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Swine Flu Not Yet Confirmed in Case of Sick New York Students; Fatal Shooting Near University of Georgia Campus

Aired April 25, 2009 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We want to continue our push on swine flu and what is it? There are a number of confirmed deaths confirmed in Mexico and now there are also been some confirmed cases, eight cases in the United States but all of the eight people who have contracted the swine flu, which is similar to the influenza strain we're all familiar with as humans, but it mostly has been confined to pigs. Apparently there have been eight confirms cases in the U.S., but all of those eight people recovered without anti-viral.

There are other suspicions about 75 other students in the New York area that they may have contracted this swine flu, but the New York State Department of Health has conducted some tests. There are some preliminary results now that might ease some concerns of parents and people in the New York area.

Let's get right to Susan Candiotti in New York with the very latest on this -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. This is new information coming straight from the New York City Health Department, and that is this, they had done some testing on about -- after reports of about 100 students who had taken ill at St. Francis Preparatory School. That's a high school in Queens.

They took nine swabs and the preliminary results have come in showing that this is type a influenza, which, according to authorities, leaves open the possibility that swine flu is involved. That is not yet confirmed. It simply means they are sending samples to the CDC Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta so that sub typing is done to determine for sure whether this is swine flu or something else.

So, again, still no confirmation but they did determine preliminarily that swine flu -- excuse me -- the type influenza is involved, which leaves open the possibility that it is swine flu but further testing must be done. Again the sample is being sent to the CDC in Atlanta. They hope to get results back as early as tomorrow. Could be until Monday.

But until then, officials at the St. Francis School tell us they have sanitized the building, washing down the walls, washing down the desks. At this point classes will resume on schedule Monday. However, they canceled an event at the school Friday night. A reunion dinner is taking place at the school as scheduled tonight.

WHITFIELD: Susan, just to be clear for those who are just now joining us and hearing about this for the first time, the reason why New York officials were a bit concerned, 75 students all, I guess, showing signs of exposure to flu-like symptoms that sometimes can be confused, what we are now learning, with swine flu.

The reason why they did this is because the eight confirmed cases, even though they were in Texas and in California, the volume of students that may have come down with similar symptoms that was the reason to be concerned, right?

CANDIOTTI: That's right. And so no -- they didn't want to risk anything. After they had a large number of students, 75, as many as 100, according to the Health Department here, started reporting that they weren't feeling well on Thursday. In fact, one student said that the students were lined up outside the nurse's office on Thursday afternoon. The information was passed on by the-- from the school to the health department.

The Health Department came out to the school on Friday afternoon and took swabs from only nine students, oral swabs, and this is what they had been testing, and this is why we have the preliminary results showing as type a, which, again, needs further testing to determine whether it is a subtype of swine flu. Again, they don't know for sure just yet.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Susan Candiotti, appreciate it.

U.S. Health officials stress that there is no reason to panic about swine flu. But people at risk who have the symptoms should see a doctor. Those symptoms include a high fever, 101, or 102, overwhelming fatigue, a lack of appetite and coughing, swine flu is a strain of influenza usually found in pigs. Typically people get it after coming into direct contact with an infected animal. Although with this particular strain, officials say it appears there may be some reason to believe that there has been person-to-person transmission.

You cannot get swine flu by eating pork, however. The World Health Organization has decided to wait at least another day to decide if the deadly swine flu outbreak is indeed a global public health emergency. Right now, the focal point is Mexico, where there have been nearly 70 flu-related deaths. The World Health Organization says 20 of those who died did indeed; they are confirming 20 of those who died did have swine flu.

That strain in Mexico. About 1,000 people have gotten sick. Daily life in Mexico City has become -- has rather come to a halt. There are eight confirmed cases in Texas and California. Not fatal. I talked a short time ago with the spokesman for the W.H.O., World Health Organization. Gregory Hartl talked about how it is still too early to get a clear picture of exactly what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The majority of these cases, particularly as they pertain to deaths related to swine flu, have been in Mexico over what span of time are we talking?

