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American Morning
"Life-Threatening" Flood Risk; Phoebe Prince's Death; Health Care Debate Heads Home; Lawmakers Face Voters Fired Up Over Reform; Healthy Job Creation: Where the Jobs Are; New Army Recruit Preps for Basic Training; Protecting Bullied Children; Behind Bars in Tehran
Aired March 31, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good Wednesday morning to you. It is 7:00 a.m. here in New York on this March 31st. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 50 minutes.
Water expected to come up to places that we have never seen before in the northeast. Back to back storms have the entire area on flood alert this morning. We're live along the Pawtuxet River in Rhode Island what could be ground zero in the story.
CHETRY: After the health care vote, lawmakers head for the exits, but during a spring recess, many Democrats are now facing a political tsunami back home. We travel with one Democrat to hear what his constituents are saying.
ROBERTS: More Massachusetts teens are kicked out of school. They are part of the click that allegedly bullied Phoebe Prince (ph) to the point that she took her own life. Nine students are now charged in the case. Alina Cho is live in South Hadley with why Prince's family is calling this a hate crime.
And of course, as always, the amfix blog is up live and running. Join the conversation right now. We'd like to hear from you about the bullying story. What do you think should happen to people at the school who let this go by? Just go to cnn.com/amfix. We'll be reading some of your comments throughout the morning.
CHETRY: First though, they're talking about flooding that could rewrite history this morning. Right now, rivers are rising across the northeast. It's a bad case of deja vu for thousands. Many who aren't finished getting rid of everything that was ruined during the last storm. In Rhode Island, forecasters say that the flooding would be serious and life threatening along the Pawtuxet River. The water could shutter records that have stood since before World War II.
The national guard, meantime, is helping fill sand bags and building make shift levees across the state of Massachusetts, and it is now officially the wettest March ever in the New York area where the street gather us for streams, a mud slide stop the train, and many major highways are completely washed out. Jacqui Jeras is tracking the storm for us which still had something left overnight. First though, we start with Reynolds Wolf who is right along the Pawtuxet River in Cranston, Rhode Island. What's the situation there?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The situation here is very dire. You know, you were talking earlier about it being one of the wettest Marches in history. That's certainly is the case here. 15.42 inches of rainfall fell this month alone. 7.9 inches of rainfall fell on Tuesday within a 24-hour period. And what you see around me is the result. That's the Pawtuxet River back there. Overflowing its banks and moving right through here in this area of Cranston.
Yesterday, we had live tracker. They were out scouting a position, the crew, and actually came in this area. This was all dry. You can obviously see the water has come up higher. You know, originally, Kiran, what's interesting is the forecast was expected the river to rise to about 20.2 feet. It is well surpassed that. The latest is reading around 20.62, and again, it has a lot of people concerned. But keep in mind, this is not the only places being affected by the floodwaters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): Going fishing reads the sign on this front door, and they didn't have far to go. Hundreds of Rhode Island residents were forced from their homes by yet another torrential down pour which the governor's office calls the worst in the state in at least the century.
MAYOR ALLAN FUNG, CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND: It absolutely is a record breaker.
WOLF: All across New England and the northeast, rivers are approaching record levels, but the one everyone is watching is the Pawtuxet River in Cranston, Rhode Island.
FUNG: A lot of it is historic right now. It's unprecedented. We're dealing with something that's been classified as a one in 500- year storm.
WOLF: It's expected to crest this morning at 20 feet. Scary high, considering that's 11 feet above flood stage. The storm that just sat over the region for days dumped more than eight inches of rainfall in some areas that were already saturated.
RICK COGEAN, CRANSTON RESIDENT: It just started rushing in the cellar windows like a waterfall. Real bad. So, we just, you know what, I get them out (ph).
WOLF: People were still trying to shake off the effects of the last nor'easter. Many people who had just cleaned all of the moldy furniture and spoiled food lost power all over again.
