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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama Announces 15 Recess Appointments, Scolds GOP; Palin Leads 'Tea Party' Tour; Fulfillment of Obama Health-Insurance-Exchange Promise Questioned; Service Dogs Aid Wounded Vets
Aired March 28, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for this March 28. Palm Sunday. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Six a.m. in Atlanta; 5 a.m. in St. Louis; 3 a.m. in Las Vegas. Thanks for starting your day with us.
President Obama says he has work to get done and he has tired of waiting. That's why he has made 15 recess appointments, including at least one that's extremely controversial.
HOLMES: Also this morning, Sarah Palin taking some time in Searchlight, Nevada, to try to clean up the comment that got so much controversy about the "retreat and reload."
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, media try to get this right, OK? That's not inciting violence. What's that? That is doing as a - try to inspire people to get involved in their local elections and these upcoming federal elections. It's telling people that their arms are their vote. It's not inciting violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, that's not all she had to say. She fired the crowd up there in Nevada. She kept stirring up that crowd. We'll show you how she did it. All those details straight ahead.
CHO: But first, our top stories this hour.
Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating the start of the Christian holy week by presiding over Palm Sunday services right now. You're looking at live pictures there of St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
Holy week continues until next Sunday, with Easter celebrations.
HOLMES: Well, former first lady Barbara Bush in the hospital this morning. She is expected to be there for the next day or two for some routine testing. Not clear exactly what tests she's undergoing, but a spokesman says no emergency here. A staff aide says the 84-year- old hasn't been feeling well for about a week.
CHO: A busy week ahead for President Obama. Tomorrow, he's attending a credentialing ceremony for foreign ambassadors. Then he's going to host a Seder dinner marking the beginning of Passover.
On Tuesday, he will sign that health-care fixes bill that passed last week. Later, he'll meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House. On Wednesday, he's giving a couple of speeches, including one on workplace flexibility.
Thursday, he's off to push his plan for health-insurance reform in Portland, Maine. He will then attend a Democratic fundraising event in Boston.
Then on Friday, the president will talk jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina.
HOLMES: Well, bipartisanship - forget about it in Washington. It looks like, if you can imagine this, the divide between the White House and Republicans actually getting wider. And President Obama says he is making 15 of these so-called recess appointments.
One in particular has Republicans howling mad this weekend. Labor lawyer Craig Becker - you see him there -- he's been nominated to the agency that's overseeing relations between unions and employers. So now he has the job through this recess appointment.
CNN's Candy Crowley asked a top White House aide about this particular appointment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: ...wrote him and said, 'Please don't do a recess appointment with Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.' They think that he is a union plant, if you will. They think that he will do "check card." They - they think he is bad for this board.
And yet, the first thing the president did, of course, was to go ahead and do that recess appointment.
Was that necessary?
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Well, he made a series of recess appointments because, Candy, we are in a position where the Republican Party has taken a position where they're going to try and slow and block progress on all fronts, whether it's legislation or appointments.
Just to make the comparison, at this point in the Bush administration, there were five appointments who - on the floor of the Senate who had not been approved when the president - that President Bush made 15 recess appointments. We have 77 appointees who have - who have not gotten a vote because they've been held up by - by the Republican Party. Some of them are in very sensitive positions, in Treasury, in Department of Homeland Security and on boards like the Labor Relations Board that - where there are - there are a huge number of - of vacancies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, we mentioned that the president did appoint a total of 15 people with these recess appointments. Now, of course, presidents do this. President Bush actually did the same thing; he had about 15, the same amount at the same time in his presidency as well.
We do want to highlight a few of the 15 right now. We did mention the one, the Becker, that's going to the National Labor Relations Board. Mark Pierce also appointed to that board by the president as well.
A couple more are going to be serving in the Treasury Department as well as another there, Eric Hirschborn, also another undersecretary of Commerce.
Now, according to the president, most of his appointees have actually been held up in the Senate for some seven months right now. The president also nominated some three people to the Equal Opportunity Commission. So they will start serving through this recess appointment as well.
These people now - at least these 15 - will be in their jobs, will be able to serve now through the end of 2011. That is when the Senate is going to finish its next term.
Now, the White House aide, David Axelrod you saw there, also talked to Candy about the fallout from the health-care bill passing. You can watch all of that interview, of course, on "STATE OF THE UNION." That comes your way at 9:00 Eastern this morning.
CHO: Another story we're following very closing, the "tea party" express will roll into Phoenix and Flagstaff today. Two more stops on the 44-city tour that ends in Washington on tax day, April 15.
Yesterday, Sarah Palin stirred up the crowd during an appearance in Democratic Senator Harry Reid's hometown.
CNN's Jessica Yellin was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of people pulled into the small town of Searchlight, Nevada, many coming from out of state to kick off a nationwide, cross-country tour by the "tea party" express.
Folks here delivered their message that they want smaller government, the repeal of the health-care law, and here in Nevada, the defeat of the state's senior senator, Harry Reid.
The big attraction for the day, of course, was Sarah Palin. She is a darling of the crowd, the movement's biggest rock star. And she delivered her message with force. PALIN: What is going in our country? What's going on in D.C.? Washington has broken faith with the people that they are to be serving.
That's why, here in Searchlight and across the country, we're sending a message to Washington. It's loud and it's clear, and in these upcoming elections, we're saying that big-government, big-debt, Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending spree is over. You're fired.
YELLIN: Now, Palin also had a word for the media. She accused the press of mischaracterizing her comments. Specifically, she said when she indicated it's time for the movement to "reload," she meant it's time to go out and vote, not to commit violence.
Now, this whole event was held in Senator Reid's birthplace of Searchlight, Nevada. And Reid gave a statement to CNN actually thanking the tea-party activists for coming to his hometown, spending money here and stimulating the economy, but he said the election will be decided by Nevadans, not by folks from out of state.
Now, from here, the tea-party express rolls on across country. It plans to end in Washington, D.C., on April 15, tax day.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Searchlight, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now it's time for us to turn and say good morning to Mr. Reynolds Wolf.
Today in some places around the country, it could get a little ugly.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEORLOGIST: Yes, especially in parts of the Southeast. It looks like we could see some very strong storms in parts of Alabama, back into Mississippi, even into Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas. Basically, the Southeast is going to have a bulls-eye, which could include some heavy rain, possibly some isolated tornadoes.
