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American Morning
Baby Dies in NYC; Atlantis Crew Releases Hubble Into Orbit This Hour; First Lady Promotes Art in 2nd NYC Visit; Pakistan Adding Nukes
Aired May 19, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Tuesday, the 19th of May. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. It's coming up on 8:00 here in New York. Here's a look at what's on the agenda this morning. The big stories we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
We start with breaking news. A New York hospital saying this morning that a 16-month-old boy died late last night with flu symptoms. The hospital that treated him now being overwhelmed by people wearing masks. The CDC now being brought in to figure out whether or not the baby had the H1N1 virus.
CDC officials also warning that there already could be up to a 100,000 Americans infected with the new flu strain. All of this comes as South Korean scientists say they are close to a break-through on a possible vaccine, but it could still be months away.
Details surrounding the most recent death in New York are still unclear, and so we're asking these questions this morning about whether or not they're going to be able to link swine flu to the death of this baby.
CNN's Mary Snow is live outside the hospital. We also have Dr. Sanjay Gupta standing by.
First to you, Mary, no doubt, no matter what caused this baby to die, it's a tragedy for the family, but it also raises some larger questions for the community.
Are they dealing with a potential swine flu outbreak there?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, Kiran, good morning.
There are concerns in this community, and this is what we know. A hospital spokesman says the mother of the 16-month-old baby boy noticed the baby had a fever yesterday when he was unresponsive at one point. She brought him to the hospital here last night and he died within an hour.
Now, the New York City Department of Health says it is investigating the baby's death and, as you mentioned, the CDC is going to be testing to see whether or not it was related to the swine flu.
Two other boys, a 3-year-old sibling and a one-year-old cousin were also treated and released from this hospital. A spokesman saying they did not have high fever, but as a precaution, they were being observed. Now, this comes as concerns have been heightened, particularly here in Queens where we are. This is because more cases have been diagnosed and the hospital here says it's been seeing hundreds more people than it usually does. Whether or not people have the flu.
This because of heightened concerns and because, on Sunday, New York City had its first death related to the swine flu.
And Kiran, I'm not sure if we have that tape or not of the story. Mitchell Wiener, he was an assistant principal in Queens who died on Sunday. And some in the city are questioning whether or not the city should have closed his school sooner than it did.
New York City officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, had been saying that they have been closing these schools on a case-by- case basis. And pretty much said that if they wanted to prevent this flu from spreading at all, it would have to close schools for a month and really pretty much keep people isolated which is a pretty impossible to do. But there are 17 New York City public and private schools closed today as a precaution - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. And really sad story this morning out of Queens.
Mary Snow for us. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Now let's turn to CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Sanjay, what do you gather from this case in Queens, New York?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's hard to really put pieces together here. You know, when you have a young child who has a sudden fever, there's lots of different things that can cause that. I think because of what everything is going on right now. Testing, at least doing some of the initial testing for swine flu makes a lot of sense. But, you know, fever of unknown origin in a child that young, I'm sure they're going to look, could this be meningitis, look at blood cultures, look at urine. Bacterial infections could also something that was, you know, the culprit here.
ROBERTS: What does this mean about the swine flu in general? You know, we saw all of that concern about a month ago and then it died down. And now, suddenly, it seems to be welling back up again.
GUPTA: Well, you know, I think that from our perspective or the media's specific, it may seem to be sort of welling back up again. But almost since the beginning, as you know, John, this was sort of the expected trend. You had some disease down in Mexico, you saw the deaths sort of come after that. Almost since the beginning when you and I were talking about this, even a few weeks ago, we said that we'd expect to see deaths here in the United States as well. This is a virus that is making its way around the world. It appears to be a relatively mild illness, despite these deaths that we're talking about. And, you know, sort of frame of reference, as you know, as we've talked about, tens of thousands of deaths are caused by the seasonal flu every year. So it's a late season flu as far as we can tell right now.
ROBERTS: A couple of minutes ago, we mentioned that a South Korean company seems to be making some headway in developing a vaccine to combat the H1N1 virus.
Can you tell us more about that?
GUPTA: Yes. So the way it works, you have lots of different viruses and slightly different genetic variants of the virus. What you need to do is find what's called the seed strain or dominant strain. It's a strain that seems to be dominant in terms of circulation.
If you use it to create a vaccine, it induces the body to make an immune response and it can be grown effectively. So what the CDC did and other places did, they sent a virus, isolates to researchers all around the world and said, you know, who can send us a seed strain back? So the South Korean said they think they have it. They're actually FedEx-ing it or overnight-ing it to the CDC today. It should arrive today. And they're going to have to test it. How good an immune response to develop? Can it be grown effectively? And if it ends up being the seed strain, they may go to production with a vaccine. But, again, there is a few different steps, though, between now and possibly going to that production.
