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President Obama Challenges GOP on Tax Cuts; Crisis in Syria Escalates; Barack Obama's 'Lethal Presidency'; Sharks Threatening Swimmers in New England? Critique of President Obama's Drone Program; Man Accused of Helping Wife Commit Suicide; Divorce Details Finalized Between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes; Florida Anti-Fracking Group Tries to Halt Drilling; Effect of the Internet on Our Brains

Aired July 09, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Because the big economic issue that we were all talking about late last week was how the jobs report was so dismal and how the economy is just in a terrible place for the president.

So he absolutely used the bully pulpit to talk about the issue that they believe according to internal polling and frankly public polling as well really does benefit them, the idea that middle class Americans should get a tax extension and those who are wealthier should not.

And that is the way that they want to frame the debate when it comes to the economy.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You mention when it comes to this that the polls are on his side. He pointed out today that he has the public on his side as well.

Why might Republicans think this is a winning issue for them?

BASH: The reason Republicans think it is a winning issue for them, Brooke, is because they feel that history is on their side and that any time the discussion is about tax cuts or more specifically tax hikes, any time that they can paint Democrats as wanting to raise taxes it's bad for Democrats.

And I just want to show you a quote from one of the top Republicans to give you an illustration of how they're framing it on the Republican side. This is from the number two Republican, Jon Kyl.

BALDWIN: Sure.

BASH: He said: "President Obama's push to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 including 940,000 business owners could not come at a worse time. Friday's disappointing job numbers and the continuing crawl of economic recovery indicate that job creators are still struggling, yet the president would have these business owners pay more in taxes to pay more for government spending."

You see there they're trying to put some meat on the bones, so to speak, and give specifics on who they're talking about, almost a million business owners, that it's not just some hypothetical, theoretical discussion, but it's about real people that they say will be hurt if those taxes for the highest earners go away.

BALDWIN: A lot of meat on the bill, and I want to keep chewing on this with Rick Newman.

Dana Bash, thank you.

I want to bring in Rick Newman, he's in New York, and he's the chief business correspondent with "U.S. News & World Report."

Rick, we saw something today. And I just want your comment. Take a look at this graphic. Everyone look at this graphic here. This will be the tax burden borne by people who make more than the magic number of $250,000 a year.

At the right side of the graphic, you see the line ticks up just a tiny-weensy bit. That is the president out there proposing that the top federal tax rate increase from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, just a little bit there. What the graphic shows is that historically speaking that's not all that high, Rick Newman, correct?

RICK NEWMAN, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": That's correct. In fact, taxes on the top earners are far lower than they have been historically and taxes for most earners are lower than they have been historically.

And this has basically been the result of the Bush tax cuts which went into effect in 2001 and 2003. And part of the rub here, Brooke, is that we have all gotten pretty used to this. I don't think too many Americans are saying, gee, I need to put money aside for when tax rates are going to go back up.

BALDWIN: A good point.

NEWMAN: We have had 10 years when Americans wealthy and middle class both have basically become conditioned to these lower tax rates. This is going to be extremely difficult when we have to -- we will have to raise taxes which most economists will tell you is inevitable sooner or later.

BALDWIN: We have seen the tax cuts extended already for two years. Now the president is proposing to extend them again. This isn't free, is it?

NEWMAN: No, it's not.

The extensions of these tax cuts have basically been adding to the national debt for the last few years. And we are very lucky because we are able to borrow in order to finance lower taxes today.

Everybody who's paying attention to this problem knows this money is going to have to be paid back in some way and that's why they're calling this the fiscal cliff. It is a huge burden once we actually decide how we're going to have to pay back all this money. What we hope happens is there is some sort of coherent plan to start small, impose the paybacks gradually, and get to it over time.

But that is going to take a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. There is no way around the fact it will take both. But what is going to happen for the rest of this election and certainly into 2013 is a growing and a huge fight about exactly what those cuts in taxes are going to be.