UNKNOWN MALE: We're ready to throw the keys in the car and walk out of our houses, you know. It's at that point now, you know. I've got -- four of my neighbors down the street had you U-Haul trucks yesterday and ready to go. WOLF: It is now the wettest March on record here. Just Northern Massachusetts, a state of emergency this morning. National Guard soldiers are filling sandbags. The governor says almost every river in the commonwealth is at risk right now. And just outside New York City, police officers saved a 77-year-old man who is up to his neck in water inside his submerge pick-up after driving around a barricade.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (on-camera): At this spot, we're currently up to just past our ankles here at the corner of yielded (ph) in Third Avenue here in Cranston. You also see a little bit of another sign there that has kind of a whole different meaning, dead end. I tell you, people here are certainly hoping that the rain will come through a dead end this weekend closer to the weekend. And my friend and meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras will have the very latest in the forecast for this region and the rest of the country coming up in mere moments. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
ROBERTS: All right, and without further ado, Reynolds, let's go to Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta tracking what's left in this monster storm, and it says still not quite out of here yet, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not quite yet, but the worst of the heavy rainfall is over and done with. You know, we're not going to see another seven to eight inches of rainfall, but we could get maybe another quarter of an inch in some of the heavier showers. And we're going to have that chance of rain in the forecast at least through this afternoon before things significantly dry up.
In the meantime, flood warnings remain in effect as our map will show you from New Jersey all the way into Maine. And the only area where we can see additional flooding is in that dark green area up into Maine where we have the watches in effect. Some drier weather and warmer weather is on the way, so we get through today and expect much better conditions. But these rivers will remain in flood, meaning they're going to stay out of their banks at least until the early part of next week -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Question about the nice weather, Jacqui, will it last longer than a couple of days this time?
JERAS: It will. You know, by this afternoon, things are going to be looking better, and we're going to be talking about sunshine until Saturday. And unfortunately, you know, the price that you pay this time of year for getting 70-degree temperatures in New York and into New England is that you usually get severe weather to go along with it. So, we'll be watching for that on Saturday.
ROBERTS: All right. Back into super gain (ph). Jacqui, thanks very much. Take it while you got it.
There are new developments this morning surrounding the death of Phoebe Prince. Prosecutors say, the Massachusetts teen was bullied so relentlessly that she eventually took her own life. The Boston Herald is reporting that two more of Prince's accused classmates have been expelled. You know, nine students at South Hadley High School have been charged. Prosecutors say the click attacked Prince for three months, both in person and online. Alina Cho is live in South Hadley, Massachusetts for us this morning. And this tragedy just keeps provoking more and more outrage over there.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Quite a firestorm in this small town of South Hadley, population, 17,000, John. I've spoken to parents. I've spoken to close friends and what is coming into focus this morning is a clearer picture about who Phoebe Prince was. What may have led to the bullying and what happened in the moments before she took her own life?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): By all accounts, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince was fun, approachable, and popular. A pretty 15-year-old transplant from Ireland with a nice brogue and nice smile.
Why on earth would people want to bully her?
NICK SHENAS, PHOEBE PRINCE'S FRIEND: Jealousy, probably. I would imagine that they were all jealous of her, because she got a lot of attention from people, positive attention.
CHO: Nick Shenas was Prince's close friend and pallbearer at her funeral. He says the cryptic explanation the DA gave about why she was allegedly bullied --
ELIZABETH SCHEIBEL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The peers who have been motivated by the group's displeasure with Phoebe's brief dating relationship with a male student.
CHO: To friends is clear.
SHENAS: That was just a whole secret thing.
CHO: They were dating in secret?
SHENAS: Yes.
CHO: Shenas says Prince, a freshman caught the eye of a senior, football player, Sean Mulveyhill (ph). The two started dating. But Mulveyhill he says already had a girlfriend, Kayla Narey (ph), another student at South Hadley High School. If the two look familiar, that's because Mulveyhill and Narey are among the nine students facing criminal charges in connection with Prince's death.
When you saw this on the front-page of "Boston Herald" today, what did you think?
DARBY O'BRIEN, PRINCE FAMILY SPOKESMAN: True. I mean, you know, that's been a fight since the beginning.
CHO: Darby O'Brien is a spokesman for Prince's family.
O'BRIEN: The word bullying is probably not even accurate. I mean, really, when you look at what happened with her, it's a persecution. I mean, this thing was a hate crime.
CHO: Prosecutors say verbal and physical abuse so severe, every day and over several months that on January 14th, Prince took her own life. In addition to the taunts, she allegedly endured in the hallways and school library in plain view of faculty, more details are emerging about her final walk home.
She walked home --
O'BRIEN: Car went by and threw -- one of the girls threw an energy drink at her, and they yelled out of the car, you Irish slut. You Irish whore. I means, supposedly said why don't you kill yourself.
CHO: So, when the 15-year-old arrived home --
O'BRIEN: She walked into her house and took a scarf that her sister had given her for Christmas and hung herself.
CHO: An act that not only ended her life, but shattered the community. People like Shenas' mother, Susan Smith.
SUSAN SMITH, MOTHER: I could not imagine it. Honestly. It's unimaginable and to happen in your own town a mile from your house, it's unimaginable.
