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Criminal Probe Launched Into Salmonella Outbreak; Rising Tensions at World Economic Forum
Aired January 30, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there. No Rick Sanchez today. He's got a well-deserved day off. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in for him today.
And we have got a lot on our plate for the next hour. The president is having a Super Bowl bash. Are you invited? Doubt it. But the mood actually surrounding the game reflects the tough times that we're in. Also, as the nation's economy tanks, is the president's man at the Treasury a bit too cozy with the banks?
Let's cut to the change here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The president, his message to Wall Street: Guys, you're killing me.
We're taking a closer look at the message behind his pointed words to the bankers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Coming at you now:
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a truly, truly amazing delivery.
HOLMES: It was a feel-good story earlier this week, one lady giving birth to eight babies. But new details are raising questions. How much is too much?
Fireworks at the World Economic Summit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute. One minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute.
HOLMES: Turkey's prime minister storms off the stage. We will tell you why.
The Republican National Committee naming a new GOP top dog.
And speaking of Republicans, look who's back in town.
Your comments unfiltered on Twitter, Facebook and more. Like nowhere else, your newscast starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, a bit information just in to us we want to start with this hour.
It has to do with that salmonella outbreak having to do with peanut butter. We have been watching this for the past couple of weeks. Well, we now understand, according to the Associated Press, we're getting word that the U.S. government, it is opening a criminal investigation of the Georgia plant that's linked to the salmonella outbreak.
Right now, we are confirming now here at CNN that in fact this investigation is going to take place by the federal government, just a little background here. Again, we have been following this for the past couple of weeks. But people have been warned not to eat things containing peanut butter, not the actual peanut butter in the jars you buy, but things like cookies and ice cream and Candy bars, things that have peanut butter in them, because this peanut buster paste that is being sold by this particular plant in Georgia possibly contaminated.
At least 500 people, we're talking about, have been sickened across the country. Several deaths -- at least seven, I do believe is the number -- have been linked to this salmonella outbreak. So, now the word is that officials are launching a criminal investigation into the salmonella outbreak.
I do want to emphasize one more time that this outbreak had to do with peanut butter paste that was sold from the company to other companies, not had to do with the Jiffy and the Peter Pan, those jars that you actually buy. So, I do want to emphasize that point. But we will continue to follow that, CNN confirming now that a criminal investigation opened into that Georgia plant that provided a lot of that paste.
We will move on now to another story that has been really a big talker for the past several days. If you had six kids at your house under the age of 7, is really the thing you want to do is have another eight babies? Well, that's what has happened.
It happened to a California mom earlier this week. This is the only second known instance of eight children being born alive in the U.S. Now, the new mom has her work cut out for her, no doubt about it. Consider also the fact, like I said, six kids at the house from the age of 2 to 7. The mother lives with her own mother in a three- bedroom home in suburban Los Angeles.
We want to get more on this story, some background here.
Jeff Gottlieb, can you help us out here? Again, Jeff Gottlieb is with the -- he's a senior writer with "The L.A. Times," joins us now here in the NEWSROOM.
What has this story -- I mean, did this totally change the story up with you all covering it out there? You hear she had eight babies, that's one thing. That's big news. But to hear she had another six, and then her living conditions, tell me how this kind of jumped out at you.
JEFF GOTTLIEB, SENIOR WRITER, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, you're right.
It started from something of a feel-good story to now everyone's trying to figure out what's happened. How did this woman end up having eight kids? What was the doctor thinking? What was the woman thinking? But the family hasn't been speaking publicly. So, these are all questions that are still out there.
HOLMES: So, Jeff, how much do we actually -- let's go with what we know. Now, do we know yet -- I know the name is not out there of the woman yet. But do we know her age, for one thing? And, also, from what I read, and certainly the article you all put out today, it sounds like, at least according to her mother, she was happy to have the eight.
GOTTLIEB: Well, we think she's 33. And that's what her mother told us, that they were very happy. And, you know, they will now have 14 kids at home.
HOLMES: What's been, I guess, the reaction? And I don't know if it even should be for a lot of folks. Hey, this woman, it's her home, her family, and her body. She can do what she wants to do. But what is kind of the reaction you are getting from, I guess, just everyday folks on the street, but also the medical community out there?
GOTTLIEB: Well, I think the medical community, the reproductive community, is somewhat horrified by this.
One of the experts said to me that this gives reproductive doctors the heebie-jeebies. This kind of thing is not supposed to happen. Having this many kids through in vitro or through other means, it's just not what they're trying to do.
HOLMES: All right.
And, again, we haven't directly from the woman, I believe a letter, a statement she put out that was read. But also we did hear from the grandfather that we know of, of these eight kids who were just born, just a quick snippet that some of the reporters were able to find or catch from him.
