Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Mexico City Bans Public Gatherings to Contain Flu Spread; Flu Could Affect Global Economy; Experts Grade Obama's Progress on Economy; Swine Flu Kills 100 in Mexico, Strikes 8 Countries Overall, Including U.S.; Despite Expense, LED Bulbs the Next Big Energy-Saver
Aired April 27, 2009 - 09:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Checking other stories happening now.
Pakistan's military has launched an offensive against suspected Taliban militants in the country's northwest region. The Taliban spokesman says the militants are fighting back. The offensive comes days after the Taliban advanced within 60 miles of the Pakistani capital and then later withdrew.
Attorney General Eric Holder in London right now, talking with British officials about Intelligence and Terrorism. En route to London, Holder told the Associated Press, the Obama administration is close to deciding what to do about an initial group of Guantanamo detainees. Holder has less than a year to empty the detention facility.
And environmental activists took a page out of the bank bailout at a Washington demonstration this morning. Several in the group climbed a construction crane near the State Department and hung a banner with a drawing of the earth that read, "too big to fail." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hosting a meeting today in advance of the major economies forum on energy and climate control.
The swine flu outbreak. Here is what we know right now. There are 20 confirmed cases of the virus in the United states. None have been fatal. In general the cases in the U.S. have been much milder than those in Mexico. Now, there more than 100 people have died. More than 1,600 cases have been reported.
Back in the United States, Washington has declared a health emergency. That means 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications can be taken from a federal stockpile and shipped to separate states. CNN crews are covering all the angles for us this morning. It's a rapidly developing story.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in New York. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Mexico City, the epicenter of the outbreak, and Suzanne Malveaux is following the White House response to this national health emergency. Right now let's go ahead and get to that apparent epicenter of the outbreak, Mexico City, once again. Straight to Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He has some news, Sanjay, just into us now?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, as you know, I sat down with the mayor yesterday. We talked about sort of what the plans are going forward with the city. As Ted Rowlands has been reporting, there has been some talk about potentially shutting down the city over the next couple of days. More specifically in addition to schools and churches which have already been -- there's no public gatherings there. They're talking about telling people to stay home from work as well. Possibly, the mayor told me, that by Thursday they may think about shutting down the subways and the bus systems as well.
All of this to try and keep that human contact, that human contagiousness down. That seems to be the name of the game here in terms of prevention. But the mayor is going to meet with some of the officials later on today. Possibly tonight, to make some decisions about that. We'll probably have some news later on, Heidi.
COLLINS: So, Sanjay, give me a feel, a little bit more. What is it like? When you look around, everybody wearing these masks and so forth, and the feeling from the people on the streets, is this - is this all everybody's talking about?
GUPTA: There seems to be a heightened level of concern. Although it was interesting, even between yesterday and today, yesterday very quiet. Today obviously the first day back after the weekend, things you know - this is a busy area of town. And this is the hospital. So there have been patients going in and out of the hospital. There have been family members gathering from time to time. We have spoken to doctors who have been taking care of patients in these hospitals.
And you know, there is a heightened level of concern, I think, among them. But safe to say it's not panic. I mean the doctors recommending masks. About four million of these have been made available here in Mexico City. They're starting to put together these anti-viral medications that we have talked so much about to be ready.
But, you know, you have about 100, 102, 103 deaths so far in Mexico City. Btu we don't know out of how many people got sick. 1,300 people got seriously ill to go to the hospital. But here may be a lot more people who had mild illness. They had a couple of days at home that were sort of miserable but they have recovered. So the fatality rate may be much smaller than people think.
And keep in mind, Heidi, as we talked about, the flu. Just the flu that you and I have talked about in years past kills about 36,000 people every year in the United States. So that just gives you a little bit of context when talking about the swine flu here.
COLLINS: Yes, and thanks for that perspective, too. And quickly, before we let you go, Sanjay, what are you doing to keep safe yourself?
GUPTA: Well, you know, we are being very cautious. We're trying not to take any chances. When I'm not doing live shots I am wearing this mask...
COLLINS: Right.
GUPTA: ... which I think is helpful. It's an N95 mask. It helps keeps the particles out of my lungs. Most importantly, though, what we hear and what we see is that the virus tends to live on inanimate objects like money, like ATM, keyboards, like computers, on your hands. So, simply washing your hands as much as possible may be one of the best bets. I know it sounds simple. I know it's something we talk about all the time. But maybe never more important than right now, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta right there in Mexico City for us this morning. Meanwhile, government officials there in Mexico City, as you've just heard, have banned all public events in hopes of containing this virus.
CNN's Ted Rowlands has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The plaza outside Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral was virtually empty Sunday morning. The sign outside reads no baptisms, no confirmations and no Mass until further notice. Members of the Mexican Armed Forces were handing out masks.
