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Chrysler Filing Chapter 11; Flu Fears Close Schools; Mexican Village at Center of Killer Virus; Lessons From 1976 Swine Flu Scare; CDC Director Provides Update on Swine Flu Outbreak Numbers, Information
Aired April 30, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Thursday, April 30. And here are the top stories in the CNN NEWSROOM. Time is up. It looks like Chrysler will be the first of the Big Three automakers to go into bankruptcy. We expect to hear from President Obama soon.
World health experts say a flu pandemic appears certain. They're urging countries to ramp up preparations. Dozens of schools shut their doors across the U.S. today, hoping to slow the flu virus. You will hear the latest live from the CDC this hour.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
An Obama administration official confirms the nation's number three automaker plans to file for bankruptcy protection. Major lenders had agreed to forgive much of the $7 billion Chrysler owed them to help avoid bankruptcy, but the deal fell through after some smaller lenders and hedge funds refused to sign on.
We are covering all the angles.
Allan Chernoff in Auburn Hills, Michigan. In Larchmont, New York, Richard Roth. And in New York City, Christine Romans, Poppy Harlow and Stephanie Elam.
Let's start with Stephanie, who is at the New York Stock Exchange.
Stephanie, does the bankruptcy filing, when it happens, mean the end for Chrysler?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. In a short answer, no, it does not, Tony.
And this bankruptcy coming after some of Chrysler's smaller lenders basically refused the Treasury Department request to cut down the amount of money that the automaker owes them. Today is that deadline from the Treasury Department that was given to Chrysler to reach these deals with these creditors.
They've loaned the company about $7 billion. And the majority of them agreed to cut that down to $2 billion, but Chrysler still couldn't get the last creditors on board. So, under bankruptcy protection, a judge will determine how much the creditors will get, and this does not mean that the company is going out of business.
Chapter 11 does not mean liquidation. It will likely be a quick surgical bankruptcy. They'll basically file, cut the fat, and then come back out of bankruptcy.
In fact, it is still expected to merge with Fiat during the bankruptcy process. And this would allow Fiat to cherry-pick the assets it wants. And a Fiat executive will likely become Chrysler's CEO, replacing current CEO Bob Nardelli. So another change there.
The president has said that he's confident that Chrysler will emerge as a stronger company. And if this all goes through, Tony, the UAW, Fiat and the government will end up owning Chrysler.
And another little note that I should put out there about this as well is that last night, the United Auto Workers Union overwhelmingly ratified a concession contract with Chrysler. Not clear yet at this point what bankruptcy will mean for Chrysler's employees or for the dealers, but there's one thing I also want to keep saying, because we've been asked about this several times. What is this going to do to Chrysler's stock? Nothing, because Chrysler is a privately held company.
HARRIS: That's right.
ELAM: It is not public. We can't look at its stock like Ford and General Motors, although I should note to you right now that Ford's up 9.5 percent and GM is up close to four percent. And the overall markets overwhelmingly positive at this time -- Tony.
HARRIS: Really?
ELAM: Yes.
HARRIS: OK, Stephanie. Appreciate it. Thank you.
ELAM: Sure.
HARRIS: So let's get some reaction now from Chrysler dealerships.
CNN's Richard Roth is in Larchmont, New York.
And Richard, good to see you.
What does a restructuring mean at the dealership level, if we know at this point?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now there's no big change. And there may not be at first glance.
I talked with customers who are here either having their Chrysler vehicles or Jeeps serviced, or whether they were making inquiries. And right now, they're rather unfazed by the bankruptcy news. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Bankruptcy" is an unnerving word. But to be honest, I just had the car brought in. I'm sure in another 3,000 miles, when I have to bring my car in for another oil change, the same type of service will be here.
The service was fine. There doesn't seem to be any panic going on here. So I'm, at this point, wait and see, see what happens.
But at this point, I'm kind of disappointed, but OK with it. It's actually quite sad. I mean, an icon of part of America. I hate to see it disappear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Well, let's find out what it does mean for the dealerships.
Joining me is Robert Kaline (ph).
Robert, what do you think now? Bankruptcy, how does that affect operations here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, absolutely in no way whatsoever. Right now we know the direction Chrysler is going. We should hopefully have the Fiat product aboard within the next two years.
We'll be seeing smaller cars in the Chrysler showrooms, better gas mileage. The outlook here is everybody's happy, business as usual. We have some customers that stand by the Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge product that are almost on their fifth or sixth cars. I'm talking generational ownership.
ROTH: Why did it come to this, though? I mean, whose fault, the American public, the manufacturing of the vehicles? Why did it come to bankruptcy at Chrysler?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my opinion on that aspect is, just as far it's a American people buying foreign products, our economy right now, the banks, a lot of different reasons.
