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American Morning
Northeast Flooding Continues; South Hadley School Criticized Its Handling of Bullying Incidents; Panel Clears Scientist on Global Warming Data; Challenging the Health Care Reform; Pythons in the Everglades; Higher Soda Tax, Slimmer Kids?
Aired April 01, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Beware of the prankster today, for it is Thursday, the 1st of April, 2010. Thanks for joining us on the most news in the morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. And here are the big stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
Scenes of utter devastation across the northeast, entire communities underwater, and authorities and town officials only now getting a handle on how widespread the damage really is in many of these areas. They're also watching one bridge in particular on the Pawtuxet River in Rhode Island. If it collapses things could get even worse.
We're live on the ground just ahead.
ROBERTS: A principal under fire, parents demanding to know why he didn't do something about student bullying that allegedly 15-year- old Phoebe Prince to take her life. Our Alina Cho tracks him down and asks the tough questions. Her live report is just ahead.
CHETRY: And new developments in the case of the scientists whose stack of emails had some critics suggesting that global warming was cooked up by climate researchers. Were the facts really distorted? We'll tell what you investigators found straight ahead.
And of course, the "A.M. Fix" blog is up and running. Join the conversation now, CNN.com/am fix. We'll be reading some of your comments throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: We begin, though, this morning in the northeast with flooding that can only be described by one word -- catastrophic. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes because of scenes like this. These areas from Warwick, Rhode Island, homes, cars completely underwater. Part of interstate 95 closed in both directions.
CHETRY: Also, from one of our iReporters, in Old Mystic, Connecticut, roads resembling a raging river, and the water is approaching the front door of these homes. Across the region, there were still tens of thousands without power this morning.
ROBERTS: And another iReporter caught these pictures -- motorists stranded and people left stumbling through knee-deep water.
CHETRY: And flooding is so bad that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be touring the devastation tomorrow. Right now authorities are closely monitoring a bridge in Rhode Island that could fall in the Pawtuxet River and damage several dams downstream, sending more water into a river already ten feet above its normal level.
For more, we bring in our Reynolds Wolf. He's nearby in Warwick, Rhode Island. He also had a chance to talk to the mayor there who said they'll be assessing structures later on today. They said they don't know how sound they are at this point.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. I can tell you from where I'm standing right now, the water's actually pretty strong here. When you have the water pressing against these buildings, these structures behind me, these buildings certainly not designed to handle that force.
Speaking of the water, it's hard to believe just 72 hours ago, we had a few puddles in this area, and now it's coming in into just a river. This is actually Shaw Plaza you see behind me. On any other morning, people might be coming out here picking up a few odds and ends before heading to work or maybe getting last-minute things before breakfast, but today, it's floodwaters.
This is a scene that's been playing out all across the region, not just here in Rhode Island, but many other states in New England. And it is amazing to see just how it's affecting not only the business, but the people.
And yesterday, we followed one man, a few miles from this spot, in Cranston, Rhode Island, and we followed his struggle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Rhode Islander Eddie Flynn has called this place home for the past ten years, but he's never seen anything like this. Early Tuesday morning, the waters of the flooding Pawtuxet River paid him a visit.
EDDIE FLYNN, CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND EVACUEE: About 7:00 yesterday morning is when I spotted it, and I seen all the water. I said we're in trouble.
WOLF: And 24 hours later, his basement was submerged. And with waters rising higher, the rescue boats at the Cranston fire department came calling. With only minutes to spare, Ed grabbed what mattered most, his girlfriend and two puppies, and was towed to dry hand. His loss -- overwhelming.
FLYNN: That's when I lost everything. Once they shut the pumps off. My furnace is underwater, hot water -- everything.
WOLF: Flynn is not alone in his grief. There are thousands of similar stories all across the region. Some of the rescuers say the scope of the damage is mind-boggling. WOLF (on camera): Have you ever seen anything like this before?
LT. GARY MEINERTZ, CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND FIRE DEPARTMENT: Nothing like this in my time on the job. No. This is historical.
WOLF (voice-over): But the floodwaters will recede. And when they do, the cleanup will begin. For Flynn, who has no flood insurance, bigger battles lie ahead. But still, he says he's going nowhere.
FLYNN: I'm not leaving. I'm the captain. That's my ship. I'm not leaving it. So that's my story and I'm sticking by it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Well, next step is -- how do you recover from something like this? Well, first and foremost, you need a stretch of good weather. And thankfully for this region, it appears that's what's coming up next. We're going to have a very nice day today and all the way through the weekend, very dry conditions which is actually the perfect remedy for many things that ail people.