BALDWIN: But, Rick, you talk to almost anyone and they know this thing isn't going to get worked out by the end the year. Then what happens to you and me and people watching? What happens to our taxes and when does this thing finally get decided?

NEWMAN: Welcome to the bizarre U.S. political economy.

Here's the situation. We know that if Congress does nothing everybody's taxes will go up by a lot. We also assume that will not happen but we're not going to know exact details until the very last second. And it's also possible, Brooke, that taxes do technically go up because they don't come to a deal and then once the new Congress comes in, they pass something that is basically retroactive.

This is why business leaders are tearing their hair out right now. It's just unbelievable to people who run businesses that they don't know what their taxes are going to be next year. They also don't know what the government's policies are going to be about spending.

They don't know if we are going to have another fiasco about extending the government's borrowing limit in early 2013, which is going to have to happen. And I think the result is we're going to see basically an economy that is in a state of paralysis until the end of the year, at least until the election, because business leaders simply are not going to do anything. They're not going to hire, they're not going to make any major investment decisions until they know what is going to happen.

BALDWIN: Eking Closer and closer to the edge of that fiscal cliff, Rick Newman, frightening. Rick, thank you.

NEWMAN: Yes. We will walk right up to it, though.

BALDWIN: We are.

President Obama and Mitt Romney they may be neck and neck in a lot of polls, but when it comes to cash Romney is king for now. Check this out. The Republican along with his party's national committee raised, look at these figures, more than $106 million last month.

On the other side of the screen you see the $71 million mark. That is what President Obama has raised. In an e-mail to supporters the Obama campaign sent a thank you for the best month of this election, but in the very next paragraph warned the Republicans are way ahead.

Got a lot more for you in the next hour. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): A husband facing charges after his wife kills herself. One lawyer says, I have never seen a case like this.

And Bashar al-Assad says the U.S. is behind the violence in Syria. And the U.S. fires back with the usual response.

And get ready. The prices at the grocery store may be about to go up because farmers across America are in hell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: Is America partially to blame for the explosions, the shootings and deaths in Syria? Who is making that claim, and what Syria's president said to peace leaders today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Diplomatic envoy Kofi Annan has now arrived in Iran, This is part of his new strategy to end the bloodshed in Syria. And Annan met earlier today with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

And, afterwards, Annan said that Assad has agreed to what he is calling -- and I'm quoting -- an approach, an approach to ending the violence. No details of what exactly that approach might entail. Meantime, absolutely no letup in the violence. Activists say 30 people have died today alone across Syria, as the government continues its crackdown.

I talked about Syria with Andrew Tabler. He's a senior fellow in Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. And I asked him why U.S. officials continue to insist that Assad's days are numbered but nothing seems to change.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW TABLER, FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: We had an opportunity to be straightforward about this in Geneva. We didn't do that. The answer to your question is a lot more people have to die according to Washington's position in Syria before there is any firmer stance.

I think in the end that Assad will go. I think it is going to be much longer than we thought. The problem about this is, yes, a lot of Syrians will die. That is horrific. But most importantly for American security Syria has one of the largest stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons in the Middle East.

As the state devolves and if that material gets loose, that is a threat to our national security. And if we continue on our current approach with the Assad regime devolving over time, as the secretary said, We are headed into a situation where those kinds of materials could get loose and that's a danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Andrew Tabler, thank you. He also told me the main problem with the West's strategy toward Syria is there have been no consequences behind just tough talk and tough rhetoric for Assad's violent policies.

Sharks lurking dangerously close, more sightings off Cape Cod over the weekend -- why swimmers are diving right in and not running right out.

Plus, could your grocery prices be going up soon? Some farmers across America are in hell, they say. We will explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A sweltering heat wave is hurting more than your power bill. And some unwelcome guests are putting a damper on some beachgoers' fun.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette"

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: Next on "Reporter Roulette": beautiful sandy beaches and a dangerous predator lurking beneath the waves.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," Chad Myers here.

