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Swine Flu Claims First U.S. Victim; Why Did Arlen Specter Leave Republican Party?

Aired April 29, 2009 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The biggest tent of all is the tent of freedom.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The biggest tent is freedom? Freedom?

You have got to give -- you have got to do better than that.

(voice-over): Is Arlen Specter leaving the GOP because he's anti-freedom?

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: The Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right.

SANCHEZ: Which is it? And what does it mean for Democrats?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This administration is open to many different ideas and many different points of view.

SANCHEZ: Who really has the bigger tent? We're asking, as we look at the syrupy-sweet deal Specter is getting for defection.

SPECTER: I am pleased to run in the primary on the Democratic ticket.

SANCHEZ: Swine flu claims its first victim in the U.S., a toddler. And the president sends an ominous warning.

OBAMA: Parents should also think about contingencies if schools in their areas do temporarily shut down.

SANCHEZ: And Michele Bachmann points out that swine flu broke out under Democrat Carter. Oops. It was Ford. You will hear it.

News as it happens and with your input. The original network news national conversation begins right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. It's a conversation. It's not a speech. And it's your turn to get involved.

As you may know, there is now a confirmed death from swine flu in the United States. And the president is encouraging schools with infected students to close their doors.

We're obviously all over this, and we will carry the comments of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, as well as newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, as soon as it starts. There you see the live shot where we have got everything positioned and ready to go. We expect to be getting some new information on this story. It's expected to happen at any moment. Again, as soon as it happens, we will cut away and go to it.

This is the story that is still sending shockwaves, though, through Washington and around the country. That's a live picture of the U.S. Senate floor. That's Kent Conrad you're looking at right now. But Arlen Specter, not far away from him, is now a Democrat in the house, and could cast his first big vote in said Senate momentarily. We will have it live, a vote on the president's budget. Oh?

And as we watch the process, we should tell you that Specter's would-be Democratic primary opponent has now announced he's not running. He's quitting. Throughout this newscast, we will look at what the defection means to President Obama. Has this thing somehow been secretly worked on before anybody knew about it? Who cut the deal? How'd they keep any Republican from finding out about it?

Speaking of the GOP, is purification a winning strategy? Senator Specter says that's why he left the party, purification.

Well, here's the president today assuring Specter and the nation that his administration is not looking for political purification.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I would like to think that Arlen's decision reflects a recognition that this administration is open to many different ideas and many different points of view, that we seek cooperation and common ground, and that in these 100 days we have begun to move this nation in the right direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, and we're going to be talking to you throughout this newscast, but, right now, what I would like to do is bring in A.B. Stoddard. She writes for "The Hill." Even they were taken aback by the suddenness of this thing.

A.B., thanks for being with us.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "THE HILL": Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: How were they able to keep this thing a secret?

STODDARD: Well, they learned from the defection of Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont, when he left the Republican Party in 2000 and won and he became an independent. I was covering the Senate at the time. And it was -- it started to leak out, got very difficult.

And Harry Reid, who was then the whip and now -- minority whip -- and is now -- excuse me, -- he was then the majority whip.

SANCHEZ: Right.

STODDARD: Because they had taken -- it was 50-50 Senate and then they got a majority.

And he is now the majority leader and has learned that these kind of things must be worked out in secrecy. Someone like Arlen Specter could decide just to leave the Republican Party and then change his mind and say, I don't have the nerve.

This has been ongoing, as we know now, that it's been revealed Vice President Biden who has been actually trying to work on Arlen Specter for five years...

SANCHEZ: That's...

(CROSSTALK)

STODDARD: ... putting in intense effort in ever since the inauguration.

SANCHEZ: That's fascinating, that it's turning out now that it was Biden who was the real deal-maker in this thing.

STODDARD: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And all this time, we were wondering what he was doing.

STODDARD: No, he has a very influential role in speaking to the senators, not only in his own party, but obviously working across the aisle to try to pick up Republican votes for President Obama's agenda.

And he has many good relationships in the Senate. He's been there a long time. He has worked very closely with Arlen Specter on the Judiciary Committee and on other matters, as well as riding the train together for years. So, he was the perfect person to be the point man.

SANCHEZ: But you got to wonder how Biden was able to do this probably with some help with the governor -- with Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania as well, but that no Republicans found out.

I mean, they were, according to your own reports, I was reading "The Hill" earlier today while I was working out, by the way, and -- and it sounds like they were so caught off guard, they called an emergency meeting some time around noon to announce it to the rest of their colleagues.

In fact, here's Mitch McConnell right after that meeting was held.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: I think the threat to the country presented by this defection really relates to the issue of whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority to have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or a balance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, you got to wonder, I mean, threat to the country? Was it a threat to the country when the Republicans had the presidency and both houses during the beginning of the George Bush administration -- George W. Bush administration?