CHO: How could this happen? Why didn't anyone stop it? Shenas says because Prince was able to hide behind her smile.
SHENAS: Just like a sense of shock and disbelief just that something like that could happen to a close friend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: What is also becoming clear this morning is bullying appears to be part of the culture here, the attitude being not in my town, not my kids. But John, that attitude appears to be shifting this morning with the tragic news about Phoebe Prince. Many parents and many people in the community are simply bonding together, and they are calling for the superintendent and for the principal, John, to resign.
ROBERTS: A lot of people asking questions this morning, where was the school in all of this? Alina Cho for us this morning. Alina, thanks so much.
CHETRY: The health care battle is shifting from the halls of Congress now to main streets across the country as lawmakers head home. At 07:13 eastern, our Brianna Keilar travels back with one Democratic congressman to find out what his constituents are saying about the new health care reform law.
ROBERTS: At 07:25 eastern, she's a young wife and mom getting ready for a new career in the army. Meet our new recruit before she heads out to basic training in our continuing series, "A Soldier's Story." CHETRY: And at 07:40 Eastern, part two of my interview with Iranian and American journalist, Roxana Saberi to his jailed from months in Tehran, charged with espionage. Find out why she recanted her confession in prison, and if she thinks Iran is ready to see a real revolution. It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour now. Democratic lawmakers are in the midst of a two-week recess, but maybe, it's not quite a vacation. They're getting an earful from voters who are fired up over their vote on health care reform. Our Brianna Keilar is live in Cincinnati, Ohio. You were following around one congressman to his hometown and a lot of his constituents not very pleased with the new law. So, what's going on?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, of the people we spoke with, they're either happy or they're not happy with Congressman Steve Driehaus, not a lot of middle ground. But the high me is downtown Cincinnati. This is not politically really the problem for Driehaus, this is the more Democratic part of his district. But across town, it's a whole different story as he tries to sell his yes votes on health care reform.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): We're on the west side of Cincinnati.
UNKNOWN MALE: This flower shop is owned by my cousin.
KEILAR: Following Democratic Congressman Steve Driehaus through the neighborhood where he lives one week after he voted for health care reform.
REP. STEVE DRIEHAUS, (D) OHIO: How you guys doing?
KEILAR: Talk to some of his constituents at the local chili joint, and it doesn't feel so sweet to be home.
What do you think about his vote on healthcare?
VOICE OF KEN STINSON, CINCINNATI RESIDENT: Pretty upsetting. I trusted Steve. I voted for Steve, and he didn't do what he said he would when he ran for Congress.
KEILAR: What do you feel he didn't deliver on?
UNKNOWN MALE: Abortion.
KEILAR: Ken Stinson went to catholic school with Driehaus, but like many constituents in this conservative heavily catholic part of town, he's angry because of this. Driehaus joined a handful of anti- abortion Democrats to deliver the needed votes to pass health care. A move that could cost him his job in November.
(on camera): Have you come to grips with the fact that considering the environment, this could be it for you?
DRIEHAUS: Every election I run in is a tough election. If you're looking for job security, politics is not the place to be. So I think it's absolutely the right vote and I'm going to run on it. I'm going to help people understand why it's the right thing to do for the country.
KEILAR (voice-over): Starting with local business leaders.
DRIEHAUS: But look, I understand the fear but the fear doesn't align with the reality of the legislation.
KEILAR: And some of health care reform's staunchest critics, seniors --
DRIEHAUS: We're making investments in primary care.
KEILAR: But if health care reform is a tough sell in Driehaus' neighbors, he does have some supporters. Jason and Erin Humphrey lived on his street.
ERIN HUMPHREY, CINCINNATI RESIDENT: I just think with the economy and everything that's going on, I think it's a good change for people that have had issues being able to get covered in health care and be able to afford health care.
JASON HUMPHREY, CINCINNATI RESIDENT: We have to do something. We need change. And this is a good thing (ph). But again, he may have performed career suicide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: But supporters like his neighbors, the Humphreys there, tell us they hope his "yes" vote works to his advantage. The real issue for Steve Driehaus is this. In 2008, his election was very much buoyed by black and urban voters who were energized to turn out for President Obama. There are no coattails this time around. Although Driehaus told me he's hoping that president will help him campaign before the November election -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, he said if you're looking for job security, don't go into politics. So he seems to be taking it in stride.
Brianna Keilar for us.
KEILAR: Yes, especially not in this district. This is a very competitive district.
