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Author: Flu Strikes in Waves; Triple Car Bombing in Sadr City Kills at Least 18; Recent College Grads Grade Obama's First 100 Days; Students Injured in North Carolina School Bus Accident; First-Quarter GDP Shows 6.1 Percent Decline
Aired April 29, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Taliban fighters, abduct dozens of Pakistani soldiers and police after the military launched new offensives into Taliban controlled territories near the capital of Islamabad. Pakistan's military says more than 50 militants were killed in air strikes.
Swine flu is the focus this hour on Capitol Hill. The secretary of Homeland Security set to testify before a Senate committee. Janet Napolitano will discuss the federal government's response to the outbreak and its readiness if things get worse.
The swine flu spread. The number of cases grows. Here in the United States, 64 cases are now confirmed across five states. Three more states are now reporting suspected cases, but federal health officials have not yet confirmed them.
Now, the World Health Organization says the swine flu is confirmed in seven countries. At least two more countries are awaiting confirmation. And earlier this morning, confirmation of the first swine flu death in the United States. The victim, a 23-month- old child in Texas.
About an hour ago, though, we learned the child was actually from Mexico. He came to Houston for medical treatment. It is the first confirmed death outside of Mexico, though. Federal health officials are not releasing any more information at this time.
Now CNN crews are following every development and breaking it down for you. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen right here in Atlanta and Christine Romans will be joining us from New York. Let's begin with you, Elizabeth. And the first confirmed swine flu deaths here in the United States. What more do we know about this child? We have already mentioned that we have been told and confirmed that he is - I shouldn't say he, the child is from Mexico. Correct?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, and we don't know if the child is a boy or a girl.
COLLINS: That's right.
COHEN: We know the child is from Mexico, came to the United States to get health care. It's not clear if he was diagnosed in Mexico as having swine flu or perhaps was diagnosed in the United States. We know that the child is 23 months old. That is all that we know. Now, this is obviously a tragic thing to have happened. I however would not use the word surprising or shocking. CDC officials have been warning us now for several days, be prepared for deaths in this country. It's happened in Mexico. It will likely happen here.
COLLINS: Yes. And a lot of people, when we see news like this, now, wondering, where do we stand on a vaccine?
COHEN: Right. Where we stand on a vaccine as the public health authorities are trying to get one together quickly. As a matter of fact, they sent an e-mail two days ago to the eight vaccine research centers in this country. They're set up to do just this and they told these folks, be on alert, be on standby. We may be coming to you with clinical trials that we need you to do.
But here is the clincher, Heidi. It takes months to come up with a vaccine.
COLLINS: Right.
COHEN: This is not a fast process. They use technology that's 50 years old, which involves chickens and eggs and growing the vaccine. It is tough to do. Now, it's interesting. They've also asked these researchers to dig back, way back into their freezers, and find blood samples from 1976, from folks who were vaccinated at that time for swine flu.
They're hoping that those blood samples might give them some clues as how to develop a safer vaccine this time. The vaccine back then seems to have caused some problems, seems to have caused some illnesses and they had to stop vaccinating people.
COLLINS: Yes. We talked about that yesterday, under the Ford administration there.
All right. Elizabeth Cohen, we know you're following it very, very closely this morning. Sure do appreciate that.
Now we want to get directly to the Pentagon where a marine has been diagnosed with a suspected case of swine flu. Barbara Starr is standing by now, our Pentagon correspondent with a little more on this.
So, Barbara what do we know?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, You know, Heidi, this was a very unexpected piece of news here at the Pentagon this morning. We thought we going into just a press conference with the commandant of Marine corps to talk about Iraq and Afghanistan.
We asked him, any word on swine flu amongst the marines? A very surprising answer. He said, yes. Let's listen right away to what General James Conway had to tell reporters here a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. JAMES T. CONWAY, U.S. MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT: We have one suspected but not confirmed case, a young man came in to the clinic over the weekend, on Saturday morning, flu-like symptoms, vomiting and not able to keep food down, those types of things.
He was tested. The initial tests are that he is suspected to have the flu. He has been quarantined along with that of his roommate. That room is quarantined off and he's undergoing additional tests. The battalion surgeon, very aggressive young navy lieutenant has identified 37 other marines that he has come in contact with over the weekend, before he came in.
Those people have also been, at this point, set aside and they're being watched and tested and given the Tamiflu to prevent any further exposure to the disease on their part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: We're trying to refine the number a little bit, Heidi. Whether it's a total of 37 or the two roommates in quarantine plus 35 others. We'll get back to you on that.