But for people like Ed, it's going to be a long haul, no question about it. Thankfully he has some relatives in the area. His daughter lives a few blocks up the street, so he'll have a place to go as he tries to put things back together.
That's the latest we have from this area, again, just inundated by the floodwaters.
CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf, thank you.
ROBERTS: A high school principal under fire and finally speaking out, defending his school's actions after a 15 year old student was allegedly bullied to death. Nine students from South Hadley High School in Massachusetts are facing criminal charges, accused of driving Phoebe Prince to commit suicide in January.
And for the first time since those students were indicted, we're hearing from the man at the center of the firestorm. Alina Cho tracked him down, and she joins us live from South Hadley, Massachusetts. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, good morning to you. Ever since we started working the story on the ground here in South Hadley, Massachusetts, we've been calling the principle, we've been calling the superintendent, and nobody has been calling us back. But for a few statements on paper, there's essentially been no comment.
So yesterday afternoon, I decided to walk across the street to the school, ring the buzzer, and frankly, I was shocked that the principal himself answered the door.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: This is the press release that some are calling a slap in the face. In the wake of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince's suicide and immediately following the indictment of nine classmates who allegedly bullied her, South Hadley public schools announced "We have taken disciplinary action with an additional group of students and they have been removed from the high school."
It looks like a proactive move on the school's part. But guess what -- the students they're talking about are not the nine students who have been charged in Prince's death. That's because the school hasn't taken any disciplinary action against them.
So is the school now trying to look like it's on top of the problem that some say it completely missed? Keeping them honest, we went to the school looking for answers.
CHO (on camera): Hi there, sir. My name is Alina Cho. I'm with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. We are not allowing any media on the property.
CHO: OK. You're the principal, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the principal.
CHO (voice-over): The same principal who many say has been avoiding questions about what happened inside of his school, why multiple faculty members allegedly witnessed Prince being bullied and did nothing to stop it.
This is his first television interview since the indictments against the nine teens were handed down. We asked him about the anti- bullying task force created following Prince's death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are working through and revising our procedures and policies and so forth, yes.
CHO (on camera): And are you encouraged by the results so far? Do parents seem to be encouraged by the results?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far, I think we are. I mean, we're working on that.
CHO (voice-over): Even though the district attorney called the inaction by school administrators "troublesome." Failure to act in the Prince case did not amount to criminal behavior.
Susan Smith, whose son Nick was a close friend of Phoebe Prince, says parents have been complaining for years about bullying by students, and that the district didn't listen. Now, it needs a fresh start.
SUSAN SMITH, SOUTH HADLEY HIGH SCHOOL PARENT: We have been saying from early on that the administration needs to resign. It's despicable.
CHO: The school district says it is conducting its own investigation, plans to meet with the district attorney, and will take discipline area action based on any new evidence.
Back at South Hadley high school --
CHO (on camera): But what do you say to all of the parents who are outraged and who are calling for your resignation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, I'm not going to talk any further.
CHO: Will you resign when your contract is up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no comment at this point.
CHO: And your contract is up in May, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no comment.
CHO: I hope you understand, we just --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I need to, I'll call the police, because there's media on the property.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: The superintendent, who also has been heavily criticized, spoke to "The Boston Globe" said school officials had no idea about the bullying against Phoebe Prince until a week before she killed herself.
Meanwhile, it appears that none of the nine students charged in this case have been expelled. In fact, the assistant D.A. says three of the nine are still officially enrolled at South Hadley high school, though it appears that some or all of them may have left voluntarily, John. Some parents say that these students don't want to come to class because, ironically, they were scare evidence being harassed themselves. John?
ROBERTS: Alina Cho for us this morning. Alina, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Ten minutes past the hour. Also new this morning -- taking down a militia from the inside out. Prosecutors say an undercover agent infiltrated the right-wing Hutaree militia before nine of its alleged members were arrest and even helped them build explosives.
The militia is accused of a plot of trying to kill a police officer and then spark a war with the government by launching an attack at a funeral.
ROBERTS: A conservative leader is telling donors to stop giving to the Republican National Committee. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, made the plea after we found out that the Republican Party picked up a $2,000 tab at a Hollywood strip club. We're going to be talking with Tony in the next few minutes.
CHETRY: L.L. Cool J. versus Sarah Palin? Fox has pulled a segment that featured the rapper that was supposed to air on Palin's new show after he went off on Twitter about it. He says FOX used a two-year-old footage of an interview to air the piece.
