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Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien
Tropical Storm Threatens Florida; Jerry Sandusky Convicted of Child Abuse; Egypt Elects New President; Supreme Decision On Health Care; Debby Drenching Florida Coast; "The Heat" Victory Party; Wildfires Burn Across Colorado; Fiery Train Collision; Eric Holder Contempt Vote?; Wimbledon: Day One; Scotus To Decide On Arizona's Immigration Law; Tony Parker Sues for $20 Million; Flag Flight; Saudi Arabia Allows Women In Olympics; A Dead Heat; New Gadgets For 2012 Games
Aired June 25, 2012 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, everybody. Our "Starting Point" this morning, tropical storm, Debby, turns deadly, spawns twisters, and she's not going away any time soon.
And zipping up loose lips, the director of the National Intelligence Agency taking new steps to stop classified information from getting out. CNN has exclusive details this morning.
Making history in Egypt, the country has its first freely elected president ever, but can he keep that fragile Democracy from falling apart?
A packed (ph) show with an all-star lineup this morning, including Jamie Rubin, Jeff Toobin, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and Chaka Khan, and Mira Sorvino joining us this morning. It is Monday, June 25th, and "Starting Point" begins right now.
Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Our "Starting Point," deadly before it even makes landfall. Tropical storm, Debby, is what we're talking about, hammering Florida with some extreme weather and slow moving, slow moving, sitting off the Florida panhandle, outer bands whipping up dangerous surf triggering a huge water spout off of Juno Beach.
Debby also spawning a fatal tornado as it drenches the coast. Two feet of rain could fall before it's all over, and it may not be over for awhile. Let's get right to John Zarrella. He's live for us this morning in Clearwater, Florida. How is it looking, John?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. You're right, really a slow, slow moving system. And this is Clearwater Beach, the inter-coastal behind me. You can see rough the water is here. We're in a little bit of a break between the rain squalls that have been just coming constantly all night long and all day yesterday.
Take a look over here. You can see the personal water craft bobbing in the water there not going anywhere today. Much of the entire central and north part of the state is right now under a tornado watch, not a warning but a watch, a good indication of just the breadth of this storm, tropical storm Debby and how far its reach is. From tornadoes to water spouts to flooding in the Tampa area, to the one death in Venus, Florida, reported so far. Heavy rainfall maybe up to 20 or 25 inches before all is said and done, and we're going to continue to get pounded for at least the next couple of days. Soledad?
O'BRIEN: And you will be in the middle of it. John Zarrella, thanks for the update. We'll keep checking in.
Tornado and flood warnings are still in effect today. Let's get right to meteorologist Alexandra Steele, in for Rob this morning. Hi, Alexandra.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Soledad. You know, he made really great points, John did, because what we're looking at is this is the tropical storm and it is stationary. And that's been the biggest problem with this thing. There's no momentum. There's no movement because the steering winds are really weak and so they are not moving in one direction or the other.
So you say here is tropical storm Debby. Where is tropical storm Debby? You don't see it. Here's the center of circulation in the gulf of Mexico. Over here, well to the east, is where all the convection is. It's really lopsided. Also, the convection is over here on eastern side. So unorganized so these are all of the problems with it. And because the steering currents are so weak, the track is uncertain.
This is what we call the spaghetti model. Each of these is representing a different computer model and where they think the track of Debby will go. You can see the nature, some saying north, east and this is national hurricane center official track of where they think it will go today, farther to the north, slow, not expectational to get there Thursday or any on Friday. With that, this is what it will be. I think the calling card will be flooding rain. You can see the potential for 12 to 24 inches. Some records already seven to 10 inches in Tampa.
STEELE: Thanks for the update, we'll keep watching that.
Let's get to a CNN exclusive this morning. Plugging the leaks, the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, is expected to roll out new measures aimed at stopping government officials from blabbing to the media. First there was the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, then a presidential terror hit list and details about a drone program. Plus there was information about a secret cyber war against Iran, and now some leaked intelligence compromised an operation against Al Qaeda. Let's get right to Suzanne Kelly. She's got some exclusive details about this from Washington, D.C. Good morning.
SUZANNE KELLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. You'll remember that leaked information back in May with the Al Qaeda operation had to do with an intelligence operation still under way and lives were put in jeopardy. That was probably one of the most serious of the leaks we've seen come out. There have been so many that have come out in the last few weeks, members of Congress are throwing up their arms and calling for something to happen.
