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Swine Flu Spreads in the U.S., Cases More than Doubled; Mexicans Think Swine Flu Virus Didn't Originate in Mexico; Obama Furious After White House Plane Flies Low in New York City; Pakistan President Says Bin Laden May Be Dead

Aired April 28, 2009 - 07:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome once again. Glad you're with us on this Tuesday, April 28th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm John Roberts. Here's what's on our agenda this morning. Stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.

This morning, we're telling you everything there is to know about the deadly swine flu outbreak. The White House scrambling to get out in front of the growing threat this morning. President Obama is calling it a cause for concern, not alarm.

CNN also learning that Congress has scheduled an emergency meeting on the swine flu outbreak as three more states are reporting suspected cases of the virus this morning.

And wash your hands, don't wear masks. That's the advice from the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Richard Besser says the evidence isn't that strong that surgical masks could prevent infection. Some medical experts say the masks can't protect against viruses because viruses are smaller than the material used to make the masks.

And we may be entering a dangerous new phase in this outbreak. This morning, the World Health Organization is raising its pandemic alert level from three to four. The scale only goes up to six which is considered an all-out pandemic.

Five states are reporting confirmed cases this morning of swine flu -- California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas. There are now suspected cases in three more states, North and South Carolina, and New Jersey, the latest to be added to the list.

Confirmed cases in the United States have more than doubled in the past 24 hours from 20 to 50. But the biggest outbreak so far is in one New York City Catholic high school. The virus hitting many otherwise healthy teenagers.

Alina Cho joins us now. And, Alina, we're also learning of another new case here in New York City that looks like it may be unrelated to that school. What's going on with that?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, it's very troubling, guys. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.

You know, the accounting firm Ernst & Young is confirming that one of its employees at its Times Square offices was diagnosed with swine flu. The company says the person became sick after making contact with a family member who was exposed to the virus. But the company does not believe they infected any co-workers.

It is clear cases are spreading across the United States and the big fear right now is that it may get worse before it gets better.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): People across America are worried they may be next to catch the rapidly spreading swine flu virus. So far, most of the newly confirmed cases are students at the Saint Francis Preparatory School in New York. None appeared to be serious and no one has been hospitalized. Officials anticipate as testing continues the number of confirmed cases will rise.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK CITY: We believe that there were probably more than 100 cases of swine flu at the school and lab tests are confirming what we have suspected.

CHO: The State Department is urging all Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. And some passengers traveling back from Mexico on Monday were seen wearing protective masks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody went to the airport, had to wear one of these until they went on the plane.

CHO: With Americans becoming more nervous, President Obama tried to reassure them.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States. This is obviously a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert. But it's not a cause for alarm.

CHO: The most effective way known to treat the virus is with anti-viral medications like Tamiflu and the federal government is mobilizing its resources.

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: All states will have access to the national stockpile and full deployment is expected by the 3rd of May.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: In fact, the federal government has released about 25 percent of its stockpile of Tamiflu. That's roughly 12 million doses and those anti-viral meds will be delivered to the states in short order, you can bet.

The acting head of the CDC, meanwhile, says the government is still trying to decide whether to start production of a specific swine flu vaccine. But, John, as you know very well, this disease spreads from person to person. It mutates and it becomes more difficult to treat, so that may prove the big challenge.

ROBERTS: Yes. They probably still remember back to 1976 when the vaccine costs more.

CHO: That's right. That's right. So they need to be really careful when they come up with a specific vaccine for this.

ROBERTS: Yes. Alina, thanks so much for that.

CHO: You bet.

ROBERTS: Kiran.

CHETRY: And government's confirming the number of cases. The numbers can be hard to nail down, but here's what we know right now.

Mexico's government is confirming 172 cases of the virus. Global health officials are also confirming at least 61 new cases outside of Mexico and that includes 50 confirmed cases here in the United States. But, again, these numbers are changing minute-by-minute.

This morning alone, Israel announced its first case plus six cases in Canada, two in the UK, two in Spain, and as I said, one in Israel. Earlier, we talked to Dr. Richard Besser, the acting director of the CDC about how this virus is spreading.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RICHARD BESSER, ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: What we're seeing in the United States so far is 40 cases, one of whom was hospitalized. They've all recovered and we're very thankful for that. What we're hearing about and seeing in Mexico is a much more severe outbreak of flu with many deaths.

