Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Fires in Colorado; Heat Wave in the East; 4 Million Without Power; Morsi Sworn in as Egypt's President; Legal Panel; Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic May Close Its Doors Monday; Interview with Musician, Environmentalist Chuck Leavell

Aired June 30, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. A lot of news, let's get right to it.

Raging fires in the west. A blistering heat wave in the East and violent storms across a huge swath of the country. Extreme weather is impacting tens of millions of people right now. We, of course, have reporters covering all angles of this story.

And we begin with those fierce thunderstorms. They ripped across nine states from the Midwest to the eastern seaboard. Two people were killed in Virginia by falling trees. Nearly 4 million -- 4 million homes without power. And that creates a very dangerous situation for those suffering through record-breaking heat.

Triple-digit temperatures are making life absolutely miserable for about 100 million Americans this weekend. That's about a third of our population. Here's a look at today's predicted highs across the United States.

Let's go first to CNN's Nick Valencia, he's just live in Atlanta at a cooling center where the heat is expected, Nic, to hit 106 degrees. That makes me think back to the record here in Atlanta in 2007.

Let's talk about how dangerous this is and what officials are doing. I know there are officials in Missouri investigating three deaths that may be caused by heat already.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a massive situation, Poppy, across all of the United States. With at least 22 states affected by this heat advisory. Of course, we have everywhere from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Greensboro, North Carolina. I believe we have some video of Greensboro, North Carolina, under that excessive heat warning. And in Little Rock, I'm sorry, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, they're passing out portable air-conditioners to keep the residents there cool.

HARLOW: Wow.

VALENCIA: As well, Little Rock, record water usage there. People are just hot. This is triple digit temperatures all across the United States, Poppy.

HARLOW: You know what I think? A lot of times people think it is hot, it's uncomfortable. They forget how incredibly dangerous this is, especially for the elderly, for people who are not as mobile, who can't move as easily as others to somewhere where it is cool. You're at a cooling center in Atlanta. You've been there reporting for us live all morning. What are you seeing there as the temperature rises here in Atlanta?

VALENCIA: Well, as you mentioned, one in three Americans, if you can believe it, one in three, a third of our population affected by this heat. And this is just a tough situation to be in. Heat, of course, is the biggest factor in terms of fatalities in hot weather . Earlier today, we spoke to a senior citizen who says she is so thankful the city of Atlanta opened up this cooling center behind me, otherwise, she wouldn't have known what to have done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are really affected by intense heat. And a lot of them don't realize that they are suffering from dehydration. And so to come to a place that is cool, come to a place where there's water provided, come to a place where they don't have to worry for about seven or eight hours in 106-degree temperatures is really wonderful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now, you can see behind me they're still delivering water to the dozens of people inside that cooling center. This is a recreational center that doubles today as the cooling center. And Poppy, as you mentioned, of course, throughout the United States and especially in Missouri those three deaths that could potentially be heat related, investigators are still determining whether or not they were heat related. Poppy?

HARLOW: Absolutely, Nick. You stay cool. Stay safe out there. And everyone that's watching, please, please take care of yourself, drink a lot of water. I know it sounds obvious, but this is dangerous heat. All right, thank you, Nick. Let's move on to Colorado where firefighters are making progress on a fire that killed two people and has destroyed nearly 350 homes. The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs is now -- this is good news -- 30 percent contained. The flames have forced 32,000 people including this young woman from her home. City officials have organized bus tours for about 4,000 people whose neighborhoods are scorched. Residents say they're thankful to the hundreds of firefighters on the front lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE FRYE, WALDO CANYON WILDFIRE EVACUEE: But I'm so sorry. But I tried to tell him, no, it's OK. Because you're saving lives. And you're saving other homes and memories. And that's what really counts. And I appreciated them for trying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, the cause of the fire is, of course, still under investigation. I want to bring in now Francine Hanson. Francine is one of the thousands of people who had to evacuate, escape the flames. She joins me on the phone from Eagle Veil, Colorado, where she has basically found refuge with her sister. Francine, thank you so much for being here.

FRANCINE HANSON, EVACUEE: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: How you doing, Francine?

HANSON: Um, you know, it's an emotional rollercoaster. I was doing better until I just talked to the grandson that was living with us.

HARLOW: Right.

