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American Morning
Supreme Court Justice Souter Retiring; CDC Confirms 109 Flu Cases in 17 States; National Guard Protecting Tamiflu Stockpiles; Chrysler Heads to Bankruptcy Hearing
Aired May 01, 2009 - 08:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And it's two minutes after the hour now. Thanks very much for being with us on this Friday, the very 1st of May. John Roberts, together with Kiran Chetry.
Good morning to you.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, too. And glad you're with us.
It's, as you said, two and a half minutes after the hour. We're going to have a look at what's going on right now. Stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
President Obama's first chance to put his imprint on the country's highest court. CNN learning that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is stepping down this summer. A lot of names already being floated this morning as possible picks. Of course, the White House not yet commenting on that, though.
The outbreak of swine flu forcing more school closings this morning. Students in more than 300 schools will be staying home for now, and some reports say that could get much higher. Right now, the CDC is confirming 109 cases of the H1N1 virus here in the U.S. in 17 states.
April turning out to be the deadliest month this year for U.S. troops in Iraq. The military saying that two marines and a sailor were killed yesterday in operations against militants. Eighteen of our troops were killed in April along with 290 Iraqi civilians.
We're following breaking news this morning. President Obama will get a chance this morning, another major responsibility on his plate as we head into the next 100 days. Supreme Court Justice David Souter planning to step down this summer after 18 years on the bench.
Suzanne Malveaux working her sources at the White House, and joins us live right now.
Suzanne, Souter's replacement, of course, a very political process. What have you heard about what qualities President Obama wants in a Supreme Court pick?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Kiran. I want to start off by noting that senior administration officials this morning who I talked to say there is no formal notification of Souter's intention to step down at the White House. And that really is because we are looking for traditionally the marshal of the Supreme Court to physically come here to the White House to deliver a letter, a letter of intent. That has yet to happen.
But as we know, the formal channels have not been actually gone through here. But we do know that informally, people are very much aware of Souter's intentions. And it was a debate -- a Democratic debate in Las Vegas.
Wolf and I both participated in when the question came up about Supreme Court justices. What would he be looking for? He was asked point blank whether or not if somebody did not support abortion rights, if they would appoint that type of candidate. He said he would not appoint someone who doesn't believe in the right to privacy. And then, Kiran, he went beyond that.
I want you to take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sometimes, we're only looking at academics or people who have been in the courts. If we can find people who have life experience and they understand what it means to be on the outside, what it means to have the system not work for them, that's the kind of person I want on the Supreme Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: There was also another occasion as a candidate, he went before Planned Parenthood. He was asked a similar question, and he actually said, you know, 95 percent of the cases that go before the Supreme Court, it's pretty much in agreement how these justices are going to rule, but it's those five percent of cases that really matter. And he says that's all about what's inside a judge's heart.
He said, specifically, we need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy to recognize what it's like to be a young, teenage mom. "The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old. And that is the criterion by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."
So, Kiran, obviously, it runs the gamut, but what he is suggesting here is that he's going to look for someone out of the box. The one perhaps who'll make history, but certainly someone who is empathetic to those people and to those causes.
CHETRY: He did say that on Planned Parenthood convention, right?
MALVEAUX: Yes. He said that at the Planned Parenthood convention. But he also suggested that, too, that debate that you heard in Las Vegas to, Wolf.
CHETRY: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us with more. And as you said, it's a parlor game. Nobody knows who he's going to pick. But, of course, it's something that we all like to talk about.
So who will President Obama nominate to replace Justice Souter? A lot of people think he may nominate a woman. We have more now on an "AM Extra."
A look at some of the possible candidates. There is Sonia Sotomayor, a judge on one of the most powerful courts in the land. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the second district. She would also be the first Hispanic on the court. Also, considered to be on the shortlist, Elena Kagan. Kagan, the dean on Harvard Law School and was confirmed in March as U.S. solicitor general. And there's Jennifer Granholm. She is the governor of Michigan, and the first woman to hold the attorney general post in Michigan.
ROBERTS: Now to a developing story this morning. More than 300 schools nationwide shut down because of swine flu concerns. That number nearly tripling since Wednesday, impacting about 172,000 students in 11 different states.
Health officials are saying a vaccine for swine flu won't be ready for at least four months. That will be in time for next flu season at least. Big drugmakers are racing to develop one right now. The CDC sending samples of the new virus off to drugmakers so they can do that as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, drugmakers are stepping up production of anti- viral medications like Tamiflu. Many states now receiving shipments of those drugs from the strategic national stockpile, and they're having to protect them as well.
