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Doctor Refuses to Treat People Who Support Recent Health Care Reform; RNC Under Fire From Social Conservatives; Pastor Hands Out Cash and Prizes to Those Who Attend His Church on Easter
Aired April 03, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, everybody, from the CNN Center this is CNN Saturday morning for April 3rd, 10:00 a.m. where we sit here in Atlanta, 9:00 a.m. in Memphis, Tennessee, 7:00 a.m. for you folks out in San Francisco. Get up, good morning. I'm T.J. Holmes.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Thanks for starting the day with us.
The heated health care debate is spilling over into doctors' offices now in more ways than one. Coming up this hour, we'll meet a doctor who says he's not going to treat anyone who supports President Obama's plan.
HOLMES: Also, it's Easter weekend, Easter Sunday. This is one time even if you don't go to church all year a lot of people will show up on Easter. So do you need some extra motivation to get you into church tomorrow? How about $2 million in cash and prizes? We're talking about some serious stuff, laptops, flat screens, BWMs.
MALVEAUX: That's enough motivation for me.
HOLMES: Yes. We'll tell you where this service is and why they're doing it. That's coming up next.
But first, we do want to give you a look at some of the top stories we're keeping an eye on overnight.
A Friday night attack in Iraq has left 25 people dead including five women. Police say gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed into houses in a Sunni village just south of Baghdad. All the victims were found handcuffed. The area has been a hot bed for insurgents.
MALVEAUX: And a fifth person has died in a refinery explosion and fire in Washington State. Two other people are in critical condition. Fire broke out during maintenance work and people who live miles away felt the blast. The specific cause is still under investigation. Tesoro refinery was recently fined for safety violations.
HOLMES: And a new twist this morning in the priest sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church overseas. According to the Associated Press a top Vatican official had faced earlier complaints he withheld sex abuse allegations against a priest. Cardinal William Levada is his name. He was archbishop in Portland, Oregon, when he restored that particular priest to duty. Levada now at the Vatican and a central figure in defending the Vatican in its handling of abusive priests.
MALVEAUX: We turn to Florida where a doctor not really mincing words here when it comes to his disapproval of the new health care law. He has a blunt message to any President Obama supporters who come to his clinic for help -- get lost.
Ron Hughes (ph) from our affiliate WFTV with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RON HUGHES, WFTV CORRESPONDENT: In this all-American small town in Lake County, several words printed on a piece of paper have made the debate over politics and health care personal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was dumbfounded, and it was appalling to me.
DR. JACK CASSELL, UROLOGIST: And to 99 percent of my patients it has been very welcome sentiment.
HUGHES: It's the first thing those patients see when they enter Dr. Jack Cassell's urology office. The neon orange sign reads "If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would not feel safe in his care.
HUGHES: Long time resident Estella Chapman got wind of the sign and stopped by to see for herself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can you trust his heart to know how he feels?
CASSELL: If they're insulted, they can leave. I do not deny care to anyone.
HUGHES: The doctor put up on the sign because he vehemently opposes the president's health care reform bill. We talked to Congressman Alan Grayson to get his take on the sign. Grayson is for reform.
REP. ALAN GRAYSON, (D) FLORIDA: I think people like this need check their conscience. Then need to think about why they went into health care, why they decided to become doctors.
HUGHES: Jack Cassell has been a doctor for 22 years and feels his patient's care will suffer.
CASSELL: I'm concerned about the health care bill. That's more detrimental to them than my sign.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: And despite the opposition like that, President Obama is confident that the reform measure is going to stand, and he is daring the Republicans to try to repeal the bill. I want you to take a listen to what he told a crowd in Portland, Maine, on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: John Boehner called the passage of this bill -- no need -- we don't need to boo, I just want to give the facts -- called the passage of this bill Armageddon. Yet others who said this is the end of freedom as we know it.
So after I signed the bill, I looked around.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I looked up at the sky to see if asteroids were coming. I looked at the ground to see if cracks had opened up in the earth. You know, it turned out it was a pretty nice day.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Well, you may recall just before the big vote on the bill, it was House Minority Leader John Boehner who predicted Armageddon if it passed.