ROBERTS: We're looking forward to the results of that testing.
Sanjay Gupta for us this morning.
Doc, it's good to see you. Thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: And brand-new poll show Americans concerns over the virus are easing according to the latest CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Seventeen percent of people say they are worried that someone in their family will get the virus. Twenty percent say they were worried in the past, but are no longer concerned. And look at this, 63 percent of people say they were never worried. As for what people think of the government's response 54 percent say it has been appropriate, while 39 percent believe the government overreacted.
CHETRY: It's time now for a Tuesday "Political Ticker." "The Washington Post" is reporting President Obama is expanding a program created by the Bush administration to check the immigration status of people booked in local jails. It began as a pilot program back in October. This year, fingerprints from million local jail bookings will be screened under the program. Immigration officials say it will expand to nearly all local jails by the end of 2012. Currently, inmates in federal and state prisons are already screened. The Pentagon says the intelligence reports that we talked about in the last hour for the White House are no longer emblazoned with biblical quotes. We interviewed the reporter from "GQ" magazine who broke the story that for a time after the invasion of Iraq back in 2003, the report's cover sheet featured biblical passages. GQ magazine said the quotes were apparently aim to support then President Bush at a time when soldier's deaths were on the rise. The magazine also reports that at least one Muslim analyst at the Pentagon was offended and others were worried about fueling possible outrage in Muslim countries.
Former President Clinton can add one more job to his lengthy resume. He's been picked as the new U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti. The official announcement is expected to come later today. President Clinton has made several trips to the island nation. It's a place where there is some political stability after decades of chaos.
ROBERTS: And it is a right of passage for every first year mid- shipmen at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
(VIDEO CLIP)
Placing a cap on top of the 21-foot high harden monument. The problem it's been covered in 200 pounds of grease. Plebes worked together to get the job done. This year after nearly one hour and 15 minutes, 19-year-old Schyler Widman of Jackson Hole, Wyoming was the last plebe to have the cap in hand before it finally made it on top of the monument.
CHETRY: There you go. All that hard work paid off, right?
ROBERTS: You got to create quite a human pyramid.
CHETRY: He sure do.
ROBERTS: Well, Hubble, we hardly knew you. After five days and five successful spacewalks, the shuttle astronauts are saying good-bye to the Hubble Space Telescope. It's being released back into orbit later on this hour.
Go free! Go free!
And how was a tabloid newspaper reporter able to check Brooke Shields elderly mother out of her senior living facility and take her to lunch? The star is outraged and demanding answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And a bit of a New York state of mind this morning, where it's sunny and chilly -- 47 degrees. Later on, though, the sun will continue. It will get up to 70, and that's just the beginning of better things to come as the week progresses.
Well, new this morning. It's one of the most popular stories on cnn.com. Brooke Shields is furious because a tabloid reporter checked her elderly mother out of her senior living facility and took her out to lunch. The star says her mother suffers from dementia, and the "National Enquirer" falsely claimed to be her friend in order to get the story. The tabloid said Brooke Shields's mom asked to be taken out. Shield has since moved her mother to another facility.
Actor Alec Baldwin's joke about male order brides in the "Late Show with David Letterman" has him in hot water. After the "30 Rock" star said he is, quote, "Thinking about getting a Filipino male-order bride." A senator from the Philippines called the actor arrogant and says he faces violence if he ever visits.
And turn off your commuter. That message from the CEO of Google. Eric Schmidt, head of the world's most popular search engine, told graduates at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement to step away from the virtual world and make human connections - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, their mission accomplished up in space. The crew of the shuttle "Atlantis" now saying good-bye to the Hubble Space Telescope. In little more than, 40 minutes, Hubble will be set free from the shuttle's cargo bay and returned to its orbit.
CNN's John Zarrella has been watching "Atlantis". He says high- tech repair job here from earth. He is live in Miami.
They talk about what a tricky job this was going to be. Besides having to really use brute force on that one screw, they made it look easy.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's funny. They practice for this Hubble mission for about three years, and despite all of the disclaimers that this was going to be really, really difficult, they did just that. They made it look awfully easy in those five space walks. Right now, the Hubble Space Telescope is hanging at the end of the shuttle's robotic arm and at about 8:57 a.m. Eastern time, the astronauts on "Atlantis" will release it back into space.
