Roberts Meets with Congressional Leaders
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: The president makes his pick. Now the grilling begins for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. We're live from Capitol Hill.</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Lawrence live in South Padres Island, Texas. And I'll tell you why residents here feel like they dodged a bullet even as the wind and the rain keeps pounding the island.</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center. We'll have the latest on where Emily is going and look at all these tornado warnings. We'll bring them to you, coming up.</s>PHILLIPS: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now. With his nomination secured, the president's pick to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court is hard at work courting senators for support. Judge John Roberts is due on Capitol Hill any moment to meet with top lawmakers who ultimately will decide whether he's the man who will replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. President Bush today reiterated that Roberts is more than qualified for the job and urged senators to act quickly on his nomination.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He will strictly apply the Constitution and laws. He will not legislate from the bench. I urge the Senate to rise to the occasion to provide a fair and civil process and to have Judge Roberts in place before the next court session begins on October the 3rd.</s>PHILLIPS: Let's get the latest reaction from Capitol Hill. For that, of course, we turn to our congressional correspondent, Joe Johns, who I know has been tracking every move that John Roberts is making right now on the Hill. Hi, Joe.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. That's for sure. We are tracking him and be glad to see him, too. A lot of things, obviously, going on here on Capitol Hill today. Among them, Judge Roberts is expected to meet with some top members of the United States Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democrat, among them. He's the ranking Democrat on the judicial committee, which will get a first crack at this nomination. We do expect these to be pretty much cordial meetings. Don't expect a whole lot of substance in the weeks ahead, though. That's when, behind the scenes, the staff really starts digging things up, which will be presented in form of questions to the nominee, either in a nomination hearing or perhaps in a letter of some sort that he can reply in writing. So this is a long process, with a view toward trying to get him on the bench by October 3rd, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Let's sort of take our viewers, Joe, through the process from this point to the actual hearings. Of course, we know who his sponsor is now, Fred Thompson.</s>JOHNS: That's right, Fred Thompson, a movie star, very well known on "Law & Order" on NBC, among other places. Also, a United States senator before all of that. He is going to be the person who essentially shepherds through or tries to shepherd through the nominee. He's an individual who is well known to members of the United States Senate and can get them on the phone. He can do the face-to- face contact with the elected officials on Capitol Hill regarding the nomination, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: And the bar weighs in also.</s>JOHNS: Say that again?</s>PHILLIPS: And the bar weighs in, also.</s>JOHNS: Right. The American Bar Association weighs in. They certainly have a big say. They create, of course, a number of judicial standards. Also, standards for lawyers in general, model standards that are followed around the country. And their recommendation is generally taken very seriously on Capitol Hill, although it is not a bar to a judge getting on the bench.</s>PHILLIPS: And then the interest groups, that plays in also at the same time, right?</s>JOHNS: Yes. Interest groups have already weighed in on both sides. Of course, a number of liberal interest groups are already questioning whether he is the right man for the job, some comparing him, of course, to Scalia, who was not well liked among liberals. Meanwhile, conservatives are bringing the push back, saying this is a nominee who ought to get a fair hearing. Of course, there you see one example. I believe that's NARAL America, a big demonstration outside the Supreme Court today. They, of course, have put out a statement partially critical of this nominee. A lot of people say it's too soon to judge about him, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. And of course we'll be monitoring all the various issues that come up and the battles among senators during these hearings. But after the hearings, the judiciary committee votes. And then the nomination is sent to the full Senate, right?</s>JOHNS: Well, generally that's what happens. But the fact of the matter is, you can have a vote to recommend the nomination to the full Senate. You can also have a recommendation, essentially a negative recommendation, if you will. And you can have no recommendation at all. There are other ways, of course, that this nominee can be brought up on the floor of the United States Senate, even if, for some reason, the committee is not able to decide. But it's also important to note that this nominee has made it through the United States Senate before and fairly recently. Only within the last two or three years he was confirmed for the second highest court in the United States. That's the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he's been serving now for the past couple of years.</s>PHILLIPS: And he basically got through that unscathed, right? I mean, he cleared the FBI checks, all the various background checks. So the chances of problems rising within a couple of years are pretty slim, right?</s>JOHNS: Well, you would think so, but a lot of people on Capitol Hill have said over the past 12, 14 hours or so, that there's a completely different standard for a judge going to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and a United States Supreme Court justice. He's going to get closer scrutiny, closer review. They're going to go into his record to a much greater extent, perhaps, than they did during the confirmation process a couple years ago.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Our Joe Johns, congressional correspondent. Also has his law degree. He knows this like the back of his hand. We'll be talking to you more, Joe. Thank you.</s>JOHNS: Thanks, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: The stakes in the selection process couldn't be higher. If confirmed, Judge Roberts would have a voice on some of the most contentious issues facing America. CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley takes a look now at what the nomination could mean for the upcoming court term.</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the pre- nomination hype and hoopla and no matter what you heard, Roe v. Wade is not on the Supreme Court docket this fall. Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood is, a New Hampshire case dealing with parental notification when a minor plans an abortion. The right to die is not on the Supreme Court docket this fall. But Gonzales v. Oregon is, a case involving Oregon doctors assisting suicides with federally controlled drugs. Both cases move around the edges of the most heated issues of our time, life and death. The right to an abortion. The right to die. Should John Roberts be confirmed, both cases will be watched for what they signal about him and what they bode for the country. Certainly, Roberts is not what liberals had hoped for. They set Sandra Day O'Connor as the bar, a moderate whose vote was pivotal in an otherwise evenly divided court. Friends indicate Roberts is a conservative. His political contributions indicate he's Republican, but there is little in his two years on the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that hints at how he would vote on either the New Hampshire or Oregon cases. The paper trail is bits of confetti. A brief Roberts co-authored while serving as deputy solicitor general. "We continue to believe," it reads, "that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled." During his 2003 confirmation hearings for the appellate court, Roberts explained those words were that of a lawyer advocating for his client. He went on to say, "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent." Interesting but not definitive. As an appellate court judge, Roberts' job is to uphold law. The Supreme Court can reconsider law. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.</s>PHILLIPS: With a view of Judge Roberts' positions on paper, we know relatively little about where he stands on those issues, but we can gain some valuable insight from when Roberts stood before the Senate just two years ago ahead of his confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Here's how Roberts responded when asked if he could comment -- or commit, rather, to a new role and make impartial decisions required of a judge.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: There's no role for advocacy with respect to personal beliefs or views on the part of a judge. The judge is bound to follow the Supreme Court precedent, whether he agrees with it or disagrees with it, and bound to apply the rule of law in cases, whether there's applicable Supreme Court precedent or not. Personal views, personal ideology, those have no role to play whatever.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, what questions should senators ask Judge Roberts about this time around? Will it all hinge on Roe v. Wade or are other issues worth exploring? We're going to get ideas from some insiders later this hour, so stay tuned. Now turning to our other big story, Hurricane Emily. The storm roared ashore in southern Texas and northern Mexico earlier today. The Category 3 hurricane blew ashore near San Fernando, Mexico, bringing heavy wind and gusty winds to south Texas. CNN's Chris Lawrence rode out the storm there on South Padre Island. What's it like now, Chris?</s>LAWRENCE: Kyra, we're still getting some of the gust, bringing a lot of rain, almost raining sideways at times. But the gusts aren't nearly as strong as they were a few hours ago, which is good news for a lot of folks here. At one point there were nearly 30,000 people without power across the Rio Grande Valley. They've cut -- they've knocked that down about 6,000 people. The crews have been out working. We just took a ride the street. There are several power lines down right here on South Padre Island, as well as some broken windows, a few things torn off of signs and smashed into the front of buildings but overall, no major, major structural damage, very good news for a lot of the people living here. Take you out here. We can show you a little bit of what the ocean looks like. Really still churning up a lot out there. Not quite the waves we saw early crashing almost right up against us but you can kind of look out in the distance and see that buoy that's out there. That started about four miles away. It was two miles south and two miles out to sea. The ships use it to navigate in. The storm was so powerful at one point it literally dragged that buoy, you can see, almost close to shore. The storm has been bringing in some rain. This area has been under a drought condition for some time. So a lot of residents are telling us, well, if the storm brings three to four inches, that will a good thing. If it brings seven, eight inches of rain, then they're going to be very worried about flooding. And my colleague, meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has been tracking this storm for more than a week now. And Jacqui, a lot of the folks here kind of wondering, you know, how many longer will the storm sit on top of us? How much longer will we still see these bands?</s>JERAS: Well, 24 hours or less, Chris. And that's at best. And all that heavy rain as well on down to your south for the most part. So that's the good news. At least that's where the worst of the wet weather is. In fact, this band right you can see right along the Rio River, that's dumping about two to three inches of rain per hour. And there you can see Brownsville. We're talking maybe a couple of inches of rainfall total. I think it should be around five inches or less. So that's some great news. As you mentioned, this area already in drought conditions, so the rainfall is actually welcome. What's not so welcome are the tornadoes. And we have had a plethora of tornado reports all throughout the morning. Several of them have touched down and caused some damage, as well. We're going to zoom in and show you where we have the watch in effect. Includes much of southern Texas, just north of Corpus Christi all the way down to Brownsville and then over towards Laredo. And look at all the red highlighted counties. Those are all the tornado warnings which are in effect right now. Duval and Jim Wells County under tornado warnings. And local law enforcement reported a tornado over west central Jim Wells County about near Highway 281. That's moving northwest at 25 miles per hour. Also, a possible tornado being reported in Bee, Live Oak, in San Patricio County. That was six miles south of Skidmore, also reported by a local law enforcement. And then warnings for Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Brooks, DeWitt, and Kennedy counties. And those are all radar indicated tornadoes. Forecast track, as it continues to weaken as it moves inland. In fact, I think we'll see very little left of Emily in about 24 to 36 hours. CNN LIVE FROM continues right after a break.</s>PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, like father, like son. Mohamed Atta flew a plane into the World Trade Center on September 11. Wait until you hear what his father told CNN about recent and future terror attacks. Later on LIVE FROM, listen closely. Capturing the sound of one of the most destructive earthquakes the world has ever seen. Also ahead, the president's supreme choice. A former federal judge reveals the sort of personal probing John Roberts will be subjected to in the weeks ahead.