Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Continued Coverage: President Obama Holds Town Hall in Missouri; Federal Health Officials Confirm 91 Cases of Swine Flu in 10 U.S. States; Chrysler Striking Deal With Fiat, GM Still Working it Out

Aired April 29, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got to create a pathway for lifelong learning for young people and not-so- young people, so that all American workers are continually upgrading their skills.

(APPLAUSE)

So -- so we want to -- we want to put a lot more emphasis on community colleges and how they are working effectively together.

Let me make a last point, because I don't want to -- I could talk about this stuff forever. One last point, which I always have to remind people of, I said that the biggest ingredient in -- in school performance is -- is the teacher. That's the biggest ingredient within a school.

But the single biggest ingredient is the parent.

(APPLAUSE)

And so -- so this -- this is an example where, you know, people are always trying to say, "Oh, Obama, you know, is he -- is he liberal? Is he conservative?"

Well, I want government to do what it should do, but there are some things government can't do. That's where I'm conservative. Government can't force parents to turn off the TV set and tell your kid to sit down and do their homework. I -- I can't do that.

(APPLAUSE)

That's not my job. That's your job. Well, it is my job with Sasha and Malia.

(LAUGHTER)

Those two I'm responsible for. But -- but the other part of it is, it's not just making sure your kids are doing your homework. It's also instilling a thirst for knowledge and excellence.

You know, it's been noted widely that there are a lot of immigrant students who come from very modest backgrounds economically that end up doing very well. And why is that? Well, the difference is, is that, in their families and in their communities, a lot of times they've got that attitude that used to be prevalent, but sometimes we're losing, sometimes I worry we're losing, and that is, boy, it is a privilege to learn.

It's a privilege to -- to -- to discover new things. It's cool to be smart. We want -- we want to reward kids for doing well in school, you know?

(APPLAUSE)

So -- and the community can help the parents. You know, listen, I -- I love basketball. But, you know, the smartest kid in the school, the national science award winner, should be getting as much attention as the basketball star.

(APPLAUSE)

That's a change that we've got to initiate in our community.

So, all right. Gentleman in the tie there. Since he wore a tie, that was really nice of him. We appreciate that. Thank you.

QUESTION: Hi. My name is Jay Garon (ph), and I'm the junior class vice president of Fox High School.

OBAMA: All right.

(APPLAUSE)

QUESTION: I was just curious to what policies you're going to put into place in order to protect Social Security for the upcoming generations.

OBAMA: That's a good question. Let me, first of all -- a lot of people know this, but I -- but I always want to try to explain how Social Security works so that you have a better sense of what we have to do going forward.

Social Security is not an individual account. You know, there -- when you pay your payroll tax, it doesn't go into -- I'm sorry, what was your name?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

OBAMA: Jay (ph)? It doesn't go into Jay's (ph), you know, account. Your Social Security tax goes to pay for current retirees. And hopefully, when you retire, young people who are working then, their money will go to pay for your retirement.

So it's an intergenerational commitment that we make to each other. What we say is, look, all of us are going to grow old, so we're going to make sure that there's enough money in there for your retirement. And those of us who are currently working, we pay into the kitty to make sure that that happens, and then we expect that the next generation is going to do the same, all right? Now, here's -- here's the problem that we confront, and this is a solvable problem. I've got -- there are some problems that are really hard to solve; this is actually one that we can solve.

And that is -- the problem is the baby-boomers -- there were a lot of them, and they're getting older. Even though they deny it, they're getting older. So what's happening is you're getting a big bulge of people who are retiring, and you've got fewer workers supporting more retirees.

That means you've got more money going out, less money coming in. And so you get a mismatch. And what's been happening is, up until very recently, we've been running a surplus in the Social Security account. So there should be enough money. And if we were wise, then all that money would be there and then we -- we're going to start running a deficit has the baby-boomers start retiring, but we would have accumulated all this money, and it would -- everything would be fine.

But a couple of things has happened. Number one is that the Social Security trust fund -- there wasn't a fence around it, so people started borrowing out of it for other things. That's not helpful. But the other part of it is is that we're still -- there's still going to be a gap if we don't do anything even if -- even if we repay all the money into the trust fund, there's still a gap because there are too many retirees.