And now the director of national intelligence is expected to roll out new measures this morning in the next couple of hours that will help them in terms of finding the source of those leaks. One thing that CNN has previously reported on is that he's considering a new enhanced polygraph, something called the counterintelligence polygraph that members of the government who deal with classified information have to take. He'd like to ask a question to that polygraph specifically asking whether those people have divulged classified information to a member of the media. That's one of the measures he's going to implementing to the intelligence community this morning.
O'BRIEN: How far are those measures expected to go? Do you think it can go all the way to the White House?
KELLY: That's the interesting thing about trying to understand how complicated it is to plug a leak in the intelligence world, especially in Washington. These measures will be rolled out to the intelligence community, which includes the 16 different agencies that James Clapper oversees. They will not reach to the White House.
Now, the president, many may not know this, but the president is advised by the National Security Council. Members of that council will not be subject to this. So when you look at all of the different sources of leaks, there are also people in different agencies and bureaus across Washington and state department and department of energy, DHS, who have access to classified information who will not necessarily be covered. We're expecting him to throw down gauntlet and say, I've got the intelligence community under control. You need to step up and do your part to help plus these leaks as well.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne Kelly with the exclusive details, thank you.
Let's get right to Christine Romans with a look at today's headlines. Hey, Christine, good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Let's start in Egypt. Egypt's president-elect Mohammed Morsi promising to represent all Egyptians. Morsi is a longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He won by a narrow margin in Egypt's first free presidential election. President Obama says the U.S. will stand by Egyptians in their transition to democracy. Egypt's military has recognized Morsi as the new president but just how much power he'll actually wield is unknown. Coming up in a few minutes, we'll speak to Jamie Rubin, former assistant secretary under Clinton.
Just into CNN, Turkish media reporting a Syrian general and two colonels are among the three dozen army personnel who defected to Turkey. Tensions between these two countries are high after Syria downed a fighter jet that strayed into its airspace. Syria gave no warning before shooting down that Turkish F-4 phantom jet on Friday.
Russian president Vladimir Putin kicking off a Middle East tour in Israel this morning. He's meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is expected to discuss the crisis in Syria and Iran's nuclear program. Putin says an Israeli military strike on Iran would be, quote, "truly catastrophic." Putin's scheduled to meet tomorrow with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abass in Bethlehem.
Two major decisions expected from the Supreme Court this week. Justices set to announce a decision maybe as early as today on the fate of President Obama's health care law. The Supreme Court could toss the individual mandate, which requires almost every American to have health insurance or pay a penalty. The high court also poised to rule on Arizona's controversial immigration law. Many states and cities have already adopted laws like Arizona's giving police new powers to demand people show proof of U.S. citizenship. Critics say the part that requires people to show their papers amounts to racial profiling and harassment. State's say the federal government hasn't done its job, so they must.
Another milestone today at ground zero, the final beam is being installed at 4 World Trade center. It will be first building to open at the world trade center site. The ceremony is happening this morning to mark the occasion. The site's anchor building, 1 World Trade already has beams erected up to the 104th floor.
O'BRIEN: The progress there has been amazing. Christine, thank you.
Let's get more on Egypt's historic election as Egyptians celebrate Mohammed Morsi's victory. Many are watching the country's tense transition to democracy. It remains unclear how the ruling military council there will exactly hand over power to Morsi. Last week you'll remember the military greatly reduced the powers of presidency and dissolved parliament.
All that brings us to James Rubin, the former assistant secretary of state under President Clinton, currently a counselor for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Nice to have you with us. He gave a speech in his first post-election speech and talked about unity, national unity. He also talked about reaching out to what would be the pro-Mubarak forces. What are going to be the biggest challenges in governing?
JAMES RUBIN, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: I think the biggest challenge is whether people really believe him because most of his opponents in the say 48 percent, which is over 10 million people voted against him, the military is clearly not a supporter. They don't believe the Muslim Brotherhood says exactly what it thinks.
O'BRIEN: They've been contradictory.
RUBIN: And they have promised they wouldn't run for president then they did. I think it's going to be a trust deficit and he's going to have to really build credibility with the -- his opponents in the government with the people in the street and with the rest of the world.
O'BRIEN: Can he do it? When you read descriptions of the guy, "lackluster" is a word, "not the right man for the job" is a quote. "Accidental candidate" is another quote, "unremarkable." These are high level people, some of them within the Muslim Brotherhood calling him those things.
RUBIN: It's clearly he is not someone who carries the care is ma of candidates in a large election. He was a second choice of the Muslim Brotherhood, when democracy began a year ago people worried the first election would be go to the Muslim Brotherhood because they were the only ones that had a real organization. And that prediction has proved crew, the other parties, liberal secular parties have develop a party organization that would allow them to bring out the vote.
