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American Morning
Red River Rising Above Flood Stage; Health Care Final Showdown; Bullet Trains: Saving Time & Money?; A Thousand Teens Hooked; Late and Large; Ugg The Pain
Aired March 19, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good Friday morning to you. Thanks very much for joining us. It's the Most News in the Morning. It's March the 19th. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
Fingers are crossed in Fargo as the city honkers down today. The Red River is rising, now more than 16 feet above flood level and even worse downstream where roads are now rivers. We're live along the flood line.
ROBERTS: It's number one on President Obama's agenda, reform health care. And after more than a year of wrangling back and forth, we are on the verge of a historic vote to do it, possibly as soon as Sunday. We're live in Washington on this just ahead.
CHETRY: And food stamp fraud, your tax dollars intended to put food on the table are instead being used to buy beer, cigarettes, and in some cases condom. We've got exclusive surveillance video of a massive bust in Florida.
ROBERTS: But first, they're holding their breath in and around Fargo, North Dakota, this morning after stacking nearly a million sandbags to keep the swollen Red River out. All residents can do now is just watch the water rise.
Chris Welch is on the Minnesota side of the river just across from Fargo in the town of Moorhead, where it's actually snowing just a little bit right now. Chris, what's the latest from where you are?
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, John. Residents here are holding their breath, hoping that this crest prediction doesn't get any higher than it already is. The river has been rising at a steady pace -- I actually spent some time just south of the city yesterday. There are some homes down there that actually are situated on hilltops and what's happened is these homes on hills have been surrounded by water and become islands themselves. So the people who live down there have actually had to use boats just to get around. And if this river does, in fact, crest at 38 feet or higher, they say they could be in for some real damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WELCH (voice-over): For 20-year-old Blaine Johnson, this is the way home.
BLAINE JOHNSON, RESIDENT: The road is actually directly under us.
WELCH: Even though the crest forecast for this year isn't what it was for '09, the water is still getting higher and higher and it's happening fast.
JOHNSON: There's our windmill.
WELCH (on camera): I'm about 15 miles south of Fargo in the rural town of Hickson, which is also along the rising Red River as you can see. But here what a lot of residents have had to do is actually park their cars blocks away from their homes and they then walk to the edge of the river where they have their boats parked. They have to hop in boats and paddle home because it's the only way they can get there.
JOHNSON: It's probably five feet deep here maybe.
WELCH (voice-over): Johnson let me tag along for one of their trips home. It's a journey they're starting to get used to.
(on camera): So you're really are on an island.
JOHNSON: Yes. We've been on an island four times, I think already. I've lived here 10 years, so that's every other year average that we have to go through this.
WELCH: But you still find it worthwhile to live here.
JOHNSON: You know, I like it here. It's nice and quiet. You know, we're away from the city. You know, once you get set in a home, and you've lived there for so long it's really hard to leave.
WELCH (voice-over): Last year, Johnson said they only had a couple of inches of water in their basement. But not everyone in the neighborhood was that lucky.
JOHNSON: Oh, oh.
WELCH: He's the first to admit every flood brings with it a healthy dose of stress and fear, but he has no problem keeping a positive outlook.
JOHNSON: Not everybody can fish out of their window in the morning so --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WELCH: He laughs now, but you know, we've heard a lot of talk about the lessons learned from last year's flood. And speaking of that, Johnson said, last year he was on a jet ski with his father. They actually tipped over and fell into the freezing cold water. He called it a near death experience. Coincidentally it's because of that Johnson is now a sophomore at North Dakota State studying, believe it or not, emergency management. Now, as for that water level, they say if it stays where it is today and stays that way for the next few days, it will likely stay there for at least a week or more -- John.
ROBERTS: Study what you know, I guess, Chris. And it's amazing, four times in 10 years he's been living on an island. Not exactly the type of beachfront property you want.
All right. Keep hanging in there. Thanks. We'll get back to you a little later on this morning.
CHETRY: So what's the forecast for all of those people living along the Red River? Reynolds Wolf is in Atlanta this morning checking it out. There are a little bit more positive. At least a lot of the city leaders, the mayor, I guess they say they were prepared this year. And they filled their one million sandbags two days ago.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Let's be honest here. They do have this thing down to a science. They've been experiencing this so often over the last couple of years. I mean, certainly last year the record-setting floods. This year, not expecting to reach the same level but still we're talking beyond normal flood stage. This is going to be extreme to say the very least.
And let's show you on the map that you can see we've got a lot of green. It's almost like a lime color. Also the darker green across much of North Dakota into parts of Minnesota, even a little silver (ph) of South Dakota.
