now, eight more senators will get to ask their questions of

sonia sotomayor today. here's where you want to be watching. senator john cornyn, he is a republican from texas, so he's dealing with that tricky issue of coming down too hard on an hispanic nominee. but he's also the chafrm of the republican snarl campaign committee. he's in charge of getting more republican senators elected. confirmation hearings are fundraising and political opportunities. he's going to be walking a bit of a tight wire. so the other person you want to keep an eye on is al franken, the former start night live funny man in the senate for just a little over a week now. this, kiran, is our first chance to see him performing his duties as a senator. >> it will be interesting. people will be watching that and see what he asks and how she answers. it will be great. great that we're getting that type of firsthand look this morning that we let you there early so we can check out what it's going to be like a little

later today a couple of hours from now. breanna kieler this morning, thanks. >> thank you. >> the only place to see day three of sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearing with the best political team on television is here in cnn. it starts in 2 1/2 hours. watch it here on on-line as well. >> months after being out of the spotlight -- weeks is more fair -- hillary clinton gives a speech to the council of foreign relations. her boss has made high-profile international trips and speeches abroad while clinton has kept a low profile. so was she being benched? cnn's foreign affairs correspondent joins us to talk about who's in charge of policy. the obama administration is sort of being very centrist about maintaining a control of foreign policy in the white house. are they elbowing her aside?

>> that 's the debate here in washington. but the person who ultimately sets the country's foreign policy is the president. secretary of state is the nation's top diplomat who contributes to that policy and carries it out. now, roles are one thing, being in the spotlight is another. and recently secretary clinton has been left visible some of their reading of the diplomatic tea leaves. >> so far, we are thrilled to have you here. >> they called her a rock star her first day at the state department. >> there is nothing that i welcome more than a good debate. >> reporter: even president obama showed up to welcome her. she wowed friends and foes alike with her enpsych encyclopediac her trips have shifted to

high-profile international appearances by barack obama and joe biden. last month, secretary clinton broke her elbow and had to cancel a trip, leading to some good-natured ribbing about washington's political jockeying. >> just before the i want, secret service spotted richard holbrooke spraying wd-40 all over the driveway. >> but some media pundits say it's not a joke. clinton they claim is being sidelines. jim hoglund said it's the president's inner circle of advisors like rom emmanuel and david axle rod who really decide policy. senator bob casey says that's wrong. >> i believe hillary clinton in the arena of foreign policy is the leader working with the president and i think she's done it well. >> administration officials close to the secretary point to her leading role on china policy. on relations with russia, with

north korea. her strategic dialogue with india. clinton, they say, is rebuilding the state department. winning back some of the influence it lost to the pentagon in the previous administration. in a city of sharp elbows, they claim, hillary clinton, diplomat and politician, knows how to use hers. on the secretary's speech today, her aides say she's been planning it for months and her elbow injury did force her to push it back by a few weeks but they deny she's getting it to grab the spotlight back. john? >> jill dougherty, thanks so much. good to see you. we're following breaking news this morning. there's a plane crash that happened in northwestern iran. we have new video of the debris as well. the caspian airlines jet went down 75 miles northwest of teheran. an iranian aviation spokesman said the plane crashed 16 minutes after takeoff from the

capitals airport. this is video from the scene. the wreckage from the flight still smoldering. iran press tv said all 168 people onboard are believed to have died. a powerful 5.8 aftershock hit off of the coast of new zealand, the western coast. came just 20 minutes after a 7.8 magnitude quake hit in that spot. the survey issue add tsunami warping that has now been cancelled. the quake struck 100 miles off of new zealand's south island. cracks, buildings, reports of food falling off of supermarket shelves. loca media says power lines are down. no injuries at this point. we'll keep tracking this for you throughout the morning. federal investigators are warning that the washington, d.c. metro system still has problems a month after the deadliest crash in the history. signals could fail at any time. a top metro official says one problem was identified and the exact cause of last month's crash that killed nine people

still remains a mystery. why not hire your girlfriend? a dc council member marion barry says there's nothing illegal for lawmakers hiring significant others. the former mayor is investigated for hiring his girlfriend. barry tells t"the washington post" people don't understand how things work in washington and some people want to talk like all we did is pillow talk. >> not easy being marian barry. protests outside of a swim club. one man holding a sign that says jim crow swims here. the day camp is suing. in 20 minutes, the camp director joins us live. the serious allegations of racism and why the kids are permanently scarred. 11 1/2 minutes after the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. judge sonia sotomayor faces questions on capitol hill today. republicans are hitting on issues many of the supporters take personally, like gun control and abortion. they say they want to be sure the judge isn't hiding a liberal agenda.

democrats say her record proves she's not. jeffery toobin has been watching the hearings very closely joining us from the washington bureau. great to see you. the one question hanging out there wondering when it would come up is the statement about a wise latina, didn't take long for it to come out. senator patrick lahey, the chairman got it out there in his own way. let's listen to his response. >> i want to staid up front, unequivilaocally and without do that i do not believe any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment. >> reporter: did the republicans buy that response, jeff? >> well, some did, some didn't. and that certainly was the dominant subject of the day, whether that statement indicated some sort of persistent bias on judge sotomayor's part. and throughout the hearings, both she and her democratic supporters kept pointing to her record as a judge.

look at the cases i've decided, not one speech i gave eight years ago to indicate that, in fact, she has been a very main stream judge. you know, i think in the best tradition of these confirmation hearings, she has taken something controversial and tried to neutralize it and say, no, no, no -- i was just trying to say something a lot less controversial. >> right. >> some believed her. some didn't. >> she said the rhetorical flourish was a bad idea. but lindsey graham who was questioning her said if i said something like that, even if i said i didn't inspire somebody, they would have had my head. >> they do have sotomayor's head. i think she's paying a price for this. lindsey graham is right. that if he had said this, it would have been very controversial. but, look, it's controversial what sotomayor said and she's expressing regret in 17 different ways that the statement was being taken that way. >> you know, graham proved himself to be one of the tougher questioners yesterday and he drilled down on the idea of her

temperament saying it sticks out like a sore thumb. let's listen to one of the questions that he asked. >> this is pretty tough stuff. that you don't see from -- about other judges on the second circuit. >> really suggesting that her temperament may not be suited for the supreme court. did she absolve herself of those inquiries yesterday? >> that was a dramatic moment in the hearing. he kept reading the anonymous quotes submitted to the directory, she's ill-tempered, she's abnoxious. well, i read the full entry and there were many complimentary things that senator graham left out. also, a lot of the comments struck me as the kind of thing that gets said about women in powerful positions. men are called tough, women are called shrill. but i think she does have the reputation of being tough on the bench as does ant anyone scalia,

as does john roberts and she'll fit right in there. >> for all of the claims for being a real fire brand on the bench, sonia sotomayor we saw in the committee room in the last several days described as low key and reserved. here's what "the new york times" said about her, quote, she sought to fend off the criticisms, she was a temperamental bully to allow her feelings to dictate her decisions, judge sotomayor took pains to make herself as boring as possible with the possible exception of her flaming red jacket. is she intentionally being low key here to disabuse people from the notion she has a temperament not suited for the bench? >> since 1987, nominees have struggled to say as little as possible. and sotomayor is very much in that tradition. she is, yes, trying to be boring, be uncontroversial. she's got seven -- 12 democrats and seven republicans on this committee. 60 democrats and 40 republicans

