H1N1 Flu Update With Top Federal Officials
JOHN KING, HOST: And here's what's still to come in our STATE OF THE UNION report for this Sunday, May 3rd. The numbers keep mounting around the world as more cases of H1N1 influenza are found. Should you be worried? In just a moment, you can call in and put your questions directly to the people in charge -- Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, and Dr. Richard Besser. He's the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control. They're all standing by. Then, Justice David Souter is retiring and change is coming to the Supreme Court. What should President Obama look for in a successor? The professor who was his mentor at Harvard Law joins the best political team on television for a look at all the angles. And Republican Senator Arlen Specter is now a Democrat. It's big news on Capitol Hill, but what will it really mean when it comes to counting the votes? We'll ask two senior senators about that and much more. That's all ahead on STATE OF THE UNION. A live picture of the White House on the first Sunday in May. Plenty of advice this Sunday for the man who lives there, for President Obama, as he considers the choice that all presidents hope for, a chance to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The newest Democrat on Capitol Hill advises the president to put diversity near the top of his checklist.</s>SPECTER: I think it's important to have an Hispanic on the court at some point, important to have more than just one woman on the court, and more than one African-American. And it would be good to get people who know something besides wearing a black robe.</s>KING: But some of the Republicans Senator Specter left behind say when they hear President Obama talk about looking for someone who understands what it's like to be African-American or gay, they get worried.</s>HATCH: It's matter of great concern. If he is saying that he wants to pick people who will take sides, he has also said that a judge has to be a person of empathy, what does that mean? Usually that's a code word for an activist judge.</s>SHELBY: If he will appoint a pragmatist, someone who is not an ideologue, that -- someone who is not just going to light all of the light bulbs in America on the left, I think that would be good for the country.</s>KING: And as Republicans try to repair their damaged brand, they insist there's nothing wrong with the message of low taxes and less government. But a leader of a new effort tells us the Republicans would be smart to take some lessons from the Democrat who just beat them.</s>CANTOR: President Obama is a great communicator. We understand that. He has also been very adept at adopting the technology of today to access the youth vote and the younger population of this country. That's the future, and I believe we've got a lot to learn.</s>KING: As you can see, as always, we've been watching all of the other Sunday shows so maybe you don't have to. We'll get more of that conversation about the Supreme Court pick and about politics, but first we want to spend a good block of time talking about the H1N1 flu virus and what your government is doing to keep it under control. Joining us here in the studio: Dr. Richard Besser, he is the acting director for the Centers for Disease Control; the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano; and Kathleen Sebelius, who, just days ago was sworn in as the president's secretary of health and human services. Thank you all for joining us. And I want to note to our viewers that this is the fifth, you three have been out all morning on all of the Sunday shows trying to project an image that the administration is on top of this, and to answer the American people's questions. One of the things we want to do uniquely this hour is we're going to take some questions directly from our viewers. We'll have a number on the screen you can call in if you want to put a question to any of our distinguished guests. We also have questions from cnn.com and from Facebook we will get to. And I want to start with one of those questions, because this broke last Sunday when we were live on television here. We watched the first briefing. And here's one question that Devin sent in to cnnpolitics.com. And I think this is a question we hear quite a bit. "Can someone please tell me what makes swine flu so different from regular influenza?" Dr. Besser?</s>BESSER: Well, that's a great question. And the difference between this H1N1 and the seasonal flu is that this is a new virus that people haven't seen before. And so, when that happens, and it happens every number of years, there's not the protection in the community and so more people are at risk of getting it. When this initially starts, you don't know, is this going to be a virus that is quite severe like some of the pandemic strains, or is it going to be a virus that acts more like a seasonal flu strain?</s>KING: And as we have watched this unfold, again, it started last Sunday when we were on the air, it has progressed throughout the week. I want to give our viewers some context. We are now at 160 cases confirmed, H1N1, here in the United States. One death, the toddler who died in Texas. And it has now gone to 21 states, from Arizona all the way over to New York in the Northeast. Secretary Napolitano, you know the government models. There are people out there running through the projects. We went from a small number last Sunday to 160 today. What is the projection for where we will be a week from now?</s>NAPOLITANO: Well, that's probably better answered by Dr. Besser, but what we were saying last week is the same thing we are seeing this week which is we are leaning forward here. Every day we know more about what kind of flu we're dealing with, how severe it is. Every day we talk to people about taking responsibility, what they can do to help, you know, control the spread of the flu. And we fully anticipate that this will be just that, you know, spread nationwide and a number of people are going to get this flu.</s>KING: Do you have a projection that you trust now? Is it 1,000, is it 5,000, is it 10,000 before we're done?</s>BESSER: No. We can't project that. We know that each year with seasonal flu it affects over 30 million people on average, 200,000 are in the hospital and 36,000 die. And so, with a new strain of flu circulating, we know that a lot of people are going to get sick. The good news is that the typical season for flu is winding down, and flu viruses don't spread as well in the spring and the summer as they do during flu season.