HOLMES: Well, everybody has a typo every now and again. There are typos, it happens, but then there a typos. A few wrong numbers have left the RNC digging out from its second set of embarrassing headlines in one week.
You remember that expense report that included a donor's night out with a $2,000 tab at a bondage themed nightclub. Then there was this fundraising mailer that had a 1-800 number on it that led to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sexy guy, welcome to an exciting new way to go live one-on-one with hot girls waiting right now to talk to you. Lie back, baby, relax, and get ready to meet real local students, housewives, and working girls from all over the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Wow. How are you doing, Mark?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, certainly not something I want my children to be dialing into.
HOLMES: OK. Political editor Mark Preston here with us in studio this weekend. Good thing this story we're doing on a Saturday and not a Sunday. But that is embarrassing, no doubt. You can call it a typo, mistake made, but to lead to that, what's going on at the RNC?
PRESTON: Well, you know something, T.J., it was a mistake and they fully acknowledge it. It's one of those mistakes that would maybe have the shelf life of one day, perhaps two days. But when you have these back-to-back mistakes, when you have this tab being picked up by the RNC at this bondage-themed nightclub, when you have this mistake regarding this phone sex hotline, terribly embarrassing.
And there's this box called "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." I think you can say that this past week has been terrible, horrible, and no good for Michael Steele.
HOLMES: We talked about those two embarrassing incidents there. But that led to another issue they're having this week, that issue being some of their money might get pulled by a group that's used to giving them money, the Family Research Council.
Listen to the head of that group talking about what he wants some of the donors to do with their money, which is not give it to the RNC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: If this were an isolated incident, these things I guess they could happen. I find it hard to believe a culture has been created at the RNC where someone can not only authorize the expenditure, it can be put on the disclosure form and not raise any red flags. That tells me something right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We listened to Tony Perkins there, Mark. But he went further and what they're saying is don't give your money to the RNC. Give it directly to the candidates. They're still supporting some conservative candidates out there but they don't want the money in the hands of the RNC.
How big of a problem will that and just the fundraising be for the RNC now?
PRESTON: It's definitely a problem when you have Tony Perkins, who is a very influential social conservative, come out and say I don't have enough confidence anymore in the RNC. I'm telling our supporters give your money to individual candidates, give it to our organization, because we know where to spread it around.
He's not the only one. Former senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, the head of the conservative women of America, she was also very critical. Michael Steele right now needs to really try to bring social conservatives back into the fold. He needs to convince them he knows how to run the RNC.
HOLMES: What is going to happen down the road at a time when they're expected to pick up -- all you have to do some would say, midterm elections after the healthcare fight, you're going to pick up seats. But now some are saying given how Michael Steele has behaved, the RNC, they are now trying to grasp defeat out of the jaws of victory.
PRESTON: And the thing with Michael Steele is he has had a run of bad luck. As the head of RNC, he has had some wins. They took back the Virginia and New Jersey governorship. They took back Ted Kennedy's seat.
So if you talk to Steele's supporters, they say he has had a good run. The negatives against him though is he's spending too much money. And if you talk to GOP strategists, Republican political types, they'll say he's spending way too much money to raise money, and that's what Michael Steele's biggest challenge is right now. He needs to raise more money, spend less money.
HOLMES: I'm sure he's excited to start a new week. A rough one more Michael Steele this week. Mark Preston, good to have you in studio with us in Atlanta this week.
PRESTON: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: All right, we've got more politics ahead. The tea party express rolls on. The anti-big government political movement was in Topeka, Kansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, yesterday. Tea party members are headed for an April 15th tax day rally in Washington.
Today the express takes on a southern flavor as it rolls into Little Rock Arkansas, and Tupelo, Mississippi.
HOLMES: We were talking about this a little earlier -- a church with an offering like none other. In the Texas church on Easter, you're not just going to get a good lesson out of it when you go, you are possibly going to get millions of dollars in cash and prizes.
MALVEAUX: And some good swag.
HOLMES: That's great swag for church. There has to be a catch, right? We'll explain. We'll have the pastor on this morning.
MALVEAUX: You'll want to see that story.
