Flag Day Story of Stars, Stripes and Standing; Countdown to Handover in Iraq; Economic Recovery?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LIVE FROM. I'm Betty Nguyen.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Here's what's happening at this hour.</s>NGUYEN: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is visiting the halls of America's military might today. He's meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Later, Mr. Karzai is scheduled to speak on his country's relationship with the U.S. and outline his expectations for Afghanistan's upcoming parliamentary elections. Tomorrow, he's scheduled to sit down with President Bush and congressional leaders. Justice Department officials announced the indictment of a Somali man on charges of supporting terrorism. Nuradin Abdi is accused of plotting with an al Qaeda operative to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio. Abdi is already in U.S. custody for alleged immigration violations. He's also accused of visiting a terrorist training camp in Ethiopia. An Article 32 hearing is scheduled for June 22 for Private First Class Lynndie England. England is one of the female soldiers accused in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. In two of the more infamous photographs, England is seen holding a leash tied to an Iraqi prisoner.</s>O'BRIEN: Up first this day, a Flag Day story of stars, stripes and standing. Fifty years to the day after Congress added the words "under god" to the Pledge of Allegiance, the Supreme Court of the United States says they can still be constitutionally recited, but not necessarily because they're constitutional. The court finds the alleged harm done to a California child by hearing the pledge every morning at school is, legally speaking, none of her father's business. And that brings us to CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey, joining us from Miami. Kendall, good to have you with us.</s>KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey. Good afternoon, Miles.</s>O'BRIEN: Did the Supreme Court have a bit of an artful dodge here? Is that what happened?</s>COFFEY: Well, I think that's what some are going to suggest. Certainly three justices, justices Rehnquist, Thomas and O'Connor, all felt that there was standing, at least sufficiently for purposes of hearing what is a very controversial case. On the other hand, the Supreme Court may have legitimately taken the position that if these issues are so important, we need the right kind of plaintiff, the right kind of injured party in front of the court, not a father who looks disappointed about the way the child custody rulings have gone in the family courts of California.</s>O'BRIEN: Well, now -- and I asked this question earlier. I'm just curious what you think. Shouldn't his standing have been settled more clearly prior to actually walking up the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States?</s>COFFEY: Well, that seems to be one of the big questions, if, in fact, the injury that he as a father professed. Because remember, whatever injury the daughter may have had was basically eliminated from the case. In fact, the mother, who has primary custodial decisions on educational matters, and the daughter, herself, are apparently Christians who had no objection to the pledge. But to the extent that the father's so-called injury was an issue, one would have thought it would have been resolved by now. That's what three of the justices of the Supreme Court maintained in the opinions they wrote today.</s>O'BRIEN: All right. Well, Michael Newdow is nothing, if not possessed with a healthy ego. He says, "I may be the best father in the world." I might quibble with him, you might quibble with him on that point. But the point is, is this, in effect, something that will set precedent for family court law? Those are state courts.</s>COFFEY: Well, I don't think it's going to set a precedent for family law. If anything, it's just a reminder that the federal courts, especially on constitutional questions, don't want to have to get involved with the intricacies of what goes on in custodial matters in the family courts. But I think what is wide open now is this question. And will Michael Newdow himself go back to some kind of custody issues, try to get broader custody, so that he can claim he does, in fact, have standing? In other words, we've rolled this entire issue back to where it was before the first decision was made years ago that exploded in so much controversy. But will this issue come up again, perhaps with Michael Newdow as a plaintiff at some future point?</s>O'BRIEN: So it is possible he could clarify his standing in some way, shape or form, and then appeal to the court again? Would he actually have to argue once again, or would his argument already stand?</s>COFFEY: It would start from scratch, because the effectiveness is someone has pressed a delete button on the original decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which struck down the Pledge of Allegiance for the words "under god." That decision basically never appeared. And so if Newdow or somebody else comes back, they'll be writing on a blank slate, at least as far as the original controversy- creating decision is concerned.