Carla Casas was scheduled to be confirmed at the 8:00 a.m. mass. She says a lot of people including herself are worried about getting sick.
CARLA CASAS, MEXICO CITY RESIDENT: If you are sick, maybe you die.
ROWLANDS: Mexican officials are fighting the spread of the potentially deadly virus with an aggressive campaign, urging people to stay away from large groups and seek medical attention if sick.
Sporting events are being played without crowds. Movie theaters and other public gathering points have been closed. While there is definite concern on the streets here, there is no sign of widespread sickness, at least not yet. Outside this hospital, none of the people waiting to be seen that we talked to had flu symptoms.
City officials say they have a handle on the situation and are able to treat any new cases. They also say those who have died waited too long to get help.
DR. ARMANDO AHUED, MEXICO CITY HEALTH SECRETARY (through translator): More than 80 percent were sent directly to intensive care. They had to be put on ventilators immediately because they already had advanced pneumonia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: CNN's Ted Rowlands is joining us now live. Ted, can't quite hear you until right now. Can you hear us?
ROWLANDS: Yes, I hear you loud and clear, Heidi. The bottom line here, Heidi, today is very important. And as Sanjay just mentioned, the mayor and other officials are going to be monitoring how many people come down with this virus today. Because there's thousands of people now on the street today, much different than yesterday where it was a virtual ghost town here in Mexico City.
People are back to work and therefore gathering in crowds and therefore potentially allowing this virus to spread. If that is the case, as Sanjay just said, they are going to maybe implement these plans to shut the entire city down. And the effects of that could be very difficult for a lot of people living here.
Already people are taking their children to work because all the schools are closed. They have no other choice. And they're making these sacrifices. And they walk around the street with these masks on their faces.
COLLINS: All right. Ted, we will be looking to you and Sanjay as well, both of you in Mexico City there keeping us updated on this very rapidly developing story. Sure do appreciate that. Ted Rowlands for us this morning.
I want to go to New York now, where the swine flu has shut down one school and sent health officials scrambling. Deb Feyerick is joining us now with the latest information from there. Good morning, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Heidi. We can tell you that health officials are mapping the spread of this disease. It's critical to understanding just how it's being transmitted. Also, lab technicians at local hospitals working overtime in order to process all the samples they took over the weekend.
About 125 students and adults turned up at local hospitals. They were all experiencing flu-like symptoms. A number of them attended that high school where the outbreak is believed to have occurred. Eight students there testing positive for swine flu. Also another case right now under investigation.
Now, there really is a sense of urgency in all this. Because nobody knows whether this is going to spread or whether it will die out like the avian flu did just a couple of years ago. We spoke to the chief of infectious diseases at one of the local hospitals. He tells us that when you have eight cases it's very likely that you're going to have more cases. And that's why everybody's sort of holding their breath, just to see how it is being transmitted, Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. Is there a way to differentiate, Deb, between the cases in New York and how different they are from in Mexico?
FEYERICK: Well, here's one of the critical things. It's unclear who died from this in Mexico.
COLLINS: Right.
FEYERICK: The students who came down with this, the people who came down with this here in the U.S., five states affected, they've all been relatively healthy and relatively strong. So, their immune system is able to kick in and counteract the flu. If you're sick, if you're really little, that's where you become more vulnerable. And that's why they really have to keep track of who's getting this.
COLLINS: All right. Also we know that the government put the whole state on high alert. What exactly does that mean for New Yorkers?
FEYERICK: Really what that means is it's a way to tell people that you've got to be careful, that this is, in fact, at play. It is mild here in the U.S. but, still, they want to be concerned. What it does, it activates various supplies, various resources, hospitals can now ratchet up the testing.
Hospitals also know that if somebody does test positive for influenza A, then that sample should go down to the CDC, which is the lab that's confirming the swine flu. So it's really sort of a state of preparedness. It doesn't mean people should be panicking. It doesn't mean that people, you know, should be staying home. It just means they have to be careful and they have to be wise.
COLLINS: Understood. All right. Deb Feyerick for us right there in New York City. Thank you, Deb.
President Obama making his first public comments about the swine flu outbreak just a short time ago. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now live from New York with that portion of the story. So we said there's concern which shouldn't be alarm just yet.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Heidi. He was before the National Academy of Sciences. And he renewed his commitment to research. But he also addressed this swine flu crisis. I talked with White House aides. And they admit that certainly they didn't expect anything like this coming.
The administration's focus has been on Iraq, Afghanistan, and tackling the economy. But if it takes off when it comes to public health, let's take a look at the administration. There is no surgeon general. There is no head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He doesn't yet have a confirmed secretary of Health and Human Services.
