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CNN Live At Daybreak
Schiavo Subpoena; Gas Price Record; Steroids in High School; Animal Rights
Aired March 18, 2005 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
The feeding tube of Terry Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged Florida woman, is to be removed this afternoon. Congress is trying to intervene to delay the tube's removal, but it's unclear if it can act in time. The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal.
President Bush heads for Florida this morning trying to sell his plan to overhaul Social Security. The president speaks at a junior college in Pensacola this morning and at a YMCA Family Center this afternoon.
Wal-Mart has agreed to pay $11 million to settle claims its cleaning contractors employed illegal immigrants. Those 12 cleaning firms will themselves pay $4 million in criminal forfeitures.
And this weekend will mark the second anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. One thousand five hundred eighteen Americans have died in Iraq during those two years.
Boy, Chad, it's already been two years since the start of the Iraq War.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Actually, it seems longer than that, to me, I don't know why.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: These were a few days in time.
Hey, good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Congress is trying to intervene, but time is running out for Terry Schiavo. She's the brain-damaged Florida woman who has been in a vegetative state for the past 15 years. A court has ordered her feeding tube removed at 1:00 Eastern this afternoon. In Washington, a House committee wants to investigate the case and issue a subpoena to delay the removal of a feeding tube. And the Senate, the U.S. Senate, has passed a bill to give jurisdiction in Schiavo's case to the federal courts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Because we have living wills now and we have written directives, which are very commonplace now, but 10 years ago they weren't that common. And to be honest with you, a lot of 20 and 30 year olds don't think about their own mortality and don't offer those written directives. If you're going to be causing somebody to die with purposeful action, withdrawal of a feeding tube, you're not going to want to make a mistake in terms of the diagnosis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The session, keep in mind, went late into the night. It ended at 1:30 this morning.
Also last night, earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to stop doctors from removing Terry Schiavo's feeding tube. The Florida State Legislature also weighed in on the matter refusing to vote on it. But, as you heard, the U.S. Congress is weighing in, as is the U.S. Senate. President Bush also issued a statement.
And a reminder, our e-mail question of the morning, what do you think of the latest legal maneuver in the Terry Schiavo case? E-mail us at DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
And, Chad, we've been getting so many e-mails already this morning that we want to read some right now.
MYERS: Carol, this is an impossible question, you're either on one side or you're on the other. There is no gray area here, so I'm going to try to read as many as I can from both sides here.
Is food and water, if it's to be withheld from anybody that cannot eat, you can't take it away from a dog, how can you take it away from a person? Why is Terry Schiavo any different? Who gives anyone the right to starve a person to death? Should she be allowed to die a natural death, yes, and not starve to death. Her parents should have custody, because her husband has no interest in keeping her alive. That was from Dilsey (ph).
COSTELLO: You know, Chad, that I think the issue here today, though, is does the U.S. government,...
MYERS: Correct.
COSTELLO: ... does the federal government have a right to interfere in this matter? Some might say it's a family matter. Some might say the government has no business interfering at all.
MYERS: Hasn't the government interfered the whole time now? I mean this has been...
COSTELLO: Well it sort of goes against the Republican ideal of not interfering. But you have to remember that behind all of this helping the parents of Terry Schiavo are the Right to Lifers. And some say they're...
MYERS: And how long has this been in court, though?
COSTELLO: It's been in court for years.
MYERS: Forever.
COSTELLO: Read some more.
MYERS: All right, here we go.
From Richard (ph) in Chicago, there they go again, out of control Republicans. Let the woman die already. Government interference, this is just so unreal, let the husband decide. This is a feeling more like the Soviet Union every day where the state decides everything. Congress, of course, works on this stuff instead of fixing our budget problems, the war and other issues facing millions of Americans.
And there you go.
COSTELLO: This is from Vickie (ph). I have one from out in California. She says, Carol, the government needs to get more involved. My little sister was in worse shape than Terry but is now getting better with the right help. She's talking, learning to eat and walking again, and the doctors said she could never do any of these things again. She says miracles do happen.
We're going to be talking a lot more about this throughout DAYBREAK this morning.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: We'll also discuss the legal aspects of this case, because they're getting quite confusing. To help explain the latest legal moves, in the next hour we'll be joined by our legal analyst Kendall Coffey.
Well this weekend you might be stunned when you stop at the gas station. The average price of regular gasoline in the United States has set a record, but that average is less than many Americans are paying.
CNN correspondent Julie Vallese is live in Washington with more on the rising price of gas.
