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American Morning

Killer Twister Strike Southeast; Britain Apologizing to Pope; Britain Apologizing to Pope; Goldman: Crash, Cash and Politics; Shopping for Cheap Surgery

Aired April 26, 2010 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. It is Monday, April 26th. I'm Jim Acosta, in for John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you this morning.

ACOSTA: Good to see you.

CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry.

We have a lot of big stories we're breaking down for you in the first 15 minutes.

First, though, sadly, the search goes on today after -- in the wake of a deadly tornado sweeping through the Southeast. At least 12 people were killed. But they are still looking for survivors amid tons of debris. Mississippi is getting the worse of it.

In a matter of minutes, we're going to talk more about what is happening in the hardest hit areas with more than 600 homes damaged.

ACOSTA: And crews are hoping a robotic submarine can stop an oil leak off the coast of Louisiana. Forty-two thousand gallons a day is now spilling into the ocean, one mile beneath the rig that that exploded and burned last week. The robot sub is attempting to activate a shutoff device at the wellhead known as a blowout preventer.

CHETRY: Also, a leak memo, a huge embarrassment for the British government. The U.K. apologizing to the pope after a government note surfaced suggesting some pretty bizarre things for the pope to do when he visits in September. We are tracking the controversy from our London bureau this morning.

And, of course, the blog is up and running, the amFIX blog. We have many people weighing this morning. We love for you to join the live conversation. Go to CNN.com/amFIX. We'll be reading some of your comments throughout the hour.

ACOSTA: But, first, Kiran, help is pouring into the Southeast after deadly tornadoes tore through seven states and all 12 people were killed. But by far, the greatest destruction from this weekend's tornado outbreak was in Mississippi where a tornado left hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed and thousands without power.

Our Ed Lavandera is live in Yazoo City, Mississippi.

And, Ed, there really are some stunning accounts of survival this morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you hear it over and over. And this was a deadly storm here in Mississippi. We're in Yazoo City, where four people were killed. About 100 miles northeast of here, five people were killed in Choctaw County.

This was a church -- you can just see the destruction that was left behind here. But what's also really telling is if you look just behind the church, look at the tree lines there. These were massive, tall trees, by 100-150 feet tall, just essentially clipped off at the top. And you this -- that kind of destruction -- straight back out that way, toward the northeast, toward Choctaw County, for more than 150 miles.

The latest information from the National Weather Service has this storm at 1.75 mile at its widest point. And at times, reaching winds of 175 miles an hour, incredibly powerful. And when we've talked to people who survived this, who are in the craziest of situations, we've talked to a family that was in their car. Their windows exploded.

You heard that over and over again, that essentially that this storm seemed to have kind of fallen on top of them and things exploded. We talked to a man by the name of Ron Sullivan, who owned a little grocery store. He and five other people were inside that store. And he said they had seconds to react, that it just fell on them, and the walls shattered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON SULLIVAN, STORE OWNER/TORNADO SURVIVOR: They always talk about you hear the train. There was no train. There was a bomb. That's -- two customers were walking in the door, approximately five feet away from me, when they opened the door, it hit and blew me back. And we're just lucky to be alive. We are very thankful.

LAVANDERA: What goes through your mind when something like this is happening?

SULLIVAN: The only thing that went through my mind, two things. Please don't let anything else fall on me, and I hope my wife is OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Jim, his wife was OK, just a few feet away. So, everything turned out well there.

But about a mile away from where that Sullivan's grocery store was, three young people died, a 13-year-old girl and her 9-year-old sister as well as a three-month-old baby girl.

So, many people survived this storm feeling lucky to be arrived, but there are also tales of great sadness across the state of Mississippi this morning -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Some difficult days ahead for the folks down there in Mississippi, Ed.

Ed Lavandera, thanks very much this morning. We appreciate it.

CHETRY: Well, these severe storms are still forming down south this morning. How bad might it get today?

We're going to get the latest now from Rob Marciano at the extreme weather center.

And we saw just how these storms stuck around and stayed, you know, powerful and stay formed for so long.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Such a slow-moving system. But the larger system was so slow to move across the eastern two- thirds of the United States that the storms just lasted that long with the strong jet stream -- all the ingredients that came together across the southeast.

We're still seeing severe weather this morning across Florida. I want to show you that right now. We have a severe weather warning, a tornado warning that's in effect for Broward County. The one for Palm County has been allowed to expire as these storms roll across the Everglades. So, just keep an eye on the sky and be alert as this gets closer towards the I-95 corridor and Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood.

