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Court: No Link Between Vaccines and Autism; Salmonella Outbreak Kills 9, Sickens 600

Aired February 12, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN HOST: Welcome back to our special coverage of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. We're going to have all of the news of the day from the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, though, celebrations unfolding around the country. One of the largest is coming up in the next hour, right on Capitol Hill. Leaders of both Houses will take part in the congressional tribute, as well as the president of the United States. He has spoken often, Barack Obama has, of his admiration for the 16th president, and also about the comparisons between the men -- there are many. It's all part of our focus today, from Lincoln to Obama.

So we begin our special coverage with CNN's Don Lemon who is at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Don, good morning to you.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you again, Soledad. You guys are very brave to come to us, as we have been saying here, it's a very windy day, and an unusually windy day in Washington. As you can see my coat and everything starts to blow away here.

Yes, we have been exploring the relationship really between the 16th president, African-Americans, blacks and slaves as they were then, and also his relationship with Frederick Douglas who was an abolitionist and black man. Hearing a lot about the legacy of the president and in many ways Lincoln was conflicted about how he really felt about slavery and about race in those days. We have been calling it really the two faces or the two sides of Lincoln on how he was conflicted. And we talked to lots of people about whether or not his legacy has been romanticized in American history. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): History has been kind to the 16th president. Monuments erected. Even teachers of history place him on or near the top.

So who do you think the greatest American president is?

DR. JOHN SELLERS, LINCOLN CURATOR, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: Abraham Lincoln.

LEMON: Why?

SELLERS: For the ideals for which he fought and stood, and successfully reached.

LEMON: Students extol his virtues from honesty -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honest Abe.

LEMON: To liberty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abraham, the great emancipator. Come on, how many do you want? I can keep going?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the greatest presidents ever.

LEMON: But was he really the American hero that we have come to know?

Do you believe, though, that he felt in his heart of hearts that he felt that blacks should be completely equal to whites?

CRAIG SYMONDS, CIVIL WAR AND NAVAL HISTORIAN: I think he felt as much as any human being of his generation felt. That there was embedded racism in the United States in the middle of the 19th century, and of course for most of the rest of the 19th century, as well, that was so powerful that to pull one's self out of that by simply intellectual consideration was an astonishing thing. And I think Lincoln came as close to that as anyone that I know.

LEMON: History tells us, that even as president, Lincoln did not believe blacks should be allowed to vote. Lincoln scholar Henry Louis Gates says his "Lincoln's reason for ending slavery were not as morally pure as many of us may have been thought. For one thing he needed more men to fight on the union side in the Civil War.

HENRY LOUIS GATES: But he also thought that it discriminated against poor white men. That slavery's practice in the United States discriminated against men like his father who was a dismal economic failure in the slave state of Kentucky, precisely because he couldn't compete against other white men who had the free labor of slaves.

LEMON: Lincoln at times advocated shipping blacks off to colonies in Panama and Haiti to start their own society.

SYMONDS: I think as a professional historian and as a society, we need to be realistic in assessing who he was. He was a human being. He was embedded in the 19th century context. But his ability to rise above that is something that we should give him credit for.

LEMON: It was, however, a black man. Abolitionist, Frederick Douglas, who helped to advance the president's views on race and slavery, and eventually even led him to consider giving blacks the right to vote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So, was President Abraham Lincoln really the Great Emancipator? Some say he was indeed a reluctant emancipator, but one nonetheless. Really gauging public sentiment, what he could get legislatively through laws passed, with his own morals, his own values, Soledad.

So everything we have learned, the elementary school version of what we are taught in school may not be as accurate, at least according to historians, as we might think. But also, no one will deny that Lincoln at that point, and at that time, they say was the absolute best thing for black people in the presidency, and politically to come along to be able to end slavery, the Emancipation Proclamation, of course, the 13th Amendment after that.

And also, Soledad, a very interesting relationship with Frederick Douglas, as well. He did treat Frederick Douglas, a black man, an abolitionist, as an equal, and they eventually became friends over time.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and the two actually started out not as friendly at all. Did not see eye to eye on much, and over a series of meetings forged an unlikely, an unusual and important friendship. It's an interesting story. Don Lemon. Thanks, Don. Appreciate it.

LEMON: It is.