Good morning.
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
That's right, AAA is reporting this morning that regular unleaded now costs $2.06 on average for a gallon. We haven't seen that in Washington for a long time. It's up a penny over last year's record set in May. And while pennies do add up to dollars, it might not make sense to cancel your summer vacation quite yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a record no one has been rooting for. Gasoline's record high comes just two months ahead of the start of peak travel season in the United States.
JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: People heading for spring break are confronting gas prices 30, 35 cents a gallon higher than they were just a year ago.
VALLESE: Filling up for a 1,000 mile round trip vacation, which is the average according to AAA, will cost you about $20 more.
MCNAULL: If you're spending a couple of nights in hotels, if you're eating meals out and using park tickets, it still is a fairly small part of the bill.
VALLESE: Airline fares are actually down a little more than 3 percent over last year. That's according to the Travel Industry Association. Airfares will most likely go up because of fuel price increases, but aren't expected to skyrocket. Thanks to supply and demand, food and lodging will account for the biggest part of the increased cost of going on vacation.
ANDREA STOKES, TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSN.: And you need to factor in the fact that demand is higher and that you might not get the type of hotel room that you want or the particular location that you want because hotels are booked.
VALLESE: The Travel Industry says it doesn't expect Americans to stay home because of higher gas prices. Analysts predict vacation travel won't be interrupted until a gallon of gas reached $4 a gallon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Now where higher gas prices actually affect consumers is in their every day use, in commuting and running errands. So to save yourself a little money, combine those trips.
Carol, you can spend the extra cash on a vacation.
COSTELLO: Julie Vallese, live from Washington this morning, thank you.
It was one of the largest high school steroid scandals in the United States, students admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs. But did the coach cross the line in pursuing the truth? Hear both sides of the story straight ahead.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Mixed reactions to Jose Canseco's charges of steroid use in Major League Baseball. At House hearings, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro denied using steroids, but Mark McGwire refused to say if he used them. Listen to what he did say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MCGWIRE, FORMER CARDINALS SLUGGER: I have never been a person who has spread rumors or said things about teammates that could hurt them. I do not sit in judgment of other players, whether it deals with their sexual preference, their marital problems or other personal habits, including whether or not they used chemical substance.
That has never been my style, and I do not intend to change this just because the cameras are turned on, nor do I intend to dignify Mr. Canseco's book. It should be enough that you consider the source of the statements in the book and that many inconsistencies and contradictions have already been raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL PALMEIRO, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: I have never used steroids, period. I do not know how to say it any more clearly than that, never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco's book is absolutely false.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMMY SOSA, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: I was watching on TV the two families that lost the two kids. And it really shocked me and break my heart. I want to send sympathy to those families that got to go through that situation. And you know the quicker we can resolve this problem in steroid, which is bad for kids, you know I'm willing to work with you guys and do the best that I can to stop that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Kids get the message when it appears that it's OK for professional athletes to use steroids. If the pros do it, college athletes will do it, too. And if it's an edge in college, high school students want that edge, too. There is a pyramid of steroid use in society. And today our investigation starts where it should, with the owners and players at the top of that pyramid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig testified there is now a policy of zero tolerance for steroid use in the Major Leagues. But pro athletes are not the only ones affected by steroid use, it's trickled down to high schools.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports on a major steroid scandal at one Arizona high school.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of Arizona's Superstition Mountains, you'll find Buckeye, 30 miles outside Phoenix. Farming is the heart of this small town, but football is its soul.
For Coach Bobby Barnes, Buckeye held out promise. He gave up a career in construction and took a hefty pay cut to pursue a lifelong dream, head coach of a high school football team.
BOBBY BARNES, HEAD COACH, BUCKEYE UNION: I got a head job, like I've always wanted and dreamed about doing, and had a really tough situation in my first year.
KAYE: Just three months into Coach Barnes' first season, the dream began to sour.
BARNES: It was the most miserable time in my life.
KAYE: A player's mother told police she had found steroids and a syringe in her son's room and gave them permission to question her son at school. That player's confession led to a team-wide investigation.
BARNES: At that time, under those circumstances, I feel like I followed my heart in doing what was right and was basically trying to get them to just tell the truth.
KAYE: Coach Barnes got what he asked for. In what became the largest steroid scandal in high school history, 10 of his top players admitted to using the performance-enhancing drugs. Barnes kicked all of them off his team.
WILL GRANDY, FORMER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER: Playing football, playing any sports, it's all about bigger, faster, stronger.