We'll give you the full deal coming up, while the lights are on.
Let's send it back to you guys.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Renny.
CHO: We also want to show you some more sights and sounds and flag-waving from this Palm Sunday Mass going right - going on right now, rather, at Vatican City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EAGLES, "NEW YORK MINUTE") WOLF: Something tells me that's not Chicago, because the music, of course, "New York."
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) give it away.
WOLF: It always does. It always does.
HOLMES: The lights were actually out in New York for awhile last night.
WOLF: They - indeed they were.
HOLMES: Intentionally ....
WOLF: Mm-hmm.
HOLMES: ...though. Let's show you some of the pictures from last night.
About 8:30 last night, the city - several cities around the globe, really, dimmed the lights, including major attractions. You see the Eiffel Tower there in the middle. But 8:30 local time was officially Earth Hour across the world.
New Yorkers joined in as well. You essentially turned your lights off. Said a lot of cities were involved here. Really, hundreds of cities - Seattle, London, Paris - every major city, probably yours as well. Everybody spent an hour in the dark.
Did you observe this last night?
WOLF: I did not. But you know in somewhere in one of those cities, someone said, 'Dude, did you forget to pay the bill? What happened? How come the lights are out?'
It's inevitable that kind of thing happens.
HOLMES: But it's a good cause here. Supposed to draw attention to global warming, climate change. It's trying to teach people to be a little better about conserving and maybe making some changes in their lives. Organizers say last year, a billion people across the globe took part, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund.
They do it here in Atlanta. We participated the past couple years. So it's a - it's a good cause.
WOLF: Makes them aware of the environment.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: Makes them aware of the - the - the - actually, the light switch.
HOLMES: That as well. WOLF: Which is a good thing.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Coming up, Josh Levs here with a "Reality Check."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The president made a specific promise as a candidate. Did he fulfill it with his health-care bill? Did he break it? We have answers from the "Obameter."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, NAKED EYES, "PROMISES, PROMISES")
HOLMES: All right. Big win for the president, right? He got the health-care bill through, and the administration celebrating right about now.
CHO: Yes, but, you know, you heard the song "Promises, Promises."
HOLMES: Uh huh.
CHO: Did the president keep his campaign promise?
Our Josh Levs takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: No matter where you stand in the political spectrum, you probably agree that politicians should keep their campaign promises. And that is something we love about PolitiFact.com, from the "St. Petersburg Times," which has the "Obameter," tracking the president's promises.
Now that he has signed health-care legislation into law, PolitiFact is ruling on whether he kept one of his campaign promises. It's one that can have a huge impact on how much health care costs all of us.
It involves the health-care exchange. Here's what the president said about that in the new law.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now, what we're going to do is create exchanges all across the country where uninsured people, small businesses, they're going to be able purchase affordable, quality insurance. They will be part of a big pool.
LEVS: So this new law calls for the creation of state-based health-insurance exchanges. They're like these virtual marketplaces where people can buy health insurance, ideally with some real, serious competition to keep those prices down.
But what's in this law is not exactly what the president promised. He said during the campaign that he would create a single, national health-insurance exchange. PolitiFact calls that a "significant difference." They point that many Democrats favored a national exchange, saying the federal government should enforce uniform standards.
But state officials argue they are in the best position to implement these, because most current health-insurance regulation actually happens on the state level.
So on this one, PolitiFact rates it a "compromise." And obviously, that's how it often works, right? In politics. The candidate can make all sorts of promises, but in the end, it's a process with lawmakers. Now, candidates don't usually give that caveat when they are making those promises on the stump.
We're hearing from you about this. Weigh in at my Facebook page, joshlevscnn. Or on Twitter. And let us know your thoughts.
I'm Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Josh, thank you.
Ahead, when fortune smiles, what a beautiful smile it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE), you won 42,000. Someone (ph) said, 'No, you won 42 million.' I'm like, 'Oh my God.'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Can you imagine? You're in a casino. You win $42 million, and the casino cuts you a check for $23.
(MUSIC, KATY PERRY, "WAKING UP IN VEGAS")
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Checking some of our top stories this morning, General Motors says if you have a particular van, you need to stop driving that thing right now. The carmaker is recalling 5,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savannah passenger vans. Now, they say there's some issue with the alternator of these particular vans, and the engine could actually catch fire.
So again, these vans, you need to be on the lookout, 5,000 Chevrolet Express, GMC Savannah passenger vans. So far though, no issues, no accidents to be reported with these vans.
CHO: Hopes are dimming for 46 missing South Korean sailors. Fifty-eight were rescued shortly after their ship sank on Friday night in the waters between North and South Korea.
Since then, no survivors or bodies have been found. The country's defense minister says the ship appears to have been split in half. The navy plans to salvage the ship in an effort to learn what happened.
HOLMES: Yet another crane accident to tell you about out of New York City. This crane, which had been attached to a wrecking ball, apparently slipped and hit a 25-story building in Lower Manhattan. Nobody hurt, but people were evacuated. Streets were closed.
You may remember, back in 2008, there were two crane accidents that killed a total of nine people. And also, just last week, the former crane inspector for New York, admitting to taking $10,000 in bribes.
But with this current accident, no injuries to report, and police are now investigating.
CHO: You're looking live there at the back of Pope Benedict XVI on this Palm Sunday. Live picture of Vatican City there, as Catholics everywhere celebrate this - this day, leading up to Easter next Sunday.
The Catholic Church, of course, embroiled in a sex scandal that many are - are accusing the pope of being involved with, the Munich archdiocese in particular.
But again, you're looking at a live picture of Vatican City, St. Peter's Square. The pope in a modified Popemobile, saluting his well wishers.
We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, of course, we know many soldiers suffer horrible injuries out there in the line of duty. Now, some of the nation's veterans are asking Congress to give them something back. More dogs.
CHO: That's right. A service dog really can be the only ally a wounded soldier has to do simple things that many of us take for granted.
Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr talked to some vets about it on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN STONE, WOUNDED VET/SERVICE-DOG OWNER: Hi, ma'am. Kevin Stone. And my cohort-in-crime Mambo.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESSPONDENT: Mambo!
STONE: Mambo.
