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College Campus Shooting; Swine Flu Spreading; Wildfires in the South
Aired April 25, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We'll start with breaking news. A deadly shooting rampage near a college campus, a manhunt underway right now for a professor. We're live on this.
Also developing: Dozens dead and late information on people newly sickened. Tonight, the number of confirmed swine flu cases grows. We'll get answers right from the CDC, live.
Right now, parts of the south are on fire. Thousands of people are homeless. Homes are destroyed there.
Also new tonight, the death of a legendary actress who broke barriers for women's rights.
The news starts right now.
Hello, everyone.
We begin with a developing story. A deadly new form of influenza swine flu has world health experts on edge tonight. Sixty-eight flu deaths have been reported in Mexico, most have not been confirmed as swine flu. More than 1,000 people in Mexico may be infected. At least 10 cases are confirmed right here in the U.S.
And tonight, two new cases have been confirmed in Kansas. Also, two confirmed cases in Texas, closed a high school near San Antonio. And state health officials in New York say testing shows eight or nine students at a New York City high school likely have the disease.
To explain more about why health officials are so concerned about this outbreak, we have CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen; national correspondent Susan Candiotti, standing by in New York; and Thelma Gutierrez is standing by for us in San Diego.
Elizabeth, we'll begin with you. Health officials warn this could be a potential pandemic, and tonight, the World Health Organization calls it a public health emergency or international concern. So, Elizabeth, explain to us what this means, a potential pandemic.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Potential pandemic and that really, really is the situation that we have here. And right now, what we're going to tell you is I want to go through all the numbers. Let's look at all the numbers who's sick in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COHEN (voice-over): First, we heard about it in Mexico, then California, and Texas, Kansas, and probably, New York. A brand new, never been seen before strain of swine flu has turned up in all four states. Seven confirmed cases in California, two confirmed cases in Texas, two more confirmed cases in Kansas, plus one probable case in Texas, and eight probable cases in New York. That's a total of 11 confirmed cases in the United States and nine probable cases.
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control expect to find more. The CDC is investigating the connection between the cases in Mexico and those in the U.S.
In Guadalupe County, Texas, public health officials have asked residents to postpone public gathering and this high school has closed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: School will be closed for a minimum of a week effective immediately. We are hoping that this will be able to control the cluster of events that we are seeing right now in our community.
COHEN: So far in the U.S., all the illnesses have been mild, only one person has been hospitalized and all have recovered without having to take anti-viral drugs. In New York, eight students at this high school probably have swine flu.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of the children are feeling better, no child has been hospitalized. No child was seriously ill.
COHEN: Symptoms of swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting. The Centers for Disease Control has alerted doctors across the country, if a patient has these symptoms, make sure to ask if he or she has recently traveled to Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, those two cases in Kansas, it's a husband and a wife. The husband had recently made a business trip to Mexico.
LEMON: So, this is so far, just mild symptoms that they're exhibiting now, the people here?
COHEN: In the United States.
LEMON: Yes, OK.
COHEN: In the United States, correct.
And so, it has not yet been called a pandemic, and I think that's important and the reason is that a pandemic is worldwide. Now, we're talking about just one continent, and it's an enormous number of illnesses and death, which we haven't had so far.
But take a look at this. The World Health Organization does have sort of a scale, if you will, of pandemic alerts. We are on three, and three is no or very limited human-to-human transmission. Now, a lot of talk today about whether they're going to increase to a four because there does seem to be a fair amount of human-to-human transmission like the husband and the wife in Kansas.
LEMON: Yes. So, get yourself checked, but just -- you know, we don't want to scare folks.
COHEN: No. Absolutely not -- if you have those symptoms, right.
LEMON: If you have those symptoms. Thank you very much, medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: The medical investigation is also focused on Queens, New York, where dozens of high school students recently came down with flu-like symptoms.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is covering that part of the story for us.
Susan, health experts now think they have found some likely cases of this disease -- why don't you tell us about that, please.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, we're outside the Health Department now and we have to tell you that some of these parents must be terribly concerned about how these students got sick. After all, you have at least eight high school students who have probable swine flu, we don't know for sure until those test results get back from the CDC and we're likely to hear those results on Sunday.
Those eight students are among at least 200 who fell sick at the St. Francis Prep School in Queens on Thursday. The school called in the Health Department, some testing was done. But again, the Health Department says that there are no -- no one is hospitalized and all of these students are experiencing mild symptoms.
However, the Health Department is not taking any chances. They are interviewing the students and their families to see whether and how they think they became ill.
We can tell you this as well: Health Department says they also have had calls from two parents reporting that their children became ill after getting back from Mexico. They are also testing 36 children from a Bronx daycare center. However, they add, they have experienced no uptick at area hospitals here and they check those hospitals every 12 hours to see if they have had any increase in the number of reported flu cases.