There's your flood warnings and flood watches right along parts of the Red River. If you look right along 29, that is almost following the route of the Red River that flows to the north. Not the Red River, of course, in Texas. This is a different one. And what we're going to be seeing later on today is that blast of cold air that's going to be coming in from the north. That is kind of a two- sided event.
Now, it's certainly bad news for the people. And there are a lot of people without power in parts of the Red River. But what it's going to do is actually going to stop a lot of the melting. So that is certainly some good news. We do anticipate the river is going to crest as we make our way into the weekend and then slowly begin to recede as we get into late Sunday, then into Monday and Tuesday. So that is certainly some great news.
Now, farther to the south, an entirely different situation across the central plains back in the front range, the Rockies, central Rockies and parts of the Great Lakes. We could see some accumulating snowfall. That can be expected as we ease into the weekend with that blast of cold air and the overall moisture. But in terms of today's highs, what we can anticipate is again the cold air starting to move in from the north, warming up just the opposite along parts of the eastern seaboard and into parts of Texas. Seventy-three in Houston high, 76 in Los Angeles, and 63 in Boston.
Guys, that is a quick look at your forecast. It's going to be a busy weather morning. We'll keep you up to date with the very latest. Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Good to have you on the case today. Reynolds, thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning. President Obama is sending Middle East envoy George Mitchell to Jerusalem this weekend. He's going to be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and try to convince him not to develop disputed land in east Jerusalem. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke by phone with Netanyahu last night. She urged him to find ways to improve the atmosphere for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians.
CHETRY: Secretary Clinton is also urging Russia to think twice about launching a nuclear power plant that it's building in Iran. Clinton met with Russia's prime minister, foreign minister yesterday to hammer out a new arms agreement with Moscow. She says Iran is entitled to a atomic energy once it has assured the world that its intentions are peaceful. The Russians plan to open their Iranian facility this summer.
ROBERTS: Operation "Knock Down" is under way in El Paso, Texas. More than 200 federal, state and local authorities are trying to solve last weekend's he murder of three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Investigators are targeting members of a Texas gang known as Barrio Azteca. The group is suspected of supplying hired killers to drug traffickers across the border.
CHETRY: A Chicago man avoiding a possible death sentence by agreeing to plead guilty to terrorism charges. David Coleman Headley admitted that he helped plan the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, India, that killed more than 160 people including six Americans. Prosecutors agreed to waive the death penalty as long as Headley continues to cooperate with them.
And a not guilty plea from the American woman who called herself "Jihad Jane." Colleen LaRose is charged with conspiring to support terrorists and plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist. She faces life in prison and a fine of $1 million.
CHETRY: We could see a health care overhaul bill passed this weekend. The much anticipated vote is expected Sunday, but there's a lot of arm twisting that's still going on today by both sides trying to get the undecided to commit. We're live in Washington, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's about 10 minutes after the hour now, and a quick look at what's new this morning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is speaking out about that crash of a Toyota Prius in New York last week. NHTSA says evidence shows the brakes were not applied when the car took off down a driveway and crashed into a stone wall. The findings contradict the driver's claim that the car sped up on its own. Local police have questioned why NHTSA went public with what they call a preliminary report.
CHETRY: A retired U.S. general says allowing openly gay soldiers in the Dutch army is partly to blame for genocide in Bosnia in 1005. During a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hearing, former NATO Commander John Sheehan said that the Dutch military was weakened by letting gays serve and that the focus shifted from combat to peacekeeping. One senator said Sheehan was way off the mark. The Dutch embassy also denied any of those claims.
ROBERTS: And a protest of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." A gay soldier handcuffed himself to the White House fence. That soldier was none other than Lieutenant Dan Choi, and a former Army captain. They were wearing their uniforms when police arrested them. The Army is trying to discharge Choi, a West Point graduate, after he came out on national television last year, including several appearances here on CNN.
CHETRY: Final showdown under way on Capitol Hill. It is the last push for health care reform. Democrats and Republicans alike trying to woo their undecided colleagues to vote their way. Even President Obama has canceled a trip overseas. Instead, he's staying home to make last minute phone calls and putting pressure on House Democrats to help make his biggest presidential goal a reality.
So a final vote in the House is expected Sunday, and we're finally getting a look at the whole cost of the overhaul. A congressional budget estimate saying it will be $940 billion over the next decade to pay for health care reform. Under the plan, 32 million uninsured Americans would get coverage. Now by CNN's count, at least 35 Democrats remain undecided and time is running out to win them over.
Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is live in Washington this morning. So, do Democrats have the votes they need? The votes that they need right now, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, they don't have them yet, but when you listen to Democratic leaders, they're talking about when they pass health care, not if. So there's definitely some confidence there but there's still some uncertainty.