I want to show you these pictures coming out of South Carolina. We had rough weather there yesterday. So, not only Saturday but Sunday as well. This tornado forming near Darlington, South Carolina, where it was confirmed to touch down and did some damage to homes. There were a few injuries as well. So, South Carolina is getting hit very hard with this part of the system.

And, now, today, it will be rolling across parts of the Northeast.

As Ed mentioned, the Yazoo City tornado was now upgraded to an EF4 with winds of 170 miles an hour. And at one point, almost -- almost two miles wide and often wrapped in rain. So, difficult to see. It must have been a frightening, frightening place to be as that storm was rolling through.

Jim, Kiran, back up to you.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Rob Marciano, thanks very much. Appreciate that.

CHETRY: And a developing story this morning. An attempted suicide attack in what has become a new front in the war against al Qaeda. Officials in Yemen say the British ambassador barely escaped an explosion, targeting his armored this morning. They said they believed that the attacker was wearing an explosives belt and that he died in the explosion. No other embassy staff or British nationals were injured.

ACOSTA: Right now off the coast of Louisiana, a mile beneath an oil rig that exploded and sank last week, crews are trying to stop a dangerous spill. More than 40,000 gallons of fresh crude is now gushing into the Gulf of Mexico each day. Robotic sub is being used this morning to try to locate and activate a shutoff valve at the wellhead 5,000 feet beneath the ocean surface.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE VOLSIN, MOTIVATI SEAFOODS, INC.: This was catastrophic. You know, this thing -- if they don't get a handle on it and it continues to spew, tens of thousands of gallons of product a day and the winds push it inland, we could have some real challenges in the fishing community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: If the robot sub can't stop the leak, crews are planning to drill a relief to cut off that flow. But that could take months, Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, an Arizona congressman along with civil rights activists denouncing the state's new immigration law, the toughest in the nation. The Arizona Democrat telling thousands of protesters at the state capital yesterday that the White House should fight the law which President Obama has called misguided. It requires Arizona police officers to question people about their immigration status if they suspect a person may be in the country illegally.

We're going to be breaking this down and talking more about the legal aspects of this highly charged situation there. Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is going to be joining us and he's going to take a look at whether the law will actually pass constitutional muster.

ACOSTA: And with midterm elections just six months away, President Obama is calling on Democrats to get focused. In a brand new video message to more than 13 million supporters to have signed up on his Organizing for America Web site, the president is cautioning that key parts of the agenda could be reversed if Republicans take back the Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, African-Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again. If you help us do that, if you help us make sure that first- time voters in 2008 make their voices heard again in November, then together, we will deliver on the promise of change and hope and prosperity for generations to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: There's the president. The Democratic National Committee is expected to spend $50 million on midterm elections to support their candidates in House, Senate and gubernatorial races. It's going to be a tall order for them this year, Kiran.

CHETRY: Oh, yes.

We'll also new this morning, if you don't see an alien -- if you don't see an alien, you are like most of us.

ACOSTA: That's a good thing.

CHETRY: Right. If you do see an alien, don't talk to that alien. That's the warning from, probably the smartest man on our planet, Stephen Hawking.

ACOSTA: Yes. Hawking says it's a mathematic certainty -- get this -- that there is other life somewhere out in 100 billion galaxies that exist. Quoting here, "I imagine they might exist in massive ships having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach."

Hawking also said, "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we would not want to meet."

And one example he gave was Christopher Columbus. When he sailed to the new world, when he came to the new world, Stephen Hawking pointed out, it didn't work out so well for the Native Americans.

CHETRY: That's right.

ACOSTA: And, so, he's saying, we could be in the same boat.

CHETRY: I just hope that they are not in a boat coming towards us. That's 100 billion galaxies to choose from.

ACOSTA: That's right.

CHETRY: Hopefully, they'll skip ours.

ACOSTA: Go somewhere else.

CHETRY: Well, the British government is apologizing to the pope now for a government memo suggesting that he'd launch Benedict- brand condoms. We're going to talk about what happened -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twelve minutes past the hour right now.

An armed man arrested at the Asheville Airport just as President Obama was leaving North Carolina for West Virginia yesterday. Police say 23-year-old Joseph McVey was impersonating a police officer. Authorities stress that the president was never in any danger. McVey has been charged with a misdemeanor.

ACOSTA: And two Illinois state lawmakers want National Guard troops to patrol the streets of Chicago. They say violent crime there is out of control. Chicago has had 113 homicides already this year. Just last week, seven people were killed in one night. Chicago's police superintendent, though, says his officers don't need any help keeping the city safe.

