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Economic Challenge; New York's New Senator; Staying in Touch; Call to Service; A Model's Death; What Women Want From the Obama Administration; Real-Life Slumdog; Women in Politics
Aired January 24, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And happening right now, take a look. The new New York senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, is meeting with Reverend Al Sharpton this hour at the National Action Network in Harlem. We're going to monitor those discussions and bring you the latest.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also a story that's going to have a lot of people's attention. That young lady, alive and well, a healthy 20- year-old just weeks ago, today dead after a rare disease caused complications, took her life. Again, she was really a supermodel who was about to have a blossoming career, 20 years old.
But we have a doctor in the house now from Morehouse School of Medicine who's going to talk about this rare medical condition that took her life, and also how it started with something that is quite common for a lot of women. So we'll be talking about that.
NGUYEN: Which can be frightening, like you said. It's a common infection that led to this rare disease.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: And now she is no longer alive. So we'll get to the bottom of that.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM. It's 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 a.m. Pacific, right here on this Saturday, January 24th.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
And just an hour from now, President Obama will sit down with his economic team at the White House. You know that job, you don't really get a lot of days off. He didn't just wake up today and expect to watch Saturday morning cartoons, you know. There's work to be done. And his economic team is going to be working with him.
Elaine Quijano is with us from the White House.
Good morning to you, Elaine.
Again, the economy is going to be issue #1 for quite some time, and he's not messing around.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. And it's also the subject of his weekly Internet and radio address, the first of his presidency. In that address, President Obama is aiming his message directly at people who are skeptical of the $825 billion price tag on the economic plan.
Now, on the heels of his meeting yesterday with congressional leaders here at the White House, President Obama said that if the United States does not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse. But he also acknowledged that some people are skeptical that the plan will work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold any administration accountable for these results. We won't just throw money at our problems, we'll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public and informed by independent experts whenever possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, the president is also spelling out more specifics on his economic plan. He says that it will double the nation's renewable energy capacity over the next few years. He also says it will add some 3,000 miles of electrical lines and increase security at 90 ports nationwide.
But Republicans are skeptical. They just don't necessarily believe that all of these projects are going to jump-start the U.S. economy. The White House though insists, T.J., they believe that this plan will in fact create or save up to four million jobs over the next few years -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Let the battle begin. We will see if that civility continues for more than a week, that honeymoon period.
Elaine Quijano for us from the White House.
Thank you so much.
QUIJANO: Sure.
NGUYEN: Well, now we do want to hear from you. What issue do you want President Obama to tackle in his first 100 days in office?
HOLMES: And we've been asking that question all morning, getting some responses. We appreciate those, and we want some more. You can e-mail us at weekend@cnn.com. We'll be reading more of your responses throughout this morning's newscast.
NGUYEN: You know, the economy is incredibly shaky, and after this latest round of bad news, some say they fear the recession could last longer than predicted. Profits are down at companies like Xerox (ph) and Capital One. In fact, Capital One was expected to turn a profit, but it actually closed in 2008 in the red.
Harley-Davidson now says it's cutting 1,100 jobs because no one's buying. We also learned this week that Compass Bank in the Southeast is shedding 1,200 jobs, and Microsoft is eliminating 5,000 positions.
All right. So there is an up side to the economy. Airlines, they're now locked in an all-out fare war to get your business.
The movement started earlier this week after low-priced carrier Southwest dropped it's prices to a whopping $49 each way. That's not bad at all. And that's for some flights over the next month and a half. So if you haven't booked one yet and you can, go ahead and do it.
But now all the major airlines want in, and some are willing to price match. So, like I said, if you've got a trip coming up, you may want to shop around.
HOLMES: Well, like you talked about, you gave some numbers there, more companies that are laying off. But there are some companies who are hiring.
NGUYEN: True.
HOLMES: And I know we probably just got everybody's attention right now.
NGUYEN: Exactly.
HOLMES: You can sit up. But 100 best companies to work for, according to "Fortune" magazine came out. We'll show you the top 10 here. And all of these, we understand, are hiring.
These are the top five. NetApp is number one. This is a company out in California, in Sunnyvale, based out there. But NetApp, number one.
Edward Jones, a Boston consulting group. Google another one. And Wegmans Food Markets. Those are the top five.
NGUYEN: Yes. And then we also have, you know, Genentech, Methodist Hospital System, Goldman Sachs, Nugget Market. But again, these are the top 10, some of the 100 best companies to work for.
