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Counties in Texas, Alabama Close Down Entire School Districts Due to Swine Flu Detections; President Obama Happy at Work Accomplished, Aware of More Hard Work to be Done; Abu Ghraib Prison Controversy: If Bush Administration Knew, Why Were Soldiers Punished and Imprisoned For Actions?

Aired April 30, 2009 - 06:58   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome. It's Thursday, April 30th.

I wanted to hear the lyrics. Once I started, she started.

Pretty shot of Central Park today.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, very nice. Very nice. It's going to be a nice day here in New York.

It's coming up on two minutes now to the top of the hour. John Roberts together with Kiran Chetry here on the Most News in the Morning.

And here are the stories and our agenda that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.

Chrysler could declare bankruptcy today. Talks between the Treasury Department and Chrysler's lenders reportedly collapsed last night. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting the automaker owes dozens of hedge funds and four banks a combined almost $7 billion. And those lenders will not settle for a $2.2 billion government proposal.

The Centers for Disease Control now confirming 91 cases of swine flu in ten states this morning. And in Ft. Worth, Texas , some 81,000 school kids will be staying home until the 11th of May. The superintendent there closing schools after a number of cases have been reported in the area.

A building has collapsed in Lower Manhattan. It's an unoccupied five-story building on Reed Street near Broadway. Emergency crews are on the scene. The building said to be under construction, and we're told there are no injuries.

We begin the hour with an in-depth look at the president's primetime news conference.

It's the third time President Obama has taken the podium of the White House East Room in his first 100 days. And the president says he's happy with the progress that his administration has made so far. But he's also signaling that the hard work has just started.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we're off to a good start, but it's just a start. I'm proud of what we've achieved, but I'm not content. I'm pleased with our progress, but I'm not satisfied.

Millions of Americans are still without jobs and homes, and more will be lost before this recession is over. Credit is still not flowing nearly as freely as it should. Countless families and communities touched by our auto industry still face tough times ahead. Our projected long-term deficits are still too high, and government is still not as efficient as it needs to be.

We still confront threats ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation, as well as pandemic flu. And all this means you can expect an unrelenting, unyielding effort from this administration to strengthen our prosperity and our security in the second hundred days, in the third hundred days, and all of the days after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux was watching the president's press conference intently and is here to break it all down for us this morning.

What did you think?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very different than what we've seen in the past. You and I were talking about that before. President Bush liked to say he was a gut guy. He went on his gut, much of his decision-making. Whether you agree or disagree with him, it was his job to lead the country in the direction that he saw fit. A little navel-gazing.

But President Obama almost seemed to relish in this moment when he was asked to reflect on his first 100 days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): A reflective President Barack Obama on his first 100 days. Governing the United States is a lot harder than he thought.

OBAMA: I am surprised compared to where I started when we first announced for this race by the number of critical issues that appear to be coming to a head all at the same time. The typical president, I think, has two or three big problems. We've got seven or eight big problems.

MALVEAUX: The most pressing one, the swine flu outbreak.

OBAMA: I consulted with our public health officials extensively on a day-to-day basis. In some cases, an hour-to-hour basis. At this point, they have not recommended a border closing.

MALVEAUX: Despite the fact Mr. Obama has greatly increased the government's role in dealing with the nation's problems, including bailing out big banks and managing car companies, the president said he had little appetite for either.

OBAMA: I think our first role should be shareholders that are looking to get out. I - you know, I don't want to run auto companies. I don't want to run banks. I've got two wars I've got to run already. I've got more than enough to do.

MALVEAUX: He alternately pleaded and thanked the American people for their patience while recognizing his own limitations.

OBAMA: I can't just press a button and suddenly have the bankers do exactly what I want, or, you know, turn on a switch and suddenly Congress falls in line.

MALVEAUX: But he still pledged to try to fulfill his promise to bring bipartisanship to Washington.

OBAMA: To my Republican friends, I want them to realize that me reaching out to them has been genuine.

MALVEAUX: But the president stood firm on his position to abandon some interrogation techniques used under President Bush considered by many to be torture.