The viruses appear to be the same. And because of that, I expect it as we continue to look for cases of flu will find more severe disease. And unfortunately, given what we know even from seasonal flu, some people die from the flu.

We're concerned and we know people are concerned. And what I'd like is for people to take this current concern and turn it into responsibility. There are actions people can take and there's planning people can take.

In terms of actions at the personal level, doing those things that are going to reduce the likelihood you get sick. So frequent hand washing or use of alcohol, hand gels, covering your cough, not with your hand but with your sleeve or your shoulder. And not going out if you're sick.

If you have a fever and you're sick or your children are sick, stay home. Those things can help. Based on what I know as a public health professional and as a physician, I would not recommend that people go on nonessential travel. So if I had vacation plans for Mexico coming up right now, I'd look to postpone those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is live at the epicenter of this outbreak in Mexico City this morning.

The acting director says don't go there, but you're there, Sanjay. You also have some computer models showing us exactly how this flu is spread. Explain how that works.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is pretty fascinating stuff. I mean, the best that you can really do sometimes is try and model what a pandemic might look like. And this is data the CDC uses as well as the World Health Organization. Some of this was developed back in 2006, sort of predicated on a virus that spreads easily like the 1918 virus did, for example. So take a look at some of those modeling here.

What they show in this first model is 10 isolated cases starting off in California. You see the white dots and then it starts to spread through time. This is a period of about 12 weeks, about three months. And you can see if this virus spreads easily how much of an impact that can have.

The green areas were healthy. Now they're sort of infiltrated by all these colors, that's the virus. About half the people either have the infection or they died from the infection, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. And again, just -- people are just joining us. These are theoretical models of what could happen. That's without doing anything.

So what if they use something like Tamiflu, you know, or Relenza, which are these anti-flu medications to try to stop the spread?

GUPTA: Yes. So Tamiflu is one of the things that was modeled as well. And it was interesting because, you know, you have to figure out how effective Tamiflu will be, but you can see in this model, it's very effective. Take a look there.

I mean, if you give Tamiflu to people who have symptoms and to close contacts with those people as well, it makes a pretty big difference and it buys you some time as well, important time because you could possibly develop a vaccine.

Now if you look at the vaccine modeling as well, you see that, you know, giving a vaccine after it's developed also makes a difference but about the same difference as Tamiflu. So at least in the initial periods, Tamiflu and vaccine, you know, either/or, can make about the same difference.

CHETRY: And let's talk a little bit about trying to stop it, shutting down the borders, stopping travel. Again, there's been various recommendations. We had the CDC director on today who said if he had a vacation planned to Mexico, he would cancel it. GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's interesting and the World Health Organization had a press release about this today saying they're not shutting down borders and part of the reason may be based on this next model here.

Shutting down borders really doesn't seem to help a lot as you watch the numbers. I can't see it with you here, Kiran. But I know based on looking at these models, it doesn't make a big difference.

It turns out once the infection sort of gets into a community or particular town, keeping other infected people out really doesn't seem to make that big a difference. And that might be dictating some of the thinking on how they issue some of these travel advisories and how they decide whether or not they're going to shut down borders.

CHETRY: All right. Sanjay for us in Mexico City this morning. Thanks.

ROBERTS: New this morning, the Honda Motor Company, Japan's second biggest automaker, managed to eke out a small profit for the fiscal year ending in March. That, despite losing almost $2 billion in the fourth quarter which beat the company's expectations.

And are you ready for a Verizon iPhone? According to "The New York Times," Apple is conducting high-level discussions with Verizon Wireless to sell a version of the iPhone that would work on Verizon's network.

Right now, the iPhone is available only on AT&T's wireless network. They have exclusivity to 2010 and they're actively seeking to extend that.

And more fallout this morning from the plane that flew low over New York City for a White House photo op. It terrified people in Lower Manhattan.

President Obama says he's furious. And our Suzanne Malveaux will join us live with more on the White House reaction.