Man, oh, man, Cape Cod. I love New England. Love the beaches up there. But when you see sharks, I'm going to go the other way.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Going to need a bigger boat.

BALDWIN: Yes, going to need a bigger boat.

MYERS: Remember that from "Jaws"?

Let me tell you -- I know, keep going. You can do this all day.

BALDWIN: Frightening. It happened last summer, though.

MYERS: It happens every year. It does.

These sharks come back and they feed on the seals. It just happens. It's a normal -- a progression of where their food source comes to be. But when you see pictures like this, you don't want to be in the water, although some people do want to be in the water.

I have seen some pictures with a guy in a kayak and he's staring behind him at the fin out of the water. Yes, well, this just happens this year a little bit earlier.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: It's been happening the past couple days because the water has warmed up a little bit. The water is about as warm as it should be by the middle part of August.

So all of a sudden you have temperatures here where the water -- that's Martha's Vineyard, there's Cape Cod. They're about 60 degrees out there. That is not warm if you're going to be swimming in a pool, but it's warm for these sharks and it's warm for the seals and they migrate to where the warm water is.

About three to six degrees warmer than normal, that doesn't surprise you considering the three to 10 degrees we have been above normal on temperatures. The water is probably just as warm too. If it's been warm everywhere, water warms up with the sunshine just like our land does.

BALDWIN: I was reading a "Boston Herald" article and they were talking about that Cape Cod sort of has a moratorium going and coming from the last year and they were saying the fact is, with everyone knowing there were these great whites, so many people, actually more people, like business is booming because of the sharks. People want to see the sharks in the water from afar.

MYERS: From afar.

BALDWIN: From afar.

MYERS: There's a lot of jokes online. There's a lot of tweets going on. How do I stay safe? The funniest one I saw was don't wear a seal suit.

BALDWIN: Very funny. Very funny.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: They are saying -- truthfully they're saying stay away from the seals. They haven't said don't get in the water yet, just stay away from seals.

MYERS: Exactly.

BALDWIN: OK. Chad Myers, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: That's your "Reporter Roulette" on this Monday.

The picture of the president next to a huge blood splatter. You are about to hear from the man who says the blood of a 16-year-old American boy is on the president's hands. This is a stunning read in "Esquire" magazine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You probably don't know him, but you likely know who his father was.

Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was 16 years old the night his life ended in southeastern Yemen. He was sitting around a fire under the moon with friends when a U.S. drone wiped him out. Like his father, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen, but unlike his father, the infamous Anwar al-Awlaki, he was no terrorist.

He was one of the accidental victims of President Barack Obama's drone program, which is detailed in this new "Esquire" magazine article. It's entitled "The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama."

Tom Junod wrote this article and he joins us now.

And it's quite an article, Tom. And I really, really, truly appreciate you being on.

You address so much of this article. The way you write it, you write like you're writing directly to the president. Can you just sum up your message to him for me?

TOM JUNOD, "ESQUIRE": My sum-up -- my message to him would be that we understand that you know you have to do what you have to do to keep this country safe, but do you have to keep everything entirely in secret, especially when you kill an American citizen?

BALDWIN: You quote President Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser as saying this: "We discuss, we debate, we disagree on drone strikes."

But how can they have time -- and you bring this precise question up in your article. I'm just going to throw it back at you. How do they have time to sign off on each person when you say your number is thousands, killing thousands of people with these drone strikes?

JUNOD: Well, really, that's the question of the story.

They speak sometimes off the record or through leaks about the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki and how much deliberation went into that, and that that deliberation sort of counted as due process for this American citizen, who was, you know, accused of plotting terror.

But the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki's son Abdulrahman followed -- must have followed very little of those things. It seems to have been a mistake, it seems to have been an accident. But it sort of contradicts this narrative that they put out that every killing is done with great care and great precision.

In fact, John Brennan, the counterterrorism adviser, said a year- and-a-half ago that there were no mistakes made, that the process had gotten to such a point that there were no accidental drone strikes.

