Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Fed Chairman Talking to Lawmakers About Stumbling Economy; United Airlines Pulling All its Boeing 777s for Safety Checks; Autism: Unraveling the Mystery
Aired April 02, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins this morning.
HARRIS: Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, April 2nd. Here's what's on the rundown.
WHITFIELD: This airline passenger grounded and in court today. The FBI said his suitcase was filled with bomb parts.
HARRIS: The Fed chairman's money diagnosis. His outlook for the ailing economy live this hour.
WHITFIELD: And another big-league endorsement minutes away. Will it help Barack Obama's foreign policy portfolio? Hoosier booster in the news.
HARRIS: If you are flying United Airlines today, you may be in for a long wait. The airline pulling all its Boeing 777s out of service for safety checks. United says the plane's cargo fire suppression systems are being examined. That could mean delays or cancellations. This comes two days after United announced wiring system problems on some planes.
And last week Delta and American canceled hundreds of flights for inspections.
Three weeks ago CNN broke the story about problems with Southwest Airlines' Boeing 737s. We will continue to follow this story throughout the morning for you.
WHITFIELD: And security watch in Orlando, Florida. Scary stuff allegedly found in an airport suitcase. Did the owner plan to make a bomb? He's due in court today.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is tracking details from Miami.
Susan?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.
Yes, the FBI gives credit to TSA employees for spotting this guy. They said something about him just wasn't right. He had just checked in at the ticket counter, checked in his luggage, and suspect Kevin Brown was on his way to Jamaica from Orlando.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE KAIR, TSA, FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTOR: One of our behavior detection officers who's in plain clothes identified that he was exhibiting suspicious behaviors. After he checked in at the ticket counter they searched his checked baggage and found suspicious items in his checked bags. They were referred over to local law enforcement. Both the Orlando Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are now investigating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now inside Kevin Brown's luggage -- authorities spread some of this out on the airport curb and they showed us two galvanized pipes, end caps, BBs, batteries, liquids -- unidentified -- and a couple containers, bomb literature and a laptop computer. And keep in mind the FBI is sure to be going through all of that and they said that this man most recently have been living on the street.
He's charged with carrying explosives on to a plane, but, remember, those bomb components allegedly were checked into his luggage. So nothing had yet been put together. Brown is identified as a Jamaican national, living in the United States on a valid green card and he is expected in court later today.
WHITFIELD: All right, we look forward to that.
Susan Candiotti in Miami, thanks so much -- Tony.
HARRIS: And quickly, let's go live now to Chicago's O'Hare Airport where Regina Waldroup of affiliate CLTV is standing by.
And Regina, we were talking at the top of the newscast here about United pulling all its Boeing 777s. Are you beginning to see the impact of that announcement at O'Hare?
REGINA WALDROUP, REPORTER, CLTV: Little bit, Tony. Not too much. But right now there -- we know there is going to be an impact because United has pulled its entire fleet of 52 Boeing 77s this morning -- triple 7s rather. The airline says for fire system maintenance checks and the airline also says this is going to affect a number of international and domestic flights.
Now, United says during a regular review of maintenance records the company discovered that a functional test on the cargo fire suppression system on the Boeing 777s was not performed and this information was voluntarily disclosed to the FAA. Now United says the system is regularly tested as part of preflight safety checks. The airline says it will not operate the planes until the tests are complete.
Well, right now, United is not saying just how many flights may be canceled or delayed, Tony, but it says that it's working to provide additional aircraft in trying to accommodate passengers on other flights. So the bottom line here, Tony, is this morning they're going to be quite a few unhappy passengers when they find out that their flight is either delayed or canceled if they're flying out of -- United out of O'Hare Airport. The best thing they can do is call ahead, check their flight schedule or log on to United.com to see if, in fact, their flight is delayed or scheduled -- Tony?
HARRIS: And it doesn't sound like, Regina, this comes with any advance notice to flyers of United. It sounds like this was a case, I believe, of one of the airlines last week that there was very little advance notice that this was going to happen.
WALDROUP: No advance notice at all this morning, Tony. As a matter of fact we were working on another story when an e-mail came to our desk saying that United was doing this. We called the number, we asked specifically how many flights would be delayed or canceled. They said they couldn't tell us but they did say that this morning starting at around 5:30, 6:00 that they were beginning to performance those maintenance checks on the Boeing 777s.
HARRIS: OK, there she is. Regina Waldroup of our affiliate CLTV.
