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American Morning
Obama Reaches First 100 Days in Office; Swine Flu Spreads in Nine U.S. States, Takes First U.S. Victim; Possible Swine Flu's First Case Tracked Down in Mexico; Obama Orders Review of Plane Photo-Op Cost; How Swine Flu Has Affected the Tourism Industry; Swine Flu Misinformation Spreading Online; Smart Pill Could Revolutionize Medicine
Aired April 29, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. It's Wednesday, it's the 29th of April. Thanks for being with us on the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. One hundred days. We made it.
ROBERTS: Can you believe it?
CHETRY: No. It went pretty fast.
ROBERTS: It's the Hallmark holiday for the president.
CHETRY: Exactly. I bet you that Barack Obama is getting a lot of cards this morning.
We have a lot to cover this morning as well. Here are the big stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
This morning, President Obama marking a milestone, 100 days in office and his first 14 weeks on the job marked by an ambitious agenda. We're going to break down what he's accomplished, how he's handled the growing list of foreign and domestic crises as well.
Also this morning, the swine flu outbreak is growing. Confirmed or suspected cases now in nine states and U.S. health officials are now warning that Americans will likely die.
Also, more fallout from the Air Force flyover that had New Yorkers in a panic. A furious President Obama ordering a review of the decision to have a 747 shadowed by fighter jets flying over the site of the 9/11 attacks. The estimated cost to taxpayers in the six figures.
ROBERTS: We begin though with the Most Politics in the Morning and a major milestone for the Obama administration. Today marks the president's 100th day in office. And all day long CNN is looking back at the history and headlines and forward to what's next for this administration.
This morning, the public's opinion of the president remains strong. In a brand new CNN poll of polls, 63 percent of Americans approve of the job he's doing. And in just 14 weeks on the job, the president's ability to lead in a time of crisis has been tested time and time again.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has covered the president from Illinois and his announcement to the Oval Office. And she joins us now. Happy 100th day.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Happy 100. I can't believe. We all made it. We made it this far. It seems a lot longer actually.
Covering President Obama for a year on the campaign, I learned how he evolved as a candidate. He honed his message for change. He motivated a lot of new people to get involved. But now covering him for the fist 100 days, we are learning what kind of leader he's becoming by seeing how he handles crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Certainly not what you'd expect from your commander in chief. But for President Obama, holding himself and his administration accountable has been a hallmark of his first 100 days.
Since taking office in January, it's been on the job crisis management training for him and his staff. Six of his top picks ran into trouble, four for not paying taxes. Historians say it was Obama's mea culpa that saved him.
ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: He's made some pretty serious mistakes, particularly in Cabinet appointments, but he was able very quickly to admit his mistakes.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Obama's approach in times of crisis reveals how he leads. He tapped a balance delivering bad news while calling for calm in confronting the economic meltdown and now the swine flu outbreak.
OBAMA: This is obviously a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert. But it's not a cause for alarm.
MALVEAUX: President Obama got high marks for using that calm in his first international crisis. Of all things, pirates who took an American captain hostage.
OBAMA: I am very proud.
MALVEAUX: He laid low until after the rescue. Some see the president's cautious approach as disconcerting.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Some in Washington are asking, is he weak? And others are asking is he too meek.
MALVEAUX: Others question whether he's playing politics by not immediately being forthcoming.
OBAMA: It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.
MALVEAUX: How he speaks is a big part of his success, says body language expert T.J. Walker.
T.J. WALKER, AUTHOR, "SECRET TO FOOLPROOF PRESENTATIONS": He strides up there, completely calm, and not rushed, a million dollar smile on his face. And that just makes people feel more comfortable especially in these trying times.
MALVEAUX: Walker says the president's body language is appropriate unlike that of his predecessor.
WALKER: That was a strikingly horrific picture on Chancellor Merkel's face when President Bush came up to her, put his hands on her back and she looked like that.
MALVEAUX: President Obama also uses subtle gestures to express his displeasure.
WALKER: He doesn't have to stand up and say, Vice President Biden, don't say that. Simply by shaking his head, he is showing mild disapproval. Everything is in sync, so he knows when to touch his vice president. He knows when to shake hands with a foreign leader and when not to rub their back. He's consistently appropriate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And President Obama has a lot ahead in the next 100 days. But most immediately, bailing out the auto industry, tomorrow's crisis deadline approved. It's making the kind of changes needed to become eligible for billions of dollars more of government money. GM's deadline is a month later and next week we're also going to find out the health of the banks. So clearly on the economic front, a lot to look forward to. And obviously troops going to Afghanistan coming up very soon as well.
ROBERTS: He's got a lot of plates spinning on the end of sticks. He's got to keep them all going at the same time.