It's now just cracking ten minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Updating you now on the latest developments in the swine flu outbreak that's spreading across our nation.

Confirmed cases in the United States have more than doubled here in the past 24 hours. Three more states are now looking at possible cases as well, North and South Carolina, and New Jersey.

The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert to four. Six is considered an all-out pandemic. And the U.S. government now saying to avoid any nonessential travel to Mexico where the virus has now killed 149 people according to government officials.

CHETRY: And schools are already closed nationwide in Mexico. Mexico City's mayor says he's considering a complete shutdown including stopping all public transportation in the city of 20 million people. That as the number of dead keeps rising.

Ted Rowlands is in Mexico City this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Polanco district of Mexico City. Basically it's a working class area and a lot of businesses are here. People come to work and they use the subway system coming and going.

We asked them what they think about where the virus came and we got a lot of the same opinions. Not one person here believes that the virus originated in Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Somebody got it in Canada and then gave it to somebody in the United States who brought it here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): A Canadian was here visiting and got sick and sent to the hospital, and that's how it started to spread.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a fever from Asia that came here to this country.

ROWLANDS: Where do you believe the virus started?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I believe it started in Guajaca (ph) with a tourist.

ROWLANDS: From the United States?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, maybe.

ROWLANDS: We've talked to people on the street here for the last few days. Nobody has told us that they think it has originated here in Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not something you create or something that mutates and happens, but no one wants to claim responsibility for something so bad as this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever anything bad happens, the U.S. always blames it on Mexico. So, you know, all the drug problems, it's Mexico's fault. Everything is always -- there's one jalapeno which gets an old lady sick in Indiana, it's definitely Mexicans.

So Mexico is the thing the U.S. always kicks around. When we want to kick someone around, we kick Mexico. So naturally people here are very sensitive about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Again, that was Ted Rowlands reporting from Mexico City.

ROBERTS: Fourteen and a half minutes now after the hour. Time to fast forward to stories that we'll be following on CNN and CNN.com later on today.

At 1:00 p.m. Eastern, all eyes are going to be on the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The CDC will talk to reporters giving the latest facts and figures on the swine flu outbreak.

Vice President Joe Biden is heading to Austin, Texas today. At noon Eastern, the vice president will give remarks at the National Domestic Violence Hotline headquarters. As a senator, Vice President Biden authored the landmark 1994 Violence Against Women Act which created that hotline.

And at 10:30 Eastern time this morning in Washington, the National Black Farmers Association will be holding a rally. The group says the government has not provided compensation for farmers discriminated against by the USDA.

Boy, where are those farmers? Can't find them this morning.

That's what we're following this morning -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Well, new traces of Osama bin Laden. Pakistan's president says he could be dead, but some counterterrorism experts aren't buying it. We're live from Pakistan just ahead.

Also, new fallout this morning from the low-flying plane scare in New York. Evacuations, outrage, a lot of fear, panic, and then the apologies. The president even saying he's furious.

It's 15 and a half minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Top videos right now on CNN.com. The most popular -- are you a Facebook addict? Well, here are some possible signs.

You lose sleep. You ignore work or you might even become obsessed with old loves from high school. Well, find out if you're addicted on CNN.com.

Also, this video of the Kings Firecrackers jump-roping team out of Kings Mill, Ohio is lighting up CNN.com. Pretty spiffy dance moves there. It features 4th through 8th graders. The video taken by one of the girl's father. It hit the Web and quickly went viral. Pretty neat routine.

And panic on the streets of New York City yesterday as a 747 and two F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan prompting evacuations and for some, flashbacks of 9/11. And it was all for a photo op staged by the White House. What they were doing is trying to get some video of a plane -- Air Force One flying by the Statue of Liberty.

ROBERTS: Yes. They do these publicity shots. Got it over like Mount Rushmore and things like that. And they wanted one over the Statue of Liberty. And some people are saying it was a really dumb idea. They call that photo op "Mission Over New York." Cell phone video popped up on YouTube showing what the stunt looked like from Lower Manhattan. Take a look at this and listen to how people on the street reacted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run, run!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Imagine if you didn't know what was going on? That would slightly terrifying. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was outraged over the stunt and said that he would have asked them not to do it had he been given advanced warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOOMBERG: Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination. Poor judgment would be a nice way to phrase it, but they did. They should know how sensitive people would be if they had low- flying planes down around the World Trade Center site.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The president said that he was furious he wasn't told about it ahead of time. Our Suzanne Malveaux joins us now.

