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CNN Saturday Morning News
Orlando Shooter was Fired Employee; President Obama Lobbying for Health Care Bill on Capitol Hill Today; Upcoming News Briefings About Ft. Hood Shooting; Possible Motives of Ft. Hood Shooter
Aired November 07, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, from the CNN center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's November 7th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody on this Saturday. I hope you are having a good one. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
It's 8:00 a.m. right here in Atlanta, 7:00 a.m. in Ft. Hood, Texas where the investigation continues this morning into the massacre at the nation's largest military post. This morning, we are going to take you there live for the latest developments and you are also going to hear from family members of the victims.
HOLMES: Also, this morning, President Obama, he's making a stop on Capitol Hill today, a rare appearance on a Saturday. He'll be urging House Democrats to pass health care reform this weekend. Could be voting today, possibly tomorrow, but sometime soon they hope.
Still we want to check some of our other top stories as well this morning. We were talking about that shooting at Ft. Hood, then we saw another shooting (INAUDIBLE) building yesterday in Orlando. The suspect could be making a court appearance as early as this morning. His name is Jason Rodriguez. He's now looking at first degree murder charges.
Rodriguez apparently was fired from this Orlando engineering firm a few years back, back in 2007 and then returned on Friday and started shooting. The company said they fired him after nine months of poor performance. He's blamed the firm for not getting his jobless benefits to him. Again, the toll there, one office worker dead, five expected to survive, five others who were shot.
NGUYEN: Here's another story for you. Cleveland police now say they are done searching the home of a registered sex offender and here is what they found. Ten bodies, one skull at Anthony Sowell's house. Now a fourth victim has now been identified, that person, 43-year-old Nancy Cobbs. She went missing back in April. Anthony Sowell is being held without bond.
HOLMES: We now know that two missing servicemen in western Afghanistan are in fact Americans. The two paratroopers were last seen heading out on a routine re-supply mission on Wednesday. The NATO led international security force says 25 of their troops were wounded in an insurgent attack during the search for those two missing paratroopers. NGUYEN: We want to turn now to that shooting tragedy at Ft. Hood, Texas. Here is what we know. Investigators say Major Nidal Hasan fired more than 100 rounds from two handguns on Thursday. Two dozen of the 38 people shot remain hospitalized.
Hasan, who was shot four times by a police officer is at Brooke Army medical center in San Antonio where he is under heavy guard and is in critical, but stable condition. The flag-draped remains of the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed on Thursday were flown to Dover Air Force base in Delaware last night. Autopsies are being done there.
We are also hearing about news briefings today, one at noon Eastern at (INAUDIBLE) Memorial hospital in Temple with the commander of Ft. Hood. The Texas Governor Rick Perry, he will make remarks as well. The other news conference, 6:00 p.m. Eastern at Ft. Hood which will be conducted by Ft. Hood's public affairs officer and of course, we'll be watching both of those for you.
HOLMES: We do expect to get the very latest in those two briefings. But right now, we can get the very latest from our Sean Callebs who is joining us now live from Ft. Hood. And Sean, a lot of questions still swirling around and a lot of focus still put on the victims, the families and all those soldiers, a tight knit family of military and a tight-knit community that supports Ft. Hood.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I think that's one thing that people here are talking about, just the quick reaction, not only from the first responders and medical staff as well, but just basically anybody who was within earshot of those gunshots that were fired. You talked about Major Hasan is accused of firing more than 100 rounds in just a short period of time.
We know one of those weapons was an FN-5.7 basically a semiautomatic pistol. It could just unleash terror and certainly, apparently did and we know that there were 46 gunshot injuries during that just four minutes of shooting before those first responders were able to shoot and bring Major Hasan down.
A lot of focus too on his background because we know that his family has alleged that he had been harassed by other soldiers here on base. We talked to a number of first responders yesterday. They said they found that difficult to believe, one is because of his rank. He was a major, but it would be very difficult for a lower-ranking member or non-enlisted member of the service here to do anything like that.
Also, bring us some perspective. We're joined now by Sgt. Fahad Kamal. You have been in the service four years now. You are Muslim and when you heard about the shooting, when you heard about the accused gunman, what went through your mind when you heard that he was Muslim?
SGT. FAHAD KAMAL, COMBAT MEDIC: I was more shocked than anything. I was feeling angry as well for the Muslim community. I just did not want to be seen as a stereotype and I wanted better for the Muslim community because being a Muslim, we don't have that type of view, where we believe that Islam promotes peace and friendship amongst everyone and with all religions. CALLEBS: And you have been deployed to Afghanistan. You said that your background, your language, your faith, it was actually a benefit to your soldiers when you went there.
KAMAL: Yes, sir, it was. While I was in Afghanistan, the people over there spoke Urdu as well, so I was able to help patients better explain their issues, what kind of medical problems they were facing and a doctor, the physician, would have me be there and help him diagnose the patient with him. So it was beneficial in that sense.
CALLEBS: Did you ever worship with Hasan and were you surprised when you heard there were allegations that he had been harassed by other soldiers?
KAMAL: The mosque that I attend, I have only seen him once over there. I never actually spoke with the man and from the first view that I had of him, by just looking at him, I thought he seemed like a friendly guy and he was a major, so I felt that, you know, he'd been in the army for 10 years or more because and I just had respect for him in that sense.
CALLEBS: And quickly, what about the harassment allegation? Do you think that's possible?
KAMAL: Harassment allegation?
CALLEBS: His family said that he was harassed by other soldiers here because of being Muslim? Do you think that could have happened to him?
KAMAL: Well, I mean it doesn't happen because most of the time in my experience I did not have that happen. The only experience that I did have was while I was in basic training and a friend, a battle buddy is my own -- basically the guy I room with, the guy who I have to look out for and he has to look out for me, just made a joke regarding my religion and my drill sergeant took that very seriously and had him disciplined from my entire company and he was punished for his actions, even though he was jokingly saying it to me.
CALLEBS: Sergeant, thanks very much for joining us here this morning. Good luck to you as well.
It's interesting T.J. and Betty because I think there are only about 2,000 Muslim soldiers active in the Army right now so a very small percentage. So to get that perspective from the sergeant certainly something a lot of people out here have been wondering.
There's a small Muslim population in Killeen, just outside this base. We were able to talk with one of the family members with the mosque out there and said it was just the worse news possible for the Muslim community to hear that it was a Muslim who's been accused of this massacre here at this base.
Guys, back to you.
HOLMES: And Sean, we appreciate hearing that perspective. We appreciate you getting him on, the sergeant there with us this morning, an important perspective to hear. They talked about battle buddies, all that religion and a lot of those backgrounds just are all put to the side out there when you are fighting side-by-side with someone. So we'll maybe get motive later. But Sean, we appreciate you bringing that to us this morning. Thanks so much.
NGUYEN: We want to get you some words now from the commander in chief a day after the horrific mass shooting at the nation's largest military post. In his weekly radio Internet address, President Obama tried to reassure a nation shaken by the tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't fully know what leads a man to do such a thing. What we do know is that our thoughts are with every single one of the men and women who were injured at Ft. Hood.
