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White House Fields Questions about Legitimacy of Afghan Government; Elections a Barometer on Obama's Job?; Lending Company Declares Bankruptcy; Iraqi Women Forced into Prostitution

Aired November 02, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Poppy, boy, I had a quick question I wanted to follow with you on, but I can't because I've got to get everybody to the daily White House briefing with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: But I think the president, the embassy there, and everyone can take heart in the notion that the laws of Afghanistan and the institutions of Afghanistan prevailed in both instances. The president will telephone -- President Obama will telephone President Karzai within the next half hour and we'll have a readout from that phone call for you all right after that.

QUESTION: Speaking of that, you've talked a lot about the need for a credible, legitimate partner.

GIBBS: Right.

QUESTION: Does the president consider President Karzai to be a legitimate, credible partner?

GIBBS: President Karzai has been declared the winner of the Afghan election and will head the next government of Afghanistan. So, obviously, he's the legitimate leader of the country. Obviously what will begin, now that we know the government that will lead Afghanistan for the next five years, continue conversations about governance, civil society, and corruption going forward to ensure that we have a credible partner in our efforts to help secure the country.

QUESTION: And how does this resolution, if at all, affect the president's time table on war strategy?

GIBBS: Look, again, I think there's -- we obviously now know who the government's going to be. So I think some of the conversations that I just alluded to can take place with who we know is going to lead the country. I think the decision is still -- will be made in the coming weeks.

Yes, ma'am?

QUESTION: The president said today that he expects more job losses. And the way his comments today suggested more than ever that he might take action. More actions to stem the tide, to improve the jobs pictures. What kind of thing might he want to do? And also, when do you think that the jobs picture might show some more improvement?

GIBBS: Well, I would point you to the meeting that was just held, which I think you all watched, for ideas that the president's economic recovery advisory board. Ideas that they have and that they shared with the president today. I know that the president and the economic team will evaluate those proposals.

In terms of help, we've said throughout this process that the team is continually looking at ideas that will create an environment for sustained economic growth. I know that's what the president -- the ideas the president wanted to hear today. And I think that's what he got.

In terms of -- look, I don't -- I don't know what the jobs picture will be at the end of this week, but I know that the president is focused on working to create an atmosphere to create more jobs. I think we took a big step forward. We can't have job growth until we begin to have economic growth. And for the first time in more than a year, the economy registered positive economic growth, according to statistics released last week.

Yes, sir?

QUESTION: President Obama, last month in Pittsburgh, said of the Afghan elections and the aftermath, "What's most important is that there's a sense of the legitimacy in Afghanistan among the Afghan people for their government." Is there a sense of legitimacy in Afghanistan among the Afghan people for the Karzai government?

GIBBS: Well, I have no reason to believe there's not.

QUESTION: Well, Abdullah Abdullah, as you know, wanted demands -- or the only demand that he had, he asked for Karzai to continue with this runoff, for the head of the IEC to be replaced, because there was such a lack of trust in him after the last election. Karzai refused. So obviously, Abdullah Abdullah feels that there's a lack of credibility in the IEC.

GIBBS: Well, Dr. Abdullah made his own personal and political decision about this particular runoff. I think if you look at the election results, even after the investigation of allegations of fraud which, by the way, worked, throwing out enough votes to require a second round and convincing President Karzai to participate in that, which clearly was not a -- by any means, a given.

I think, even in that balloting you saw that Dr. Abdullah trailed, by a fairly large margin, President Karzai. So I don't see -- I don't think there's any reason to believe that the Afghan people won't think this government is as legitimate as it is.

QUESTION: Well, the reason would be that the last election was considered tainted by fraud, and that's the only election they've had.

GIBBS: Well, and those results were thrown out. The problem was reported, investigated. The committees that you talk about threw out those votes. A second round was scheduled, and the participant -- the second participant in the second round decided, again, for personal and political reasons, not to take part in the election.

I don't know how you can have an election of two candidates if the one who finished the second decides not to participate, even after the laws and institutions of the government threw out what he declared were fraudulent results from the first...

QUESTION: Personal political reasons?

GIBBS: I said personal and political.

QUESTION: The reasons were he would have no faith or trust in this election, because of the last one was so riddled with fraud, and the head of the IEC was going to be...

GIBBS: I don't know how you could presume something was going to happen before it did.

QUESTION: Then how do you have a legitimate election if, basically, the only other candidate drops out? I mean, it's not like they've actually moved forward, cleaned up the fraud. How is that legitimate?