BALDWIN: And to the point of your piece and how you sort of weave these two narratives together, speaking directly to the president in the story of this 16-year-old American boy who ultimately is killed in Yemen, you mentioned the leaks, and the administration certainly has bragged about that, but that they have been mute as you point out when it comes to these mistakes, this young man's name, you say in your piece, probably a name the president has never uttered.

JUNOD: Yes. He has definitely not uttered the name of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki.

Neither has the CIA. Neither has really anybody. I have talked to quite a few sources. And at the end of my research, I tried to get some sort of comment from somebody on this particular strike.

BALDWIN: And?

JUNOD: And even though -- zip, nothing, even though once again this is an American citizen.

BALDWIN: I want to get more on this 16-year-old boy in just a moment, but the next question, one of many, is what happens then, Tom, when other countries or perhaps more importantly other leaders they get ahold of this drone technology? Is this the next arms race?

JUNOD: We call the story "The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama."

And what we talk about -- what we're saying there is he has inherited this power and has expanded it and will Now, hand it on not only to his successor as president, whoever that may be, either in November or four years from now, but it will be handed on to other countries.

Part of what they are saying is that we are going to sort of try to pass on this process, try to pass on this model for other people using this technology.

BALDWIN: Does that worry you?

JUNOD: Oh, it totally worries me. In fact, I think, in general, one of the things that they have been saying all along is that they are -- that this procedure, that this process is moral because they are moral men involved in it.

And our Constitution is sort of built to sort of guard against that very presumption.

BALDWIN: But, Tom, let me just jump in, because you look at the alternative. What would we do, invade sovereign countries, round up these terror suspects for prosecutions that would likely never happen?

When you look at the alternative, might that be worse?

JUNOD: Well, I think that -- well, yes, I mean, I think that, you know, war as an alternative is worse. I think that probably letting these people go as an alternative is worse.

But at the very least, we shouldn't - the administration should not be able to keep the killing of an American citizen especially one not even accused of any crimes secret. So, I mean, you can start there. I mean, I know that other people have also suggested that there be a judicial process, a special court to sort of at least add some sort of counterweight to a process that right now takes place entirely within the executive branch and in secret.

BALDWIN: You talk about the evolution of the definition of collateral damage and with that I just want to end with sort of how you end your piece with this 16-year-old boy. We talked about Abdulrahman al-Awlaki.

So, you have this e-mail from his aunt. And just - this is part of the e-mail. I wanted to quote this. "Some may" - this is from the aunt - "some may say Abdulrahman was collateral damage. He was not in a cave in Waziristan or Tora Bora. He was simply a kid enjoying his time in the country side. The ones that were in the wrong place and time were the American drones and nothing else."

Do you, Tom - do you believe President Obama through his control of the drone program murdered this boy?

JUNOD: I think that he killed him with a program that has expanded the use of killing in a reckless manner.

BALDWIN: Tom Junod, your piece is in "Esquire Magazine" and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

JUNOD: Well, thank you, Brooke. Bye.

BALDWIN: He says his wife asked him to leave the house and he did. He also says when he came home she was dead. What he's telling police and why he is behind bars this afternoon.

But first, each week CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiles innovators from all walks of life, all fields of endeavor. His program is called "The Next List" and this Sunday he talks with Jose Gomez-Marques who is turning toys into medical tools.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE GOMEZ-MARQUES: I want to going to create the equivalent of what Lego is today for toys. I want to have not just the (INAUDIBLE), but the movement of democratized innovation in health care. I want to do that for medical technologies.

My name is Jose Gomez-Marques and I use toys to make affordable medical devices.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is a strange case, renewing the debate around assisted suicide. Investigators say a Texas woman killed herself and that her husband knew she was going to do it. Detectives say Mark Kelly left his wife alone at their apartment last week and, when he returned the very next day, he found her dead on the floor and suicide notes around the apartment.