So you had in the end, the military's candidate, Mr. Shafiq and Mr. Morsi and he won. Not by a lot, 52-48. I think the really good news that we all should focus on as Americans, the military let him win. I think given that it was a close election and given all of the other steps that they were taking to control power, there was a lot of fear that they would not allow democracy to rule and real votes to count.
O'BRIEN: But let him win while they have really dismantled the constitution and dissolved parliament. What kind of win is that exactly?
RUBIN: It's a win. He's the first freely elected president. He'll have enormous influence, the street as you can see. He has a capability to bring out a lot of people. The military will have to deal with him. A lot of Egypt's democracy will come down to the relationship he builds and creates with the military behind the scenes in developing the steps that need to be taken, building a constitution, electing a new parliament, and creating laws where the civilians really can rule the military, which is going to be a long and difficult struggle.
O'BRIEN: He is an Islamist and he has said that he's going to preserve -- sort of generally he's going to preserve the agreements. And many people look to Egypt/Israel agreement of 1979 I think it was. How likely do you think that that is going to be preserved or that it could be a potential problem down the road?
RUBIN: It seems like he's sending out all of the right signals in recent interviews and in his statements, so I don't think that's going to be a priority for his presidency.
O'BRIEN: The dismantling?
RUBIN: The dismantling of that agreement. I think what he's going to focus on, as we would say in America, domestic policy, building components of Egypt's democracy and working on its huge economic challenges and leaving those big foreign policy questions aside at least for the moment.
O'BRIEN: He has massive work to do there. Jamie Rubin, nice to have you.
RUBIN: Nice to be with you. O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, Penn State is trying to put the Jerry Sandusky saga behind them. Lawyers though have other ideas. We're going to talk to Linda Kelly straight ahead this morning.
Then there was chaos at JFK after a TSA screener made a big mistake. The entire terminal had to be evacuated and planes had to roll back to slots, all because of what was a really, really dumb failure. It's our "Get Real" this morning. We'll tell you what happened.
NBA star Tony Parker suing over the Chris Brown-Drake brawl. It just doesn't end, does it? He says that the New York City nightclub should never have left both of Rihanna's exes in at the same time. Coming up we'll tell you how his injuries from that fight might be jeopardizing his basketball career. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to STARTING POINT. It's 15 minutes past the hour. Minding your business this morning, hedge funds manager J. Edgar Murkin writing a $405 million check for victims of the Bernie Madoff scam. That money will be divided among clients, including New York Law School, Bard College, and a number of charitable organizations. It settled a civil suit alleging Murkin funneled billions to Madoff's company without investors knowing about it.
U.S. stock futures trading down this morning. European Union leaders will meet to talk about debt and banking problems in the region. Demands to exports to the EU are down because of the crisis that's there and that's bad for the U.S. economy and job creation here because the Eurozone is a huge destination for American goods.
Gas prices in the U.S. falling for the 13th day in a row. Unleaded now down to an average $3.41 a gallon, a drop of 13 cents in as many days. And Soledad, a lot of energy watchers are telling me they think gas prices will continue to go down into the fall.
O'BRIEN: We'll be very happy about that. Thanks, Christine.
Jerry Sandusky's defense team is already planning his appeal this morning. The former Penn State assistant coach was convicted of 45 out of 48 child sex abuse charges and now faces a maximum of 400 years in prison. He's expected to be sentenced within 90 days. His lawyer, Joe Amendola, says the appeal will be based partly on a lack of time to prepare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE AMENDOLA, JERRY SANDUSKY'S LAWYER: We were running many days by the seat of our pants, just trying to catch up, maybe it didn't look like that. But that's the condition we found ourselves in. We also have trial issue. We have some evidentiary issues which we'll address in post-sentence motions which can't be filed until after the sentencing.
(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: Pennsylvania's Attorney General Linda Kelly's department successfully prosecuted Sandusky and she was in the courtroom on Friday when the Jury announced the verdict. Thanks for joining us this morning. Another ground for appeal that's been talked about is this videotape from NBC where it was edited inaccurately and sort of repeated what the question and answer between Bob Costas and Jerry Sandusky. Do you think those two things, lack of time and this bad editing are enough to appeal this case?
LINDA KELLY, PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: No, I don't. I think that in any criminal case that particularly one that carries such a possibility of a serious sentence that defendants will appeal. And these are two issues that this defense team has indicated that they will base their appeal on.