Here's a list, but what is so wonderful about this is that 73 of the top 100 companies to work for are hiring. So it's not all dismal news out there.
HOLMES: It's not at all. Again, many more in the top 100. I believe Starbucks is in there somewhere, Arkansas Children's Hospital is in there. So several.
NGUYEN: And some people are questioning, you know, I just heard, say, Starbucks, they're eliminating jobs, so how are they hiring and eliminating? And that's because of different positions; right?
HOLMES: Different positions. You know, they might lay off 5,000, but there's still other little -- I guess specialty jobs within there that are still hiring some, even though there are those major layoffs. But Nugget Market was one, number 10. And not a lot of people know about California.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Eighty-one years, never had a layoff.
NGUYEN: Ever?
HOLMES: Ever had a layoff in 81 years.
NGUYEN: Wow. That's a company that you want to work for.
HOLMES: I didn't see Turner Broadcasting on there. I was looking for it.
NGUYEN: Well, I'm hoping it's on this list somewhere in there.
HOLMES: Exactly. I'm sure it's 101 or something.
But if you want to see the whole list, you can go to CNN.com.
Well, Rod Blagojevich, he might be looking at a place that's hiring right now, because a lot of people think he might be losing his job soon. And right now he is losing his wingman, at least, his attorney. Ed Genson has decided not to defend Blagojevich in his pending criminal case. Genson says he wants a client who will listen to him.
But a more immediate concern for Governor Blagojevich is his impeachment trial. The Illinois Senate starts that trial on Monday. Earlier this week, Blagojevich called the impeachment trial a sham, and he had this to explain why he thinks so. And some cowboys and some horses in here. Pay attention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: There was an old thing in the Old West, there was a cowboy who was charged with stealing a horse in town and some of the other cowboys, especially the guy whose horse was stolen, were very unhappy with that guy. And one of the cowboys said, "Let's hang him."
And the other cowboy said, "Hold on. Before we hang him, let's first give him a fair trial. Then we'll hang him."
Under these rules, I'm not even getting a fair trial. They're just hanging me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Told you there was a cowboy and a horse in there somewhere.
You can hear more from the governor, hear his own side of the story, right here on CNN. Actually, you won't be able to hear it during his trial. He said he's boycotting his own impeachment trial next week. So we'll see how that works out. But you will hear him talk exclusively to our Larry King. That's 9:00 Eastern on Monday night.
NGUYEN: And right now we are watching Reverend Al Sharpton speak. This event taking place at the National Action Network's community forum, and it is in fact the first event for Kirsten Gillibrand in her role as the new junior senator from New York.
You can see a little -- there she is -- a little bit of her face popping out of the side of where you see Al Sharpton's arm. She is sitting there, and we'll be hearing from her shortly.
But again, announced yesterday, that she is taking Hillary Clinton's place as the new senator from New York. And we are watching her as this event takes place, her first event in that role. And we'll be listening to it and bring you the latest news out of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK SENATOR-DESIGNATE: I appreciate the opportunity that you have afforded me and the trust that you placed in me. We are all blessed to have an extraordinary, effective and committed leader during these very difficult times. And I look forward to being your partner as we lift ourselves out of this budget crisis and restore opportunity to all New Yorkers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So as we hear from her and watched just moments ago at her very first event at the just junior senator from New York, a lot of people may be asking, well, so, who exactly is Kirsten Gillibrand? Well, here's a little information.
She is a Democrat who was just sworn in for her second term as a U.S. House member from New York. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Agriculture Committee. Gillibrand is also a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, which is a group of Democrats considered more moderate than their liberal counterparts.
A new death toll this morning to tell you about out of Spain. CNN has learned that four kids are now dead at a sports complex near Barcelona. High winds reaching around 100 miles an hour caused the roof of a large concrete wall to collapse. And there are more than a dozen others injured.
Now, earlier, CNN's Al Goodman told us that some of the kids were seeking refuge inside the complex. They had been playing baseball outside. And this is just one of three deadly incidents tied to those dangerous winds. Two other deaths are being tied to the winds well.
And we're going to keep an eye on this story and bring you new developments as we get them.
HOLMES: Well, the death toll has climbed in the latest missile strikes in Pakistan's northern territories. Twenty-two people were killed in separate strikes believed to be launched by the U.S. One intelligence official says at least five militants were among those killed yesterday. The U.S. has staged more than 30 missile strikes inside Pakistan since August in an effort to quell cross-border attacks in Pakistan.