The official who approved it has apologized, but some are calling for him, Louis Caldera, who's is in Caldera (ph) of his own, center of the volcano, to step down.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House so far has not asked for his resignation. But clearly, this was a big embarrassment for the administration.

And yesterday you might have seen the briefing and the press secretary was really pummeled for this. At least an apology from the White House, something, some sort of explanation.

Well, we learned that President Obama didn't know about what had happened. He wasn't even informed until yesterday afternoon. And he was furious about when he did find out because obviously this was very frightening to a lot of people. But who is taking responsibility for this?

Well, we do know that this is the director of White House military office. The White House press released a statement saying that, "Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

So, so far they're not asking for his resignation but they insisted that this apology go out immediately, that he try to explain what happened and obviously, the president just really, really distraught over this.

ROBERTS: So I guess a couple of people dropped the ball. He didn't tell the president or tell somebody who would tell the president.

MALVEAUX: Right. Right.

ROBERTS: But he did tell somebody at the mayor's office who also didn't tell the mayor.

MALVEAUX: Right. And then also the FAA, I mean, they say that at least an official from Andrews Air Force Base says that they didn't notify local authorities in New York and New Jersey. So there was some sort of communication to local authorities but there was certainly no word to the public.

ROBERTS: Wow.

MALVEAUX: And so there were so many different pieces of this puzzle. But clearly, you know, this is an administration and a president who himself has said I'm sorry, take responsibility for past mistakes.

CHETRY: Right.

MALVEAUX: So they really had to make sure that whoever made that call or somebody in the administration had something to say about this.

ROBERTS: Pretty amazing when you see that plane being chased by an F-16. Wow.

CHETRY: And you just hear the fear and the panic in the people on the streets from these amateur videos that were shot.

MALVEAUX: And when you think about what they were trying to do essentially, I mean, you've received one of those certificates, John.

ROBERTS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: When you first go on Air Force One, you get a certificate and you get a little nice, little glossy photo of Air Force One. That was what they were trying to do is essentially update that photo that you will see.

ROBERTS: Yes, they're flying over landmarks.

MALVEAUX: Right.

ROBERTS: We mentioned Mount Rushmore, you know, Yosemite, Yellowstone Park, places like that.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The sound of that plane -- that low flying sound, the sound that every now and then when you hear it, if you were in New York at that time, or in Washington at that time, you remember that sound and how it sounds so unnatural and it creates so much panic. I mean, the sound on that tape I can see why so many people were upset downtown.

CHETRY: Can't they just photo shop it?

ROMANS: That's why I thought.

CHETRY: Make it photo shop Air Force One in day.

MALVEAUX: I guess they wanted to do the real deal. But obviously it was a mistake. They recognize that today.

CHETRY: Suzanne, thank you so much.

Well, the White House is trying to be aggressive without hitting the panic button over the swine flu outbreak. But are we ready to handle the worst case scenario? We're taking a serious look at whether the government, drug makers, hospitals and health clinics are prepared.

And so what came out of that first official meeting between the U.S. and Cuba since President Obama eased travel restrictions? Will the talks lead to a true thaw in relations?

It's 24 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Pakistan's president is grabbing headlines this morning. He says that intelligence officials think that 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden may be dead. But he also said there's no proof.

Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live on the ground in Islamabad.

What do you make, Nic, of the comments from the president? He was asked about this and that's how he responded.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, it's not unusual to hear from Pakistani officials that Osama bin Laden may be dead. They've said it many times since -- since 9/11.

One of the reasons they said is because they feel under pressure because Osama bin Laden is believed to be in Pakistan to say something about him. And what was interesting about President Sardari's comments was that within a couple of hours, the prime minister here completely contradicted the president.