Fox said L.L. knew the interview was going to be used at a later date, he just didn't know Palin would be hosting.
ROBERTS: A partnership in the sky. American Airlines and JetBlue say they are joining forces to offer passengers more connecting flights in and out of New York City and Boston. The deal will give American more stops within the country and stretch JetBlue overseas.
CHETRY: Fire and ice -- stunning video coming from Iceland of a volcano that erupted for the first time in 200 years. You see the blasting steam and ash a mile high, and the force so powerful that lava burst through the earth, forming new craters. Scientists say none of it should be a threat to any people.
ROBERTS: A rather strange beginning to the Yankees-Twins spring training came. Lead-off man Denard Span, the first batter, slices a foul ball in the stands. Immediately, he starts running to the seats. Why? Mom, mom! He managed to drive the foul ball into his mom's shoulder.
Paramedics checked her out. She was OK, a real trooper there getting a hand from the crowd as she gets up.
CHETRY: On the bright side, he's got great aim. He can pick out his own mom from the crowd.
ROBERTS: He did the Babe Ruth thing.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Well, there are new developments in the climate- gate controversy. Coming up at 7:13 eastern time, did the scientist whose emails created a firestorm or the case for global warming twist and manipulate data? We'll tell what you investigators have just determined.
ROBERTS: And want the six-figure income but don't have a four- year degree? Don't sweat it. Our Christine Romans will tell you where you can find a high-paying job.
CHETRY: And a new study says the so-called soda tax isn't doing any good. We're going to talk to Dr. Gupta about whether taxing sweets is the right approach to tackling obesity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Got some new developments to tell you about this morning, involving a scientist who is accused of cooking the books to make his case for climate change. You'll remember Phil Jones' e-mails were leaked last year, giving global warming skeptics a whole slew of ammunition. Our Mary Snow has been following the story because there is a decision in the investigation. She's here with us this morning. Good morning.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. John and Kiran, you remember that critics saw these e-mails as a smoking gun. This investigation focused on Phil Jones, a scientist at the University of East Anglia. In November, he was thrust into the middle of controversy when his e-mails to other scientists about climate change were hacked and posted on the Internet.
Critics seized on them, claiming those e-mails showed scientists were trying to exaggerate the threat of global warming. Well, now, a parliamentary committee in the UK that has been investigating, it's now cleared Jones of hiding or manipulating data. The panel concluded we have found no reason in this unfortunate episode to challenge the scientific consensus that global warming is happening and that it is induced by human activity.
However, the report did criticize Jones for not complying with requests from climate change skeptics for data. The panel said while it could sympathize with him, in his frustration for complying with requests that he viewed as a way to undermine his work, it emphasized that climate scientists must be more transparent and publish all their broad data.
It also says that the University of East Anglia should make sure that this happens. We reached out to the university. It provided a statement on the report saying we are pleased that it has dispelled and rejected many of the myths that have arisen over the matter, while accepting we have been taken to task on a number of issues which we are determined to address. And it, too, has its own investigation and review of that.
ROBERTS: Did it address those e-mails, specifically where it appeared that -- climate skeptics made the case because the words hide the decline were used in one of the e-mails. Did it address that specifically?
SNOW: It did and also, if you remember the word trick was also a phrase that was used in this one e-mail that had been sent by Phil Jones that had generated so much controversy. To that point, this panel has determined these were colloquial terms.
For instance, in the word trick it finds it was a way of -- a neat way, so to speak of handling the data. For hide the decline it say that this was really shorthand for meaning that discarding data knowing to be erroneous and it did emphasize that his published papers refute allegations that he was part of the wider conspiracy to hide this.
ROBERTS: Some of his colleagues like Michael Mann (ph) who's in --
SNOW: Penn State.
ROBERTS: Penn State, talking to him last night saying that he knew that he was going to be exonerated, didn't think that he ever manipulated the data. But Mann was also semi-critical of him, couldn't really stand behind him on this idea of trying to keep that data away from prying eyes. People have filed these freedom of information requests.
SNOW: I've spoken to a number of scientists who really criticized the way Phil Jones handled that e-mail. They said it was unfortunate, but they were very critical of him. By the way, Penn State is also conducting its investigation. It's expected to have findings in May.
ROBERTS: Terrific, Mary Snow for us this morning, Mary thanks.
