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American Morning
Health Reform Triggers Hate; Easing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; Solving Political Problems on the 5:51; Dr. Gupta Answers Viewer Health Questions; NHL Star Chris Chelios is Oldest Player Ever
Aired March 25, 2010 - 07:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks for joining us in the Most News in the Morning on this Thursday, the 25th of March. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we're talking about this morning.
The FBI looking into death threats, harassment and vandalism against several Democrats who voted for the health care bill. We're following that story and we're talking to one of the congressmen involved.
ROBERTS: The Pentagon is expected to ease part its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy for gays and lesbians serving in the military. This is another step toward President Obama's plan to repeal the controversial law.
CHETRY: And California could become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana, not medicinal marijuana, just pot in general.
A measure to do it will now be on the ballot in November.
And, by the way, if you have an opinion about any of the stories or anything you see on the show this morning, go to CNN.com/am fix. We're live blogging, getting a lot of comments and we've been reading them throughout the hour.
ROBERTS: Another significant development with health care reform, the so-called fixes to the health care law now on their way back to the House. A live picture of the Capital Dome this morning.
Senators are expected to reconvene shortly before 10:00 a.m. They didn't quit until nearly 3:00 this morning, following through with the pledge to slow things down.
Republicans uncovering two flaws in the bill, forcing it back to the House for a revote.
Last hour we asked House Majority Leader, Congressman Steny Hoyer, if he had any concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), MAJORITY LEADER: No. I don't think there's any danger.
Obviously this bill is the - what we call the improvement section of the bill was the agreement between the House and the Senate to make improvements in the Senate bill.
The Senate's bill has been signed by the president. This is effectively the amendments. Of our conference report, this would have been the amendments and I have no belief that we'll have any trouble passing it through the House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Meanwhile, many House Democrats claim they have been the victims of health care hate. They say they are bearing the brunt of voter backlash, facing death threats and acts of vandalism. And the anger is not confined to Capitol Hill, at least 10 members of Congress with home districts stretching from New York to Arizona are reporting acts of harassment or worse.
Michigan's Bart Stupak, who switched his vote and seal the deal for the bill, is releasing a threatening voice mail that he received.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE CALLER (via telephone): Stupak, you are a lowlife, baby-murdering scumbag, pile of steaming crap. You're a cowardly punk, Stupak, that's what you are. You and your family are scum. That's what you are, Stupak. You are a piece of crap.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Jim Acosta is with us now.
And what kind of threats are Democrats saying that they are dealing with now other than the one that we heard there in Congressman Stupak's voice mail?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know this started building over the weekend, right, when the health care vote was taking place in Washington. Democrats like Jim Clyburn, John Lewis were saying they were hearing the N-word up on Capitol Hill among some of these protesters.
And now, it appears that some of this vitriol has escalated into actual threats. And we want to show you some of these pictures of these lawmakers that we are talking about. Roughly 10 or 11 lawmakers who have reported some kinds of threatening behavior directed either at them or their congressional offices.
Take, for example, Congressman Tom Perriello. He represents a very conservative district in central Virginia. He just barely won that seat in the last congressional elections.
A conservative blogger, a Tea Party activist, posted his brother's address by accident on the Internet, basically saying, hey, go by Congressman Perriello's house, tell him what you think about the health care vote. He accidentally posted his brother's -- Perriello's brother's address. The brother went home to his house and found the propane line cut to his barbecue grill. And so, that is just one incident.
Up in north, in Louise Slaughter's district -- a glass was broken at her front door. And also, in the Tucson office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
So, all of this is escalating. It's got Democratic lawmakers very concerned about this. The House majority leader is essentially saying, hey, this is -- it's time to calm things down now. Things are getting out of control.
ROBERTS: Do we know if the propane line was turned on at the time?
ACOSTA: We don't know that actually. And the problem is, obviously, we don't know at this point, you know, was this definitively connected --
ROBERTS: Right.
ACOSTA: -- to what has been happening with the health care vote. But, obviously, people are saying that there's a problem here. There's another congressman in Cincinnati who found apparently a coffin placed near his house. His family's photograph was posted in one of the newspapers saying, hey, thanks for what you did.
So, obviously, this is getting out of control. Congressman Slaughter has said that she thinks that Republicans are egging this on.
Obviously, there's -- you know, the House minority leader, John Boehner, has come out with a statement saying, this needs to stop.
CHETRY: Right. He did come out with that and said that he doesn't condone that. However, people are also taking issue with Sarah Palin's Web site in which she wrote in Twitter saying it's now time to reload.
ACOSTA: Exactly.
CHETRY: And on her Web site there are sort of bullet bull's eyes --
ACOSTA: Right.
CHETRY: -- you know, like gun sights actually.
ACOSTA: Right.