HANSON: And how he is feeling. It's an emotional loss for all of us. The house was ...

HARLOW: I want to explain to our viewers why that is. I mean you and your husband in retirement had built a dream home for yourselves there in the mountains. Just a beautiful home. We're seeing pictures of it on the screen right now. You had to evacuate. I know that your grandson shot some video of your home which you have now lost. And I was wondering, could you please take us back to that moment, what this was like for you, for your husband, for your family getting out? What we're looking at is the video that your grandson shot as you lost your home. And again, I'm so sorry. Take us back to that moment. What was it like as you get in your car and you escape?

HANSON: Well, I guess I didn't tell you, we left early.

HARLOW: OK.

HANSON: Colorado Springs is having a heat wave and our air conditioning wasn't working. And I had allergies. And we saw the flames at the original fire. And they looked like they were two miles away. And they were moving quickly in our direction. And having sort of really maybe over-prepared, we packed up and left. And then when I heard the evacuation notice, I got on the phone and said run, run, run. And they ran up there. And I was on the phone with his mom who's just come back from Korea. And we were all on the phone screaming, they're trying to save stuff. And I told them to get out. Get out.

HARLOW: And stuff is not the thing to save. You and your husband were prepared. You protected yourselves. I'm wondering, Francine, have you talked to your neighbors? Have you talked to them about how they're doing? Did they all evacuate? We talked a lot about getting pets outs of these homes. What have you heard from those around you?

HANSON: I've talked to many, many neighbors. There are some people that were heroes. I mean the lady next door said that she never got the evacuation notice and the guy across the street who lost his home came screaming at their garage, get out! Get out!

HARLOW: Right.

HANSON: So they all started calling each other. I started calling everybody I knew to make sure that they were evacuating. Everybody was trying to pull together. That fire was right behind where our house was.

HARLOW: Francine? Francine, I know you've gone to stay with your twin sister in Eagle Veil, Colorado. I want to ask you what do you do next? Do you stay there? Do you leave Colorado? Do you rebuild? Tell us what you're thinking right now.

HANSON: I think until we see the house on Monday, we're getting a better picture that it's just the front wall is standing. I really like to understand how we got taken out by this fire. We had a steel roof. We had a brick house.

HARLOW: Right.

HANSON: We had mitigated. My husband has been leading the mitigation effort. We had the firemen up there. So, you know, first I got to know that it's a safe place. Because even if I live there and rebuild, is it safe for next person?

HARLOW: And it sounds like ...

HANSON: That's question number one.

HARLOW: It sounds like you and your husband did everything you could to protect and prevent something like this. Francine, again, we're all so sorry for what you've lost. We're glad you're safe. And please keep us posted.

HANSON: Thank you.

HARLOW: And for everyone watching, to find out more about how you can help those affected by the wildfires, please go to cnn.com/impact. We have got a whole list of reliable organizations there that are working with victims, many, many different ways that you can help. Again, right there on the CNN website impact your world. Please help out if you can.

Well, the weather is critical to containing the wildfires, of course. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is live in the CNN center. Karen, what's the outlook for the firefighters today? Is there any good news?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There's not good news and we don't have definitive bad news other than the winds are going to be light, variable. But in these mountainous regions, those winds can really change around very quickly. Because it's got quite a bit of elevation. 1400 foot peaks -- Pikes Peak is located around here. This is where the fire is. This is Interstate 25 running north and south, extending from Denver to the south. It's already burned an excess of 18,000 acres. Several fatalities reported and thousands of firefighting methods now being taking place to control that fire which is about 30 percent contained. Well, as we go into the forecast, this is what we're expecting. Only about a 20 percent chance of a shower. That means hit or miss. That means the winds may kick up every now and again. We might see a thunderstorm. It may produce some rainfall. But a lot of times in these regions all you get are the dry thunderstorms. As far as the heat is concerned for firefighters, it's going to remain in the 90s. That's fairly typical. So not a lot of a break as far as ...

HARLOW: Right.

MAGINNIS: ... the temperatures go. But, Poppy, we're looking at just a weather situation that's not going to be dramatic. But it's not going to help either.

HARLOW: All right. And Karen, I want to move now to the East Coast. We just got new video in from our affiliate WJLA of pretty intense storm damage in Montgomery County, Maryland. Just look at that. What can you tell us? What is happening there?