Our thoughts are with all the families who have lost a loved one in this national tragedy and our thoughts are with all of the Americans who wear or have worn the proud uniform of the United States of America. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen and the military families who love and support them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The president there saying that we cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing. But certainly the question that we all keep going back to. As we know, an Army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan had been working with soldiers suffering with post- traumatic stress disorder. But, did he suffer from it himself?
Dr. Paul Ragan, a psychiatrist who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder joins me now from Nashville. Dr. Ragan, let me ask you this. Are the Ft. Hood shootings the action of someone who might have suffered from PTSD?
DR. PAUL RAGAN, SPECIALIZES IN POST-TRAUMATIC SYNDROME: I think actually that's fairly unlikely. Dr. Hasan just finished a two-year fellowship at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress and he had only been an independent Army psychiatrist for about four months. That is at an operational base. So for him to have been suffering from PTSD I think is highly unlikely.
NGUYEN: Doctor, let me ask you this, then. A lot of people find it awfully ironic too, he was a psychiatrist, someone to help people when they have issues, yet he's also accused of shooting of this magnitude. What would cause someone, especially with that kind of training and that kind of background to do something like this?
RAGAN: Well, that's the huge question before us. I don't have the exact answer. I can give a little guidance. To put it bluntly, the wheels came off many, many months or even years probably before he showed up at Ft. Hood. Usually, in the military after you finish your residency, you go and do your operational tour. That's what I did. Then, the Army allowed him to do a two-year fellowship. There's some evidence that he may have been trying to avoid deploying. And so where did he not identify with the military mission? He had been in the military as the soldier said earlier, over 10 years. What was it that happened that he couldn't fulfill his military obligations?
NGUYEN: Yeah. So, the question, too, is it the fact that he disagreed with the mission or was it taunting, was it teasing, was it harassment? Could these things have played a role as well?
RAGAN: They may have. I can tell you, in the medical community over 25 years I have been intermittently teased for being a psychiatrist. That, I don't think, was the tipping point for him. And clearly, there's a good deal of prejudice in certain areas of our society toward Muslims, but, again, as the soldier told us, the Army has been pretty strict about not engaging in that type of harassment. So again, I don't think that was the tipping point. I think it was earlier.
NGUYEN: What about religious beliefs? Do you think that might have played a role because there were reports that he gave out the Koran the day of the shooting, also reports that he may have yelled Allah akbar right before the shootings. Could religion have played a role?
RAGAN: I think religion did play a role. Evidently he was counseled about proselytizing patients which was clearly a boundary violation. We have a report that he gave in his class at the fellowship, he was talking about endorsing suicide bombings. He was clearly engaging in some type of tunnel vision where this kind of radical view, which is not, as again the soldier said before, is not a part of mainstream Muslim religion. And so, he was -- there was something going on there, very much so.
NGUYEN: No doubt and of course we're going to hear more about it as the investigation continues, but a lot of people still going back to the fact that this was a practicing psychiatrist. Are there any kind of programs, any kind of resources for folks in that particular field, if they, indeed, need help themselves?
RAGAN: Clearly, once you show up at an operational base, I went to Camp Lejeune as a young Navy psychiatrist. Major Hasan shows up at Ft. Hood. They expect him to be suited up and ready to play. So there are not going to be resources there. But clearly, during his internship, during his residency and during his fellowship, he's at a large urban hospital. There are a lot of resources around there. Why there was a failure to detect his problems and refer him for treatment, clearly, there's a lot of resources in the DC area.
NGUYEN: Clearly there's a lot of questions, too and we appreciate trying to sorting out some of them out for us. Dr. Paul Ragan, we appreciate your time and your insight this morning. Thank you.
RAGAN: Thank you Betty. NGUYEN: Sure. The shootings at Ft. Hood changed the lives no doubt of dozens of families. Tonight, CNN prime time special continues, the search for answers. The post, the suspect, the wounded. A CNN special investigation "Inside the Ft. Hood Shootings" tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: President Obama looking to close the deal on a health care reform plan. He's heading to Capitol Hill this morning. CNN's Elaine Quijano standing by at the White House. Elaine, the president decided to take a little field trip up the street this weekend.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A little field trip T.J., but you know what, the political stakes really could not be higher for President Obama. The House is set to vote, maybe as early as today on health care legislation. So in just a few hours, the president is going to be making this trip to Capitol Hill in person to press lawmakers on this health care overall.
But there is disagreement in the ranks. Democrats in the House disagree on a couple of big sticking points T.J.. They include immigration and specifically whether or not illegal immigrants should have access to the so-called health care, health insurance exchanges that might be created under a bill. Again, these are the exchanges where you can basically go they say and shop around with different insurance providers for your health insurance.
The second sticking point is abortion, whether Federal money would go to funding abortions. We now know that antiabortion Democrats are going to be allowed to offer an amendment that would ban most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the so-called exchange. That is according to our colleague on the Hill, Dana Bash. She got that late last night from three Democratic sources.
So will the president and his allies be able to get the much- needed 218 votes necessary for this health care overhaul? Still very much an open question at this point T.J., but the president will be heading to Capitol Hill. He'll be doing so in the 11:00 Eastern hour. The House is scheduled to debate today and we're actually going to hear later on from the president himself T.J. here at the White House. He's going to be making a statement in the rose garden this afternoon just before he leaves to go to Camp David -- T.J..
HOLMES: An extraordinary Saturday in Washington this weekend. I know you are keeping an eye on it. We'll check in with you again Elaine. Thank you so much.
Meanwhile, the H1N1 flu now widespread in 48 states. Manufacturing delays have caused a massive vaccine shortage. But Federal health officials say 38 million doses are in fact now available. More will be ready next week.
And coming up in about 45 minutes, a special on health care and swine flu. Those topics are on our blog. You can find them at cnn.com/T.J., also cnn.com/betty. You can send us your questions. We've gotten several in but we'll have a pediatrician on hand. He's going to be answering your questions, not our questions, but yours that you send in in our 9:00 half hour -- Betty.
NGUYEN: The nation's unemployment rate spikes to a 26-year high of more than 10 percent. So will it impact mid-term elections? Still to come, the political consequences of unemployment. And doctors, nurses, accused of get this, stealing newborn babies and selling them. We've got those details and top stories coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Checking top stories right now. A mother who was told that her baby died at birth has been reunited with him, yeah, a year later. The reunion comes after the bust of a baby selling ring. Mexican authorities have arrested three doctors, a nurse and a receptionist. They are accused of stealing newborns and then selling them. A married couple and a woman were also arrested, accused of buying babies and registering them as their own.
HOLMES: A man is in custody in connection with the killing of Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton (ph). Police say they shot and wounded that suspect after he drew their gun on them. He is now hospitalized in critical condition. This shooting was happening. Meanwhile, the memorial service was going on for the officer who was shot, Officer Brenton, who was shot and killed. That was just coming to an end, Brenton killed a week ago as he sat in his car after a traffic stop.
