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American Morning

Debate Over Immigration Reform; Gossip Wars; "Honey, We're Killing the Kids"

Aired April 11, 2006 - 09:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The debate over immigration reform has created a huge political backlash. We saw it on the streets yesterday in the United States. Take a look at some of these pictures. There were upwards of a million people protesting yesterday in dozens of U.S. cities, large and small. Some of the bigger ones, places like Phoenix, Arizona. There was a big one in New York City. Houston, Texas with the big one as well. Many of these illegal immigrants demanding at the very least a path toward citizenship. Many of them, as you see, waving the stars and stripes of this country.
The question is, has this awakened a sleeping giant, a real political force? And will this political force be able to migrate some votes in one direction or another with the midterm elections upon us this fall?

Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is joining us live now from Washington to tell us more about this.

Bill, good to have you back with us this morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: I want to share with our viewers a poll you're familiar with. This comes from "The Washington Post"/ABC. It says this -- basically, the question was what program do you favor? What legislation do you favor? And 63 percent of those polled believe that a program that would lead to legal status and permanent citizenship. In other words, some -- whatever you want to call it being amnesty, I guess, that term has become a bit of a pejorative. Sixty-three percent of the people want that. Twenty percent say no temporary work program at all and felony status, which is the other end of the spectrum, which reflects the legislation which came out of the House of Representatives.

M. O'BRIEN: Factor this into the congressional elections coming up, could this feeling this, this sentiment, tilt the balance of power in the House?

SCHNEIDER: Well, there are really two prevailing sentiments on the immigration issue, on the illegal immigration issue. People want tough border controls. They want to stop what they definitely believe is an out of control flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, and they're going to hold Congress and politicians responsible. They want something done about that, but they also take a fairly sympathetic view, as that poll suggests, towards illegal immigrants who are here. They endorse in that poll, and many other polls, a path to citizenship with, of course, some very tough requirements.

So how will that factor into the election? That's the problem, members of Congress aren't sure. This has suddenly, with these demonstrations, become a two-sided issue. If they look too lenient and talk about amnesty, they could pay a price for a lot of voters who are very angry over the idea that illegal immigrants should be treated leniently, should be given citizenship. They call that amnesty. On the other hand, there was a constituency newly mobilized out here in the streets that indicated they're going to show up at the polls. They never have in the past. They maybe be a never force in American politics. So politicians won't know what to do.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and that's interesting. Of course, we don't know, looking at those crowds, how many of those people are registered voters. If in fact many of them are illegally here in the country, they may not be weighing in at the polls, but nevertheless their voice is being heard loud and clear in ways they have never been heard before.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. And if they stay in this country, many of them eventually are likely to become citizens, and they could become a force. The example that a lot of politician are pointing to is what happened in California after 1994, when that state, the voters of that state passed a very tough measure cutting off public services to illegal immigrants and their families. That measure passed, and it helped get Governor Pete Wilson re-elected. And what happened? What happened is large numbers of Hispanics and immigrants became citizens, they started to register, their numbers increased markedly at the polls, and they turned California into what is now a solidly Democratic state. That's what's got Republicans very worried, maybe not this year, but down the line in the near future.

M. O'BRIEN: So if you had to boil it down people, though, basically people are OK with the status quo, just shut the door to future immigration, and if politicians can navigate that, they're OK.

SCHNEIDER: That's exactly right. They want people who are already here and working hard and obeying the law to be allowed to stay here once they passed certain requirements, like paying a fine for breaking the law, learning English, having a job, paying back taxes, criminal record checks, then they should be allowed to be a citizen. But shut the door. Do something to prevent this uncontrolled flow of illegal immigrants from continuing.

M. O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider in Washington, thanks, as always.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Got some breaking news for you this morning out of Great Britain. A building apparently has collapsed. It looks like an office building.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I'm just getting the word in now. I don't know, we have some pictures here?