CHETRY: Yes. All right. Well, thanks so much, Brianna. Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: As the U.S. economy slowly crawls its way back to health, the health industry is expected to drive some job creation. But there's a catch. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning with an early look. Hey, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Where are the jobs? On Friday, we're going to get a jobs report that's likely to show the first sustained jobs growth since the recession began. That's good. The treasury secretary says it might be on the verge of creating jobs and continuing to create them.
Where are the jobs? How do you get them and how much do they pay? I'm going to have that story in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour now. The economy is starting to come back. The Dow near 11,000 points and a lot of people still saying, where are the jobs?
Well, Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning at the magic wall with the answer.
Good morning.
ROMANS: Good morning. There are jobs and there are jobs in health care. And this is where you're going to see the big growth over the next 10 years. And I brought you something, John and Kiran, to really show you and there's a job waiting for me if someone wants to take my job after this. There you go.
This is where the jobs are, folks. The larger the sphere, the more people in this job. These are jobs right now. The higher up this ladder here, the more money they make.
This is where there are a lot of job opportunities in right now in health care. Registered nurses, median wages last year -- registered nurses, $62,400. Look up here. Pharmacists. There are fewer pharmacists, but they make more money. Physical therapists, growing area, 30 percent job creation expected in physical therapy over the next 10 years. Dental hygienists, radiology technologists and technicians, licensed nurses.
Look down here, home health aids and nursing aids, orderlies, attendants and personal care aids. Want to real quick show you here where the job growth is expected to be.
Registered nurses, half a million over 10 years. These two categories here, home health aids and home care aids, that would be almost 800,000 jobs created. Think of that over the next 10 years. Nursing aids, also physicians and surgeons.
This is the number of jobs expected to be created. Let me show you what they make. Registered nurses, home health aids, personal home care aid. Look at the wages here. I want you to be really careful about some of these places for job creation. 32,390 is the median wages in this country last year. These are dramatically below that. So we're creating an awful lot of jobs, 800,000 jobs but in an area that's not going to make up for the wages and the money and the financial security of the jobs we lost in manufacturing.
So, yes, a lot of health care jobs. You must be incredibly careful where you position yourself. The more money you make in health care, the more training you need and education. And that's where we're going to see growth over the next decade.
CHETRY: There you go. All right. Well, you know, good breakdown, Christine. Because, you know, there are a lot of people who are coming out of school or thinking about perhaps going back and these are some good ideas to get them started. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Have to be careful of that magic wall though. The wrong move it will saw you in half.
CHETRY: Those are spinning around wildly.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, much more ahead.
Twenty-three minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Top stories just two minutes away. But first an "A.M. Original," something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING. The military is letting our cameras show you what it's really like to serve in uniform.
ROBERTS: And this morning, we have something that civilians almost never see. One woman, a wife and mom, getting ready for her first days of Army life. Jason Carroll following our new recruit, Latricia Rose in our ongoing series, "A Soldier's Story."
Good morning to you.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. Yes, taking a different direction. You know, we've been following along with Will McLain for quite some time now. Now, we're going to introduce you to Latricia Rose.
You know right now, women make up about 14 percent of the active Army. Many of those women are also mothers. And as you are about to see, some face special challenges in dealing with the realities of military life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
CARROLL (voice-over): Latricia Rose doesn't yet have a drill sergeant barking orders to help her get into shape. So instead, her husband, Brandon --
BRANDON ROSE, HUSBAND: Come on, you've got it. CARROLL: -- gently eggs her on.
B. ROSE: Come on, you've got it.
CARROLL: Rose is 20 years old, a new mother and weeks away from starting a new career. Army private.
(on camera): Are you prepared to go through what they have to do in terms of basic training?
LATRICIA ROSE, NEW RECRUIT: No, but --
CARROLL: No.
L. ROSE: No, I'm just being honest.
CARROLL (voice-over): Honest too about what she sees as her greatest challenge when she becomes a soldier. And it's not physical. It's emotional.
L. ROSE: I can't deal with not being with my baby. And I don't know how I'm going to deal with it. I'll probably be crying and everything, honestly. I know I'm going to be crying.
CARROLL: Latricia, Brandon and their two-year-old daughter Arianna (ph) live in Columbus, Georgia, about two hours outside Atlanta. It's where she went to high school and met her husband. First, there were thoughts of nursing school, but early motherhood and marriage put those plans on hold. Brandon struggled to find work. Latricia's earnings supported the family.
L. ROSE: I wanted to work and I want to go to school. And it's kind of hard to do both of them. And so I was like, well, with the military, you know, they'll help me go to school.