COLLINS: OK.
STARR: But as you can well imagine, Heidi, for the U.S. military, this is a matter of concern. Because, of course, marines, army soldiers, live in barracks, in very close quarters. When they get ill, it often spreads through the barracks. Even if it's just a common cold.
So they're really trying to get a handle on this very quickly and make sure that there is no spread, but nearly three dozen marines, of course, now, under a form of quarantine and isolation at Twentynine Palms in California. The results from the CDC on that ill marine expected back in 48 hours. Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. Very good. Barbara, we'd love to hear the latest on that. Absolutely. Appreciate that. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr this morning with some surprising news there.
Suspected and confirmed cases of swine flu have forced a handful of schools now to shut down across the country. Earlier this morning President Obama said more school closings may be necessary, and every effort must be made to control the spread of this virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are closely and continuously monitoring the emerging cases of this virus throughout the United States. Overnight we also received confirmation that an infant in Texas has died as a result of this virus.
And my thoughts and prayers and deepest condolences go out to the family as well as those who are ill, and recovering from this flu. This is obviously a serious situation. Serious enough to take the utmost precautions. Secretary Napolitano, Secretary Sebelius and our entire team are in close contact with state and local authorities around the nation, but I would also urge health agencies in local communities to be vigilant about identifying suspected cases of this virus in your areas and reporting them to the appropriate state and federal authorities in a timely way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Also this morning, Chicago officials announced the closure of an elementary school on the city's north side. Six students had been taken to the hospital and tested probable for swine flu. That student is recovering and the school is awaiting federal tests to confirm if the virus was indeed swine flu.
Quickly, we want to go ahead and get to this Houston press conference right now regarding the very first swine flu death in the United States. Let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MAYOR BILL WHITE, HOUSTON, TEXAS: ... this country and this community as better prepared than ever to deal with it. That doesn't mean that an influenza epidemic is a good thing. There is a report that will be presented by Dr. David Pearse who is the public health authority for this region.
Dr. Pearse, I've seen, he and others within our great medical community work through hurricane disasters. We have one of the greatest medical centers in the region, and there was a report that was first released this morning about a fatality in Texas.
It was released by the CDC. It was a transfer patient into this area. We have great medical facilities in this area, and so it's natural that the great medical facilities in this area will be a place where there are medical transports.
With more details on the particular case and the precautions citizens should take, I want to give you Dr. David Purse. Doctor?
DR. DAVID PEARSE, DIRECTOR, HOUSTON EMS: Thank you, mayor.
Good morning, everyone. I would just like to remind everyone that the flu virus that we're dealing with so far has behaved like the many flu viruses. It is easily spread, apparently. We're early on here, but it appears that it's spread human to human and it appears to be spread just like the seasonal flu. So that your usual personal hygiene habits of frequent hand washing, some social distancing.
You need to cough, cough into a tissue and throw it out. You don't have a tissue, you can cough into the corner of your elbow. And we should wipe doorknobs, keyboards, things such as that. That's the single most important way for folks to protect themselves.
We are very saddened this morning to follow up on the news that was released this morning by the Centers for Disease Control that there has been a death of a child here in Houston. It is important for everyone to know that while the death occurred here in Houston, this unfortunate child was not a native Houstonian.
This child is a resident of Mexico who traveled to Brownsville, Texas to visit family, was there in Brownsville where the child first became ill, was taken to a hospital. On April the 13th, and was admitted to the hospital in Brownsville.
The patient became quite ill rather rapidly and was transferred the next day to a hospital here in Houston, and as you know, unfortunately, in spite of the best efforts, the child succumbed to the illness and the CDC provided us with laboratory confirmation which they announced this morning that the child did, in fact, was, in fact, infected with the swine flu virus.
The household contacts of that patient and in particular those that are here in Houston are asymptomatic. They are well and they are being looked after from a medical standpoint by professionals. And so they're being attended to as well.
So that really doesn't change the landscape here in Houston. We still know that the virus is here in the United States. We know that it is in Texas. We know that we need to take our own personal precautions. The city and county public health as well as the state and the surrounding public health agencies are very much on top of this, with very heightened surveillance, that will mean for you that we will you know, as cases come up we're going to learn more about them very quickly, which is different from the seasonal flu, which we monitor, but not with the amount of vigilance that we're getting now.
So I don't think anybody will be confused by the amount of vigilance that we're paying to this virus versus the seasonal virus.