Suzanne, thanks for that.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: And less than two hours from now, President Obama is going to appear at the White House with the Senate's newly minted Democrat, Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter. The veteran Republican announcing on Monday that he's switching parties. With Al Franken ahead in the marathon Minnesota recount, it looks like the shift will give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. Specter conceded his chances of winning Pennsylvania's GOP primary next year were pretty bleak, but says he based the decision on principles, not personal politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And coming up in about 10 minutes' time, we're going to take a look at how Specter's switch could impact the president in his next 100 days and beyond. We're also going to be talking with former presidential candidate, former Senator Fred Thompson coming up in our 8:00 a.m. hour here in the Most News in the Morning. Get his take on Specter's defection as well as the president's first 100 days and some rather harsh things to say about the president in a recent Newsmax article.
And join us tonight for the "CNN National Report Card" on President Obama's first 100 days in office. You'll get to grade the president along with the best political team on television. It all kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Live coverage of the president's news conference as well follows at 8:00. Join us for the CNN prime-time event.
ROBERTS: A grim headline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this morning regarding the swine flu. Officials are warning, expect more cases and the possibility that some people could die from the virus.
Right now, federal health officials confirm 64 cases in five states. The White House now seeking $1.5 billion to fight the virus. New cases continue to surface around the world as well.
Now, 11 countries including the U.S. with confirmed or suspected cases of the virus. No country though harder hit than Mexico where 159 people have died due to swine flu there.
We're on the hunt for the source of the outbreak. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has traced it back to a remote spot in Mexico. That's where he's found what's suspected to be patient zero, the first human infected with the disease has now spread across four continents. It's a young boy.
Sanjay's live in Mexico this morning. And how did you find this little boy, and how do we know for sure that this is ground zero?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a lot of question marks still. You know, we've witnessed the sort of emerging of this outbreak together. And now we think we have found the location.
You know, overall, Kiran, there's a lot of lessons to be learned here. What happens here in Mexico may be emblematic and a lesson for the rest of the world. But here's how we did it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA (voice-over): As the number of cases of swine flu build around the world, everyone has been on the hunt for the source.
(on camera): We've long suspected that the origins of swine flu may have been on a pig farm, and now we're headed towards one about two hours north of Mexico City. We think we may find where this virus started. We may also find him, Edgar Hernandez. People believe he is patient zero, the first patient to contract the virus.
(voice-over): La Gloria, it's a village where everybody knows someone. I showed this motorcycle rider Edgar's picture. He's name is Frederick (ph), and he offers to take me.
(on camera): Don't drop me. OK.
So after hours of searching and hours of driving, we're finally going to meet the little boy that everyone is calling patient zero.
(voice-over): There he is -- Edgar Hernandez, a little 5-year- old boy who got so sick.
(on camera): Did you have a headache?
EDGAR HERNANDEZ, POSSIBLE FIRST SWINE FLU VICTIM: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a headache and throat.
GUPTA (voice-over): He was brought to this clinic, where he was diagnosed as possibly the first case of swine flu of this outbreak.
So where did it come from? Edgar's mom thinks she knows.
(on camera): A lot of people are saying that the swine flu came from some of the pig farms. Do you believe that?
MARIA DEL CARMAN, EDGAR'S MOM: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what she hears (ph).
GUPTA (on camera): No question we stumbled on to a controversy here. The citizens of La Gloria really believe that the pig farms in the nearby areas got so many of their citizens sick. So we decided to pay those pig farms a visit.
(voice-over): The industrial pig farm is huge and owned by American company Smithfield Foods. People in town say they believe this is the source of the outbreak.
(on camera): We finally made our way to the hog farm, but the Mexican Department of Agriculture and the company itself said they've done testing, and the tests have come back negative. They simply won't let us through security. They simply won't show us the pigs.
(voice-over): This medical mystery now only half solved. We know who may have first contracted swine flu. We just don't know where he got it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: He's an adorable little boy there, and he's doing very well, as you saw. You know, one thing I want to point out about this particular hog farm. We did get a statement from them eventually. I want to read this to you because I think this is important.
It says, "Smithfield Farms has no reason to believe that the virus in any way was connected to its operations in Mexico. Its joint ventures in Mexico routinely administer influenza virus to vaccination to the swine herds and conduct monthly tests for the presence of swine influenza."
So as you saw there, Kiran, a bit of a controversy but a lot of people sort of focusing in zeroing in on this area. We expect there's going to be a lot more testing trying to figure out exactly how this particular virus emerged.
CHETRY: And it does seem so arbitrary. Patient zero looks like he's fine, healthy again, recovered. And then you have, you know, more than a hundred people who died from it. And also the question about the surgical masks. Some of our U.S. health officials have seem to suggest they're not necessarily effective in preventing the spread of the flu. You've been using one. What do you think?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting because I used one certainly when I was in front of the hospital. A lot of people are recommending at that point because so many people were infected and walking right in front of us as we were standing there doing these shots.
Out here, it's probably less important. They say unless you're within six feet of an infected person, there's really no use for it. As far as what it does, I mean, look, these masks can't stop all those little viral particles from entering, but they can stop sort of large loads of viruses from getting into your nose and your mouth. So it's helpful but certainly not foolproof.
