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18 Days From Default; L.A.'s 405 Shutdown Approaching; What Are Your Children Being Exposed to in Fast Food Play Areas?; The Arctic Under Assault; Countdown to 'Carmageddon'; Should Jurors Profit from Cases?; Obama Under Fire From Liberals
Aired July 15, 2011 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: The situation is serious. The other side isn't. That's pretty much all that President Obama and leaders of Congress can agree on after five straight days of talks on cutting the deficit and raising the U.S. debt ceiling. We're now just 18 days from a potential historic default on U.S. government obligations.
Yet, in his second White House news conference of the week, the president says he still has hope for a grand bargain. As much as $4 trillion worth of spending cuts, tax increases and reforms in so- called entitlements. House Republicans want still want a much smaller plan made up of spending cuts alone.
Now if all else fails, we may end up with an idea floated by the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell. We're going to lay it out for you right here. Three separate votes between now and the next election to raise the nation's debt by $2.5 trillion. There would be $1 trillion in spending cuts and a special Congressional committee to shore up entitlements.
The upside, supposedly, for Republicans is keeping the issue alive for another year and blaming the President who, by the way, is not ruling it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is constructed to say that if Washington operates as usual and can't get anything done, let's at least avert Armageddon. That's -- I'm glad that people are serious about the consequences of default. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: If you're trying to remember the last time we had such a bare knuckle brawl over a debt limit vote, well there isn't a last time but it's always a partisan vote so check out the breakdown of senate votes going back to 2002. We put it up for you right here. In 2003, 2004, and 2006, if you look at that closely, when Republicans controlled Congress and the White House, Republicans voted overwhelmingly to raise the debt and Democrats did not.
But here's what I want to call your attention to. Look at 2009 and 2010 there, when Democrats controlled everything. Debt limit votes were overwhelmingly Democratic with Republicans opposed. Years with divided government saw bipartisan support until now.
All right, I'm going to stop talking and bring in my colleague, Dan Lothian, at the White House. All right, Dan, the President says the talks have not been ugly and he's still optimistic. What is the vibe up there?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is that optimism from the President and, as you heard there he is open to -- to the options that might be coming from up on Capitol Hill but the issue is, when you hear the President talk, is that there -- there are two things happening. First of all, you can do something in one of these options that would raise the debt limit and that is something that he says would, as he pointed out, avoid Armageddon.
But, it may not deal with the second important issue that he says is attacking the deficit problem and that is the biggest concern for the President and that's why he really is pushing for this grand bargain or big deal, however you want to characterize it because he believes that that is best for the long-term health of the U.S. economy.
But we heard from the President today certainly an admission that that's very hard to do and so he has been telling lawmakers that, look, if you can't embrace this big deal then at least do something that is ambitious. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We are obviously running out of time and , so, what I've said to the members of Congress is that you need, over the next 24 to 36 hours to give me some sense of what your plan is to get the debt ceiling raised through whatever mechanisms they can think about and show me a plan in terms of what you are doing for deficit and debt reduction. If -- if they show me a serious plan, I'm ready to move, even if it requires some tough decisions on my part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, one of the things that Republicans have been pushing back on is that they don't want higher taxes to be part of any plan, even if it means higher taxes for wealthier Americans but the argument that the President made today is that if the country does default that will mean higher interest rates for all Americans which, in essence, would be higher taxes. Randi?
KAYE: And, Dan, we heard from the President there but, you know, really, when you listen to both sides, they're both really staking claim to who is more serious and how serious the situation is. I just listened to John Boehner from earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: -- fourth quarter here, time and again Republicans have offered serious proposals to cut spending and address these issues and I think it's time for the Democrats to get serious as well. We asked the President to lead, we asked him to put forward a plan, not a speech, a real plan, and he hasn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Any sense, Dan, there in Washington, who's more serious?
LOTHIAN: Well, the Democrats in the White House certainly believe that they are serious. They've made a very good effort to do some very difficult things, such as touching entitlement programs. I mean, that's something the Democrats had said would not be on the table, the President as well. But, as part of the talks, the President says that he has been willing to put Social Security on the table, Medicare and Medicaid.
So, they believe that they've been very serious but, certainly, in this kind of climate, everyone has pointed the finger at each other and a deal isn't getting done and the President, yesterday, the charge that he gave to Congressional lawmakers is to go back, meet with your caucuses, come back to me in 24 to 36 hours with some options about how we move forward and if that doesn't happen then, perhaps, there'll be another meeting over the weekend. They -- they're trying to put together some kind of compromise here but so far both sides still far apart. Randi?