Well, because of these civilian casualties, Pakistanis had hoped President Obama would end the policy of missile strikes, but a former leader is not surprised the strategy has continued.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FMR. PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: Nobody in Pakistan is comfortable with the strikes across the border. There is no doubt in that.
Public opinion is very much against it. But as far as this issue of the new president, President Obama, having taken over and this continuing -- but I have always been saying that policies don't change with personality. Policies have national interests, and policies depend on an environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And we'll continue to follow that story for you.
But in the meantime, you know how much we enjoy these little devices.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: I'm sure that many of you have them at home as well. These are BlackBerrys. It almost feels like you can't live without them.
Well, President Obama has said something very similar. In fact, one thing that he mentioned, that the Secret Service would have to maybe even have to pry that BlackBerry from his hands because he didn't want to give it up once becoming president. Well, here's the deal -- he may not have to do that after all.
HOLMES: He might not have to. He's going to get to keep a BlackBerry, but it's not just any BlackBerry. You can't go into AT&T or Verizon or T-Mobile and ask for this sucker.
NGUYEN: This is the suped-up version, isn't it?
HOLMES: It is. It's a breakthrough PDA. And we'll introduce you to the breakthrough PDAs that will hopefully have some top-secret security, as well as some convenience for the new president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Well, you can chalk up a personal victory for President Obama. After much internal debate, he is keeping a handheld device to check e-mails, surf the Net, make phone calls.
CNN's Brian Todd has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's official. The new president won't have to kick his tech habit.
ROBERT GIBBS, PRESS SECRETARY: The president has a BlackBerry through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends.
TODD: A group that White House officials indicate will be very limited. Published reports say the president's new device could be the Sectera Edge, made by General Dynamics. It's not available to the public, and the company says the $3,300 portable has to be approved by the National Security Agency before government officials can use it.
Why? A General Dynamics official took us through the capabilities of this personal digital assistant, or PDA.
MICHAEL GUZELIAN, GENERAL DYNAMICS: It's an unclassified PDA that can go out to a Web site, like weather.com, or Check Flights. And then, with one push of a button, you switch over to a classified PDA, which would allow you to access secret e-mail or secret Web sites.
TODD: Phone calls are made by pressing that telephone button. But hit the button for the red background, and it's a top-secret phone call.
(on camera): We e-mailed the NSA, asking whether it approved the Sectera Edge for Mr. Obama's use. The agency referred us to the White House, which wouldn't say which specific device the president has.
(voice-over): But Press Secretary Robert Gibbs did talk about why the president feels he should have a portable device.
GIBBS: He believes it's a way of keeping in touch with folks, a way of doing it outside of getting stuck in a bubble.
TODD: But security is still a concern. Some Internet security experts have told us no device is hack-proof. The General Dynamics official wouldn't say that this device is a veritable Fort Knox, but he said the NSA wouldn't certify technology that was easily hacked.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. It's one thing to hack it. It's a whole other when you lose it. And I've done that myself. You just -- you walk off, and you forget it, and before you know it, "Where is it? Where did I put it?" HOLMES: I have a hunch he might not lose that one. He's going to hold on to it.
NGUYEN: Yes. Someone will be behind him to pick it up; right?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Hey, Mr. President, I think you left something behind.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: So all morning long we have been asking you to e-mail us and tell us what you would like President Obama to tackle during his first 100 days.
HOLMES: And you can keep sending those to us, those e-mails, at weekend@cnn.com.
We have been looking at those all morning long. We will continue. Please, continue to bring those in to us. We will continue to share those with you this morning.
Got one here I'll share with you from Roseanne (ph) we are just getting in. She says, "I would like to see Guantanamo closed, not within a year, but within the first 100 days. I would like to see earmarks made criminal starting from day one."
NGUYEN: Really?
HOLMES: We have a lot of congressmen in prison right now. "And no more perks for anyone. Period."
That's Roseanne (ph) coming to us from Tennessee.
NGUYEN: Well, Rita writes from Jacksonville, Florida, that, "I would like to see President Obama remove travel and trade restrictions with Cuba. My mother is 84 and can only visit her family every three years. She does not have many three years left. It is time to lift all restrictions."
HOLMES: So we will see what happens in the first 100 days.
Again, we appreciate it -- CNN -- that's weekends@cnn.com. Continue to bring those in.
NGUYEN: Keep them coming.
HOLMES: We'll continue reading them right here.