in the full senate. she's ahead -- if nothing happens, if it's a boring hearing, she gets confirmed. that's -- and she's fulfilling the goal of boringness admirably. >> you have a target of the number of votes she'll get in the full senate? >> that's a subject of great interest to a lot of us nerds here. i think lit be in the high 60s. there are others who think it will be as high as 80%. chief justice roberts got 78. i know chuck schumer wants to beat that. i don't think he will. >> thanks for joining us. you can read more of jeff's analysis on these hearings and judge sotomayor. on the show blog, the address cnn.com/amfix. kiran? speaking with the camp director of the children that were kicked out of the swim club at valley springs swim club in philadelphia. which's the latest? she said the children -- some could be permanently scarred and

they're also preparing to sue. ñ

news in the morning. 22 minutes past the hour now. we have christine romans. she's tracking the stimulus money. she said she wanted to get out of d.c., out of new york, and get to places where this money is getting put to use. and, of course it happens to be miami beach that she finds the stimulus money. >> oh, miami beach in july is like going to anchorage in the middle of february. it's a little hot down there. >> how convenient, right? it is a little hot down here. but, look, i wanted to find people whose jobs were quote/unquote saved by the stimulus. there's been a lot of argument in washington and on wall street about how this money is being used and i wanted to find the people whose paychecks are going to be paid by stimulus money. i found 2,000 teachers. over the next two years, they would not have their jobs there if it weren't for the stimulus money. we talk to the state agencies, we talked to the people who are using the stimulus money and putting it to work in the economy, you get the feeling they're playing defense here. this is a defensive way to put

the money to work to try to hold out for the next couple of years, not necessarily to start new programs. and i asked mark zandi if that kind of stimulus planning is somehow less still latering for the economy. this is what he said? >> if you're helping the state from cutting a program or cutting a job, that's just as important as if that state went out and created a job. it's like in football -- what's the difference between getting a touchdown or stopping the other team from getting their own touchdown? there's really no difference. >> he says -- he thinks it stimulus should have been bigger in the first place. not ready to say we should have another stimulus. once the sotomayor confirmation hearings are over, you're going to hear people talk about another stimulus. the third for us, $168 billion under president bush. this is $787 billion. and there are people who thinks there needs to be more money deployed. but, ren, 10%, 15% has even been used yet. so there's a lot of money to go

out the door. one final point i want to make about saving or creating 3 million to 4 million jobs. how many times have we heard the white house over the past few months talking about the stimulus would save or create 3 million to 4 million jobs? christina roemers admitted, look, it's impossible to know how many jobs are saved and created. that's something we have been saying here for a long time. to verify how many jobs are quote/unquote saved is difficult. we found 2,000 people we can tell you their jobs were saved by the stimulus. john, kiran. >> what about the romans numeral at this hour? oh. >> this has to do with all of the talk about another stimulus, spending more money. and a lot of people like what's happening today worry about what's happening today is like what's happened in japan, the lost decade in japan. in japan, there were ten different stimuluses over -- stem l stimuli, i guess, over a decade,

totalling $1 trillion. we've spent that on these two stimuluses. just think of that. a decade trying to chase after the problem, put more money after the problems. just a little more discussion we're having today. >> christine romans from miami. thank you so much for that. >> bye-bye, guys. >> is the president in hot water for not telling the cia to disclose the counterterrorism program to congress? congress seems determined to investigate. could someone toss me

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27 1/2 minutes after the hour. democrats wants some answers about a cia program and dick cheney's connection to it. cheney's daughter says her father will not comment on the program because it's classified. could an investigation force the former vice president to talk

even behind closed doors? jim acosta is tracking the developing story since it broke. he's live in washington with the latest. good morning, jim. >> good morning, john. democrats in the house are raising the stakes to find out whether cheney did in fact order the cia not to tell the congress about a counterterrorism program. and they just asked cheney to pay them a visit on capitol hill. >> reporter: democrats are determined to investigate whether former vice president dick cheney directed the cia to withhold information from congress about a secret counterterrorism program. >> why is it that the vice president thought that it was too risky in some way to inform the congress about this? i think we have to dig deeper. >> reporter: and if it comes to the point where you may have to ask the vice president to come to capitol hill and testify? should that be discussed at this point? >> i think it should be discussed. >> reporter: january schakowsky of the subcommittee said leon panetta was even in the dark

about the operation. >> he wasn't informed about it. >> reporter: the program launched after the 9/11 attacks was aimed at capturing or killing al qaeda terrorists. without confirming the program's existence, a former official tells cnn it should come as no surprise that we could go after the bad guys, the terrorists, especially given what president bush said about osama bin laden. >> wanted dead or alive. all i want, all america wants is brought to justice. >> liz cheney said the democrats are targeting her father to protect nancy pelosi who came under fire when she accused the cia of repeatedly lying to congress. >> if they want to go to the american people and say we disagree with the notion that we ought to be capturing and killing al qaeda leader, it's going to prove to the american people one more time why they can't trust the democrats to their national security. >> reporter: the white house is approaching with caution. >> the president believes that congress should always be

briefed fully and in a timely manner in accordance with the law. >> reporter: whether it's cheney and the cia, or the possibility of a justice department investigation in to bush administration interrogation methods, press secretary robert gibbs says the president's views have not changed. >> our efforts are better focused looking forward than looking back. >> reporter: ms. cheney has said she pub llicly does not know whether her father instructed the cia to withhold from congress. even the house committee admits they don't know the details of this information. this is why they asked for documents related to the program. a cia director has ordered an internal review that should result in, quote, lessons learned on congressional reporting. >> is it likely that the classified nature of the program that any meeting would be conducted by closed doors?

>> yes. and jan schakowsky said yesterday if they could get the vice president to come and testify on capitol hill behind closed doors because it's a sensitive matter. they're determined to get to the bottom of this. all indications are they're not dropping this. 31 minutes after the hour. here are the top stories. we're following breaking news today. a plane crashed in northwestern iran 2 1/2 hours ago. there's dramatic new video from the scene where the plane went down. iranian press tv said all 168 people onboard are believed to have die in that crash. a firsthand look at a plane flying at 31,000 feet was a hole the size of football in the fuselage. passenger john benson shot this on his cell phone in monday night's airlines flight ended up making the emergency landing in

west virginia. no one was hurt. and a southwest spokesperson says the cause of this tear in the fuselage is still not known. well, she's got any aspirations to the white house in 2012, sarah palin's got ground to make up. 2/3 of her own party don't think that the governor is qualified to be president. that according to a cbs news poll. 33% of republicans surveyed said they think palin has the ability to serve effectively as president. that is down from 71% who said she was last fall. >> wow. >> big drop. >> big drop. to a developing story that's taking place outside of philadelphia. we have the latest now in the fallout in this racially charged case of a swim club. as reported, a group of kids from a local day camp, mostly black and hispanic, say they were asked to leave the valley swim club because of the color of their skin and now the group is taking the case to federal court. althea wright is the director of the creative steps program and the group's attorney, alicia -- and the group's attorney,

carolyn nichols. thank you for being with us this morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> you said in a press conference earlier in the week that the children are, quote, permanently scarred. how are they doing in the wake of all of this attention? >> the children are not doing well at all. they -- it's really coming to the surface how these children have been affected. they're asking questions -- are they too dark to go into the pool. one child has been experiencing migraine headaches. it's not been pleasant. i even had to have a talk with them prior to us returning back to the pool that we already go to on tuesdays and thursdays. >> so you're saying that even -- they're questioning whether they want to go to a different pool, not the valley swim club? >> absolutely. definitely not the valley swim club. >> you said -- i guess they reached out to you guys. they said it was a misunderstanding. they would like for you guys to come back.