MAGINNIS: We watched this yesterday afternoon. A strong line of storms moved across Ohio, Indiana and through Kentucky. Made its way towards the mid-Atlantic. These are pictures coming out of Montgomery County, Maryland. They had wind gusts up to about 90 miles an hour. Now you see those downed trees. There are downed power lines. Virginia was a hard hit area with hundreds of thousands of people reported without power. But there you can see it's going to be a while before they can turn the power back on. Just some of these areas, they are saying in parts of Kentucky they may not see power until Wednesday.

HARLOW: Yes.

MAGINNIS: The reason I bring that particular thing up is because we're seeing triple digit temperatures across this region.

HARLOW: And Karen, looking at this video, it almost looks like a tornado ripped through there, you know, ripping off the tops of trees, completely massive trees down. I mean this is a severe storm. Couple that with the heat we're feeling across the country. Let's talk about that for the broader United States. How hot is it going to get today and the long term forecast here?

MAGINNIS: I want to take you back a couple of days.

HARLOW: OK.

MAGINNIS: Let's go from Wednesday. How this ridge of high pressure across the interior west at Norton Dam in Kansas, they had 118 degrees. That's not the humidity factored in. That is not a heat index number. But this ridge of high pressure is now shifting. But we still got this dome of very hot air. It's going to take something to really break that down.

HARLOW: Right.

MAGINNIS: And in the meantime, we're stuck with those triple digits for the next three to five days. The trend, Poppy, is downward. We go from these triple digits like Atlanta, 104. The forecast high for today. If we go through Tuesday, we're looking at temperatures in the low 90s. You're really going to see a difference ...

HARLOW: OK.

MAGINNIS: It's not going to be dramatic. You may feel, that's a lot better than 105. But yesterday Nashville, all time record high, 109 degrees.

HARLOW: Unbelievable. You almost think those numbers are typos and they're not. Because we're living it, we're feeling it here. Karen, you'll be with us throughout the hour. Thank you.

Let's move to Syria now where the bloodbath continues. 33 people were killed alone today. 150 killed on Thursday. Now the race is on for a diplomatic solution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right, I want to bring in video just in to CNN. You're looking at images, just shot recently from Montgomery County, Maryland. A massive storm ripping through there. Those shots coming to us from affiliate WJLA, severe weather across the United States. We'll keep a close eye on it for you throughout the afternoon.

Now turning to Syria and the race to find a diplomatic solution to end the deadly violence there. Opposition activists say at least 33 people were killed today alone, 150 were killed on Thursday. Children, of course children are among the dead.

Meanwhile, in Geneva, Switzerland, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other world diplomats are meeting to discuss ways to try to stop the carnage. ITN correspondent Bill Neely has been following developments in Syria throughout. He reports from Douma, which is really just outside of the capital of Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITN CORRESPONDENT: At the edge of Syria's capital, proof of a war that is now claiming more lives than ever.

This is Douma, and amid its tight streets, dozens, perhaps hundreds are dying. There is intense fighting here. The signs of shelling and artillery rounds almost constant. Beneath the smoke, the rebel targets Syrian troops are attacking. But not just the army. For the first time in this conflict, I heard twice the unmistakable sound of a warplane high above, then this.

President Assad is using everything in his armory to break a town not far from his home.

Well, the fighting is very close to us and all around us and all across this suburb of Douma. This is the first time that we can categorically say the Syrian Air Force has been deployed here. President Assad is now using warplanes against his own people in this built-up area.

One man filmed a helicopter gunship firing at a target beneath. Activists say shelling has killed almost 100 civilians in Douma in two days, and they claim there's been a massacre. In a basement, a whole family lie dead. Among them, a little girl in pink still clutching her pink bunny rabbit. "What did this girl do to be shelled," asks the man? "To be killed holding her toy." Another victim, a 7-year-old girl, is cradled by a man who says she was shot in cold blood. One resident told us there's been more than one mass killing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They killed all people, 22 people from this (inaudible). They killed all people, small children, 3 years, 5 years, woman and all the men.

NEELY: It's not clear who killed the civilians. Syrian troops told me today only that they are in a very dangerous battle. It's a battle that has lasted here 25 days, though none as deadly as the last two. Tens of thousands of people here have fled. From our position, the battle was only getting closer and more intense. At one point directly beneath us. It was time to go. We left safely, but those left behind in this deadly suburb of the capital are very far from safe.

