Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Answering Ebola Questions; Tracy Morgan Fires Back against Walmart; Christie Talks Addiction, War on Drugs

Aired October 01, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The nation's health officials have a simple message to Americans who feel a bit jittery now that the first Ebola case has been diagnosed on U.S. soil. They say "Do not panic, the risk of infection is very low."

So, knowing knowledge is power, we want to answer some of your questions. CNN's Sanjay Gupta is here to field some of those questions that were tweeted to us at CNN using the hashtag "Ebolaq&a". I also took some questions from my Facebook page.

So Sanjay, here's the first one. This from Alan. He tweeted, "There have been rumors going around that Ebola has mutated to an airborne disease. What's true and what's not?"

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the viruses do constantly change a bit and this is something they've been monitoring as well with Ebola just like they do with the flu every year. That's why we get a different flu shot, by the way every year. But there's no evidence that Ebola has mutated to an airborne disease.

We should dispel that rumor. That is not true. This is not a virus that spreads through the air and I think it's a really important point to make and part of the reason this is not considered a highly contagious disease. There's a lot of fear around it, obviously, but being airborne is not one of them.

COSTELLO: Ok. This question is from Chelsea. She tweeted "Why isn't the Ebola containment working?"

GUPTA: It's an interesting question. So when you talk about West Africa, I assume her question is more about West Africa, why do the numbers just continue to increase? Part of the problem is that, you know, if someone gets sick, during the time that they're sick but not yet in the hospital they can come in contact with lots of people. They need to go back and trace those people. It's called contact tracing. If you miss the contacts and one of those people get sick then you can start to have a whole other group of people who could potentially become infected.

I think at the beginning of what was happening here in West Africa in March, some of that contact tracing just wasn't very good. There were a lot of people who got missed and as a result all of a sudden you had three separate countries that had sort of simultaneous outbreaks. That's what happened. If you implement good practices with regard to containment, find all those contacts, it should work.

COSTELLO: Ok. Here's another question from Vicki, "With the upcoming flu season, how much do symptoms of Ebola mimic different strands of the flu?"

GUPTA: They can be quite similar and that can be confusing. And keep in mind, people come back with fevers and cough, it can be all sorts of different things. Here's the big critical difference with Ebola. A travel history and a history of any particular risks is absolutely crucial.

This particular gentleman that we're talking about in Dallas for example, we're now learning, as you well know, Carol, that the patient went into the hospital on the 26th, the first time, went to the hospital himself or herself but was not asked about travel history. That's a miss. So for two extra days, then, the person is out there possibly having contact with more people. That's a real concern.

Ebola is going to be different from flu as part of the history. If someone has all these symptoms and also just returned from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea -- one of those countries that raises the level of concerns.

COSTELLO: Ok. This is a question from Daniel. He says, what if an infected and sick person say sneezes into his hand then grabs a handrail on a bus or a subway and five minutes later someone else grabs the same handrail and rubs his eyes. Is Ebola likely to be transmitted that way?

GUPTA: It is possible to be transmitted that way but not likely to be transmitted that way. A couple reasons: first of all, Ebola can live outside the body on surfaces -- I think that's part of this question. It can do that if it's exposed to sunlight obviously, if the handrails are cleaned or something like that -- that would deactivate the virus. So let's say those things don't happen the virus can live there even for several days.

But you don't typically -- while Ebola can live in all sorts of different bodily fluids, it's less likely to be transmitted through coughs or sneezes or the sort of situation that Daniel sort of described -- much more likely to be transmitted through blood.

Also keep in mind, at the time that someone is actually excreting the virus from their bodies, they're really sick typically. They're typically not up on a subway, they're not up and about coming in contact with lots of people. That makes it less likely as well, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok. This is a bit of frustration that many of our viewers have expressed. This is from Chris, "I don't understand why there wasn't an automatic quarantine for anyone traveling back from Africa who's sick." GUPTA: Look, if the person had been sick in Africa then presumably

they wouldn't have been allowed to get on the plane. They take their temperature. They go through a series of health questionnaires. I went through this when I was in Guinea. So if they were sick I would take it even a step further back. It's not that they're quarantined in the United States, they shouldn't have been able to get on a plane in West Africa.