Barbara Starr now live from the Pentagon.
Barbara, those states are calling on the National Guard to step in here?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Surprisingly, John, yes. Five states now that we know of using a small number, but, still, they are National Guard troops activated by their governors to guard those Tamiflu stocks that have been shipped out by the CDC to the various states. When you look at the map, it's for fairly widespread.
National Guard units in Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, Kansas and Kentucky all have at least a small number of National Guard troops at these so-called secure locations.
And I have to tell you, while everybody says stay calm, there's no problem, the National Guard isn't even identifying to the news media where these locations are that the Tamiflu is being stored, other than to say they are secure locations, but they can't talk about where it is.
So, you know, I think what the bottom line here is all of these states certainly hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, preparing if the flu crisis continues to grow and they have to start distributing those Tamiflu stocks, being ready to do so -- John.
ROBERTS: Always good to be prepared. Barbara Starr for us from the Pentagon this morning.
Barbara, thanks so much.
CHETRY: We talked about these stories from time to time. People say they see the Virgin Mary in things like sandwiches, potato chips. Well, now dozens of faithful in a California border town says she has appeared on a restaurant's griddle. More than a hundred people have come to the Las Palmas restaurant in Calexico, California. The griddle was being cleaned when the likeness was found. Among those who came in to marvel at the find: a group of masked Mexican professional wrestlers.
I knew we would get to that eventually. Either that or they have a very unique theme at their restaurant for serving food.
ROBERTS: Well, is that the Virgin Mary or is it not?
CHETRY: Who knows? And it's probably hard to see and decide when you're wearing a mask. Maybe you need to take it off and look closer.
Well, if the deadly flu virus continues to spread, there are some questions about how these pandemics grow and how vulnerable we all may really be.
And the president told Americans if they are sick, just stay home. But how in a bad economy is that even possible, especially when more than 59 million Americans don't get sick time? Could calling in sick actually cost you your job?
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up now on 12 minutes after the hour. Let's fast forward to stories that will be making news later on today.
Auto giant Chrysler heads to a Manhattan court for its first bankruptcy hearing. President Obama says the bankruptcy is not a failure, but one more step on the path to Chrysler's survival.
At 2:00 p.m., auto sales figures for the month of April will be released. Double digit decline is expected. More bad news for the big three and the greater economy.
At 10:00 a.m. Eastern, the University of Michigan is going to release its consumer confidence report. Stocks have been up this week ahead of the monthly report. We're going to have the numbers for you just as soon as they are released and, of course, we'll be watching the markets today to see their reaction. Strike a deal or stop the presses. Today is the deadline for "The Boston Globe" to come to terms with its newspaper unions. If they don't agree to $20 million in concessions, the paper could be shut down -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. John, thanks so much.
Also, the swine flu outbreak is spreading and officials this week ask anyone with flu-like symptoms to stay home from work or keep their kids home from school. But for many Americans, taking a sick day simply not an option.
Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning, and she joins us now.
We've been talking about this amongst ourselves all week about how it's just not so easy for many people who don't get paid if they don't go to work.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And there are a lot of people who are not paid for their sick days. You know, there's the Family Medical Leave Act, the FMLA. It's a federal law that means you have to, by law, be allowed to stay home without pay to take care of a sick family member, to take care of a family medical business.
But when the president says, you know, if you don't feel well, stay home. For some people, that simply is not an option. Look at how many people do not get paid sick leave, and we know that a lot of these people are working paycheck-to-paycheck and really struggling here in this economy.
Fifty-seven million people have no paid sick leave. That's 48 percent of that working population group. Twenty-one million women do not have paid sick days. 55 percent are retail workers and 78 percent are hotel and food service workers. Think of that. These are jobs where people come in contact with other people all day long for their jobs. They are not paid to take that day off.
We also know there are millions of Americans who are underemployed. It means they'd like to be working full-time but they can't. They can't find a full-time job so they are working part-time.
Part-time work does not guarantee you a sick day -- a paid sick day. And anybody working paycheck-to-paycheck, and trying to get a better job knows that it's incredibly difficult to try to take a day off. It's just something to think about when we're talking about this flu epidemic and we're talking casually about telling people just stay home.
One thing I'm concerned about, personally, and I don't have any numbers on this and can't find any numbers about this, but in all of these school districts where they are saying, you know, kids need to stay home, families are struggling to figure out who is going to watch them.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) when a child stays home, somebody has to stay home with them.
ROMANS: That's right. And there are a lot of single-parent households, there are a lot of, both parents are working in a household, and we know that the economy is already very weak. So, this is something we haven't really talked about in this. But I hope that everyone, you know, be aware of your neighbors, and your friends and your family. It's very difficult to take that paid day off. Let's all try to help each other here.
