captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: good evening. i'm gwen ifill. president obama nominated solicitor general and former harvard law school dean elena kagan to the u.s. supreme court. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight: kagan would be the youngest justice, and the third woman on the current court. we'll look at what she would bring to the bench, intellectually and personally. >> ifill: then, in a public broadcasting exclusive, oil rig worker christopher choy talks about surviving the deepwater horizon explosion, and the legal issues arising from the disaster.

>> it will be up for as long as i have been up, i didn't figure nobody was trying to screw me over already. so i just trying to get out of there. >> brown: we hear from john lipsky of the international monetary fund, after european finance ministers agreed on a nearly trillion dollar bailout fund to stop the spread of the greek economic crisis. ♪ there's no sunup in the sky ♪ ♪ stormy weather ♪ since ♪ ♪ >> ifill: and we remember legendary jazz singer and actress lena horne, who died in new york yesterday at the age of 92. that's all ahead, on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> what the world needs now is energy. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate change. what if that energy came from an energy company? everyday, chevron invests $62 million in people, in ideas--

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you succeed. pacific life-- the power to help you succeed. >> and by bnsf railway. >> and by the bill and mill anda gaits foundation-- gates foundation dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: in nominating elena kagan to the high court, president obama chose a legal scholar with liberal views and conservative friends. kwame holman begins our coverage. >> reporter: the president made the announcement in the east room of the white house, flanked by the nominee and

vice president joe biden. mr. obama's decision follows a month-long search to fill the seat of justice john paul stevens who is retiring after 35 years. >> while we can't presume to replace justice steven's wisdom or experience, i have selected a nominee who i believe embodies that same excellence, independence, integrity and passion for the law. and who can ultimately provide that same kind of leadership on the court. our solicitor general and my friend elena kagan. (applause) >> reporter: this confirmed kagan would join justices ruth bader ginsburg and sonia sotomayor as the third woman on the court, the most in its history. the president said kagan's nomination was much deserved. >> elena is widely regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal minds. she's an acclaimed legal scholar with a rich understanding of constitutional law. she's a former white house aidee with a life-long

commitment to public service and a firm grasp of the nexus and boundaries between our three branches of government. she's a trailblazing leader. the first woman to serve as dean of harvard law school. and one of the most successful and beloved deans in its history. >> reporter: elena kagan is 50 years old and was born in new york city. she received her bachelors degree from princeton, her masters from oxford and her law degree from harvard. if confirmed, she would be the only justice who has not served as a judge, although she did clerk for justice thurgood marshall in the late 1980s. for the past year kagan has served as solicitor general, the administration's chief lawyer. she also is the first woman to hold that position. kagan spoke after the president finished his remarks. >> thank you, mr. president. i am honored and i am humbled by this nomination and by the confidence you have shown in me. during the last year as i

have served as solicitor general, my long-standing appreciation for the supreme court's role in our constitutional democracy has become ever deeper and richer. the court is an extraordinary institution. and the work it does and in the work it can do for the american people by advancing the tenets of our constitution, by upholding the rule of law and by enabling all americans, regardless of their background or their beliefs, to get a fair hearing and an equal chance at justice. >> reporter: the focus on kagan now shifts to capitol hill where she will begin this week making courtesy calls on members of the senate judiciary committee who will vote on whether to send her nomination to the full senate. the committee's chairman patrick leahey said he was pleased the president picked someone outside the judicial monastery and predicted kagan will be confirmed.

>> i think she will be very, very impressive in the confirmation hearing. you know, we have some republicans who would automatically oppose anybody who was nominated-- come on. we're talking about a supreme court justice. let's look at the qualification. vote up, vote down. she will be confirmed. >> reporter: but the top republican on the y- udiciary committee jeff sessions said it was too soon for his colleague to make such pronouncements. >> yes, that's premature. but he's confident. and he should be. i mean the democrats have a large majority. most would be inclined to support the president's nominee. but this is going to be a real confirmation process. and if the nominee can't meet the basic standards of a judge and convince, you know, enough senators that she's capable of doing that, then i think the nominee could have trouble. >> reporter: no dates for confirmation hearings have been set but the president has said he wants the full

