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American Morning
New Afghan Vote; Barofsky Says TARP Has Hidden Costs; Is Government Doing Enough?; Speculation Fairness Doctrine May be Basis for Legislation; Plane Crashes after Landing on Taxiway; Swine Flu Vaccine Distribution Delayed; Children Most Vulnerable to H1N1; American, Redefined
Aired October 21, 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: That brings us to the top of the hour. It's Wednesday, it's 21st of the October. Thanks very much for being with us on the "Most News in the Morning." I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot of big stories we're going to be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First, a logistical nightmare as Afghanistan scrambles to pull off an election in little more than two weeks. Now, already, the Taliban is trying to intimidate people from heading to the polls. In a moment, we'll be live in Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: The government's $700 billion bank bailout may have rescued the economy, but it harmed taxpayers, so says the man in charge of overseeing the TARP program. He joins us live in 10 minutes to discuss the damage that's been done to the American people and how he thinks the White House can prevent it from doing it again.
CHETRY: Talk radio show hosts dominate the airwaves. Their comments are often edgier, more controversial. They're more popular and there's more of them. Is it fair? Well, some are saying that it's not fair and they want to force radio stations to put more liberal voices on the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB DURGIN, WHP CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST: They want to program the radio station. They want -- they want to tell the people what they're going to hear. They don't want the people hearing what they want to hear. They want the people to hear what they want the people to hear. And they want people -- they want people to hear more liberal radio, more diversity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, in our special series, "Talk Radio," Carol Costello is going to take a look at the left, the right, and the listener in the middle, and the issue of fairness -- coming up.
First, though, the ballot is now set for Afghanistan's presidential runoff. Overnight, President Hamid Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah agreed to a second vote. The high stakes showdown will take place November 7th, that's just over two weeks from now. And already, the Taliban is carrying out its threat to voters: stay away from the polls or risk your life.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is live outside of the White House this morning.
But first, we start with Chris Lawrence, who's live on the ground in Afghanistan.
So, the Taliban is gearing up for the second round as well. How much of an intimidation factor were they the first time around in the voting?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Huge, Kiran. And Abdullah just told us a few hours ago at a press conference I attended that, you k now, Afghans lost their fingers just trying to vote and he considers it a very serious issue for this runoff election. A lot of people think that maybe this runoff provides the Taliban a second opportunity to sabotage the election, including the mayor of Kandahar, who has come out publicly to say he fears more Taliban attacks in the weeks leading up to it.
Now, before the first election, the Taliban ordered a complete boycott. They even printed up leaflets that said, threatened to cut off the ears and nose of anyone who voted, and they left those all over the ground in parts of southern Afghanistan. That's just one of the reasons that contributed to parts of Helmand Province that had less than 5 percent turnout.
There are a lot of fears that this sort of thing could repeat again, because now, this time, you've got voters who look at the fact that over 1 million votes were tossed aside and thrown out because of prospective fraud. How willing will they be to risk their lives again with the Taliban making some of the same threats -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Are the Afghani government, police, military and others prepared to protect people that are going to choose to do that?
LAWRENCE: Well, a senior U.S. defense official told me that there are now more U.S. and Afghan forces available than there were for the first election and that they have learned some lessons from that first election, especially in terms of pinpointing some problem areas that they can target a little more effectively -- Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Chris Lawrence for us this morning -- thank you.
ROBERTS: And in just a few hours, President Obama will learn firsthand about Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's negotiations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to participate in a runoff election on November 7th.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House.
And, Suzanne, could this finally lead to a decision on troop levels?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, it certainly could, but they've got to let this process play out. Essentially, one senior administration official said, this was a full court press to try to get Hamid Karzai for -- to agree to this international runoff, if you will. The reason why is they needed a legitimate Afghan government to work with as a partner before they commit to more U.S. troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Obama is trying to wrap up one war while stepping up another. In Iraq, it's about getting out -- a pledge he reiterated to Iraq's prime minister.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That we will have our combat troops out of Iraq by August of next year, and all of our troops out of Iraq by 2011.
MALVEAUX: President Obama needs those troops for the war in Afghanistan. Anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000, depending on who he's talking to from inside his war council. But Mr. Obama is first trying to assess whether he has a legitimate partner in the Afghan government after international monitors concluded the election was a fraud.
OBAMA: This has been a very difficult time in Afghanistan.