Yesterday, they wrapped up the fifth and final space walk in what was really a mission that produced a space repair almost never attempted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: (INAUDIBLE)
ZARRELLA: Astronaut John Grunsfeld pulled off some aluminum foil-like insulation from the Hubble telescope and stuck it in his space trash bag. Replacing it with a new hardened thermal shell.
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Right over Houston.
That's right, crew. Wave.
ZARRELLA: It was the last dance in an aerial ballet that has played out over five days and five space walks, some 350 miles above the earth. Grunsfeld and fellow space mechanic Andrew Feustel changed that old Hubble batteries, replaced a censor and peeled off crumbling insulation. Some of it 19 years old and so deteriorated; it simply fell apart and floated off.
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: What does it look like from the cabin?
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: We're just seeing a lot of pieces, John.
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: OK. About there?
ZARRELLA: During the five grueling space walks, the two two-man astronaut teams replaced and fix telescope cameras, changed out gyroscopes, installed the new computer. Many of the parts were never intended to be replaced.
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: Straight on. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED ASTRONAUT: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Stand by.
ZARRELLA: On a couple of occasions, stuck bolts put the astronaut teams behind schedule, but by the end of this last repair day, they had completed all of the work. Grunsfeld took a few minutes to snap pictures for the Hubble scrapbook before packing up their tools. Then the astronauts, Grunsfeld went first, had some final thoughts.
VOICE OF JOHN GRUNSFELD, MISSION SPECIALIST: Hubble isn't just a satellite. It's about humanity's quest for knowledge.
ZARRELLA: For Grunsfeld on his third mission to the telescope, Hubble is like an old friend.
GRUNSFELD: It's impossible not to give it some human characteristics and feel sadness when we see it floating away.
ZARRELLA: With all of its new upgrades, scientists say Hubble is 1,000 times better telescope than when it was launched in 1990.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now later this morning, the Hubble Space Telescope and the shuttle "Atlantis" will separate. And later today, the "Atlantis" astronauts will do the first of two de-orbit burns, bringing them down to a lower altitude. They'll also inspect the spaceship for any nicks or hits they might have taken from all that space junk that's up there. That's to make sure they are OK to come home in just a couple of days - Kiran.
CHETRY: It still boggles the mind that we can see those pictures, and that they even have the ability and the technology to pull that off. It's truly remarkable.
ZARRELLA: And it's the last -- this is it. They will never again go to the Hubble Space Telescope nor perform that kind of aerial acrobatics. The next seven and final shuttle missions all to the International Space Station to finish that project. So we really saw the last of a generation of work. CHETRY: Fascinating.
John Zarrella, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks - John.
ROBERTS: A report that Pakistan is building up its nuclear arsenal. Is that where our money is going instead of it being used to fight the Taliban? The former weapons inspector who raised the red flag joins us just ahead.
And Michelle Obama back in the Big Apple and showing her support for the arts. We'll show you where she was and what she was wearing.
It's 16 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 18 minutes past the hour now.
We fast forward to the stories that will be making news later today. At 12:15 p.m. Eastern, President Obama will propose a new plan for stricter fuel economy standard known as cafe standard, they're called. In an effort to cut down on pollution and to increase fuel efficiency. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will join him for those remarks in the Rose Garden.
Well, the fallout over Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker's accusations last week that the CIA lied to her about water boarding. We're going to be watching what Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has to say about it when he speaks to a gathering of the RNC today at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
And at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, the Museum of Natural History will unveil what some are calling The Missing Link. A fossil of lemur-like creature that will, quote, "advance our understanding of evolution." Our Richard Roth is following that story for us today - John.
ROBERTS: All right. New York City getting a cultural boost from the first lady. Michelle Obama swept into town yesterday catching a ballet, taking in a museum and wowing New York's fashion crowd.
CNN's Carol Costello joins us now live from Washington.
Everywhere she goes, she just wins hearts over.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. I was going to say who doesn't she "wow."
Well, John, as you know, New York City is the nation's number one tourist destination. And after Times Square, the Met is the city's number one tourist attraction. And the first lady is using her second trip to New York city to promote the importance of the arts in society.
OK, here's your fashion update, John. John, are you ready? Are you listening?
ROBERTS: Yes, sure am. You know, it doesn't look like she was exercising her Second Amendment right to bare arms there, though.
COSTELLO: No, she wasn't. She wasn't. But I think she did pretty good anyway. She was dress in a purple, Isaac Mizrahi dress and a matching knee-length jacket.
That's my fashion thing for the morning.