Bill Neely, ITV News, Douma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And when you watch that video, you have to remember how many children have been affected in all of this. A stunning report. We have almost become immune to seeing these images. We've seen them now for months and months and months, but it's escalating and it's getting worse. Our Jill Dougherty has an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today. We'll bring that to you later on today as soon as we have it.

Let's also move on to Egypt. There is a new leader in Egypt. A very big day for this country. We'll take you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: And now to Egypt. A historic day for this country. Mohamed Morsi was sworn in just a few hours ago as the country's first democratically elected president. The ceremony took place amid tight security. It was overseen by Egypt's military rulers. Our Dan Rivers is live in Cairo. Dan, obviously a huge moment, momentous for this country. But this is so interesting, I think, that this comes a day after Mohamed Morsi addressed his own supporters right there behind you in Tahrir Square, and he said, and I quote, there is no authority above the authority of the people. This was clearly a swipe directly at the military, which holds more power right now in Egypt than he does.

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Yes. And he also in his speech subsequently after the oath pointedly said, although he said the army is the shield and soul of the nation, he then said that the elected institutions will have to come back and take their role. That was a direct message to the army to say, look, you may have dissolved parliament, you may have snatched some of my powers as president before I was sworn in, but putting them on warning. Basically gently saying to them at some point, you're going to have to hand them back. That's what the people want.

HARLOW: And along with this goes a pretty serious line of controversy. He has recently said that he would work to free Sheikh Omar Abdel- Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States for his connection to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His camp backtracked off that. They said, no, we just really want him extradited to Egypt to serve out his term. That is getting a lot of attention. What can you tell us about that?

RIVERS: We have kind of gone back to his people to say, you know, what is the actual position here? Because you're right. He did mention Sheikh Rahman's case. His family actually were in Tahrir Square yesterday. They're now saying that he should be released on humanitarian grounds. That he can -- he's only got seven years left to serve they say on his sentence. He poses no threat to the U.S., because the group he was with have disbanded their military arm.

But let's not forget what this man was accused of. He was accused of plotting to blow up two road tunnels, two bridges and a federal building in New York. So, you know, I think the U.S. would kind of say there's absolutely no way they're going to hand this man back to Egypt.

HARLOW: And he's going to be fascinating to watch. I mean, this is someone who vowed to push for women's rights while at the same time as he was campaigning said that women should not be president. He is, as someone put it very aptly, a study in contrasts. Certainly a lot of focus going to be on how much Islamist rule there will be, how much democratic rule there will be. Dan, thank you so much for staying on top of this story. Great reporting there. Thank you, Dan.

Back now in the United States, health care reform stands. That ruling handed down by the nation's highest court this week. So how could it impact other major laws moving forward? Our legal guys standing by as always. Great to have you guys. We'll be right back with them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right. Well, we know now the outcome of the health care ruling from the Supreme Court, but there are still so many legal questions. Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland. Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. He joins us from Miami. Guys, I sat last night and read through Roberts' opinion. Fascinating stuff. Obviously, this is historic for him personally, but let's talk first about the ruling on the individual mandate, because this is what confused people at the outset and it's what a lot of people are still trying to get their heads around now, that it is not legal under the Commerce Clause, but is legal under the taxation authority of the federal government. Give it to me, Richard, in layman's terms.

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: In layman's terms, Poppy, the affordable health care law passes. The individual mandate is deemed constitutional, not on the grounds it was argued, not on the grounds it was argued by the government, but on other grounds, the power of Congress to tax. It's a broad overreaching power that Congress has to enact taxation laws and statutes. That's what the Roberts' court relied upon. Not on the Commerce Clause, to the dismay of many of the judges who were in agreement with the majority. Still, this ruling severely impacts future laws where Congress has enacted them by virtue of the Commerce Clause. And again, legal scholars will be debating this for a long time to come, but it's going to have a chilling effect, I think.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don't know about that.

HARLOW: Avery, let's get to that, because I think in many ways you can see this ruling as both liberal and both conservative. What Justice Roberts wrote in his opinion is that if you enacted the individual mandate under the Commerce Clause, you would be making people do something. Not just regulating what they buy, but forcing them to buy something. That's really the base of this. So what do you take? Obviously you don't agree with Richard on this?