CHETRY: But it's hard as well in that situation because even if you want to do your friend a favor, you don't want to expose yourself or your family to a potential illness. So it's a very difficult situation even for people who do get sick time. Want to make sure that they are doing the best job they can so that they can keep their job. They're probably not going to call in sick, either.
ROMANS: So many things to think about. You know, to take a sick day off. And we think of it as officer workers. You know, most of the people we're talking about here are not office workers. They're not going to be paid for it.
ROBERTS: And how many times do you take off when you're sick?
CHETRY: Very rarely. You have to be, you know...
ROBERTS: Usually come in wheezing, coughing, hacking. (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: And we get paid for it. Imagine if you're sick, and you're not going to get paid for it.
CHETRY: We do get paid for it?
ROMANS: Yes. Well, I do. You don't, but yes.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, new information on the global impact of infectious disease. We're going to see what an expert says Mexico did that actually slow down the virus and bought the United States some critical time.
And was the vice president off message, as they say, when it comes to the swine flu outbreak? We're going to hear what he said and how the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, then reacted when he was questioned about it yesterday.
It's 16 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Top videos right now on cnn.com. Most popular, one sneeze can send millions of germs barreling in your direction at a hundred miles per hour. Randi Kaye shows us how germs from one sneeze can potentially spread from one person to hundreds, even thousands.
The Queens Day Parade in the Netherlands. An attempted attack on the Dutch royal family. A man ramming his car through police barriers and into a crowd. The queen was not injured, but five people were killed in that attack. The driver of the car was taken into custody. He later died.
Also, San Antonio, Texas, a bus carrying disabled passengers crashes, while security cameras catch the driver text messaging. There you see it. On the left, he's text messaging. You see the impact on the right. Twenty-three people were injured in that crash.
And those are the most popular videos right now on cnn.com.
ROBERTS: As we wait to see how far swine flu spreads, we are asking this morning where are we most vulnerable?
Here to help us understand better is Laurie Garrett. She's the senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She's also the author of "The Coming Plague," which really was the definitive book on emerging viruses and diseases, everything from Ebola to pandemic flu.
You know, from your vast experience in this area and what you've seen so far, what are you thinking of this virus?
LAURIE GARRETT, SENIOR FELLOW, GLOBAL HEALTH, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Right now, my tendency is to say that we don't have a terribly dangerous virus on our hands at the moment. But, also, that it's still evolving. It's still changing. It, clearly, has undergone some pretty radical changes in the last few years, resorting pieces genetically from a variety of different pig viruses, possibly some very ancient in viral terms meaning about a 20-year-old flu viruses from birds, maybe, and then a lot of human viruses.
ROBERTS: So, may we have gotten lucky here, the way that this epidemic has emerged in Mexico, that we got an early snapshot of this virus that will allow us to go into vaccine production. Have an effective defense against it in case it mutates again? It becomes far more virulent.
GARRETT: Yes and no. The good news is it probably first emerged in the United States. All evidence points that way. But that didn't really take off until through circumstances we still don't understand. It got into Mexico.
And for whatever reason in its first emergence to the u.s., it never really took off. There were individual cases, but no human-to- human transmission. That's all very good news. That means something is slowing this virus down, and it's not nearly as contagious as we had feared, nor as virulent as we had feared, as deadly.
However, you know, the real question is going to be what happens after it goes south for the winter, and returns in the fall. And does it undergo some more mutations along the way and become a more dangerous virus for us in October?
ROBERTS: Our Sanjay Gupta gave us some interesting information this morning that it's lacking a key amino acid that allows it to replicate more rapidly. Is it possible that somewhere along the line, it could pick up that amino acid and suddenly become very, very deadly?
GARRETT: That is a possibility. The other possibility is it could mix with another type of H1N1 that's in circulation, that is Tamiflu-resistant, and acquire that capacity to resist our primary treatment. There are a lot of possibilities, but possibilities are not reality. They are not anything people should, right now, be scared about. Rather, they are things that people in charge at the CDC, at World Health Organization, in the scientific community should be staying on top of and be vigilant about.
ROBERTS: And, you know, part of all this, too, is the local reaction to it. We see school districts closed in Fort Worth and other places. Maybe they're closing one or two schools. "The Dallas Morning News" wrote about that today. They said, quote, "The official reaction in North Texas to the threat of swine flu has been anything but consistent. Local school districts, for instance, have range from little action to total shut down."