GREGORY HARTL, SPOKESMAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Apparently it's over the last month. There are a lot of different causes for what's been going on in Mexico, which might explain the different patterns you have seen. You said 60 deaths but actually we only had 20 which are confirmed by swine flu. There might be a lot of other things going on, different types of flu, and other respiratory diseases that cause pneumonia. So we don't have a clear picture yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The high school outside San Antonio where two students had the swine flu and a third probably does has closed down at least for now. Health officials in Guadeloupe County don't want to take a chance of this virus spreading. Six of the eight confirmed cases in the U.S. are from southern California. Health officials there are preparing for more and have some advice for residents.

More now from Ed Lenderman. He's with CNN affiliate KUSI in San Diego.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LENDERMAN, KUSI REPORTER: The newest instance of swine flu in San Diego County involves a 7-year-old boy, bringing to four the number of cases here. The others were a 10-year-old boy and a 54-year- old father and his 16-year-old daughter. Two cases have been reported in Imperial County and we should note all of the patients have recovered.

Nationwide, the number of swine flu cases stands at eight. The other two in San Antonio, Texas. The county's public health officer emphasizes the cases have been mild but says there's no question there will be more in our area.

DR. WILMA WOOTEN, SAN DIEGO COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER: We are conducting increased or heightened surveillance through our sentinel clinics and emergency departments.

LENDERMAN: In Mexico City, however, schools, museums, libraries and state-run theaters are closed after the deaths of at least 20 people and perhaps dozens more in central Mexico, 40 other fatalities are being probed. At least 943 people are sick. Health officials say the strain is unlike any previously detected and is being spread from human to human.

Doctor Wooten says epidemiologists from the CDC and the state are in San Diego right now helping local officials investigate our cases. Our county and Imperial County were the first to report a case in the U.S. But so far the public health officer says there's been no direct link to them from Mexico.

WOOTEN: There is concern to make sure that, we number one, find out about the characteristics of this virus and heighten our surveillance so we can determine whether or not the extent of the person-to-person transmission, how rapidly it is spreading. LENDERMAN: While there are no travel restrictions involving Mexico in effect, Dr. Wooten cautions that people who are feeling ill shouldn't be traveling period, nor should they be going to school or work. As for avoiding getting sick, the usual precautions apply, while there is no vaccine for the strain, be sure to wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.

Again, with the approaching weekend, there's increased surveillance both at public health and our local hospitals and clinics for any patient reporting flu-like symptoms. Why are people dying in Mexico when the cases in the U.S. have not been nearly as severe? Dr. Wooten points out our flu season here in San Diego, which is at the tail end, has been pretty mild. Mexico's flu season, she says, is still going on. But she does anticipate the possibility that some of our future cases could be severe.

Ed Lenderman, KUSI News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And at 4:00 Eastern, we will devote an entire hour of the NEWSROOM to this swine flu outbreak. Your medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will be here with us. As well Gregory Hartl from the World Health Organization, along with others. Of course, we will be answering your questions, because we know you have a lot of them on swine flu. Send us your questions at weekends@CNN.com. or on Facebook, Fredricka Whitfield CNN or Josh Levs at Facebook. It is very confusing and rather alarming issue, swine flu.

Meantime, also alarming, this breaking news story we're following out of Athens, Georgia. Police are searching for a professor, Professor George Zinkhan, who is suspected of a shooting near the University of Georgia Campus. Happen today the county coroner confirmed the death to CNN the University sent out an alert telling students to use extreme caution if they saw Professor Zinkhan.

Also with us now on the line is a professor of the broadcast television news division there at UGA, Michael Castengera he is with us right now. I understand, professor that your daughter was at the location of the shooting and was a witness to the shooting, this fatal shooting that took place right outside of a theater off campus of UGA and police are questioning her right now?

MICHAEL CASTENGERA, PROFESSOR, UNIV. OF GA: That's correct.

WHITFIELD: What did she see?

CASTENGERA: Well, I can't answer you fully because we have been communicating through text messaging. My daughter sent me a text message about 1:00 this afternoon saying that three people had been shot and killed, but that she was OK and that she, along with others, was being questioned by police.