O'BRIEN: Still ahead, the land of Lincoln, CNN's Kyra Phillips live at the Lincoln home in Springfield, Illinois. She will be with us at the bottom of the hour. Stay with us.

And as we said in the land of Lincoln is what they dub, Illinois but Kentucky is actually the place of Lincoln's birth. And that is a great source of pride for Kentuckians of all ages. This story in their own words was put together by Ken Tillis, one of CNN's all- platform (ph) journalists. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MASON HYATT, 4TH GRADE: I think that it's pretty cool that one of our presidents was born and raised here.

IRIS LARUE, THE LINCOLN MUSEUM: Hodgenville in LaRue County, are very proud to be the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.

SKYLER HORNBACK: One of the neatest things about it, I was born on the same land as he was.

KAICEE SCHMIDT, 4TH GRADE: He was born in a log cabin about a mile from here.

STEVE BROWN, ABRAHAM LINCOLN BIRTHPLACE NHS: The cabin behind me speaks to his humble beginnings. It's not the log cabin that he was born in but it's a good symbol.

SCHMIDT: I think it's pretty cool, because you get to see how Lincoln lived. And how hard it was for him.

TOMMY TURNER, CO-CHAIR, KENTUCKY LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL COMM.: We're very proud of Lincoln's heritage in our area. You can see it throughout our community, you can feel it throughout our community, as well. And we're extremely proud that we call Lincoln our own. And we feel that much of the great man that Lincoln was is a result of his early years here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though not everyone loved Lincoln, I think most everyone can relate to the humble beginnings that he had.

ELIZABETH ROSS, 5TH GRADER: He freed the African-Americans from slavery, and now we have an African-American president.

TURNER: President Obama has some unique ties to Abraham Lincoln, being a citizen of the state of Illinois. That creates a unique tie. And who would have thought that 200 years after the birth of Abraham Lincoln, we would have an African-American as our president?

I think that says a great deal about Abraham Lincoln's time and what Abraham Lincoln was able to do. The story of Abraham Lincoln is a great story. It's a story of a young lad who initially didn't have much chance in life. But it's a story that adults now can look on, and have hope for their children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm going to be -- when I grow up, achieve things like he did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: It's nice to see those kids participating in that. Time to get a look at the day's news out of Atlanta. CNN's Heidi Collins is in the NEWSROOM. Hey, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there, Soledad, that's right. The money is not rolling in yet, but it could be on it's way soon. The economic recovery plan heads for final votes in Congress. But what's going to be in your wallet?

Also this, breaking news today. A ruling that many parents of children with autism have been waiting for. It's Thursday, February 12th, I'm Heidi Collins, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A special court hands down its first set of decisions about a possible link between autism and vaccinations. CNN chief medical correspondent Doctor Sanjay Gupta just finished sifting through this massive amount of documentation regarding just one decision.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And there were three test cases at the special court colloquially known as the vaccine court, complete with special masters and everything. Looking at these three test cases and trying to figure out now. Let me get to the headlines. As you point out, there is a lot of work that's been done here. This is just one of the cases.

The headline is that there was no causal relationship demonstrated between vaccines and any of the autism-like symptoms in any of these three test cases. That's the headline. Let me give you some specifics here. There were three cases. Some of these families, at least one of them we followed in the past, the Sadios, for example. They have this to say, petitioners have not demonstrated they are entitled to an award. On Michelle's behalf, Michelle is the 14-year-old daughter, the Sadios. But regarding the (INAUDIBLE) languages which is important, the combination of the thimerosal-containing vaccines and the MMR vaccines are not causal factors in the development of autism. That was the second one.

And the third one, they say petitioners have failed to establish any of the factors necessary, to prove that the vaccines caused autism. I want to read one thing to you that I felt was very interesting, and maybe a little bit, maybe sarcastic on behalf of the people who read this down. They said, to conclude that this condition was the result of the MMR vaccine, an objective observer would have to emulate Lewis Carol's white queen and be able to all believe six impossible or at least highly improbable things before breakfast.

COLLINS: Wow.

GUPTA: They're saying, no, no, no. And let me say one more thing. With regard to this court, the standard by which they had to prove something was not cause and effect. It was simply what they call biological plausibility. Could the MMR vaccines or the other vaccines possibly have caused autism? They are saying not proven in any of these cases.

