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Erin Burnett Outfront
More Spending?; VP Pageant; Showdown in Tombstone
Aired June 08, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, HOST: OUTFRONT next President Obama blames Congress for joblessness in America. Do his numbers add up?
And a heart-breaking decision, "I'll Have Another" pulled out of the Belmont stakes just a day before his chance to make history with a Triple Crown. I was at the Belmont today and "I'll Have Another's" owner is OUTFRONT tonight.
And federal investigators zero in on a specific type of drug that may be responsible for zombie-like attacks, a new report, let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight it's the economy, stupid. In a surprise news conference today the president blamed Congress for keeping Americans out of work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They left most of the jobs plan just sitting there and in light of the head winds that we're facing right now I urged them to reconsider because there are steps we can take right now to put more people back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The president is angry that Congress has not passed his jobs bill, which has sat on the shelf since last fall. Now part of it did pass. The payroll tax cut extension and long-term unemployment insurance, but the president wants to pass the rest immediately and the price tag is $297 billion. His bill summary, which we obtained from the White House, says that money will go to things like preventing teacher layoffs, modernizing schools, building science labs for a total of 297 billion.
But does spending more add up? We really wanted to know the answer to that question and so we did the math on how much money American taxpayers have spent on stimulus since the crisis began and obviously it began in 2008 under George W. Bush. So the first stimulus bill, this was President Obama's in the spring of 2009, $831 billion, unemployment benefit extensions that have been passed since that time, $185 billion.
The payroll tax cut extension $93 billion, $69 billion in TARP money that has not been paid back, plus there's Ben Bernanke's tab, $2.3 trillion in efforts to keep interest rates low, as you can see we had to actually split the screen here because there were so many numbers. Then if you add in the 297 billion the cost of the jobs bill, the grand total would be $3.8 trillion, $3.8 trillion.
That is a stunning and shocking number, and here we are almost four years exactly after the financial crisis began and according to research firm BTIG (ph), America still has 735,000 fewer jobs than at the peak in 2007. And of course, that's just an absolute number. There are more people who are at working age now, so the hole is significantly bigger than that.
So will borrowing money now turn it around or is this a case of diminishing returns? Hundred billion, 200 billion, 300 billion, all of a sudden you're talking 3.8 trillion. Throwing more money at a problem may or may not help fix it. OUTFRONT tonight is Robert Reich, former Clinton labor secretary and author of "Beyond Outrage" and Dan Mitchell senior fellow at the CATO Institute. Thanks to both of you for being with us.
Dan, I want to make it clear here that obviously you know given the timing of the financial crisis, most of that money was spent under Barack Obama, but George Bush started it with the TARP plan and even before the crisis began he had done a stimulus plan earlier that year. This is a bipartisan stimulus spending environment, and I'm just wondering whether you think it's worth spending anymore?
DAN MITCHELL, SENIOR FELLOW, CATO INSTITUTE: I agree with you completely. Bush was a big spender, interventionist. Obama has been a big spender interventionist. But it's not a question of as you described it, diminishing returns. It's negative returns. Keynesian economics didn't work for Hoover and Roosevelt in the '30s. It didn't work for Japan in the '90s. It hasn't worked for Bush and Obama. We need to make government smaller, not bigger. We should copy countries like Singapore and Hong Kong and Estonia and Switzerland that have managed to keep government spending under control. More resources in the productive sector of the economy that's the key to long-run sustainable growth.
BURNETT: Bob Reich, should we be spending more right now? I mean even if you were in the camp that wanted a lot more money earlier, if you didn't get it, does it make sense now to put a few hundred billion here, or a few hundred billion there or is that piecemeal way just not going to do it.
ROBERT REICH, FMR. LABOR SECRETARY: Erin as long as the private sector continues to hold back in terms of hiring in terms of utilizing its resources, as long as we continue to have very high unemployment, the question is where is the boost going to come from, where is the growth going to come from? And unfortunately or fortunately depending upon your point of view we only have one force left to actually boost the economy and that's called government. Over the long term Dan is absolutely right. We've got to get government spending under control over the long term, but just like we -- coming out of the great depression we had World War II, which was a massive government program. I'm certainly not advocating anything like that, but that got us out of the depression.
BURNETT: Right.
REICH: When you have that much under utilized capacity that much unemployment you've got to have spending.
BURNETT: But spending on what -- I mean now you've got this concern about $15.6 trillion in debt and rising, Robert. I mean you spend more money the private sector goes oh my gosh I'm so worried about indebtedness in this country and they might batten down the hatches even more as opposed to opening them up.