WHITFIELD: Did she say she felt pretty shaken up about what she saw in her text messaging to you? CASTENGERA: Well, I don't think you can do that in a text message exactly, but I would say that the fact of the matter is two of the people are very close friends of hers so I think we can pretty safely assume that.

WHITFIELD: Now, your daughter was part of a theater group, right, and that's why she was at this performing arts center. So are you telling me that the two people she was close to are indeed students and were also members of this theater community that your daughter was involved in?

CASTENGERA: I can't answer that they are students, no. The actual group we're talking about is called the Town and Gown Players. It's a private -- it's not necessarily part of the university. It's just a local community theater. One of self-here in Athens. My daughter is on the board of the theater, along with several other people.

WHITFIELD: Describe for me the activity that was taking place there today. Was it a rehearsal? Was there actually a show going on? What do you know?

CASTENGERA: It wasn't a show going on to my knowledge. To my knowledge what they were doing was possibly a holding a board meeting or a general gathering of the board.

WHITFIELD: As I said, you teach broadcast news and run the television station there at UGA, correct.

CASTENGERA: That's correct -- well, yes. University of Georgia's Research Foundation bought a television station, WNGE. So I'm sure in dual roles. One, the biggest role, is simply my daughter is here and I'm here to see what I can do to help her, obviously.

WHITFIELD: So, professor ...

CASTENGERA: The other part is I'm also a news person and I'm helping to arrange our news coverage as well.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. That's very complicated situation, given your personal involvement but at the same time, you know, you're teaching community there, your students who are trying to cover this as best they can. Given though it happened off campus, its part of the campus community.

CASTENGERA: The ones covering it, we have a professional news department here. I have my news director and one of our reporters here. We also have a student news crew here as well covering it.

WHITFIELD: Your professor is there with the broadcast news department there at UGA, but did you know or do you know anything about Professor George Zinkhan, who is this suspect in this shooting and apparently police are still looking for him. There is a description, but I will let me tell you if you know him and what you know about him, if you do indeed know him? CASTENGERA: No, I don't know him. I believe -- I would be purely guessing. But he's not associated with the Grady College at all so I wouldn't know him.

WHITFIELD: Police are describing that he was last seen wearing a polo shirt, blue shorts, and backpack. He was thought to be in a red car in the area of Prince Avenue. Is Prince Avenue where that theater is located?

CASTENGERA: The theater is just off Prince Avenue, which is just on the outskirts of the Athens downtown proper.

WHITFIELD: And what's -- how is this information being disseminated on campus? What are you hearing from other students and faculty on campus who are now trying to use this information instructively but at the same time people have to be a little nervous on campus, if not frightened?

CASTENGERA: Yeah. I can't answer for them, obviously. I can just tell you that basically, there's -- you know, a bunch of rumors obviously going around but we do have some of the information that we're fairly clear about in terms of circumstances. But the UGA established some time ago an emergency alert system.

So we have more than 30,000 students and another 6,000 faculty and staff. Everybody can sign up either by e-mail or by cell phone to get an alert if there's something of an emergency nature that happens and that's where most of the people were alerted that this professor has indeed a suspect in a murder. And that he was on the loose.

WHITFIELD: University of Georgia says the campus is not on lockdown, but from your vantage point, what are you seeing on campus, are there certain roads blocked off? Is there greater police presence in areas of the campus aside from where the theater -- where the scene of the crime took place? Are you seeing evidence of ...

CASTENGERA: No, let me clarify. I am not on campus. I'm at the community theater because that's where my daughter is and that's where this is happening. The campus is approximately about two miles from here. To my knowledge, what I have heard from others is there is no lockdown and people are proceeding as normal fairly well, I'm quite sure. The UGA police are on alert and looking around. But I can't say that I know that by seeing it.

WHITFIELD: Got you. Professor Michael Castengera, thank you very much for your time and all the best for your daughter who is currently being questioned by police as being a witness to the crime. Our hearts go out to her since you mentioned two of the three people that were killed were her friends. Thank you very much for your time, professor.