On her Facebook page, she put up essentially a map of the United States with congressional districts that she would like to see conservatives target in the upcoming elections. And when she said target, she meant. She put crosshairs over the districts of some of these members of congress, including Tom Perriello. This is a congressman who has been essentially pointed out amongst Tea Party activists as one guy they would like to see voted out of office come this fall.
The problem is, and the house minority leader, you know, talked about this yesterday, and I assume we'll hear more from him over the coming days, that the way to do this obviously is at the ballot box, that these escalating threats and name-calling is just getting out of hand.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, the police are investigating some of these complaints. So, we'll see where this goes.
ACOSTA: Right. The FBI, Capitol Police are on it, local jurisdictions across the country. So, this is -- this is not just talk. You know, action is coming.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Jim, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
CHETRY: We're actually going to be talking to Congressman Perriello in a few minutes.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: More about this threat, and whether or not he feels that he and his family are safe.
Thanks a lot, Jim.
Also, we mentioned Congressman Bart Stupak. He's been a popular target -- almost from the moment that the pro-life Democrat helped seal the deal on health care reform.
Carol Costello is following that part of the story for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some conservatives have made Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak a verb, Stupaked, definition -- betrayed. And for some that sense of betrayal from a man who is pro-life is vitriol. These kinds of calls have been coming into Stupak's D.C. office since this weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): You're a cowardly punk, Stupak. That's what you are, you and your family, scum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via telephone): Go to hell, you piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
COSTELLO: Stupak has also received thousands of letters and faxes, some threatening his family. This one shows a noose with the words "all baby killers come to unseemly ends either by the hand of man or the hand of God."
The calls and letters kept coming as Stupak and 12 other pro-life Democratic lawmakers to witness the president sign an order he says confirms the ban on federal funding for abortions in the new health care law.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR (D), OHIO: It was very joyous. After the president finished signing it, we all clapped.
COSTELLO: Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has also experienced some pushback for her support but nothing like Stupak. She finds it disturbing and says it has little to do with the abortion issue.
KAPTUR: There were a lot of individuals who really didn't want this bill at all, and I think that's where some of this vitriol is still coming from.
COSTELLO: Stupak is getting hammered on other fronts too.
REP. RANDY NEUGEBAUER (R), TEXAS: You know what I'm never going to quit speaking on behalf of the unborn.
COSTELLO: The Texas Republican congressman who interrupted Stupak's speech on the House floor with shouts of "baby killer" is now using the incident in a campaign ad. Back in Michigan, the little- known Republican running against Stupak suddenly has thousands of friends on his Facebook page. Dr. Ben Banaszak (ph) is richer, too. In the past two days, he says he received $60,000 in donations.
ADVERTISEMENT NARRATOR: Join the Tea Party Express showdown and searchlight rally March 27th.
COSTELLO: The Tea Party Express tour with Sarah Palin on board will now include Stupak's district, not because of the abortion issue but because his vote on health care will burden the American people with even more debt and even more government control.
SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, PROGRESSIVE CATHOLIC: What a great day for health care reform.
COSTELLO: Sister Simone Campbell, a progressive Catholic, feels for Stupak. She and other Catholic nuns came out in favor of health care reform. She's getting hammered, too, even though she's against abortion.
CAMPBELL: One person called me a baby killer.
COSTELLO: Sister Simone is saddened by the vitriol. She actually met with Congressman Stupak to offer comfort.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And she did. Sister Simone met with Congressman Stupak yesterday to tell him he followed his conscious in faith and that she's grateful because she knows it has been a big price to pay -- Kiran. CHETRY: All right. Carol Costello for us this morning -- thanks.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning, President Obama is in Iowa today to push the benefits of his newly-signed health care bill. The White House says small businesses can get tax credits of up to 35 percent of their premiums. Iowa is where the president first started his fight for health care reform back in 2007.
CHETRY: And this viral video has people asking: did former President George W. Bush wipe his hand on former President Bill Clinton after doing some glad-handing in Haiti?
We're tracking down a couple of theories. Plenty of news reports imply or flat-out say, yes, that's exactly what happened. But other reports say it was probably maybe an affectionate pat or he was trying to grab him and get his attention, or, you know, because former President Bush was known for being on time, maybe he was tagging on former President Clinton's sleeve since he notoriously runs late oftentimes because he's stopping to say hello and chat people up.
ROBERTS: There you go. Varying opinions on that this morning.
Eight minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Here's Rob Marciano in Atlanta.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
We have some thunderstorms that are rolling across the South. Let's take a look at the radar. Some of these might get rough especially later on today. But some of them right now look to be a little bit more active than we thought. In the Lafayette, Louisiana, along I-10, that's about to move across the (INAUDIBLE) New Orleans. That line of thunderstorms may have some gusty wind and certainly some lightning and some heavy rain.