ROTH: OK. Robert Kaline (ph), thank you very much, sales manager here at Larchmont Chrysler Jeep.
Back to you, Tony. It's going to be a situation in flux regarding how the public receives the news and how they handle it here.
HARRIS: OK, Richard. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Joining us now to dig a little deeper, CNN's Christine Romans and senior editor at "Fortune" magazine, Alex Taylor. Both in New York this morning.
Good to see you both. Alex, let me start with you. Why did the deal fall apart?
ALEX TAYLOR, SENIOR EDITOR, "FORTUNE": The deal fell apart because people didn't see any future in Chrysler. And frankly, I can't blame them.
Chrysler in bankruptcy or Chrysler out of bankruptcy has got a very tough road ahead of this. The Fiat deal the dealer mentioned there isn't going to have any new product in Chrysler showrooms for about two years. You've got the UAW now who has a majority control of the company, and the history of employee-owned companies in this country is not very great. And the dealers are really going to suffer.
I mean, as soon as Chrysler declares bankruptcy, they're going to write down the value of their inventory, and that's going to put a lot of them in very bad financial straits. So Chrysler is in a pretty shaky proposition. And frankly, I can't blame the bondholders.
HARRIS: Wow. Why aren't we talking about -- Alex, let me stay with you for just a quick follow here. Why are we going to this interim step then? Why not then Chapter 7, liquidation?
TAYLOR: Well, I think the UAW was a big a supporter of President Obama in the election. And Michigan and Ohio, as we know, have very high unemployment and a very tough economic situation there.
It's worthwhile to keep Chrysler going. Chrysler's been very adaptable up to this point. They've got a good deal at the UAW, they've got a good deal with Fiat.
So, you know, $4 billion or $5 billion for Chrysler looks pretty cheap compared to all the money we spent bailing out the banks, so why not give them another shot? But I think it's going to be a very long road for them.
HARRIS: Christine, weigh in on this. Why did the deal fall apart?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, let me tell you, you know, the big banks and some of the big investors who are behind the Treasury Department in writing down their investment, well, look, many of them took money from the government on their own to survive as well, so they weren't exactly in a position to say no to the Treasury Department. Who are these creditors who said forget it, we don't want your deal?
HARRIS: Thank you. Can we name names here?
ROMANS: We don't know who -- yes, we're not naming names quite yet, but we know that they are smaller banks and that they are hedge funds, and that they appear to be in the minority. But obviously, they were big enough and influential enough, and at least stubborn enough, to make this thing go into court.
You know, they're owed $7 billion. They were offered 68 percent less. And some of them just said, frankly, no.
And what does the White House say to those who decided not to take it? I want to show you what the White House had to say.
A senior administration official telling our Suzanne Malveaux this: "Their creditors failure to act in either their own economic interest or the national interest does not diminish the accomplishments made by Chrysler, Fiat and its stakeholders, nor will it impeded the new opportunity Chrysler now has to restructure and emerge stronger going forward."
So, obviously the position from the White House, no surprise. It's a little more optimistic than Alex' position there. And the White House kind of, I don't know, slapping down a little bit some of those creditors who said -- saying that they were not acting in the national interest or their own economic interest. But clearly, if they're not going to take 68 percent less, it means they're going to get more somehow downed road, either through the liquidation of this company or in the bankruptcy process.
Right, Alex?
HARRIS: Yes.
Alex, the administration is slapping you, too, because you don't blame the hedge funds or the small banks at all for scuttling this deal.
TAYLOR: Well, they go...
HARRIS: So take that, Alex, from the administration.
TAYLOR: If you want to find villains in Chrysler, you can go all the way back to 20 or 30 years. I mean, making villains at this point does not make any sense.
The question is, what does Chrysler look like going forward? A new report from Goldman Sachs yesterday predicts that Chrysler's market share, which is now around 10 percent, will only be around five percent three years from now. That's lower than Hyundai.
So Chrysler is going from being a number three player in Detroit to a very minimal player both on the national stage and on the world stage. So keep an eye on it, but it's not a very good picture right now.
HARRIS: Alex, appreciate it.
Go ahead, Christine.
ROMANS: This is -- they popularized the minivan, they're the home of Jeep. I mean, you just think, ,it averted bankruptcy before. You know, it's a storied name -- Chrysler, Dodge, Lee Iacocca, all the way down the line.
You know, when you look at those Goldman Sachs numbers, you're right, Alex. It really tells you how far they've fallen.
HARRIS: Yes, but the smallest of the big three that we talk about all the time, Chrysler is the smallest of the big three, and they really couldn't afford to make mistakes. And they've made mistakes.