KAYE: Will Grandy was one of the players found using steroids.
(on camera): Are you angry today?
W. GRANDY: Yes, I'm really angry.
KAYE (voice-over): A year and a half later, Will feels betrayed by his coach. It was his senior year. He never played for the Hawks again and hasn't picked up a football since.
BARNES: A little more arc, right?
KAYE: Without 10 of their starters, the Hawks staggered to a 1-9 record. Barnes had sacrificed the season to get at the truth. BARNES: There were no heroes. I'm someone who was taught to do what you think is right and stick with it and don't compromise a decision because you're worried about what people will think.
KAYE: In the aftermath, townsfolk were split on the new coach, who placed principles ahead of winning. At Darla's Cafe (ph) in town, the steroid fiasco is still a featured item on the local menu.
JAMES ANDERSON, BUCKEYE RESIDENT: I believe it makes everybody kind of maybe embarrassed a little bit that it was going on and maybe they didn't know it.
KATHARINE NELSON, BUCKEYE RESIDENT: It just sucked whenever you went somewhere else and you would say, like, you're from Buckeye, they're, like, oh, yes, we heard about that school.
KAYE (on camera): Where did the players get the steroids? The police investigation discovered a group of them, including Will Grandy, drove across the Mexican border to the town of Puerto Penasco. There, Will's father tells me, they bought animal testosterone from a veterinary clinic. They brought it back here to Buckeye and to their teammates.
(voice-over): Tim Grandy and his wife, Kim (ph), remember the night they found out their son was using steroids.
TIM GRANDY, FATHER: We didn't know. We were dumbfounded, quite honestly, because we have had discussions about supplements. We've had discussions about weight gainers. We've had discussions about creatine. We did research on it, and we said no way.
KAYE: But their shock quickly turned to anger. Will Grandy and his family claim Coach Barnes, the school and local police overreacted and violated their rights.
T. GRANDY: It felt like I was emotionally raped, if you will. I mean, this was my son, my flesh and blood. As a parent, there's probably few worse feelings than not being able to aid your child.
KAYE: On the night Will's football career ended, team practice had finished hours earlier and he still wasn't home. Another parent told the Grandys the team was being questioned about steroids at school. Will's dad was rushed to his son, but was blocked at the locker room door by a police officer.
T. GRANDY: He said, I'm talking to you. He said, if you put your hand on that door, you're going to jail. And I turned around at that time, he had his hand on his gun and says, I'm not kidding. He said, get away from that door right now.
KAYE (on camera): So this is where it all happened, huh?
BARNES: This is it.
KAYE (voice-over): With police and the school principal present, Coach Barnes took the lead in questioning the team. BARNES: I called them in one at a time, because I didn't want them to be looking at each other and kind of giving the nods of, let's don't say anything or let's do. I wanted, you know, their honest statement.
KAYE: For five hours, the players were questioned. As Coach Barnes tells it, 10 of them stepped up, did the right thing and took responsibility.
BARNES: I think that the kids should have been complimented for very difficult admissions.
KAYE: Will Grandy, though, says he was forced to talk.
W. GRANDY: We tried to walk outside that night. The few of us that were left in there just walked outside and we were going to go home. And we were stopped at the door by a police officer threatening to take us to jail and expel us from school and kick us off the football team and all that.
KAYE (on camera): If you didn't go back inside?
W. GRANDY: Right, if we did not go back inside.
KAYE (voice-over): It was a confession that led to a felony charge, thousands of dollars in fines and a court-ordered drug treatment program.
W. GRANDY: I have to drug test randomly all the time. It's a yearlong program. It's cost me a few thousand dollars. I have to go to 24 hours of group counseling, 48 hours of substance abuse classes.
KAYE: Will's parents tried to fight back, writing letters to the school's superintendent, the school board, even the ACLU. The school denies it violated student's rights and says it properly followed policy. But the superintendent, in a letter to the Grandys, acknowledged her own concerns about the interviewing process. Coach Barnes maintains he just followed school policy.
BARNES: You know, I will say this again, and I say it to those parents that are upset with me, I don't know what I could have done different.
KAYE: A year and a half later, Buckeye Union High is working on rebuilding its football program. This past season, the Hawks went 5- 6. There's still work to be done on the school's reputation. Coach Barnes thinks his players are clean, but says drug testing would be too expensive.
(on camera): And they think of Buckeye and they think of you, they think of steroids?