Having said that, however, Heidi, the president is trying to reassure the public that he's responding swiftly to this potential crisis.
COLLINS: So Suzanne, is the administration then moving any faster to fill these vacant slots certainly in light of exactly what's going on right now?
MALVEAUX: Well, certainly there's greater motivation to move faster here.
COLLINS: Sure. MALVEAUX: But what we saw Sunday afternoon was a rare briefing. You had the secretary of Homeland Security was there as well as the acting chair of the CDC. Both of them announcing that this is a public - a health emergency that they're dealing with. It allows them to get all the resources of the government together and essentially to actually release about 25 percent of some of these -- the flu vaccines, the Tamiflu and things like that. And then we also heard from the Press Secretary Robert Gibbs who says despite that some of these positions are not yet filled, that these are people who are dealing with this crisis.
They're dealing with it in a very serious way. And that is something that, you know, obviously they're going to be looking at. One of the things that the secretary of Health and Human Services, that's a confirmation process.
COLLINS: Sure. Right.
MALVEAUX: That's Kathleen Sebelius. That's not necessarily the White House. We understand from lawmakers that that might happen as early as tomorrow.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux following the president and everything that the administration is doing right now. Thank you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Thank you.
COLLINS: We certainly all have questions about the swine flu. What is it? How do you prevent it? How worried should you be? Here with some answers, CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. All right. Elizabeth, let's go ahead and begin with this one. I think that I understand correctly that the virus passes from pig to human and then it can spread from human to human which is what we're seeing now?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You got it right. That's very good. That's exactly how it works. It does seem to be working like that in this case. That the virus originated in pigs. Was passed to people. And that now it's being spread person to person.
Now in the past mostly the transmission was just pig to person. And it seemed to relatively -- it didn't completely stop there but there wasn't a ton of person-to-person transmission. Now they are seeing that there's quite a bit. They know that because when a lot of the people in the U.S. have gotten sick and they asked them have you been hanging out with pigs and they said, no, but I got back from Mexico they know that probably person to person transmission.
COLLINS: Right, understand. And obviously these are some frequently asked questions. We should let you know what we're showing here. The next one says this. I've had flu shots in the past. Will that protect me from swine flu? Good question.
COHEN: The CDC say no. The CDC -- it says it's not going to help you, these shots in the past. But I should add that I have been on the phone with expert who is say, wait a minute. They think it is possible that flu shots in the past might help protect you somewhat against the swine flu. This swine flu virus is actually a combination of a bunch of different viruses put together. They say that shots from the past might have helped you build up some immunity to some degree.
COLLINS: OK. I mean, understood that when we get a flu shot, we often aren't even protected from the different viruses or different strains of the flu anyway.
COHEN: Right. That's true.
COLLINS: It's probably not that surprising. Last one here, bottom line, and it's a good one, should I be freaked out?
COHEN: The answer is no. If you live in the United States right now, talking about you and me just sitting here right now. The reason for that is that the 20 cases that we've seen in this country have all been mild. Everyone has recovered on their own.
COLLINS: Exactly.
COHEN: They haven't needed antiviral medications. Only one out of the 20 has even needed to be in the hospital. So if, god forbid, you were to get swine flu, all the data right now shows us that you, too, would probably recover you know, relatively quickly and easily like the people who have been sick. Now, these are all great questions. And we want to hear some of your questions. If you want to e-mail me at empoweredpatients@cnn.com, send me your questions and we'll keep answering them throughout the week.
COLLINS: I will say the hardest thing so far seems like differentiating between possible swine flu and just regular old symptoms. Because when you look at the symptoms --
COHEN: It's all the same. Right. Fever, nausea, vomiting. Very hard to know. You would have to go to the doctor, say I've been traveling to Mexico. Send a swab to the CDC. I mean you wouldn't know unless you brought it up and your doctor sent a sample.
COLLINS: Exactly. So be vigilant. Obviously, the bottom line is -- well, thank you, our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you.
Twenty reports of tornadoes across the middle of the country this weekend. Rob Marciano tells us which areas are still dealing with severe weather today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly we want to get you to the severe weather center and our meteorologist Rob Marciano standing by now to talk a little bit more about all these tornadoes that came through and now what people are having to deal with today. ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have one tornado watch that's been issued already today. And this particular tornado out of Kansas yesterday.
COLLINS: Wow.
MARCIANO: Taken by some storm chasers. Some of our affiliates, they just get out there with their helicopters and they actually chase the thing from the air. There you can kind of see the funnel as this thing rips across parts of Kansas yesterday. Leavenworth saw some action there and it got pretty close to Wichita also. Fairly limited amount of damage yesterday. So that's the good news with that situation.