Mrs. Obama was joined by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
They cut the ribbon, celebrating the re-opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts American wing. And Mrs. Obama told the audience, which included Ralph Lauren and "Vogue" editor Anna Wintour that the arts are what defines us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion design, and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: First lady also mentioned the $50 million the president awarded to the National Endowment for the Arts as part of his economic stimulus package. And then Mrs. Obama went on to say that all children should have access to art at museums and use the example of how she and the president have opened the White House to children in the D.C. community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We've been trying to break down barriers that too often exist between major cultural establishments and the people in their immediate communities. To invite kids who are living inches away from the power and prestige, and fortune and fame, we want to let those kids know that they belong here, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: After the Met ceremony, the first lady changed into her evening clothes and she headed to the American Ballet Theater.
John, another fashion alert.
ROBERTS: There you go. And we got the bare arms there.
COSTELLO: Yes, sure. She exercised her Second Amendment rights there. She was dressed in a black Alaia dress and a Thakoon jacket. And then Mrs. Obama took in a performance by students from the theater's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
Also attending were actresses Sigourney Weaver and Kim Raver. And the arts community, it hopes the new administration will be active arts participants, focusing the kind of attention that really hasn't been seen from Washington in decades.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you. You know, the one thing that I take away from that is, you know, that we should all have arms like the first lady. My goodness.
COSTELLO: Too hard. Too much work.
ROBERTS: Carol, thanks so much for that.
COSTELLO: I cover mine, it's easier.
ROBERTS: Yes. Obviously, I'm following your lead. Thanks, Carol - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Pakistan's priorities and your security. There's a new report saying the country is adding to its nuclear arsenal despite fears that they could fall into the wrong hands. A former weapons inspector tells us what the Obama administration can do about it.
And looking for common ground in the Holy Land. The president meeting with Israeli's prime minister, but are they really any closer to a solution in the works for that entire region?
It's 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Wow, it's going to be a pretty day in D.C. today. Finally, many would say. It's sunny right now, 45 degrees. A chilly start to the day, but it is supposed to warm up to 71 degrees for a high in the nation's capital.
A developing story this morning. Security experts say Pakistan is reportedly expanding its nuclear arsenal even as the U.S. tries to locate and secure the ones the country already has. Now it's raising some concerns about our security and also where U.S. aid is going, aid that's intended to help Pakistan fight the Taliban insurgency.
David Albright is president for the Institute for Science and International Security, also a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. And he joins us live from Washington this morning.
David, good to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
DAVID ALBRIGHT, PRESIDENT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: Good to be here.
CHETRY: So you're monitoring Pakistan's efforts to buy black market materials, and later this morning you're going to be issuing a report including some satellite photos of two reactor sites in Pakistan. What have you learned about that country's efforts to expand nuclear capabilities?
ALBRIGHT: Well, what commercial satellite imagery shows is that many facilities Pakistan is increasing the size of its ability to make the nuclear weapons material -- plutonium, weapon grade uranium, and also the facilities that are associated and needed to make that possible.
Currently, we estimate Pakistan probably makes about half a dozen nuclear weapons a year and is said to not only expand the number it can make, but also it make more sophisticated weapons. Be able to make thermal nuclear weapons. Be able to make smaller weapons that could be deliverable by a range of systems, such as cruise missiles.
CHETRY: Right.
ALBRIGHT: So what you're seeing is an increase in the quality and destructiveness of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
CHETRY: And Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution, he also co-authored President Obama's review of Afghanistan/Pakistan strategy, said about Pakistan, quote, "has more terrorists per square mile than anyplace else on earth, has a nuclear weapons program that's growing faster than anyplace else on earth."
If he is not overstating the case here, how concerned are you about the state of the nation?
ALBRIGHT: Well, it's very troubling. I mean, no other country faces the kind of internal security threats that Pakistan does. I mean, very few have armed gangs that could mount attacks on nuclear sites. I mean, there's also increasing number of fundamentalists within the country, some inside the nuclear program. I'm sure they're loyal to the government now, but they could change their loyalties if instability continues.
And so you have a situation where the nuclear assets of Pakistan are under tremendous pressure, and there's a lot of work needed to be done to improve the security, and to, in fact, and ratchet down the nuclear weapons complex. I mean, that would be probably the number one priority is -- beyond trying to increase stability, is just make that complex smaller so it poses less of a threat.
CHETRY: Right. Also Andrew Bacevich, he's a former army colonel, he also wrote a very interesting book called "The End of American Exceptionalism," says that really the problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan are beyond us, that we don't have the power or the know- how to do much in this complex region.