Regina, great it see you. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: The nation's economy measured words and wild markets. Stocks soared overnight in Asia. The surge fueled by yesterday's big rally on Wall Street. Today caution, however, is the watch word. Futures up slightly as U.S. markets get ready to open in less than 30 minutes from now. One big reason for restraint, this morning's update from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke. He appears before Congress at the bottom of the hour and next hour a measure of the economy's health. The government releases its report on factory orders.
HARRIS: Obama picks up an endorsement, Clinton talks jobs, and McCain recalls his Navy days. A lot happening on the campaign trail today.
This hour, Barack Obama gets the backing of former Indiana congressman, Lee Hamilton. It could boost his national security standing. Hamilton was vice chairman, you may recall, of the 9/11 Commission and co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group. Also this hour Obama speaks to union members in Philadelphia.
Hillary Clinton announces a $7 billion jobs program this morning. She outlines the plan at an economic summit in Pittsburgh and Annapolis, Maryland.
The next stop for John McCain, the Republican nominee, to be speaking this hour at the U.S. Naval Academy where he began his military career.
WHITFIELD: The Democrats, meantime, focusing on jobs and workers this morning. More on that and Obama's latest endorsement.
Dan Lothian is with the CNN Election Express. They made a stop in Philadelphia.
Dan?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Well, indeed, you know, that endorsement will be important for Barack Obama because, you know, as you know, he has been criticized not only by Senator Clinton, but also Senator John McCain for lacking in foreign policy experience and national security experience. So perhaps this is something that can bolster him -- his credentials there. Not only that, though, but being the former representative from Indiana, it could help him. That endorsement could help him as he moves on to the contest there.
But as you mentioned, yes, indeed, the economy does continue to be issue number one. Senator Barack Obama will continue his economic message as he speaks to union members here in Philadelphia today and then Senator Clinton will be in Pittsburgh focusing on the economy, as well, hoping -- holding an economic summit where she is talking about that $7 billion plan.
Essentially what it is, is to encourage these companies that are currently sending jobs overseas and getting tax breaks. Well, she wants to cut those tax breaks and provide some incentives to keep those jobs here at home. So both these candidates, again, focusing on the economy because they realize that this really is an important issue, issue number one, and also they want to reach those working class voters and those yet undecided voters here in Pennsylvania with about three weeks to go before the primary -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Right. And already, Dan, a lot of times both candidates spending a lot of time in Pennsylvania. So clearly, neither candidate feels like they can't overdo it in that state.
LOTHIAN: That's right. They're spending a lot of time on the ground here and also spending a lot of time on television. Senator Barack Obama has put up a number of ads here. In fact, he's outspent Senator Clinton 3-1 on television ads here and, of course, the effort is to not only saturate the market and try to get those undecided voters to cut into Senator Clinton's lead here, but also force her to spend a lot of money here which will take away from her spending in other states.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much, in Philadelphia -- Tony?
HARRIS: And to presidential politics and a showdown in Zimbabwe. This morning a party official says opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be the next president. But state media are reporting a presidential runoff will be the next step since neither party got more than 50 percent of the vote. The government hasn't released official numbers from weekend voting. That is raising suspicion of vote fraud by long-time president, Robert Mugabe.
CNN and other international media are banned from reporting inside Zimbabwe.
WHITFIELD: Let's check in with weather. It's been crazy lately, hasn't it?
HARRIS: Yes. Yes, yes.
WHITFIELD: We thought spring was officially here and then a look at this cold front again.
HARRIS: That was just the bonus.
WHITFIELD: I know. But it seems like it's happening everywhere, right, Rob? Confusing everyone out there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You really want make me have to go get some therapy the way you're talking about the spring.
WHITFIELD: Oh come on.
MARCIANO: That -- OK. Maybe. That's what makes spring exciting and interesting.
HARRIS: There you go.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Big-time April shower there.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARCIANO: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: You got it.
HARRIS: Here's the question. Could there be a link between autism and some premature babies? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Instability in Iraq. New information on the recent fighting in Basra and the role of U.S. troops.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Covering the angles, uncovering the details, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The role of U.S. troops in the recent fighting in Basra and the performance of Iraqi forces.
New details now from CNN's Barbara Starr from her post live at the Pentagon.
Barbara, good morning to you.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. A press conference just wrapped a little while ago with the chief U.S. spokesman in Baghdad and now the first formal indication that when General David Petraeus testifies next Tuesday here in Washington on Capitol Hill, he will address the Basra situation and the recent fighting in Iraq in some detail.