KAYE: All right, Dan Lothian at the White House. You're going to have a very busy weekend--
LOTHIAN: Yes.
KAYE: -- and President and -- and Congress continue to look at this. Thank you. Rebekah Brooks, the woman who led the company at the center of Britain's phone hacking scandal has resigned. She was Chief Executive of News International and is a former editor of News of the World but, today, after growing calls for her to resign, Brooks quit.
She is being replaced by News Corp. veteran Tom Mockridge. Brooks remains a key figure in the controversy as does her boss, Rupert Murdoch. They will both appear before a British Parliamentary committee next week.
And that is where our Dan Rivers joins us now, just outside Parliament. Dan, what is the latest?
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rebekah Brooks has finally resigned after days and days of intense calls for her to go, even from the Prime Minister downwards here in the U.K. Finally, she has gone but that doesn't mean that she will escape having to appear before this committee on Tuesday with her former bosses, Rupert and James Murdoch.
The three of them will be interrogated by a panel of politicians who want answers to questions about how this was all allowed to go on on their watch in their papers, illegal activity ranging from bribing police officers to tapping in or hacking into the phones of murder victims, of terrorist victims. The list goes on and on so a lot of difficult questions for her to answer in the next few days. KAYE: It seems as though they are trying to take some action before they have to answer questions at Parliament. I mean, she's now resigned, Rupert Murdoch has come out now with his planned apology for the British newspapers tomorrow. It seems like a little damage control, maybe, before they have to answer those tough questions.
RIVERS: Yes, it's almost like they've had a complete change of strategy on this and they have hired in a new PR firm that almost which may explain why they've done this complete change in the way they're dealing with this.
They've gone from trying to sort of lock this story down in any way they could and constantly, you know, changing their tactics to now, just sort of coming out and basically saying sorry, which is perhaps what they should have done several days ago. As you say, full page ads being taken in several papers in which Rupert Murdoch says he's sorry.
And even more spectacularly, Rupert Murdoch met the family of that murdered school girl, Milly Dowler today and that must have been a very awkward meeting for him and an emotional meeting for them where they asked him, you know, how on earth was this allowed to happen in one of your newspapers.
KAYE: All right. Dan Rivers with an update for us on the Murdoch hacking scandal. Dan, thank you very much.
The United States is throwing its full support behind the rebels fighting to overthrow Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today the U.S. is officially recognizing the opposition transitional nation council as the legitimate governing authority for Libya.
She announced the move in Istanbul, Turkey at a meeting of over 30 nations comprising this so-called contact group on Libya. The move makes available to the rebel group some of the more than $30 billion Gadhafi government assets frozen in U.S. banks.
Documents recovered from Osama bin Laden's compound indicate that the Al Qaeda leader spoke about attacking President Obama and General David Petraeus. A source familiar with material says that one idea involves destroying the aircraft carrying the President and Petraeus in the region but not clear whether the documents indicated a specifically planned attack or if they referred to a general desire by bin Laden to attack Mr. Obama and the General.
The documents also revealed that while holed up in Pakistan, bin Laden encouraged direct thoughts to attack Americans and U.S. interests in Europe late last year. Bin Laden was killed in the U.S. raid at his Pakistani compound back in May.
Looks like a scene out of a horror movie but this is just one example of today's desperate times. These folks are running because they need help paying for a place to live. We will explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: For the first time in five years, Dallas County handed out Section 8 rental vouchers to help those with low to no income get housing and this was the scene. Take a look at this. Crowds estimated at about 5,000 scrambled to get in line and sign up for these vouchers.
Hundreds of people camped out for hours, overnight, waiting for the housing office to open. They even opened the doors earlier than scheduled and a stampede of people came rushing towards them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --I started running and I slipped and fell all over the pavement, skinned my knee, my arm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The white all on my arm from being pinned up against the wall so strongly, people pushing, fighting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: At least seven people were treated by paramedics but no one was taken to the hospital and, get this, out of all the people who showed up to get those vouchers, Dallas County only has 3800 vouchers available according to our Dallas affiliate, WFAA, and to make matters worse, they were only able to give out 100 vouchers for thousands of people.
Well, we are just a few hours away from Carmageddon in Los Angeles. The city is making last minute preparations as a 10-mile stretch of the 405 freeway will be closing this weekend for a bridge demolition project. Now the 405 is one of the busiest freeways in the country so this is a major undertaking.