Lighter rains but certainly cool from St. Louis to Chicago, 40s and lower 50s with light rain and drizzle there. It will be a little bit warmer in New York, 60 degrees. And now, we go for high temperature of about 70, 72 degrees in Washington, D.C.
So, enjoy a very spring day across the Northeast. And enjoy it because it's going to be winter-like by the time the weekend comes along.
Speaking of winter, it's ice hockey season. We're going to talk with Chris Chelios of the Thrashers later on the program. He's 48 years old, the oldest guy in the NHL skating and trying to get Thrashers into the playoffs. That's coming up in about 40 minutes.
Guys, back up to you.
ROBERTS: It's great. What an inspiration.
CHETRY: It's pretty cool. He's playing with a lot of guys that, you know, could be his son or his son's friends.
MARCIANO: He's in amazing shape and all the guys respect him for sure. He is a cool guy.
ROBERTS: I love the way you qualified that.
CHETRY: What?
ROBERTS: The Pentagon today is expected to ease rules on gays in the military. We're live in Afghanistan with the reaction coming up. What do you think about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy? Let us know at CNN.com/amFIX.
We're back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twelve minutes now after the hour. The Pentagon's announcement today on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy -- changes are expected that will better protect gay service members. Among them: No more dismissals of those who are outed anonymously or by a third party.
We are going back to Afghanistan. That's where our Chris Lawrence is embedded with U.S. Marines and he's got reaction from the troops today.
Good morning to you, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, John.
This is an area in Camp Leatherneck where really, the thick of Taliban territory here. We've been talking to some of the troops about these changes, especially the one you just mentioned. You know, this is a situation where it used to be, even if someone kept their mouth shut about being gay in the military, they could still be outed by someone else in the military.
Now, it looks like, say, if Private Smith outs Private Jones, that, well, not necessarily going to get rid of Private Jones, especially if it can be proven that, say, Smith had a personal grudge against Jones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PFC. JEREMY CARROLL, U.S. ARMY: Personally, I think it's a good idea, just because if somebody is mad at somebody, they are just going to try to mess with them. That's how they are going to do it. And you've got to be more professional than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: You know, some of the troops say, you know, personal politics do come into play sometimes. And they say this gives a little bit more protection. Now, while some of the troops we spoke with say they do -- they are in favor of, you know, sort of changing the way "don't ask, don't tell" is enforced, that doesn't mean many are in favor of actually repealing the law. They say, especially out here in the war zone where you are literally living and sleeping on top of each other, some of them might be uncomfortable with the idea of actually repealing the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETTY OFFICER ZACHARY FROSTIC, U.S. NAVY: I think it makes other people in the military uncomfortable, you know, if they are living with somebody like that. So, I don't really think they should be in the military.
LANCE CPL. IAN RICHARDSON, BRITISH SOLDIER: Just because that man or a woman is a homosexual, that's got nothing to do with the fact that they can fight and do their job properly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Obviously, two very different perspectives, the last one from a British soldier. The British soldiers have been allowing gay troops to serve openly for about the past 10 years. He said -- he told us that there are some instances of bullying that take place. But he said, nine times out of 10, it has not been a problem in their particular service -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Chris Lawrence this morning -- and, Chris, this is a return visit for you to Afghanistan, second time back in the last year. What's the assignment this time around?
LAWRENCE: Well, last time, we spent the bulk of our time in Kandahar, in seeing the situation there, looking at the training of the Afghan police, looking at the situation in remote parts of Kandahar.
This time, we're in Helmand Valley, where the Marines are in control here, looking at what progress has been made in terms of clearing the Taliban out of Marjah and securing that area.
And also, looking at some other areas around Helmand as well to see what the progress has been in terms of, you know, coming to grips with the poppy, the heroin crop that's here and getting a handle on moving the Taliban out of some of these areas to see if U.S. troops can really get a hold of them and bring in an Afghan government that can run the place.
ROBERTS: We are looking forward to your reports coming up in the coming days. Thanks so much, Chris Lawrence for us this morning in Afghanistan -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes all morning long we have been getting your feedback on some of the stories we have been doing on our "AM Fix" blog, live blog taking place. Let's talk about the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Nancy wrote in -- where are we? Here we go, Nancy wrote in about a couple minutes ago saying -- "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' it is time to change the archaic policy. If a man or woman is willing to fight and die for their country, they should be given the respect they so richly deserve regardless of their sexual preference."
We've gotten a lot of emails like that.
Another hot topic on our blog this morning is the possibility that California could make recreational pot use legal. It is now on the ballot, it is going to go up for a vote in November. Island boy writes, "Legalizing would result in large scale production in California, reduce the price as supplies would increase and perhaps create a disincentive for thousands of people spending time in your jails for smuggling."