CARROLL: And now as Latricia counts down the weeks left before she leaves her family behind for basic training in Missouri, Brandon says the sacrifice ahead is worth it.
B. ROSE: It's hard. Hard. There's not a day that I don't think about it. But I also think it is, you know, good for our family.
CARROLL: Not everyone in the family agrees.
YARONDA NEEL, MOTHER: I wasn't happy. I tried for months to talk her out of it.
CARROLL: Latricia's mother saw college in her daughter's future and worries Latricia's separation from her daughter may be too much to handle. Yoranda Neel says she should know. She was once in the Army.
NEEL: It's going to be very difficult. You know, her just missing out on the day to day things and her not being there to see it. But she will hear about it from other people when she's calling home. Her hearing her daughter cry for her, that just makes it very hard. CARROLL: And how do you tell a 2-year-old that mommy is leaving for a few months?
(on camera): Will you do the explaining? Will you do it, or both of you will explain or try to?
L. ROSE: We'll both talk to her. Maybe we should do it tonight.
CARROLL (voice-over): But they hold off.
L. ROSE: There's the husband over there.
CARROLL: Latricia captures her life at home before the new chapter begins.
L. ROSE: Alpha.
B. ROSE: B.
L. ROSE: Bravo.
B. ROSE: C.
L. ROSE: Charlie.
B. ROSE: D.
L. ROSE: Delta.
B. ROSE: E.
L. ROSE: Echo.
B. ROSE: F.
L. ROSE: This is not about the Army. This is about my life.
CARROLL: Time with family more precious now.
L. ROSE: This is my angel when she finally got asleep. I'm going to miss her so much when I leave, but she's my motivation so I know she'll be OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, Latricia's husband Brandon is in somewhat of a unique category, male Army spouse. There's only about 6.5 percent of Army spouses that are male. As for Latricia, she heads to basic training on April 14th and, of course, we will be there every step of the way.
I know you're a mom. You know, it's very difficult, you know, apparently for women to have that separation when it comes to being away from --
CHETRY: You're so cute -- apparently. No, I mean, it's hard to leave your kids. I'm sure it's hard for guys, too, as well.
CARROLL: Yes, of course.
CHETRY: But how long is she going to be in basic training?
CARROLL: You know, for her, it's just going to be Will McLain. She's looking about nine weeks and then specialized training after that. So when you total it all up, it's about 13 weeks. You know, it is complete separation. And how again do you explain to a two-year- old, you know, mommy is not going to be around for a little while. But this is what a lot of military families deal with every single day.
ROBERTS: And she could be stationed anywhere, right? So they may have to pick up and move as well?
CARROLL: That is correct, yes.
ROBERTS: Jason, great story. All right.
CHETRY: We look forward to seeing how everything turns out for her.
CARROLL: We'll see.
CHETRY: Well, it's half past the hour right now. Time to look at our top stories this morning. There was a flood emergency, pretty much across the northeast this morning. Forecasters are saying that the worst is yet to come in Rhode Island. This is where the Pawtuxet River could crest at 11 feet above flood stage. This is set to happen in the next hour or so. We're out there live keeping tabs on all of it. A storm that sat over New England for two days has dumped more than eight inches of rain.
ROBERTS: This morning, President Obama will announce plans to open more areas to offshore oil and gas drilling. The move would reverse a two-decade old ban on drilling in most U.S. coastal areas outside the Gulf of Mexico. He is proposing to open up the East Coast from Delaware to the central Florida coast. The White House says it should open a path to energy independence.
CHETRY: Barbara Bush is expected to leave a Houston hospital this morning. She's been there for four days now. A family spokesman says that the former first lady has been feeling out of sorts for the past several weeks. Doctors aren't really saying whether they found anything wrong. Mrs. Bush was supposed to be discharged yesterday.
ROBERTS: More students have been kicked out of South Hadley High School in Massachusetts after prosecutors say their bullying led to the suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Nine students have been charged. And the fact that the bullying went this far has some parents calling for the South Hadley superintendent and high school principal to resign.
CHETRY: There are people in the community saying that the school waited to address this bullying until it was too late. Mitch Brouillard says that his daughter was also bullied for more than three years by one of the students accused in the Phoebe Prince case.
He is part of an anti-bullying task force and he joins us now from South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mitch, thanks for being with us this morning.
MITCH BROUILLARD, DAUGHTER ATTENDS SOUTH HADLEY HIGH SCHOOL: Thank you for seeing me today.
