Transcripts For KFXA Iowa In Focus 20160221

To our communities because every one of us has a role to play in building the communities we want. In South Carolina wellliked governor nikki haley endorsed marco rubio during the week. It moved the needle enough donald trump still ran away with the election but rubio finished in second barely edging out ted cruz in third and just like in iowa rubio can walk away saying that he outperformed expectations. A new generations of conservatives to guide us into the 21st century. Did a really good job and they did quite well as i understand and just one second. We go back to war tomorrow morning. Tonight, despite millions of millions of dollars of false and nasty attacks. Despite the entirety of the political establishment coming together given us anototr remarkable result. Jeb bush did so poorly that he dropped out before the night was over despite his brothers work this week. Week. George w. Bush was on the trail earlier this week for his brother jeb for the first time this campaign cycle. Both george w. And george hw won South Carolina on their way to the oval office and a lot of people who came out to see the political brothers said South Carolina is bush country. The big news was how george w. Took aim at jebs biggest rival donald trump without once actually saying his name. Jebs a man of humble, ddp and genuine faith. Faith that reveals itself through good works, not loud words. Im so honored that my brothers here. Here. Bushs predecessor bill clinton has been stumping for his wife hillary for months. Eras of the Supreme Court are often named for their chief justice since theyre thought to adopt their scalias funneral saturday marks the end of one of the most influential nservative voices in the country. So were taking a look at the unique characteristics of what some people call the scalia court. Court. Some people arent going to like him just because e was very conservative and will demonize him as a result. But tim hagle at the university of iowa says Antonin Scalia had a simple approach to his rulings. Rulings. He took w wt e called an originalist view of it. He didnt buy into the notion of a living constitution. He said this is a document we have to look at what the founders basically believedhagle says one of the most outgoing members of the court relied soley on arguements based on the word of the law not handjng out decisions tailor de for the social leanings of the time. Time. If youre just trying to make something to dress up a goal rather than let the law take you to that goal, that what upset him. And when he was upset thats when he made legal opinions fun to read. Read. He would say this is nonsense, he would say it in a or something of that nature just in his dissent this past year in the case that allowed federal Affordable Care act subsidies to be used in each state despite unclear language in the original bill he said the court was performing somersaults of statutory interpretation and intereve jierypokery. He said the Supreme Court overstepped so much th obamacare creative language was his basic point. Point. I think scalia had a good point that words no loer have meaning if youre going to say they dont mean what they say. Covering the corridor in cedar rapids kevin barry cbs 2 news. Hagle also pointed out that while scalias decisions could be blunt and disagreeable two of his closest friends on the bench wewe ruth b ber ginsburg and elena kagan who both generally vote with the liberal members of the bench. One of the biggest issues sticking around the campaign trail is discscsion over president obamas right to appoint a new Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia. He was dead for just hours before this became a hot i intend to make 2016 a referendum on the us Supreme Courtthe presidnet under our constitution s a duty to send forth a name to be considered by the senate and the senate has a duty to consider thatbasically, they dont have the right to do that but i keep saying are the republicans going to crack are they going to fail, whats going to happen . It is important for the person appointing them to have some accountability. The president is a lame duck. President obama has been pretty direct in his response. He says that hell name his nominee in due time for the senate to consider and that what it supposed to happen next is very clear. I intend to nominate somebody, to present them to the american people, to present them to the senate, i expect them to hold hearings, i expect there to be a vote. Iowas senator Chuck Grassley is in the middle of this fight as the chair of the Senate Judiciary committee. The senates confirmation process starts with him and right grassley said that he wouldnt even consider the president s pick. Then a few days later he said he would wait to see who was selected before he and Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell wrote a piece in the Washington Post and said said it is today the american people, rather than a lame duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most cent national election, who should be afforded the opportunity to replace Justice Scalia. In cedar rapids grassleys fellow iowa senator joni ernst weighed in too. The