Another one, Nova, writing in, "I don't understand why it has taken so long. You get relief from pain without powerful drugs like Vicodin or Percocet and becoming addicted." Nova wondering, are drug companies standing in the way?
Worried in Maryland writes, "It's tough enough getting cigarettes and alcohol away from kids today. Legalize pot and things will get much rougher."
So, a lot of opinions this morning on all of our hot topics. We invite you to weigh in as well, CNN.com/amFIX -- John.
ROBERTS: Still ahead all aboard, Jim Acosta, riding with the guys on the 5:51 train home from Penn Station. Commuters weighing in on everything from politics, to the economy to Tiger Woods. And don't forget to crack open a beer while you are on the way home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Nineteen minutes past the hour right now, Stephanie Elam is with us "Minding Your Business" this morning. We are talking a little bit about whether or not there is a new plan in place at least for Bank of America to help homeowners in trouble.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right and the reason why we care so much about this is because this is the first major plan we have seen coming from a big bank to help out people who have been in so much pain. Think about it, a quarter of people under water, meaning they owe more on their house than it is worth in this country. That's a huge number.
So this is some changes that are going to happen here. They really want borrowers to take advantage of these programs. So they are now going to consider cutting the balances of borrowers. Before, it was just about all the interest rate. Now, they are actually going to target the balance by up to 30 percent.
And they are saying high risk loans are really going to be an issue here from Countrywide. And that is different issue simply because they bought the company in 2008. They had to settle with attorneys general from different states about this. So this is how they are settling this issue and making it better for these people.
The loan balance, it's never going to go below 100 percent of the home value. But they are going to bring it down. And you have at least 60 days of -- if you are over 60 days late with your payments and you can probably qualify for this. You also can have your balances cut over five years by a maximum of 30 percent.
So this all began as a part of its national home ownership retention program. And they are saying that through that, Bank of America as the owner of Countrywide now is supposed to help out 4,000 troubled countrywide borrowers.
This program they say will help out 45,000 borrowers and the loan balances will be cut by a total of $3 billion. It will begin in May and it really will depend on the property appraisal and how much this will cut and how much these people will owe. If moved in the right direction it's not going to help out all of the people here obviously. But it is the first step in moving things in the right direction. This is something the Obama Administration really wanted.
ROBERTS: And I guess it makes good business sense for them too. If they have to write down a loan and they are going to lose $50,000 if they foreclose on the house or they are going to losing $30,000 or $40,000 by writing down the loan. It makes sense for them.
ELAM: Right and a lot of people were just -- what they found was that the borrowers weren't willing to work it out if the interest was coming down or if they extend the term of the loan to 40 years instead of 30 years. They really wanted to find the overall amount truncated. And until that happened, a lot of people were just walking away. Scary.
CHETRY: It is scary. Thanks so much.
ELAM: Sure.
ROBERTS: Try to save vandalism against members of Congress who voted for the health care bill. The FBI now looking into it along with the capital police. We are talking with one of the congressmen just ahead. What do you think about this tactic? Let us know at CNN.com/amFIX. It's our live blog this morning. We are back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Monkeys have it bad, 25 minutes past the hour. Our top story is five minutes away. But first, an "AM Original", something you will see only on AMERICAN MORNING this morning.
Americans have a lot to say of course when it comes to politics and this morning we are trying something a little different.
ROBERTS: Yes we are tapping into the feelings of everyday Americas during their commute home. Jim Acosta joins us now live. You've caught the train to Long Island Railroad with eight New Yorkers the other day.
ACOSTA: Exactly, I wasn't sure it was a good idea but it all worked out well. You know the politicians and pundits have had their say. But what about the real people what do they think about health care reform? President Obama and the economy. Well it doesn't get more real than the guys we found heading home from work on the Long Island Railroad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): It is 5:51 and the train is right on time. And so are eight Long Islanders, John, Tom, Steve, Jim, Ed, Steve, Ken, and Richard. It doesn't take long to figure out why they have this section of the Long Island Railroad to themselves.
JIM MARRON, LONG ISLAND RAILROAD PASSENGER: The other passengers remove themselves from the area because it can get kind of loud.
ACOSTA: It's better that way?
MARRON: Better for them. Yes.
ACOSTA: And we should make one thing clear. This is the evening commute.
(on camera): Sometimes politics will come up on the train?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
ACOSTA: I was going to be disappointed if that weren't the case.
(voice-over): They had a lot to say about health care.
(on camera): Do you agree with Joe Biden that this is a big f- ing deal?
JOHN LORI, LONG ISLAND RAILROAD PASSENGER: He has a way with words. Reform is need. You can't have 30 million people walking around with no health insurance using the emergency room.