As far as the timing, the judge made it clear from the beginning to all of the parties that he intended to move this case along quickly. We all knew that. The commonwealth was prepared to proceed. And we were in fact happy that the speedy trial process was in effect. We were anxious to have this case brought to a conclusion so that the defendant, who was not in custody during the process, that the case could be brought to a conclusion and we could move to have his bond revoked.
As far as the interview, that was an interview that was conducted in the presence of his attorney. And we felt that it was significant and important enough to play that to the jury to see the defendant's demeanor and to show consciousness of guilt.
But we also believe that this case really turned on the testimony of the victims and that testimony of those victims was of paramount importance here.
O'BRIEN: Joe Amendola said, if he could win on one of those issues, it could reverse the entire thing. Here's what he said, "If you win on one appeal issues, everything probably falls, all we have to do is convince an appellate court that one of the issues is worthy of a reversal." It sounds like he sounds somewhat confident.
KELLY: Well, there's a difference between sounding confident and having a meritorious appellate at issue. I think we have to recognize the distinction here. I think the commonwealth is comfortable that there was a fair trial, that was received by the defendant in this case and that we will be successful on any appeal.
O'BRIEN: Penn State is making moves, I've been reading, to work out deals with the victims. What happens next in the court cases that involve the state? Will there be new charges against Sandusky now that his adopted son has come forward to say he also was molested?
KELLY: I think that information has come from Jerry Sandusky's adopted son's attorneys. And they are free to comment in whatever fashion they see fit. But the commonwealth isn't in the same position. We're not able to comment on whether or not there will be additional charges. That will depend on where the investigation leads us. O'BRIEN: How about additional charges for the Penn State employees, the administrators, Tim Curly, formerly the athletic director, and the vice president Gary Schultz, what happens with their cases?
KELLY: Their case is currently pending trial. There hasn't been a trial date set for that case. And if in the interim we feel that we have sufficient evidence to file additional charges, we'll do that.
O'BRIEN: All right, we'll be watching it. Linda Kelly is Pennsylvania's attorney general. Thanks for joining us, we appreciate it.
KELLY: You're very welcome.
O'BRIEN: Still ahead on STARTING POINT, as if going through airport security isn't challenging enough. Why not do it twice? You won't believe the mistake a screener made and it delayed flights for hours. We have Margaret Hoover, Marc Lamont Hill, tweeting about not making it so glad to see him, and there's Will Cain. Marc's playlist there, late nights and early mornings, that would be you, late night and early morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to STARTING POINT. It's 25 minutes past the hour. A couple of quick headlines, Alex Trebek expected to make a full recovery after a mild heart attack. Trebek set to be back to work in time for a new season of "Jeopardy!" which starts production next month.
We've now learned that Leslie Brown, mother of the world's first test tube baby, died earlier this month from complications from a gall bladder infection. Leslie's daughter Louise, born July 25th, 1978, was a turning point in the treatment of infertility. Since then more than 4 million babies have been born from in-vitro fertilization worldwide. Soledad?
O'BRIEN: Christine, thank you.
Time to get to our team. How was everyone's weekend?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Pretty good.
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Beaming smile.
O'BRIEN: Wow, clearly on commercial break, we've got to dig into that one.
I was in New Orleans this weekend for the NEBJ conference.
CAIN: We have somebody ready to go to New Orleans, I have restaurant recommendations.
Our team this morning, Margaret Hoover, author of "American individualism," who had a terrific weekend, we'll dig into why straight ahead.
Also, Marc Lamont Hill, professor at Columbia University, and Will Cain is a columnist for the blaze.com. Our "Get Real" this morning is a story of sadness and frustration.
CAIN: A new entry into the TSA?
KELLY: Yes. And I generally like the TSA and I'm grateful for that. You know how it is, take off your shoes and belts and liquids in a bag. People at JFK had to do it twice because of a TSA worker who realized that his metal detector had been turned off. It wasn't plugged in, I guess. After hundreds of passengers had walked through it and they had no idea how long it had been off or how it happened exactly. He never realized it wasn't flashing lights when the passengers were going through. The entire terminal had to be evacuated and passengers had to be rescreened and two jumbo jets had to return to the gates and the passengers had to be rescreened, all of that because it wasn't plugged in.
CAIN: He forgot to plug it in.
HILL: I like the fact that the TSA official position is that they had a machine malfunction.
MARGARET HOOVER, AUTHOR, "AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM": Not going to blame it on the guy.