CHETRY: Eighteen minutes after the hour. Christine Romans is along "Minding Your Business" in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. It's now 22 minutes past the hour. Right now, Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" and listen up and maybe grab a pen because she's showing us jobs where you can makes six figures and you don't necessarily have to have a college degree.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is the biggest, most dynamic jobs market in the world, right and there are a lot of different kind of jobs out there and as we're starting to talk about being on the cusp of job creation, there's really important information for about your job and the jobs that you want to get.
First of all, I want to be very clear Kiran and John, the Census Department, these numbers don't lie. If you have a college degree, on average, you're going to make about $1 million more over the course of your lifetime than somebody who doesn't graduate from high school.
Look at the differences here. No high school degree, this is median income. That means half the people make more than this in this country, half make less than $23,000 if you don't graduate from high school. This is only high school, 33 grand. Take a look at a bachelors degree. $53. For an advanced degree it jumps to $68,000.
That being said, there are some places where you can make some serious money in the trades. I want to show you service and trade jobs. Construction superintendent, median pay is $77,000, super market store manager, police manager of detectives, hotel executive chef, court reporter, master plumber. That's what that says if I did that right, master plumber, $56.700.
Walk over here with me. I want to show you what happens when you look at the top 10 percent. There are people in those fields who make this amount of money, the top 10 percent, $116,000 for a construction superintendent. This is mostly a lot of on-the-job training for these kind of jobs and also some other specialty extended education.
That's another very key thing here especially about medical jobs. Some of these require an associate's degree. Some of them require certification in continuing education but no four-year degree and the huge bills that go with that. For a radiation therapist, senior charge nurse, ICU registered nurse. We talk about this all the time. There are so many jobs in health care. Be very careful where you pick. Look at the top pay for those, you guys. Wow.
CHETRY: Are you talking overtime, or that's just salary?
ROMANS: This is median wages so that includes in some cases, median wages, that would be total compensation. These are from payscale.com. So this is including overtime, these numbers are.
CHETRY: Not bad, though.
ROMANS: Yeah, more than double what most people are getting, $32,000, I think for median salary in this country right now. Think about where you are on this list. Some of these are good ladder jobs too. It means you get a foot in. Pay scale is very clear about this, Kiran and John. Even if something has a very low starting salary, look at what kind of the ladder it can give you to move up to maybe even own your own business one day, especially in the trades.
ROBERTS: I'm always an advocate of education, post-graduate education as well. But you've got to take note, Christine, that some of the richest people in the world didn't even complete high school, let alone go on to college.
ROMANS: That's absolutely right, John.
ROBERTS: A good option for (INAUDIBLE) Christine Romans this morning, "Minding Your Business." Stay in school, by the way.
One woman, one dog, one mission. Meet the only female dog handler on duty in Afghanistan helping to take down the enemy. Chris Lawrence reports coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Your favorite color. That's more fuchsia than pink, 47 minutes after the hour.
Welcome back to "The Most News in the Morning." Your top stories, about three minutes away now, but first, an "AM" original, something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING. For the Marines in Afghanistan, they can make the difference between life and death. They are the dogs of war, the real dogs of war and their handlers.
CHETRY: And this morning, we want to introduce you to the only female handler in all of Afghanistan. Our Chris Lawrence is live in Helmand province, we know a very dangerous area. And Chris, these two, the dog and the female trainer, have saved countless lives. It's amazing. CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kiran and John, in fact just a few days ago, they were able to detect some residue on a man's hand and that man was subsequently detained by the unit. In fact a lot of the Marines I've spoken to said they trust the dogs even more than mind sweepers or metal detectors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): One Marine and her dog on the hunt for IEDs. It's the only partnership like it in all of Afghanistan.
CPL. ASHLEY ENTRIKIN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Fourteen dogs who came out here and I'm the only female.
LAWRENCE: Corporal Ashley Entrikin is the only female dog handler in country. Hugo is her Dutch shepherd. He can bring down an enemy and detect up to 17 scents, explosives, detonation cord and fertilizer used to make IEDs. The only thing we can't show you is how Hugo trains, the specific things he does and looks for as he searches for IEDs. But he allows Marines to keep a safe distance from, say, a suspicious car.
ENTRIKIN: We can send a dog in there without anybody being close to the vehicle and you're not risking harm (INAUDIBLE) . The dog is going to indicate to me whether there's anything in the vehicle or not.
LAWRENCE: Hugo is OK, it's Entrikin who has to live on a remote base with tough infantry Marines deployed deep in Taliban territory.
ENTRIKIN: Honestly, you just have to prove yourself. You have to prove that you can hang in there.