STEVE ROEDER, LONG ISLAND RAILROAD PASSENGER: Last night I was watching a senator who said, the American people don't understand, their insurance premiums are going to go down and their taxes are going to go down. I couldn't think of two crazier things ever said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was necessary. I do think it was necessary.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Sounds mostly like New York Democrats. Right? Wrong.
(on camera): Can you just raise your hand if you voted for Obama? One, two. -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh no you can't.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Only the politicians in Washington could get along like the guys on this train.
(on camera): They are not talking to each other. They are not compromising.
MARRON: Then get rid of them all. If I did my job the way the politicians do their job, I wouldn't have a job for very long.
ACOSTA: They would throw you out.
MARRON: They would throw me out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need to get on the train.
ACOSTA: That would be your solution to partisanship in Washington, the 5:51.
STEVE COWIE, LONG ISLAND RAILROAD PASSENGER: I mean we certainly have partisanship on this crew.
(LAUGHTER)
ACOSTA (voice-over): All of the sudden, the subject switched to Tiger Woods.
(on camera): You think he should come back to golf?
MARRON: Absolutely. It's his profession. If he cheated on his wife, does he cheat on the golf course too?
ACOSTA (voice-over): Then, back to the economy. Hey, that's train talk.
MARRON: Obama will say he is looking out for the working family. Every one of us is coming home from work.
ACOSTA (on camera): When he talks about working folks, you don't think he is talking about you.
MARRON: No, he is not. The fact is, my job is just as at risk as anybody else.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Their conversations don't stop at their stop. Sometimes they take it to a place they affectionately call the cave.
TOM MCGINLEY, LONG ISLAND RAILROAD PASSENGER: It's the bar in the back of my garage.
ACOSTA (on camera): They have a man cave they go to after this. This isn't manly fluff. They have to go to the man cave.
MARRON: It's not every day. It is only like once a week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: I have to check out that man cave. I mean, come on. Or at least get one myself. Now if there is one thing these guys were driving home time and again, no pun intended, is that there aren't enough centrists in politics. Keep in mind these are mostly Republicans. And most of them said that they were okay with health care reform.
If you were to listen to the debate down in Washington you would not get that sense at all from Republicans. They would like to see the sniping stop and maybe a little more carrying on the way these guys do on the train.
ROBERTS: That's a great piece from a political perspective. I bet it would prompted somebody to write in and say, hey, if you want to talk with some real folks about politics, come to the Nut Hut in Crystal Lake Illinois.
CHETRY: You got a man cave and a nut hut. What's going on?
ROBERTS: Maybe that's your next destination.
ACOSTA: I'm going to the nut hut. There you go.
CHETRY: Maybe politics would be more civil if they had what did you call them? Roady?
ACOSTA: Tall boy.
CHETRY: Tall boys.
ACOSTA: They had the 16-ounce Budweiser with them on them on the train so -
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: How long was the commute?
ACOSTA: Forty minutes. Just enough time.
ROBERTS: That will work.
ACOSTA: Sometimes they pack two.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Jim Acosta.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: This morning, Jim, thanks so much. It's 29 minutes after the hour.
Breaking news this morning, a new warning from Osama Bin Laden, Aljazeera reporting that the Al Qaeda leader is threatening to kill American soldiers of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed is sentenced to death and then executed. The message comes in an audio tape. Stay with CNN for more updates on this breaking news. CHETRY: Also California is going to be voting this November on a measure that would legalize pot for recreational use. An analysis shows that if the measure passed, adults over the age of 21 would be to keep up to an ounce of pot, and sales of marijuana would be taxed, which would help the cash-strapped state.
ROBERTS: And Democrats reporting death threats, harassment, and even a coffin left on the front yard of one congressman. They claim they are being targeted for supporting health care reform. The FBI is investigating.
CHETRY: Our next guest is one of those Democrats, who says he's been a victim of this health care hate. Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello joins us now from Capitol Hill. Thanks for being with us this morning.
REP. TOM PERRIELLO, (D) VIRGINIA: Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: You had a case basically where someone posted what they thought was your home address and turned out to be your brother's home address. There was eventually some vandalism and the FBI is now looking into it. Tell us what happened.
PERRIELLO: My brother is a teacher and a coach, was home between teaching, came home to check on the house because of the posting of the address. And someone had sliced the propane line to his grill. The backyard was covered in propane.
I just want to thank law enforcement for doing a tremendous job on this and helping to protect my family. In this country we can disagree on our politics, but we settle it at the ballot box.
We have had members of Congress whose kids have been expressly threatened with death. This is a very serious thing. It needs to be taken very seriously, and I think people are starting to do that.
CHETRY: Are you fearing for the safety of your family and your brother and your brother's family?
PERRIELLO: I have a lot of confidence in the police and the law enforcement in the area. I think everyone is on it now. I think, and this is important, we have had some speak up very strongly, the Republican governor of my Bob McDonald, our attorney general Ken Cuccinelli.