president will come forward with a nomination and we dont know when thats going to be. Once that comes forward, itll have to go through the Judiciary Committee so a step at a timeis the best way to approach this and we do hope that the presidnet will nominate someone who will follow the constitution but that remains to be seen. Every week well be going inside iowa politics talking about the people not trying to move into the white iowa congressman steve king may pay a price for backing ted cruz who is pretty critical of the renewable fuel standard. Sioux city iowa state sentator Rick Bertrand confirmed to the Sioux City Journal late in the week that he is considering a run for kings seat in a primary challenge. Congressman king has been in the house since 2002 and has won seven straight elections. Advocates for decreasing drug use held a day on the hill event at the statehouse this week. Steffi lee shows us what their ultimate message was and what the youth involved have to say. Say. Steffi students from eastern iowa came to the capitol to speak with leaders about lowering drug use in their towns after hearing powerful testimonies of addiction and recovery they say this all motivates them to make a difference. Take vo the Iowa Alliance of coalitions for change organizethis event because they say iowa remains low nationwide for youth drug abuse and they want to maintain that. More than one hundred students from across Law Enforcement about the negative impact drug use can have on youth. Several students from jones county have attended this event in previous years. They say it reminds them to continue saying no even if peer pressure gets tough. Take sot Cleo Sullivan its hard because you dont want to sound like someone whos trying to not have a good time everyones trying to have a good time in high school and you dont want to be bumming out everybody and not having fun and doing the fun thing Everyone Wants to do. Steffi cleo is from jones county where the safe and Healthy Youth Coalition Says theyve seen a decrease in marijuana use among 11th graders. Numbers show only seven percent of that population uses the drug compared to sixteen percent in 2008. In des moines, steffi lee, for iowa in focus. Youth Substance Abuse prevention was started back in 2005 and organizers say theyve seen more students attending every year. Iowans are now one step closer to getting expanded access to medical cannabis oil. Oil. Lawmakers are still allow the production and distribution of cannabis oil in the state. Doctors would be able to prescribe the oil to patients with epilepsy multiple sclerosis and terminal cancer. The house commerce subcommittee unanimously passed the bill and it got through the full committee to head to the house floor. Advocates say its vital for some iowans. Cannabis is one of the safest herbal medicines on the planet it has been used for over 5000 years and even found in egyptian tombs tombsthe bill also calls for two facilities to make and sell the oil. After the break. Steffi sits down with the Iowa Alliance of coalitions for change to see how trends are shifting in iowa and why perceptions welcome back. This is the real story were husmann of the Iowa Alliance of coalitions for changeso what exactly are the kids doing today on the day on the hill its really teaching the kids about the legislative process how a bill becomes a law and of were working on were talking about youth Substance Abuse prevention, so were anything thats going on statewide thats affecting kids, as far as if its marijuana, underage drinking. S and you are based out of jones county what are some trends that you see over in eastern iowa and out of jones county that you really want these kids to know and take away and learn fromj were thankful that some of the trends were seeing thankfully in jones county too weve seen a decrease in marijuana since 2008 when we started working on that, its decreased. The 11th grade Iowa Youth Survey datas went down from sixteen percent down to seven percent. Statewide it stayed the last two years between 2012 and 2014 the Iowa Youth Survey at 11 percent so were lower in jones county anyway than the stayed the same and most other drugs statewide have been going down but the perception of harm, usually we want that to increase but lately its been decreasing with marijuana use in particular so thats one usually when something decreases the perception of harm the use can increases perception of harm you say that is what increases the use j marijuana to developing brains as tobacco is to lungs. But its it happens even faster and our brains are super super important yes our lungs are super super important as well. But your brain is controlling your success and it happens faster. And it happens faster. Usually its a decade before someone gets lung cancer. And marijuana is an intoxicating thing that if youre impaired so different than smoking cigarettes you know. You can go to a job and go take a break and smoke cigarettes. You dont want to be smoking pot youd be intoxicated at work on the job. It infects your brain not just on the short term with impairment but also with the addiction addiction is for both but like the things for taking away motivation taking away possibly