CNN's legal analyst Sunny Hostin joins me from New York. And, Sunny, first, do we even know why this wife took her own life?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: We don't. It's unclear at this point. Some are saying she certainly suffered from depression and she was very depressed about their financial situation. Apparently she wasn't working, had lost her job, and that he had lost his primary job and was working at different fast food restaurants.

So those are some of the drivers that are being tossed around, but it is still unclear as to why she took her life and also as to whether he knew the reasoning behind it.

BALDWIN: So he is being charged. What is he being charged with? And, also, how rare is this that, I don't know, a significant other is prosecuted or charged for assisted suicide?

HOSTIN: Yeah, well, he has been charged with assisting in her suicide and that is illegal in Texas. His exposure is about two years in prison because this is a felony in Texas.

But I've got to tell you, Brooke, it is illegal in most states to assist in suicide. But what's fascinating and very different about this particular case is when you hear about assisted suicides you certainly hear about a more overt the act. You hear about someone really taking proactive steps and really assisting, perhaps feeding medication to someone or pulling the trigger, helping pull the trigger.

This case seems to be very different. They're accusing him of assisting her suicide in that he purchased what's commonly referred to as a suicide bag, which is sort of tubing and helium.

And, so, he purchased everything and may have set it up but then he left and went to a hotel room and so she would have done this by herself in that sense. In all the cases that I've seen assisted suicides prosecuted, I've never seen this sort of fact pattern. So, one has to ask why would prosecutors go forward with a case like this?

BALDWIN: Yes. They were pointing that out in "The Houston Chronicle" article I was reading. That sliver of the story makes it so, so unique.

And you mentioned assisted suicide laws. Certainly they differ from state to state and, in most states, it's illegal.

HOSTIN: That's right. In most states, it is illegal. And, so, we've heard about these assisted suicide cases and I think Dr. Kevorkian sort of really brought this to the forefront but, again, it is usually a very overt act that takes place.

I have not seen this kind of fact pattern, so it is unusual and I think many people will be following this because assisted suicide is something that does take place and what's also interesting in this case is this use of helium to assist in suicide or to take one's life. We've seen an uptick in that as well.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, thank you.

HOSTIN: Thanks. BALDWIN: A mystery illness is killing kids in Cambodia. The doctors say they think they finally do have a lead here. It turns out a common childhood illness known as enterovirus-71 may be to blame.

So far, at least 64 children have died, some within hours of showing up at the hospital. It turns out a good number of them tested positive for this particular virus which is a common cause of foot- and-mouth disease.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Cambodia. Sanjay, what have you learned?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, there are some answers now as to what might be causing this and, specifically, in the form of something known as enterovirus-71.

What they did was they tested samples in these children. There were 66 children total. They were able to get 24 samples and, of those, 15 were positive for enterovirus-71. As you can tell there just by looking at the numbers, Brooke, it is not a complete answer.

There's also something else. It has to do with just how deadly this particular illness is. These children often within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital are dying. They often start off with mild fever, but then quickly progress. They will develop inflammation of the brain, really catastrophic brain swelling, and then from there something happens to the lungs the doctors told me they've never seen before.

The lungs almost are completely destroyed within a very short time and that's ultimately what leads to death. The problem is, Brooke, it is very hard to reconcile enterovirus-71 alone as a cause for all that I have just described.

So, right now, investigators are continuing to look, zeroing in on perhaps other pathogens and also the possibility of some sort of toxicity from a medication or something else that could be causing all the problems that have been occurring in these children.

That is where the investigation is heading right now. As more details come to us, Brooke, we'll certainly bring them to you. Back to you.

BALDWIN: Sanjay, thank you so much for us in Cambodia.

A man in Texas still worries about his father's condition ,even though his father passed away sometime ago. That's because beneath his father's burial site, fracking, and the son wants the drilling stopped. He is about to tell me all about it live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Less than two weeks after announcing their split, celebrity couple, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, have signed a divorce settlement. They say it is in the best interests of their young daughter. Holmes filed for divorce back on June 28, seeking sole custody of 6-year-old Suri.

Entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter is in Hollywood. Kareen, that was quick.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, boy, did this happen at lightning speed. You know, we saw the paparazzi photos over the weekend of Katie putting in those hours, meeting with her attorney in New York around the clock, but did we realize they would come to some sort of agreement today? Absolutely not.

So a lot of people are shocked. I want to get to a couple statements that we got from Katie Holmes' attorney. Not a lot of details regarding the settlement. You know that an iron-clad agreement was perhaps worked out, confidentiality agreement signed, no details regarding the custody agreement.

But Katie Holmes' attorney released a statement saying. "The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life."

Cruise's attorney also put out a statement, a short one, saying that the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes case has settled with a signed agreement and that Tom is really pleased we got there and so am I.

This offered a little bit more telling details in terms of the couple. Another statement, Brooke, that was released through Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' publicist saying, "We're committed to working together as parents to accomplishing what is in our daughter Suri's best interests. We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents."

There you have it. You know, nothing spelled out, Brooke, in terms of the time, the custody time with Suri, how much time tom will have, how much time Katie will have, but when she filed for divorce on June 28th, it was absolutely clear that she was looking for sole custody at times.

She wanted to have the final say regarding Suri's upbringing as it relates to education, as it relates to religion. And it seems like she perhaps got a lot of what she was asking for here, just from what we're hearing from these statements, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Suri's best interests. Hopefully that is the priority. Kareen Wynter, thank you very much.

And fracking. We've talked a lot about fracking, but how about fracking under the dead? This is happening in Texas. The process of drilling deep, deep underground to extract natural gas is going on below some cemeteries in Ft. Worth.

People suspect fracking, the nickname for hydraulic fracturing, is to blame for multiple problems from flammable faucet water to earthquakes, but no one can deny the jobs, the money that this can bring into different communities. And now some loved ones of those buried in these cemeteries above or near the fracking, they want the drilling stopped and that includes Don Young. His father is buried at the Hanley Cemetery in Ft. Worth. He is also a founder of a local anti-fracking group and he blames the process on this.

This is a photo from his group's website labeled as drilling waste. So, Don Young, welcome. I know you're on vacation. Thanks for taking a moment for us here at CNN for us.

I've read that you say fracking under cemeteries is immoral. How do you feel about this? Does it disgust you? Are you angered? Are you saddened?

DON YOUNG, FORT WORTH CITIZENS AGAINST NEIGHBORHOOD DRILLING OPERATIONS: Well, I think it's equally immoral to the living as the dead, actually. Of course, my father's not around. He's been buried for many years.

But it does bother me to think of him being disturbed that way or his body being disturbed. But more importantly, I think, and the bigger question here is what's going on to the living than the dead.

BALDWIN: With your father, though, and the thought of, you know, perhaps this - the noise, the drilling, I don't know how it might affect caskets, let's say. What kind of conversation have you had with this particular cemetery?

YOUNG: With the cemetery itself?

BALDWIN: Yes, sir.

YOUNG: No conversations at all with them. It's a rural cemetery. Actually no one is in charge of it.

BALDWIN: OK. Well, we reached out to the Texas Cemetery Association. Let me tell you what they told us in part.

It believes that if a temporary drilling activity is allowed on property owned by the cemetery such as activity should be limited to areas where burials do not exist and conducted with the utmost deference for the hallowedness of the ground and utmost respect for those interred in the cemetery and for their families.

I also read, Don, that this fracking happens way deep below the surface, 7,000, 8,000 feet under the grave, so do you know of any instances where the graves were disturbed? Is that your worry?

YOUNG: Well, to some extent. I'm sure there is some subsidance going on, but I think it's important to know the fracking is very close to the cemetery and the air is filled with the chemicals that are being emitted from these facilities.