Any threat to property or family is way over the line. We are not seeing the same seriousness from the Republican leaders here in Washington. But the most important thing is that we keep our families safe and we keep our democratic process safe.
CHETRY: Let me ask you what you mean by that, because House Minority Leader John Boehner actually did come out and condemn the attacks. He released a written statement saying, "not the American way," about the attacks, the vandalism, the bricks through the windows we have seen in some of the congressional home offices. But he also said that, basically, you need to channel the anger for positive change, call your congressman. Go out and register. He called the violence and threats "unacceptable." Isn't that enough?
PERRIELLO: Actually I thought it his statement was fairly outrageous. What he was saying was, for those of you who are threatening people's children, we want you to channel that anger into the campaign.
No, we want those people to go to jail. That's what I am hearing from the Republicans in my district and in my state. They understand the difference between someone who is breaking the law and someone who is simply upset about policy.
And for John Boehner to seem to conflate these two was really quite an outrageous statement. No. People doing these things outside of the law, as my very conservative attorney general said, these people need to be prosecuted, not brought into the campaign room.
Those who are simply upset about health care and have every right to do so, they need to be part of the political process in the same way that all of those who support health care do.
So I think that many of the folks back home who have been great, even some of my most ardent opponents, about calling this out, that doesn't seem to be reaching the folks up here in Washington.
An organizer for the Lynchburg Tea Party, Mike Troxel, is reportedly claiming responsibility for posting your brother's address. This is what he said at the time of this post, "Just in case any of your friends and neighbors want to drop by and say hi, express their thanks regarding his vote for health care," he is referring to you, "I personally believe it's important for representatives to remain fully grounded and remember exactly what it is their constituents are saying and how they are telling them to vote."
He goes on to say, "Nothing quite does that like a face to face chat." Do you think he was basically trying to incite people to threaten your family by putting up that post?
PERRIELLO: Well, you know, I think in this country we have to keep in mind, did I listen to you and did I agree with you. I listen to a lot of people in my district, including the hospitals, the doctors, the nurses, so many people who wanted health care reform and so many people who were concerned about it. That's part of the democratic process.
But when you listen to these recordings of people saying I'm going to kill your children and I know where they are, think about how un-American and undemocratic it is to say I'm going to hold your vote hostage and threaten your family with violence.
Every right-thinking person knows this is over the line. These things have to be called out. One of the Tea Party movements in my district put out a strong statement yesterday clearly condemning this. There are lots of good, decent people who have been on the opposition side of this who don't deserve to be painted with the same brush.
CHETRY: Do you think some of your fellow GOP congressmen here are inciting this violence?
PERRIELLO: I think people have to be very conscious of what they say. And I think when Mr. Boehner is unable to draw the difference between people who are threatening children and people who simply oppose health care reform, that's offensive to his own supporters as well as those of us that feel like our families have been put in harm's way.
So I don't think that reality has quite sunk in up here. First and foremost we should all be able to agree, whether you are a political leader or TV personality, that simply saying this is absolutely unacceptable to harm or threaten to harm a member of their family.
This isn't a partisan thing. This is just a basic American value. I hope we will get stronger and clearer statements up here of that to make sure that signal is very clear.
CHETRY: In the meantime, I know you said you think local law enforcement is doing a good job trying to make sure everybody stays safe throughout this. Thanks so much for you time in talking to us. Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello, appreciate it.
PERRIELLO: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: OK, so we are on the magic wall today and we're looking at the running conversation here at our blog CNN.com/amFIX. We are getting a lot of comments about the threats leveled against Democratic legislators.
Helen writes, "Sarah Palin, Senator McCain, and all the top Republican senators are all getting out of control, seems to me, since they cannot win on the argument on the House floor. Let's get some people to threaten them. The threats and name-calling by the Republicans make them look like a bunch of kindergarteners. They pretend they care about the unborn babies and then they encourage all of this violence."
And then Mark writes in to say "Calling someone a scumbag no matter how uncouth is not a threat of violence. I have heard similar ugly comments from liberal radicals against President Bush and Republicans in the past. Those did not seem to command the same amount of media attention."
So a lot of interesting comments on both sides of the political fence. Go to our blog, CNN.com/amFIX and let us know how you feel about that, the legalization of marijuana, the health care bill, anything that's on your mind.
Still ahead, come November, Californians will get to vote on whether the state should legalize marijuana. What do you think about it? Should pot be legalized in America? Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 39.5 minutes after the hour. Developing this morning, marijuana supporters are celebrating a big political step forward. California may become the very first state to legalize pot for recreational use.