CHETRY: Former Poison front man and reality star, Bret Michaels, remains in critical condition this morning. There was a message post on the 47-year-old's Facebook page saying that he is in intensive care under 24-hour surveillance. Michaels apparently suffered from a brain hemorrhage, according to his publicist, who was rushed into the ICU on an undisclosed location Thursday after complaining of a severe headache. Michaels also had his appendix removed last week.

Well, the British government is now apologizing this morning to Pope Benedict after an embarrassing memo leaked from the foreign office -- basically, the equivalent of our State Department.

ACOSTA: Right. The memo suggested that during the pope's visit in September to the U.K., that he'd launch his own brand of condoms. And it didn't stop there.

Our Sasha Herriman is tracking the controversy -- as they say over there, the controversy, I think how they say it -- from our London bureau.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASHA HERRIMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jim. Hi, Kiran.

Well, basically, this can be seen as a joke that went somewhat awry, a brainstorming session, if you like, that went wrong. Basically, junior ministers were putting together some blue-sky thinking ideas ahead of the papal visit which is -- which is expected in September. They want these ideas on how to actually greet the team, what exactly to do.

Now, some ideas were come up with. These weren't actually meant to be out in the public domain. But this memo was actually leaked. The ideas were: asking to open an abortion clinic, bless a gay marriage, launch a range of Benedict-brand condoms, sack dodgy bishops, and also, to launch a help line for abuse children.

And I think none of that was going to go down very well with the Catholic Church once that got out. They, of course, are still reeling from child abuse allegations. And the pope, in fact, only publicly mentioned that, that he talked about it last week.

So, the U.K. foreign office that had made statement and they had publicly apologized to the papacy for this memo. They've said this is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect U.K. government policy or FCO policy. They also went on to say that the individual responsible for the memo has been transferred to other duties.

So, they very clearly wanted to draw a line underneath this whole issue and didn't want to -- didn't want to cause any problems for the future of this papal visit in September. The U.K. ambassador to the Vatican, they also met papal officials as well just to make sure that everything was quite clear. They said sorry. The Vatican has said that the matter is now closed. It remains to be seen how long the fallout is going to last. Jim and Karen, back to you.

CHETRY: Dr. Harriman, thanks.

ACOSTA: Coming up next, Goldman Sachs and the fortune it made betting against the housing market. Christine Romans is coming up next to break it down for us. It is 15 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Your guys.

CHETRY: It's a thing this morning.

ACOSTA: I will take that.

CHETRY: Jimmy Acosta talking (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: Has some call me.

CHETRY: A heated debate right now. What the heck is going on? I said, save it for air, you guys.

ACOSTA: I know exactly, now we are talking about Goldman Sachs and the SEC and the timing of the investigation and the congressman from California, he would like to see the investigation as to the timing of this SEC investigation.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So everyone is saying, funny how the SEC charges Goldman Sachs with fraud just as the White House is going for its big push on financial reform. The SEC says there is no political reasons why we are doing this. We are an independent law enforcement body.

But the SEC watchdog, the inspector general has confirmed that, in fact, it will, the inspector general, will look into the timing of the Goldman case to see if there is anything untoward there. They will probe the timing of that lawsuit. The Republicans have questioned the SEC's independence and impartiality.

CHETRY: I mean, the president himself said that he did not learn before hand, right?

ROMANS: Yes.

CHETRY: -- of the plans to file this fraud charges and that he find out about it by watching television.

ROMANS: People at the administration told me they didn't know it was coming down the pipe. The timing, they are going to look into it. Meanwhile, we are looking into all these e-mails, 20 million pages of e-mails.

ACOSTA: Yes, that's a lot of e-mails.

ROMANS: I know I'll let you know I'm done reading all of them, but first of all, I want to show you some of them from Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Many of these e-mails I want to point out were at the end of the day, it looks like these are the kind of the profit locking out at the end of day. Hey, how do we do? What we win on today? What are we losing on today? Because Goldman always has a lot of different positions.

First of all, from Lloyd Blankfein, betting on the mortgage mess. Of course, we didn't dodge the mortgage mess. We lost money and then we made more than we lost because of shorts although it is not over. So who knows how it will turn out ultimately. A lot of people zeroing in on this e-mail, looking sort of gloating about the shorts on the housing market, America really got hurt and Goldman, all they cared about was making money.

Also, on the downgrade of mortgage security from a Goldman Sachs manager. Hey, sounds like we made some serious money. Again, all as this whole housing market is starting to crumble. Goldman Sachs, lots of different e-mails like this, by the way. Goldman Sachs responds pretty forcefully. This is all ahead of a hearing on Tuesday.