COLLINS: All right. I wanted to give you a little bit of that press conference that we have been telling you that would happen this morning, specifically regarding the first death, confirmed death, in the United States with swine flu.
That is the public health director in Houston, David Pearse, talking more about how this child, this 23-month-old, tragically died from swine flu, but also that this child had come from Mexico in order to receive treatment in Houston. So he also said that the people he came in contact with are still well at this time, and, therefore, this situation, as tragic as it is, has not changed the landscape, as he called it, for what they will be doing in the state of Texas regarding swine flu and the outbreak.
We'll stay on top of that for you. Should the situation change, of course, we'll bring you more details.
Meanwhile, the swine flu outbreak, Somalia pirates, North Korea's nuclear threat, no question President Obama has been tested his first 100 days in office. How is he handling it all? CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OBAMA: I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Certainly not what you'd expect from your commander in chief. But for President Obama, holding himself and his administration accountable has been a hallmark of his first 100 days.
Since taking office in January, it has been on the job crisis management training for him and his staff. Six of his top picks ran into trouble, four for not paying taxes. Historians say it was Obama's mea culpa that saved him.
ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, AMERICAN UNIV.: He's made some pretty serious mistakes, particularly in cabinet appoints but he was able, very quickly to admit his mistakes.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Obama's approach in times of crisis reveals how he leads. He has had to balance delivery bad news while calling for calm in confronting the economic meltdown and now the swine flu outbreak.
OBAMA: This is obviously a cause for concern and requires heightened state of alert. But it's not a cause for alarm.
MALVEAUX: President Obama got high marks for using that calm in his first international crisis. Of all things, pirates who took an American captain hostage.
OBAMA: I'm very proud.
MALVEAUX: He laid low until after the rescue. Some see the presidents cautious approach as disconcerting.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYSTS: Some in Washington are asking, is he week and others asking, is he too meek?
MALVEAUX: Others question whether he's playing politics by not immediately being forthcoming.
OBAMA: It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.
MALVEAUX: How he speaks is a big part of his success says body language expert T.J. Walker.
He strides up there, completely calm and not rushed, $1 million smile on his face. And that just makes people feel more comfortable, especially in these trying times.
MALVEAUX: Walker says the president's body language is appropriate, unlike that of his predecessor.
T.J. WALKER, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: That was a striking horrific picture on Chancellor Merkel's face when President bush came up to her, put his hands on her back and she looked like that.
MALVEAUX: President Obama also uses subtle gestures to express his displeasure.
WALKER: He doesn't have to stand up and say, Vice President Biden, don't say that. Simply by shaking his head he's showing mild disapproval. Everything is in sync.
So he knows when to touch his vice president. He knows when to shake hands with a foreign leader and when not to rub their back. It is consistently appropriate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us now. Undeniably the greatest challenge for this president so far has been the economy. Still dealing with a lot of those challenges. What is next for these 100 days as we look forward?
MALVEAUX: Heidi, a lot more in the next three months or so. Well, first of all, bailing out the auto industry. Tomorrow is Chrysler's deadline. Proving it's making the kind of changes needed to become eligible for perhaps billions more in government dollars. GM's deadline is later in the month. So we're going to be looking at that.
Next week we're also going to find out the situation with the banks, the health of the banks, the stress tests that the government is imposing, to see if they're going to need further aid and assistance, and, Heidi, in the month over the summer or so, they'll be congressional hearings regarding health care reform.
We're also going to see those troops go to Afghanistan. That is something that President Obama has been talking about. Moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. A new front in this war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
COLLINS: Yes, no question about that. What are we going to hear tonight in this news conference, Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Well, tonight we expect that he's basically going to outline his goals. What he feels he's accomplished in the last 100 days. What his ambitions have been, and also looking forward. That he is still looking at education reform, energy policy, health care.
These are very big items on his agenda. He talked about it in the campaign incessantly. He is still says that he's good on his promises, but this is very, very ambitious, as you know, and, Heidi, we do expect that he will talk about things like the swine flu outbreak.
How is that going to impact his own ability? Is his administration ready to deal with this potential health care crisis? This is just one of many things, but he is going to say, look, he believes that they have done a lot in the last 100 days.
There's a lot of work to be done and we do expect that in this town hall meeting should be very interesting. In St. Louis, what are the kinds of questions he's going to get from everyday folks who want to know where are we headed with this?
He's got good approval numbers at this point and they want to make sure that they are listening to the American people.