But we have a threat today and we already have a couple of tornado warnings that have been posted just south and east of Dallas. These polygons have some rotation embedded in them. The latest issue down at Kaufman and down Zen County, these are all moving to the east- northeast about 45 miles an hour. So radar-indicated tornado there.
This is all part of a bigger system that has tornado watches that are in effect. There it is. That one until 1:00. This severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 1:00 as well. Mostly just some hail and some heavy thunder with that. All right. Let's talk about the cold side of this. A lot of ski resorts wrapped up business this past weekend.
We got some snow falling in the Denver area. It shouldn't amount to a whole lot but nonetheless some snow. It's roll along to the next stuff, to give you an idea of what we're dealing with here as far as the pattern is concerned, not only do we have the severe weather threat today, but I think a fair amount of flooding and possible across parts of the Mississippi Valley. And then record highs is going to be the case again today.
You could see temperature approach the 90-degree mark in places like D.C. Here's your severe weather swath. So we'll watch for that and again I think it will be ongoing throughout the afternoon and then tonight. But it shouldn't be as turbulent as it was yesterday.
One more item of concern. If you're doing some traveling, let me show you that rain across Dallas. Well, they've got some delays there. Dallas, Fort Worth departure delays of 30 minutes. Love field did have a ground stop earlier. But that's been allowed to expire. San Francisco seeing 55 minute delays there. So a little bit of action on all fronts. Temperatures -- Central Park at 92 degrees yesterday, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: Early introduction to summer, I supposed for the Big Apple.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. All right. Rob we'll check back a little later on. Thank you.
MARCIANO: You got it.
COLLINS: Is it overreacting to cancel travel plans because of swine flu and the outbreak? Well, what do you think? If you've possibly been exposed, what do you do? We're asking an expert who has plenty of experience with international health crisis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: SARS, bird flu and now the swine flu. Any time there's international fear about a disease, Dr. Myles Druckman and his organization jump in to deal with it. Dr. Druckman is the vice president of medical services for International SOS. He's joining us now live from Los Angeles. Thanks for being with us this morning.
First my question to you is this about travel recommendations. If you're headed to Mexico, what do you do? Do you cancel the trip? Is now the time?
DR. MYLES DRUCKMAN, VICE PRESIDENT, MEDICAL SERVICES, INTERNATIONAL SOS: Well I think this is a very important issue. What we're seeing is a lot of organizations look at their travel policies. You're really at the phase now where we have quite a significant outbreak in Mexico -
COLLINS: Sure.
DRUCKMAN: Mexico City, in particular. So you really want to look at really what you want to consider is nonessential travel and really clearly looking at that. Do we really need to go there? Should we continue to monitor the situation? I can tell you at International SOS, we actually have a travel restriction on this that if we have any employees going to Mexico, this needs to be approved by management before we do go there. So I think that's prudent. I think it's an evolving situation.
COLLINS: Sure.
DRUCKMAN: And it's not only just potentially getting ill. I think the other issue is you can become stranded there potentially. They could have changes in airline rules. We're seeing a lot of government shift their policies...
COLLINS: Right.
DRUCKMAN: ... about returning travelers. All of those things can influence it.
COLLINS: We've actually already seen some reports and shown them right here on CNN of people who are there and wondering when they're going to be able to get out of there.
DRUCKMAN: Exactly.
COLLINS: Definitely. Remind us. Because this was my question this morning. If I was in Mexico last week, I would know by now, obviously, that I had either contracted it or not because I would be feeling ill. Give us an idea of how long the flu bug, if you will, lasts in this case.
DRUCKMAN: Well, again, it's a very fluid situation. The scientists are looking at this as we go through. But a typical influenza, you are asymptomatic but actually exposed and contagious, potentially for a number of days...
COLLINS: Yes, for much longer...
DRUCKMAN: Before you actually develop symptoms. And then once you've actually recovered, you can also be contagious for a number of days after that as well. So right now we're being very, very conservative. Obviously anyone who is ill, suspected of being ill, you really want to seek medical attention. I think it's also clear that it's very hard to differentiate the seasonal flu from this flu.
COLLINS: Right.
DRUCKMAN: So they have to do the testing. And then you really want to ensure that you're completely asymptomatic before, you know, you return to work and return out to the community. So we're very, very sensitive. You're going to see public health authorities monitor the situation very closely. You know, really looking at the CDC, looking at the W.H.O., the recommendations you may see may change and move around. And that's not unheard of. It's really to be expected as we learn more about this virus.
COLLINS: Yes. Very good point. I know you've done an awful lot of work with S.A.R.S. and avian flu and all those situations. Is this going to be a pandemic? Any way to tell at this point?