Centers for Disease Control acting Director Dr. Richard Besser said, "The actions will vary by community. And that's a good thing. We'll learn from that, what things are more effective and what things are not a good use of resources."
Some people at home might be looking at that, though, and say, wow, trial and error when we've got potential pandemic on our hands? Is that a good idea?
GARRETT: Well, we're an odd country, the United States, not like our European counterparts or Canada, for that matter. Because, historically, everything to do with both the schools and public health is controlled legally at the local level. So there's very little the CDC can do except give out guidance, advice, nudge, nudge. You might think about doing this and doing that.
But it's every single school district can make its own choices based on its own whatever. Decision points. And every single local health department makes its own decisions.
So I think acting director Besser is in a position -- he said the most tactful thing he can say. He can't come right out and say -- look, you guys are idiots to shut down your school districts and make everybody stay at home with their kids and, therefore, you're slowing down your economy and everything. Just because of one maybe suspicious case.
We didn't do that here in New York City.
ROBERTS: Right.
GARRETT: And I don't think we will. We have a very sage, calm leadership here in New York City. It's been tried and tested, thanks to 9/11, anthrax and Lord knows how many other things we've been through.
It's typical in epidemics that the communities that often have the harshest reactions are the ones with the least history of major crises.
ROBERTS: Right.
GARRETT: And so there is a tendency by community leaders to say, whoa!
ROBERTS: It's all a learning process, isn't it?
GARRETT: It is.
ROBERTS: Laurie Garrett, it's great to see you this morning. Thanks so much for dropping by.
GARRETT: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it.
CHETRY: She went from beauty queen to political spokesman. Miss California's answer on gay marriage caused quite a buzz. Now she's taking to the air waves in a new TV ad. We're going to get the buzz about that.
Also a job opening on Supreme Court. Justice David Souter announcing he will retire next month. So who's on President Obama's short list to replace him? A look at some of the options.
Twenty-four minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: More this morning on our breaking news. As if the president didn't have enough on his plate for his second 100 days, he now has to pick a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. So who can slip into his seat in America's highest court?
Joining me now in the telephone from Pompeii, Italy is professor of law, Alan Dershowitz, from Harvard Law School.
Professor, it's good to talk to you.
It's interesting to note that David Souter was appointed by a Republican, Bush 41, back in 1990, yet he waited until a Democratic president took power to announce his retirement.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, PROFESSOR OF LAW, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL (via telephone): There's no question that he became a real disappointment for the Republicans. He was a stealth candidate who emerged as a kind of centrist, inclined towards liberal. In fact it's the Souter, which -- it became a veer. They will never Souter anybody again. They will make sure that everybody is so carefully vetted so that they get true blue conservatives.
He was regarded as a warning sign and as a mistake by the Bush administration. And he emerged as a very, very good justice.
ROBERTS: Right. So what type of person do you think that President Obama will pick to fill this post? I mean, he can't affect the balance of the court with this pick, so do you think he'll go for diversity?
DERSHOWITZ: He has the option here. Because this is a white male who is leaving the court, he's not locked in. He doesn't have to fill a slot, an African-American slot, a woman slot. The most qualified candidate may well be a woman or a person of African- American or Asian background. But he has a complete open availability, because probably the next retirement will be Justice Ginsburg. And we'll have to have a woman on the court.
I think he's going to be looking for somebody relatively young. Somebody who can take on people like Scalia, Alito and Roberts. So he could have an impact, actually, on the balance of the court. Not in terms of numbers, but in terms of the quality of opinions and the enduring nature of his appointment on the court.
ROBERTS: So how deep, professor, is the Democratic bench from which to pick a replacement?
DERSHOWITZ: Oh, it's very, very deep.
There are some who think that it shouldn't be yet another judge. There are now nine judges on the court, circuit court judges. Perhaps somebody from politics, somebody who used to be a governor or a senator or somebody who has real political experience or practical litigation experience, and then there are of course judges and the academics and the usual people from whom past presidents have picked.
So he has an enormous opportunity to affect the life of the nation well beyond his own terms by this appointment.
ROBERTS: Right. Right.
Let's take a look just for a second here at some of the names that are being floated now. This isn't any kind of an official list. This is just what political and legal watchers have put together. Sonia Sotomayor, who's from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She's one of the judges who might be up for this. Also, Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Somebody who may, Professor, fill this idea of a seasoned politician, Jennifer Granholm from Michigan.
DERSHOWITZ: Yes.
ROBERTS: She's the governor there. She's also the former attorney general.
DERSHOWITZ: Right.
ROBERTS: Elena Kagan, who is the solicitor general-designate, as well.