And an apple today that everybody is dying to get their hands on. Wait until you see it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Beautiful shot this morning of New York City. The weather I think Chad was talking about going to be record highs. We saw some yesterday, might see some today. But it seems like everybody is waiting for winter to go away. Spring got here and it seems like we skipped spring and went right to summer in some cases.
MALVEAUX: And it's hot here, nice and hot.
(WEATHER REPORT) HOLMES: Coming up next, talking about promises here. You heard a lot of these promises being made. You were there when a lot of these promises were made.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely, and I guess a big question is, has President Obama has made good on all he said he was going to do if he was elected? Obviously we're going to keep up with that in CNN "SATURDAY MORNING" back in 90 seconds. Tell you all about promises kept and broken.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: A great musical selection here. I approve. It's a good selection. I'll come back and mix and scratch. Don't worry about it.
HOLMES: We're playing that music because we're talking about the post office. Getting mail on Saturdays could be a memory. The U.S. Postal Service officially submitting a proposal to scale back service. And if Congress approves 40,000 jobs could be on the line, including the job of Mike Hutovee (ph).
He's someone we think you should know about. He's a letter carrier at a post office, and he's really terrified at this point he might lose his job. It will take six months before the regulatory board and Congress come to a decision about whether or not to change the postal schedule. The USPS says the move will save some $3 billion a year.
President Obama says the nation's battered economy is beginning "to turn a corner." Those were his words. He's referring to the latest jobs report that showed employers added 162,000 jobs to the payrolls last month.
Some perspective on this though. Only the third month of gain since the recession began some 27 months ago. In other words, only two other months have seen the number of jobs grown, and those gains were a whole lot smaller than what we just saw the past month. Economists largely agree with the president. They say the news marks a significant turning point in the economy and that the worst may finally be over.
MALVEAUX: And with health care reform signed into law now, a whole lot is still on his agenda. President Obama is looking ahead to his next big task, but some people are also looking back to see whether the president is coming through on what he promised.
Our Josh Levs is also asking those tough questions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I love this Web site. It tracks all of these campaign promises that the president made before he was elected, hundreds of them. And it takes a look at whether he's fulfilling them or not. They're calling it the "Obameter," and the website is politifact.com. Take a look at the numbers here. "Promise kept," the president has now officially kept more than 100 of his promises. The number of broken, they're saying 17.
Politifact.com is a Pulitzer Prize winning site from St. Petersburg times and has pulled out examples of promises they think are particularly significant. I'm looking at some of the president have kept on this list -- requiring kids to have health insurance coverage. He said during the campaign he would do that. Sent two additional brigades to Afghanistan -- said that, too.
Also, he called for reforming mandatory minimum prison sentences, and he talked about the need to review where they stand right now. Promised he would do that, and the bill he signed into law is doing that. So some promises the president has kept.
That said, I have no guilt at all about focusing a little more on promises the president has broken, because candidates should keep their promises, not get lollypops when they do. We should call them out when they don't.
So take a look. There's one example we'll start off with of a promise this president broke, and this is one you have probably heard about. During the campaign he promised he would hold health care discussions and negotiations in public on C-Span. Did not end up doing that and he has since said it was a mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: A legitimate mistake I made during the course of the year, and that is that we had to make so many decisions quickly in a very difficult set of circumstances that after a while we started worrying more about getting the policy right than getting the process right. But I campaigned on process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now, the president did go on to have a public session, as you know, bipartisan discussion on health care, but obviously the original, as he promised, did not take place, did not in general have those discussions. So Politifact.com saying that was a promise that was broken.
And another one they're pointing to as well, the president promised he would reduce earmarks to the level they were at before 1994. Well, take a look at this next screen. Taxpayers for Common Sense, which tracks this stuff, says that ultimately did not happen.
In fiscal year 2009, about $15.6 billion in earmarks. Fiscal year 2010, it actually went up when they do their apples to apples comparison, $15.9 billion. So Politifact.com calling that a broken promise.
You can see the full list at politifact.com. You can join the discussion on Facebook and twitter. Let us know what you think of the Obameter and the president's track record so far.