MALVEAUX: Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has agreed to a do over on November 7th after urgings from a high level U.S. delegation including Senator John Kerry. President Obama called and congratulated Karzai for his cooperation. But it's still uncertain who, if anyone, will provide a stable government for the U.S. and NATO allies to partner with to take on the Taliban and al Qaeda.
OBAMA: We will continue to work with our ISAF partners, as well as the Afghan government, however this election turns out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: John, it's quite telling when the president says, "However this election turns out," because on the one hand, this runoff does buy him some more time essentially to decide on the U.S. troop levels. But on the other hand, it really presents a big, big challenge for Afghanistan, whether or not democracy can even work there, whether or not it is even worth it to send those additional U.S. troops. And that was the kind of discussions they're having.
Clearly, Senator Kerry is going to be giving the President Karzai's state of mind when he goes into this runoff situation, to feel if he really does have a sense of confidence in bringing forward a real, legitimate election -- John?
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House -- Suzanne, thanks.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, a shifting school of thought on fighting cancer. For years, the assumption has been that routine screenings save lives. Well, now, the American Cancer Society is reportedly working on a new message, warning people that those tests in some cases may miss the most deadly forms of breast and prostate cancer, specifically, and in some cases, lead to maybe dangerous or unnecessary treatments.
The problem, they say, is that screening cannot yet detect which tumors are harmful. "The New York Times" is saying doctors don't want all screenings for these cancers to go away, but want patients to understand that cancer screenings does come with risks as well as benefits.
ROBERTS: Concerns about a possible swine flu outbreak shutting down a high school in Illinois for the rest of the week. St. Charles East High School, about an hour west of Chicago, with an astonishing 45 percent of the student body out sick; 972 out of 2,200 students reporting flu-like symptoms. Health officials have not confirmed whether any of the students have swine flu.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, the superintendent told us they're not even being tested for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DONALD SCHLOMANN, SUPERINTENDENT, ST. CHARLES SCHOOL DISTRICT: Physicians right now are not testing unless the student is hospitalized, and so what they're doing is saying that they're testing for its influenza A, and in that case, so what they're saying is that you have symptoms consistent with swine flu.
ROBERTS: Why wouldn't you test for swine flu, even if you don't have a hospitalization? Shouldn't they know what they're dealing with here?
SCHLOMANN: Well, John, I'm not really sure. I'm not the expert in that, but my understanding is that there's not a lot of places that can actually do the test for H1N1. And so, what they're doing is reserving that testing facility for people that are hospitalized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And two other Illinois schools have also been closed, with dozens of students suffering from flu-like symptoms.
CHETRY: Well, the first family has now been vaccinated for seasonal flu. President Obama rolling up his sleeve yesterday afternoon and the first lady and their daughters already had their shots as well. No word on when the president might get vaccinated for swine flu. He said he'll wait his turn and line up with everyone else when it's available.
Right now, vaccines for the H1N1 virus are pretty scarce and production delays may make it hard for Americans to get swine flu shots anytime soon. A Senate committee is holding a hearing today and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be testifying there. She'll also be joining us straight at the bottom of the hour with her take on the epidemic and how well we're prepared for it.
ROBERTS: Yes, we'll be looking forward to talking to her.
But coming up next, we're going to be speaking with the SIG TARP, the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Neil Barofsky. Did the bailout work? Well, yes, and no. We'll talk to him about it.
Ten and a half minutes after the hour.
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(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Good morning, New York City, where right now it's sunny and 51. Later on today, partly cloudy, but the temperature will touch 71 degrees. So, it will be a very nice day in New York City.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The watchdog over overseeing the federal government's bailout of the financial industry is out with his quarterly update. It's a good news/bad news report. The Troubled Asset Relief Program may have rescued the economy from the brink of disaster, but at what cost?
Neil Barofsky, the SIG TARP, the inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program joins us now from Washington.
Neil, great to see you.
NEIL BAROFSKY, SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TARP: Great to be back.
ROBERTS: Because we like to be optimistic on this program, since we got a good news/bad news report, why don't we start off with the good news? What is the good news here that you're reporting to Congress?
BAROFSKY: Well, I think the good news is, is that, you know, one of the goals of the TARP is obviously to help bring us back from the brink of a systemic collapse. And I think it's -- looking back, the TARP was definitely an important part of the combination of programs that were launched last year and that we have come back from the brink. So, I think that is good news.
ROBERTS: And what is the bad news, then?