CHETRY: I got you. All right. Good reporting this morning. Sanjay Gupta, thanks.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, we're getting the first estimates of what that Air Force One photo op over New York City is costing taxpayers.
The Air Force says the cost of flight time and the photo shoot for the 747 and two F-16s could top $328,000. The sight and sounds of screaming jets over ground zero caused panic in the streets and frantic phone calls to 911. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: Oh, my God.
DISPATCHER: What is the problem? You've got to tell me. What is going on, sir?
CALLER: There's a (INAUDIBLE) falling an aircraft, a big aircraft kind of like the 9/11.
DISPATCHER: The building is falling down? On Montgomery and where?
CALLER: Between Montgomery and Grand Street, 101 Hudson.
DISPATCHER: 101 Hudson?
CALLER: Everybody is running. People are crying and panicking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The president is said to be furious about the whole thing. Now he's ordered to review the classified photo shoot. And there's this.
It appears that the FAA knew that the photo op flyover might cause panic. The memo said no media or press releases are planned, citing Defense Department procedure not to publicize any movements of Air Force One.
CHETRY: But isn't that strange given that -- I mean, it's only Air Force One if the president's in it. Right? Otherwise, it's just the 747.
ROBERTS: A special air mission, 28,000 or 29,000. But I mean, just like the chain of stupidity goes along.
CHETRY: It really does. It's mind-boggling.
ROBERTS: It's incredible. As Fran Townsend told you yesterday, felony stupidity.
CHETRY: Exactly.
Well, the swine flu outbreak has led to travel warnings, canceled trips to Mexico. We're taking a look at the impact the virus is having on one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.
Also, it's day 100 for President Obama. All this morning, we're grading his job performance with our guests and with you, our viewers. Here's one caller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE JOSEPH TAGGE, IREPORTER: In terms of leadership, President Obama has shown that he is capable of learning quick and can become an effective leader. Right now, he is a very good orator and a very good diplomat, which are two good qualities that President Bush did not have. So I will give him a grade of A on that for effort and a B for overall success.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes now after the hour and time to fast forward to some of the stories that will be making news throughout the day.
This morning at 10:20 Eastern, President Obama will hold a town hall just outside of St. Louis, Missouri to mark his 100 days in office. You can see that event live right here on CNN on-line or -- what time is it? 6:15, I said, right? You can see it live on CNN or CNN.com/live.
Today, first lady Michelle Obama, Joe Biden and the small army of congressional spouses and kids will volunteer at the Capital Area Food Bank. They'll be bagging food to distribute to a thousand students who depend on that program to eat.
And Congress holds another emergency hearing today on the swine flu outbreak. The Senate committee will focus on the public health and medical response to a potential epidemic. They're going to hear from acting CDC director Richard Besser, who says swine flu deaths in the United States are likely, and also Anthony Fauci, who runs the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases. And remember we had Mike Osterholm from Minnesota on the other day, who said they need to involve somebody like Fauci in the search for a vaccine because he's the one of the world's experts in infectious diseases and needs to be a big part of this.
CHETRY: All right. Well, also, you know something that's been affected by the situation, even if they do get a handle on it and quite soon. It's already affecting Mexico's lucrative tourism industry, taking a pretty big hit now from the swine flu outbreak and fears surrounding it.
The U.S. State Department says that Americans should not travel south of the border unless it's absolutely necessary. Similar travel warnings are also being issued in Europe. So Christine Romans is here with us right now. She's looking at the impact that this is having on one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, especially this time of year. Spring break...
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
CHETRY: ... equals Cancun, and a lot of them saying don't go.
ROMANS: And a lot of changing information too so you want to get it all for you. More than 22 million tourists visit Mexico every year. Seventy percent of those are from the United States. And this morning, many are waking up and wondering whether they should put off that trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Tropical weather, beautiful beaches and affordable rates -- all great reasons to make a run for the border. Now with the outbreak of swine flu, many are rethinking a trip to Mexico.
MONTY AGARD, TRAVEL AGENT: If it's not an essential travel to Mexico, people are not going.
ROMANS: Monty Agard is a travel agent for Cook American Express Travel. His company's clients are expressing concerns about traveling not only to Mexico but basically anywhere.
AGARD: It's making everyone whose travel is necessary worried about, will London be next? Will Chicago be next? Will Paris be next? Will Russia be a problem? So it's affecting the entire travel industry, not just one location.
ROMANS: Many of Agard's clients with trips to Mexico are now switching their plans. Agard has seen a 60 percent drop in consumer travel to Mexico since the outbreak. Most major airlines are offering customers a chance to change their itineraries free of charge. And many major hotel chains are waving cancellation fees in Mexico.
ROGER DOW, U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION: I think everyone is watching Mexico.
ROMANS: Roger Dow is the president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. He says even if the swine flu outbreak doesn't get worse, the damage may already be done.