COLLINS: All right. Very good, our White House correspondent. Thank you, Suzanne.
Make sure you stay with CNN tonight for a special look at the first 100 days of the Obama presidency. Join the best political team on television for the "CNN National Report Card" and get your chance to grade the president and congress. And we will have live coverage of President Obama's news conference. It all begins tonight 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
COLLINS: We heard a lot of promises on the campaign trail, as you know, and our Josh Levs has taken note. Hi there, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi. It's time for your favorite word of the morning or one of them. The Obamater.
COLLINS: A-ha.
LEVS: It's the ultimate breakdown and how many campaign promises President Obama so far has kept and how many he has broken.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We are getting some new information now about the first U.S. death from the swine flu. Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now with more on that.
Elizabeth, what are we hearing?
COHEN: Heidi, this is from the Texas State Department of Health. They say this 22-month-old boy is from Mexico City. He got on a commercial flight on April 4th and flew from Matamoras, Mexico to - I'm sorry. Flew from Mexico City to Matamoras, Mexico which is just over the border from Brownsville, Texas.
He was visiting relatives in Brownsville. Four days later he developed a fever and flu-like symptoms, which is when he was admitted to the hospital. Two interesting notes here. They say that they don't think that he was infectious when he was on that commercial flight.
None of his close family members or contacts have become ill. They also noted that the boy had several underlying health problems. They were not specific about those problems are. But again, a boy from Mexico City, flew to Matamoras, and then crossed the border into Brownsville.
COLLINS: OK. It was not known before the sex of the child. So a boy and a 22-month-old. Elizabeth Cohen following the story very closely for us. Appreciate that.
Back on the campaign trail, President Obama made a lot of promises. Now that he's in office, is he keeping them? Our Josh Levs is here now to break down the president's first 100 days in office.
Hey, Josh.
LEVS: Hey, there. Yes, you know what? We got a great way to do this. Thanks to the Obameter. Really enjoying that one.
COLLINS: We are so crafty!
LEVS: I know. Come on. I'll tell you, PolitiFact coined it, they deserve it, doing a great job. They kept track of hundreds of pledges that this president made on the campaign trail.
Now they're following how many have been broken, how many have been kept so far. I spoke with the head of PolitiFact and asked the big picture, how's this president doing?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL ADAIR, POLITIFACT.COM: He is off to a pretty energetic start. Just 100 days into his presidency or nearly 100 days, he has, by our calculations, broken only six. So of - now, it's important to note that that's of 514 promises total that are in our database.
So he has a lot more to go but he has made some progress on some pretty significant ones, and so I think he's got early momentum here.
LEVS: Still the truth is people vote when promises are made. Promises should be kept and obviously changing circumstance. But if it's a promise and you guys declared that is was broken that means it truly is broken, not just the result of an outside situation.
So talk to me about these broken one. What should people know about that category?
ADAIR: You bet. Of the six promises broken, they include things like, a promise that he made that he was going to post bills on the White House website and give people five days to comment. He didn't do that. He wanted to sign bills immediately after they were passed by Congress.
And so we rated that broken. Another one that earned a broken, was his promise about putting restrictions on lobbyist who wanted to serve in his administration. He claimed that he was going to end the revolving door for lobbyists, but we found he put in so many loopholes into his policy, that it really made the policy not what he said it would be. So had earned a promise broken on that.
LEVS: You also did something interesting. You rated what you think are the most important promises. When I looked specifically at that list, it looked like he was doing particularly well in that list, right?
ADAIR: When you look at overall, at the major themes and the themes that he had during his campaign, ending the war in Iraq, beefing up the presence in Afghanistan, those are things that he has made progress on. In the case of Afghanistan, we rated that a promise kept because he's sending additional brigades to Afghanistan. On some of the other things, though, he's got some work to do. One of his big promises was a cap in trade program to create a system to limit global warming, and he still has to push that through Congress, and that's going to be a tough one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And you can see much more of that breakdown at politifact.com. Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Josh, I know you're also following reaction from our viewers this morning, too. Interesting to hear what they had to say.
LEVS: Yes, they're all over this. It is interesting. Let's actually zoom in. Hey Heidi, your blog - your brand new blog in the CNN NEWSROOM is firing up. People blogging you like crazy.
COLLINS: It's blowing up because that site was lonely.
LEVS: Well, that's true. Well no one wants Heidi Collins to be lonely. The word's out. I can hear the blog posts already.