senate to vote on kagan's nomination before it leaves for the august recess . >> ifill: we turn now to four voices to help answer the question, who is elena kagan? abner mikva-- a former federal judge, member of congress, and white house counsel. kagan clerked for him, and also worked with him in the clinton white house. marcia greenberger-- a friend of kagan's and co-president of the national women's law center. john manning-- a supreme court clerk for justice antonin scalia, who was later hired by kagan as a professor at harvard law school. and newshour regular marcia coyle of the "national law journal." marcia, you have been covering solicitor general kagan in that role for the last year and a half. and she has argued before the court. what is kind of a solicitor general has she been. what have we learned that would tell us what kind of justice she would be in the same chambers. >> well, i think first her style is very distinctive. it was hard to believe last fall that she was arguing her first case ever in any appellate court when she took on the campaign finance

case citizens united in the supreme court. she's very energetic at the podium. but also easy going and has a quick sense of humor. and she seems to really enjoy engaging with the justices. she's not intimidated at all by them. she chose citizens united, as her first case, which was a very complicated case and it was clear that the government had an uphill battle trying to win that case. the government lost it. but she's also taken on the term's only terrorism related case. she's defending a federal law that bars material support of designated terrorist organizations. and she's argued four other cases that are in a variety of areas of the law. the government did win the case she argued trying to support a congressional law that allows a cross to stay he recognized in the mojave desert. >> ifill: judge mikva you have known her for quite some time. we foe about her fairly elite background.

she was raised on the upper west side. she went to harvard, she was dean of harvard, went to princeton and she seems to, what can you tell us about her that we don't know? what would surprise us? >> well, i'm not sure that this will surprise anybody. but she's one of-- he had is one of the brightest legal minds that i've ever run across. i had some 45 clerks, they were all great. we were a feeder court to the supreme court so we had lots of applications. but the first time i met he elena you could tell that she not only knew the law but she was comfortable about her knowledge of the law. she didn't have to jump out of her shoes to tell you how much she knew. she could listen to the question. and think about it and come up with a thoughtful answer. that's very important for a justice. >> ifill: john manning, aside from the fact that she did give you a job, you don't necessarily agree on a lot of things am but let me ask you the same question. what don't we know about her? >> well, i think that a lot is known about her right now. >> ifill: now.

>> she is very bright. and i suppose, i think this has been said but i think it's an important thing to emphasize. she has a great amount of intuition about human nature. she's very psychologically astute and i think that she's a very open person. she's done a lot to improve the culture at the harvard law school. and i think that shell's be a very effective member of the court, not merely because she's a brilliant mind and an excellent lawyer, but because she understands human nature. and understands institutions. and so i think that she will be a sort of, you know, glue in that institution that holds-- helps to hold the institution together. >> ifill: marcia greenberger, let's pick up on that glue idea. because one of the things people said about her that she seems to be able to persuade. does that have anything at all to her being a woman? >> well, it's an interesting question. i think one thing that i

agree with is that she listens to people. and she doesn't automatically jump in with her own opinion first. she's very comfortable about her own capacity, but she's also open to what other people have to say. the other thing to me that is such an important quality is i think she actually genuinely likes people. and she likes to engage with people. so i think that will all help her with her relationships with her colleagues on the bench, with her ability to hear what the difference sides have of an argument have to truly say. and i think that's part of why shell's be so effective assuming she is confirmed. >> ifill: does matter there will be three women? >> to me i think it makes a big difference for several reasons. one of the historic things that people used to joke about was that with two women on the court, for a long time, sandra day o'connor and justice ruth ginsburg, lawyers used to call them by each other's

names and confuse them. they were still stockens. they were still, it's-- still tokens, they were till it is one of the two women. having more women turns those women justices into justices and makes them part of the normal routine that we have now-- male and female justices. they see the world in a way that can enrich each other's perspectives. and i think that's very important. >> ifill: marcia coyle, we have two marcias, -- you have seen justice sotomayor, president obama's first pick on the courtment now you see his second pick. what does it tell us, if anything so far, about the president's priorities? >> well, i think he has stated often that he's looking for diversity. he wants the court to be more representative of america. and certainly this is one way to do it. actually, state courts have many more women on them than the supreme court ever had. they're way ahead in terms of diversifying the bench. so i think he's achieved that.