the club president tried to contact you. >> excuse me -- one second. you said that they reached out to me and asked me to come back to the club? >> yes. >> that didn't happen. that did not happen. >> what happened? >> the only thing i receive suicide a text message and e-mail stating to call. we have not been welcomed back to the club. my attorneys have not received any written invitation for us to come back. the only thing that i've heard has been third party via media or via what you just said. >> all right, this is what john said. we did invite them to come on the program. they have an open invitation if they would like to. they did not accept that invitation this morning. the quote is "this is the saddest thing of my life, everything i stand for and the club represents is turned on the head." is there room for reconciliation or do you think it's best handled in the court? >> i don't know if he said it to

the media, but i definitely offered for us to try to come to a resolution when these derogatory comments were made to the children. and i was told after their board meeting with the members as well as the board, the members of the club that he stated to me that their decision was let the chips fall where they may. >> i want to ask you about this lawsuit against valley swim club that you plan to file. what specifically are you going to be asking for in this suit? >> well, specifically, the lawsuit will be based on violations of title ii of the civil rights act of 1964 which relates to the denial of access in use and advantages of a public accommodation, meaning that the swimming pool is open to accept and solicit patronage from the general public. that's kind of the primary. you talk about humiliation,

embarrassment, scarring and suffering of the children. that would be covered by our claim for compensatory damages. we're seeking a release, cease and desist the bigoted comments and punitive damages to punish the club for the harm they 'done to the children. >> do you believe the revised comments, i guess you could say, in the days that followed where they said it was not about race. it was a big misunderstanding. it had to do with overcrowding and they asked two other day camps that are not predominantly minority day camps to also not come because they did not anticipate it was going to be so crowded. >> to be honest with you, i'm baffled about exactly what is the problem other than race? because first it was the complexion in the atmosphere of the club may change. then when -- then it was the space issue. but when vernon odom showed the

size of the pool, then it became a safety issue. they have not just one pool, but two pools. and one pool is 110,000 gallon pool and the other pool is a one-foot pool for nine swimmers. he had three to four life guards and i had eight staff members and my son's school was just there the week before with 56 children. so i'm baffled as to why would we be invited back if that statement is true unless he added extra footage to the pool since we last was there, why couldn't this have been resolved when i requested humbly -- i begged john duzler to this to be resolved prior to getting to this point. >> that's interesting. i want to ask you about this. the "philadelphia inquirer" did a little bit of research looking at tax records of this swim pool. if the lawsuit went forward, it could cost the club more money than they have and leave board

members liable in the civil rights verdicts. what do you think of the possibility that this could lead to them closing? >> well, that's always a possibility. i can't sit here and say, you know, what a court will do and how a proceeding will resolve. but all we're saying is we're going to go forward through the process. of course, as you know in court, in a lawsuit, there's always conferences and discussions about how to resolve a matter. so, you know, we can't sit here today and say that it's a fact that the club will go out of business just because we're going forward with the filing a civil rights action. >> all right. finally -- just quickly, alicea. there's been so much attention brought to this. one columnist, the "philadelphia inquirer" said if i were you, with my kids with my head held high and do a belly flop in the pool to show forgiveness is a powerful thing and to show that i may not be as threatening as they think i am.

is this, quote, teachable moment for the kids? >> i think it's a teachable moment of the entire world. we're in the year of 2009. we're trying to move forward and come together as a country. it is just no time -- we definitely want everyone who's come out a winner in this situation because there's a lesson that definitely needs to be learned. and there's some things that we need to come together on the racism. racism needs to be completely extinguished out at the valley swim club. >> right. alicea wright, creator of creative steps and the employer for the camp. thank you for joining me today. >> thank you. >> thank you. also, we want to know what you think. should creative steps take the swim club to court? what do you think, e-mail us, cnn.com/amfix. call the show hotline. it's 40 minutes past the hour. howdy!

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. welcome pack to back to the most news in the morning. who will get the chirp. what really killed michael jackson. those are the two biggest questions surrounding his mysterious death. there's conflicting information

about whether jackson's ex-wife, debbie rowe, made a deal with the singer's family. and police are now questioning doctors who treated jackson. our randi kaye is tracking the story for us this morning from los angeles. good morning, john, kiran. still so much drama regarding this case of custody and the investigation. "the new york post," as you know, has been reporting that debbie rowe has reached a deal in exchange for the children she had with michael jackson for $4 million. the newspaper also said that she would forfeit her parental rights all according to a family source. debbie rowe's attorney told us the story was completely false. but hours later, debbie rowe's attorney, eric george demanded a retraction. the post told cnn it stands by the story. rowe's attorney stands says this letter constitutes a demand for a meet retraction and there has been no agreement reached between mrs. rowe and the jacksons and has not and will

not give up her parental rights. it doesn't say there's not a negotiation taking place. it says an agreement has not been reached. debbie rowe according to our source close to the family is expected to pay bpaid many millions for giving up custody and visitation with the two children. also, as we reported, there's a list of doctors that our source told us. investigators have working their way through learning what they can about the doctors, what they may have prescribed jackson. the long-time dermatologist dr. arnold klein is on the list. cnn's larry king told him last week he's not been questioned and opened up his records a long time ago. but late yesterday, a swarm of media descended on dr. klein's office. the assistant coroner was there to pick up records related to his treatment of michael jackson. here's what he told the media when he left the office. >> we're conducting an investigation, a security hold on the case. i can't comment. >> are you looking at medication

as well? >> no. no. we're looking a ining at docume that dr. klein agreed to give to us. >> medical records about michael jackson. -- [ inaudible question ] >> no, we hope to have the findings probably the middle of the next week. >> how many medical records have you been able to g et? >> dr. klein has cooperated with us extensively. >> investigators appear to be gathering as much information they can to try to make sense of what role jackson's many doctors may have played in his death. john, kiran, back to you. >> randi kaye for us this morning. thank you so much. hormone replacement therapy. how dangerous is it. we've got new information that suggests regard lets of how long you're on hormone replacement therapy, how much you took, what the dosage was, the risk is significant. our sanjay gupta has that coming up in a few minutes.

