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American Morning
Girl Found in Alligator-Infested Swamp; Deadly Quake Rattles China; Wall Street Reform
Aired April 14, 2010 - 05:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING on this Wednesday. It's April 14th.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Acosta, in for John Roberts this morning.
CHETRY: One more day until Tax Day.
ACOSTA: Oh my goodness. That's right.
CHETRY: April 14th. Got to get them in.
ACOSTA: If you're this late, you've got problems.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: You can always file for an extension.
ACOSTA: That's right. You better hurry.
Well, we've got a lot to talk about this morning. Some very big stories we'll be talking about in the next 15 minutes.
Against the odds. A young girl lost in that dangerous alligator- infested swamp for days is found alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I've got her. I've got Nadia. I'm in the middle of the swamp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Great story. We'll be talking about that all morning. Police are calling her rescue a miracle. We'll tell you why and get new details on how the young girl is doing this morning.
CHETRY: All right. Well, also, a powerful earthquake and a string of aftershocks rocking China. Emergency crews say that hundreds of people are dead and thousands more injured. This morning, the epicenter is in rural China, the remote and impoverished Qinghai province.
Our John Vause is traveling to the quake zone, and he's going to be joining us live coming up.
ACOSTA: And the president ready to tackle Wall Street reform, meeting at the White House this morning with leaders from both parties. He's pushing a sweeping overhaul of the way we regulate big banks, but it could be a tough sell. That's one big issue that has a Republicans saying, no way.
And, of course, the "AM Fix" blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. We want to hear from you about anything. That means anything in the news, whatever is on your mind.
Just go to CNN.com/amfix. We'll be reading your comments throughout the morning. And Kiran can't wait to hear your comments, in particular.
CHETRY: It's important to me. All right. We'll be hearing the comments from the viewers as well.
Meanwhile, this is just an amazing story this morning --
ACOSTA: It is. Unbelievable.
CHETRY: -- the discovery of a little girl that's really lifting the spirits of an entire community.
Eleven-year-old Nadia Bloom disappeared last Friday in a dense alligator-infested Florida swamp area. For days police searched on the ground and in the air and found nothing, so hopes were starting to fade. There was a lot of dread.
That turned to joy yesterday though when a man who said he was guided by God found the girl alive.
Our David Mattingly is live in the CNN Center in Atlanta with the story of Nadia.
How is she doing this morning, David?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, she's doing surprisingly well considering what she's been through. Everyone in Winter Springs, Florida, that I've talked to say that they are absolutely amazed at how well she is doing and at the circumstances surrounding her rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Her tiny hand waving from the stretcher was Nadia Bloom's way of telling everyone she was OK. It was an amazing end to a three-and-a-half-day search in which the 11-year-old seemed to vanish without a trace until a remarkable 911 call from her rescuer's phone.
NADIA BLOOM, RESCUED IN SWAMP: Hi, this is Nadia. And I'm the girl who got lost.
OPERATOR: OK. Nadia, are you OK? You're not hurt in any way? MATTINGLY: This mildly autistic Nadia was dehydrated, hungry, barefooted, and covered with insect bites.
Volunteer James King says he was calling on his fate when he found her.
JAMES KING, FOUND MISSING GIRL: Speaking scriptures and yelling, "Nadia!" Then I heard, "What?" I said, "That way, right there."
MATTINGLY: It was in one of densest, muddiest part of a swamp near Nadia's central Florida home.
At first, the 911 operator couldn't believe it.
KING: I'm almost right in the middle of the swamp.
OPERATOR: Sir, you're in contact with her?
KING: I'm holding her right now, yes. She's OK. She's got bites all over her. She's got some scratches.
MATTINGLY: Working alone, King was able to do what scores of trained officers, divers and a specially-equipped helicopter could not. After spending four nights in the snake-infested thicket, Nadia told the 911 operator she was doing some praying of her own.
BLOOM: I kept saying over and over to myself that God would probably lead me home.
MATTINGLY: King and Nadia's family once attended the same church. Tuesday night, that church and the community around it celebrated what some are calling a miracle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And there's definitely a need for some celebrating today. Get this, Kiran -- her worst injuries through all of this were the insect bites. She had a couple of scratches, none of them serious.
She needed some i.v. fluids. They started administrating them to her right as they found her.
It took a rescue crew -- after they were able to triangulate her position from the cell phone call, they took about a half hour for the crew to get in there, chopping through all this dense brush and vegetation with machetes. So it just shows how far in to this swamp that she was and how inaccessible it was.
They weren't even close to actually finding her on the grid as they continued that search. This man finding that one path to this one little girl, like so many people are saying, they think that this was really a miracle.
