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Life for Sex Offenders; Debate Over Abuse and Abortion in Mexico; Oil Rig Explosion Off Louisiana Coast; The Dangers of Salt
Aired April 21, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And here's a look at our top stories. There's been an explosion on the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Seven people have been critically injured, at least 11 others missing. Coast guard now searching the area about 50 miles off the coast Venice, Louisiana.
This morning Pope Benedict made his first public comments on the growing sex abuse scandal. He is vowing swift church action on priests who have strayed from the faith, but without elaborating as to what that action might be.
It appears Republicans are changing their tune of opposition against the Democrat-backed plan to reform Wall Street. Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, saying the prospect of a GOP fill buster is bringing Democrats back to the bargaining table. The proposed $50 billion emergency fund for banks on the brink of bankruptcy is still a sticking point, though.
One strike and you're out. No more of that three strikes stuff for sexual predators. That's the emphasis behind new legislation in California. It's called Chelsea's Law named after Chelsea King, the teenager murdered in San Diego earlier this year. A previously- convicted sex offender has pleaded guilty and it's not the first time landmark legislation came from tragedy.
Remember this little girl, Polly Klaas? Her case led to the three strikes law in the first place. And we can't forget Megan Kanka, she was murdered by a known child molester and that led to Megan's Law. It requires sex offenders to register with local police so you and me know where they are. Now Chelsea's Law takes it one step further with more monitoring and mandatory life sentences for some first offenses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASSEMBLYMAN NATHAN FLETCHER (R), SAN DIEGO: While all sex crimes are awful, the crimes against such young victims are a red flag the perpetrator is capable of much, much worse and we should acknowledge that. Prisons and parole are for people we are afraid of, not people we're mad at and our bill seeks to focus on those that we are truly afraid of. AB 1844 ensures a prioritization and a focus on the worst of the worst, those who target children in a violent, sexual way.
BRENT KING, CHELSEA KING'S FATHER: In Chelsea's memory and in recognition of the lives of other California children that you will save, please vote in favor of Assembly Bill 1844.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: How can you not vote for that? California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has already said that he's a supporter of the new law. And joining me on the phone now, Marc Klaas, Polly Klaas' father and founder of the KlaasKids' Foundation.
So good to talk to you again. And how many times through the years at least 20 years, you and I have talked about these children that have been killed by registered sex offenders and too often enough by repeat offenders. It happens all the time.
MARC KLAAS, FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION (via telephone): It does happen all the time and, in fact, in many instances, there are existing laws that should already protect us from these types of individuals.
PHILLIPS: So what do you think about Chelsea's Law? The fact that forget the one, two, three strikes you're out. You molest a child. You go to prison for life, no parole.
KLAAS: Well, I think that that makes plenty of sense. You know, California already has a one-strike law on the books. It was passed in 1994 and the one strike at that point consisted of 25 years to life. That's now been increased to life without the possibility of parole. I'm not sure how many times, I think very, very few times that even that law has been applied.
PHILLIPS: But here's what's frustrating, as you talk about these laws being applied. You talk about these laws being created and yet we are still seeing time and time again children dying or being sexually abused by registered sex offenders and repeat offenders. I mean, what's it going to take to get these guys off the street?
KLAAS: Well, hopefully it will be the death of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois. The reality is that the individual who murdered these two girls never should have been on the street in the first place. Like I said, there were already laws in place that should have protected us from that individual, but our government seems to find ways around and ways to finesse existing laws and release these people back on to the streets so that they can continue to commit this kind of mayhem and one hopes that this doesn't, that Chelsea's Law if passed, and of course, I'm a supporter and it doesn't fall into this very same category of another law that could be ignored by our leaders.
PHILLIPS: You make a really great point as sit here and we look at the alleged killer here, John Gardner, 31 years old that allegedly is the one that took the life of Chelsea King. You know, I think about the man who killed your daughter, Richard Allen Davis. I mean, he had a rap sheet a mile long and he was roaming the streets.
KLAAS: There's no question about that, but Gardner is not alleged to have done anything. Gardner has admitted to have killed both of those young girls and Gardner should have been kept behind bars to begin with. He was not eligible for the sexually violent predator law but he was eligible for the mentally disorder defender law and as a result of that he could have been civilly committed yet they turned their back on this guy.