If swine flu is confirmed at this Queens high school, then they will recommend that the school close on Monday. But no quarantine is planned -- Don?
LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti -- Susan, thank you very much.
And we're going to talk to the CDC here and get some answers from them as well.
Meantime, we want to tell about the tragic story just coming into the NEWSROOM tonight. This one is from Florida. Two sheriff's deputies from Okaloosa County, near Pensacola, have been shot and killed by a man who was later shot by other deputies. Now, the shooting happened when deputies were called to the Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center. Police say the gunman shot both deputies and fled the scene but he was later shot and killed in a neighboring county.
Also, we're following breaking news tonight. There's a manhunt going on right now for a University of Georgia professor after three people were shot dead near that campus.
Richard Lui is in Athens, which is about an hour from Atlanta, near that shooting.
Richard, what are you finding out?
RICHARD LUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good day to you there, Don.
It is a very quiet, peaceful backdrop for what was a very shock ensuing about seven hours ago. It happened at this community theater right over my shoulder here. They were having a reunion, a very calm picnic around noon today when the suspect, according to police, that's Professor George Zinkhan, approached the group, one of which -- according to those who know these members very well -- one of the members was his wife.
Now, what he did is he had some sort of discussion with them and it became very heated, Don. That discussion then turned into some sort of argument. He left. He came back with what are known to be two guns. And then -- according to witnesses close by -- hearing as many as 10 to 15 shots, bam, bam, bam -- and then a five or 10-second pause and then more shots again.
We are now hearing from police that there were two injured in this.
So, the question is, really, Don, why would a distinguished professor, the suspect that they have identified, go through such an act of perhaps firing against three people or more? We spoke to one of his former colleagues, a professor, a former professor at the University of Georgia, and this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROF. STEVE ELLIOTT-GOWER, GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY: George Zinkhan has been at the university, I think, for about 10 years, maybe 12 years. He's a v very distinguished professor, has a national, even an international reputation. He's professor of marketing.
But George has a reputation of being a little bit quirky, perhaps, a little bit aloof, a little bit gruff, but that's absolutely nothing that I saw that would lead me to this sort of a conclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: OK, Don. At this moment, they are looking for the suspect. He is still at large.
They obtained a search warrant about three hours ago. They are now at his house according to the captain of the police that we spoke with here. And they're looking for, at the moment, what is a red Jeep. And they have checked the airport to see if there were any tickets purchased, they didn't find anything, and finally here, Don, they have seized his computer at the university. They're going through digital forensics right now to see if there are any questionable communications that have happened within a recent time, to see if they can make any connections there.
His two kids, finally here, Don, they were on scene -- close by not at the shooting but close by here today, they're safe at the moment.
LEMON: They're 8 and 10 years old. What a sad story.
Richard Lui, thank you very much for that.
We have some other sad news to report to you. She was Maude, she was Dorothy and we will certainly miss her. I'm talking about actress Bea Arthur. She died at the age of 86. Best known for her height and her deep voice. Bea Arthur is known to millions for her roles on TV's "Golden Girls," which you see here, and also, "Maude," in the 1970s. It was her work as Maude that first made her a TV star, personifying the feminist movement in the 1970s. An episode where her character had an abortion caused huge controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MAUDE" FROM CBS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it would be wrong to have a child at our age.
ACTRESS BEA ARTHUR PLAYING AS "MAUDE": Oh, so do I, Walter. Oh, Walter, so do I.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We make an awful pair.
ARTHUR: Oh, impatient, irascible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awful. (INAUDIBLE)
ARTHUR: For other people it might be fine, but for us, I don't think it would be fair to anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Actress Bea Arthur died today of cancer in Los Angeles. She was 86 years old. Actually she was more than an actor, she was a trail blazer.
New cases of swine flu reported in the U.S. tonight. If you have the flu, you better talk to your doctor. We'll get the latest from the head of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention very shortly.
Also, grading the president on his first 100 days in office. He's hit the ground running, but where is he headed? And what about his plans to withdraw troops from Iraq? We're digging much deeper tonight.
Also, become part of our community here; get your voice on the air. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com -- we'll get it on for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back now to our top story. A deadly new strain of swine flu is cropping up in more places in the U.S. and Mexico.
Let's head straight now to San Diego, where health officials are on the lookout for signs that people entering the U.S. might be suffering from flu symptoms.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is at the San Diego Airport. She joins us now.
What precautions are they taking?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, they're telling us that they're just looking at passengers. They just want to make sure that there's nobody who's coming off of any of these planes is displaying any signs of the flu. But besides that, what they've done is they have put up these signs that you see right behind me at the entrance to security which is just reminding people to do the basic things like cover your mouth when you cough and to wash your hands frequently.