CHETRY: And that's the amazing part. As you said, they had deployed this entire search and rescue machine that sort of goes out there and uses the grid and uses GPS and everything. And this one guy who said he was just guided by God, that's pretty amazing.
MATTINGLY: And it's also amazing when you look at how dense this brush was. The crews thought that there was no way that an 11-year- old would ever go in there. So that was one of the last areas that had not been searched yet.
And at night they had flown over it with helicopters, with infrared devices, but it was so dense, they couldn't pick up her body heat signature. So it took someone going in there alone, just chopping through this brush and being in the right place at the right time to find her.
CHETRY: Amazing. Well, it's nice when we can tell a good story as well.
David Mattingly for us this morning. Thanks so much.
We're also going to be talking to the gentleman who rescued her a little bit later in the show, so we're looking forward to that as well.
ACOSTA: That's great.
And also developing this morning, rescue crews are making the difficult trek into the western Chinese province of Qinghai. A powerful 6.9 earthquake hit the area, followed by a series of strong aftershocks overnight. Homes are destroyed, roads blocked with debris. A top official says at least 400 people are dead and another 8,000 have been injured.
Our John Vause is making his way into the quake zone and joins us on the phone with the latest -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Jim.
We're trying to get to this small town called Jiegu. It's essentially about 20 miles from the epicenter. When we say small, we say small by Chinese standards. About 100,000 people live there.
An official tells us that 85 percent of the buildings there have either been badly damaged or have collapsed. This is a very high, remote part of China.
We're essentially heading up to the foothills of the mountains, about 12,000 feet up. Rescue teams are trying to get there, thousands of extra soldiers are being sent in from surrounding provinces and also from Beijing.
To give you an idea of the area they're heading to, a special medical team which has training and dealing with high altitude is also being dispatched from Beijing. It's also very cold up there, freezing temperatures. They're sending up 5,000 tanks, 50,000 blankets.
We passed a number of military convoys on the road so far. We're also being told that, apart from the earthquake, there's been a series of powerful aftershocks, maybe as many as 18 since the earthquake happened a number of hours ago. Now, also in this area, high winds are hampering rescue efforts -- Jim.
ACOSTA: John Vause venturing into the quake zone in China.
Thanks very much, John. Appreciate that.
And also, new this morning, California Attorney General Jerry Brown is launching an investigation to find out how much a California State University foundation intends to pay Sarah Palin when the former Alaska governor speaks at a campus benefit in June. The state wants to know why documents allegedly detailing Palin's upcoming visit were shredded then thrown away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LELAND YEE (D), SAN FRANCISCO STATE SENATOR: The administration, when we asked them, based on the California Public Records Act, we asked them for documents that related to the Palin visit. They said they didn't have it. And then, yet, a couple of days later, these students found those documents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So there is still no word on what Sarah Palin is getting paid when she speaks in June, but what The Associated Press is reporting is that Palin's contract requires some things. Here they are: bottled water with bendable straws. She'd like that behind the lectern. She'd like to fly first class.
ACOSTA: Who doesn't?
CHETRY: Right. And she also requires, if they are flying her on a private aircraft, she wants it to be a Learjet 60 or larger.
Now, I'm not really familiar -- I'm sure you know.
ACOSTA: These are almost exactly my demands when I have to be --
CHETRY: Right. Except instead of two bendable straws for the water, you would like one bottle of red and one white with two flexible straws --
ACOSTA: That's right.
CHETRY: -- behind the lectern.
ACOSTA: That's right. You're talking about the wine that's on the --
CHETRY: Yes.
ACOSTA: Yes, exactly. That's right. That's right. And this is just scratching the surface when it comes to my --
CHETRY: Exactly. I mean, you've got to page through it, you know?
ACOSTA: That's right.
CHETRY: It takes a long time.
ACOSTA: But speaking of Sarah Palin, you know, she's going to be the headliner at the Tea Party rally that's in Boston today.
CHETRY: That's right.
ACOSTA: This is almost the culmination of the Tea Party Express sweeping the nation. Scott Brown, who was the Tea Party Republican candidate up there in Massachusetts, not making it today, but it's going to be very interesting to watch Sarah Palin. She's very much a Tea Party favorite.
CHETRY: That's right. You're heading there, right? You're going to be --
ACOSTA: I'm not heading to Boston. I'm going to Washington as they come in to D.C. for Tax Day, which is tomorrow, as you mentioned --
CHETRY: Tomorrow.
ACOSTA: -- as you mentioned, at the top of the show. So it should be a lot of fun. And Sarah Palin is very much in demand these days.
CHETRY: She sure is. And it was also interesting, because at the Straw Poll that they conducted at the Republican Leadership Conference, she also was a contender.
ACOSTA: Absolutely, very strong.
CHETRY: She had come in third or fourth for presidential candidate in 2012.