And Casey Wian is on the scene with much more for us. Casey, how is it looking so far? I don't see any traffic yet. I guess it hasn't started yet.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It hasn't started yet. You talk about Carmageddon, Randi, well this is ground zero of Carmageddon if you want to call it that. Over my shoulder you can see the Mulholland Bridge and what's going to happen, starting at midnight tonight, they're going to close the 405 freeway, which this bridge spans, so they can demolish part of that bridge. They want to widen the support structures to allow for a carpool lane to be put on both sides of this north and southbound freeway.
Now, authorities are very worried about an increase in traffic throughout southern California as people seek to avoid this area all weekend long. They are hoping that people will stay away and use alternative means of transportation. Now, we've got a vehicle that is actually driving on the 405 freeway north toward me.
My colleagues, Bob (INAUDIBLE) and Mike Love are in that vehicle. If we can take a look at that shot, you can see that traffic is very, very light right now. Locals are saying this is the lightest they've seen this portion of the 405 freeway on a Friday in years and years so, perhaps, Randi, people are already avoiding these areas and heeding the warnings by authorities to stay away and stay home unless you absolutely have to get out and drive in southern California this weekend. Randi?
KAYE: But, Casey, give us some perspective on this. I mean, we're talking about 53 hours here. I mean that -- I know it sounds like a long time but we're talking from Friday night until Monday morning. It might even be done earlier. Why is this such a big deal?
WIAN: Authorities are erring on the side of caution. They have said that if on Monday everybody comes back and says this was a lot of to do about nothing that's great. It's better than not warning the public and creating a massive traffic nightmare as people seek alternative ways to get to Los Angeles International Airport, for example.
As people seek alternative ways to get to the beach over the weekend. We have had examples in southern California where we've had massive traffic disruptions, the '94 Northridge earthquake where two major freeways were collapsed for weeks comes to mind.
Also, the 1984 Olympics, which is a situation closer to this where there were a lot of warnings in advance. Back then, people basically stayed home, traffic was not a problem. They're hoping that's a repeat this weekend, Randi?
KAYE: And what are you going to do? You going to be staying at home Casey?
WIAN: I am going to be staying home, spending a lot of time on the road lately and I'm going to take this weekend as an opportunity to stay off the roads if I can.
KAYE: Well, good for you. And listen, I've worked for your photographer who's in that live picture there on the 405 right now, Mike Love, and I know how much he hates traffic so I'm happy to see it's moving along for him. Casey Wian, thank you so much. I hope you have a traffic-free weekend.
WIAN: Thanks Randi.
KAYE: And, coming up in about 30 minutes we will hear from Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as his city prepares for that Carmageddon. So, imagine exposing your kids to filth contaminated with dangerous bacteria. Well, you may be doing just that and you might not even know it. One mom uncovers a surprising danger zone for children. You don't want to miss this report coming up in just two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: I want to show you something, something quite disgusting actually.
Look at what one mom found inside the play area of a popular fast food joint. She videotaped inside more than 50 of these play lands across seven states. What she found is disturbing and really just plain gross.
The stairs, tubes, slides were covered in a sticky film. Food, dirt, hair and garbage in every little section of the playground. It got so bad she ended up sending swabs to labs for testing. And this is what they found: Staph, fecal contamination, strains of bacteria common in meningitis, Gonorrhea. That is what you may be exposing your children to.
That concerned mom is Dr. Erin Carr-Jordan who is Professor of Developmental Psychology in Arizona. She joins me now from Lacrosse, Wisconsin via Skype.
Dr. Carr Jordan, wow, what a project you have taken here. You are a mother of four. This has really become a crusade of yours. What suddenly opened your eyes to all of this?
ERIN CARR JORDAN, PROFESSOR OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: Well, I dropped off my daughters one morning and was on my way to take my son to school and he's three and he had just started or finished, rather, potty training and he said he had to go to the bathroom.
So, like any mom, I pulled over immediately and the closest place happened to be a McDonald's and so, you know, and we went and when he was done he asked if he could use the slide and he went up and my littlest one followed him in and they're so small that they would tumbling down the slide so I followed them.
And, it was immediate upon entering that we noticed -- I noticed that it was absolutely appalling. It was covered in filth and grime and dirt and garbage and rotting food and it was everything that you would never ever want the child to play in and when I went back over and over again to see if they were making corrective changes and realized that they weren't I started to wonder whether it was something that was indicative of circumstances across the country.
So, I started calling all over Arizona and then I started calling all over the country and then, like you said, I hired a lab to come in and run some tests and I started traveling across the country taking swabs so I could get a representation of, you know, the United States as a whole so I could --
KAYE: Right.
