Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Entire High School to be Tested for Tuberculosis; NYC Inches toward Ban on E-Cigarettes; Paul Walker Honored in New Music Video; Conservatives Support "Duck Dynasty"; The Season for Year-End Lists

Aired December 20, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So 45 students, though, test positive.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

COSTELLO: So what kind of symptoms would they have?

GUPTA: They may have absolutely no symptoms at all. And they may not be infected and here is the important thing is that if you've had an exposure at some point, it does not mean that you had an infection. It just means that your body saw the tuberculosis bacteria at some point. And as a result your inflammatory system your immune system is a little bit on high alert for it.

So when you do the skin test, it comes back positive. It doesn't mean you're infected, it doesn't mean you're going to get sick. And again the chances are really remote. People who typically get it from somebody else are family members where you're spending a lot of time day in, day out with somebody. Prolonged exposure, like international flights which is why there were so much concern a few years ago about that.

But it's very unlikely for these kids in this setting to probably be infected.

COSTELLO: Well OK, so what if -- like, I'm just trying to determine how dangerous this is if indeed you do get the full-blown disease.

GUPTA: If you -- I mean tuberculosis in and of itself is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs. But it can go to the brain, it can go to the kidneys, it can go to the spine. We know how to treat this. But if you don't treat it, I mean it can be deadly what we're talking about here. And it has been deadly in many places around the world.

Most of the people who get it still in this country are bringing it back from other countries where they've had it being foreign borne and bring it back. You're 11 times more likely to you have tuberculosis to have been borne in a foreign country. So we know how to treat but you got to make sure you catch it earlier.

COSTELLO: So the high school is handling it in a proper way. It's going to have all 1,800 students tested.

GUPTA: And teachers and faculty and everybody yes. COSTELLO: Wow.

GUPTA: And if some of the test come back my -- my prediction is you're not going to get any of these people actually having been infected. We can come back and talk about it but that's the good news. But again from a psychological standpoint, it's potentially a deadly disease and you want to catch it early if you can.

COSTELLO: Very scary. Thanks Dr. Sanjay Gupta we appreciate it as always.

In other news this morning, the cigarettes are fake but the health concerns are real. So New York City is moving to add e-cigarettes to its list of banned vices. The City Council voted to ban them from bars, restaurants, beaches and other public places just like, you know, tobacco cigarettes.

But critics say, not so fast. There is not enough scientific evidence to show that the second hand vapor from these e-cigarettes is actually harmful. New York City Councilman James Gennaro helped lead the fight to e-cigs to New York's smoking ban. He joins us live now. Good morning, sir.

JAMES GENNARO, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: Yes. Good morning. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: I know that what your mother and father-in-law both died from lung cancer and this is a big reason why you pushed so hard to ban e-cigarettes.

GENNARO: Correct. Also we did a bill last month which raises the age of sale for regular tobacco to 21 in New York City which is also a very big step.

COSTELLO: There is no scientific evidence that the secondhand smoke and I'll call it smoke, because it's really vapor, harms people. Like if you're smoking around them, these e-cigarettes. So --

GENNARO: That's not really accurate. There was just a report released this week by the World Health Organization that has a lot of concerns about the vapor coming out of these products. And it -- it makes a recommendation that all jurisdictions around the world regulate -- do regulations to make sure that these are treated just like tobacco.

And reading off a label of a pack of e-cigarettes that my aide just purchased here for me to use as a prop, I've got the wrapper that says that these are toxic by inhalation. That's what they say about their product. So they say it's toxic. Also when they --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Right inhalation. But that's the person using the e- cigarette. And I'm just talking about second-hand smoke. So if someone is smoking in an office or a park, it's not likely that you'll be harmed by their secondhand smoke or vapor that's coming out of that cigarette.

GENNARO: I just don't think -- I just don't think the assertion that you're making is accurate. That's certainly not backed up by the World Health Organization or the many people who came and testified at our hearing.

And so this really is a problem. They call themselves toxic. And they also indicate that these products are not for cessation. They went to the U.S. FDA and sued the FDA because there were claims that this was a tobacco cessation device. They sued the FDA indicting that they wanted to be regulated as tobacco I'm more than happy to oblige. And we do not know fully you know what is in the vapor that comes out.

But we know what they say about themselves. What their lawyers tell them to write on their packages which says this product is toxic. And so if the vapor is toxic once you inhale and then you exhale it, there's still nicotine. And people will be exposed to nicotine which is highly addictive.

COSTELLO: Well in the interest of being accurate about the health hazards or not of these e-cigarettes, I want to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GENNARO: Sure.