BAROFSKY: The bad news -- what we tried to do in our report that we're releasing today is categorize the costs. And we look at three different areas of costs. I think one is -- I think it's inevitable that we're not going to see a dollar for dollar return on our investment.
But there are some other intangible costs that we go through, including the moral hazard cost of creating too-big-to-fail financial institutions, as well as a hurt to government credibility in some of the ways that the bailout was run.
ROBERTS: On this topic of and issue of too-big-to-fail, you say in the report that there were institutions that were too-big-to- fail that got us into this problem in the first place, but since then, through mergers and acquisitions, there are more entities that are too-big-to-fail now than there were prior to the downturn. So, have we learned anything here?
BAROFSKY: I think some of these entities have gotten even bigger and the consequences of their failure would be even greater. And some of them are done through government intervention and support, government-supported mergers. So I think that's a problem.
And also, before, there was basically an implicit guarantee that the government would stand behind these institutions, but through the TARP, that implicit guarantee is now explicit. And that gives these institutions a tremendous advantage over smaller institutions as well as raising risk for the entire system.
ROBERTS: Earlier this morning, Neil, we had on former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who of course was known as the sheriff of wall street when he was the Attorney General of the State, and he was talking about the urgent need for banking reform. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIOT SPITZER, FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: We have to restructure banking because they're making millions and millions of dollars, billions of dollars, using our tax dollars to play with it in the marketplace, then taking those profits out in bonuses instead of lending to the businesses that need the cash and capital to expand. The industry is opposing the fundamental reforms that are necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he was incensed, really incensed about this idea that the banks are making lots and lots of money with taxpayer dollars, they're not in many cases, as you said, in many cases, paying it all back, and then at the same time, doling out tens of millions in bonuses to their employees. What's wrong with the equation there?
BAROFSKY: No I think he's dead on. This is part of what happened. And part of it is while the T.A.R.P. had some restrictions on money that went to the institutions and their executives on pay, a lot of the other government support programs by the federal reserve, by the FDIC have no such conditions. So you see some of these institutions, even though they've paid back their T.A.R.P. funds, they're still relying on government programs. They're still reaping these profits based on cheap money and support that's given to them by the federal government. But there's nothing to stop them from doing exactly as Mr. Spitzer said which is take bigger risks with knowing they have the government safety net and then return huge profits and huge bonuses. It is a system that is in need of reform. ROBERTS: Later on today, the President is going to reach out with some incentives to smaller community banks to say, okay, hey, you got a lot of this taxpayer money, got a lot of government money, free up lending here, help people out. Because we're still facing, you know, a lot of foreclosures, there's a looming crisis in commercial real estate. What the President is proposing today, as far as what you know of it, is that going to be enough to convince these smaller banks to start freeing up their lending practices.
BAROFSKY: Until the details of the program are announced, I don't want to get ahead of it, but it's not just these smaller community banks that are an issue here. A lot of them are doing the lending. It's really the larger financial players and getting them to getting the money out to lend, just by basis of their enormous market share particularly when it comes to mortgages. It's important to address the smaller institutions and support them, but it's really the big boys that need to get out there and get lending in order to get this really turned around.
ROBERTS: And let me just come back to this issue of bonuses because we know that Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, they had huge, huge profits in the third quarter. They're going to be doling out a lot of money. Citigroup may be paying this energy trader $100 million. David Axelrod in the Sunday morning programs over the weekend called those practices, quote, "offensive". But what I'm interested is it more of an economic problem here or is it more of a political one for the White House?
BAROFSKY: Well, I think that, look, if you're going to support these institutions in the way the government has in different programs, without putting on conditions, strict conditions, I don't think anyone should be terribly surprised that in a capitalist society, these institutions are going to seek to maximize their profits. They're going to seek to maximize their advantage. And they're going to pay themselves out large bonuses. I think it's almost naive to suggest otherwise. What the government needs to do, if it's going to support these institutions, is put those types of conditions on the institutions if it expects them to act in certain ways. So I think that these are important concerns, but it's not as if the government was powerless when it set up these programs.
ROBERTS: Another thing that Eliot Spitzer said this morning, and I don't mean to put you on the spot here, but I guess I will a little bit, he said that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is still working on behalf of wall street as opposed to the American people. Is he right in saying that?