STODDARD: No. Look, defections are always a serious jolt. They're always a shock, I mean, particularly to the party that's being abandoned.

But Senator Mitch McConnell was so bewildered yesterday, he couldn't think straight. He came out at first and said, at first, this is really not a national story; it's a Pennsylvania story.

And then in the swarm of the media, he gave way to it is actually a threat to the country.

SANCHEZ: This looks like one really sweet deal. I mean, Jackie Gleason would have said, how sweet it is. They're giving this guy the kitchen sink...

STODDARD: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: ... the kitchen, the living room. How good is it?

STODDARD: It's so good that now he's not going to get a challenge from the left. You see, he was being challenged from the right. He was going to lose that primary campaign next year in Pennsylvania.

So, he switches parties. And the way that he ensures himself a sixth term is with the backing of the increasingly, incredibly popular President Obama, who is going to have his back in that campaign and has scared off any Democrat challenger from the left.

SANCHEZ: So, he's probably going to keep his committee chairmanships.

STODDARD: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He's going to get a...

STODDARD: He's in seniority.

SANCHEZ: He's going to get Barack -- the president of the United States going down to campaign for him whenever he asks for it.

STODDARD: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He's going to get a ton of money from the Democrats to campaign. This is crazy. STODDARD: Well, no, I mean, listen, you look at Senator -- I mean -- excuse me -- at President Obama and the challenge he has in the Senate to try to pass these major initiatives, Rick, energy reform, health care reform, everything he has planned on his plate, a very ambitious agenda, he was going to hit a snag without that 60th seat in the Senate.

Obviously, we don't know how it's going to happen, whether or not they're going to seat Al Franken. At some point, they probably will. But this was really -- I mean, looking at using a tactical procedure to try to pass health care that would have, you know, threatened to throw the Republicans into a rebellion.

This really was -- I mean, to get that 60th seat was -- was a huge deal for how the presidency's going to unfold this year and in the years to come. And I think that it was -- to President Obama, it was worth it.

SANCHEZ: There's almost a Machiavellian-ness to this, the fact that they have been working this deal all along. Back when, when we were sounding like, man, he's really going to need the Republicans to help him out on this, he probably knew.

And I can't say this and I know you can't say this, but he may have known in the back of his mind that something like this was actually in the works. By the way, there's two kinds of reactions that are coming in now from the Republican camp.

STODDARD: Yes, exactly.

SANCHEZ: There's the Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, Steele reaction that says good, good riddance, get out of here, we don't -- we didn't want you to begin with.

And then there's the more, well, the more maybe frustrated, more measured response from guys like McConnell and Olympia Snowe and Lindsey Graham, who sound like they're worried about their party.

STODDARD: And they should be.

Let's put President Obama's popularity aside. If you look at the demographic challenges facing the Republican Party in the years to come, at the fact that they -- that the Democrats have a hold over groups, Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, suburban voters, young voters, there are not enough voters for the Republican Party to win, to bring together a winning coalition and govern again.

They have to reach out to the middle. This is going to require a radical departure from the direction they're moving in now, which is play to the base and hopes lightning strikes President Obama. It's not working, and that's why you hear that concern from centrists and moderates in the party.

SANCHEZ: We're going to be talking about that, as a matter of fact, during this newscast.

A.B. Stoddard, thanks so much for helping us out.

STODDARD: Thank you, Rick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It's also the recommendation of our public health officials that schools with confirmed or suspected cases of H1N1 should strongly consider temporarily closing, so that we can be as safe as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, this is a very direct message from the president to both schools and parents. I don't know if you heard this earlier today, but we're going to make sure you hear it this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMINT: The biggest tent of all is the tent of freedom.

SANCHEZ: The biggest tent is freedom? Freedom?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Sounds like, "Playoffs? Playoffs?"

All right, here's what A.B. Stoddard was talking about just a moment ago. Only 21 percent of Americans say they are Republicans. Are the other 79 percent anti-freedom? I mean, seriously, what is the situation with the Grand Old Party? Putting the grand back in the Grand Old Party. You're going to hear from a prominent conservative, who's going to take us through the strategy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Talking about that conversation we had just a moment ago with A.B. Stoddard. We're getting some comments, as a matter of fact.

Look at this. MySpace: "This is great. First the NFL draft. Now the D.C. draft. Who will team Obama draft in round two?"

Kind of interesting conversation.

Also, this -- you want to see what's to blame for this international health scare that we have been telling you about every day? Go ahead, Rod, show it. Here it is. Look at that. You see that? That's the actual virus that you're looking at. That is the H1N1, the fancy name for the swine flu. A lot of people are sick because of that, what you're looking at right there, several people of dead because of it as well.