Yvonne, I'm very concerned about this administration, it appears very scattered. Over here, we got another one. Barb, I think President Obama is doing better than Bush ever thought to do in eight years. Kudos to our pres.
And we got another one from the blog. Lester, let's see, I would give the president an A, because he is doing everything possible with the little time in office. We're getting a couple more here. We got over at the twitter page. This is from terrier, I give Obama an overall C-minus until the day he represents the people first.
And here's getting one from Facebook right here. Kendally, I don't recall another president in my lifetime who has shown so much ambition. I do approve of almost all of Obama's decisions thus far, but whether or not you do, you cannot argue his desire to make a difference.
And let's show you on that graphics, so you can weigh in. These are your options here, Facebook, twitter, the brand new CNN NEWSROOM blog. You can see my pages there, joshlevs.CNN and we'll be keeping here, as we read these through the NEWSROOM hours today, on this 100th day.
Of course, we love to hear from you. Your thoughts and obviously Heidi on all sides.
COLLINS: Yes. Very good. Try to compete with my blog by putting your little full screen up there. Are you?
LEVS: No. Who am I?
COLLINS: OK. Yes, right. Thank you, Josh. Appreciate it very much.
LEVS: You got it.
COLLINS: The spread of the deadly swine flu. It may be months before we know the true toll. I'll talk to one flu expert who says we can learn critical lessons from past outbreaks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly, we want to go ahead and show you Janet Napolitano, obviously Homeland Security secretary. She is talking about swine flu this morning. Certainly has caught Congress' attention, because there are two hearings planned for today.
She is testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and governmental affairs committee. That's where she is right now in order to discuss the issue and, of course, the federal response as well.
Let's dip into this for just a moment and hear what she's having to say.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: ... would have very, very little marginal benefit in terms of containing the actual outbreak of virus within our own country.
As I mentioned, our coordination with state, local partners is very robust. We are also coordinating with our international partners and with the private sector.
I have been in phone contact with the governors of many of the states, and I'll be making another series of calls this afternoon. I have spoken with my direct counterparts in Mexico and Canada. We have adopted in many respects a tri-national approach to this, because the virus itself doesn't know when to stop at a border or not.
And the private sector office and the infrastructure protection offices of the department are working with the private sector. Really, informing them that it's time to dust off their pandemic flu plans, if they haven't exercised them, to get them ready and, really, to focus on business continuity planning as we move forward.
Within the department, we are working to prepare the health of our own employees.
COLLINS: All right, quickly, I wanted to give you just a little bit of what Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is saying.
Again, she is testifying today before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, talking about swine flu, of course. You heard her mention this trinational approach that they are discussing and going towards. She's been speaking with governors across the country and asking many health officials to, quote, "dust off" their pandemic flu plans. So, we will stay on top of that for you as well throughout the morning.
Meanwhile, lessons of the past. The new outbreak of swine flu has scientists scrambling for answers now. John Barry is the author of "The Great Influenza," about the deadly outbreak in 1918. He's joining us now live this morning from New Orleans.
Thanks for being with us, John. Quickly, I want to get to this. You are doubtful that this is an explosive pandemic that was seen -- many, many hundreds of cases in San Diego alone. That means that this flu has not fully adapted to humans? What do you mean by that?
JOHN BARRY, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT INFLUENZA": Well, it's an animal virus that's in a new environment. Like any organism in a new environment, it's got adapt or die. The reason I think the World Health Organization has not yet raised the level even higher than it is is because, although we know we have human-to-human transmission, it's not clear that we're having human-to-human-to-human transmission.
It's much slower-moving than a normal influenza, which indicates that, you know, it has not fully adapted.
COLLINS: Sure. Sure. I understand.
BARRY: There is a -- OK.
COLLINS: We were just...
BARRY: I mean, I do -- I'm sorry. Go ahead.
COLLINS: No, no, no. That's all right. I understand what you're saying, because obviously, you know, we talk about the subways. We talk about airplanes. We talk about all of these different sort of public areas where, if it were spreading and that adaptable to humans, there would be many, many, many more people who would have contracted this illness. So, we do understand that. Also want to get to something...
BARRY: Exactly right.
COLLINS: ... that you wrote in "The New York Times" -- this is an op-ed -- and put it on the screen for everybody now. It says this: Even if this virus were to peter out soon, there is a strong possibility it would only go underground, quietly continuing to infect some people while becoming better adapted to humans, and then explode around the world."
And that's the scary part, because that's exactly what happened back in 1918. Explain that to us. What's the risk?
