Morning Express with Robin Meade

The Bloomberg administration is facing a barrage of criticism after announcing Thursday that it was working to ban the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts in New York City, according to news reports.

The proposed ban would hit the popular soft drink industry hard in New York, affecting everything from delis,  fast-food franchises and sports arenas, according to the New York Times.

A San Diego, California, exchange student made headlines all the way in his native Norway after being bitten by a rattlesnake and being charged a $143,989 hospital bill, according to HLN affiliate KGTV.

"My jaw was dropping down," he said, not as a symptom to the bite -- but in reaction to the outrageous tab, Dag-Are Trydal told the station Tuesday.

"I feel DIZZAAAYYY," has been the catchphrase in the Morning Express newsroom since we first saw young Matthew Russell's adorably funny video.

Matt and his mom Jennifer spoke to HLN affiliate WTAE and explained that he broke his arm while climbing a small fence.  "We knew immediately it was bad," says Jennifer.  After an emergency trip to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh... the anesthesia started to wear off... and Matt's personality started to come out... strong!

Morning sunshine! Good to be back wit-cha after a longggg holiday weekend. Lots o fun on the waters of Lake Erie. Thanks to my Ohio pals and viewers.

Are you ready to kick butt today? Let me get ya there.  Coming up on Morning Express today:

Former Marine Angela Madsen says she lost nearly everything after a botched back surgery in 1993. Three weeks in the hospital became three months. She lost her job, her partner, even her house. "All I could see was a life of pain and suffering,” she says.

Her low point hit when the chief of spinal cord conditioning told her that her condition was a “waste of human life.”  She got mad, and motivated.

Some parents having a hard time finding Adderall pills to treat their child's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are being sold counterfeit 30 milligram pills on the Internet. 

Real Adderall is scarce right now because of a shortage of some ingredients. “Many parents are desperate,” says HLN’s Jennifer Westhoven, “they’re going outside the usual channels (to get the drug) ... and that is when you can become a victim.” 

Remember the guy who started making trades with a red paperclip and kept trading until he had a house? He traded the clip for a pen, and the pen for a doorknob, and the doorknob for a camp stove ... and on and on until he traded a role in a movie, for a house in Saskatchewan.  That story started in 2005 and it's still having an impact today. 

Most notably with Brendan Haas, 9, from Kingston, Massachusetts. He started a similar scheme -- but his goal wasn't a house.  It wasn't even for him.  Brendan wanted to bring a little joy to a randomly selected family of a fallen service member.  He wanted to trade up to a Disney vacation.

If you have ever been on a diet, you know that chips can be the enemy. Sometimes you just miss that crunchy, salty goodness of a diet-busting bag of fried potatoes. Well, here comes TV chef and author Ellie Krieger to with a new battle plan:  Get that same crunch from healthier, leafy, green kale!

You won't find this delicious recipe for in any of Chef/Nutritionist Ellie Krieger’s cookbooks -- this one's just for Morning Express viewers! PLUS, keep reading for two bonus healthier potato and pita chip recipes...

Good Morning. Robin is off today. Susan Hendricks takes the wheel.

Our Country Votes:
Mitt Romney has clinched the GOP presidential nomination. The Texas primary put him over the top. But that news is being overshadowed by all the commotion stirred up by Donald Trump. We'll get you caught up.

This is dedication, folks. A couple has been dressing in matching outfits for more than 35 years!!! 

When Joey Schwanke, 81, pulls out a purple floral-print dress, her husband Mel, 86, puts on a matching tie every single morning. And they have 146 custom-made combos to choose from.