NGUYEN: It looks like a proposed nuclear deal with Iran is a no- go. A senior Iranian politician now says they won't ship any of the uranium out of the country. That was a key provision to draft a deal agreed to last month. Material that could be used for weapons was supposed to be shipped to Russia for processing.
HOLMES: We are of course following all the new developments in the wake of the shooting rampage at Ft. Hood, Texas.
NGUYEN: Our Josh Levs is looking at a website that military officials are pointing to right now. Josh, what's the latest on that?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's interesting, the head of the Army visited Ft. Hood and said there's a website that everyone should check out. We're going to show it to you. We're going to tell you what it's about and what it says about mental health in the military.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a new CNN poll suggests the economy is still issue number one for Americans. Let's bring in now our deputy political director, a friend of our show here, Paul Steinhauser.
Paul, do we really have to commission a poll to tell us that the economy is the number one thing on the minds of Americans out there? But yeah, it still is. We got a lot going on and (INAUDIBLE) health care, it's surprising that maybe that hasn't taken the economy off the top as the number one issue.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Health care number two. Economy has been number one T.J. for almost two years and what our new poll suggests is that concerns about the economy are on the rise. Take a look at these numbers, this is CNN (INAUDIBLE) Corporation. We put it out yesterday morning, economy number one as you said, 47 percent say that's the most important issue on their minds right now. Look T.J., it's up six points from back in August. You can see that that means more and more Americans are worried about the economy right now.
Health care as you mentioned is number two and then the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, number three. T.J., we put this poll out even before the government reported yesterday that unemployment topped 10 percent for the first time in 26 years.
HOLMES: What is this -- you said, we talk about what the people are worried about, the citizens are worried about. But Congress, Democrats might have something to worry about as well. I mean we just had one election that the Democrats didn't fare too well in. We got another one coming up next year. How are all these numbers going to start to play in how Democrats, Republicans start to jockey themselves, getting ready for next year's election?
STEINHAUSER: And exit polls suggested that voters who went to the polls this past week, the economy, yes, obviously the number one issue. It most likely will be, again, next year when you've got all of the House, a third of the Senate and a third of the governorships up for grabs. And this is a tough time for incumbents and it's as tough time right now for Barack Obama.
Take a look at this number on how Americans think Barack Obama is handling unemployment. It's pretty much split right around there. Americans are divided on what he's doing, but you can see it was a very different story back in March right after that stimulus package was passed when nearly two out of three gave him a thumbs up on the economy. So his numbers have dropped a little bit and that could be troubling for him and for Democrats who are going to be defending a lot of those seats next year, T.J.
HOLMES: Defending a lot, Paul Steinhauser. We're going to be talking to you some more this morning. Always good to have you, a friend of our show, our deputy political director. Paul, see you again, soon.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
NGUYEN: Coming up, we take a closer look at those jobless numbers for October. What do they tell us about the big economic picture? You may not want to know, but we're going to bring it to you anyway.
HOLMES: Also this morning, we're learning more about those heroes in the Ft. Hood shootings. A female police officer, she was the one who took down the gunman, shot him several times. We'll be hearing more about her shortly. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, good morning, everybody. And welcome back on this Saturday. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And good morning to you all I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you for starting your Saturday right here with us.
NGUYEN: Let's get you a check at the top stories that we are following for you today.
A fourth victim has been identified in the Cleveland killings case: 43-year-old Nancy Cobs went missing in April and she lived just a couple of blocks away from Anthony Sowell. The police uncovered 10 bodies and one skull at Sowell's home. He is being held without bond.
HOLMES: Well, in Orlando, now the investigation continues. Police do have a suspect in custody after shooting at an office building there, and specifically an engineering firm. One person was killed; some five others wounded are expected to survive though.
Police say their suspect is Jason Rodriguez who is coming after he had been from that firm several years ago and blamed them for his money problems. And get this, according to our affiliate down there, that he was actually found because his own mother called police and told them where he was.
NGUYEN: Well, the NATO led International Security Force says 25 of their troops were wounded in an insurgent attack during a search and rescue mission in western Afghanistan. They are looking for two troops still missing since Wednesday and we now know that those troops are American paratroopers.
We'll continue to follow this story for you.
HOLMES: We turn back now to the shooting tragedy Fort Hood, Texas. And investigators now saying that Major Nidal Hasan fired more than 100 rounds from two handguns on Thursday; two dozen people are still hospitalized, some 38 people were hit. Hasan who was shot four times himself by a police officer is at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio where he's under heavy guard and in critical but stable condition.
Meanwhile, the flag draped remains of the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed Thursday were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware last night. Autopsies will be done there.
Also, we're expecting to get more information and a lot more details about the case today. Expecting two news briefings, one is going to happen at noon Eastern Time at Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple. That's going to be with the commander in Fort Hood, Texas. Also, the governor, Rick Perry will make remarks there as well.
The other press conference we're hearing about is at 6:00 eastern time at Fort Hood. That'll be with Public Affairs Officer. Hopefully it will answer some questions. So many questions of course remain.
Law enforcement collecting information from Texas to Washington right now; they're trying to piece together a possible motive for all of this.
Our Kate Bolduan takes us inside the FBI investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Law enforcement in search of evidence removed the trash dumpster near the Texas apartment of alleged shooter Major Nidal Hasan. Neighbors say FBI agents took a computer which Hasan frequently used.
All part of the ongoing investigation into just what happened at Fort Hood and why.
FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: What they were doing overnight was looking at all sort of the things you would imagine, his communications, his internet postings, his cell phone usage. They're looking for connections. The real question is one of intent.
BOLDUAN: Law enforcement sources say an FN 5.7 mm semiautomatic pistol like the one shown here was used in the shooting. One of those law enforcement sources adds Hasan purchased it legally in August at this Killeen gun store.
CNN obtained surveillance footage from a convenience store showing Hasan just hours before the shootings.
COL. JOHN ROSSI, DEPUTY COMMANDER, FORT HOOD: At this point, we have one suspect as we said, the lone shooter. That's all the indications that a lone shooter is the suspect.
BOLDUAN: But Frances Townsend, a former homeland security advisor to President Bush says finding out whether anyone else was involved remains a focus.
TOWNSEND: Whether or not there are co-conspirators because you want to get them into custody and you want to interview them. No question, that's first and foremost in their mind.
BOLDUAN: According to Associated Press, law enforcement were aware of Internet activity under the screen name Nidal Hasan -- one online posting compared a soldier jumping on a grenade to suicide bombers. The FBI would not comment on the posting or who wrote it. A former FBI official says tracing the origins of such messages may be an impossible task.
TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: It's very easy for someone to use the computer unanimously to send messages or to use someone else's name to post a message. And it would be very difficult to absolutely identify the individual in this case.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Investigators face more questions than answers at this point.
For example was anyone person or group being targeted. We're told law enforcement are being meticulous in their work here. The alleged shooter is in stable condition and they want to carefully preserve their ability to pursue a criminal case.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, the police officer who helped stop this attack is being hailed for her actions. Fort Hood police officer Kimberly Munley was wounded in both thighs and the wrists in the exchange of gunfire with Major Hasan. Munley told her police chief that she hit the shooter at least twice.