And let's break it down because Democrats are planning on going this alone without Republican support. They're not relying on any Republican, and that means that Democrats can lose up to 37 of them for this to still pass. If they lose 38, if they have 38 Democrats who vote no, then presumably the bill would be dead. Right now, by CNN's whip count, 28 Democrats will vote no but there's still a few dozen undecided. So a lot of uncertainty there, Kiran.
CHETRY: Who are the undecideds right now?
KEILAR: You know, let's take a look at a few of them. For instance, one is Congressman Tom Perriello. He has been in Congress for just a little over a year. He represents central and southern Virginia. Voted yes on the health care bill in November, the House health care bill, but he's still undecided. He had some concerns about abortion language making sure that federal funds do not go to pay for abortions. He said on Tuesday that those concerns had been assuaged but still, he's facing a really tough re-election battle.
Also, let's take a look at Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. She's in a very different situation. She's been in Congress since 1983, representing northern Ohio. She also voted yes in November, but she's undecided and the issue as well is abortion.
And then take a look at this next one. This is Congressman Joseph Cao. He is a Republican, the only Republican who voted yes in November. He may vote yes again. We actually thought that he was going to be a no, because what the House is considering is abortion language in the Senate bill and it's not as strong as what was in the House bill when it passed in November, Kiran. But according to local reports, President Obama, himself, implored Cao to take another look at the bill and Cao has said that he's going to. But what you have right now is a very pressure situation.
This bill came out yesterday. It's going to be out for about 24 hours later today. And you're going to have Democratic leaders saying to the Democrats, OK, you've read it. Are you in or are you out? And that's what we're following today.
CHETRY: All right. Should be an interesting couple of days. Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: All right. So there's still a few procedural hurdles before the big vote on Sunday. Here's what we can expect to happen.
The first stop for the health care bill, the Rules Committee, the so-called traffic cop of the House. It sets the rules of debate. The committee will get the reconciliation bill, which includes the changes that the House has made to the Senate bill. But there's one rule that everyone is going to be looking for. It's the one that includes a provision that will deem the Senate health care bill to be passed.
So on Sunday when the House votes on the rules of debate, essentially they'll be voting on the Senate's health care plan as well. And if those rules pass, that means the Senate bill then goes to the president. The House would then vote on the actual reconciliation bill. If that passes, it goes to the Senate. And that's just what's happening this weekend.
CHETRY: Got all that?
Well, we're going to talk a little bit more about that throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: We need a graduate level degree in parliamentary procedure here to get by.
CHETRY: There you go. Well, we're going to be talking with our independent analyst, John Avlon. Each week he usually calls out the wingnuts of the week and today, his focus is health care hypocrisy.
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A graduate level of parliamentary procedure here to get by.
CHETRY: There you go. Well, we're going to be talking with our own independent analyst John Avlon. Each week, he usually calls out the wingnuts of the week. And today, his focus is health care hypocrisy.
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Eighteen minutes past the hour. Here's the quick look on what's new this morning.
The two Northwest pilots who overshot the Minneapolis Airport by more than 100 miles did not fall asleep. That's according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency found that the two men lost track of time in October while working on laptops and discussing the airlines new work schedule.
ROBERTS: American Airlines in trouble again for safety violations. The air carrier could be hit with a $300,000 fine for flying an airplane with broken equipment. This comes just a week after the FAA proposed nearly $800,000 in fines against the airline for three other alleged maintenance violations.
CHETRY: And if you booked a flight on British Airways this weekend, you may need to change your plans. The airlines crew is set to walk off the job for three days starting Saturday after talks to avert the strike broke down yesterday. The airline CEO however is telling CNN that they will be flying Saturday. The two sides are at odds over budget cuts.
ROBERTS: I wonder what was broken on the American Airlines plane. Hope it was nothing serious.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: They probably wouldn't be fine $300,000 if it wasn't serious.
Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning. She's talking about the spats between Viacom and YouTube.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And nasty little legal battle that we've been able to look inside of because a judge has opened up some documents. Viacom and YouTube -- Viacom, of course, owns Comedy Central, "The Daily Show," for example, Paramount Pictures, a lot of different movies, and its material ends up on YouTube quite often. YouTube, of course, is a file-sharing site where people, you and I, decide what goes on there. We could link to each other.