Correct, Christine?
ROMANS: A lot of mistake, Tony. For years and years, a lot of mistakes. You're absolutely right.
HARRIS: All right.
Alex, appreciate it.
And Christine, see you again next hour.
A reminder here. We will have live coverage of President Obama's statement on the Chrysler bankruptcy and the auto industry. That is ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.
And we have made the Chrysler restructuring the focus of our blog today. You just heard from Stephanie Elam, Alex Taylor and Christine Romans. As I mentioned, Christine will be back next hour, joined by Eamon Javers and industry analyst Rebecca Lindland just ahead of and after the president's comments.
We'd like to treat you as a panelist as well, or at least get your questions to the panel. So if you're watching near your computer right now, just send us your question on the Chrysler restructuring. Just go to CNN.com/newsroom.
Yes, that's it. Click on my mug there, a little small picture there, and get started here if you want to make it into the show at noon.
What do you think about Chrysler, the hedge funds, the lenders? Again, send your comments to CNN.com/newsroom.
The other big story today, the new flu that is racing around the world. We are keeping track of the numbers and the new places it is popping up.
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((WEATHER REPORT)
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HARRIS: Global alert rising. The fast-spreading swine flu causing new infections, new concerns, and new precautions that could affect you.
Here's what we know.
A dozen countries now across four continents are coping with confirmed cases of the virus dubbed H1N12009. Here in the United States, health officials confirm 91 cases in 10 states. The growing number is prompting the World Health Organization to raise its pandemic alert to the second highest level.
The phase five alert indicates a global outbreak of the disease appears imminent, and efforts to produce a vaccine will intensify. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a news conference coming up at the bottom of the hour, and you can watch it live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
CNN is using its vast resources to bring you all the angles of this deadly outbreak. This hour we've got Ted Rowlands out of Mexico City, at the heart of the crisis, plus our Ed Lavandera from Fort Worth, Texas, where schools are shutting down. And a live report from CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, as the military faces another probable case of swine flu.
Flu fears shutting down schools, as we mentioned, across the country. The Department of Education says more than 100 schools have closed, 74 because of confirmed or probable flu cases.
In Texas, an entire school district shut down.
Our Ed Lavandera reports from Fort Worth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fort Worth, Texas, school district officials have announced one the most drastic measures we've seen across the country in battling the swine flu outbreak. District officials say they have cancelled classes until at least May 11th.
This news comes after one of its students was confirmed to be sickened with swine flu. Three other students are suspected of also being infected with the disease as well. So, because of that, district officials say it was crucial to get ahead of this and prevent any further students or any faculty members from becoming ill as well.
In fact, they've even gone as far as urging parents to keep their kids away from daycare and movie theaters as well. So drastic measures being taken here in Fort Worth, a school district with 80,000 students and more than 140 schools.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Fort Worth, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And Mexican officials believe they have pinpointed the spot where the killer flu virus started.
Our Ted Rowlands takes us there.
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TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The eyes of the world are on the tiny Mexican village of La Gloria, where the swine flu virus sweeping the world may have started. It's home to 5-year- old Edgar Hernandez, who had the first confirmed case, and it's where Mexican health officials acknowledge dozens of people were sick in early April, weeks before the virus surfaced in Juarez.
VIVIAN RODRIGUEZ, LA GLORIA RESIDENT (through translator): All of us had fever. All of us had the same symptoms: temperature, pain in our bones, chills, runny nose, and cough continuously.
ROWLANDS: Vivian Rodriguez says she, her husband and all four of her children were sick. She says they were given medicine that seemed to work initially, but she says now the children are sick again and she's worried.
RODRIGUEZ (through translator): We're worried because we've never seen a case like this here before. What we want to know is, where does this come from? Because the truth is, here we get prescriptions and medicine, but it's not enough. We don't know what we have.
ROWLANDS: Health care workers are in La Gloria this week going door to door checking on people's welfare. So far, they tell us they haven't found any new cases of swine flu. The question still unanswered is how the virus started. Most people here blame a nearby pig farm.
FELIPE BELLO-TENCELE, LA GLORIA RESIDENT (through translator): The farms are endangering us. We're blaming the pollution for the virus, the pig farm. When the wind blows south, the politician moves our way.
ROWLANDS: The industrial pig farm is owned by American-based Smithfield Foods. The Mexican Department of Agriculture and the company have done tests at the farm and they say they've all come back negative.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And Ted Rowlands joining us live now from Mexico City.
And Ted, first of all, I understand it is no easy trip to get to La Gloria. What precautions did you take before making the trip?