Let's take a quick listen and we will talk about it here, Jeff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SULEMAN, GRANDFATHER OF OCTUPLETS: It's too much. She's fine. The babies are fine. Everybody's fine, except us, because of you. That's all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: There it is. Again, that's the grandfather saying that everybody's OK, except for the media bothering them.
Has this been a bit of a circus, now that we find out that she already has six kids at the house?
GOTTLIEB: I think a circus just in the sense that reporters are trying to find out what in fact happened. And the family isn't providing the kind of information that people want to know.
HOLMES: And the doctors at the hospital, the ones that at least delivered the baby, I don't believe they were -- or the babies -- they weren't a part, I guess, of the process of her getting pregnant, you know, the eggs themselves. They weren't along for that process. They were just there to deliver healthy babies.
I guess, what is your take? What did you all get from them in the press conference they had the other day? Were they just happy and that everybody was healthy?
GOTTLIEB: Yes, they are happy everyone's healthy.
But they are constrained from talking about many things because of federal regulations. And they have made it clear that the woman was already pregnant when she came into the Kaiser hospital.
HOLMES: All right. Jeff Gottlieb, we will continue to follow certainly you all's reporting out there in L.A. And we're going to have a lot, much more -- a lot more coming up on this.
But thank you, Jeff, so much for spending some time with us here in the NEWSROOM today.
But stay with us here on the ethical issues. You heard Jeff kind of mention some of the questions that are coming up now. We are going to talk to a man who knows a whole lot about those ethical issues and talk about what do you do in a situation like this. Can you even hold it against the woman for having six at the house? Can you advise her not to have the children? Should you do that? Or you just do what the patient wants? A lot more questions here. We will get some answers coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARACELI CASTRO, NANNY: If there is a doubt that she is a good mother, there is no doubt she is a perfect mom. She adores her babies and she is the maximum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, if she adores her babies, she has eight more babies to adore right now.
Doing the story, talking about right now the woman out in California who just gave birth to octuplets. She already had six kids at the house already. And that's raising some questions about responsibility and ethics here.
Getting some comments, as always, from the viewers participating in this show. We will go to a couple that we see here right now.
We will go first to MySpace, and one saying, "I really think that it's her business how many kids she has. But if she can afford fertility, she better be able to afford to take care of them as well."
Right next to that screen, we will go over to Facebook. No, that's Twitter. Excuse me. I am going to get this right one of these days, Mike. This one says: "This borders on child neglect, both of the newborns and the older kids, not to mention the fetuses during the pregnancy."
So, a lot of different response we are getting from people out there on all sides again about this issue.
I want to bring in now Dr. Peter Nagy. He is an embryologist. And he joins us now.
Sir, a lot of people just left scratching their heads. Yes, she can do what she wants to do if she wants to have these babies. But explain the process, first of all. How does one get to a point -- we understand she went through some kind of fertility treatment of some kind -- how do you get to a point where you have eight kids? What happens? What kind of treatment did she possibly go through?
DR. PETER NAGY, EMBRYOLOGIST: Sure.
That's what they call the infertility treatment. And there are simple forms, what we call the intrauterine insemination. And that is a complex form of what we call the in vitro fertilization.
When you do intrauterine insemination, you have to grow the follicles inside of the ovary. Usually, you have to use some kind of fertility drugs to induce multiple follicle development, which can lead to two or three or four follicles. Sometimes, it can lead more than four follicles, like six, eight or 10.
HOLMES: And some of the reporting here says that she was told that -- the way her mother put it was that she didn't know that they were all going to take is what she said.
NAGY: Sure.
HOLMES: And the doctors gave her an option, said, you're going to have multiple births. And she decided to go ahead and stick with the eight.
Is that how the process usually works?
NAGY: No. Before we arrive there, the follicles, they have to release the eggs. And when the eggs are released, during the intrauterine insemination, you put the sperm inside of the uterine cavity. And the sperm swims up through the eggs and fertilizing it.
It very rarely happens that more than two is going to be fertilized. But those two can implant. In the best situation is that let's say eight or 10 eggs fertilize, all of them, and can all of them implant? But this is a very dangerous situation, because you don't want to have so many embryos to be implanted, because then you have face the situation that, when are so many implant, or you carry out, or you have to do a reduction, a selective reduction.
HOLMES: Why would you -- I guess why would somebody, a doctor, implant eight? That's not the norm. Certainly, for a woman who's reportedly 33 years old, somebody this young, why would that happen?
(CROSSTALK)
NAGY: Right.
Once again, it's an intrauterine insemination. You don't really have control how many...
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And here are some of the numbers we're seeing here, the suggested numbers of how many embryos might be implanted. So, again, go ahead with what you were saying there. For a woman, no more than five, still, but why would eight...
NAGY: Right. Exactly.
But these numbers is when you do in vitro fertilization...
(CROSSTALK)
NAGY: This is a different procedure.