STARR: Hello there. (voice-over): Mambo the dog can do many things, including lobby a U.S. senator.
SEN. KAY HAGAN (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Mambo, I'd like to sit next to you.
STARR: Mambo is a service dog who's been with disabled veteran Kevin Stone for two and a half years.
STONE: Yes! Give me some! All right.
STARR: They, and other vet-dog teams, plied the halls of Congress recently, hoping to convince members like Senator Kay Hagan to support more programs for service dogs for wounded veterans.
STONE: He is my better-better half.
HAGAN: I can see that.
STONE: He is - he is my arms and my legs when they don't function.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit. Good boy. Thank you.
STARR: Former Army Captain and Iraqi war vet Luis Montalvan and Tuesday work together to overcome Luis' post-traumatic stress and other injuries from a knife attack by an Iraqi.
LUIS MONTALVAN, WOUNDED VET'SERVICE-DOG OWNER: I never heard of a service dog, and I didn't know that a service dog could help me.
STARR (on camera): What does he do for you?
MONTALVAN: What does Tuesday do for me? What doesn't he do for me?
(LAUGHTER)
STARR (voice-over): It's not just helping Montalvan with things like dropped canes or maneuvering stairs.
(on camera): Do you think he senses your moods?
MONTALVAN: He can even tell when I'm hungry. He - he - he - you know, they are so keen. Their senses are so keen that - and - and - and he - and he knows when I need to take my meds, because he can sense that I am getting some stress or anxiety or a panic attack.
STARR: It takes nearly two years to train service dogs like Tuesday and Mambo. The $25,000 spent to train Tuesday sounds expensive. But Stone argues dogs like Mambo actually save the government money.
Before he got his first dog, Stone took more than 5,000 milligrams of drugs a day. Today, he takes just 10 milligrams.
And:
STONE: And I was going to the VA eight times a month for years. And then, having to go and - having to go and only now once or twice year for a flu shot and for my sports physical.
STARR: Of course, the dogs can't say how they feel about their jobs. But a wagging tail and big eyes may say it best of all.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people having the question: Is Sarah Palin the unofficial leader of the tea-party movement? Some just think the two kind of go together.
Talking about that and the future of the GOP. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. Welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. It's half past the hour.
HOLMES: Yes, some of the stories we're keeping an eye on right now.
First lady Barbara Bush in the hospital. She's expected to be there for the next day or so for routine testing. It's not clear exactly what the tests are, but a spokesman says there's no emergency here.
The staff aide says the 84-year-old hadn't been feeling well for the past week or so.
CHO: Civil rights activist do Dorothy Height remains hospitalized in serious but stable conditions. Despite rumors to the contrary some social media sites yesterday actually posted reported that the civil rights icon had died. Her family had even called CNN to clear up the story. Height was admitted to a hospital earlier this week. She just turned 98 years old.
HOLMES: Can you imagine things getting more partisan in Washington, D.C.? The divide, yes, seems to be growing between the White House and Republicans. President Obama says he is now making 15 of these so recess appointments. One in particular has already triggered intense opposition. That of labor lawyer Craig Becker to the agency that oversees relations between unions and employers. Several business groups and Republicans call Becker a radical, who represents a White House gift to labor unions.>
CHO: The Tea Party political movement resumes its cross-country tour this morning. They Tea Party Express headed to Phoenix and Flagstaff today to kick off the 44-city march on Washington, with Sarah Palin. The former Republican vice presidential candidate was stirring up anti-Obama sentiment during an appearance in Senator Harry Reid's Nevada hometown of Searchlight, Nevada.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FMR. REPUBLICAN VP CANDIDATE: Washington has broken faith with the people that they are to be serving. That's why here in Searchlight, and across the country, we're sending a message to Washington. It's loud, and it's clear. And in these upcoming elections we're saying that the big government, big debt, Obama/Pelosi/Reid spending spree is over. You're fired.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: White House aide David Axelrod talked with our own Candy Crowley about the fallout from the health care reform passing. You can watch that interview on "STATE OF THE UNION" coming up at 9 a.m. Eastern time.
HOLMES: The thing is, political parties typically need unified front to pull off some of those big changed that Sarah Palin was talking about. The Tea Party activists aren't exactly walking in locked steps with members of the GOP. Some actually predict the Tea Party will inevitably help Democrats by splintering the vote in November. I asked a Republican analyst about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Is it a natural marriage between the Tea Party and the Republican Party? People just naturally assume that it is. Would you say it is, just a natural marriage in these two groups need to work together?
LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: We're starting to see the stereotype of the Republican Party as being the elitist party starting to finally be stripped away. What Republicans did not do a good job of over the last decade, is say that, look, Republicans are every day Americans. We are the folks out there that want life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Give me a chance to earn my keep. Give me a chance to help contribute to America.
That's what you're seeing from the Tea Parties now. These are not folks that are running around, coming to their Tea Parties in Rolls-Royces. These are working class folks, some of them are retirees, that just want an opportunity pursue the American dream. If the Republican Party can continue to bring those folks into the fold, they may actually be able to rebrand themselves as the party of the every day people. That is a moniker that the Democratic Party has owned for decades.
HOLMES: Now, how difficult is it going to be to rebrand as a party of the people? We just had the health care bill passed. A lot of people have problems with it one way or another. But there are some things people aren't going to argue with. A child with preexisting condition can't be denied uncovered. A kid who is 26 can stay on his parent's insurance. People with preexisting conditions, starting 2014, can't be denied coverage.
Most of America is hot going to have problems with that stuff. If the Republican Party tries to run on a platform of repeal the bill, they're talking about repealing some things in that bill that everybody does like. Is that going to work?
MCALLISTER: I don't know if that is going to work. I think some of it may need to change the messaging , T.J. Maybe something along the lines, instead of "kill the bill", maim the bill. Instead of trying to get rid of-
HOLMES: You said "maim" the bill?