They did not give him a risk assessment as having a high - a high ability to re-offend and therefore he was put back on the street. The same thing goes with Philip Garrido? What in the world is going on in California when we keep passing stricter and stricter and stricter laws and then ignoring them.
PHILLIPS: That's a point well made. And let's hope that something finally happens to where when these guys are put away they stay there, behind bars. Mark Klaas, appreciate your time today.
KLAAS: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: And across much of Europe, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping and the airlines, believe it or not are flying. Six days after a cloud of volcanic ash swept over much of Europe, 21,000 flights expected back in the skies and that's a little more than half of a normal day but a vast improvement from the shutdown that stranded thousands upon thousands of travelers. Here in the U.S., weary Americans have actually begun arriving home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exhausting, yes. But it turned out nicely because we got a better plane coming home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first time I was in Paris and I was happy to have extra days in Paris because originally we only have two days. So to have four or five days in Paris, at least I got to see it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we're home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't believe we're in Atlanta, but - feels great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Now there's no word on how long this reprieve will last, but a new eruption could force new closures at any time. The volcano is spewing out about 80 percent less ash than the first day and the airlines really took a hit from all this. At least $1.7 billion and counting already.
And get this, many airlines said the shutdowns were a gross overreaction and that the skies were safe to fly during much of the crisis. That's still at a debate and at its worst, the whole ordeal impacted 29 percent of global aviation and affected 1.2 million passengers a day.
President Obama getting some advice on his Supreme Court decision today, whether he really wants it or not. He's meeting this hour with Senate leaders from both parties to discuss possible candidates to fill John Paul Stevens' slot. They will also be probably discussing the time table. President Obama wants a new justice in place for the fall session.
A little girl in a bad spot, abused by her father and if that wasn't bad enough. Now she's the center of attention in an abortion battle.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Plus severe weather back in the forecast. We have one tornado sighting yesterday. We'll show you the pictures and tell you what you can expect for the rest of your work week. That's coming up.
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PHILLIPS: Abuse and abortion, a disturbing case is opening new debate on laws in Mexico. A little girl's life could be in danger after she was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. Senior Latin American affairs editor Rafael Romo here to take us through the case. What's disturbing to hear that this has even happened.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Kyra, it's horrible and many people in Mexico are outraged because of what happened and the way it happened. If there's any good news in this is that the stepfather who is allegedly responsible for this is already behind bars and prosecutors say he confessed after he was confronted with irrefutable evidence of the rape. The case has generated a heated debate in Mexico over sexual abuse of minors and whether the girl should have been allowed to have an abortion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO (voice-over): Authorities in the Mexican state of En Quintana Roo say this man identified as 27-year-old Isaac Santiago Martinez has already confessed to the crime. CNN has reached out to his attorney, but we haven't yet gotten a response. Martinez is behind bars for allegedly raping his 10-year-old step daughter after being reported to authorities by the girl's mother.
The girl became pregnant and is now in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services.
LIZBETH GAMBOA, DEPT. OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY (through translator): Look, in terms of health, she has the health of a 10- year-old girl. She's healthy in spite of her pregnancy.
ROMO: But a congressional leader in the state of En Quintana Roo says this health assessment is not consistent with reality. They believe more action is needed to protect young victims of rape, particularly those that end in pregnancy.
REP. MARIA HADAD, QUINTANA ROO CONGRESSWOMAN (through translator): What doctors didn't want to say and what they haven't said is not only is this a high-risk pregnancy, but also the girl's life is at risk. ROMO: It's not clear whether the girl or her mother wanted an abortion, but her case has caused shock and outrage in Mexico stirring out debates on sexual abuse of minors and reproductive rights. Some pro-choice activists feel like authorities didn't do enough to help the girl during the time when it would have been possible for her to get an abortion which in Mexico is allowed in cases of rape until the third month of pregnancy. They say this case is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to looking into how child rape and pregnancy are handled in the country.