ROWLANDS: Well, Tony, it's about a five-hour drive, and it is in rural, rural Mexico. So we were armed, as you could imagine, with antibacterial gel, and also antibacterial wipes, and a number of masks. We would change masks out periodically, and help each other out in keeping each other honest, if you will, to keep using the antibacterial, because, of course, we didn't have access to water -- soap and water to wash our hands.
HARRIS: OK. Ted Rowlands for us in Mexico City.
Ted, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, this year it's the swine flu. A few years back, SARS was the story. So what did we learn from the last epidemic? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, health officials worry swine flu poses an ever greater challenge than bird flu. Remember that outbreak in 2003? It was also known at SARS. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome killed hundreds of people in Asia.
Our Colleen McEdwards has been comparing the two outbreaks, and she joins us live from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Colleen, great to see you. What have you...
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey -- you, too.
HARRIS: What have you learned about the two flus?
MCEDWARDS: Well, you know, a lot has changed since the days of that avian flu and SARS. I was actually covering the SARS outbreak up in Canada. And you want to know what the biggest change is, Tony, since then? I mean, you're not going to believe this, it's so simple. You know what it is?
HARRIS: What is it?
MCEDWARDS: Sharing. Sharing.
HARRIS: Information?
MCEDWARDS: Be good girls and boys and share. Yes, share information.
Can you believe that at the time of SARS, just, what, six years ago -- we have a truck going by here. Sorry.
Six years ago, there was no mandate for a group like the CDC and the World Health Organization to even talk to each other, to even share the kind of information they were gathering. And that has changed.
You know, right now it's actually a U.N. mandate. They have to share now. And a doctor here was telling me that's one of the biggest changes, and they're sharing information now among the organizations way better than they ever were before.
HARRIS: And Colleen, we remember how difficult it was for China. And China -- talk about not sharing -- and China wasn't even sharing the information with its own population.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, that's right. Covering it up. It was accused of that.
And this time around, Chinese officials have come out and said, we will be open, we will be transparent. So you can see there's been a big attitude change. The use of technology is also really important, Tony. And I want to show you some pictures now of the e thermal scanners. I don't know if you've seen these before or not.
HARRIS: Oh, great.
MCEDWARDS: But these things have only been around for maybe three, four years, and they're in use in a lot of airports in Asia. They can actually tell if a passenger coming and going has got a fever, and that helps them identify cases and track them.
This stuff that you're seeing right here is being used right now in Jakarta, Indonesia. So that's cool, too.
And you know what the other thing is, Tony? And again, it's a real simple one. Practice. Right?
HARRIS: Sure.
MCEDWARDS: Practice makes perfect. And I'll show you some pictures right now, too, of the war room, the center of communications right here at the CDC, on the campus here.
This is where all the information comes through. It's figured out. It's passed on to the highest level of the U.S. government here.
They actually mocked this up. What you're seeing here in the pictures, by the way, is the real thing. But over the past three, four years, they've done four big practice drills, where they've mocked up a situation just like this and tested out their system to see how it would work. Preparing for the real thing, which is what we're seeing right now.
HARRIS: Yes, very good.
And Colleen, I guess we're just minutes away from the latest update from the CDC.
What is going on around there?
What can we expect from this news conference?
MCEDWARDS: Yes, I don't know. I think it's lunchtime or something. It's a security drill right behind us, too. They're search cars as they come in here.
Yes, just a couple minutes away from this news conference. And I think, Tony, it's going to be interesting to see whether the CDC bumps up its confirmed cases or not. We suspect it will. So how much of a bump?
And probably more importantly than the numbers, Tony, are we seeing any more severe cases, or are we seeing any new states that are affected? That's going to be interesting to see.
HARRIS: OK. Colleen McEdwards just outside of the CDC, a noisy CDC for us this morning.
Colleen, great to see you. Thank you.
MCEDWARDS: It's hopping.
HARRIS: Yes.
MCEDWARDS: You too.
HARRIS: He is not saying I told you so, but, really, he did warn us about swine flu and the price you pay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DAVID SENCER, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Sure, it was difficult to lose a job, but on the other hand, I felt that I was doing the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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HARRIS: And another reminder. We will have live coverage of President Obama's statement on the Chrysler bankruptcy and the entire auto industry. That's ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.
Global alert rising. The fast-spreading swine flu causing new infections, new concerns and new precautions that could affect you.
Here is what we know.
A dozen countries across four continents are now coping with confirmed cases of the virus dubbed H1N1 2009. Here in the United States, health officials confirm 91 cases in ten states.