COLLINS: And so not even as strict of a standard as you would -- you would think, that you would have to show that evidence.

GUPTA: That's right. That's right. And there are really three questions they are trying to answer and they haven't answered all of them yet but do MMR-containing vaccines and thimerosal-containing vaccines in combination cause autism? Do MMR which is measles, mumps, rubella vaccines cause autism all by themselves? Those questions at least based on the test cases they're saying no.

COLLINS: OK. So do me a favor, because there are a lot of parents out there, the questions I got just in the makeup room about this, were wide-ranging. If you are sitting at home and you are watching this right now, you do not have the many hundreds of pieces of paper in front of you to read this -

GUPTA: That's right.

COLLINS: What do you take from it, do you make a different decision about vaccinating your children than you may have prior to this?

GUPTA: Well, you know I think the advice remains the same, that people have been giving, that their doctors have been giving their patients. Talked to their doctors about it. Keep in mind, these special masters are not physicians, they're not scientists. They're basically looking at evidence based from petitioners who are on behalf of the family, and they're looking at expert evidence and sort of trying to weigh those two things, and basically making a judgment based on these three test cases.

I don't think this is particularly surprising -

COLLINS: Right. GUPTA: What we're hearing today. I think this is what a lot of people expected to hear. So I don't think anything is really going to change. But still a lot of families obviously concerned about this, talk to their physicians. We did hear about the case of Hanna Polling last year -

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: Where the government conceded that vaccines may have injured her and caused autism-like symptoms.

COLLINS: But that was a different case, right?

GUPTA: Well the confusing part about that case is people would argue that look, did she have some sort of underlying condition which was simply worsened by the vaccines or did the vaccines cause this completely de novo. I'm not sure that's an answer that we still have fully yet and I think that's been confusing to people.

But with regard to these three test cases which was supposed to speak for a larger number of cases across the board -

COLLINS: Sure.

GUPTA: They have come back today said no, no, no. I bet you we're going to hear a lot more about these in the days to come. People are going to say as they really analyze all these documents and try and find out exactly what they said. Not all of the petitioners, not all of the experts agreed on every single point. But the bottom line conclusion, no relationship, at least by their standards.

COLLINS: OK. Understood. Fascinating, fascinating stuff. And I think you're right. We're going to be talking about this many, many days now. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, breaking down this decision for us. Thank you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: The art of the deal. The House and the Senate moving ahead with the president's recovery plan, but there is one more hurdle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Abraham Lincoln once said, "I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. But I also like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time to check the pulse of the economy now. January saw a slight improvement in the number of Americans getting foreclosure notices. 10 percent fewer than in December but the decline may be not all that meaningful, many mortgage companies suspended the foreclosure process during the holiday season.

New unemployment numbers out this morning. New claims dropped from the week before, but the 623,000 first-time filers is still worse than expected. On another grim note, continuing claims remain at a record level.

So where is Wall Street headed? A live look now at the big board. We see it's down triple digits. Dow Jones industrial average now well below that 8,000 mark that we've been watching, resting at 7,573. Got an eye on those numbers throughout the day here.

Also, have our eye on these numbers. The incredible shrinking stimulus package, the wheeling and dealing is pretty much done, except for the vote, of course. Staffers spent last night dotting the I's and crossing the T's, so we are waiting for that vote.

And CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is joining us live now from Capitol Hill this morning. I understand the Speaker of the House made mention of this vote, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we understand just a short time ago that she said this vote is going to be tomorrow, Heidi. So that gives you a sense of how it's going tomorrow with their vote and then we expect the Senate to follow. And that having this bill on President Obama's desk by Monday, that is expected to happen.

So this overall bill, it shrunk, if you can believe it, $789 billion, obviously still quite a large price tag. Big feature of it, this tax cut we have been talking about for some time. It got a little smaller. $400 for individuals. $800 for families. And most Americans are going to see this. Also, another couple of tax cuts, pared down a little bit, but they are still there, one first time home buyers up to $8,000, also if you're buying a new car, the sales tax you pay on that purchase, you can deduct from your taxes.

All of these took quite a bit of give and take. There was especially give and take on the spending issue. This was really the hiccup in the process. The Senate Republicans, just those few who signed on who wanted to keep the spending down, who didn't want school construction money in this stimulus package, they managed to make that happen.