CARR JORDAN: --show parents exactly what it is that their kids are being exposed to.
KAYE: So give me an idea, if you can, how many states are we talking about and -- and how many restaurants did you look at?
CARR JORDAN: At present, I have been to seven states and I go to typically two to three locations in each state. I try to get a representation that is both rural and urban, high and low socioeconomic status and would be considered a high and low sort of populated area. And so, as many as I can possibly go to I do when I'm traveling.
KAYE: I mean, we listed some of the things that were found and that you had tested for. What was the most shocking to you?
CARR JORDAN: All of them were shocking to me. You know, to find out that it was more than stuff that's just visibly disgusting, to find out that there's things like multiple strains of Staph, things that are more than likely meningitis and Gonorrhea, you know. High, high levels of Bacillus and multiple strains of coliforms (ph) that are indicative of fecal contamination. A myriad of stuff that's considered opportunistic. In other words, it has the potential to make children very, very sick, it's disease-causing.
KAYE: Yes.
CARR JORDAN: So all of that in corporations that purport themselves to be about children and kid-friendly. All of it to me was very shocking.
KAYE: But the bottom line is here that, you know, a lot of moms who take their kids there, it is their only place for them to play and a lot of them may not have the tools that you had to go to the lab and to check out if it's safe or not or if it's clean so what's your advice to parents?
CARR JORDAN: That's sort of a double-edged sword, especially in t his economy when people can't afford to go to the places where you pay money to play there and a lot of people are reaching out to these kinds of places to be able to take their kids on a daily basis because it's air conditioned and it's supposed to be safe. I would say if you have the opportunity, look inside. See if it's clean. If it's not, make sure you tell management. In addition to that, call your legislators and say, hey, we found out that there's no regulations related to this, that you're not required to clean them and we don't think that that's ok and I take my kids there and if that's going to be the case then you have to have something in place that says you have to keep a minimum safety standard.
In addition to that, make sure that they're, you know, participating in good hand washing or sanitization practices. And, more importantly, just --just keep your kids, you know, try to give them a safe environment by -- by reaching out to the people who, in this case, are in control, the management of these particular corporations.
KAYE: Right. Ok. Dr. Erin Carr Jordan, appreciate you coming on and sharing your findings with us. Thank you.
Right now, about 23 minutes past the hour. Let's check some of our top stories. Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago says he will have to lay off up to 625 Chicago city employees. The Mayor's announcement comes today as he tries to close a $31 million budget deficit. Emanuel says the city will no longer be responsible for custodial services at libraries and airports, managing benefits, and staffing the water bill call center.
After months of speculation France's first lady, Carla Bruni- Sarkozy confirms yes, she is pregnant. The 43-year-old wife of France's President Nicolas Sarkozy told a French newspaper her pregnancy was "unexpected and hoped for happiness." The baby will be the couple's first child together but the couple have children from previous marriages.
Five years after the idea was initially vetoed, the state of California will now require public school history books to feature contributions by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. The law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown, won't go into effect until January of next year and text books won't be fully updated before 2015. Brown calls the legislation "an important step forward for our state."
Parts of the country have cooled off but that won't last long. Will check the forecast with Chad Myers next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Well, it might be cooling off in some places but it looks like the heat wave is certainly making a comeback so let's get the very latest from Chad Myers in the CNN Severe Weather Center.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You've lived in Minneapolis, right?
KAYE: I did.
MYERS: How long?
KAYE: Seven years. Seven cold years.
MYERS: Can you ever remember a heat index in Minneapolis of 115?
KAYE: No.
MYERS: Well, that's what they're going to get.
KAYE: Oh my.
MYERS: Oh yes, it gets hot in Minnesota, don't get me wrong, it gets hot in Nebraska and South Dakota but typically it gets that hot when the air is dry but the heat index or indices will be all the way up to almost 120 in parts of Fargo, in Minneapolis, for the next, literally, three days.
Ok, so here's tomorrow. It's going to feel like 98 up there. It's going to feel like 100 in Memphis and 104 in Dallas. The problem is, that's the cool day. Here you go. 111 is the feel like temp in Minneapolis for Sunday and then for Monday 115. I can't even imagine what that feels like. Chicago you're going to feel like 96. The only place to be is on Lakeshore. Even for Tuesday, Chicago is going to feel like 95.