CHETRY: I know it's not easy to talk about. Nobody wants to see their children going through anything like this. And you say that for Rebecca (ph), your daughter, this was more than just a one time thing, this was a pattern of bullying. What happened to her? What was the situation like for her at the school?
BROUILLARD: Yes, it was a very strenuous situation. She in the past three years several incidents of bullying, verbal harassment, physical harassment. It all went on day in, day out. There was some lull times where it would subside for about a month or so but then it came back. It was a small group of perpetrators that continually antagonize this. It was just heartbreaking to see your kid go to school every day and have to deal with this.
CHETRY: Why were these kids doing it? Why was she targeted?
BROUILLARD: There are several different reasons. She was in a small group of kids where she didn't like socially where they were going. Decided to step out and I assured her, you know, you can choose your own friends at this point. I said you don't have to be with anybody, especially if you're not liking what's going on in the system with their actions. When she stepped out of that group, she became a victim. She was targeted by several kids and it just continued on from there.
ROBERTS: Mitch, one of the most troubling things that we're hearing about the Phoebe Prince case is that some of these bullying took place in front of staff members, other students as well. And now a growing chorus of people are asking, where was the school in all of this? Why didn't they step in to intervene? Did any of that happen with your daughter? And what do you think about what happened with Phoebe Prince?
BROUILLARD: Yes, I believe some of that may have happened with my daughter. These adults should have stepped in. I mean, that's the opportune time to nip it in the bud. When an incident starts with just a confrontation, that's the time to put a stop to it. You don't want to let it progress to constant bullying and just stretching on for some time. To some degree I think they turned a blind eye, either not knowing how to handle the situation or unwilling to. But the term in South Hadley is being swept under the rug.
CHETRY: Well, this is where the school administration say -- they say "To the best of my knowledge, any incidents of bullying that have been reported to the administration have been dealt with." This is the assistant superintendent for the schools. First of all, do you believe that? BROUILLARD: No, I beg to differ on that. There's incidents where these kids have gone and reported it to the school administration and they are frustrated. They are frustrated that they are not getting resolution. They are frustrated that this is just continuing on. But I also would like to say that the task force that the South Hadley School system has now for anti-bullying is definitely leading them in a positive direction.
We have some subgroups and through that we're setting an algorithm or a flow chart where as an incident occurs, it will be taking care of at the confrontation level. Parents will be involved and whoever else may be involved with that will be brought in. And then we can follow a direct path and a flow chart how to handle this before it ever gets near a situation of this tragedy again.
ROBERTS: You mentioned the Phoebe Prince case, nine of her fellow students are under -- have been charged at least. Another couple have been suspended. But there are growing calls for both the principal and the superintendent to step down. Where do you come down on that?
BROUILLARD: Well, to a degree I have good days, I have bad days. I've tried to remain neutral on that aspect. But you've got to ask yourself, where were the adults? These are kids. These are troubled kids that are having hard times and it's a lack of respect. So you ask where are the adults? From the parents to the school administrators who supposedly seen what was going on. They need guidance. These kids need guidance. And unfortunately now they have to pay for the actions of lack of guidance and their heinous ways.
ROBERTS: Well, do you think the principal and the superintendent should step down or maybe be fired?
BROUILLARD: Well, I think it needs to be looked at a little closer. I think the information needs to come out and it definitely needs to be aired. I would like to see the arrogance of the school administrators leave this town. And once again, that's the arrogance of the school administrators. We need to step aside and we need to really focus on this to solve it, not to continually pass the buck so to speak, but take care of it. Put your hands on it. We have a small window of opportunity to do this and now is the time.
CHETRY: Yes and it might be happening actually. One of your state representatives actually speaking out, saying that the public deserves a full accounting of why administrators didn't act on harassment reports. So this might be the beginning of things changing. We'll check back in with you and see if that's the case. Hopefully, it is. Mitch Brouillard, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
BROUILLARD: Thank you.
CHETRY: Still ahead, we're going to be speaking again with Roxana Saberi. She is Iranian-American journalist who was held at Evin prison for more than 100 days and finally freed. She tells more of her harrowing story still ahead. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes now before the top of the hour. And this morning, we're bringing you the story of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi. She was arrested in Tehran last January and held in Iran's notorious prison, Evin. Her sentence, eight years for espionage.
CHETRY: And Saberi said the charges were fabricated. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, you heard Saberi talked about how she was forced into giving a confession, one that she would end up recanting in prison. And that's where we pick things up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROXANA SABERI, IRANIAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST: Well, instead of making a wish -- I'm going to ask a question and my cell mate said OK. And I said, should I tell the truth? And in my mind should I recant my confession while I'm still in prison, that could jeopardize my freedom because my captors had said you'd be free if you make this confession or should I wait until you're free.