MCALLISTER: They may have to look at the bill as like a block of marble that they have to chisel out into the statue that want. The Republicans didn't want the whole thing off the table. They really wanted something that was a little bit of a compromise. They were definitely areas there that everybody agreed upon, Everybody agreed upon reform. Everybody agreed upon expanding coverage, but the right way, without doing it fiscally irresponsibly. If they look at maybe, "maim the bill", not kill the bill, they can start finding some compromise areas that will allow every day Americans to say, you know what, these Republicans at least had it right. They're correct on the spending as well. Maybe we do need to get rid of these Democrats in November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: (AUDIO GAP) is a Tea Party activist. We put a poll out there. Here's what we found from our CNN poll. Tea Party activists tend to be male, rural, voters who are overwhelmingly conservative and would vote overwhelmingly Republican in a two-party race for Congress.
CHO: A busy week ahead for President Obama. Tomorrow he'll attend a credentialing ceremony for foreign ambassadors. Then he'll host a Seder dinner marking the beginning of Passover. On Tuesday he'll sign that health care fixes bill that passed last week. Later he'll meet with French President Nicholas Sarkozy at the White House. On Wednesday he's giving a couple of speeches, including one on workplace flexibility. On Thursday he's off to push his plan for health insurance reform in Portland, Maine. Then he'll attend a Democratic fundraiser in Boston. Then on Friday the president will talk jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina.
HOLMES: We've been talking about this weather today that could get a bit interesting, a bit dangerous, problematic, even for folks trying to travel, as well. We are talking about some serious stuff. Hail, flash flooding and tornadoes this morning, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is right, guys.
We have a storm system that is rolling into the Southeast that could be a jackhammer in places like Alabama, back into Florida, Georgia, even the Carolinas before all is said and done. We'll give you the step by step, an idea of what you can expect as we make our way through the midday hours, afternoon, and for the start of your workweek. It's all moments away.
CHO: All right, Reynolds, thank you.
And she thought she won a bunch of money at the slot machine. But guess what? There was a glitch. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Poor Louise. She' not a lucky lady. Louise Chavez is who we are talking about. She was in a Colorado casino. She playing the slots.
CHO: Are you guys buddies?
HOLMES: Well, she's my buddy now, after what she went through. I mean, you play these things. All you do is you sit there, and you sit there, and you wait, and you are waiting on that thing to light up. And it lit up for Louise.
CHO: You hear that's what happens. That people do that?
HOLMES: Yeah, I never see it, really. This is what happened to Louise but --
CHO: Yes, well, she saw the slot machine light up. She thought she was a millionaire. In fact she thought she won $42,000, and that her life had just changed forever. But get this. The casino said that her good fortune was just a machine malfunction.
HOLMES: Come on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BEHM, FORTUNE VALLEY MARKETING DIRECTOR: When there's something out of the ordinary, we know there's a problem, we immediately call the Division of Gaming. We inform the guests that we're going to do so. And there's very strict procedures that we follow.
LOUISE CHAVEZ, THOUGHT SHE WON $42 MILLION: I put money in there to win. Regardless of if it was 42 million, 42,000, 4,000. I feet whatever that machine said, I should get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: See, she thought it was 42,000. But the machine apparently said 42 million, so she misread it. Can you imagine that? So, you know what got, Reynolds?
WOLF: What did she get?
CHO: She got a room for the night. She got breakfast. She got $23, the same amount of money she played with.
WOLF: Somehow not the equivalent of the millions that she probably won.
CHO: Can you imagine?
HOLMES: She was playing, though, Reynolds. She was penny slots.
WOLF: Yes, I can see how that would be somewhat troublesome. So, all things considered she did get a pretty good return. But I can tell you, firsthand, that when you win something like this, from personal experience I can tell you, when you win something of that magnitude it can change your life forever. I mean, it really can.
HOLMES: What did you win?
CHO: What did you win?
WOLF: It was a pretty big Gulp at the 7-Eleven. But still, I mean you chalk up your wins whenever you get them. You know what I'm telling you? You can definitely put in a positive course?
CHO: We had a beautiful day in Atlanta yesterday.
WOLF: Which was positive.
CHO: It was great day for yard work, wasn't it?
WOLF: A great day for yard work. What we're going to see today is probably a better day to stay inside. If you're hoping to get say, some rainfall in parts of Tennessee and Georgia, you've hit the lottery yourself, the jackpot.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: We're not done with you just yet. You never stop with some of these stories you bring us. They're always interesting. A horse whisper this time, Reynolds?
WOLF: Absolutely. This is a great story. We all deserve a second chance in life. Sometimes that doesn't go just for people but sometimes for animals. Coming up, you'll meet a fellow who actually tames horses that are untamable. That story is just moments away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: At least 321 people dead, more than 250 kidnapped, including at least 80 children. Human Rights Watch released numbers from a previously unreported rampage in the Democratic Republican of Congo. The Lord's Resistance Army, an infamous armed group there in Africa, is said to have carried out the attacks in the villages in the country's northeast over four days in December. CNN, however, cannot independently confirm this report.
CHO: General Motors says if you have one of these vans stop driving it right now. The carmaker is recalling 5,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savanna passenger and cargo models. The recall affects vans built over the past two months. Now, GM says the problem appears to be a faulty alternator that can cause the engine to catch fire. Thankfully, though, so far no accidents or injuries have been reported.
HOLMES: Well, first it was reforming health care. The president can take that off his checklist. Now many consider the next order of national business should be reforming immigration law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PROTESTORS, CHEERING, DRUMS)
Thousands of folks here are marching to the same drumbeat of chance descended on Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities yesterday, urging President Obama and lawmakers to create a new path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Bet you didn't know that was Garth Brooks. See what's on the screen.
HOLMES: That's why we have those, there, for me, actually not even for the viewers.
We're talking about wild horses here. But they're getting tamed if you will. You know the saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. There's a guy who can make a horse drink and make a horse to do just about anything he wants.
CHO: That's right we're talking about the horse whisperer. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is on the trail and has the story from El Dorado, Arkansas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE GUY, HORSEMAN: Joe Guy is my name. Here in America people call me a horse whisperer.
WOLF (voice over): Joe says at the age of 19 he started on a trek across the outback of his native Australia to find his purpose.
GUY: I bought two horses and decided to ride. I worked from property to property. Took a rifle and shot my food as I went, and made it my life.
WOLF: These days Joe Guy is in America, a modern-day cowboy reliving early American history.
GUY: I just use a sleeping bag. I try and find myself some hay. I sleep on the ground with my horse at night.