It's not in the final package, so there is $54 billion overall for education. Still, though, Heidi, you have some House Democrats who feel like they lost more than they wanted to lose in this process.

COLLINS: Well, I'm sure. And we have been talking for a very long time, Brianna, about trying to make everybody happy in this whole thing. So I'm sure there will be much more to come. Obviously, waiting for that vote tomorrow, according to Nancy Pelosi.

Thanks so much. Brianna Keilar live from Capitol Hill this morning.

President Obama is taking his economic message on the road again today. He'll hold another town hall meeting to talk about the need for the stimulus package, and the wrangling that went on in Washington to get that compromise in place. Today's town hall is in the President's home state of Illinois. CNN will have live coverage of the event from Peoria at 4:25 Eastern.

Threats facing America. Dennis Blair makes his first appearance before Congress today as director of National Intelligence. He'll testify at the annual worldwide threats senate hearing. He is expected to tell lawmakers about what the intelligence community considers the most serious threat facing the country.

An admission from Pakistan. For the first time, the government has acknowledged the attacks on India's financial district last November were partly planned in Pakistan. Pakistan said today, eight suspects have been charged now with providing the Mumbai attackers with cell phones, and helping them reach the city's shore by boat. The assault in Mumbai killed more than 160 people.

A startling admission from the Prime Minister of Thailand about the dumping of Myanmar refugees at sea. CNN obtained these photos last month of refugees detained on the beach in Thailand. And today in an exclusive interview with CNN, Thai's Prime Minister said he thinks some government authorities pushed boat loads of refugees drifting out to sea. The Thai actions have drawn worldwide condemnation. The prime minister says he regrets the practice, and his government will prosecute anyone involved.

Fierce winds and driving rains still plummeting parts of the country. We'll look at who is on alert, and some of the damage that's been done.

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COLLINS: Tragedy upon tragedy. A woman on her way to her brother's funeral was killed during a storm in West Virginia. Emergency crews say she was walking to the church when a nearby building collapsed. She was hit by the debris.

The search goes on for more victims in Lone Grove, Oklahoma. At least nine people were killed when a tornado ripped through the town on Tuesday. Its winds estimated at 170 miles per hour. And flood watches along with wind and storm warnings are out for parts of Ohio this morning. Obviously, Rob Marciano, joining us now. Another stormy day on tap.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, especially for the Northeast. The good news this time of year, even though it's been unusual for the tornadoes to get where they were, although for the last couple of days, things are moving fairly quickly.

COLLINS: Good.

MARCIANO: It's in a winter-type pattern.

COLLINS: Yes. MARCIANO: All right. It's in the Northeast now. Check it out, red on the map, that is never a good thing. Around the red L, which is really cranking out some winds, and has been the past day or two. If you live in Kentucky, you know what I'm talking about. Boy, that last check early this morning, they still -- they had at least 100,000 people that were without power, not because of the ice storm from two weeks ago, but because of this low that got winds really moving.

So what do we have right now? We've got winds that are cranking, so wind warnings are posted on the spine of Appalachians, across the western part of p-a, actually of P.A.C (ph) pretty much, and in through the New York metropolitan area.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right. Rob, we'll check back with you later on. Thank you.

MARCIANO: I'm good.

COLLINS: Six hundred people sick, and now nine dead in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak. Ohio health officials say an elderly woman died earlier this year had the same strain of Salmonella in her system. But it's unknown if it came from tainted peanut products.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington heard from family members of other victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOU TOUSIGNANT, FATHER'S DEATH LINKED TO SALMONELLA OUTBREAK: We should not be sitting here in front of you today, any of us. What happened to our father, the seven other families like the Ulners, the over six hundred others sickened like the Hurleys is not new. And how can we truly be leaders of the free world if we can't even keep our own citizens safe from the food that we eat every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The House panel had a chance to question the president of the Peanut Corporation of America. The FDA says the company knowingly shipped tainted products. But PCA's president refused to answer those questions.

And you can find a link to the massive list now of recalled peanut products at cnn.com/health. A lot of questions about those products.