Millions of people around the world are nervous today because of how fast it may be spreading.

More pictures -- let me show you this. Look at this. If this doesn't tell the story, nothing does. Here's a flight from Miami to Mexico City. Talk about leg room. Nobody's traveling. Nobody's traveling to Mexico City. Is this incredible or what?

Mexico City Airport, here's another one. This is the terminal. I mean, we can even scroll through a couple more of these photos and show you what it looks like. This is the people of Mexico City trying to live their lives with the threat of a serious and deadly virus possibly swirling around them.

Around the world, similar scenes. As the number of countries reporting swine flu cases rises, so do the reports of people who have died. Just today, a toddler in the United States in Texas died. Doctors confirm it was swine flu.

Now, listen to Texas health commissioner talking about who is especially at risk for this infection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID LAKEY, TEXAS HEALTH SERVICES COMMISSIONER: Pregnant women are at increased risk of severe influenza. That's with seasonal influenza. That holds -- that holds fast with any cases of influenza.

And being pregnant doesn't -- isn't a contraindication to getting treatment or getting prophylaxis medicines to prevent the development of the disease.

And so women that have been in contact with somebody with -- that have swine flu and they're pregnant, they need to be put on the appropriate medications.

We expect that, as this outbreak continues, we will find more hospitalized patients. And, as Dr. Besser said, we would expect that there will probably be some additional deaths in the United States. And we need to continue to watch it closely, and, again, watching certain patient populations. There are additional probable and suspected cases in Texas, as well as other states. And we are, again, closely working with the CDC and local officials on those investigations as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's take you now to the Homeland Security division, where we understand Janet Napolitano and new Secretary Sebelius is being -- are being introduced, I should say.

Now, this is interesting. As we watch this -- and it's about to begin right now. And we have got some guests from the CDC on the back side of this, by the way. Listen in particular to some of the warnings the president gave out this morning to see if they back away from that, the president warning parents and schools that they may need to close.

Here is Janet Napolitano.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: ... call or on the speaker phone. But this is the daily briefing to bring everybody up to speed on where things are with respect to the 2009 H1N1 virus.

The three of us just returned from the Hill. We testified -- at least Rear Admiral Schuchat and I testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and then the three of us were present for a bipartisan briefing at the United States House of Representatives to make sure that the members of Congress are being kept up to speed.

And, of course, I'm delighted to be joined today by the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, because I have a feeling we're going to be joined at the hip on this for quite a while as we move forward.

As you know -- and I'm sad today to report -- that today we had our first confirmed death as a result of the H1N1 virus in the United States. It was a 23-month-old child, and our sympathies go out to her family out of this.

But as I said and have been saying, this is a flu and a flu cycle. We think we're at the beginning of a flu cycle which typically brings with it some severe illness and death.

Indeed, in the normal seasonal flu cycle, we will have about 36,000 deaths in the United States. That's a -- that's a fact that surprises many, but it is part and parcel of an influenza cycle.

So the -- our thoughts are with those who have contracted the -- the virus now and, of course, for the family of -- of the child who died.

We now have 10 states with confirmed incidents of H1N1: Arizona, California, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, and Texas. We are likely to see more states, more cases, and some more hospitalizations over the coming days, and we are prepared for that.

Every American should know that we are aggressively responding to this outbreak. Antiviral medications are en route to states to supplement their own stockpiles.

Indiana, New York, New York City already have their allocations. Several other states will receive their allocations by today. And all states will receive theirs no later than the 3rd of May.

Let me point out an important difference here. There's been some confusion between antiviral and vaccine. A vaccine is administered to prevent the flu from occurring; an antiviral is administered after you get sick to mitigate the symptoms so that you feel better. So it is the antiviral stockpile that I'm referring to now.

We're also actively monitoring travelers at our land, sea- and airports. We'll monitor them for signs of illness, and we have appropriate protocols in place to deal with those who are sick. Precautions are being taken to protect travelers and border personnel. Anyone exhibiting symptoms is being referred to an isolation room where they can be evaluated by a public health official before proceeding to their destination.

I know there have been some calls to close the border. I want to address that directly.

First of all, it is important to know that we are making all of our decisions based on the science and the epidemiology as recommended to us by the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC, the public health community, and the World Health Organization all have said that closing our nation's border -- borders is not merited here, that the focus, the public health focus should be on mitigating the impact of this virus. And so we are following those recommendations now.

As I said, we continue to actively monitor those coming across the borders and at our airports, as we've been doing all week, and we are also distributing flyers and public health information to individuals.

As of today, Customs and Border Protection has referred a total of 49 suspected cases to the CDC or state and local officials. All the results have been negative, except the eight that are still under study.

I know that, in addition to travelers, many parents across the country are concerned about school closures. And President Obama spoke about this earlier today.