Of course, we will continue to follow the developments taking place near the campus of the University of Georgia, a shooting, confirmation now. Three people killed and now a UGA professor is the prime suspect as carrying out that shooting. Police are asking for the community's cooperation in finding him. Meantime with the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, and some cases right here in the U.S., could we see a full-blown flu pandemic? An expert on the worldwide flu outbreak in 1918 gives us his thoughts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: More now on our top story. Cases of swine flu in Mexico and here in the U.S. The head of the World Health Organization says this is a serious situation that has the potential of becoming a pandemic. More than 1,000 people have been infected with swine flu in Mexico. At least 68 people have died there, and the W.H.O. says 20 of those deaths are confirmed swine flu cases. In the U.S., there have been eight cases, six in southern California, and two in San Antonio, Texas, as it pertains to swine flu. But all of them recovered here in the U.S.

As scary as it may seem, a flu pandemic has happened before. In 1918, a deadly flu outbreak swept across the U.S. and the world. Tens of millions of people died. John Barry is an award-winning author who has written about that deadly pandemic. His book "The Great Influenza" won the best academic award from the National Academy of Science. He is joining us now live from New Orleans, good to see you.

JOHN BARRY, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT INFLUENZA:" Thank you.

WHITFIELD: When we talk about what happened in 1918, are we talking about the equivalent of what we know to be type influenza, a common strain of flu at times?

BARRY: Type an influenza virus are really the only ones that cause epidemics. Most of the seasonal flu is type a that's not the important thing about the virus. It's what the antigens are like, what it binds to in the body, how the immune system recognizes it. When you get a new virus entering the population, nobody's immune system can recognize it and that's when it spreads all over the world pretty rapidly and you get obviously a pandemic.

WHITFIELD: Is that what we are talking -- a prelude about what we are talking about now? Because when you talk about, I guess, certain antibodies that those systems is not necessarily recognizing, we are hearing interesting explanations about this version of the swine flu, that it isn't kind of a compilation, it's a compilation from bird flu, regular influenza. Why is it, though, if there were eight cases in the U.S. that these people did not need any anti-viral and they seemed to recover? Yet you've got in Mexico a host of people who have died from it?

BARRY: Well, in Mexico, you don't know how many people are sick. It might be 10,000. It could be 100,000. So on the percentage wise basis; you don't really know how representative those numbers are. It's very important to figure out before you can say how dangerous the disease is. In the U.S., there may be, you know, almost certainly there are more than the eight reported cases but certainly not in the large numbers.

So it could just be random chance, because even if the most severe influenza outbreaks that we know about ever, 1918 chief among them, the overwhelming majority of people just had what looks like a normal, everyday influenza attack and recovered.

WHITFIELD: Could it be that it would be more virulent or is it the case where it's more virulent in Mexico right now, and that perhaps it's a more diluted version, if indeed there can be such a thing, in the U.S.?

BARRY: That's theoretically possible that as it passes from one person to another person, it could actually attenuate and become weaker. That would obviously be a good thing. Even if that were the case, it would still be a very serious threat.

WHITFIELD: What's your concern? Are we on the precipice of something sizable and big or is this controllable in your view right now?

BARRY: I think it's really up to the virus. I don't think there's anything that the World Health Organization or the U.S. government could do right now to intervene and stop this.

WHITFIELD: That's not very comforting to hear.

BARRY: No, I mean, you already have at least 1,000 cases in the U.S. and Mexico. It's too widespread to contain it. The hope is that if it's a very mild virus or if it peters out, then in that case, it my not become a pandemic.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Barry, the author of "The Great Influenza." I think we will be seeing you again later on today, yes?

BARRY: Yes, I think so.

WHITFIELD: 4:00 Eastern hour. Thank you very much. Still so much to cover in this. It's very unfamiliar to a lot of us. We want to know as much as possible. Thanks so much.