COSTELLO: Because he's done some research on these things too. So Sanjay --

(CROSSTALK)

GENNARO: I get to talk to Sanjay Gupta?

COSTELLO: You do.

GENNARO: This is fun.

GUPTA: Yes councilman, thanks again. You know one of the things that's come up is the comparison obviously between these e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes. And regular cigarettes have so many different compounds and when you burn them you're creating even more compounds. And that was the concern -- that could be problematic even cause cancer potentially.

With these e-cigs you really limit it down to just a couple of ingredients and then these vapor that Carol is talking about. Do we know that that's problematic or is that just speculation at this point?

GENNARO: This is something that the World Health Organization is very concern about and many other studies that have come before my committee have indicated that depending on what brand you use and how they vaporize the nicotine. This is not a standardized industry. It is not regulated, this is the Wild West. And you know when the FDA tells me that they're safe then I'll -- then I'll believe their safe.

But when I know that their lawyers are putting on their package and saying that this product is toxic and addictive, that's pretty much good enough for me.

COSTELLO: Well it seems like some people might think that you're sort of jumping the gun right. Because there is no hard core evidence out there that these things are dangerous to other people. And it's more like another nanny state law that New York City has passed.

GENNARO: I mean people can make that characterization and we think this is a prudent public health move. And we are no way near the first. We've already got about between 18 and 20 million Americans that live in jurisdictions that have these e-cigarettes regulated in the same way as tobacco. The state of New Jersey, the state of Utah, the state of North Dakota and many other jurisdictions have you know made this common sense public health move.

And -- but of course you know big tobacco who are in the toxic addiction business you know want everyone to think otherwise. And you know they sued the FDA, they said that they wanted to be regulated as tobacco. They did not want to be you know some kind of device for tobacco cessation.

However, if people want to use these products, they're not banned. They just can't be used in the same place where you can't smoke a cigarette.

COSTELLO: Understand.

GENNARO: So we're creating an exact parallel between how we treat these and how we treat regular tobacco cigarettes. As many other jurisdictions around the country have done in many other countries have banned these outright. The country of Canada and Argentina, the state of Israel and many other countries. And you can check with their, you know, health ministries and the health reasons they have behind the moves that they made. But this is what they have done.

COSTELLO: We know you have banned these cigarettes. Councilman -- Councilman Gennaro, I've got to end it there. I'm so sorry thank you so much for joining us. And thanks to Sanjay too.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And I want you to promote your show, because it's a good one that's coming on this weekend.

GUPTA: We're excited about the show. Joel Osteen is going to be on the show. We're going to talk about this intersection between faith and science a topic I've been interested in. And Richard Blais -- there are ways to cook your holiday meals healthier. I started cooking even and I'm going to put the test to my family. People can learn.

COSTELLO: So you weren't for that bacon bowl we just advertised?

GUPTA: That got you pretty excited.

COSTELLO: I want my own bacon bowl. Thank you Sanjay. I appreciate it. SANJAY: That's another ad for bacon bowl.

COSTELLO: Yes. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The late Paul Walker is being honored in a touching tribute as part of a music video for one of his final movies called "The Hours".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sounds like a beautiful song. Nischelle Turner is in New York with more on the story. Good morning.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi good morning Carol. You know this is a video by Natalia Safran. That was the lady that you saw there. And although this video was in production before Paul Walker's death, she says the song and the video are a farewell to him. She says that he was an incredible man and a dear friend. The profits from the single and the video are going to benefit his first responder organization Reach Out Worldwide.

You know Paul Walker was at an event for that charity when he was killed in the car crash. And by the way, he's getting a lot of critical acclaim for this new movie of his called, "The Hours" that opens December 13th. And you see him there in a hospital. It is the story of a father and the lengths that he will go to protect his newborn child who is having complications in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

So it's a very serious movie and he's getting a lot of claim for doing a wonderful acting job in it.

COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner many thanks.

TURNER: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as the "Duck Dynasty" family takes a public stand in support of their patriarch and big named politicians like Ted Cruz and Bobby Jindal are joining in. We'll talk about why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's the hot button issue that has some potential 2016 presidential candidates speaking out. Not on immigration or the debt ceiling. It's about "Duck Dynasty". A&E's suspension of reality TV show's patriarch Phil Robertson has some conservatives rallying to the family's defense among them Senator Ted Cruz. He twitted, quote, "If you believe in free speech or religious liberty, you should be deeply dismayed over the treatment of Phil Robertson."

It's a sentiment echoed by a possible rival to Cruz, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Let's talk about this. Will Cain is a CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Blaze"; Maria Cardona is a CNN political commentator and a Democratic strategist.