MARIA LUISA SANCHEZ, PRO-CHOICE ACTIVIST: We're really asking for accountability and demanding that the National Commission on Human Rights takes action into investigating what is going on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: And the state's attorney general said the case came to them at the very end of the three-month period in which an abortion is allowed in cases of rape in Mexico. Mexican authorities are now trying to decide whether to release the girl back to the custody of her mother or her biological father. There is the question there of what's the best thing for the girl. They don't know yet.
PHILLIPS: But the - what's the abortion law in Mexico? That if you are raped you can have an abortion.
ROMO: In cases of rape. Only in cases of rape, up until three month of pregnancy, the legal. It doesn't really matter what the age of the victim is, but this girl was brought to authorities at the very end of that period and so the question of whether she could have had an abortion was really not there anymore.
She is now four months pregnant, so it's not an issue and I was talking to the prosecutor yesterday and he says that the girl is going to have the baby. It's not a question anymore.
PHILLIPS: So, but we still don't know if the mom wanted her to have an abortion or not, right? That's still unclear? OK. So what can happen to the stepfather?
ROMO: Well, the stepfather faces a sentence of anywhere from 15 to 30 years. He has not been found guilty yet, but the prosecutor was telling me yesterday that the evidence is just so big, so convincing that there's very little doubt that he will be found guilty.
PHILLIPS: That's an awful story.
Rafael, thanks.
Well, there was good reason behind the tumbling tumbleweeds on the west Texas high plains last night. Yes, this is what it looked like. But no damage, thank goodness. Thanks to CNN affiliate KAMR for that one compelling picture of a twister. We were talking about it, Jacqui. It's lucky timing unless, of course, they knew there was severe weather and they were kind of waiting for this.
You know those photojournalists out in Texas, they are always chasing those tornados.
JERAS: If you think about it in a way, it's almost hard not to see them because there are so many storm spotters out there with people looking for them and there are going to be a lot out there in the next couple of days because severe weather is back in the forecast. We've had a huge lull and it's been weeks really since we've seen anything significantly active.
In fact, it looks like by tomorrow in particular, we could have a little bit more widespread severe weather. Now, this afternoon and this evening we'll be watching some of the same areas here. The panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, on up to the plains there, of Colorado, just a slight risk as we call it. So large hail is the primary risk followed by wind damage and then isolated tornadoes will be possible. So something we'll be watching.
Tomorrow looks like more favorable conditions and the storm system which is out west today makes its way towards the plain states and it's going to start to tap into some of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and that's really one of the big elements that's missing from today is that we don't have a lot of moisture to work with.
So tomorrow we'll be watching western Kansas, down to Oklahoma and Texas, as the storm system then progresses eastward, there you can see as we head into Friday and into Saturday, the nation's midsection has a wider area of seeing those severe thunderstorms and of course, we'll keep you up-to-date and take you through the storms throughout the rest of the work week. Boy, it's been a quiet season and in fact, we're looking at almost record levels at this point in terms of the number of tornado reports that we've had across the U.S..
Now today we're looking at some wet weather across parts of the east, across the south of Florida, stretching on up through the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic states and some light rain and showers from Washington, D.C.. It's going to be moving into the Baltimore area and it could cause you a couple of airport delays and a pretty weak system here that's going to be pulling out pretty shortly, out west. That's the big show.
Today before the storm makes its way to the plains and it's going to be bringing snow in the higher elevations and some really, really conditions, we're talking about 45 miles per hour gust, easy across parts of the four corners and then behind the system, maybe 40 mile per hour gusts and that can impact you in L.A.
I just wanted to hit the latest on the volcano and what the ash forecast is here for you, Kyra. This is the area that's expected to be impacted for the most part today and this is really at 20,000 feet and below. Everything above 20,000 feet where the airplanes fly for the most part is doing a-OK and as we head into tomorrow, you'll see that northerly shift and things are looking a lot better.
And here's a satellite picture to give you an idea of how much it's improved. This is from Monday and now take a look at what we were seeing yesterday. Wow! So just a lot less ash in the atmosphere. So a little bit of good news for you. PHILLIPS: Good. We like good news. Thanks, Jacqui.
