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CDC: Polio-Like Illness Confirmed In 22 States; At Least 13 Dead And Dozens Hurt In Crimea College Explosion; 29 Dead In Several States After Hurricane Michael; Wisconsin Teen Missing After Parents Found Dead In Their Home; CNN Reality Check: The Economy Is Booming, So Why Are Deficits So High? Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 17, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST-- or dogs or fat pigs or slobs. This is what the president would certainly much rather be talking in regards to Stormy Daniels. I think he'd much rather us talking about him calling her a horseface than the fact he had an affair on his wife with her.

So this is part of his diversionary tactics. It's not a very good one but that is where we are.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's an amazing thing.

Our Jeff Zeleny at the White House, Van, is reporting it's not just that. That somehow the president would rather be talking about these insults to women's appearance than talking about the apparent murder of a "Washington Post" journalist. The linkage there is sort of stunning.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, HOST, "THE VAN JONES SHOW": Well, we've seen this over and over again where there's been something really important happening and he kind of goes off script and does something bizarre.

You know, we -- you had American cities in peril from a hurricane and he brings in hurricane Kanye into the White House and that becomes the main topic of conversation. And then again, this week.

But again, I think that what everybody's got to take responsibility for is how much are we accelerating the trend that we say we don't like? How much are we feeding what we're fighting? How much are we becoming what we're fighting?

And I think that those of us who are progressives and liberals -- you know, there's a big debate inside the party about when they go do we go high, et cetera. I still believe that we can be very, very tough in terms of defending our values and our constituency without going to the gutter.

BERMAN: We'll see.

STEWART: John, if I --

BERMAN: Go ahead, STEWART: If I can just say one thing. A lot of folks that did vote

for Donald Trump did so for this tough talk. For the fact that he was able to take on Washington and drain the swamp and fight and roll up his sleeves and really fight back against the system.

And we also are seeing on the other side a lot of the resistance is becoming quite forceful as well.

And we heard some tone out of Eric Holder this week that --

BERMAN: I understand.

STEWART: -- certainly was troubling.

But I think all across the board, lowering the temperature is a good thing.

BERMAN: And, Van was talking about the rhetoric on the other side. But women's appearances -- that's not the swamp.

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: That's not part of the swamp there and I know you're not saying that.

Alice Stewart, Van Jones, great to have you here with us.

Be sure to watch "THE VAN JONES SHOW" Saturday at 7:00 eastern.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we have some breaking news right now.

There's been a deadly explosion at a college in Crimea. The Kremlin says it is likely a terror attack. We have the breaking details in a live report, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:40] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: We are following breaking news for you right now.

There's been a deadly explosion at a college in Crimea. The Kremlin says at least 10 people are dead and dozens more are hurt after this blast. We don't have those exact numbers.

Officials there are considering the possibility that this was a terror attack.

We are scrambling our correspondent into place so that we can bring you the very latest in a live report as soon as we have it. That is coming up.

OK, in the meantime, back here at home we're following an alarming medical story. There's this rare polio-like illness that's affecting children. It is spreading across the country. The CDC says 62 cases of acute flaccid myelitis or AFM have been

confirmed in 22 states. That is up from 15 states yesterday. Dozens more cases are now under investigation. This has gotten so many parents' attention.

So, this illness affects the nervous system. The vast majority of cases involve children 18 or younger.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with more.

This is really scary stuff. I can't tell you how many parents have asked me about it, Sanjay.

Is this a virus? What is this?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the right answer is we're not 100 percent sure yet. What happens in these cases you oftentimes have a viral illness. Kids may have cold-like symptoms -- cough, congestion, fever.

And then what is alarming and very frightening is that they suddenly weakness. Typically, it's in an arm or a leg. They can develop facial droop or weakness. You can look at the list of things there -- drooping eyelids.

But it sort of comes out of the blue. I've talked to parents of young children who developed this and at first, they weren't sure if the symptoms were even real because it just came so suddenly. But that weakness comes and oftentimes, it persists, and that's when the parents often take their child to go see the doctor for whatever treatments might be available.

But that's sort of the pattern for this. Sudden onset, painless weakness.

BERMAN: Any sense -- if we don't even know really what it is Sanjay, do they have any sense of how you catch it?

GUPTA: Here's how to think about, I think, is that when you have a viral illness that people will develop -- again, these symptoms that are similar to cold-like symptoms. With this particular virus what's probably happening is that it's also causing an inflammation within the spinal cord.