OBAMA: We could have gotten this information in other ways. I believe that waterboarding was torture. And I think that whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake. It corrodes the character of a country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And President Obama reiterated that he believes his election victory was really a mandate for change. He is confident in undoing many of President Bush's policies because of that reason. Whether it is torture or stem cell research or the Iraq war, obviously, he believes that that's the kind of vision and what's going to be behind his governing for the next 100 days as well.

ROBERTS: All right. One hundred days and then the 100 days after that, and then on and on and on.

MALVEAUX: On and on.

ROBERTS: Suzanne, thanks for that.

CHETRY: All right. Well, the other story that's on our radar this morning, the fast-moving outbreak of swine flu.

The Centers for Disease Control now confirming 91 cases of the virus. Health officials are calling it H1N1. Across ten states here in the U.S., several additional states also reporting more cases but those have not yet been confirmed by the CDC.

Worldwide, the World Health Organization is confirming 154 cases including eight deaths in nine countries. Officials say they expect that number to grow by roughly 20 times. That's causing the WHO to up its global pandemic level threat to five. That's the second highest rate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARGARET CHAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: No matter what the situation is, the international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response. Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity. It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, schools in two U.S. states taking no chances. Classes are suspended in Madison County, Alabama which includes the city of Huntsville, and also in Fort Worth, Texas. Fear over the H1N1 virus is giving 80,000 students an unscheduled vacation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANDRA PARKER, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, TARRANT COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT: It is the recommendation of Tarrant County Public Health that the Fort Worth ISD close the district schools for the duration through May 8 and cancel all school-related activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: You've got to bet the kids are cheering. I'm sure parents not so much.

We have CNN team coverage on the story. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, standing by in Mexico City.

We start though with CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's in Fort Worth, Texas.

You know, these are big considerations school districts make, especially 80,000 kids and now it affects their learning as well as their households. So why did they decide to take this step?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, school officials and health officials here in Fort Worth say they're doing this for the best interest of the children and to keep everyone healthy at this point.

And really, this is the most wide-sweeping and most drastic measure we've seen across the state of Texas where several smaller school districts have closed their campuses. But this is a massive operation that has been closing down here -- 80,000 students, 140 schools, after reports that one student was confirmed with this -- this flu virus and also three other students suspected of having that as well.

So school officials here are worried that since everyone is essentially intermingled, students know one another, know each other from different campuses, they were afraid that would trigger a much more widespread outbreak of this illness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELODY JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, FORT WORTH, IND. SCHOOL DISTRICT: This is a time when the citizens of the community have to come together and support each other. This is a very, very rare event in our history, and it is a time for everybody to step up to the plate and help each other out. Whether that's day care assistance or whatever, if Dr. Parker and the Public Health Department is recommending that our students don't attend day care centers and so on, then obviously the ripple effect on this is huge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Kiran, what health officials across the state say they're grappling with is the balance between overreacting, which some people believe this has been another -- believe it was the right decision, obviously, and then reacting properly.

So health officials say that's really the biggest issue and the biggest challenge they're dealing with this morning.

CHETRY: All right. Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Fort Worth. Thanks so much.

ROBERTS: And the virus bringing things to a near standstill at its epicenter in Mexico City. That's where we find our Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, it sounds alarming that the World Health Organization is warning of an imminent pandemic. But what exactly does it mean particularly here in the United States?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, obviously, that does sound concerning and it's the highest level at this particular scale that we've ever had because the scale just came around about five years ago. The scale of reference -- bird flu was around a three on the same scale.

What does it mean specifically? The criteria are pretty specific. They say that you have to have sustained human-to-human transmission in at least two-countries in the same region. Those two countries, as you know, John, the United States and Mexico.

What does it mean for any of the specific organizations or individuals in the United States? Really nothing different than when, you know, you're at level four. There's still a huge sort of emphasis on personal protection, on personal containment. It is a call to action, I will say, listening very carefully to the words from the World Health Organization, call to action for pharmaceutical companies, for businesses.