FRIEDMAN: I agree on the conclusion that it is constitutional. I think the conventional wisdom, of course, was that the likelihood of the constitutionality of affordable health care had about as much chance as Sonny Corleone in a tollbooth.

But I think what Chief Justice Roberts did was do a little bit of constitutional rope-a-dope. What he did is he took a footnote argument, basically. The government did argue taxing power, and there were some scholars that said, yes. And so what he did is he split the baby.

Why? Because he wanted to look as if for the millions of Americans who were affected by this, what is the legacy of the Supreme Court? What is the legacy of the chief justice? Interestingly enough, in today's "Times" you saw a juxtaposition of Chief Justice Marshall, our greatest chief justice, with Roberts, but both of them had very different views on the Commerce Clause. And that's going to affect the future.

HARLOW: I do want to talk about something, guys. It's very important for anyone that lives in the basically 26 Republican-led states that opposed this. The ruling on the expansion of Medicaid. OK, this is really seen as a win for those states that the federal government, as Chief Justice Roberts put it, can't hold a gun to the heads of these states. It can't take away the Medicaid funding if they don't participate in expanding their Medicaid eligibility and (inaudible) more money to do this. What is your take on that, Richard?

HERMAN: That's right, Poppy. It cannot be a penalty. Congress cannot impose a penalty upon states. They have to give them the option to participate or not. And this, I believe, is the most significant feature of the Supreme Court decision. This alone is going to hamper this particular law. And you really have to focus on this portion of the decision, because this is what's going to impact the majority number of people. 26 states -- going to be very hard for them to vote for this if they're truly Republican and going to go along those party lines.

HARLOW: And Avery, we can tell, you disagree with that? Address that.

FRIEDMAN: I actually disagree. I mean, the part of necessary and proper, other parts of -- Article I, section VIII. Every American should pull out their Constitution, look at the laundry list. On the Medicaid portion of it, yes, it certainly cannot be used as a penalty. That would be unconstitutional, but there is no question in my mind, even with the Republican governors and Republican state legislators, there is no choice. Legislators are going to have to deal with this. They are not going to be able to cut off citizens. It's going to be a variation on what the ACA is. Look for Congress to modify that.

There is no way that that's going to cut off Medicare for the states that oppose it, no way.

HARLOW: I do want to tell everyone out there that has heard Mitt Romney and those that oppose it saying that if Romney is president, he will push to repeal it immediately. He does not have the power to do that. Congress would have the power, the only power that would be able to do that. Now, important to keep in mind as people listen to both candidates on this. Guys, thank you very much. As always, we'll have you back here in 20 minutes to talk about this interesting case, a woman suing a Little League player after she got hit in the face with a ball. Kid was 11.

HERMAN: Right.

HARLOW: That's next.

Interesting story coming up for you as well. More than a billion people depend on these beautiful coral reefs. We're going to tell you why next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: I love these hero stories. This week's CNN hero has been a diver for 40 years. When Ken Nedimyer saw the fragile eco system of the Florida Keys being threatened, he created the Coral Restoration Foundation. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEN NEDIMYER, CORAL RESTORATION FOUNDATION: I grew up diving in the Florida Keys. And it was just the most magical place. The coral reefs were so pretty, and I decided that's what I wanted to do for a living, is dive on coral reefs.

In an area where there is live coral, there is always more fish. Reefs provide protection for coastal areas and recreational opportunities for millions of people.

I was diving for 40 years, and over time I saw those coral reefs start to die. Coral reefs worldwide are in decline. If coral reefs die completely, coastal communities would be bankrupt, tourism would be virtually gone. A billion people in the world will be impacted. I started thinking how can we fix this problem?

My name is Ken Nedimyer. My goal is to grow, protect and restore coral reefs.

We developed a system that's simple and something that we can train others to do.

We start with a piece of coral this big, and we hang it on the trees. And after about a year or two, it becomes this big. Then we cut the branches off, and we do it again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ken's coral nursery is one of the largest in the wider Caribbean. It is ten times larger than the others that are in existence.

NEDIMYER: In 2003, we originally planted six corals here, but now there are over 3,000 growing in this area alone.