This particular gentleman wasn't sick to so there was nothing to suggest in the screening that the person had Ebola. That's the reality of the situation. You can't possibly blood test everybody who's flying in and out of West Africa. That could possibly tell you the answer but in this case the person didn't have any symptoms and I think that's why they weren't stopped from getting on that plane.

COSTELLO: Actually, Ana Navarro, our political analyst, e-mailed me a question. And I think it fits right into this conversation. She says "I flew into Nicaragua last week and they had health personnel at the airport taking arriving passengers' body temperatures. You stepped on a special mat and they scanned you with a wand." So why even bother to do that?

GUPTA: Well, if you're sick, then they're not going to let you get on the plane, that is why. If you are sick and if you have a fever in that case, I assume that's what Ana was describing as well, then you're considered high risk. You're coming from a country where Ebola is present. If you have a fever it's going to at least raise another series of questions. Have you come in contact with anybody with Ebola? Did you attend funerals? Whatever it is -- they have to try and drill down on exactly how high the risk is.

But to your point, and I think the point that you're making and Ana is making as well, is that the screening can pick up people who are sick and possibly prevent them from getting on a plane. But, Ana got wanded, got her temperature taken and everything was normal, she could get on the plan and fly.

It doesn't mean that Ebola isn't potentially in the body of somebody coming out of West Africa. It just means they haven't gotten sick yet and we don't know how to pick that up. You know, fever is really the only thing they can look for in an airport.

COSTELLO: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, many thanks to you. We really appreciate your answering all of these questions. You can actually send more questions to Dr. Sanjay Gupta throughout the day. Tweet them to us at CNN using the hashtag "Ebolaq&a" and Sanjay will get to as many questions as possible. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Tracy Morgan is firing back against Walmart after the shopping giant argued it's his fault that he was seriously injured last summer during a fatal car crash. Walmart blames Morgan for allegedly not wearing a seat belt. That wreck killed Morgan's friend, fellow comedian James McNair, and left Morgan with serious injuries. In response to court documents filed on Monday, Walmart says

quote, "All or a portion of the injuries could have been diminished or minimized by the exercise of reasonable conduct in using the available seat belt." Of course, that didn't go over so well with Morgan who says "I can't believe Walmart is blaming me for an accident they caused. My friends and I were doing nothing wrong." The driver of that Walmart truck has already pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide.

So let's bring in HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. Really? This is as good as Walmart's got?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, it's very interesting. And the complaints -- look at that complaint you showed me earlier, right? Good stuff.

But here's the point. The point is this is where good lawyering meets bad publicity and bad public relations. Walmart is a giant. It's huge. It's a major multibillion dollar entity, Fortune 500 number one. But the lawyers, of course, in response to this, Carol, they have to do that. Why? They want to limit their liability.

Now, it may make good sense for them to settle this because, of course, us hearing and talking about this, the public is none too pleased that they're shunning responsibility. But at the end of the day, if you contribute to your injury your recovery is lessened by the amount of your contribution.

COSTELLO: Ok. So I will play along because it is illegal in the state of New Jersey not to --

JACKSON: -- to wear a seat belt. Right.

COSTELLO: Right. So if Tracy Morgan did not wear a seat belt, he was breaking the law, I guess, right?

JACKSON: Not really. I mean look, the reality is that certainly we should have seat belts on in the state of New Jersey. Of course, there's a statute that says put that seat belt on but then it comes down to causation -- Carol. How much did that play a role when you have a truck weighing tons and tons that barreling at 65 miles an hour and a driver, according to them, that's sleep-deprived and that should have known better and a truck Carol that had a safety mechanism that should have clicked on to prevent this particular accident.

And so at the end of the day I know what they're trying to do. If it minimizes it at all it will be very minimal in terms of a seat belt violation.

COSTELLO: Well, does it sort of show you that Walmart may be grasping at straws here?

JACKSON: You think?

I mean listen, I think that the bulk of the liability is on them and, you know look, he could be dead. You remember the early reports, right? The early reports it was a lot of concern.