BARRY: Well, I think that that's a real risk. There are pandemics as far back in history as we can look, but there are four we know about in detail: 1889, 1918, 1957 and 1968. Now, only one of those was really dangerous, but all four of them moved in different waves. And the first wave was well-defined in 1889 and 1918. It was very, very mild. And then the second wave came around. It was more severe. The reason that's very important is because it actually gives us, if that were to happen, it would give us some time to move forward on vaccines.
COLLINS: All right. Understood. Also, it seems like there would need to be a way to actually be able to detect if a certain strain of flu was going to have that ability. But I don't know if that's possible or not, and I don't know how long something like that would take.
BARRY: There's no way of making that prediction. There's not a virologist in the world that could make an accurate prediction.
COLLINS: Yes, now, what do you think about this newest information, as we've been reporting today, about the first death in the United States? A 22-month-old little boy tragically died from this. He did come from Mexico to Houston, though, in order to receive treatment. Does that change the story at all?
BARRY: Not really, but what it does give is for the first time, we've gotten some good information that needs to be analyzed. Because the length of time that -- before he became symptomatic sounds like it's longer than ordinary influenza, usually one to three days. It sounds like he got sick longer.
On top of that, the duration from first symptoms to death -- I mean, there are a lot of questions we can't go into now and, of course, I don't have the answers. But it's our first concrete piece of information to start to analyze when we can get in. Did he die of bacterial pneumonia? Did he die of viral pneumonia?
COLLINS: Sure.
BARRY: Because most influenza deaths are actually from bacterial complications after the virus weakens or destroys your immune system.
COLLINS: Unfortunately, I think what we're learning very, very quickly is that the virus seems to be in charge in all of these cases. How's the U.S. doing on flu research vaccine?
BARRY: Well, because of the Bush administration, it was a major initiative early in the administration to change, improve the technology. As you said earlier, it's 50-year-old technology, but we're almost online with a completely new technology that cuts production time potentially in half or even shorter. That's very good news, but in the best case, you're still talking about four to six months as opposed to nine months to a year or more than a year.
COLLINS: All right. Well, we sure do appreciate all of your information as someone who's very well plugged in to all this. John Barry, he's the author of "The Great Influenza." Thank you, John, very much.
I quickly want to get to this now. We are hearing reports of simultaneous car bombings in Baghdad. CNN's Cal Perry is standing by to bring us the very latest now from Baghdad. We'll get to him in just a moment. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Some breaking news to get to you. Reports of a triple car bombing in Baghdad. CNN's Cal Perry has been working this story and joins us now live from Baghdad. Cal, what do you know?
CAL PERRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, it happened about 30 minutes ago in Sadr City. At least 18 people are dead, another 50 wounded. But this happened at a time in which these markets would be absolutely packed with people. So, we can fully expect that that death toll is going to rise.
We are hearing from eyewitnesses on the ground that there are scenes of panic, disarray. People are running because they're afraid that there could be more car bombs. We've seen in the past, in 2006, one day alone, there were seven car bombs that hit Sadr City.
So, people there are absolutely panicking, running through the streets. We're still receiving reports. We'll continue to update the numbers. But again, this market was absolutely packed with people. So, you can expect that unfortunately the death toll will rise.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Cal Perry once again joining us live from Baghdad about this triple car bombing in Sadr City. We know that you'll be working this story, Cal. Let us know what new information you might get.
Meanwhile, grading the president's first 100 days. Join the Best Political Team on Television tonight for the "CNN National Report Card" and get your chance to grade the president and Congress. That's followed by live coverage of President Obama's new conference. It all begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
We've been asking you to weigh in this morning on the president's performance so far. Joining us now with their grades are Howard University student Victoria Kirby. That is not Victoria. There you are, Victoria, in Washington. Scott Burton is a recent graduate -- there you are, Scott -- from Northwestern University. He is in Chicago.
SCOTT BURTON, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY GRADUATE: Morning.
COLLINS: And from Plantation, Florida, Erika Arriola, who just graduated...
ERIKA ARRIOLA, RECENT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE: Good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: ... from Florida International University.
Good morning to all of you. Thanks, guys, for being with us this morning.
Victoria, I want to begin with you.
As we mentioned, you graduate from Howard University about a week and a half or so. You don't have a job lined up just yet. But I want to talk to you about the economy because we call it issue number one here at CNN, and I have a feeling it may be for you as well, particularly because you are working to get a job.