BARNES: Right. Well, you know, that's a poor epitaph.
KAYE (voice-over): The Grandys, meanwhile, still insist the school and the coach have some tough questions to answer. T. GRANDY: The past year and a half is just absurd.
KAYE: Will is bitter, defiant and unapologetic for injecting steroids.
(on camera): What are your regrets, if any?
W. GRANDY: Getting caught.
KAYE: Not doing them in the first place?
GRANDY: Getting caught, telling the truth. I don't regret doing them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Randi Kaye reporting from Buckeye, Arizona.
Can you put a monetary value on your pet? It would be tough, but that's what some courts are being asked to do. Vet malpractice on the rise. That story still ahead on DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Here is an interesting question for pet lovers out there, should a pet be considered more like a human or property in a court of law? Consider Lucky, he's a dog who did not live up to his name. Complications after dental surgery cost Lucky his life. Now his owners are suing the doctor, the veterinarian for negligence. In fact, pet malpractice lawsuits are growing in popularity. Is the issue out of hand? The market value of the pet, we're going to talk about that.
We're joined by animal rights attorney Barry Silver.
Good morning -- Barry.
BARRY SILVER, CIVIL & ANIMAL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning, Carol, it's a pleasure to be with you.
COSTELLO: Thank you for being with DAYBREAK. You're representing the people who own Lucky?
SILVER: That's correct.
COSTELLO: Tell us about the emotional hardship involved here.
SILVER: Well it's very tragic for Lucky's owners, for Adam (ph) and Ellen (ph). They were extremely close to Lucky. Lucky was a part of the family. And anyone who owns pets can understand what that means to be part of the family.
COSTELLO: Well tell us what they went through to try to get Lucky's dental problems resolved.
SILVER: Well they just went to a vet for a very simple problem. And the doctor said, well, you know we can put Lucky under anesthesia and we're just going to clean the teeth and it shouldn't be a problem at all. And what happened was, after going under anesthesia, something went horribly wrong with the anesthesia. As you know a lot of times when you have surgery, the anesthesia is the most dangerous part. And we believe that the anesthesia was unnecessary.
COSTELLO: I see. And how much are they suing for?
SILVER: Well we haven't put a dollar amount on it. We'll let a jury do that. But we're asking for at least $15,000, which is enough to get us into the jurisdictional limits of the circuit court. But we think the love of a dog is worth a lot more than a piece of furniture.
And you described the issue well on the intro to the piece. It's not that we're claiming that Lucky should be viewed in the eyes of the law equal to a human being, but the way the law is now, it's so archaic that the law views Lucky the way you would view a chair. The judge or the jury would say how much did you pay for that dog? And if they said $50, then that's all it's worth, it's $50, which means that the love and companionship, the emotion between the dog and its owner are worth zero. And we say that that is wrong and it's archaic.
COSTELLO: And I'm sure many people out in our audience would agree with you. But I want to read you the comments of two people also involved in cases like this.
The first one is Richard Cupp. He's a law professor at Pepperdine. He says "if courts routinely start to award emotional damages to pet owners, veterinary care will cost more, leading to more suffering among pets because fewer pets will get sent to the vet."
And this from Bonnie Beaver, the President of the American Veterinary Medical Association says, "so an increased litigation may cause the cost of veterinary healthcare to increase significantly, and in the end, become prohibitive for many animal owners to access healthcare."
So they're both saying pretty much the same thing. Do you agree?
SILVER: I totally disagree.
COSTELLO: Why?
SILVER: By that analogy, then we should not allow people to sue if they buy a product that's defective, because then the cost of the product is going to go up so much that nobody can afford it. That is the exact same pathetic excuse that every irresponsible person gives who wants to be shielded under the law from their malpractice. There is no reason why any group should be shielded artificially from malpractice claims because they say the cost is going to go up.
In our country, our medicine is good, and that's because if a doctor does something wrong, he can be held accountable. Our products, our space (ph) because you can be held accountable. Unfortunately, many people only respond when they can be financially accountable. And if a veterinarian is able to get away without paying anything for their mistakes, which is the way the law is now, then, as with what happened with Lucky, they will not be careful. And we need to hold them financially accountable.
COSTELLO: Well we'll see what happens and follow your case.
SILVER: Well thank you very much. And it will be an interesting precedent setting case and we'll keep you posted on it.
COSTELLO: We definitely are interested. Barry Silver joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you very much.