Now, notice it's warm in the northeast but not this purple hot and it doesn't go away. That's Wednesday. Minneapolis it feels like 109. Thursday it's going to feel like 107. Night time lows down only in the mid 80s so even -- obviously many people there don't have air conditioning and anywhere, especially out in the cabins, you can't even cool the places down when you have morning low temperatures of 85. Those cabins are going to feel like 100 degrees on the inside. So, there you go. Stay near water. But, luckily, there's 10,000 lakes.
KAYE: Yes. Actually, 16,000.
MYERS: There you go. I knew it was close.
KAYE: They need to change the license plate, that's all. All right Chad, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
KAYE: Hit hard by the recession, this week CNN Hero turned to her back yard to put food on her family's dinner table. Then, seeing that other families were struggling too, an idea soon took root. Meet Holly Hirshberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLY HIRSHBERG, CNN HERO: I love the United States. I think it's a wonderful place to live.
It's scary to me that with so much land and so much abundance that people are hungry. In 2008 my husband lost his job. It was a very, very difficult time and the first thing that we did was plant a garden.
If you grow your own food you never have to worry about how you're going to feed your family. We thought if we can help others garden then we can help them pull themselves up out of poverty .
I'm Holly Hirshberg, and we fight hunger in the United States by giving away seeds and teaching people to grow their own food.
We pack enough seeds to grow food for a family of four. We want to help people provide for themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an eggplant. I've already harvested from it.
My garden is in front of my apartment. I can grow tomatoes, bell pepper in just flower pots.
If it wasn't for my garden, then I wouldn't be able to afford fresh produce at all.
HIRSHBERG: Here we have a tomatillo plant. These were all from seeds from the dinner garden.
We have provided over 65,000 seed packs to individuals and families all over the country. We also have provided seeds for over 180 community gardens.
So, who wants to grow vegetables? We see a lot of families whose children only eat when they get a free meal at school. When they're at home, we really want them to have the best nutrition possible, and certainly you can't do better than garden veggies.
I'm not a master gardener. I wouldn't even say I'm a good gardener. I am an enthusiastic gardener. The seeds do all the work.
We provide the seeds, we help you grow them, you eat the food, goodbye hunger.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Well, President Obama had some strong words for Republican lawmakers today. We'll tell you what he said, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Thirty-three minutes past the hour. Let's check some of the news that you may have missed on this Friday.
President Obama continued to push for a broad debt reduction plan at a White House news conference today. He told Congressional leaders to, quote, "seize the moment" and stabilize America's finances by agreeing to a grand compromise that would include entitlement reform and higher taxes on wealthier Americans.
Top House Republicans in turn blasted Obama for failing to produce what they consider a legitimate spending cut plan in the debt ceiling talks.
A major announcement today from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding U.S. policy in Libya. She told the meeting in Istanbul, Turkey that the U.S. will now recognize the main opposition group in Libya as, quote, "the legitimate governing authority."
The Libyan uprising against leader Moammar Gadhafi began earlier this year. The U.S. move could give the rebels, called the Transitional National Council, access to Libyan regime assets that had been frozen by Washington.
Rupert Murdoch is apologizing. We have just learned the head of News Corp, whose tabloid "News of the World" was shut down amid phone hacking allegations, has apologized to the family of a murdered girl. The Dowler family has accused "News of the World" reporter of allegedly hacking into their daughter's phone while she was still missing and deleting her messages, giving them false hope that she was still alive.
Murdoch is also taking out ads in tomorrow's British papers to officially say he is sorry.
It is one of the coldest places on earth, and many regard it as ground zero for climate change. Where is it? Find out from a man who knows it firsthand, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Subzero temperatures, severe storms, the threat of polar bear attacks - the Arctic Circle has them all and much more. It's long attracted explorers and adventurers from around the world, but now the Arctic faces severe climate changes.
Environmentalist Philippe Cousteau know the Arctic well, spending time there with scientists studying the adverse changes taking place. His documentary, "Extreme Science," airs this weekend on our sister network, CNN International, and he's with us today.
Glad to have you here in the studio.
PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Really good to be here.
KAYE: Have you warmed up since this trip?
COUSTEAU: I have. It was about minus 50, so it was pretty cold. I got a little frostbite, but we made it through.
KAYE: Yes, well that's good. How - how - what is the situation there today? I mean, how bad is it?
COUSTEAU: Well, the situation is - is certainly of concern the last 10 years. Again, this year was a record sea ice loss. We've seen rapid shrinkage of - of the amount of sea ice that's covering the Arctic. We've lost about 31 percent in the last few decades. That's quite a bit.
And we were up there with scientists in the early spring, doing science that, believe it or not, in 2011 has never been done before. So we still don't have a complete picture to understand what's happening, and that is perhaps the scariest thing of all.