The growing numbers prompting the World Health Organization to raise its pandemic alert to the second highest level. The phase five alert indicates a global outbreak of the disease appears imminent and efforts to produce a vaccine will now intensify.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a news conference coming up any minute now, and you can watch it here live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
First the Marines, now the Navy is investigating a probable flu case within its ranks. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following that part of the story for us.
And Barbara, I understand you have new information for us?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Tony.
You know, the military's not really all that different than the rest of America. There is still that case with the Marines out at Twentynine Palms in California. We also now know that the U.S. Navy is investigating a probable case of swine flu with another service member in the San Diego area. The U.S. Navy jumping in and helping test an awful lot of people down in Southern California. They've actually sent off 18 probable cases to the CDC for investigation. One of them is a military member.
But let's bring people up to date on another development. In the state of Ohio, now, as of today, the National Guard is in charge of guarding some Tamiflu stocks at an undisclosed secure facility in Ohio.
We have a couple of pictures to show people.
These are, if you take a very close look, these are Ohio National Guard troops. Their job, the Guard has told us a few minutes ago, is to take these Tamiflu stocks - you can see them there - put them in a secure facility, guard them, transport them to where they are needed for the civilian population, and generally just keep an eye on all of this under the authority of the governor.
The U.S. Army, obviously, feels pretty sensitive about these pictures, of people in military uniforms guarding, you know, Tamiflu stocks. But they want everybody to know that the National Guard now out there for the first time really getting involved in this whole situation, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, thank you.
The swine flu threat back in 1976 holds lessons for the Obama administration and health officials today. CNN Special Investigations Unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau sat down with the former director of the CDC, Dr. David Sencer.
And hi, Abbie.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
HARRIS: He led the government's response to the swine flu threat in '76 and was later fired for his role in pushing Americans to get vaccinated.
And Abbie, those vaccinations, as you know, led to hundreds of Americans getting sick and it even led to some deaths. What does he say about all of that today?
BOUDREAU: Well, actually, I did get a chance to talk to him about all that. And ultimately, he says he does not regret his decision. He says that he was the person who actually devised the swine flu program, and that if he really pushed for it, he thought it was the right thing to do.
Now, Dr. David Sencer said health officials had to act quickly in 1976 to prevent a pandemic. They were worried that, without a mass inoculation, that millions of Americans could be at risk of contracting swine flu and dying from it. So, 43 million Americans got vaccinated, but soon after, more than 500 people got sick and 25 people died.
Looking back, of course, the 1976, the threat never materialized. Only one person died and about 200 people got sick from the swine flu.
Here's some of what Dr. Sencer had to say more than 30 years later.
HARRIS: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOUDREAU: Do you feel like you relied more on politics than on science?
SENCER: No. I think we tried to stay out of the politics and the politicians kept getting in our way.
BOUDREAU: Why do you say that? What do you mean?
SENCER: Well, you know, we think it - for example, the president was vaccinated on camera. That makes it a political sort of a situation.
BOUDREAU: Do you ever find yourself thinking about the people that did get sick because the vaccine?
SENCER: Oh, sure.
BOUDREAU: You do?
SENCER: I mean, you know, you have to as a practioner. But we also had the feel that if we didn't do something and the swine flu spread, more people would have died.
BOUDREAU: But you ultimately lost your job as well.
SENCER: Yes, but when the you're a public person and you feel strongly about something, if you don't make a decision, you can't live with yourself. And I'm - sure it was difficult to lose a job. But on the other hand, I felt that I was doing the right thing and if I had -- if I hadn't felt that way, then I would have been really unhappy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOUDREAU: So basically, we do know that there are still people who are sick from this vaccine. They're out there's saying, you know, before I took this vaccine, I was fine. I took the vaccine because the government told me to take it and now look what happened to me. And they're suffering from chronic illnesses because of that.
And Tony, we did talk to the doctor about whether or not, you know, what he had to say about this. And in sort of a roundabout way, he did apologize to those victims. But he said what he was doing, what he was doing at that time, was based on information he had at that time. He thought it was the right decision.
And one more interesting note. I did ask him if he took the vaccine. And he says, of course I took the vaccine. I believed in this program.
And also, Tony, we'll have a lot more of this interview later today on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
HARRIS: Abbie, appreciate it. Thank you.
Boy, that is revealing.
OK, we're just minutes away from the latest CDC news conference. You will see it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And of course, you can learn more about the H1N1 flu's global impact and how to protect yourself from the virus at CNNHealth.com.
And you can also follow the conversation with us on Twitter. Really? Simply search # CNNswineflu.
He promised to change the way things are done in Washington. He's had 100 days. Now, he's getting his first report card.
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OBAMA: I think we're off to a good start. But it's just a start. I'm proud of what we've achieved, but I'm not content. I'm pleased with our progress, but I'm not satisfied.
