MORNING-05
smartphone, but it`s actually a .380 caliber handgun. The design is drawing
attention from law enforcement and the lawmakers, likes Senator Chuck
Schumer.>
CONAN O`BRIEN (Conan TBS): Alaska Air has announced that it`s purchasing Virgin Airlines for 2.6 billion dollars. Yeah. It`s the most money ever spent on a virgin since my parents bought me a car after my college graduation. Thank you.
GAYLE KING: Thank you, Conan.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yeah.
GAYLE KING: Welcome back to CBS THIS MORNING. I`m not going to touch that one. Coming up in this half hour, from treatments for diabetes to depression to the cost of top-selling prescription drugs it`s soaring. Lisa Gill of our Consumer Reports will look at the new investigation and the changes that you may need to make before you go to the drugstore.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Plus, the gun that looks like a smartphone. It could hit the markets soon. Ahead, the debate over whether this deceptive weapon should be illegal.
CHARLIE ROSE: Time to show you some of this morning`s headlines from around the globe.
The New York Times reports a unanimous Supreme Court decision on the one person, one vote issue. The court said election districts may be drawn to count all residents not just eligible voters. The justices said children and other non-voters still have a stake in some policy debate. The Times says the ruling mostly helps Democrats and upholds the status quo.
GAYLE KING: The Knoxville News Sentinel reports on a deadly helicopter crash in the Smoky Mountains. All five people aboard the sightseeing helicopter died when it went down in Tennessee yesterday, east of Knoxville. A fire after the crash destroyed most of the chopper. It slammed into the foot of a mountain during a tour of the area. The five victims have not yet been identified.
NORAH O`DONNELL: The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a communications breakdown may have caused an Amtrak crash that killed two workers. Investigators say the train was under the speed limit when it hit a backhoe Sunday in Chester, Pennsylvania. Officials from several agencies say word about a crew on the tracks may not have been shared during a shift change.
GAYLE KING: Bloomberg says that Twitter has won a deal to show Thursday night National Football League games online. It`s part of Twitter`s push into online programming. The deal gives Twitter a key piece of content to track mainstream users and offers them a place to react and discuss live events. CBS will broadcast five CBS Thursday Night Football games next season.
CHARLIE ROSE: And the Wall Street Journal reports on a power shift at Disney. Chief operating officer Tom Staggs unexpectedly said Monday he would step down. He was a prime candidate to become CEO when Robert Iger plans to retires in 2018. A source told the journal that Staggs announced his departure after the company widened its search for CEO candidates.
GAYLE KING: Rising concerns this morning about a very unusual new firearm. It could go on sale later this year. The weapon looks just like a smartphone, but it`s actually a .380 caliber handgun. The design is drawing attention from law enforcement and the lawmakers, likes Senator Chuck Schumer. Josh Elliott of our digital network CBSN is here with the controversy. Josh, welcome and good morning.
JOSH ELLIOTT (CBSN): Thank you, Gayle. Good morning to you. We should emphasize that the gun in question is still actually in development and actual working version does not yet exist. But that hasn`t stopped Senator Schumer from calling for an investigation aimed at keeping this potential weapon off the market.
(Begin VT)
KIRK KJELLBERG: It`s about as big as most phones would be with any kind of a protective case.
JOSH ELLIOTT: Kirk Kjellberg is CEO of Ideal Conceal. He says his gun`s design, which allows it to unfold from a smartphone shape to a fully functional weapon, would allow a responsible owner to carry it more freely.
KIRK KJELLBERG: There are some people that really take-- would take serious issue in the-- in a workplace or somewhere else to see I mean a gun on you and I think it gives people an opportunity to avoid that conversation.
SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: It`s clearly being marketed for nefarious purposes.
JOSH ELLIOTT: But on Monday New York Senator and gun control advocate Charles Schumer called on the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fireams and Explosives to investigate whether this gun would violate federal laws.
SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: There are two federal laws that might be applicable; a gun can`t be disguised like a pen or something else. The other says that if a gun can`t be detected as a gun as it goes through security like at an airport both can be made illegal.
JOSH ELLIOTT: Kjellberg responded in a statement to CBS THIS MORNING, saying "I encourage Senator Schumer`s investigation, as it will reveal that Ideal Conceal will fall firmly in line with ATF guidelines and is therefore legal." Matthew Horace is a former ATF special agent and says this new invention could have disastrous consequences.
MATTHEW HORACE: If law enforcement comes in touch with someone that has this and mistakes a phone for a gun, or a gun for a phone, the results could be tragic.
JOSH ELLIOTT: The company says the new firearm will be available for purchase by the middle of this year for three hundred and ninety-five dollars.
SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: The Second Amendment says you have a right to bear arms. The Second Amendment doesn`t say you have a right to bear a gun that`s disguised as an iPhone.
(End VT)
JOSH ELLIOTT: We asked Senator Schumer whether his investigation was simply giving free publicity to a product that doesn`t, yet, exist. He responded simply by saying four thousand people have applied for this gun. And he says those people want it as soon as it becomes available.
NORAH O`DONNELL: I wonder what power Schumer has to stop it.
JOSH ELLIOTT: Yeah. You know the legality of this is obviously one thing in a vacuum. On the other hand, the practicality, perhaps the common sense, it doesn`t seem that accessorizing a handgun is a good idea at any time.
GAYLE KING: Yeah. We always say don`t make toys that look like guns and now you`re saying here we`ve got a phone that`s going to look like a gun.
JOSH ELLIOTT: Oh the toy. Yeah.
GAYLE KING: It doesn`t make any sense. Thank you, Josh.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yes.
CHARLIE ROSE: Welcome to CBS THIS MORNING.
JOSH ELLIOTT: Thank you.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yeah.
JOSH ELLIOTT: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
NORAH O`DONNELL: Yeah.
GAYLE KING: Table feels pretty good, doesn`t it?
CHARLIE ROSE: Great to have you at CBS.
JOSH ELLIOTT: It`s not bad.
GAYLE KING: Good to see you, Josh.
Josh will continue to cover the story on CBS and along with other major news of the day, including the Wisconsin primary. You can watch on CBSNews.com on our CBS News app and on other devices like your Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire.
END
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