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♪ log on to free credit report dot com - stat! ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage. more stormy weather across the midsection of the country today. our jacqui jeras at the weather center in atlanta tracking all of the extreme weather across the country. hey, jacqui. the same story as yesterday. a little furtherer to the east. storms and heat for your weather

headlines across the great lakes down to the ohio valley. also to the middle mississippi river valley. wicked storms moved through chicago in a half hour or so ago. they're east. delays at o'hare. there was a ground stop at midway. kansas city getting hit at this time yesterday. getting hit now. the storms are weakening a little bit. st. louis, a nice line here in 70 heading out to terre haute, indiana. the main threat of severe weather from michigan extending down to parts of kansas and we have an isolated area here in the high plains across parts of colorado. the heat, yes, we've got that for us again today. the heat advisories in the same places as we had yesterday. but i wanted to show you the glimmer of hope we're talk about with the five-day forecast for dallas. look at the 90s by the weekend. looking a lot better, john, kiran. >> thank you so much for that. day three for the confirmation hearings for judge sotomayor. noneny man, now newly minted

senator al franken asking some of the questions today. a preview still ahead.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. 51 minutes past the hour. now there is a new warning this morning for women. hormone replacement therapy. it is often used by women going through menopause to combat some of the unpleasant side effects, the hot flashes and other symptoms. but this treatment may be far more dangerous than anyone knew. it is now connected to what's known as the silent killer. we're paging dr. sanjay gupta, cnn's chief medical correspondent to explain more about this. we've known before about some risks associated with taking hormone therapy. but what about this new potential threat? >> it is one of those classics

questions in medicine, a risk benefit analysis. one of the first stories i covered here as a reporter at cnn, we covered it just about every year. out in concern about ovarian cancer. ovarian cancer's something we don't talk nearly enough about. this is a very deadly cancer because the early symptoms can be so vague. about 21,000 new cases of ovarian cancer every year, 15,000 deaths. so you can get an idea of the mortality there. look at some of the symptoms. again those are vague symptoms. that's why when a woman experiences those it is hard to know that something much more serious may be developing. with regard to this particular study, they studied 900,000 women, almost 1 million women over ten years trying to figure out is there a relationship between hormone replacement therapy and ovarian cancer. the answer came back a resounding yes. look at the increased risk of developing ovarian cancer if you're on hormone replacement therapy. what was interesting -- you mentioned this earlier -- it really didn't matter, either the formulation of the hormone

replacement therapy or the duration that the women were taking it. women were taking it as short as six months even had this increased risk. this was concerning especially given the potential mortality rates of ovarian cancer. >> what's the recommendation with this study? >> again, it comes down to one of those classic risk benefit ratios. i used to tell people when we were first studying this that if you eat a cheeseburger, you know that's bad for you. taking a few days of hormone replacement therapy is going to increase your risk of something but not thatch. as you take it more and more, the risk seems to increase to some degree but again with this, even as short as six months seemed to cause some risk. finding alternatives is one of the recommendations most doctors will make. if you're having awful symptoms of menopause, hot flashes, mood swings, there are alternatives out there. wyeth, the maker of the hormone replacement therapy, we asked them as well for a statement specifically about this and ask them what they recommend women do. they say the findings in this

study do not change what we already know about the benefits and risks of hormone therapy. hormone therapy remains a good health care chase for the "appropriate" woman seeking relief from moderate to severe menopausal symptoms. what i can say this -- it makes perfect sense to start hormone replacement therapy years an years ago. women's hormone levels start to go down as they get older. replace that and it would be this panacea. we now know that not to be true and there are possible risks. find alternatives instead of hrt and talk to your doctor about it. >> sanjay, thanks so much. great advice. right now, 54 minutes past the hour. (pouring rain)

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after months of being out of the spotlight, secretary of state hillary clinton gives a major foreign policy speech today before her trip to india and southeast asia. she'll be talking to the council on foreign relations. her boss has already made several high-profile international trips and speeches abroad, while clinton has kept a relatively low profile as of late. the question being asked in washington is, is she being benched? cnn's foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty joins us now live from washington. jill, at speech to the council on foreign relations, why the speech, why now? >> well, secretary clinton's aides tell us she started speaking about giving the speech two months ago. it is a big-picture look at what the administration set out to do six months ago, what it has accomplished and what we can expect to see next in u.s. foreign policy. but some claim the speech is really an attempt by the secretary to grab back the spotlight. >> so far we are thrilled to have you here!

>> reporter: they called her a rock star her first day at the state department. >> there is nothing that i welcome more than a good debate. >> reporter: even president obama showed up to welcome her. she wowed friends and foes alike with her encyclopedic knowledge. >> you know, the oceans convention, the law of the sea. >> reporter: since then, in spite of her trips to asia, the mideast, to europe, the spotlight has shifted to high-profile international appearances by president barack obama and vice president joe biden. last month secretary clinton broke her elbow and had to cancel a trip, leading to some good-natured ribbing about washington's political jockeying. >> just before the incident, secret service spotted richard holbrooke spraying wd-40 all over the driveway. >> reporter: some media pundits say it is not a joke. clinton, they claim, is being sidelined.

"the washington post" says it's the president's inner circle of advisors, like rahm emanuel and david axelrod who really decide policy. senator bob casey, member of the foreign relations committee says that's wrong. >> i believe hillary clinton, in the arena of foreign policy, is the leader working with the president and i think she's done it very well. >> reporter: administration officials close to the secretary point to her leading role on china policy. on relations with russia. with north korea. her strategic dialogue with india. clinton, they say, is rebuilding the state department, winning back some of the influence it lost to the prosecuting in the previous administration. in a city of sharp elbows, they claim, hillary clinton, diplomat and politician, knows how to use hers. people who know secretary clinton claim she's more interested in shaking foreign policy than playing the washington media spotlight game, that she really is a policy

force. >> jill dougherty, thanks. it is a huge day for secretary clinton. what kind of statement will she make in the big policy speech this afternoon? two expert political minds, clint mays and karen finney. see what they have to say about clinton's real role in this administration. that brings us to the top of the hour. it's july 15th. it's a wednesday. thanks very much for being with us. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. these are the stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. it is day three for judge sonya sotomayor. she goes before the senate judiciary committee again in about an hour and a half for another round of questioning. republicans on the panel were raising doubts about the first hispanic nominee's ability to be fair and impartial. she fielded those questions yesterday and will be preparing it answer more today. the newest members of congress, senator al franken,

will be one of those questioning the judge today. it's his first real outing on the national stage just a week after taking office. how is the comedian-turned-senator doing so far? jessica yellin has got some answers. >> this is a fascinating phenomenon in afghanistan right now, afghan star. a tv show sort of like "american idol," now a smash hit in that nation. alina cho with a program that's rocking the ratings and also rattling that nation's religious leaders. first we're following breaking news out of iran this morning. a caspian airlines passenger jet has crashed 75 miles northwest of tehran. iranian state radio reports the jet was heading from tehran to the armenian capital of jannat-abad when it went down in a field. it is unlikely any of the 153 passengers survive, most believed to be armenians. 20 minutes after a 7.8