In this situation, when you do the IVF, you have to retrieve the eggs, take out from the follicles, and you collect them in a petri dish in the laboratory. And then you do the fertilization, like, for instance, doing the intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
HOLMES: OK.
NAGY: And then you get a couple of embryos. And don't you transfer all of them. You just select maybe one, two, or three embryos.
HOLMES: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Now, did you have -- and, again, you're not a part -- we don't know all the details here. But is there an ethical obligation, or at all is it the doctor's business to recommend to the woman or to just tell her what her options are? What is the doctor's responsibility here? And does it at all come into play how many kids she might have at the house already?
NAGY: Right. Absolutely.
It is definitely the doctor's responsibility to take care about not to cause a situation when there is a multiple implantation. We do want to see the patient pregnant. And, obviously if you transfer more than one embryo, you increase the chances of pregnancies.
But if you transfer more than one embryo, you also increase the risk of multiple pregnancy. So, it's a kind of balance. More you transfer, better that chance of pregnancy, but, more you transfer, also higher the risk for multiples.
And, as a doctor, you have to know, depending on the patient's age, background, quality of the embryos, how good are the embryos, how many you transfer.
HOLMES: But eight, eight, is that unheard of? Why would a doctor go with eight?
NAGY: Right.
Once again, I don't think that it was an in vitro fertilization process, because that would very, very surprising for me. I think it IUI, intrauterine insemination, where you really don't have really control.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Don't have any control.
So, you're just rolling. We're going to go with eight and maybe something will catch, and maybe something won't.
(CROSSTALK)
NAGY: Exactly.
But, however, if you do intrauterine insemination, you still have the option to cancel the cycle, because you see that there are too many follicles, which gives you the risk of too many embryos implanting. So, you could cancel that cycle.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And I'm told now we have another sound bite here from the grandfather. And, again, we're trying to get as much information as we can out there from the family members. But let's take a listen to the grandfather, another piece of sound we have got.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SULEMAN: She did not seek to have more children. She thought she was going to have one more child. That not happen. So, that's -- thank you very much. We take care of things. Yes, financially, we are OK. This is just an extra thing we have, this little house for the kids, because it's special play for them. But that's it.
Thank you. Have a nice...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Well, as you heard from the grandfather there, he says she only wanted to have one. But, like you said, Doc, sometimes, in this particular -- at least what you believe happened here -- once they're in there, you don't have an option in this particular in vitro. She decided -- or not in vitro, but this other process she...
(CROSSTALK)
NAGY: Intrauterine insemination.
HOLMES: Intra -- all right. Well, again, Dr. Peter Nagy, again, embryologist, sir, and we appreciate you being here and helping us make it through this story.
Thank you so much, sir.
(CROSSTALK)
NAGY: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, we will turn to something else happening. It has everything to do with what's going on in your life right now, major leaders around the world getting together to talk about the economy, the global economic crisis, the dustup at Davos -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute. One minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I'm going to hold you to the one minute, please.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I know the reason for you to raise your voice is because of the guilty psychology. My voice will not be that loud. You must know that.
When it comes to killing, you know killing very well. I know how you hit, kill children on the beaches. From now on, Davos is finished for me. I will not come back. You won't let people speak. You give him 25 minutes, but give me 12 minutes. This is not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: And, with that, the Turkish prime minister said, "I'm out." And he walked off the stage, walked out of the building, and took a flight back to Turkey.
This was at the World Economic Forum where, of course, world leaders, business leaders are there, of course, to talk about solutions for the economy, but a little bit of a dustup because of what's happening in the Middle East right now, the conflict that's been going on between Israel and the Palestinians for some time, those airstrikes that were launched.
That's what the whole dust-up was about.
Our Richard Quest was there.
Richard, this was supposed to be, you know, a little heated, maybe, about how to solve the world's economic problems. But this turned into a little something else. How much did this kind of rule the day? People still talking about it, or is it in the past now?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's in the past, and to the extent that this was a nasty little fracas between the Turkish prime minister and the Israeli president.
Shimon Peres has been making a speech, had gone on far longer than anyone had expected. The Turkish prime minister got miffed that he didn't get enough time. There were some very angry words. Some rather offensive things were said, left, right, and center. And the rest, as you say, is history.
But forgive the -- I spoke to Shimon Peres this morning, the Israeli president, and he told me he had since spoken to the Turkish prime minister, and they hadn't changed each other's views on the substance, but they were indeed at least amicable again.
Let's put this into context of the United States and the State Department spokesman Robert Wood, because, remember, when you look at these sort of disputes and these sort of nasty, nasty events and incidents, what you're always hoping is that someone pours oil on troubled waters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT WOOD, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Apparently, just they had, you know, some very sharp exchanges. And I believe that the prime minister walked out.