The Centers for Disease Control has recommended that schools with confirmed cases of H1N1 virus or schools with suspected cases linked to a confirmed case consider closing on a temporary basis. Some schools have already followed that advice.

The best thing parents can do right now is to make sure you have a contingency plan in place so that you've made arrangements to care for your child in the event of a school closure.

This is also a good reminder for businesses to think about contingency planning, as well. We have to -- as I said, we're going to be working through this for a while. You have to anticipate what happens if you have employees who are parents, the schools have closed, the employees need to stay home. How do you -- how do you continue with your business operations?

And so all of us should be dusting off our business contingency plans, looking at things such as telecommuting and the like so that operations keep on -- keep on going.

And, of course, we advise anyone with flu symptoms to stay home or consult a doctor if you have severe symptoms.

This is a problem that every individual can help us with by adopting commonsense solutions, precautions. Cover your mouth or nose when you sneeze. Don't go to work or school or go on a plane or a bus if you are sick, so that you don't communicate the disease to others. And wash your hands often.

I know that the secretary of health and human services is going to have more to say on that topic and on others, so let me close here and ask Secretary Sebelius to come forward.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Well, thank you, Secretary Napolitano, for your leadership on this issue. And I'm delighted to have a chance to once again work with you. The secretary and I served for six years together as governors, and now we will serve as secretaries together and work on this issue jointly.

And I'm also pleased to have Dr. Anne Schuchat with us today from the Centers for Disease Control. We promise you that any of the tough science questions she will answer.

And I think that really sets the tone that we would like the American public to understand: The decisions made on the protocols on community mitigation, on other issues, really, are led by the science.

And so to use our resources effectively, to make sure that we are aggressively taking on this situation, but not reacting in a fashion that is not appropriate, really, is all about having the scientists tell us the best possible protocol.

Now, we know that many individuals are suffering from the 2009 version of H1N1, and more cases are being identified every day. Rich Besser from CDC has been actually foreshadowing this.

We know that the cases will continue to rise. As the secretary has already said, today was the first confirmed death. Unfortunately, there will be more. And we don't want folks to see this as a sign that things are out of control. It actually is what happens with a flu virus.

There is a lot of activity going on not only in agencies across government, but within the Department of Health and Human Services, who has the primary responsibility for health response and preparedness.

The FDA is working in collaboration right now with the National Institutes of Health on the vaccine development. A strain has been identified. Manufacturers are on the alert that if -- once the testing protocol is done and the dosage protocol is done, they are ready to begin production, should that be necessary.

And the good news is that that process is not only faster than it's ever been, but there is a protocol, a very stringent oversight, to make sure that, if and when vaccine is produced, that it's the appropriate dosage and the right vaccine.

The federal government has 50 million antiviral dosages available. And as Secretary Napolitano says, 25 percent of that stockpile will be in the hands of states by the 3rd of May at the latest.

The first goes to affected states and others. But by the 3rd of May, everyone will have a stockpile.

The purpose of that is to make sure that we're deploying the assets closer to the ground. And, as you know, disaster response really starts with the local level. They are the first identifiers and first responders who are well prepared and great collaborative partners, but we want to make sure the assets are there.

Tamiflu and Relenza have proven to be effective against this strain, so that, plus protective masks and other resources, are available.

And we're taking steps to inform the American public. This is my first opportunity to join the secretary, but the secretary's been doing a daily briefing. There are briefings across the government. The president is very much involved and focused on this issue. State and local partners are being briefed on a regular basis.

We want to make sure that people understand that the guidance is available to parents, to school districts, to health care personnel at www. cdc.gov, www.cdc.gov.

At 11 o'clock every day, there is an update on what is happening. And individuals who want to follow the states and want to follow the cases and parents who are concerned and employers who are concerned can get a regular update.

This is a dynamic situation, so it will change. It will be one that we are monitoring very, very closely and updating that information.

Tomorrow, we have an opportunity to do a joint broadcast, a Web cast, with Secretary Napolitano and me, and Dr. Rich Besser will be joining us by video camera. And this is an opportunity, really, to inform, again, the American public to take some of the questions from citizens around the country and have an opportunity to have a dialogue and get information into the hands of the public about what is available.

The Web cast is scheduled for 1 o'clock Eastern time. There are two viewing sites, www.hhs.gov and www.cdc.gov. Either one is available for viewing.

If the public has questions or reporters have questions for the Web cast, they can be submitted by e-mail to hhsstudio@hhs.gov, hhsstudio@hhs.gov.

So one of the issues is that we do want people -- we understand that Americans are concerned, but that concern can be turned into action plans, as the secretary's already described and, really, turned into some personal hygiene steps, the hand-washing, covering your mouth after a cough or a sneeze, making sure that you keep your children home or stay home yourself if there are signs of illness, are all steps that people can take and will help minimize the spread of this disease. The focus is very clear. Saving lives, slowing down the spread and severity of the flu virus and by doing both of those things, minimizing the economic and social impact of this H1N1 2009 virus.