Sergeant Mark Todd was with Munley and he told CNN's Anderson Cooper what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK TODD, FORT HOOD POLICE: When I seen him, he was just standing there. And when I ordered him to drop his weapon, I didn't fire -- I didn't fire myself. When he raised his weapon and fired a couple of rounds and then we both took cover.
And then he went around one side of the building. And as I started to go after him, the bystander said no, he came around, he came around and I came around the other side of the building.
And then, that's when I see him again. I ordered him to drop his weapons and he raised it, fired a couple more rounds at me. Then I engaged him and then he fell. I went up there and secured his weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, our Sean Callebs is at Fort Hood and he tells us that a local building store has offered to actually construct a ramp at Officer Munley's home in case she has to use a wheelchair in recovering from those leg wounds.
You know as the nation absorbs just the shock of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, some people are asking how much the military is doing to fight mental health problems among its personnel.
HOLMES: Yes, military officials now pointing to a new program designed to help soldiers deal with those mental health issues.
Josh Levs showing that to us this morning. Good morning again Josh.
LEVS: Good morning again to you guys. Yes, it's interesting there's a new program just went up in October.
What happened is that yesterday, Army Secretary General George Casey visited Fort Hood and he was asked if the military needs to do more to reach out to military personnel who might be facing mental health problems. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: And can I tell you about a program, $125 million program that is online and is available and is being used by soldiers today.
It's called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness. We started at the 1st of October. There's an online survey that soldiers can go online right now and take them. And thousands of them have already done it. It connects them to self-help modules.
And this whole program is a long term development program to help them build resilience, to give them the strength to deal with the adversity that they're going to be confronted with over the next several years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So you know what? We checked it out, let's zoom in. This is it, right behind us. It's CSF and it's part of Army.mil and this Web site lays it out what it's all about; this Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.
And they basically run through over here the dimensions of strength that they want to encourage in all military personnel in Army. We're talking about soldier focused on physical, emotional, social, family and spiritual.
And as you work your way around this Web site, you see some more information about the resources that they link you to, including a whole bunch of section here that gets you information including issues about mental health and behavioral health. And then soldiers can log in and actually track themselves.
There's also videos on here. And there's a little portion of a video that I want to show you right now, which they talk about the effort to get more soldiers to come forward with mental health issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you that we've reduced it by about 50 percent, to the point where about 50 percent of the soldiers still won't seek help. Well, it might sound -- it's been a huge step, but that's still 500,000 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So, he's laying out there how big the task is. He's saying there's still hundreds of thousands of people within the military that he believes and many officials believe are not coming forward with issues.
We certainly want to hear from you about this. Let's show you where you can weigh in, CNN.com/josh, also Facebook and Twitter JoshLevsCNN. We've been having conversations ever since this happened on Thursday throughout the day yesterday. And it continues today.
And Betty and T.J. we're going to keep an eye on this program, this new CSF program within the military to see how many troops start to use it, see if it starts to make a difference and what some of the results are.
NGUYEN: All right. Looking forward to that. Thank you, Josh.
And the shootings at Fort Hood changed the lives of dozens of families. Tonight, a CNN primetime special continues the search for answers. The post, the suspect, the wounded, a CNN special investigation "Inside the Fort Hood Shootings"; that is tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Well, the stimulus was supposed to prevent this, was it not?
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Well, it didn't.
NGUYEN: Supposed to.
HOLMES: We have still hit double digits. Yes, the nation's unemployment rate spiked at 10.2 percent. Now, that punches through an important psychological barrier.
NGUYEN: Yes, our CNN personal finance editor, Gerri Willis is here to put the number in perspective. We talk about the psychological impact that this has. So yes, I mean, we've reached 10 percent already now.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: 10.2.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Yes.
WILLIS: 10.2 worse than 10, right?
NGUYEN: Yes.
WILLIS: It's a lot of people who are jobless right now. And of course, this is a 26-year high; much worse than analysts were expecting. And the first time since 1983 that we've gone through that 10 percent level.
We have had 22 straight months of job losses with 7.3 million jobs lost since 2008. I can't tell you, you know I have covered business for a long time. Let me tell you this is bad.
Ok, there is one bright spot here, though. Even though the rate continues to go up, the absolute numbers of people filing for unemployment is going down. For example, there was a net loss of 190,000 jobs in October, that's down from 219,000 job losses in September.
And guys, if you actually look, month to month to month to month, that number is coming down basically for the year.
NGUYEN: So that's a little bit of a silver lining in all of this.
WILLIS: Yes.
HOLMES: Now, what is, I mean, what do economists say is the number we can't hit before it starts to mess with people's heads a little bit as far as unemployment? I mean, it kept going up to 8, to 9.
NGUYEN: Is there a magic number with all of this?
HOLMES: Is there a number that can be...
WILLIS: You know I thought 10 percent was the number that people really didn't want to see. But you've got to understand that this staircase is higher. People out there start -- stop spending. Consumers don't want to spend. Companies don't want to spend. They become more cautious as well. And last night, we've got some new numbers that show consumers are borrowing less and less.
The Federal Reserve said last night, the consumer credit fell for the eighth straight month. That is the longest string of declines since 1943. Remember, you know it's not just hard headed analysis that consumers...
HOLMES: Yes.
WILLIS: ... and executive dues when they're opening up their wallet, right? It's more about your gut like how do you feel, are things good, are they bad? Guess what? I'm not going to spend.
HOLMES: Can this take us back, I mean, you know the past several months? There's been a couple of good economic indicators out there.
WILLIS: Yes.
HOLMES: But can this -- is this threatening to take us back and people starting to finally feel a little better then they hear this and going all oh lord, again, they tighten their belts, again?
WILLIS: Right. And you know it's never really a straight root out of a recession, right?
HOLMES: Yes.
WILLIS: Sometimes you can take a step back. Sometimes the movement isn't clear. But I think it is a clear signal to people out there, they're going to say hey, I don't know if I should be spending or not given what's going on.
NGUYEN: Well, especially the holiday season coming up. WILLIS: That's right. Well, you know what's interesting about that? You know holiday spending can be something they can really pick up the whole economy.
NGUYEN: Right.
WILLIS: Why? Well, not only do you have the money going to the stores. But the stores are hiring people that, be on the floor service customers -- guess what -- but at the end of the day the number of people they are hiring this year, something like 400,000 is the expectation. In a good year, do you know what it is -- 712,000. So very big difference this year.
HOLMES: Except last year as well. It was about the (INAUDIBLE) mark as well.
Betty, poor thing. She's been holding on this morning.
NGUYEN: I'm over it, I'm really am.
WILLIS: What did you give her?
HOLMES: I didn't give her anything.
NGUYEN: I'm allergic to T.J.
HOLMES: She wouldn't be the first.
NGUYEN: He has that effect on women.
WILLIS: And now he's blushing.
HOLMES: Ok, well thank you so much this morning. Good to have you here in the morning and really it's good to have you and you're here.