The most defiant hairdo in Illinois history. Yes, we're talking about Rod Blagojevich and he wants everyone to hear him out. All 500 hours' worth.
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PHILLIPS: Top stories, there's been an explosion on an oil rig about 52 miles off the coast of Venice, Louisiana. The Coast Guard has evacuated seven people who we are told are critically injured. At least 11 others are missing and a massive search is now under way.
Joining me on the phone, Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry. So, Mike, tell us what the situation is like right now.
SR. CHIEF PTY. OFFICER MIKE O'BERRY, COAST GUARD (via telephone): Good morning, Kyra.
We got four helicopters that are flying currently. It's been confirmed that there are 12 missing crew members. We've been able to, with the Medevacs and we evacuated survivors and at count, there are 12 that the Coast Guard is searching for right now.
We got four helicopters out there. There's also five cutters involved in this search. There were 114 that were accounted for and 99 with some with minor injuries and they're en route back to port and the - there were 15 earlier this morning that were medevaced to various hospitals and to shore by the Coast Guard by helicopters as well as some air ambulances.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let me just confirm the numbers here. So you've got 12 missing people right now, is that right?
O'BERRY: That's it.
PHILLIPS: OK. 12 missing and are we correct with the seven people who are critically injured from this?
O'BERRY: Yes. And also those were medevaced to medical facilities earlier this morning.
PHILLIPS: Got it. OK. So do you have any idea, Mike, what happened? Does anybody have any idea of what happened?
O'BERRY: We haven't necessarily looked into the cause as of yet. When we got the call last night at about 10:00, you know, with the severity of the explosion and the incident, our first reaction was to get out there for search and rescue. Once the search and rescue gets completed we'll move in to making sure that any environmental impact, you know, we're going to work on if there's any pollution and to protect that and then they'll probably begin the investigation following that on to the cause.
PHILLIPS: Got it. All right. We'll continue to follow your efforts as you're searching for those 12 people and I know this is exactly what the Coast Guard trains to do and we appreciate you calling in for us.
Michael O'Berry, senior chief petty officer of the U.S. Coast Guard. Thanks, Mike.
O'BERRY: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's a staple of the American diet and probable as close as your next snack or meal, so why are health officials worried about salt and what are they doing about it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with some answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: OK. Don't think you overdo it on sodium, think again. Guess what most of it doesn't even come from your salt shaker. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta went to the store to expose some of those hidden dangers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): When it comes to sodium, we simply eat too much. On average about four grams per day as an adult when we really need half that, about two grams per day. There was a study that came out that said if you can get down to two grams per day, we can potentially save about 150,000 lives per year simply from that one thing.
Frozen foods, they're going to have a lot of sodium in there for lots of different reasons but mainly because sodium is a good preservative and that's why it's in there but also canned foods. A lot of parents, again, like me will go to canned foods. The problem is you'll get about 950 grams, almost a gram of sodium just from something like this, far too much for an adult and far too much for most kids as well.
Cereal also, obviously, an important food choice for many homes. Make sure to read those labels again. One thing about reading labels as well, when you're reading labels, try to find foods like this that have less than five ingredients. That's really going to help, but when it comes to that sodium again, one thing we do at our house, we never leave crackers or cookies sitting in a big box and we'll pour a little bit on to a small table and that's important to try to find some salt substitutes as well. We don't need salt shakers out there.
But if you find a substitute like this, no salt, for example, or just some flavorings, you can both cut down on your sodium, increase your potassium and possibly solve a lot of those problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: This is one of my biggest, biggest problems. I salt everything.
GUPTA: Do you have a salt shaker?
PHILLIPS: I'm terrible. I'm absolutely terrible. So you mentioned the salt substitute -
GUPTA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Is that really - even if you put tons of that is that really a good alternative?
GUPTA: I started using it some time ago and then started really testing it when I was doing this piece.
PHILLIPS: OK.
GUPTA: It is a good substitute in terms of lowering the amount of - the sodium that you're getting in your diet. Two things you may notice. Most people may notice a change in flavor a little bit. What I found a little bit ironic is some of the foods actually tasted saltier to me as a result of those salt substitutes because of the combinations of various things that really, you know, held a lot of flavor to it and some of the flavors I didn't expect. So, you know, I think it's worth trying.