Senior U.S. military official now confirming to CNN that U.S. Special Forces were inside Basra last week during the fighting that they did engage in combat, alongside Iraqi forces. No reports at this point of any U.S. Special Forces wounded or killed. But at this briefing we learned a lot more details. Perhaps the most interesting, Iraqi security forces have now moved into the port of Basra and have taken over the security functions there.
Have a listen to what the chief's spokesman had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, SPOKESMAN, MULTI-NATL.-FORCE IRAQ: Two battalions of Iraqi army accompanied by a company of Iraqi Marines entered the ports and relieved the individuals who were providing security there and have established security there with those forces now in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Now, what's important about this, of course, is Basra is one of the economic lifelines with the port being there -- the oil port -- economic lifeline for Iraq and if there had been any question about the loyalty or capability of Iraqi security personnel there now the Iraqi government is trying to fix that. All indications are most Iraqi forces performed OK during the recent combat, but also U.S. military officials confirming Iraqi police forces remain deeply infiltrated in the south by Shia militias. That's a problem.
And in the latest development all of this comes, Tony, as the British government is confirming it will stop its expected troop withdrawals from the Basra area until this whole security situation sorts itself out.
HARRIS: Now that's very interesting. The question now becomes, whether or not the Iraqi security forces can now hold that port area.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.
Barbara, appreciate it. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Senate leaders promising to come up with a bill today that could help you if you're hit with a home foreclosure.
Gerri Willis is "Minding Your Business." Gerri, hopeful news. This is certainly the kind of help that a lot of homeowners needed. But this doesn't apply to everyone, does it?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, no. And as a matter of fact, you should know that -- you know, the Senate and Republicans and Democrats coming together in a surprise move here that could really benefit folks who are in trouble. As -- there's a laundry list here I think they're going to do. But you should know that there's a deadline out there, really, for getting anything done that will really help folks. Besides that, this legislation has to come together before July 4th to really make a difference.
Let's talk about some of the elements of that proposal. There will be $200 million to expand foreclosure counseling, $10 billion in tax exempt bonds for a local housing authorities to refinance loans that are in trouble, $4 billion to local governments to buy properties, $15,000 tax credit to folks who actually want to invest in these foreclosed properties.
And as you probably already know, the House and the Senate have been talking together about a plan to allow the FHA, the Federal Housing Administration, to insure up to $300 to $400 billion worth of loans in trouble. Now this would make a very big difference, because it would mean that, if you had one of these FHA loans, if you didn't pay, the government will be on the hook to make the payment. So that's a very big deal.
Also I want to let you hear what Senator Chris Dodd had to say about what might happen here at noon today and what he's driving for. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: We're going to come together, make a serious effort over the next number of hours and days here to pull together a package that will offer some hope and relief to those who could face foreclosure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: So big pressure on these folks to get some kind of bill out. A lot of pressure from constituents who really want to see some changes made. As many as 1.5 million Americans here facing foreclosure in the next year as their subprime loans reset -- Fred?
WHITFIELD: Interesting about this package, too, some incentives or maybe even tax breaks for these developers who are in trouble. I mean you can't go down a street and wonder all these houses going up, all these, you know, condominiums going up, but everyone's in trouble.
Meantime, let's talk about Wall Street.
WILLIS: Right.
WHITFIELD: New quarter with a big bang. HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: How about that stock market rally, though.
WILLIS: Yes, how about that stock market rally. Almost 400 points. 391 points on the Dow. That's about 3.2 percent. The other indices did well, too. You can see the NASDAQ up 3.7 in a single day. You know, we've been here before where we've had great big old rallies. About two weeks ago, we had a 400-point rally and that kind of fizzled out and went away. Be interesting to see what happened.
Here's what's going on this morning and you need to know about it. Ben Bernanke will be speaking this morning. This is the first chance that the Congress has had a chance to actually talk to him about the decisions he made around Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment bank. Some say that the Fed actually just bailed out Bear Stearns, debate over how to actually characterize what they did, but, certainly, the Fed's interest there was making sure that the system was safe and got involved in that and bring that situation to a close.
But he will be on the hot seat today in front of Congress for the first time, really, to talk about his decisions with that. Guys?
WHITFIELD: All right, Gerri Willis, thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: Boy, talk about the Fed chairman. Every word sliced, diced, overanalyzed. Ben Bernanke, what is he telling your lawmakers about the economy?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We are unraveling the mystery of autism this week. And tied to that, a new study coming up this morning. That research found that about a quarter of babies born very prematurely had signs of autism on an early screening test.
Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with more on the study.
Sanjay, is it possible? I keep hearing this 18-month window.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
HARRIS: It's really important for parent in determining whether or not getting their children in to find out if, they might, in fact, have a child with autism. Is it possible that we might be able to determine this in infancy?
GUPTA: I'm a little skeptical of that. The 18-month window, as you know, sort of comes -- because that's when a child starts to talk and to walk.
HARRIS: Yes. And the connection, the eyes, and following you and those sorts of things. GUPTA: And if they're not doing it, the parents say, well, wait a second, what's going on here?
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: To diagnose it earlier is admittedly difficult, in part, because every child is so different. I have two girls and you have children.
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: They just -- everyone is different.
HARRIS: True.
GUPTA: What this study was about was a little bit interesting. They actually -- a study that looked at 91 premature babies born at least ten weeks prematurely, and what they found was 25 percent of them eventually went on to show some signs of autism.
HARRIS: Oh OK.
GUPTA: So what to do with that information? Not exactly sure. A premature baby has all sort of different issues, often G.I. issues related to the intestines, related to the heart. A lot of times doctors and researchers don't pay as much attention to what might be subtle signs of early autism.
To your point, though, Tony, let me just say a couple things...
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: ...about what some of these early signs might be, because -- and again, take this with a grain of salt in terms of every child is going to be a little different here. Lack of a social smile by three months, failure to make eye contact...
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: ...no single word by 15 months, and I'll add to that, no sort of phrases, couple-word phrases by 24 months.
Again, very rough guidelines here.
HARRIS: Absolutely. But important, important guidelines.
I want to ask what's coming up in terms of your reporting on the story. You've done such tremendous work for...
GUPTA: Thank you.
HARRIS: ...so far this week, pieces that we will be running the rest of the weekend throughout the month, but I know you have a special, as well.
GUPTA: Yes. We have a special coming up where we're actually going to really take you inside the world of someone who has autism, and we're also going to talk a lot about a lot of the misconceptions and perceptions about autism which don't exist.
But Tony, let me tell you.
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: We're getting stories from all over the world. CNN.com, IREPORT.com, you will watch these stories and if you -- like anybody else, your heart will be touched by them.
If I could, let me just show you a small glimpse of that.
HARRIS: Take a look. Go ahead. Go ahead.
GUPTA: Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN ISAAC, SON OF CATHI KERSEN: Hi, this is Stephen Isaac, and this is my home.
CATHI KERSEN, MOTHER OF AUTISTIC TWINS: Although they're identical twins the autism affects both of them differently. When they were younger and we would go out to the store or something they would freak out. I carried with me at all times the paperwork from the doctor saying that they had autism. It's gotten better now. They're 15 years old. They're just very sweet boys.
SANDRA TRAMMELL, MOTHER OF AUTISTIC MILA: Mila was diagnosed with autism at 18 months. When we started early intervention on her, they had to teach her emotions. They would reward her with things she liked like candy. But in the end, she wanted just praise and hugs. She got so excited when she got praised.
SELMA CROSBY, MOTHER OF AUTISTIC JOSHUA: Joshua, he had such a mission to fill in his life. He loved every person no matter what your situation, status or anything, yet he had a 2-year-old's brain. Joshua died of a heart that was two times his size. I feel like he had a mission of love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: I just spent days just looking at those videos and you can go to IREPORT.com, as well and check them out. I mean these are real stories.
HARRIS: Wow.
GUPTA: I mean they had a perspective that so many people don't have.
HARRIS: Yes, they have.
GUPTA: They've actually lived and dealt with this.
HARRIS: That's terrific. Can't wait for the specials.
GUPTA: Thanks.
HARRIS: Sanjay, great reporting on this.
GUPTA: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: Let's drive you to the special again. "Finding Amanda." Sanjay introduces us to people living with autism who show us how they experience the world. Now, see it tonight, 11:00 Eastern on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" right here on CNN.
WHITFIELD: Want to take you on the campaign trail. Let's go to Philadelphia first. Take a look right now. Democratic contender Barack Obama's there at the AFL-CIO and the Associated Press is also reporting that it is possible that former Indiana senator, Lee Hamilton, will be endorsing Obama, which certainly will put a real feather in his cap in terms of his national standing on security.
