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American Morning

Obesity Lawsuits

Aired July 03, 2003 - 08:31   ET

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

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


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, they have taken on Big Tobacco and won. Now, a group of lawyers has set its sights on the fast food industry and public schools as part of an anti-obesity campaign. For example, the Seattle school board is being threatened with a lawsuit over its exclusive vending machine contract with Coca-Cola.
But our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is objecting. He joins us right now. What's the deal? Can you sue a high school for giving Coke to the kids? Or having the vending machine, at least?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think what can you clearly do and what's going on now is you can threaten a lawsuit, because school boards aren't like other defendants. They're not worried about profits so much. They have to run for office or they have to answer to the public in some way. And obesity and fast food, and snacks, and -- is such a big issue now, that these school boards who have relied on fast food companies for a good deal of revenue in recent years are starting to back away and say, you know, do we want to take the heat of making our kids so fat?

COLLINS: But this is the same group of lawyers that got their names or made their names during the litigation of the Big Tobacco in the '90s. I mean, do they have a case here? Or is this kind of another publicity deal?

TOOBIN: There is potential for a case here. But I think it's important to emphasize it's a long way from tobacco. Tobacco litigation had the support of the Clinton administration. None of the so-called successors to the Big Tobacco litigation have the support of the Bush administration.

And for all that we've talked, and there's been a lot of talk recently about suing fast food companies, or suing snack makers, there has not been one single successful lawsuit against them yet, much less against a school board. So it's a long way from driving these people out of business.

COLLINS: So what's it about, then? Is it just intimidation? Enough to scare the school boards, or the corporations, or maybe even the teenagers?

TOOBIN: Well, I think intimidation is one word. But education is another. You know, I think the best way to resolve these things is without litigation. And you know, I have to give these lawyers credit for raising these issues, because, you know, they can go to the school board and threaten, say, oh, we'll sue you if you don't get these soda machines out of your schools. But, you know, if they do succeed in getting the soda machines out of the schools without litigation, maybe that's the best result of all.

COLLINS: But if the school board caves, then what next? I mean, I wonder where this momentum will actually take the issue.

TOOBIN: Well, that's the interesting question. And that's where you start to get into the business of, can they sue? Because school boards are different. They are basically just trying to get lots, you know, educate the kids.

When you start talking about the companies that are making money, we all laughed about the lawsuit against McDonald's that was filed a few months ago by the people who got fat eating Big Macs. But you know, these lawsuits are starting to come. And the snack makers are feeling the heat. McDonald's is moving away from artificial hormones involved in its beef. Kraft had a big announcement limiting the size of its snacks, limiting marketing in schools. So even though there have been no successful lawsuits so far, the companies are running scared.

COLLINS: Do you think there might be like a revolt from the kids if they can't get a hold of their Coke?

TOOBIN: The school boards are saying, look, it's either we provide the snacks or they walk across eight lanes of traffic to, you know, find a soda. So why not keep them in-house? I don't know, I think kids, obviously, want salty snacks, want sweet snacks. But, you know, they're also worried about getting fat, too, and I think there is some momentum shifting in this issue.

COLLINS: Probably is. All right, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin objecting today. Thanks so much, Jeffrey.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 3, 2003 - 08:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, they have taken on Big Tobacco and won. Now, a group of lawyers has set its sights on the fast food industry and public schools as part of an anti-obesity campaign. For example, the Seattle school board is being threatened with a lawsuit over its exclusive vending machine contract with Coca-Cola.
But our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is objecting. He joins us right now. What's the deal? Can you sue a high school for giving Coke to the kids? Or having the vending machine, at least?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think what can you clearly do and what's going on now is you can threaten a lawsuit, because school boards aren't like other defendants. They're not worried about profits so much. They have to run for office or they have to answer to the public in some way. And obesity and fast food, and snacks, and -- is such a big issue now, that these school boards who have relied on fast food companies for a good deal of revenue in recent years are starting to back away and say, you know, do we want to take the heat of making our kids so fat?

COLLINS: But this is the same group of lawyers that got their names or made their names during the litigation of the Big Tobacco in the '90s. I mean, do they have a case here? Or is this kind of another publicity deal?

TOOBIN: There is potential for a case here. But I think it's important to emphasize it's a long way from tobacco. Tobacco litigation had the support of the Clinton administration. None of the so-called successors to the Big Tobacco litigation have the support of the Bush administration.

And for all that we've talked, and there's been a lot of talk recently about suing fast food companies, or suing snack makers, there has not been one single successful lawsuit against them yet, much less against a school board. So it's a long way from driving these people out of business.

COLLINS: So what's it about, then? Is it just intimidation? Enough to scare the school boards, or the corporations, or maybe even the teenagers?

TOOBIN: Well, I think intimidation is one word. But education is another. You know, I think the best way to resolve these things is without litigation. And you know, I have to give these lawyers credit for raising these issues, because, you know, they can go to the school board and threaten, say, oh, we'll sue you if you don't get these soda machines out of your schools. But, you know, if they do succeed in getting the soda machines out of the schools without litigation, maybe that's the best result of all.

COLLINS: But if the school board caves, then what next? I mean, I wonder where this momentum will actually take the issue.

TOOBIN: Well, that's the interesting question. And that's where you start to get into the business of, can they sue? Because school boards are different. They are basically just trying to get lots, you know, educate the kids.

When you start talking about the companies that are making money, we all laughed about the lawsuit against McDonald's that was filed a few months ago by the people who got fat eating Big Macs. But you know, these lawsuits are starting to come. And the snack makers are feeling the heat. McDonald's is moving away from artificial hormones involved in its beef. Kraft had a big announcement limiting the size of its snacks, limiting marketing in schools. So even though there have been no successful lawsuits so far, the companies are running scared.

COLLINS: Do you think there might be like a revolt from the kids if they can't get a hold of their Coke?

TOOBIN: The school boards are saying, look, it's either we provide the snacks or they walk across eight lanes of traffic to, you know, find a soda. So why not keep them in-house? I don't know, I think kids, obviously, want salty snacks, want sweet snacks. But, you know, they're also worried about getting fat, too, and I think there is some momentum shifting in this issue.

COLLINS: Probably is. All right, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin objecting today. Thanks so much, Jeffrey.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com