BAROFSKY: I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I think that there is what - what Mr. Spitzer said says and I think what the problem is - there is certainly a perception that this is the case. And I think it's a perception born from a lack of transparency. And I think if we had more facts at our disposal, if treasury was doing a better job of getting information out, such as how banks use the funds, it would be easier to answer critics like Mr. Spitzer who come to those conclusions.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to your testimony later on today. Neil Barofsky, the SIG T.A.R.P., thanks for being with us, always great to have you on.
BAROFSKY: Great to be back. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right well still ahead, we're talking about talk radio and continuing our series with Carol Costello. Today she asks, a fairness doctrine or something like it needed, 19 and half minutes pass the hour?
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ROBERTS: Little old Beatles there.
CHETRY: This is written by lady (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERTS: Recorded about the same time as the chicken man song was popular.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Right about then -- although, for some reason, the Beatles legacy has lived on, chicken man, not so much.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: He's everywhere, he's everywhere.
Checking what's New this morning, they say it's flawless, over 32 carats and it can be yours of course if you have enough cash, the Eninbourgh diamond, leading the packet say later on today at Christies auction house here in New York. It was owned by the late philanthropist, Leonor Eninbourgh. Christies says that they expect it to fetch between $3 million and $5 million.
CHETRY: All right the officials with the Miss California USA pageant say that Carrie Prejean owes them $5200. They say she borrowed the money for breast implants to make her more competitive in the actual competition. Well the former Miss California's already suing pageant official saying that they violated her privacy by telling reporters that her breasts were fake. Pageant lawyers say that the truth about Prejean breast being private as soon as she walked on stage in a bikini. They will not leave her alone.
ROBERTS: I'm telling you it's a little TMI as far as I'm concerned.
A snapshot of convicted con man Bernie Madoff's prison life for you here. The former Wall Street big shot, now apparently sleeps on a bottom bunk in a prison cell that he shares with a drug offender. And according to court papers filed by an attorney for some of Madoff's victims, he eats food cooked by a convicted child molester and spends time with a convicted mob boss and a convicted spy. Madoff's lawyer would not comment on these New revelations.
CHETRY: OK.
ROBERTS: It's prison. What do you expect?
CHETRY: It's just a day in the life.
Well the New York Yankees are now just one win away from a trip to the World Series. They beat the L.A. Angels 10-1, taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the American league championship series. The Yanks lead by Alex Rodriguez, he homered for a third straight win, four a third straight game, fifth time his post season. The yanks can clinch this series, well not really, then they go into the World Series, but they have to basically win one more time, and it's Thursday in Anaheim.
ROBERTS: Well we're getting very close to our presentation of "LATINO IN AMERICA." It's been coming for months and it's now upon us. Today, meet one doctor going above and beyond, giving back to his community -- seeing people who can't pay him, poor and the homeless who desperately need health care.
CHETRY: We're also going to be speaking with our Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, about swine flu fears. Will there be enough vaccine, when, and how prepared are we as a nation to fight this epidemic? That's all ahead it's 24 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: We're 27 minutes past the hour welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. When you think of talk radio, you probably think of a conservative host, not a liberal host. It's because the conservative ones are far more popular and there are many more of them as well.
ROBERTS: But some people are asking, is this fair? Our Carol Costello with us now with the latest in our series, talk radio. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. In 1978, the Federal Communications Commission rescinded something called the Fairness Doctrine. It required broadcast companies to present both sides of a controversial issue. Since the Fairness Doctrine went away and was repealed, conservative talk radio boomed on AM radio and liberal talk faded. It's unlikely the Fairness Doctrine will return, but there is something else many liberal talkers are fighting for, localism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Randi Rhodes is a progressive political talker.
RANDI RHODES, PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL TALKER: They're literally at war with a feeling, not a tactic, a feeling. COSTELLO: On the air in Washington, D.C., where 93 percent of voters voted Obama. Yet the majority of political talk on a.m. radio is conservative.
The president is presiding over economic failure.
They just don't want to fight.
He owned that crowd.
RHODES: If you know that you live in a town where everybody votes Democratic and all you have on our radio is conservative talk, then you can see how localism isn't part of the equation in media programming.
COSTELLO: Localism. Simply put, it means radio stations would be forced to carry more local programming that appeals to local audiences. Right now, big broadcasting companies like Clear Channel Communications, CBS, and others own hundreds of radio stations across the country. And much of what they broadcast aren't shows with local personalities, but syndicated shows featuring Rush Limbaugh.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Giant economic rebound.