DOW: It is about perception, and one of the biggest challenges you have is to end up with a pandemic versus an epidemic.
ROMANS: Late Tuesday, Air Canada canceled flights to popular tourist destinations Cancun, Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta. Carnival Cruise Lines issued the following statement: "We have decided to cancel all calls at Mexican ports for all current sailings and all voyages departing on Thursday, April 30th through Monday, May 4th."
The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert that advises Americans to avoid any nonessential travel to Mexico. Even so, Monty Agard hopes the public will continue to put their passports to use.
AGARD: You can't take the entire traveling public and say don't travel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: And, of course, there are those folks who say, look, I'm going to travel anyway.
A travel agent in Houston who specializes in Mexico told us that her bookings are down 30 percent. But they were down 30 percent before the flu outbreak because of a weak economy and concerns about violence in Mexico. So they've been already seeing a dropoff. So it comes at a tough time for that industry for sure.
CHETRY: It does. All right, Christine, thanks.
ROBERTS: A seismic shift in the Senate, and an exclamation point on President Obama's first 100 days. Longtime Republican Senator Arlen Specter is suddenly a Democrat. We'll look at how the switch could help President Obama's agenda going forward.
It's 19 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A picture this morning of Columbus Circle as the wheels go round and round and round. It's cloudy out there right now, a little bit of rain in the forecast. Fifty-eight degrees, only going up to a high of 60. A big difference from yesterday. It was in the mid-80s yesterday and the wind just howling out there.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. President Obama marking a milestone today, 100 days in office. It's been an all-out sprint from the second that he took the historic oath of office. So how is he doing so far?
Joining us now with his presidential report card, John Avlon, contributor to thedailybeast.com and author of "Independent Nation." So in the overall?
JOHN AVLON, CONTRIBUTOR, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: The overall.
ROBERTS: What would you give him?
AVLON: I'd give him a solid B plus. I think he's done a good job. He's trying to follow through on his promises to the American people. And already you're seeing Americans believe the country is moving in the right direction, going optimistic about the future. Key indicators even in the tough times that we haven't seen in a while.
ROBERTS: Yes. The right track/wrong track thing does, you know, begin to turn around. That's an interesting indicator of the mood of the country.
AVLON: It is.
CHETRY: I can't stand when professors give him plus or minus because you know on the report card, it's still a B. I'm just teasing you, John.
Well, let's talk about handling the economy.
AVLON: Sure.
CHETRY: Because you give him a solid B on that. What could he have done better?
AVLON: I think, you know, the markets have started to react to all the spending but the question is at what cost, literally?
We've seen unprecedented deficit spending. This neo-Keynesian spending spree that's going to be a real issue down the line, and it makes a lot of this fiscal responsibility rhetoric look absurd. So he's going to have to start standing up to liberal House Democrats to rein in the deficit. And he's going to start hatcheting (ph) with entitlement reform and issues that can really bring the deficit down. That's going to mean tough fights in the future. He's not going to be able to just give them a blank check.
ROBERTS: In fact for the folks at home, let's see how you broke the whole thing down.
AVLON: Great.
ROBERTS: You wrote a blog for us on AMFix. And the overall report card: Diplomacy, you gave him an A minus, domestic security, a B, the economy, as Kiran mentioned, a B, C minus on education, B plus on energy and incomplete on health care, and an A plus on military conflicts, A plus.
AVLON: An A plus.
ROBERTS: And military conflicts his highest mark, why?
AVLON: We're grading a little bit against expectation. Remember during the campaign, the hit on Obama was that he's inexperienced in foreign affairs. Well, he started off on the right foot, reappointing Secretary Gates, General Jim Jones in NSA, very centrist moves. And then look what he's done in the first 100 days.
He's depolarized the single most divisive issue of this decade, the Iraq war. He's doubled down on Afghanistan, really taking troops out of Al Qaeda, not only in Afghanistan but Pakistan as well. He's been prescient. He's been focused, and I think he's continued a lot of the substances that Bush dropped in while totally changing the style.
CHETRY: Very interesting about the education mark. That was the lowest one you gave him.
AVLON: Yes.
CHETRY: A C for that. There were a lot of high hopes for President Obama regarding education, making it a priority. What happened?
AVLON: A lot of Democrats would give him an A. He's put $90 billion of the stimulus into it.
My problem is this: The money hasn't followed through with the reforms he promised as well. Democratic Congress cut the D.C. voucher program, a school choice program opposed by the teachers union, hugely popular and successful, impacting two kids in Sasha and Malia's class alone. $18 million a year, a purely political cut. It was cynical. That's not reform.
ROBERTS: Can you give a real short answer on this? Arlen Specter's defection? Victory for centrism or license for the left to ram through everything they can?
AVLON: More of a license for the left. Any independent likes checks and balances. When anyone reaches a 60-vote majority, filibuster-proof majority, checks and balances are out the window.
ROBERTS: John, great to see you this morning. Thanks for coming in.