Stay tuned for the next hour of DAYBREAK. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 18, 2005 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
The feeding tube of Terry Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged Florida woman, is to be removed this afternoon. Congress is trying to intervene to delay the tube's removal, but it's unclear if it can act in time. The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal.
President Bush heads for Florida this morning trying to sell his plan to overhaul Social Security. The president speaks at a junior college in Pensacola this morning and at a YMCA Family Center this afternoon.
Wal-Mart has agreed to pay $11 million to settle claims its cleaning contractors employed illegal immigrants. Those 12 cleaning firms will themselves pay $4 million in criminal forfeitures.
And this weekend will mark the second anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. One thousand five hundred eighteen Americans have died in Iraq during those two years.
Boy, Chad, it's already been two years since the start of the Iraq War.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Actually, it seems longer than that, to me, I don't know why.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MYERS: These were a few days in time.
Hey, good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: All right, thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Congress is trying to intervene, but time is running out for Terry Schiavo. She's the brain-damaged Florida woman who has been in a vegetative state for the past 15 years. A court has ordered her feeding tube removed at 1:00 Eastern this afternoon. In Washington, a House committee wants to investigate the case and issue a subpoena to delay the removal of a feeding tube. And the Senate, the U.S. Senate, has passed a bill to give jurisdiction in Schiavo's case to the federal courts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Because we have living wills now and we have written directives, which are very commonplace now, but 10 years ago they weren't that common. And to be honest with you, a lot of 20 and 30 year olds don't think about their own mortality and don't offer those written directives. If you're going to be causing somebody to die with purposeful action, withdrawal of a feeding tube, you're not going to want to make a mistake in terms of the diagnosis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The session, keep in mind, went late into the night. It ended at 1:30 this morning.
Also last night, earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to stop doctors from removing Terry Schiavo's feeding tube. The Florida State Legislature also weighed in on the matter refusing to vote on it. But, as you heard, the U.S. Congress is weighing in, as is the U.S. Senate. President Bush also issued a statement.
And a reminder, our e-mail question of the morning, what do you think of the latest legal maneuver in the Terry Schiavo case? E-mail us at DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
And, Chad, we've been getting so many e-mails already this morning that we want to read some right now.
MYERS: Carol, this is an impossible question, you're either on one side or you're on the other. There is no gray area here, so I'm going to try to read as many as I can from both sides here.
Is food and water, if it's to be withheld from anybody that cannot eat, you can't take it away from a dog, how can you take it away from a person? Why is Terry Schiavo any different? Who gives anyone the right to starve a person to death? Should she be allowed to die a natural death, yes, and not starve to death. Her parents should have custody, because her husband has no interest in keeping her alive. That was from Dilsey (ph).
COSTELLO: You know, Chad, that I think the issue here today, though, is does the U.S. government,...
MYERS: Correct.
COSTELLO: ... does the federal government have a right to interfere in this matter? Some might say it's a family matter. Some might say the government has no business interfering at all.
MYERS: Hasn't the government interfered the whole time now? I mean this has been...
COSTELLO: Well it sort of goes against the Republican ideal of not interfering. But you have to remember that behind all of this helping the parents of Terry Schiavo are the Right to Lifers. And some say they're...
MYERS: And how long has this been in court, though?
COSTELLO: It's been in court for years.
MYERS: Forever.
COSTELLO: Read some more.
MYERS: All right, here we go.
From Richard (ph) in Chicago, there they go again, out of control Republicans. Let the woman die already. Government interference, this is just so unreal, let the husband decide. This is a feeling more like the Soviet Union every day where the state decides everything. Congress, of course, works on this stuff instead of fixing our budget problems, the war and other issues facing millions of Americans.
And there you go.
COSTELLO: This is from Vickie (ph). I have one from out in California. She says, Carol, the government needs to get more involved. My little sister was in worse shape than Terry but is now getting better with the right help. She's talking, learning to eat and walking again, and the doctors said she could never do any of these things again. She says miracles do happen.
We're going to be talking a lot more about this throughout DAYBREAK this morning.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: We'll also discuss the legal aspects of this case, because they're getting quite confusing. To help explain the latest legal moves, in the next hour we'll be joined by our legal analyst Kendall Coffey.
Well this weekend you might be stunned when you stop at the gas station. The average price of regular gasoline in the United States has set a record, but that average is less than many Americans are paying.
CNN correspondent Julie Vallese is live in Washington with more on the rising price of gas.
Good morning.