KAYE: How do the scientists gauge what's happening there?
COUSTEAU: Well, that's - that's why they were there, and that's the hard part, going up there, braving these brutal conditions, these brutal temperatures. I mean, life-threatening situations that they - that they put themselves through to live out on the sea ice, dig through and spend, like I said, two months doing science, doing measurements of solidity, measurements of carbon absorption of the ocean, measurements of the sea ice loss and sea ice thickness, et cetera, and trying to get a baseline understanding of what's happening.
We know that climactic cycles happen every few thousand, hundred thousand years or so. But in our geological history, there's never been such a rapid climate change as we're experiencing now.
KAYE: And what do you see as the most - I mean, what's the most concerning to you when you see the climate change and the loss of the ice? What bothers you the most?
COUSTEAU: Well, you know, the reason we went to the Arctic is we wanted to connect people to a part of the world that is so remote. I mean, it is far away. They're - nobody really lives up there. It's cold, it's inhospitable.
But the idea was to show people that the Arctic is the air- conditioning unit of the planet, and as the Arctic changes, all of our lives change. Our weather changes. That means that our precipitation and agriculture changes and - and freshwater supplies change around the world, and it affects every single human.
Even if it's out of mind, even if it's out of sight, it has an impact on our lives, and we need to care about what happens there if we want to have a stable global system that can feed and - and cloth future generations.
KAYE: I can't help but care about those polar bears, when I see them. How are they doing?
COUSTEAU: Well, we didn't see any - any, which is a good thing, actually, because living in these small, unheated tents, there's not a lot of protection there. So, you know, we - we didn't want to encounter and potentially - you know, we were armed. You know, we had armed guides with us at all times. We obviously don't want to have to shoot one. So it was probably a good thing that we didn't see one, because they are aggressive.
But there's a lot of concern about polar bears and all the animals that live up there. And, again, not only the animals that live there but all of us that rely on a healthy Arctic as well.
KAYE: All right. We'd be - we will definitely be sure to tune into your special this weekend on CNN International.
COUSTEAU: Thanks so much.
KAYE: It sounds fascinating.
COUSTEAU: Great to see you.
KAYE: Thank you. Good to see you too.
Well, we are just a few hours away from "Carmageddon" in Los Angeles. What does the mayor have to say about this huge traffic snarl? We will hear from him, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COUSTEAU: From one of the busiest freeways in the country to virtual parking lot. We are just a few hours from the dreaded "Carmageddon," the shutting down of a ten-mile stretch of the 405 freeway in Los Angeles.
Drivers are being warned to stay away from the 405 this weekend as crews work on a bridge construction project. And, as you might have guessed, this major traffic snarl comes with some major backlash.
Joining me now is the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. Thank you so much for joining us.
First, I got to ask you about Carmageddon. How are you handling all the heat from this major freeway shutdown?
MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: Well, heat comes with the job, and, frankly, we've put an unprecedented effort together to inform the public to really plan out how we're going to close this freeway, a ten-mile stretch on the Sepulveda, pass between the 101 freeway and the 10, which will, when finished - next year - well, the full demolition will be able to connect HOV lanes from the San Fernando Valley all the way to Orange County and reduce commute times about a - a minute a mile.
So this is important connection that we've got to complete, but we're going to have a little disruption this weekend. And it doesn't have to be Carmageddon. That's why we've done so much in the way of outreach to the public. We're hoping they understand that stay out of your car, stay out of the area.
And, by the way, it's not just the 405. Stay away from the - the West Side, the South and West Valley as much as possible. If you can walk to - to your shopping, if you could walk to your restaurants, stay in your neighborhood, your home, barbecue, but don't get in your car in those areas.
KAYE: I know that you certainly have done your homework there, and those who are involved in this project certainly have, I have no doubt. But when you're talking about widening this - this to add a carpool lane and spending a billion dollars to do it, I would imagine you are taking some heat for that. So, is it worth it?
VILLARAIGOSA: It is worth it. You know, like I said, that's what comes with the job, and I love my job.
But what also we've said in this town is that we're going to do something to reduce congestion, to double the size of our rail system, to increase by 1,600 miles our bike paths.
We're doing a lot to reduce traffic and congestion, and this is a big part of it. And, yes, it's - it's about $1 billion, but it's actually coming in under cost, and we're happy for that. We're hoping that it will be on time as well.
KAYE: Are you at all concerned that the more you widen it, the more attractive it's going to look to drivers and that you're just going to have another Carmageddon or another big project in a few years?