COSTELLO: And Sean Hannity.
SEAN HANNITY: Well he's going to rise faster a little faster than he ever dreamed.
COSTELLO: Talkers Rhodes says do not reflect D.C.
RHODES: Diversity always gets a better result than just this one, steady, you know, lockstep repetition of talking, same talking points over and over.
COSTELLO: In November, the FCC will hold a media workshop, as is required every four years among the topics, the state of the current media marketplace.
BOB DURGIN, CONSERVATIVE TALKER: Men and women are dying over there...
COSTELLO: Bob Durgin, a conservative talker in Pennsylvania, is weary of localism.
DURGIN: They want to program the radio station. They want to tell the people what they're going to hear. They don't want the people hearing what they want to hear. They want the people to hear what they want the people to hear. And they want people -- they want people to hear more liberal radio, more diversity.
COSTELLO: Durgin says liberals want it all, even though they have plenty now. Not only on the radio and cable TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight's worst persons in the world.
COSTELLO: But on commercial TV, and in Hollywood.
Camille Paglia, a social critic and Obama supporter.
CAMILLE PAGLIA, THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS: I find the motivation for all this talk of the local show is actually covert, a way to ambush right wing radio, which is indeed risen up as a powerful force in response to the shutdown of conservative viewpoints coming from the major media.
COSTELLO: Rhodes disagrees. She says millions of Americans get their political talk from a.m. radio, 91 percent of which is conservative.
RANDI RHODES, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I do want to be on their stations. I want a crack at their audience. And let me live and die by the success or failure. But I don't have that access.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The new federal communications chief is a fan of diversity in media ownership and some of his hires have upset conservative radio talkers who feel the Obama administration is out to shut them down even though Mr. Obama has pledged not to reinstate the fairness doctrine or anything that resembles it.
I asked Michael Harrison from "Talkers" magazine if this idea of localism will taken seriously by the FCC. He says, yes, it probably will be, but the issue is so politically charged right now he would be stunned if the FCC went forward with it in any serious way -- John, Kiran?
ROBERTS: We have to say that that over the last couple of days, you've certainly touched a nerve with the series. What are you hearing from people this morning?
COSTELLO: Well, we're hearing from people on all sides of the issue. I'll just read you a couple. And if you want to blog, CNN.com/amfix.
These are the response we've gotten so far, at least some of them. This is from Cookie Cookie. "No, I don't think we need a fairness doctrine. I think us liberals need to get onboard and make our voices heard. If we put the same time and effort into being heard, we would never have a Republican president again."
This is from Andrew. He says, "Yes, there should be more fairness on public radio. I enjoy more liberal talk. However the only way I can enjoy it is by purchasing XM Radio."
This is from Shannon. "Shouldn't air time be driven by the consumer, not regulated by the government? I believe these talk shows are more for entertainment than for actual intellectual content and should be regulated as such."
And let me read one more. This is from Leo. He says "The fairness doctrine is censorship. Where does "Talkers" magazine place NPR in the political spectrum?" It certainly isn't fair and balanced."
Of course, NPR might disagree with that.
He goes on to say, "If Randi Rhodes proves to attract listeners, the advertisers will want her on the air. The advertisers aren't political animals, they're just marketing animals."
And he brings up a very important point, Leo does. Michael Harrison from "Talkers" magazine says, in the end, with talk radio is a business. And if the people who own these radio stations are making money, they're going to keep those people on the air.
ROBERTS: All right, Carol Costello for us this morning. Fascinating stuff, Carol. Thanks.
So what's your take on this? Do we need a new talk radio fairness doctrine? Go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix and sound off for us this morning.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we're coming up on 33 minutes past the hour. A look at the top stories.
Talks over Iran's nuclear program have just wrapped up in Austria. The U.S., Iran, France, Russia, and also a delegation from the U.N. all at the table. Each group has until Friday to decide whether or not they'll sign on to an agreement that would lay out on how to give Iran nuclear fuel for civilian purposes.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog group is calling that plan a "balanced approach to the problem."
ROBERTS: While the president works towards a world without nukes, a new report says the White House is ignoring the more urgent and immediate bio-terror threat.
According to "USA Today," a bipartisan commission warns that anthrax spores released by a crop duster could kill more Americans than died in World War II, and the economic impact could approach $2 trillion in clean up and other costs. The commission's full report is due out today.