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
That's right, AAA is reporting this morning that regular unleaded now costs $2.06 on average for a gallon. We haven't seen that in Washington for a long time. It's up a penny over last year's record set in May. And while pennies do add up to dollars, it might not make sense to cancel your summer vacation quite yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a record no one has been rooting for. Gasoline's record high comes just two months ahead of the start of peak travel season in the United States.
JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: People heading for spring break are confronting gas prices 30, 35 cents a gallon higher than they were just a year ago.
VALLESE: Filling up for a 1,000 mile round trip vacation, which is the average according to AAA, will cost you about $20 more.
MCNAULL: If you're spending a couple of nights in hotels, if you're eating meals out and using park tickets, it still is a fairly small part of the bill.
VALLESE: Airline fares are actually down a little more than 3 percent over last year. That's according to the Travel Industry Association. Airfares will most likely go up because of fuel price increases, but aren't expected to skyrocket. Thanks to supply and demand, food and lodging will account for the biggest part of the increased cost of going on vacation.
ANDREA STOKES, TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSN.: And you need to factor in the fact that demand is higher and that you might not get the type of hotel room that you want or the particular location that you want because hotels are booked.
VALLESE: The Travel Industry says it doesn't expect Americans to stay home because of higher gas prices. Analysts predict vacation travel won't be interrupted until a gallon of gas reached $4 a gallon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Now where higher gas prices actually affect consumers is in their every day use, in commuting and running errands. So to save yourself a little money, combine those trips.
Carol, you can spend the extra cash on a vacation.
COSTELLO: Julie Vallese, live from Washington this morning, thank you.
It was one of the largest high school steroid scandals in the United States, students admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs. But did the coach cross the line in pursuing the truth? Hear both sides of the story straight ahead.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Mixed reactions to Jose Canseco's charges of steroid use in Major League Baseball. At House hearings, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro denied using steroids, but Mark McGwire refused to say if he used them. Listen to what he did say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MCGWIRE, FORMER CARDINALS SLUGGER: I have never been a person who has spread rumors or said things about teammates that could hurt them. I do not sit in judgment of other players, whether it deals with their sexual preference, their marital problems or other personal habits, including whether or not they used chemical substance.
That has never been my style, and I do not intend to change this just because the cameras are turned on, nor do I intend to dignify Mr. Canseco's book. It should be enough that you consider the source of the statements in the book and that many inconsistencies and contradictions have already been raised.
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RAFAEL PALMEIRO, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: I have never used steroids, period. I do not know how to say it any more clearly than that, never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco's book is absolutely false.
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SAMMY SOSA, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: I was watching on TV the two families that lost the two kids. And it really shocked me and break my heart. I want to send sympathy to those families that got to go through that situation. And you know the quicker we can resolve this problem in steroid, which is bad for kids, you know I'm willing to work with you guys and do the best that I can to stop that.
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REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Kids get the message when it appears that it's OK for professional athletes to use steroids. If the pros do it, college athletes will do it, too. And if it's an edge in college, high school students want that edge, too. There is a pyramid of steroid use in society. And today our investigation starts where it should, with the owners and players at the top of that pyramid.
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COSTELLO: Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig testified there is now a policy of zero tolerance for steroid use in the Major Leagues. But pro athletes are not the only ones affected by steroid use, it's trickled down to high schools.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports on a major steroid scandal at one Arizona high school.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of Arizona's Superstition Mountains, you'll find Buckeye, 30 miles outside Phoenix. Farming is the heart of this small town, but football is its soul.
For Coach Bobby Barnes, Buckeye held out promise. He gave up a career in construction and took a hefty pay cut to pursue a lifelong dream, head coach of a high school football team.
BOBBY BARNES, HEAD COACH, BUCKEYE UNION: I got a head job, like I've always wanted and dreamed about doing, and had a really tough situation in my first year.
KAYE: Just three months into Coach Barnes' first season, the dream began to sour.
BARNES: It was the most miserable time in my life.
KAYE: A player's mother told police she had found steroids and a syringe in her son's room and gave them permission to question her son at school. That player's confession led to a team-wide investigation.
BARNES: At that time, under those circumstances, I feel like I followed my heart in doing what was right and was basically trying to get them to just tell the truth.
KAYE: Coach Barnes got what he asked for. In what became the largest steroid scandal in high school history, 10 of his top players admitted to using the performance-enhancing drugs. Barnes kicked all of them off his team.
WILL GRANDY, FORMER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER: Playing football, playing any sports, it's all about bigger, faster, stronger.