VILLARAIGOSA: Well, you really hit it on the head. It's why we are not building more freeways in the central core of our city. We are doubling the size of our rail system with Measure R, and America Fast Forward. We are focused on other ways to get around the city other than just freeways.
But we want to use our freeway optimally, and that means we should encourage people to get out of their single-passenger automobile and on high occupancy vehicle lanes, which are HOV lanes. So, yes, we're not building any more freeways, but we do want to make them more efficient.
KAYE: Mayor, just quickly, before I let you go. I just want to ask you on a different topic here about the state of California now set to raise college tuition by nearly 10 percent. How are families expected to afford this now in this economy?
VILLARAIGOSA: Well, you hit it right on the head. I went to the University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA, and I can tell you, I remember when a UC education was a bargain.
And that's no longer true. When you look at this increase, what - what's happening is we're pricing the middle class and working people out of a public education with these rising tuition rates, and we are because the system is broken in California. Our tax system is broken. We're living at a time when people want all the services, but they don't want to pay for them, and that's unfortunate.
We're also 47th in per pupil spending in California, and it's going to have a dramatic impact in the next decade. In fact, by 2025, we're going to be a million down in college graduates, partly because of what's going on in our K through 12 public school system, but also because college education is becoming less and less affordable.
KAYE: All right. We - we're out of time. I wish I could talk with you more about that, but we wish you luck this weekend. Stay off the roads, Mayor. Sleep in your office if you have to. I don't know, but you stay home.
All right, thank you for coming -
VILLARAIGOSA: I'll be in a helicopter.
KAYE: All right. There you go. That's the answer.
Thank you very much.
A lawmaker in Florida says that jurors such as the ones in the Casey Anthony trial should not be able to profit from cases, but should they be able to? Today's Stream Team will tackle that subject next.
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KAYE: In 1977, the New York State legislature enacted the first Son of Sam law after it learned that David Berkowitz was planning to sell his story of the serial murders that he had committed. In 1991, New York's law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds.
But, since then, various states have attempted to circumvent the ruling by tailoring their laws to address the court's concerns about free speech. And whenever high profile unpopular verdicts are returned, such as in the Michael Jackson or the O.J. Simpson trials, these types of law are often revisited. Naturally, on the heels of the Casey Anthony verdict, a lawmaker in Florida is proposing legislation. It would prohibit jurors from receiving money in exchange for providing information or interviews related to a trial after it's over.
So the question for today's "Stream Team" is this, should jurors be allowed to profit from those cases? Lisa Bloom is an attorney and the author of "Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World." Mike Walker joins me by phone from L.A. He's a senior editor with the "National Enquirer." And Scott Randolph is a Florida State representative. He is the lawmaker who is proposing the legislation in Florida.
Let me start with you, Scott. What do you hope to achieve with this bill?
SCOTT RANDOLPH (D), FLORIDA STATE HOUSE: I think what we want to achieve is to make sure that in our modern society and our modern juries that we don't get a juror trying to get on a jury with the idea of making money at the end or we don't see even worse juries sitting in the deliberation room deciding which - which type of decision or which type of verdict is going to bring me more money. And we want to make sure that we - we keep the jury process as unbiased as possible and we think we've balanced out the first amendment with the sixth amendment right to a fair trial for both the state and the defendant.
KAYE: And Mike, I want to bring you in, because you actually co- authored a book with a juror from the O.J. case. Do you think that everyone should be able to do that, or do you think that was just an exception to the rule?
MIKE WALKER, SENIOR EDITOR, "NATIONAL ENQUIRER" (via telephone): No. I think that the carpenter is worthy of his hire. The idea that being on a jury is some kind of sacred calling and you can never speak about it and get paid for your time is ridiculous. This is the United States of America. We have first amendment freedom.
I can see trying to enact legislation where a criminal might not profit, you know, the Son of Sam Law, but a juror? Jurors are American citizens. They can speak freely once they have discharged their duties to the court.
KAYE: And Lisa, don't jurors have a first amendment right here to do this whether - I know that Scott is certainly putting this - looking to put this bill through, but don't they have a right?
LISA WALKER, AUTHOR, "THINK: STRAIGHT TALK FOR WOMEN TO STAY SMART IN A DUMBED-DOWN WORLD": Look, I'm a big protector of the first amendment. They certainly do have a right to - to speak about it, to write about it and to do interviews. But I think this proposed law strikes the right balance.
