American Morning
Insurance companies dumping sick people?
Democrats on Capitol Hill are passing around new details on a revised plan for health care reform. The president took his version of the plan to an online town hall meeting Wednesday, taking aim at so-called "scare tactics" from his opponents.
Critics say it's the first step towards government-run health care. CNN's Jim Acosta sat down with one insider from the health insurance industry.
Blogger calls Joe Jackson "shameless"
Three days after Michael Jackson’s death, Joe Jackson talked up his record label on the red carpet at the B.E.T. Awards. Some people have quietly questioned the actions of Michael Jackson’s father during the grieving process.
Journalist and blogger Jimi Izrael is questioning his behavior loudly on theroot.com, calling Joe Jackson “shameless.” He spoke to Kiran Chetry Thursday on CNN’s “American Morning.”
Kiran Chetry: You have some pretty harsh words about Joe Jackson. Why do you feel he did not necessarily look like the father in mourning after the death of Michael?
Jimi Izrael: Well, look, you know, when somebody dies – like when Nipsey Russell died for instance I was looking to his family as I was mourning to get some idea what the tone was. And the way it goes when people die, you look to the family members to get some idea of how to react. The sister's all broken up, the mom is in pieces and the dad's off in the corner trying to sell bootleg T-shirts and CD’s. I got to say it’s a bad look. Joe Jackson just hit the wrong note.
Chetry: You were especially critical of that red carpet appearance. He spoke to our Don Lemon saying he owned a record company called Ranch Records distributed by Blu-ray technology and that's the next step. You say he was pitching his music label. How did other people react to that when you spoke to them?
Commentary: Bad idea for Honduran president to return
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/01/intv.casas.zamora.art.jpg caption="Former vice president of Costa Rica says Zelaya's return to Honduras would make the political situation there worse."]
Leaders from nations in North and South America are telling those behind the recent coup in Honduras to put their deposed president back in power. President José Manuel Zelaya is vowing to return. What does this mean for the future of Honduras and Central America?
Former vice president of Costa Rica and senior foreign policy fellow with the Brookings Institution, Kevin Casas-Zamora spoke to John Roberts Wednesday on CNN’s “American Morning.”
John Roberts: President Zelaya is vowing to return. Originally it was going to be tomorrow. Now it looks like he’s not going to be back until at least Saturday. But Roberto Micheletti who's assumed the presidency there says if he sets foot in Honduras, he's going to be arrested, tried and thrown in jail. He’s really playing hardball here.
Kevin Casas-Zamora: My sense is that President Zelaya's idea of returning to Honduras immediately is probably a bad idea and it’s likely to make a bad situation worse. I think that some groundwork needs to be laid out before that happens. By groundwork I mean that the return to Honduras of President Zelaya won't solve anything in and of itself. There's got to be some kind of political deal brokered before the underlying issue is tackled and the underlying issue is how to make Honduras governable. Because in the end, it was not governable when President Zelaya was in power and it is not governable now due to the immense international pressure that the new authorities in Honduras find themselves under.
John Roberts: Zelaya was seeking changes to the constitution. He was trying to write them himself. He wanted another term in power but he has pledged that he's not going to pursue that any longer. Do you think that might open the door for his return? Or is Micheletti hanging on so hard and fast to power that he's never going to even let him back in the door?
S.C. Republicans want Sanford to step down
Some Republicans are calling for South Carolina governor Mark Sanford to resign. One of his closest political allies says Sanford is "incapable of leading."
The governor now admits he's "crossed the lines" with other women, and he's admitting to more encounters with his Argentine mistress this year. The state's attorney general wants Sanford's books reviewed, to make sure the public didn't pay for his affair.
Gina Smith is the reporter with the South Carolina newspaper "The State" who first broke the story. She spoke to Kiran Chetry today on CNN's "American Morning."
War over parking tickets
Do parking tickets make you mad? Listen up.
Washington, D.C. raked in more than $67 million in revenues from parking tickets last year – and in the first five months of 2009 has already taken in $45 million in fines.
Washington is cashing in on your, shall we say, "inability to park legally." D.C. issued 1,465,394 parking tickets last year – in a city with just under 600-thousand people.
"To say that D.C. has an aggressive ticket-writing campaign of picking motorists pockets would be an understatement," says Lon Anderson, AAA's mid-Atlantic representative.
It's a cash bonanza not lost on other cities. Last year, Dallas took in $5.2 million; L.A., $120 million; New York, $624 million. So many parking tickets are being issued, for lawbreakers it's become a sport.
And on TV the tension between ticket-giver and scofflaw has become war. The A&E reality show "Parking Wars," set in Philadelphia, pits real life, aggressive parking ticket agents against people who park illegally. The show has meant cash for Philly, but also some bad PR.
Prospective tourists have sent angry emails to Philadelphia tourism officials. One comment: "Hey I was thinking of coming to Philly. I hear all the great things that are happening there, I've seen their ads, but then I saw 'Parking Wars' and I don't wanna be treated like that, I don't want my car to be treated like that. I'm never coming to your city."
Meryl Levitz, president of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, says the city came up with a new Web marketing campaign to combat the fear of aggressive ticketing.
But there is no such PR fear in Washington D.C. Parking officials have come up with yet another way to catch "illegal parkers." They've mounted cameras on street sweepers to snap scofflaws. That ticket will come in the mail, costing you $60.
A&E had no comment on the controversy in Philadelphia over "Parking Wars," but you'll see the show again in the fall after it wraps up production in Detroit.
Ex-con: Bernie won’t be too popular behind bars
Going from a Park Avenue luxury apartment to a federal prison is going to be quite a change for Bernard Madoff. He was sentenced yesterday to 150 years in prison. What's life going to be like for him behind bars?
Larry Levine served ten years in prison and is now a consultant for white collar criminals preparing to go to jail. He spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.
Kiran Chetry: What do you fill people in on as they get ready to go to prison?
Larry Levine: Well, I do damage control. Once the judge slams down the gavel and sentences you, the lawyer has no idea what's going to happen. So I prepare people for going into custody. I teach them everything they need to know from the time they go in, until they get out. If they get in a jam while they're on the inside, their families can get a hold of me and we can straighten things out.
Now in Madoff's case, he doesn't have an out date. What, 150 years from now? So he really has nothing to look forward to. I see them possibly putting him on suicide watch and/or protective custody because people are going to want to get to him. On a lighter side, he will get about 19-and-a-half years off on good time. They will give him that even though it'll never apply.
Chetry: In a way you're saying he doesn’t have hope for an appeal or hope to get out if he does well?
Levine: You have to prove that the judge abused his discretion by sentencing him to 150 years. Well, Madoff's off the charts as far as the dollar loss and the U.S. sentencing guidelines. They could have given him 200 years, although it wouldn't really make a difference. The judge had the latitude to do that, so an appeal really is going to go nowhere.
Chetry: What's daily life going to be like for Bernard Madoff in a federal penitentiary?
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