REICH: Well Erin, I think that ultimately the choice comes down to whether you embrace the philosophy, the dominant philosophy in Europe right now which has been you cut budgets right now even though you have high unemployment and a lot of capacity that's not being used, that has got things worse in Europe. That means a deeper recession. That means fewer people working. The means fewer -- less revenues in the government or whether you embrace --
BURNETT: Right.
REICH: I don't care whether you call it Keynesian or you call it cottage cheese. It doesn't matter. Whether you embrace the notion that if the boost is not going to come from the private sector, at least immediately in the short term it has got to come from government. And what I think the president is saying and what he said today was Congress, I'm not asking for the moon. I'm asking for some common sense, targeted things that we need to do with regard to the mortgage crisis which goes on, with regard to providing tax breaks for businesses that hire people and with regard to simply creating an environment that is more conducive because of enough stimulus in the economy to get things going.
BURNETT: But Dan, I mean specifically -- I mean you can go through these -- any one of these stimulus packages, Democrat or Republican and make fun of all sorts of the specific line items and laugh at them. But there is a serious point that Robert is making, right? I mean when you look at the gap that we have in this country, you know their estimates very rational ones that 35 to 45 percent of our budget gap is because of revenue. You know so if you get more people working you get more revenue. So that might make the argument for stimulus to get those people working and get the revenue.
MITCHELL: But the question is what gives you so-called stimulus? And I don't think that government borrowing a bunch of money out of the private sector, spending it on a bunch of cronies of the administration is a recipe for growth. Now Robert talked about Europe, and I think Europe is very instructive because there's a giant difference between what I call public sector austerity and private sector austerity. In countries like France and England and Greece and Italy, they're raising taxes. They're squeezing the private sector for their quote-unquote "austerity".
I look at the countries in the Baltics, Estonia especially they cut government spending and not just the make-believe way we cut spending in Washington, where you don't increase it as fast as you previously planned. In Estonia in 2009 and 2010, government was actually smaller. They are now growing. A big feature in the news about how they're prospering even though they have the euro just like Greece, so I think the lesson from Europe is high taxes, that's the wrong kind of austerity. Less government spending, that is the recipe for freeing up resources for the productive sector of the economy.
BURNETT: All right well thanks to both of you.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: I only have to hit pause there, but please, everyone, we'll have them back and please let us know what you think. We know a lot of you feel very strongly and not about the same things on that issue.
All right still OUTFRONT who will be Mitt Romney's right-hand man and yes it does appear that most likely it will be a man, but who knows. VP poll, they just voted and we'll tell you who won.
And an exclusive look at how Americans feel about a controversial new immigration law. The results frankly are shocking to many.
And have federal agents found the drug that's responsible for the string of flesh-eating attacks. We have some more information for you tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our second story OUTFRONT the VP pageant. A parade of potential Romney VPs took center stage today at a meeting of conservatives in Illinois. Here they are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Barack Obama's leadership is driving this business, the United States of America towards a fiscal cliff.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: We can't afford another four more years of this administration.
GOV. BOB MCDONNELL (R), VIRGINIA: Let's look at the record, 40 months of unemployment over 8.1 percent. That may be the best that Barack Obama can do, but that is not the best that America can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right a new poll just out from the Conservative Political Action Conference shows here it is, drum roll, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is the favored VP pick with 30 percent of the vote. New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie was second with 14 percent. Rand Paul came in as you can see fourth; Paul Ryan though was third at nine percent. Other notables that have been mentioned as possible running mates are Ohio Senator Rob Portman, South Dakota's John Thune and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.
Obviously you can see they didn't make the list there for those who voted. Now that conservative caucus obviously tends to go very conservative. But the big question is not just who Mitt Romney will choose, but when. OUTFRONT tonight Ana Navarro and Roland Martin.
Roland, you know last time around just thinking everybody making their choice and how they, you know they always wait until the conventions. I mean what's the strategy here? I mean you get a lot of benefit from the speculation game, but when is the right moment for him to make the choice?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well the right moment is exactly when they normally choose it. That is right before the convention, because again, the more time you give folks in the media that means a lot more stories, a lot more drama. You want to shrink the window, if you will. And so the thing about this poll, look first of all, what we didn't say, 520 people voted. Boy that's a really huge number of folks voting on this choice. And so if you look at the people who are at the bottom, Erin, those are likely the people Mitt Romney is likely to consider versus those people who were at the top of this actual vote.