But they are very emphatic. They are saying that currently, there are no travel restrictions in or out of Mexico. They say people shouldn't be worried about traveling right now.
Joining me is Dr. Wilma Wooten.
Dr. Wooten, you have four confirmed cases of swine flu in your county. What can you tell us about these patients and how they're doing?
DR. WILMA WOOTEN, SAN DIEGO CO. HEALTH DEPT.: Well, the patients in San Diego County all had mild symptoms resolving within a week, and they have recovered. So, the symptoms were mild, they were the same as regular flu season symptoms including fever, cough, fatigue and runny nose.
GUTIERREZ: But they're all doing OK.
WOOTEN: All of the cases have completely recovered.
GUTIERREZ: What would you tell travelers who are thinking about going to Mexico right now? So many people were entering the airport, they're heading to Cancun. What would you tell them?
WOOTEN: Well, if I had a trip scheduled to go to Cancun, I absolutely would not cancel it. We are asking people just to employ common basic practices that they should always do if they are exposed to someone who's ill, if they come in contact with them. To cover their -- if someone is ill, number one, they should not be traveling. But if they are traveling, the germs are out there so we want people to frequently wash their hands and be aware of other people that are ill.
GUTIERREZ: But you would tell them to continue with their trip.
WOOTEN: Absolutely.
GUTIERREZ: All right. Thank you, Dr. Wooten.
And right now, we just learned that there is a seventh confirmed case here in California, a 35-year-old woman from Imperial County. But we're told that she has recovered, she's been discharged from the hospital and she's doing well -- Don?
LEMON: All right. Thelma Gutierrez, thank you very much. Thelma's is talking about travel into the United Sates from Mexico.
I want to read some information that CNN just got. It's coming from Mexico City, Mexico. And it says, "Mexican President Felipe Calderon issued an executive decree detailing emergency powers of the ministry of health in an effort to combat the spread of a swine flu virus." That's according to a statement from the president's office. What that means is that they can stop public gatherings temporarily, shut down public venues, regulate travel -- including maritime, air and over land travel.
Thelma is reporting on travel into the United States and Felipe Calderon has issued an executive order detailing the powers what they're going to do to try to prevent this.
Let's move on now and talk about what's happening here in the United States. His name is Dr. Richard Besser, and he is the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention right here in Atlanta.
Thank you very much for joining us, sir.
DR. RICHARD BESSER, ACTING DIRECTOR, CDC: Good evening.
LEMON: The CDC, of course, will determine if those kids from the New York prep school, what they -- if they do in fact have swine flu or any of those. So tell us what you have confirmed now as far as numbers of cases here in the United States?
BESSER: As people are realizing, this is a rapidly changing situation. So far, we've confirmed 11 cases of swine flu, seven of those in California, two in Texas and two in Kansas. The good news is that all of the individuals who have been infected have recovered.
LEMON: OK. Not an epidemic, though. Not an epidemic. And we're calling it a -- can it be a possible pandemic? What exactly is it? What crosses (ph) your mind?
BESSER: The term I would use right now is an outbreak.
LEMON: OK.
BESSER: And an outbreak can be of various sizes. What we're doing is taking a very aggressive approach to investigating this outbreak to try and understand how it's being spread, why we're seeing a very different picture of this outbreak right now in the United States from what's going on in Mexico.
LEMON: And the concern, of course, if it can be spread from animal to human, and then from human-to-human, that's the utmost concern, just as it was for bird flu here in the United States.
BESSER: When you look at the pandemic strain of influenza, what you'll see is a new strain of flu. It usually originates in an animal source. And this strain that we're looking at right now originated in a pig source, a swine source.
We then look to see if it's something that can be spread readily from person to person, do people have protection from that particular strain, and is it sustainable in the community? And those are all things we're investigating.
LEMON: All right. Dr. Besser, if you don't have it, and you're just concerned about it, the average citizen, what should you do? What is your concern level be?
BESSER: You know, this is the right time to look to your local and state public health for guidance. It's the time to pay attention to the news to know what's going on, because what you see with an outbreak is different things taking place in different communities. But it's clear there are things people can do to reduce the likelihood they'll get infected. Frequent hand washing is one of the most important things people can do.
And if people are sick -- stay home, don't travel, don't send your children to school when they're sick, and don't go to work when you're sick. Those things are very important in terms of reducing transmission from any respiratory infection
LEMON: And if you are exhibiting flu-like symptoms -- go to a doctor immediately; get away from your family and friends or anyone, right?
BESSER: Now, if you're sick and you have a fever, you have aches, you have flu-like symptoms, you should see your doctor and get evaluated. And your doctor will be able to be keyed in to the current guidance and what treatment you really require.
LEMON: You know, I have about five seconds here. But the World Health Organization is calling this an emergency of international concern. Do you agree with that?