LAWRENCE: Sometimes, that means marching all day with fellow Marines, hauling 70 pounds of gear in sweltering heat.
ENTRIKIN: The first couple of really long hikes that we went on. They don't expect to you stay in them. Once you stay in the first couple of two -- you know, it's not that hard. We condition ourselves along with our dogs. So I'm used to wearing this gear in training back in the states.
LAWRENCE: And Hugo doesn't get off any easier.
ENTRIKIN: Before we came out here, I would take him on runs -- I would take him out in southern California in the hottest part of the day and take him on a run.
LAWRENCE: Just like Marines, he's got to be conditioned for long, hot days.
ENTRIKIN: It's definitely not your average house dog that we're bring out here.
LAWRENCE: And not your average handler. ENTRIKIN: I've been places with other females. They kind of fall into the background, they're scared to step up and say this is my job. This is what I'm here for. So it takes somebody willing to stand on their own two feet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yes, and she obviously does. Right now, there are fewer than 100 dogs total working. But there's expected, that could double by the summer because of the troop surge and the need for them. The big concern is trying to get enough of a fortified dog food out to supply. As you start to add numbers. It's available in the States.
But the hard part is you got to fly it to Pakistan, then you got to get it to Kandahar and then you got to get it to flights our to these very remote bases. So just like it's hard to supply troops in some of these remote outposts, it can be very hard to supply the dogs as well. John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Well, logistical problems that we would never even think off. Chris Lawrence this morning. Chris, thanks so much.
CHETRY: They're doing amazing work out there.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, it's 30 minutes past the hour right now. We're going to take a look at our top stories. And it could be days before all the flood waters finally recede across the northeast. Tens of thousands of people are without power. And in some places in Rhode Island, are still not able to use water either. Schools are shut down and hundreds of people have been evacuated.
Homeland Security Department official is saying that Secretary Janet Napolitano will head to Rhode Island tomorrow to assess the damage first hand. The flooding there, the worst they've seen in 200 years.
ROBERTS: The suspect in the Ft. Hood shooting massacre is reportedly being moved from the hospital to jail. Major Nidal Hassan's lawyer tells the "Associated Press" that doctors gave him his discharge physical last night.
CHETRY: And stunning new details about an extreme right wing militia that was busted this past weekend. We already know that Hutaree members spoke a made up language. Well now, prosecutors say they also want to carve out a piece of Michigan to form their own country. Eight alleged members of the group pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of plotting attacks on police officers.
ROBERTS: Well, the ink on the new health care law is barely dry, but already Republican attorneys general in 15 states are challenging the legislation. Their chief legal claim, the so-called individual mandate that requires everyone to buy health care or face fines. They say it's unconstitutional. Well, is it? Joining us this morning to discuss the potential impact of this multi-stated lawsuit, Jonathan Turley. He's in Raleigh, North Carolina this morning. He's a law professor in George Washington University in D.C. and he's written extensively about constitutional law. Jonathan, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much for being with us.
JONATHAN TURLEY, LAW PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Hi, John.
ROBERTS: So you said in a column that was published in "USA Today" that this individual mandate is potentially the biggest challenge to states' rights in the history of this nation. How so?
TURLEY: Well, I think this is really a watershed moment for people that believe in states' rights. States rights have been under attack for decades. It's often used to serve a chief throw away political line. But this is real. I think this case could be the death now for what we've always understood to be states' rights. If the Congress prevails in this type of assertion of federal authority, it's hard to see principled limitation in future cases.
ROBERTS: All right. Let's get to that in a second. But the way that you put it in your column was very interesting and is easy to understand. You said under the new health care legislation, this essentially puts an 18-year-old who doesn't have health insurance in the same league as a company that's polluting. How?
TURLEY: Well, usually, federal jurisdiction is exercised by saying that something, a factory or something in a state, is having an interstate impact. Now, it's true that the courts have read interstate commerce to be a very broad sense. But it's usually for things like polluting factories. This is different. This is saying that an uninsured individual represents a federal problem and that Congress can impose limitations on them. We've never seen an assertion of jurisdiction quite like that.
And if Congress prevails here, this could be sort of the Alamo for state's rights advocates. They could end up, necessarily, this is their final battle. And if they lose it, it could really be a problem in terms of states' rights claims in the future.
ROBERTS: Here's the way you put it in the column suggesting that it could be a slippery slope to more restrictions. You said there are more mandates, at least you say "If a citizen who fails to get health insurance is an interstate problem, it is difficult to see the limiting principle as Congress seeks to impose other requirements on citizens."