If you had to grade President Obama on the economy over these first 100 days, what would that grade be?
VICTORIA KIRBY, HOWARD UNIVERSITY STUDENT: You know, I would definitely give him a "B-plus."
I think he's dealing with a lot of very unique situations right now, looking at an economy that is in the middle of a decline. People aren't spending the same amounts of money they have been in the past. A lot of people are losing their jobs.
And he's really provided a sense of comfort and peace to a lot of families and individuals who are kind of going through some very difficult situations right now. I think much of the nation is comfortable with him as president, and they're looking forward to coming back to the times where our economy is back to being the most consistent economy in the world.
COLLINS: All right. So, you give him a "B-plus." Scott, I want to get to you. What's your grade for the president on the economy?
BURTON: Well, I think I'd give him a "C-plus."
COLLINS: Why's that?
BURTON: I mean, first of all, this economic stimulus is the biggest spending bill in history. So, that's concerning in itself.
But on top of that, I don't think it's doing what had needs to do. You know, we need projects that are going to be stimulating the economy immediately. And the way the stimulus funds are being appropriated, it's trickling out to the people who might need them.
On top of that, the job figures are disastrous, and the economic -- the unemployment rate has risen to nine percent most likely this month.
So, I think I'm going to need some positive growth before I can give him anything significantly over an average grade.
COLLINS: All right, so "C-plus" from you.
And Erica, what about you? You just graduated from college last week. So, congratulations to you. What mark do you give the president, though, for his handling of the economy?
ARRIOLA: I would give him a "B."
I would have to say that throughout his campaign, he really emphasized the need for the stimulus package. And within the first month of his term, he was able to pass that. And so, I think that his aggressive approach has spoken volumes, and I think he's going into the right direction.
However, I must say I am concerned with the growing deficit, going into the trillions of dollars. I know that is something that will likely affect me and my generation in our older adulthood.
COLLINS: All right. I want to get back to you, Victoria, on a different subject now, foreign policy.
We have seen the president travel to different parts of the world in meeting with leaders that haven't been met with in quite some time. What is your feeling about how he's doing on that aspect?
KIRBY: I think he's doing a fantastic job on reaching out to foreign leaders and making sure that America is again seen as a nation that's willing to sit down and talk with different leaders, no matter what the varying opinion may be. I think in situations such as him reaching out to Cuba, also with Chavez in Venezuela, he's really been able to show that the United States of America is no longer an ice- cold nation that's not willing to sit down and have some true diplomacy.
And in that, I think he's making our image abroad a lot more positive, not just in Venezuela and Cuba, but other nations across the world are now looking at America again as being a leader, not only in...
COLLINS: So, what's your grade on that?
KIRBY: Oh. I would definitely give him an "A."
COLLINS: An "A" on foreign policy.
All right, Scott, back to you. What do you think about all the meetings he's had with these specific leaders?
BURTON: Well, I'm a huge proponent for diplomacy. But at the same time, I'm worried about the message we're showing the world.
I mean, take for example this picture with Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez is one of the most anti-American heads of state in the world, and this picture of President Obama with him elated, I'm concerned that's not sending the right message.
On the other hand, though, I do support his commitment to the Middle East, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan. As a former Iraq vet, I really appreciate that.
So, I think the two cancel each other out, and I give him a "B."
COLLINS: OK, a "B" on foreign policy. Gotcha.
And Erika, your mother is Cuban...
ARRIOLA: Yes, she is.
COLLINS: And President Obama, as we have seen, has certainly made some changes regarding policies with Cuba. Your grade for him on foreign policy as a whole, though?
ARRIOLA; Well, I would give him an "A." And that's kind of setting aside the relations, the current relations with Cuba.
However, I must say that I am excited that I now have the choice to visit Cuba with my grandma and go back to her home, if I'm given that opportunity.
But what I want to say is that as far as his diplomatic approach to foreign affairs, I think it's spoken volumes on the international stage. And I feel that he's really set the tone for what he wants to accomplish throughout his term as far as strengthening relationships with countries and their governments and their leaders.
So, I give him an "A."
COLLINS: All right, well, we appreciate all the time this morning from our three young people, college grads, some of you. Some of you almost. Thanks so much once again, Victoria Kirby, Scott Burton and Erika Arriola. Thanks, guys, so much.
ARRIOLA: Thank you, Heidi.
KIRBY: Thank you, Heidi.
BURTON: Thank you.