Well, Viacom says that YouTube ignored its copyrights, in fact, that YouTube is a site intentionally built on infringement and that Viacom must stop -- or that YouTube must stop using all this Viacom material without (AUDIO BREAK). YouTube blasts back saying that, oh, no, Viacom when it suits their promotional agenda, they will go ahead and do it themselves. They, in fact, say that Viacom secretly uploaded content to YouTube, deliberately made video look stolen, sent people into Kinko's rip (ph) up Viacom video and put it on the site themselves so they could create buzz about it. I mean, it's just fascinating.
So on the one hand, you know, Viacom is saying, look, this is our stuff and you can't be sharing it. If we tell you, you have to take it down. And YouTube is saying, come on, you can't protect some things and then secretly go out -- it's a fascinating fight. We're getting a little more look into it.
But the thing that I think is more interesting is that the idea that Viacom is saying that YouTube, the entire site is built on copyright infringement, which is illegal. Fascinating, right?
CHETRY: Yes. But it's YouTube, so people post it themselves, too, and it comes down. And they post it and it comes down. That's interesting.
ROMANS: Right. And there is a law that if Viacom, you know, calls them and says, look, you have to take this particular piece down, they will take it down. But they say, you do that -- you do that piece by piece. It's impossible. The volume of that --
ROBERTS: Yes. I've seen things on YouTube where like the audio track is white because of copyright infringement.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: Right.
ROBERTS: There are other things that we're taking down. So, they are policing it to some agree.
ROMANS: They are.
CHETRY: They always find it somewhere else, though, if you search hard enough. But it's huge. It's very hard to get your arms around that.
ROMANS: I know, once the horse is out of the barn. I mean -- there is a law that, you know, Congress has addressed this. They want to make sure that these places are free and flowing and that people can decide what to talk about. But, again, if there is a copyright -- a request to protect material that YouTube has to take it down.
ROBERTS: Do you have a Romans numeral?
ROMANS: I do. It's 24 hours every hour.
ROBERTS: Twenty-four hours every hour.
CHETRY: What?
ROMANS: It's a complicated numeral. Twenty-four hours --
ROBERTS: Twenty-four hours worth of video was uploaded on YouTube every hour.
ROMANS: Can you believe that? That's how much of volume they have to deal with, ding, ding, ding! Johnny, you won a brand-new car. No, that's how much, you know, material that they are going through at this point. You know, copyright -- it's very difficult to keep track of all of those copyrights.
CHETRY: That's right.
By the way, I was going to answer your question about the American Airlines. It was basically inoperative panel lights but they were important because they were on some of the external sensors about icing and heat.
ROBERTS: Oh, I see. So, they had a couple of lights out in the dashboard.
OK, if you're driving a Prius, but not necessarily flying a plane.
Christine, thanks so much -- "Minding Your Business" this morning.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: High speed trains in California, a major plan to revamp train travel that slashes travel times while creating countless jobs. So, why isn't everyone jumping on board with the idea? We'll find out.
It's 22 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way in just about five minutes time.
But first, an "A.M. Original" -- something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
The Obama administration is betting that bullet trains are the major bullet to solving a lot of problems, from unemployment to pollution. Nowhere are those problems more visible than in the state of California.
Our Casey Wian takes a look at whether they'll save time and money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, we're driving north of downtown Los Angeles, heading towards San Francisco. It's a journey of about 380 miles. If you do it nonstop, sticking to the speed limit, it will take about six hours. But in the not too distant future, Californians may have an opportunity without getting on a plane to make the trip in a lot less time.
(voice-over): Nearly three times as fast. They are planning to build a high speed rail system to carry passengers between the big cities at speeds up to 220 miles an hour.
(on camera): Why is high speed rail a good idea for California?
CURT PRINGLE, CA HIGH SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY: We can't build enough freeways to accommodate for all of the future growth of the state and the same thing is true with airlines. You can't build enough air capacity in the state to cover all the demands of Californians.
WIAN (voice-over): Our drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco began at 7:45 in the morning. We made two brief stops and ran into a little traffic and arrived at five past 2:00 in the afternoon, more than six hours later.
What you're seeing is that entire journey at 15,000 times normal speed. To show the difference with a high speed rail ride, here's the trip again, three times as fast.
(on camera): How much is this going to cost? And how much more do you still need to raise?
PRINGLE: The whole project, on phase one, from Anaheim through Los Angeles through the Central Valley unto San Francisco, that is a $42-plus billion project.
WIAN: That's a lot of money.
PRINGLE: It's a lot of money.
WIAN (voice-over): So far, more than $12 billion in state and federal money has been set aside to build the first sections of track. Supporters say that will create about half a million jobs, improve air pollution and ease freeway and airport congestion. But critics say the high price of high-speed rail will never pay off.