BESSER: You know, the World Health Organization is a body that will pull together experts, look at the evidence across countries and determine where we are in terms of potential for a pandemic, and what recommendations they would make to the global community.
LEMON: But you're not saying yourself that you think it's an international concern.
BESSER: Well, what I'm saying is that we're going to be looking to the World Health Organization to provide global guidance on that.
LEMON: Got it. Thank you, Dr. Richard Besser -- who's the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control. He is joining us from the Centers for Disease Control tonight. Thank you very much for that.
BESSER: Thank you.
LEMON: So, how exactly can a flu strain that affects mainly pigs impact you or me? We're digging deeper into the science with a veterinarian. That is coming up.
And we're grading President Obama's first 100 days in office. He's hit the ground running. But were his decisions about the economy and others -- were they correct? Where is he right now? We'll look at that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Here's what some of are you saying about the stories we're covering, most of all talking about the swine flu.
Rags_N_Riches says, "Bird flu. Swine flu. Mad cow. Everyday, it's something new. Not concerned at all." Mzjitt says, "Not as concerned as probably should be -- as I probably should be. If any cases pop-up in my home state, then I'll worry more."
Khiq says, "Yes. It is a pretty scary thing." Rockmom19 says, "Concerned? More like scared." Blessedbrilliant says, "I'm concerned about the source. What good is the CDC or WHO if they can't find a correlation in the infections?"
We'll try to get some answers to that last one, as a matter of fact, right now.
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com -- that's how you get your responses here.
So, again, now, to better understand swine flu and why it poses a threat to humans, let's bring in a veterinarian expert. Her name is Dr. Liz Wagstrom. She's both a veterinarian and a member of the National Pork Board, and she joins us now from Minneapolis.
Thank you very much for that. You know what? I want to answer that last thing. Someone said, "I'm concerned about the source, what good is the CDC or WHO if they can't find a correlation in the infection?" You can't find -- can you find a correlation in the infection?
DR. LIZ WAGSTROM, MEMBER, NATIONAL PORK BOARD: At this time, we're very early in the game. We know that this virus originated in pigs somewhere. We also know that this virus has never been reported in pigs in the United States or indeed globally. So when and where it made that jump from pigs into people and thus then became sustained in the human population is really early in the game to know where that happened.
LEMON: Yes, that's a very interesting thing. You said the virus has not been identified in U.S. pigs nor has it been reported globally from any pig in the world. So then, Dr. Wagstrom, what happened? WAGSTROM: Well, at some point in time, this virus was in a pig. And that pig may not have been ill, that pig may not have been diagnosed. It may have mutated either before or after it made the jump into human population. And those are very tough questions that are going to have to be answered as we get more information.
LEMON: Now, as your understanding now from the National Pork Board, you could became familiar with this -- the first human case in San Diego about a week ago?
WAGSTROM: That's correct.
LEMON: How did that happen?
WAGSTROM: We have a very close communication strategy with CDC as well as USDA, so that in the rare cases of an occasional human influenza that may have had contact with swine, we can coordinate an investigation.
LEMON: And so, you work with them to do that.
OK. So, listen, you said at this point, the current case, the victim had no contact with pigs. That's what people aren't going to understand. So what's going on?
WAGSTROM: That's correct. All of the CDC U.S. cases have reported no contact with pigs. And so, it appears that this virus has entered the human population and is moving efficiently from human-to-human.
LEMON: Do you think it's airborne, no doubt?
WAGSTROM: It would likely be spread however influenza is, which is through respiratory droplets. We know this is not food-borne, so it would be human-to-human airborne transmission.
LEMON: Yes. And you're also working with pork producers to help protect the workers and employees there.
WAGSTROM: We are.
LEMON: So, from themselves, and also, so that it doesn't spread -- they don't spread it to the general population as well.
WAGSTROM: That's correct. We have asked pork producers to enhance their bio-security and enforce bio-security to protect their workers as well as the health of their animals.
LEMON: Boy, oh, boy, a lot to learn. It appears to be a bit of a conundrum right now.
Dr. Liz Wagstrom, thank you very much for joining us tonight. And also, Blessedbrilliant ...
WAGSTROM: Thank you.
LEMON: ... thank you for your Twitter question. It's a very good questions to pose to Dr. Wagstrom.
Again, U.S. health officials stress there is no reason to panic about swine flu. But people at risk who have the symptoms should see a doctor. Those symptoms include these -- check this out -- a high fever, 101, 102; overwhelming fatigue, a lack of appetite and coughing. Swine flu is a strain of influenza that's usually found in pigs.
Typically, people get it after coming into direct contact with an infected animal, although with this particular strain, as you heard, officials say it appears there may be some person-to-person transmission and they don't believe that the first victim here in San Diego came in contact with a pig.
You cannot -- as you heard the doctor there say as well -- get swine flu by eating pork.