How much control in your opinion does the U.S. really have over what happens inside Pakistan?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think the U.S. has quite a bit of influence there. One is it can help create a more stable Pakistan. That's going to be tough, but it can do that. It can also try to engage Pakistan into a dialogue with the United States and the broader community to cap their nuclear weapons program. And there's an effort by the Obama administration to limit the production of plutonium and highly rich uranium for nuclear weapons.
CHETRY: Right.
ALBRIGHT: Pakistan can certainly join that effort. So I think...
CHETRY: But at the...
ALBRIGHT: Sorry.
CHETRY: I'm just asking, because at the end of the day, I mean, of course, we have billions of dollars in aid that we've been giving this country as a way to help them fight the Taliban. They still, though, view their greatest threat as India and how do we change that?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that it's very important to try to change that. Certainly, India is an adversary of Pakistan. But I don't think it's in India's interest to see Pakistan taken over by fundamentalists or to lose a nuclear weapons or the nuclear weapons material.
So I think Pakistan needs to shift its emphasis and face it's got an internal threat and the U.S. can help. It needs to trust the United States more to help it improve the security at its nuclear sites and over its nuclear materials and nuclear weapons.
CHETRY: David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
ALBRIGHT: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Just crossing the half hour now and checking your top stories this morning.
The unofficial start of summer just a few days away and places from Upstate New York to the Midwest are under frost or freeze warnings this morning. Places in Michigan and Ohio and as far south as Austin, Texas felt record lows yesterday.
A wildfire that forced 30,000 people out of their homes is now fully under control. That's the word from firefighters in Santa Barbara, California. They've been battling the flames, high winds and low humidity out there for nearly two weeks now. That fire burned dozens of homes.
The military says a soldier charged with killing five comrades is now being held in Kuwait until his trial. Defense officials say the suspect had been a patient at the treatment center where the murders took place. It was the deadliest incident of soldier-on-soldier violence during the Iraq war.
And later this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers. During his first face-to-face meeting with President Obama since each took office, the two leaders talked about the threat of a nuclear Iran. Here is what the president had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would not only be a threat to Israel and a threat to the United States, but would be profoundly destabilizing in the international community as a whole and could set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Joining me now is the columnist and associate editor of "The Washington Post" and author of "The Increments," David Ignatius. David, good of you to be with us this morning.
DAVID IGNATIUS, COLUMNIST "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.
ROBERTS: Let's put Iran aside for just a second. What you heard on the Middle East in the conversation between the president and the prime minister, does it give you any reason to be optimistic that a peace deal might be reached within the president's first term?
IGNATIUS: We're in the early stages of what's going to be an increasingly important and I think difficult process. Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Washington with the Obama administration hoping he would say two things. One, that he was committed to a two-state solution, that is to say a Palestinian state negotiations for that. And, two, that Israel would meet its obligations under what is known as the road map which include freezing settlements, dismantling illegal outposts.
Netanyahu said neither. And so we are now in a period in which there is going to be behind the scenes discussions and the U.S. will push Netanyahu to make the statements we like so that this summer some kind of peace process can be launched in earnest by the administration. The administration is committed to this. I don't think they're going to back down. So there is a real possibility for some friction between these two close allies.
ROBERTS: It's also interesting to note that on the settlement issue, a new settlement was started in the West Bank just prior to that meeting. Now, on the subject of Iran, there seems to be differences as well. President Obama said yesterday that he wants to give until the end of the year to find out whether or not talks with Iran bear any fruit, whether it looks like there might be some opening there for another diplomatic engagement.
Benjamin Netanyahu wants Iran dealt with by the U.S. before he deals with the Palestinians and has increasingly noted the urgency of the pace of which they are developing their nuclear program suggesting that time is running out. So can they find common ground here?
IGNATIUS: I think there is common ground in agreement that an Iranian nuclear weapon would be a threat to everyone - the U.S., to Israel, to our Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia. The question is how urgent is that threat? And what ought to come first? The Obama administration says if you want to stop Iran, if you want to put pressure on Iran, the best thing that you can do is make progress on the Palestinian issue, because this is Iran's biggest propaganda weapon.
Second, there's a disagreement between the two governments about how quickly the Iranians are likely to be able to actually make a nuclear weapon. The Israelis say it could come as soon as next year, the U.S. see a somewhat longer timetable. But I think both do agree as Obama made clear, this is a threat.
ROBERTS: Now, this was the first meeting in the overall peace process. He is also going to be meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. And he's meeting with Mahmoud Abbas next week. You suggests, David, that he also needs to talk with members of Hamas, try to split Hamas, maybe peel off some of the moderate elements.