ADRIAN MOORE, REASON FOUNDATION: The plan for the high speed rail in California right now requires in order to work that it be the fastest train ever built in the world, the most cost-effective train built in the world and have the highest ridership of any high speed train in the world.
WIAN (on camera): And that's not realistic?
MOORE: No. More than Europe and more than Japan, more than China? That's crazy.
WIAN (voice-over): Moore says not only do Europe and Asia have the advantage of greater population density and often shorter distances between big cities, they also launched high speed before building this much competing infrastructure -- something the U.S. will have to work around.
(on camera): Just look at this area here. Just logistically, what it's going to take to actually get this done?
MOORE: Along here, the line is supposed to come through there. We've got a narrow canyon. Like you said, there's a road. There's an existing rail line. There's a freeway.
And then there's the hills on both sides, and they're going to put the line through all this. And that's going to require tunnels and elevated structures and lots of things.
WIAN (voice-over): Things like the possible demolition of at least 25 newly-built homes here in Buena Park.
Given all the challenges, some say the money would be better spent simply widening California's notoriously clogged freeways.
(on camera): But now that we've completed our more than six-hour drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the idea of making the trip on a high speed train and doing it in less time than it would take to drive to the airport in Los Angeles, hop on a plane, and then take a taxi here to San Francisco, certainly sounds appealing -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Casey Wian for us -- thanks so much.
Well, it's 29 minutes past the hour. Time for our top stories.
They are watching and waiting right now in Fargo this morning as the Red River rises. It's expected to crest over the weekend at around 38 feet. The sandbagging is complete and authorities say they are confident that the bags will help keep the floodwaters out of the city's homes and businesses.
ROBERTS: The stage is set for a health care vote on Sunday. Democrats are expecting to have the votes despite the political risks and are working up until the last minute to prevent any surprises. Republicans have not given up on trying to kill the bill. A congressional budget estimate says the final bill will cost close to $1 trillion.
CHETRY: Another key a piece of the president's domestic agenda could also sneak through at the same time as health care, student loan reform. It's been bundled with this bill. Well, it essentially cuts out the middle man, banks, so that all federal loans would come directly from the Department of Education. Private lenders have protested this plan, saying it would end up costing them 35,000 jobs.
ROBERTS: This morning, as the clock ticks toward a historic health care vote, Republicans and Democrats are now simultaneously flip-flopping when it comes to the political process.
CHETRY: And it's usually at this time that we bring you independent analyst John Avlon's "Wingnuts of the Week." But this morning, we're actually taking a bipartisan look at health care hypocrisy.
ROBERTS: John is a columnist for TheDailyBeast.com and he joins us now this morning.
Good to see you.
JOHN AVLON, COLUMNIST, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: Good to see you.
ROBERTS: So, you talk about this idea of situational ethics, that a member of Congress will hold a different position depending whether the party is in the majority or the minority. Explain.
AVLON: That's exactly right. Well, in Washington, often where you stand is a matter of where you sit. And what see is politicians so often principle. But what they are really doing is just trying to back up their own actions, whether they're in majority or in the minority. And we have seen an epidemic of situational ethics when it comes to this health care bill.
CHETRY: Let's take a look at some of the hypocrisy on the right. Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann is saying that the reconciliation process is not right to push through health care reform. Let's listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": What's wrong with majority rules?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Well, because that's not how the Senate works. The Senate works with 60 votes. And now, what the president is promoting is a nuclear option, which is 50 votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, she's anti-nuclear option.
AVLON: She's anti-nuclear option but she's really conflating reconciliation in the nuclear option. Important point.
But here's the thing -- it wasn't so long ago Republicans were against this before they were for -- for it before they were against it. So, let's take a listen to what Bill Frist said, then-Senate majority leader in 2005, on the same concept. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BILL FRIST (R), FMR. SEN. MAJORITY LEADER: Every judicial nominee brought to the floor shall get a fair up-and-down vote, a simple principle. We were prepared to use this approach. The minority attempted to demean it by calling it the nuclear option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: So there, again, you know, they are trying to demonize the process and say it's a fair up-or-down vote, a simple concept, what's the big deal, back when they were in power.
ROBERTS: Now, the great thing about having you come in every Friday, if you do, John, from an independent perspective is, that it's not just one side that's creating the problems. It's the other side as well. And if you look back to 2005 when Chuck Schumer was railing against the possibility of the nuclear option and filibusters on judicial nominees, they were for it before they were against it.
AVLON: They were. And this is a really classic impassioned Chuck Schumer speech on the dangers of this. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The checks and balances, which have been at the core of this republic are about to be evaporated by the nuclear option. The checks and balances which say that if you get 51 percent of the vote, you don't get your way 100 percent of the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: Yes. Well, fast forward five years and singing a slightly different tune, saying there's nothing wrong with enforcing an up or down vote.
