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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Invisible Weapon; Tiger Woods Recovering Following Car Accident; Interview with Secretary of Dept. Of V.A. Denis McDonough. Aired 4:30-5p ET.

Aired February 24, 2021 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:30:26]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In the sports lead today, Tiger Woods is awake and responsive and recovering after a lengthy emergency surgery on his right leg, which inserted the -- which included the insertion of a rod, screws and pins. His left leg was also injured.

The sheriff's deputy who found Woods yesterday said that the golf grade was conscious and, after he had been pulled from his SUV by emergency responders, was unable to stand on his own. Law enforcement says Woods was traveling at a high speed before the crash Tuesday morning.

And, as CNN's Kyung Lah reports, the sheriff says the golf legend's survival is nothing short of a miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The investigation into Tiger Woods' crash will look at speed, how quickly the SUV was traveling down this road when the golfer lost control.

ALEX VILLANUEVA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF: We're hoping, obviously, that it's going to be equipped with this black box and we will have some information about the speed. It may be a factor in this accident.

LAH: This winding downhill road is known as a local trouble spot. Deputies did not find skid marks or indications of brakes used or any evidence of impairment. Deputies say the engineering of the SUV, air bags and the seat belt likely saved Woods' life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a rollover with someone trapped.

LAH: Responding officers found Woods trapped in the wreckage of the high-speed single car rollover. The hospital says his legs were broken in multiple places. Surgeons inserted a rod to stabilize fractures exposed to open air. Bones, especially in his right foot and ankle, needed screws and pins. Surgeons also worked to relieve muscle swelling and pressure.

DR. JEREMY FAUST, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: These surgeons likely believed that, if they did not perform one of those procedures to release that pressure, they actually were worried that he could lose the limb, that amputation might have been necessary.

LAH: Woods' family says he is awake, responsive and recovering in the hospital. Emotion continues to pour in from the sports world.

JAY MONAHAN, PGA TOUR COMMISSIONER: We love them. And it's -- any time someone that you care deeply about is hurt, it hurts. And it's not me. It's everybody out here.

LAH: To those marking the barrier-breaking figure in a sport largely dominated by white athletes.

JEMELE HILL, "THE ATLANTIC": There were some people who were able to look at Tiger Woods and understand black excellence in this arena in a way that they hadn't understood it before.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I had come to a realization that I would never play competitive golf again.

LAH: Woods has faced potentially career-ending injuries before. This video featuring Woods from a health care company explains his comeback after one of his five back surgeries, a reminder of why, even after this devastating accident, Tiger Woods cannot be counted out yet.

WOODS: I went from accepting it and having a peace of mind that I would never, ever do this again to all of a sudden monkeying around with my kids with the green coat just hanging around the living room. That is -- it's just -- it's wild.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Now, the L.A. County sheriff says that they are not looking at filing a reckless driving charge against Tiger Woods, calling this -- quote -- "purely an accident."

And we're getting this context from authorities, Jake. On this particular stretch of roadway, there have been 13 accidents since January of 2020. That's averaging to one a month -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Kyung Lah, thank you so much.

An invisible weapon targeting the brain sickening CIA officers, one of them now speaking about the torture he lives with daily after a night in Moscow.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:38:33]

TAPPER: In our world lead today: In a rare interview, we are hearing from a CIA agent who was attacked, not with a gun or a poison, not by terrorists or a narco criminal gang, but with a mysterious invisible weapon that terrorizes its victims with a lifetime of excruciating headaches.

The attack apparently used against American diplomats in Cuba as well, starting in late 2016, is thus now called Havana Syndrome. And it has perplex doctors for years.

Today, the man who hopes to be the new CIA director was asked how to handle these attacks, as CNN's Kylie Atwood reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC POLYMEROPOULOS, FORMER CIA OFFICER: I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredible case of vertigo. The room was spinning. I wanted to throw up.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER (voice-over): Marc Polymeropoulos, a former U.S. intelligence officer at the CIA, was hit in 2017 by an invisible attack in a Moscow hotel.

POLYMEROPOULOS: I have been in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. I have been shot up. But this was by far the most terrifying experience of my life.

ATWOOD: It's a mystery that's plagued the U.S. intelligence community and the State Department for years, an attack which brain experts now say was likely the result of a microwave weapon, hitting American personnel in Cuba, China, Russia, and other places around the globe.