I mean, if you were to look at that list, who do you think you would pick?
DERSHOWITZ: Well, I have a little bias. Two of them are my former students. The governor of Michigan and the former dean of the Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, were my former students. I've argued in front of Judge Sotomayor, who is a superb judge. They're all excellent, excellent picks.
There are also men who would be excellent picks. There is the former dean of Yale Law School.
ROBERTS: Harold Koh, yes.
DERSHOWITZ: Koh, who -- Harold Koh, who would be the first Asian American on the court. Any one of them would be an absolutely superb pick. And I think the goal is to make sure there are no litmus tests. You shouldn't look to the past: What are people's views on abortion?
Who knows what the big issues are going to be 20 years from now? And whoever is picked is going to serve in the next generation. And so, he has to be looking for somebody who will make an impact, somebody in the mold of a Brandeis, a Holmes, a Brennan, somebody who really will leave a legacy, not only by their votes but by the quality of their opinions.
And everybody you mentioned on the list fills that bill. And there are many not on the list who would fill that bill as well.
ROBERTS: Alan Dershowitz, coming to us this morning, all the way from Pompeii, Italy. Professor, it's awfully good to catch up with you. And we thank you for taking time out on I'm sure what must be a vacation.
DERSHOWITZ: Oh, thank you. It is. Thank you so much.
ROBERTS: Take care. And thanks again.
CHETRY: Well, we have more schools now telling students to stay home as the swine flu outbreak grows. Classes in more than 300 district schools coast to coast are close. Some reports put that number much higher.
Right now, the CDC is confirming 109 cases of the H1N1 virus in 17 different states. Also federal officials had to spend much of the day reassuring the public it is still safe to fly and ride public transportation after Vice President Joe Biden said that he wouldn't recommend it to his family.
And you will find your tax refund shrinking next April, perhaps? Tax credits that President Obama is putting into your paycheck this year could actually pull hundreds from your refund next year. It's because the new IRS tax tables do not take into account couples who both work, also people with more than one job or retirees who have taxes withheld from their pension payments. Well there is a new development we're monitoring with the swine flu outbreak. It's causing some to call for the border with Mexico to be closed. Others are using it to fuel the illegal immigration debate. Maria Teresa Petersen is executive director of the youth organization, Voto Latino. And she is live in our D.C. bureau this morning. Thanks for being with us.
MARIA TERESA PETERSEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VOTO LATINO: Thanks so much. How are you this morning?
CHETRY: Good. I wanted to ask you whether or not you're concerned about any possible backlash? Immigrants in this country perhaps feeling it because of the fears over swine flu.
PETERSEN: Well, I think principally it's irresponsible to create a public health concern into a political issue. We want individuals that if they do have symptoms, to go to their local hospital and have that conversation and make sure that we're containing it and not spreading it to individuals. That's number one and that's at the foremost.
But I think going beyond that, we have to take a step back and look at who are these, the conservatives really pandering to? They are pandering to their extreme right. And that is a danger for them, their long-term political hopes as the demographics continue to change in this country.
CHETRY: All right. Well, there have been calls though from those not just on the extreme right to close the border. In fact, we've gotten a few calls about it to our AM hotline. Let's listen to what one person said.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: What are we going to do about the illegal aliens that are coming into this country that we're allowing to cross the border? Shouldn't we be stepping up security so that they don't come in from Mexico carrying this disease into our country?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: And there are some groups now favoring crackdowns on illegal immigrants saying that this is proof that uncontrolled borders have the potential to pose public health threats to our citizens. What do you say about that?
PETERSEN: Well, again, that's misinformation. With the exception of one case, all of the cases that we had so far documented in this country have been business people coming from Mexico back to the United States, or even tourists, as in the case of the kids that came back from Cancun visiting Mexico during their spring break. It's very, very dangerous.
And one thing that folks keep -- seem to forget is that along the 2,000 stretch, there are millions of Americans that live along the border who travel back and forth, not only to visit family but also for their livelihood.
CHETRY: Right.
PETERSEN: So, one of the things it would imply is by closing that border, we're actually saying that we want a complete economic stop, and that's even more dangerous to where we are today.
CHETRY: You know, at the same time, though, a lot of Mexico itself is essentially shutting down for the next five days. This is on a presidential order. Government offices, factories, gyms, museums, movie theaters, all of them closed. So, if Mexico doesn't want its own people interacting, just out of an abundance of caution, why not close the borders, restrict exposure until we can get a grip on this thing?