These two men, the two leaders of the country are very, very close. So the complete contradiction and really for many analysts here who are looking at this right now, it's indicative, this contradiction over Osama bin Laden's death is indicative of the confusion of the leadership at the helm of Pakistan right now. And one of the reasons many analysts say that the country is sort of floundering and how to deal with the Taliban. So I think really the overall read right now is that there really wasn't a lot of base to what the president had actually said -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, and it's very interesting because he seemed to sort of lay it on the U.S. in a way. He said that the U.S. is much more informed. They've been after him for a longer time. They've got more equipment. And they tell us they have no trace at the moment.

ROBERTSON: You know, which is also interesting. I mean, one can never rule out something happening with Osama bin Laden. It's a big dark secret. You know, how close people are to catching him. And any moment of any day, we might find out that's happening.

I was talking to a Saudi source recently who said that they didn't have any current information over the last few weeks. But you can't read too much in to this stuff. There are a lot of different sources out there who will tell you a lot of different information. And I think because we've heard this so many times from Pakistani officials, because they don't have a basis from their own intelligence gathering to say this, I think we just have to read it very, very carefully, Kiran.

CHETRY: Nic Robertson for us in Pakistan this morning. Thank you.

Twenty-nine minutes past the hour. Here are the top stories on our agenda that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.

Officials are on high alert as the swine flu outbreak spreads. Here in the U.S., 50 confirmed cases. Now earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, the head of the CDC saying that if you don't have to go to Mexico, don't. In fact, he said if he had a trip planned, he'd cancel it.

In just hours, the Senate subcommittee will hold an emergency hearing and officials from the CDC are expected to testify there.

Well, one crew member of the Maersk Alabama, the U.S.-flagged cargo ship taken hostage by Somali pirates is suing the company. He's accusing Maersk of knowingly putting the sailors in danger. Richard Hicks says Maersk ignored request to improve safety measures for ships sailing near the Somali coast.

And protest against Bank of America, coast-to-coast demonstrations planned too at hundreds of branches of B of A. The move coincides with the bank's annual shareholders meeting. Many are planning to protest and they're upset, they say, with the Bank of America CEO, Ken Lewis. They're calling for him to be fired.

ROBERTS: It has become customary for the media, the administration, and the voters to use the president's first 100 days in office as a measuring stick. Today is President Obama's 99th day in office. And a brand new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 63 percent of you approve of the job that he's doing as president so far. Exactly one-third disapprove.

But the man may be more popular than some of his policies. Joining me now from Washington to talk more about this is conservative columnist and author of "American Grit" Tony Blankley and as well the founder and editor in chief of the dailybeast.com, Tina Brown.

So if the White house called this a hallmark holiday, the first 100 days, later decided to embrace it with the primetime press conference. But in recent days, it looks like the 100 days has been overshadowed by the spread of the swine flu.

Tina Brown, do you think it will take some of the examination off of the 100 days?

TINA BROWN, FOUNDER, DAILYBEAST.COM: Well, we've really been having the festival of 100 days for the last five days. So, I think in a way we're all kind of fully competent that this is the big moment.

One thing I do think is true, though, is that I think Obama's 100 days is showing we already have other very competent people in this administration. I mean we have Janet Napolitano, I think, the secretary of the department of Homeland Security has already shown that she's going to be no brownie and have done a hell of a job.

You know, she's actually been very, very reassuring to the public, very measured, very sort of together about her responses so far. And I think that is also very reassuring because Obama has to have more than just himself out there. I also think that throughout the whole thing, he showed a very calm demeanor as he has throughout.

ROBERTS: Tony, do you want to respond to that?

TONY BLANKELY, AUTHOR "AMERICAN GRIT": Well, yes, I mean, first of all, 100 days really doesn't indicate much. Clinton had a bad start and got re-elected. Carter had a good start and didn't.

I think the thing that Obama has accomplished the most - and it's an important thing, is he's gotten off on the right foot with the American public. The number I looked at is right track/wrong track for the country. On election day is about 20 percent of the country thought we were in the wrong direction. Now about 45 percent. That's a huge increase. Based not on any improvement in life.

I mean the economy is bad, boards are bad. But I think confidence in the president, the danger for the president is he has to manage that expectation level which is going up quickly even though there's some almost intractable problems in our path ahead.