All of this was released over the weekend. Goldman Sachs, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee has cherry-picked just four e-mails from almost 20 million pages of documents and e-mails provided to it by Goldman Sachs. It is concerning the subcommittee seems to have reached their conclusion before even holding a hearing.

CHETRY: So, it's interesting, they are giving at least some indication of what their stance is going to be tomorrow. It doesn't team to be hat in hand as we, you know, we talked about at the beginning of year so many of the bank executives have to go justify. It sounds like they're going to vigorously defend what their business practices are.

ROMANS: This has been the tone of Goldman over the past year. They are there to make money. That's what they do and, in January, I asked an official at Goldman, what are you guys going to do about your global reputation problem? They said, we don't have a reputation problem. Our clients are very happy with what we do.

On the conference call last week, when they reported those great earnings, $3.5 million in earnings, an analyst said, how is your reputation problem hurting your business? And the Chief Financial Officer, David Veneer said, well as you can see from our earnings, our clients - we think our earnings stand for themselves. Our clients are sticking with us.

So there is still in this client mode and don't get that the rest of the country sees e-mails like this, even if this is the attitude. The attitude is, we made money on some of these deals and that's smart and good.

ACOSTA: But interesting in that Goldman executives can't show up at this hearing and say, we just didn't see it coming, because they were making money because they saw it coming.

ROMANS: It's interesting too because at the end of 2006 when their little alarm bells started going off, some people thought they were crazy.

ACOSTA: There are lots of executives on Wall Street and folks in the former administration saying, we didn't see this coming. That is not the posture we are seeing from Goldman Sachs. At least it sounds that way at this time.

CHETRY: You guys have to continue this later.

ROMANS: We are going to keep arguing about this. Let's move along.

CHETRY: We're talking also about another big story today. The growing split in Arizona over immigration. What do you think of the new immigration law there? We are going to be talking more about whether or not it can stand the test if indeed there is a constitutional challenge launched. Senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin joins us to break it down. It's 24 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is 26 minutes after the hour. Our top stories are minutes away, but first, an AM Original, something you will only see right here on American Morning.

You know, Kiran, everybody loves a bargain. I know you do. I certainly do. But, is it really a good idea to shop for rock bottom prices when it comes to your medical care?

CHETRY: A lot of people are being forced to that right now. There's a lot of waste in the health care system and the experts say, costs are continuing to skyrocket most of us can just see that. But some Americans are actually trying to find cheap surgery deals by heading overseas. Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen introduced us to a man from Indianapolis who is doing just that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So Godfrey Davies, you are quite the bargain shopper there. Look at those coupons.

GODFREY DAVIES, BARGAIN SHOPPER FOR SURGERY: Absolutely.

COHEN: You have had to do this not with just food.

DAVIES: You're quite right.

COHEN: So what other things do you bargain shop for besides apple sauce and pasta.

DAVIES: Well, the big ticket item right now that I am confronted with is having nasal surgery.

COHEN: You actually went surgeon shopping. You went from place to place to find the cheapest price, because you don't have insurance.

DAVIES: That is correct.

COHEN: So how exactly does one go surgeon shopping? Can you show me?

DAVIES: I can. It's quite an adventure.

COHEN: OK, let's go have an adventure. So Godfrey, this is the first place you went to get a price quote.

DAVIES: That's correct.

COHEN: If you had it done by these surgeons, what would have been the total bill for the entire procedure?

DAVIES: Almost $34,000.

COHEN: I mean, $34,000, you are semi-retired. You have no insurance. Could you even pay that?

DAVIES: I wish I had $34,000 sitting around. No, we don't.

COHEN: So what did you do? I mean, $34,000, what was your next step?

DAVIES: I thought, I'm going further. I am going to start surgeon shopping again. This is ridiculous.

COHEN: All right, so let's go to that different surgeon. Let's go and see what that price was.

DAVIES: Absolutely.

COHEN: OK, so Godfrey, this was your next stop, this surgeon's office.

DAVIES: That's correct.

COHEN: What would it cost the entire procedure to have it done by these folks?

DAVIES: It would have been approximately $33,000.

COHEN: So only $1,000 less than the first place. DAVIES: That's correct. My shopping didn't do much for me really, did it?

COHEN: So you found that you basically could not afford to have your polyps removed in Indianapolis?

DAVIES: Absolutely not.

COHEN: And so you needed to think outside the box.

DAVIES: I went way outside the box for this.

COHEN: So you're going to go to United Kingdom right?

DAVIES: That's correct.