Up next: Grading the president on his first 100 days. The shaky economy has been job number one. But have his measures played or hurt -- helped, I should say, or hurt the nation? We're checking into that.
Also, three people killed just off the University of Georgia campus. Now, there's a manhunt going on right now for a professor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Here are our top stories tonight.
Police in Athens, Georgia are searching for a University of Georgia marketing professor in connection with today's shooting deaths of three people at a theater group reunion near campus. Two other people were wounded but not seriously.
In Florida, two sheriff's deputies from Okaloosa County near Pensacola have been shot and killed by a man who was later shot by other deputies. Police say the gunman was wanted in connection with a domestic disturbance that happened earlier in the morning.
Meantime U.S. health officials here are on alert for new cases of swine flu that apparently originated in Mexico. There are now 11 confirmed cases here in the United States, all of those patients have recovered.
The Obama administration is keeping a close eye on developments surrounding the swine flu and preparing for whatever happens next. Our Elaine Quijano is at the White House. Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, amid those concerns about this new flu outbreak, the White House says President Obama is closely monitoring the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): As health officials piece together the swine flu picture in the United States, the White House says President Obama has been fully briefed and is getting regular updates from health and Homeland Security staff.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Homeland Security Council is following this under the leadership of John Brennan and obviously the Centers for Disease Control and the State Department are working in conjunction with the Mexican government in terms of issues related to testing.
QUIJANO: For now, customs and border patrol officers have not been ordered to change the way they operate. Ports of entry remain open. And are processing travelers normally. And for U.S. citizens in Mexico, the State Department is reminding them most cases of influenza are not swine flu, although it's also passing along the Mexican government's advice to avoid large crowds and close contact with others.
As the situatio develops in the U.S., communication will be key for the Obama administration. According to former Bush Homeland Security advisor Fran Townsend.
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NAT'L SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Communicating facts, you know, talking to people about what you know, what you don't know and what are the kinds of things that you're looking for that will be indicators of a pandemic or a health outbreak and giving people practical information about what they can expect and what they can do to make the best decisions for their families.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: As for President Obama, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says the president's trip to Mexico more than a week ago has not put the president's health in any danger. Don.
LEMON: All right. Elaine Quijano, thank you.
President Barack Obama came into office on January 20th facing a daunting list of major issues that required immediate attention. First and foremost, a domestic economy on the verge of collapse. Since then he's authorized unprecedented government spending beginning with a massive stimulus package.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: So what I'm trying to underscore is what the people in Elkhart already understand, that this is now your ordinary, run of the mill recession, we are going through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So the stimulus clocked in at $787 billion. And that - add to that, I should say a $410 billion omnibus spending plan. Billions in loans to the U.S. auto industry, ambitious plans to help millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure and a proposed budget of more than $3.5 trillion. Well, it's probably more money than most of us can wrap our heads around. But is it money well spent? That is the question as we grade the president's first 100 days in office.
With me now, CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry, our political commentator David Sirota, and former Bush domestic policy advisor Ron Christie. Thank you all for joining us. As I was reading those numbers, I said, geez, you know, I don't know if a calculator can really even go that high. Before I get to all those numbers, I'm going to ask - I'll ask Ed, what is the obsession with the first 100 days in office? Why do people seem to be obsessed by that?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's partly a media situation and I can tell you the Obama folks originally, I was sitting down with a senior White House aide a few days ago who said look this is just a hallmark holiday, it's sort of a manufactured holiday, you have to mark it but it doesn't mean a lot because they're going to measure him over a much longer period. But in the next breath, the same aide said if you're going to do a story, you should say this is the best first 100 days since FDR.
So I think we have seen a flip where the Obama folks realize look they can't fight this anniversary, the media is going to spend a lot of time covering it. And frankly, the American people are going to be interested and let's take stock, how has it gone in the first 100 days? And so that's why the president is going to have a primetime news conference, his third in his first 100 days on Wednesday evening. And it's going to be a chance for him to do two things, talk about what he thinks are the accomplishments, but secondly and perhaps most importantly try to pivot to the next 100 days and beyond and try to say look, this is just a down payment, these challenges, a lot more work to be done, certainly.
LEMON: I want to get to the number real quickly. You believe, real quickly, if you can just give it to me in a couple of seconds, there's some historic significance to the first 100 days.
RON CHRISTIE, FORMER BUSH DOMESTIC ADVISER: I think that's right Don, I think what Ed said was spot on, I think there's an obsession, not only with political observers but those folks in the media who say, the first 100 days, look, what is the significance? What does this mean?
LEMON: Yes.
CHRISTIE: I think the most important thing is going to be, let's take a measuring stick of what he's done the first 100 days, but let's see what he's going to do in the first year in office.
LEMON: OK. All right.