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
CHETRY: So, it is. It's interesting stuff. Then again, if you take a look at where the Republicans were in the last election, Rudy Giuliani was the frontrunner at that time.
ACOSTA: Right. I think it's the bendy straws. I think that's the secret.
CHETRY: There you go.
Well, what do you think about what's going on in any of the stories that we talked about today? They found this missing 11-year- old girl in Florida.
ACOSTA: That's incredible. I love that story.
CHETRY: It really is unbelievable. And a little bit later we're also going to be hearing from the driver in Russia who picked up the little boy whose adoptive mother sent him back saying he was too much trouble to parent. So we're going to be getting your thoughts on that. We're going to hear from him a little bit later as well -- CNN.com/amfix.
ACOSTA: Excellent.
All right. And it is 6:09. Time to get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Still to come on "The Most News in the Morning," Wall Street reform. It's shaping up to be the next big fight for the Obama administration.
ACOSTA: It's going to be big.
CHETRY: Yes, it is.
And our Ed Henry is following all of it for us from the White House. We'll be back.
Eleven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ACOSTA: I sing that to my kids all the time.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly. That's our new mantra as parents.
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
CHETRY: It has to be.
ACOSTA: Words to live by.
Welcome back to "The Most News in the Morning." It is 6:13.
And with health care reform in his back pocket, President Obama begins his big push for Wall Street reform today, Kiran.
CHETRY: That's right. Will it be less controversial than health care? I'm sure it will.
ACOSTA: I doubt it.
CHETRY: Did you say, "I doubt it"?
ACOSTA: I doubt it.
CHETRY: Well, I mean, you know --
ACOSTA: We'll see.
CHETRY: -- it's a good populist message though. Right?
Well, in less than five hours, the president's going to meet with leaders of both parties. And on the table is a 1,300-page bill that would overhaul the way America regulates its big banks. But a top Republican who's attending the meeting already balking.
ACOSTA: Ed Henry is live at the White House this morning.
Ed, we're hearing the B-word from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell as an argument against this legislation.
What's that all about, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I want to clarify, Jim, the B-word is "bailout" in this case.
ACOSTA: Right. Exactly.
HENRY: And what the senator is talking about, he declared yesterday that, basically, he wants his party to oppose this Wall Street reform effort pushed by Senator Chris Dodd on the Hill because he believes it just gives the Federal Reserve too much power, that it's going to institutionalize, sort of, the bailout mentality that we saw a year and a half or so ago.
The White House really flatly rejecting that notion, saying all this reform bill is going to do is set up a systemic risk council so the government can keep a better eye, make sure that some of these big banks don't get out of control. Also set up a new consumer protection agency to look after Main Street, not just Wall Street.
But Senator McConnell clearly, yesterday in his speech, was trying to tap into some of that anger out there about the growth of government and government regulation and also all of these bailouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Never again, never again should taxpayers be expected to bail out Wall Street from its own mistakes. We cannot allow endless taxpayer funded bailouts for big Wall Street banks.
That's why we must not pass the Financial Reform Bill that's about to hit the floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, Democrats point out Senator McConnell recently, with some of his Republican colleagues, had a big fundraiser on Wall Street, trying to raise money, in part by saying he wants to kill this financial reform effort.
Obviously, both parties do a lot of fundraising on Wall Street, but Democrats are eager now to paint the Republicans as not just a party of no, as we've heard before, but basically trying to say they're going to bat for Wall Street, something the White House thinks will be pretty popular for them to sort of paint the (ph) Republicans as the party of Wall Street right now.
The goal for the White House is to try to get this done by the end of the summer so the president can sign this reform effort into law in the fall. That will be the second anniversary of Lehman Brothers and all of those other big bank failures.
It would be very symbolic, obviously, if the president could get that in his pocket in addition to the health care reform bill that you mentioned, Jim.
ACOSTA: Ed Henry live at the White House this morning. Thanks, Ed.
And, Kiran, you know what's interesting is -- is that, you know, here we are, almost heading into two years since the financial collapse on Wall Street and we still don't have regulation, new regulation for -- for those guys down there.
CHETRY: Yes. And a lot of business analysts say the time to get agreement and deals (ph) is when they needed the federal government's money.
ACOSTA: Right. Right.
CHETRY: Not after the fact. But we'll see how it works.
ACOSTA: We'll see.
CHETRY: Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, it's supposed to keep Americans in their homes, bit is the president's plan to try to limit foreclosures working?
We're going to check in yet again on this plan, Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Seventeen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Is this from your play list?
CHETRY: Yes. Well, we're doing the -- you know, they -- the producers were really nice. They said that we can bring our play list. What's on your iPod?
So, yes, this is some of my iPod stuff this morning.