On Capitol Hill, grilling. Bankers who accepted billions in bailout money get an earful from lawmakers. Allan Chernoff looks at bailout back lash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIE CONDON, IREPORTER: And I definitely think that President Obama and President Lincoln have connections, and that President Obama is using it to his advantage, because you know, Honest Abe, he has the clean record and wants to come in like the change for America. And yes, so I think it will hopefully work out for him.

But obviously, there is some discernible differences. But we will see in the coming years what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You know, we began this journey in the depths of winter, nearly two years ago, on the steps of the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois, the place where Abraham Lincoln served for so many years. And back then, we didn't have much money. You know, and back then, we didn't have much money, and we didn't have many endorsements. We weren't given much of a chance by the polls or the pundits. And we knew how steep our climb would be.

But I also knew this. I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics. I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe were hungry for new ideas and new leadership and a new kind of politics, one that favors common sense over ideology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Well, Barack Obama will return to Springfield later today. This time, he's returning as the 44th president of the United States. He's there to honor the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the nation's 16th president. CNN's Kyra Phillips is leading our special coverage from Springfield, Illinois today. She joins us live. Hey, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Soledad. And I'm talking low right now. I was just thinking, as we tossed to Barack Obama making that speech and how many times he's referenced Abraham Lincoln in his speeches, right here in the museum, everybody is gathered from all over the country here, actually reciting the Gettysburg Address together, holding it, reading along with the Lincoln impersonator. And as I think about going up here as a kid, having to memorize this speech, having to talk about the history of Lincoln, I think of little Anthony over here.

Look at this guy. This is his future right here, as he holds his little Gettysburg Address. And my guess is, he'll be talking about Barack Obama, the fact that Barack Obama is a pretty amazing orator, just like Abraham Lincoln, how Obama has drawn from Lincoln's speeches. But he'll be paralleling the two, much like what we found as we spent the day here in Springfield yesterday. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): This is a tale of two presidents, united through the best of times, the worst of times, and how Springfield, Illinois launched two progressive politicians destined to make history.

(on camera): So, when you go through Lincoln's home, and then you see that Barack Obama is now the president of the United States, what were you thinking about going through the house?

ANN TSCHETTER, LINCOLN HOME VISITOR: That Lincoln's going, this rocks! Or whatever he would have used in 19th-century lingo.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Just imagine what Abraham Lincoln was thinking, at home, sitting in his parlor, relaxing in his rocker...

(on camera): ... and writing here at his desk. He would be the leader to free slaves, fulfilling the Declaration of Independence, declaring all men are created equal.

(voice-over): Two hundred years later...

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --

PHILLIPS: ... Barack Obama would reach the pinnacle of that ideal.

BROOK SIMPSON, LINCOLN HOME VISITOR: This is the Lincoln dream, the right to rise culminating in a different way, with the first African-American as president of the United States.

PHILLIPS: Obama, a law professor and civil rights lawyer inspired by what took place in this law office centuries ago. Lincoln, the lawyer, a strong orator with a sense of morality, open to new ideas, listening to his critics. Two attorneys, two different lifetimes. Both men dedicated to being scholars of the Constitution.

KEN WINKLE, LINCOLN HOME VISITOR: Some lawyers and some politicians will just do anything to win. So, I think the spirit of working together to do the right thing, do the most good for those people, was important to Lincoln, and seems that we're moving toward a time when --

PHILLIPS (on camera): The same with Obama.

WINKLE: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: And it was here, in the old Capitol, that Abraham Lincoln gave his famous "House Divided" speech: "A house divided against itself cannot stand," he proclaims. Sound familiar? Fast- forward, February 10th, 2007. Lincoln came to life here as if it were 1858.

OBAMA: It's because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we're no longer divided, North and South, slave and free.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Barack Obama announcing his candidacy for president of the United States. And for the first time in history, in the humble heart of the Midwest, we all witnessed Lincoln's dream and Obama's reality. Abe Lincoln knew who we were. He just didn't know what we might become, until now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And Soledad, with Barack Obama talking so much about Abraham Lincoln, quoting him in his speeches, that's really what brought us here, all these connections. This is just one of the exhibits at the museum, talking about Lincoln's early years. I want to go ahead and take you inside real quickly.

It's pretty amazing what they've developed here. Barack Obama actually came here and spoke in 2005 to dedicate this museum, talking about the importance of it and the importance here in Springfield, Illinois. I'm going to bring you inside. The lighting is a little dark, but it gives you a bit of a show-and-tell about Lincoln's early years, growing up as a boy, what he liked to read, his humble beginnings, how he lived his life.