And she opened the Koran and said that it said, yes, do it, even if you may suffer in the end, you will prevail.
CHETRY: But you took those words to heart and you did listen. And so tell me how you went about recanting your confession and the type of pressure you're under in doing that?
SABERI: A lot of people don't recant or they recant once they are freed or they don't recant at all because they are scared of the repercussions. And I don't blame them at all. But this was just a decision that I wanted to make to know that -- to prove to myself that I was no longer afraid, no longer afraid of my captors, no longer afraid of death, no longer afraid of man.
CHETRY: You also were put on trial basically, convicted on espionage charges and you were sentenced to eight years in prison. You said though in your book, that you thanked god when you heard eight years as opposed to one or two.
SABERI: Yes.
CHETRY: Why?
SABERI: I thought eight years, this can be a good thing because if I had only gotten one or two years, there wouldn't be as much as an international outcry about it. And indeed there was an outcry and the whole trial was a sham any way and it proved to me that I would not expect justice. I could not expect justice in that system. So I became more determined and I went on a hunger strike at that point.
CHETRY: And what was that like? SABERI: You know, when you're so defiant and you believe in something strong enough, like you don't feel the pain when you're determined to do it. This was my only instrument, the only thing that I could control in prison other than my attitude was my body. And it was the only tool I believed I had to put pressure on authorities to give me justice and release me.
CHETRY: What was the moment like when you were free and finally got to see your family again and you knew, I'm safe now?
SABERI: I had told myself at one point in prison that I'm not going to cry any more until the day I'm free. And so when I left those prison gates and the prison disappeared behind me, I finally wept. But I realized that my tears were not just tears of joy, they were also tears of sorrow. Joys at my freedom but sorrow for those prisoners I was leaving behind. That is a large reason that I wrote the book.
CHETRY: That's the interesting thing and you point out in your book as well. 70 percent of the Iranian population under the age of 30, correct?
SABERI: Yes.
CHETRY: We saw the student protests. We saw the young people assembled and these other green revolutionist, saw it on twitter and all of these pictures and all of these information. And then it seemed like the door was slammed shut on that. We don't know what happened after that. I mean, life clearly didn't return to normal. Did anything change in Iran?
SABERI: I think that the country could never go back to the way it was before the June elections last year. There's been a growing gap between the regime and a large part of society and we've also seen a lot of divisions within the regime itself.
Right now, a lot of people are scared. They've been scared into silence.
CHETRY: Do you fear now that the long arm of Iran's authorities can reach you here in America?
SABERI: Sometimes I think about it. I don't like to use the word fear, but because I -- I tried to overcome, you know, fear of death in prison. But, sometimes, yes.
And, for example, I'll walk down the street and look over my shoulder, or if I'm talking to somebody, I meet somebody new, sometimes, I wonder, could this person be an informant for the regime? It's a horrible feeling and I know that other political prisoners, many of them had felt the same way.
But I don't know if I'm much of a priority for the regime right now. I think they have their hands full.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY: She's a very brave young woman, very poised.
ROBERTS: Yes. It's interesting that even here in America she's worried about that. And -- and let's also forget (ph) too, in the notorious prison, when she was out there, still three other Americans, the hikers --
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: -- who don't know what their fate is going to be, charged with the -- an offense that could bring the death penalty. So she -- she illuminates a lot of what they must be going through now.
CHETRY: Right, and she talks about the importance of this international pressure, about all of the people fighting for her and not letting her story, you know, recede, and that's sort of what the hikers' families are trying to do right now as well.
The other interesting thing about the hunger strike, she went down to 99 pounds until hey finally forced an I.V., and she said it was a phone call from her mother, her mother said, you better start eating again or I'm going to go on a hunger strike. And so she stopped.
ROBERTS: Yes.
Oh, great read. Interesting read, her book.
We've got 47 minutes after the hour. A lot of comments coming into our live blog this morning about a number of different topics, most of them about bullying.
Let's take a look at a couple them. A.J. writes, quote, "I'm sorry that this has happened, but I don't believe that anyone can bully a person to death. No one can make anyone do anything.
She must have had poor self confidence to do what she did. That's not the bully's fault. Not everyone will like you. That's life. You just have to move on."
CHETRY: All right. Well, here's another comment from C.J., the parents -- "What about the -- the parents of these bullies? Why aren't the parents being held accountable for raising bullies?"