CHRISTIE: But it's a very important barometer for us to take a temperature of what he is doing so far.
LEMON: All right. Let's get to it then, so how is his economic team doing? Since in office, $800 billion in stimulus and then on and on, recovery.
So David, how is his economic team doing? DAVID SIROTA, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I think on the budget, they're doing very well. As Ed said, there's really a down payment on issues like health care and clean energy. I think on financial regulation and dealing with the financial and Wall Street crisis, I think they have done not such a good job, they continued the Bush policy of no strings attached bailouts. We haven't seen a financial reform bill so I think it's mixed and I think the real issue here is that it's an open question. There's still a lot of open questions, what you can tell from the first 100 days is the trajectory, where is this administration going. We know where it's going on budget and spending but we don't know where it's going on Wall Street and financial regulations.
LEMON: But Ron, here's what's really set Washington on edge, a $3.6 trillion budget sets everyone in Washington on edge. Did this give the GOP ammunition? Because they may have felt that he should have stayed narrowly focused on the economy and not get even into other issues but also what set them on edge is these trillions and trillions of dollars.
CHRISTIE: Well, Don, maybe a lot of republicans, myself included, gave the president the benefit of the doubt when he first came into office when he said he was going to be a fiscal conservative where he was going to trim the size of government. And you see this massive government spending, $787 billion for a stimulus package, $410 for -
LEMON: But Ron, and anyone, if you want to jump in here. Isn't he sort of dammed if he did, or dammed if he didn't? Because if he didn't try to fix the economy in some way, people would say oh he didn't do anything, and then if he tries to fix it, people are going to say oh, he's spending too much money.
CHRISTIE: No, quite to the contrary, Don.
SIROTA: Real quick. I think you have to spend money, you got to spend money in an economic recession. The problem here is that you don't want to - I don't think you want to listen to conservatives who say now is the time to cut back. Most people agree that the way to prime the economy is to spend. We can debate whether he's spending it in the right way or not, but the overall numbers, you've got to spend money to prime the economy.
HOLMES: Go ahead, Ed.
HENRY: Well, certainly, that's the case the White House wanted to make in these first 100 days. And there certainly is some validity to it. If the president had not come up with a stimulus plan and we continued to bleed hundreds of thousands of jobs certainly he was going to face a lot more pressure from the American people.
So I think the long term bigger beyond these 100 days. You know, first of all is the stimulus package going to work? Is it going to help turn, you know, stop the recession? But more broadly, as you have been pointing out a $3.5 trillion budget is that just going to put us into so much debt, what is he going to do long term - how long is it going to take us to pay it off? LEMON: It gets passed on to our children and our grandchildren? Ron, go ahead.
CHRISTIE: Exactly right. I mean, as what we have learned from, if you look at history, you look at when Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981, 1982, what he did to get us out of a recession, when he inherited from the Carter administration, was not to spend more money, but to cut taxes, to cut spending and to be more fiscally conservative and responsible. I think what the Obama administration has done is so financially irresponsible by putting trillions upon trillions of dollars on the deficit that Americans can't see how do we get ourselves out of this? How do we get our children and grandchildren out of this? Very fiscally irresponsible.
LEMON: It would be interesting if we could sort of play the other angle, you know, if he hadn't spend so much money to see what people would be saying. He needs to spend to get us out of it. You know, there is always something. Ron, give me a grade on when it comes to the economy.
CHRISTIE: On the economy, I would give him a C minus. I give him a C minues. He spent far too much money, he's put far too much chance as a down payment for irresponsible fiscal spending that we can't get out of.
SIROTA: I just don't know how you can cite Ronald Reagan and then say Barack Obama -
LEMON: David, I need a grade from you.
SIROTA: -- has spent too much money. I just want to be clear, Ronald Reagan created some of the biggest deficits this country has ever seen.
LEMON: I know. I need a grade.
SIROTA: I think Obama gets I think, in my mind, he gets a B plus. He gets an A on budget and spending, on economic matters.
LEMON: OK.
SIROTA: He gets an A on spending and he gets I would say a B minus on financial and Wall Street regulation.
LEMON: All right. And Ed doesn't get to be the teacher here because he's a correspondent. So we're not going to let him.
OK. So Ed, Ron and David, make sure you stick around because we're going to talk about other things. Ending the war in Iraq was a major plank in President Barack Obama's presidential platform. But how realistic is it in and what will it take to win the war on terror? It's time for your report card, Mr. President. What do you get?