I'll show you an image really quickly here to give you some idea. When you think about those arrows pointing to the spinal cord -- it's a lot to look at, but that's what the arrows are pointing to -- those white spots, that's the inflammation in the spinal cord. So what doctors often see is just this inflammation but they don't have any presence of the virus because the virus has already come and gone.

It's often described in medicine as sort of a hit and run. So you don't have absolute evidence of the virus but you do have evidence of the aftermath, so that's why it's a little bit hard to piece together.

But oftentimes, these children who develop these symptoms have had these symptoms -- you know, these upper respiratory symptoms ahead of time and that's what gives these doctors a clue.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, we have this crazy photograph. I don't know if you know anything about this child, Lydia Pilarowski.

GUPTA: Pilarowski -- yes.

CAMEROTA: And is it -- is that arm that she has raised in the air -- is that a paralyzed arm?

GUPTA: The arm that she has raised in the air is the -- is the unparalyzed arm. She's unable to raise her left arm. She can only raise her left arm that much.

And, Lydia -- she's six years old. She was six years old in this picture and she developed this in 2014.

Interestingly, her and her brother both got sick at the same time. They had these, again, cold-like symptoms. The brother is fine.

Lydia developed, all of a sudden, complete left arm weakness -- sudden onset. She had a little bit of numbness in her arm but she was playing the piano and could no longer play with her left hand -- all these things.

Her mom's a pediatrician and yet, still wasn't sort of clued in immediately to what was going on. Ultimately, she was diagnosed with AFM -- this acute flaccid myelitis.

The good news is that over the last four years, she's improved a significant amount. But the recovery for these children has been uneven. Some people --

CAMEROTA: So --

GUPTA: -- have had complete recovery, some not very much at all.

CAMEROTA: That's what I wanted to know. The paralysis is reversible?

GUPTA: There's no treatment. What the treatment often is is more physical therapy and physical rehabilitation. There's no specific treatment for this but with rehab, a lot of times they recover a lot of the muscle strength.

[07:40:04] The scariest cases are when the muscle -- the diaphragm muscle, which controls your breathing, also becomes paralyzed. And that's when this particular issue can lead to significant problems, even death. It doesn't happen very often.

And this whole situation doesn't happen very often. It's very, very rare still but it's been increasing steadily --

BERMAN: Right.

GUPTA: -- since 2014.

BERMAN: Let's talk about the increase. Where is it and how is it spreading, if that's even the appropriate word here?

GUPTA: We -- you know, it's a bit of a medical mystery still so we don't know how exactly it's spreading. We don't know that this is something that's necessarily contagious.

But take a look here. It's really interesting. And while this did exist before 2014, look what's happening here.

Spikes in 2014, summer-fall. In 2015, relatively quiet. In 2016, spikes, summer-fall. In 2017, relatively quiet. And here we are in 2018 -- going to have as many, if not more cases as in those four years before.

This is where it is, John. Those cases are either confirmed (in red) or suspected (in yellow). It's more than half the country now.

BERMAN: Yes.

GUPTA: So again, while this existed before 2014, for whatever reason these numbers are increasing.

BERMAN: And that was warm, it was cold, it was east, it was west. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to that math there.

CAMEROTA: So -- I mean -- but, Sanjay, what do you want parents to take away from this? What should parents be on the lookout for?

GUPTA: I think that the biggest thing here is that while they don't know for sure what's causing this they think it's probably a virus -- specifically, this enterovirus.

Here's what I would tell you is flu season is right around the corner. The same things you would do to protect yourself from flu. You can't get a flu shot for this but everything else that you would do to protect yourself from flu.

It sounds silly saying this stuff but obviously, the really good handwashing. People touch things. They touch their nose, they touch their mouth. That's how these viruses often are spread.

If the kid is sick, stay home from school because you don't want to spread this to other people.

BERMAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, this is a great discussion because as Alisyn said, parents are really, really concerned about this based on what they're seeing and hearing.

Thanks, Sanjay.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Sanjay.

GUPTA: See you, guys. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news this morning. A deadly explosion at a college in Crimea. The Kremlin is looking at this as a likely terror attack. We have breaking details next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:52] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: We do have some breaking news to report -- a deadly explosion at a college in Crimea. At least 10 people are reported dead, dozens more are hurt. Kremlin officials are considering the possibility that this was a terror attack.