All right. Chrysler drives towards either a deal or bankruptcy. A tentative agreement with workers as the deadline nears and GM steers its Pontiac division towards the scrap heap.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Ford may be able to steer clear of a bailout. The automaker is reporting better-than-expected earnings. CNNMONEY.com's Poppy Harlow has more.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi there, Fred.

A relatively strong report from Ford on Friday. The company reporting $1.4 billion quarterly loss but that was much better than expected. The big headline, though, on Friday, Ford's CEO saying the company does not need bailout money and won't need it unless the economy gets significantly worse or there is an uncontrolled bankruptcy of either GM or Chrysler that significantly disrupts the supply chain. Let's take a look at the numbers out of Ford. $1.4 billion fist quarter loss. Far better, though, than the $2.8 billion expected. To give you perspective, Ford lost more than $31 billion since 2006, but the company now says it is on track to meet its internal financial targets. That is to break even by 2011. We spoke with Ford's president and CEO Alan Mulally and he emphasized the importance of taking significant action at Ford before the economy turns south. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN MULALLY, PRES. & CEO, FORD MOTOR COMPANY: When we initially put our plan together 2 1/2 years ago and went to the credit markets, we assumed that the economy was going to degrade not only in the United States but worldwide. So we also borrowed extra money to have a cushion for this situation. So we think we have sufficient liquidity to continue the investment in the new products that people do really want and value.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Another positive sign out of Ford, it is not burning through as much cash as it previously was. Take a look at these numbers. In the last quarter, the first three months of this year, Ford spent $3.7 billion more than it took in.

But that compared with spending $7.2 billion more in the fourth quarter of 2008. That's known as the cash burn-through rate. A big concern is, if GM or Chrysler files for bankruptcy protection that could significantly affect Ford's supplier base.

The big three get a lot of their parts from the same companies but Mulally said he is confident the Obama administration fully understands that risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MULALLY: All of the suppliers are very independent as you well know and they support not only Ford and Chrysler and GM and Honda and Toyota in the United States. So as we go through this restructuring, I have a lot of confidence from talking to the participants that the auto task force really understands the importance of the suppliers and as we go through this restructuring, we make sure that they stay healthy and viable so we can continue the whole value chain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right, you can see the entire interview with Alan Mulally on CNNMoney.com. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Poppy.

President Obama will hit his 100th day in office on Wednesday and our Josh Levs will grade his progress so far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Improving schools, one of President Obama's priorities as he prepares to mark his 100th day in office Wednesday. Educational experts say parent involvement is key to strengthening schools, but that can be pretty problematic when there are serious language barriers. Here now is CNN's Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, we need to hold ourselves more accountable for every dollar we spend.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When President Obama talks education, he says a parent's role is critical.

OBAMA: No government policy will make any difference unless we also hold ourselves more accountable as parents.

BOLDUAN: But that can be extremely difficult for parents new to the country, new to the education system, and while their children may, many don't speak English. It's exactly the obstacles school leaders faced at Randolph Elementary in suburban Washington.

RENEE BOSTICK, PRINCIPAL, RANDOLPH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: At least three-fourths of the families of those children speak English at their second language, rather than their first language. And so it's important to us that they feel very, very welcome.

BOLDUAN: To do that, Principal Renee Bostick tried a unique approach -- teach the parents how to get involved. A weekly gathering called Wednesday Morning Moms.

JACKIE GARCIA, WEDNESDAY MORNING MOMS INSTRUCTOR: The main goal is to make sure they participate, they jump into the school. They don't just come to the door and leave the children.

BOLDUAN: Led by bilingual specialist Jackie Garcia, the sessions cover everything from simply how to read a report card to how to use the school's Web site and even how to help their kids with math, teaching English all along the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would ask her, how do you know -- how do you know you have more?

BOLDUAN: School leaders say interest in the class is growing, proof to them the program is working.

RITA WIGGINS, COMMUNITY OUTREACH COORDINATOR: At the school, we have definitely seen the benefits. We have seen so many more parents feel comfortable and involved here and share that with their children.

BOLDUAN: Parents, like Gilda Ballejos.