So it's not that Social Security would go away, Jane. The problem would be that, by the time you retire, you'd be getting $0.75 for every dollar that was promised to you. So you'd get cheated out of a little bit of your Social Security.

That's why when people say Social Security is going bankrupt, that's not true. The problem is not that it's going bankrupt. The problem is just that your benefit -- it would be the equivalent of a benefit cut of about 25 percent if we don't start making some changes.

Now, there are only a handful of ways to make these changes. Number one, you could just keep on trying to borrow a trillion dollars or a couple trillion or however much it takes from China, but that's not such a good solution because you'd end up having to pay interest off them, and at some point, they're just going to be tired of lending to us because they've got their own senior citizens that they want to take care of.

Second option is to gradually raise the retirement age. Now, I don't think this is the best option just because we just talked to an auto worker over here. That's hard work. And if people -- if the retirement age is already 67, and now you want to get it up to 68 or 69, if you're working on an assembly line and you've been doing that for 50 years or 40 years, that's some tough stuff.

If you're a senator, you can work till, you know...

(LAUGHTER)

But, you know -- but if you're doing real work...

(LAUGHTER)

... now, that's...

(APPLAUSE)

... except for Claire. Claire does some real work. Claire is a hard worker.

(APPLAUSE)

Claire is a hard worker.

(APPLAUSE)

You could cut benefits. You could raise the tax on everybody so everybody's payroll tax goes up a little bit. Or you can do what I think is probably the best solution, which is you can raise the cap on the payroll tax. Now, let me explain one last point about this.

Whether you are Bill Gates or you are Jay, Jr. at Fox High School, you pay the same rate of your payroll tax, but what happens is that it gets capped out at $102,000. Now, the majority of people here need -- for almost everybody here, what that means is that you pay payroll tax on every dime that you earn, but if you're Bill Gates, that means you're only pay payroll tax on one-tenth of 1 percent of what you earn because you earn so much more.

One hundred thousand dollars, that's just the first fraction of what you earn. And then you stop paying it. So what I've said is, look, for wealthier people, why don't we raise the cap?

(APPLAUSE)

Make them pay a little more payroll tax.

(APPLAUSE)

Not everybody is wild about this idea, not surprisingly. And so what -- what I would like to do, I had a fiscal responsibility summit where I brought together Republicans, Democrats, experts on all these issues. How do we start dealing with our long-term deficits, our long-term debt?

I actually think that we could get all those folks together and we could come up with a solution that would ensure stability of the Social Security system for a -- a long, long time to come.

Let me -- let me just make this last point, though. The big problem we have with entitlements is not Social Security. It's Medicare. Medicare and Medicaid, the two health care programs that the federal government helps support, those are the things that are really breaking the bank.

I know you've been hearing all these arguments about, "Oh, Obama's just spending crazy. Look at these huge trillion-dollar deficits," blah, blah, blah. Well, let me make a point.

Number one, we inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. That wasn't from -- that wasn't me. That wasn't me.

Number two, there is almost uniform consensus among economists that, in the middle of the biggest crisis -- financial crisis since the Great Depression, we had to take extraordinary steps.

So you've got a lot of Republican economists who agree that we had to do a stimulus package and we had to do something about the banks. Those are one-time charges, and they're big and that'll make our deficits go up over the next two years, but those aren't the problem that we face long term.

What we face long term, the biggest problem we have, is that Medicare and Medicaid, health care costs are skyrocketing, and at the same time as the population is getting older, which means we're using more health care.

You combine those two things and, if we aren't careful, health care will consume so much of our budget that ultimately we won't be able to do anything else.

We won't be able to provide financial assistance to students. We won't be able to help build green energy. We won't be able to help industries that get into trouble. We won't have a national park system. We won't be able to do what we're supposed to do on our veterans.

Everything else will be pushed aside because of Medicare and Medicaid. That's the problem that we really confront.

That's why I've said we've got to have health reform this year to drive down costs and make health care affordable for American families, businesses, and for our government.

(APPLAUSE)

So -- so, you know, when you -- when you see, you know -- you know, those of you who are watching certain news channels, that -- on which I'm not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around...

(LAUGHTER)

... let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize Social Security. Claire and I are working diligently to do basically a thorough audit of federal spending.