but i also think that when you look at his list, what was considered his short list, it was dominated by women. and they are some of the best legal minds in the country. so i think he was looking for diversity in experience and also i think he was looking for someone who can really do the job. >> ifill: judge mikva, you serve on the bench but as someone who did, here the president picks someone who never has. i think the last time that happened was with justice rehnquist. how significant it that she does not have that kind of judicial experience? >> well, i think it's a plus. because some of our greatest justices have never had any judicial experience before they were nominated. justice brandeis, justice black, justice douglas, they all came from other arenas rather than the judd ibmary. and i think it's a plus because if you are a judge for any length of time and i

know, i think because i was one, your focus backs narrower. you are talking to other judges. and even your discussions with lawyers are, where they are the is up pli-- supplicants and are you sitting on a high bunch looking down at them. and that narrows ones he point of you have an vision of where the country is i think the fact that she has been at the other side of the bench for most of her career and she has been dean of a law school that i guess i can say it more directly than proof certificate manning, it was a very fractious law school faculty that she took on and brought together and made them feel more collegial about themselves. and these are experiences that are going to stand the court in good stead because it is an otherwise experience rather than as having another appellate court judge come on there and bring the same point of view that the other 8 have already brought. >> ifill: john manning, let's talk about that fractious law school. you were hired, you came on with dean kagan at the time

with a resume in hand that said you had worked for judge bourke, you had worked for justice scalia. >> yes. >> ifill: did you expect to get the job or did you think that minute she might show you the door. >> i was very happy to get the job. and i think that one of the nice things about elena and the harvard law school is that i am a conservative. i was hired by the harvard law school. i didn't feel that she hired me because i was a conservative. i felt that she hired me because of the scholarship and the teaching and the other things that, you know, you would take into account in making a hire. and it didn't matter to her whether i was conservative. >> ifill: did you understand her to be a liberal? >> oh, yes. she is definitely in the progressive side of the spectrum. but that's-- the thing about elena kagan that makes her a very good choice to be a judge is that she understands how to separate

her personal views from her institutional role. and i saw this again and again at harvard. we probably disagree about a lot of things. but it never really made any difference in the way she-- it never made any difference in the way that she treated me as a faculty member. she asked me my-- at the end of my first year on the faculty to chair the hiring committee and you know, it didn't-- i think it didn't even enter her mind that it would be an issue that i was conservative on a faculty that was predominantly progressive. >> ifill: you see, that's exactly what is bothering a lot of liberals, marcia greenberger. you hear that people on the right are saying that she is way too-- she doesn't have the experience to do this. and people on the left are saying she is a little bit too accommodating to conservatives. >> well, i think she certainly is an open minded person. but i also think that she's somebody would comes with a deep respect for the constitution. she cares about the president.

she looks and listens and i think at the end of the day, that is what people are looking for in a justice on the supreme court and those are the qualities along with her extraordinary intellect and very broad-reaching view and experience with the law that will make her and stand her in good stead assuming that she's confirmed. >> ifill: marcia coyle, the court has famously split a lot of other times, 5-4, 5- -- and she is replacing justice stevens who was a pint poed by a republican but who has generally ended up on the liberal side of the spectrum is there anyway to know whether someone who comes into a job like this, you have been covering it long enough to watch it happen, makes a difference immediately? >> i think a new justice always makes a difference in one respect. >> ifill: we're assuming for a moment that there is a confirmation in the offing, but go ahead. >> yes, exactly. justices brier and other chief justice roberts and

others have spoken about how the new justice immediately changes the dynamic of the court in a way, i suppose, it's almost like marrying into a new family. this court in the last five years will have, if solicitor general kagan is confirmed will have seen four new justices in five years. prior to that, they had been alone as a sitting court for 11 year was any changes. so having that much turnover and a new justice coming on again changes the dynamics in that they have to get used to each other. they have to figure out how each thing-- each thinks, how each approaches constitutional questions and statutory questions. so i think, yes, a new justice has an immediate impact. it's harder to gauge long term. there are areas of the law where justice stevens was able to get justice kennedy,

who is generally on the conservative wing of the court to come along, to make liberal victories. and also areas of the law where he was able to get, or work with justices scalia and thomas. for example, if a justice kagan is more conservative than justice stevens, we could see changes in cases involving executive power. justice stevens and justice kennedy were out front in handing the bush administration some of its biggest defeats in terroris terrorism-related cases. and that involved executive and congressional power. and also in the criminal justice area. we don't know how a justice kagan would view the death penalty, for example. justice stevens came to believe it was unconstitutional. and also in criminal sentencing. those are areas, and campaign finance where it could make a difference. >> ifill: okay. and we will be taking it all one by one, judge abner mikva, marcia coyle, of course, john manning and

marcia greenberger, thank you all very much for that first half. >> brown: still to come on the newshour: one man's tale of survival aboard the deepwater horizon oil rig... the i.m.f. and european union's trillion-dollar bailout fund... and the life and times of lena horne. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: markets around the world rebounded today, and u.s. markets followed suit, after a weekend deal to avert a european debt crisis. european leaders and banks announced an array of emergency lending measures totaling nearly $1 trillion. that sent the dow jones industrial average up more than 404 points to close at 10785. the nasdaq rose 109 points to close at 2374. a series of attacks across iraq made today the deadliest day of the year so far. at least 99 people were killed in violence that began in the early morning and continued into the night. hundreds more were wounded. nearly half of the victims died in a pair of car bombings outside a textile factory in hillah. as a crowd gathered to help those victims, a suicide bomber blew himself up.