ROBERTS: Do you think that where we are right now with the flu outbreak could have a real impact on how voters view him? And obviously it's going to have political implications, how he responds if this really breaks out. You know, is it going to be a Katrina moment? Will there be a good response? Tony, what do you think? What's the (INAUDIBLE) so far?

BLANKELY: Unlikely that it is going to affect him a lot. He has inherited as every president does in the first few months of his office. The senior bureaucracy as administered by the previous administration. So this will be carried out without his people in place which is typical in the first three or four months. Some cabinet people are usually not nominated and confirmed yet. So I don't think unless he does some particular mistake, I can't imagine that happening, that it will be plus or minus for him.

ROBERTS: All right. Let's look ahead to the 100th day. Tomorrow, we've been asking a lot of our guests to come in and give the president a grade. o Tina, let's start with you. How would you grade the president in his first 100 days?

BROWN: Well, I would actually give him really 10 out of 10 for revamping America's image in the world. You know, because after all, that was one of the prime things that he had to do was try to sort of buff up and reposition America as - America's moral authority in the world. And I think that the G-20 trip was really a triumph for Obama outside America as opposed to inside.

You know, he really did show that he wants to reach out, he wants to turn a page. He is listening. He's out there for people, listening all over the world And we see this in the incredible popularity that he has outside the United States which was such kind of touted him and also you know he really has to come in on the wings, not only of this Iraq war to the rest of the world but also of the toxic assets.

So, America has been exporting it like swine flu to the world. So we had so much to get over. And he has got over and he has repositioned America. I think that's an amazing start.

ROBERTS: So 10 out of 10 ten for improving America's image abroad from Tina. Tony, what do you have to say?

BLANKELY: I would give him A-minus, B-plus in the transition from candidate to president. I think he's been at a personal level very successful at that. We simply don't know. He hasn't done anything much legislatively other than pass spending bills which are always easy to spend if you want to give free money away.

The challenges will come in the next six months and we'll have to wait and see. So it's incomplete as it would be for any president at this point in an administration.

ROBERTS: All right. Tony Blankley, Tina Brown, thanks very much for joining us this morning, folks.

And be sure to join us tomorrow, President Obama's 100th day in office for the "CNN NATIONAL REPORT CARD." You'll get to grade the president along with the best political team on TV. Then at 8:00, the president will let us know how he thinks he's doing during a live presidential press conference. A CNN primetime event, it all kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. CHETRY: Well, the spread of the swine flu could bring more pain to the already hurting economy. Our Christine Romans is "Minding your Business" this morning and she joins us now with more on the potential economic impact if this were to spread.

Hey, Christine.

ROMANS: Hi, there. We've been talking about the green shoots in the economy for some weeks now, right? Hoping that at least the pace of the decline of economic demise is slowing and we're going to have a recovery around the corner. But here - here you have concerns that that might be delayed or in fact blunted.

What are the problems that we are already seeing in the economy because of the swine and flu threat trade? This is something that can really hurt global trade. We're already seeing the demand for raw materials to decline and the prices for a lot of raw materials to decline, food, travel, transportation. All of these things get hit.

The World Bank calls it avoidance behavior. Why are you going to get on a plane and go on vacation if you're concerned about what's happening with the swine flu and consumer confidence, something incredibly fragile. It's something that a lot of people are concerned about. And certainly adding this on doesn't make things any better.

Where are there unbelievably some safe havens from this? The treasuries. You have seen Treasury bond prices have increased.

Also drug stocks, and companies themselves and make face masks. You guys, those are things who have benefited over the past couple of days. I think you're going to see these kinds of trends continue in the market for the very near term.

CHETRY: All right. Christine Romans for us, thanks so much.

Well, new this morning, another state could soon OK same-sex marriage. This time, New Hampshire's state senate is about to vote on a bill to legalize it and to send it to the governor. Now if it passes, it will make New Hampshire the fifth state in the country where gay marriage is legal. The governor, John Lynch has not said whether he will veto the bill but he has expressed opposition to gay marriage in favor of civil unions.

Pope Benedict XVI is traveling to Italy's area where the earthquake killed nearly 300 people and left tens of thousands homeless. He's going to be visiting a tented camp for the homeless in a small town devastated by the quake. He'll also meet with local representatives, rescuers and victims.