But that type of thing, of course, is unfortunate. You don't want to see that happen. But, again, as I said, they had a subsequent conversation. And we're very glad to see that, because Turkey and Israel are important allies for the United States. And they're key players in the region. And so it's important that we have good, cooperative relationships amongst all of the various key players in the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP) QUEST: And as it was put to me by a very senior diplomat here in Davos, the fact they had this disagreement shows the strength of feeling on why it's so difficult, T.J., to get an agreement.
HOLMES: All right.
Are there any agreements coming out of there about how to move forward on the economy? And I understand you're getting a few ideas thrown at you from a familiar name here in the U.S.
QUEST: Absolutely.
Let's start first with, is there any agreement? The only agreement is that we're in it up to our necks, sinking fast. The ship is hull beneath the water line and going down.
It doesn't matter which metaphor you take. But what the agreement does seem to suggest, take a listen to Gordon Brown, for example, the British prime minister. Gordon Brown basically says the only way we're going to get out of this deep mess is through international cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is my belief that, in this world of global dependence, the world will only work best in the future when the world works together.
And all the measures I propose are about an international agreement, about how we can move through the greatest financial crisis of this new global age.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: And that really, T.J., sums it all up. You know, think of it this way.
You're in the car. The car is full with people, or a minibus. You have no idea where you are. Everybody's got a different map telling you the best way back to the highway. Nobody really wants to hear anybody else's view on which is the correct way. But you do know that eventually you will argue your way back to something regarding safety. And that's what Davos this week has been like.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: That's what it's been like? Well, it sounds like a blast.
Richard Quest, glad you got to enjoy it. Good to talk to you, as always. We will talk to you again soon, my man.
QUEST: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, coming up here, another friend of our show here on this hour, Patricia Murphy. She's coming up to talk -- there she is, as always. Like the shining face before we talk to her, talking about all things Obama and how he's gone about his business lately. We will be talking about the Super Bowl party a little bit.
Patricia, we will talk to you in just a second.
And we will be right back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: We don't need anger. We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer. They don't get it. These people are idiots.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, I wish sometimes Senator McCaskill would just tell us how she feels, you know, just come out and say it.
Well, that was her on the floor of the Senate talking about these idiots, as she put it, as it pertains to what's happening on Wall Street, when we got the word that all these big bonuses were still being handed out in a time of financial crisis.
Let's bring in Patricia Murphy, editor of nonpartisan blog CitizenJanePolitics.com.
Hello to you once again.
This kind of goes with the theme we have been seeing, we certainly saw from Obama yesterday, being quite honest that he was upset. And a lot of people thought he got, quite frankly, quite angry and was very honest with the American people about how he felt about seeing these bonuses. We saw him sign some executive orders today, talking about the middle class, a new task force.
Sum all that up for us. What is he going for here?
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: Well, what he's going for here, he's doing two things. First of all, he's following up on a longtime campaign commitment that he had to restore fairness to the American economy. And he said he would do that by strengthening the middle class.
This task force that has he announced today largely symbolic, but designed to send a very clear message he is working for the American people, for the middle class, not for Wall Street fat cats.
Another reason he's doing this, he knows he may have to go back to Congress very soon to ask for another fix for the banks. That price tag could be absolutely enormous. He's laying the groundwork, to say, if I come back to you, Congress, it's to do -- it's to help the middle class, not to help Wall Street. HOLMES: I want to hit along that point here in just a second. But let's listen to the president today after he signed a few executive orders having to do with labor unions. Let's take a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution. We need...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We need to level the playing field.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, that's the president there, again, signed a few executive orders essentially, I guess, strengthening labor, if you will.
And going on the theme you just talked about, listening to what he did there, you know, is he -- and this comment that got so much play this week, the one, "I won," his press secretary came out and said, he was just joking. But he said to some congressional Republicans that, "Hey, I won," when they were giving him a little pushback about some of his plans.
So, is he essentially understanding, "I'm a popular president, and I have got my folks in the House and the Senate; I don't need you; I'm going to go about it this way"?
MURPHY: Well, he's doing a little bit of both. He's taking care of a little bit of business here with labor. They were huge supporters of his during the campaign.
But, you know, he's also going back to Republicans. We know he's reaching out to Republican senators. He's still trying to create a bipartisan spirit. So, he's doing a little bit of both at once. Right after a bid win, he does need to thank big labor, and these executive orders are really a message to say, thank you to that.
Joe Biden actually, I think, had the line of the day. He said, "Labor, welcome back to the White House."
And I think that was a very unambiguous message about the relationship this White House and congressional Democrats are going to have with big labor.
HOLMES: You say he wants to reach out there. But some will argue -- and you know about the blogs and what is being talked out there more so than anybody -- but the idea that is it really cooperation if, hey, you need to cooperate with me, or I'm going to do it my way, and I'm going to go out there and tell everybody on my bully pulpit that you didn't -- you're an obstructionist? You know, there's some saying he's going about it that way and that just saying, hey, do what I say or you're an obstructionist, that doesn't work.