BURNETT: Ana, are you surprised? I mean you know OK I could say Marco Rubio obviously a favorite of conservatives, Rick Santorum, other people on that list, but Chris Christie everyone criticizes, you know he's got the most liberal -- conservative gun laws in the country. He is -- they guy is considered a liberal by a lot of conservatives.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: He is, but he is also a great name for Republicans. He's a fun guy. He says things as it is. He has got that New Jersey brashness, if you will. I think I'm not surprised by the result of Marco Rubio. And look this is not a people's choice award. It's Mitt Romney's choice, but these CPAC polls have a dear place in his heart.
He won the CPAC poll back in -- back when it was held when it was still in the primaries. I think Marco Rubio would be a great choice. I think all of those guys that are on there. He really has a deep bench of great candidates to choose from for vice president. And I think you know folks like Rob Portman came in low because they don't have as much name ID. Certainly Mitt Romney knows them. He's a solid choice, as is Tim Pawlenty but somebody like Rob Portman does not have the name ID in front of a CPAC crowd.
MARTIN: Erin.
BURNETT: Yes.
MARTIN: Hey Erin, yes Mitt Romney did win the CPAC vote in February. I was there for a day. Trust me, when his name was mentioned it's not like the room was really enthusiastic. And so this is obviously a very conservative crowd here. But if you're Mitt Romney, you really want a candidate who can do no harm. And frankly, I think out of all the people on here and Portman is getting all this attention, I personally think Bob McDonnell is a lot closer to -- in terms of what Mitt Romney may need, governor from Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Virginia.
MARTIN: The story that he can tell, and so I think you know -- I think so much heat has been on Portman. I think a lot more may very well go towards McDonnell once the choice is made.
BURNETT: Roland what about --
NAVARRO: And three -- and three of those guys -- three of those guys are from very important swing states.
MARTIN: Of course.
NAVARRO: Rob Portman is from Ohio. Marco Rubio is from Florida and as you just mentioned, McDonnell is from Virginia. I think the geography may also be a factor in this one race.
BURNETT: Roland, what about Chris Christie, though? I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: He's been tireless campaigning on Mitt Romney's behalf, endorsed him really early and God, the guy's a fighter.
MARTIN: Well of course --
BURNETT: I mean it'd be a good -- it'd be a good debate there --
MARTIN: Well first of all, a lot of us in the media love Governor Chris Christie because he is a walking, talking sound bite.
BURNETT: Yes.
MARTIN: He literally will throw a punch at somebody if he really could, but again, but one of the issues that you have to ask yourself, if you get Christie, what do you get with that. Also you have a really charismatic guy in Christie and then you have Mr. Dry, as dull as all get-out Mitt Romney. And so do you want to be in the position where your VP nominee could very well overshadow you? We know how that went last time for the Republicans. It didn't go well. I think Mr. Boring will choose somebody equally boring.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: You have to admit, though -- you have to admit, though, the thought of Biden/Christie debate is entertaining and amusing, just the thought of it.
MARTIN: But ain't nobody voting for the vice president. They're voting for the presidential race.
BURNETT: I don't know. We'll see. This is a good one. All right thanks so much to both of you and they'll be back.
And next a showdown at the "OK Corral", we take you OUTFRONT to Tombstone, Arizona where there is a fight over one of the most precious items on this planet. And there will not be a Triple Crown winner this year. Just a day before the Belmont, "I'll Have Another" scratched. I was there when it happened and I was with the horse's owner. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our third story OUTFRONT a showdown at the "OK Corral", tonight the old west town of Tombstone, Arizona which was made famous by the historic gunfight is again the site of a fierce feud. On one side the city, on the other the federal government. The two are in a fight over one of the most precious and fought-over commodities on earth, water. We sent Martin Savidge OUTFRONT deep into the Arizona mountain wilderness to find out who will win the water war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on now. Not what I want.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tombstone loves a good showdown. At the "OK Corral"
(GUNSHOTS)
SAVIDGE: -- there's one twice a day.
(GUNSHOTS)
SAVIDGE: Each year 400,000 tourists come to the town that is the old west. Since the 1880's it survived gun slingers, mines that went bust and the desert. But Tombstone may have met its match.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're obviously at war with the U.S. Forest Service.
SAVIDGE: It starts with a 130-year-old pipeline that brings the water to town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the waterline here, as you will see, is pretty long. It runs literally about 26 miles from the city of Tombstone all the way across to the Hauchuca Mountains (ph).
SAVIDGE: Fires and floods have knocked out the pipes before.