But let's not play games and pretend that the reason is that because of the recovery act, because that's just a fraction of the overall problem that we've got. We are going to have to tighten our belts, but we're going to have to do it in an intelligent way. And we've got to make sure that the people who are helped are working American families, and we're not suddenly saying that the way to do this is to eliminate programs that help ordinary people and give more tax cuts to the wealthy.

We tried that formula for eight years. It did not work. And I don't intend to go back to it.

(APPLAUSE)

All right. It's a young lady's turn.

It's your turn? No, I'm going to call on her. I might call on you later, though.

All right. Go ahead.

QUESTION: My name's Mary Wallace (ph). I'm a licensed acupuncturist and licensed massage therapist in Florissant. And so...

OBAMA: I could use one right now. My back's stiff. I've been working hard.

QUESTION: I'll be happy to help you.

(LAUGHTER)

And -- and this kind of fits into what you were just talking about as far as health care. I'm wondering, as a practitioner of oriental medicine, knowing that the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization has discovered, through their studies, that alternative medicine often is more cost effective and very effective, how will alternative medicine fit in your new health care program?

OBAMA: Well, look, my attitude is that we should -- we should do what works. So I think it is pretty well documented through scientific studies that acupuncture, for example, can be very helpful in relieving certain things like migraines and other ailments or at least as effective as more intrusive interventions.

I will let the science guide me. You know, we just swore in an outstanding new secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius...

(APPLAUSE)

... the former governor of Kansas. It's good to see that a Jayhawk got applause on this side of the -- on this side of the border here.

But she's going to do an outstanding job. And my charge to her is, as we're going through health care reform, let's find out what works. I think one basic principle that we know is that the more we do on the prevention side, the more we can obtain serious savings down the road.

So giving children early checkups, making sure that they get immunized, making sure that they are diagnosed if they've got eyesight problems, making sure that they're taught proper nutrition to avoid a life of obesity, those are all issues that we have some control over. And if we're -- if we're making those investments, we will save huge amounts of money in the long term.

Unfortunately, the hardest thing to do in politics and, certainly, in health care reform has been to get policy makers to make investments early that will have long-term payoffs because people, their attitude is, well, I'll be out of office by the time that kid grows up. And the fact that they're healthy, that doesn't help me.

And in the private sector insurance system, oftentimes, insurers make the same calculations. Their attitude is, well, people change jobs enough for us to pay for the preventive medicine now when the problem may not crop up for another 20 years, and they'll be long out of our system, so we don't want to reimburse it because it'll make -- it'll make things more costly.

That's the logic of our health care system that we're going to have to change. The recovery package put a huge amount in prevention. We are, in our budget, calling for significant increases in prevention. And my hope is that working in a bipartisan fashion we are going to be able to get a health care reform bill on my desk before the end of the year that we'll start seeing in the kinds of investments that will make everybody healthier.

All right? OK. It's a man's turn.

(APPLAUSE)

Let me -- it's a guy's turn. It's a guy's turn. This gentleman right here. He raised his hand. Go ahead. Yes, sir. Hold on. Wait for your -- now, are you an elected official, by the way?

QUESTION: No, sir.

OBAMA: OK. Good. Because elected officials, you guys can't -- you can't hog the mike right now.

QUESTION: No, sir. I'm a pastor.

OBAMA: Oh, God bless you.

QUESTION: Mount Zion Baptist Church in the city of St. Louis.

My question has to do with foreign policy.

OBAMA: Yes, sir?

QUESTION: While we spend so much money with Afghanistan and in other parts of the world fighting and what have you and the continent of Africa, Sudan, Darfur, and other places, the poverty level is so high, so many people are dying, is there the chance in your administration that we would (inaudible) that area?

OBAMA: Well, it's a good question.

(APPLAUSE)

Let me first of all say that whatever arguments we had about Iraq, I think, we've been able to build a consensus that it is time for us to bring our troops home and give the responsibility over to the Iraqis.

(APPLAUSE)

We are doing it in a careful way because we don't want the country to collapse. That would not be in our strategic interests. There's been recent flare-ups of violence in Iraq that are highly sensationalized. And that indicates the degree to which this is a -- a ramp-down that is conducted over the course of 18 months. I think that's the right thing to do.

In Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, we do have real problems with the Taliban and Al Qaida. They are the single most direct threat to our national security interests.

And I had some grumblings and complaints from, you know, certain factions in the Democratic Party when I made a decision to send 17,000 additional troops there. I understand people's concerns. But, as commander-in-chief, it is my responsibility to make sure that bin Laden and his cronies are not able to create a safe haven within which they can kill another 3,000 Americans or more. That's an obligation that I have.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, having said that, both on Iraq and Afghanistan, I think we're doing the right thing. I think it's difficult. It's going to require a new strategy that mixes not just military action, but also includes diplomacy and development. We can't neglect these other parts of the world.

So I've appointed a special envoy, a Major General Scott Gration, very close friend of mine, was one of the top fighter pilots in -- in our military, in our armed forces, and somebody who's also an expert on development issues. He just returned from Sudan. We are trying to find a way to create peace and stability that will allow the kind of humanitarian assistance that's needed to take effect in that country.

But -- but you're making a broader point, which is, there are a lot of countries, not just in Africa, but in Asia and Eastern Europe, et cetera, that need our help.

And sometimes people ask me, "Why should we help other countries when we've got so much to do here at home?" I mean, foreign aid is very unpopular. I'm telling you, it's probably the single most unpopular thing. If you just ask the average American, they'll say, "Why should we be giving money to other countries?"

And people usually grossly overestimate how much our foreign aid budget is. You ask people, they'll say, "Well, we give 10 percent of our federal budget away in foreign aid." Actually, it's 1 percent. We give less in foreign aid than any other wealthy country, as a percentage of our GDP.

Here is the reason why it's important. The reason why it's important is that a lot of times we can advance our national interests more effectively by showing that we are interested in the well-being of the people of other countries.

That makes those countries more predisposed to work with us on a whole range of issues that are very important to us. It's an important tool for us to be able to meet our national security interests.

So, for example, let me just give you one very specific example. If, in Latin America, where I just returned, people see that we are sending doctors, and teachers, and Peace Corps workers into these communities, that that's the face of America, when it come time -- when it comes time for them to help us on drug interdiction, it's a lot easier for the president of a Colombia or a Mexico to ally themselves with us, because we're known to the Mexican people or the Colombian people as good friends, as people who care about them.

And that may actually then ultimately save us money in the long term because we don't end up having to send troops in and do some things ourselves because we've got allies to work with us.

So not only is it the right thing to do from an ethical and moral perspective, but it is also good strategy.

And -- and -- and so I've said to the Congress, even in these difficult times, we need to do some additional work, in terms of foreign assistance, because it will save money for us and lives, blood and treasure for us in the long term.

I mean, you know, right now, everybody is concerned about the swine flu, and properly so. This is a potentially serious issue, and we've got to monitor it very carefully.

But think about it: If Mexico has a good, strong public health system that is catching these things early, ultimately that's going to save us money, because flu gets contained.

And a lot of the threats that we're going to be facing, whether it's international terrorism, cyberterrorism, nuclear proliferation, pandemic, climate change, a lot of these issues, they cross borders. So it's not like we can just draw a moat around America and say, "I'm sorry, you know, don't bother us. Keep your problems outside."

It just doesn't work that way. People get on planes from Africa and will bring a disease right here to our doorstep because we weren't concerned about whether or not they had a public health system that could catch these diseases early.

So this is all part of our -- our interests and not just -- not just other people's, all right? OK.

I was told that I have time for one more question. Now, I want to -- I'm sorry, guys, but I'm going to go with a student, because young people, this is their school, but I want a young lady, because it's a young lady's turn.

This young lady right here. This is the one, the one with the lei on. All right, here you go. She looks ready with a good question.

QUESTION: It's an honor to meet you, President Obama. My name...

OBAMA: Thank you so much. What is your name?

QUESTION: My name is Laurel Bonebreak (ph), and I'm a fourth- grader. I was curious, how is your administration planning to be more environmentally friendly?

OBAMA: Well, that is just a great question.

(APPLAUSE)

You're a very poised and articulate fourth-grader.

(APPLAUSE)

Yes. Isn't -- isn't she impressive? Yes, absolutely. We might have to run you for president some day.