GILDA BALLEJOS, PARENT (through translator): I would say to my child, you give me a grade. How good of a mom I am? And I will give you a grade how good a student you are. BOLDUAN: It's a grade Ballejos couldn't give before. She said not only has Wednesday Morning Moms helped her get more involved in her kids' education, it has also taught her to be a better mom.

(on camera): Like Randolph Elementary, schools across the country face a similar challenge in boosting parent involvement. The latest government statistics from 2006 show 20 percent of grade school kids speak a language other than English at home.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A new CNN poll of polls shows most Americans believe President Obama is doing a good job -- 64 percent say they approve of the way the president is handling his job, 28 percent disapprove.

The CNN poll of polls averaged three national tracking polls taken between April 14th and April 21st. Which presidents did better in their first 100 days? On April 1961, the Gallup polls shows John F. Kennedy with an 83 percent approval rating. Only 5 percent disapproved. And back in 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower enjoyed a 100 day approval rating of 72 percent, 10 percent disapproved.

Criticism comes with the job of being a president, but one group watching President Obama closely believes he deserves a little time first, at least his first 100 days. CNN's T.J. Holmes had a candidate conversation with leaders of the group 100 Black Men of America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's a different messenger, and a guy who has a lot of capital with the American people and the world who want him to succeed. But things look in a lot of ways just about the same as they have for the past several years up on Capitol Hill.

Somebody?

JOHN THOMAS GRANT, CEO, 100 BLACK MEN OF AMERICA: Well, let me say it's less than 100 days. Let me say that again -- 100 days, and we can't expect miracles.

I mean, we've -- in effect, everyone, regardless of your political view, food on the table, health care for your children, educating your children, and being able to have a job doesn't matter what your political view is. Those things impact everyone.

BERNARD TAYLOR SR. ATTORNEY, ALSTON & BIRD: In our government, there are certain ways to get things done. And in this system, you have to use the political system in order to achieve the right result. But in order to get there, he's got to be deft at utilizing the political system in order to achieve those goals. So it may look like it's politics as normal because it has to be politics as normal in order to get to the right result.

HOLMES: I'm going to start here -- I'm going to go down the row and kind of get some short answers here.

But so far, if you had to grade him -- and not a letter grade here, but -- what have you seen that he has done policy-wise? You know, we talk about him inspiring the hope, but policy-wise, what have you seen him do that you really liked and what have you seen him do that you really disapproved of?

JOHN HAMMOND, CEO, 100 BLACK MEN OF AMERICA: The things I've really liked so far is the stimulus package and the way it's being communicated.

TAYLOR: Let me start off by saying I can't think of anything in the first 80-something days or 100-something days that I've seen that I think that I'm disappointed with or I wish he had done differently, because I think he is really taking care of business and focusing on things in the right way.

The other point I like about him and his family is what he's shown to all of us, and to our society, to our country about a healthy African-American family with a strong relationship between him and his wife. I mean, it's clear that Michelle Obama is his partner and a valued adviser, and that he listens to her.

BISHOP EDDIE LONG, PASTOR, NEW BIRTH VISIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: What I might dislike about our president, it took him a little while to get the dog in place. But overall, I am -- what I'm excited about, what I'm looking at, especially how he's dealt with the automotive industry and helped them restructure to get some perspective there -- already mentioned addressing our financial industry, the banking, et cetera.

HOLMES: So not much criticism of the president in this group?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's early.

HOLMES: It's early.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: President Obama has made a lot of promises, so is he keeping them? Our Josh Levs picks it up from there. What are you learning? Do you have your Obama-meter?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, I was just going to say, it's our chance to use that word again. You have Obama-meter or Obama-ter. I think I'm going with Obama-ter.

The great people at Politifact put this together and what they did was they counted up all of these pledges the president made while he was running -- there, you can see all the words there. And now they're seeing whether he's following them or not. So I got to speak with the head of Politifact and that is who I asked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL ADAIR, POLITIFACT.COM: He's off to a pretty energetic start. Just 100 days into his presidency or nearly 100 days, by our calculation, broken only six. So of now, it's important to note, that's of 514 promises total that are in our database. So he has a lot more to go but he has made some progress on some pretty significant ones. And so I think he's got some early momentum here.