And as you work your way in from the childhood years, this is the part that I found extremely powerful, and it's the slavery exhibit here. And it talks about the slave auction block and Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves. And, you know, you remember, you talked about this, too, Soledad, is sort of the controversy about what were Abraham Lincoln's true motives when it came to freeing the slaves.

And here, growing up in this area, you know, we learn that it was very much a political decision. It was more of a military move to win the war versus social justice. And so, that's been an interesting thing to delve into and hear the conversations, especially among the younger generations, especially African-Americans living here in Illinois, about what Abraham Lincoln did to free the slaves and how it's tying into paving the way for Barack Obama -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Took a look and a walk-through a moment ago through the log cabin. That's a replica of the log cabin where he was born in Kentucky, right? Have they re-created it exactly?

PHILLIPS: Yes, they sure have. And that's a very good point. I know a lot of people think that Abraham Lincoln was born in Springfield, but that's not true. He was born in Kentucky, made his way to Springfield, still with very little money in his pocket. He worked as a postmaster here and then obviously built up his political career.

And just to kind of push it forward, Soledad, it's going to be here in a matter of, oh, about five hours or so that the president of the United States is going to make his way back to Springfield, Illinois for a speech at a hotel just across the way. So, that's what's created such a fervor here is not only the celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday but also the fact that the president is coming here on his 200th birthday to make a speech.

O'BRIEN: All right. Looking forward to that. All right, Kyra, thank you very much.

President Obama has also made energy independence a centerpiece of his agenda. And while energy policy didn't really exist in President Lincoln's day, it is full force at a place where he lived for a quarter of his presidency. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): President Lincoln spent his summers during the Civil War years living at this picturesque cottage in Washington, D.C. He brought his family here to ride out the capital city's oppressive heat and humidity. The cottage and visitor center opened to the public last year after a seven-year, more than $15,000 energy-saving renovation.

BARBARA CAMPAGNA, CHIEF ARCHITECT, NATIONAL TRUST: We wanted to show it as an example that an existing building can be greened as easily as a new building.

HARLOW: Restored windows, shutters and doors help keep the cottage warm in the winter and cool in the summer. On the south- facing wall, windows open to become full-length doors, letting the breeze in and ventilating the cottage in warm weather. Large overhangs from the new roof also help shade the building, reducing the need for air conditioning.

FRANK MILLIGAN, DIRECTOR, LINCOLN'S COTTAGE: We do have heat in this building, and we do have air conditioning in both buildings, but we only use those, you know, on those real dog days when it's really called for.

HARLOW: In front of the cottage sits the visitor center. Built in 1905, it was renovated also, and is now lead certified, a kind of gold star in the environmental world. Restoring the original skylight has helped cut electricity used. And then there are the windows.

CAMPAGNA: By being able to use the windows during the day, you don't have to have the lights on. Making sure we can open our windows again, making sure if there are shutters, we know how to use them, putting insulation in them, and those are all really simple things that you can do in federal buildings, you can do in your own house.

HARLOW: So what might President Lincoln have thought of all these green improvements?

MILLIGAN: I think the fact that our construction is contributing to, you know, a positive environmental impact is something that he is probably looking down from above and thinking -- he's nodding his head and liking what he sees here.

HARLOW (on camera): As for his part, President Obama has talked about the importance of making existing federal buildings more energy- efficient. At his first news conference as president, he said greening federal facilities would potentially save $2 billion of taxpayer money.

For CNNMoney.com, I'm Poppy Harlow.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: Thank you, Poppy. Members of the House and Senate will pay tribute to the 16th president this morning. We'll have more on that coming up in our 11:00 hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Final votes on the president's economic recovery plan could come before the weekend. House and Senate leaders have come to a consensus on the stimulus package after a whole lot of back and forth over specific portions of the plan.

President Obama welcomed a deal, of course. He says it will help create millions of jobs. The president heads to Peoria, Illinois later today for another speech on the economy. We're going to bring that to you live from Peoria at 4:25 Eastern.