I'm Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: For anybody out there thinking of skipping Easter Sunday service tomorrow morning, you may rethink that, especially if you had a chance to win a BMW when you go to church.
MALVEAUX: Wait until you hear about this church. We're going to take you to a church that's giving away $2 million in cash and prizes, I'm not kidding you. What do you have to do to get it? You just have to show up. We're going to explain where this church is, how you get there, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Taking a look at some of our top story this is Saturday morning.
Remembering a man who broke the color barrier and made his way into the White House. Eugene Allen is not a household name, but he was in the White House going back to the 1950s. The 90-year-old Allen had a front row seat in history in the making as a butler at the White House for eight presidents.
He once served milk and scotch to Lyndon Johnson as Vietnam War protesters crowded the streets outside of the White House. He died of kidney failure at a Washington hospital. He was 90 years old.
Well, he was Blake Carrington to millions of Americans, and to others the voice of Charlie, yes, as in "Charlie's Angels." Actor John Forsythe died after a year-long battle with cancer. Forsythe was a star in theater, radio, and the movies before finding his greatest fame on primetime television. He was 92 years old.
And Grammy Award Winner Erica Badu's naked stroll in Dallas not only drew stares, it also earned her a citation for disorderly conduct. The singer was shooting a video in an area close to where President Kennedy was assassinated.
The video was shot on March 17th and police say they could not press charges against Badu earlier because no one had called to complain. If convicted, she'll have to pay $500.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIL CORNELIUS, PASTOR, BAY AREA FELLOWSHIP: Fired up and excited to be able to give to god. So are you guys ready to have an offering? All right. Let's do this.
It's offering!
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well, offering in my church wasn't quite like that.
MALVEAUX: Got to love the music.
HOLMES: Got to love the music. Well, that on stage you're seeing now is Texas minister Bill Cornelius taking up offering, Bay Area fellowship is in Corpus Christi.
Clearly he's not a big stickler for tradition, but what he's doing for Easter Sunday service might even top this. We're talking about beamers, bikes, furniture, laptops. You show up to church tomorrow and you're going to get something.
The good reverend joins us this morning live via Skype. Kind sir, we appreciate you being here. We won't give out the directions to your church because I'm sure everybody would be trying to show up tomorrow, but tell me why? Why did you want to do this?
BIL CORNELIUS, PASTOR, BAY AREA FELLOWSHIP: Well, the real heart behind the whole thing is first of all people's generosity is just our people stepped up and gave. We're doing this simply because we want to reach people and bring them in and tell them how much god lives them.
HOLMES: A lot of people would say to you it's like you're bribing people to come to church, and that's just not the way it's supposed to be.
CORNELIUS: I understand that, but think about it, most churches back in the day and even still today do Easter egg hunts to draw kids in. I just can't find any Easter eggs large enough to put any of our cars in.
HOLMES: An Easter egg hunt for a child versus a seven series for an adult, those are two different things, reverend.
(LAUGHTER)
CORNELIUS: We're having fun with this. It's really just our people stepping up and giving things so we can draw people in. It really is that simple of a purpose.
And we have already seen many, many people come in. We were at capacity crowds the other night, just very, very exciting. We're excited to give things away and also bring a tangible side to the intangible truth that can basically give them heaven.
And so it's really -- it's a giant illustration pointing them to the ultimate gift, which is the gift of heaven.
HOLMES: Tell me how this is going to work in church tomorrow. First, how many people do you expect? And tell me, how do you go about winning some of these items?
CORNELIUS: Well, we've already had close to 8,000 people. And so we're very excited. Basically you come in, you register at the beginning of the service, and at the end of the service we take all those registrants and put them in a box, spin them around, and pull a name.
And literally you could show up and an hour later leave the new owner of a car.
HOLMES: Now, I assume you're going to preach the word before you start giving out gifts because you don't want the pews to be empty.
CORNELIUS: Absolutely. That's the entire point of this is that we're giving out gifts so we can talk about the ultimate giveaway, which is just John 3:16 "For god so loved the world that he gave his only son," the greatest giveaway of all time."