(on camera): What's the problem now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what's happened since is the existence of the Wilderness Act and the National Forest.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): In 1984 Congress declared the National Forest around Tombstone Springs a federally protected wilderness, preserving it for future generations letting nature take its course and banning anything mechanical. And I mean anything.
(on camera): So it's true that a wheel barrow would be prohibited under the Wilderness Act?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. Correct.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Which has made Kevin's Rudd's job of fixing the water system difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We walk in now. We walk in. We carry picks and shovels and the materials are up on our shoulders and we access it on foot now.
SAVIDGE: It's tough going.
(on camera): You can understand why this seems to be the intersection of bureaucracy and common sense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.
SAVIDGE: And that has people scratching their heads?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. And I say that I don't like bureaucracy and I like to think that I use common sense, but in this case I have to make sure that we comply with the laws and regulations.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): After a few months the Forest Service relented and let in the machines and people needed to get the water flowing again and it is.
(SOUNDS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SAVIDGE (on camera): It rumbles through there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It rumbles (INAUDIBLE).
SAVIDGE (voice-over): But Tombstone wants to do a lot more work that could take years. The Forest Service says it's willing to consider after it sees the plans and completes the necessary impact studies. Tombstone says it can't afford to wait and it shouldn't have to. It has filed a lawsuit against the National Forest Service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at risk. Tombstone doesn't have the water it needs to protect its citizens.
SAVIDGE: Meanwhile Tombstone showdown with the federal government is popular with some across the country, who send the town their support in the form of shovels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Martin is -- where are you right now? I know that you're not anywhere near a road or anything. Tell me where you are, how long it took you to get there, Martin.
SAVIDGE: Yes, Erin we're up in the mountains, which are actually outside of Tombstone some 26 miles away from the city. It was a two- mile hike to get here, up very steep terrain, took over an hour. But this is essentially the source of the water for Tombstone, behind us one of the springs and there is a work crew here. They're just coming to the end of their day. It was part protest and part work crew, and they were using only picks and shovels trying to protect the spring. They fear that next month the monsoons could damage them, so they're trying to reinforce them now. They hope to continue that protest and work tomorrow.
BURNETT: And how come shovels, why not drill wells?
SAVIDGE: You know it's a good question. I asked the same one. In Tombstone they say it cost about $1 million to drill a well, and the problem they have around here is arsenic. They have already three wells, two are contaminated with arsenic. They can't afford to spend a million bucks and then run into a well that's got arsenic, so this is the most affordable choice they've got.
BURNETT: All right, well thanks very much to Martin Savidge there, reporting from Arizona where a lot of out-of-state volunteers are also there trying to dig for that water.
And still OUTFRONT in our second half hopes of "I'll Have Another's" Triple Crown over. The horse was forced to withdraw from the Belmont. The horse's owner tells me about how he made that heart- breaking decision.
And do Americans think police should stop suspicious people and check their immigration status? Well we have an exclusive poll here at CNN, and it could influence federal law. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT on a Friday. We start the second half with stories we care about where we focus on our own reporting from the front lines and we have breaking news tonight. Attorney General Eric Holder in just the past few minutes assigning two attorneys to investigate possible leaks of classified information.
The attorneys will direct investigations that are currently being conducted by the FBI. Earlier today the president denied the leaks of state secrets came from the White House calling the idea offensive. Washington became concerned about leaks when classified details about a U.S. cyber attack targeting Iran were published in a new book by David Sanger.
An e-coli outbreak has sickened 14 people in six states. One child is dead in Louisiana and other states where people are sick Georgia, Alabama, California, Florida and Tennessee. Officials don't know the source of the outbreak but our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen says investigators will be focusing on items like meat and produce. According to the CDC people actually started getting sick in April, the most recent case was June 4th.
Well, the controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws are going to be reviewed by a government panel to see if they are biased against minorities. The "Stand Your Ground" law has been linked to George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights commissioner says that we need to know, whether or not, all other factors being equal, the race of the victim or the perpetrator plays a role in determining the application of these laws. This is significant because 24 states in this country have some form of "Stand Your Ground" law.
Well, 18 victims of child pornography were rescued in nationwide raids. It was dubbed Operation Orion. Federal law enforcement agencies arrested 190 people for distributing, receiving and producing child pornography. Suspects were arrested in 33 states and Puerto Rico. In a statement obtained by OUTFRONT, Immigrations and Custom Enforcement director John Morton warned parents about monitoring their children's Internet use, saying that many of the child exploitation cases in the operation began with child or teens chatting with people they met online.