earthquake hit new zealand, an aftershock hit. the quake struck about 100 miles off of new zealand's south island. there are reports of minor cracks in buildings and food falling from supermarket shelves but so far, no reports of any injuries. in just about 90 minutes, judge sonya sotomayor sits before a senate commit for another day of questioning. senior political correspondent candy crowley joins us live from washington. we saw her -- we got to hear from her a lot more yesterday. how do you think she handled the controversy over some of the comments she made, the wise latina woman came up a lot yesterday. >> certainly she handled it exactly the way that the white house wanted her to handle it. i suspect that we have heard all she has to say on the subject, although we have not heard the last of those questions about her most controversial remark. a wise latina could, more often than not, make a better judicial

decision than a wise white man. okay, she takes it back. >> it was bad, because it left an impression that i believe that life experiences commanded a result in a case. >> reporter: seriously. not what she meant. >> i want is to state, up front, unequivocally, and without doubt, i do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. >> i know it's been a long day -- >> reporter: and so it was that sotomayor tried to shut down the parsing of her most famous sentence. not that that worked. >> but do you understand, ma'am, that if i had said anything like that, and my reasoning was that i'm trying to inspire somebody, they would have had my head. >> reporter: she had help on the democratic side which pointed out repeatedly that no matter what the meaning of her public words, on the bench nothing in sotomayor's record suggests she

is swayed by race, againer or background. take the case of a police officer who distributed racist material, got fired, and filed suit. sotomayor dissenting from the majority, sided with the cop. >> the employee's right to speech had to be respected. >> the situation of that case, that was the position that i took because that's what i believe the law commanded. >> even though obviously you wouldn't have much sympathy or empathy for this officer or his actions. is that correct? >> i don't think anyone has sympathy for what was undisputedly a racist statement. >> reporter: on some of the more controversial legal and political issues, abortion, affirmative action, post-9/11 anti-terror policy and the right to privacy, there is little in her 17-year judicial record to signal how sotomayor would vote on the supreme court. just how she wants to keep it. >> and so i feel that i'm

threading the line of answering a question about what the court will do. >> she was in fact a perfect nominee, at least so far as politics are concerned. she gave up as little as possible and took everything they had to throw at her. kiran? >> you know how this works. it is a public forum, people get to hear from the nominee and hear the type of questions from their senators. but really what is the point of these hearings if we're not going to get, "a," any clue about her judicial philosophy, and "b," sort after foregone conclusion she'll get the approval? >> you're right. there are a lot of people complaining in editorials and elsewhere that it makes no sense to have somebody that's going to go to the high court when you don't know how they feel about the larger issues of the day and how they fit in to the law. having said that, what we last saw with robert bork who was nominated to the supreme court and did not make it, he said --

answered every question quite freely and didn't make it. so since then, really the attitude of any white house, republican or democrat, is to say, listen, say as little as possible, just say "well those cases may come before me so i don't want to prejudice it." for the senators, obviously this is the time for them to argue what are basically along party lines. what is the premier thing that you're looking for in a judge? this is kind of a look at both parties and how they approach this issue. but very little look at how the nominee approaches those issues. >> all right. that's how it goes. you're right, after what happened to robert bork, people don't want to put themselves out there like that. they're holding out and are certainly coached well. >> they are. >> candy crowley for us, thanks. who should we keep our eye on today in the second day of questioning? cnn has got access inside the hearing room. that's where we find our own brianna keilar. brianna, what can we expect

today? >> john, you're going to want to keep an eye trained to the left of sonya sotomayor on senator john cornyn, republican from texas. he has a large constituency of hispanics and he's in the situation where he has to come down with some hard questions on likely the first hispanic supreme court justice. now he wears another hat as the chairman of the republican senatorial campaign committee. he's in charge of getting more republicans into the senate. confirmation hearings are opportunities to fund raise and score political points for the opposition so he's wearing a couple of opposing hats here. to sonya sotomayor's right, keep an eye on al franken. he is of course only in the senate, been in the senate now for a little over a week. former saturday night live comedian. this is really going to give us the first chance to see him really publicly and unscripted perform his duties as a senator, john. >> looking forward to that. do they still have that

high-tech footstool underneath the desk for her? >> they do and i've been told not to fool with it. >> there you go. brianna keilar, inside the committee room, thank you. >> high-tech, you're referring to a little pad on it with some tape. >> it is not a $200 ashtray, that's for sure. this will be senator franken's first big outing on the national stage since taking office. instead of questions about policy and the supreme court. >> today new senator al franken is in the national spotlight. he is the most junior member of senate judiciary committee and will get a chance to grill judge sonya sotomayor. he is already making it clear to everyone that he takes this job very seriously. like a kid starting school, senate's newest member was the first to show up for tuesday's

judiciary committee hearing and he seems to be making friends. seven days into his term, senator al franken is striking a tone that's somber -- >> i am concerned that americans are facing new barriers in defending their individual rights. >> reporter: -- and exceedingly deferential to committee chairman patrick leahy. >> i have admired your strength and integrity. >> reporter: to ranking republican jeff sessions. >> i look forward to working over the years with you and my other republican colleagues. >> reporter: -- and to the committee as a whole. >> i know that i have a lot to learn from each of you. >> reporter: don't hold your breath waiting for a punch line. no jokes here. the former comedian barely smiled. it's the same serious franken we saw during his race for the senate seat. but that voice, it's instantly recognizable to fans of saturday night live. >> i'm good enough, i'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me. >> reporter: and that's still how visitors to the u.s. capitol think of al franken.

>> i say senator franken, you think -- >> joke. >> i'm strong enough, i'm good enough and doggone it, people like me. >> reporter: but they're flexible saying he can earn their respect. >> yeah. depends on what he does when he's in there. not what he did before but what he's about now. >> reporter: he'll have to chance to show his stuff when he begins questioning sotomayor during the hearing today. over the past few days, senator franken has been seen spotting capitol police asking for directions. clearly he is the new guy on the job. franken has said he plans to lay low, take some time to learn, and he said, though he is the democrat's 60th vote, he will not rubber-stamp the president's agenda. john? kiran? >> jessica yellin, thanks. you can also watch day three of judge sonya sotomayor's confirmation hearing right here on cnn with the best political team on television. again the hearing is set to get under way in about an hour and 20 minutes. if you're away from your tv, you can watch it online, cnn.com/live. 11 minutes past the hour.

big day for hillary clinton after being called the invisible woman this week, the secretary of state is set to give a major policy speech this afternoon to the council on foreign relations. what kind of statement will she, or should she, make? we have two top political minds here to help us break it down. cliff may is the president of the foundation for the defense of democracy. he's in washington for us this morning. karen finney is the former communications director for the democratic national committee. she joins us here in new york. the speech today, there's been a lot of talk about her being in the shadows over the last two weeks. is this a break-out moment for her? >> i think this speech has actually been planned for some time and what you're going to hear is really a discussion from 30,000 feet looking at our foreign policy, sort of the new direction we've tried to take in the last six months. she'll talk about how everything we've been doing from what's going on in honduras to iran to afghanistan, how that's all interconnected. i think you're going to hear that. anybody who knows hillary clinton though knows she's not

been sidelined. interestingly, some of the same kind of talk when she first got to the senate and what she did there was put her head down and get to work. that's exactly what she's done at the state department, logging nearly 100,000 miles. >> no question she was one of the most respected senators in that body. lot of people still feel that way with her as secretary of state. cliff, though, you have been somewhat critical, shall we say, of the administration's foreign policy, policy of engagement. some republicans have put the label of "soft power" on it. hillary clinton going to make the case today that it's "smart power." can she win you over? >> absolutely, she can. i have great hopes for this. look, i don't think that the definition of power in washington is whether you get to go on tv or in front of the council on foreign relations and get to explain or spin a foreign policy. where the rubber meets the road is whether you make policy. hillary clinton is one of the tougher, even more hawkish members of this administration. i hope her counsel is being listened to by president obama.