DRUCKMAN: Well, it's anyone's guess. I think that these viruses are very sneaky. So they can change quickly.
COLLINS: Sure.
DRUCKMAN: Constantly mutating. I think the message really is we need to prepare for it. And I think you're seeing, you know, very prudent work done by government agencies, public health authorities. I think CNN has been excellent in educating the public, about what I can do. We're seeing companies very much involved.
COLLINS: Good.
DRUCKMAN: They're activating their crisis management teams. So I think it's a team effort. And you know, let's plan for something, you know, significant happening and hopefully it doesn't.
COLLINS: Yes, very good. Very good. All right. Dr. Myles Druckman with the International SOS. We sure do appreciate your help this morning. We'll talk again. Thank you.
DRUCKMAN: Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: Almost 100 days on the job as president. So is Barack Obama making the grade so far? This morning we check in with the money experts to give us a presidential grade. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Swine flu fears are sweeping the globe. Even hitting Wall Street. The concern for investors, how the outbreak will affect the global economy. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange now with more details on this. Hi there, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Well, we've seen it before, if you remember SARS...
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... and what that did, especially to business travel in Asia, Heidi. But of course, we live in an era of the staycation, right? A lot of people staying at home. They're really holding on to their cash.
So, imagine the fears sweeping the travel and tourism industries just as we start to head into the height of the travel season. So, that sector has already been hit and hit hard by a global recession. Now the European Union is advising against nonessential U.S. and Mexico travel. And, of course, so many Mexican communities rely heavily on tourists.
Now, airlines are not canceling flights...
COLLINS: Right.
LISOVICZ: ... but many are waiving penalties for changing their reservations. These were coming through over the weekend, Heidi. I'm sure you're aware of it. American, United, Continental, US Airways. Well, guess what? Those stocks are down sharply.
I'm checking out Delta and Continental. Their shares are down 14 percent right now. Hotel stocks like Starwood right now down 9 percent. Carnival Cruise down 10 percent. You get the idea. But check out the blue chips. We're off the lows of the session. So, this is really not too bad, down 16 points. Nasdaq is down half a percent, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and earlier, I found this kind of curious. Pharmaceutical companies, of course, could benefit from swine flu. But are we seeing that yet?
LISOVICZ: Oh, yes. Yes, we are.
COLLINS: Yes? OK.
LISOVICZ: Yes, an instant reaction, yes. GlaxoSmithKline, its shares that trade here in New York right now are up 6 percent. Roche shares are up 3 percent. Baxter International up 3 percent.
Roche and Glaxo make flu vaccine, and so the governments are likely to increase orders. It's as simple as that. You know, sometimes in times like this, there is an opportunity. And pharmaceutical companies could benefit from it, and so could society if they have the right thing. And so, you're seeing those shares jump right now, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Susan Lisovicz, we sure do appreciate that. And I know you're watching the numbers all day long right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Wednesday will mark President Obama's first 100 days in office. And people have been watching closely to how he's been handling things. Especially the economy, which has certainly dominated his time on the job so far.
So, is he off to a good start? Let's talk about it with Jeanne Sahadi from CNNmoney.com -- hi there, Jean -- Ryan Mack, president of Optimum Capital Management -- hi, Ryan -- and economist Jeffrey Miron. Jeffrey, good morning to you, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.
COLLINS: And thanks for being here, everybody. Listen, Jean, I want to start with you. The economic recovery and reinvestment plan. Explain what President Obama has done.
JEANNE SAHADI, CNNMONEY.COM: He basically got passed less than four weeks in office the largest spending bill in history, $780 billion. It includes a lot of money for infrastructure, it includes a lot of breaks for low- and middle-income -- tax breaks for low- and middle-income families, help for the unemployed, help for states in terms of paying for Medicaid. It will help state budgets make up for about 40 percent of their shortfall.
So, he gets political credit for getting something passed quickly. He didn't do it in a bipartisan way. But economists on the left and the right have said, well, you know, at least it's something. Not everybody's in love with the package. But they think there are some good elements in it.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. All right. Well, there's certainly always going to be people on both sides, I imagine, with all of these issues.
So, Ryan, let's begin with you. Your grade on the economic recovery and reinvestment plan, and tell us why.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, I'll tell you, I give him an A minus for the simple fact that the vision, the long-term vision that the president has had for this country is phenomenal. I feel that the money, the investments that he had in education, the investment he had in weatherizing programs and trying to make sure that we can relieve ourselves from foreign oil dependency, it's phenomenal.