Well, there are some short-term things we can do and there are some long-term things we can do. On the short-term list, we already, for example, passed a historic public lands bill that creates many more acres of public space that is environmentally protected from -- you know, from logging and from other -- from mining and -- and from other uses. And that, I think, is going to be very important.

Now, in some cases, what we do is we balance the need for economic growth, but we do it in a sustainable way. You know, there doesn't have to be a contradiction between jobs and the environment. We just have to be thinking a little smarter.

And so, for example, when it comes to forestry, there's nothing wrong with us cutting down some -- some -- some trees for -- for timber as long as you make sure that it's done in a sequence and is spaced properly so that the forest itself is sustained.

You know, sometimes these debates become this all-or-nothing thing. Either commercial interests can do anything they want -- dump stuff in the oceans, and tear down all the forests, and that's the only way we can get economic growth -- or, alternatively, you know, everybody is hugging trees and you can't cut a tree and you -- you know, there's -- there's a balance that can be struck. And the key principle is sustainability.

Are what we are doing going -- will it ensure that you have this incredible treasure we call America when you grow up for your kids, so you can take them into a park, so sportsmen or fishermen can enjoy it? That's the key.

Now, there is a long-term problem that we've got to deal with, and this is a tough one. And that is this issue of climate change. I want to tell you the truth here because this is going to be a debate that we're going to have having over the course of the next year.

You know, the average person probably things, yeah, climate change, that's kind of a drag, but it's not one of my top priorities because you don't really see it or feel it. It doesn't hit your pocketbook. It doesn't have to do with your job directly.

And so the tendency is just to kind of push it off. People think, well, this is just has to do with polar bears and I feel bad about polar bears, but, you know, I've got other things to worry about. I don't think people fully appreciate the potential damage, economic damage, as well as environmental damage that could be done in we are not serious in dealing with this problem.

If the temperature goes up a couple of degrees, well, it will change weather patterns pretty significantly. It could create droughts in places where we haven't had drought. It could bring insect-borne diseases up into places like Missouri that we haven't seen before.

But we can probably manage. If the temperature of the planet goes up five degrees, you're now looking at coastlines under water. You're now looking at huge, cataclysmic hurricanes, complete changes in weather patterns. Some places will get hotter; some places will get colder.

Our economy would be disrupted by tens of trillions of dollars. So this is no joke. And the science shows that the planet is getting warmer faster than people expected. Even the most dire warnings -- it's moved forward faster than anybody expected.

There's -- they're talking about, just in a few years, during the summer, there will no -- there won't be any ice in the Arctic. Something we have -- we have never seen before. So we have to do something about it.

Now, the question, again, is how do you do it in an intelligent way. There are some people who would say this is such a big problem that you've just got to shut everything down. Well, I'm sorry. That's not going to happen.

People have got to go to work. We've got to drive. We've got to fly places. You know, our economy has to grow. But there are ways that we can do it that are intelligent and smart. And I think one of the best ways to do it is to say in a gradual way, let's set a cap, a ceiling on the carbon pollution that comes out of all sorts of places -- our utilities, our cars, our industries. Let's take a look at all the carbon that's being sent in the atmosphere that's causing climate change, and let's say that each year we're going to reduce the allowable amount in total that is released. And what we'll do to each industry is we'll say we're going to make a deal with you. Come up with ways to improve your processes and bring pollution down, and you can make money by sending out less pollution.

On the other hand, if you have more pollution that are you were allowed, then you're going to have to pay money. You start creating a market for the clean energy and you start making it more -- less economical to produce harmful energy.

Now, if we do that in a smart, gradual way and in a way that protects consumers from the initial attempts of utilities, for example, to pass on those costs to consumers, which is what they'll try to do, so we've got to rebate money to make sure that people are held harmless, then I actually think that we can get control of this problem. We can save the polar bears, but more importantly, we can make sure that we are preserving our economy.

And here is the great opportunity: Everybody knows we're going to have to do this. The country that gets there fastest, the country that's the first one to figure out really good battery technology for a plug-in hybrid car, the first country that perfects wind power and solar power and knows how to get it from one place to another in an efficient way, that country will dominate the economy of the 21st century the same way that America dominated the 20th century.

I want that to be America. That's what we're fighting for.