</s>O'BRIEN: All right. Let's leave with a final thought here. We have some poll numbers I want to share with you and our viewers. And I guess these numbers would not surprise you. This is back in March, end of March, and this is a CNN-USA Today Gallup poll. Ninety-one percent of those polled think the pledge should remain as is. Eight percent say remove the words. Let's ask the frank question. Does the court hear that one way or another either directly or indirectly? Are they responding to public opinion?</s>COFFEY: Well, courts pride themselves on rising above public opinion. But when the Ninth Circuit decided this very controversial case, both sides referred to what they called the uproar around the country over the Pledge of Allegiance. So it may not get talked about, but it certainly is there.</s>O'BRIEN: Kendall Coffey, who always pledges to give us good legal insight, thanks very much.</s>COFFEY: Thanks, Miles.</s>O'BRIEN: Betty?</s>NGUYEN: Seventeen car bombs in 14 days. Sixteen days before the formal transfer of sovereignty in Iraq, 13 people dead after yet another suicide attack in the capital. And once again, Iraq's battered and broken power grid is a casualty of war. CNN's Guy Raz checks in from Baghdad.</s>GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Baghdad's landscape now characterized by chaos. A morning rush hour car bomb this time, the 17th car bomb in Iraq this month. Westerners were targeted, Iraqis part of a terrorist's collateral damage. Charred bodies were pulled from the rubble of this three- story building, burning vehicles smoldered in the middle of the road. Condemnations from all corners. Still, those behind the attacks seem more determined than ever.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We deplore this terrorist act and vow to get the criminals to justice.</s>RAZ: An angry crowd gathered around the bomb site. "America is the enemy of god," they chanted. Confused Iraqis passing along conspiracy theories blaming America and Jews. Less than one month before administrative authority is handed over to an Iraqi government, officials warn of more attacks to come. Most of them silently concede they'll be difficult to stop. Guy Raz, CNN, Baghdad.</s>O'BRIEN: On America's economic front, retail sales are said to be going strong. But the recovery hasn't helped everyone. And some consumers remain nervous about the future. CNN's Kathleen Hays with that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel a little bit of uneasiness.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the economy the way it is now, I find myself shopping a little less, trying to hold on to my pennies.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's at a steady pace. It's flat. I don't see it going up or down.</s>KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blame this insecurity on gas prices that have risen too quickly and paychecks that haven't risen quickly enough.</s>JARED BERNSTEIN, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: There is a disconnect between some of the economic cheerleading that's going on and the way many working families are experiencing the recovery. We see the latter in some of the consumer confidence reports which have been quite negative lately.</s>HAYS: The Consumer Comfort Index has fallen for the last three weeks and is nearing the lows of the year. And in May, when nearly a quarter of a million new jobs were created, more than 30 percent of those surveyed by the Conference Board said jobs were still hard to get. But this may not be as bad as it looks. After all, consumers are still shopping.</s>JAY BRYSON, WACHOVIA SECURITIES: What's really more important is not what consumers say. It's what they do. And if you look at, you know, weekly chain store sales, look at overall retail spending, you look at car sales, things of that nature, that all remains very, very solid right now.</s>HAYS (on camera): Economists saw this same disconnect coming out of the recession of the early 1990s. Job growth was accelerating by 1993, but confidence didn't really pick up until well into 1994.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm encouraged. I think things are improving. The stock value is going up and my investments are gaining value.</s>HAYS (voice-over): But many lower-income families, whose budgets are hit hardest by rising gas prices may continue to swim against the tide for awhile.</s>BERNSTEIN: I think it could take as much as another few quarters of solid job growth before a real sense of confidence in the economy returns.</s>HAYS: Kathleen Hays, CNN Financial News, New York.</s>NGUYEN: He was the man at a grieving widow's side throughout the week of mourning for former President Reagan. Coming up, Commander Galen Jackman shares some of his experiences being Nancy Reagan's shoulder to lean on. And these two had each other to lean on throughout their careers, but now the Olsen sisters, not twins, are taking on new roles. We'll explain. That's ahead on LIVE FROM.