ACOSTA: Awesome. (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: Thank you. Good old Good Charlotte. You know, when you're trying to run up a hill, really, it's motivating.
ACOSTA: Good. I -- I've never heard of them, but --
CHETRY: That's all right.
ACOSTA: -- I'm sure they're good.
CHETRY: Don't worry about it.
Jim's iPod is all Frank Sinatra. I hope you're playing that next week.
ACOSTA: Yes. I'm kind of old school. It's true.
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Stephanie Elam over there, giggling with us as well.
ACOSTA: Save us, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I -- I don't know if I can save you. I just -- I imagined you (ph), like, "Fly Me to the Moon". Like you'd run (ph) and she's over there listening to Good Charlotte.
CHETRY: Yes. Exactly.
ACOSTA: I did it my way.
ELAM: Yes, you sure --
CHETRY: Oh, you sure did.
ELAM: Well --
CHETRY: Well, you've been basically keeping tabs on the Obama administration trying to help more people avoid foreclosure. The last time, it wasn't going so well. They rejiggered it. So what's going on?
ELAM: Yes, and apparently, according to the Congressional Oversight Panel, they're still having some hurdles, so that is not going as well as the Obama administration would have liked to have seen. These numbers coming.
The Congressional Oversight Panel releasing a report today, basically saying that these modifications of the mortgages that we've been hearing so much about, this all started last year, just not helping out as many people. They're saying that they wanted to target 4 million people that would be helped out and they're saying only probably about 1 million will get helped from this.
They're also saying for every 10 foreclosures, only one home is being saved through these programs, and they're saying through February, 168,708 homeowners have gotten long term help as of February and also there's 6 million delinquent people who are out there 60 days behind on their mortgages, and that's also part of the issue out here. But they're also saying that they're just concerned about some of these long term modification plans, what are actually being put out there. They're saying also what's the ultimate cost going to be, what are the goals going to be, and they also think that there are about six or so programs that came out of Treasury to help out people who are going through this foreclosure crisis and they're saying that's added to the confusion because people are so confused about what they need to do.
So, all of this together, they're saying, is going to be a problem. The Treasury expected to report today that 230,000 homeowners have gotten permanent help, but still, that's a small number compared to the millions of people out there who are feeling the pain.
ACOSTA: Yes. That's why it's so tough for this economy to get turned around. I mean, in previous recessions, we didn't have this monster foreclosure problem, which is what we have now.
ELAM: Right, and it change the whole situation. So it's a different discussion that you're having because it's sort of unchartered territory, but everyone is agreeing, the Treasury is agreeing, everyone's agreeing that the mortgage rate is too high, but Treasury saying these programs were never designed to help everyone out there.
ACOSTA: Right.
ELAM: But still, they're trying to help out more people than have been able to be helped.
ACOSTA: Yes. Stephanie Elam, thanks very much.
ELAM: Sure.
ACOSTA: Appreciate it. Good information.
Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, how fish in the Hudson River could mean the end for a controversial nuclear power plant. They've been talking about this for years here in New York.
We'll have to (ph) find out if this is going to plunge New York City in the dark. I doubt that seriously, but -- but --
CHETRY: But you said it anyway.
ACOSTA: But I said it any way.
But, no -- but this is a very big issue at a very critical time.
So we'll have that story coming up in just a few minutes. It's 6:23 after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Gorgeous sunrise shot of New York City this morning, right?
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Love it.
ACOSTA: And I've heard of that song.
CHETRY: Taylor Swift.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: She's a (ph) girl.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Time for an "A.M. Original", something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
A nuclear standoff not far from New York City, but this one's pitting fish against the Indian Point power plant.
ACOSTA: That's right. The state is warning the nuclear facility to clean up its act in the Hudson River or else.
Allan Chernoff is following the story for us this morning. Good morning, Allan.
And there's good reason for the state to be issuing this warning, correct?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This has been an issue for a long time, but the first time we're seeing action by the state.
Fish in the Hudson River are swimming against the nuclear power tide. As a result, the plant that provides electricity making this broadcast possible is facing the threat of a shutdown. It's a most unlikely opponent that is challenging the Indian Point nuclear power plant.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: This a fish story about the short-nosed sturgeon and keeping the lights on in New York City.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Thirty-five miles up the Hudson River from New York stands the Indian Point Nuclear Plant. It provides as much as one-third of the power for New York and its northern suburbs.
JERRY NAPPI, ENTERGY CORPORATION: These plants are vital for New York City and Westchester County.
CHERNOFF: Since Indian Point was first built in the '70s, anti- nuclear activists have tried to shut down the complex.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shut it down.
CHERNOFF: But now, it's the endangered short-nosed sturgeon and Hudson River neighbors like the striped bass that threaten to close Indian Point.