Well, it's been 309 days since the U.S. lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back?
So far, bad news today. S&P said, hey, you're not going it back yet. They affirmed our AA plus rating and say we could be in line for another downgrade if Congress doesn't do something about our debt problem.
And now our fourth story OUTFRONT: Triple Crown dashed. "I'll Have Another" is out of the Belmont. He was the first since 1936's Bold Venture to win the derby and Preakness and then scratch out of the Belmont.
I was actually at the racetrack today when the news break and "I'll Have Another's" crew, trainers, vet and the jockey were visibly forlorn. Attendance an the race tomorrow could be cut in half because of "I'll Have Another's" dropping out from 100 to 50,000.
I talked to "I'll Have Another's" owner Paul Reddam and asked him about the day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J. PAUL REDDAM, OWNER, I'LL HAVE ANOTHER: I probably tonight -- well, wait a minute. We're supposed to be getting ready for the Belmont. And, you know, I mean, horse racing is a very tough game in that, you know, horses are very delicate creatures, and things can happen to them. And, unfortunately, fate decided today was the day for "I'll Have Another" to end his career. So --
BURNETT: How hard was it to make that decision? I mean, you're so close to something that's been so elusive?
REDDAM: Well, making the decision itself was actually easy, because when Doug O'Neill and I were talking, he said that the horse -- he seemed to have a little heat in his leg. He didn't think it was anything. He might have wrapped it, which horses sometimes do which is nothing. It's just a skin. And so they said, well, maybe have the vet look at it. I was thinking that. It will cause such a hoopla if I have the vet come over here. Well, so what, right? If there's a hoopla and the vet comes over and says the horse is 100 percent, then you did the right thing anyway.
BURNETT: Yes.
REDDAM: So, he said, OK, that make sense to me. He called vet and he said I called you back in an hour. And he goes -- I can't exactly repeat what he said because he was swearing. It was unbelievable.
He said, Paul, he's got the start of a possible tendon, and you know, we could run him but, you know, that might not be the best thing. I said, Doug, you're absolutely right. Horses, when they have tendons, you can rest them. It's not a bow tendon, but he's got a lesion basically, and you know we wouldn't want to make that worse or risk his health or the jockey's health.
And really, you can give a horse a year off and hope they come back from that, but my experience is they never come back at the level they were. I mean, just fate says today was the day. So --
BURNETT: Well, you feel like you did the right thing, but do you have a part of that said, this was like 1978 was the last Triple Crown winner. The last time somebody won two and dropped out was 1936. So, in your heart, it's got to be hard.
REDDAM: In my heart, I was very confident in the horse for tomorrow. He'd been training with very good energy. Before the Preakness I was really nervous before that race thinking this is the tough one to get over, the Preakness. Belmont, the way that he runs and his pedigree said he would relish the mile and a half.
Doug got him in great cardiovascular condition, so we were congratulating ourselves yesterday afternoon that, OK, we made it. He doesn't need serious exercise and we're ready to go and he's 100 percent there. That kind of came out of nowhere.
BURNETT: I was talking to Seattle Slew's trainer, and I said why haven't we had a Triple Crown winner since the '70s? He think it is because they train them hard when they're young to sell them. Maybe that damages the horse, they become a little bit more frail and more quickly to get injured when they're 3-year-olds because they race so hard when they were younger.
Is that something you think true of a form that could change in the industry?
REDDAM: Well, when you take a very young horse and exercise them very hard, it's possible some would be injured from that, and others would be hardened from that. In his own case, this horse was probably the soundest horse I've ever owned. So, I don't think that had anything to do with "I'll Have Another". As a breed thoroughbreds are probably more fragile now than they were 30 years ago. BURNETT: Is there anything done to change them? I mean, you love horses. You have lots of them. S, it's got to be something you think a lot about.
REDDAM: Well, I think that if you're going to change anything with the racing, you might slow the surfaces down sometimes. A lot of it is in the pedigrees and being bred for speed versus stamina. There's lots of horses that go throughout their whole career and don't get hurt. So --
BURNETT: Right. Did you feel at all -- obviously, "I'll Have Another" has no allegations of doping. His trainer, though, has with other horses, and he's got ongoing cases.
Was that something that affected your decision? You didn't want to risk it at all because --
REDDAM: Nothing to do with that. He was exonerated from the milk shaking, and their trainer insurer is responsible for the horse. So, he'll fight that, I suppose. Doug has been really great with our horses, and I'm very proud of him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And he had to run off and see one of his other horses race. Seattle Slew's trainer was there today. I talked to him. Seattle Slew's trainer is the only living trainer to train a Triple Crown winner.