PETERSEN: Well, I think it's understanding where the flashpoints are for -- where a lot of the -- where the swine flu epidemic seems to be finding. And that's in high flash migration points. So, airports and ports. And that's why Janet Napolitano, when came forth, she wasn't acting as a politician. She was seeking the advice of the CDC, who are health care professionals.
And that's what we have to -- those are the folks that we have to heed. Understanding that, again, it's large packs of migration. We don't have hundreds of thousands of people crossing the border every day, but we do have the opportunity of containing them at our airports and our ports.
CHETRY: All right. Maria Teresa Petersen, always great to get your take. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
PETERSEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: From beauty queen to political spokesperson. Miss California's answer on gay marriage caused a buzz and now she's taking to the airwaves in a new television ad, the buzz about that.
And Sarah Palin harnessing the power of Twitter. We tell you who she's following and what she's Twittering about. It's coming up now on 36 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Vice President Joe Biden caused a little bit of a stir yesterday, saying that he wouldn't recommend that his family go on subways or planes because of the swine flu outbreak. Well that left the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, trying to put those comments in a slightly different light. Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What the Vice President meant to say was the same thing that, again, many members have said in the last few days that you should take precautions, that you should limit your travel. I think he just -- what he said and what he meant to say.
QUESTION: With all due respect, and I sympathize with you trying to explain the vice president's comments, but that is not even remotely close to what he said.
GIBBS: I understand what he said, and I'm telling you what he meant to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Joining me now is Michael Reagan, the chairman of reaganaction.com, also Stephanie Miller, host of "The Stephanie Miller Show." Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
Michael, first of all, let me start with you. Why is it such a big deal that his comments had to be clarified and press releases had to go out and statements had to go out after he said what he said on the "Today" show?
MICHAEL REAGAN, REAGANACTION.COM: You have to understand, when the president or the vice president of the United States speak, everybody in fact listens. When Joe Biden speaks and says don't take planes, don't take trains, don't take subways, you know, everybody listens to that.
And what happens is, if you're in the travel industry, your industry is being killed. If you're in Mexico, your industry is being killed. The tourist industry going to that country. So, the vice president of the United States needs to be able to choose his words wisely.
He shouldn't be able to say something and then have the White House have to explain what it is Joe Biden really meant. Joe Biden said what he really meant. And then the White House had to fix it.
CHETRY: Right, but isn't refreshing for a politician to say what they are really thinking? To say the truth. I wouldn't -- I would tell my family, don't go on a plane right now.
STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes. Exactly. That's what we're saying privately. Let me say, this won't be the last time we hear what Joe Biden meant to say over the next four years. You know, it's interesting.
My dad ran with Barry Goldwater in '64. He had the tendency to shoot from the hip. I think every speech my dad gave in '64 started with what Barry meant to say was. And in this case, I think we have the president saying, what Joe meant to say, but I agree with you. You know, I think it probably is what some people are saying privately.
CHETRY: And Michael, you did allude to the fact that you said that your wife owns a travel company. And that you know there are a lot of people out of work right now, and there are a lot of fears about the situation but a lot of the transmission of the swine flu has been from people who have traveled to Mexico.
REAGAN: But the reality is we go through this every year. What? Last year was the avian flu. We went through it. And you know, when flu season hits, you should not cough in people's face, but you shouldn't do that any time. It's really interesting during this time of the year we tell people don't cough in the face, wash your hands, do all the things you normally should in fact always do.
And really it's about living healthy and keeping your immune system up, keeping healthy and doing the healthy things. I would get on a plane today and fly to Cancun. I would get on a plane today and fly to Cabo San Lucas if somebody wanted me to go there. It's a great place to go. And if you want...
CHETRY: Of course, it is.
REAGAN: Eat the right food and stay healthy, you're not going to get the swine flu.
CHETRY: All right. Speaking of healthy girl, how about Miss California? She is teaming up now with the National Organization for Marriage, starring in a new TV ad opposing same-sex marriage. And Stephanie, I want you guys to watch a little bit of this and have you weigh in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: When asked a question about same-sex marriage, a young contestant answers honestly.
CARRIE PREJEAN, MISS CALIFORNIA: I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised and that is how I think that it should be between a man and a woman.
ANNOUNCER: She is immediately attacked.
PEREZ HILTON, CELEBRITY BLOGGER: She is a dumb (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Stephanie, what do you think? She is now in the ads for this contentious issue.
MILLER: Well, no offense to anybody out there but you know, to be that far right and out of touch with the American people and inarticulate, I think she's going to have to go up against Sarah Palin for the Republican nomination in 2012 is my prediction.