However, again, as Jeanne stated, it wasn't necessarily -- it was tried to do in a bipartisan way, but in doing so, he actually put an additional -- a lot of tax cuts within the program that I don't feel is necessarily are as stimulative as we would like for them to be. And I would like to see is more money invested in infrastructure. And in putting tax cuts in to appease the GOP party, and they gave him no support. In doing so, I can't put the blame on him for that. But I do think that the plan itself was less impactful.
COLLINS: All right. And Jeffrey Miron, what are your thoughts?
JEFFREY MIRON, VISITING ECONOMIC PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I guess I would give it a much lower grade. I think if we were grading on the Ivy League scale with a lot of inflation, a B plus. But on a more realistic scale, I would give it a C. I think that it's not right to think that we need tons more expenditure on any of these activities.
We're in fact wasting lots of money in many areas, and the reforms that would make education and infrastructure help things better, involve a lot less expenditure rather than a lot more. The tax cuts are not the kind of tax cuts that are going to really improve the efficiency of the economy.
They were not reductions in high marginal rates on businesses or individuals. They were mainly kind of lump-sum transfers to people. And they won't improve incentives going forward. So, I'm much less optimistic that it's going to have any desirable effects.
COLLINS: All right. Let's get back now to one of the other major issues that everybody is well aware of, and that is the bank bailouts. A lot of money there as well. Jeanne, once again, you set the stage for us. What has President Obama done?
SAHADI: A lot in the first 100 days. He managed, even before he got into office, to secure the second a half of the TARP money, the $350 billion. They've used much of that already. They came out -- well, they tried to change the vision of TARP by coming up with new ways to use it, for instance, creating a public-private partnership to buy banks' toxic assets. That hasn't gotten under way yet. They're still working on the rules.
They also came up with a trillion-dollar program to boost lending to consumers and businesses. The Fed started buying treasuries, which helped to further drive down interest rates. Lending has improved a bit, but not as much as people would like.
COLLINS: All right, so, Ryan, I'll do it again with you again first. Your grade on how the president has happened the bank bailouts, and why.
MACK: Well, as far as the bank bailouts, I'll give him a B plus. I feel that there are a lot of blips in terms of initially coming out with somewhat of a plan and then coming back to the public with finally a realized plan. Kind of evaded consumer confidence a little bit on that.
The AIG bonuses, I think he should have been more forthright. Even though the bailout was originally done under TARP I in a previous administration, the AIG bonuses should have been more forthright in terms of talking out against those.
I do feel like in terms of the PPIP or the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a lot of the burden, actualized, it goes back to the taxpayer. I mean, these investors, in which there should be a larger pool of investors, essentially are getting 50 percent of return and essentially are not -- are getting 10 percent of the risk. So, I would like to get a little bit more of the risk on them. But all in all, great vision. I do think it'll be successful, and think I'll give him a B plus.
COLLINS: And, Jeffrey Miron, your thoughts on the bank bailout. How long do we have to see whether or not this will be a success?
MIRON: Well, I think that we have a lot of information that it hasn't been a success. And I think it's because we've gone about it the wrong way. We've put a ton of taxpayer money in the hands of the creditors and the equity holders of these banks, rather than being willing to accept some amount of disruption and bankruptcy that would get us to a point where the banks were healthy again.
All we're doing is forestalling the inevitable. And we're placing the burden on the people who did not take the risk, the taxpayer, rather than the people who took the risk, the equity -- the stakeholders in the banks.
COLLINS: All right, well, we could have a discussion for a very long time here on all the different things that have happened in the first 100 days. But for now, we sure do appreciate your time, everybody. Jeanne Sahadi with CNNmoney.com, Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management and Jeffrey Miron is an economist with Harvard University. Thanks so much, everybody. Appreciate it.
SAHADI: Thank you.
MIRON: Thank you.
MACK: Thank you.
COLLINS: Now, I want to remind you about this, too. Wednesday night, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, a CNN prime-time special, 100 days of the Obama presidency, our "National Report Card." We'll give you a chance to grade the president and Congress on how they've done so far. And then at 8:00 Eastern, President Obama holds a news conference where he will assess how well he's doing.
So, the swine flu. Where is it? How severe is it? And what's Washington doing about it? We have the answers coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The swine flu outbreak. Here's what we know at this hour. In the U.S., there are now 20 confirmed cases scattered across five states. Americans who've gotten sick have been hit with what seems like a milder strain of the virus, though. But in Mexico, the swine flu has killed more than 100 people. There have been another 1,600 cases reported there. In all, at least eight countries are reporting cases of swine flu. Now, cases of the flu are reported as far away as New Zealand. If the virus can get there from Mexico, how safe are we right across the border?
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joining us now live with how the government is working to keep us safe. So, Jeanne, any changes in what the federal government is doing or recommending at this point?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They have not made any new announcements this is morning. Yesterday, Secretary Napolitano said that she would be providing daily updates on the situation. Nothing's been scheduled in terms of a briefing at this point in time. We wouldn't be surprised if one was put on the calendar.