COHEN: Getting on the plane and getting this surgery, the airfare, the surgery, the whole thing, what's that going to cost you?

DAVIES: $600.

COHEN: And the cheapest price you can get here was $33,000.

DAVIES: Yes. Terrible isn't it?

COHEN: Oh, my gosh, it's almost 10 times less expensive. Give me a call. Let me know how it goes and the best of luck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Elizabeth Cohen joins us now live. It's fascinating to see the lengths that people will go. I mean, health care eats up a huge chunk of people's, you know, monthly income. What are we looking at when we figure out how different prices are, higher or lower than in the U.S.?

COHEN: Well, Kiran, I'll tell you. If you thought that there was a huge price difference there for Godfrey's surgery for his nose, take a look at these procedures. The differences are really even more incredible. For example, if you want to have heart bypass surgery in India, it will cost you $8,500. If you want to have it in Costa Rica, $25,000.

If you want to have heart bypass surgery in the United States and you don't have insurance and you need to shell is it out yourself, you will be asked to pay $144,000. Unbelievable. Here is another example. A hysterectomy, you want to do it in Thailand, $5,000. You want to do it in Mexico, $6,675. If you are uninsured and you need a hysterectomy in this country, you will be asked to pay $15,000. For a lot of people, the choice is clear. The numbers kind of tell it all.

ACOSTA: Is the quality of care is good in these other countries? I mean, should folks be taking that into consideration, Elizabeth?

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. That's the big issue. And actually there is a group called the Joint Commission on Accreditation that accredits hospitals here that has started to credit hospitals and services outside the United States.

And if you look on CNNhealth.com, we tell you how to access them and go there. And it has gotten to the point, Jim, where some U.S. insurance companies are actually offering overseas operations as an alternative to the people they insure because it is so much cheaper for everybody.

ACOSTA: And when you are running through the prices, it reminds me of that credit card commercial where the final one is "priceless." It is just incredible to see how much is being charged in this country compared to other nations for procedures that a lot of people need to stay healthy and lead active lives.

Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.

COHEN: And even if you have insurance, it makes a difference, because he are still often paying 20 percent of the bill, and 20 percent of $40,000 bill is a lot of money.

ACOSTA: That 20 percent, you could have the whole surgery overseas in some cases.

COHEN: Easily.

CHETRY: Elizabeth, thank you.

And she is continuing to look into this. Tomorrow, outrageous markups on your medical bill. One doctor bulled $863 for a pair of disposable forceps. Elizabeth Cohen is tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. eastern on "AMERICAN MORNING."

ACOSTA: It is 8:31, time for this morning's top stories.

A massive cleanup effort is underway across the southeast after reports of tornadoes in seven states over the weekend. This has been the worst outbreak of violent weather so far this spring. In Mississippi, at least ten people were killed and more than 600 homes were damaged.

Governor Haley Barbour in Mississippi has declared his state of emergency in 17 counties.

CHETRY: It may take all day to determine whether a robotic submarine can stop a stubborn oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- 42,000 gallons a day are now spilling into the ocean off the Louisiana coast where the rig exploded and sank last week. A robotic submarine is now attempting to locate and activate a shutoff device at the wellhead nearly a mile beneath the ocean surface.

ACOSTA: And a Senate hearing on mine safety is scheduled to begin in Washington tomorrow. President Obama in West Virginia yesterday remembering 29 workers who died in a mining disaster there earlier this month, promising to honor their memory by making conditions safer for miners moving forward. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: All that hard work, all that hardship, all the time spent underground, it was all for the families. It was all for you -- for a car in the driveway, a roof overhead, for a chance to give their kids opportunities that they would never know and enjoy retirement with their spouses.

It was all in the hopes of something better. And so these miners lived as they died -- in pursuit of the American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The nation's top mine safety officials expected to testify on Capitol Hill when hearings get underway tomorrow.

CHETRY: A new immigration law giving broad enforcement powers to local police is generating controversy across the country. It is a law in Arizona now, but many are getting involved. In fact, the Reverend Al Sharpton is says he is leading a group of freedom walkers to challenge Arizona's tough new law targeting illegal immigrants.

That's right. Al Sharpton is getting involved, to buckle your seatbelts. Thousands of protesters rallied outside the state capital in Phoenix yesterday. Opponents claim it will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. But supporters say it is essential to securing the border to Mexico

Joining us to talk about the possible legal challenges, senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Jeffrey, good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

ACOSTA: We have gone through a lot of the pros and cons in the last several days of the new law. A lot of people are asking, is this constitutional?