She made some interesting statements talking, for example, that we really need to focus on social responsibility at this time and maybe make more of the vaccines, more of the anti-virals. So I think it just heightens the level of awareness around the world more than anything else, John. ROBERTS: In terms of vaccine production, now that they're at level five and there's a potential that they could raise it to six, what does that mean for vaccine production? We talked with Richard Besser from the CDC yesterday. We're also be speaking with him this morning. He said that the CDC certainly is interested in fast tracking the vaccine.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, this is an interesting thing. I've been talking to lots of people myself. I get the idea that there's not a sort of start of the production of this vaccine as of yet. I'm not sure there's a trigger of some sort for that to happen.

The sort of flip side of that, John, is that if they start production for the swine flu or H1N1 vaccine, they may have to ramp down some of their production for the seasonal flu vaccine. And I think they're sort of trying to balance it. Obviously, seasonal flu always a big consideration, kills around 36,000 people in the United States alone every year.

John, let me just say one more thing about this whole level five thing because I think this is very important. When you're talking about level five, this is really more a reflection of how widespread this infection could become, not necessarily how severe. People always think they associate this with the 1918 pandemic where you had tens of millions of deaths. Not necessarily. It could just be a lot of people get infected.

ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks very much.

Sanjay is twittering all morning from Mexico City taking your questions about swine flu. He's going to answer some of them on air in the next hour as well.

You can join the conversation at twitter.com/AMFix or you can e- mail us at CNN.com/AMFix. You can also call our show hotline at 1- 877-MY-AMFIX.

Well, first, it was the White House Military Office authorizing a low altitude flyover over Manhattan. Now FEMA is under fire this morning from parents upset over a coloring book meant to teach children what to do in a crisis.

Here's what their fury is about. Take a look.

This image depicting al Qaeda's attack against the World Trade Center on 9/11. On this page, meant for children to color in, you can clearly see the Twin Towers. One was smoke and flames coming out of it, and a plane heading toward the other one.

FEMA in a statement says the book called "A Scary Thing Happened" was originally published in 2003 and was pulled off of FEMA's Web site last week after complaints.

But you got to wonder, what are these people in Washington thinking about? CHETRY: I don't know. Also, apparently, this was made from Freeborn County's crisis response team. And they said that people hadn't complained for years about it until recently. They said she was not told who complained or how many complained but they decided to take it off the Web site.

ROBERTS: You know, Fran Townsend said the other day of the flyover that it was "felony stupidity."

CHETRY: Right. Right.

ROBERTS: There seems to be an epidemic of that one.

CHETRY: All right. Let's just double check, make sure we got the whole statement. Yes, again, it was just -- they said that it was a coloring book put online in 2003 and removed last week after complaints.

All right. Well, other top stories we're following this morning.

New Hampshire now one step closer to being the fifth state to legalize gay marriage. A bill passed the Senate yesterday with two last minute changes. One allows clergy to decline or perform gay marriages, and the other gives couples the freedom to use the terms "bride," "groom" or "spouse" on their marriage licenses. The governor has not said whether or not he will sign the bill but has expressed opposition.

America's most notorious single mother under new scrutiny this morning. So-called Octomom Nadya Suleman questioned by child welfare officers and police at her home after her 4-year-old showed up at school with a black eye and bite marks. Suleman's attorney said the boy falls a lot and was probably bitten by other children in the family.

After the alarming warning that all of humanity is under threat from a pandemic, is it really that bad? Well, the doctor who broke the news right here on AMERICAN MORNING about the first death in the U.S. from the virus will talk more about that warning from the World Health Organization and what we should do here in the U.S. to prepare.

It's 12 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It sounded like a moment on a television quiz show when a "New York Times" reporter asked for answers from President Obama during last night's press conference. A whole string of answers. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, "NEW YORK TIMES": During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving in this office, humbled you the most, and troubled you the most? OBAMA: Let me write this down.

(LAUGHTER)

ZELENY: Surprised?

OBAMA: I've got.

ZELENY: Troubled.

OBAMA: I've got -- what was the first one?

ZELENY: Surprised.

OBAMA: Surprised.

ZELENY: Troubled.

OBAMA: Troubled.

ZELENY: Enchanted.

OBAMA: Enchanted?

(LAUGHTER)

ZELENY: And humbled.

OBAMA: I am surprised compared to where I started when we first announced for this race by the number of critical issues that appear to be coming to a head all at the same time.