iq pointss any other substances that you work with in jones county that youve seen a derease on . J yes prescription drugs thankfully. Even though its a hot issue nationwide, thankfully for our youth, we used to always say if youre underage drinking, your inhibitions go down, youre more likely to take illegal drugs, we even saw a decrease in prescription drugs between 2012 and 2014 it went down from nine percent in jones county down to four percent. So were seeing a decrease but nationwide theyre seeing an increase in opiates so we are still educating about those and just trying to do everything we can to reduce access because its not just we found out its not just talking to kids. We found out we might have to do more environmental strategies that are affecting adults who are making the culture and policies for kids and whether adults are saying its no its no big deal type thing or so its about us as adults decreasig the access to these drugs. S out in jones county do you hold any activities for parents to sort of learn how to better build their environments for their children . J we try to talk about how many kids are not using drugs and ninety percent of our kids ninety three now are not using marijuana regularly so thats awesome be a part of that majority. What the path to the Supreme Court bench looks like for welcome back. This is the real story were going to take the time to give context to whats in the headlines right now. Now. Today we take a closer look at the historical precedence on nominating a Supreme Court justice. But first we start with the process. It starts in the Senate Judiciary committee where iowas own Chuck Grassley is the chair. Chair. That group takes whoever the president nominates and looks into their background reads previous publications and eventually holds a hearing the interview them in person. After that the Committee Votes on sending the nominee to the full senate. If they do the senate votes on whether to confirm the nomination by a simple majority. No one branch is supposed to have too much power and particularly when youre talking about the president appointing all federal judges, the legislative branch. So its a combination of the legislative and executive branch that determine the Judicial Branch unlike the legislative and executive branch which are determined by the people. The issues that have been raging over the past week have ranged from if president obama has the power to pick the next nominee to whether he should. Republicans quickly started talking about how an appointment with less than a year left in president obamas term wouldnt be proper. Democrats pushed back but republicans are essentially calling on whats call the thurmond rule. Its the unofficial rule thats not universally accpeted but it describes the practice of the senate not confirming any Lifetime Appointments made in very end of a president s term. Thats why Chuck Grassley finds himself at the middle of this fiasco now as the chair of the committee that starts that process. Any by not i mean he just says well we just arent going to have hearings. So president obama can nominate someone, i expect that he will thats his perogative. But the senate necessarily hold hearings. Hanging in the balance is the political leaning and predictability of the highest court in the land. Scalia generally sided with the conservative members of the court creating a group of 4 consistently conservative members and 4 consistently liberal members with Justice Kennedy normally being the famous swing vote. Vote. A consistently liberal leaning judge would throw off that balance. But Justice Scalia is known for reaching his rulings based on a strict reading of the word of the law and not taking into account modern day implications. That was clear when he opposed the courts ruling on the Affordable Care act just this past summer based soley on the words used to write the law prompting democrats to argue that he was ignoring the laws intention. Thatll make a difference too. With scalia off the court hes often seen as the intellectual anchor of the conservative side, its going to be more difficult for the court to make any decisions. No matter how president to replace Justice Scalia goes its hardly the first to be surrounded by controversy. Controversy. Lyndon johnson appointed Abraham Fortas in 1965. When earl warren stepped down as chief justice the conservative senate made fortas the first chief Justice Nominee to face questioning before being approved. Ironically fortas had to resign later that year after a scandal. Scandal. Before Ronald Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy and he was confirmed during an Election Year reagan tried to put richard bork on the bench. But a Smear Campaign led by ted kennedy derailed that appointment. Appointment. Clarence thomas nomination in 1991 by George Hw Bush was rocky when anita hill a former coworker accused him of sexual harassment. Thomas eventually got through but by the closest vote in history 5248. President obama has done this in office. The president successfully appointed Sonya Sotomayor the first hispanic justice and elana kagan was confirmed when Justice John Paul stevens retired. Already there are a few names that