All right, everybody, I had a good time. Thank you.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And there you have it. President Obama presents his 100-day report card to the nation. The president making the milestone and marking it at a town hall meeting that just, as you saw, just wrapped up in Arnold, Missouri. He campaigned in the state just days before the election. And he says he returned today to update his progress since taking office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You believed that at a time of war we could stand strong against our enemies and stand firmly for our ideals and show a new face of American leadership to the world. That's the change you believed in. That's the trust you placed in me. It's something I will never forget, the fact that you made this possible. So today on my 100th day in office, I've come back to report to you, the American people, that we have begun to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and we've begun the work of remaking America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And tonight, a CNN primetime event, "100 DAYS OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY." CNN's "NATIONAL REPORT CARD" begins at 7:00 Eastern and will include the president's live news conference at 8:00 Eastern. Then, join the best political team for more of the CNN "NATIONAL REPORT CARD." One hundred days down, 1,361 to go for the Obama administration. Some historians say after 100 days in office, the president's grade is an incomplete.

The story now from CNN's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

ACOSTA (voice-over): One hundred days later, Barack Obama's America is still dusting itself off, far from remade.

OBAMA: There you go.

ACOSTA: Despite trillions of dollars in government money aimed at solving the financial crisis, the nation's unemployment rate is approaching double digits.

OBAMA: By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.

ACOSTA: Despite setting an end date for the war in Iraq and doubling down on the war in Afghanistan, there is still more violence.

LARRY SABATO, AUTHOR, "THE YEAR OF OBAMA": Barack Obama has not dispelled the very dark clouds that are hanging over the United States and the world. Really what he's provided is a rainbow. And we're all focused on the rainbow and it's a beautiful rainbow, but the dark clouds are all still there.

ACOSTA: Which is why on the big presidential tests of peace and prosperity, some historians say Mr. Obama earns an incomplete in his first 100 days.

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORY PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIV.: An incomplete is what we would expect. And I think it's a more useful way to think of the first 100 days. You can't finish at that point. You can't receive an A or an F.

ACOSTA: Presidential scholars point to Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. Big approval numbers in their 100 days, but not anymore. Then there is JFK and Clinton who stumbled early on but now get high marks from historians.

SABATO: Judging a president after just 100 days is really the equivalent of a classroom teacher giving a student a grade after three days.

ACOSTA: World leaders cheered Mr. Obama for improving America's tarnished image. But at home, presidents are often defined by how they handle the unexpected like hurricanes or a potential pandemic. That test may have come on day one. President Obama confronted an economic meltdown he's compared to the Great Depression. ZELIZER: You know I think in many ways the president on the economy has taken a big gamble. He's betting that, you know, 100 days from now, 200 days from now, the economy is doing better. If it's not doing better, this becomes President Obama's economy.

ACOSTA: It's a good thing he's got a dog.

(on camera): While the White House is downplaying the significance of the first 100 days, President Obama's old campaign manager is taking a different approach. He sent out an e-mail to Mr. Obama's supporters that says change is happening, offering links to the personal stories of Americans who say the administration's policies are making their lives better.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, the economy has been issue number one for President Obama's first 100 days. We have some new poll numbers on how people are feeling about the economy.

In the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 37 percent say economic conditions are very poor. That is down from 66 percent in December and 48 percent last month.

Is the president keeping important promises he made during the campaign? Sixty-eight percent say he is doing a good job keeping his promises. Thirty percent say he's doing a poor job.

And again, don't miss our CNN prime time event tonight at 7:00 Eastern, "100 DAYS OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY." CNN's "NATIONAL REPORT CARD" is your chance to grade the president and Congress on the job they've done so far.

More cases of swine flu reported in more states, and the first confirmed death in the United States. Our medical team is chasing down the facts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Swine flu infections rising rapidly. Here is what we know.

A 22-month-old Mexican child has died from the virus in Houston, Texas. It is the first confirmed swine flu fatality in the United States according to the CDC. The child had recently traveled to Texas from Mexico.

Federal health officials have just confirmed 91 cases of swine flu in 10 U.S. states. That's a big jump from yesterday's figures. Newly sworn in Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has just laid out the government's action plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The federal government has nearly 50 million treatment courses of the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza in the Strategic National Stockpile. The government has already begun shipping the medications and other personal supplies from the stockpile to states. States with confirmed cases are a priority as the resources are distributed. I want to make it clear, these drugs are effective in treating patients who have acquired the 2009 H1N1 flu virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Now Sebelius admits officials expect to see more cases, more hospitalizations, and sadly, more deaths here in the United States from the swine flu outbreak.