MURPHY: Well, it certainly didn't work so far. He did not get one single Republican vote on the House side.
When this goes through the Senate, start to look for a little bit more Republican support on this stimulus bill. Republicans have already added their own $70 billion addition of tax cuts. So, we do think there will be more bipartisan support as this comes through.
But House members, Republican House members, have said it's not bipartisan just to ask us if we want to agree with you. You have to do something that we actually agree with.
HOLMES: All right. We're going to share, while we still have you here, our viewers always participating in this show, a couple of comments saying: "Obama is right. It's nice to hear a U.S. president speak out against big business."
Another saying, "President Obama has a lot of nerve, giving billions of my tax dollars to his cronies and criticizing private companies."
Last thing I want to touch base with you on here, Patricia, is this Super Bowl party that he's having on -- on Sunday. He had this cocktail party, already, a bipartisan cocktail party.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: He had folks over for drinks. And now he's going about it this way. Still, it hasn't bought him a single vote yet from the Republican side.
What -- is this just going to be a -- an all let's kick back and enjoy the game or business is going to be discussed on Sunday, as well?
MURPHY: Well, I don't know that business is going to be discussed. But it is this continuing charm offensive. He knows he's going to need Republican support down the road. He hasn't gotten it so far.
It's been good for Republicans, really, to obstruct them, in their minds. It's been a political success for them. He's given them that success. But he's going to come back to Congress again and again for more fixes for the economy.
So he really is, I think, genuinely reaching out with the olive branches here. He's invited Democrats and Republicans, Steelers fans and Cardinals fans. So he's building the bridges there at the White House.
HOLMES: Are you going?
MURPHY: I have not -- I'm waiting for the invitation.
HOLMES: All right. Let me know when you get it. I'll be your plus one.
All right. Patricia Murphy, always good to see you.
Thank you so much.
MURPHY: Thanks.
HOLMES: Coming up here now, we have the first African-American president of the United States. Well, the Republicans are now looking for a leader, as well.
Who will it be?
Could it possibly be a black man, as well, to head up the Republican Party in the next couple years?
They're choosing a new chair.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Americans throw away more than two million plastic bottles every hour. That's according to the Clean Air Council. Plus, an estimated 17 million barrels of oil are used each year to make plastic bottles. But now, there's a way to change the statistics.
CARLOS GUTIERREZ, UNITED RESOURCE RECOVERY CORPORATION: It is, so far, the ultimate dream.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Carlos Gutierrez, founder of the United Resource Recovery Corporation, is teaming up with Coca-Cola to open the world's largest bottle to bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
GUTIERREZ: It is sustainable, economical and at the same time produces the first quality product.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plastic bottles are made from a material known as PET. Recycled PET has only been used to make products like carpet and t-shirts. But this new plant uses technology to recycle PET into new plastic bottles. The goal is to produce 100 million pounds of recycled food grade plastic every year -- enough to make two billion 20 ounce plastic bottles.
SCOTT A. VITTERS, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY: This plant, over the next 10 years, will save one million metric tons, in terms of carbon dioxide -- which is the equivalent of taking 215,000 cars off the road. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gutierrez is planning to hire 100 employees by the end of the year -- making recycling good for the environment and the economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a lot of response has been coming in from you, our viewers, about the story we did at the top of this show, about the woman out in California who just had octuplets. She had eight when she already had six little babies at the house between the ages of two and seven. She lives at home with her mother in a three bedroom home.
A lot of questions coming up about this. But we're getting some comments. We want to share a couple with you here.
First, we'll go to this Facebook comment saying: "My mom and dad each had five siblings and they were just fine. I think if the woman is in a decent financial situation and has many loving people to help take care of them, I think she'll be just fine."
So please keep your responses coming into our story -- to that story and many others.
And one other we will be talking about here in just a moment -- the Republican National Committee choosing a new leader in Washington. It's taken several votes. We'll give you details.
Also, look who's in town -- Sarah Palin. She's back in town, back in the news. All of that is next with our buddy, Mark Preston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The RNC is looking for a leader. And right now, they're having a tough time finding one -- at least voting and agreeing on one.
Mark Preston is in D.C. , where the Republican National Committee is trying to elect a new leader -- and, Mark, very much, this new leader could be the face of the Republican Party for the next couple of years, at least. But right now, it's taking them a little while to figure out who they want that face to be.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: There is, T.J. . We've gone through five rounds of voting -- five candidates right now. We are heading into the sixth round of balloting at this point. We are down to two candidates -- Katon Dawson, who is the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and Michael Steele. He's the former lieutenant governor of Maryland.