ROBERTS: I should have said that they were for killing it as opposed to -- that they were really against it before they were for it.
CHETRY: Right. And so, the other thing that's getting a lot of noise out there and getting people riled up is the whole deem and pass. That you really not voting yes on something that's unpopular or, you know, that is huge and encompasses so many different changes to, I guess, our laws. And you say that Speaker Pelosi, who's probably going to preside over this if this happens wasn't always for deem and pass either.
AVLON: That's right. It's even better than that, because irony knows no political boundaries. So, a lot of conservatives are saying this might be unconstitutional. Well, in 2005, the now Speaker Pelosi was joined in amicus brief by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, arguing that just such a move, it's called self-executing rules, were unconstitutional, joining on a D.C. court case. So, here's what they said in their amicus brief, quote: "Some constitutional provisions are open to interpretation. One constitutional requirement is not ambiguous, however, is the requirement that every bill pass both houses of Congress before it can be presented to the president and become law."
Well, so let's see how that works. The constitutional argument is very similar to one conservatives are making today. However the D.C. circuit court upheld it, said it was constitutional, in that instance having to do with debt limits. So, we've been with that before.
ROBERTS: You know, we get use to in an election campaign, politicians flip-flopping back and forth. You know, a lot of times, they try to promise something but then they can't. So, they have to become more realistic. But this type of flip-flopping back and forth where you're against something in one Congress then you're for it, and other, and vice versa.
Does that hurt them?
AVLON: I think it does. It hurts the overall institution. I think it's an important reason why Congress right now has a 17 percent approval rating. The American people are smart, and they recognize that when they hear parties you know, intentionally protesting a maneuver when they are out of power and then trying to move the same ball forward when they're in power, that it's just hypocrisy. It's situational ethics.
And it's exactly what they don't like about politicians in Washington. They always see politics trumping principle. And that's what they're really saying they want to see stop.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: And bottom line -- is this going to hurt Democrats if health care overhaul gets passed this way?
AVLON: I think -- November is a long way away. But I think, clearly, we've been debating this for a year now and the American are still deeply divide over it. I think, you know, what's likely to happen is, it's going to hurt members of Congress in both parties.
You're seeing independents who are already this year voted against Democrats. They are saying they're not endorsing Republicans either. There's a general anger at the institution because it feels dysfunctional. D.C. feels dysfunctional.
ROBERTS: John, always great to see you.
AVLON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: See you again next week. Thanks.
Food stamp fraud coming up next. A CNN exclusive, we follow the feds on a bust of business bucking the food stamp system. It's costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year. Wait until you see what you can do with one of those debit cards.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Thirty- eight minutes past the hour right now.
It's a startling statistic that nearly one in eight Americans is on food stamps right now. But a change in the way the money is distributed makes the program easy prey for scammers. A 10-week undercover operation uncovered transactions for alcohol, for cigarettes and even for cash and it's costing you millions.
John Zarrella was there and has more in a CNN exclusive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is getting out, walking towards the front door.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An undercover agent walks into a small convenience store in Tampa. Wearing a recording device, she approaches the cashier with a debit card.
AGENT: Can I get $100 back off of this?
ZARRELLA: She picks up $12 worth of chips, soda and cigarettes, then presses the clerk.
CLERK: What you want?
AGENT: I want 100 back.
CLERK: All right.
ZARRELLA: The clerk runs the debit card, allegedly keeps $100 for the store and gives the agent $100 plus the goods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. You see she's out. Small bag in her hand.
ZARRELLA: What the store clerk just did, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials say is illegal and they say you should be outraged.
JIM MADDEN, FDLE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: It's directly stealing from the taxpayers of the United States.
ZARRELLA: The debit card the undercover agent used is called an electronic benefit transfer card, or EBT, which can only be used to purchase food. It's more commonly known by its old name, food stamps.
BOB URA, FDLE SPECIAL AGENT: So, what they do is they charge the U.S. government $212.02. EBT, food benefit, food balance, all of that and they give us $100 in cash, cigarettes and chips for $212.
ZARRELLA: Bottom line: there's no requirement to itemize the receipt. The convenience store got a $100 kickback of your taxpayer money. The recipient, the undercover agent got cash back, also illegal.
(on camera): Authorities targeted 30 stores in the state of Florida, at 16, they were allowed to use the EBT cards. In multiple stores, the cash from those EBT cards were used to purchase lottery tickets. At one store, agents used the EBT card to buy the prescription drug Oxycodone.