the violence also included coordinated shootings targeting iraqi security forces at six checkpoints in baghdad. british prime minister gordon brown agreed to step aside this year and let his labor party find a replacement. it is part of a bid to keep his party in power. he said the move would give him time to focus on coalition talks with the liberal democrats, who came in third in the election. in a news conference outside number 10 downing street, brown noted his own failures in the election. >> the reason that we have a hung parliament is that no single party, and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country. as leader of my party, i must accept that that is a judgement on me. i therefore intend to ask the labour party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election. >> sreenivasan: brown said he hoped a new leader would be in place by september, when the labor party conference is held. the conservatives, led by david

cameron, won the most seats in the election, but not enough for a majority. they made a final offer of their own to the liberal democrats today: a referendum on electoral reform. afghan president hamid karzai began a four-day visit to washington today. the trip comes after months of public strain between karzai's government and the obama administration. the security situation in afghanistan and civilian casualties are expected to be high on the agenda. at the white house today, the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, karl eikenberry, acknowledged relations between the two countries haven't always been easy. >> every bilateral relationship, especially ones as close as we have with afghanistan, they experience ups and downs. but what measures true partnership is the ability when the stakes are as high as they are for afghanistan and the united states of america, to be able to work our way through difficulties and come back together and still find ourselves well aligned. >> sreenivasan: eikenberry said he expects "even better alignment" between the two

countries after this week's talks. karzai meets with president obama on wednesday. the u.s. put more pressure on the government of pakistan to crack down on the taliban there. this, after last week's failed bombing in new york's times square. u.s. attorney general eric holder said on sunday the suspected bomber received training from the taliban in pakistan. and secretary of state hillary clinton warned pakistan would face "severe consequences" if a successful attack in the u.s. was ever traced to pakistan. hope dimmed in russia as rescue crews searched for 58 people trapped under the country's largest coal mine. a pair of explosions rocked the mine in western siberia this weekend, killing 32 people. the cause of the first blast was believed to be from a buildup of methane gas. many of the dead were rescue workers who entered the mine after the first explosion. but later a second, more powerful blast destroyed the main air shaft and a five-story building on top of the mine. a mass grave of victims from the war in kosovo has been discovered in serbia. the burial site contains the

bodies of 250 albanians who were killed in kosovo during the 1998-1999 war. serbian war crimes prosecutors found the bodies hidden beneath a small building and a newly built parking lot in a town about 100 miles south of belgrade. it is the fourth mass grave of its type discovered in serbia since 2001. some 1,800 ethnic albanians are still missing from the kosovo war. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to jeff. >> brown: and we turn to the oil spill that continues to endanger the waters and coasts of the gulf of mexico. today, transocean said the root cause of the explosion was the failure of a cement casing to plug b.p.'s underwater oil well. this comes from testimony prepared for tomorrow's congressional hearings, according to reuters. meanwhile, b.p. used a remote- controlled submarine today to spray a chemical dispersant underwater at the source of the oil leak, after receiving approval from the environmental protection agency.

that move came after this weekend's failed attempt to use a large containment box to bottle up the oil that continues to gush at a rate of 210,000 gallons a day. the company says it's looking at other options, including using a smaller box and injecting the leak with debris, such as shredded rubber. and on doffin island, tar balls continue to wash up three miles off the alabama coast. and national guard helicopters ferried tons of sand bags to louisiana's barrier islands to help stop the oil from reaching its wetlands. even as the oil continues to spread, some of the men who lived through the explosion that led to the spill are now telling their stories. in a pbs newshour and n.p.r. collaboration, we have one man's tale about what happened that night, and the difficult aftermath. on the night of april 20, 23 year old chris choy found himself at ground zero in what has now become a national

environmental nightmare when the deepwater horizon oil rig exploded in the gulf of mexico, 50 miles off the louisiana coast. >> people were going crazy. there was people jumping off the rig, people holding people back from jumping off the rig, people scrambling to get in the lifeboats. everybody... a bunch of people were yelling, you know, "we gotta get outta here, the derrick's gonna fall." >> brown: 20 days later, choy and his wife monica believes they've got a new fight on their hands, against his former employer, who he says pressured him to sign documents that may keep him from receiving medical care and reimbursement for what happened that night. >> when i signed that, i was... i didn't care what it was. i wanted to sign the papers and do whatever i had to do just so me and my wife could leave to go home. >> they made it like it was nothing, and now they're just trying to hold us against, you know, hold it against us. >> brown: chris choy began working for transocean, the