COSTELLO: And he could have lasting physical injuries, including brain injuries.

JACKSON: Exactly. And of course there is one person that is dead as a result of this. Many of them were injured so even if this does minimize some of the liability because of the contributory negligence aspect -- I wasn't wearing a seatbelt so I contributed, it would be very minimal. And what I think this is headed for, settlement -- bad publicity, bad public relations.

What the driver did, knew, or should have known. You know, sleep deprivation, lack of training, lack of supervision, traveling all that distance to actually go to work if you look at the complaint. They said he traveled 700 miles to commute to his job from Georgia to Delaware to get the truck. So they have some issues and drama. I say it settles and it settles for a very large number. You don't want this going to court.

COSTELLO: Ok. We have you on the record. Joey Jackson thank you so much.

JACKSON: Absolutely. If it were criminal I'd say guilty but since it's civil, Carol, I'll say liable.

COSTELLO: Joey Jackson, thanks so much.

JACKSON: Pleasure to be with you.

Still to come, Chris Christie says there's a lot more to him than just a tough-talking governor you see on TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: That's the stuff that gets the most publicity because it's the most entertaining on television and I get that. But I've always said that I have more than one club in the bag, you know. I don't just have a driver. I have the ability to be able to do a lot of different things which I think leaders need to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: What the potential presidential candidate is saying about his future in politics and his latest efforts to remove the stigma of addiction next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie never one to mince words. Speaking out on the stigma of addiction, his own personal battle with weight loss and whether or not a presidential run is in the cards for him in the near future. Dana Bash has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here's something you don't see everyday -- a Republican governor at an inner city church trying to destigmatize drug addiction.

CHRISTIE: Let's acknowledge it's a disease and treat their illness. And you know, we would never stigmatize someone who has cancer. Yet we feel free to stigmatize someone who may have tried, made one bad decision and because of their makeup they've become an addict.

BASH: For Chris Christie, sitting empathetically with former drug addicts could be a political antidote for a possible presidential run especially after the bridge scandal.

(on camera): For the most part, the image of you is the tough-talking finger-wagging New Jersey governor and this is a different Chris Christie. Is that intentional?

CHRISTIE: It's always been there. I mean, you know, the fact is that that's the stuff that gets the most publicity because it's the most entertaining on television. And I get that. As a leader, you need to be compassionate and you need to listen and I have that ability to do that, too.

BASH: Is that what you think this is? To show that you are a compassionate conservative?

CHRISTIE: You know, listen, the term's already been used by a previous president.

BASH: How would you define it?

CHRISTIE: Listen, I think this is me being myself. I care about people and I don't think -- no matter what stage of life they're at, no matter what circumstance they're confronted with. And, by the way, when it's required to get in somebody's face and tell them off, I'll do that, too.

BASH: Let's just not make that right now.

CHRISTIE: No, definitely not.

BASH (voice over): Christie held this forum on drug addiction at the church where Whitney Houston, an addict who lost her battle, grew up.

CHRISTIE: The reason we're here is because of Whitney Houston and the respect because I came here for the funeral and that's where I met Pastor Joe Carter, who's my co-host today and he's the pastor of this church.

BASH: When Houston died, Christie lowered the state's flags and got blowback for honoring an addict -- precisely the kind of stigma he's trying to change.

CHRISTIE: We're going to define her life not by her triumphs but from her weakens.

BASH: This is personal for Christie. His close friend from law school died earlier this year of an overdose. CHRISTIE: I can't tell you how many times all of us, friends of his,

dear friends intervened and got him to treatment and dealt with his wife and his children and tried to help him. We couldn't.

BASH: Christie wants to put non-violent drug offenders in treatment, not jail, and make help accessible and acceptable. He says the war on drugs failed.

(on camera): That's a Republican war. It was Richard Nixon, Nancy Reagan famously said "just say no to drugs". Do you risk angering the core traditional Republicans in your party? Those who you might need to vote for you in 2016?

CHRISTIE: Listen, I'll take whatever risk I need to take if I'm telling the truth as I see it. And the fact is that it was well intentioned. The war on drugs was well intentioned, it just has not worked. So I'm not worried about turning anybody off. I want to tell people the truth.