COLLINS: Live pictures now from Capitol Hill. We are monitoring a hearing on the federal response to the swine flu.
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COLLINS: Quickly, this news just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. I want to get it out to you. You are looking at pictures coming in from our affiliate WCNC. That's Charlotte, North Carolina. There has been a school bus accident, according to our local Charlotte stations there.
This is a Cabarrus County school bus that rolled on its side. That is just north of the Charlotte area. We are learning, again, according to our local stations there in Charlotte that more than a dozen students are apparently injured in that accident. Wow. Some pretty dramatic pictures coming in.
Again, this area just north of Charlotte. Emergency crews, as you can see, all over the place there, trying to make sure that everybody is OK. They are working to assess that -- those injuries, of course. Apparently, this accident happened around 10:00 this morning. And in case you're familiar with the area, it's I-77. All of the southbound lanes, we are understanding, are closed at this time.
Once again, a whole lot of people on scene there, trying to make sure that everybody is OK. We will stay on top of this story for you. Once again, you're looking at Charlotte area, just north of the Charlotte area. Cabarrus County school bus that rolled over on its side. More than a dozen students at this time we know are injured in that accident.
When it comes to the economy, Wall Street has gotten some glimmers of hope over the past few weeks, but just when you think things are starting to look up, we get another painful blow. New numbers show that the recession did not let up in the first quarter. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with details. We're talking about GDP here. It's not like we expected it to go up. We just didn't expect it to go down this much.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. Came in much worse than expected, a 6.1 percent decline. GDP is the ultimate economic scorecard, and the first three months of the year shows that the biggest economy in the world lost a lot of points.
Where did we see the decline? Just about everywhere, Heidi. We saw exports fall by the most in 40 years. We saw spending on homebuilding fall the most in 28 years. Business spending on tech equipment fell the most in more than half a century. We haven't seen three quarters, in fact, of GDP declines in -- since the 1970s. So, yes, there's no question that the recession's still painfully with us in the first part of the year, no question -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. And earlier, though, you mentioned that consumer spending rose a bit. I mean, that's a pretty big deal. Also, I can't ignore, you also mentioned that the Dow was going to open higher. We're looking at triple-digit gains right now as well.
LISOVICZ: Yes, go figure, right, Heidi? One trader just said to me, that's the best-looking 6.1 percent decline in GDP he's ever seen.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes.
LISOVICZ: Why is that? because you're looking for green shoots. Consumer spending is so key. It is the engine of economic growth. Consumer spending in the first quarter grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate. OK, doesn't sound like much. It's the most in two years.
What's happening? Economists explain to me is that, remember, 92 percent of Americans are working. We talk a lot about the 8.5 percent unemployment rate. Most of us are working. Inflation is not a problem, right? So inflation's not existent. If we're just getting tiny little increases, which we are, in our wages, we have more money in our pockets to spend. Consumers were spending.
And so are investors. We've got a nice, broad-based rally right now, Heidi. Dow is up 159 points. Nasdaq's up 38. Very nice indeed for such lousy news.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. But does this horrible report dampen the outlook for the next few months?
LISOVICZ: Well, the second quarter is going to show a decline, too, I think. By and large, the consensus is, just not as bad as what we've seen in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. But the estimates there about 1 percent to 2.5 percent decline. Most economists think that the stimulus, all of that will start working through the second half of the year.
Of course, we'll hear from the Federal Reserve later this afternoon. We'll get a decision on interest rates. And so, Ben Bernanke and company will talk about that. And remember, we got that consumer confidence report yesterday, which showed a big, big jump. So, there are signs of hope there, and that's what the market is responding to, Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. Well, hey, it's very interesting, and I like the way it looks. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.
LISOVICZ: We both do.
COLLINS: Staying on top of new developments in the swine flu story, the first death now reported in the United States.
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COLLINS: Want to get you updated now on the swine flu outbreak. A 22-month-old child has become the first fatality in the United States. The child had come from Mexico to visit family in Texas, a little boy.
The Marine Corps says one Marine at the Twentynine Palms Marine base in California is suspected of having the swine flu. The Marine has been tested, and doctors are waiting for the results. He and his roommate are quarantined right now.
The CDC is confirming 65 swine flu cases in five states in the United States. Health officials in three other states have reported cases the CDC has not added to its list just yet. The World Health Organization says at least 112 cases have been confirmed worldwide in seven countries. That figure, though, is expected to change later today, when the WHO updates its figures to reflect new confirmed cases in Germany and Austria.
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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.