So that impacts your visit to a cemetery, for example. It's just not the same. It doesn't seem to show the kind of respect that a cemetery should have. BALDWIN: I understand. It's something you have to experience when you go say visit your father and visit his grave site is that right?

YOUNG: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: The cemetery owners from what I understand earn some money with the fracking and part of that actually goes to make the grounds at the cemeteries beautiful, keeping maybe your father's grave site maybe not based upon some of the photos we saw but it should be up kept. It's not illegal.

And I know I just have to point this out you've been a critic of fracking. Is your frustration perhaps more about your father and his final resting place or is it just sort of the proliferation of the controversial process?

YOUNG: No. It's the bigger picture here. Again, it's the living people in Ft. Worth. The town has been devastated by drilling. Just a few years ago, there were absolutely no gas wells in the city of Ft. Worth, less than eight years ago.

We now have over 1,500, pushing 2,000 and, in the Barnett shelf, which surrounds the city of Ft. Worth, we're pushing almost 20,000 gas wells in a place where there were almost none eight years ago.

So, the bigger problem is the city has been industrialized and that includes the cemeteries, shopping malls, our homes, churches, the rivers, the green space. It's all been impacted by these 20,000 gas wells. It's not a pretty picture.

BALDWIN: I'm sure this is something we don't even want to begin to consider but I'll ask you. If this I'm going to ask you, if this bothers you so much, would you consider relocating your father?

YOUNG: Absolutely, I would. Not only my father, but myself and my family as well.

BALDWIN: Don Young. Don, thank you. We appreciate you coming on.

Texting is like blinking. Are you getting a connection addiction? Find out how our computers are rewiring our brains? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are mere minutes from the top of the hour with Wolf Blitzer. There he is in Washington with "The Situation Room" coming up.

I can't hear you. I can see you. Go for it. I'm going to fix my earpiece.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Fix your earpiece. I'll tell viewers what to expect. Lots of news coming up in "The Situation Room." We have a special interview, by the way, in the 6:00 p.m. Eastern hour. The former governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour. He was once chairman of the Republican National Committee. They got a joint project, if you will, going on in Mississippi. We'll talk about that.

Also, politics, presidential politics. The president's latest tax proposals that he released today, as well.

Haley Barbour coming up. Also, a special interview with the son of the former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, George T. Bush is here in "The Situation Room" today. He's trying to generate support for younger Americans for Republicans and for Mitt Romney. We'll talk to him about what's coming on.

Our strategy session, all of our reporters, lots of important news coming up at the top of the hour right in "The Situation Room." Can you hear me?

BALDWIN: I can hear you now, Wolf Blitzer. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. See you in a couple minutes.

And now to this I need to finish a tweet. Wait. I need to return an e-mail. It's beginning to feel like this clip from "Portlandia."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: DVR. Facebook update.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait. Wait. You know what's happening, right? You're spiraling. You're out of control. There's too many things going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help me, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Be honest. Does that feel familiar? That constant pressure to stay connected.

So check this out. The new issue of "Newsweek," front and center, you know, cover story, sums it up in one word, "iCrazy" and inside there is this fascinating article entitled, "Is the Web Driving Us Mad?"

Tony Dokoupil wrote the article. He joins me now. And, Tony, you actually quote a neuroscientist who says the computer - this is the part that jumped out at me - the computer is like electronic cocaine. Tony, what is it that's so addictive about the Internet and what does it literally do to our brains?

TONY DOKOUPIL, SENIOR WRITER, "NEWSWEEK" AND "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, the Internet is a place you can go and constantly find rewards. Every time your phone pings, it's opportunity, social, sexual, professional. So you answer the bell and your brain gives you a little squirt of dopamine, which is the same chemical your brain gives you if you do a rail of cocaine, which is what that one, that researcher, was referring to.

And we now know that this is changing our brains. Another researcher compared it to climate change. The mental environment is changing as much as our atmosphere is changing.

And you can actually see this in brain scans with more white matter in the brain. Essentially, our brains are rewiring themselves for speed, for the onslaught.