Well, there's a presidential challenge to each and every one of us that's been issued now.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Barack Obama calls on America -- that is all of us -- to volunteer and backs up his words with actions. It is a challenge Martin Luther King Jr. also issued. So, how are one of Reverend King's nephews and sons responding to this challenge? We're going to hear it from them right here in the studio.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world. Duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, it is a message America has heard before, but this time, will America answer?
Remember when the Reverend Martin Luther King said, "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve"? Well, those words have resonated across the country for 40 years, and now President Obama has issued a new call to service. And beyond that, he's talking about creating a cabinet post for social responsibility.
But what does that mean?
Well, here to talk about it are Martin Luther King III and Isaac Farris, Dr. King's nephew and president and CEO of The King Center. Also, in New York, we have Stephen Goldsmith with the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Martin, let me start with you. President Obama has called on us all to be socially responsible. But like I mentioned, what does that mean? How do people sitting at home figure out what they should do?
MARTIN LUTHER KING III, PRESIDENT & CEO, REALIZING THE DREAM: Well, I think, first of all, that's why this cabinet position is going to be so important, because that person has to designate -- every community has so many needs on the holiday, the King holiday. I was blessed to be with the president to paint a house.
One small step, but, you know, there are tutorial programs, there's mentoring, there's kids cleaning up the community. There's so many things that must be done to address the issues of America, and we don't have a person to lose.
NGUYEN: So Isaac, is it a matter of just trying to figure out what you want to do, or just getting up and doing something, and knowing that that is going to count, whatever it is?
ISAAC N. FARRIS, PRESIDENT & CEO, THE KING CENTER: Well, actually, it's both. One, you can come to mlkday.gov and we can help direct you to projects that could use volunteers. Or you can register a project there that you know you might need volunteers for. But we also encourage originality.
I mean, no act is insignificant. It could be maybe you wake up one day and your neighbor's driveway is snowed in. You might decide to shovel that snow away for them because they're not able to.
NGUYEN: So it comes in all forms?
FARRIS: It does. And I think what's key here is to remember is when you perform community service, or volunteer service, it's tantamount to when you go to your gym and work out. It has the same effect on your heart and soul that that workout has on your muscles.
NGUYEN: And we're going to talk about that, because there are health benefits to doing things for others.
FARRIS: Sure.
NGUYEN: Just the good feeling that you get in return...
FARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: ... really can improve your health.
But before we get to you, Steven, I want all of us to take a listen to what President Obama said during his inaugural speech. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: For as much as government can be do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their jobs which sees us through that you are darkest hours. It is the firefighters' courage to storms a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child that finally decides our fate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So, let me ask you, Stephen. In this time of financial crisis, a lot of people just trying to make ends meet. They don't have a lot of time to do things for others because they're just trying to put food on the table. So what do you say to those folks when we listen to President Obama calling on all of us to get out there and be socially responsible?
STEPHEN GOLDSMITH, CORP. FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE: Well, Americans have a great spirit, and this is a really important time. As you mentioned, a lot of people are hurting, but we also see record numbers of people who want to help their neighbors.
On Martin Luther King Day, we saw a record number of people and organizations reach out. Our federal agency had over 15,000 organizations kind of register to do service.
We see -- and particularly if you look at what President Obama can do to ignite a sense of service for young adults, we saw individuals putting things up on Facebook saying, "Join us to do our activities in our local park." We saw folks helping children of prisoners in over 400 churches and synagogues and mosques over the country.
So this is an interesting time because a lot of people are in need, a lot of people want to help. A lot of people are ignited in their effort to help through this president. And we have young adults who, in record numbers, are turning out on college campuses to help their fellow citizens.
NGUYEN: Yes. We have individuals. We even have corporations. In fact, some of the latest ads have come by way of Starbucks, saying, look, I'll give you a cup of coffee if you'll donate five hours to volunteering.
So, Martin, is this a way of not only making it a temporary fix, but hopefully urging people to make a lifestyle change, making social responsibility a part of the way they carry on throughout this life, and it's not just something that's just temporary?
KING: Well, absolutely. I think President Obama demonstrated just during his campaign that everybody can be included by doing a little bit. That had to do with raising funds. A lot of people gave a little bit of money.
If a lot of people were doing just a little bit, we would change our nation dramatically overnight. As I said, I think there were over a million who engaged in community service on the King holiday.
The goal is to get 10 million, 15 million, 20 million, 30 million engaging not just on the King holiday, but doing just a little bit throughout the year. If we all do a little bit, we can make remarkable changes in America.