Before I felt helpless watching it die. Now I think there is hope. It's not too late. Everybody can help. I see all those corals and all those fish. So it's like this whole reef is coming back to life, and making a difference is exciting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: What a cool guy. Very cool guy. Of course, go to CNN.com to take a look at our heroes page there for more. And also, if you want to nominate a hero, it's all up to you. You can do so on our website. Just go to CNNheroes.com.

A new law could make Mississippi the only state in the nation without a single abortion clinic. But the only clinic there right now is fighting to keep its doors open. We'll take you live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, get this, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, the only one, could be forced to close its doors on Monday due to a technicality of a new law that was passed back in April. Now the law goes into effect starting tomorrow. The governor of the state has vowed to make Mississippi abortion-free. We've got George Howell live in Jackson, Mississippi, around this story for us. George, let's first talk about the clinic that is open today. What could happen when this law takes effect? And what are you hearing from people there today?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, this clinic could very well close its doors come Monday when this law takes effect Sunday. Keep in mind the clinic is closed tomorrow. First day of business would be Monday. And that is when we could see in fact the last day of this clinic.

I spoke to the person who sponsored the law, and he says this is simply a health issue, to protect women's health. He says the law is basically this: To make sure that any physician in the state of Mississippi who performs an abortion, to make sure they have permissions with local hospitals to admit patients. He says sounds simple enough. But I also talked to the president of this clinic and she said she's been trying to get those permissions now for the last several weeks, for the last few months since this law was signed in April. And she says she has a fear, a concern, that many of the hospitals here are bowing to political pressure. And again, if this clinic is not in compliance, Poppy, with that law come Monday, it could very well close its doors.

Now I spoke to both sides on this issue to get an understanding of what they had to say on it. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: What would it mean for Mississippians if this clinic were to close?

DIANE DERZIS, OWNER, JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Absolute tragedy. No one wants to talk about abortion, no one thinks about abortion until they're there. You know, there are three reasons you have an abortion -- rape, incest, and mine (ph). And I hear that all the time. I don't believe in abortion, but now it's my kid, now it's my mother, now it's my grandmother.

STATE REP. SAM MIMS (R), MISSISSIPPI: I think the intent is to make sure that folks, the women who are receiving these abortions are receiving abortions by a professional physician who is certified. And then if something goes wrong, which it might -- we hope it doesn't but it could -- that that physician could follow that patient to a local hospital. That's the intent. And what happens afterwards, we'll have to see what happens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The president of this clinic has sued -- has filed for a temporary restraining order against this law to give her time to try to get these permissions. But, again, the law takes effect their first day of business Monday. And if the clinic is found in violation, the people who work here, the nurses, the physicians, the management, they could all face civil and even criminal penalties, Poppy.

HARLOW: And George, this is an important story, one we'll keep our eye on all weekend as this progresses.

I want to make clear to people, there are two technicalities in this law. In order for a doctor to perform an abortion, that doctor has to be an OB/GYN and they have to have admitting privileges, as you said, at a local hospital, and that has been the sticking point for doctors there. George, thank you. We'll keep an eye on this all weekend. Keep us posted.

A former waitress at a Los Angeles sports bar claims she was fired for refusing to wear a skimpy uniform. And she is suing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's right is right. It's not -- this was not fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So how might this case play out? Any legal precedent? Our legal guys are standing by to share their thoughts when we get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, in New Jersey, a woman is suing a 13-year-old boy for hitting her with a baseball during a Little League game almost two years ago. Matthew Migliaccio told his dad he was warming up in the bull pen when the ball slipped out of his hands, sailed over the fence and hit Elizabeth Lloyd. Matt's dad believes what his son told him, and that this was just an unfortunate accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)c

ROB MIGLIACCIO, PLAINTIFF'S FATHER: He said we weren't screwing around. The ball slipped out of my hand when I threw it back, and it went over his head. To him, this happens every day in Little League. I want these people to come to their senses and drop the case. It's insane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. Our legal guys are back. Avery Friedman in Cleveland and Richard Herman in Las Vegas, Avery, I want to go to you first. What does the plaintiff, Ms. Lloyd, what does she need to prove here? I assume damages and liability, right?

FRIEDMAN: Well, she has got to show both. I mean, clearly there are damages all over the place. Elizabeth Lloyd, who got hit by Matthew's pitch, obviously has had reconstructive surgery, other continuing headaches, that type of problem. It's the real thing.