He had tough words for the horse racing industry about what happened today. That's coming up.
But now, this country and immigration. A new CNN poll out today showed that 75 percent of Americans support Arizona's controversial law that allows police to top and check the immigration status of people that they believe are suspicious. The law, which was passed in 2010, became a lightning rod in the national debate over immigration.
The Obama administration sued and successfully blocked portions of it saying the state was overreaching federal law. Five states in addition to Arizona have similar laws on the books, and the case is currently in front of the Supreme Court. A decision is expected later this month.
Just the stats, there are more than 11 million immigrants in the United States. They make up 5 percent of the workforce, according to the Pew Hispanic Research Center. And, of course, the Latino vote is a key factor in the upcoming presidential election.
Political contributor John Avlon is here, along with our legal contributor Paul Callan to help us break this down.
So this is really interesting. It caught my attention, Paul, first thing this morning. Seventy-five percent of Americans support the law. It's borne out in other polls because I went and look. This is not like an aberration. Does public opinion end up influencing the judicial system over time?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: That's been a great argument that's among political scientists as to whether that's the case or not. Alexander Hamilton said, you know, the court has neither a sword nor the power of the purse. So, they have to rely on public opinion to enforce their decisions.
If you look back over Supreme Court decisions, they tend to be similar and in line with public opinion mostly. But sometimes the court moves slightly ahead of public opinion, as they did in abortion and school desegregation and some other monumental areas. It doesn't line up perfectly at all times.
BURNETT: John, it is interesting. Poll after poll shows this.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, this poll is fascinating in particular, because if you look at the support, 62 percent of nonwhites support Arizona's controversial immigration law.
BURNETT: Sixty-two percent of nonwhites?
AVLON: Correct. Fifty-six percent of Democrats.
So, all the outcry that was incredibly pronounced especially among the activist community doesn't reflect American opinion, even in the groups they allegedly represent. So, it is very, very striking with regard to this particular law, and I think as people make a distinction between immigration and illegal immigration.
One of the ironies is that actually border crossings are down under the Obama administration in part because of increased enforcement.
BURNETT: Interesting. And also I think, just to make it clear, the whole point of this law and obviously the worry that people don't have is racial profiling. I don't look at you and think you're suspicious as an illegal immigrant. I think that might have you're being arrested or detained for something else, a crime, and then they're allowed to ask you the question.
CALLAN: Absolutely. This argument by the way a lot of people were surprised when the Obama Justice Department was arguing this before the Supreme Court. They didn't even focus on racial profiling and say that that was a big problem. A lot of people said, that's where the strength of their argument is. that this would discriminate against Hispanics.
They just said it's federal, not state. We should be enforcing immigration laws, not local localities.
AVLON: The reason they didn't press that point is that point had been explicitly taken out of the law. This is part of problem. Politics is perception, but sometimes when a hot button issue gets really pumped up by an activist community, we end up having a very heated debate in this country perception rather than facts.
And one of the things about this poll and other polls like it is they state what the law does, not what people are afraid the law would do.
BURNETT: Right. And what's been the view here in other states? I mean, they're not the only ones doing this. We had Alabama and other states out there, John, right, that are trying to do similar sorts of things.
AVLON: Absolutely. It's an expression of broad frustration of the fact we still don't have control of the borders. Obviously, this is an issue that predates the Obama administration. This is a long- standing issue. The Obama administration has actually beefed up border security significantly, arrests are up at the border.
Partly the reason folks don't cross as much is because of the economy, but it's also because we increased the barriers to entry, in some cases walls and many cases border patrol agents. So, there's actually policy success story here.
CALLAN: And there are at least five other states that have laws on the books that have been upheld by the Supreme Court. For instance, Arizona had a law basically requiring and punishing employers who employ illegal aliens, and those provisions have been upheld. Similar laws exist in other states and have been upheld.
But you know, I think we're not talking about the one thing important with the poll. It's the perception of the economy as well. I mean, I think there's a pessimism out there about the economy, and whenever that happens, illegal immigrants get to be the focus of public opinion. If the economy heats up and nobody cares about getting a job, this will fade.
BURNETT: How do you think what the verdict of the Supreme Court will be? Obviously Elena Kagan recused herself because she worked for the administration to lobby for --
CALLAN: You have a court essentially equally split with a swing vote in the middle. When she disqualifies herself, the conservatives who would support the law are most likely going to prevail.