New York State has just determined Indian Point is killing so many fish and their eggs that it's violating the federal Clean Water Act.
ALEX MATTHIESSEN, PRESIDENT, RIVERKEEPER: It's a huge victory. I mean, these fish on -- in the Hudson have taken a beating for decades and decades, and, finally, they are getting their due.
CHERNOFF (on camera): This nuclear plant relies on the water of the Hudson River. Halfway down the riverbed, there are giant pipes sucking in water at the rate of 2.5 billion gallons a day.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): That's how much water the plant requires for its cooling operation.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Each of the nuclear reactors here generate steam that is pushed through these giant tubes. That steam then turns the turbines behind us that generate electricity.
The Hudson River water is needed to eventually cool off the steam back into water so it can be reused in the plant.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The river water, Entergy says, never comes in contact with radio active material.
But there is an environmental cause. As the plant sucks in river water, it also consumes fish, larva and eggs, even with these screens designed to keep fish out.
Environmental impact studies determine the plant kills 1 billion aquatic organisms every year, fish, eggs and larva.
MATTHIESSEN: This is a veritable fish slaughter house.
CHERNOFF: The state says Entergy should build large, billion dollar cooling towers to eliminate the need to suck so much water out of the Hudson. Entergy has refused and says it can install a far less expensive screen system called wedgewire to protect fish.
NAPPI: We feel that we protect fish now. The wedgewire screen system will protect even greater numbers of fish, and certainly even more fish will be protected than if we install cooling towers.
CHERNOFF (on camera): If you have such a great solution, why haven't you already put that in place to protect the fish?
NAPPI: Wedgewire is a technology that's been around at a certain scale. There's recent engineering advances that allowed us to implement wedgewire at a -- at a bigger power plant the size of Indian Point, and the timing is right.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The timing is right because operating licenses for the two reactors here expire in 2013 and 2015.
To get a renewal, Entergy needs a water quality certificate from New York. But the state has just denied the company's certificate application. It's also rejected Entergy's wedge wire screen idea, saying it's "unproven technology."
If the plant loses their operating licenses, parts of New York City could be in the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is, without the two units, we can't keep the lights on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Entergy is appealing New York State's certificate denial. But unless the power company's lawyers prevail, the short- necked sturgeon could force to shut down a nuclear power plant that is so critical to New York City.
ACOSTA: Wow. And -- I mean, this is -- this is going to be an ongoing issue. This is not over.
CHERNOFF: Entergy is very confident that they will prevail. Entergy's lawyers are going to be battling this. And Entergy says this is only one step in the process.
CHETRY: Right.
CHERNOFF: But nonetheless, this type of rejection that the company has already suffered is unprecedented.
CHETRY: So, did they think that they are getting prevailed by either them to agree to the wedge wire that you talked about, or possibly having to build these cooling towers?
CHERNOFF: Well, they don't want to build the cooling towers. They say the cooling towers would take years and years to build, very costly. And they say it also would create tremendous pollution.
So, they say that they are going to prevail and they hope to do it with convincing the state that wedge wire will work.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Allan.
ACOSTA: Allan Chernoff, thank you.
And this is important because nuclear energy is being talked about as this is what we need to do down the road. I mean, even the president had said this.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ACOSTA: So, very important story.
CHETRY: Well, 32 minutes past the hour right now -- time for our top stories.
In Florida, celebrations under way after a girl, 11 years old, missing in a swamp full of snakes and alligators, was found alive days later. Nadia Bloom, who has a mild form of autism, was discovered yesterday about a half mile from her home by a man named James King. He set out to find Bloom alone, claiming that God was leading the way. And he did find her.
Authorities say that the girl was shoeless. She was dehydrated, covered in bug bites, but is otherwise OK. King, by the way, is going to be our guest in the 8:00 hour.
In China, at least 400 people are dead and thousands of others wounded after a powerful 6.9 magnitude quake hit the western province of Qinghai. Aftershocks also continued to rattle this mountainous region overnight, making rescue efforts extremely difficult. Homes have been flattened. Roads are covered with debris.
We'll be getting the very latest. John Vause is on his way to the scene at the top of the hour.
Wall Street reform now is at the top of president's to-do list. He's going to be meeting this morning with leaders from both parties to discuss a 1,300-page bill that would overhaul the way the country regulates banks.
One of the Republicans attending the meeting, though, is already bashing the bill. Senator Mitch McConnell is saying that he cannot back it unless there's a ban on bank bailouts -- Jim.
ACOSTA: Kiran, it is a new state law that could have an impact nationwide. Nebraska lawmakers passed legislation to ban abortions after 20 weeks on the belief that the fetus -- get this -- feels pain by that time.
Joining us to talk about this this morning: from Washington is Patricia Murphy, Capitol Hill bureau chief for Politicsdaily.com. I love that Web site.