AVLON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And a reminder that you can read John's op-ed in our Web site at CNN.com/amfix.
CHETRY: And Twitter users spreading misinformation apparently about the swine flu. This is interesting. People are sharing their stories, their theories, their fears, and many times, bad information.
ROBERTS: It's like that skit that they did on "The Daily Show," stuff I heard from some guy, you know.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly, or some twit in this case. We're going to take a look at the feeding frenzy on the Web and why some fear it could lead to panic, if it hasn't already.
Twenty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. And a live look at the White House right now where it's day 100 for President Obama all day here on CNN. We're taking stock of that milestone, looking at what the president has done and whether or not he's making the grade.
Our iReporters are already sending in their report cards, including Joseph Puente of Utah who voted for President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH PUENTE, IREPORTER, MORONI, UTAH: Well, the president has been talking a lot about renewable energy, green jobs, and energy independence. Unfortunately, we haven't seen a lot of action. Based on that, I'm giving him a grade of C.
I was generally in support of the stimulus bill, but glimmers of hope and cautious optimism. Notwithstanding, the jury is still out on how much it will help.
For the economy, I was going to give the president a C, but I'm knocking it down to a D for the way they're handling the banking situation which doesn't seem to deviate much from how the Bush administration was handling it.
Category three -- diplomacy. Wow, the world likes America again. Nicely done. But there have been a few social and diplomatic faux pas that are hard to overlook. So I'm going to give him a B on diplomacy. My recommendation for improving his grade, keep practicing, you'll get better at it.
Overall, I'm going to give the president a grade of C. It's not terrible for the first 100 days, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Entertaining entry there from Joe Puente of Utah. Keep those report cards coming. Head to our Web site at CNN.com/amfix to send us an iReport. You can also call our show hotline at 877-my- amfix. And don't miss our prime-time special on the president's first 100 days. It kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, coming up right now at half past the hour and here are the big stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
Health officials are now confirming at least 64 cases of swine flu in the United States. There are now confirmed or suspected outbreaks in nine different states. President Obama is asking Congress for $1.5 billion now to fight the disease.
North Korea threatening to conduct more missile tests and a nuclear test if the United Nations does not apologize. The Security Council adopted a statement condemning North Korea's rocket launch earlier this month calling for tighter sanctions as well. The threat comes as North Korea announced that it resumed production of weapons- grade plutonium at its Yongbyon nuclear plant.
And, Pakistan claiming it's regained control of a key town just 60 miles from the capital of Islamabad, a town overrun by the Taliban last week. And the crackdown on terrorists appears to be getting wider as well. The Pakistani military says fighter jets also took out at least 70 militant fighters in northwest Pakistan.
Back to the swine flu now. And this morning, it's one of the most talked about topics on Twitter. There's also a growing controversy, though, over whether the social networking site is helping the public or adding to the hype and misinformation.
CNN's Carol Costello following this for us from Washington.
What are you hearing, Carol?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, you wouldn't believe what I'm hearing, Kiran.
You know, when you throw around a word like pandemic, even if you qualify it with "it could be," you are bound to be bombarded with bad information. Well, some say Twitter has become the modern equivalent of Chicken Little constantly tweeting, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S. has now risen.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Information about swine flu is overwhelming. It's literally bombarding us on every conceivable medium.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Outbreak -- swine flu jumps across six states.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The swine flu outbreak in this country grows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The swine flu may be racing across parts of the United States right now.
COSTELLO: But the information is most ubiquitous online. According to Nielsen, the Internet is buzzing furiously about swine flu in a way it didn't about the peanut butter salmonella scare or even...
SUSAN BOYLE, BRITISH SINGING SENSATION: (SINGING)
COSTELLO: Singing sensation Susan Boyle.
JOHN ABELL, "WIRED MAGAZINE": It's the number one and two trending topics right now on Twitter.com. So, it's kind of hard to avoid.
COSTELLO: And for some, the swine flu overload is troubling. Even YouTubers are complaining.
PHILIP DEFRANCO VIA YOUTUBE.COM: And Twitter is not helping. If anything, Twitter has spread mass panic because this Twitter army of the uninformed are spreading misinformation.
COSTELLO: Some critics agree, saying tweets come so fast and furious, information is often wrong and sometimes scary, or one person's joke becomes another person's fact.
Take a look at these tweets.
There's this one, "Swine flu plus pork chops equals no lines at the buffet."
And this, "I think swine flu has been planted by al Qaeda terrorists who don't like pork-eating infidels in the West."
And, "Swine flu and avian flu are some day going to come together and mutate into a super virus. Then no one will be safe."
And this, "My husband is obsessed with the swine flu. He thinks he's going to die."
Evgeny Morozov blogs for ForeignPolicy.com.
EVGENY MOROZOV, FOREIGNPOLICY.COM BLOGGER: The problem for Twitter is that it's very easy to sprout gossip and to spread misinformation because there are power users on Twitter, those who have hundreds of thousands of followers.