You wrote in a piece on "Foreign Policy" Magazine "if the United States can find members of Hamas who are ready to talk about the formation of two states, Israel and Palestine, then the U.S. government should start talking with them. The process may legitimize Hamas as a political force but it will delegitimize Hamas as the terrorist organization. It would create new diplomatic space, not illusory middle ground." Any reason to believe that the White House might actually act on your suggestion?
IGNATIUS: I think there's a lot of reflection within the White House about how to draw Gaza, where Hamas is the absolute dominant force, into this process. There's no sense in making a deal for the West Bank and leaving Gaza festering, you know, always as a ticking time bomb. The question is how to do that.
What I was saying in that article that you quoted from, John, was that if elements of Hamas will meet the minimum conditions that we've always set forth for talking to them, that we ought to take them up on that. There have been statements recently suggesting that some elements in Hamas may want to be part of this process, seeing in Obama a new opportunity, a different U.S. president.
And I think that's worth exploring because this is just such a deadly problem for everybody, especially for Israel.
ROBERTS: David Ignatius, it's great to catch up with you this morning. Thanks for joining us.
IGNATIUS: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll see you again soon. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well there is some new economic numbers just out and unfortunately the news is not good. We're going to tell you what they are and what they suggest about the health of the economy. It has to do with housing and construction.
Christine Romans is breaking them down for us. She's going to get a couple of minutes to read over these report and then give us some analysis coming up. It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: New numbers just in to CNN now. It's a report on the state of the housing market that came out just moments ago. Our Christine Romans is poring over it right now and she's here to break down the numbers. I could just tell by your face before I even saw the alert that things didn't look good.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORREPONDENT: I know and when the news came out you heard me say, oh, no, in the newsroom. Because a lot of people have been expecting housing starts and building permits to show a little bit of a gain in the month of April. This whole idea that there is activity again in the housing market at least for new construction of homes, that is not the case.
Record lows again in April for housing starts and building permit. That means, you know, they're not breaking ground on a lot of new houses here. It's a very difficult situation in the new homes market. That's what we're talking about here, the new homes. Housing starts here down 3.3 percent for building permits and down 12.8 percent for housing starts after a tough month, the month before.
So a lot of these things we've been talking about, low interest rates and mortgage rates, you know 4.8 percent was the average, 30- year fixed rate in the month of April. But $8,000 first-time home buyer, tax credit. A lot of these things, a lot of investors and economists had expected that there will be a little signs of life in that market and there just aren't.
A quick thing I want to add about the 8,000 home buyer credit. There are some talk now trying to figure out how to work that so you can get it to use for your down payment which a lot of people think would be really helpful for some of these housing numbers. But at least these April housing starts and building permits numbers is more of the same. It's a very difficult situation in the housing sector.
ROBERTS: Not getting any better. All right. Christine, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Well ,you probably get an eye-popper every time you go to buy a prescription drug, right? But what about cutting the cost of your prescription drugs without putting your health at risk?
Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis has got some money- saving advice for you, coming up. 20 minutes now to the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: 42 minutes past the hour now. A look at the top videos on cnn.com. Most popular, eBay CEO and former campaign adviser to John McCain says the state of California is on the wrong track and says she is the right person to fix it. Meg Whitman lays out her plan for the state in an interview with Wolf Blitzer.
Also, a 50-mile-long high speed chase. The suspect on the run. It was a - well she was a barefoot woman wearing only a bikini. That's how it ended. There you see her! Police said that she fled the scene of a hit and run in Rio Vita, California which triggered the pursuit. When asked why she decided to do that, she had been out all day, a little bit tipsy and her dog needed to do get home.
An Atlanta man saw a sick woman lying on the sidewalk and tweeted for help and within 10 minutes, an ambulance arrived. Medical officials though cautioned against twittering for emergencies. They say it could result in lots of people calling 911 and that could end up slowing the response time. John.
ROBERTS: Here is the part about that I can't figure out.
CHETRY: Which story?
ROBERTS: The last one. Well, the other thing was a tankini, too. But here's the thing that I can't understand about the twitter. All right. You walk along the sidewalk, you see somebody on the sidewalk and you pull out your smart phone and you tweet. Why wouldn't you just call 911?
CHETRY: That is not cool any more, you know. If you're not tweeting or blogging, I mean who uses the phone?
ROBERTS: Hey, I'm just talking about efficiency here.
Rob Marciano is down in the weather center in Atlanta, tracking all of the extreme weather and it looks like we got something brewing off the coast of Florida this morning, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a couple of things. Something in the Bahamas and then this thing off the coast of Florida, as you mentioned, actually in the keys right here. All of the rotation is just swirling this moisture around and this is going to sit and spin for a couple of days. We've already seen some serious rainfall here out of Daytona especially with temperatures in the 60s and rainfall amounts four inches and better than that in Melbourne, 2.75. So we're watching this for potential tropical development.