LEVS: Still, the truth is, people vote when promises are made. Promises should be kept. And obviously, there's changing circumstances. But if it's a promise and you guys have declared that as broken, that means it truly is broken, not just a result of an outside situation. So talk to me about these broken ones. What should people know about that category?

ADAIR: You bet. Of the six promises broken, they include things like a promise that he made that he was going to post bills on the white house Web site and give people five days to comment. He didn't do that. He wanted to sign bills immediately after they were passed by Congress, and so we rated that one a broken.

Another one that earned a broken was his promise about putting restrictions on lobbyists who wanted to serve in his administration. He claimed that he was going to end the revolving door for lobbyists but we found he put in so many loopholes into his policy, that it really made the policy not what he said it would be. So he earned a promise broken on that.

LEVS: You also did something interesting, you all rated what you think are the most important promises. And when I look specifically at that list, it looks like he's doing particularly well in that list.

ADAIR: When you look at overall at the major things and the themes that he had during his campaign, ending the war in Iraq, beefing up the presence in Afghanistan. Those are things that he has made progress on.

In the case of Afghanistan, we rated that a promise kept because he is sending additional brigades to Afghanistan. On some of his other things, though, he has got some work to do. One of his big promises was a cap-and-trade program, to create a system to limit global warming. And he's going -- he still has to push that through Congress and that's going to be a tough one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And you can see the entire breakdown behind me at Politifact.com. Check out the Obama-eter. And we're having a discussion online about all of this right now. We'll show you the graphic here. It's your chance to weigh in on the president's first 100 days. Facebook, Josh Levs CNN, Twitter.com, my new page there, Josh Levs CNN. You've got our e-mail address there too.

And now watch this, we're going to leave the bottom part the same, but we're going to change the top, because this is what's coming up at 4:00. Your questions about swine flu. We have the entire hour focused on this. And Fred, we're getting a lot of questions by Facebook. Your Facebook page too and the Twitter, all of it. We're going to get in a lot of questions. We've got a great team lined up to tackle them.

WHITFIELD: I've seen some of those questions. Very smart questions, very deep, thought-provoking ones, too. So, we've got some experts on hand who will be able to answer all of them, hopefully.

LEVS: The whole hour.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Josh.

All right, perhaps you, too, want to grade the politicians that you elected. Join us on President Obama's 100th day in office for the CNN national report card. It's a primetime event that gets started Wednesday night 7:00 Eastern.

At 8:00 p.m. Eastern, President Obama holds a news conference. And at 9:00, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television and you, gives a final grade for the first 100 days. You elected them. Now you grade them. Wednesday beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN and CNN.com/reportcard.

All right, so with the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and some cases here in the U.S., could we see a full-blown flu pandemic?

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WHITFIELD: President Obama's being kept up to date on the swine flu outbreak in Mexico which has killed 60 people so far, at least as it relates to flu. But 20 confirmed deaths as it relates to swine flu according to the World Health Organization. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from the White House.

So Elaine, I wonder how in touch the White House is being with the World Health Organization as well as the CDC, because all of these independent investigations are kind of coming up with different numbers of how many people are being affected, at least in Mexico.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. We know that President Obama himself is getting briefed and he's continuing to get some updates from both health and homeland security officials about this situation. We should tell you that the president himself has no public events on his schedule today, but CNN's cameras did spot him here on the White House campus as he was leaving the Eisenhower Executive Office Building today, heading back towards the West Wing.

No word yet on exactly what the president might have been doing there. But as the situation continues to unfold, we talked to former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend, who is now a CNN contributor. She says that communication is going to be key for the Obama administration moving forward.

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FRANK TOWNSEND, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: Communicating facts, you know, talking to people about what you know, what you don't know and what are the kinds of things that you're looking for that will be indicators of a pandemic or a health outbreak, and giving people practical information about what they can expect and what they can do to make the best decisions for their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now Townsend says this the Mexican government she believes is doing the right thing by practicing what is called social distancing over the next 10 days. That is basically, Fredricka, curbing these kinds of large, public gatherings where this virus can really spread.