(voice-over): If you think that's outrageous, listen to this transaction at a drive-thru store called Big Daddy's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like Wynn's (ph) clerk. It looked like he has shaven his beard.
ZARRELLA: It was one of the stores targeted because in just the month of December, it did $34,000 in EDT transactions. Compare that to $1,000 at comparable stores. Here the agents didn't get money back, but they illegally got non-food items, beer and cigarettes and this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any Trojans in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trojans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, do you have a three-pack?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just singles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, just give me two of those.
ZARRELLA: Wednesday following a three-month investigation, state agents hit the 16 targeted stores across Florida. At Big Daddy's, three people were taken into custody, the owner and two employees. None of them would comment for CNN at the scene.
Authorities believe, during the past year, the 16 stores alone defrauded taxpayers of $3.5 million.
KEN TUCKER, FDLE ASST. COMMISSIONER: If you multiply it nationwide, it's -- you know, I can't give you an accurate number, but it has to be in the billions of dollars.
ZARRELLA: The USDA, which administers the program, says nationwide, 38 million people benefit from the supplemental nutrition program. It estimates 1 percent of the $50 billion in EBT funds were lost to fraud in 2009.
Authorities in Florida say the next phase of their operation will target people using the cards illegally rather than for what they were intended, food to put on the table. (on camera): Law enforcement officials say that the cash these people are getting in some cases is being used because of the bad economy for things like paying rent or a car payment. But in most cases police say, the cash is going for drugs and alcohol -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: John Zarrella for us -- eye-opening piece -- thank you.
The number of people, by the way, who receive federal food assistance, as we said, is increasing, as John mentioned, the most recent count of more than 38 million people. It's 22 percent increase from 2008.
Here's more now in an "A.M. Extra." On average each month, an individual receives around $134 in benefits, households receive nearly $300. And that money can only be used to buy food that you need at home, bread, cereal, fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products. You can't use the money to buy any kind of hot prepared food. You also can't use the money to buy anything that isn't food, like alcohol, tobacco, paper products, pet food, or condoms.
ROBERTS: And you certainly can't use it to get money back, either.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: My goodness.
Forty-three minutes after the hour.
Reynolds Wolf has got this morning's travel forecast coming up right after the break.
CHETRY: Also in 10 minutes, former Bush adviser Karl Rove's new book -- what he's saying about one moment that many people soon won't forget. Jeanne Moos has that -- ahead.
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ROBERTS: It's time for the weekend. Forty-six minutes after the hour. Time for your "AM House Call," stories about your health.
The Food and Drug Administration getting tougher on teen smoking after releasing a new frightening statistic. It says that every day close to 4,000 American children try their first cigarette and a quarter of them, 25 percent, get hooked. The response, the government is issuing new heavier fines for selling tobacco products to people under the age of 18.
Get there for the previews and you won't pig out. An expert on food psychology and eating behavior says people who are late to the movies are more likely to order a giant popcorn which we all know by now. Thanks to study. It's like eating a quintuple whopper or something like that. He says that same lack of self discipline that may be late in the first place into your over indulging and led to that spreading waistline.
From tweens to ladies in mom jeans. Everyone was wearing Uggs or want to be Uggs this winter. Now, experts say those trendy furry super comfy boots are absolutely ruining women's feet. Yes. There are warning all of the sliding around could flatten arches and problems start weigh down can spread to the ankle even the hip and beyond. So, just goes to show --
CHETRY: OK, so you're telling me --
ROBERTS: The foot bone is connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone is connected to the knee bone.
CHETRY: You're telling me these things do more damage than these four-inch hockers?
ROBERTS: That's a lovely boot you got -
CHETRY: That was on the front and loader when I was getting evacuated on Saturday, you day. That equipment will bang you up. It does look great, doesn't it? But anyway, I can't believe this about Uggs. That's depressing, because they are the most comfortable --
ROBERTS: Just put an arch to support them.
CHETRY: OK. Orthotics.
ROBERTS: Go to your local sports store and get a little arch support and throw it in there.
CHETRY: You know what, we're not going to worry about it, it's spring and soon we'll have our four-inch platform heels which I'm sure -
ROBERTS: Those are great for you.
CHETRY: It's 45 minutes past the hour. Reynolds Wolf is in Atlanta today keeping an eye on the Red River, of course. They wait for depressed (ph) over the weekend, and Reynolds, you know, what do you prefer, Uggs or your 4-inch platform sandals?
WOLF: I'm just heartbroken that I've got to get rid of both. I really am.
CHETRY: Sorry about that.