WILLIS: It's a pleasure, it's a real pleasure.
HOLMES: Because we're going to see you at 9:30 live at the show right here taking some calls.
WILLIS: That's right, that's right, we're really excited about this. We're talking about open enrollment. If you have questions about your health care you want to listen at 9:30 to 10:00 we're going to answering your question. Send me an e-mail and get us at the front on line at Gerri at CNN.com. We're going to be for you.
HOLMES: All right, thank you so much. We will see you in here shortly.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Gerri.
WILLIS: Great to see you guys live and in person.
HOLMES: Hang in there Betty, ok.
NGUYEN: I'm trying.
HOLMES: Ok, we've got a health care half hour coming up.
NGUYEN: I'll get some questions, I'll be phoning in.
HOLMES: We'll be talking about that health care, of course.
Several top stories we are keeping an eye on as well. Certainly not going to be too far this morning away from Fort Hood and what's happening there. As we know we say a couple of days ago that massacre really at the largest U.S. military post.
We'll certainly keep on eye on it.
NGUYEN: We're learning more about the suspected gunman. Coming up: a look at what he did in the hours prior to the shooting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right.
So we are keeping a close eye on New York City this morning, why? Well, specifically, the Hudson River -- and there is a shot of why.
HOLMES: Right in the middle there, you see a little stuff going on -- a line going on there. But several piers -- piers 86, 87, 88 -- kind of what you're looking at here.
But specifically the one at 88 -- we're keeping on it. It's the "USS New York;" it's the Navy's newest ship being commissioned today. Special because they used about 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center in the construction of the "USS New York." We will an eye on this picture; we'll keep an eye out for the ceremony that happens live at 11:00 and you will see it right here.
NGUYEN: Yes. And it looks like the weather is going to cooperate. So far, so good, Reynolds, with that sunshine out there.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, you know what I mean. It's getting pretty nice here in the west side of Manhattan right along the Hudson River. Temperatures right now around 39 degrees; going up into the 50s this afternoon with plenty of sunshine up and down the coast. Great day to go out and check out that boat.
One place that would not be good for that boat to be would be in parts of the western Caribbean. In fact, here's the reason why. Take a look; this is tropical storm Ida. Right now, the latest we have on this tropical system, winds are at 45, gusting to 60 miles per hour.
It has just left Honduras and Nicaragua, dumping quite a bit of rainfall, you had some (INAUDIBLE) flooding there, a few mudslides. Now, as the storm continues to rumble, the question is where is it going?
The latest path we have from the National Hurricane Center gives us an idea that when we put this into motion, the latest computer models -- at least the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center -- brings the storm right up between the Yucatan peninsula and Cuba and then into the Gulf of Mexico as we get into Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. And then moving -- I'd say -- south of Pensacola.
I want you to really focus just what's going to happen here on the first couple days as we get towards early next week and middle of next week. It gets kind of a little bit interesting there. We're going to have a stationary front that should drop its way just over parts of the Gulf of Mexico and into the southeastern U.S. That may actually block this storm systems so we have really no idea where this thing might be headed toward the mainland.
There's a very good chance, at least according to the computer models. This thing may not end up anywhere making land fall, but actually dying out in the Gulf of Mexico. Don't worry just yet. Just be advised that there's the potential that we could have some activity in the Gulf by early next week.
Before we wrap things up very quickly, one thing I want to show you, your forecast what you can expect temperature wise on the Eastern Seaboard, 50s and 60s, may look for highs out towards the center of the U.S.: 77 in Dallas, 76 in Las Vegas, 63 in San Francisco, plenty of sunshine in L.A. with a high of 70 degrees.
That's the latest on your forecast. More coming up on the tropics in just a few moments.
So I send it back to you.
NGUYEN: Those temperatures are like pretty good for November.
WOLF: Yes, I know. I mean this is really, really lucky. It should be a good weekend for much of the nation.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you Reynolds.
A health care reform plan is close to a vote in the House.
HOLMES: We'll give you a look at what the president is doing today to try to close the deal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are getting an exclusive look at how Fort Hood shooting suspect Major Nidal Hasan spent the days before the shooting. We have surveillance video that was obtained by CNN and it shows the suspect in a 7-11 store in Texas hours before that rampage.
NGUYEN: Yes. And another surveillance video taken two days before the shooting also shows Hasan as he tried to make a purchase.
Our Tom Foreman has more on what these tapes could mean to the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Fort Hood over here and Major Hasan lived in this neighborhood just beyond the fort; really, just a matter of blocks away. And if we fly down to the street level, we can take look at his actual apartment complex.
People there say some strange things were going on in the hours immediately before the shooting took place. For example, he called one man that he knew there -- according to this man -- and asked him to make sure his wireless connection was turned on so he could use his computer at about 2:30 in the morning. Later on, left a phone message for the man -- according to this man -- thanking him for being a good friend.
Much later in the morning, he was in this courtyard throwing things away and giving possessions to people saying he was going off to Iraq.
Let's move down the road here. We heard a lot of talk earlier about 7-11. It's a place where he stopped every morning. It's only about two miles away; it's along this road right here. You can also zoom in there. That's where you saw those pictures of him going in and out.
From all accounts, this was a regular stop for him, most mornings. He would come down this road. This is not far, again, from where he is nor is it far from the base. And here is the 7-11 where he could stop and get coffee, visit with the owner for maybe 10, 15 minutes on awful lot of days and he may get some hash browns. It's considered very normal behavior for him there. The people there knew him well.
Further down, we should note this, on the exact same road, if we go all the way down here, you'll find the local mosque. We don't know what role that may or may not have played in all of this.
But on the same road -- this is another one worth noting. On the very same road and again quite close to the post, you find this place. This is where authorities now say they believe he bought at least one of the weapons that was used or believed to be used in the shootings that happened on the base on Thursday with such tragic results.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this November 7th. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen.
9:00 a.m. here on the East Coast; 6:00 a.m. for everyone waking up on the West Coast. In this half hour, we do -- as we do every Saturday at 9:00 we're going to focus on health care for you, today.
And the topic: H1N1. We have a doctor in the house to answer your questions. So, if you are wondering if you should get the shot or if you should get it for your children or even just the possible side effects of the shot, send us your questions. Send them our Facebook pages or Twitter pages.
Also though, you can reach us at bettynguyenCNN or tjholmesCNN; also, our blog address is up there for you. We need your questions because the doctor is here to specifically answer them. So, send them in.
HOLMES: Also, a live picture we can show you this morning of the capital. There's some dealing going on right now. Democrats, the House Democrats -- they are poring over the health reform bill.
President Obama, meanwhile, will be in the House this morning. He will visit them on Capitol Hill to answer any remaining questions they might have for him to try to push this thing through. They're expected to vote on the bill -- it's a possibility -- it could happen today, maybe even tomorrow. But sometime this weekend.
We are going to be talking to our Brianna Keilar who is on Capitol Hill for us as well as many of our other correspondents. We're keeping an eye on a busy and extraordinary day in Washington.