PHILLIPS: And I think there are a lot of things that we don't even - and you mentioned it. We didn't even realize there are high levels of salts. Like cereal, I had no idea how much sodium is in a bowl of cereal because you think you're being really healthy when you do that.
GUPTA: Sure. And if, you know, you read the labels on the back and especially something that you're giving young people, children, even, they're getting an extraordinary amount of sodium in sort of these hidden places with even absent salt shaker on the table.
PHILLIPS: How about frozen foods?
GUPTA: Frozen foods surprise you, and here's the reason why. Salt is also a preservative. That's what gives things their long half life. So when you're looking at frozen foods almost all of them have salt and quite a bit of it because they're using it not only for flavoring, but also preservative as well.
PHILLIPS: OK. So then what specific changes might the FDA soon take on this?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's funny because they've been talking about this for so long. The Institute of Medicine, which is the science arm of the National Academy of Science they say, "look, the public education campaign is not working. People sort of know it's bad for us, but they still eat a lot of salt." So we need to do something more. So they're urging the FDA right now, to essentially not ban sodium, but essentially start to regulate it and creating what they call a national average.
So predicting how much salt someone gets in their diet in a typical day and from where, that can of soup, for example is your entire day's worth of sodium, decreasing that down and knowing the person is also going to eat some cereal perhaps, and at the end of the day, having national average of salt that people will take in. PHILLIPS: Let me throw one more thing at you because I had a friend of mine and he and his wife cut out salt completely from their diet and he swears that's why they both lost 20 pounds. Is that true?
GUPTA: There's no question salt makes you retain water.
PHILLIPS: OK.
GUPTA: Water likes to go to where salt is. Incidentally the Salt Institute, which is an institute on behalf of salt, they say, you know, this is over regulation. We have low levels of sodium out there right now and you're essentially conducting a clinical trial on society. So not everyone is onboard with this, but again, the Stanford study last month which this whole thing was based on said 150,000 lives a year, Kyra, from simply decreasing salt.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
GUPTA: All of the advances you make in medicine, all technology, just cut down the salt.
PHILLIPS: Cut the salt and look what can happen?
GUPTA: It could make a huge impact.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, you're getting that college degree here soon, now what? Not exactly the best time to hit the job market, is it? One group is showing that young grads can still succeed in business by really trying.
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PHILLIPS: Check your C note. It should look a little different from the last one, you big spender. Right now, the U.S. Treasury Department rolling out the next generation of $100 bill. The new and improved redesign is the government's latest attempt to stay one step ahead of those pesky counterfeiters.
Let's face it. If you're working toward a college degree now, it's probably coming with a lot of uncertainty attached and with jobs scarce and career paths unclear, you won't hear gloom or doom from the Cairo Society. That's a student organization that's actaully proving that the young business person is still very much alive.
CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow in New York. You've always good news within the bad, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. This is good news. It's really neat. The Cairo Society, as you say, Kyra, is a non-profit and student founded, actually. And the whole goal there is to take on the big challenges in the world with entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs. What they did this weekend is they held their global summit here in New York at the New York Stock Exchange. They showed off about 100 of the most innovative student-founded businesses. Pretty darn impressive. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's 100 companies being showcased today, and every one of these companies has been founded and is run by students.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a power flower, which is portable, durable, low-impact solar technology. A lot of people like the look of it, would love to have one of these in their backyard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tried it for the first time a year ago, and we realized that we love it and we want to bring it to the masses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We founded Chiros in 2007, which was right at the peak of the whole recession. And Chiros actually means (ph) the right moment. The premise was there's no better time for these students to pursue the path of entrepreneurship, to take on their own risk and take control of their own destiny.
DUNCAN NIEDERRAUER, CEO NYSE EURONEXT: It shows you the art of what the possible is. Anything is possible and to see what these kids are doing with the tools at their disposal, and they're able to create businesses on the back of an idea much faster than we ever could.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The easiest way to get a job is to create your own. And that was the whole entrepreneurship thing and that's why we're here at Chiros. The best way to stimulate the economy is to go out and make jobs for other people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man up front from back home. We started this all-terrain extreme sports company. It's essentially a snowboard with two snow mobile tracks underneath it. And it can go through sand, snow, mud and take it up the side of a mountain.