The U.S. government has not identified the perpetrator, but current and former U.S. officials believe Russia is to blame. The Russian government did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

[16:40:04]

The attack impacted his balance, sight and hearing. The pain has never wholly subsided.

POLYMEROPOULOS: I couldn't make it through the day, not even close. I have had a headache every day since that night in Moscow. It's never gone away, day and night.

ATWOOD: He had to retire early. And for a dedicated CIA officer who spent his entire career fighting terrorists in the Middle East, it hasn't been easy to accept that an invisible strike took him out of the game.

POLYMEROPOULOS: I rather would have been shot. This was a silent wound. It's a--

ATWOOD: You would have rather been shot?

POLYMEROPOULOS: Absolutely.

ATWOOD: Why?

POLYMEROPOULOS: Well, I mean, it's something that I could have shown people. I had a really hard time initially at the agency, because people didn't necessarily, the medical staff, the senior medical staff, didn't necessarily believe me.

ATWOOD (voice-over): Polymeropoulos had to fight to get expert health care. Just this month, he finished specialized treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center, more than three years after that traumatic night in Moscow.

POLYMEROPOULOS: When they provided me that piece of paper with a diagnosis that said I had a traumatic brain injury, I had tears in my eyes.

ATWOOD: Some 40 U.S. government officials have experienced symptoms similar to his. In 2017, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba slashed its staff because the attacks were so pervasive.

A newly declassified State Department report points to systemic disorganization when the department began handling this crisis during the Trump administration.

New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen has been fighting to get the victims medical assistance and answers about who did this.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): If we don't hold those responsible accountable, then we can be sure it's going to continue to happen. And that's a national security risk to the United States and to our personnel.

ATWOOD: According to U.S. intelligence documents obtained by CNN, Russia has been developing this microwave attack capability for decades.

Today, Bill Burns, President Biden's nominee to lead the CIA, telling Congress:

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: I will have no higher priority than taking care of people, of colleagues and their families. I will make it an extraordinarily high priority to get to the bottom of who's responsible for the attacks.

ATWOOD: Polymeropoulos created a Superman mask in art therapy, thrusting a dagger through Superman's skull to represent the headaches which have changed him, the CIA agency seal cracked.

His family was emotional when he showed them his project.

POLYMEROPOULOS: My son and my daughter both said to me: "Dad, you're still my Superman."

ATWOOD (on camera): Before the attack happened, how would you describe your relationship with the agency in one or two words?

POLYMEROPOULOS: It's a love affair.

ATWOOD: And after?

POLYMEROPOULOS: A divorce, with perhaps some reconciliation in the future, I would hope. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ATWOOD: Now, Jake, I have just learned from a U.S. official that the CIA has set up its first ever task force in recent months to handle these suspected microwave attacks.

And the official explains to me that they are going to use the breadth of resources at the CIA. And this process is going to ensure that there is a team and process in place to address any future incidents.

We should also note that the CIA spokesperson Timothy Barrett said the agency's top priority has been and continues to be the well-being of their folks who are out in their field, of the intelligence officers.

But this is something that we are going to stay on, because this truly needs to be a whole-of-government approach if the process is going to work here, and if those who are hit are going to get what they need -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Kylie Atwood, thank you so much for that important story.

And coming up: Seventeen veterans, 17 die by suicide every single day -- the risk only growing in the isolation of the pandemic. What is the Biden administration going to do to help?

We're going to have an interview with the new secretary of Veterans Affairs, his first interview on TV, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:00]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our politics lead. Moments ago, at a Senate hearing, the director -- I'm sorry, the director of health at the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that the center, the V.A., will have the capacity to distribute almost 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines to veterans next week. That would be an increase from the capacity of around 125,000 doses.

Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough, joins me right now for his first interview since being confirmed.

Secretary McDonough, I know there are a lot of logistical challenges with getting vaccines to V.A.s, especially in rural areas, and also with getting all veterans to be willing to get vaccinated.

Senator Moran, I think he's the ranking Republican on the committee, said that he's worried that by agreeing to vaccinate others besides just veterans, such as veteran caregivers, which I understand why you would want them vaccinated, but by stepping outside of just going after the veterans first, that the V.A. may be taking on too much.

What do you think?

DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS: Well, Jake, thanks for having me on the show.

The priority that we're placing right now is to ensure that the six million veterans who count on V.A. to get their care will be vaccinated, and that is how we're prioritizing all the doses that we're getting now.