And with us in New York, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin -- who we always love.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Thank you, Jeff, for joining us this morning. And this is a very important story because every few years, we see there's another test for Roe versus Wade. It typically happened in the states. This time, it's Nebraska.
Can you walk us through some of the specifics here as to why this is so important?
TOOBIN: Well, this is -- two provisions in this law are very important. The first is that it bans all abortions after 20 weeks. Previously, the point of viability has been the significant dividing point, and that's usually between 22 and 24 weeks. So, this is the earliest that abortions have been banned by a state.
The second provision requires women to get mental health screening before they have an abortion on the theory that they could suffer some sort of psychological damage down the line -- that's a very controversial idea -- if they have an abortion. So, it's the screening process and the 20-week limit.
ACOSTA: And there's also this change that really is potentially going to affect this debate nationally. And that -- for so long, the focus was on the viability of a fetus. Now, it's about whether or not a fetus could feel pain. And I'm just curious, it seems like this conversation really hasn't been had on a national level and Nebraska is forcing it.
TOOBIN: Well, that's right. And the last time the Supreme Court really took up a big abortion case was back in 1993 where Justice Kennedy helped write the opinion that upheld what they call the core of Roe w. Wade. Justice Kennedy said a state could not ban abortions outright, but how much of a restriction and under what justification, that's been up in the air.
And now, we had turn over in the court. The court is more conservative. Justice Kennedy wrote an opinion upholding a late term abortion ban a couple of years ago. So, clearly, the court has moved to the right on abortion. Whether it's moved so far right that they would approve this law, that's what we will be finding out probably in about a year.
ACOSTA: And, Patricia, in Washington -- I mean, this case is falling in our laps right in the midst of a Supreme Court selection process for President Obama. And, obviously, this case is going to be talked about during the confirmation process.
How do you think this is going to affect the next few weeks when it comes to the president's selection for a Supreme Court nominee? We'll also ask Jeff about this. So, what do you think, Patricia?
PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICSDAILY.COM: I think it is going to put the issue of abortion squarely in the middle of that debate. And in terms of who the president chooses, we know that this debate -- this decision will most likely be decided by the Supreme Court. At some point, there absolutely will be a constitutional challenge to it.
And so, for senators looking at who these nominees are going to be, pro-life groups and pro-choice groups are going to go through each and every one of the details and try to define exactly where they could down on an issue like this and that will remind them that the issue of abortion is not settled and that it will be decided by the Supreme Court, and who the president picks will be an essential -- essential -- piece of that.
So, if you look at the passions that were part of the health care debate, I will call that the calm before the storm going into this.
ACOSTA: And, Jeff -- I mean, obviously, as Patricia mentioned, as you mentioned, this is going to be challenged. This is right for a Supreme Court challenge. I mean --
TOOBIN: It is. And there are almost certainly four votes to strike this down and four votes to uphold it. Anthony Kennedy almost certainly will be the swing vote as he so often is. The confusing thing -- the frustrating thing about abortion politics and Supreme Court nominations is that it's all sort of done in code.
ACOSTA: Right.
TOOBIN: The nominees --
ACOSTA: And very little is known when the nominees come forward as to what they feel on this issue.
TOOBIN: If you look at the sort of top nominees, Merrick Garland, Elena Kagan, they have said virtually nothing about abortions --
ACOSTA: Right.
TOOBIN: -- during -- the top possible nominees. They have said virtually nothing about abortion throughout their careers. It's assumed that they are pro-choice in their orientation. And once someone is nominated in the congressional hearings, they almost always say, well, that issue may come before the court, so I can't really comment on it.
ACOSTA: And you always hear the phrase, "settled law."
TOOBIN: Right. John Roberts and Samuel Alito use the question of settled law, but law is settled until it's unsettled. And this Supreme Court in particular has shown no hesitation to overruling precedents. They certainly do earlier this year in the Citizens United case about the First Amendment right of corporations.
ACOSTA: Right.
TOOBIN: So, settled law is a partial answer but it's not a full answer.
ACOSTA: And, Patricia, just to take this to the 2010 campaign, we have very important mid-term election season coming up very shortly. Does this bring the abortion issue back to the forefront? I mean, is this going to be talked about in district after district between Democratic and Republican candidates?
And in many cases Republican candidates who are more conservatives because of the tea party movement that's happening in this country right now? I mean, this is -- this is ripe for the campaign season that's just weeks away.
MURPHY: It absolutely is. And if you look again -- you mentioned the question of what would happen in Republican primaries. There will be a question in every Republican primary debate, what would you do? How would you vote on this? When do you think life begins?
So, this puts the abortion debate squarely in the middle. And we haven't seen a whole lot of culture wars leading up to this.