There's a lot of horse trading going on right now. We just saw -- saw Saul Anuzis -- he's the Michigan Republican Party chairman -- bow out of the race. We were all waiting to see if he would endorse one of the two of the candidates. He did not.
So we're waiting to see what happens.
HOLMES: All right, what -- we've got -- we're down to two here now. And one of them being Michael Steele.
Now, talk about the -- I guess the symbolism here, in that we have just elected this country's first black president. And the RNC, which historically has not been known to collect a lot of support from African-Americans, could possibly elect its leader -- an African- American, Michael Steele.
PRESTON: And if Michael Steele wins today, T.J. , he will be the first African-American to head the Republican National Committee.
Just in the past two years alone, it was a $400 million operation. Of course, that was a presidential year.
But I'll tell you, no matter who does win today, T.J. , they have a lot of challenges facing them. The first one is minority outreach. Some people think that Michael Steele would be perfectly suited for that. You know, these are African-Americans and Hispanics who have gone toward the Democrats.
The second thing is is Republicans will openly acknowledge that they are technologically behind the Democrats right now. We saw Obama -- President Obama now -- really do very well with reaching out to voters using the Internet -- Twitter, what have you. And, really, it comes down to money -- fundraising. They no longer have President Bush to raise money for them. He really helped stock the war chest of the RNC.
Three tough challenges for whoever wins on what will likely be the final ballot.
HOLMES: And, Mark, has this been talked about -- the fact, that, indeed -- I mean, again, this would be, like you said, the first to head up -- the African-American.
Is this a part of the decision making, maybe, for a lot of people there who are voting?
And is it kind of the talk of the room, at least that you are discovering?
PRESTON: It certainly is the talk of the room. In fact, another African-American candidate, Ken Blackwell, former secretary of State of Ohio -- some would say more socially conservative for Michael Steele -- bowed out just a little while ago. And he gave his backing to Michael Steele.
We are seeing the voting go on right behind us right now. But I'll tell you what, it won't just be the chairman of the committee who's going to be the next leader of the party. Look to the governors, T.J. . Look to the folks such as Bobby Jindal or Charlie Crist or even Sarah Palin, who will take leadership roles.
HOLMES: Well, I see it. I wanted to ask you another question about Sarah Palin.
All right, it looks like they -- I'm not sure if you can keep talking. If you're getting a little quiet -- if you need to go, let me know.
But I will ask you about Sarah Palin. She is in town this weekend.
What's she doing there?
PRESTON: Well, she's coming to town. She's going to a dinner -- an insider's Washington dinner, an off the record dinner. She's also meeting with her Washington staff. You know, she has opened a political action committee. A lot of people thought that this would be one of the steps she's taking in order to run for president. She downplays that.
But Sarah Palin will be very much involved politically over the next couple of years. She is a darling of conservative Republicans. She did very well in states such as Ohio. So even though, you know, there was a lot of talk that the mainstream media might have criticized her or attacked her, the base loves Sarah Palin.
HOLMES: All right. Mark Preston, you said that voting is going on right now.
If -- and if you do get an answer and you do have a vote there and you've got the results, please come back and let us know about it right here on this show.
Mark, we appreciate you, brother.
We'll let you get back to work in there.
PRESTON: Thanks, T.J. .
HOLMES: And our viewers, have been participating -- have been chiming in on this show and many stories. We've got one comment here from the Twitter board again saying: "Why is Palin back? If we wanted to see her more, we would have voted the McCain-Palin ticket. But she lost. Go away."
Be nice there.
All right. Coming up here, you know the Super Bowl -- there's a game going on on Sunday -- the biggest one of the year. But not the biggest party of the year, like it usually is, in years past. Why some are saying that Tampa, where the game is being played, is losing out because of the economy. Some even calling this a recession bowl. And I'll explain that picture a little later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. It's game time. Super Bowl is happening on Sunday in Tampa, Florida. The Cardinals and Steelers going at it -- Super Bowl XLIII.
But this one is going to be a little different. For a lot of you who haven't been a Super Bowl before, a lot of times people will show up in whatever town it is. They'll show up on the Monday or the Tuesday before. People will party all week long and sometimes just leave before the game happens on Sunday.
Well, that stuff is going on right now, the partying.
But the partying is a little different this time around.
Let's bring in CNN's Larry Smith, who has been to a number of Super Bowls -- Larry, are you with me?
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS: OK.
HOLMES: I don't want to do my man like this, but I think we lost Larry.
Larry didn't know he was going to be on TV just then. Sometimes, you know, we have issues with the mikes and the ISBs.
But we're going to try to reestablish that connection.
But as I was saying there, people party all week during the Super Bowl. But this week it's been a little different. Some have even described Tampa as a ghost town. And they're going to be losing out on a whole lot of money because of the state of the economy. Some have even coined this the recession bowl because of the state of the economy. Companies like Playboy, Victoria's Secret -- I didn't list those in any issue of importance. But Victoria's Secret and Playboy have canceled their big parties that they normally have the week of.