I will say one other thing. Sotomayor, who was generally a liberal, was very hostile to the Justice Department's spokesman during the argument, saying a lot of your arguments don't hold water. I have a feeling the court will upheld the Arizona law.
BURNETT: I love hearing that about her. Because with that, no matter what side you're on, everyone makes a point that if that's true, if she's doing what the right law is and not what people think her politics are, and that's what people want more out of the Supreme Court.
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: -- not the sort of idea that partisanship ends up determining their judgment.
BURNETT: Absolutely. OK, thanks so much, Paul and John.
OUTFRONT next, investigators may have found the drug to blame for the string of zombie-like attacks.
And the only living trainer of a host that won the Triple Crown. He was actually helping to train "I'll Have Another," and tonight some damning words for the industry, OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: In his press conference today, President Obama urged Europe to fix its economies. He said it's in everyone's best interest for Greece to stay in the euro.
Now, not long ago, I came up with some ways that Americans can help Greece out and solve the economic crisis. Here's one of my suggestion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You could buy Greek olive. I've been doing that. I buy olive oil by helping out countries and look at this. Grocery story, two kinds of Greek olive oil available right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, some of you on Twitter gave me a hard time. You didn't believe me and you were mad.
You know what? It's true. Because olives are a crucial commodity, not just for Greece but also for Italy and for Spain.
About 70 percent of the world's olive oil actually comes from these three countries. It's incredible. There's a big problem. There's an olive oil glut causing prices to fall. They're now at a decade low.
In fact, prices are so low that the European Union has had to step in and take some supply out of the market. It's paying for 100,000 tons of olive oil to be stored for 180 days. It's the third time they had to do this in just eight months -- which brings me to the number tonight: 1.1 million, as in tons.
That's the forecasted size of the olive oil glut. And just to give you an idea how big that is, it's an equivalent of a third of global annual olive oil consumption. I have a lot of oil olive. I use a lot of it. So I get a sense that that's big.
For those of you that doubt Americans can still make a difference when it comes to olive oil, let me say this -- the head of the International Olive Council was quoted by the "Olive Oil Times" -- yes, there is an "Olive Oil Times", and there's a Web site. They say, quote, "The U.S. has been for many years the driver of the olive oil sector. Thanks to the U.S. the sector has grown without drowning in a sea of olives."
There you go. Proved my point. Go buy the Greek olive oil.
And now our "Outer Circle" where we reach out to sources around the world. And tonight, we actually go to Austria where IAEA officials reported no progress in latest round of nuclear talks with Iran.
Yesterday, Russia and China came out with a statement, urging everybody to refrain from actions that could lead to confrontation and opposing the use of force in Iran.
Matthew Chance was following the story and I asked him how influential China and Russia are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it's not the unflinching support from Russia or China that may appear. Remember, both countries are also concern about Iran's developing nuclear weapons. Moscow says it supports Iran's peaceful use of atomic power.
Now, China's president called Iran to be flexible and pragmatic during nuclear talks. This time, they want the Islamic republic to compromise. What both China and Russia want to avoid, though, is any kind of military intervention in Iran. They both have deep economic interests at stake, and they don't want to see their billions of dollars worth of contract put at risk -- Erin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Thanks very much to Matthew.
And now, our fifth story OUTFRONT: drug enforcement officials are zeroing in tonight on a drug called "Cloud Nine", as the brand of bath salt that could -- I emphasize could because we don't know yet -- be behind cannibalistic behavior in the string of attacks.
Let me show you some surveillance video of the most high profile incident that happened in Miami last month when Rudy Eugene pinned down a homeless man and chewed off his face. Last night, we told you about a separate case, also in Florida, where police say Brandon de Leon gnashed his teeth like an animal and tried to bite an officer while under the influence of a cocktail of drugs, including Cloud Nine.
So, what exactly is Cloud Nine? So out front with the poison control center. Good to see you, doctor. I appreciate you taking the time. Can you just explain what is Cloud Nine?
OUTFRONT tonight, clinical toxicologist for the Poison Control Center, Dr. Alexander Garrard.
Good to see you, sir. I appreciate you taking the time.
So, could you just explain what is Cloud Nine?
DR. ALEXANDER GARRARD, CLINICAL TOXICOLOGIST: Cloud Nine is just really one of the number of types of bath salts that are available out there. They go by names like White Rush, White Lightning, Ivory Wave. And they all seem to contain three similar compounds MDPV, methadone and Mephedrone.
Cloud nine is unique in the sense it's been implicated in a number of deaths across the country and most recently have possibly been implicated in Miami.