Either way, here is a look at the rainfall coming out of Miami. So all up and down the East Coast line of Florida seeing rainfall. This is good for the southern half of the peninsula. Northern half doesn't need the rain so much but Orlando south, we will take it.
Who loves water this time of year or water any time of the year really? Mama duck and the little baby ducklings. We showed this about an hour ago. At Rochester, New York, where it's a little sunnier and drier, this little mama duck lost her little ducklings, nine of them at a time went boom, boom, boom through this sewer grate.
And a gentleman walking by called 911. Called 911, John. Did not tweet. And managed to get the animal control out there to rescue the little ducklings. So good news out of Rochester. Good news for you folks. Temperatures rebounding nicely, it will be a little bit warmer day today. Warmer in New York the next couple of days. By the end of the week should be in the 80s.
ROBERTS: Big lesson for the mama duck. You don't watch the ducklings across the sewer grate next time.
MARCIANO: Exactly. And call 911.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
I mean if you're going to have your smart phone there, don't twitter 911, phone 911, for Pete's sake.
MARCIANO: For the sake of the ducks.
ROBERTS: Exactly. Rob, thanks so much. Kiran.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Well, a prescription for savings. Gerri Willis tells us where to look to find the best discounts on prescription drugs. It's 46 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, Atlanta where the deep chill extends all the way into the deep south. Clear and 48 degrees there. It's going to warm up quickly though, mostly sunny and high of 73 later on today.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
And new this morning at 11:15 Eastern, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make an announcement about humanitarian aid to Pakistan. The Pakistani Army assault on militants in the Swat Valley has left more than a million people homeless. There is an extreme need there so the United States stepping in this morning with that announcement from the secretary of state.
CHETRY: 177 million Americans, that is more than half the population, are covered by employer-provided health insurance. That is the good news. But according to a new study the share of the medical expenses that those employees have to pay is up almost 11 percent, just from last year alone. It brings the total medical cost for a typical American family to about $16,677 a year. No, 771. I'm bad with numbers!
All right. CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us with some tips on how to cut your prescription drug costs.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes and you don't have to know numbers to understand what I'm going to tell you today. Whether you're insured or not the cost of prescription or drugs is serious problem. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found nearly 30 percent of adults say they haven't filled a prescription because of the cost. About a quarter of people polled have split bills in two doses or skip doses all together to make the medicine lasts longer. But there are ways you can cut your prices here.
Here's some stores that have discount pharmacy services. K-Mart pharmacies have 90-day generic programs for 15 bucks available anywhere in the country where there's a K-Mart pharmacy. Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's often have competitive prices and membership is not required to use the pharmacy services. Check Costco.com, samsclub.com and bjs.com for pharmacy locations.
Don't forget the internet is a great tool for comparing price. Check out the following here. Drugstore.com, homemed.com, familymeds.com, you can also go to destinationrx.com to compare drug prices.
Now, one word of caution here, Kiran, you were asking me before there are fly by night sites out there where you risk getting counterfeit or tainted drugs. Look for sites that carry the VIPPS label. What that stands for - verified internet pharmacy practice site. It's awarded by the National Association of Wards of Pharmacies.
CHETRY: There are some people that they look that it's hard enough to get a prescription. How do I do it so that I can actually get it filled online? Does your doctor have to do anything? And then also along those same lines, can you tell your doctor, please try to fill out, you know, it can be a generic, it doesn't have to be the exact name brand if it's available?
WILLIS: Yes, you can actually get your drug prescriptions filled on-line. Talk to your doctor for details but what you really want to do here is score the discounts. Pay even less money for your drugs. Get a discount card. They are available from state governments, membership associations, non-profit organizations and even for-profit businesses. You can you save anywhere from 15 percent to 50 percent. Yes, I said 50 percent on some medicines.
Keep in mind that cards may have annual fees that range from 30 bucks to 60 bucks per family or up to $9 a month. Here are some places to get these discount cards, rxaccess.com, Merck has a discount card program, go to merckhelps.com. Pfizer has one, they call it Pfizer friends: 866-776-3700.
And keep in mind, there can be income requirements on this but it's a great place to start if you really can't afford some of your drugs.
CHETRY: And what if you don't have health insurance?
WILLIS: A lot of people out there don't have insurance. If you're uninsured or have no drug coverage, tell your doc. He may able to give you a healthy dose of samples. I've done that myself. Think about pharmacy assistance program. You may qualify for free or low- cost medicines.