CHETRY: Federal safety officials are issuing a wake-up call this morning about a sleep disorder that they say could put passengers on almost every form of transportation in danger.
The NTSB wants federal agencies to test commercial pilots as well as bus drivers, sailors, and engineers for sleep apnea after several deadly accidents and close calls have taken place over the past few years.
ROBERTS: And right now the FAA is investigating how a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Atlanta missed its runway and instead landed on the taxiway right next to it.
This comes just a couple of weeks after the feds reported that serious close calls are down this year. Our Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington looking for answers this morning. So explain how this one happened.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECRETARY CORRESPONDENT: Apparently, the weather was not a factor. The weather appeared to be good. This incident happened at 6:05 on Monday morning at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.
If you take a look at this animation, you can see that runway 27- R runs parallel to taxi way M. On Monday, Delta flight 60, a Boeing 767 arriving from Rio de Janeiro landed on the wrong one, the taxiway, even though the runway is marked with white lights and the taxiway with blue lights, and even though Atlanta is home base for Delta, and pilots might have expected to be familiar with the airport.
Hartsfield is one of the busiest airports in the world, but fortunately, at that early hour, no other aircraft were on the taxiway. If another plane loaded with fuel had been sitting there waiting for takeoff, the results could have been tragic.
The Federal Aviation Administration and Delta both say there was a medical emergency reported on the plane, but they're not elaborating. The FAA and the national transportation safety board are now both investigating what went wrong.
Delta issued a statement saying "The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. We are currently cooperating with the FAA and the NTSB in their investigation as well as conducting our own internal investigation."
The pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations.
This incident comes just two weeks after the FAA touted a 50 percent reduction in the number of runway incursions -- John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: So Jeanne, this report of a medical emergency onboard the plane, is that a suggestion that perhaps the pilots were a little distracted as they were coming in for a landing?
MESERVE: They're not elaborating on it. They're simply saying this was there, and I guess we'll have to see what the report comes up with. It doesn't appear to have been a medical emergency in the cockpit, but beyond that, we just don't know.
In fact, one of my colleagues had a conversation with a pilot that says when there's a medical emergency, of course, it's even more important to do things right because you've got to get somebody help.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, it would seem to be pretty obvious where the runway is as opposed to the taxiway too. But then again, we weren't flying the plane.
All right Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, thanks so much. CHETRY: Thanks, Jeanne.
Still ahead, we'll be speaking with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano about swine flu fears. Are we prepared? Will there be enough vaccine? She joins us in just a moment.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Looking at Atlanta, Georgia, this morning where it's sunny and 44. A little bit later, shaping up to be a beautiful day there -- sunny and a high of 73.
Our children and teens appear to be most vulnerable when it comes to catching H1N1 or the swine flu. Centers for Disease Control confirming that 86 children have already died from swine flu, and now comes word of production delays with the actual swine flu vaccine.
Today the federal government is trying to get a handle on this epidemic and also to figure out just how well prepared we are to deal with it.
And in fact, they are holding a Senate committee hearing in just about an hour. Among those scheduled to testify, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who joins us live from Capitol Hill this morning to break it all down. Madame Secretary, thanks for being with us.
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Good morning.
CHETRY: As we said, you're going to be one of the people testifying today about H1N1. Give us the latest, if you will, please, on how swine flu is impacting the United States right now.
NAPOLITANO: Well, right now, just as we predicted, as the fall flu season starts, we're seeing the H1N1 virus in all of our states, some more cases than others, every state now has a plan to deal with it. Every state now has a vaccine distribution plan.
And then we're ready at the federal level to back up the states as we move forward and work our way through this flu season.
CHETRY: All right, well, you talked about the vaccine distribution plan. The CDC saying it is behind manufacturing delays in actually creating the vaccine have meant that what was supposed to be, I believe, 50 million, right, out now by the end of this month. Actually, we're hearing that only about 28 million to 30 million vaccines are actually going to be ready.
What is that lag time in having the vaccine available mean to different communities throughout the country?
NAPOLITANO: Well, let's be clear in terms of -- that this is a delay. It's not a shortage. There, ultimately, is going to be vaccine for everyone who wants to be vaccinated. And we think we'll be caught up or the manufacturers will be caught up somewhere around December.
We had said last spring that we thought a vaccine could be made available as early as October. Those deadlines are being met. They're not being met, obviously, as quickly as we all would like to see.