And we're moving that aggressive -- the supply that we get aggressively through V.A. facilities across the country, including in Kansas and in Montana, for example, two rural states where we're really trying to push using unique and innovative efforts to get out to rural areas, including in Senator Moran's state.

Now, there have been individual instances where other frontline workers, for example, U.S. Capitol Police, have sought vaccination support. We've given them that. DHS, Department of Homeland Security, personnel have sought support. We've given them that.

That does not come at any cost to our ability to move doses, needles into arms, for our veterans and, particularly, our most vulnerable veterans.

[16:50:00]

TAPPER: Are the DHS and Capitol police and others that you're agreeing to vaccinate, are they veteran employees or are they just government employees?

MCDONOUGH: Many of them are veteran -- veterans, Jake, but, in fact, these are memoranda of understanding or agreements that V.A. has signed with those other federal agencies to ensure that people on the frontlines, again, many of them veterans, but though not all, carrying out critical functions are vaccinated.

So, that's -- you know, let's say that's around 11,000 people. We've now vaccinated about, a little over 1.1 million veterans. So we -- that will give you a sense of the priority, Jake.

And again, when we get the vaccine, we're moving it out into veterans' arms within, you know, three to four days in some cases. And, in all cases, we're using that supply within seven days.

TAPPER: OK.

MCDONOUGH: So, I'm very pleased with how we're doing. There's work to be done, to be certain, Jake, including in rural and highly rural areas, and we're prioritizing that now with new, innovative efforts.

TAPPER: OK.

MCDONOUGH: But we're also making sure that we're vaccinating all veterans.

TAPPER: Yeah.

MCDONOUGH: And so that will continue to be a priority of ours. TAPPER: So President Trump signed the V.A. Mission Act in 2018 that

expanded the V.A. Choice Act that President Obama signed. It allows more veterans to see private doctors instead of going through the V.A. health system.

MCDONOUGH: Right.

TAPPER: A big question facing you right now, do you plan to keep the standards implemented under President Trump, or are you going to impose more restrictions?

MCDONOUGH: It's a good question, Jake. But there's not an immediate decision to make about the standards question.

The thing I'm focused on is, the law dictates that best medical outcome for the veteran dictate whether and where that veteran be allowed to get care. So, we're going to make sure that we are driven by that best medical outcome for our vets, first and foremost.

And then we're going to make sure that we make decisions such that we not only get that best medical outcome, but that we also maintain the integrity and the strength of the V.A. system.

It's the only integrated healthcare system in the country. It provides a full slate of services for our veterans including, I know we'll talk about this, critical mental healthcare.

TAPPER: Yeah.

MCDONOUGH: And we're going to continue to do that, Jake. So that means that we have to make investments in the system going forward, and that'll be a priority for us.

TAPPER: So, viewers of the show might remember when you were on in 2014, when you were White House chief of staff, and I had some aggressive questions for you about veterans who were dying while waiting for care.

MCDONOUGH: Yes, you did.

TAPPER: And the Obama administration was, at the time, slow to respond. This was even after -- a year after a letter from the chairman of the House committee raised those issues.

Let's play part of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: How many stories like this, how many letters like this, how many dead veterans do you need before somebody asks the question within the White House, maybe this guy isn't the best steward of these veterans?

MCDONOUGH: The question, Jake, is, are we doing everything we can every day to get the veterans the care and the opportunities that they deserve. TAPPER: But you're not. This letter was sent a year ago, and you guys ignored it.

MCDONOUGH: And we -- and we have been working aggressively to ensure that not only is healthcare expanded, opportunities made more ready to our vets, but that people are held to account, as Rick is doing in this case. We'll continue to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, my question -- I don't have any questions for you about that incident, per se, other than I know that that was a moment in a crisis that affected you deeply, emotionally, as well as on an intellectual and policy level.

And I'm wondering what did you learn from that crisis that you can now use as V.A. secretary to help veterans, as I know you want to?

MCDONOUGH: Well, Jake, thanks so much for the question.

And one of the reasons I wanted to come talk to you is because I think our veterans know -- I know that I know -- that you're somebody who has given a lot of your own time to these questions facing veterans.

And as difficult as that exchange was with you back in 2014, I always knew that it was informed by your deep commitment to these questions for our veterans. So, that's the first point.

Second point is this, Jake. The thing I learned from that is the need for a good, well-functioning organization to have good news -- good news -- good or bad, travel crisply through the organization.