You say that the ultimate question might not be, as you alluded to there, how Congress can prevail, but how much of states' rights will be left if it does prevail just on the health care bill?
TURLEY: Yes, I love having you read my columns, by the way. We should do this more often, John. But the real problem is, I think people are being very dismissive about these lawsuits. And the point of this column is that there is a need to be fair here. I think the states' rights advocates have a legitimate concern.
If Congress can assert this type of jurisdiction, if it can claim this falls into interstate commerce, it's not clear what would be left. And Congress in the future would impose all types of regulations dealing with family or education, or other issues that they believe have federal impact. That's a really sweeping issue.
I also think that people are deluding themselves when they say that this is a slam dunk for Congress. There's no question Congress has the advantage of this litigation but I can name four justices that I think would be very sympathetic to the arguments being made by the states in these cases.
ROBERTS: Right. So you think that the challenge that has been launched by 15 states is on pretty sound legal ground?
TURLEY: I think this is a compelling argument. It's not necessarily one that's going to prevail because of past cases but I think this is a legitimate argument. And they raise a question that should be of a concern to all citizens on both sides. I think that we have seen the transformation of our government, where the federal government is now the dominant government over the state governments.
That's a different model than what the framers intended. And this could be really the deciding moment for the future of federalism in the country. Now, some people may not regret its passing. But it is a moment that should give us pause. And we should have a civil debate about it.
ROBERTS: All right. Now, to the point, though, of the mandate itself, if, because of these lawsuits, the mandate were to be struck down. And no suggestion that it will be. But you say there is a strong case. Would it strike down the entire health care overhaul? Or only the mandate portion?
Because I think I read in the bill that there was a clause that suggests that if any one part of this bill is found to be unconstitutional, the rest of the bill will stand?
TURLEY: Right. That's a severability clause. And there's been a lot -- I've had a long debate with law professors on my blog as to whether if the individual mandate goes down, the entire law goes down. The individual mandate is really the thumping part of this bill. It's incredibly important to the scheme of the bill. Usually, courts will try to minimize the impact of rulings of unconstitutionality.
So they usually try even without a severability clause to limit the impact. My guess is that other parts of this bill could survive. But I think for people that support this bill, the loss of the individual mandate would be a really horrific event.
Now, they also are looking at a possibility of a preliminary injunction. Many of these cases are likely to ask the court to enjoin the law. Now, that could be a real problem if they got it. Because that injunction could last all the way past midterm elections, potentially. And this would be not be enforced until a very powerful repeal movement to move in. This is a real mix of legal and political issues that could be interesting to watch.
ROBERTS: All right. Jonathan Turley for us this morning. Jonathan, it's always so great to talk to you. You make things so understandable. By the way, if you ever do a book on tape, give me a call.
(LAUGHTER)
TURLEY: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: I'll be happy to do it for you. Thanks.
CHETRY: Well, you know, we talked a lot about how cold it was this past season, this past year in general. There could be an upside. A bright side to all the cold weather, it's because the pythons in the Florida Everglades. A huge problem. Couldn't take it, now, they're gone.
John Zarrella takes a look at why. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A follow- up now to the plight of the Burmese python. Or I guess you could probably say the plight of the people living in the Florida Everglades, trying to deal with the Burmese pythons.
Efforts to control the population of the fast-breeding predators were under way this year until mother nature apparently decided to step in and do the job herself. We get more now from John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They seem to be everywhere. Nearly, every day, a Burmese python sighted somewhere. At a nursery.
LT. LISA WOOD, VENOM RESPONSE TEAM: We managed to pull it out of the weeds and take it into custody.
ZARRELLA: We found one on the side of a heavily traveled road while tagging along with the wildlife biologist, Joe Wazaluski (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, baby!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right over here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here. Look at the size of this one, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can actually hold (INAUDIBLE) like this.
ZARRELLA: The Nature Conservancy taught park rangers, police and utility workers how to catch them. Not easy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not fun.
ZARRELLA: The fear was these invasive species were overrunning the Everglades. They numbered perhaps 100,000 and spreading out. That was last summer. Now, suddenly, the snakes have disappeared. Something changed. A state-sanctioned one-time python hunting season is under way. But no one is catching much of anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like what I always tell everybody, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack when you're looking for these snakes.
ZARRELLA: And the Everglades is one big haystack. Josh (INAUDIBLE) hunts pythons. We've been out with him twice slogging through the glades.
(on camera): Look at this mud we're going through now.