rig's owner, in june of 2009. later that year, he joined the crew of the deepwater horizon as a roustabout, working with the crane operators, cleaning equipment, and doing various other odd jobs, including work on the fire detail. this weekend in houston, he sat down with our public broadcasting partner joeseph shapiro of national public radio. >> reporter: describe a little bit of what it's like to be on the rig in the middle of the water. >> it's different than anything else you ever do in your life. it's just, you know, a big, big box out in the water floating around. it's hot, cold... you know, there's no shade anywhere. you know, it's... most of the time it's pretty hard work and, i mean, it can get lonely at times. >> brown: on the night of the 20th, choy said he finished his 12-hour shift, talked to his wife on the phone, and settled in for some sleep. >> and then when i woke up to... i could hear something. i was out of it.

i was so tired. i woke up; i could hear the gas coming through the riser. but i didn't know what it was. it sounded like somebody pressure-washing the outside of my room. and then i heard an explosion, but i didn't know it was an explosion. i just heard a loud boom. >> brown: it was the first in a series of explosions that set the rig aflame, claiming 11 lives and spurring the most disastrous oil spill in decades. fully awake and scrambling from his room, choy quickly realized the scope of what was happening. >> i never been the person to be scared of anything. i mean, the guys i work with will tell you, i ain't scared of anything. and i was scared to death right then. i mean, i just... that's all that was going through my head was, "i'm fixin' to die. this is it. we're not gonna get off of here." >> brown: surrounded by flames, choy and a colleague tried to reach rig operator aaron dale burkeen, who'd fallen from the crane. >> before we could get there,

there was some more explosions, and it put fire in between us and dale. i mean, there was no way we could get through those flames. some flames i'll run through. i've ran through flames before, but there's no way we could've got through that. and that was... they started hollering to abandon the rig. and that was... that was a real hard deal, doing that. i knew that... that dale... was right there, and we couldn't get him. >> reporter: and mr. burkeen, we know, is one of your 11 colleagues who died? >> yes, sir. >> brown: choy reached one of the rig's life-boats, an enclosed capsule. dozens of others also made it to the boats. >> some people were tryin' to just jump in them, and they were going crazy. and i mean, it's actually dangerous to be in a lifeboat if... i mean, if people aren't properly trained and not... or people are panicking in a lifeboat, you can flip the lifeboat. >> brown: others jumped from the

rig into the gulf's waters far below. and in the end, 115 members of the crew would survive. choy's boat made it to the "damon bankston," a cargo ship that had been docked at the rig and was now floating nearby. from its deck, choy looked on a scene of devastation. >> we sat there for probably six or seven hours and watched the rig burn. i mean, it just, it makes you sick to your stomach just watching that and known that... that you're missing guys and that they're up there somewhere, not knowing if they're alive or dead or if they jumped off and somebody's looking for 'em in a boat. >> reporter: monica, let me ask, what's it like hearing your husband tell this story? >> i can't -- i can't imagine going through that

. just-- it was so hard. i'm just so thankful that he's okay. you know, i can't-- i can't say that i would probably run straight to the life boat. but i think my husband is a hero, you know. he stayed and he tried to help people. and i just can't imagine going through that. >> brown: as the rig burned, choy was desperate to make it to shore and call his wife. transocean had told the workers it would call their families. >> everybody wanted to call their family. they kept telling us, "well, we've only got one phone. and you all can't use it." so... and everybody was mad, but there was nothing we could do. >> reporter: so, you didn't get to call your family, but they said they would call...

>> they would let us know. >> back in texas monica was frantic. her mother-in-law told us she heard about the rig blowout but there was no news from or about her husband. >> i just sat there. i didn't know what to do. i can't think straight. i didn't-- i didn't know what to think. i sat there for a minute and she just started balling and crying. and then all of a sudden it hit me, that my husband was-- could be dead. >> brown: close to noon the following day, monica finally reached someone at transocean who confirmed that her husband was alive. aboard the "bankston," choy said members of coast guard boarded the ship and demanded that each worker file a report about what he'd seen that night. >> they said there's 94 people on this boat, nobody's gettin' off until i get one of these from everybody. >> reporter: and what was the form? >> this form -- i don't remember what all it, everything it said. i know at the top, it said, i and then had a space for your

name. and it said somethin' about like, it was , 'i freely volunteer this information.' and then it's a bunch of blank lines front and back. and then at the bottom, it said something about, like, you know, this can be used as evidence in court and all that. i told 'em, i'm not signing it. >> brown: coast guard petty officer mike o'berry spoke to us by phone sunday and said those forms were standard operating procedure for all accidents at sea to help with the investigation. >> brown: but choy believes the coast guard investigators weren't alone. >> but there were also lawyers there from where? >> i'm not sure where they were from. i was told that they were lawyers representing bp. >> brown: mark salt, a spokesman for b.p., which operated the oil rig, told the newshour:

"regarding lawyers, bp did not have any lawyers on the vessel." transocean declined to comment when asked about the presence of any attorneys aboard the "bankston" that night. in all, choy and his crewmates spent nearly 28 hours aboard the ship before reaching land and finally being re-united with his wife at a hotel in louisiana. but when they prepared to leave they were confronted by representatives of a risk assessment company working for transocean. within they said hey, have you filled out this paperwork yet. and i said no. and they talked me over there they said we need this so we can know who to talk to. they said this is-- this is just a form that says you were on tower. you didn't see what happened leading up to the explosion. i was like that's fine. >> brown: also on the form was a line that read, "i was not injured as a result of the incident or evacuation." >> and being up for as long

as i had been up and everything. i didn't figure nobody was trying to screw me over already. so i just signed it, trying to get out of there. physically, i didn't feel hurt at all. i didn't never think of anything mentally being wrong with me. i figured just, having bad dreams and stuff was something that would just last a couple of days and fade away. but it hasn't. >> brown: choy says he has nightmares and has suffered mental anguish from the trauma. this month, when his attorneys notified transocean that they would file suit, they received an e-mail from transocean, saying: and attached to the email: the form choy now says he signed under duress. >> and should this piece of paper count? >> no, it shouldn't count. because hi been up for almost 40 hours and had just gone through hell. and they want to throw papers in my face for me to sign to take them out of

their responsibility. that's one of the thing they preach to us the entire time you work there and do any kind of training is be responsible. that's part of their core values, is responsibility. and then the first thing they threw at me when i get to the hotel, you know, is a paper relieving them of their responsibility. >> brown: choy's suit against transocean and other companies involved with running the rig, seeks restitution for mental anguish, loss of earnings, future medical expenses, and punitive damages for gross negligence. contacted by the newshour, transocean would not respond directly to choy's allegations, citing the ongoing litigation. we asked an outside expert, houston attorney and law professor jeff rensberger, about the form choy was asked to sign. he called it fairly routine. >> typically a corporation will have a sort of playbook they go through when something big happens. and this i would guess was sort of part of their playbook to try to ascertain who may have claims against them. >> brown: and rensberger said

the fact that choy signed the form would not necessarily derail any lawsuit. >> it doesn't say that i promise to forego any suit against the defendants. it's just a series of factual statements. i was in the a witness. i was not injured. and as the effect of that t would be to simply a statement that this person has previously made. if there is later litigation and they claim injuries, then the defendant could try to argue that they made an inconsistent statement earlier. and so you shouldn't believe their testimony now. and then it's just simply for the jury to decide to what extent they disbelief the plaintiffs current story. >> brown: choy says he thought he was healthy when he signed the form, believing his flashbacks and nightmares were temporary. >> i can't hardly sleep at night without waking up with nightmares. she sees me, having, jumping and breaking out in sweats and shaking in my sleep. just from any noise. the air conditioner outside my

house, everytime it kicks on i jump and i wake up and you know, just freaking out. >> just freaking out. >> he seems totally different. before all this happened, he was smiling all the time, happy, great, i mean, great to be around. just. and then after this, he seems a lot-- he seems like more depressed and he's just a totally different person. >> you told us earlier that you really enjoyed your work on the rig. is this something you think you would ever go back to. >> no, absolutely n choy: no, absolutely not. you know, i hate to say that, because i really did, i used to enjoy it. i mean, a lot. you know, i got to come home, back to bragging rights. you know, come in, yeah, i'm a roughneck, you know, do whatever i want. and i enjoyed it. i enjoyed the people i work with. i enjoy the work. enjoy the money. but it's not... i don't think it's worth it to go back out