take iran, one of our biggest foreign policy challenges. both hillary and obama have said iran getting nuclear weapons is simply unacceptable. i do not blame or criticize obama for using outreach, showing respect for ahmadinejad and ayatollah khamenei. we are sort of at the end of that road, that's not going to work. the question is, do they, for example, now signal their support for bipartisan legislation that would give obama the tools for serious sanctions, cutting off gas supplies, something that would really put the squeeze on iran, which during the campaign obama and hillary both said they were in favor of. >> karen, do you agree with cliff there is no sense in pursuing talks with iran because it leads nowhere? >> look, i think what you'll hear is the secretary talk about certainly none proliferation is a key goal of the administration. but again, this -- we tried cowboy diplomacy. didn't work. really tanked our relationships around the world. the secretary and the president have been working very hard on rebuilding those relationships and sort of again setting a new course. again, what's been a little bit

different, not just in tone, but in substance, diplomacy obviously is an important part of what we're doing, but so is development. that's been a key part of what she's been trying to do. >> let me put this to both of you. karen, maybe you can go first with this. does she need to talk tougher than this administration has talked thus far, that the president has been -- was criticized for his response to the situation in eiran. hillary clinton called his position "dangerously naive." >> what we hear about and see publicly is not always what's happening behind the scenes. you have to remember on foreign policy there's what's going on in front of the camera and what's going on behind the cameras. i feel pretty confident, i don't think this president or this secretary of state will be pushed around by any country. >> cliff, are they talking tough behind the scenes, just not in front of the camera? >> john, i agree with you that words matter but it is not about talking soft or talking tough entirely. at the end of the day it is more

about words, it is about policies and so far, what we've had is a policy of outreach, obama said he was going to do that, he should do it. when that doesn't work, with an ahmadinejad, with a kim jong-il of north korea, then you need tough policies in place in order to change behavior that threatens the united states and et cetera a its allies. it is not just a matter of talk here. i hope that hillary clinton is very much in the policy debate inside the administration and that we'll see tough policies as well as tough words. >> in fact she is actually. she talks to the president and senior administration officials on a daily basis. i know that she and the president have a very good working relationship. he respects her opinion, he consults her opinion. she'll be at the white house later today meeting with the president. again, i think both this secretary of state and this president made it clear, there's the talk and there's the policy and the actions, and they'll take the tough actions we need to take, if need be. >> worth pointing out there are some very powerful personalities within the white house as well. >> very true but we need all the

help we can get when faced with what we are on the international scene. 18 minutes after the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. dressed as wizards and witches and some of the so-called muggles, regular people if you're not familiar with that, fans lined up across the globe last night for midnight showings of the new harry potter film. the movie is a time warner product. the parent company of cnn. but i don't think we're going to get a little something extra in our package. >> brownie points for seeing it. how about afghan star? that is not part of the parent company of cnn but it is the new show in afghanistan. sort of like an "american idol" but it is not only rocking the ratings, it's actually turning things culturally on their heads as well from the nation's religious leaders are shaken rights to their core about what's going on. alina cho's been looking into this. this is unheard of. >> it really is unprecedented. it is revolutionary, some might say. good morning, everybody. remember here in america we do take san jose like "american

idol" for granted. but in afghanistan, a tv singing contest is downright revolutionary. remember, under 30 years of taliban rule, music was illegal. today this show is a run-away hit and it's also causing a lot of controversy. when the taliban ruled afghanistan, to do this was unthinkable. >> music was banned. the taliban banned singing and burned and destroyed music instruments. >> reporter: but now music is back in a televised singing competition that's become the country's most popular show. it's "american idol," afghan-style. just like "american idol," fans vote for their favorites, often by texting. in afghanistan, that's a radical concept. >> we are all equal and that's a very, very extraordinary thing for people to try and understand when they come from a tribe.

>> any woman participating is risking her life. >> reporter: there was a documentary about a 2008 competition in which two women made it to the finals. one created a national scandal by moving to the music. >> it's not -- her head flips. this young woman, beautiful, dancing with her hair free. that symbolizes everything that is forbidden and was forbidden in afghan culture. >> reporter: she even received death threats and for a while, was forced into hiding. religious authorities have moved to ban the show declaring it unislamic. but producers tell cnn, that won't stop them. and afghanistan's ambassador to the united states says his country won't return to a time when music was illegal.

>> today when you travel in afghanistan, you will hear music from every car, from every shop, from every restaurant, from every home. >> yes, times have changed. "afghan star" is playing in select cities across the country. the creator wants to make sure president obama screens this movie himself. to play music in afghanistan after 30 years of taliban rule is revolutionary. the fact that women are involved in the show, that women can actually vote, that is revolutionary, too. remember, this is still a male-dominated sort of tribal elder system that's still in place. it is really incredible. >> they were receiving death threats? >> they were. one of the contestants did receive death threats, she did go into hiding for a time. but this is an incredibly popular show. 11 million people in afghanistan are watching it. it is the most popular show in the country right now. >> remember the 1950s here in

this country, people said rock 'n' roll was going to destroy the fabric of america. new kids on the block almost did it. >> listen, it is not exactly kelly clarkson. the music's a little different, but it's really popular in afghanistan and it is revolutionary. >> thanks, alina. very great story. she learned to fly at the age of 12. at 15 she's breaking aviation records flying solo. we're going to meet a young girl who joins us about what her next mission is.

29 minutes after the hour. we're "minding your business" this morning. bad news for many of bernard madoff's victims. the trustee overseeing the liquidation of madoff's estates warns there is not enough money

for all 15,400 people who filed claims. meanwhile, madoff begins his first full day at the buitner federal correctional complex in north carolina. larry levine is the founder of wall street prison consultants to tell us what madoff can expect. as usual, larry didn't sugar-coat it. what are some of these other folks like in the general prison population who he may at some point mix with? >> well, he's going to mix -- first of all, he's got 150-year sentence. he gets another 20 knocked off for good time so he's looking at 130. he doesn't really have an out date. he's not getting out an the people he's going to mingle with, you know, rapists, killers, bank robbers, you name it, they're all in the mediums where he's going. bernie's going to be the prize. bernie's the crown jewel, not buitner. these people are all going to want to make a name for themselves. bernie's going to be a