Plus severe weather in the Great Plains, CNN's Jacqui Jeras monitoring the threat in the severe weather center for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Obama came into office with the U.S. engaged in two costly wars abroad. And potential flash points around the globe. In his first 100 days, he has promised to end U.S. combat operations in Iraq over the next year and a half, even while committing more troops to Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: In Iraq, we had success in reaching out to former adversaries to isolate and target Al Qaeda in Iraq. We must pursue a similar process in Afghanistan while understanding that it is a very different country. There is an uncompromising core of the Taliban. They must be met with force. And they must be defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Factor in Iran and North Korea as potential nuclear powers, Mexican drug cartels fighting one other on America's southern plank and Somali pirates terrorizing major shipping lanes. It's a tall order for any administration. With me again, to grade the president on international affairs in his first 100 days, our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, former Bush advisor Ron Christie and political commentator David Sirota. Thank you very much for that.
So as I said, you know, we were engaged in two wars overseas, the U.S., very costly wars overseas. The president by saying that he's going to pull troops out of Iraq when our guys and girls over there, young ladies are being killed by IEDs and other things. Was that the right thing to do, Ron?
CHRISTIE: Well, I think it is. I think the president - this is one area where I won't criticize him on. I think this is an area where the president recognized that so much of our original mission in Iraq has been accomplished but we need to make sure that we can solidify the gains we have made in Afghanistan and make sure that we don't go backwards. He has moved troops over from Iraq to Afghanistan. So I do applaud -
LEMON: We do talk about Afghanistan, but you're not saying so much about our mission. You're not saying about the whole thing, because this has been in the last couple of days there's been absolute surge in violence in Iraq. We have seen it. We have been reporting on it. So the issue is, it is really stable or do we not know, has it not been long enough to even gauge that? Ed Henry.
HENRY: Well, certainly, the president had a lot of pressure on him to keep that campaign promise to pull U.S. combat troops out within 16 months. He didn't quite meet that, he's pushing it to 19 months but he's sort of finding middle ground there and you see people like Ron, on the right, are giving him some credit, that may make some people on the left a little unhappy. But in order to establish his credentials as a commander in chief, he's trying to show that he's listening to the commanders on the ground.
LEMON: OK. David Sirota, give me a grade on Iraq.
SIROTA: On iraq, again, I think it's about a B plus, A minus. I think he's taken the right steps, he said that he wants to keep his campaign promise instead of going back on it. And his campaign promise was very clear. Now you're right that it's just a matter of a couple of months that he's moved off a little bit but I think it's been pretty solid and I think that's what he owes the American people because that's what he promised us.
LEMON: All right. Ron, give me a grade on Iraq.
CHRISTIE: I think Iraq, I had to agree with David, I would give him about a B or a B plus. I thinkt he country is very unstable. It's becoming more stable, it's very dangerous, but I think he's made the right decision to put more troops in Afghanistan where we need to fight the fight.
LEMON: That's very interesting that you say that coming from a conservative, both of you guys give him a B. I think you said B, B plus, right. All right. Let's move on and talk about Afghanistan now. We have heard about the Taliban and the upswing in violence that's going on and the upsurge in the Taliban there, in Afghanistan, also in Pakistan.
So let's talk about Afghanistan, the president, what he's doing now, moving more troops in, you said, Ron, it was the right thing to do. Talk to me more about that, why so? When people are going there, many of them may not even be sure of their specific mission and how long they're going to stay.
CHRISTIE: Well, I think the Taliban has had a resurgence in the last couple of years. If you look just right now, the Taliban is within 70 miles of Islamabad, which is the capital of Pakistan. I think the United States and her allies need to make sure that the Taliban does not re-emerge. They are not strengthened, they are not re-enforced, not only in Pakistan but in Afghanistan,
LEMON: Yes.
CHRISTIE: And I think the president has made the proper move of making sure to shore up our forces over there to make sure that they cannot thrive in that region of the world.
LEMON: Ed, clearly, the president and you know, our Armed services, members of our Armed Services, really between Iraq (inaudible) because they are being pulled to no end, you know, pulling people away from Iraq, away from Iraq to Afghanistan. It's tough on the military and the president and the administration knows that is.
HENRY: You're right, Don. And this is one of the most important yet undercover stories and decisions that this president made in the first 100 days. We talked so much about the economy and the financial crisis and rightly so as well as Iraq, but he sent 21,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in these first 100 days. That is remarkable and you obviously have to be concerned about what the mission is. He says he has come up with a new strategy, a little less focus on the military, long term, more on diplomacy but it's unclear yet whether it's going to work.
LEMON: OK. I'm out of time really. So just really quickly, David, give me a great on Afghanistan.
SIROTA: I can't give you a grade, we don't know what the mission is yet, we don't know if there's going to be mission creep so I'm going to abstain from this.
LEMON: Good answer. Ron.
CHRISTIE: I agree. I'm going to abstain only because we need to make sure that we have the proper objectives if the president is giving the right directions to shore up our troops and our presence there.