If you have something you believe in and see potential in, you should go out there and just figure out a way to make it work and not let other people tell you what you can and can't do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone drinks water. Everyone has causes they care about. Give us a beverage brand on a mission. We donate 10 cents from every unit we sell to charity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want them to promise me that if and when they IPO, they do it here at the NYSE and they give me a call even if I don't have the job, so that I can join them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Pretty inspiring, those kids. Kyra, the only two complaints, lack of financing and hard to get loans from banks and lack of sleep, Kyra. Working pretty hard there. PHILLIPS: It does take a lot of lack of sleep and hard work, and pretty much anything is possible when you do that. We all know that in this business. Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: Absolutely. You got it.
PHILLIPS: Great story. Great story.
Police in danger. Booby traps with guns and gas set. Federal agents joining raids to stop a trail of terror in California. We will tell you about it.
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PHILLIPS: Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich goes back to court in less than three hours. His trial and corruption charges come up in June, and last night he called government prosecutors cowards and liars. And those were the complements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: The government's sneaking into court tomorrow to try to file a motion to keep all the tapes from being heard. Now why are they doing that?
They're doing it for two reasons. One, they know when all those tapes are going to be played, they will show I've done nothing wrong. They will prove my innocence, and that Patty did nothing wrong.
The second reason they're doing this is the reason they know and we know that there's a smoking gun on those tapes. And the smoking gun is that the government is covering up the big lie Mr. Fitzgerald gave to the world when he had me arrested on December the 9th, and he told the whole world that he heard tapes and he heard telephone conversations and they had to arrest a sitting governor because he would, quote, unquote, "stop a crime spree before it happened."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: There's believed to be hundreds of hours of wiretap tape. Blagojevich is accused of trying to raffle Barack Obama's former Senate seat for profit.
The FBI and ATF join in raids in Hemet, California, looking for people responsible for attacks on local police. Twenty-three people are under arrest, but no one has been charged. Local media reports that white supremacists are responsible for the attacks on police. Those include rerouting a gas line into the police station, and trigging a gun to fire when a police fence of opened.
This morning, a new start for a south Florida teenager who was brutally attacked. You might remember Michael Brewer was set on fire and suffered burns to about two-thirds of his body. Today, he returned to school. His uncle says he's eager to be back because he got bored playing video games. Three teenagers are charged in that awful attack. Getting tough on illegal immigration, but maybe too tough. An Arizona bill is drawing fire as it heads to the governor's desk. Is it fair to ask police to be immigration officers, too?
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PHILLIPS: Arizona is close to having a tough new immigration law. Tough and controversial. Basically it puts more responsibility in the hands of police officers to check citizenship.
Here it is in a nutshell. It forces police ask are you're a citizen if they suspect the person isn't. Immigrants would be required to carry citizenship papers, green cards and registration forms. And makes it a crime to even give a ride to someone you know is in the country illegally.
Like I said, it's very controversial. CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" John Roberts actually spoke to a very colorful sheriff. You may know him, Joe Arpaio, who supports the law and state representative Kyrsten Sinema, who voted against it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Some people have said that this bill constitutes racial profiling. What do you say?
KYRSTEN SINEMA, ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, one of the real difficult things about this bill is that it forces law enforcement into a Catch 22. They have to engage in asking the status of anyone they come into contact with that they have reasonable suspicion to believe they may be undocumented. And if they fail to do so, any Arizona citizen can sue them for not enforcing all federal immigration laws.
So, they're really placed in a tough bind. They either will get sued for racial profiling by asking folks who are citizens to prove their documentation, or they'll get sued by citizens for not asking a person -- every person who appears to be of Latino descent to provide their documentation.
ROBERTS: Sheriff Arapio, this bill doesn't seem too far off from what you have been doing as a matter of common practice. What do you think of the bill?
SHERIFF JOE ARAPIO, MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF: Well, it just gives us an extra tool. It gives law enforcement the initiative to enforce the federal immigration laws and the new state laws. So, I'm all for it.