TOOBIN: That's a hard question. I don't think anyone can answer that question in the abstract. A lot is going to depend on how the law is actually put into effect, because the terms are really rather vague. It says the police shall arrest anyone, or shall stop anyone with a reasonable suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.

What does that mean? What does it look like to have a reasonable suspicion that a person is an illegal immigrant? Governor Brewer when she signed it into law said there was going to be training of law enforcement officers so it is not simply, he is Hispanic, he must be an illegal immigrant.

But it is hard to know how they will identify people and until you know that, I don't think you can know whether it is constitutional or not.

CHETRY: And then legally speaking, a lot of people have talked about the problem if a local police officer knows that is someone is illegal or when they arrest them for a crime, they don't ask about the immigration status, because that's supposed to be in the federal jurisdiction, right?

And then there have been questions whether law enforcement of a state or county can enforce a federal law. Does that come into play

TOOBIN: That will be another separate grounds for challenge. There is a doctrine known as preemption, which means there are certain areas of the law that the federal simply preempts states, it's a federal responsibility.

A classic example is being in the U.S. military. Arizona cannot decide to invade Mexico. That's a federal responsibility.

Immigration is traditionally one of those areas. It is traditionally federal, although states have some role. So the question of whether this law is simply preempted by federal law will be another question the courts are going to have to deal with.

ACOSTA: And there is a political dimension to this, because at some point Washington will have to get involved, and for the last couple of months it has been uncertain as to whether or not the president and Democrats would go forward with climate change legislation and put that first.

Now it appears they are going to try to go for immigration reform. And this issue in Arizona has put this immigration debate right in the forefront. It has put it right out there.

TOOBIN: What's especially interesting about the political dimension is Democrats have seized on this as a way to motivate Hispanic voters to go to the polls. Look at President Obama last week taking the very unusual step of denouncing a state law. You almost never hear a president do that.

Harry Reid has turned the Senate schedule upside down to move climate change to the back of the line, move immigration to the front. Is that to generate support in Nevada where there are a lot of his Hispanic voters?

ACOSTA: And Lindsey Graham called it a political stunt. But if you have a law out there that the president has said openly he disagrees with, then that to the Democrats justifies putting immigration reform in the lead.

TOOBIN: Climate change and immigration both have been going nowhere fast in the Senate. So it is hard to know which one was going more slowly.

But it did look like climate change was going to be next in line after this financial regulation fight. Now it looks like immigration. I don't know if they will be able to get the 60 votes they'll need. But certainly the Democrats think this is a political winner for them.

CHETRY: I want to ask you also just some of the questions legally speaking, sort of a lightning round, if you will. Is stopping someone and asking for their immigration status or their I.D. or green card or whatever it may be inherently racial profiling?

TOOBIN: Not necessarily. It depends on what the circumstances are.

CHETRY: If you see a person who looks Mexican walking down the street and that's the only reason you have to stop them is because they look Mexican, and you say can I just make sure you are a citizen of this country, is that racial profiling.

TOOBIN: That would probably be seen as racial profiling. But if there are other circumstances, if, for example, there is a line of people who have traditionally gone to a certain spot to get picked up as day laborers and all have been illegal immigrants in the past, that may not be seen as racial profiling.

CHETRY: This is what the governor, Jan Brewer, said. She said, "My signature today represents my steadfast support for enforcing the law both against illegal immigration and against racial profiling." Critics say, how could you possibly do that if you are obviously only going to pull over people that don't look like they come from the U.S.?

TOOBIN: That's the question at the heart of this law is how do you identify an illegal immigrant by looking at him or her other than simply looking at the color of their skin? The governor says we are going to train the police to do it. We'll see whether she can.

ACOSTA: And there are generations of Mexican-Americans that live in southern California, places like Arizona, who say we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us.

You are going to have a lot of Hispanic groups and a lot of folks in that community who are going to be outraged with this law until something is done about it at the federal level.

TOOBIN: And think about what it means. You have to carry your papers with you. Suppose someone came up to me today and said, prove you are an American citizen. I couldn't do it. I have a driver's license but I don't have my passport. Most people don't carry their citizenship papers.

ACOSTA: We are asking a certain segment of our population to do that.

CHETRY: We have had a fiery debate about it on the web and on our blog this morning. That's why I wanted to ask you about that. One of the people that wrote into our blog says "If you immigrate here legally, your assigned documentation to prove your status. All this law says is you have to carry the documentation in the event there is a question of your status."

He goes on to say, "I carry my driver's license, Social Security card, and insurance cards at all times. I have never felt the need to take offense when asked to produce them." The argument here is what's the big deal?