NGUYEN: Yes. And as we've talked about, it's a bit of a lifestyle change. You need to make it a part of your daily regimen. But at the same time, there are those, as we mentioned, who are hurting.
So, Isaac, when we look at this, how do you go about measuring it? Because people want to see a tangible difference. That I'm donating this time, I'm doing this, so is it making a difference? How do you measure that?
FARRIS: Well, I mean, there are the normal parameters, such as we do every holiday. We do track the acts of service, and that's why we can tell you that this year it doubled to a million. But also, it's not -- it's more the feeling that it creates in the individual.
I don't know if you're aware, but, you know, when you do this, you have to have a certain mindset. And the mindset is, I'm not going to be paid, I'm not going to be acknowledged by anybody for doing this. And even the recipient, be that the person or the organization who receives the good deed, might not even thank me.
So you have to put your -- you have to be of a certain mindset. And that's why I say it's like...
NGUYEN: It's workout service, right? Yes.
FARRIS: ... the workout for the heart and soul. Right. Right. And the more you do that, it begins to infect your daily thinking, and thereby affecting how you relate to others and the world. It really is important.
NGUYEN: And it's such a good feeling once you do it. It really is.
FARRIS: It is.
NGUYEN: And once you get that feeling, it does become a lifestyle change, because you want to continue doing it.
FARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Martin Luther King III, Isaac Farris, Stephen Goldsmith, thank you all so much for your time today and your insight. We do appreciate it.
FARRIS: Thank you.
KING: Thank you.
GOLDSMITH: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And connecting with your community may be easier than you think. Josh Levs is here to show us just how easily it actually can be.
Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there.
You know what? You were just hearing about how Facebook is one of the things people are using these days, right, to try to reach out. And I'm brand new to Facebook, as I think you know, Betty. I just jumped on the bandwagon in time for the big event last week.
So I reached out on Facebook yesterday. I said, "What are some Web sites people are using now to do volunteering and find great projects?" And I'm going to show you right now the ones they told me about.
We're going to start off with this. This is Volunteer Match, very popular. I want to get out of the way. Let's see if the camera can push in, because this is all you have to do.
You put in your city or any kind of information there that can help knock it down, let's say the kind of thing you want to do. And check it out. For example, I put in Miami. So here from Miami, it gives me a long list of events that are coming up in Miami. And over here, in the top right of the screen, it gives me a map. And it can help me find what's closest to my house and what's coming up from there.
A couple more quickly.
Be The Change Inc., there's a lot of similar things. And BBITV, this is Beyond Borders Internet Television, which talks about a lot of the major international projects going on, how you can get involved.
But of course, at all times, when we talk about a lot of the things going on in this world and how you can get involved, cnn.com/impact -- Impact Your World, at all times, tells you some of the major activities that are going on out there, how you can get involved. In some cases, you can do your activities online by participating in reach out, by helping with writing or other projects that can even be done from your home.
We'll keep bringing you more information like that right there, cnn.com/impact -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Josh. We appreciate you this morning. Thank you so much.
And it is about 10:30 here Eastern Time, 7:30 Pacific. And some of the top stories we're working on this hour...
Part of a roof of a sports complex collapsed near Barcelona, Spain, this morning. At least four people, we now know, have been killed. Sixteen others injured.
One-hundred-mile-per-hour winds are blamed on that collapse. Now, officials say high winds caused at least three other deaths in Spain and France.
And a day after meeting with congressional leaders from both parties to push his economic recovery plan, President Obama will be back at work this morning. President Obama huddles with his economic team at the White House the next hour. Tax cuts, creating new jobs, the top of the agenda.
And still to come, what do women want? We have been asking that question for -- since the beginning of time, really. But what do women want from the Obama administration? That's a new question now. And only five days in, already some key groups see there is cause for concern.
Also, it's a huge hit movie, "Slumdog Millionaire." But the story is all too real for one man living in India. A glimpse at why his story is anything but a Hollywood tale.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a Brazilian model dead at the age of 20 from a disease you may have never heard of. Mariana Bridi da Costa is her name, a healthy young women just a few weeks ago. Today, she is dead after a bacterial infection developed into septicemia.
That condition causes poor blood circulation, which leads to organ failure, oftentimes. As the illness worsened for her, doctors were forced to amputate her hands and her feet. Also had to take out both kidneys, and also part of her stomach was removed.
This got a lot of people's attention and worried about this septicemia. It also came because doctors there -- at least the word out of Brazil is that this all started because of a urinary tract infection, which a lot of people certainly familiar with those and know about those.