The U.S. and Cuba have their first official meeting since the president eased travel restrictions. What did they talk about and what could it mean for U.S.-Cuban relations?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Updating you now on the swine flu situation.

President Obama says it's time for concern, but not alarm. But the acting director of the CDC told us this morning that he would postpone any upcoming vacations to Mexico. Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington.

And Jeanne, what isn't - they're not restricting travel yet. But what actions are being taken?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you Kiran, what the administration is doing here is carefully calibrating its response, trying to react aggressively to the latest data without triggering panic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): Flights are still arriving in the U.S. from Mexico, although Customs and Border Protection is watching passengers for signs of illness and some travelers are wearing masks. But travel in the other direction is about to plunge. Travel advisories now warn Americans not to go to Mexico if they don't have to.

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: They encourage individuals to avoid any nonessential travel to Mexico for the time being. You may ask how long the alerts be operative? The answer is we don't know.

MESERVE: With their frequent briefings and decision to distribute anti-viral medications to the state, experts give the government generally good marks for its swine flu response. There is concern, however, that if the outbreak explodes into a pandemic, public health laboratories will be overwhelmed.

A recent report says budget cuts have resulted in the loss of 11,000 state and local public health jobs and another 10,000 are in jeopardy.

JEFF LEVI, TRUST FOR AMERICA'S HEALTH: That could really be a threat because it would delay our ability to identify what's going on. And that's critical to a rapid response to a pandemic.

MESERVE: Experts say hospitals don't have enough beds, masks, gloves, or breathing machines called ventilators.

IRWIN REDLENER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I think the country needs on the order of 100,000 additional ventilators over what we have now.

MESERVE: Officials say it could take months to get a vaccine in production and then we may not be able to make enough.

MIKE OSTERHOLM, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH POLICY: The worldwide capacity to make the vaccine right now, John, is about 450 million doses of influenza virus for the year for the world, that's far short of 6.5 billion people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Now experts say there has been tremendous progress in pandemic preparedness. They say there just hasn't been enough if this grows into something big. Kiran, John, back to you.

CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Thanks.

ROBERTS: We got severe weather in the Midwest this morning. Storms stretching from the Great Lakes, all the way down to the Gulf coast. And during the campaign, President Obama talked about reaching across the aisle. Now we're about to mark his 100th day in office, where's the bipartisan love? It's 42 and a half minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: It will be a good place to do that today if you're in Washington. Right now, it's sunny, and 69 degrees going up to sunny and a high of 88. It's going to be a scorcher in the nation's capital.

Our Rob Marciano is keeping track of extreme weather across the country. And we hit some bad storms that he was telling us about Texas yesterday and he's got the aftermath for us today.

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CHETRY: All right. Right now, we're talking about 47 minutes past the hour. We fast forward through the stories that will be making news later today.

Day 99 now of the Obama presidency. At 11:10 a.m. Eastern, the president will give an address to employees at the FBI headquarters. He'll also meet with FBI director Robert Muller. We're going to have that live for you on CNN and CNN.com.

Also today, the Fed will get together for day one of a two-day meeting where they are looking at what to do with short term interest rates. It's expected that they'll leave the rates near zero. The fed is expected to announce its decision on interest rates at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Wednesday.

9:30 a.m. Eastern time, the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian will hold a preview of its photo exhibit, marking President Obama's first 100 days in office. The exhibit is entitled "I Do Solemnly Swear" and it will chronicle the days leading up to the inauguration.

That's what we're following this morning.

Boy, the Smithsonian not wasting any time, already getting in on the 100 days.

ROBERTS: They got to get the stuff before other people want it. You know.

CHETRY: Exactly.

ROBERTS: The president might put it up on eBay for all we know.

Here's what we're working on for you this morning. The swine flu hitting home for a Texas family. They've been in isolation every since two children and a father were diagnosed with swine flu. We're going to see how they're coping this morning.

And warming up, the cold war. A rare face-to-face talk between the U.S. and Cuba. It's 48 and a half minuets now after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Nine minutes now to the top of the hour.