The problems in the labor sector are a huge focus for the Obama administration. And we're getting a fresh reminder this morning of how many people are suffering without a job. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with the latest on jobless claims and also a look at how stocks are reacting. Hi there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Well, the reaction is ugly. And we do have fresh data on jobless, and it is this. Jobless claims actually dipped last week, but the level is to 623,000. That's extremely high. Obviously, any sort of decline is welcome news. But we are at very high levels to begin with. And the number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits remains at a record high, 4.8 million people.

We do have some good news out of the retail sector. The first time in seven months that we had an increase there. That for the month of January, an increase by 1 percent. We saw some improvements in electronics, in some other areas, but also, the increase in gasoline accounting for that. Overall, though, we're not seeing any buying on Wall Street. We had a terrible sell-off, the worst of the year on Tuesday, a very meager bounceback yesterday and right back to triple-digit declines today.

In fact, we're really at levels now in the Dow, Heidi, that we haven't seen since November. The Dow right now down 162 points at 7782, about 200 points from the low of the current bear cycle. Basically, what the market is telling us, it's cynical. It's cynical about what it's hearing out of Washington.

Whether it's right or wrong is another story. But a lot of what Wall Street does, Heidi, is managing expectations. There's no question that investors were disappointed about what it heard from TARP, lack of details, and about the stimulus plan yet to be passed as to whether that is going to be the silver bullet to get this big economy going again -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange this morning. Dow Jones Industrial Average is down at this point by 156 points. Susan, thank you. It was not pretty, but then it wasn't expected to be, either. The CEOs of some of the nation's biggest banks facing members of Congress, the same lawmakers who gave them billions of dollars in bailout money. CNN's Allan Chernoff has more now on their rough outing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America doesn't trust you anymore.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A grilling for CEOs whose banks have taken half of the $350 billion in bailout funds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start loaning the money that we gave you! Get it on the street.

CHERNOFF: The bankers claim they are putting the money to good use, citing numbers that made it seem there's no lending freeze.

KEN LEWIS, CEO, BANK OF AMERICA: We are lending. In the fourth quarter alone, we made more than $115 billion in new loans to consumers and businesses.

JOHN STUMPF, CEO, WELLS FARGO & CO.: Last quarter alone, we made $22 billion in new loan commitments and $50 billion in new mortgages.

CHERNOFF: But Congress wasn't buying those statistics that don't fully reflect today's credit squeeze for consumers and small business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you do with the new money?

CHERNOFF: The CEO of JPMorgan Chase said the problem lies beyond the banks.

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: There is a huge amount of nonbank lending which has disappeared, which is the same thing to the consumer. Finance companies, car finance companies, mortgage companies.

CHERNOFF: With job losses mounting, some of the bankers promised they would hold off on foreclosures for three weeks until the federal government can offer relief. But no such help was offered for consumers drowning in credit-card debt.

REP. JOE BACA (D), CALIFORNIA: The American people and the taxpayers shouldn't be responsible for the mistakes you did in going out and trying to get so many consumers to tie into credit cards. How do we answer and how do we deal with your problems in trying to attract many individuals to get into the credit cards?

CHERNOFF: Silence from the CEOs.

(on camera): Clearly, the bankers don't want to give up on good credit-card loans. Some of the CEOs said taxpayers will get a good return on their money for all of the bailout money invested in the banks. And the executives say they intend to return the money as soon as possible.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Picking up the pieces. Homes and businesses in ruin in Garland, Texas, just one community devastated by a line of storms. The most intense, though, so far took aim at Lone Grove, Oklahoma. Nine people are dead from Tuesday's tornado there. Its winds estimated at 170 miles per hour. Kentucky also took a hit. Fierce winds knocked down more power lines, just as the state was beginning to recover from last month's ice storm.

When disaster strikes, will the government be there to help? Barack Obama as a candidate played on those fears by reminding Americans of FEMA's mishandling of Hurricane Katrina. So, why has he not chosen a new FEMA chief? CNN's Jim Acosta takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the first disaster on President Obama's watch, an ice storm, hit parts of the South, it was a holdover from the Bush administration on the scene for FEMA. The agency got good marks from state officials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eliminate the peanut butter portion of the meal.

ACOSTA: But in its response, FEMA may have mistakenly sent salmonella-tainted peanut butter in its meal kits to evacuees. Nobody got sick, but it was under a reminder.