Joining us to talk about this is Dr. Dan Blumenthal of the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Now, you told me this septicemia not that rare, but certainly almost -- is it fair to say almost unheard of when you're talking about a young healthy person like this?
DR. DAN BLUMENTHAL, MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Almost unheard of when you're talking about a young, otherwise healthy young person, that's right.
HOLMES: Now what will people think, many women out there, who will hear this about urinary tract infections? Now, that connection -- I know this is coming from Brazilian authorities and medical officials. So what do you hear and what do you think, and what should we pay attention to? And women who hear that and maybe get a little bit nervous?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, all I know is what I have read on the Internet, so I don't have any real details on this. But I do understand that the septicemia was caused pseudomonas, which is a really bad actor, a bad bacteria, but not one that you would normally find causing an overwhelming infection like this in an otherwise healthy young person.
Urinary tract infections obviously are very common in women. And the concern is that women across the country and around the world will panic because they think their UTI will turn into septicemia. But they need not worry. It's not a problem.
HOLMES: Need not worry there.
Tell us about what you heard about this septicemia and the attempts to try to save her. And again, we know you weren't involved in the case, you have been reading up on this just like we have in a lot of ways on the Internet. But to try to amputate her hands and also her feet, now, why do that? Why was that done in an attempt to try to save her?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, one of the effects of septicemia is to clog some of the small arteries, deny the extremities oxygen supply. And the body responds by trying to protect the essential organs, the heart and the brain, especially. So the hands and the feet become sort of expendable, and they became gangrenous and they had to be amputated. HOLMES: And lastly here -- and again, it's really an important note. It's so common in women, these urinary tract infections, but this had to have been -- I mean, we have no idea, but there had to have been another -- I mean, is this just one of those freaky cases, or is there maybe something else we don't know about her medical history?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, we don't know what we don't know, as the secretary of defense once said. So there may have been something going on that we don't know about it, or it may have just been one of those freaky cases, as you say.
HOLMES: All right. But certainly key there to know. People will hear that and pay attention.
Again, the doctor says you need not worry. This is just a rare thing and maybe a case that maybe we'll get more details or maybe never understand.
Dr. Dan Blumenthal, again, with the Morehouse School of Medicine.
We appreciate you being here this morning.
BLUMENTHAL: You're welcome.
HOLMES: All right. A lot more to come this morning. Still talking about President Obama and his economic plan.
A whole lot more to get to on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
It's 10:40 here on the East Coast. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, they were with him in the voting booth, but now some women's groups are saying President Obama needs to do more to keep them on board. They want jobs, and not just in his administration.
CNN's Christine Romans is in New York with more.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Betty, 56 percent of women voted for Obama in this election, overwhelming support. Even more women voted for Obama than they did for John Kerry four years ago. And as the economy gets worse, some are asking, what are you going to do for us?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): He is a president surrounded by women.
OBAMA: How good looking is my wife?
ROMANS: The Harvard-educated wife, two young daughters. His mother-in-law lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. On the campaign trail, he invoked the hard work of the woman who raised him and promised equal pay for women.
OBAMA: Because I think about my grandmother and what she could have done if she had been treated equally.
ROMANS: He named Hillary Clinton his secretary of state, Janet Napolitano to head Homeland Security. So far, six cabinet level positions to women.
So why are women's organizations like NOW and The New Agenda disappointed?
AMY SISKIND, THE NEW AGENDA: We had high hopes for President- elect Obama going into this. And it's been very discouraging.
ROMANS: Just six out of 21 cabinet positions, they say, is not enough. Women are 52 percent of the population and 54 percent of voters. And 56 percent of women voted for this president.
SISKIND: We're clearly not getting the respect or the amount of power that the women in this country deserve. And it just shows you that Obama does not take this constituency very seriously.
ROMANS: Unfair, says author Naomi Wolf.
NAOMI WOLF, AUTHOR: I personally feel strongly that it's more important to have the right policies than a certain litmus number for gender.
ROMANS: But there's also a nagging concern that men will be favored in the 3.7 million jobs Obama wants to create, jobs building bridges around roads, alternative energy, and health care technology, fields dominated by men.
WOLF: What he could certainly do is make sure that his policy advisers invest as much in hospitals and schools and the kinds of sectors where women predominate.