It goes on to say that, the Feds should initiate a civil right investigation and send those scumbags to prison for life. They may not have had the rope, but as much as they pushed her off the chair.
ROBERTS: Yes. And here's another person who echoes similar sentiments. Curchel Smoot writes, "I think the bullies should be punished but not by jail. The real criminals are all the adults that witnessed the bullying and allowed it to happen.
If kids are allowed to bully other kids without fear of punishment, they will bully. Fact of life." CHETRY: All right. Well, you can join the conversation as well. We'd like your comments. We'd like to hear them and we'd certainly like to get them out there on the air. So please, join the conversation, cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Record rainfall, a life threatening flood situation in the northeast. Jacqui Jeras is tracking what's left of this massive storm, coming up next. We're also tracking the flooding and you can see, it's still raining there in parts of Maine.
Forty-eight minutes now after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, New York City, where it's cloudy right now, 46 degrees. Later on today, it's going up to a high of 58, and, yes, the showers are going to return so you will need your umbrella, ella, ella.
Jacqui Jeras tracking what's left of the storm as it slowly makes its way out of here. Can't move fast enough. And she's in the Weather Center.
When is this thing going to be out of here, Jacqui, and -- and how long can we expect to get some good weather?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's pulling out today, and sorry about the laughing on a serious subject, but, you know, John Roberts singing Rihanna. Just saying.
Anyway, the storm system has weakened a lot here, guys, and we're just looking at some spotty showers today, you know, maybe a 30 percent chance across most of the northeast, with the exception of Maine. We'll say 100 percent chance here, and that's where the greatest risk is of potential additional flooding.
So, in the meantime, the weather event is over. Drier weather begins tomorrow, and that's going to continue at least into the early part of the weekend, but a lot of cleanup to do.
Check out these pictures that we have out of New York City right now where we've had record rainfall, not just for the day yesterday but also for the entire month of March. And this is Central Park, JFK, and LaGuardia, as well.
This is from Bronxville, when a car -- the driver actually decided to drive around a barricade. Not a good idea. This is the number-one reason why people get killed in floodwaters is because they try to drive through it.
Big warm-up on the way with those conditions out east. We're going to see some delays at the airports still because of the clouds, but things look a lot better tomorrow. Enjoy the warm weather. We're talking 70s for the northeast. Tomorrow, not today.
CHETRY: Got to hold tight. ROBERTS: And there's a reason why authorities put those barricades there. It's the --
JERAS: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Don't go here.
JERAS: Exactly. You never know how deep it is. You never know if the road's washed out (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: No, I know, but -- and what did you say? Six inches is all it takes, right, to -- to wash a car away.
JERAS: Six inches should knock you down, but probably more like 12 for a car.
CHETRY: Well, just don't chance it anyway. It's crazy out there.
JERAS: Right.
JERAS: All right. Thanks, Jacqui.
Well, this morning's top stories just minutes away, including, five minutes past the hour, President Obama taking another political risk. He's expected to open up major areas of the Atlantic and Alaskan coasts to oil drilling. What that could mean for the economy and the climate bill.
ROBERTS: At the bottom of the hour, is extreme becoming mainstream? A Christian militia now accused of plotting to oppose the government by force. Is right-wing rage fanning the flames?
CHETRY: And at 50 minutes past the hour, will health care reform help you? Hundreds of you are writing in, asking what does it mean for me? What if I have kids and can't wait?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to answer your questions.
Those stories and much more coming up at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-six minutes past the hour. Time for your "A.M. House Call", stories about your health, and this morning we're talking about the best way to treat your achy knees. It could be making some lifestyle changes.
A recent study found that those who did acupuncture, who started exercising or took natural medicine within six months noticed immediate improvement in mobility and also had less pain.
ROBERTS: Well, bring on the chocolate Easter bunnies. German researches found that small amounts of dark chocolate every day cuts your risk of heart attack and stroke by, get this, almost 40 percent. Experts believe the flavonoids in chocolate help blood vessels widen, which leads to a drop in blood pressure. But go easy on the chocolate, though, because weight gain from eating too much of it will increase the chances of both.
So, everything in moderation.
CHETRY: There you go.
Well, it's something that most drivers take for granted that you're able to sometimes, you know, go five, 10 miles over the speed limit and not be stopped. But "USA Today" is reporting that in many places the so-called speeding cushion is gone. The reason, cities and states of course need to issue more tickets because they're broke.
ROBERTS: We're back with your top stories this morning right after the break. Stay with us.
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