high-profile target. i don't see bernie making it. i see someone taking bernie out with a shank. they'll cause a disturbance in the institution. say in the dining hall. in the movie theater. the rec yard. you cause a disturbance on one side, the cops are racing over there, someone sticking a knife in bernie on the other side. he's going to leave in a bag or in a box. this man is going to have to watch his back until the day he dies. >> well, as we said, larry doesn't sugar-coat it. he also said he does not believe the buitner prison is madoff's final destination. his attorney wanted, and the judge recommended, he go to otisville in new york. >> you know what i was wondering about that, he's basically predicting he's going to befall violence. why can't they better control the gang situation and violence in our prison systems? >> not enough people. as he said, you cause a disturbance one place, i guess the guards aren't always thinking about bernie madoff. it is believed he is going to be in isolation for a while. may never even be released to the general population there at

buitner because it is a mental health care facility. he's got a lot of assessments to go through, maybe some treatment as well. he probably has at least a window of time where he'll be by himself. >> and certain lay far cry from the park avenue penthouse. >> i don't know, you lived on park avenue lately -- no, kidding. 30 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories. breaking news out of iran where a caspian airways passenger jet crashed. 168 passengers and crew are feared dead. iran state radio is reporting this plane was heading from tehran to armenia this morning when he went down in a field and burst into flames 16 minutes after takeoff. officials calling off a tsunami warning after a powerful earthquake hit off the western coast of new zealand. the u.s. geological survey puts the magnitude of the initial quake at 7.8 and a powerful 5.8 aftershock hit just 20 minutes later. local police in new zealand say there is some minor damage and there are also reports of downed power lines. democrats saying it is way overdue. they want former vice president

dick cheney to talk under oath. they tell cnn they may call him to testify about a cia program to kill al qaeda leaders that he, according to them, kept secret from congress. the associated press also reporting the cia spent at least $1 million on the program, even though it never went beyond the planning stage. one 15-year-old girl has reason to brag this morning. she just set an aviation record and she is looking to do many more. kimberly is thought to be the youngest african-american girl to fly solo cross-country. we say "thought to be" because they hadn't tracked such records officially before. but she's with us this morning from california in front of the plane that made history. thank you for being with us. >> it is a pleasure to be with you this morning. thank you. >> i was amazed when i read about your story. you flew 7,000 miles. you flew from compton, california all the way to newport news, virginia, and back then all in 13 days. what was that like taking on

such a huge undertaking in the sky? >> it was so amazing. all the people i met, all the people i got to socialize with. i even made a couple new friends. even meeting some of the legary tuskegee airmen. it was such an exhilarating experience for me. >> it is very interesting. because with you on that flight was your instructor, levi thornhill, he's 87 years old, he was one of the tuskegee airmen. how did you get to know him? what was your connection and why was it so important to you have to him there and, as i understand it, 50 other tuskegee airmen signed your plane. there you see it. >> well, i had a safety pilot, but mr. thornhill sat behind me an he never complained once. but he was such a motivational person. he's a mentor for me. i met him after i joined the program about two years ago, and the plane that i flew is dedicated to him.

so i thought it was a good chance to give honor directly to him. >> well, i think it is wonderful. you fell in love with flying at the age of 12, which is pretty young. you were able to take part in this really special program. it was a compton-based aeronautical museum. they actually offered aviation lessons in an after-school program for disadvantaged youth. how did you become a lover of flight? >> well, i think i've always been interested in flight, so when we read about the aeronautical program we thought it was such an amazing way to like put the idea. we decided to take a flight. >> what did your mom do when you came home and said, hey, i think i'm going to fly solo across the country? >> she was really excited for me because i'm doing something different, something that i want to be doing. so she was extremely excited. >> as i understand it, it wasn't just smooth sailing the whole time. you guys had had some storms. right?

you encountered some treacherous weather along the way. what was it like dealing with that in the air? >> it made me kind of nervous because all of these things that i was facing were some new things. so i was just acting upon my instincts and stuff like that, and i've learned to stop overcontrolling and to be more in control of the plane. so i thought that was a really good experience. so now it's like i'm prepared for the worst. >> you're also prepared, as you want to do, break some more records. this is what you want to do now. you want to become the youngest african-american girl to fly solo four single-engine planes and two helicopters in one day. where did you come up with that? >> well, of course it is a little rivalry between my sister and i, buff course it is motivational. i want to have my license by the time i'm 17 and i thought it was

a cool way to kind of live my dream. >> your sister is older than you. right? she also set records prior to you getting involved. as you said, it is a friendly sibling rivalry. but forget all of this, your ultimate goal is to become a cardiovascular surgeon one day as well. right? >> yes. yeah. >> well -- >> it's my dream. >> i got to tell you, you are an inspiration. i think it is wonderful and just proves that you can get out there, think something is impossible, and do it anyway. so you've got a wonderful, wonderful story, kimberly. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you so much for having me. >> good luck with all of it. take care. 36 minutes past the hour. 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

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now that president obama has made history as america's first black president, can alabama be far behind in the man running for governor of alabama could be the first major party black nominee ever in that state. question is, can he win? jason carroll joins us now. >> can he win? i don't know. i spent a lot of time with him in birmingham, alabama. he is definitely convinced he can do it. he has a lot of hurdles to wroefr come. alabama last elected a democrat as a governor in 1998. he's not deterred by that. he says not only is the state ready to put a democrat in office, he says the state is ready to leak an african-american democrat. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> reporter: to supporters, he's the symbol of a new alabama. a figure showing the state moving past its segregationist history. he's congressman artur davis, trying to make history, too, by

becoming the state's first african-american governor. >> you really think you can win? >> no question, i think we can win. >> reporter: davis says he knows and believes in the people here today. >> i'm someone who's raised by my mother and grandmother, grew up in a relatively small town, montgomery, alabama. >> reporter: davis made his way through harvard law school, politics brought him home. >> i decided to come back, i wanted to contribute something to the state. >> reporter: he lost his first bid for congress in 2000 but won a rematch two years later and has served four terms. but is alabama ready for a democratic african-american governor? >> alabama needs artur. they just don't know it. >> reporter: phoebe wallace has a unique perspective. her father former alabama governor george wallace noted for saying -- >> segregation forever. >> reporter: wallace later renounced his segregationist views, changing time. his daughter supported

then-senator barack obama during the 2008 election and supports davis now. >> we have many friends that did not and couldn't understand why we voted for obama and i'm sure will not vote for artur. some people are just not ready. >> reporter: to which davis says -- >> i think more of them know they're ready than some people think. >> reporter: political analysts like natalie davis say when talking politics and color, remember alabama is a red state. president obama lost the state by a wide margin, capturing about 10% of the white vote. >> in alabama, if you're a democrat running against a republican, white or black, you have to take 38% of the white vote. >> reporter: she says it is a tall order, but davis remains confident. >> break-through moments often aren't foreseeable. even just a short time before they happen. >> was this his moment? we'll have to wait and see. davis says he is not going to