NGUYEN: No House Republicans support the health care reform bill. The GOP leaders did hold a rally Thursday to protest it. TEA Party movement activists and other conservatives converged on Capitol Hill.
The message, the House legislation translates to a full-blown government takeover of the system. They want their voices to be heard. And indeed they are being heard. And the bipartisan battle over the reform plan extended to a fight over endorsements.
Want you to listen now to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and then minority leader, John Boehner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I am pleased that we have an array of pages and pages of endorsed supporters for this legislation. Especially since many of the questions we received is what does my doctor think; the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, academy of pediatrics, American Nurses Association, to name a few.
And then a patient in disease advocacy groups, National Breast Cancer Coalition, Easter Seals United, Cerebral Palsy Association. And now, just now, just before I came in here, the American Cancer Society made its endorsements.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: The Ohio State Medical Association came out yesterday in opposition to Pelosi care.
And even though the board here on Washington for the American Medical Association has endorsed, I think that they're clearly out of touch with where their members are.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Well, one big lobbying group is supporting the House health reform plan. And that is the AARP. It's thrown its support behind the House bill. The group lobbies on behalf of 40 million members age 50 and over. It's support is seen as a big boost for the legislation.
HOLMES: Exactly what do Americans think of how Congress is progressing on health care reform? Let's bring in our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser with results of a new poll, it's always a little scary when you ask people what they think about what Congress is doing, right, Paul?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is interesting in this poll, T.J. One thing we found, there's big agreement. People want Congress to do something, T.J., get something done in healthcare but they don't agree on what they want to get done.
Take a look at these numbers as you mentioned. Brand new, pretty much from CNN Opinion Research Corporation. About a quarter of Americans right up there at the top. They want Congress to pass the current bills. They are debating with few changes.
About a third of Americans they say well keep working, but we want major changes on these bills. Another quarter right down there say, you know what, start from scratch. And at the very bottom, T.J., 15 percent say stop all the work whatsoever. I guess those people like the health care system, the way it is right now.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) they are scared of some of the changes and some of the things they've been seeing. Interesting that 24 percent want to start all over. It's amazing to think that we would have to do this all over again. Let's bring in our Brianna Keilar, is up on Capitol Hill for us. She joins us now on the phone.
Brianna, we're sharing these polls with the viewers that Paul is giving us here. Talking about starting from scratch, Democrats are trying to avoid that this weekend, are they not?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): They are trying to avoid that, T.J. And the big issue for them is getting all their Democrats on board. As you know, in the House of Representatives, they have a sizable majority. But there's one issue that they don't have a majority on, and that is the issue of abortion rights.
There's actually dozen of Democrats who are anti-abortion and that's become a big issue in this debate over health care. So what we saw last night, late into the evening, in Speaker Pelosi's office, a back and forth talk because of the sizable contingent of Democrats who are anti-abortion. So here's what shook (ph) after all of that. They are going to be giving a vote on their proposal to strike most abortion coverage from the government run insurance plan in this health care bill.
And also, from private insurance plans that will be available for purchase on the so-called exchange that you heard them talked about. Basically, this marketplace for insurance, kind of similar to the kind that you might buy an airline ticket on. An exchange that can be set up by the government. So, you know, this showdown, part of this fight, to make sure that there are no federal dollars are used to pay for abortions.
And you know, we should really underline this, T.J. because it's quite a big deal. Because these Republicans band together with these anti-abortion Democrats on this vote is a very likely path. And as you can imagine, T.J., abortion rights Democrats are just mad, mad, mad about this. But when Democratic leadership source tell us there was just no choice, this was the only way the Democrats could get all of the votes that they need to pass this today.
HOLMES: And I want to remind our viewers of what you are looking at here. This is not taped video of the week. This is a rare, Saturday session being held by the Democrats who are trying to hammer out some kind of an agreement amongst themselves, quite frankly, trying to get to the right number to get a health care bill out of the House, a vote that could come today.
Brianna, stay with me here. And Paul, you stand by as well. Brianna, I'm going to ask you another question while I have you here. We are talking about the Democrats getting together trying to work something out. I'm talking about President Obama going up to Capitol Hill, trying to work something out with them.
What are the Republicans doing today? Do they have any role today essentially in what the Democrats are trying to put together? This certainly not a bipartisan day on Capitol Hill?
KEILAR: Democrats are certainly not expecting any Republican support on this and make no mistake about it, Republicans aren't promising any support. What they are doing, T.J., is sort of identifying some of these vulnerable Democrats, these Democrats who are in moderate districts that, you know, tend to be those purple or red districts where in particular on this issue of abortion and just really on the size of this health care reform effort, they are facing quite a difficult decision.
Really, a decision that could be the difference of whether they come back when they run for re-election here in a year. So Republicans, I think at this point are identifying some of those members, but more than anything, I think they are just making sure that they are solid in their numbers, that they are going to stand in a no-vote on this.
At this point, we are not expecting anything different. Of course, you always want to wait for the votes and see how it shake out. But at this point, it sounds like they are standing together. All though, they are all here on Capitol Hill as are all the Democrats.
HOLMES: As are all the Democrats. All right, I'm going to leave it there for a second. Paul, we certainly are going to get back with you. But we're going to leave it here for just a second. Again, reminding our viewers, the session is happening right now. A rare Saturday session happening up on Capitol Hill.
Democrats trying to get together to get something done. You see it happening on the floor of the House at this moment. This is happening live. We'll keep an eye on this. We are following the health care debate.
NGUYEN: All right. So if you are home sick with H1N1, emergency sick pay could be on the way. We're going to have those full details straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK, so say you are sick with the H1N1 flu virus and even sicker over being out of work without pay because of it. Well, at least one U.S. congressman wants to help. He's proposing emergency legislation to grant swine flu victims five days of paid leave.
CNN's Lisa Sylvester has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you come down with the flu, you are told to stay home until you get better. That's the advice of doctors, the Center of Disease Control and even many bosses are saying, stay away.
ANDREW CATALDO, ATTORNEY, MCGUIRE WOODS LLP: The day of being a hero by coming in sick are over. The message now needs to be, you're a hero if you're sick and you stay home. So please, don't come to work.
SYLVESTER: But according to the National Partnership for Women and Families, 57 million American workers have no paid sick leave. Missing work can mean a deep cut in a monthly pay check or even possibly a pink slip.
Congressman George Miller has introduced the H1N1 flu emergency sick leave bill. The legislation would grant five days of sick leave a year, if an employer directs a sick worker to stay home or go home. It would apply to companies with 15 or more employees that do not already provide that amount of sick leave.
Part-time workers would also be eligible on a pro-rated basis grant five days of sick leave a year, if an employer directs a sick worker to stay home or go home. It would apply to companies with 15 or more employees that do not already provide that amount of sick leave.
Part time workers would also be eligible on a pro-rated basis. The emergency law would sunset after two years, but businesses would have to foot the bill. Representative Miller says it's in their interest to keep sick workers out of the work place and away from customers.