WHITFIELD: Now, what about any concerns that may be at hand for the president? He was, after all, just in Mexico fairly recently.

QUIJANO: Well, that's right. We should tell you that a White House official says they are certainly not concerned. The president himself has had no symptoms. We asked yesterday during the White House briefing, Robert Gibbs saying, "Look, he doesn't know of any risk to the president or to people who were traveling with him."

WHITFIELD: Do we even know whether the president was briefed or whether his staff was at all briefed about what's going on in Mexico before it kind of bubbled up to the surface of this kind of publicity?

QUIJANO: We are still working to find out those details and piece together some kind of time line. Obviously, this is a situation that is continuing to develop and as more details come out, we are certainly going to be asking about what he knew as they were traveling through the region there.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, we appreciate it.

We are going to talk some more about this situation, swine flu coming up at the top of the hour. We will devote the entire hour to the swine flu outbreak, what it means. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will be with us, as will Gregory Hartl from the World Health Organization and Francis Townsend, who you just saw there, former homeland security advisor.

All of them will be answering your questions and we are already starting to receive many of them. You are e-mailing us at weekends@CNN.com, you're finding us at Facebook, Fredricka Whitfield CNN as well as Josh Levs CNN and i-Reports as well. We will get your questions on the air because we know a lot of people are very concerned about what they are hearing about what's talking place in Mexico, Texas, California and now also probing going on in New York.

All right, a woman's personal fight for her own life leads to a mission to save the lives of thousands of others. We'll bring you her amazing story.

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WHITFIELD: One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Caught early, survival rates are good, but uninsured women face a greater risk. This week's CNN hero is on the front lines of this war and she is bringing help to those who won't or can't find it on their own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA IVORY, CNN HERO: In 2004, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Initially, there's shock, but I realized how blessed I was to have health insurance. It made me think about all the women who didn't have health insurance. I wanted to make a difference in their lives.

I'm Andrea Ivory, and I'm fighting breast cancer in south Florida one household at a time.

The Florida Breast Health Initiative is an outreach organization. We're targeting working-class people. We're going to make a difference and we're going to save some lives. We have a take it to the streets approach.

We feel like little pixies spreading breast cancer awareness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I ask you a few questions?

IVORY: We target women that are 35 years or older, and make appointments on the spot for a free mammogram.

I look forward to seeing you. I'll be there.

Bringing the mobile mammography van into the neighborhood is one of the most important facets of the work that we do.

Let's go.

We provide a service that is so need. I know I'm saving lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said it was free, so come right over and get it.

IVORY: Is the lady of the house at home?

We're giving a free mammogram on the 25th.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's easy!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm like, OK, I'll go.

IVORY: Thank you so much. Take care.

I was saved from breast cancer to serve other women. Every time I knock on the door is another opportunity to save a life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: What incredible inspiration, Andrea Ivory. If you would like to help Ms. Ivory and her organization or perhaps there is someone that you know who is doing something equally extraordinary, go to CNN.com/heroes. Remember, all of our CNN heroes are chosen from people that you actually nominate. So tell us about your own hero.

All right, three people are shot dead near the University of Georgia campus. Now a manhunt is under way for a UGA professor.

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WHITFIELD: All right, some sad news to convey to you. You knew her as Maude and you knew her as Dorothy on "Golden Girls." Right there, 86-year-old Bea Arthur we understand according to a family spokesperson, she died this morning. Bea Arthur, you remember as playing Maude on the show named "Maude." And she has quite a repertoire here, quite a history. A Tony award winner for the musical "Mame" and she also won awards for her role as Dorothy on "The Golden Girls" as well as on "Maude."

Sad news to be reporting to you, 86-year-old Bea Arthur is dead. She apparently had cancer, but we have very few other details about her condition or the type of cancer. She first appeared as the character of Maude back in the 1970s and she also apparently had appearances on "All in the Family." But you know her and you know her work as a real stand out on "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."