If something is not functioning well in the V.A., I want to know about it. I want to be on top of an agency that is comfortable sharing bad news, not only comfortable, but understands it's their responsibility to share bad news, and then I take that and act with dispatch on it.

[16:55:00]

That will be my intention as a leader of this organization, to make sure that our organization knows that I'm here to help accept risk and to address it, not to hide it and not to try to bury it. So that's the second thing.

And then the third thing, Jake, is we want to make sure that we have accountability in a situation like that. Congress changed the laws in 2018, as you have indicated, that would now allow for more accountable activity from the secretary on top of this agency and, if needed, I will use that -- those accountability mechanisms.

TAPPER: So, I hope, first of all, that you're -- thank you for your remarks. I know that you care deeply about veterans, and I know you want to do right by them, and I hope that you come back a lot to the show.

One last question I have for you -- and there's so many things I didn't get to and I hope --

MCDONOUGH: Yes.

TAPPER: -- I can get to you next time you come back, which I hope is frequently.

This job of V.A. secretary, this is not a career enhancer. No one goes to become secretary of Veterans Affairs, as opposed to an ambassador or, you know, secretary to the U.N., nobody goes from this job and leaves clean.

It's an incredibly tough job. It's an agency -- my mom worked for the V.A. in Philadelphia, as you know, and it's full of wonderful people, but there's a lot of dysfunction in it that's decades old. Why did you want this job, because you know it's a tough, tough gig?

MCDONOUGH: Jake, you know, the people like your mom, unbelievable patriots, populate this department, many of them not just patriots, but also veterans themselves.

And the opportunity to join forces with the capability in this department, to fulfill a fundamental responsibility, what President Biden calls the sacred obligation of the country to care for our veterans and their families, their survivors and their caregivers, is an honor -- absolutely, it's the honor of a lifetime.

Is it hard? Yeah, but, you know what, hard things are hard, Jake, and important things are hard.

And the opportunity to be part of an effort to make good on our promises to the people that you wrote about in your book, that you report on every day, who have given so much to this country, is the honor of a lifetime.

So, am I going to get dirtied up in this? Yeah, probably. But it pales in comparison to the sacrifices that our vets have made, that our active-duty forces are making today and will be making tomorrow and next week and next month and next year.

And to be part of fulfilling those promises is an absolute honor that I could not pass up.

TAPPER: And let me just ask you before you go, so the annual V.A. report on veteran suicide prevention found more than 17 veterans die by suicide every single day.

It even warns that the coronavirus pandemic quote, "May result in increased feelings of loneliness, sadness, fear and anxiety, constant references to mortality, social distancing from friends and loved ones, economic recession and job loss, and disruption of daily routines," unquote.

So, this is now in your lap. What is the V.A. going to do to make sure veterans know that there are mental health resources available, to eliminate the stigma surrounding asking for help, which should not exist but does, perhaps especially among veterans. MCDONOUGH: Yeah.

TAPPER: What are you going to do?

MCDONOUGH: Yeah. Jake, we're going to make it a priority, as you've suggested. We're going to fight this stigma. This -- mental health is part of whole health. We have to make that clear publicly, as you do so well, so often.

We have to use the new tools that Congress has given us. They've just enacted something called the Hannon Act, bipartisan enacted new statute, importantly gives us additional authority to give grants into communities to draw on the community to work with everybody at risk or feeling those kinds of feelings that you've just talked about.

And so, we're going to use the new tools that Congress has given us. We're going to continue the investments that we have been making over these last many years.

I just spent the day today with every locale in the country that -- where V.A. is operating, hospital leaders. And this was one of the priority issues, in addition to the pandemic, that --

TAPPER: Yeah.

MCDONOUGH: -- we spent part of that hour reporting on. That's the kind of attention and focus it needs.

And let me just say one last thing, Jake --

TAPPER: We have to go -- we have to go Denis, but --

MCDONOUGH: -- which is any veteran feeling at risk -- any veteran feeling at risk, 1-800-273-TALK -- 1-800-273-8255. There's resources for you veterans out there.

TAPPER: OK. Denis, thank you.

MCDONOUGH: There's no stigma here.

TAPPER: No stigma at all.

MCDONOUGH: Go get that treatment.

TAPPER: Thank you so much. We're going to hold you accountable, and you're -- we're always here to help you in your mission, as well, in protecting our veterans.

[17:00:00]

Our coverage on CNN continues right now.