Troubled? I'd say less troubled but you know, sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slow. That there is still a certain quotient of political posturing and bickering that takes place even when we're in the middle of really big crises.

Enchanted? When I -- when I meet our servicemen and women, enchanted is probably not the word I would use. But I am -- I am so profoundly impressed and grateful to them for what they do.

Humbled by the fact that the presidency is extraordinarily powerful, but we are just part of a much broader tapestry of American life and there are a lot of different power centers. And so I can't just press a button and suddenly have the bankers do exactly what I want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: He got some chuckles when he said that.

ROBERTS: Yes, the great thing about that question was is he didn't have one talking point to go to to answer it. So he was really forced to think about his answers. He was very thoughtful about it as well. CHETRY: And I was falling asleep last night, I was thinking as a White House correspondent, right? And you're sitting there and you know you have one shot and you rarely get a follow-up, right? Unless you sort of just try to throw it in.

ROBERTS: The Bush administration, you got none.

CHETRY: And here too, even the mike's gone. So you can hear somebody shouting something. So how do you decide what to ask?

ROBERTS: Well, you can either try to make news. Right? Or you can try to ask a question for which they have no talking points. Try to throw the president off his talking points and get a real answer, and I think Jeff Zeleny did that last night. It was really interesting.

That's the most interesting question that's been asked at a presidential press conference since 2004 John Dickerson from -- I guess he was with "Time" back then -- stood up and said, Mr. President, can you tell us what your biggest mistake is? And George Bush said -- can't think of anything right now.

CHETRY: There was awkward silence.

ROBERTS: Yes.

CHETRY: Of course, that's one of those historical moments.

ROBERTS: But those are those interesting moments in those press conferences. So good job, Jeff.

CHETRY: Well, new details on the swine flu crisis. Also, how fast and where it's spreading. The doctor who broke the news here in AMERICAN MORNING yesterday that a toddler in Texas had died will be back to give us an update this morning on where we should go next as we try to deal with this potential pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: And we are down in Atlanta this morning. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. And on to one of our top stories -- the deadly flu outbreak.

The World Health Organization moves the pandemic threat level to five and raises the possibility of level six. That's the highest level. And yesterday, Dr. Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization's director general, gave this dire warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAN: All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia. It really is all of humanity that is under threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: And for the latest on the crisis, we're joined again by Dr. Richard Besser. He's the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control. He's live at the CDC in Atlanta today.

Give us, you know, some perspective on this, Dr. Besser, if you could. When Dr. Margaret Chan says all of humanity is under threat from a pandemic, what does that mean in this country?

DR. RICHARD BESSER, ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Well, I was very pleased to hear the director general yesterday raised the pandemic threat level because what that does, it provides a wakeup call to the global community so that other countries can be preparing in the event that this outbreak comes to their borders.

It doesn't really change anything in terms of our approach in this country. We're a country that already is affected by this. And whether it's called a pre-pandemic phase four or five or pandemic phase, a true pandemic at six, it doesn't change the aggressive approach we're taking to try and control this in the United States.

ROBERTS: I mean, here in the United States, aren't we already sort of approaching this as if it were level six?

BESSER: Well, we have an outbreak here. And a pandemic is really talking about outbreaks spreading to many countries.

ROBERTS: Right.

BESSER: And then transmission within those countries. We have transmission in this country and so we're approaching it that way.

ROBERTS: The big question is, just how virulent is this strain? And you know, what will the course of disease be among people who get infected?

There's an article in "The Los Angeles Times" today. It says many experts believe that this flu strain is actually fairly mild and might even be milder than the traditional seasonal flu that we've been experiencing.

BESSER: You know, I hope that's the case. But you never go into an outbreak, you never go into a new emerging infection assuming that will be the case. Now that's something you really learn as it moves forward and primarily in retrospect.

We see some very serious disease in Mexico. We continue to look for cases here. Yesterday, we reported the tragic death of a child in Texas. And, so, as we're going forward, we'll be able to answer that question, but we're being very aggressive now so that if that's not the case, we will take an all of the necessary actions to prevent a greater impact on our -- on our health.