You know, Kiran, I just want to mention to people, I have mentioned a ton of web sites today. We're going to have it all on your website, the AMERICAN MORNING website so folks can go there to find out more about these programs. You can save some dough. Make sure you get the drugs you need because cutting up those pills, taking less than you're supposed, you don't get well that way.
CHETRY: You're absolutely right. And these new 90-day programs that they do actually make it easier as well because you get a three- month supply basically for the cost of one month.
WILLIS: Great stuff.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: Thanks, Gerri.
ROBERTS: So you mentioned all of those web sites. We should mention the address of our website is www.cnn.com/amfix.
Thanks, Gerri.
Could god help you lose weight? Faith-based dieting. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us what believing could do for your waistline. It's 53 minutes after the hour.
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JIMMY FALLON, HOST "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Because of the economy, a lot of otherwise successful shows were in danger of being canceled just so the networks could save money. I know, it's terrible but here is the thing. The networks in their infinite wisdom decided instead to combine some of these shows as a cost-cutting move rather than cancel them.
We have "America's Got Talent" and "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. They both combine now to become America's got Gupta. This is "Tales from the Crypt." It's not even on anymore but they can combined it with CNN's Anderson Cooper "360." They want to make a brand-new super show, "Larry King Live." There they are! TV shows!
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ROBERTS: You never knew we were so funny, did you?
Well, can god help you lose weight? If you're one of the millions of Americans trying to shed some pounds, you might just want to have a little bit of faith and America has got Gupta this morning. Dr. Sanjay Gupta in this morning's "Fit Nation."
Is this like weight-watchers with prayer, Sanjay?
GUPTA: I'm up too early to be watching shows like that. I don't know anything about America's got Gupta but you know Weight-Watchers prayer. I do know about that. In fact, that's exactly how the church described it as well when we went to shoot the story. You know, we had all kinds of ideas in terms of giving you at home a partner when it comes to losing weight, getting fit, creating a more fit nation. So we're trying to uncover everything here and this was something that caught our attention. The idea of using community and prayer as an adjunct. Take a look.
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GUPTA (voice-over): It's a Wednesday afternoon at Gospel Water brand Baptist Church near Augusta, Georgia, but some parishioners aren't here just for the gospel, they are here to lose weight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't drink any sodas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ate more salad. Even I ate raw vegetables.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really made a big effort to walk.
GUPTA: It's called the fit body and soul program. Initially part of a study by the Medical College of Georgia and now included in a program for church-goers and community members alike.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we do not want our weight to hinder us from doing what you have will for us to do in this world.
YVONNE DENT, PROGRAM INSTRUCTOR: We're trying to educate folks on the point of, you know, the high incidence of diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, and cancer amongst African-Americans.
GUPTA: The tenets are simple. Diet, exercise, food journaling and community support. All of it resting on the backbone of faith.
DENT: And everything that we do, we always pray, you know? We're here to support each other with prayer.
GUPTA: And the results? They've been promising.
RODNEY EDMOND, ASSOCIATE PASTOR: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost 30 pounds. My wife lost about 25 pounds Doing the whole thing. Blood pressure went down and cholesterol level went down so we were very pleased.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My goal was like seven to eight pounds but I've reached 10 pounds and I've kept it off like a year and a half.
GUPTA: But Pastor Robert Ramsey says there is no secret to their success.
PASTOR ROBERT RAMSEY: Food can be a positive temptation and you need that inner strength to overcome that temptation so I think every congregation can do it and they should endeavor to do it.
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GUPTA: Now everyone at the church will say there is nothing novel in terms of how they approach weight loss. The key thing here, John, is trying to make it seamless between the center of your community, in this case, the church, and weight loss. So you know, you're always getting the message and in this case in a place that you pray.
ROBERTS: And the power of prayer has been proven in many different aspects of life, hasn't?
GUPTA: It really has along with this idea that if you're simply part of a community, you're more likely to better take care of yourself and other people are watching out for you but there are some specific things that being part of an organization like a church can offer in terms of decreasing your likelihood of developing heart disease, reducing infections or how long infections last and may improve cancer death rates and better coping skills maybe is what's helpful there. But there are a lot of thing just being a part of the community whether it's a church or any other community. John.
ROBERTS: The mind-body connection, right?
GUPTA: It exists for sure. I love talking about it.
ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay, I'm sure you do. I'll call you later and we'll talk about it.
GUPTA: All right.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We will see you back here again, bright and early tomorrow.
CHETRY: Sure will. Right now, here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