(voice-over): Climbing up rock piles, looking under discarded metal.
(on camera): Nothing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing.
ZARRELLA: So, you think, though, this is a pretty good day to find snakes, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This should be, you know, textbook day. It's nice and sunny.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Apparently, the pythons didn't read the book. We even tried at night.
(on camera): A nice, beautiful little snake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): A native species, not a threat. We also went out twice with Joe Wazaluski (ph), the wildlife biologist, walked miles of prime snake country. Not a single snake in the grass.
(on camera): Just -- oh, my God. Slow, it's a gator. A big gator over here. How long is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he's a good 10 foot.
ZARRELLA: He's a good size. So what happened to all the pythons?
GABRIELLA FERRARO, FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION: We are thrilled that the weather was so cold in south Florida this year that it may have killed 40 percent to 50 percent of those reptiles of concern. ZARRELLA: That may be conservative. The pythons simply couldn't handle the persistent record-cold temperatures. Scientists say the lid nature put on the pythons won't last. A few warm winters, they say, and the snakes will be back. But for now, nature has taken care of the problem humans couldn't get a handle on.
John Zarrella, CNN, in the Florida Everglades.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Well, if you're going to go on a snake hunt for pythons, I know I would rather not come across one, but it is bad that you can't find any pythons there.
CHETRY: There you go. As he said, man couldn't do it. It was mother nature that ended up freezing 40 percent to 50 percent of those poor snakes.
ROBERTS: Amazing. Finally, finally, finally drying out in the northeast. And record-warm temperatures on the way. We're tracking your weather forecast for you. 45 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, New York City, where the cruddy weather that we've had in the last six months, still lingering, wouldn't get out of here just entirely quickly.
It's 49 degrees and pretty cloudy right now, but later on today -- later on today, big change. Lots of sunshine, a high of 68 degrees. It's going to be mid-70s for the weekend. Fantastic.
CHETRY: Yes. It's already getting nicer actually in D.C. than it is up here. But hopefully, it will spread. The sunshine will spread. We need it.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you, one place that could really use the good weather is in Rhode Island and Massachusetts where there's just been all that terrible, terrible flooding.
That's where Reynolds Wolf is this morning, Warwick, Rhode Island, with a look on the situation on the ground and from where you're standing, Reynolds, it does not look too good.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, John, my man, you're right about that. It's -- it's just brutal here. No question about it. One of the reasons why is because the record rainfall that we had back during the month of March and of course just last Tuesday, we had 7.9 inches of rainfall, and that heavy precipitation is basically the thing that caused all of this, the flooding that we have here in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Let's talk about the changing weather patterns that we've -- that you mentioned. Again, it should be a great day in New York. It's going to be a much better day here up and down the Eastern Seaboard, all because of the big "H" you see on the scene, the area of high pressure. The compressing effect is going to have the great calming effect on the atmosphere.
But, when you go back a little bit more to the West, what we're going to be dealing with not only dry conditions where we could see relative humidities in the single digits. We also have a fire danger we could be dealing with in parts of the Central and Southern Plains. Also, look out for the possibility of seeing some severe weather in that region as well.
Now, another big issue that we could be dealing with could be as you're heading out and going, well, to the airport, especially in places like Chicago all your airports, in Denver, same deal. You could see up to one hour or so in terms of delay due to the wind.
Situation is not getting much better in parts of L.A. and even San Francisco, where you have a chance of rain, those scattered showers coming along the coast. This, you have rain continue for some of the smaller airports like San Luis Obispo, maybe even into Sta. Barbara. But then Salt Lake City, snow is a possibility. You could have some stoppages there, 30 minutes to an hour.
Coming up, we're going to give you guys a better view of what's happening here in Warwick and what we can expect for days to come. Let's send it back to you in the studio -- John. (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning. Reynolds, thanks so much.
This morning's top stories are just minutes away now, including bullies accused of driving a girl to kill herself. Hear from the principal who's accused of standing idly by while the abuse took place.
CHETRY: And 10 minutes after the hour, the Conservative leader who doesn't want your money going to a night at a strip club. He's urging Republicans not to give to the RNC. He's going to join us live with more.
ROBERTS: So, with a little candid camera for inspiration, 20 minutes after the hour. If you're going to joke today, please do it in moderation. April Fools' Day tips and more, coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.
CHETRY: Can't wait.
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CHETRY: Fifty-three minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Time for your "A.M. House Call," stories about your health.
And there's a new study saying that the soda tax isn't really doing the job and the solution may actually be to make us pay even more for junk food.