The problem is the liability issue. I mean, clearly this was unintentional. Elizabeth's lawyer claims that Matthew, who was 11 at the time, said he did it on purpose. That is nonsensical. So I think there is a real question of whether or not there is going to be liability. Clearly I think there was negligence somewhere along the line. But was it foreseeable? I don't think so.

HARLOW: And interestingly, this case was filed just two weeks before the statute of limitations ran out in New Jersey. Civil lawsuits for personal injuries have to be filed within two years. So that's an interesting point. It may be taken into consideration.

Richard, the plaintiff, Elizabeth Lloyd, wants $500,000. That's what she is suing for. And I looked, there is actually precedent going back for this to a 1935 case in California's Supreme Court, right? About the assumption of risk if you're at a game.

HERMAN: Right. That's for professional baseball. And that's where assumption of risk is applicable. Here, though, she is alleging assault and battery, which is an intentional tort. And I think the lawyer who brought the lawsuit missed the boat on this, because if you sue for intentional tort, that is usually a disclaimer on any and all insurance policies. No. 2, he was 11 years old. And to think that he could form the requisite mental intent to throw and intentionally hurt someone, and yet hit someone in the face at the distance he was -- I mean the Yankees would have signed this kid up already. This is a ridiculous lawsuit. It's going to be knocked out. It's going nowhere.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Watch out, Jeter. OK.

FRIEDMAN: I like that. Right.

HARLOW: Guys, quickly before I move on to the next case, how does this play out, dismiss, go to trial, settlement?

HERMAN: Dismissed.

FRIEDMAN: Settlement. It's going to resolve.

HARLOW: OK. Next case. This one is kind of wild, all right. So you got this former waitress, Courtney Scaramella, filed a lawsuit against the owners of a sports bar where she used to work, called O'Hara's in Westwood, California. She claims she had to wear a uniform, that plaid skirt she thought was inappropriate. She claims that fans were placed on the floor to blow up waitresses' skirts. She called it embarrassing, uncomfortable. O'Hara's response, they said, look, the suit has no merit. She was not fired. She quit her job. And just to note here, when she complained about this uniform, they changed the policy and took the uniform away, but then she says they cut her hours back, and it goes on and on. So what's your take on this, Avery? Does she have grounds for a case here?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. It's a vintage, classic retaliation under employment law. Look, I don't know what it is with men. How do they come up with these ideas about a short skirt? That was like Britney Spears when she used to be cute. And then they attach velcro to it so some drunken slob can rip it off of her. What a terrible, terrible idea. How demeaning. How humiliating for women. I think -- and again, they are allegations, Poppy. Allegations.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

FRIEDMAN: If they can be proven, Courtney's case can be proven, then I think she is very, very strong in the outcome. It's a very serious matter, violation of both federal and state law.

HARLOW: Richard, I was reading some of the comments on news reports, people were writing in when they write about this case. And one of them said free country, get another job. It's a very hard economy. So that's easier said than done. But I don't know. What is your take?

HERMAN: It's not -- it's a ridiculous case. It's not a serious case.

FRIEDMAN: What?

HERMAN: It's ridiculous. Listen, the woman was working there for four years. A change of ownership takes over. They're struggling in this economy to make money. Was she going to contribute to the owners to help them? No. They had to come up with an idea to generate sales. They implemented this. She did not have to work there. She could have left and got another job. Yet, she chose to stay. She chose to wear the skirt. She chose to check out at the cashier with the wind blowing. She wrote the letter and they stopped it. This case, Poppy, is as stupid as the Little League case. It's going nowhere.

FRIEDMAN: That's shameful. That's a shameful conclusion, Richard.

HERMAN: That's the facts.

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: Clear violation of federal and state law.

HERMAN: You got to be real.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I want to see you go to trial together and battle this one out. That would be entertaining.

HERMAN: You'd be the judge.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I'm not adjudicating this case, guys. Thank you, as always. Pleasure to be with you. I watch you every Saturday. So pleasure to be with you. Thanks, guys.

HERMAN: Great working with you. Have a great weekend.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, wonderful. Take care.