ROMANS: A message the president's team has heard, loud and clear, recently estimating Obama's stimulus will save or create about 1.5 million jobs for women over the next two years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Most agree it will be a challenge for the administration to create jobs for women. There will be a heavy emphasis on construction jobs. Just three percent of that industry is female. Engineering and technology also largely dominated by men -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So which issues do you want President Obama to address during his first 100 days?
HOLMES: OK. We have been asking that question of you this morning, asking you to send us your e-mails to our e-mail address. And please keep those coming. But we have a couple here that we do want to share.
Rafael (ph) sent us one here, and Bridgette (ph) sent us another. I'll tell what Bridgette (ph) had to say here.
NGUYEN: OK.
HOLMES: She said, "I would like to urge you to give top priority to the health care system which needs a complete and thorough overhaul. We have a system that is now based on profit. We need a system that's not based on greed alone, but based on human compassion. If the nation's health is ignored, the economy, along with it, will continue to go downhill."
That's from Bridgette (ph).
NGUYEN: OK. Well, listen to what Rafael (ph) has to say. He says, "If you want your administration to succeed, Mr. Obama, give top priority to the housing meltdown. There's so many cheap homes for sale, so let our government buy some of these properties and just give it to the poor, or sell, rent it to the poor at the lowest price possible."
HOLMES: Everybody's got a plan. He thought that one through a little bit.
NGUYEN: He really did. I mean, it's true, there are a lot of homes out there on the market for sale, and the prices aren't exactly what the owners had hoped they would be for, but they're up and they're available. So what do you do with them?
HOLMES: All right.
Well, we appreciate that this morning. We'll likely be sharing some more with you this morning throughout our newscast.
Well, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, you know, she's got quite a story to tell.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: And she certainly thinks a lot of it, I do believe, because she thinks her story is worth $11 million.
NGUYEN: Or a publisher thinks it's worth that much, too.
HOLMES: Well, that's a good point.
NGUYEN: You can't blame her. She's just trying to get as much as she can.
HOLMES: Yes. She's got a high-powered attorney on her side, an attorney we have seen before, trying to actually negotiate a deal for her memoirs. This is the same attorney who got the Clintons their big deal. And like I said, the price, Betty...
NGUYEN: $11 million advance would get it done. Well, but listen to this, compare that to Hillary Clinton, who got an $8 million advance for her book back in 2003. HOLMES: A lot of people say Clinton certainly had a heck of a story to tell, Hillary Clinton, after all those days in the White House. And I don't know what happens in Wasilla and Anchorage. And I don't know, maybe there's an $11 million story to be had up there.
NGUYEN: We need to write an $11 million story at some point, apparently.
HOLMES: Well, coming up here, we will turn to some of the Oscar frontrunners...
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
HOLMES: ... and some of the more humble roots that some of them had.
NGUYEN: Well, you've seen -- this is a great movie, by the way -- a side of slumdog life in this hit movie, "Slumdog Millionaire." Well, we're going to show you what conditions are really like for more than a million people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The rags to riches fairytale, "Slumdog Millionaire," continues to impress audiences and impress the critics a lot as well. It actually got 10 Oscar nominations, including best actor for the young man who plays the impoverished orphan in the movie.
CNN's Mallika Kapur now introduces us to another young man born in the same slums in Mumbai, desperately working his way out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through a never-ending maze of narrow allies and muddy lanes, past open drains and tiny crowded rooms, Devendra Tank takes us to his family home.
Dev, as he calls himself, lives in Dharavi, a sprawling slum in the heart of Mumbai. More than a million people live here, squeezed into an area half the size of New York's Central Park. The Tanks, all six of them, live in one room. The kitchen and bathroom are here. Utensils are piled up from the floor to ceiling. It's 225 square feet, barely 20 square meters.
DEVENDRA TANK, LIVING IN SLUM: The three of us sleep here. I sleep at this place, and then two of my sisters, we sleep facing the television. And three of us, my mom, dad and my younger sister, they sleeps facing towards the door.
KAPUR: Dev comes from a family of potters. Instead of following in his father's footsteps, Dev says his parents encouraged him to do something else.
"We decided to give him an education," says his mother. "We wanted to give him what we never had." Years of studying in the corner near the TV paid off. Dev, now 22, is the only person in his family to graduate from college.
College prepared him for the next step, a job. Thanks to on- campus recruiting, Dev clinched a job at a leading international investment bank.
TANK: Yes, it makes me feel different, like completely other side of (INAUDIBLE).
KAPUR: Dev says balancing the two worlds is a challenge. After all, Mumbai residents sometime refer to Dharavi as Asia's largest slum.