GIBBS: Well, first, let's understand the fraud was talked about, investigated. Millions of votes were thrown out that required a second round. And if the participant -- the second participant in the election decides, for his own reasons, not to participate in that election, would you suggest that the American government require a second participant?

QUESTION: The person who allegedly committed the fraud or had the fraud committed on his part -- on his behalf, President Karzai, is now going to stay on as the leader. So...

GIBBS: Again, you guys have -- I appreciate it, but you skipped an entire range of -- remember, we were talking just probably ten days ago about whether President Karzai would even accept the ruling that threw out millions of ballots that required him to go through a second round. That was certainly not given. That was something that, again, the fraud -- the fraud was analyzed. A decision was made to throw out millions of ballots, to push somebody under 50 percent, which required a second round.

QUESTION: You said recently that you need to have a credible partner. When I asked you that question at the top, is he the credible partner? You said he's a legitimate leader. You didn't say he's credible.

GIBBS: Well, because listen to the second part of the question, and my answer would have been, nobody -- nobody said -- nobody has ever made the accusation that credibility was going to be had simply out of one election. That would have been true, quite frankly, whomever got elected and whoever participated. The conversations that now have to be had and continue with the Afghan government are the steps that they're going to take to improve their governance, to improve their civil society, and to address fraud and corruption. There's no doubt about that. But that wasn't all going to be had in the ballot box.

QUESTION: So why did you say a moment ago that the troop decision is going to come in weeks, which you've been saying four weeks, when Rahm Emanuel was on some problems a couple of weekends ago saying that we've got to wait until this runoff? Then the runoff, then we'll know the leader. We'll know the government we're dealing with. As you acknowledged a moment ago, we now know...

GIBBS: This decision is not dependent upon when -- when a leader was determined. We've never -- we've never said that.

QUESTION: You said wait until the runoff because you have to figure out who's actually going to be in charge. We now know...

GIBBS: There are a number of decisions that have to be made. One of them -- this was not simply predicated on when or if this election was held and when it was.

QUESTION: So what else -- what else does the president need to make the decision, then?

GIBBS: The president is working with -- working with his national security team to evaluate, as I think you saw many people say yesterday on the news shows, how best to formulate a strategy that supports the goal of disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately destroying al Qaeda. That's what the team is working on. And they had a productive meeting with the joint chiefs just at the end of last week.

QUESTION: You can talk all you want about a law of ethics (ph) prevail. But in the end, you're left with somebody who the U.S. has been dodging for months because he hasn't been a reliable partner. And yet, he's now your only -- your only alternative. And what does this do to the decision-making process here? It hasn't been made any easier, certainly.

GIBBS: Well, our problems don't generally get easier dealing with anything, Bill. As I've said in response to at least two previous questions, now begin the hard conversations about ensuring credibility, ensuring improving governance, addressing corruption.

QUESTION: ... before the election?

GIBBS: Well, we are -- we are focused on what has to happen in order to have a credible partner. There will be a point in this process where the United States is not going to stay forever. I've said that a hundred times. At some point what is built and what is secure has to be transferred to somebody else. Has to be transferred to a government in Afghanistan to do for itself. That's what we're focused on now that we know who that government will be going forward for the next five years. QUESTION: But now, given how what's transpired, how long is it going to take to decide whether you have a credible partner. And whether we, the United States, should commit further troops and resources.

GIBBS: That's what -- that's part of the decision-making process that's ongoing.

QUESTION: It's going on forever.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Can you elaborate on this personal and political decision from Dr. Abdullah? You've referred to it two or three times, he made a personal, political decision. That sounds like, are you playing Afghan pundit here?

GIBBS: No. I generally avoid trying to play American pundit.

QUESTION: What is the political evidence?

GIBBS: What is the equivalent of Afghan "Meet the Press"?

QUESTION: The longest-running show, probably, in Afghanistan. Tell me about what's the -- what's the evidence that it is a political decision?

GIBBS: I'm just saying that he made a decision for probably a series of reasons.

QUESTION: You've already said that. Can you elaborate a little bit?

GIBBS: I think -- I think you saw some of this over the weekend. There -- there were decisions that he made to no longer be a contestant in this race.

QUESTION: Who in the U.S. government has reached out to dr. Abdullah over the last few days?

GIBBS: I don't know if folks at the State Department or others have -- you should check there.

QUESTION: Is there any chance that he's going to make a phone...

GIBBS: He's probably on the phone over the next few minutes with -- with President Karzai.