ROBERTS: You and I, Dr. Besser, were chatting about this before you actually came up on the air here about having a team down in Mexico and what you were doing to try to trace the origins of this virus. It's believed by townsfolk in La Gloria, which is a little ways outside of Mexico City, that this virus may have first originated at a pig farm there.

What are you doing in terms of investigation to trace down exactly where this came from? And, you know, is there a reservoir for this particular virus in a pig farm somewhere? Are you testing animals? What are you doing?

BESSER: You know, the whole world is looking at Mexico and our hearts are going out to the Mexican people who are suffering during this outbreak. And there are a wide variety of studies that are going on.

Where it originated is important because that can tell us about future prevention. But what's really important in Mexico right now is understanding the spectrum of disease and why they're reporting more serious cases. If we can understand that, we can help our country and other countries prevent that from occurring.

ROBERTS: All right. Dr. Besser for us this morning from Atlanta. It's good to talk to you, sir. Thanks very much for being with us.

BESSER: Thank you.

CHETRY: Well, those who voted gave the president a B-minus collectively for his first 100 days. But how does that grade break down along party lines, between different voters? Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is looking at how you graded President Obama's first 100 days just ahead.

Also, the head of America's biggest bank takes a big hit. We're going to have details. You're watching the Most News in the Morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

The president got an average grade of B minus from the American people for his first 100 days. But how does that break down across party lines and between men and women?

Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider has a closer look at President Obama's report card.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: Please be seated.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Uh-oh, the report card is out. How's the president doing?

Here's what he says.

OBAMA: I'm proud of what we've achieved but I'm not content. I'm pleased with our progress but I'm not satisfied.

SCHNEIDER: That's what the American people say too. The average grade they give the president after 100 days, B-minus, pretty good. Keep working on that A.

Democrats and Republicans differ in their grades, but not by that much. Democrats give their president a B-plus.

OBAMA: I've got Democrats who don't agree with me on everything. And that's how it should be.

SCHNEIDER: The president says he's trying to be bipartisan.

OBAMA: I do think that to my Republican friends, I want them to realize that me reaching out to them has been genuine.

SCHNEIDER: The Republican response - wary. Republicans give President Obama a C-minus.

Is there a racial divide? Yes, but not because whites are particularly harsh on the nation's first African-American president. Whites give him a C-plus. The president has not shown any particular favoritism toward African-Americans.

OBAMA: I'm confident that that will help the African-American community live out the American dream at the same time as it's helping communities all across the country.

SCHNEIDER: Blacks give President Obama an A minus. That's pride. How does the bad economy affect the president's grades?

Suppose someone in your household has lost a job. How do you grade President Obama? B-minus.

Suppose you're worried that someone in your household will lose their job? B-minus.

And if you're not worried, B-minus?

What does that prove? That people do not hold a president who's been in office only 100 days accountable for their economic woes.

OBAMA: Obviously, I didn't anticipate the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: President Obama's overall grade of B minus is higher than the grades Americans give him in economic policy and on foreign policy. In both those subjects, he's earning C's.

The bottom line, the president is more popular than his policies.

CHETRY: And that -- we see that oftentimes, actually, right, on either side of the aisle.

But how about the parties in Congress? What are the American people giving our fine members of the House and Senate?

SCHNEIDER: They gave them pretty average grades, not great. But the Democrats scored higher than the Republicans. They give the Democratic leadership of Congress a C, the Republicans a C-minus.

What's interesting is, when Democrats grade their own party in Congress, they give it a B. When Republicans grade their own party in Congress, Republicans' grade Republican leaders a C-minus. Republicans are not real happy with the Republican leadership of Congress. Their party has got some rethinking to do.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Bill Schneider.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

CHETRY: Great to see you this morning.

ROBERTS: Great to see you, Bill.

Half past the hour, here are this morning's top stories.

With one confirmed case of swine flu, Ft. Worth, Texas has shut down the entire school system this morning. Eighty thousand kids in 140 schools ordered to stay home at least through the eighth of May. A school district in Madison County, Alabama is closed.

Americans are cutting back big time on lattes. Starbucks reporting second quarter profits dropped by a whopping 77 percent. The coffee shop chain already forced to shut down 123 outlets in the U.S.