But recognize, this is a vaccine, we want to be safe. The producers want to be safe. And it is beginning to roll out and roll out as quickly as possible.
CHETRY: Well, the virus seems to be hitting children the hardest. As we've said, 86 children have died since the swine flu emerged in the spring. Just when we seem to need it the most right now, it seems like it's not available. What should parents be doing as they're waiting for the vaccine to come to their community?
NAPOLITANO: Well, it's the common sense things. It's keeping your child home from school if he or she is sick, staying home from work yourself if you're sick. It's coughing properly into your arm, not into your hand. It's frequent hand washing.
You know, those may sound kind of low-tech, which they are, but they're remarkably effective things when it comes to slowing the transmission of the virus.
CHETRY: One of the other things people have been asking about right now is that we have known about this, as you said, back in April, and we've had months now and we've been preparing and even been fast tracking the vaccine.
What are the lessons learned, though, as we see these delays in manufacturing and as we also struggle to get people to understand that this vaccine is safe, because, you know, there were a lot of people that were questioning that as well in the beginning?
What lessons have we learned that we can take away if dealing with epidemics, pandemics down the road?
NAPOLITANO: Well, I think one thing is to keep relying on science. Science is our best teacher here and, for example, last week's story is people not getting vaccine really emphasizing the science about how safe this vaccine is. It's really a variant on the seasonal flu vaccine that's administered every year.
The second thing, I think, that has been re-brought to the public's attention is that a vaccine is produced in the private sector and is produced in the age-old way, by developing an antigen, using the development in eggs. That is a slow process.
Maybe, as we move forward into the coming years, we can, as a nation develop a quicker way for new flu vaccine.
CHETRY: And I quickly wanted to get your reaction, Madame Secretary, to the story we were reporting today, concerns about a potential swine flu outbreak that took place in a school. It was in Illinois. And we spoke to the superintendent at the school, St. Charles East, and they say that basically 972 kids were out. They haven't tested yet whether or not it's swine flu.
But how should schools respond to mass illness, and what are the recommendations as we do see more of this as we move forward into the flu season?
NAPOLITANO: Actually, over the course of the summer, the CDC in conjunction with other federal departments has issued guidance.
They've issued guidance for schools, they've issued guidance for small businesses. They're all available on flu.gov.
But then, the ultimate decision whether to close a school or not will be made at the local level based on the numbers of what they're actually seeing.
CHETRY: All right, Secretary Napolitano, always great to talk to you. Thanks for being with us this morning.
NAPOLITANO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Got some weather across the country today, including snow in the Denver area. And of course, there's a big airport there. Is it going to cause travel delays?
Rob Marciano joins us next with the forecast. Stay with us; 46 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Morning commute just getting under way in Seattle this morning, where it's rainy and 54 degrees and later on today, rainy with a high of 60; surprising weather for Seattle, rain.
Rob Marciano tracking all of the extreme weather across the country today; we've got some snow in Colorado and lots of rain down there in Texas as well, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John, it's all part of the same system that's coming out of the Rockies. Actually, it blew winds of 50, 60 miles per hour yesterday across New Mexico and some moisture today with some thunderstorms. One to four inches of rainfall possible in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan areas.
So with that sort of rainfall, you're probably going to see some delays. Right now we're just seeing a general rain but this will start to ramp up as some of that energy comes out of the mountains. It's coming out of the mountains in the form of snow across the front range of Colorado.
Denver south to Colorado Springs, the Sangre de Kristo Mountains (ph) may see a foot and a half of snow before this is all said and done. So a decent storm for this time of year will spread rain from Minneapolis back through Chicago also. So that may very well trigger some travel delays.
Minneapolis, rain, low clouds; 30 minutes to 60 minutes delays is what we expect to begin later on this afternoon. Dallas and Houston will see similar numbers.
And one other item of concern, it's going to be 73 in Atlanta and 71 degrees in New York. Eastern half of the country looks to be beautiful today. Enjoy.
ROBERTS: I wish you could make it last until the weekend, Rob.
MARCIANO: We'll work on that for you, big guy.
ROBERTS: All right, well, if you could do something, I'd sure appreciate it.
CHETRY: It's a magic wall, but not a "Magic" wall.
ROBERTS: Well, to a certain degree "magic" wall
CHETRY: Still ahead, "Latino in America." We're going to meet one doctor going above and beyond, seeing people who can't pay him, caring for the poor as well as the homeless. Soledad O'Brien is going to be joining us for this story in just a moment.