COLLINS: Yes, well, that's what I was just going to ask. Should we expect changes here? It seems like this is obviously a developing story.
MESERVE: Yes. They are spending a lot of time on medical surveillance here. They want to know how many people are sick, where they are and how sick they are. And it's that sort of information that's going to guide any further changes in approach and policy. We don't know exactly what those changes would be. But at this point it, wouldn't surprise anybody if the government further ramped up its approach.
COLLINS: Yes, sure. So, what exactly is happening at the nation's borders? Because we've been getting different reports. You know, a little lackadaisical, some of the reports saying that, you know, people just being asked how they feel, and then other ones having to really document quite a bit much more information.
MESERVE: Well, the official policy is there is something called passive surveillance going on, which just means border officials are looking at people as they come in. And if they look like they have a fever, if they're coughing, if they show other symptoms, then they'd be stopped, and they'd be questioned more closely.
And if they truly appeared to have an illness, they would be isolated, and medical authorities would be called, and they would deal with the situation. Now, there are those who say perhaps the government should be being a little bit more aggressive here.
But, you know, one thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people may be asymptomatic.
COLLINS: Yes. Exactly.
MESERVE: They can be carrying the virus, coming across the border and there wouldn't be any obvious signs.
COLLINS: Yes. And that's the scary part, certainly. Is the U.S. ready if there's a pandemic? What are your sources telling you?
MESERVE: Well, I'll tell you, there's been a lot of progress made in the last five years or so. There is now a pandemic plan, which lays out who is responsible for what. There has been progress made in the manufacture of vaccines, although it's still a slow process. We heard officials yesterday saying it would take four or five months to gear up a specialized vaccine for this swine flu.
Public health laboratories have beefed up their personnel and their capabilities. There's better networking and communication amongst public health officials. So, that's all a good thing. But, you know, one thing that's largely problematic, according to the folks I talked to, is hospital surge capacity.
COLLINS: Yes.
MESERVE: If you had a lot of people who had to go to the hospital, there would be a problem finding them the beds.
COLLINS: Yes, no question. All right, Jeanne Meserve, sure do appreciate that. Our homeland security correspondent, thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, governments in Asia, where they've dealt with the avian flu and SARS outbreaks are hoping their experience serves them through this crisis. Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia are cleaning up and sterilizing the old thermal scanners they used during the SARS crisis back in 2003. They are also checking for signs of fever among passengers who arrive from north America.
In Thailand, there's a possibility visitors from flu-affected countries could be quarantined. Well, the U.S. has not issued any travel warnings to Mexico, but some airlines are waiving fees now for passengers who want to change their tickets to Mexico. Airlines are following their own procedures and watching for sick passengers and crews.
A New York private school is closed, though, and is being disinfected now due to the outbreak. Eight students have been confirmed with the virus. More than 100 others have been infected. Some students had been to Mexico for spring break. Some schools in California, Ohio and Texas are closing due to suspicions or confirmations of swine flu.
These students are from San Antonio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a recording about how they're closing down Ellison Steel (ph) because of the flu that's going around. And we were just going to have, like, a dance competition at the school today. But it was also canceled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was quite shocking to me that they would close the school down the week of TAC (ph), so obviously they think it's pretty serious. I mean, it's one of the most important weeks of the entire school year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Interesting. All right, well, across the world, some other safety measures to protect against a potential flu pandemic, some countries like China, Russia and Taiwan may quarantine people now with symptoms. Texas health officials have asked some patients to go into voluntary isolation.
So, what's that? Here with a closer look, senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Exactly. We need to know, what is quarantine or isolation, voluntary or otherwise?
COHEN: Right. The terms get misused all the time, so let's try to clarify that. Quarantine is when you tell a healthy person, stay home because we don't want you to become ill. Isolation is when you tell a sick person and those directly around them, like family members, please don't go out in large crowds. Stay home. Stay away from people. We don't want you to get other people sick.
So, in Texas right now, we have voluntary isolation -- that's what we're told by the Department of Health there -- for the two swine flu cases in Texas. So, they're telling those two high school students who went to the school that you see here and that we've seen earlier in the show, please try to stay at home. That's what they're telling them.
You can go out in the yard. You can drive around in your car. But we don't want you at church, we don't want you in movie theaters, we don't want you in large gatherings. So, please try to stick to your own little family there, because if you were going to infect them, you would have already infected your family.
Now, this is not for a huge period of time. They're only under voluntary isolation for seven days. Day one meaning the first day they've seen symptoms. And as you can see from the very uncrowded playground here, not only are the kids not going to school in this area, also everyone, adults included, are being told, please don't have large gatherings.