HOLMES: What do you expect the attendance to be like next week, after this weekend, after this big crowd?
CORNELIUS: I don't know. We're expecting a bump. We think we're going to still retain quite a few people. That's our goal, and we should have between 15,000 and 20,000 this weekend. And I think we'll still have quite a few people coming back next week as well.
HOLMES: Some people are probably going to show up tomorrow not your regular parishioners, people who heard about this and want to get their hands on something. What do you think of that idea of some just showing up to take advantage of a giveaway?
CORNELIUS: That's exactly who we want.
HOLMES: That's who you want?
CORNELIUS: That who we want, because they're the person that's thinking about the material side of things and not the spiritual side of things, and it gives us a chance to tell them about god and his love and tell them about heaven and just give them the opportunity to receive Christ.
HOLMES: Are you worried some of that message might go in one ear and out the other and then the money goes out the door?
(LAUGHTER)
CORNELIUS: We're really not worried about that. We're excited about it, and we're just grateful to be able to leave people with a gift as well. In fact everyone that comes leaves a winner. They leave with several hundred dollars worth of items worth of coupons in their -- in an envelope we're giving everyone.
And so everyone leaves a winner, but the ultimate reason is to point people to Christ. That's why we're doing it. We've already seen over 500 people make commitments to the lord, and that's the whole point behind it.
HOLMES: Bil, what do you think it says about us these days, this day and time, that it takes something like this to bring certain people into church? Just what does this say about us all as a society as a whole?
CORNELIUS: I think it says frankly we're not heavenly-minded. So it's funny how we've been giving heaven out for free for thousands of years at churches all around the world, and suddenly one church adds a car and a bike to it and the whole world goes crazy.
I just figure this just helps us say, this car is nice, but it's going to rust and it's going to die one day and it's not going to work one day. But heaven is forever. And so it just points us to a greater opportunity to tell them about the love of god.
HOLMES: And we're going to let you go now, but we can't help but notice is that a car up on stage? Is that one of the giveaway cars?
CORNELIUS: We just gave away that Audi A-4 last night to somebody. All weekend long we're giving cars, and we're also giving 300 bikes to children in one of the roughest areas of our city. We're really excited about that. I'm just really proud of our people who are so generous to make this happen.
HOLMES: Well, our crew here is buying up every ticket from Atlanta to Corpus Christi right now, and we will all see you in church tomorrow, sir.
(LAUGHTER)
CORNELIUS: Sounds great. Thanks a lot.
HOLMES: Reverend, thank you for being our guest this morning. Thank you so much. Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: T.J., I asked you about a church here in Atlanta tomorrow, but, you know, I'm on board. Give me the address.
HOLMES: I can't find where they're having that deal.
MALVEAUX: Thank you.
Well, Afghanistan's president makes a few remarks and he ends up having to explain himself as well. His phone call to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in just a moment.
And remember these full body scanners that airport security officials rolled out? They haven't picked up any explosives but they are detecting a few other things. We're going to explain.
And it's the frenzy of the morning. People are lining up at stores all across the country for the newest tech gadget. That story is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Afghanistan's president is blaming election fraud in his country on the international community.
MALVEAUX: And that accusation drew the attention of Washington and led to a half hour phone conversation between Hamid Karzai and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Our Atia Abawi is in Kabul. And Atia, what are we hearing about this phone call?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know right now, Suzanne, is that President Karzai has said that he did not mean for his words to be represented the way they came out, that the way the people are seeing it.
But let's look back to Thursday when President Karzai held a press conference where he basically pointed the finger at the international community, saying they were behind the fraudulent elections that he said took place in 2009.
Let's also remember this is the first time that he's admitting that fraud did take place during these elections. Back then he would say that fraud did not take place. In fact, back then the international community was pointing at him and his campaign.
But this is coming at a time where President Karzai is trying to take control of the electoral bodies here in Afghanistan. That's the independent election commission as well as the electoral complaints commission.
But parliament rejected his decree because they're five months away from their own election process, and they say that President Karzai is trying to take control of the election process, therefore, filling the seats in parliament with his supporters.