COSTELLO: And he says that the swine flu outbreak does become epidemic in the United States, the unnecessary hype on Twitter could feed into one of the Hollywood-style panics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Try to remain calm. Many people are dying and are going to continue to die.
COSTELLO: But others say Twitter is a great way to get general information, although it is important to keep in mind some tweets are untrue.
ABELL: You see on Twitter, there's been a lockdown in Austin, Texas, that there's been an outbreak, it's quarantined. Well, pretty easy to verify that. It might take you five minutes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That's right. It might take you five minutes to go online and check it out or turn on CNN and check it out.
And something to keep in mind, Kiran, there are responsible entities who know the information Twittering. And that would include the Centers for Disease Control and our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: There are Twittering people who are sending tweets that are true.
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. The important thing to keep in mind, as we talked about before, is that 36,000 people unfortunately die in this country every year because of the common flu. The reason this is scary is because we don't have a natural immunity to it, right? Because this is a mutated virus. And the potential is there for this to be harder to treat and harder to get a vaccine for. And so there is, you know, abundance of precaution, I guess you could say.
COSTELLO: That's right. But then you said that magic word -- there is potential. But there's no reason to panic just yet. So when you're reading your tweets or you're Twittering, just be careful what you say because you're just lending to unnecessary panic, perhaps.
CHETRY: Exactly.
All right, Carol, thanks.
COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: Promises kept, promises broken. We're using the Obameter and the Truth-O-Meter this morning to grade the president's performance in his first 100 days in office.
And it's part-medicine, part-machine. We'll show you the new pill capable of navigating your system to make sure that the right dose is delivered to the heart, or accurately, the gut of your problem. We'll show it to you, coming up.
It's 35 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
He has finally made it. President Obama marking his 100th day in office. So what about all those promises that he's made. We're using the Obameter and the Truth-O-Meter to grade the president this morning.
Joining us from Washington is Bill Adair, the editor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com.
Sounds so good. Doesn't it, Bill?
BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: I like the ring of that, John.
ROBERTS: You like the ring of that. All right. So, listen.
And the overall, what kind of grade would you give him here in his 100th day?
ADAIR: I think based on the ratings on our Truth-O-Meter and our Obameter, I think he gets a B. He's got a lot of promises kept for the first 100 days. But he's got some significant broken ones. And on the Truth-o-meter, he's got a lot of true and mostly true. But he had several key falses. So, I think a B overall.
ROBERTS: All right. Let's break it down this morning. You had, according to your count, 514 promises made during the election campaign. Let's run it through the Obameter. How many kept? How many broken? How many not acted on? What do you got for us?
ADAIR: You bet. Well, of the 514, we've got 27 that are rated "promise kept." And those include some he just did by presidential -- pure presidential power. Others that Congress passed. Then he had seven that we rated a "compromise," things that he -- that Congress didn't give him quite everything he wanted.
Six "promises broken."
We've got three that are "stalled," that are kind of pending in Congress that don't seem to be moving.
Sixty-three -- a fairly large number -- "in the works," meaning, they're being considered, mostly in Congress.
And then the biggest number, 408 with "no action." That sounds like a lot, but it's important to recognize it's only been 100 days. So, you know, there are a lot of promises he just hasn't gotten to yet.
ROBERTS: And he's got 1300 days to get to those promises as well.
Biggest promise kept you said -- let's take a look at it. His campaign promise, quote, "We'll invest in research and development of every form of alternative energy -- solar, wind, biofuels."
Why was that the biggest promise kept?
ADAIR: We found it really illustrated his biggest accomplishment in the 100 days, which was using the economic stimulus bill and the economic crisis facing the nation to pass his agenda. That economic stimulus bill was filled with many things that he had campaigned about. And he really used the crisis to really plant the seeds and move his agenda along.
ROBERTS: Biggest promise broken, you said, quote, "Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials."
This is sort of a case of, well, we've got good intentions here, but maybe in some points we're not going to follow through.
ADAIR: Exactly. This was one where he said that he'd put tough restrictions on lobbyists and then he actually signed an executive order to do so. But the executive order had a big loophole that effectively said, this is going to be the rule except when we say it's not the rule.
So, we rated that one a "promise broken". It's significant, I think, because it sort of a baptism in the messy ways of Washington that it's a lot harder to govern than it is to campaign.
ROBERTS: Yes, I mean, you know, it's the big revolving door in Washington, too, as in the big wheel everybody just keeps going around and around and around.
All right. Just for fun. You know, we all want to know, do politicians tell truth or don't they tell the truth? You ran a lot of White House statements, the President and his aides, through the Truth-O-Meter. How did they come out?
ADAIR: They actually did pretty well. I guess the bright side here was he didn't earn any of our lowest ratings, "pants on fire." So, so far in his presidency, no "pants on fire" ratings.