And we arrested -- detained 38,000 illegal aliens, and not much problem. I have a few complaints. The U.S. Justice Department a year-and-a-half ago initiated a civil rights investigation against me. Nothing has happened, so we're doing the right thing.
ROBERTS: Now, Cardinal Roger Mahoney of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Sheriff, said that this bill would encourage, quote, "German Nazi and Russian communist techniques." What do you say to that?
ARAPIO: Well, I do know that the demonstrators called me Hitler. They have signs and call me every name in the book, and that's sad right here in Phoenix. But no, that's ridiculous. Law enforcement are trained. They're professionals and they know how to enforce the laws, so I'm very comfortable with the new law.
ROBERTS: Representative Sinema, you heard the sheriff there saying it gives them another tool to enforce the law. What's your point of view on that? Should law enforcement have every tool legally at their disposal to deal with this issue?
SINEMA: Well, absolutely. Law enforcement should have every tool they need to do their job. The problem is that this law doesn't provide those tools.
What law enforcement really need are the resources and the tools to crack down on criminal syndicates on our border. We've seen an increase in drug running and gun running and people running all over the border regions. And there are pieces of legislation that we can pass to actually help that problem.
I just passed a bill that was signed by the governor last week to help crack down on sex trafficking, which is a huge problem at our border. Those are the kinds of tools we need to offer to police officers. Unfortunately, this bill really puts them in a tough bind and actually ties their hands and makes it more difficult to do their job appropriately.
ROBERTS: Sheriff Arpaio, what do you say to that?
ARAPIO: This is garbage. I was a director in Mexico City with U.S. Drug Enforcement and spent 14 years at the border. Everybody talks about the border. That's a cop out because nobody wants to talk about enforcing illegal immigration laws in the interior because of politics. They want amnesty.
So, it's always secure the border. But we have criminals right here in Maricopa County. In our jails, we have over 50 people charged with murder that are illegals, violence and everything else. So, we have to hit this problem on all levels. The border, yes, but how about inside the United States, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And we thought tectonic plates, fault lines, pressure and time caused earthquakes. What the heck were we thinking? One amateur geologist has it figured out. Fewer floozies, fewer earthquakes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: You can pretty much guarantee that song isn't on one Iranian cleric's iPod. He's a cleric. He's an amateur geologist. Go ahead and tell us about him, Jay Leno.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": According to a top Iranian cleric -- and you know how accurate they are -
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: I didn't know this. Earthquakes and volcanoes are caused by women wearing immodest clothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard that. I heard that.
LENO: Or as most guys call that, a fair tradeoff. Sure, I'll take that. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Jay, appreciate that. Yes, guys. Remember this before you say hey, baby, what's shaking again? Because the answer could be the ground. The Iranian hardliner says that women who tart up and tempt guys into the sack are at fault for earthquakes. So, out with the miniskirts and the makeup, dress like Louisa May Alcott, and everything will just be fine.
I wonder what got this guy thinking about - maybe Tiger Woods? Well, we must talk about this with CNN's Reza Sayah about this. He joins us live from Islamabad. So Reza, very serious question here. What's your take? Any truth to this?
(LAUGHTER)
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I have to be honest with you, I'm upset at Mr. Fisher, who is my sixth grade earth sciences teacher in Wayne, Pennsylvania. He never told us that earthquakes were caused by women sleeping around or wearing skimpy clothing. He gave us some confusing explanation about the tectonic theory is tectonic plates which sounded more like deejay equipment than they did causes for earthquakes.
but in comes this Iranian cleric that says forget about the tectonic theory because indeed earthquakes are caused by women who sleep around. There is one concern we should pass along. It's a minor concern. This cleric is not a scientist. He's not a seismologist. He's not a geologist. Again, a minor concern. He does sound convincing when he delivers his comments and frankly, I'm not sure why Jay Leno is making fun of him, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, Reza, as I try to take you seriously here and I'll be calling up definitely your grade school teacher, is anybody in Iran taking this guy seriously?