BALDWIN: Wow, it really is changing our brains. We like the rewards, the people liking our pictures, the little pings on Twitter. I know I'm constantly tweeting through my show.

I want to read, though, a quote from your article. You talk - here we go. "The current incarnation of the Internet may be making us not just dumber or lonelier, but more depressed and anxious, prone to obsessive-compulsive and attention deficit disorders, even outright psychotic."

A bit of a pessimist view here. What about the Internet is a natural extension of us? Something that eliminates boundaries and breaks new ground. How about that?

DOKOUPIL: Well, it certainly is all those things. And a lot of people wonder, well, you know, isn't this just another technology? Fifty years for now, won't it be seen as normal, the way television is or the telephone?

I don't think so. I think this is fundamentally different. It's not something we can escape. You can't click it off. I mean, if you have a job, if you have friends, you're online and it's in your pocket, 24 hours a day. You're checking it.

And that intensity is what is troubling some researchers and what is leading to this sort of compulsive engagement. I mean, something like two out of three iPhone owners have phantom vibration syndrome. They think the phone is going off in their pocket when it's not. I mean, that's a sign of a problem.

BALDWIN: What? As you've been talking to me, Kyle, I'm just going to out you. My floor director has been checking his phone. Obviously, we're not entertaining enough for him.

But the point is, I wake up, first thing in the morning. I, you know, pull my laptop up in bed. Yes, I do. You know, I'm checking my e-mail before I go to bed. I mean, sure, I'm connected for work, but it takes me, when I going on vacation - I'm just being brutally honest - it takes me a couple of days to like wean myself off of not keeping connected, constantly.

How do we know if we have a problem? DOKOUPIL: And you still - I mean, the fact is you still are connected, right? I mean, well, how do you know? OK, so, when you go online, you should be goal-oriented, right?

If you find hours disappearing and you look up and don't know what you did with them, you may have a problem. If you can't stop, you might have a problem. It's one of those - if you look in the mirror or you read this article and then you look in the mirror and it resonates with you, you may have a problem.

So, but it's actually a good question. Researchers are trying to figure out whether or not this is something that can be diagnosed through a simple test, right? It used to be that, if you were online more than a certain number of hours a week, more than 38, I think, was an early number, then you might have an issue.

But, of course, like, we go over 38 hours by Tuesday, so we have to look at it qualitatively now.

BALDWIN: But this is very real.

DOKOUPIL: If you see it changing your life for the negative, then you have a problem.

BALDWIN: But this is very real because you point out in the DSM - what is it - the DSM next year they're actually going to have an entry for, what is it, Internet addiction?

DOKOUPIL: Right, there's never been a category of problems, human-machine problems, so people relating to machines in problematic ways. And it's now going to be in the appendix. It's not in the DSM proper, yet, but it's in the on-deck circle. It's on its way there.

And, you know, overseas, it's already considered a national health crisis. You know, like 30 percent of teenagers in China, by some estimates, have a problematic relationship with the Web.

And that's really the generation to watch. It's not people who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s. It's people who are 17, 18 who can't get offline. I mean, school kids today on a school day are online for 7 hours on average. That's crazy.

BALDWIN: Yeah, people are on the Internet, as you point out, more than they sleep. More than they sleep.

Tony Dokoupil, it's frightening. It's the cover of "Newsweek." We appreciate you coming on and, in two seconds, I'm going to check my e-mail again. Just saying. Thank you.

Before we go, in a Florida courthouse this morning, people started throwing punches, causing this all-out brawl. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands off! Hey!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Yikes. This is according to our affiliate WFTV. This fight broke out between a murder victim's family, the suspect's family. This is after a "stand-your-ground" hearing was cancelled.

Police eventually - you see them there - breaking this thing up, arresting two people in the end.

And that is it for me here on this Monday. I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters. Now to Wolf Blitzer. Your "Situation Room" begins right now.