CHETRY: However, people have pointed out, and Michael, I like you to weigh in on this as well, that she technically has the same view as the president of the United States, where he stands on it. He supports civil unions, right? REAGAN: Yes, absolutely. And by the way, the state of California voted for Prop 8 and against same-sex marriage. People might want to remember that. You know, It's interesting. If she were to say the exact same thing about Perez Hilton today as Perez Hilton said about her, she would be guilty of a hate crime.
I mean, that is what is really outrageous here. He gets away because he is a protected class. We're saying what he said about her, but certainly she can't return the favor against Perez Hilton. This is...
MILLER: Oh, Michael...
REAGAN: ... going to the right. No, no Stephanie, you talk about going to the right...
(CROSSTALK)
MILLER: Michael, that is not a hate crime. What he said was over the top. But it was not a hate crime. That is not what the hate crimes bill is about.
REAGAN: But if she were to say...
MILLER: It's about violence against gay people.
REAGAN: If she said the same thing to Perez Hilton, Perez Hilton would say hate crime, hate crime. Listen, she answered honestly. She believes in marriage should be between one man and one woman. That is the way I believe, and that is how most people believe. You may not believe it, but the state of California has voted for it numerous times is between one man and one woman.
CHETRY: Stephanie, last word.
MILLER: That's not what most people think. I don't know if you checked the news lately but I think New Hampshire just joined several states yesterday in voting for gay marriage.
REAGAN: I don't view my marriage on New Hampshire.
MILLER: I don't speak for most people. You mentioned one state.
REAGAN: I don't do my marriage on what New Hampshire does.
MILLER: The opposite.
CHETRY: All right
REAGAN: Thank you. I'll stay with God. You stay with New Hampshire.
MILLER: OK, I'll say godless, I guess!
CHETRY: All right, you guys. It was good talking to you this morning. Michael Reagan, Stephanie Miller, always great to have you both on. Thanks.
REAGAN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It's always right at the end where the hand grenade just goes off.
CHETRY: Toss me a zinger.
ROBERTS: There you go.
Chrysler is heading to Chapter 11. Plants are shutting down for weeks, and the carmaker is merging with Italy's Fiat. So what does this mean for you if there is a Chrysler-Dodge Jeep in your driveway?
And her tweets could soon become the talk of Washington. Sarah Palin has joined Twitter. Find out what she is saying and who she is following. It's 45 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
This morning you can add Sarah Palin to the growing number of politicians who are on Twitter. The Alaska governor joined Twitter just a few days ago, and she has already got herself quite a following. Guilty.
CNN's Alina Cho is following this for us this morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She is a maverick.
ROBERTS: I'm following her as well.
CHO: She is following in footsteps of Oprah, who also recently joined Twitter. John, good morning. Good morning, everybody. You know, the Alaska governor -- get this -- already has 11,000-plus followers. The former V.P. candidate just loves to get mavericky. So, she is turning to Twitter to make sure her side of the story is out there.
She is talking about the fact that Alaska does not have swine flu and, no surprise, one of her first targets, the media. In fact, in a recent tweet, Palin complains about her staff being misquoted by the Associated Press, saying, "AP gravely misquoted my staff, saying I changed my mind on the stimulus package." For accurate info, Palin then provides a link to Alaska's government-run Web site.
So, who are some of the notable people Palin is following on Twitter? CNN breaking news, of course.
ROBERTS: There you are.
CHO: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Bill O'Reilly. You know, that guy over at the competition. She is also following David Gregory and George Stephanopoulos, but not Katie Couric. That's a surprise.
ROBERTS: You're kidding. Why wouldn't she not following Katie?
CHO: Remember that interview? Well, and if you think that's big news, it's Friday. So, we wanted to pass on another bit of Palin news. She is making a guest appearance on the reality TV show "American Chopper."
ROBERTS: What a title.
CHO: Look at this video here. Palin is at her Anchorage office leaning on a massive grizzly bear, a little gift from her father, who shot it. "American Chopper" went to Alaska to visit Palin. The show is about motorcycles, and in honor of Alaska's 50th anniversary as a state, Alaska will get a commemorative custom-made bike.
They went to Palin because they wanted to know how that bike should look like.
ROBERTS: Just sitting there on the couch, just like, a grizzly bear beside her, doesn't faze him at all.
CHO: I've never seen that before.
It's quite a getup there.
ROBERTS: There was a photo of it in "The New York Times" about eight months ago.
CHO: Only you would have seen that. I miss that, but it's quite a shot. You see her leaning like that. Anyway, it's Friday.
ROBERTS: It's the Alaskan version of the Snuggie is what it is -- Kiran.