Kip Holly, one of the original director of the TSA when it was created recently wrote a book talking about the problems and failures at TSA and that necessarily, if hijackers tried to create another 9/11 today, TSA wouldn't be necessarily able to stop it. You ask yourself every time you go through the lines, is this -- is the inconvenience worth the security bumps?
HILL: And the answer is heck no. You get strip searched going through TSA.
O'BRIEN: You do not.
HILL: I feel like I do, the swirly thing and push me -- I hate it. I have to take my shoes off.
CAIN: My theory is, check everybody, check everybody twice. I actually don't mind it.
HILL: You get pushed to the front of the line. I'm stuck in the back watching you run through the express.
CAIN: Exactly.
HILL: Soledad, what you describe is exactly how it works.
O'BRIEN: How did we get on this conversation talking about the TSA? Ahead, we're going to talk about tropical storm Debby, a deadly storm threatening the Florida panhandle, already bringing rain and twisters too. We have a live report on what's going to happen with the Miami Heat victory parade.
The Supreme Court could make a decision on the health care reform law. Remember Jeff Toobin was calling it a train wreck for Obama administration not so long ago. He's going to join us with that.
I love to start my mornings with Kanye. We're back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back. You're watching STARTING POINT. We are on alert. The Supreme Court is expected to announce the decision on President Obama's health care law as early as today. What can we expect? CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, will join us in just a few minutes to talk about that.
Also NBA star, Tony Parker, now claiming he almost lost his eye after that nightclub brawl between Chris Brown and Drake. Could he miss the Olympics because of his injuries? We're going to talk about that straight ahead as well.
First though, Christine Romans updates us on headlines.
ROMANS: Good morning. Record rainfall before it even makes landfall, Tropical Storm Debby drenching Florida as it sits off the coast.
Water surging into the streets, tossing boats around in Sarasota. Forecasters say Debby could dump two feet of rain on Florida before she's finished, that's a few days from now.
John Zarrella live in Clearwater, Florida. Good morning, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine. You know, right now, we're in a little bit of a break here. The sun is actually coming out, but the rain bands continue to move in.
Yesterday, it was particularly bad, pretty much across the entire state of Florida. Between tornadoes down south and water spouts on the east coast of Florida, heavy flooding in areas up here just to the north of us in Pascoe County to the south of us in Pinellas County, which is the Tampa Bay area.
We're here in Clearwater. A little spin of land to my left and across that the Gulf of Mexico. The inner coastal waterway here is still very, very rough.
But what people here are hoping for is that this dry spot in the storm actually holds on for a while longer so that some of the floodwaters that really built up yesterday will subside.
Tornado watch is in effect throughout much of central and north Florida until at least 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time today. Storm is not moving fast. It's unclear exactly when or where it's going to go -- come inland.
And of course, that rainfall continues to pile up, Christine, upwards of two feet of rain expected in some parts of Florida before all is said and done -- Christine?
ROMANS: All right, thanks, John. You know, Tropical Storm Debby is threatening to rain on the Miami Heat victory parade. The NBA champs say they will postpone that parade if there's thunder and lightning. Hundreds of thousands are expected to come out to congratulate Lebron James and the rest of that team.
Out west, the other extreme, hot, dry conditions providing the perfect fuel as wildfires burn across Colorado. Some 11,000 people have been evacuated in and around Colorado Springs after the Waldo Canyon fire began there Saturday.
Nearby the entire city of Manitou Springs is now a ghost town. The biggest of the fire is the high park fire. It's still burning strong. It has destroyed close to 250 homes and it's only 45 percent contained.
Three people are presumed dead this morning after two freight trains collided head on and exploded into flames. It happened last night in the town of Goodwell, Oklahoma, near the Texas border. Reuter's reports these two trains were traveling towards one another on the same track.
There could be history in the House this week. The full chamber is poised to cite Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress.
Last week, the House Oversight Committee recommended the vote after Holder refused to hand over some documents related to the botched "Fast and Furious" gun running stings.
That operation put guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels and was linked to the death of a U.S. border patrol agent. President Obama employed executive privilege to deny the committee some of those documents.
Wimbledon kicks off today across the pond, the men's defending champion Novak Djokovic will open play on center court. He will be followed by fellow number one, Maria Sharapova.
It will be a busy summer on the grass. Tennis matches at the London Summer Olympics will also be played at the All England Club -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I cannot wait for the Olympics. I cannot wait. All right, Christine. Thank you.
The Supreme Court could issue opinions on two major legal cases this week as early as today. They could decide the constitutionally of President Obama's health care law. They'll examine if certain portions like the individual mandate should be scrapped.