LEMON: So this is an NA as they put on there, does not apply on the report card here. Ed, I was looking here, they said, talking about the number of press conferences that the president has conducted. Let's see, 41 for Bush, and Clinton 43, that's for the first Bush, Clinton and then 43 for the other one. And President Barack Obama is right on par with them but he's held more press conferences really than anyone except for Truman and Clinton in his first days in office. Can you field that, Ed?
HENRY: Certainly he has had - we have had a lot of opportunities to ask him questions, this Wednesday night will be the third prime time news conference in the first 100 days. That's a lot. But then you have to add on when he was overseas, for example, he had a few press conferences. Took a lot of questions. The White House realizes they need to put him out there. They feel that essentially he's their best salesperson.
LEMON: A lot of these tough - yes, they put him back out when he was talking about the economy. When he was trying to sell the stimulus package, as if he was back on the campaign trail. Ed, you're such a pro. I'm glad you brought that up because we're going to tell you what we have coming up this week. Thank you all very much.
Next Wednesday, CNN's national report card, is your chance to grade the president and Congress on the job they have done so far. It all starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Wednesday on CNN and CNN.com/report card.
Severe weather in the great plains. CNN's Jacqui Jeras monitoring the threat in the CNN severe weather center.
And what's the solution to foreclosure? One priest has an answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Let's get straight to Jacqui Jeras, because we have some severe weather to tell you about. Jacqui, take it away.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We got a tornado just spotted on the ground right now. This is in Lavenworth county, near the town of Tananoxy. This is fresh video we just got in from KMBC TV, an affiliate out of Kansas City. Go ahead and roll this video. There you can kind of see, here's the wall clouds down here. There you can see that funnel where it reaches the ground. And there you can see it moving into an open area. So that's some good news. It doesn't look like it's been hitting any structures or anything like that. But a tornado warning continues in effect in this area.
Again, just outside of Kansas City, just west of there, in Leavenworth county. So a tornado did touch down and that warning continues to remain in effect. This is the area that we're talking about right here. There you can see that watches continue to be in place, and that stretches throughout much of Oklahoma. This is the cell that we're talking about right there.
And you can see that's right the interstate, right along i-70. It's moving up into the north and into the east. So it's going to be moving through those suburbs of Kansas City. So you need to be seeking shelter here very likely very shortly. We've also got a very strong line in this area south of Wichita extending towards Enid. And our affiliates in Oklahoma City have been monitoring and tracking a wall cloud there. But no warnings in Enid and nothing reported on the ground as we speak.
We've also got a watch across southern parts of Michigan. Large hail and damaging winds. The biggest concern, nothing really severe outside of the Chicagoland area, unless you're trying to travel in this area. That's certainly been a big mess. There you can see delays at O'Hare are over five hours long, Don. So real tough for travelers right now.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Jacqui. Keep an eye on that tornado for us, will you, and we'll get back to you. Thank you very much.
Well, tonight we bring together money and Main Street, where we see the real impact of the current economic climate on you and me. Plenty of folks around the country are dealing with foreclosure, and one priest in the suburb of Los Angeles found it's better to deal with foreclosure as a group. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): California is a community in crisis.
REV. JOHN LASSEIGNE, MARY IMMACULATE CHURCH: People here were targeted, again, by banks and investors --
GUTIERREZ: This southern California community was a target for predatory lenders. And now one out of every nine homes is in some stage of foreclosure.
LASSEIGNE: Some of them have fallen behind and live in fear of losing their homes.
GUTIERREZ: So this Catholic priest, who has never owned a home himself, is preaching foreclosure 101 to this block.
LASSEIGNE: The banks feel obligated to modify the loans. GUTIERREZ: It's a twist on the gospel for Juana Rodriguez, who has a high-interest subprime loan and Juan Carlos Segovia(ph), whose home is about to be sold off by the bank.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need as a community to be there. United we can do it.
GUTIERREZ: Father John Lasseigne and community organizers from a group called One L.A. want the banks to negotiate with the families.
LASSEIGNE: There are actually hundreds if not thousands of families in my immediate neighborhood at risk of losing their homes.
GUTIERREZ: Over several months, Juana and the others are prepped on finance.
She's being taught the art of negotiation and how to understand the stuff in fine print she didn't know before. The meetings are standing room only.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They see that we're not alone, that we're fighting for our homes as a community.
GUTIERREZ: 300 families strong. Father John and his allies convinced a half dozen banks to come to the table. This is where Juana and the others put all they learn to the test.
TOM HOLLER, ONE L.A.: As a result of these negotiations, we're going to have evidence of what the banks are willing to do and not willing to do.
GUTIERREZ: Evidence One L.A. and Father John say they will present to Congress. But for now, Juan Carlos had his foreclosure temporarily postponed. Juana negotiated her way out of an adjustable to a 30-year fixed loan. For her, it's a fresh start and an answer to her prayers. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you right back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
"The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer begins right now.