The measure will be on the ballot in November and if passed could bring in some much needed revenue for the cash strapped state. Our Dan Simon is in Oakland this morning talking to people on both sides of the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We are at a place called Oaksterdam University, a place dedicated to teaching all things about cannabis. This is the nursery. You can see this equipment behind me where they teach people how to grow cannabis. We are here because the guy who thought of this place is leading the effort to get full legalization in California.
SIMON (voice-over): Our camera was rolling as Richard Lee got the news. For him, there was never any doubt that marijuana would get on the ballot.
RICHARD LEE, PRESIDENT OAKSTERDAM UNIVERSITY: We need 433,971 valid signatures to qualify for the California ballot.
SIMON (on camera): How many did you get?
LEE: We got 690,000 total.
SIMON (voice-over): They used paid petition gatherers, but Lee says he's confident for a win in the fall that would make marijuana legal for Californians 21 years or older to possess an once for personal use.
LEE: We're going to get our message out there, and I think people are more receptive to it than they've ever been.
SIMON: For Lee, victory would mean public validation to a life's calling. Three years ago, he founded an Oakland school that teaches students how to grow, sell, and even consume cannabis. It's called Oaksterdam University. Get it -- a combination of Oakland and Amsterdam.
Lee started the school after a trip to that city and seeing how marijuana was openly sold there.
LEE: To some people, cannabis is like a religion.
SIMON: Until now, full legalization has never been taken seriously by voters. But lee sees an opening with the state budget crisis and the tax revenue it would bring -- possibly hundreds of millions of dollars a year. According to a California field poll taken last year, more than half, 56 percent of Californians support legalization. Opponents realize they have some work to do, and can see they'll be outspent, but think their arguments are too powerful to ignore.
JOHN LOVELL, CALIFORNIA NARCOTIC OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION: Why on earth would we want to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array of legal substances that compromise a person's five senses, where we know they're going to make bad decisions, some criminal?
SIMON: Richard Lee says it's about adults making their own decisions. Twenty years ago, a spinal cord injury put him in a wheelchair. He said he smokes cannabis medically and for recreation.
LEE: I really see this as following the history of alcohol the way prohibition was repealed there.
SIMON (on camera): Just like any heated campaign, expect the airwaves to be filled with commercials from both sides. Those in favor of legalization hope to raise as much as $20 million for advertising.
Dan Simon, CNN, Oakland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And we're back at the magic wall right now, getting some of your comments on our live blog this morning. Barry says he was an ER department RN for the past 32 years. He said, "I never saw violent behavior in the ER where marijuana was involved and saw hundreds of cases of violent, drunken behavior where alcohol was the drug of choice."
ROBERTS: And along that theme, Ollie writes in and says, "As I read these blogs, a mixture of pot comments and health care comments, a thought occurred to me, maybe we should get the Republicans to smoke a lot more pot and mellow out."
CHETRY: A little bit of humor.
ROBERTS: Here is the blog, amFIX, CNN.com.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty six minutes past the hour. Time to get a quick check on the weather headlines; we turn to Rob Marciano in Atlanta this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much. Appreciate it. It's good to see you this morning.
Still ahead: Dr. Sanjay Gupta answering your questions from his mailbag. I'm going to duck out and change. We'll be right back.
CHETRY: Me too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Time now for your "AM House Call", stories about your health. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta to answer some of your questions.
CHETRY: Yes, Sanjay great to see you.
So let's open up the mailbag and we'll start with Cyrus in Pittsburgh. He wants to know, "Can obesity be linked to Alzheimer's disease? And can physical activity help ward it off?" What do you say?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know there are potential some good news here in terms of -- some -- with regard to physical activity and what's happening in the brain.
Think of it like this. Anything that's bad for your heart is also bad for your brain. The brain, even though it's one of the smaller organs in the body, it does take a lot of blood flow, 20-25 percent of the blood flow. So things that are happening in your blood vessels that affect your heart also affect your brain.
Alzheimer may have lots of different reasons as to why it occurs. But one reason is probably what they call lots of mini-strokes occurring in the brain. None of those small strokes by themselves would cause much damage. But over time, it starts to lead to the problems often associated with Alzheimer's disease.
So control the same things you would control for your heart and you can help with -- with what's going on in your brain as well. What they have found is the physical activity can actually repair some of the neuro connections in your brain. It can physically actually make your brain larger and possibly even start to combat some of these early signs of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
And once it has progressed to a certain point it is hard for -- for anything to work. Medications or physical activity or anything but in the earlier stages, you can potentially make some impact.
ROBERTS: So many advantages to being active physically all your life.
Next question comes from Anthony, Sanjay. He writes, quote, "I am a type two diabetic. If I eat right and exercise regularly, how long will it take to get my diabetic problems under control?"