I'm told we have Larry Smith back with us now.
Buddy, I think you're with me now.
And I was just telling our viewers about that you have been to several Super Bowls. You know all about the partying that goes on the week before the game actually happens.
How has it been this week compared to years past?
And you've been to several of these.
SMITH: Yes, this is my sixth Super Bowl covering. I've been to 10 of them in the city, maybe, you know, just attending.
This, by far, pales in comparison to all the rest. We've seen very few fans out walking around wearing team colors. I just heard you mention a moment ago some of the big parties -- Playboy, Victoria's Secret, "Sports Illustrated" have canceled their parties. "Maxim" has cut its guest list in half.
You just don't have the number of visitors. I've seen some media and even former players that usually attend these things just kind of out at restaurants, not really at parties.
It is a very different scene than what we've seen in the past. And everyone is saying that the economy is the reason.
HOLMES: And, Larry, is Tampa -- what about Tampa officials?
You know, somebody has the Super Bowl, you should be excited. You're about to get a whole lot of money coming into your town. And I'm sure a lot of money is still coming in. But compared to the cities who have benefited from the Super Bowl before, they might get the short end of the stick here.
SMITH: Well, you know, it's unfortunate for them. They can't help that the economy went down when it did. It just so happened Tampa was -- is the city it's going to hit. Miami should be concerned for next year, depending on what happens for the next several months.
But usually a city can expect about $180 million in revenue in any given year. That's in terms of revenue coming into the city during the week because of the game.
This year, they're projecting about a 15 to 20 percent reduction in that -- maybe about $150 million, maybe close.
So Tampa is still going to reap the benefits from hosting this game, but not quite to the same level that they might have in the past -- T.J. .
HOLMES: Well, is the NFL, the network, as well, going to be -- going to be hurt?
Companies can't spend as much on these -- on these Super Bowl commercials.
Are the Super Bowl commercials even costing as much?
What do we know about ad sales this time around?
SMITH: Well, the ad sales are going for a record. It's almost $3 million for a 30 second spot. That is still a staggering number. There are 67 spots to be sold. Two of them still have not been sold. Just on Wednesday, Cash 4 Gold, a unique Super Bowl advertiser because it's a direct response marketer, they bought an ad. So that's kind of an unusual ad buy there.
Also, Pepsi recently bought an ad. So they are now the largest ad buyer for this Super Bowl, taking over Budweiser, which is usually number one.
So NBC is still doing very well, coming close to that $200 million mark in ad sales. But there are still two to be sold during the game. That's unusual here, 48 hours away. And so some are going to be sold in pre-game, as well.
It's been a tough sell to try to get this, as you've had so many major -- you know, the big three can't jump in because they've been going to Congress for money and so it doesn't look good if they're spending $3 million for an ad.
HOLMES: Right.
SMITH: FedEx pulled out. It's been tough all over. And you could see an effect even -- even on TV.
HOLMES: And you can, as well -- I mean, of course, the game is sold out. But, of course, we know, historically -- it's always been a part of this -- people scalping tickets and selling them for above face value.
Is there still a big market for those tickets?
SMITH: There is a market, but not quite the same. Consider this. Last year for the Patriots and Giants out in Glendale, Arizona, the lowest price on StubHub.com was going for about $2,400 a pop.
This year, that lowest price is at $1,400. And the amount -- the demand -- the amount starts to go down as you get closer to game time. So you could get into this game for $1,000, which is a lot of money still, but cheaper than what it was last year or even in previous years.
In fact, one analyst says the Super Bowl has gone back to 2006 prices. But then again, Wall Street has gone back to 1999 prices. So it's still a good deal, when you look at it that way.
HOLMES: The Super Bowl, for the first time, has been a good deal.
I'm surprised you still went after I heard some of the parties were canceled.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But maybe you'll actually work this year.
SMITH: I've got a job to do.
HOLMES: All right.
SMITH: I've got a job to do. I've got a job to do.
No, come on. You know I work hard.
HOLMES: I know, buddy.
SMITH: Come on now.
HOLMES: I'm giving you a hard time. You're one of the hardest working men in this building.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Enjoy yourself down there and really, we look forward to seeing you and your coverage over the weekend. SMITH: OK.
HOLMES: Thank you so much, buddy.
And our viewers have been chiming in here about what's happening. I believe we have somebody who's even down there.
Let's go to the MySpace comments first -- a sarcastic one, but saying: "Oh, no, don't take away the parties."
As we mentioned, Playboy, Victoria's Secret, "Maxim" -- just to give you an idea of who canceled their parties and also to give you an idea of what kind of parties usually do go on.
And one more here from the Twitter board saying: "Absolutely, especially the night life. Fewer parties, scaled down parties, falling ticket prices, hotel rooms still available."