But he did have several things that we rated "false." I think we had four "falses" there, 11 "true" or "mostly true." The "falses" included a significant one. He kept saying repeatedly that the economic stimulus bill did not have any earmarks. And it really did. It had at least -- at least a few things that I think reasonable people would call earmarks.
So -- but overall, you know, I think you can see there he's been pretty accurate with his statements and so have his aides. They just have a little improvement to do there with the four "falses" and the two "barely trues."
ROBERTS: An interesting analysis this morning.
Bill Adair, it's always great to see you.
Bill Adair, of course, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com.
Bill, good to see you. Thanks.
ADAIR: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, President Obama is said to be furious over that photo-op fly-by that terrified New Yorkers two days ago.
New this morning -- the price of that flight being picked up by you, the taxpayer. How much? We'll tell you, coming up.
Also, forget hand-held electronics. How about a gadget you can swallow.
Would you do this?
It's a new pill able to determine when, where and how much medicine it gives you.
Do you trust it?
It's 42 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A live look over New York City, Central Park, where it's about 61 degrees right now and very, very windy. Would stay that way for most of the day. We could see some showers at times, maybe even a thunderstorm. The high reaching 60 degrees today. It's about 25 degrees lower than it was yesterday.
Forty-six minutes now after the hour.
Let's fast forward through the stories that will be making news later on today.
Two swine flu hearings scheduled today on Capitol Hill, including one this morning at 10:00 a.m. That's when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will go before the Senate committee to address the current situation and the government's response.
This afternoon, at 2:15 Eastern, the Fed is expected to announce its decision on interest rates and, after their two-day meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are expected to leave rates near zero.
And this morning, we'll also going to learn what grade Congress gives itself for the past three months at 11:30 Eastern. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top lawmakers will detail their accomplishments during President Obama's first 100 days.
What grade do you think Democrats in Congress are going to give themselves today? We'll find out -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks.
We're learning some new information this morning regarding the swine flu situation here in the United States -- the unfortunate news that it looks like we have our first confirmed death due to swine flu.
Joining us now is Doctor Richard Besser, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
It was something that we talked about the potential to happen. And today, we're hearing about a confirmed death in Texas. Can you tell us more?
DR. RICHARD BESSER, ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Yes, I can confirm very sad news coming out of Texas that a child has died from the H1N1 virus. As a parent and a pediatrician, my heart goes out to the family.
As I've been saying for the past few days, flu is a very serious infection, and each virus is unique. And so it's hard to know what we're going to be seeing. But given what we've seen in Mexico, we have expected that we would see more severe infections and we would see deaths. And we've confirmed the first death in this country in a 23-month-old child in Texas.
CHETRY: All right. So, this is a toddler, 2 years old. Out of respect for the family, I'm not going to ask you anymore about their specific case. But for parents listening, it strikes fear in your heart, of course.
What should you do? Are you changing any of the recommendations for people if your child or if anyone around you seems to be sick with the flu?
BESSER: You know, we're not changing our recommendations. And the recommendations that we've been given are the right ones to reduce the risk of you or your family members getting flu. They're important. They're important all year round, but especially now.
Flu and respiratory infections tend to be spread through hands. So, frequent hand washing. If you don't have soap and water, alcohol hand gels. If you're sick, cover your cough and your sneeze not with your hands, but with your elbow or your shoulders. And if you have a fever and flu-like symptoms, don't leave the house, stay home, give your doctor a call and see whether they want to see you in the office. And if you're quite ill, then you need medical treatment.
CHETRY: Right.
BESSER: Thankfully, the majority of cases we've seen so far have not gone on to the more severe form. But we have to watch for that. And we're looking very aggressively around the country for those cases and implementing control measures. CHETRY: Right now, we have 64 confirmed cases. There could be more. Apparently, they're testing some kids at a school here in New York City to see if they were exposed and possibly infected.
But what determines whether or not -- I mean, we're hearing about this death today, whether or not it goes from just having, you know, a severe flu that knocks you down for a few days versus dying?
I mean, should people be thinking about getting Tamiflu prescriptions? And what should people do?
BESSER: You know, I would like to put this in perspective. Seasonal flu each year causes tens of thousands of deaths in this country -- on average, about 36,000 deaths. And so this flu virus in the United States, as we're looking at it, is not acting very differently from what we saw during the flu season.
But we're continuing to look for cases and as we look for cases, as state and local public health looks for cases, I expect we're going to see more cases and as we do, we'll learn more about this and if there need to be either more stringent or less stringent recommendations, we'll be making those.
CHETRY: Right. Are you guys fast tracking a vaccine for the swine flu?
BESSER: Yes. You know, when ever we have a new flu virus, one of the first things we do is begin building up what's called a seed stock of that virus, so that if we decide to make a vaccine, we're ready to do so. And that's what we're doing here. We're moving forward aggressively on that front, so that if the decision is made, we are -- we are ahead of the game on that.
CHETRY: All right. Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, confirming the unfortunate and sad news today that we do have one death related to the swine flu here in the United States.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
BESSER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It is day 100 for President Obama. And we have got the Best Political Team on Television grading the president's performance so far.