Meantime, just head south a bit to Annapolis, Maryland. And there you see Republican or presumptive Republican nominee John McCain there. He's at his alma mater of the naval academy there in Annapolis.
And of course, you can continue to watch these candidates right here at CNN.com. You can watch it live, that video being streamed, one right there, live on CNN.com/Live.
HARRIS: And time for Congress to smell the bacon. The book on pork barrel spending out this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. We're going to get you to the New York Stock Exchange, but we'll do that in just a couple of moments.
WHITFIELD: All right. We will indeed. Well, there you go.
HARRIS: All right.
WHITFIELD: Dow up just 3 points. We just didn't get to hear the fun little ding-dong ringing of the bell.
HARRIS: And the question today is, can we resist the urge...
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, (INAUDIBLE), 3 points, now just barely 8 points.
HARRIS: Can we resist the urge of a sell off after yesterday's big run up? We, of course, are going to be following the market with Susan Lisovicz. We're down a little bit in the CNN NEWSROOM throughout the morning. WHITFIELD: Extremely volatile but perhaps the numbers will change as soon as Ben Bernanke takes to the microphones there where damage control is certainly under way on Capitol Hill.
At any moment we'll hear from the nation's top banker, Ben Bernanke, right there. Or at least moments ago, you just saw him sitting in the chair. The Fed chairman talking to lawmakers about the stumbling economy. You're looking right now at Charles Schumer in his opening remarks. Bernanke's vow, the Federal Reserve will do whatever it takes to keep the housing and credit crisis from getting worse. We'll carry his remarks live when his testimony gets under way.
HARRIS: $17 billion in pork? My goodness. Your lawmakers pet projects all outlined in the annual Pig Book being released right now.
CNN's Kate Bolduan is in Washington for us.
Kate, good morning.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. As you mentioned, they are releasing the findings in this Pig Book right now at a press conference. But we have gotten a little bit of a heads up on exactly what is included in this. As you mentioned, it's called the Pig Book. It is a very funny name but we are talking about some very serious cash here.
It's compiled and put out by non-partisan watchdog group called Citizen's Against Government Waste. And basically what it is, is they track and then put out this report. An annual report of the year's earmarks. And of course, who these earmarks are for and where they are going to.
Now, according to the summary, there are more than $17 billion this year went towards more than 11,000 earmarks. And that of course is fiscal year 2008. And that brings the total amount of congressional earmarks to $271 billion since 1991.
Now broken down by state, Alaska received the most money in earmarks and that is followed by Hawaii and North Dakota. The state with the least amount of Earmarks is Arizona. Also in this summary, they put out -- kind of a highlight of what they called their award winners of pork. And there are many of them. And they span on both sides of the aisle, both Democrats and Republicans.
One example is the Democratic Congressman from California Mike Thompson who received the award for the -- the award of French Kiss Off Award from this group for Olive Fruit Fly Research. And the president of the watchdog group describes this a little better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM SCHATZ, CITIZEN AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE: Congressman Mike Thompson of California added $211,509 for olive fruit fly research in France. We gave it the French Kiss Off Award. Pretty much his attitude towards the taxpayers. The fruit flies only live for about a week. So it's unclear how they would have any impact on the health and general welfare of people in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Now, the congressman, Congressman Thompson -- he defends the earmarks. And he issued a statement to say that olive fruit flies are the single largest threat to the United States olive and olive oil industries. And he had requested the earmark -- and put the money to France because he says that's where the USDA's research facility for this. So, he says that is why he has it.
Tony?
HARRIS: OK, all right. The olive fruit fly. OK, how did the presidential candidates, Kate, line-up in terms of earmarks?
BOLDUAN: Well, when it comes to the presidential candidates, they weren't the biggest purveyors of pork as they would say, but they did ask for quite a bit of money. Senator Obama directed $97 million to 53 earmarks. Senator Clinton, we find out, directed $296 million to 281 earmarks. And Senator McCain, he had none and he has been a long-time critic of earmarks.
HARRIS: All right. Now, on Capitol Hill, Kate Bolduan for us this morning. Kate, appreciate it. Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Tony.
WHITFIELD: All right. Perhaps you're flying United Airlines today. Warning, you may be in for a long wait. The airline pulling all its Boeing 777s out of service for safety checks. United says the plane's cargo fire suppression systems are being examined. That could mean delays or even cancellations. This comes two days after United announced wiring system problems aboard some of the planes.
And last week Delta and American canceled hundreds of flights for inspections. Three weeks ago, CNN broke the story about problems with Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s. And we'll continue to follow developments at United throughout the morning as well.