there. even though, i mean, i understand the likelihood of that happening again, it's this slim. but i mean, as scary as, as much as stuff bothers me now at the house, just light noises. there's no way i can go out there and work safe and not end up either injuring myself or hurting somebody else out there. i just don't think i could bring myself to go back on a rig. >> brown: chris choy says he's not sure what he'll do next. in the meantime, the coast guard investigation into what happened continues. field hearings in louisiana begin tomorrow. >> ifill: now, the rescue plan to stop a financial crisis from spreading in europe. leaders of the european union decided to throw heavy ammunition at the problem today, with a nearly trillion-dollar safety net for greece and other countries in the euro zone. it comes in the form of loans,

debt guarantees, and additional cash to the money markets. the international monetary fund was a key part of the deal, promising more than a quarter of that amount. for more on the plan and its intended effect, we turn to john lipsky, the deputy managing director of the i.m.f. welcome. >> good evening. >> ifill: so tell us, what was the imf's role in brokering this deal? >> well, the in-- imf was instrumental in forging a program of fiscal adjustment and structural reform for greece that was approved by our executive board on sunday morning and by the european-- the european finance ministers on sunday evening that will provide a total of 110 billion euros to greece. beyond that, the european authorities agreed on a new stabilization mechanism that could provide aid to other euro area countries that were in financial difficulties in support of an adjustment program.

and the imf has agreed to, for its members to help provide part of the funding in any future program as well. >> ifill: we've watched greece go through what looks like slow motion financial collapse for the last several weeks. i guess there are two ways of looking at this. either that it too so long or in the end there seemed to be some great urgency. which is it? >> well, both. it took awhile but eventually things became quite desperate. there was, first of all, a lack of a clear mechanism by which the european or the fellow members of the euro area currency zone could provide aid to a fellow member. secondly, there was controversy among the fellow members whether the imf and its international institution should be involved. but as things progressed, financial markets

lost confidence in the situation. the greek authorities lost access to financial markets with debt payments coming due. and at that point, a decision was made to go forward as a partnership. so when it was-- that decision was made, things moved very quickly to a successful conclusion. >> ifill: we saw the markets respond to that today. but how does anyone know, how these governments who would benefit from this deal, how would they be held accountable for getting themselves out of the debt that got them in this position in the first place. >> yes, certainly. well, in the case of greece, for example, there was the greek authorities had developed a very ambitious adjustment process program that would involve very stringent deficit cuts on the budgetary side, reforms to their autonomy, to labor markets, to their pension plan and to other measures that would increase economic

efficiency, that will take place over the coming three years. but the most difficult measures were front-loaded and have already been taken by the greek authorities, approved by the greek parliament. now for the balance of the program, there was a discussion and an explicit agreement with the greek authorities, the imf and the european community on specific measures and benchmarks that will be part of the program and will calibrate the progress going forward. and additional funding will be provided along with these benchmarks being hit. >> ifill: but even if these benchmarks are a hit, does that solve the problem or does it just buy more time to stop the problem from spreading to other european countries. >> well, hopefully it does both. for one, the financing that was provided the 110 billion was designed explicitly to give the greek authority

some breathing space to institute these very difficult, these difficult measures that over time will produce improvement in the greek economy. in the long run they're going to be-- there is certainly going to be successful. the phasing of the disbursements were designed, of course, to make sure that the actions are actually fulfilled and the program is put in place. together these measures have helped to provide assurance to the rest of-- to the european neighbors and to the international markets but that was augmented by very substantial additional measures that were announced this morning, early this morning, european time. and that will be supported by the imf as we discussed already. >> speaking to reporters today, you use an interesting phase. you talk about the architectural ambiguity of the monetary union which i took to mean, tell me if i'm wrong, that there is some underlying problem with the euro that needs to be addressed.

>> well, what-- the euro is a very interesting experiment in the sense, it's 11 years old but whens was founded it was quite novel. the idea that there would be a single currency among a group of countries, a single central bank, that would operate on behalf 6 those countries, but no central government. now the question the ambiguity was always well how would you coordinate, first how would you coordinate fiscal, budgetary policy among the various countries and secondly, how, what steps would be taken to ensure increased integration of these economies which, after all, was the ultimate goal of currency union. one of the aspects that was uncertain was what aid, what financial support would countries provide to each other within the currency union. that ambiguity has been given a lot more clarity with the agreement announced

this morning. >> ifill: when the euro is doing well, everyone is doing well. when one economy begins to fail spectacularly as greece seems to, we watch other dominoes begin to fall. how worried are you about portugal and spain, for instance? >> it was announced this morning by the european authorities that spain and portugal will be announcing new economic stabilization measures in the coming days. and hopefully these measures will be adequate to the challenges to reduce debt to make-- to improve the competitiveness of these economies and to improve their prospects going forward. >> ifill: tell me if it possible to even ask this final question, which is whether it is possible that extending more credit can help countries whose basic problem is their debt load. >> oh, for sure. the bedrock of the reforms in the euro area, remember the goal of currency union is to form a stronger, more