It's now 49 minutes at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Tonight is going to be a good night, because if you want to be inspired then tonight is the night. Right here on CNN is the premiere of "LATINO IN AMERICA." These are stories about Latinos and how they're shaping America.
ROBERTS: Soledad O'Brien joins us now with the remarkable story of the man who's changing lives one patient at a time. We have a real clear cut example of somebody really giving back to the community here.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. I want share the story of Dr. Pedro Jose Joe Greer. And he is Cubish is what I'll tell you which is Cuban and Irish, as I am.
In Miami, he is a super star. He is a guy whose name is truly synonymous with having compassion for all people. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Elena Espinosa came to the Mercy Hospital in Miami with abdominal pain.
DR. JOE GREER, GASTROENTEROLOGIST, MERCY HOSPITAL: Ready?
O'BRIEN: Using his endoscope, Dr. Joe Greer is looking for a possible malignancy, cancer. Perhaps the real medical breakthrough is that Elena is here without insurance. GREER: I don't know when it became socially acceptable in our country to refuse a patient because they have no funds.
O'BRIEN: That's reality now.
GREER: It's a reality but it goes against all the ethics and morals that we know.
O'BRIEN: Joe Greer sees many patients who can't pay. His life was changed forever as an intern, after a homeless nameless patient died alone. He searched for the man's family in shelters and under Miami's highways.
O'BRIEN: You weren't afraid?
GREER: No.
GREER: Did you dress like a civilian? Did you have a doctor's coat on?
GREER: No, I got a doctor coat on later, because actually right over there across the street one time, a guy pulled a gun on me because he thought I was a cop, a narc.
O'BRIEN: Joe Greer went on to help start the John Bosco Clinic for immigrants and the Camilla's (ph) Health Concern a free clinic which has treated over 5,000 homeless and low-income patients a year for 25 years.
He's also trying to improve tomorrow. He's part of a new medical school with a new curriculum at Florida International University. He says he's teaching students that health care is more than medicine, it's about people.
GREER: You can use your position for a lot more things than you think you can to reform and help people. And you'll also have very nice cars. And the ones that are the fastest cars can help the poor the quickest.
O'BRIEN: This summer, Dr. Pedro Jose Joe Greer was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. It's the nation's highest civilian honor. Then it was back to work far from the White House.
GREER: So your esophagus looks pretty normal.
O'BRIEN: On this day, he and his team were simply trying to make Elena Espinosa feel better, free of charge. He thinks its gastritis, an inflammation; not cancer. He'll do further testing, but for now, the news is good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: That's amazing.
O'BRIEN: He is such a figure in the Miami community. And has really been the link between, you know, helping -- he'll tell me, some of the patients in his waiting room have flown in on their private jets and they're sitting next to some of his indigent patients. He sees the range of folks.
CHETRY: That's amazing. It must be such a comfort to know, he can speak their language, he can understand what's beginning on, and just really the fact that he's such a top-notch doctor and he's willing to spend time...
O'BRIEN: A win-win-win all around.
CHETRY: Right.
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely.
ROBERTS: How many patients does he see who are indigent?
O'BRIEN: You know, a big percentage because that really is the focus of his entire clinic. So sometimes, I would say the number of patients who are flying in on their private jets is much smaller, but for the indigent patients, that's really been the focus of his work.
ROBERTS: Good for him for doing that. Great story too.
O'BRIEN: He's a great guy, and hilarious, never without a joke.
ROBERTS: Good to see you and congratulations on the series.
CHETRY: When he said, you can afford nice cars...
O'BRIEN: And those with the fastest sports cars can get there first.
ROBERTS: By the way, we're just hours away now from "LATINO IN AMERICA," a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America. "LATINO IN AMERICA" tonight and tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern; it's also going to be simulcast in Spanish on CNN en Espanol.
It's now 56 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Continue the conversation on today's stories. Go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix.
That's going to wrap it up for us.
Thanks so much for being with us. And we'll see you again here bright and early tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: That's right. Meanwhile, let's just get a quick peek, real quick, if they can of the control room this morning, because we would like to say happy birthday to one of our producers.
It's Michelle's birthday. Michelle, wave. Happy birthday. And she gets to spend it here with us. Lucky dog. All right. That's going to do it for us.
The news continues now; "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