</s>KING: I want to go back to the week we've just been through as we now talk about week that's ahead, because when this first came out -- and the reason you're all here is to show the administration is on top of this, to answer the questions, but there have been a few hiccups, I would say, along the way, maybe mixed messages. Now let's start with last Sunday. You found about this, you decided to talk to the American people. Secretary Napolitano, you went on camera and said, don't panic, be prepared.</s>NAPOLITANO: On the declaration of emergency, I wish we could call it declaration of emergency preparedness because that's really what it is in this context.</s>KING: And then a couple of days later, some people were saying should we close the border, should we shut down air traffic between the United States and Mexico? The transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, came out and said, no, that's not necessary, the administration is not considering steps like that. But then the very next morning the vice president was out on a nationally broadcast news program and he was speaking, it sounded like, more like a parent than the vice president. Let's listen.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not that it's going to Mexico. It's that you're in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be at this point if I -- if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway.</s>KING: So, Secretary Sebelius, I've heard you speak several times about this from the perspective not as a cabinet secretary, not as a former governor, but as a parent. Is that was the vice president was doing there? He was off the talking points, because the administration does not want to cause panic, rightly so, I understand. But is that maybe not bad advice from a parent? If you don't have to, don't get on a plane, don't get on a train?</s>SEBELIUS: Well, I think what the vice president quickly clarified is we're giving that advice to people who are sick. Do not share your illness with others. Don't get on a plane. Don't go to a confined space. Don't go to school. Don't go to work. Stay home. That's great advice. And parents need to take that advice for their children. That's why the school issue is so important to try and keep it from spreading. We know this virus spreads quickly and that's why we're kind of leaning forward and saying, if there's a confirmed case at a school, shut the school down to try and make sure that every child in that school doesn't pick it up.</s>KING: I want to get to our viewer questions in just a moment. But you bring up that point. If you're feeling sick, don't go to school, please don't go to work. Just take a few days.</s>SEBELIUS: Call your doctor first.</s>KING: Call you doctor. Call you doctor. We were looking at the research, and looking into this. And eight out of 10 people in the food services industry who make $7.25 an hour or less, eight out of 10 do not get paid sick leave.</s>SEBELIUS: That's right.</s>KING: Is that a concern to you, that if I work and I don't want to name any names, I work at a fast food outlet, I work in a kitchen, and I'm feeling maybe a little flu-ish, but you know what, I've got to feed my family, I've got to pay my rent.</s>SEBELIUS: Well, the president, I think, made a great point in his address on Saturday. He made the point the day before to the cabinet who he assembled to deal with this, we really need a partnership with employers and we need employers to, not only take this responsibly and seriously, but not punish people for taking the right health protocol. We don't want people to lose their jobs. We don't want people to feel that, you know, they're going to be penalized if they take some personal responsibility. So, this is an effort where we need to join together. And what has been good, John, is we've seen bipartisan support from Congress about various activities. We've seen the cabinet agencies coming together across the board. A great relationship between the United States and the World Health Organization. This is a time where we really need some support and some help.</s>KING: And, Dr. Besser, I think this one is probably best for you. This is a question from Carolee, she posted this question on our Facebook page. And she asked this pretty simple question. "I would like to know, how long does the flu last?"</s>BESSER: That's a great question. And there are really two parts to that question. How long am I going to feel bad? And how long might I make other people sick? And so, what we're saying is that if you have the flu, you stay home for seven days, and add a day, one day on after your symptoms have gone away. That's going to insure that you're not going to go out and share your infection with other people. In general, with a flu-like illness, you -- it comes on, you start to feel bad for a few days, peaks at around three to five days and then you -- it comes down and you're feeling better.</s>KING: I want to show Secretary Napolitano, before I move to the next question, you know, I just want to show the cover of Newsweek, because our business gets criticized during all of this. And here is the snout of a pig coming through a pen and "Fear & the Flu: The New Age of Pandemics." Consider the cover and then consider this question from Julia posted on our Facebook site. "How do you walk the line between appropriate caution against what you don't yet know, and overreaction? Whose input is involved?"</s>NAPOLITANO: Well, first of all, we take our lead input from the scientists, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example. And we try to be very clear with people about what we're doing and why and why the advice being given is being given. But also understand that there is a balance to be struck here. The whole business of the country is not going to come to a grinding halt because we have an outbreak of the flu. And so, every day we share with people, not numbers of cases, that's really not the most relevant factor. The most relevant factor is how widespread is it. But then what you can do to protect yourself, what you should be thinking about in terms of your own family, its preparedness, what you as an employer should be thinking about. You know, in reality, this is great preparation, not just for flu but for so many things that can happen. So -- and the American people are responding. I saw a poll done I think by Harvard University the last couple days that show that people are really understanding the message about staying home, washing your hands, you know, don't -- if you're sick, don't share the illness with others. That's the key message we continue to send.</s>KING: Much more of our conversation, two cabinet secretaries, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control. Your questions about this H1N1 flu virus, we'll take your phone calls, more of your questions, a quick break first.