COLLINS: Yes.
COHEN: If you want to get together in big groups, please do it some other time.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely. But what really can you do, because you're using words like "please" and "voluntary" and all of that. If you decide not the comply with a thing like voluntary isolation, what can health officials really do? You have to clamp down.
COHEN: Right. Technically, state health officials have the police power to require you to stay in your home. However, that police power is hardly ever used...
COLLINS: Yes.
COHEN: ... because it's only...
COLLINS: Doesn't sound very voluntary.
COHEN: No, it's not very voluntary. And they should theoretically do it, but they would have to show that there was a huge public health threat.
COLLINS: Exactly.
COHEN: And someone who is sick and is getting better, never even needed to be in the hospital, these illnesses are relatively mild. They might have a tough time making the argument that they are -- that this is such a big public health threat that they have to stay home. So, instead, they've asked them to voluntary do it.
COLLINS: Understood. And I thought you did a great job, last time we talked, about perspective here. When we're talking about a pandemic, possible pandemic, and the situation that we have now, remind us real quickly with that perspective. We have 20 cases.
COHEN: We have 20 cases. These people are mildly ill. They have all recovered without the use of antivirals. And only one out of the 20 has been hospitalized. So, in a pandemic, we're talking about enormous numbers of illnesses, enormous numbers of deaths all around the world. We haven't seen that quite yet.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you, Elizabeth.
If the swine flu outbreak started down in Mexico, how did it pop up nearly 7,000 miles away in New Zealand? Phil Black traces the spread for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm standing outside Rangitoto College in Auckland. Nine students and one teacher from this school have fallen ill and been diagnosed with influenza A after returning from a school trip to Mexico. It's suspected they are suffering from this new strain of the swine flu.
At another school near here, three others have also fallen ill after returning from Mexico. The possibility that these children have come back from a school excursion with a potentially life-threatening illness has spooked much of New Zealand. Pharmacies here are reporting a run on sales of things like face masks and anti-flu drugs.
But the government here is urging people not to panic. It says it has procedures in place, and these procedures are world-class, designed back when a few years ago New Zealand feared it could fall victim to an epidemic of bird flu. Phil Black, CNN, Auckland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN severe weather center. Another day where tornadoes will be a threat. Already a watch and several warnings posted. And record-breaking heat on the East Coast. Weather is coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Stormy skies over Dallas. You can see the flashes of lightning earlier this morning, too. It could get messy in that same area today. Some tornado warnings are in effect after several reports of twisters in the middle of the country over the weekend. Rob Marciano joining us now. Yes, it was pretty nasty in several different places, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: It's a bright idea. Long-lasting LED light bulbs that save energy and save you money. We're talking about the same bulb being used for 20 years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Many environmentally conscious people have finished replacing all their incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. But new technology could make those obsolete, too. Stephanie Elam has our "Energy Fix" now from New York. Stephanie, I just can't keep up.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know. It seems like they keep changing. You think you know what you should have in your house, and they tell me about something else, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes.
ELAM: But, you know, we may have heard about this all the time around Christmas. It's these LED lights. Lots of stores sell LED lights during the holidays. Well, experts say these lights are actually light-emitting diode bulbs and the next big thing. And you could save a big chunk on your electric bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN EVERS, LED LIVING TECHNOLOGIES: Everybody's talking about compact fluorescents and things like that. But everybody who's in that market knows that LED comes right after that. The product is capable of replacing hot lights and (INAUDIBLE) things like that, and saving almost 80 to sometimes 90 percent of the energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: OK, so the big question is, how much can that energy efficiency actually save you? Well, compared to incandescent bulbs, LEDs can trim the lighting portion of your electric bill by about 70 percent, and they last 100,000 hours. So, you could have the same bulbs for 20 years in your house.
COLLINS: Wow. ELAM: They also -- I know, that's huge. The other good thing here, they don't contain mercury, Heidi. And that's obviously a big drawback with CFLs.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. Well, that is good. But there always seem to be cons when we get news like this, right? What are they here?
ELAM: Yes, there are two big ones. And the first is what does it for most consumers. LED bulbs can really cost between $15 and $20 each. So, with a price tag like that, it might make sense to use them only in certain places like outdoors or in other spots that are hard to reach. The second problem with them is that the lighting can actually be harsh. And so, if that's really harsh, you may not want to read a book by that. And that could also be harsh.
But they're working to make it a little bit warmer for us, Heidi. But still some time to go. But maybe in a couple years.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. We sure do appreciate that. Stephanie Elam with our "Energy Fix" this morning. Thank you, Stephanie.
ELAM: Sure.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Join us again tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. For now, CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.