CNN's Matthew Chance is live now in Moscow for us with more. What have you learned, Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, within the past few seconds Alisyn, the death toll has been updated to 13 people according to Russian officials that have been giving us updates on this developing situation on the Crimean Peninsula.

It seems that an explosive device detonated this morning local time -- at approximately about 11:00 local time -- at a Kerch educational establishment -- the Kerch Polytechnic College.

We don't know who the victims are at this point but presumably, the student population may have been affected by this. We understand there are also at least 50 people who have been injured by the explosion.

Initially, the report said it was a gas canister that had set off the explosion. Now, the authorities are saying that they believe it was actually an explosive device that detonated. A device that, in their words, was stuffed with metal objects obviously designed to cause as much damage as possible.

We're still very much in the early stages of this developing situation. Details, Alisyn, are still very sketchy at the moment. But clearly, this is a very worrying development for the Russian authorities down on the -- on the Crimean Peninsula at this time.

CAMEROTA: Matthew, thank you very much for that reporting.

BERMAN: And, Matthew, we really appreciate it. We're going to stay on this all morning as new details keep coming in.

In the meantime, there's a new death toll from Hurricane Michael. At least 29 people now counted as dead across four states; 19 in Florida.

CNN's Martin Savidge live in Mexico Beach with the very latest. Martin, the issue is it's taking a while to get to all these most- devastated placed.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, John. Yes, we've seen a spike in the last 24-48 hours.

Bay County, for instance, where we're located, I believe the toll went up by at least nine.

Here in Mexico Beach, in the span of 24 hours it doubled. It went from two to four and unfortunately, they do believe that there are the possibility of more victims to be found.

As you point out, its communication's improved so that's allowed reporting factors to come in with the newer numbers. But on top of that, you've got more people getting into more places. The search and recovery teams have been able to clear more debris.

And then lastly, you've got people returning, in some cases, to neighborhoods and they, too, are making those discoveries.

We should also talk about how these returns are taking place -- Mexico Beach today, for instance.

They are going to let people in, however, you have to be a resident, you better be able to prove it, and you cannot stay here. This community just has lost every bit of its infrastructure so no one stays overnight. There's a curfew still from 8:00 p.m. until dawn.

And let me leave you with one lighter note. A flying COW, right here in Mexico Beach. It is actually -- well, I would say it's a drone on steroids -- a huge thing. Flies all the time and COW stands for Cell On Wing. All the cell towers were knocked down so this is kind of a cell tower, only without the tower.

And it's not just about making it so people can make phone calls. It's actually essential for first responders and for community leaders to coordinate the recovery, as well as the beginnings of rebuilding in their neighborhoods. So, a flying COW is a good thing --

BERMAN: I've never seen anything like it.

SAVIDGE: -- in Mexico Beach, John.

BERMAN: I've never seen anything like that Martin, and it is a phenomenal development for the people there and those first responders -- wow. That is very, very interesting.

Thanks so much.

So if you'd like to help the victims of Hurricane Michael, please go to cnn.com/impact.

CAMEROTA: All right.

So, police in Wisconsin are frantically searching for a 13-year-old girl that they believe could be in danger. Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for Jayme Closs after her parents were found dead inside their home.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with more. What do we know?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And authorities are saying that time is of the essence. She has to be found. They are saying this morning that 13-year-old Jayme Closs, she's not only missing but also believed to be in danger.

[07:50:08] Law enforcement is saying that it was Sunday afternoon when the girl was last seen at a family gathering.

Hours later, during the overnight hours of Monday morning, a 911 call was made from the family home. Now, authorities don't know who made that call. They don't think anything was directly said to dispatchers, but dispatchers did realize that there was a disturbance going on.

So they went to the home and when they arrived, Jayme's parents, 56- year-old James Closs and 46-year-old Denise Closs -- they were both dead and Jayme wasn't there. The local sheriff says they do believe the girl was in the house when the deaths occurred.

The FBI's field office in Milwaukee, along with Wisconsin's law enforcement, are saying their top priority is to find Jayme who is -- listen to this -- five feet tall, 100 pounds. She has green eyes and blonde or strawberry hair.

They also, though, need tips on what led to her parents' death.

Autopsies are being conducted. Authorities will not say how the couple died but local station WQOW is reporting that gunshots were involved.

And, John and Alisyn, very interesting -- they issued an Amber Alert, as you said. There's definite criteria that must be established.