WOLF: Galloping across America for several months, along his journey Joe helps people with unworkable horses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a real unusual way of training horses that I've never seen it before. And I've seen a lot of trainers work. GUY: I haven't had one yet that I couldn't fix. I was given a six-year-old stallion, just recently, that had never had a hand on it. He gave me a lot of trouble. He was kicking at me and biting. His (UNINTELLIGIBLE) open. He wanted to do me in. But he come around in an hour and 50 minutes it took me, but I got to him.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
WOLF: He also makes time for horse planks (ph), this one in El Dorado, Arkansas.
GEARL JONES, HORSE CLINIC PARTICIPANT: He wouldn't stand still when I first get on him. I thought I knew everything. Because I've rode horses most of my life and own them. But I found out I didn't know nothing compared to this man.
WOLF: Joe's technique is simple.
GUY: It is just sheer pressure. I just put enough pressure on that horse that he realizes he can do it. What I do is I take that horse past his limit. I show him a greater fear.
WOLF: The greater fear, the use of flags, and commands to desensitize and demand the horse's attention.
GUY: It's psychology, reverse psychology and body language. You learn to read the animal.
ROGER CHESHIRE, HORSE CLINIC PARTICIPANT: He's 18 months old. Never been broke, never been ridden. This halter was all you could get on him. In 40 minutes Joe was riding him without beating him without being cruel.
GUY: He doesn't need a tie-down forever. Teach him and then release it.
WOLF: Whether teaching his technique or simply riding from state to state, only Joe knows where he'll end up next.
GUY: As long as I'm on a horse down the side of a road I'm happy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: The amazing thing about his method is how he tries to get on the horse's level. You notice there were no whips that were used this. They don't use a bit for the horses' mouth. Everything is very gentle. It is a very gentle approach, it is a cerebral approach. The thing that's amazing about it --
CHO: He's saving these horses.
WOLF: He is saving the horses because in some circumstances these horses would have to be destroyed. I mean, these are untamable horses. And he is able to calm them down, and they actually serve- they get, really, a second chance so to speak. And, T.J., you mentioned that the down that I had mentioned in this story has a different pronunciation. How you say it Arkansas.
HOLMES: El Dorado, Arkansas.
WOLF: El Dorado, not El Dorado.
CHO: You've got to love the Aussie in El Dorado, Arkansas.
WOLF: Indeed. There you go.
HOLMES: We welcome them all.
WOLF: Absolutely. And don't we all? There you go.
That's a great story. Nice heartwarming thing on a SUNDAY MORNING.>
CHO: That's right.
HOLMES: Thanks, Reynolds.
CHO: Coming up, you know, high school students often join clubs, they often volunteer, they work extra hard to make that college application look really good. You know it is that time of year. Those with some creative talent can now film their experiences. Why one college is accepting video entries, and why that may show a different kind of intelligence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: What a beautiful day in New York. You're looking at Manhattan, there, in Central Park. That's my home. With any luck with the weather I'll be back there tomorrow, later on-or today rather.
Welcome back on this SUNDAY MORNING.
We all know the college admission process is competitive. You have to be smart, of course, good grades, high SATs. And if you're applying to a Tufts University in Massachusetts, well, a personal video can help, too. It's actually part of the application. Does a YouTube video measure a different kind of smart? You be the judge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: What does this, this, and this have to do with getting into college?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope the admissions officers will notice it. Be like, hey, this guy is really cool.
CHO: Tufts University, near Boston, is now accepting personal videos as part of the application process, among the first in the nation to do so. Not to replace essays, grades or SATs, but as a supplement. The videos are not required, but students are getting into it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do the right thing accept this as reality. I'll bring the goods like Barnum & Bailey.
CHO: Already almost 1,000 students are taking part out of the 15,000 applications they received. Some on YouTube have been viewed by thousands, demonstrating creativity in animation, wilderness survival skills.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm making lightweight reusable oven out of a cardboard box some turkey pans and some tin foil.
CHO: And in Rhaina Cohen's (ph) case, a twist on a familiar phrase, walk a mile in my shoes; in her case, literally.
RHAINA COHEN, TUFTS UNIV. APPLICANT: I wasn't trying to come off as (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and say I have 3,000 shoes. I just wanted to show a bit of who I am. I think that is what the goal is with applications, in general, that these are humans looking at files filled with so many papers. And they're trying to discern who are you, would I want to meet you, would I be intrigued by you?
CHO (On camera): What does a YouTube video provide for an admissions officer that the application doesn't?
MARILEE JONES, FORMER MIT DEAN OF ADMISSIONS: You really get to see these applicants in their adolescent best. You see their cleverness, you see their goofiness, you see who they are as human beings. And this is the point.
CHO: Marilee Jones, former dean of admissions at MIT, calls the personal videos refreshing.
JONES: It's very easy to fall in love with someone in one minute. It's also very easy to get turned off. So, what these students are doing by providing videos this year is a very high wire act. They're taking huge risk, which is why I love them.
CHO: Showing a kind of intellectual chutzpah to go along with the other credentials.
(On camera): Can you tell me range, what you got on the SAT?
COHEN: Out of a 2400, I got 2300.
CHO: You got 2300 out of 2400 on your SAT? Oh my gosh, you didn't need that video.
(Voice over): For others, a place where playing with fire can be a ticket to college.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone else talks about community service, or being a varsity athlete. So, I thought, fire play is like the only thing I know that I do that nobody else does.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: Except for T.J.
HOLMES: Seriously? Really, they would want to see that part of your game?
CHO: You know, the college admissions process is complicated. What they say they're looking for are human beings. Who jump off the screen if you will. And you think about it, these kids are on Facebook. They are on Twitter. I mean this the way they communicate. This is why Tufts says it want to accept the videos as part of the application.
It will never take the place of the essay. Tufts says it is still important to be able to write elegantly on paper. But it's a supplement. You know, about a 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants took part this year. We'll see how many of them get in. They'll start getting their acceptance letters very soon.
HOLMES: You talk about the essays, you know, the grades. But did they giver you and idea of what percentage could that video be of your chance of getting in?
CHO: They won't say. Only that it is part of the application process.
HOLMES: Part.
CHO: But listen, I mean, this dean of admissions said to me, when you are reading 30 cases a day, 40 cases a day, sometimes on paper these kids all start to look alike. You see them on video. You can start to imagine them walking the halls, walking the campus. In that sense they say this will help.