I don't think there's any doubt that Dr. Abdullah will play a role, it's quite clear, going forward in Afghanistan. And I think that anybody we would obviously want to be in consultation with a number of people that are going to have roles going forward in Afghanistan.

QUESTION: Are you still going to reach out to tribal leaders that don't really have a relationship with the central government in Afghanistan, as you do the strategy?

GIBBS: Well, look, obviously there's an evaluation that's going on on governance issues, not just in Kabul but throughout the country, and certainly, that will be part of it.

QUESTION: ... as far as elections. What are you -- what do you tell generic Democratic congressman X not to read into the results in Virginia and New Jersey?

GIBBS: Will, I would -- well, I think, one, I'd wait for the results to talk to Congressman X, without -- again, I don't play pundit in Afghanistan, or certainly don't want to pre-play pundit here.

Obviously, as we talked about...

QUESTION: Are you going to take a lot of credit if Corzine wins, but then...

GIBBS: I pointed to the -- the answer I gave on Friday, which is I don't think that these elections will portend a lot for what happens in 2010 any more than the 2001 elections seem to denote relative electoral legislative strength for President Bush in -- in 2002. You know, it's just...

QUESTION: Are you concerned that some Democratic incumbents in Congress might suddenly be...

GIBBS: The results based on the pundits on cable TV? That's -- that and corporate governance are -- corruption in governance are at the top of my list.

HELEN THOMAS, JOURNALIST: I thought al Qaeda were mostly defeated in Afghanistan.

GIBBS: Well, we want to ensure that...

THOMAS: Is it knowledge that the Taliban (INAUDIBLE)?

GIBBS: We want to ensure that a safe haven can't be created in which they could come back and establish a stronghold with which to plan and attack us.

QUESTION: And will you send 10,000 troops or more to do that?

GIBBS: That's -- the discussion about what to do in terms of troop levels is one aspect of a larger strategy on how to deal with our goal of disrupting, dismantling and ultimately destroying al Qaeda.

THOMAS: How are you going to pull (INAUDIBLE) the Afghan government?

GIBBS: Sorry. How would we...

THOMAS: How are you going to make them do more? GIBBS: Well, I think that's a conversation that is probably beginning in the Oval Office.

THOMAS: ... put no convictions (ph) on anything. Pakistan wants how many million and you say, OK. Go ahead, we don't have anything else...

GIBBS: No. Helen, you know better than that, that that's not true of our system.

THOMAS: (INAUDIBLE)

GIBBS: Well, we had a big back and forth about just two weeks ago about whether there were too many conditions on our aid in Pakistan, didn't we?

Yes, ma'am?

QUESTION: On the economics recovery board meeting (INAUDIBLE), how seriously do you take these proposals? Is this part of an ongoing dialogue with the White House? Or are these three individual proposals or presentations that the president?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You've been standing by here as we listened along with you to Robert Gibbs being peppered with questions today about the legitimacy and the credibility of the government in Afghanistan.

Robert Gibbs there, speaking on behalf of the president, saying that, in fact, they do believe they have a partner there. But not being so sure and not really being nailed down on the language, as far as it being credible and legitimate. Still, not willing to commit that even the people of Afghanistan think that maybe now that Hamid Karzai has been officially declared the winner before the runoff. Not willing to commit to say that the Afghan people might think there's some questions of credibility. A lot of questions about that moving forward and what it means for possibly sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

But hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Kyra Phillips, here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We are certainly going to be talking a lot about Afghanistan today and also a lot about swine flu.

We are actually listening in right now, getting the very latest. That is Dr. Ann Shookit (ph) right there of the CDC, taking part in a briefing right now. Swine flu, or I should say H1N1, more appropriately being called, a lot of people still calling it swine flu, it is now considered widespread in 48 states. And new numbers we're getting, bigger numbers today on a couple of fronts. Newer and bigger numbers as it comes to the spread.

Also, newer and bigger numbers as it comes to the availability of the vaccine. Some 27 million doses have hit the U.S. so far. Ten million more due this week. That is still, however, short of what the government has expected by the end of October. We're going to be monitoring that briefing, recap the headlines that we get out of it. Also, we'll meet a pair of swine flu, H1N1 flu survivors from the group most at risk of complication and hospitalization and even death, a mother and daughter, both pregnant.

So there's a lot of things to get to today. We're going to be talking a lot about the election over in Afghanistan but also here in the U.S. You know, we've got an election day coming up.