ROBERTS: Well, higher and higher taxes on cigarettes seem to help curb smoking, so why isn't the soda tax working the same way? CNN'S Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta for us this morning. What -- what did this study tell us, Sanjay, about that point?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran actually sort of hit on it a little bit here. It really depends in part how high the tax is, and trying to establish, you know, this relationship between taxation, behavior that's going to change as a result of that, and, most importantly, outcomes.
What we are talking about is -- is a -- is a tax. It's not the a national sort of soda tax, but what a lot of people don't know is that for some time now there've been 21 states around the country that have had an increased sales tax overall on soda, and the 21 states, you can take a look at the map there, get an idea.
New York is on there. Georgia is not, for example, but a lot of states obviously have been dealing with this for some time.
I want to just show you a little bit about how it worked and what people would feel if they went to the store to buy soda. So, for example, you went to the store to buy a 20-ounce soda -- again, these are sugary sodas in particular -- you find about $1.50. if you add in the 4 percent sales tax, it takes up six cents to $1.56.
Now, that may not seem like a lot to you as you read those numbers, and the thing is it didn't seem like a lot to consumers either because they found that it did not change overall spending habits, purchasing habits, nor did it obviously change some of the impact on obesity, and that -- that's what we're talking about here specifically.
Obviously, a lot of strategies to try and address childhood obesity, which remains something that we talk about on this show all the time. But one thing I just wanted to show you real quick, they did also show the average consumption between these third and fifth graders at any given time, and what they found was it ended up being about six 20-ounce bottles in a week.
So however you drink it, maybe a few and a half cans, depending on how you were getting your soda. But if you -- if you tally that all up at the end of the year, close to 75,000 calories, and that's just from those sodas. And that's about 20 pounds additional just from soda in third to fifth graders.
So, again, that's why there's so much emphasis on this particular issue.
CHETRY: And, you know, it is controversial as well because, I mean, technically you can say that there's the same amount of sugar in orange juice and if they drank 20 ounces of orange juice over time, that they would also gain that amount of weight.
GUPTA: Right.
CHETRY: But, I mean, you know, that's a whole other discussion, I guess.
Did they figure out, though, whether or not actually hiking and hiking and hiking the actual tax, that would actually curb the amount that people who use and drink these sugary sodas and drinks?
GUPTA: They did, and it's interesting because it's based on predictions and modeling. But what they really came up with is that it would be close to three times what the tax is now, pretty significant.
Again, if you take a look at the numbers there, so $1.50, roughly, for the bottle. You add the 27 cents, $1.77, you're going to get to a point where they believe behavior is going to change, purchasing is going to go down and it may make an impact.
But Kiran, I think you bring up a really good point. You know, is this ultimately just punishing a certain segment of the population that is already living near the fringe?
Also, you know, there are so many unhealthy foods that are just cheaper. You know, orange juice, you're absolutely right about that, but it's a lot more expensive, which is in part probably why people don't abuse that in terms of drinking too much of it.
We did talk to the Food and Beverage Association, incidentally, about this to see what they -- their response was to the taxes and they may say something that may not be surprising overall, and that is that the fact remains that taxes don't make people healthier, a balanced diet and exercise do. Of course, we know that.
But, you know, again, the sin tax on food or soda, I think in many ways, is different than cigarettes. This is something that people -- this is -- these are food items and probably be -- needed to be treated differently as a result.
ROBERTS: You know, I remember, when I was a kid, the biggest size you could get a Coke in, I think, was a 10 ounce, and there were a lot of six ounces out there, so they've at least doubled the size, too for --
CHETRY: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: You know, what with these --
GUPTA: They doubled the size and they keep the prices around the same --
ROBERTS: Yes.
GUPTA: -- which is how they compete. They're raising the size of it as opposed to lowering the price of it.
CHETRY: Yes, and we've super sized everything. That's a huge part of the problem as well.
Sanjay, good to see you. GUPTA: I actually drank six of these this morning in preparation for the segment.
CHETRY: You do -- April Fools'. I can't see you --
GUPTA: Every April 1st I do that.
CHETRY: I can't see you drinking a soda. I really can't.
Do you know John's going to be the new ambassador to Canada? He got this morning with that.
GUPTA: Oh, it doesn't -- it doesn't surprise me at all.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Doc. We'll see you again soon.
GUPTA: See you next April 1st.
ROBERTS: All right. See you next April 1st. You're right.
It's two minutes to the top of the hour. We're back with your top stories right after the break. Stay with us.
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