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: You have thousands and tens of thousands of workers who are working with the public every day in food service, in cafeterias and school lunch programs, in airports, in hospitality. Those people are generators of additional infections of H1N1. So we got to get them get home, get well and then go back.
SYLVESTER: According to the Centers for Disease Control, a sick worker can infect 10 percent of co-workers.
(on camera): Congressman Miller has scheduled a hearing in two weeks on the bill. The legislation will have an impact on some of the workers in the service industry, restaurant and hotel workers who may not currently have a sick leave policy.
Now we did receive a comment from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, they said well most of their members know it is better to let sick employees go home to recover. They do see this bill as "nothing more than an excuse to force more paid leave mandates on employers in an already weak economy."
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So we keep hearing from our viewers that getting the flu isn't their only concern. Many are just not sure about the shot in general.
HOLMES: A lot of questions. So let's bring in the guy who wears a white coat that can answer these things for us.
NGUYEN: And with a degree.
HOLMES: Dr. Michael Anderson. He's a pediatrician. He specializes in critical care. He's here this morning to answer the questions about H1N1 that people have sent in to us. Kind sir, we appreciate you being here this morning. Thank you so much and let's get this thing started.
NGUYEN: All right. Yes, let's start off with a basic question that a lot of people are asking. This coming from Jabar Wright on my Facebook site. And he says "how do you determine the H1N1 virus from a regular cold or flu?" Break it down for us.
DR. MICHAEL ANDERSON, CRITICAL CARE PEDIATRICIAN: Really great question. Great to be here. That is a question everybody asks every flu season, quite frankly. How do I tell everyone the difference between regular normal little cold and really what's the flu.
The flu symptoms are a little bit more severe. They have a higher fever, typically more muscle aches. You sort of feel like you have just been run over by a car and need to be in bed for a couple of days. A cold, you really sort of motor through with maybe a runny nose, really a mild fever if anything and a mild cough. So it's really the severity of symptoms that help separate the two.
NGUYEN: All right. But his question specifically, the difference between just the flu and the H1N1. ANDERSON: Sure, right now, the great majority of adults and children that are presenting with influenza like illness probably have the H1N1. If you look at when we do tests to test for H1N1, probably 90 percent, maybe 92 percent of adults that were presenting with the more severe symptoms have the H1N1 virus.
So to summarize, if you got muscle aches, if you got a high fever, if you got really what you like is the flu, you probably have H1N1.
HOLMES: I'm going to go down to a note from Tamara that we actually got in here, asking a question about the safety of it essentially. Tamara asks, "Is it true that vaccines need to go through 10-year clinical trials to determine long-term effects. If yes, then why was this one rushed to the market. And what do studies of H1N1 tell us?"
Essentially, we hear so much about trials that so many of the drugs and medicines have to go through. How could they rush this one to the market so quickly?
ANDERSON: I'm so glad she asked that question. Because we have been trying to get the word out. Year after year, if you get a seasonal influenza vaccine, we simply do what's called change the antigen. We change a little bit of the virus that we're going to immunize you against. H1N1 is simply a little bit different virus.
So the same four manufacturers that make seasonal influenza make the H1N1 vaccine. It's the same process, it's the same safety mechanisms and from the data we've seen from the CDC, it's just as safe as the seasonal flu.
So we've heard a lot, how could this be rushed to market so quickly? Really, it follows the same safety process as a seasonal flu has done. And all the safety monitoring we have seen from the CDC, from other national experts here in university hospitals, we really believe this is a safe vaccine.
NGUYEN: All right. We got one now from Lakrisha (ph). She says "I'm going to be giving my child the seasonal flu vaccine. How long should I wait afterwards to get her the H1N1 shot?"
ANDERSON: It's a great question. There's a couple of different caveats. If you get both of the intramuscular or the injectable, you don't have to wait any specific period of time, you can get them both at the same time or both relatively quickly. If you get the flu mist, the nasal spray, you have to wait about five to seven days between those two. So if you're both getting injectables, then there's really no reason to wait.
HOLMES: But you have to wait if you're getting the mist. Who knew?
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: That's why you ask somebody in the white coat. NGUYEN: With a degree.
HOLMES: Dr. Anderson, we're not done with you. We're going to take a quick break and a few more questions about H1N1. He's going to answer when we come back.
NGUYEN: Yes. If you have them, keep them coming to us to our Facebook, Twitter sites as well plus doctors and nurses accused -- get this, stealing newborn babies and then selling them. We have those details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now, a look at some of our top stories this morning. Investigators say more than 100 shots were fired in Thursday's shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas. President Obama talked about the shooting today, citing the actions of many soldiers and civilians. He says people rushed to help the injured even though some of those helping were wounded themselves.
NGUYEN: I want to get you the latest on the Orlando shooting suspect. Because he may be in court today. As you know, one person was killed and five wounded as a result of that. Police say Jason Rodriguez blamed the company for his money problems. He was, in fact, arrested at his mother's apartment. And we are being told that his mother is actually the one who called police. We'll continue to follow that story for you.
HOLMES: Well, a mother who was told her baby died at birth has been reunited with him a year later. The reunion comes after the bust of an alleged baby selling ring. Mexican authorities have arrested three doctors, a nurse and a receptionist. They are accused of stealing newborns and then selling them. A married couple and a woman were also arrested, accused of buying the babies then registering them as their own.
NGUYEN: All right. So we are taking your questions this morning about H1N. And we want to get you back to Dr. Michael Anderson, who is a pediatrician who specializes in critical care. He is here to specifically answer your questions. And let me take this straight to my Twitter page. Because the first question I want to get to is Caitlin.
She says "Why should my kids get the H1N1 when there won't be enough for the follow-up dose in a month?" As you know, doctor, there's a lot of concern about the fact that there's not enough doses out there.
ANDERSON: Exactly. I think it's a great question, I would actually caution patients to get the vaccine and for parents to get their children vaccinated. We've been told by the CDC just because the distribution has taken a lot of time, there actually will be enough vaccine as we go into the late fall and early winter.
So I think it really is important, if you can get that first dose of vaccine, there will be slightly, you know, there will be an immune response. And when we get more vaccine, I think the second dose will come along. So my overall advice for parents is to get their children vaccinated.
NGUYEN: So don't assume that you're not going to get that second dose. Just go ahead with the first and wait for the second one to come on line.
ANDERSON: That's correct.
HOLMES: All right. It seemed that there are a lot of moms debating about this question here. And this one is "should my 2 1/2- year-old son get the shot or is there a version of it available without the mercury?" There seems to be a lot of debate about what's in these vaccines. So please answer that one.
ANDERSON: I am so glad she asked that question. There's been a lot of press out there over the past couple of years, not about the antigen that we vaccinated against but the vehicle or the fluid, if you will, that this vaccine is in. Does it cause autism? Does it cause allergic reaction? Is this something that I should be concerned about?
In our read here at Rainbow (ph) Babies and Children's Hospital as well as other experts across the country, so there's no, repeat, no correlation with these preservatives that these vaccines are in and any sort of adverse outcome. So once again, back to the basic public health concern. We need to get lots of kids vaccinated against this virus. And will encourage all parents to get the vaccine.