HOLMES: Yeah. I don't know if they want that kid walking the halls, starting fires in the dorm rooms and whatnot. Good luck, kid. We hope you get in. We'll follow up with him. I'm curious to know how he worked out.
Our next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING starts right now.
Hello to you all from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for this March 28. It is all Palm Sunday. And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHO: Good morning everyone. I'm Alina Cho. It is 7:00 a.m. here in Atlanta; 6:00 a.m. in Fargo; 3:00 a.m. in Searchlight, Nevada.
Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
President Obama says he has work to get done. He's tired of waiting. He has made 15 so-called recess appointments, including at least one that's extremely controversial. We'll explain.
HOLMES: Also, Sarah Palin putting in some time in Searchlight, Nevada, to clean up the comments she made that got all kinds of people kind of upset, you know, the comment she made about retreating and reloading.
Take a listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Now, media try to get this right, OK? That's not inciting violence. What that's doing is trying to inspire people to get involved in their local elections and these upcoming federal elections. It's telling people that their arms are their votes. It's not inciting violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That wasn't all she had to say. She took on the president, took on top congressional leaders. And her message to Washington is straight ahead.
CHO: But first, our top stories this hour. Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating the start of the Christian Holy Week by presiding over Palm Sunday services in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Holy Week continues until next Sunday, which, of course, is Easter.
HOLMES: First Lady Barbara Bush is in the hospital this morning. She's expected to be there for the next couple of days possibly for routine testing. It's not clear exactly what test she's undergoing. But a spokesman says no emergency here. A staff aide says the 84- year-old hasn't been feeling well for the past week.
CHO: And civil rights activist Dorothy Height remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, despite rumors to the contrary. Some social media sites yesterday posted some reports saying that the civil rights icon had died. Close family friends even called CNN to clear up the story. Height was admitted to a hospital earlier this week. She's just turned 98 years old.
HOLMES: Bipartisanship in Washington. Forget about it. It looks like, if you can believe this, the divide between the White House and Republicans is growing even wider.
President Obama says he is now making 15 of these so-called recess appointments. Now, these are appointments he makes when he can't get his nominees through and they are being held up in the Senate, they can't get approved. So, he does this when Congress goes on recess, hence the phrase "recess appointment."
And one in particular, you're seeing them there, has Republicans really upset this weekend. He's a labor lawyer, Craig Becker. He's been nominated to the agency that oversees relations between unions and employers.
CNN's Candy Crowley asks a top White House aide about this appointment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Senators, Republicans, wrote him and said, please don't do a recess appointment with Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. They think that he is a union plant, if you will. They think he will do check card. They think he's bad for this board. And yet, the first thing the president did, of course, was to go ahead and do that recess appointment.
Was that necessary?
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: Well, he made a series of recess appointments because, Candy, we are in a position where the Republican Party has taken a position where they're going to try to slow and block progress on all fronts, whether it's legislation or appointments. Just to make the comparison, at this point in the Bush administration, there were five appointees who, on the floor of the Senate, who had not been approved when the president, that President Bush, made 15 recessed appointments.
We have 77 appointees who have -- who have not gotten a vote because they've been held up by the Republican Party. Some of them are in very sensitive positions in Treasury and Department of Homeland Security and on boards like the labor relations board that -- where there are a huge number of vacancies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, as we mentioned, the president did make 15 recessed appointments. That's about the same number that the previous president, George Bush, had about the same time in his presidency. We're showing you a few there, a couple of them, are going to the Treasury Department. And another one up there at the top going -- Mark Pearce going to the same department as the controversial Becker is going as well.
According to the White House, all the appointments that the president has made, his nominees, have been held up and waiting for a vote an average of seven months. Now, these recess appointments mean the 15 people could serve in their jobs through the end of 2011.
The White House aide, David Axelrod, also talked to Candy Crowley about the fallout from the health care reform bill passing. You can watch the entire interview on "STATE OF THE UNION" coming up, 9:00 Eastern this morning.
CHO: The Tea Party political movement resumes its cross-country tour this morning. It's planned rallies in Phoenix and Flagstaff today. The tour kicked off with a rousing rally in Senate majority leader, a Democrat, Harry Reid's Nevada hometown.
(VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Former Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, was the keynote speaker. Several people at the rally expressed dissatisfaction with Washington politics while Palin talked about recent criticism of a post on her Facebook page. She had called for conservatives not to retreat in the wake of the health care vote -- but to reload. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
PALIN: When I talk about it's not a time to retreat, it's a time to reload, what I'm talking about -- now, media, try to get this right, OK? That's not inciting violence. What that's doing is trying to inspire people to get involved in their local elections and these upcoming federal elections. It's telling people that their arms are their votes. It's not inciting violence. It's telling people: don't ever let anybody tell you to sit down and shut up, Americans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not listening to anything. Health care, the economy, the job situation -- they're not listening to anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Obama, since you've completely ignored the economy, does your health care plan cover starvation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely. We didn't bring guns. We didn't bring knives. When we talk about taking back our country, we are going to do with it with our vote in November.
REPORTER: So, a threat doesn't mean anything violent?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not violent at all.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHO: Now, the alternative to the Tea Party group, the so-called Coffee Party, also sponsored several meetings yesterday. These get- togethers, as you can see, a lot more subdued. The Coffee Party urges limited government and more cooperation among lawmakers. A more liberal group, though.
HOLMES: Well, we're talking also this morning -- Reynolds Wolf has been giving us the warning if you will. It could be dangerous day weather-wise in some places.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, very much. You know, springtime is often a time where you have a pretty unstable atmosphere in parts of the nation. Today, it's going to be parts of the Southeast, where you could see some strong thunderstorms, possibly some lightning, large hail, strong winds, maybe even some tornadoes. We're going to talk more about it coming up in just a few moments.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Reynie.
CHO: Thank you, Reynolds.
And she thought that she won a bunch of money at the slot machine. Guess what? There was a bit of a glitch. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: It does. WOLF: It goes with the theme.
HOLMES: It goes with the next story. Show the iReport and every -- it will self-explanatory. Get it now?
WOLF: Are you a van? I don't think so.