MALVEAUX: How is this actually being received by the people there in Afghanistan? Because clearly you just had President Obama who was visiting with Karzai in his country just weeks ago, and the Obama administration is quite upset and frustrated that Karzai comes out and talks about, you know, blaming the international community for fraudulent elections.
Is Karzai trying to distance himself from the United States, from the Obama administration, to get support from his own people?
ABAWI: Well, that's what it seems to be. It seems that president Karzai is trying to take a stance to say that he has a tougher fist against the international community.
But we were just out on the streets of Kabul today asking the Afghan people who they thought. We ran into a young man who is a supporter of Karzai. He said Karzai has brought change to Afghanistan in the last eight years, but he says these comments were unnecessary, that these comments against the international community were uncalled for.
This gentleman, this young man who is 20 years old, said he's already the president. He won the elections. Why is he stepping back? The country needs to move forward.
This is also coming at a time just days after President Barack Obama made his first trip as president to Afghanistan. So it was pretty much a slap in the face of the international community, and the big question is, is this going to actually increase the tension between President Karzai and his administration and the west. Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Atia Abawi, thank you so much. The White House asserting that Karzai is still invited to the White House in May.
Well, a 31-year-old Colorado woman arrested in Ireland has been indicted on terror charges. Jamie Pauline-Ramirez is accused of conspiring with Colleen Larose, the woman known as "Jihad Jane," to provide material support to terrorists. Pauline-Ramirez was arrested yesterday after voluntarily returning to the States from overseas.
HOLMES: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a new measure Friday to strengthen airport security. Already in place around the country, these full body imaging machines meant to detect hidden explosives have yet to find any.
But CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve reports they are picking up much more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Cocaine found on a passenger at the Indianapolis airport, marijuana and a pipe similarly concealed uncovered in Las Vegas. The TSA says over the past year more than 60 prohibited or illegal items have been discovered through use of full body scanners like this at U.S. airports.
Acting TSA administrator Dale Rossides uses this simulation to show how imaging has uncovered concealed knives, razorblades, and bottles of liquid, all prohibited from aircraft.
GALE ROSSIDES, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, TSA: It is an excellent piece of technology that will significantly improve our detection capabilities.
MESERVE: But not every item the machines reveal poses a security threat.
ROSSIDES: I have a very small baggie that is a replica of some drugs that we found concealed in a sensitive part of a passenger's body.
JOHN PERRY BARLOW, ACTIVIST: I can't imagine an explosive that is powerful enough in that quantity to endanger an aircraft. That's inconceivable to me.
MESERVE: John Perry Barlow, a onetime lyricist for the Grateful Dead, was arrested in 2003 after the TSA found a small quantity of drugs during a search of his checked bag. He took them to court, saying the agency's mandate is to look for threats to airplanes, not drugs. He makes the same argument when it comes to body imaging machines.
BARLOW: They're not there to be part of the DEA. They're not there to be part of local law enforcement. They're there to keep the public safe.
MESERVE: Rossides says her agency is not looking for drugs, it is looking for threats. But if it finds drugs, it will turn the matter over to local law enforcement.
The TSA likes these machines so much it plans to deploy 1,000 imagers by the end of 2011, each with a price tag of $130,000 or more.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Check out some stories making had headlines this morning.
Some parents are demanding a school superintendent and principal in Massachusetts step down in the wake of a student's death. The superintendent of Hadley School says officials learned about the bullying that led to the suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince only a week before it happened in January.
Last hour I discussed this case with Judge Glenda Hatchet who has started a campaign to fight bullying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE GLENDA HATCHETT, FORMER FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA JUVENILE COURT: You have to talk to your children and you have to say, listen, don't suffer on this. You are not alone. Our children have to know that they're not alone.
The tragedy of it that we have seen, and particularly that you're focusing in on this morning, is that suicide ought not be the answer for bullying. A child shouldn't feel that that is the only way out of this.
And so encourage your kids, these are teachable moments, T.J. Have your kids sit down, talk to you, and then intervene. Go to the school, talk to the counselors, talk to the teachers, talk to the principals. Weigh in on your child's behalf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Three of the nine teenagers accused in Phoebe Prince's suicide are scheduled to appear in court next week.