CHO: It is.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Your dad gives you a gift, what are you supposed to do? We have paintings from our relatives up in our house. What can you do?
CHO: You're right. You're right.
CHETRY: I wonder who got her that enormous Alaskan king crab on her desk.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: I think it was Mike Roe, who narrates "America's Deadliest Catch," gave her that.
CHETRY: That is an enormous crab. It will take you all day to eat it.
All right, guys.
Well, if you're driving a Chrysler or Dodge to work this morning, what the company's bankruptcy could mean to you. Don't head out the door just yet. We're answering that question just ahead. It's 50 minutes after the hour.
ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOC HENDLEY, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Approximately one billion people lack access to clean water. It's killing more children than AIDS or malaria combined. And yet, all of that can be prevented. I used the only resource I had which was attending bar to try to do something about the problem.
Your regulars especially sit on the same stool, drink the same drink and pay the same tab every day. I felt like they really did want to be a part of something. They just were waiting for somebody to bring that something to them.
My name is Doc Hendley. I used to be a bartender, and now I provide clean water to people in need. I got on the ground in Darfur to get my field training. The security issue is not a deterrent for me. I wanted to go where it was and that is where my heart is. Seeing these people living in conflicts and bullets whiz by their ears, yet their biggest concern was a huge loss of life because of the unclean water. That's when water changed from being my passion to burden of my life.
Whether we're filtering water or drilling a well, we want to train and educate people already on the ground enabling locals to fix their own water needs and doing work like that, you've created ownership. That is going to change lives, as well as bringing that clean water.
Joy is the only thing that helps lift the burden. You can be just a regular anybody and you really, really can change the world, and I'm walking truth of that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": I'm glad you're all in a good mood. I'm a little bummed out today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up?
LENO: I made a bad investment. So stupid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?
LENO: I opened a Chrysler dealership in Mexico City. I don't know what I was thinking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad, bad news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
If you have a Chrysler, a Dodge or a Jeep sitting in your driveway, you may be asking what is the company's bankruptcy mean for me. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with some answers.
And you know, people are wondering what does it mean?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: It's not a good scenario. Well, look. The first thing Chrysler owners need to know is that the bankruptcy filing does not mean that the carmaker is going out of business, at least not yet. In the weeks to come, Chrysler will be restructuring, changing management and combining with Fiat.
But there's no indication that Chrysler will be liquidating its assets or boarding up all of its showrooms. That is great news for the average Chrysler-owning consumer because getting day-to-day maintenance isn't going to change much.
Chrysler will still be standing behind those powertrain warranties. They are often called lifetime warranties. So, you can go get the repairs you qualify for, and auto parts makers should continue to function as normal. Now, it's true that Chrysler may well be shutting down some dealerships in the months to come, but most closures will probably take place in areas with more than one Chrysler dealership anyway.
So, instead of driving down the road, you drive across town to get your car serviced, not a huge difference. As far as resale values go, well, they'll probably going to take a hit here.
We spoke to the folks at Kelly Blue Book, though, and they say we are not going to see a drastic drop as you might expect. That's because of a possibility of Chrysler bankruptcy has been circulating for weeks. And longer term, more consumer realize that Chrysler is still an ongoing functioning company. Chrysler should stabilize.
CHETRY: So, all that sounds pretty upbeat, though. Is it possible that Chrysler's bankruptcy will not go as smoothly as they are saying?
WILLIS: Yes. It is definitely possible that there could be some kinks in the works here. They are saying it's going to take weeks, but it could certainly take longer. If angry creditors slow down bankruptcy court, Chrysler might not be able to emerge from chapter 11 as soon as it would like and that would spook buyers that would definitely drive sales down.
For now, it's a waiting game. Should you buy a Chrysler? Well, the good news is, you won't get a Chrysler for as cheaper price than you will right now. But if you're the kind of person though who trades in a car every two to three years, and savings may be worth it.
On the other hand, if you hold a car for a decade or more, you don't know what the long-term prospects of this company might be.
ROBERTS: Maybe it's time for a new minivan, what do you think?
CHETRY: I like the Town and Country. I'm keeping it for now.
WILLIS: Minivan, you are at the cutting edge.
ROBERTS: You and T.J. Holmes.
CHETRY: That's just a terrible rumor. Poor T.J..
WILLIS: You're definitely a mom.
CHETRY: Exactly. Thanks, Gerri.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: That's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Have yourself a very good weekend.
CHETRY: And we'll be back here on Monday. And coming up next, CNN NEWSROOM following breaking news now with Heidi Collins.
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