focus on race during his campaign. in fact, he says most of the journalists who ask him about race are from out of state. davis says his campaign will focus on the issues facing the state. will it work? his first big test comes about a year from now during the democratic primary. you know what is also interesting about this? we did that interview at the 16th street baptist church. i know you know your history very well, the very same church where four little black girls from killed during a bombing in 1963. a lot of people question how far alabama's come. but you have to admit, it has come far enough where a black man can sit in that church and talk about running for governor in this day an age. >> hopefully it's come further than that, too. >> we'll see. >> jason, great piece this morning. thanks. we're just a week away from cnn's examination of what it really means to be "black in america." watch stories of people stepping up, taking charge and creating solutions. the documentary "black in america 2" premiers july 22nd and 23rd only on cnn. 42 minutes after the hour. welcome to our mcdonald's.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. you have to see this video. it was president obama yesterday, he threw out the first patch last night in the all-star game. you know all the pressure's on you. forget the pressures of the job as leader of the free world. can you make it over the plate or are you going to ditch it in the sand? so how did he do? >> lovely 58-foot pitch i thought. >> let's take a look. here he goes, the president hoping he wouldn't bounce the ball. that's a practice try. there it was. not exactly a nolan ryan fast ball, but the president still performed a lot better than other big names. back in 2007, this is cincy

mayor mark mallory who missed home plate by about 30 feet. the youtube video that's gotten 30,000 hits. there it is. >> at some point during your throw you're supposed to let go of the ball. >> he just didn't want to let it go. there you go. jacqui jeras following the weather for us. it wasn't bad, huh? it was a little high but -- it was high, but hey, he made it. >> could have had a little more oomph. the weather for the all-star game, we could be seeing thunderstorms in there. they've rumbled through the st. louis area this morning. you see more development back here. something we'll be watching. we had a lot of severe weather

yesterday across parts of minnesota. you have pictures from spicer, minnesota, green lake area. a tornado ripped through there. there you see the damage it did to a house. it also brought a lot of docks and piers down and caused damage in the lake area. all that's left here is the boat that continues to stay there. the severe weather threat then today, will stretch further east of there from parts of michigan, down through the ohio valley, then into the middle mississippi river valley. the rest of the country overall looks really nice especially the coast of the country, out west and out east lots of sunshine. then yes, heat persisting across parts of the south. if you're trying to travel today, thunderstorms move through chicago a couple of hours ago but we are still paying for it, unfortunately. a ground stop until 8:15. some delays at laguardia as well. >> jacqui jeras for us, thanks. so here it is. rocket fuel in a bottle. right? you see these little energy shots all over the place.

>> you try them? >> yeah. >> it work? >> this is an experiment of course. i took this at 5:00 this morning. it is five-hour energy. i'm still going along pretty well. why are we doing this? our dr. sanjay gupta is going to take a look at these and tell you if they're safe. 48 minutes after the hour. today there's a way to save more for retirement, with annuities from fidelity.

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when supreme court nominee justice sonya sotomayor made her comment about a wise latina woman back in 2001, she never imagined the impact that it might have eight years later. not only has it raised questions from republicans on the senate judiciary committee, it is also inspired wise latina women everywhere. who better to document its widespread effects than our carol costello. she joins us live from washington this morning. how many times a day are we hearing that 2001 comment? >> so many times. there are amazingly a large number of wise latina women all over the country. at laeft that's what they tell me. they're fans of judge sotomayor and they've watched with interest as the senate judiciary committee made up largely of white men questioned the puerto rican judge about wise latinas and white men. critics watched, too, with a decidedly different take.

s sonia sotomayor knew it would be a difficult day. maybe that's why she wear red. i cannot tell you how many women i talked to that commented on her red jacket. >> i love it. i think it is important in washington where we talk about the power of red. >> reporter: alma heads up mana, an organization devoted to empowering latinas. yes, she considered herself a wise latina. >> why is it such a big deal? wise latina. is it partly that people don't usually think of those two words together? could that be part of it? >> reporter: so the organization is watching the hearings with interest that sharpened tuesday when senators pounced on sotomayor's berkeley speech. specific line -- i would hope that a wise latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male. >> how can you reconcile your speeches which repeatedly assert that impartiality is a mere aspiration which may not be

possible in all or even most cases with your oath that you've taken twice which requires impartiality? >> no words i have ever spoken or written have received so much attention. >> reporter: sotomayor says those words were actually a poor play on words, spoken by former justice sandra day o'connor that "fell flat." >> it is clearly not what i intended which was attempting to inspire young hispanic latino students and lawyers to believe that their life experiences added value to the process. >> reporter: some bloggers critical of sotomayor didn't buy her explanation, intimating she was lying when a rhetorical dodge. as for her critics in the senate -- >> it still doesn't answer to me the question of whether you think that these -- that ethnicity or gender should be making a difference. >> reporter: she is

disappointed. she believes the comments were only meant to inspire young people and that republicans should move on. >> should we not be dealing as any person going into a court would do, you deal with the facts at hand and her decision making has shown that's exactly what she's done. >> that's what judge sotomayor did say later in the hearings. look at my 17-year record and then decide whether my ethnic background or my gender enters into my decision. but, john, don't expect the issue to die today. expect republicans to keep on pounding away. >> still at least a couple more days of questioning. i don't think they're ready to let it go just yet. >> no. >> quick programming note -- coming this october cnn will present "latino in america." maybe we should change that to "latina" in america. a comprehensive look at how latinas are shaping this country, "latino in america" this october on cnn. 55 minutes after the hour.

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♪ pure energy >> well, if you're up early like us or you work late, you're probably doing shots. we're not talking about shots of booze here. we're talking about these little energy shots. you probably see them all over the drugstore these days. they're sold pretty much everywhere. >> the maker promises five hours of energy with no jitters, no crash effect. but they might work but here's the big question -- are they safe? our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta did a little investigating for us. i did -- it wasn't placebo-controlled trial but i amex peermting this morning. we talk about these energy drinks being used by a lot of young people to stay up and study but the shots are most popular among working professionals. what's the verdict? is it safe to do what did i this morning? >> you are right about the demographics, this is targeted toward older people. the short answer to your question seems to be yes if you

just did one of these things this morning. the problem is the mentality is often is five hours is good, then ten hours would be even better, so forth. people not exercising moderation is a problem with this, as it is with so many other things. what we wanted to do was dissect down what's exactly in one of these drinks and how does it specifically work. what we found, you look at the label specifically, you find very high concentrations of b-vitamins, b-6, b-12, b-9. b-3 is niacin. that's something a lot of people are familiar with. they give you 150% of what you need in any day. in high doses that can cause hot flash type symptoms, red-hot tingling skin. b-12 is something a lot of people talk about. you have over 8,000% of what you need of b-12. this is a water soluble vitamin so it's probably not going to cause much harm even in high doses. what was sort of mysterious to us because the bottom part of that, which is an energy blend.

we called the makers of this trying to figure out what's in this energy blend. they tell us there are all sorts of different things, most of which are naturally occurring amino acids in the body just at very high doses. it's the bottom one that's sort of covered up -- caffeine which seems to really cause much of what the benefits of this are. high doses of caffeine, about 90 milligrams without any sugar is probably how this works, john. kiran? >> there you go. so some of the questions about it, do b-vitamins really boost your energy? is that something that we should be taking more of? >> if you have low amounts of b-vitamins in your body, it could help. a lot of people for example get b-12 shots because of low energy and usually people who are older people who aren't getting enough b-12 in their diet seem to benefit from it. if you eat a normal diet and have regular levels of these b-vitamins, that's probably not going to help. even this sort of mixture of the energy blend, no one really knoww