Bank of America shareholders have voted to strip Ken Lewis of his chairman title. He is still the chief executive this morning. But many analysts considered the move a vote of no confidence that could signal the beginning of the end for the embattled Lewis.

CHETRY: Well, from bank bailouts to swine flu outbreaks, President Obama acknowledging that he is dealing with a very full plate after 100 days in office. The president held a primetime news conference last night summing up his legislative accomplishments while talking about what lies ahead.

Joining me now to break it all down for us, conservative columnist, author of "American Grit," Tony Blankley; as well as Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African- American studies at Princeton University.

Welcome to both of you. Thanks for being with us.

TONY BLANKLEY, AUTHOR "AMERICAN GRIT": Good morning.

MELISSA HARRIS-LACEWELL, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, POLITICS AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

CHETRY: I'd like to get both of your takes on his strongest moment last time from the press conference.

Let's start with you, Melissa? What did you think?

HARRIS-LACEWELL: It is very interesting that part of the strongest moment came with the most bizarre question, which was sort of Disney, Miss America-question about what enchants you about being president. But it did give President Obama an opportunity to go off script a little bit and to talk about what it meant to engage with servicemen and women. It felt like a very genuine moment.

You know, I think his other major strain was continuously pointing out that 100 days is a short period of time to do a lot of very intense work. And trying to once again encourage the American people to be optimistic and to continue to sort of wait on the federal government and local government to work together to find solutions to our common problems.

CHETRY: Right.

And Tony, what did you think? Where did you think the president had his strongest moment last night?

BLANKLEY: I thought it was the consistency of his message when he was talking about he doesn't want to have government involved in businesses any longer than they have to. He's trying to reduce the deficit now.

Obviously, the budget is going to be going up in the deficit. But he's trying to deliver and is effectively delivering a message that sounds very centrist to the American people, which is one of the reasons why he's had a very good transition from candidate to president and it's giving him strength in Congress as a result.

CHETRY: It's interesting also, President Obama dismissed the charges.

And you alluded to this, Tony, that he wants government to take over the private sector.

Let's listen to what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I don't want to run auto companies. I don't want to run banks. I've got two wars I've got to run already. I've got more than enough to do. So, the sooner we can get out of that business, the better off we're going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: So Tony, President Obama went on to say that he wanted to change the notion that he enjoys meddling in the private sector. The conservatives have accused him of that in this administration.

Do you buy that?

BLANKLEY: Well, we'll find out over the next four or eight years what policies he eventually finds himself following.

But certainly, he has a tremendous sense of what he thinks - what the American people want of their president and he is so far delivering that optic to the public. So it's an extraordinarily skillful exercise of the presidency so far in the first 100 days. And that will begin to pay dividends on his ability to keep his democratic coalition together. That's going to be the challenge as he goes in to the next 100 days after that.

CHETRY: And Melissa, President Obama also pointed to the economic bills passing as an example of what he's accomplished during his first 100 days. All those bills, though, passed with little or no republican support.

Do you think that the president's economic agenda comes at the expense of the spirit of bipartisanship that he promised when he was first elected?

HARRIS-BLACKWELL: No. If anything, the failure of the GOP to be actively part of this legislative process in the context of the domestic economic crisis, I think, really ended up playing poorly for the GOP overall.

You know, what Barack Obama's administration has done, again, quite skillfully, has to - has to demonstrate that they are, in fact, trying to reach out. They've made some concessions.

So I think the key here is certainly going to be whether or not the Republican Party can, in fact, offer counter alternatives. A different kind of policy rather than simply saying no to the Obama administration.

CHETRY: And Tony, let me ask you about that. Because when we spoke to some GOP leaders today, they said they have put forth some plans and some ideas, but they're really being stonewalled by the democratic Congress.

What is the role of the GOP? What should they be doing?

BLANKLEY: Well, having dumped the opposition and then the majority in Congress as aide to Newt Gingrich, I understand the difficulty of any minority party projecting their legislative message.

The republicans have put forward proposals. They are now starting out - I think a lot of republican governors including former governor Jeb Bush and Haley Barber are going to be out over the next few weeks laying out alternative proposals. It is hard because the opposition party never has as big a megaphone, particularly on policy.