TANK: It would be very good if (INAUDIBLE) goes out for the coming generation and for the people like me who aspire to become -- you know, who want to become something in their life.
KAPUR: It's this mission that drives another young man to make it out of Dharavi. Jamal's story, the subject of the film "Slumdog Millionaire," is winning critical acclaim and turning the spotlight back on Dev's slum, where much of the film is based. Dev hasn't seen the movie yet, but he knows all about it.
TANK: Somewhere down the line, I think it's part of my life story because even I live in slums. I hope something like that goes in my life.
KAPUR: Dev says he hopes his journey will lead him out of the slum, but he never wants to give up the one-room apartment here. Dharavi, he says, will always feel like home.
Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Well, President Obama, you see him there after his weekly radio address. That was a little video there of him making that statement. We're going to be hearing about his plans to get the economy back on track. We're following that this morning.
Also, on Inauguration Day, all eyes were on the historic events in Washington, but something was going on underground. A rescue story to tell you about after a woman fell onto the tracks and she actually couldn't get off the tracks before the train came. But she's OK. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, New York Governor David Paterson has made his choice. Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand replaces Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as junior senator. Now, many may wonder what was behind his decision. Well, here's a look at what a political editor from "The New York Post" had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRED DICKER, "NEW YORK POST": I think he was influenced by Senator Chuck Schumer who is a leader of the Senate Democrats nationally, has been known for trying to attract more moderate Democrats to Democratic tickets. And I think Schumer's influence on Governor Paterson led him to decide to pick an upstate woman congressman who has been endorsed by the NRA and has some more moderate or conservative stands on issues that generally Democrats in New York don't have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK. Well, Gillibrand got the job that Caroline Kennedy wanted, but what exactly derailed Kennedy from contention?
Our National Correspondent Jessica Yellin takes a look at whether or not there's a double standard working against women in politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Just what derailed Caroline Kennedy's bid for the U.S. Senate?
GOV. DAVID PATERSON (D), NEW YORK: This decision was not based on gender, on geographic location, on race, religion or sexual orientation.
YELLIN: Maybe not for him, but consider this -- in the chaos after Kennedy dropped out, sources close to the governor said she had nanny and tax problems. True or untrue, it's apparently a plausible reason for a woman to bow out, but not a man.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, SECRETARY OF TREASURY NOMINEE: These were careless mistakes.
YELLIN: Tax and nanny problems seemed to be but a speed bump for Obama's treasury secretary nominee.
CAROLINE KENNEDY, JOHN F. KENNEDY'S DAUGHTER: So I have asked Governor Paterson to consider me.
YELLIN: From the start, Kennedy received rough treatment in the press. She was called unprepared for the job.
KENNEDY: I would be an unconventional choice. I haven't followed the traditional path.
YELLIN: But these men never held elective office before running for the U.S. Senate. That did not hold them back.
And Kennedy was slammed for being inarticulate, a quality that has not kept the guys out of office.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Childrens do learn.
YELLIN: So is there a double standard for women? REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: And if it were her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., if he had began seeking the Senate seat, there's just no question that people would have automatically said, oh, of course, absolutely, that makes sense, simply based on the difference in their gender.
GILLIBRAND: Thank you, Governor, for this incredible honor.
YELLIN: The woman who did get the Senate seat has been criticized for being too aggressive. Her nickname among some congressional Democrats, "Tracy Flick," the ruthless character in the movie "Election" who would do anything to become student body president. It's a comparison Hillary Clinton also suffered during the campaign.
One elected official says public women are judged, as she put its, for having the audacity to seek elected office.
SCHULTZ: It's like it leaves a bad taste in too many people's mouths when a woman is ambitious and is going after something that she wants.
YELLIN (on camera): To be sure, there are other reasons Kennedy got rough treatment. She was not particularly friendly with the press, and she never seemed comfortable as a candidate or in the public eye. But many of her supporters also believe she got caught in a double bind that many public women face.
On the one hand, if they show a lot of ambition, they're considered too aggressive. On the other hand, they say, if they're not ambitious enough, they're considered too weak for the job.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We're coming up on the top of the hour.
And President Obama set to meet with his economic advisers at the White House. We'll have more on his economic plan coming in just a couple of minutes.
NGUYEN: Plus, we're going to talk to the police officer -- have you heard this story? He became an instant hero after rescuing a woman who fell onto D.C. Metro train tracks. That happened on Inauguration Day. Next hour, we're going to give you the details on exactly how he was able to save that woman. So don't go away.