NGUYEN: All right. Alan Rippo (ph) writes on my twitter site, says about the H1N1, "My doctor's assistant said that if we were around in the 1970s, then we don't need the shot, true or false?"
ANDERSON: I would go with false on that. We think that a certain percentage of patients who are above the age of 65, maybe half of those patients, maybe a little bit more, probably have immunity to this virus, but we don't know for sure.
So there's no sure thing that you have anti-bodies to this virus. There's really no test to test for these anti-bodies as we sit here today. So once again, the admonition is to get the vaccine based upon the CDC guidelines whether or not you were around in the 1970s or not.
HOLMES: And this one, might see, I always try to get this one in every chance I get. But it seemed like the simplest thing, we still (INAUDIBLE) about it. Mike Michael (ph) asks, some networks call the H1N1 virus call it that and others call it the swine flu virus. Are these two separate things or not?" we kind of know the answer but there's confusion about the name. Go ahead and take that one on.
ANDERSON: Lots of different names, and when it came out in the spring, it was swine origin influenza virus, then it was swine flu. Then it was novel (ph) H1N1. We are calling it novel H1N1. They're all the same virus. It's all the same virus. It's just gone through a number of different names. Now, we're calling it novel H1N1. But it's still the same virus. NGUYEN: All right.
HOLMES: You name (INAUDIBLE) probably.
NGUYEN: Exactly. And one other thing, especially this past week when there were reports that a cat actually had the H1N1. From Don Glaso (ph), he says "Can H1N1 be transmitted from pets to people?"
ANDERSON: Not that I've ever seen reports. I have seen it in the media, but I've never seen a good journal study that shows there's any sort of transmission back and forth. So I don't think it's a big concern.
NGUYEN: All right. So you can keep those pets. Yes, you're good.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: Enjoy your pet.
HOLMES: All right. Dr. Anderson really, I am so glad you were able to come on and answer these questions. Thanks to your viewers as well for sending them in but all these questions came directly from viewers. Sir, like you said, this is good information that people are still scratching their heads and (INAUDIBLE) and wondering about, no matter how much we've been covering this, people still have questions but great information this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes, thank you, doctor. We do appreciate it.
ANDERSON: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And an on-line family tree. How about this? And it deals with your medical records. It can actually save you time and down the road it can even help save lives.
HOLMES: Yes. Coming up, we're taking a closer look at the latest technology.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Well, it's time for us to talk tech. You know, we all go to the hospital and doctor's office and they ask you for your family medical history.
NGUYEN: I don't know even know my blood type.
HOLMES: Yes. Most don't. So we got some help this morning. Some tech help.
NGUYEN: Yes. Mario Armstrong is here. You always have really good information.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, TECHNOLOGY COMMENTATOR AND JOURNALIST: Thank you. NGUYEN: The first thing that, you know, every time you go to the doctor's office, you're sitting there, you're listening to him, he's reading your prescription, you take this many doses at this time and blah, blah. And then you go home and you're thinking, what did he just say. You can't read his writing.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: How do you know what to do?
ARMSTRONG: It's part of being a doctor, right. So what you do is you take a piece of technology like I have here today.
NGUYEN: OK.
ARMSTRONG: This is called the Live Scribe Pulse pen. And essentially it's a computer inside of this pen. And the pen captures the audio of what's being said in the room but links it to my handwritten notes. So let me give you an example.
NGUYEN: OK.
ARMSTRONG: When I was meeting with the doctor, I can touch -- I can go back at any point in time, touch a line and then ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Temperature of 102. It's over. You run a risk of having seizure. Going forward, I want us to monitor his fever temperatures to make sure that we are looking for any warning signs.
ARMSTRONG: Follow me? So, what that means is I'm now capturing the audio, of what's being said in the room. I am taking notes, but I can go back at any point in time and touch those notes to hear what was actually being said.
NGUYEN: At that point in time when you wrote that note?
ARMSTRONG: That's right. At that point in time when I wrote that note.
NGUYEN: My goodness.
ARMSTRONG: Think of it like a DVR for your TV program.
NGUYEN: That is cool.
HOLMES: You see I was fascinated by it, too. But I have to ask a couple of other follow up questions. You could write one thing, one word, say, doctor and you could just tap that. But it comes with a special notebook. You just can't write on any piece of paper.
NGUYEN: Oh, OK.
ARMSTRONG: Good question. It does come with a special notebook that has these microdots. So basically, it has a camera inside of this pen so that's what's capturing the handwritten notes.
NGUYEN: Is it a special paper?
ARMSTRONG: It is a special paper.
NGUYEN: OK.
ARMSTRONG: So it can captures about 100 hours of the recordings or 16,000 pages of notes. And so it captures quite a lot of the information and then you can sync this up to your computer.
NGUYEN: I was going to say, can you download that to your computer so you don't have to type it in anywhere?
ARMSTRONG: You can. So you don't have to type it. And you can actually see the image on your computer just like you see here on the notebook.
NGUYEN: Well, forget about taking notes. I just want you to hold it up to your doctor, right? Just let him speak in. How much is something like that?
ARMSTRONG: $149.
HOLMES: It's not bad.
ARMSTRONG: Yes, not so bad.
Yes, a lot of people have started to use these. In fact, doctors are also starting to use this, when taking notes for their patients, themselves.
NGUYEN: That's true.
ARMSTRONG: So it's working on both ends.
HOLMES: Let's hit one more thing before you get out of here. Google is always doing something to help us out, right?
ARMSTRONG: Yes.
HOLMES: So now we got something else as far as our health goes to help us out. Google has got another tool.
ARMSTRONG: That's right. It's called Google Health. And basically what you can do is you go online and create your own health profile. And this is great if you are taking care of maybe parents or your caregiver or you have young kids, you need to keep a log of all their prescriptions, their medications, their allergies, all the things that affect them. What about opportunities where medications could collide with each another and not be healthy.
NGUYEN: How do you remember all that?
ARMSTRONG: You can't. it's impossible to do so and now you have the opportunity to have one online health record at your fingertips. You can share that with family and friends and just be in the know so that when an emergency comes up, you have the blood type. NGUYEN: How private is it though? Because a lot of people are worried about that.
ARMSTRONG: Security is key. And people really need to look at the security policy on the Google page. But they are really forthcoming and transparent about how they protect your privacy.
NGUYEN: This is good information. Mario, good to see you live in studio with us.
ARMSTRONG: I know, Betty. I know. I couldn't believe it. It's good.
NGUYEN: We'll get you back again.
ARMSTRONG: That'll be great.
NGUYEN: OK.
ARMSTRONG: I'm sitting beside Betty. (INAUDIBLE) people.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) It's not that big of a deal.
NGUYEN: You'll get used to it.
HOLMES: It's a big weekend for us. He's live here. Also live, Gerri Willis.
NGUYEN: Gerri Willis.
HOLMES: Just across the way. She has "YOUR BOTTOM LINE." It starts right now -- Gerri.
NGUYEN: Gerri, take it away.