Barack Obama is not on any ballot, but a handful of elections tomorrow could shed some light on how voters really feel about the president and also the president's party, and also whether they believe Republicans are capable of doing a better job.

Among the key contests, let's show them to you now. You've heard about a few of these by now. This, the governor's race in New Jersey. The incumbent there, Democrat Jon Corzine, fighting challengers Republican Chris Christie, also the independent Chris Daggett.

Also, a fight in Virginia, as well. Voters there going to be picking a new governor. The Democrat is Creigh Deeds. He's trailing a bit, Republican Bob McDonnell -- Dowell [SIC], excuse me, in the polls.

Also in New York, a bizarre twist, really, in this case here. This is the congressional battle in the 23rd district. The Republican you see in the middle there, her name is Dede Scozzafava. All right? You may not know the name. Might need to learn it and practice it. But you see her there, Dede Scozzafava. She has dropped out, and she is now throwing her support behind the Democrat in the race. His name is Bill Owens. The shakeup could be the big push that conservative candidate Doug Hoffman needs to come out on top.

Now, let's turn now to Washington. Let's get some insight on these key races. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us now.

Candy, always a pleasure to see you. Let's start with this race in New York. It's a district most people don't know where it is, and it's involving a candidate that most people can't pronounce her name. So you tell everybody around this country why this is such a big political deal?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she's gone now, so they don't have to learn her name. It's in upstate New York. It is a very Republican area. Now, it did go for Barack Obama, but it has not had a representative in that district that was Democrat for more than a century.

So what happened here was you had a moderate Republican, and you had a conservative. And because of the way the New York ballot works for this, you could have two, and then you have the Democrat. The moderate Republican and the conservative were siphoning votes off each other, and it looks as though a Democrat might pull through.

Eventually what became the party candidate, and that is Dede Scozzafova -- Scozzafava, said, "I'm out of here, but I endorse the Democrat," throwing this back up in the air.

Now, why -- why care about all of this? It's because it really is the story line of the Republican Party right now. What is the Republican Party that you are seeing a mighty struggle for those who want it to be conservative and toe the line. They did not think that Scozzafava, in fact, was a true conservative, and that's why they threw their support behind the more conservative candidate.

Then you have those who say the Republican Party has got to expand its base, not shrink it. So this was sort of the first time that we've seen this play out since the election, which, as you know, really undid Republicans. So it is part of that struggle. Will it in the long run mean something? It certainly is going to encourage those.

The tea party people, the conservatives, Sarah Palin, she was for this alternate conservative candidate. It certainly is going to embolden them to try to replace people in other places where they think the Republican candidate is not toeing a sufficiently conservative line. So it could have ramifications.

HOLMES: Yes. Altogether now, Scozzafava.

All right. We've got two other races -- two governor's races we're looking at. Only got time for one more question. Virginia, a lot of people think the Democrats, they might be in a bit of trouble. So let's go to the closer race, most say is in New Jersey.

Even if Corzine is able to hold on, if this case -- if this race is so close, could that still be a sign of trouble down the road?

CROWLEY: I think the Democrats are believing that there is trouble down the road. Part of the problem in New Jersey, part of the problem in Virginia for Democrats, is the economy is still terrible. There are many local reasons for why these races will go the way they go.

But in general when the economy is bad, people tend to go vote for the other party and I think you are seeing that. And insofar as that can be translated to Democrats for what's coming up next year, and what this means about Barack Obama's coattails, it will be translated that way. But it's a long time between now and the 2010 races. A year, in fact.

HOLMES: All right. Right, a year. Candy Crowley, always good to see you. Appreciate you stopping by, as always. Thanks so much.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

HOLMES: Well, CIT, a three-letter company that a lot of us maybe never even heard of. It's gone belly up in a major way, and you are definitely going to be seeing the aftermath.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We share with you some of our top stories now. Watching the latest out of Michigan where at least one person is hospitalized after multiple explosions rocked a welding supply plant there. Nearby homes and businesses had to be evacuated. Firefighters now say that the fire is under control.

Also, the Iraqi father accused of deliberately running over his daughter appeared in an Arizona court this morning. Faleh Almaleki faces two counts of aggravated assault. Police say he was behind the wheel of his Jeep when his 20-year-old daughter and her boyfriend's mother were mowed down in a parking lot last month. Both women are hospitalized in serious condition. Almaleki was apparently angry his daughter was becoming too westernized for allegedly living with her boyfriend.