So with that, we would be pleased to answer questions if you have questions. And as I say, we do have Dr. Anne Schuchat here, who has been the assistant at the Centers for Disease Control. She's been testifying on the Hill today, was part of the bipartisan -- I hope you all heard that, bipartisan House caucus, Republicans and Democrats, came together to make it very clear, this is not a partisan issue. It's an American issue and we all want to get the best possible information out to our citizens.

QUESTION: Can you talk about the situation in New York beyond the schools? The World Health Organization has said that it's concerned about further transmission.

SEBELIUS: Well, I have had a couple of conversations with Dr. Chan and I'm going to have a conversation again when I get back. I would say there has been a great deal of worldwide collaboration that she is very pleased about. And, again, her focus -- and I think appropriately so -- there are 100 and I think 93 nations under the World Health Organization and so, they are looking at the global aspect of this flu virus. But there are daily briefings. There's a lot of collaboration and cooperation. And she has been very openly pleased with the dialogue going on. The WHO decided not to issue a travel advisory. CDC on the other hand, felt it was an appropriate advisory to issue for Americans who were voluntarily traveling in and out of Mexico to ask that that stop. So, there may be situations where WHO's approach is slightly different than agencies here or in Mexico or in Canada or elsewhere. Each government has to look at their own situation. But I would say there's never been the kind of worldwide dialogue and collaboration that there is right now on this particular virus.

QUESTION: Could you clarify the numbers that you ran down regarding individuals? I think it was detained at the border. You said 49, but eight are still under observation?

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY: Right.

QUESTION: Can you break that down for me?

NAPOLITANO: Well, what the CDP (ph) has asked 49 individuals to be tested for H1N1. Of those 49, 41 were cleared. In other words, they may have had -- you know, they may have looked sick, but they didn't have H1N1. With respect to the other eight, they're just not, the diagnostic test just isn't completed yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go to the phones. Is there a moderator there who can have questions cued up?

MODERATOR: Yes, we have a question from Spencer Shoe (ph) of "The Washington Post."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead, Spencer. QUESTION: Thanks. Senator Lieberman this morning I think said if you don't consider tighter border checks, there will be greater pressure to really close the ports of entry. We've been told in the past that most border crossings are vehicles, not pedestrians, to pull them into secondary screening. There is not enough time that's required to have detailed ID checks of everyone coming across, much less medical checks. So, I guess the question was what is possible to increase medical screening along the line that the senator has recommended without cross checking (ph) billions of new resources or the kind of social and economic damage that people have said will be as great or greater than the total of the pandemic -- or the outbreak?

NAPOLITANO: You know, that's a question we're asking the scientists right now. What kind, if any, additional screening beyond what we are already doing in terms of active monitoring would make sense at the borders. And, Spencer, you put your finger on it because these -- there's a terrific amount of lawful commerce and traffic that goes through these ports. And there would be -- there's huge economic disruption and jobs and so forth disruption and anytime you add a procedure on at the ports. And so our number one priority is always safety of the American people.

So, is there something we ought to be doing at the ports that would make the American people more safe? And that decision, you know, we are asking for the experts to give us advice on that. To date what we have been told by the experts is that any kind of universal closing of a port would have no impact or very, very little impact at all on the spread of this virus. This virus is already in the United States. So, any kind of containment theory that you're going to keep it out of the United States is really moot at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take another question from the phone.

MODERATOR: Our next question comes from Tom Frank of "USA Today."

QUESTION: Hi, madam secretary. I wanted to ask, get a little more detail on the people who -- the 49. First, can you tell, were they -- what can you tell me about where they were -- where they came in? Was it land ports, seaports? Do you know what states? And what actually happened to them? How long were they -- were they held? Were they taken to these quarantine centers? And as far as the eight for whom the test is not complete, where are they?

NAPOLITANO: Right. We'll follow-up, Tom, and give you specific detail about this. But to my knowledge, they were at land ports. And they were picked up by CVP at land ports of entry. We'll give you the later specificity on which ones. And my understanding is that no one was detained more than a couple of hours.

QUESTION: OK. And one other thing you mentioned, this morning that you had gotten as far as the thermal imaging cameras that Senator Collins talked about being used in other countries, you said you had gotten recommended -- recommendations that they would not be effective. Who gave you those recommendations? Is that anything that you might take a second look at?