KAYE: Will Grandy was one of the players found using steroids.
(on camera): Are you angry today?
W. GRANDY: Yes, I'm really angry.
KAYE (voice-over): A year and a half later, Will feels betrayed by his coach. It was his senior year. He never played for the Hawks again and hasn't picked up a football since.
BARNES: A little more arc, right?
KAYE: Without 10 of their starters, the Hawks staggered to a 1-9 record. Barnes had sacrificed the season to get at the truth. BARNES: There were no heroes. I'm someone who was taught to do what you think is right and stick with it and don't compromise a decision because you're worried about what people will think.
KAYE: In the aftermath, townsfolk were split on the new coach, who placed principles ahead of winning. At Darla's Cafe (ph) in town, the steroid fiasco is still a featured item on the local menu.
JAMES ANDERSON, BUCKEYE RESIDENT: I believe it makes everybody kind of maybe embarrassed a little bit that it was going on and maybe they didn't know it.
KATHARINE NELSON, BUCKEYE RESIDENT: It just sucked whenever you went somewhere else and you would say, like, you're from Buckeye, they're, like, oh, yes, we heard about that school.
KAYE (on camera): Where did the players get the steroids? The police investigation discovered a group of them, including Will Grandy, drove across the Mexican border to the town of Puerto Penasco. There, Will's father tells me, they bought animal testosterone from a veterinary clinic. They brought it back here to Buckeye and to their teammates.
(voice-over): Tim Grandy and his wife, Kim (ph), remember the night they found out their son was using steroids.
TIM GRANDY, FATHER: We didn't know. We were dumbfounded, quite honestly, because we have had discussions about supplements. We've had discussions about weight gainers. We've had discussions about creatine. We did research on it, and we said no way.
KAYE: But their shock quickly turned to anger. Will Grandy and his family claim Coach Barnes, the school and local police overreacted and violated their rights.
T. GRANDY: It felt like I was emotionally raped, if you will. I mean, this was my son, my flesh and blood. As a parent, there's probably few worse feelings than not being able to aid your child.
KAYE: On the night Will's football career ended, team practice had finished hours earlier and he still wasn't home. Another parent told the Grandys the team was being questioned about steroids at school. Will's dad was rushed to his son, but was blocked at the locker room door by a police officer.
T. GRANDY: He said, I'm talking to you. He said, if you put your hand on that door, you're going to jail. And I turned around at that time, he had his hand on his gun and says, I'm not kidding. He said, get away from that door right now.
KAYE (on camera): So this is where it all happened, huh?
BARNES: This is it.
KAYE (voice-over): With police and the school principal present, Coach Barnes took the lead in questioning the team. BARNES: I called them in one at a time, because I didn't want them to be looking at each other and kind of giving the nods of, let's don't say anything or let's do. I wanted, you know, their honest statement.
KAYE: For five hours, the players were questioned. As Coach Barnes tells it, 10 of them stepped up, did the right thing and took responsibility.
BARNES: I think that the kids should have been complimented for very difficult admissions.
KAYE: Will Grandy, though, says he was forced to talk.
W. GRANDY: We tried to walk outside that night. The few of us that were left in there just walked outside and we were going to go home. And we were stopped at the door by a police officer threatening to take us to jail and expel us from school and kick us off the football team and all that.
KAYE (on camera): If you didn't go back inside?
W. GRANDY: Right, if we did not go back inside.
KAYE (voice-over): It was a confession that led to a felony charge, thousands of dollars in fines and a court-ordered drug treatment program.
W. GRANDY: I have to drug test randomly all the time. It's a yearlong program. It's cost me a few thousand dollars. I have to go to 24 hours of group counseling, 48 hours of substance abuse classes.
KAYE: Will's parents tried to fight back, writing letters to the school's superintendent, the school board, even the ACLU. The school denies it violated student's rights and says it properly followed policy. But the superintendent, in a letter to the Grandys, acknowledged her own concerns about the interviewing process. Coach Barnes maintains he just followed school policy.
BARNES: You know, I will say this again, and I say it to those parents that are upset with me, I don't know what I could have done different.
KAYE: A year and a half later, Buckeye Union High is working on rebuilding its football program. This past season, the Hawks went 5- 6. There's still work to be done on the school's reputation. Coach Barnes thinks his players are clean, but says drug testing would be too expensive.
(on camera): And they think of Buckeye and they think of you, they think of steroids?
BARNES: Right. Well, you know, that's a poor epitaph.