Joining me now, CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, look at these numbers. Ninety-one confirmed cases. Ten states now. How fast is this spreading?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's pretty fast considering we heard about five states yesterday.

HARRIS: It is.

COHEN: And you know what, I think tomorrow we're going to see another jump. And then the next day another jump. These numbers are going to keep going up.

Let's take a look at the distribution of these swine flu cases across the United States. So far, New York with 51; Texas with 16; California with 14; Massachusetts with 2; Michigan, 2; Arizona with 1; Nevada with 1; Indiana with 1; Kansas with 2; and Ohio with 1.

So as you can see, you know, just this last Friday we were talking about two states. And now here we are talking about 10.

HARRIS: Yes. So where do we stand in vaccines?

COHEN: They are working hard on a vaccine. That was really the big gist of this press conference that the newly sworn in Secretary Sebelius had this morning. A lot of talk about wanting to get a vaccine ready for the fall.

Now, some people brought up, hey, look what happened in '76 when we gave out a swine flu vaccine that didn't go so well. Some people actually got sick from the vaccine. And so NIH officials saying, look, we're not saying we're going to do massive vaccinations, we're just saying we want to have them on hand and then we can decide who will get them.

HARRIS: The new viruses, trickier to deal with?

COHEN: Yes, they are trickier to deal with. And you know why? New viruses are unstable. As one expert kind of put it to me, the DNA kind of flip-flops around a lot. You don't know when it's going to mutate. It may mutate for the better. It might become weaker. Or it may mutate for the worse and become stronger. So dealing with these new vaccines is trickier.

Another thing about new vaccines -- about new viruses, rather, is that they seem to get young, healthy people quite ill. I mean usually young, healthy people deal pretty well with the regular flu.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, are able to -- and to bounce back.

COHEN: Yes. They seem to attack young, healthy people more than just like a regular seasonal flu.

HARRIS: I've got to ask you, more cases out there? The answer to that seems that it would be yes.

COHEN: Yes, there are probably more than these 91 cases out there.

HARRIS: Sure.

COHEN: For example, in New York alone, we know at some point they stopped testing. There was this cluster of kids at that high school in Queens. And when they found, yes, we've got a lot of kids sick in this school, they just stopped testing people because they said, look, we pretty much know they have swine flu. Why do we need to test them?

It is very possible that people in this country have been getting sick with flu and they don't go to the doctor, because most of us don't when we just have a fever, and they had swine flu and they'll probably never know it.

HARRIS: Elizabeth, what else do we know -- what more do we know about this 22-month-old child who has died now?

COHEN: Right. We know that this is a boy. And we know that this is a boy who was from Mexico City. He was visiting relatives in Brownsville, Texas, when four days after his arrival, he started to become ill. He went into the hospital and he died earlier this week. So April 4th he went from Mexico to the United States. We also know that he had some underlying illnesses. In other words, he was sick before he got swine flu. We don't know what illness . . .

HARRIS: Well, that's new.

COHEN: Yes, this is new. And we don't know what illnesses he had before he got swine flu or if it made him more vulnerable to getting so sick.

HARRIS: Gotcha. Gotcha.

COHEN: But we do know he had some other illnesses.

HARRIS: OK. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, great update. Thank you. COHEN: Thank you.

HARRIS: Chrysler is counting down to an important deadline for its survival. I will get some answers about the future of America's car companies and what's ahead for you as a car customer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Chrysler, one day before a government deadline. "The Detroit Free Press" reports Chrysler is within striking distance to a partnership with Fiat.

And in a letter to Chrysler employees today, Chairman Robert Nardelli says the company hopes to seal the deal.

Now, late today, we should get results from the UAW rank and file vote on a package of wage and benefit concession. The Obama administration has reached a deal with Chrysler's primary creditors, but if one of the 46 debt holders doesn't go along with the agreement, the government will press Chrysler for what it is calling a surgical bankruptcy.

OK. That's the latest there.