ACOSTA: Right.
MURPHY: We've had certainly questions about the federal deficit and the tea party movement. The socialist issues haven't really been front and center. This puts it right back front and center.
And, again, if you look at what happened with the health care debate, there will be a question about the rule of the federal government, and health insurance, the abortion issue exploded out of that. So, we are absolutely going to see this and we'll see it in state legislatures. Already, there's been about 800 different bills introduced at state legislatures dealing with abortion.
It will be state legislatures, governor's races, congressional races, absolutely, Senate races. And we look at people in tough Senate races, somebody like Ben Nelson -- this will be part of his debate from now on.
ACOSTA: Ben Nelson, where have I heard that name before? I think he's come up quite a bit in the last six months.
MURPHY: Yes, exactly.
ACOSTA: Patricia Murphy and Jeffrey Toobin -- thanks a lot for breaking this down. We wish we could spend more time on this.
MURPHY: Thank you.
ACOSTA: But we're going to move on here. Thanks a lot guys. Appreciate it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, you faithfully change your passwords like you're supposed to every so often. But has that really worked? Does it make you safer and less likely to be a victim of any type of cyber crime? Well, we're going to talk about that -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ACOSTA: Great song.
CHETRY: Thank you. We were --
ACOSTA: Can we just sit back and just listen to that whole --
CHETRY: We're sharing --
ACOSTA: It's very relaxing.
CHETRY: We're sharing our playlists. What's on your iPod? And so, today, this is some of my stuff. Don't worry. The more upbeat stuff will come a little later.
ACOSTA: Yes. My iPod has a lot of my daughter's music on it. So, there's Miley Cyrus and that's --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Yes, exactly, toddler tunes. I left that off this play list.
But anyway, welcome back.
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is 43 minutes after the hour -- time for "Minding Your Business."
You know, Kiran, I like a good steak. I know you do, too. But a trip to the steak house or even McDonald's is going to cost you more.
Beef prices are rising dramatically after the hard winter failed to fatten up cattle and cash-strapped ranchers were forced to cut herd side in the recession. Experts say higher cost will eventually be passed on to consumers worldwide. Beef production is headed towards its third straight year of decline.
CHETRY: Well, it's supposed to have a layer of computer security, but a Microsoft study says that regular passwords changes actually do little to protect users and, in effect, are a big waste of time. Researchers say that anyone who obtains your password is likely to use it right away rather than wait until you have time to change it. Microsoft estimates that companies worldwide spend about $16 billion a year to have users change passwords.
ACOSTA: OK. And if the iPad was not enough for you, it's only been in the stores for about a few weeks now -- talk is already turning to the next big thing from Apple. Multiple reports online say the tech giant has filed a patent application on a pair of high tech 3-D glasses. That's right, Kiran -- likely to work with its iPads and iPhones and iPods.
This is just a drawing from the patent application. I did not sketch this up this morning. We have to stress -- this thing may end up looking totally different or may never come to pass. And as you'd guess, nobody at Apple is commenting this morning.
CHETRY: Oh, no way. Someone is trouble though if somebody got a hold of those, you know --
ACOSTA: Somebody is dumpster diving behind Apple headquarters --
CHETRY: Yes, I guess. There you go.
Well, you know, it's from high tech to low tech. So, you know, the high tech stuff is the iPad, the dumpster diving, low tech.
ACOSTA: Very low tech.
CHETRY: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Jacqui Jeras is in for Rob this morning. She's going to have the morning's travel forecast for us -- coming up.
ACOSTA: And in 10 minutes, Coco's comeback. Jeanne Moos with reaction of Conan O'Brian's deal to return to TV. A place that's sort of related to us.
CHETRY: That's right. He's part of the family now.
ACOSTA: Part of the family. Welcome to the family, Coco.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: This is right off Jim's iPod this morning.
ACOSTA: Top of the heap, baby.
CHETRY: There you go.
ACOSTA: New York, New York, the city so nice they named it twice. Forty-four degrees right now and clear. Later today, 66 degrees and sunny these --
I'm sorry.
CHETRY: No, go for it. I love it. It makes me want to do the can-can.
ACOSTA: I know. I just want to just built it out, you know, right now. That's what I want to do, but we have to move things along now.
CHETRY: Yes, we do, and it's time to check the weather.
ACOSTA: It is 6:48 right. Time to get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras is in the Extreme Weather Center. There have been plenty of songs written about Atlanta, lots of songs.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there have. I like the New York, New York, though.
ACOSTA: Allison Kraus. I love Allison Kraus' version of Atlanta.
CHETRY: There you go. And next to Nelly, you know, the city put on the map and,, you know, people love to talk about it. There you go.