Another key ruling that we're waiting on is whether or not Arizona's controversial immigration law, you'll note it at SB 1070, is that constitutional.
Jeff Toobin is CNN's senior legal analyst. He is also the author of the upcoming book, "The Oath." He joins us this morning. It's nice to see you.
We've been waiting on this decision for months and back in March, you said and I'm going to quote you now, "this was a train wreck." Let's play that, shall we?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This was a train wreck for the Obama administration. This law looks like it's going to be struck down. I'm telling you, all of the predictions, including mine, that the justices would not have a problem with this law were wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Do you think that's still true? Do you still stand by that? Anything change between then and now that would make you change your mind?
TOOBIN: Soledad, accountability is for other people, not for journalists. I don't like having my words played back to me.
O'BRIEN: You should get a lawyer.
TOOBIN: I will have predicted it correctly -- no, I mean, look, the argument went badly for the Obama administration, not so much because of the performance of Donald Dorelli, the solicitor general.
But because the conservative justices who asked questions seemed so unremittingly hostile to the health care law. That's the last we've heard from the court.
It's the only institution in Washington that doesn't leak at all. We have no clues since the oral argument and I think that's how they are going to go.
O'BRIEN: So there are several ways this could break down. Why don't you walk us through them?
TOOBIN: Well, there are many, many ways and since you only have a two-hour program, I can't go through all of the possible options. But basically, the options are, do they strike down the entire law?
All 2,700 pages or do they pick and choose provisions that are unconstitutional? The one that is most controversial that the justices seemed most hostile to is the individual mandate, the requirement in the law that every individual buy insurance whether with their own money or subsidized by the government that's a central provision of the law. That I think is in the most danger today. CAIN: Jeff, it's Will. I see you standing out there in front of the Supreme Court. So I assume that means you think something is going to happen today, either a ruling on the health care case or on the Arizona SB 1070 bill.
What do you think, Jeff? Are we going to see any kind of decision on either of these today?
TOOBIN: We're definitely going to see decisions today and there are only five cases left from this term. I think SB 1070, the Arizona immigration bill. I think we're very likely to get that decision today.
The way the health care case was argued, it was so long. There were so many different moving parts. I think they are going to give that its separate day later in the week, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday.
CAIN: What do you think is going to happen on the Arizona case?
TOOBIN: Well, again, based on the questions from the justices, I think they are likely to uphold the SB 1070. Remember, the issue before the Supreme Court is not whether that law violates individual rights.
The only issue before the court is does Arizona bypassing this law interfere with the powers of the federal government. It's purely a state versus federal issue.
And the justices, even the liberals, didn't seem to have much problem with what Arizona did.
HOOVER: One of things people are saying is, if the Supreme Court happens to strike down the Arizona law or if they hold it as legal, you'll see many others states duplicating the Arizona law almost immediately. Legislature is moving to create the same law themselves.
CAIN: Jeff makes an important point. We should emphasize what the Supreme Court considering regarding the Arizona law has nothing to do with racial profiling at this point.
What it has to do with is whether or not Arizona has the legal right to enforce immigration laws as well.
TOOBIN: But there are other states, you're absolutely right, other states have already jumped on the bandwagon, especially in the south where more conservative states have tightened immigration laws.
So I agree that if the court gives the green light to Arizona, you're going to see more of those laws upheld and probably more of them passed.
O'BRIEN: And we should read some of those states we just had a map up of states that have immigration enforcement laws, Utah, Arizona, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Those that are considering similar legislation would be, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Rhode Island, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Pennsylvania.
HOOVER: Notice no other border states though.
O'BRIEN: It was interesting --
HOOVER: Not California, not Arizona, not Texas or not New Mexico. And the Arizona, of course, already does. So isn't that interesting that -- they haven't -- their border state themselves haven't tried to take immigration into their own hands.
O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting when you look at polling on the Supreme Court and I'll bet, Jeff, because you've covered the Supreme Court extensively in your books, Americans think they are driven by politics.
You know, a large number -- and you too. But that's a big change from I would guess even 10 or 20 years ago, right?
TOOBIN: It is. You know, I think Bush V. Gore was a very key moment in the history of the court. It was such a partisan -- the decision was so much viewed through a partisan lens in 2000, it dealt with the presidential campaign.
So that I think shifted attitudes a little bit. But the key difference between the Supreme Court and other two branches of government is that public attitudes fundamentally don't matter.
These justices, you can agree or disagree with them, they are there for life. Barack Obama is not there for life. None of the members of Congress are there for life.