KAYE (voice-over): The Grandys, meanwhile, still insist the school and the coach have some tough questions to answer. T. GRANDY: The past year and a half is just absurd.
KAYE: Will is bitter, defiant and unapologetic for injecting steroids.
(on camera): What are your regrets, if any?
W. GRANDY: Getting caught.
KAYE: Not doing them in the first place?
GRANDY: Getting caught, telling the truth. I don't regret doing them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That was Randi Kaye reporting from Buckeye, Arizona.
Can you put a monetary value on your pet? It would be tough, but that's what some courts are being asked to do. Vet malpractice on the rise. That story still ahead on DAYBREAK.
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COSTELLO: Here is an interesting question for pet lovers out there, should a pet be considered more like a human or property in a court of law? Consider Lucky, he's a dog who did not live up to his name. Complications after dental surgery cost Lucky his life. Now his owners are suing the doctor, the veterinarian for negligence. In fact, pet malpractice lawsuits are growing in popularity. Is the issue out of hand? The market value of the pet, we're going to talk about that.
We're joined by animal rights attorney Barry Silver.
Good morning -- Barry.
BARRY SILVER, CIVIL & ANIMAL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning, Carol, it's a pleasure to be with you.
COSTELLO: Thank you for being with DAYBREAK. You're representing the people who own Lucky?
SILVER: That's correct.
COSTELLO: Tell us about the emotional hardship involved here.
SILVER: Well it's very tragic for Lucky's owners, for Adam (ph) and Ellen (ph). They were extremely close to Lucky. Lucky was a part of the family. And anyone who owns pets can understand what that means to be part of the family.
COSTELLO: Well tell us what they went through to try to get Lucky's dental problems resolved.
SILVER: Well they just went to a vet for a very simple problem. And the doctor said, well, you know we can put Lucky under anesthesia and we're just going to clean the teeth and it shouldn't be a problem at all. And what happened was, after going under anesthesia, something went horribly wrong with the anesthesia. As you know a lot of times when you have surgery, the anesthesia is the most dangerous part. And we believe that the anesthesia was unnecessary.
COSTELLO: I see. And how much are they suing for?
SILVER: Well we haven't put a dollar amount on it. We'll let a jury do that. But we're asking for at least $15,000, which is enough to get us into the jurisdictional limits of the circuit court. But we think the love of a dog is worth a lot more than a piece of furniture.
And you described the issue well on the intro to the piece. It's not that we're claiming that Lucky should be viewed in the eyes of the law equal to a human being, but the way the law is now, it's so archaic that the law views Lucky the way you would view a chair. The judge or the jury would say how much did you pay for that dog? And if they said $50, then that's all it's worth, it's $50, which means that the love and companionship, the emotion between the dog and its owner are worth zero. And we say that that is wrong and it's archaic.
COSTELLO: And I'm sure many people out in our audience would agree with you. But I want to read you the comments of two people also involved in cases like this.
The first one is Richard Cupp. He's a law professor at Pepperdine. He says "if courts routinely start to award emotional damages to pet owners, veterinary care will cost more, leading to more suffering among pets because fewer pets will get sent to the vet."
And this from Bonnie Beaver, the President of the American Veterinary Medical Association says, "so an increased litigation may cause the cost of veterinary healthcare to increase significantly, and in the end, become prohibitive for many animal owners to access healthcare."
So they're both saying pretty much the same thing. Do you agree?
SILVER: I totally disagree.
COSTELLO: Why?
SILVER: By that analogy, then we should not allow people to sue if they buy a product that's defective, because then the cost of the product is going to go up so much that nobody can afford it. That is the exact same pathetic excuse that every irresponsible person gives who wants to be shielded under the law from their malpractice. There is no reason why any group should be shielded artificially from malpractice claims because they say the cost is going to go up.
In our country, our medicine is good, and that's because if a doctor does something wrong, he can be held accountable. Our products, our space (ph) because you can be held accountable. Unfortunately, many people only respond when they can be financially accountable. And if a veterinarian is able to get away without paying anything for their mistakes, which is the way the law is now, then, as with what happened with Lucky, they will not be careful. And we need to hold them financially accountable.
COSTELLO: Well we'll see what happens and follow your case.
SILVER: Well thank you very much. And it will be an interesting precedent setting case and we'll keep you posted on it.
COSTELLO: We definitely are interested. Barry Silver joining DAYBREAK this morning. Thank you very much.
Stay tuned for the next hour of DAYBREAK. We'll be right back.
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