HOLMES: Crash into -- it's not about the song. Thank you -- keep the thing going here so Reynolds should understand.
But this was sent to us by one of our iReporters. This was about 10:15 in the morning. I think this was -- was this just yesterday? This is 92nd and 5th Avenue.
A guy said he thought he heard a car accident when he heard it. So, he ran out and looked out, and he saw this -- a tree crashed into a vehicle down on the road. He took a picture for us and sent it in to us.
Now, despite what you see there, nobody was actually hurt in that. But it wasn't necessarily windy or anything. No issues with weather, I believe yesterday. But I'm not a meteorologist.
WOLF: Well, we did have some damage in terms of winds in parts of Arkansas and places like El Dorado. It's some small hail, but now, it looks like most of that action is going to be moving to the Southeast, but certainly not the magnitude with what we just saw with that iReport.
It's bad about the iReport is that someone somewhere, probably up in New York City, you know car, we parked outside, guess what, no parking ticket today. That's the good news. Bad news, that's right.
And, you know, we could see that, not the parking ticket, but some strong winds pick up in parts of the Southeast later today. It could be kind of rough, especially about late afternoon.
Let's get right to it and show you what's happening in Atlanta. Right now, it's sort of an ominous look. A few rain drops actually falling here in Atlanta. You see the camera making a slow pan around the city where it is going to be umbrella weather today. And the reason why we're going to be seeing those scattered showers is very simple.
Let's go right to radar if we can, on the magic wall, you're going to see it. Here's that packet of showers that just move through the Atlanta area, very light to moderate shower activity.
But if you think the day is going to get a little bit better, in terms of your forecast, it probably isn't, because if you look farther back to the west, you see this line of showers all driving off towards Atlanta by later in the afternoon, between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 late afternoon or early evening, some of these storms could actually be quite severe. So, certainly, something to watch out for.
And these are all the components that make it up. We got all the moisture coming in from the gulf, also from the Atlantic. As the frontal boundary comes through, it creates lift. It pushes that moisture higher aloft, where it's going to interact with cooler air. And that coupled with the jet stream could make things kind of tumultuous.
Anyone having a flight maybe later this afternoon, at the Hartsfield-Jackson, could have some delays there. Same story for you up in, say, Charlotte and eventually, up to the eastern seaboard where yesterday it was great. Today, it looks like rain top to bottom.
Even farther north to the border, you could see some snowfall. Out west yesterday where we did have snow, shouldn't be an issue for you today, very dry in parts of Texas and the Central Plains back to the Rockies. But back to the west coast, once you get north of San Francisco and to Portland and Seattle, rain could be an issue for you. Along the coast, along parts of I-5 and into parts to the Cascades, more snow could be in the forecast for you.
High temperatures, well, 57 degrees -- to wrap things up -- in Kansas City, 61 in Atlanta, 79 in Miami, 71 in Houston, 80 degrees in Phoenix and in Los Angeles. Back to New York and Boston, 40s and 50s.
OK. You're up to speed. That's your forecast.
Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we appreciate it. Talk to you again here soon.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
CHO: Thank you so much.
Well, we feel for this woman. She thought she had won the jackpot at a slot machine. But guess what -- there was a glitch. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a bunch of people coming up and hugging me, you won 42,000. Some said, no, you won 42 million. I'm like, oh my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Yes. Oh my God. She thought she did. But guess what? The casino gave her $23 instead. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHO: Do you need a pick-me-up this Sunday morning? Well, here is your "Motivational Minute" from Melissa Dawn Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA DAWN JOHNSON, "MOTIVATIONAL MINUTE": Good morning and welcome to morning motivation. This is Melissa Dawn Johnson.
Let me ask you this: As you get started with your day, have you considered the power of your words? Yes, your tongue is actually the strongest muscle in your body. Well, your words have weight. The power of words is that they are able to create opportunities and positive advancements in your life. Think about it, from your name, to cities, to business, words have created opportunities and have ultimately helped people get to the next level of life.
So, no matter what tests come your way this week, remember, you have the power to brand your day with the power of your word.
This is Melissa Dawn Johnson. Visit me at my blog, at brandmelive.com. And until next week, make every single day brand- tastic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: I need that every weekend. Don't laugh. Melissa is great. We need her.
CHO: Yes.
HOLMES: I begged for that, because sometimes, this early in the morning, you need a little something.
CHO: You need a little something to make you feel good.
HOLMES: To get you going.
CHO: You had a late night?
HOLMES: Maybe.
CHO: Maybe not.
HOLMES: Well, thanks to Melissa, as always.
Of course, as well, we've been talking about this health care bill a lot. We know it passed. So, the fight leading up to it was ugly. And then after it passed, things really got ugly -- threatening phone calls, threats of violence against lawmakers. I talked to one who is personally affected -- not just him, his family as well.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Nineteen minutes after the hour. Checking our top stories.
General Motors says, if you have one of these vans, stop driving it. The carmaker is recalling 5,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana passenger and cargo models. The recall affects vans built over the last two months. G.M. says the problem appears to be a faulty alternator, that it can cause the engine to catch fire. So far, no accidents or injuries have been reported.
Hopes are dimming for 46 missing South Korean sailors. Fifty- eight were rescued shortly after their ship sank on Friday night in the waters between North and South Korea. Since then, no survivors or bodies have been found. The country's defense minister says the ship appears to have been split in half. The navy plans to salvage the ship in an effort to learn what happened.
And a very busy week ahead for President Obama. Tomorrow, he'll attend a credentialing ceremony for foreign ambassadors. Then he'll host a Seder dinner marking the beginning of Passover.
On Tuesday, he will sign that health care fixes bill that passed last week. Later, he'll meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House.
On Wednesday, he'll give a few speeches, including one on workplace flexibility.
Thursday, he's out to push his health care reform in Portland, Maine. Then, a Democratic fundraiser in Boston.