S. O'BRIEN: Do we have some shots of it we can show folks? Let's take a look.

M. O'BRIEN: This comes from the Thames Valley Police in the United Kingdom. And we're told that emergency services are currently on the scene of a collapsed building in Milton Cames (ph). Police were called there at 12:37 p.m. local time, which would have been about -- I guess about 7:37 or 8:37. I don't want to do the math on the fly here and get it wrong. I don't know if they do daylight time, local time there.

S. O'BRIEN: They are concerned that there are people trapped inside, and apparently emergency crews are in there now trying to free those people. An ambulance reported to be on the scene as well. You can see obviously that car must have been caught under some of the rubble, unclear exactly what's happened that the point. And of course we'll see if we can get more information to update you on this story as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: They're bitter tabloid rivals here in New York, so when a "New York Post Gossip" columnist was accused of trying to extort money from a billionaire in exchange for favorable mentions, "The Daily News" pounced right on the story. Page Six has been playing out on page one.

We get more now from AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For one New York tabloid, the celebrity gossip scandal surrounding "The New York Post" is like a dream come true. The papers are arch enemies.

WILLIAM SHERMAN, "DAILY NEWS" STAFF WRITER: There certainly is a rivalry. I mean, I'm not denying it.

CHO: "New York Daily News" reporter William Sherman broke the Page Six scandal in the paper on Friday. It has been on page one ever since. "The New York Post" has virtually ignored it, only one mention on Friday.

The editor of the "Post" says "The Daily News'" shrinking circulation is driving its coverage. An assertion the "News" doesn't buy.

SHERMAN: I'm not surprised that the "Post" has not extensively covered. I mean, it's their paper.

CHO: And their report err. Jared Paul Stern, who freelanced for the legendary gossip column, is accused of demanding more than $220,000 from billionaire Ron Burkle in exchange for keeping less- than-flattering things about him from appearing in Page Six. Stern called it a "setup." The FBI recorded meetings between Stern and Burkle, and excerpts have appeared in papers, including "The Daily News."

"Daily News" gossip columnist Lloyd Grove says there is a line between news and gossip, and this story is definitely news.

LLOYD GROVE, "DAILY NEWS" COLUMNIST: You're not going anywhere else with this, are you?

CHO: Grove's column called "Lowdown" is in direct competition with Page Six.

(on camera): You want to get it before the post.

GROVE: Sure.

CHO: But how badly?

GROVE: Very badly. It's a competitive business we're in.

CHO (voice-over): Grove says the idea of accepting payments from sources is something new to him. He admits Page Six may be getting more ink these days.

CHO (voice-over): Don't they say there's no such thing as bad publicity, as long as they spell your name right?

Reporter:.

GROVE: That's what some people say. I think there probably is such a thing as bad publicity.

CHO: Over on the news side, William Sherman says he'll continue to work feverishly on what is for now his paper's top story.

SHERMAN: I cover this like any other story. This is a news story. For me, it had nothing to do with whether it was "The New York Post" or any other company or any other individual. It's a news story.

CHO: One that won't likely be going away any time soon.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MARKET REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Straight ahead on the program, a new show that goes high tech to make parents make their kids eat right and exercise. We'll talk to the host, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Kind of a new twist on TV makeovers, a new reality series dealing with the epidemic of childhood obesity. Computer technology gives parents a glimpse of their children's future, and it is not pretty. The show is called "Honey, We're Killing the Kids." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNOUNCER: Meet the Youngs. Mom Kelly, Dad Chris and their three sons: 12-year-old James, 10-year-old Kevin and Robbie, age 8.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guys, get in here!

ANNOUNCER: With a busy schedule and no time to cook, they order in or eat out most of the week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look what I found in your short pocket.

ANNOUNCER: The boys eat whatever they want, whenever they want. They prefer video games and TV to exercise, and drive their mom crazy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Lisa Hark is a nutritionist. She's also the host of "Honey, We're Killing the Kids" and she's with us this morning. This is a great series. Boy, is it interesting.