Also, great news out of the Bay Area. After six days, the San Francisco Bay Bridge has finally opened again, much to the relief of the area commuters, some 280,000 of them that travel that bridge every day. The traffic was halted last Tuesday after two steel rods and a cross beam fell on it. Nobody was injured there. Strong winds were a factor in that debris coming down.

Well, the economy, some signs that things are getting a little better here and there, but now we've got news of another major company that has filed for bankruptcy. It's the fifth biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history, but it involves a company that a lot of people have never even heard of.

Susan Lisovicz is in New York with more for us here.

Why should we care about these three little letters here, CIT?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We should care a lot, T.J. And this is one of the painful lessons of this financial crisis, just how vast the financial system is, how layered and how interconnected.

CIT lends money to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses. Why do I care? Well, if I'm one of those businesses, I care a lot. If I'm one of the customers of those business, I care a lot, too.

For instance, T.J., I don't know where you get your coffee, but Dunkin Donuts franchisees, they get their financing from CIT. And they're going to have to scramble now for financing and perhaps scale back their plans.

This is happening, well, because when the unemployment rate goes up, so do bad loans. So CIT, not a surprise that it's filing for bankruptcy protection, but it is going to create more problems because, among the biggest recipients of the CIT lending, restaurants and retailers. Tough time for retailers. They're already in a bind as the holiday approaches. And what CIT wants to do, is by doing this bankruptcy, it wants to get out of it pretty quickly, but it's going to have to shave $10 billion in debt. Very painful process.

HOLMES: And you talk about -- yes, you talked about businesses being recipients of CIT money. CIT is a recipient of our money, taxpayer money. We made an investment in this company to try to prevent just this type of thing from happening. What happens to our money?

LISOVICZ: Very good point. Well, here's another little lesson in bankruptcy protection. When a company files for bankruptcy, there's a long line of people and businesses that want their money back. And shareholders go to the end of the line. And that's what happens with Uncle Sam. When we give money, we become shareholders in these companies.

The good news, and I put that in quotes, T.J., is that this is not Citigroup, you know, with $45 billion. This is $2.3 billion. Still a whole lot of money, but the Treasury Department itself says recovery to preferred and common equity holders will be minimal.

So this money is probably -- and this is probably not the end of the line either. Because Chrysler, AIG, some others are looking unlikely to be paid back. The good news is that many others are or will, and they're paying interest, nice interest on it, too.

HOLMES: Back of the line, is what you're telling us, huh?

LISOVICZ: Back of the line.

HOLMES: To try to get our money. Susan Lisovicz, always good to see you. Always appreciate you breaking these things down for us.

LISOVICZ: Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: We'll see you again soon.

And it was literally built from tragedy, but now it rides in triumph. We'll salute the USS New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, the Navy's newest warship comes home on the first- ever visit to its namesake. The USS New York entered the Manhattan Harbor this morning, a poignant moment more than eight years in the making in the wake of 9/11.

Our Heidi Collins has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's more than 25,000 tons, as long as two football fields, and will eventually carry hundreds of U.S. sailors and Marines into battle across the globe. But it's the bow of this new ship that sets her apart.

ENSIGN TIMOTHY GORMAN, USS NEW YORK: Of any ship in the Navy, this is one ship where you can really be proud of your mission and remember on a daily basis of why you are here and why this ship is so special. The steel in the bow, we're very mindful that we're representing the families of victims of 9/11 and the victims of the people who died that day. COLLINS: Beam by beam, they sifted through this pile of wreckage and twisted metal, the devastated debris from the towering World Trade Center, to salvage 7.5 tons of workable steel. More than 1,000 workers then melted, poured and reshaped that steel into what would become the bow of the USS New York, now plying the waters as a mighty symbol of all that was lost on that day more than eight years ago.

HOWARD LUTNICK, CEO, CANTOR FITZGERALD: We lost 658 employees, my brother, my best friend, all my co-workers.

COLLINS: Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, is adamant the memories of those he lost never be forgotten and their survivors always be protected.

LUTNICK: I really like the idea of people going out and avenging what happened to us and protecting us so that it should never happen again. Because the pain that we went through, we would want no other family to ever have to go through it.

COLLINS: The ship will be a memorial for Lee Lelpe, too. His firefighter son, Jonathan, bravely went into the towers on 9/11 but never made it out.