Then on Friday, at the end of the week, the president will talk jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, I want folks to listen up to this now. It's all about health care reform and what's turned out to be an intense aftermath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: I know many Americans are angry over this health care bill and angry at Democrats here in Washington for not listening. But as I've said before, violence and threats are unacceptable.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I believe that words have power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stupak, you are a lowlife, baby-murdering scumbag pile of steaming crap. You're a cowardly punk, Stupak.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now that we passed it, they're already promising to repeal it. They're actually going to run on a platform of repeal in November. You've been hearing that. And my attitude is, go for it.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HOLMES: You have seen this fallout from the health care bill passage. It is, of course, the law of the land now. Yet the threats, violence, legal maneuvering, like we seldom seen before, are all playing out now. There have been death threats. There have been bricks thrown to windows. A coffin left on a congressman's lawn. And in Virginia, a gas line is cut at the home of a congressman's brother. And I asked that congressman, Representative Steve Perriello about that. He told me Tea Party activist put his address, what they thought was his address, online.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Have there been any more threats? And also, has your family -- have the police actually caught anyone in connection to what happened at your brother's house?
REP. TOM PERRIELLO (D), VIRGINIA: There's an on going investigation. Local and federal law enforcement has been doing an incredible job. And me and all of those of my family appreciate it. We are trying to keep an eye on everything.
There was the brick thrown through a window of a local Republican headquarter yesterday morning. We immediately condemned that. Obviously, and we're just very concerned about escalating violence and want to make sure that everyone takes a deep breath and gets back to the rule of law.
HOLMES: Yes, you want to take a deep breath. But also, you might have to take precautions. Have you and your family -- have you all had to take extra security precautions?
PERRIELLO: Well, we're putting the particular focus on my brother and his family, obviously. And I think the local law enforcement, again, is doing a great job of keeping an eye on them and trying to make sure that everyone understands first of all that's not my house. And second of all, that we got to get back to the rule of law here.
So, you know, I think, people are taking precautions. And that's important to do. But I think it's particularly important that leaders from across the political spectrum make absolutely clear what is inbounds and what's out of bounds and these sorts of threats and any direct violence or attack is absolutely out of bounds.
HOLMES: And you think the guy who posted your brother's address thinking it was yours, you think charges will come against him?
PERRIELLO: I don't know. You know, that's up to law enforcement. I will say that the very conservative attorney general of my state, Mr. Cuccinelli, has been absolutely clear. He's been very strong on this. He said, this wasn't even close to the line. This was way over the line -- even the posting of the address, even if it had been the right address.
So, I appreciate that the Republican leadership of my state, governor and attorney general, have taken a strong stance against this. Unfortunately, we got more mixed signals from the folks in Washington. But I really do think people get this as a basic sense of something that's just wrong.
HOLMES: And Representative Perriello, you're a new guy on the block up there in a lot of ways. You're a freshman up there. You came in, a fresh face, probably. And I bet, in some ways, you might have been a little naive.
But, is this what you signed up for? I'm sure you went up there hoping and eager and thinking you're going to make big changes in Washington. But, is this what you signed up for?
PERRIELLO: Well, you know, I live in Sierra Leone in West Africa for a couple of years. I was in Afghanistan for a little while. So, I'm used to some pretty tense situations. I didn't expect to be using some of that mindset here back in my own country.
But, you know, I do understand this has been a very passionate debate. And, you know, we have a very strong pro-reform group in my district, very strong anti-reform groups. And the vast majority of them are, obviously, good, decent people who are doing what they think is right for the community and for the country on both sides of the debate. And that's obviously the way things are supposed to work here.
So, we don want to do you know, mar people on either side because there are some fringe elements out there that are acting outside the law. But, you know, these things are intense.
We are trying to do change that I think is going to make people's lives better here in the country. Obviously, that's why I support these things. But I understand that others disagree. And we generally settle those debates at the ballot box.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Perriello had been a holdout. He announced just days before the vote that he was planning to support the bill -- Alina.
CHO: Just ahead, one of the few westerners to interview Osama bin Laden will join us live. That's the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Peter Bergen talks about bin Laden's new threats.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHO: Pay attention.
HOLMES: I'm trying to get the Twitter thing set up so I can read some comments on this story.
CHO: What's that?
HOLMES: Oh, we'll get you there. We'll get you there.
Well, everybody is commenting. We've been asking -- I'm reading your comments -- but about this particular story, in a casino in Colorado, this is -- everybody is hoping when you walk to a casino, you want to hit a jackpot.
CHO: Of course.
HOLMES: All right. Louise Chavez hit a jackpot. And then she really got a bad hand from the casino.
CHO: That's right.
HOLMES: You know, she saw the slot machine light up. She thought she was a millionaire 42 times over and that her life had changed. But get this -- the casino said that her good fortune -- well, it was just a machine malfunction. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JOE BEHM, FORTUNE VALLEY MARKETING DIRECTOR: When there's something that's out of the ordinary that we know that there's a problem, we immediately call the division of gaming. We inform the guests that we're going to do so. And there's very strict procedures that we follow.
LOUISE CHAVEZ, THOUGHT SHE WON $42 MILLION JACKPOT: I put money in there to win, regardless if it was 42 million, 42,000, 4,000. I felt, whatever that machine said, I should get it.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHO: Do you know what she got?
HOLMES: What did she get?
CHO: She got a room for the night. She got breakfast and she got --
HOLMES: That's good.
CHO: She got 23 bucks. That's the same amount that she played with.
HOLMES: And she was playing penny slot. You have to sit there for a while to put --
CHO: She thought she won $42 millions. She got 23 bucks.
HOLMES: Yes, poor lady. Poor lady.
CHO: Listen. They're going crazy, right? You asked our viewers --
HOLMES: You know, we're asking that question: what would you do if something told you this and you were in a casino? This is maybe most common sense one. A lot of people are saying they'd blow up and go crazy. OK.
But one says, "I'd split the difference. If the machine says 42 million, casino says zero, I'll take 21. We'll call it a day."
CHO: I think that's fair. I think that's fair. HOLMES: A lot of people, of course, saying, get an attorney, go to court and get your money.
CHO: Yes.
HOLMES: And the gaming commission is going to step in in this. This has happened before at some casinos. The gaming commission can come step in and actually rule in her favor. So, she -- it's not over yet -- she could get some money.
CHO: Yes, she could.
HOLMES: Yes. You don't believe it, huh?
CHO: I don't know. I'm a little skeptical.
HOLMES: We will debate this for the next 30 minutes. And then we're going to back at the top of the hour with CNN SUNDAY MORNING as we continue with more live news.
CHO: That's right. But first, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right now.