BURNETT: So, how do they get these names? I mean, these are just White Flash, Cloud Nine. Is this referred to the euphoria that you get when you take them, or am I reading too much into it?
GARRARD: No, I mean, I think that's a great idea. It's a great question.
We know like with synthetic marijuana, they have like K2, Spice, that refer to the second highest mountain peak. When it comes to the bath salt products, I think a lot is meant to convey the sense that you really want to be on this drug. White Rush, White Lightning, Hurricane Charlie. I mean, all of these things, it's very attractive for young people looking for a little bit of you know, pizzazz and excitement in their life.
BURNETT: So you're talking about the key ingredients that are in the various bath salts. But is there something in cloud nine not in other bath salts that makes it worse or different?
GARRARD: Right. So, historically Cloud Nine has contained MDPV, the methylenedioxypyrovalerone. As that chemical has become illegal across certain states, you know, all the drug dealers have to do is really add either a molecule here or a molecule there and you have a whole new drug that's now legal and that they hadn't tested for any safety or efficacy.
And on top of that, as I always say a general rule of thumb when it comes to street drugs is they're never 100 percent pure. So there could be a number of adulterants, contaminants, other chemicals in there that could really affect not only the pharmacology, but also how these patients present to the emergency room. It's definitely very scary.
BURNETT: But there could be an ingredient that caused this cannibalistic behavior that we've seen several examples of?
GARRARD: Well, I think probably what we're seeing is that there's probably an ingredient in there, which we don't unfortunately really know yet at this time, but somehow interacts with the chemicals in the brain to either rather increase dopamine, serotonin or neurotransmitters in the brain. And people respond differently to the different chemicals. Not everybody is the same. It could be based on genetics.
We don't know why some people behave as cannibals and almost like zombie-like like behavior and other people who used the same batch really have no problem at all. And that's part of the problem, is we don't have studies. We don't have trials. A lot of what we know about these products are from the patients that come into the E.R. and that are having adverse effects.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
And now, why so many injuries? Allegations of doping in horse racing. The most accomplished horse trainer alive says -- you'll hear it when you come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Well, now that "I'll Have Another" has been scratched from tomorrow's race, no horse will win the Triple Crown this year. There have only been 11 Triple Crown winners in history the last in 1978. We're in the midst of the longest Triple Crown drought in history. Now, 22 horses have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and failed at the Belmont since the 1978 affirmed win.
When I was at Belmont today, I spoke with Billy Turner. He trained Seattle Slew, the undefeated Triple Crown winner in 1977, and he was at the Belmont today helping train "I'll Have Another."
I asked him about the shocking news and about what does it add up in the big business of horse racing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What's your reaction to today's news?
BILLY TURNER, TRAINER OF SEATTLE SLEW: Real surprised. Real surprised. It's a shocking thing. But as a horse trainer, I just know that you can never get to confident. Every single day when you go out, in the morning, you go out to look at that horse, you're just hoping that everything looks the same as it did the day before.
I think he had a very, very good chance of doing it. There were three horses in the race that were going to make it a legitimate race. To beat them, he was going to stamp himself as a really good, really good horse.
BURNETT: Why is it in the '70s there was all these Triple Crown winners? Seattle Slew, last undefeated, affirmed the year after and that's it. Why hasn't there no been one since?
TURNER: Seattle Slew probably changed the game because people learned if you did your home work and went down to the three-year-old training sales, you could buy the best horse in the world. More people that got into the business, and the price of young horses started going up.
The people that prepare those horses don't have a dog in the fight. So if they do all kinds of things to do the top dollar at the sale. You get a race or two good races, then the problems pop up.
BURNETT: What's the big reform we should do to change that?
TURNER: I think change the whole idea of racing and doing your own training race. The truth is if it stands up, it doesn't work. It's a failed system.
BURNETT: It doesn't add up.
TURNER: It doesn't add up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: It doesn't ad up, something that obviously our moniker for this show.
But the bottom line of what he was trying to say is: back in the day, you would buy a horse, bet on its breeding lines and train the horse and see if you had a winner. But now, they run the horses so hard when they're young so that he said, run as fast as they'll ever run when they're 2 years old. Then they're very easily injured and they can't run the Triple Crown, three races, a couple weeks apart.
He thinks we should absolutely stop that intense racing just to try to get sales and prices up for horses when they're just two years old. Reforms to think about whether you're in the industry or not.
Let us know what you think on Twitter. Have a great weekend.
"A.C. 360" starts now.