They should not be able to profit from that. If they want to go on television and give interviews without getting paid, so be it. But there's too much of a concern that back there in the jury room when they're deliberating, they're going to come up with a more shocking verdict because that's going to be more profitable to them. We just can't have that. So let them speak, just don't let them profit from it.
KAYE: Mike, why don't you -
WALKER: I think that would all cancel itself out, wouldn't it? I mean, we'd have all 12 jurors all trying to come up with stories in their heads. I don't - I think it's preposterous that anyone could think that any one juror would think they could influence the outcome of a verdict that way just to profit.
KAYE: Scott, are you concerned at all that that maybe this would give somebody, a potential juror an incentive to make themselves look good and make themselves get on that jury when its seated and hoping to make some money in the end?
RANDOLPH: Well, we saw at the beginning of the trial, we saw the judge with the prosecutor and the defense attorney all asking questions during the jury selection process trying to weed out those they thought might be there or might have a profit motive. So we can already see that it was a concern of the court and the team - and the legal teams at the beginning of this trial. And, of course, as soon as the trial ended, what happened? We had jurors come forward trying to sell their story to the highest bidder.
Now, of course, remember, this bill does not prevent anyone from speaking after the trial. They can grant as many interviews as possible. It just tries to take away a profit motive so that we have an unbiased jury in that jury deliberation room and I think that's very sacred to our American judicial system.
KAYE: But these are people - and Mike, I'm sure you want to weigh in here. I'll give you the last word. These are people, though, who have spent a lot of time certainly in this case and away from their family. They're holed up.
WALKER: That's right. You know, the scandal in the O.J. Simpson - right, in the O.J. Simpson case it was a scandal. Those jurors were taken away from their families for more than a year and weren't even allowed to talk to each other while they were sequestered in a hotel, that no one except for certain members of the press who knew where the hotel was, of course.
But, you know, they couldn't talk to anybody. I mean, it is - it is almost - what about that? What does the prosecutor have to say about taking people and suddenly a trial goes on forever and people are sequestered? They're not paid. Why can't they talk about it?
And, by the way, it isn't just profit motive that makes people stand up and try to get on to, you know, television and into newspapers. I know that as a journalist.
KAYE: Right.
WALKER: It isn't just profit motive. People can do that just because they want to have attention. So that motive is always there. KAYE: All right. Great discussion - great discussion all of you. Mike Walker, Scott Randolph, Lisa Bloom, great to have you all on. Thank you very much. Have a good weekend.
RANDOLPH: Thank you.
KAYE: Criticism for President Obama following his press conference today and it is coming from his own party.
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KAYE: Earlier in the show, we showed you some disturbing findings about what one concerned mom found inside the play areas of a number of popular fast food restaurants. We talked to the mom, Dr. Erin Carr Jordan, who mentioned she began her crusade last spring after following her children through a McDonald's Play Place.
In response, a McDonald's spokeswoman issued this statement to the "Los Angeles Times" saying, "It was unacceptable, completely unacceptable, but it is not reflective of our business and our restaurants. As far as I'm concerned, it was an isolated matter and we took immediate corrective action to thoroughly sanitize the Play Place."
McDonald's also says it requires the facilities to thoroughly clean the play area every day.
Time now for "CNN Political Update." CNN Senior Political Editor Mark Preston joining me live from Washington.
Hi there, Mark. More criticism for the president, but this time from his base. What do you know?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: And he is. Well, Randi, you know, he's taking it from both sides right now. He's taking it from Republicans over the issue of tax cuts and from liberals because he is willing to put entitlements on the line. In fact, let's take a quick look at this quote from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. They are very upset that President Obama has said that he is interested in maybe reforming Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. In fact, they say that the fact that he's made clear that he's considering these benefit cuts basically is a nonstarter for them.
You know, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee today, Randi, went to the Obama campaign headquarters. They've dropped off 200,000 petitions. They did it when he was doing his press conference where he talked about these entitlement cuts. Now, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee says that these 200,000 people are equal to the $17 million that they donated to his campaign back in 2008. In addition to that, they were equal to 2.5 million volunteer hours.
Let's put this in perspective though, Randi. Fact of the matter is President Obama raised $86 million in just 90 days. So even though he's taking some criticism from liberals because he's willing to put Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the line in these debt negotiations, he's still very popular in the Democratic Party - Randi.
KAYE: Certainly sounds that way if you look at the wallet.
All right. Mark, thank you very much. Your next update from "The Best Political Team on Television" is just an hour away.
That would do it for me everyone. Have a great weekend.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes, who is in for Brooke Baldwin. Hi, T.J.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Randi, hello. You have a good weekend.