HARRIS: Boy, a different kind of problem causing flight delays in the northeast. We're talking about high winds. We're checking in with Rob Marciano in the severe weather center.
Rob, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, he doesn't leave work at the office. We'll talk to a doctor who treats children with autism, then he actually comes home to one of his own children with autism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Parents know best. When it comes to autism doctors and therapists are not just good resources for parents, parents are good resources for them. Dr. Roy Sanders is the author of "How to Talk to Parents about Autism." He is also the parent of an autistic son and is on the staff of Marcus Institute here in Atlanta.
Dr. Sanders, good it see you.
DR. ROY SANDERS, PSYCHIATRIST, THE MARCUS INSTITUTE: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about the basics of how you even identify -- what is autism.
SANDERS: The problem is autism is a very, very complex disorder that has multiple causes. The main things about autism though are that you have problems with socialization and being able to engage socially. They have problems with language, using language, and some people with autism aren't able to use language at all and have difficulty with communication in general.
And you also have problems with being ridged and fix and getting stuck and not being able to move off of other things and move into a different situation.
WHITFIELD: And sometimes a parent will see that and see those things but not really know that these are signs.
SANDERS: Right.
WHITFIELD: So, how do you discern, you know, the signs, the real flags versus these are things that developmentally will differ from child to child?
SANDERS: I think probably the main thing to look for, especially young children under one, is to look and see whether the child is engaging the parents. You know, how little babies will flirt back and forth with their parents and try to get them to look at different things and be engaged with them.
Kids with autism aren't able to do that. They can't do that social engagement. That social reciprocity. And so they have difficulty with that. And that's one of the first signs you notice. And then of course the big sign becomes difficulties with -- you know, are they developing language and then problems with -- are they getting stuck and unable to do things. Do they have a lot of difficulty?
WHITFIELD: So now as a parent you've recognized this or perhaps you had some expert advice to weigh in and say, OK, yes, your child is autistic. So now what? What is the treatment? You know, what is the plan of attack?
SANDERS: It's you know -- it's a little bit different for every child. But the main thing we know is that early intervention seems to make a big difference. I think it made a big difference for our son having early intervention.
And the early intervention usually includes a lot of language therapy, occupational therapy, generally applied behavioral analysis interventions. Although, there are some other interventions out there to help the child to begin to engage and to learn the language, and be able to communicate and then break from some of the rigid behavior so that they can go on and move and be engaged with the world.
WHITFIELD: This really is going to take a lot of patience, though. Doesn't it?
SANDERS: Oh, it takes a lot of patient.
WHITFIELD: And you know, one of the most important things is you know, parents need to trust their instincts. Because sometimes, we, as parents are waiting for someone to tell us what to do and how to identify something. But if you recognize that something is just not right.
SANDERS: Right.
WHITFIELD: Go with those instincts?
SANDERS: Yes. You need to go with instincts and get it checked out because the earlier the better in terms of the intervention. I even had to argue with my own pediatrician about Frankie's diagnosis, even though I've been doing this for almost 30 years now. Because he thought that I was being, you know, overly concerned or overly anxious.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And we're looking at a picture of Frankie right there. He's 11 right now. This really has to have been a remarkable challenge. Here you are working with everybody else's autistic children, identifying, -- you know, answering the question about whether vaccines do indeed -- you know what, are they a culprit to this? And then, you come home and you're dealing with the challenges yourself right there in your own home. How do you balance this and how do you do it?
SANDERS: Well, it was really tough at first. And but, I tell you, that having Frankie has probably taught more about autism and more about being a parent and more about how to deal with doctors and how to deal with schools and other professionals than anything I could have ever learned anywhere else.
WHITFIELD: Do you think you're at a greater advantage or maybe disadvantage because you know so much about it?
SANDERS: I think most of the time I'm at a greater advantage. But in terms of with Frankie, most of the time, I'm still just a parent. And he lets me know very clearly that I don't know everything that I think I know.
WHITFIELD: All right. You think he is developing well. I mean, given the kinds of treatments you now are aware of. Had it not been for that, it might been a lot more difficult for you and for Frankie?
SANDERS: I think -- probably, at age 5, he was still pretty classically autistic and pretty withdrawn into his world even though we've been doing the (INAUDIBLE) behavioral interventions for a long. And he didn't even spontaneously hug either one of us until he was 5 years old. And now, he is at the point where he wants to be engaged socially and he actually has friends that he loves and he enjoys. WHITFIELD: Oh, that's sweet. OK, well, best of luck and all the best to you and Frankie and the entire family.