LISA HARK, "HONEY WE'RE KILLING THE KIDS!": It is.

S. O'BRIEN: First tell me a little bit more about the Youngs, because each episode you sort of focus, you know, on one family.

HARK: Right, we do. The Young family was wonderful to work with. Mom, Kelly, was overweight, also has diabetes.

S. O'BRIEN: Two of the kids are clearly overweight.

HARK: Exactly, James and Kevin are both overweight. And Robbie, interestingly enough, was underweight, with lots of cavities. Everyone addicted to sugar, and they love their television. All the children, TV in the bedrooms.

S. O'BRIEN: In a way, the classic sort of American family, I mean, to some degree.

HARK: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: You brought in 130 pounds of sugar. If we can get a shot of this, guys. I'd love to show this. This is a big old stack of sugar we have next to Lisa here. Why did you bring this in?

HARK: Americans are consuming so much sugar, 130 pounds a year on average. So it's no wonder that we have an obesity epidemic in both kids and adults. They're eating it, they're drinking it -- sodas, sweetened beverages. They're calling it liquid candy. Cereals. All throughout the day, cookie, cakes, candies, donuts, ice creams. Children could have up to ten servings of sugary foods every day. And we're seeing so much sugar in every family that we visited.

S. O'BRIEN: You did something called photo morphing, which would show what the Youngs would look like -- the kids would look like -- when they turned 40s. These little kids sort of fast forward. And while we show pictures of the kids for a moment -- here we go. I mean, I think this is fascinating. Tell me a little bit about what the parents thought when they saw this.

HARK: Well, we did this in order to really get the parents to take charge and to think about how their child would look at the age of 40 if they continue with this unhealthy diet and not exercising. Ninety-nine percent of the parents that we asked, did you ever think about how your child would look at the age of 40, they say no, no idea, never thought about it.

S. O'BRIEN: Is it too -- too much, you know, focusing on how the kids look as opposed to sort of internal health? Or are they connected?

HARK: Well, I don't think they're healthy internally. They have cavities. They're overweight. You could see from the Young family, they have -- you're know, they're all -- Kevin and James both overweight. And they're on the path to become overweight and diabetic just like mom.

S. O'BRIEN: By the end of the show, the first show, you already see the Youngs making some decisions about how they're going to change their lives and sort of change their kids, too. And obviously, the message is for all the families watching, not just for the Youngs. What kinds of things are they going start doing?

HARK: I have seen tremendous changes in just a three-week period. So I've been very impressed. The kids adapt in a few days. Parents take about a week or so to adapt, always longer.

S. O'BRIEN: No surprise there.

HARK: Right. So I think mom and dad realized that they really, really need to start...

S. O'BRIEN: Like what kind of changes?

HARK: Well, I think the kids are eating more vegetables, which is amazing for mom and dad. Kids are eating fish. Kids are actually cooking healthier. Kids are drinking more milk, more water. They've cut out soda completely. Mom and dad are not buying the sweetened cereals. They're not buying cookies, cakes, candies. You know, so once we dumped the junk and sacked the sugar, all these foods are out of the homes.

S. O'BRIEN: You have a list of sort of, I guess, advice for all families watching. And I want to get to it. You say one, stop the sugary snacks and the beverages, limit fast food, avoid cooking with saturated fats and don't skip breakfast. Did you see any behavioral changes in these kids, too, by the end?

HARK: We did, and it was unbelievable. Everyone calmed down. If I can quote one mom, she said that, I drive up to the house and it's the same house and I open the door and I open the door and it's a different family.

S. O'BRIEN: Lisa Hark is a nutritionist. She's also the host of "Honey, We're killing the Kids." It's on TLC, The Learning Channel. Thanks for talking with us. That video -- that photo morphing, I think, is just unbelievable.

HARK: It is. It's worked out really well.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it sure has.

A short break. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Just about out of time on this AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for being with us today.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. She's going to be with you for the next few hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.

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