MALVEAUX: And a top high school football recruit has died in a spring break accident. According to several published reports, 17- year-old Matt James died after falling from a hotel balcony in Panama City, Florida.
James was considered one of Notre Dame's top football recruits. He attended St. Xavier high school in Cincinnati, and he was just about to turn 18 in just a week.
Well, we have an update on a story we told you about last week about a newborn with a rare birth defect who was denied health care. Well, the insurance company refused to cover him, citing a pre- existing condition.
Well, after a lot of immediate why attention, Blue Cross/Blue Shield has agreed to pay for the baby's surgeries. They've also agreed to offer insurance coverage. That's good news.
HOLMES: Nice to have a happy ending to that story.
MALVEAUX: It's good that the media coverage can do some good there and get a baby what he needs.
HOLMES: How many days? Just a little bitty thing. It's good to see that one end well.
We're going to show this picture, and I'm going to ask you. Do you have an iPod, iPhone, all this stuff?
MALVEAUX: I have an iPod and an iPhone, but I don't know about that. I don't know about the hype around this yet. I'm not sure if I'm buying this yet.
HOLMES: OK. These folks are standing in line not for a new iPhone or iPod, but the new iPad now. Have you stood in line for any of this stuff so far?
MALVEAUX: No, actually, T.J. They were gifts.
HOLMES: Excuse me, forgive me.
(LAUGHTER)
Well, these folks may be ...
MALVEAUX: Are you going to give me an iPad?
HOLMES: We'll see ...
MALVEAUX: Because I accept gifts.
HOLMES: We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But those folks in Chicago standing in line in the rain for an iPad. What has made us go crazy for the newest toy from Apple? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. They're on sale. Some people are getting them as we speak, so they'll be the ones annoying you in the office on Monday talking about they're the cool kids.
MALVEAUX: Showing off. They're the one who is get it first. But maybe the price will go down once everybody starts snatching them up. There's Miami, Miami Beach. Everybody is waiting in line. That's a long line there.
HOLMES: They are waiting in line to give up $500 to $900 of their own money for the iPad. This is another one in New York form this morning. Everybody is waiting outside the apple store to get the latest toy. But the folks who really want this thing are in Chicago apparently, because they don't mind the rain, standing out there in it, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: What's a little bad weather if you have an umbrella and, you know, you can be on the cutting edge of technology, especially if somebody else is standing there for you?
HOLMES: I think that's your MO, usually.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: How did you know?
HOLMES: But some folks couldn't wait, including this guy. We should have known this was coming. I remember getting an e-mail from him when they first announced. That's Don Lemon, of course.
MALVEAUX: Hugging it, he is hugging the iPad here. He must be a total tech geek.
HOLMES: He sent an e-mail really the day it was announced these things are coming up, geeked up about it, and there he is in Atlanta this morning. He got it.
MALVEAUX: Are we going to see him later today? I want to see this. I want to see this.
HOLMES: When you see him, the viewers, when you see him on the show later, he will not be paying attention to his own show. He will be typing on his little iPad.
We'll take a quick break and be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: He was a five-star chef in India, but he gave up that successful career to serve people in the streets of his hometown. Meet today's CNN hero of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NARIN KRISHNAN, CNN HERO: Because of the poverty India faces, too many people are being abandoned by their own family and left uncared on the roadsides of the city. I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food. It really hurt me so much.
I was working for a five-star hotel as a chef. I had all the ambitions. I want to excel in what I was doing, but the old man changed everything.
My name is Narin Krishnan. I care for the abandoned and mentally ill in my hometown, Masari (ph), India.
Every meal which has been prepared fresh we go distribute. People are waiting for us. They totally rely on the food which that we give. It is a continuous process -- cooking, distributing, then again coming. We are feeding almost 400 people three meals a day around the clock, rain or shine, no holiday.
Others feel it is difficult to do this. I don't feel it difficult. My vision and my ideas are very clear. The happiness I see in their face keeps me going. I take energy from them.
I want to save my people, and I feel that is the purpose of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: If you would like to nominate someone you think is changing the world, just go to CNN.com/heroes.