JERAS: All right. And thanks, by the way, for getting Delilah out of my head. Because I thought it was going to be there all day. Not that I don't love the song, because I do. Anyway, lots of people singing happy songs today, really. Because the weather overall across the country is pretty decent. The nation's midsection is going to have the worst of the weather. And you're seeing this line of showers moving across the Midwest at this hour. They are pretty strong at times across parts of Nebraska as well as in the Kansas. And there you can see that lines that continues to push through that area.
Sean (ph), if you can advance my radar for some reason it's not moving with my clicker today. That would really help me out. We do expect with the daytime heating that we'll see some additional showers and thundershower activity this afternoon as we head into the evening hours. In the meantime, ahead of it, things are very, very nice, and we've got lots of sunshine across the east as we advance and show you the temperatures here. Look at the big contrast, 38 in Rapid City while you're 58 degrees in Sioux Falls.
Clear skies across the northeast mean some chilly conditions to start you out. Look at this fog from Baltimore down towards Washington, D.C. and as well as into Charlotte. We're expecting to have some delays because of that. And you can see our frost advisory for the clear skies, not in the big city that's really in the outline area, but cover up anything that you tried to plant already as temperatures are in the lower to middle 30s this morning, and the big picture we'll show you we're expecting to see mostly clear skies throughout the east, lots of sunshine. Temperatures should stay 5 to 10 degrees above normal for you. And travelers beware cross winds to the northeast as well as those clouds across the mid-Atlantic. Back to you guys -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Sounds good.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: I'm singing the blues.
CHETRY: We're not going to complain, I tell you what, about the sunshine. We're thrilled.
ACOSTA: We'll take it.
CHETRY: Thanks, Jacqui. Your morning top stories just a couple of minutes away including bold new approach to human space fly. President Obama heading to NASA headquarters with billions of dollars and a plan try to put an astronaut on the surface of Mars. We're getting details on all that from our Ed Henry.
ACOSTA: Plus, this is an amazing story, missing for five days a nightmare ends in joy for a family in Florida. How rescuers found one little girl in the dense swamps and brought her to safety. We're live with the latest. It is 51 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back. Time now for the Moos News in the Morning. Tonight, Conan O'Brian is taking his --
CHETRY: Conan the Barbarian.
ACOSTA: Conan! -- is taking his coast to coast comedy tour to Vancouver.
CHETRY: That's right. But Hollywood is still talking about the new gig that's just been announced this fall, TBS. And our Jeanne Moos is checking in on the newest member of the Turner Broadcasting Family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You'd been dancing, too. If you just got a new TV show and started a concert tour. No wonder Conan O'Brian is singing, I will survive.
Actually, the beard is not that long, not as long as the one on this Conan fan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, I've been growing an on strike against television in general beard ever since the peacock gave you the boo.
MOOS: From the NBC Peacock, Conan flew the coop to cable to CNN's sister network, TBS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people are going, oh, what a step down to TBS, but is it -- is it a stepdown?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: TBS, are you kidding me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $10 million to do a cable show. Wow!
MOOS: Conan was acting like a million bucks at his first concert in Eugene, Oregon. One fan shot him bestowing a hug on her. When his 11:00 p.m. TBS show starts in November, Conan will push the "George Lopez Show" back an hour to midnight, but Lopez welcomes the lead-in, Conan will supply.
GEORGE LOPEZ, HOST, "GEORGE LOPEZ TONIGHT": A Latino and a red head. It's worked before. Desi Arnaz (ph) and Lucille Ball. A same- sex Lucy and Ricky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got some explaining to do.
MOOS (on-camera): Now with the big Conan announcement, everyone wondered how Jay Leno would react after all the acrimony.
JAY LENO, HOST: Congratulations to --
MOOS (voice-over): To whom, spit it out, Jay?
LENO: Phil Mickelson. Phil Mickelson won the Masters on Sunday.
MOOS: Jay maintained a Conan of silence.
MOOS (on-camera): And just as Conan announced he's coming back, Leno's sidekick announced he's going away.
KEVIN EUBANKS, ENTERTAINER: I'm going to be leaving "The Tonight Show" after 18 years.
MOOS (voice-over): Goodbye Kevin Eubanks and goodbye to a certain bear known for touching himself. Conan was worried NBC would late (ph) claim to the bear character, so --
CONAN O'BRIAN, HOST: Say hello to a brand-new character that I own in its entirety, the --
MOOS: It's a self-pleasure to meet you as Conan panders to a new audience on basic cable.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got all my life to live. I've got so many songs to give
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Happy he's back, and he's got to lose the beard.
ACOSTA: As long as triumph comes with it. I'll be happy.
CHETRY: Me too.
All right. We're going to take a quick break. Two minutes until the top of the hour. Your top stories coming your way after the break.
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