NAPOLITANO: Our minds are open on a number of these things. But these are recommendations that were contained in some analyses that were done in 2007 about what makes sense in this sort of a situation, but Dr. Schuchat, you had some --

SANCHEZ: Let me just bring you an update here. We have just received here at CNN some information about that little boy, the first to succumb to swine flu in the United States, a toddler in Houston and you're seeing right there at the bottom of your screen now a news conference that is taking place now at the Houston medical facility where they had treated him. They are giving us some information. We're going to monitor it. We're going to turn that around for you in just a little bit.

Let's take you back now to the homeland security briefing.

DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CDC: -- Thus far the value of that sort of investment has not -- has not panned out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another question?

MODERATOR: Our next question comes from Cam (ph) Simpson of the "Wall Street Journal."

QUESTION: Hi, madam secretary. During your hearing in the Senate this morning, as Spencer alluded to earlier, it seemed like members from both sides of the aisle were pressing for either tighter surveillance or more restrictions. I'm curious if you heard similar concerns during your briefing on the House side and are you worried about political pressure sort of overcoming what you believe is justified through the science and the epidemiology at this point?

NAPOLITANO: Right. No, we did not get similar questions on the House side. But let me, again, re-emphasize. Our number one criteria is the safety of the American people. And are there measures that can be taken that would improve the safety of the American people? The data we have been given so far is that some of these suggestions would not impact the safety of the American people, given the status of this flu, the spread of this flu and how it spread and that any of these measures, of course, would carry with them enormous economic costs. Our minds are open to other suggestions and ideas. But to do some of these things simply for symbolic purposes, without really nailing down, do they help us solve a problem and improve the safety of the American people, I think my goal -- one of my goals, as we go through this process, is to help us keep all of our eyes focused on the ball. And the ball is, how do we mitigate the effects and the spread of this flu within our own country.

SEBELIUS: And let me just add to that. I think, as the secretary said, Dr. Besser and the team at CDC is monitoring aggressively, acting aggressively. There have been several steps taken in the last three days that have moved to different levels. And so where we are today may be a different story in four or five days. So, this is not a status quo situation. It's a very dynamic situation. And I think that the balance has to be what the science tells us works, how rapidly it works, on what population it works and making sure that we're doing -- using our resources to focus on those issues, rather than doing a wide variety of things, which may sort of make people feel better, but won't make them get better and won't keep people healthier. And so to focus -- to let the science guide the mitigation efforts has really been the priority in the health and safety community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take another question from the phone.

MODERATOR: Our next question comes from Laura (INAUDIBLE) of the Associated Press.

QUESTION: Hi. I want to go back to the issue of New York City and the World Health Organization. Has -- have they been talking with you in particular about additional steps that are needed outside of closing some schools that would perhaps mitigate things in New York or any of our other clusters? Have things such as travel advisories come up in the United States clusters?

NAPOLITANO: Well, we have issued travel advisories with respect to travel to Mexico and also a travel health alert. I spoke with Mayor Bloomberg earlier this week about the situation in New York City and closure of some of the schools there. If there -- we've been on the Hill all day. And so it sounds like from your question and from the AP question here that there must be something new out of the WHO on New York City, is that true? Is there something new?

QUESTION: We haven't heard anything specifically today, but they raised that yesterday as the area that they were most concerned of within the U.S. for community transmission.

NAPOLITANO: I can't comment to that, but maybe Dr. Schuchat can.

SCHUCHAT: Yeah, I can make a couple comments. You know, as -- as people have heard, the New York City, New York City, has reported an outbreak in a school with quite a few children affected. And I think that rather than the one or two laboratory confirmed cases associated with travel, a number of students without that kind of history had what I understand so far has been a relatively mild and self-limited illness. The first thing I want to say is that the New York City health department is phenomenal. They do a superb job and they really lead the nation in their capacity in evaluation. CDC is working closely with them in response to the situation there. And since I didn't hear directly the WHO link with New York City, I would just say that because this school outbreak was a bit larger than what we have been talking about, that may be some of what they're talking about. Rather than that New York City isn't doing the right thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got time for one more question on the phone.

MODERATOR: Our next question comes from Jeanne Meserve of CNN.

QUESTION: It looks as though now this may reach the phase five WHO definition. If they ramp it up to a stage five, does that change your posture? Does it change your messaging? How worried are you about public panic?

NAPOLITANO: Well, that's why we want to keep -- keep the public informed as we go along. We have been preparing all along as if this is going to be stage six and so we have been -- our efforts have been to stay ahead of whatever number that WHO assigns. And, therefore, our preparations are for a situation in which this does become a full-fledged pandemic. We are preparing for the worst, hoping for the best. But I believe firmly that if we just keep giving people information and access to information, places where they can go every day and get updates, that in and of itself and the media can help with this, that in and of itself prevents unnecessary and undue worry.