LEE LELPI, LOST SON ON 9/11: What better way for our young men and women that are going to be on the USS New York to feel that spirit of our country than to have this ship have that steel in the bow and represent not the bad, the good of our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. We will turn next to a story about H1N1, but not one that pregnant women need to hear. Pregnant woman have got enough on their minds. They've got a lot to worry about, worry about their little bundles of joy. What -- H1N1 now? We'll show you the rates, the risks and the recovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Now, fighting the flu, fighting the H1N1 especially, that could be tough on anybody. But pregnant women facing the toughest battle of all. And that is why the CDC is moving them to the front of the line for the H1N1 vaccine.

Our Kara Finnstrom is finding out what it means to be pregnant and also H1N1 positive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A year of twists and turns for Nancy Brizendine.

NANCY BRIZENDINE, PREGNANT WITH H1N1: I was like, what?

FINNSTROM: This past spring, an unexpected pregnancy for the 42- year-old. Shock turned to celebration. And then just weeks ago, that jubilation turned to fear. BRIZENDINE: I had, like, a cough, like, sinus infection, infected ear, nausea and fever. And then that's when I went into the urgent care.

FINNSTROM: Nancy tested positive for the H1N1 virus, and the fact that she was pregnant put her right in the middle of a group that experts are most worried about.

DR. ANTHONY DULGEROFF, HIGH DESERT MEDICAL GROUP: Women who are pregnant seem to be somewhat immuno-compromised. And it just turns out that women who get the H1N1 tend to get sicker than the general population.

BRIZENDINE: I couldn't even get out of bed and lift my head because I was just so sick and achy.

FINNSTROM (on camera): It's tough enough to fight the ravages of H1N1 at home, but many pregnant women end up waging a much more serious battle. The Centers for Disease Control says pregnant women are four times more likely than other H1N1 patients to end up hospitalized.

(voice-over): Just last week, an expectant woman from El Monte died from the H1N1 virus. She was 27. Doctors say for some reason, the virus seems to cause the most serious complications in women who are both pregnant and young.

Nancy believes age worked in her favor. She got better with Tamiflu and rest. But Nancy wasn't just worried about one baby on the way. You see, Nancy's 22-year-old daughter Kayla is also pregnant, and doctors strongly suspect she also caught H1N1.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more time.

FINNSTROM: The difference? Kayla, who had no health problems, ended up with bilateral pneumonia and on oxygen support.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, I was hyperventilating because I couldn't breathe.

FINNSTROM (on camera): Was she at risk of dying? I mean, how...

DULGEROFF: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

BRIZENDINE: Honestly, I thought OK -- honestly, I thought, is God giving me this baby because he's going to take my other baby? And I didn't want that to happen, so it was hard. It was real hard.

And that's -- you know, I'm thinking OK, you know, what can I do, being here? You know, I need to go to the hospital. I need to be with my baby. But I couldn't.

FINNSTROM (voice-over): Three weeks later, doctors say mother, daughter and both of their unborn girls seem to be doing very well. But still, there are fears. BRIZENDINE: I was just worried, I mean, like what effects is this going to have on my baby? You know, and what effects are the medications going to have or what effects the X-ray is going to have?

DULGEROFF: Since the virus doesn't cross the placenta, probably not too much of a threat that we know of. However, if there are very high fevers in the mother, that could affect the baby.

FINNSTROM: Health officials are urging pregnant women to get the H1N1 vaccination, and Kayla and Nancy agree.

BRIZENDINE: And you have to realize, it's not just you, it's your baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BRIZENDINE: You know? You have to protect both of you.

FINNSTROM: In Lancaster, California, Kara Finnstrom for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: You know, parents often disagree about decisions when it comes to their child, but listen to this one. One parent wants to take their child who was born with a birth defect off child life support. The other wants to keep the child on life support. We have a heart-wrenching story of a tug of war you won't believe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it is official: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is going to serve another term. He won't have to face a runoff election, however, despite allegations of voter fraud and after his only opponent in the runoff election withdrew and election officials declared Karzai the winner. He's got a big hurdle now, though, forming a government that the Afghan people and the world will view as legitimate.

Well, it survived the Great Depression, but not the great recession. CIT Group filing for Chapter 11. It's the fifth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The news marks a likely loss to taxpayers because taxpayers -- you, me -- handed the small-business lender more than $2 billion in bailout funds.

Also, investigators hope cockpit recorders will reveal important clues as they probe the midair collision of a Marine helicopter and a Coast Guard plane. Nine people died in last week's accident off San Diego. Crews are hunting for more wreckage and bodies today.