effective and efficient economy. the bedrock is going to be the fiscal or the reduction of deficits, ultimately the reduction of debt as a percentage of the overall economies, and improvement in the structural performance and the efficiency of these economies. these will depend more than anything on the actions of each individual country. but now there is a framework of support, if there are problems, and a process to monitor progress going forward. >> okay, john lipsky, deputy managing director of the international monetary fund. thanks a lot for joining us. >> thanks gwen. >> brown: and finally tonight, we remember the talents and trailblazing of lena horne. ♪ i can't do anything ♪ but love ♪ baby ♪ ♪. >> legendary singer, dancer and actress lena horne

overcame racial barriers and stereotypes to become one of the greatest artists of her time. she got her start in 1933 dancing in the chorus line at harlem's cotton club at age 16 ♪ what have i got ♪ that's-- that the others ain't ♪ ♪ batt horne appeared in numerous films in 1940s typically in song and dance numbers. she was the first black performer to be signed to eye long-term contract by a major film studio. she had a breakthrough performance in 1943 in the all-black movie musical "stormee weather" title song would become a signature for horn nie the years to come ♪ stormy weather ♪ ♪ there's no sunup in the sky ♪ ♪ starmee weather ♪ -- . >> brown: a very public figure in a segregated society, horne faced constant racial prejudices and practices. her songs were often edited

out of films playing in southern movie theerts and she thought to avoid typical stereo black roles. >> my father said i can get a maid for my daughter. i don't want her in the movies playing mades. >> brown: in 1947 horne married composer leny hateman, a whiteman in paris. their interracial marriage was kept secret for three years. >> brown: in the 196 0s she joined the march on washington and numerous other civil rights protests. >> nobody black or white who really believes in democracy can stand aside now. everybody's got to stand up and be counted. >> brown: her friend singer nancy wilson said that experience shaped horne. >> everybody thought this was this beautiful, sophisticated, elegant lady. but there was this fierst lion es in this woman and it came out. and she grew, i mean in stature, inside her sell. you could see how much she changed. she became so fulfilled and so complete. >> brown: at the same time,

the pressures and biases kept her from fully enjoying her time in the spotlight. according to horne biographer james gaffeen he talked with us last summer. >> despite the fact that she was this exalt -- exalted mgm figure was constantly somehow being reminded that at the end of the day, she was still a black person and considered by a lot of people to be inferior. ♪ do knock till you hear from me ♪ ♪. >> brown: horn was a prolific and successful recording artist for decades on into the 1990s. along the way, she had other notable successes. in 1978 she played glinda the goodrich in the wiz with diana ross and michael jackson. she also starred in her own tony award-winning one woman broadway show in the 1980s which toured across the u.s. in an interview marking her 80s birthday, horne said she had become more confident about her place as a leading performing artist. >> my identity is very clear to me now

. i am a black woman. i'm not alone. i am free . i no longer-- i sound free because know longer have to be a credit. i don't have to be assembled to anybody. i don't have to be a first to anybody. i don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that hollywood sort of hoped i'd become. i'm me. and i'm like nobody else. >> brown: and she showed why as she performed as a lincoln center event honoring her musical and civic achievements. ♪ baby i can live to love you ♪ ♪ as long as i want to ♪ long as i promise you ♪ ♪ baby ♪

i am going to love you ♪ ♪ as long as i live (cheers and applause) >> brown: lena horne died last night in new york. no cause of death was given. she was 92 years old. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. president obama nominated solicitor general and former harvard law school dean elena kagan to the u.s. supreme court. world markets rebounded on news european leaders and banks offered nearly $1 trillion to stop the spread of the greek economic crisis. and nearly 100 people were killed in a series of attacks across iraq. it marked the deadliest day of the year. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: there's more on the president's nomination of elena kagan to the supreme court, including the full video of the announcement. also, more of our interview with oil rig worker christopher choy.

from our archives: the author of a lena horne biography describes her groundbreaking life and legacy. and we've posted another of jim lehrer's dispatches from the road. find out what producer walter mirisch and actor sidney poitier told him outside an event at pbs station kcet in los angeles. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. gwen? >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. >> j.b.: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moo civic life can help provided a dependable income you can enjoy the rest of

your life. because retirement could be a very long ride. your financial professional can tell you more about pacific life. pacific life, the power to help you succeed. >> chevron. this is the power of human energy. intel. sponsors of tomorrow.

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