SEBELIUS: I also think as we -- as we look at the situation and get the updates, having a perspective on what the seasonal flu year in and year out amounts to in America is very important. 36,000 people, unfortunately, year in and year out die from seasonal flu. Hundreds of thousands are hospitalized. Millions of people get the flu. So, what we are seeing is a situation where I would say state and local partners and the Federal government is as prepared as they've ever been to deal with a situation. They're out ahead of it. A part of what we're doing is monitoring it very aggressively as the secretary says. There was always an anticipation that cases would rise, that the levels would rise and that collaboration is going forward. But, again, panicking is probably not terribly helpful.

What's helpful is turning concern and worry into action steps. So, making preparations for what happens if a school is closed and children have to be home for a couple of days, making preparations for what happens if a child care provider has to shut down the center, what are the contingency plans for employers to --

SANCHEZ: And while parents make that decision, I want to bring your attention to something else now. This is from Texas Children's hospital just a little while ago. This is the first confirmed death from swine flu in the United States. It's in Houston, Texas or thereabouts. Medical officials are addressing the question as to whether this raises the risk for other people living in that region or in that general vicinity. Here's what the medical specialist there had to say just moments ago. I want you -- I want you to listen to this for yourselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEFFREY STARKE, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: First, before I say anything else, I would like to, again, express the condolences of all of us from Texas Children's hospital to this family. Here are the facts. A 23-month-old child was transferred to Texas Children's hospital on April 14th from Brownsville, Texas, where he was visiting from Mexico City which is his home, with his family. He was transferred to Texas Children's hospital via medical transport and was critically ill upon arrival at Texas Children's hospital. Appropriate infection control measures were taken during every time of his hospitalization. Samples were sent to the Centers for Disease Control for confirmatory testing on April 28th, as we received confirmation of H1N1 flu from the CDC very early this morning.

The family has shown no symptoms of illness of any kind, either during hospitalization or subsequent to hospitalization. Texas Children's hospital is carefully monitoring all of the physicians, nurses and any other health care providers who have been involved in this case and none of them have displayed any symptoms of H1N1 influenza at any time. And we are continuing to monitor them as well. Due to patient privacy, Texas Children's hospital cannot release any further information specifically about the patient or his family at this particular time.

We want to emphasize that we do not think this case should trigger any undue alarm in our community. This child did not acquire this virus in Houston, Texas. The larger message that we really want to emphasize today is that we in Texas and we in Houston and in Texas Children's hospital, are really in a preparedness mode right now and that we urge everyone to take a very simple set of recommended measures to protect your own health and the health of others, including your family. In essence, everybody needs to be their own infection control officer and this means taking several extremely simple, general steps.

To make sure you cover your nose and your mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or when you cough. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands, either with soap and water, especially after you cough and sneeze, or use alcohol-based hand cleaners, which are also extremely effective.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, there you have the very latest from the Texas medical center, where the very first case in the United States.

Now we're going to switch the subject and talk about what seems to be the very first case in the world. I want to bring in a couple of people. First of all, here's Dr. Carlos del Rio. He's from Emory University. He is an infectious disease expert and he's also been -- this is interesting. He's been advising the Mexican government, not just in this case but in the past as well. And speaking of the Mexican government, maybe you can assist me with this if you could Doctor.

Let's go to Fidel Herrera, Fidel Herrera is the governor of Veracruz. Veracruz is probably one of the biggest areas where people who come to the United States from Mexico and this is why it's particularly salient. Veracruz is being called ground zero. It's where the first case of this flu was activated or identified and I believe we have him on the phone now. Governor Herrera, are you there, sir?

GOV. FIDEL HERRERA BELTRAN, VERACRUZ, MEXICO: Yes, I'm here. Thank you, Rick.

(CROSSTALK)

HERRERA BELTRAN: I understand that you have (INAUDIBLE) the nomination that we don't accept and we don't have. On the contrary, this is the area where -- and I'm calling you from Perote (INAUDIBLE) in La Gloria, a small community 10 miles away from the hog farms owned by the Smithfield Foods International. It's a hog producer company based in Minnesota in the United States. In this area, here in La Gloria, we have an outbreak of influenza, but this is a town located 2,000, 3,000 meters over sea level here in the volcano of the Cofre de Perote. We discharged all 600 people that suffered from that in that area in April, took all the samples, sent the samples to the national laboratories and the best of the ones that they have in the Mexican republic, which is in Veracruz, to the CDC in Atlanta. Last Sunday, the news came back saying that we have one identified case, the only one that is known in the state of Veracruz that had the virus H1N1, and that was a small kid that is now here with me, Edgar Fernandez- Hernandez (ph).

SANCHEZ: Are you with him? So you're with him there?

HERRERA BELTRAN: Yeah. We are here. (INAUDIBLE) OK, they have no problem at all.