SANDERS: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Roy Sanders, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
SANDERS: Thank you. Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: We're all learning so much about autism. We want you to stay with us all day for our coverage on autism, including at noon Eastern, a one-hour special.
We have autism focusing on families, living with autism around the world. And stay up for "Finding Amanda," a one hour "ANDERSON COOPER 360" special at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. It's about a woman with autism that you won't forget. Also, follow our coverage on cnn.com where you can see how you can help. Watch I-report and read blogs from families dealing with autism every day. It will really touch your heart and really open up your awareness and understanding.
HARRIS: Well, that was great. That was great.
A father facing hard truths about autism's hold.
Three siblings, one typical, one doing better, one losing ground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: We want to take you straight to Capitol Hill. Right now, you are looking at live pictures of the Joint Economic Committee right now. This is the vice chair, Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York.
In her introductory remarks, all this because what we're awaiting are remarks coming from the fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, before the Joint Economic Committee. It is expected. He will have some answers to questions about foreclosures, about banks, to name a few.
He's waiting his turn right now after hearing from the New York chair of the committee -- Charles Schumer and now Representative Maloney. So, momentarily, of course, when Ben Bernanke takes to the mike to answer some of those questions, we will be bringing those to you, live.
HARRIS: This is a story of two families affected by autism. Two boys, one who has responded to intense therapy and one who has not. Here's CNN's Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight year old David Slatkin is autistic, so is 11 year old Ari Kantor. But while Ari can play the piano, shoot baskets, ride a bike, type and even speak, David has never uttered a word. And despite years of intensive therapy, he's not getting better. Nobody knows why. HARRY SLATKIN, SON HAS AUTISM: The window of hope is getting smaller for us. And that's a hard thing.
CHO: We first introduce you to the Slatkins nearly two years ago. Back then, David, who is severely autistic, was well enough to go the park with his twin sister, Ali. His parents say they've tried everything, more than two dozen medications along with round the clock care, but David is not responding. And today, he's so aggressive his family is scared to let him leave the house to play.
ALI SLATKIN, BROTHER HAS AUTISM: He's getting much bigger and stronger, so it's coming to be harder to take care of him.
CHO: The Slatkins are now considering what was once unimaginable, sending David away to this in patient facility near Boston that specializes in children with autism.
H. SLATKIN: It's hard because you have to grapple with the fact that I do have a normal daughter, but I'll never have a normal son.
CHO: The Slatkins say they'll try to make that agonizing decision soon. Ari is exceeding his parents and doctor's expectations. And with good therapy and some luck, they hope their son might be able to make his own bed, do the laundry and go out to eat.
LAURA SLATKIN, SON HAS AUTISM: My big hope is that, one day, there will be someone who will love Ari, who isn't related to him and who we don't pay.
CHO (on camera): When you think about David as a grown man, what is your great hope for him?
L. SLATKIN: That he's happy. All we care about is happiness. We just want to see him smile.
I love you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Oh, Alina. Alina Cho joining us now from New York. Well, that got to us. That one definitely got to us here. Does anyone have any idea why these two boys responded so differently to what was essentially the same treatment?
CHO: Tony, really, the short answer is no. Listen, it's one of the great mysteries of autism, as I mentioned earlier. Both boys were diagnosed with autism, really at about the same age. Ari, the boy who is doing a bit better at 23 months and David at 17 months.
As you mentioned, both received essentially the same rigorous therapy, but they went in different directions and nobody knows why. Listen, if you think about it, Tony -- if you think of autism as being really a short circuit of the brain, David's wiring, if you will, is a bit off. He's just not cognitively processing information and to that, all of the aggressive behavior that he's been exhibiting, especially over the past year. That is why his parents are now faced with what is likely the stag reality of sending him away to an in-patient facility in Boston.
Listen, I have known the Slatkins over the past several years. It is very sad when this happens to strangers, even sadder when it happens to friends.
HARRIS: What a story. Man, we're -- it hurts us here. It hurts us. Alina, thank you for that.
CHO: You bet.
HARRIS: We are going to go all day and night with coverage of "Autism: Unraveling the Mystery." Watch a special edition of CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 Eastern. Actress, Jenny McCarthy, who has written about treating her autistic son is a guest also on the show. A leading pediatrician and the parents of triplets, my goodness, triplets with autism.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And here's an about face to the whole issue of autism. This woman followed her news to inspire children with autism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Had a voice inside that said teach children with special needs how to act, and sing, and dance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Totally different approach to it all. A mother and a director aims to bust myths through a musical.