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HARRIS: President Obama reflecting on his first 100 days in office. The president capped off the day with a primetime news conference. He fielded questions on topics ranging from the flu outbreak to foreign policy.
And another reminder: We will have live coverage of President Obama's statement on the Chrysler bankruptcy and the auto industry. That's ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, noon Pacific - noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.
And after 100 days on the job, President Obama says he is - OK, before we get to this Candy Crowley piece, let's get to the CDC as we promised. The news conference is underway. And there is the acting director of the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser.
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DR. RICHARD BESSER, ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: get information, we will be sharing that with you.
As more communities become affected by the H1N1 virus, the activities that public health and the communities are undertaking to control this will become more visible. And so there's going to be more concern, there's going to be more questions. And it's very important that people know where to get answers to their questions and where to find the best, most current guidance that we have. We're referring people it our Web site, and I'll give you more on that in a moment.
I've been trying to make the point that there's shared responsibility when it comes to preventing infectious diseases. Shared responsibility when it comes to fighting a new infection for which we have incomplete information. There are things that the government needs to do, and we are aggressively doing those things. There's things that communities need to do, businesses need to do, and there's a lot that individuals need to do. And I'll go through those again.
But let me start with an update on our cases. In the future, we may move away from case updates because, as we see more cases and more suspect cases, the numbers become a little murkier. And we'll focus more on where things are occurring and what that tells us about the spread of infection.
Today, I'm reporting 109 confirmed cases in the United States. We have 11 affected states with confirmed cases. There are many more states that have suspect cases and we'll be getting additional results over time.
In New York, there are 50 cases; Texas, 26; California, 14 - and again, I'd refer you to the CDC Web site where you'll be able to find all of this information.
The new state is South Carolina, which has 10 confirmed cases. Two in Massachusetts, one in Michigan, two in Kansas, one in Arizona, one in Nevada, one in Indiana, and one in Ohio.
And in the future, I think what I'll do is just give you the overall number and refer you to the Web site for states.
Our median age of cases is 16 years with a range of 22 months to 81 years.
The most recent case onset that we are - have confirmed is April 26th. The majority of onset dates appear to be after April 18th.
Six of the confirmed cases have been hospitalized, including the unfortunate case we reported yesterday of the child in Texas who passed away.
I want to put this in context again of the seasonal flu, so that people can understand Influenza is a virus we see every season, every winter. It can cause severe disease. In the United States, on average, there are 36,000 deaths from seasonal flu.
And so I think, as we see this virus in more communities, as we see more people who are infected by this virus, we're going to continue to see a broad spectrum of disease, from milder infections to more severe infections. And unfortunately, I do expect that there will be more deaths.
As we continue to look, we will see more cases in more states. And we will see that there are differences in actions across the country. This is a good thing. It's very important that we look to local and state public health to look at their situation on the ground, their local context, and take the recommendations that we're providing and apply them locally.
And so, you're seeing differences. And we hope to learn from these differences in terms of what are the most effective control strategies for this new infection. There are reports that there's broader school closure in Texas, and we'll look to see what was the impact of that. Is that an effective strategy?
You're also going to hear that emergency declarations are made in different states. As you know, we declared a public health emergency in the United States on Sunday. That gives us additional authorities, abilities to do things that we wouldn't otherwise have. That holds true for states as well, and so you'll see states that are affected, many of them declaring an emergency to allow them to respond as effectively and quickly as possible.
Let me go through some of the public health actions that are underway. We continue to work with state and local health departments. We continue to work with the World Health Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization, and we are working as part of the tri-national team in Mexico.
Later this afternoon, we'll be publishing an article in the MMWR that is summarizing some of the data coming out of Mexico. That's being reviewed still by the various groups that are authors to that. Those bodies include the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health Organization, Canada, Mexico and the United States. So that will provide additional information on the situation in Canada.
As you know, last night, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic threat level to five. This is a good thing. I mean, it doesn't impact on what we're doing here in the United States, but it's really a wake-up call to the rest of the global community. That if you haven't been paying attention to what's going on here and in Mexico, it's time to pull out your pandemic plans and think about what you would do if this infection were occurring in your own borders.
It's time as a global community, as well, to think about what are the needs of other countries? What are some of the needs of countries that don't have the resources and haven't been planning as intently as we have been here in the United States?
I want to talk about some of the work we're doing in the field. We are sending, continue to be deploying the strategic national stockpile. This is the collection of anti-viral drugs and materials that could be used in hospitals. We have completed deployment to nine states and material is moving to the rest of the states. And so, all of that should be complete by May 3rd.