Well, there's a dad in Britain who's fighting to keep his baby boy alive. However, he's facing some tough opponents, including his own wife and also the hospital. The baby was born with rare congenital health problems, can't breathe on his own.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here now. This just -- when you hear some of these details, you get -- I mean, you know, just on the surface, just to hear a mom and a dad fighting over whether or not to keep the child alive, that's, oh.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's just terrible. And the prognosis for this child is possibly very, very, very poor. He has a disease called congenital myasthenic syndrome, which is also called CMS.

Now, I want to say that we don't know much about the facts of this child's case. What we do know is from ITN, the television network in Britain. But when children are very, very sick with this disease, they are on ventilators, as this child is. This child has been on a ventilator since birth. He is now one year old, and his mother and the doctors say, look, he's not going to get off this ventilator, he's in pain, he has no quality of life. We think he should be taken off ventilation, which would mean a certain death. However, dad says that the baby responds to music, responds to voices, responds when somebody enters into the room, and the dad would like to keep this baby alive.

HOLMES: OK, so is that what the dad is suggesting, to just keep trying and trying indefinitely until something works, or does he have some other alternative some other method, some other medical option?

COHEN: He does. What he's suggesting is something called a tracheotomy, which is where you take a tube and put it -- insert into the neck and put into the baby's lungs to help make breathing easier. Now, i think some professionals would say, that's not really going to help very much, but the dad feels that that might possibly help this child.

HOLMES: So, what are they supposed to do now? Are they in court, going to fight this out in court? What's next?

COHEN: They are going to have to fight this out in court. That's really the only place that they can go right now. And so, ITN tell us that the dad will present video showing that what he says, that the baby responds to sounds and to visual stimulation, and the mom and the doctors will say, look, we don't think that this child has much of a chance of a real life, and the child's in pain. And they're going to have to let a judge decide. It's a terrible way to do it, isn't it?

HOLMES: What do we know about these parents? I mean, and again, this is a mom and dad -- are they estranged, divorced? I mean, just as far as we know, just a mom and dad who just disagree.

COHEN: Right. We don't know anything, and the reason why I haven't even said the baby's name is we don't even know. The baby's just called Baby RB. We don't know anything about this. We don't even know to what degree he has this disease, because some people have this disease and aren't affected all that much. And other ones are horribly affected. So, there's a lot we don't know here.

HOLMES: All right, a fascinating story. We appreciate it.

COHEN: It is fascinating.

HOLMES: By all means, please keep us updated.

COHEN: Thanks.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

All right, a lot of folks this weekend focused on candy, not necessarily cheeseburgers. So, you might have missed this. There's a big beef recall going on, a ground beef recall. And the CDC has just told us two deaths may be linked to it. The meat in question came from Fairbank Farms out of New York. They shipped some 546,000 pounds up and down the East Coast. They shipped them to places like Trader Joe's, Shaw's, BJ's, Giant and also a bunch of other stores. Some of this ground beef might have E. coli in it. You can check out CNN.com/kyra for details. Then you might want to check out your freezers.

Well, of course, we want to keep the kids safe from the flu, get the vaccine, wash your hands, sneeze in your elbow, all that stuff, and eat some Cocoa Krispies. Yeah. Also, when in the world did Snap, Crackle and Pop go to medical school?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, Coach Carter returns to Richmond. Pushing forward to the new hour of NEWSROOM, the man's back on campus. The school that guy helped put on the map now on the map for all the wrong reasons. It's now the site of a gang rape that has really horrified the nation.

Also, they say they want to you stay home at the first sign of H1N1 flu. But a lot of bosses aren't backing that up. I don't think that kid works, though, but you get the idea. We'll talk to a guy who helps write sick-leave policies.

All right, the most important meal of the day. Everybody tells you that is breakfast. But can you really avoid H1N1 flu by eating Cocoa Krispies for breakfast? Of course you can, if you look at that box. Of course, you really can't. I'm kidding on that.

But a lot of people think they are really kidding around with this box. You see the big word "immunity" there? The cereal claims that it supports your child's immunity by including Vitamins A, B, C and E in every single bite.

Well, nutritionists and others are protesting. But Kellogg says it's simply catering to consumer demand for, quote, "positive nutrition." The company denies it's trying to capitalize on this H1N1 pandemic we're seeing right now. The FDA not commenting on the story just yet.

Well, coming up next, a story out of Iraq. War widows and orphans down to their last option, trapped in Baghdad's brothels. We're live in the Iraqi capital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Well, working the world's oldest profession in one of the world's oldest cities. In Baghdad's brothels, in hotel rooms, in family homes every day, women and girls are selling themselves literally to survive.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside of one of Baghdad's brothels, the men line up. Once through the door, they can pick any woman they want. It's the women and girls on the inside who have no options, making as little as $5 a client and living in constant fear.