So, yes, opinions ebb and flow about the Supreme Court, but they are final. They have the last word and that's true whether we like them or not.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Toobin, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.
TOOBIN: All right, see you later.
O'BRIEN: Still ahead on STARTING POINT this morning, back to that nightclub brawl we've been talking about the infamous Chris Brown versus Drake.
An NBA star, Tony Parker claims he was injured in the fight. And now he's saying that could jeopardize his basketball career and he is suing to the tune of $20 million.
HILL: I wish I was in that club.
O'BRIEN: A nightclub expert?
CAIN: Marc Lamont Hill is an expert on this case.
HILL: Extensive research I've done on this.
O'BRIEN: Also, you're going to see the Olympics this year in ways that you've never seen them before, in 3D. Coming up, the CEO of Getty Images is going to talk about the brand-new gadget they are using to take amazing photographs.
Got to take a break. You're watching STARTING POINT. We're back in a moment.
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O'BRIEN: That's off of Cain's playlist. That's Ever Clear, "Santa Monica." Don't forget to send in your request. We do all request Fridays. You could send them to our blog cnn.com/starting point or tweet us @startingcnn.
CAIN: Last week by the viewers?
O'BRIEN: Really good job.
HOOVER: Friday was a great list.
O'BRIEN: We should start doing themes, let's revisit the '80s.
HILL: They basically did that last week. I downloaded a lot of Poison.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about Tony Parker, the NBA superstar injured apparently when Drake and Chris Brown's posses went at --
HILL: Really, posse?
O'BRIEN: I said posse on TV, yes, it's a new low in my career. He is suing nightclub though for $20 million. Parker says the bouncers at the club, what is the club -- WIP Club, should never have let both of Rhianna's exs in at the same time.
They should have known. Anyway, he says that he was hit by shards of glass, hit his eye and not it scratched his cornea. And he needed surgery. He claims he could have lost an eye and now he could miss playing for the Olympics for France.
HOOVER: Was his eye the only collateral damage in the accident?
O'BRIEN: A cut on Chris Brown's chin --
HILL: Right, from his own bodyguards though.
O'BRIEN: Details, details. Don't go out to nightclubs. Go practicing.
HILL: Right, I mean, if you're standing next to Chris Brown in a nightclub, it's foreseeable that something ignorant might happen. I don't get it.
CAIN: Foreseeability, I don't mean to get heavy is the legal claim. I don't know that Tony Parker can make a claim to the nightclub it's foreseeable that Rihanna's two exs in and a brawl erupts. Is that foreseeable?
O'BRIEN: Yes, pretty much.
HOOVER: Even following Chris Browns actions over the last year and a half.
CAIN: But you told me Drake is the starter on this deal?
HILL: Yes, apparently, according to sources, he slipped a note to Chris Brown's camp saying I'm still sleeping with the love of your life, which would set off a non-psycho.
HOOVER: But you're saying that Chris Brown you think maybe isn't the most --
HILL: One could argue.
O'BRIEN: Tightly wound maybe. She's a beautiful woman.
All right, we have to take a short break. Still ahead on STARTING POINT, the thrill and the victory and the agony of defeat all in 3D now, cutting edge, a new way that you might be able to watch the Olympics this year.
And when Michele Bachmann was in the GOP race, remember, she promised to end the Obama care on day one of her presidency. Well, she's not still running, but she's not giving up that fight yet.
She's going to joining us to talk about the pending Supreme Court decision on health care. Here's her playlist, Train, Soul Sister. Good choice. You're watching STARTING POINT. We're back in a moment.
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ROMANS: Welcome back to STARTING POINT. Some quick headlines. New this morning, North Korea is slamming the U.S., Japanese and South Korean armies for using its flag during military drills. The communist north calls the move a grave provocative act. The South Korean Defense Ministry says the flag was not used as a target.
For the first time ever Saudi Arabia will allow women to compete in the Olympics. It's the last country to lift its ban on female athletes. The country imposed that ban because it didn't want women to compete in front of men. Qatar and Brunei also allowing women now in the Olympics for the first time.
And an incredible photo finish at the Womens 100-meter dash Olympic trials on Sunday. Look at this, camera shot at 3,000 frames per second showed the two-runners, Alison Felix and Jenebeth Tarmo finished in an absolute dead heat for third place.
Both crossed the finish line at 11.06:08 seconds. Now officials are trying to figure out what to do since only the top three would make the Olympic team.
O'BRIEN: Quite a dilemma, but great for the two of them -- all right, Christine, thank you.