And under Wisconsin law, a victim under 17 -- they must believe she is in fear of death or serious bodily injury and they must know enough about the victim and a suspect to believe she was abducted. So they know more than what they're saying.

CAMEROTA: That's really interesting context. Jean, please keep us posted --

CASAREZ: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- on this scary story. Thank you.

BERMAN: Yes, how troubling.

All right. President Trump can't stop talking about the booming economy, but if the economy is so good why is the deficit so high? A CNN "Reality Check," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:55] CAMEROTA: President Trump has actually accomplished an incredible feat. History shows us that when the economy is this great, deficits are usually very small if not gone entirely. But strangely, not so in this case.

Senior political analyst John Avlon is here to tell us why. Please do the math.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: We will do the math just for you, Ali. OK, so the good news is that the economy is booming. But the bad news is that the deficit's booming as well, up 17 percent to $779 billion this year. Now, those things aren't supposed to happen at the same time.

Now, I'm old enough to remember that when the Trump team promised that despite dire projections, tax cuts would pay for themselves. But lately, the Trump administration has beat a retreat from that promise because -- well, the facts just don't add up.

In a new interview with the A.P., President Trump blames bigger deficits on everything from taking care of our military, to hurricanes, to wildfires, and California forestry, which is a little weird.

But, his Treasury secretary is blaming Democrats, insisting that their increases in health and education spending before passing administration's big budgets are to blame.

Folks, don't believe the hype. Here are the facts.

The country's debt is the highest it's been since just after World War II. That's according to a June report from the CBO. It is nearly 80 percent of our gross domestic product and climbing. In other words, we are living way beyond our means.

And the largest foreign owner of our debt? You guessed it -- it's China.

The CBO says thanks to Republican tax cuts, an additional $1.9 trillion will get tacked onto the federal debt over the next 10 years. So how could that be if the tax cuts were going to pay for themselves? Spoiler alert -- they don't.

The trend is more troubling because economic boom times are when we usually grow our way out of the deficits.

For example, the last time unemployment was around today's levels -- 1969 and 2000 where Democratic Presidents Johnson and Clinton -- our country ran surpluses -- novel idea.

Now, our economy and our deficits are expanding at the same time. This is economic bizarre world, folks. It's what happens when spending swells 129 percent and revenue grows less than half a percent, thanks to those tax cuts. And remember, all of this is from the party that used to pride itself on fiscal responsibility.

Now, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who promised the tax cuts would be quote "beyond revenue neutral," is telling "Bloomberg" that the deficit is quote "disappointing, but not a Republican problem. It's a bipartisan problem."

He says the problem is that unified government, of which he is a leader, just can't control spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and that's what needs to be on the chopping block next. In other words -- listen carefully -- he's saying that the poor and middle-class should ultimately have to foot the bill for Trump's corporate tax cuts.

So while we party hardy in a good economy we are not paying enough attention to long-term trends.

But at least two things are clear. One, when deficits grow while the economy is hot, it is a recipe for fiscal disaster. Two, for Republicans, deficits and debt don't matter unless a Democrat is in the White House.

And that's your "Reality Check."

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting. In Donald Trump's interview -- the president's interview with the A.P., he claimed not to be aware of Mitch McConnell's comments --

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: -- about Social Security and Medicare. And then went on to say we're not cutting Social Security. We're not doing anything to Social Security.

He did not talk about Medicare though, specifically, which during the campaign he promised not to go after.

AVLON: That's very notable. He just hired someone to oversee Medicare, from Maine, who's got a record of cutting on that.

But yes, there's not a lot of love -- Trump never promised to be fiscally conservative. He's the king of debt and now the country gets to live with that.

CAMEROTA: John, thank you very much for that "Reality Check."

BERMAN: All right. We have new developments coming out of Saudi Arabia and new evidence about how involved that regime may have been in the assassination of a "Washington Post" journalist, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Saudi Arabia's our partner. They're our ally against Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should not sacrifice Khashoggi on the altar of U.S.-Saudi relations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is every reason based on the evidence put forward to believe that Saudi had a strong hand in this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we're dealing with foreign policy we should not rush to judgment.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: What you've got right now is a president who is sympathetic to authoritarian-type people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president said we've got to get to the bottom of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People that were seen going into the consulate were people closely identified with the crown prince.

SEN LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: MBS has tainted your country. This guy's got to go.