PROF. RICHARD SYLVES, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: FEMA is under a spotlight. It's under scrutiny.

ACOSTA: The Bush administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina was one of the Obama campaign's favorite targets.

OBAMA: We can talk about levees that couldn't hold, about a FEMA that seemed not just incompetent but paralyzed and powerless, about a president who only saw the people from the window of an airplane instead of down here on the ground.

ACOSTA: He promised to fix FEMA, saying as president, the head of the agency would report to him and have real emergency experience.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

ACOSTA: Translation, no more brownies. Today, former FEMA chief Michael Brown says the one thing he learned from the Katrina debacle is that the agency should have a direct line to the president, something Brown claims he did not have.

MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA CHIEF: You simply cannot have that in a crisis situation. You can't have that on a battlefield, and a disaster is like a battlefield. Somebody has to be in charge.

ACOSTA: Another Katrina veteran argues leadership is what counts.

KATHLEEN BLANCO, FORMER LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: I would hope that the next FEMA administrator is someone who has had direct experience with managing a very large disaster.

ACOSTA: A Democratic official says the names being mentioned include Florida's emergency management director, Craig Fugate.

SYLVES: You need a FEMA director that can go toe to toe with screaming governors, with governors who are saying, we need help now.

ACOSTA (on camera): Another name that's floated out is a former emergency manager in Iowa. In this third week of the Obama administration, officials tell us they are making progress in their search. And a Democratic official points out the Cabinet secretary in charge of FEMA, Homeland Security's Janet Napolitano, did make it to Kentucky just yesterday and is promising help for storm victims there.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Pitching in. The mother of the California octuplets is asking for help, and she's trying to make it easy for you to lend a hand to her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Fourteen mouths to feed. The mother of the California octuplets is now asking for your help. But you may actually already be chipping in to pay her bills. CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your eyes are open!

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You didn't have these babies, but you may be paying for them. That's their mom, Nadya Suleman, on NBC's "Today" show with her octuplets. But behind the kisses and the coos is a mountain of bills. At 33, Suleman is single, unemployed, and now the mother of 14 children. She had six others before the octuplets were born.

The "L.A. Times" reports Suleman is $50,000 in debt from student loans, the very loans Suleman has said she plans to use to help support all her children while she gets a master's degree and a job. She'll have to pay back those loans, but here's where you come in. You see, Suleman had originally told NBC she wasn't getting any government aid. But we've learned she is.

Her publicist told us she gets $490 every month in food stamps. That's in line with what Suleman is now saying. Asked once again about living on welfare, NBC says Suleman admitted she's been collecting food stamps for the last year and a half.

NADYA SULEMAN, MOTHER OF OCTUPLETS: No, I'm not living off of any taxpayer money. If I am, if it is food stamps, it's a temporary resource. We receive no cash. And it's every month, about $190, and that's only for food.

KAYE: Her publicist also told us that three of Suleman's six older children get government disability assistance. But she told NBC it's temporary for two of them because their disabilities are minor.

(on camera): Suleman told NBC that she's receiving about $600 a month from the government for each of her three disabled children. That's about $1,800, plus $500 more in food stamps. A total of $2,300 a month.

(voice-over): Suleman's publicist has said offers for book deals and more are rolling in, which will help pay the bills. But in the meantime, the mother of 14 has set up this Web site. Yes, it thanks people for their support. But right there on the main page, a little pink heart, with a note, click here to make donations.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Quickly now updating you on a story we have been covering this morning. A special court ruled today on three test cases involving the possible link between autism and vaccines. The parents in the cases contended their children developed autism after receiving a combination of the MMR vaccine -- that's measles, mumps and rubella -- and then vaccines containing thimerosal. The court denied their claim for compensation, saying the families has not supplied sufficient evidence to prove their allegations.

I'm Heidi Collins. Join us again tomorrow morning beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. For now, our "Lincoln to Obama" bicentennial birthday coverage continues with Soledad O'Brien in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Abraham Lincoln did not simply win a war or hold the union together. In his unwillingness to demonize those against whom he fought, and his refusal to succumb to either the hatred or self- righteousness that war can unleash, and in his ultimate insistence that in the aftermath of war, the nation would no longer remain half slave and half free, in his trust in the better angels of our nature, Lincoln displayed the wisdom and courage that sets a standard for patriotism.

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