And we want to take you straight to Capitol Hill right now. We've been waiting all morning for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to answer questions and here he is right now.
BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: I am pleased to appear before the Joint Economic Committee. In response to deterioration and the near-term outlook for the economy and intensified strains in financial markets, in recent months the Federal Reserve has eased monetary policy substantially further and taken strong actions to increase market liquidity.
My remarks today, I will first offer my views on conditions in financial markets and the outlook for the U.S. economy and then discuss recent actions taken by the Federal Reserve. Although, our recent actions appear to have helped stabilize the situation somewhat, financial markets remain under considerable stress.
Pressures and short term bank funding markets, which had abated somewhat beginning late last year have increased once again. Many lenders have been reluctant to provide credit to counterparties, especially leverage investors and have increased the amount of collateral they require to back short-term security financing agreements. To meet those demands, investors have reduced their leverage and liquidated holdings of securities, putting further downward pressure on security prices.
Credit availability also has been restricted because some large financial institutions, including some commercial and investment banks and government-sponsored enterprises have reported substantial losses and write downs reducing their available capital. Several of these firms have been able to raise fresh capital to offset at least some of these losses and others are in the process of doing so.
However, financial institutions balance sheets have also expanded as banks and other institutions have taken on their balance sheets, various assets that can no longer be financed on a stand-alone basis. Thus, the capacity and willingness of some large institutions to extend new credit remains limited. The effects of these financial strains on credit, costs and availability have become increasingly evident with some portions of the system that have previously escaped the worst of the turmoil such as the markets for municipal bonds and student loans having been affected.
Another market that has previously been largely exempt from disruption was that for mortgage-backed securities issued by government agencies. However, beginning in mid-February, worsening liquidity conditions and report of losses at the GSE's Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the spread of agency MBS yields over the yields on comparable treasury securities to rise sharply.
Together with the increased fees imposed by the GSE's, the rise in the spread resulted in higher interest rates on conforming mortgages. More recently, agency MBS spreads and conforming mortgage rates have retraced part of this increase and conforming mortgages continue to be readily available to households.
However, for the most part, the nonconforming segment of the mortgage market continues to function poorly. In corporate debt markets, yields and spreads on both investment grade expected to degrade corporate bonds rose through mid-March before falling more recently. The issuance of investment grave bonds by both financial and non-financial corporations has been quite robust so far this year.
But issuance of new high-yield debt has stalled. Strains continue to be evident in the commercial paper market, as well, where risk spreads remains elevated and the quantity of commercial paper, particularly asset-backed paper outstanding has decreased.
Commercial and industrial loans at banks grew in January and February, but at a considerably slower pace than in previous months. These developments in financial markets, which themselves reflect in part greater concerns about housing and the economic outlook more generally have weighed on real economic activity.
Notably, in the housing market sales of both new and existing homes have generally continued weak partly as a result of reduce availability of mortgage credit and home prices have continued to fall. Starts of new single family homes declined an additional 7 percent in February bringing the cumulative decline since the early 2000 peak, 2006 peak in single family starts to more than 60 percent.
Residential construction is likely to contract somewhat further in coming quarters as builders try to reduce their high inventories of unsold new homes. Private payroll employment fell $101,000 in February after two months of smaller job losses with job cuts in construction and closely-related industries accounting for significant share of the decline.
But the demand for labor has also moderated recently in another industry such as business services and retail trade. And manufacturing employment has continued on its downward trend. Meanwhile, claims for unemployment insurance have risen somewhat unbalanced and surveys indicate that employers have scaled back hiring plans and that job seekers are fighting greater difficulty in finding work. Again, employment rate edge down in February and remains at a relatively low level.
However, in light of the sluggishness of economic activity and other indicators of the softer labor market, I expected to move somewhat higher in coming months. After rising on an annual rate of about three percent over the first three quarters of last year, real disposal income has since increase at only about at one percent annual rate, reflecting weaker employment conditions and higher prices for energy and food.
Concerns about employment and income prospects, together with declining home values and tighter credit conditions have caused consumer spending to decelerate considerably from the solid pay seen during the first three quarters of last year. I expect the tax rebates associated with a fiscal stimulus package recently passed by the Congress to provide some support to consumer spending in coming quarters.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