GM is waiting for the White House to sign off on its restructuring plan. The strategy, cut jobs, plants, brands and dealerships, reducing GM to a shadow of its size in the 1970s.

Let's talk to Rebecca Lindland, a senior auto industry analyst for IHS Global Insight. She is in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Rebecca, I already know I want to have you back, but welcome to the program.

REBECCA LINDLAND, SENIOR AUTO ANALYST, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: So let's start with the Ford story.

LINDLAND: Yes.

HARRIS: Ford is performing better. What's the story there?

LINDLAND: There were a couple things. When Alan Mulally took over Ford in 2006, he secured about a $20 billion -- $28 billion in credit when credit was easy to get. They mortgaged everything. So Ford actually is benefitting from the fact that they were doing worse in 2006 than GM and Chrysler were. And they're feeding off of that money that's already been secured.

HARRIS: Got you.

Rebecca, what should we make of the news that the major lenders have agreed to this new restructuring of the debt, Chrysler debt?

LINDLAND: You know, it's great news that we were able to get these four banks that control 70 percent of Chrysler's debt into agreement. That's a huge accomplishment. However, these other 46 parties that you mentioned control 30 percent. Chrysler needs to get 90 percent of their debt holders to the table in agreement to avoid bankruptcy.

HARRIS: Hey, what do you think? Is it going to happen?

LINDLAND: It's really tough, Tony, because these 46 -- this is a conglomeration of small banks, big banks, people, individuals . . .

HARRIS: Hedge funds.

LINDLAND: Exactly. It's a whole mixed bag. So that's going to be a lot harder to accomplish.

HARRIS: OK. What is your view on the state of GM right now?

LINDLAND: GM really needs to trim itself. You know, it's this kind of big, bloated company. It's not profitable. And it needs to get to the point where it can make a profit.

Now what Fritz Henderson is saying is that they can make a profit in (ph) about 10 million units for the market, which is great, but they need a lot of help trimming dealerships, trimming costs, and, unfortunately, trimming brands.

HARRIS: So, Rebecca, the U.S. is not -- a broad view of this industry now, the U.S. is not the biggest automobile market anymore and Detroit is not preeminent and certainly not the center of the automobile universe anymore. When does the auto industry in this country, in your view, start to work again? And I'm talking about selling 12, 13, 14 million units again.

LINDLAND: Well, you know, we're actually expecting a pretty quick recovery. We're kind of expecting a snap back starting in late 2010 into 2011. We're back on track in 2012 and 2013 where we actually expect to exceed our previous forecast because there's a lot of older vehicles out there and there's a lot of new households. Demographics play a very good part in this. So there's a lot of positives, but we have to get housing moving first.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.

LINDLAND: You know. So we've got to get the consumer back into the showroom.

HARRIS: Right. Rebecca, no, go ahead.

LINDLAND: OK. There's a lot of stuff that needs to happen before autos recover.

HARRIS: OK. I'm running out of time. Quickly here, Rebecca, what grade would you give the president for handling this crisis in the domestic auto industry?

LINDLAND: We're giving Obama a B and we're giving the task force an incomplete because we've got to see what happens with Chrysler and GM.

HARRIS: I don't know if we asked you this, but I want you to give a grade to the Treasury Department and Secretary Geithner because they had a hand in striking some of these agreements certainly with the bondholders of Chrysler.

LINDLAND: Well, you know, I think he's doing pretty well. I would say, you know, B minus, C plus. If we can get Chrysler to avoid bankruptcy, he's doing great.

HARRIS: Rebecca, good to talk to you. Come on back and see us early and often, all right

LINDLAND: OK. Thank you, I will. Thank you.

HARRIS: Rebecca, thank you.

So what are the markets saying as President Obama hits the 100- day mark?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Very quickly want to get you a quick market check here. The Dow in triple digit territory throughout the morning at 149 points, in positive territory. The Nasdaq, I understand, up 37. We will be following those numbers throughout the day with Susan Lisovicz.

And new numbers out today suggest the economy didn't just scrape a knee in the first quarter, it bloodied its nose. Gross Domestic Product shows the economy shrank 6.1 percent from January through March. That's much more than analysts predicted and almost as much as the decline in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Got to go. Got to go. We are pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM right now with Kyra Phillips.