HARLOW: Well, you know his love of music from his legendary work on the keyboard. Chuck Leavell's love for the environment is just as deep. We're going to talk to the man who's played with the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, amazing guy. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, today our own Fredricka Whitfield goes face-to-face with a famous musician who is devoting much of his life to saving the environment. I love this. Chuck Leavell has played piano and the keyboard for the Rolling Stones and other impressive groups like the Allman Brothers, he has played with Eric Clapton. But his passion extends well beyond the stage. Fredricka Whitfield recently caught up with Chuck at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So great to see you.

CHUCK LEAVELL, MUSICIAN: Thank you, Fred. I really appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: So you are as well known a conservationist as you are a musician, playing with Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers. But what is it about being so connected to the environment and making that commitment to your tree farm and wildlife? How did that come to be?

LEAVELL: You know, the first connection people ask me about what in the world it seems like a dichotomy. But the very first connection is the fact that that marvelous instrument called a piano that has given me my career and my livelihood comes from what? Resource of wood. (MUSIC)

LEAVELL: And so there's a direct connection in that way. But deeper than that, my wife's family has been connected to the land for generations as farmers and tending forest land, tending cattle, and just being good stewards of the land. So that began to rub off on me a long time ago. And eventually we acquired our own tree farm, and we've been managing that now for 30 years.

WHITFIELD: What do you want to see in -- back to conservation, what do you want to see in wildlife conservation and forestry conservation that is not being done right now?

LEAVELL: Well, Fredricka, I have a concern, and I wrote a book about this recently about what I call the invisible forest health crisis. The loss of land, natural lands to growth and development. Chief Tom Tidwell of the U.S. Forest Service recently shared a statistic with me that in the U.S., we lose 6,000 acres a day.

WHITFIELD: To development?

LEAVELL: Yes. To growth and development. And so, you know, you are not going to stop it. But you can guide it and you can do it intelligently. And that was the subject matter of my book. It is called "Growing a Better America." Focus on the word growing, because we are going to grow, but we can do it better. We can do it smarter.

WHITFIELD: Individuals, are you talking, you know, the big corporations, companies, developers?

LEAVELL: All of the above. Absolutely all of the above. Individuals can do things. We can walk more. Leave that car sitting. You can walk to the office if you're close enough or take -- walk the kids to school or whatever. I mean, those are small things that we can do. But this is America. We can do this.

WHITFIELD: We're supposed to be able to do anything.

LEAVELL: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

LEAVELL: Thank you. Really great to talk with you.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic.

LEAVELL: Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: For the record, I met Chuck Leavell, and he rocks, as Fred found out. Let us know what you think about today's face-to-face at CNN.com/fredricka.

The Supreme Court said yes to upholding the entirety of Obamacare, but what are Americans saying? We're going to have the poll numbers out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: It is done. It's final. The U.S. Supreme Court says the president's health care reform law is constitutional. But Americans, they are divided completely down the middle. Take a look at the numbers from a new "USA Today" Gallup poll taken after the high court handed down its decision. 46 percent of Americans agreeing with the ruling. 46 percent disagreeing. Almost like the court in that 5-4 split. Most of the opinions were split along party lines.

Most grandmothers wouldn't be planning to do this, but this courageous woman is trying to set a swimming record. She is astonishing. We're going to tell you where she's headed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Checking our top stories right now. Millions of people from India to Maryland have no electricity right now. Strong thunderstorms that moved through the region this weekend knocked down power lines, trees, and tore roofs off homes. Look at that video. Six people were killed in Virginia, all by falling trees. That number just raised from two.

Some states hit by the storms are also suffering through record breaking heat. This weekend, Colorado firefighters are making progress on a wildfire that has killed two people already and destroyed nearly 350 homes. The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs is now 30 percent contained. That is the only good news we've gotten in days. City officials have organized bus tours for about 4,000 people whose neighborhoods are scorched. They're going to let them take a look at what happened. The cause of this massive fire is under investigation.

Well, a marathon swimmer is attempting to swim from Cuba to Florida. But what makes Penny Palfrey's try even more remarkable is that she's a 49-year-old grandmother. (inaudible). This morning, Palfrey was already halfway to her destination, over 50 miles there, and she's attempting to swim without a shark cage, without flippers, just solo.

Coming up at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, we've got the extreme heat, wildfires and storm damage covered really across the board. We've got reporters in all locations on top of this story live for you.

Also, the high court's ruling on health care reform. What does it mean for you at home?

"YOUR MONEY" starts right now.