SANCHEZ: Governor, let me just interrupt you real quick. What is the little boy's name?

HERRERA BELTRAN: Edgar Hernandez-Fernandez. And he's playing football. He's five years old, small kid, father and mother are OK. He was (INAUDIBLE), he was cured. And very interesting things -- doctors here listen to us. This could be the beginning of the taking care of the illness and the sending of the message that the illness has a cure. Listen, the doctors that came, prescribed him with a dosage of amoxicillin and paracetamol. Amoxicillin is an antibiotic, I understand. In 1918...

SANCHEZ: Hold on, hold on, hold on, before you go any further, Governor, let me go ahead and run that by Dr. Del Rio, again an infectious disease expert who's listening. As I understand it, antibiotics don't work against the virus. How could that be possible?

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Because a lot of times in times in influenza, what kills you, what made you sick is not the virus, but it's a subsequent infection after the virus. For example, as the governor was beginning to say during the pandemic of influenza of 1918, the feeling is a lot of people did not die of influenza, but actually died of pneumococcal pneumonia after the influenza. The influenza virus weakened their lungs so another infection came on board and that killed them. So yes the availability of antibiotics today will probably help in treating severe influenza cases. Now that doesn't mean the antibiotic is going to cure the influenza. We have anti-virals to treat the influenza. But when somebody has severe influenza and there are possible complications, the complications tend to be bacterial. In fact in 1918, we did not have antibiotics. Now we do.

SANCHEZ: But this young man it sounds like, whether he was cured or not, this particular influenza, like any influenza, is not going to kill or be taken by each person seriously. Some might get a serious dose of it and some might not, correct? DEL RIO: Correct.

SANCHEZ: Because we have got people in the United States who went through it and got a mild form of it.

DEL RIO: Some people are going to get -- most people that have influenza and I'm talking now about regular influenza, seasonal influenza, but also during probably swine influenza, most people are going to get well with the doctor, without a doctor, in spite of the doctor.

SANCHEZ: So do me a favor. Hold that thought. We got to get a break in real quick. We're going to continue the discussion. We want to thank Governor Herrera of Veracruz for joining us as well and your questions which you have been answering on twitter interestingly enough when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer is standing by. He's going to bring us the updates out of Washington today. As usual, Wolf, what you got?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's a fast moving story, as you know, Rick. The swine flu crisis is really escalating right now. We're standing by to go to Geneva Switzerland, the World Health Organization about to have a news conference, make a statement on what's going on amid fears of a global pandemic. We're going to go there live to Geneva, Switzerland to hear what the World Health Organization has to say.

Also this is the 100th day of President Barack Obama's administration. We're going to have extensive coverage on what's going on, leading up to the news conference later tonight and our national report card. Michael Steele, the head of the Republican party, among others will be here. David Axelrod, a senior advisor to the president, a lot going on right here in "The Situation Room" Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot, Wolf. We'll look forward to it. Doctor, I want to ask you a question, a question, it seems to be the question that a lot of people want answered. Blank slate here and I get this on twitter, facebook, myspace and all over the place and we in the media getting a lot of heat for this. If 35,000 people die from influenza in the United States every year, then why should I as a news anchor be so concerned about one person or 10 people or even 100 people dying from this strain? Why is it such news? What's the difference?

DEL RIO: The big difference is this is a strain that is totally novel. This is a strain that has characteristics to which humans have never been exposed to and therefore there's no ability of the immune system to defend from it. There's no vaccine against it available. Regular influenza kills 35,000 people a year in the United States and that's despite all the immunizations and the medical care that we have. But the people that die are mostly over the age of 65 or under the age of two. This influenza as we are seeing, is killing people between the ages of five and 35, so young people. If you notice, it's really killing people that are very young who have never been exposed to this virus. So the possibility of throwing a new virus into a naive population that has never been exposed to it, has the potential of rapid spread, causing a lot of mortalities.

SANCHEZ: How long would it take to get a vaccine for something like this?

DEL RIO: The development of vaccine will take a long time. You have to first of all isolate the virus which has been done. You have to then start the vaccine production process and after that, you have to test the vaccine with the appropriate stages of a study.

SANCHEZ: So there's no quick cure in this case.

DEL RIO: Absolutely not. The vaccine is going to be something that will be developed and I'm sure one of the questions that's coming up at the WHO level and CDC level is if we develop a vaccine, do we use it this (INAUDIBLE) or not.

SANCHEZ: We're the shot of the WHO. We're going to be having a news conference now. Wolf Blitzer mentioned it moments ago. He's going to take you into that here now in New York, I understand, Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room."

BLITZER: Rick, thanks very much. Swine flu rapidly spreading right now from human to human in a growing number of U.S. states and indeed around the world. Now the first person dies in the United States and some experts fear there will be more.