are being floated for who could be the president s Supreme Court nominee. Three that keep popping up on many lists you look at are Sri Srinivasan Loretta Lynch and jane kelly who has connections to cedar rapids. Rapids. Srinivasan is a court of appeals judge in dc where chief Justice John Roberts Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg all were nominated fromhe would be the first indianamerican on the court. Court. Loretta lynch is the attorney general right now after a long delay for her to be confirmed to that position in april because of partisan politics in the senate. Experts say the administration likes her and shes already recently gone through the senates vetting process. Process. Jane kelly is also on the short list. She was a federal public defender and supervising attorney right im going to present somebody who indesputabily is qualified for the seat and any fair minded person, even someone who disagree with my politics, would agree would serve with honor and integrity on the court. The bottom line seems to be of course republicans want to find a way for president obama to not appoint a Supreme Court justice. Just like the democrats want him to get one through before hes out of office. But in terms of what the law says hes allowed to appoint one and the senate is required to evaluate them in good faith and allowed to confirm or reject them. Coming up next. We look at the latest tricks on the trail leading up to the primaries in South Carolina. Mom seriously . Culligan man problem water. Im on it. And simple. Dad hey, culligan man. Culligan man hey anncr a culligan wholehouse water softening system turns your problem water into culligan water, pure and simple. Welcome back well close the show each week taking a look at what happened on social media. Media. Justice scalia had a unique view of how the Supreme Court should do its job. We posted a story about that. That. Virginia said scalia said he was an origionalist so scalia and quickly approve the president s nomination in accordance to article 2 section 2; you know, if they really think scalia was truly a great justice. Justice. Ron says after the way the dems treated past conservative nominees to the Supreme Court the republicans have every right to oppose an obama nominee. They most likely will be every bit as radical as obama. Now we look at their voice what the candidates and their campaigns are posting online. Online. The nightmare just doesnt end for jeb bush in his skirmishes with donald trump. His campaign didnt hold on to the domain for jebbush dotcom so guess who bought it. It. If you type that into a web browser it redirects to Donald Trumps official site. Jeb bushs campaigns actual website is jeb2016dotcom. It didnt get much better for bush as the week went on. He posted a picture of a gun that a South Carolina gun maker made for him during his Campaign Trip through with his with the caption america. But he got a lot of backlash over it. It. Shawn said we as a country are sooo much more than the 2nd amendment. I support the right to bear arms but this doesnt make me want to vote for you. I am not sure what the message is with this picture picturejustin said i dont think people should be boasting about their guns, especially if you are running for president. Yes you have a Second Amendment right, but owning a gun doesnt make you any more patriotic than people who dont. You can follow along on twitter and facebook all week long. See our interviews as we do them chime in with what you think send us your favorite pictures from events you go to. Every week well end with the week ahead. Ahead. Its a chance for you to see what the campaigns are up to. To. After saturday nights action in nevada and South Carolina the two parties switch states. Republican voters in nevada caucus on tuesday and democrats in South Carolina head to the polls on saturday. In between republicans debate in houston, texas on thursday. Thanks for watchingbe sure to tune in next week to get the focus. Previously on mike molly im going out with molly. Really . Why am i just hearing about this . Oh, im sorry. Havent you been following my Facebook Page . Ii live alone. Mmm. I like to spend time with my friends. Hold on just a sec. Sorry. This nose hair was driving me crazy mike she yanked a hair out of my nose, started a fight with the waiter, and then passed out on the crapper. Oh, im sorry. I guess youre never gonna see her again. Are you kidding . Im gonna marry that girl. Come inside and tell me what youre so upset about. Oh, youd love for me to come inside, wouldnt you . Maybe hang my coat up in your closet full of skeletons so you met kyle. Look, im sorry i didnt tell you about him, but it was a long time ago. You were going to stand at an altar and promise to be with him forever. I cant even get you to join costco with me mike, i cant accept this. Why not . Its our first christmas, and i wanted to get you something special. Absolutely not. This is way too expensive. I dont care. I want you to have it. But i dont want it. Yes, you do. No, i dont. Hey, i love you, and you cant put a price on love hold on a second. You love me . Absolutely. We got a good thing here. We dont need to ruin it by talking about marriage