There are no reports, and we don't expect any reports, of shortages of any anti-virals in any states. We're doing this movement of drugs as a forward-leading move in case, in the event, this would become something much bigger than it currently is.
We have 34 CDC staff deployed in the field in five locations, including 11 staff in Mexico.
One thing about the work in Mexico, I wanted to let you know that there is now a lab up and running in Mexico that's able to do diagnosis and confirmation of the H1N1 virus. This is a really big step. It's going to help us with the studies there, because we'll really be able to confirm cases and then look at risk factors for those cases, how they were treated. It's going to be very helpful in terms of speeding up the course of those studies.
We've expanded greatly our information resources. We've added 50 new staff for our information line. And that's 1-800-CDC-INFO. The other day, with the influx of volume, there was almost a 15-minute wait for some of those calls. We're now down, I think, to less than 90 seconds, which is good. And that's dramatically reduced the drop rate on calls. It's so important that when people want information, when they're concerned, they're able to get it. And that's going to help do that.
We're getting 4,000 calls and over 2,000 e-mails a day. We've added new servers and technology. We're getting six to eight million hits per day on our Web site.
We're doing webcasts. We're doing one later today. We're out there "twitting" as well. And I've never twitted, but for those who twit, they find that it's a good way to get information.
We're issuing more recommendations and guidance. We'll be putting out, later today, information for colleges and universities on what to do should they have cases on their campuses.
We've already put out - we always have had guidance for flu outbreak control, but what this will do is provide some additional guidance for this new strain of what they should do on campuses. Basically, we want people to review their plans, be ready to implement them, track and report illnesses among students and then promote the same activities we're asking everyone to do in terms of personal prevention.
Yesterday, we talked a lot about vaccine and the movement towards vaccines. And had discussion about growing up the virus so that we are able to move towards production of a vaccine, if we decide that that is warranted. And those efforts still continue to move forward quite successfully.
OK. So in closing, I want to reiterate something that I've said repeatedly. What we call this matters much less than what we do. We continue to be very aggressive in our approach and we're going to continue to do that until the situation tells us that we no longer need to do so.
There's no one action that's going to stop this. There is no silver bullet. But all of the efforts - the efforts of governments, the efforts of communities, the efforts of individuals - will help reduce the impact on people's health, and that's very important.
The actions will vary by community and that's a good thing. We'll learn from that, what things are more effective and what things are not a good use of resources. And those things that aren't a good use of resources, we want to stop doing them so we can really direct our efforts into things that are showing to work.
I know people are concerned and some people are afraid. And it's important that we do what we can to take those concerns and fears, channel them into personal action and personal planning, because it can be very empowering. There are things people can do. And if people start doing these things in terms of hand washing, covering coughs, staying home when they're sick, it's going to help not only for this, but when future respiratory illnesses come through the community, there'll be a sense of personal responsibility that it really is not a good thing to do things that may spread that virus or that infection in the community.
Lastly, I just want to let you know how incredibly proud I am of the people here at CDC. This goes for the hundreds of people who are working around the clock on this outbreak control, but also the thousands of people at CDC who are doing our daily public health work. While we are responding to this outbreak, we are also doing the work of promoting and protecting health in other areas. And I just want to acknowledge that here because they're not here every day, they're doing the work, and it's really an incredible effort here at the CDC.
And with that, I would like to take your questions.
TELECONFERENCE OPERATOR: Thank you. Our first questions coming from Maggie Fox at Reuters.
You're line is open.
MAGGIE FOX, HEALTH AND SCIENCE EDITOR, REUTERS (via telephone): Hi, thanks a lot.
I would like to ask about the diagnostic tests. What tests are available?
Can you tell us a little bit about this lab in Mexico? What its capacity is, how long it takes to test someone for H1N1, and where those tests are now, so that we can judge a little bit more about the information that comes in? How long it will long it will take to get a confirmation?
Thank you.
BESSER: Thanks.
Testing is an important part of this, and we may change our strategies around testing as this goes forward. When we start to see or if we start to see more cases in a community, we may look at not doing confirmatory testing with each case. But right now, what happens is you go to your doctor and have flu-like symptoms, and if the doctor is concerned that you might have the H1N1 virus, they will take a swab in your nose. That will be sent to a laboratory for culture. And then from that, there'll be special testing done to see if this is the one of the commonly circulating strains of flu. If it's not, it will be sent on to the state lab for confirmation or for testing.
At this point, not every state is able to do the testing for the H1N1. Up until, I think yesterday, CDC was the only place here that you could get that done. We're in the process of rolling out across the country testing capability to...
HARRIS: OK, let's jump out of this briefing. I think we have probably the important information, the update on cases confirmed.
Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent, is with me.