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting because the last part of that question, "getting my diabetic problems under control", which is very different than saying "curing my diabetes or fixing my diabetes". Because I think, that you know, being realistic in terms of what you can achieve is very important here. This idea that, you know, your pancreas isn't working. It's not producing enough insulin or because of your weight, the insulin simply isn't working well. That's what's happens in diabetes, the blood sugar starts to rise; obviously that can be a real problem.
There have been a lot of studies looking at people who are diabetic and obese and trying to figure out -- they are on medications -- trying to figure out if they start to make some simple lifestyle changes. How long would it take for them to be able to get off the insulin?
One study showed that people who ate a high-protein diet, a low- fat diet, specifically unsaturated fats and started exercising 45 minutes a day, were actually able to go into a form of remission within about three weeks. And again, remission meaning clearly, they did not need the insulin for a period of time.
Again, I'm being very careful of my language here because there are a couple of points. The diabetes still wasn't cured necessarily and also if they stopped those important lifestyle changes, the insulin needs would come back up again. So you've got to make some lifestyle changes and really stick with it if you want to get yourself under control with diabetes.
ROBERTS: And you eat right and exercise, it's always a great combination. Doc thanks so much. Sanjay Gupta --
GUPTA: All right guys.
ROBERTS: -- this morning with his "AM House Call".
GUPTA: Thanks, guys.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We changed back. And now we're back again.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You may remember him from the winter games. Not the past winter game; the ones in 1984 in Sarajevo.
ROBERTS: Now, after 25 years in the NHL, Chris Chelios just got called up from the minors again. He was still in the minors.
Rob Marciano caught up with the oldest man on ice in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: There's a name for something this tough, ice hockey. This is where the Atlanta Thrashers practice and they are struggling to make the NHL playoffs. They need some help. Clearly not from me but from someone who's been skating a long, long time.
Twenty-five years in the league. How many times have you said, "You know what, I've got to hang up the skates?" CHRIS CHELIOS, OLDEST PLAYER IN NHL: Like I said, this is my last kick of the candle, the way I look at it. I think, depending on what happens now, realistically, this could be it.
MARCIANO: At 48-years-old, Chris Chelios is the old man on the ice, the oldest American ever to play in the NHL. And you know, that's saying something.
I mean this is an 18-year-old man's hockey league. And boy, does he know it.
CHELIOS: You know my minutes are down. The role has changed significantly as it did when I was 22 or 23.
MARCIANO: Are you outskating, outplaying or outthinking them?
CHELIOS: Mostly outthinking.
MARCIANO: So speed, new rules; it doesn't really sound like it would be better for an older player. Why are you successful in this league?
CHELIOS: I think I am a little smarter than the young guys. They have their speed that makes up for the lack of smarts.
MARCIANO: Check out these stats. The average age of the Atlanta Thrashers, 27; six of the players weren't even born yet when Chelios started in the NHL. And get this as a seven-year-old, teammate Ron Hainsey remembers watching Chelios play.
What are you and the rest of the guys feeling about a 48-year-old playing in the team?
RON HAINSEY, ATLANTA THRASHERS DEFENSEMAN: Well, he doesn't look 48. You know what I mean? That's the first thing. He is in unbelievable shape. He still skates incredibly well.
MARCIANO: But hey, there are some perks that come with age. For one thing, you spend less time here, in the penalty box.
That was a bogus call.
HAINSEY: He has been around. He gets away with a little more cross-check and slash and stuff like that, just because of who he is. He still plays as hard and as tough as ever. He loves the game.
JOHN ANDERSON, ATLANTA THRASHERS HEAD COACH: He loves to play. It is not about the money anymore. It is about wanting to win and wanting to play.
MARCIANO: Gordie Howe played until he was 52. Come on, you don't want to break his record?
CHELIOS: I don't see it. No. I wouldn't want to actually. He can have the record. He is the greatest ever. Though the fact that I have made it this far as an American, that says enough. I feel pretty good about that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: His 28-year-old counterpart is asking him if he would be playing in 20 years? He said, absolutely no way. He just laughed at me. These guys are just in awe of what Chelios can do. They took a hard loss to the Bruins two nights ago so still slim holds for making the play-offs but they certainly remain hopeful.
My skating skills, John, don't even get started.
CHETRY: You looked great out there.
ROBERTS: You looked great out there, Rob. You can play the part. You can yell from the penalty box like nobody else.
CHETRY: Yes. Although, I doubt they are yelling bogus. I think they are yelling things that require beeping and bleeping.
MARCIANO: Well, we took two takes and they obviously took the second take.
ROBERTS: Too bad you didn't do that with Vice President Biden the other day.
MARCIANO: Yes, exactly. I really need a little bleep.
ROBERTS: All right. Great story, Rob. Good to see him still on the skates too at the age of 48.
MARCIANO: Yes.
ROBERTS: That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you again bright and early on Friday morning here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Meantime, the news continues. Here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips.
Hey, Kyra.