Still ahead, senior political analyst David Gergen tells us why he thinks, quote, "The sense of crisis is lifting."
It's nine minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifty-three minutes after the hour.
This morning, the maker of cell phones and webcams is taking pills to a whole new level. They've created a battery-powered programmable drug capsule that can soon revolutionize how the medicine we take works.
Here's CNN's Sean Callebs with this morning's "Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wireless technology is everywhere. And soon, it could even be inside us. Sound hard to swallow? Well, meet the iPill.
JEFF SHIMIZU, PHILIPS RESEARCH: What we're doing is we're putting smarts on board of a drug delivery pill.
CALLEBS: Part medicine, part machine. The iPill is equipped with microsensors and GPS-like navigation so it knows exactly where it is in the body. When it's time to deliver the dose, it goes to where your body needs it most.
According to researchers, this makes the medication work better and limits potential side effects.
SHIMIZU: Medications today are basically designed for the average person. Some people it helps, some people it does no effect, and some people it makes sick. But if you can change that for the person, then you can widen that range of people who are going to be effectively treated by medication.
CALLEBS: IPill is still being tested on animals, but it could be instrumental in fighting Crohn's disease, colitis and even intestinal cancer. And down the road, the small mechanics on this revolutionary pill could have an even larger effect.
SHIMIZU: This falls along the line with -- just come in the future is personalization of health care. We're programming that pill for you, and we're seeing if you're responding and changing as time goes on rather than just sending you off with a bottle of pills and call me back in two months.
CALLEBS: Sean Callebs, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Pretty interesting stuff. Would you take it?
CHETRY: Sure.
Part of me is just nervous that what if it just opened or broke in there, or you know what I mean?
ROBERTS: Well, hopefully, they've got good quality control in putting these things together.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
All right. Well, you know, as we've been talking about all day, it's the first 100 days of the Obama administration today. So how is he doing and what lies ahead?
We're asking our senior political analyst David Gergen to grade the president just ahead.
And the price paid by you the taxpayer for that terrifying photo- op flight over New York.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, today is President Obama's 100th day in office. And the new president's first 100 days is often used as a measuring stick of the promises they made on the campaign trail, and also a time to gauge the success, failure, and what's expected for the rest of the term.
Joining us now is David Gergen, CNN's senior political analyst and a former presidential adviser to four U.S. presidents.
David, great to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
GERGEN: Thank you.
CHETRY: One hundred days into his presidency. And some are assessing just how big of an agenda he's laid out. In "USA Today," they write, "Obama has thrown a remarkable number of balls into the air committing trillions of dollars in spending, extending the reach of the federal government and the economy, launch rescue plans for automakers, and beleaguered banks, outline, timelines to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and send them to Afghanistan. They also go on and talked about how he reversed some policies on stem cell research and Gitmo. And then they concluded, with now those balls are coming down.
Going forward, David, how does he make sure he's able to tackle all of that?
GERGEN: Did they also add he's going to cure cancer, too? That's a remarkable list. It's a formidable list. And I must say as someone who is a traditionalist, I've had some doubts about whether he was tackling too much. But this is a man of unusual capacity, extraordinary ambitions for the country. And maybe he'll pull it off.
But I think going forward, he's going to have to wrestle with some very, very tough decisions, starting with General Motors and Chrysler, deciding what to do about these banks that are still in trouble. And then, very importantly, trying to figure out whether he can get this economy just to bottom out, but to start moving up. And that may be the hardest problem of all for them over time.
CHETRY: Right. And not to mention the two foreign wars we're dealing with as well.
GERGEN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: If we are taking a look, though, retrospectively, of the first 100 days, what would you say some of his biggest accomplishments have been?
GERGEN: I think his biggest accomplishments are probably not measured by legislative achievement, but rather by the change in the country as overall.
My overall sense is that the feeling of crisis, the sense of crisis is lifting in the country. That the economy is still in trouble, but people do not feel that we're falling through the floor anymore.
There's also greater confidence in the White House itself. And the leadership of the White House. You can see that in all sorts of measurements. And finally, I think that you see a general sense in the country that we're getting back on the right track, that we're reaffirming our identity as a people.
CHETRY: And we're asking this with all our guest, and certainly you with all of your insight, serving four different presidencies.
How would you grade the president based on his first 100 days in office?
GERGEN: I think the president as leader, as an individual, deserves an "A."
It seems to me that he is -- we always take a fresh look at people when they become president. But it's first time we've ever seen them in the office. And I think he has lived up to expectations.
In terms of performance and policies, I would not be as generous. It seems to me at best you'd say it's an A minus in there, in many respects. As someone who now teaches, you'd have to say it's incomplete. We just don't know where this is all going. We don't know how all these economic policies are going to bring us out or not.
CHETRY: All right, we'll leave it there. David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst. Great to talk to you this morning. Thanks.
GERGEN: Thank you so much.