Well, the 2012 Olympic games will kick of next month and they will be photograph this year in ways you have never seen before. Getty Images, which is the official agency of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC, is deploying some new gadgets to capture the games in 3D for the very first time.
Photographers will also use time lapse technology as well as flying, remote controlled cameras. Jonathan Klein is the co-founder and the CEO of Getty Images joins us this morning.
It's nice to have you. Walk me through some of these new gadgets and strategies for capturing pictures.
JONATHAN KLEIN, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, GETTY IMAGES: Yes, what we really want to do is we want to get slightly ahead of the game. When you go back years and years ago, what was the photo?
Camera was a document or a record. Here's digital allowed us to have a narrative. Now what does everyone want? Interactive. So what these techniques give you is a much more interactive experience.
So for example, panoramics, high resolution that you can actually zoom in and see yourself in the crowd or a friend of yourself in the crowd, tweet it or Facebook and it's much more immersive.
So we're doing 3D. We're doing panoramics. We've also got some robotics installed so that we can take images from angles that have never been shot before.
O'BRIEN: How do you -- how much convincing of the IOC did you have to do? Because I would imagine in the Olympic Games everything is on the line, to have someone around who could potentially, theoretically interfere in some possible capacity.
KLEIN: And this is our 12th Olympic games as official partner to the IOC. So touch word, some risk. They trust us. We've done so many different things for them over so many different games that we have a very close relationship.
And it doesn't mean they are not fussy and they make sure we don't interfere with anything, but we work very closely with them. And of course, we've been working with them on preparation for the London games since London got the bid six or seven years ago.
So there are years and years of preparation and of course, we did Beijing and Vancouver and all the rest of it.
HOOVER: I'm really curious. What events are going to be transformed through the new technology that you see? Are there any specific events that you're going to be able to see in an entirely new way?
KLEIN: Well, I think a lot of events where you want aerial photography will be seen in a different way. Now what we're doing is old news to you broadcasters.
Robotics and rigs and all of that, you've been doing for years, but it's never been done with still photography. Coming in from above will be very interesting.
In addition to that from the 3D perspective, I think some of really the action events will be very exciting in 3D. I was just looking at the photo finish that you just showed a moment ago in a previous slot. That would be fantastic in 3D. We'd be able to see even better.
CAIN: We just had a picture up of while you were talking. You talked about overhead and aerial shots. Are you talking about a little helicopter mounted with a camera?
KLEIN: Some of that, but mainly the rigs will be placed on roofs or on the flood light. Unfortunately, a lot of the London events and venues haven't been set up with thinking about photography, which is extremely disappointing to us.
And it's always thought about from the broadcast perspective given the money and the difference in the money. So what we've had to do is we had to come up with these rigs to give us those great shots.
And one of the shots, which I picked out for us to look at is the shot of a weightlifter celebrating from above. That was pretty easy in Beijing because of the design of the hole and how we were able to put a remote there. Not always quite as easy.
O'BRIEN: Interesting, how do you see the images once that Getty has create this whole database of images?
KLEIN: Well, as far as 3D is concerned, you've got to have a 3D enabled device or you got to put on the glasses. So we're relying on our partners.
Because Getty Images is a business to business company so we're relying on how our partners like yourselves are going to make that available for their folks.
As far as the panoramics are concerned, you just go on the web site, click and zoom around and get right into exactly what you want to look at.
O'BRIEN: What kind of lessons did you learn from the royal wedding? That was a big event for your coverage. What did you take from that to say, OK, here's how we're going to try to apply that to Olympics? KLEIN: The number one lesson is preparation. So one of the things we do for the Olympic games. For example, is we set up our office as if we were in the media center, we take office space in London and every last inch of the office is set up so that same as our media center office.
Secondly, we use a lot of people. We use a lot. We have 110 people covering the Olympics. We had 110 people covering the royal wedding. Fifty four of them are photographers. We're all over.
Then finally we use specialists. The key is to use specialists. We have folks who are brilliant in underwater photography.
I'm not saying they aren't good at other things, but we get them to do that. And then we have folks who just do sailing because that's what they're very good at. So you do a bunch of those things, but the preparation is absolutely key.
O'BRIEN: And those pictures for the royal wedding were just truly amazing. It's nice to have you, Jonathan Klein with Getty. It's nice to have you with us this morning.
KLEIN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: We got lots to get to. We're going to talk to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann straight ahead along with the potential number one draft pick in the NBA we think, Anthony Davis.
And also Chakakan is going to join us. The actress, Mira Sorvino will be our guest as well. Lots to get to this morning. Got to take a break.
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