CHETRY: Right.

BLANKLEY: Because the media understands that it's the governing party that's going to have the strong voice in policy. So, as a result, they pay less attention to the minority party's policies and more to their politics. And that works against the short term, at least, interest of the minority party, which is seen as being more political even as they're putting forward ideas.

CHETRY: Right. It was a position the democrats remember all too well.... BLANKLEY: Yes, absolutely.

CHETRY: ... from the past eight years.

Tony Blankley. Melissa Harris-Lacewell, thanks so much for being with us.

BLANKLEY: Thank you.

HARRIS-LACEWELL: Thank you.

ROBERTS: New expanded hate crimes bill now includes protection for gays. The House passed the revised bill named for Matthew Shepherd, the gay college student who was beaten to death in Wyoming in 1998. A weaker bill failed two years ago under a veto threat from President Bush.

The tuberculosis patient who triggered an international health scare for getting on a flight to Greece to get married is now suing the Centers for Disease Control for releasing his identity. Andrew Speaker alleges that the CDC gave his name and sensitive medical information to the media in 2007 and harmed his reputation, his occupation, led to death threats and the ruin of his marriage. Do you think they divorced? I thought they were still married. Ruined is a relative term, perhaps.

More fallout from President Obama's controversial order to release the CIA's interrogation memos. Did the military take the fall for the Bush administration's mistake. We're talking to the Abu Ghraib commander who was demoted after the scandal, coming up next.

It's 37 minutes now after the hour.

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

Now that President Obama has released memos of the CIA's harsh interrogation tactics, we know some of the highest-ranking officials in the Bush administration signed off on those tactics. But when the Abu Ghraib prison scandal broke, it was soldiers and officers who were taking the blame, including my next guest, former Brigadier General Janis Karpinski. She was demoted to colonel during the scandal.

So you read these memos, I assumed when they were released by the Obama administration. What did you think when you were reading them?

COLONEL JANIS KARPINSKI, DEMOTED FROM BRIGADIER GENERAL OVER ABUSE AT ABU GHRAIB PRISON: I was shocked. I was - and then I felt this sense of exhilaration or relief. Finally, finally, finally - I did a lot of talking back to my computer screen as I was reading them. And I immediately felt sympathy again for the soldiers who were blamed and accused and imprisoned. Remember, they were all packaged up as seven bad apples out of control on the night shift.

ROBERTS: Right, right. KARPINSKI: Where were the people who are defending these decisions, these memorandums, then? Why weren't they intervening then? But they let these soldiers go to prison for these accusations.

ROBERTS: So you felt vindication when you read these memos. I mean, what was the thought here that hey this type of behavior was authorized? Why are people being prosecuted for it?

KARPINSKI: Well, for five years, I was repeating the truth. The truth is easy to repeat, because it's the same truth over and over again. So from the beginning, I knew that I didn't know anything about this. I knew that I was being kept from having any information.

And five years later, to discover that they had the information all along, very, very troubling. Very disappointing.

ROBERTS: So, these - these memos - I read the memos as well. They detail a number of tactics that the Justice Department believed were allowable.

But when you look at the photos that came out of Abu Ghraib, you see naked prisoners stacked up like cord wood with the service members laughing about it. You see the fellow who was in the box with the hood over his head and the , you know, the blanket draped over him and the wires attached to his fingers to suggest to him that he could have been, you know, executed through electricity.

None of that was in the memo. Did these soldiers here at Abu Ghraib go well beyond what the Justice Department said was allowable?

KARPINSKI: The soldiers at Abu Ghraib were receiving instructions from people who obviously had experience at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba or Bagram Air Force Base or somewhere in between. And the people who were giving them those orders or those instructions certainly had access to, if not directly to, the memorandums. They understood the permissions given to them in those memorandums.

And in some cases, you look at the memorandums. You look at the photographs that were kind of hand drawn to support the instructions in those memorandums. And then you see in living color in a photograph taken from Abu Ghraib what those memorandums produced.

So five years ago, I believe - and now I really believe from those memorandums. Five years ago, the administration, the people in the Pentagon, the people in the White House, the top level of our government, they were terrified because these photographs were the photographic...