TOOBIN: That's a fair question. If you are expected to carry this material anyway, what's the problem of asking you for it?

It depends on what your perspective is towards law enforcement. Is the attitude, well, if you have nothing to fear, don't worry if you are going to be asked, or do we feel that law enforcement shouldn't be asking blind questions of random people just because, perhaps, of the color of their skin?

A lot is going to tend on the application of the law.

ACOSTA: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for talking about this, this morning. I have a feeling we are going to be talking about this for a while.

TOOBIN: I hope so.

ACOSTA: Yes. Jeffrey, thanks.

And what's hot on our blog this morning? You bet immigration is. There's still time to join the conversation at CNN.com/amfix. We'll take a look, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: We always say, "Jimmy Eats World and Starbucks sandwiches."

ACOSTA: I can eat a lot. Let me tell you.

CHETRY: We have a lot of comments. A lot of people weighing about the Arizona immigration law.

ACOSTA: Let's take a look at a couple of comments while we have the time. Here is one. "Of course," this is from Durante Reed. "Of course there will be racial profiling. That's because there is only one race," according to this gentlemen, "illegally crossing the border at such a rapid speed."

CHETRY: Another commenter wrote, "Arizona had to do something to curb the cost of crime caused by illegal immigrants. Something had to be done."

We also have a couple people writing about the situation with health care costs and how huge they are. "Of course the cost of health care is outrageous. It's part of the problem. Bargain surgeries overseas come with their own problems."

ACOSTA: That didn't happen to the gentlemen that Elizabeth Cohen profiled. Everything turned out nicely and he saved a bundle. So that is going to get people talking. I didn't even think that one could actually go overseas and do that sort of thing. Elizabeth Cohen just opened a whole new world.

CHETRY: They sometimes talk about these plastic surgery vacations where people go to Brazil or other places and have fun in the sun and get some work done.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

Well, you can join the conversation at CNN.com/amfix.

CHETRY: Not that there's anything wrong with that.

ACOSTA: Not that there's anything wrong with that. And there is a lot more coming up in the last 15 minutes of AMERICAN MORNING. We want to check in on the tornadoes that we saw in the southeast, severe thunderstorms in the south. It is raining in the northeast as well -- a lot for Rob Marciano to talk about. He is coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Hey things are looking up in Florida. You're looking at a live picture of Tampa, Florida. It's sunny and 70 degrees right now; later today, partly cloudy and 82. And earlier this morning, Kiran, we were looking at a shot of Miami and it was rainy and cloudy. So being Gulf side, a little bit better this morning.

CHETRY: There you go. That's a better place to be if you are in the great state of Florida this morning. Let's check in with Mr. Rob Marciano and see what's going on. When I look at your weather graphics, all of Florida looks pretty bad.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, this map paints a little bit more broad brush. It's all also shaded with this system moves so slowly across the U.S. Pretty much took a week to get from the West Coast to the East Coast and we're not done with it yet. And the fact that it moved slowly is one of the reasons that those storms were so long-lived, yesterday.

Now, a tail end of it getting across parts of south Florida. Tampa, there's a beauty shot. Ft. Myers, down in Naples, across Alligator Alley towards Fort Lauderdale; not so pretty. And we had some severe weather earlier this morning in a way of some heavy rains and some rotation being detected by the Doppler radar scope. But the tornado warning issued earlier for Broward and Falk counties has been allowed to expire. So that's good news but definitely thunder and lightning, got some gusty winds and certainly some heavy rain.

Rain right now gentle across parts of Philly; it'll be moving up towards New York City and this is the northern part of the system that will have some wind with it as well. Maybe a few scattered thunderstorms and certainly enough rain and wind to slow down airport travel.

As a matter of fact, I think I've got some of the latest for you. This is the forecast but as far as what's happening now an hour and five minutes in New York and an hour and five in Philly.

A quick shot of Abbie Sunderland, a 16-year-old Southern California girl trying to sail around the world nonstop by herself. Unfortunately, the autopilot broke on her rig and she had to stop in Cape Town for repairs.

So we've got a 16-year-old climbing Mount Everest with his homework and we've got this is one of two 16-year-old girls trying to sail around the world unassisted nonstop. I feel like a big loser when I look at these kids and what they're doing at the age of 16. Unbelievable stuff.

ACOSTA: These kids today, I tell you.

CHETRY: And that's when you -- you have a lot of gumption and not a lot of fear. You know that's the time to get things like that done because then when you get older, all you do is think about all the things that could go wrong.

MARCIANO: Yes, exactly.

CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

ACOSTA: Well, you know, there is a little bit of a barn burner of a race down in Florida. I don't know if you heard about this.

CHETRY: Oh yes, it keeps changing, it has been turning the keg (ph) now. Florida waiting to see whether their Governor, Charlie Crist, will stay a Republican or change to an independent to survive the primary. He was once the star and now he is fighting for his political life.

Fifty minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: That's sort of the anthem for this show.

CHETRY: Oh yes, who needs sleep, because you are never going to get it.

Its 53 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning.

Florida Governor, Charlie Crist has until the end of this week, I think it's the 30th of April, right?

ACOSTA: That's right.

CHETRY: To decide whether or not to drop the Republican Party and run as an independent in the race for senate.

ACOSTA: Time is not on his side, neither are some GOP leaders who are threatening to pull their support from a one-time party favorite.

John Zarrella is live this morning with the remarkable turn of events in Florida that has captured national attention. John, Vice President Dick Cheney doesn't even think Charlie Crist belongs in the party anymore. So Charlie Crist has an idea or maybe -- maybe not.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it really is shocking when you think about it, that just a couple of years ago, Charlie Crist was the darling of the Republican Party and now the Republican Party doesn't even want him running for U.S. senate.

So what does Charlie Crist do? If you're Charlie Crist, well, you think about running as an independent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: Senator John McCain.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): 2008, Charlie Crist is on top of the world. The Republican Governor of Florida, Crist's approval rating, near 70 percent. He was thought to be on John McCain's vice presidential short list.

(on camera): If you were asked, what would you say?

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: Well, I've got to continue to work hard as the Governor of Florida and I haven't been asked. So it's really kind of moot at this point.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Incredibly, Crist's political future may soon be a moot point.

(on camera): So what happened? How did it all blow up? Crist decided to run for Florida's vacant senate seat he was a shoe-in. But now, polls show he wouldn't make it out of his own party's primary; down more than 20 percent to conservative Marco Rubio, former State House Speaker.

CHARLES ZELDEN, HISTORY PROFESSOR: Ultimately, he made the decision that he wanted as many federal dollars as he could get for the state even if it meant embracing Obama, literally and figuratively. And that really hurt him with the -- with his base.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): The hug and supporting the stimulus infuriated conservatives and started Crist's free fall. The final straw, when he vetoed a Republican-backed education bill. Party leaders urged him to get out of the race. The people's governor, as he likes to be called, said, appropriately --

CRIST: I think I'll take the advice of people in Florida, instead of the advice of people in Washington.

ZARRELLA: That advice has Crist at least thinking about running as an independent.

CRIST: I want to make sure that as best I can, I get it right.

ZARRELLA: There is one problem, money. Where will it come from with Republicans abandoning him like he's got the plague? Bob Wachter (ph) is a former County Party Chairman and long-time Crist friend.

BOB WACHTER, FORMER COUNTY PARTY CHAIRMAN: I know personally of folks that are talking about raising very large sums of money for Charlie. They are poised to move. ZARRELLA: Millions, Wachter says but it's all contingent on one thing.

WACHTER: If he were to leave the Republican Party, I would have to think long and hard.

ZARRELLA: Political observers think he might win over enough Democrats and moderate Republicans to make a three-way general election interesting.

ZELDEN: He can say, "Look, I even went against my party's wishes for the good of the state. I brought in money we needed here in Florida. That's a heck of a sales pitch.

ZARRELLA: The people's governor just might become the people's senator.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: So now Governor Crist has a couple of things to weigh. Can he win the election and can he raise enough money? Those are the things he will be trying to figure out before the week is up and before his decision is made -- Kiran, Jim.

CHETRY: All right. Lots to consider.

ACOSTA: He is keeping us all in suspense. John Zarrella, live in Florida this morning for us. Thanks so much John.

CHETRY: And also, you haven't talked about the money issue as well. How did Joe Lieberman manage to get a lot of money when he decided to make a change and become independent?

ACOSTA: Lieberman surprisingly was able to raise funds. He had a lot of backers after all those years in the senate. Charlie Crist has not been in the senate. He's been a governor in that sate but he's got deep roots down there and he should have an ok time raising funds. Apparently he has $8 million in the bank so far. So there are folks saying he might be all right in that department.

CHETRY: All right. We'll see by the end of the week either way.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Stick with us. We will be back in a few minutes. It's 57 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Thanks for joining us and thanks for having me.

CHETRY: It was great to have you with us this morning.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

CHETYR: That's going to do it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

Here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with T.J. Holmes -- hey T.J.