Elizabeth, what was the news there? One hundred nine confirmed cases, 11 states?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: Six hospitalizations, which I think is important because up until two days ago, we had no hospitalizations.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: So, six hospitalizations including the 22-year-old toddler that died.
HARRIS: I took note of this, Dr. Besser mentioned that raising the threat level to five - which is something the W.H.O. did yesterday, correct? - is a good thing, because it serves as a wakeup call to the rest of the world. And I think it's probably worth noting here, what is it that the rest of the world...
COHEN: Needs to wake up and do? Yes, it wasn't clear to me either. Wasn't clear to me either.
I think he was maybe just trying to say, it's a good thing that we're all getting the message: swine flu bad, let's do something. But he didn't specifically say the rest of the world needs to do A, B and C.
HARRIS: So this Web site at the CDC, absolutely deluged with hits. Right?
COHEN: Millions of hits. Six to eight million, yes.
HARRIS: Six to eight million hits at the Web site. And he's also -- what is this, this tweet thing? This twit thing? What is it?
COHEN: Yes, I'm going to, with all due respect, I'm going to correct the doctor's Twitter grammar. He said, "I never twitted before."
HARRIS: Yes, yes. What's wrong with that?
COHEN: The correct term is, "I've never tweeted before." Tweeted would the past tense. You tweet, past tense is tweeted.
HARRIS: All right. I think he's with me.
COHEN: So I think he's going to start doing it now, though, because it is, you know, a way that a lot of people are getting information.
HARRIS: All right, and you just did a tweet, right? You were asking folks...
COHEN: I did.
HARRIS: ... what we think. Because as we were sitting here, I was asking you, what do you think of him? I mean, he's the acting director. I don't know if this is an audition for the job. He seems to be poised.
COHEN: It's quite an audition.
HARRIS: Quite an audition, trial under fire. And you decided you would twit about it? Tweet?
COHEN: Yes, I just did and so I don't think I have any responses yet, but I can come back later and tell you if I got any responses to my tweet.
But I think it's - you know, the key is good communication.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: And I think that just certainly, what I've heard from people, is they think that he's doing a good job of communicating, getting up on TV every day and telling people what's happening and taking reporters questions. Because the CDC has been criticized in the past for not communicating as well as they should.
HARRIS: Yes. And again, he mentioned again, so we should mention it, the precautions that each and every one of us can to protect ourselves. The washing the hands - and I'll let you do the rest. It's washing the hands and doing couple of things.
COHEN: There isn't much - there isn't much to say.
HARRIS: It's simple.
COHEN: It's washing hands. If you know someone is sick and just got back from Mexico, may not be the time to hug them. That's from me, not from him.
HARRIS: OK, and next hour when you're back, we'll talk about how this is spreading because the vice president said something this morning and got himself...
COHEN: Right, yes, there you go. Yes, we'll talk about that. OK.
HARRIS: ... he's in a little bit of trouble and we'll clear that up.
Elizabeth, thank you.
COHEN: OK, thanks.
HARRIS: We'll take a break. We'll come back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You might be surprised to learn U.S. troops are on the ground in Ethiopia battling terrorism. They are there to build, not fight.
CNN's Barbara Starr has our story of an ADCB (ph) construction team that will impact your world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): In one of Arasabahbah's (ph) poorest Arab neighborhoods, unexpected rock stars - the U.S. military.
Here at this Abadeer (ph) primary school, they helped rebuild the run down school, giving these children, who have little, a real opportunity to learn.
When the troops first got here...
(on camera): What did this school look like when you first got here?
STAFF SGT. BRUCE FRANKS, LEADER, U.S. ARMY CIVIL AFFAIRS: It was very run down. There was mold growing from where the ceilings had been leaking. There was loose, naked wires hanging out, which was a big hazard to the children. And the classrooms in general, there were no chalkboards, there were only one or two desks, and most kids had to either stands up or just sit on floor.
STARR (voice-over): The children had been drinking water from a rusty tank; it was quickly replaced.
All of this part of the U.S. military strategy to fight terrorism without ever firing a shot.
NASSER MAHMUD, HEADMASTER (through translator): We are very lucky and we are very pleased.
STARR (on camera): For the U.S. military, their work here at the Abadeer school and across the Horn of Africa is a long term investment. Helping these children get a chance at a real education means there's less chance that extremism can take hold in this region.
(voice-over): Troops will tell you they love being here.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It's like planting seeds. We start something small and it'll grow into something greater.
STARR: Already, some of Africa's youngest citizens are big supporter of one man in particular.
(on camera): How many here know who Barack Obama is?
(CHILDREN YELLING & LAUGHTER)
STARR (voice-over): But politics gives way to recess....