Official talks begin Monday between the United States and Cuba. The meeting was the first since President Obama eased travel restrictions and called for a new beginning in relations between the two countries.

Our Jim Acosta is live for us in Washington.

Jim, just how serious are these talks?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, there are concerns inside the administration about raising expectations on Cuba. So you could characterize this as a safe lunch. This was the second meeting between a top state department official and Cuba's chief diplomat here in Washington since President Obama took office.

There was no hard agenda, just an effort to overcome decades of hard feelings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Now that the U.S. has lifted restrictions making it easier for Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba and send more money to relatives on the island, the Obama administration says it's Havana's turn.

ROBERT WOOD, SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: What we'd like to see are some steps to give some of the Cuban people that are enjoyed by other people in the hemisphere. We just have to see how the Cuban government decides to respond.

ACOSTA: For the second time in about two weeks, Cuba's chief diplomat in Washington and a top state department official have had rare face to face talks.

To figure out how to warm up this cold war relationship. The White House is looking for some kind of response to its initiative. So far, the discussions are sticking to areas of common interest such as Cuban migration and cultural exchanges.

WAYNE SMITH, FORMER CHIEF U.S. DIPLOMAT TO CUBA: It does show that the ice is at least breaking a crack. ACOSTA: You have to start somewhere?

SMITH: You have to start somewhere, exactly.

ACOSTA: Wayne Smith, a former chief U.S. diplomat in Havana says it's a welcome sign after former Cuban leader Fidel Castro downplayed comments made by his brother and current president, Raul.

RAUL CASTRO, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA (through translator): We are ready when they want to discuss everything.

ACOSTA: Within days, President Obama had called for the release of Cuba's federal prisoners. Then Fidel weighed in saying Raul's comments had been misinterpreted.

SMITH: The best way to make certain that no political prisoners are ever released is to say release your political prisoners and then we'll begin a dialogue. There won't be any dialogue. There won't be any release of prisoners. You need to engage, begin a dialogue.

ACOSTA: Recent polls not only show American approve of Mr. Obama's new approach on Cuba. So did Cuban Americans.

FERNAND AMANDI, CUBAN-AMERICAN POLLSTER: But for the Obama administration, the surprising and the good news, you might even say about this poll is that the Cuban community which has historically been seen as being loyal and sympathetic to the republican party has given President Obama 67 percent favorability rating.

ACOSTA: Advocates for improved relations say keep going and end the ban on travel to Cuba but Cuban-American leaders in Washington say no mas.

REP. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (R), FLORIDA: The goal of the advocates, mass American tourism with its billions of dollars a year in U.S. trade financing so that the U.S. taxpayer ultimately bails out and bank rolls Fidel Castro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Note the use of the term "bailout." Now polls show majority of Americans want to lift all travel restriction on Cuba and business groups are lobbying Congress saying ending the trade embargo could actually boost the ailing U.S. economy but the White House is not ready to move that fast.

The president wants to see changes in Cuba, first, as my grandmother used to say, John, beta te (ph), slow down.

ROBERTS: There you are. So safe lunch, huh?

ACOSTA: Safe lunch. They will see if they can move on to the next step, John. We all know what that is. That is dinner that is a little bit more serious than the safe lunch but the safe one comes first.

ROBERTS: Like that dating service, you know, it's just lunch.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Let's see where this goes and if something blossoms. Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet.

CHETRY: Well, a White House photo op in the sky causes terror in New York and New Jersey, why would anyone approve of a low-flying 747 jet flying right near the site of the World Trade Center attack? The outrage and the fear from New York to Washington. And the president pushed for more bipartisan Washington in our special series "Memo to the President" has he given that up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Breaking news. A fast-moving new strain of the flu and at this hour, the death toll is rising.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Are we on a path to a pandemic?

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Mother (expletive deleted). A pandemic! Seriously? You're adding a pandemic. Is that your work, a pandemic? You don't see this as overkill? I mean, we elected Obama, the Christian Muslim, what more does he want? You're supposed to take your foot off the gas now! We were supposed to be discussing Obama's first 100 days and how it's gone. Clearly, this guy has got other plans!

It's our last 100 days! Well, I guess you can smoke them if you got them, folks!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: A plague of locusts is the next thing to come along.