YANAR MOHAMMED, ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN'S FREEDOM IN IRAQ: In every house, you find four to five rooms, and women there are exploited like nothing you can imagine.

JAMJOOM: Yanar Mohammed's organization is on the front line in the fight for women's rights here, providing resources and a way out for women forced into a life of prostitution.

MOHAMMED: We keep on supporting them. We keep the doors open for them, and we try to tell them what's best for them. But in the end, she will have to decide.

JAMJOOM: Mohammed says many Iraqi women enter this life because they have no support systems, no way to make a living.

MOHAMMED: They're either as widows of the -- either widows of the war or orphans of the war, and the female orphans have no chance. They most probably fall victims for this industry.

JAMJOOM: Wedad, which is not her real name, is one of those widows of the war. She's asked us to conceal her identity. Sectarian violence claimed the life of her husband three years ago. She says she tried getting a job to support her three young daughters, but men didn't want her for her skills, only her body.

"WEDAD" (through translator): It was extremely difficult to make the decision to do this because nobody goes into this wanting to do it. My situation forced me into it because I couldn't find a job, and the government didn't have a job for me.

I won't be doing this forever. It's impossible. My girls are still young, but when they get older, I can't.

JAMJOOM: Prostitution is illegal in Iraq. Wedad lives in constant fear of being found out, not just because of the punishment she would face from authorities, but even more because of the shame she would face from her family. Mohammed says a typical sentence for women convicted of prostitution is three to four months in jail. Their customers are rarely, if ever, arrested. When the women get out of prison, they generally have nothing to look forward to. MOHAMMED: On the day when she is released, she finds her pimps, the people who exploit her, waiting for her at the door. In many of the cases, this is what happens. In other cases, she simply has nowhere else to go.

JAMJOOM: Wedad and activists want the government to help.

WEDAD (through translator): It doesn't solve any problems and doesn't provide any jobs. People don't have degrees can't get work. The only way to get anything done is with money.

JAMJOOM: So far, Wedad's been able to keep her work a secret. But her daughters are starting to get curious. Sometimes they ask where she's going.

WEDAD (through translator): I'll say I'm going to the doctor or I'm going to the salon, that I have an errand to run. But sometimes when they know I'm going out and ask me to get them something specific like food, it's really hard for me to tell them that I'm going to get it because I don't have the money. It's just really hard.

JAMJOOM: Mohammed estimates there are thousands of women like Wedad working in the sex trade, most too afraid or ashamed to come forward and ask for help.

MOHAMMED: She is looked at as an outcast in the society, and nobody to be respected, nobody to support her.

JAMJOOM: And the men, they'll continue to wait their turn, fearing no violence, prosecution or shame.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right, and Mohammed Jamjoom joins us now live from Baghdad. He filed that piece for us.

Mohammed, tell us, are there any options for these women? Is there anything they can do, any opportunity to get themselves out of that life?

JAMJOOM: T.J., unfortunately, there just aren't a lot of options. We spoke at length with Wedad, and she told us that she, like so many other women in this circumstance in Iraq, you know, she's constantly looking for another job. She hates this life. She's repulsed by the work.

And I think the most heartbreaking thing that she told us is the only reason she's willing to endure this kind of pain that she goes through is because she doesn't want her daughters to end up doing one day what their mother does now -- T.J.

HOLMES: And Mohammed, what about help for these women? A lot of human rights organizations, women's rights organizations, have they been able to help out?

JAMJOOM: There aren't a lot of women's rights organizations here. You know, we spoke with Yanar Mohammed in the piece. She's one of the leading female rights activists in Iraq.

And she told us quite frankly that, you know, they try to provide an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. She called it an oasis of peace for these women. But there's not much they can do. And there's two reasons for that. One is, a lot of the women are afraid to go there. And the second reason is because even the aid workers that try to help out the prostitutes here in Iraq, they can be targeted as well. They can be targeted for violence from the government and from others who just don't want them doing this kind of work -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Mohammed Jamjoom, we appreciate you bringing that story to life for us here. Thank you so much, Mohammed. We'll check in with you again, I'm sure.

Well, if you want to find out more about the Iraqi women's group in Mohammed's piece and how you can help out, we've got a link to it on the blog at CNN.com/kyra.