SAYAH: Well, I think when you look at the audience listening to him, and many of them did not laugh, so know indeed, there is a sector of the population in Iran that does take him seriously. But there are some questions that remain unanswered, Kyra that we should pass along. First off, does this theory apply to the entire world, or is it just exclusively for Iran, because if it doesn't apply to the entire world, I would flash a breaking news banner right now and warn everyone in Las Vegas to head down to the shelters because Las Vegas is in deep trouble, Kyra.
And another unanswered question is, how does this theory jive with televangelist Pat Robertson's theory? Remember, he said the earthquake in Haiti was caused by Haitians making a pact with the devil to free themselves from French rule. Now, logic says one of these men doesn't know what he's talking about, and we've checked comments online. And many of those comments say neither of these men knows what he's talking about. That's not me saying it, that's the comments we checked online, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Reza Sayah always gets to the heart of the matter. Appreciate your time.
A new voice whether you want it or not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know when I will get my normal voice back, if it will ever come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A troubling change for this woman struck by a syndrome many of us may think is just a joke.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, they've done the Beatles. Now the good and very flexible people at Cirque du Soleil are working on a show with Michael Jackson's music. The company's made a deal with the Jackson estate. Look for the new show to start touring by the end of next year.
The military's now saying the crap kids are eating is a threat to national security, making most people too fat to fight. Last hour, we asked the question, how can you make sure that your children are eating right at school?
Here's what Andrea wrote in. "In most school districts, parents can monitor their children's lunch choices online. So, if they are selecting fatty foods their parents are at fault. There are plenty of salads and other healthy items."
I'll continue to read those blog remarks in just a minute, but first the president of the United States hoping to pick a Supreme Court nominee by early next month. He met with senators today. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: the services of one of the finest Supreme Court justices that we've seen. Justice Stevens announced that he will be retiring at the end of this term.
Those are going to be some tough shoes to fill. This is somebody who operated with extraordinary integrity and fidelity to the law. But I'm confident that we can come up with a nominee who will gain the confidence of the Senate and the confidence of the country and the confidence of individuals who look to the court to provide even-handed justice to all Americans.
Last time, when I nominated Sonia Sotomayor, I have to say that all the individuals who are sitting here -- Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, Jeff Sessions and Patrick Leahy -- worked very cooperatively on what I considered to be a smooth, civil, thoughtful nomination process and confirmation process. And I very much thank particularly the ranking member and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for running a smooth process.
My hope is, is that we can do the exact same time -- same thing this time.
Last time, the nomination went up at the end of May. We are certainly going to meet that deadline, and we hope maybe we can accelerate it a little bit so that we have some additional time. But my hope is, is that we're going to be able to get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed in time for the next session.
As Justice Stevens said, I think it's important, particularly given the important cases that may be coming before the Supreme Court, that we get this process wrapped up, so that a new justice can be seated and staffed and can work effectively with his or her colleagues in time for the fall session.
So I just want to, again, thank all of these gentlemen for their input. They are here to consult with me. One of the things that we did last time was to listen to the thoughts and views of our colleagues before I nominated a candidate.
I take this process very seriously, and so I'm going to be interested in hearing their thoughts and concerns before any final decisions are made.
All right. With that, let me call on one question.
Ben, you get -- you get the shot.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
Would you be willing to nominate someone who did not support a woman's right to choose?
OBAMA: You know, I am somebody who believes that women should have the ability to make often very difficult decisions about their own bodies and issues of reproduction. Obviously, this has been a hugely contentious issue in our country for a very long time.
I will say the same thing that every president has said since this issue came up, which is I don't have litmus tests around any of these issues. But I will say that I want somebody who is going to be interpreting our Constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, and that includes women's rights. And that's going to be something that's very important to me because I think part of what our core Constitution -- constitutional values promote is the notion that individuals are protected in their privacy and their bodily integrity, and women are not exempt from that.
All right?
Thank you. I appreciate it.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: The president of the United States hoping to pick a Supreme Court nominee by early next week. You saw there, he was talking with various Republican and Democrat leaders about a replacement for retiring justice John Paul Stevens. We'll be following that as we get more developments.
Fredericka Whitfield in for Tony Harris. Fred, take it away.