BASH (voice over): And what about Christie's own very different but very personal battle with his weight?

(on camera): What about the disease of obesity in this country? Is that something that you think about in the back of your mind that you might want to talk about as a public policy platform as well?

CHRISTIE: Sure. I think at some point when appropriate I would. Because I know that struggle personally and I know how difficult it is. But I want to be careful because I don't want to proselytize. I know how difficult it is to deal with this problem but I know it's made more difficult at times when people feel who are struggling with it that they're being lectured to and I've gone through that.

BASH: Do you think it's an addiction?

CHRISTIE: You know, I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question. But what I will tell you is that I know it's a struggle and I've had that struggle and continue to have that struggle. But I'm doing well now. And I want to continue to do well.

BASH (voice over): Getting healthy is about his family, he says, not running for president, though that is on his mind.

CHRISTIE: You know, I'll make a decision after the first of the year. When I'll announce -- I don't know.

BASH (on camera): You haven't decided? You really haven't decided?

CHRISTIE: I really haven't decided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Dana Bash joins me live. Seriously -- he hasn't decided? Did you see the look on my face?

BASH: Yes, I could read your face. It was like an open book. I mean like, he actually said after that "No really. I'm not kidding,

I haven't decided." He's traveling like gang busters. He's the head of the Republican Governors' Association. So he's raising a lot of money campaigning with candidates for governor, spending most of the time doing that and being governor of New Jersey and he insists that he's going to really buckle down and make his formal decision after that.

COSTELLO: Is it possible he could win the primary?

BASH: Anything's possible. But it won't be easy for him. And what's fascinating is that it's not just things like this talking about destigmatizing drug addiction which he actually says should be a conservative issue for self-described pro-life conservatives because every life should have meaning, including people who are addicts but his issues are also fiscal.

His state has been downgraded in terms of its credit eight times since he's been in office which he blames his predecessor for and there are conservative groups going after him for appointing liberal judges. So there are a lot of things under the surface that could hurt him on that.

COSTELLO: The last quick question about his weight loss. How did he look?

BASH: He looks great I have to say. I've met him many times but I interviewed him at the floor of the convention in 2012. The difference between then and now is remarkable. He's lost a lot of weight. Won't talk numbers, but it's a lot.

COSTELLO: Dana Bash, thank you so much.

BASH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Today begins Breast Cancer Awareness month and one ad campaign has taken an unusual tack to spread the message. It's -- well, I'll let Jeanne Moos explain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Smile, you're on candid bra camera? Yes, that's a camera, not a button, out to catch people checking out her cleavage. Whether ordering coffee --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I get that, please?

MOOS: Or just walking on the street and there's a little bra-shaped counter underneath to track every sneak peek. And it's all to raise awareness not of oglers but of breast cancer. Because, after all the subtle glances and the fixated stares, men and even women looking with amusement or disapproval. After all that comes the tag line "your breasts are checked out everyday".

So when was the last time you checked your own. The 38th look is aware of the hidden camera, eyeing herself, Eloise Oliver is an actress.

ELOISE OLIVER, ACTRESS: It was an interesting experience walking around with a hidden camera. But after a while I think I mastered angling slightly my boobs towards people.

MOOS: The public service announcement was created by an ad agency for Nestle Fitness Cereal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's an on/off switch that goes in the inside pocket.

MOOS: Some think it should have stayed off. For one thing, they say, her cleavage exposure was too blatant. This is just stupid, of course, they're going to look. This is a pink bra hanging out, what do you expect? "This is entrapment," tweeted someone else. "What's the next installment? A gentleman's crouch cam?" We think he meant crotch.

And there actually was one of those a couple years back, though we found the furtive glances unconvincing. There was also a butt cam but neither butt nor crotch cam were dedicated to a good cause as the bra cam folks say theirs is.

Eyes up. Come on, eyes up.

We should note that it wasn't just men and women they caught staring. There was a disapproving toddler and a dog. So is the dog acting like men or are the men acting like dogs? Whatever you do, just don't try to stop the camera by pressing buttons.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Not into that one. Sorry Jeanne Moos.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" starts now.