WOLF: You know these things happen. Absolutely. It's hard to believe, you know. I mean, I thought the safest way to go is just going barefoot. I tell you today, in parts of Fargo, people are going to be wearing the waiters. We get to Red River that is expected to rise. Keep in mind that it's expected to level out around 38 feet as we get into the weekend. Flood stages above 18 feet. So, you do the math, 20 feet above flood stage. Hard to believe, and if you look at this map behind me, you're going to see a light green which indicates areas where you have the flood watches, the advisories, and of course, the warnings. It is certainly frightening thing to watch. We're going to watch this very, very carefully. Something else we're going to be seeing is what's going to happen a bit farther to the south. A cold there coming into the north interacting with that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to bring some heavy snowfall when all is said and done we could see up to a foot of snow fall in Denver, spots like Oklahoma City near Will Rogers Airport could see up to 8 inches of snowfall, so hard to believe as we fast forward into tomorrow
Spring officially begins tomorrow afternoon, but still, another late season winter storm, and again, all of the components, we got the cold air; we got the accumulating snowfall. We could see some of that extend into the western half of the Great Lakes back here in the north and Central Rockies also and also maybe as far as Sangrita (ph) Crystal Mountains.
In terms of high temperatures today, we're going to see those temperatures warm up into the 60s and 70s for much of Florida and all this from seaboard Boston 63 degrees, 72 in Washington, D.C., 63 degrees in Kansas City, 48 in Salt Lake City, and 76 in Los Angeles. Again, quick wrap-up, look for possible travel issues in Kansas City and maybe Denver later on today, possibly Chicago before all has said and done. That's the latest on your forecast. More on the Red River flooding coming up also. Let's send back to you in New York.
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us. Thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
CHETRY: This morning's top stories are just a couple of minutes away, including a lot of people who were ripped off, saying give him one for me, Bernie Madoff reportedly beat up in prison by the biggest con artist ever may have been up to his old tricks behind bars.
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after, spring break bomber, violence in Mexico scaring off American tourist. Our Ted Rowlands is in Tijuana where the streets once buzzing this time of year are virtually empty.
CHETRY: Also at 50 minutes past the hour, what looks like an innocent tumble may be much worse. Dr. Gupta on how to balance safety and fun when your kids are out on the playground. Those stories and much more coming up in the 7:00 eastern hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Fifty-four minutes past the hour. It's time for the Moost News in the Morning with Jeanne. Former Bush adviser Karl Rove has a bestselling book that's out right now.
ROBERTS: But it's not his recollection of policies that everyone is talking about. Here's Jeanne Moos with what they are talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major political figure like Karl Rove writes a 600-page memoir and guess which memory leaps out.
Rove spends three pages describing the event so mortifying, we put a viewer discretion warning on it three years ago. Now, finally, we hear his side of one of our favorite stories.
The book is called "Courage and Consequence," and it took courage to do what Karl Rove did. A comedian roamed the White House correspondence dinner. Rove wrote to his memoir, I panicked and broke eye contact hoping that if I didn't see him, he wouldn't pick me.
UNKNOWN MALE: You sir, would you mind helping us? You are the rap star this evening.
MOOS: No way, Rove mouthed, but it was way too late.
So, there I was, Rove writes, flailing around and living up to the saying about Norwegians. They don't dance, they twitch. That night, I twitched as hard as I could.
Rove writes that upon leaving the stage as I passed the president, I could see he was enjoying my discomfort, you're fired he spat at me.
Note the cell phone. After the performance, Karl Rove called his son who was away at college. Dad, that was awesome. His roommates screamed in the background, way to go, Mr. Rove. Then broke into raucous laughter. Rove notes that David Letterman aired a clip under the title --
And when I got an iPhone, Rove writes, Andrew programmed it so if I opened YouTube, a video of my performance would boot up. Stephen Colbert's review of Rove's memoir was preceded by this --
UNKNOWN MALE: Sometimes, when I can't find him on TV, I'll just put a pair of wire rimmed glasses.
MOOS: When a loaves of ham. But, Rove's no ham. He was dragged into this a good sport.
UNKNOWN MALE: I have a very strong feeling that that's unconstitutional.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.
New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: I'm not quite sure what the movie was busting. It looked a little bit like the penguin, but --
CHETRY: I don't know. You and I were there. We're just like a couple of tables away, and we were shocked. For somebody who said he didn't really want to be picked. He rose to the occasion in his own way.
ROBERTS: You know, it's not like that animal thing where if you don't look at the bear, the bear won't eat you, but one thigh though, is he made Elaine from Seinfeld look like a great dancer.
CHETRY: Exactly. There you go. Yes. Two minutes to the top story. It's 57 minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
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