That is essentially unheard of around Super Bowl time in whatever town is hosting the Super Bowl.
Well, we have covered a whole lot this week here at CNN. A lot of Blagojevich talk this week, so that didn't allow us to get to some other things.
Coming up, we'll show you what we missed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Comments still coming in. People seem to be taking it to heart that the Super Bowl is not doing so well.
A MySpace comment over here from Alex saying: "A Super Bowl without Super Bowl ads -- we can't have that now, can we?"
A lot of people seem to be -- seem to be bothered that the Super Bowl is struggling right about now.
You want to go ahead and read this one? Someone here saying: "T.J. " -- I was just teased that we were about to do the what we missed this week package. And this person says: "What we miss is Rick." That's offensive to me. I mean, I should be upset, right?
My feelings should be hurt. But they go on to say: "Hoping he has a speedy recovery, not that you" -- T.J. -- "aren't doing a great job."
If you all didn't know, Rick had a bit of an issue with his knee. He did have a knee surgery. That's why we're wishing him a speedy recovery. He's doing just fine. He has been Twittering from the operating room, I assure you. He's good.
But, again, we covered a lot of stuff this week -- a lot with the White House press briefings, a lot with Blagojevich -- so we missed a lot of stuff, stuff we couldn't bring you.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: Over here, buddy.
HOLMES (voice-over): Do you remember the days when we had trouble even pronouncing this man's name?
Trouble at the Illinois statehouse dominated the news. That and all the White House press briefings kept us from showing you this.
Kenya, a horrible scene at this supermarket in Nairobi. At last report, 13 people died in that fire.
Also, we didn't show you Cuba's president arriving in Moscow. Raul Castro's brother Fidel went to Russia. But that was back in '87 -- cold war time, of course. President Raul Castro was there talking about trade and investment and improving the Cuba-Russia partnership and all that presidential stuff.
Back in this country now, everybody's worried about peanuts and peanut butter. It's a salmonella scare. And people in almost every state have gotten sick. Federal officials are looking for some way to link them all.
And we know it's winter time, but, still, this is a bit ridiculous -- Kentucky, frozen solid.
The Bluegrass State, right?
Buffalo, meanwhile -- snow, wind, ice.
We're in Atlanta. We can't relate.
Also, this is one adorable science experiment. A Florida family got a new puppy this week. But it's not really new. It's their old dog -- a clone of their pet that died six years ago. The price tag -- $150,000. This cat -- not impressed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Ah, we were just looking for an excuse to run that video.
Well, it's almost top of the hour, almost 4:00. Time for "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer.
Let's check in with him.
What you got coming up -- hey, there, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, T.J. .
President Obama says he's going to bat for the middle class families out there. We're going to tell you what he's doing today. We also debut a new segment -- our Team Obama's Foreign Policy Moves. This week, the right decisions for America. We asked our top international correspondents, Christiane Amanpour and Michael Ware. They're standing by live.
And from substance to style, open collars and cocktail parties -- things are changing over at the White House.
All that and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- T.J. , back to you.
HOLMES: All right, we've.
Thank you.
We'll see you in just a couple of minutes. But before we let you all go, we're going to have a few more of your comments straight ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. As always, this is your newscast and we love to hear from you. Here are some of the comments about some of the stories we're seeing today.
Here is one saying: "The GOP is playing catch-up and copy cat. Unfortunately, the ditto heads have infiltrated into the GOP party leadership."
This -- this comment certainly coming off the fact that the RNC is close -- on the verge of possibly electing its first black leader.
Another comment here saying -- from Tony. This one is a bit long, but you want to hear this one. He says: "So the Democrats almost elect Hillary Clinton as the presidential nominee. Then the Republicans go get Sarah Palin and the country elects the first African-American president. Now the Republicans are on the verge of electing Michael Steele. The Republican problem is they are bankrupt on good ideas and overflowing with bad ones. It was pitifully apparent what they tried to do with Palin. And now here they go again. When will they learn that pandering is very unbecoming?"
Let's go back over here to the Twitter board again. In case you all don't know, Rick right now is having a little knee surgery. The surgery went just fine. I think he's on his way back home. He may be home already.
But somebody saying here: "T.J., you're awesome. You're doing a great job. Get well soon, Rick."
We are getting several of those. Again, ladies and gentlemen, Rick will be back on Monday. He is doing just fine. He had a bit of a knee surgery. But he's made it through just fine. Many of you that are up on his Twitter board know -- or on his Twitter account -- know that he was actually Twittering during his surgery. So I believe that means he is just fine.
Thank you all for being with us this week here in THE CNN NEWSROOM.
Now it is time for us to hand it over to Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf, it's all yours.
Have a good weekend.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, T.J.
Happening now, America's economic disaster gets even worse and President Obama tries to throw a life raft to middle class families.