ROBERTS: Evidence.

KARPINSKI: ... evidence...

ROBERTS: Of what they allow in the memorandum.

KARPINSKI: ... of what the memorandums were saying.

ROBERTS: So what do you think should happen as a result of this, particularly for the soldiers who were convicted, put in jail?

KARPINSKI: Well, five years, give them their lives back. Revoke the accusations, certainly release the last soldier remaining in prison, release them.

ROBERTS: Do they deserve a presidential pardon?

KARPINSKI: They do. And they deserve to have all of those convictions returned. They deserve certainly to have their discharges dishonorable or bad conduct discharges overturned.

ROBERTS: And how about you, as we said in the beginning, you were a brigadier general in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison. You were demoted to colonel because of that. A lot of ramifications on your career, pensions, things like that. Are you going to seek recompense from the Pentagon?

KARPINSKI: Well, I will if nothing is done automatically.

But as a result of this, they owe this to each one of us. Give it back to us because these mistakes have now been exposed.

ROBERTS: Colonel Janis Karpinski, it's good to catch up with you this morning. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate it.

KARPINSKI: Thank you very much.

ROBERTS: Kiran.

CHETRY: So are we prepared for a flu pandemic? Will closing the border with Mexico help? And how close are we to developing a vaccine and would we need it?

It's 44 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

We have more on the developing story. The swine flu keeps spreading. The numbers of countries with confirmed cases is growing.

And also some news this morning that had us all listening twice from the World Health Organization.

ROBERTS: Yes, the World Health Organization warning about a potential pandemic. New questions too about how prepared the U.S. really is.

Jeanne Meserve live in Washington for us this morning with that part of the story.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, this may surprise you, but the U.S. officials quarterbacking the government's response say the W.H.O. announcement changing to stage five is not changing U.S. plans. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): U.S. officials say they were already preparing for the worst case, a full-fledged pandemic.

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We have been preparing all along as if this is going to be stage six. Our efforts is to stay ahead of whatever number the W.H.O. assigned.

MESERVE: In the U.S., the virus now known as 2009 H1N1 continues to spread. Just this Thursday, the number of cases confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control has ballooned from 20 to 40 to 64 to 91 with the first death confirmed today.

BRESSER: These numbers are almost out of date by the time I say them.

MESERVE: Anti- viral medications from the strategic national stock pile are being dispersed to the states. Right now there's enough to treat one quarter of the U.S. population but officials are evaluating whether more is needed.

The government is also gearing up for possible production of a vaccine, isolating this strain of flu and designing clinical trials to determine the dose, safety, and effectiveness.

REAR ADMIRAL DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: If everything went great, production could lead to availability as early as September. But, of course, with influenza vaccine production, even seasonal flu, everything doesn't always go great.

MESERVE: Officials are keeping in mind the mistakes of 1976 when Americans were urged to get vaccinated against another strain of swine flu. 500 people had severe reactions, 25 died.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: There is a big difference between having it ready and distributing it. We're just talking about the process now of gearing up to get the doses ready.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Secretary Napolitano was hammered with questions Wednesday about why the U.S. hasn't close the border with Mexico. Her response, science shows it wouldn't help. She did say that 49 people had been stopped at the border with symptoms, possible symptoms of the swine flu, but 41 of them tested negative; the other eight, tests are pending.

Back to you, John.

ROBERTS: All right. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, thanks so much.

CHETRY: Also World Health officials say that a global swine flu pandemic is imminent. So is Washington prepared to deal with such a fast-moving outbreak? We're going to ask an infectious disease expert still ahead.

And the first lady just finished her first 100 days in the White House as well. Well show you how her image has evolved and whether the mom-in-chief may be changing the role of first lady forever.

It's 49 minutes after the hour.

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CHETRY: It's 52 minutes past the hour. A shot there of New York City this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: We're following breaking news this morning.

Talks to keep Chrysler afloat have reportedly broken down. The deadline for their survival is today, so what's next for the automaker?

And democrats could be poised to see the 60 vote majority in the Senate. So what do republicans do now? We'll find out.

It's coming up on 54 minutes after the hour.