Good morning to both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning Carol. Happy holidays.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And good morning to you.

COSTELLO: Happy holidays. Or I'll say Merry Christmas and be politically incorrect this morning. There you go.

First off, let me remind you what Robertson said to "GQ Magazine" about what he considers sin. He said to "GQ Magazine", quote, "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there -- bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men."

Then according to the GQ author still paraphrases Corinthians, "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers -- they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself, it's not right." OK, so Maria, you heard what Ted Cruz said. Is this religious liberty?

CARDONA: Well, first of all, if we're going to quote Corinthians, let's just remember that that paraphrase essentially condemns 99.99 percent of all politicians in this country and probably most people.

Is it religious liberty? Of course. No one is saying that Phil Robertson could not say what he said -- absolutely. But it's also freedom of speech that those who are offended by it can speak up and say so.

And what is so baffling to me, Carol, is that we're actually surprised by what he said. I actually think at the end of the day this is all A&E's fault for putting somebody like Phil Robertson up on a pedestal understanding what he stood for. He's a self-prescribed, bible- thumping Christian ultra right-wing conservative. And then having him sit down with "GQ Magazine" and being appalled at him actually saying what he believes?

I think we should not be surprised by that.

COSTELLO: There's nothing wrong with what you just said -- that he's a bible thumping conservative, Maria. There's nothing wrong with being a bible-thumping conservative -- Maria.

CARDONA: No, I'm not saying that it is. What I'm saying is that we should not be surprised by what he said because a lot of people do believe be that. Is it offensive to many people? Absolutely. But we should not be surprised by what he said and A&E should understand that. And they also have the freedom by the way to protect their brand the way that they're doing in suspending him because they also understand that what he said was offensive to many people.

COSTELLO: Right, right.

Let's argue about the matter at hand. Like conservatives -- Some conservatives are rallying around him right Will?

CAIN: Right.

COSTELLO: And you know, sometimes politicians have a tendency to rally around people a little too quickly. So some might argue in this case he did. Because now this tape of what Robertson said in 2010 at a church has surfaced. And I want you to listen to that before you comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL ROBERTSON, "DUCK DYNASTY": Women with women, men with men, they committed indecent acts with one another. And they received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions. They're full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant God-haters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He went on to say that gay people invent ways of doing evil. So is that -- what is that, Will? How would you characterize that what he said? Is that free speech and religious liberty or is it hate speech?

CAIN: No. It is a commonly-held belief. And this is where -- I'm surprised to hear from Maria something that I agree with so readily. And that this should not come a surprise. Nothing here is a surprise. A&E was happy to exploit the Robertson's religion when it meant good things for their ratings and their attention. And now that there's a group of (inaudible) cabal of people who stand up in their defense and insist that those that disagree with them sit down and shut up A&E is running scared.

You know Phil Robertson espoused a religion view that is commonly held. And it is. It's not one that I agree with. I've been on this network consistently. I support gay marriage. I'm a conservative. I'm from the south, I duck hunt. But there are those who hold commonly-held Christian doctrine that homosexuality is a sin not unlike all these others.

And Phil did two things. He said, number one, it's a sin. And then number two it's a preference which I don't identify with. Ask any gay man or straight men what their preferences are and they'll tell you something similar.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: I don't think that -- I don't think, Will, gay people are upset with that part of what Robertson said. I think they are upset that he said that gay people invent ways of doing evil and that gay relations somehow lead or the same as bestiality. I think they're more fed-up with those things. CAIN: I don't think he said that. I don't think he said it's the same as bestiality. He said they're both sins.

COSTELLO: He said invent ways of doing evil.

CAIN: He said they're both sins. And I don't know what that means, invent ways of doing evil. I don't know what that means. That is like religion speak in a sermon that is sometimes hard to parse. If I heard more maybe I could understand the context of what that means.

In the end, here is the deal, Carol. You ask yourself, how could I be pro gay marriage and find myself defending Phil Robertson? I'm going to tell you why because when I hear those that disagree with me, I don't insist that they shut up. I don't insist they lose their television shows. I know that if my ideas are better than them, we can vet it out in public and I will win.

We have a bad tendency in society right now that if we hear people that disagree with us, our first response is you must go away. You must shut up and that is bad.

COSTELLO: Well, I want to get back to the core question before we go on. The core question is should some conservatives who were thinking of running for president in 2016 rally around this issue? Will this be an issue come 2016?

CARDONA: So to that question, Carol, here is the big, I think, issue for these GOP politicians who are now surrounding themselves and embracing what Phil Robertson or what he's saying and what is being done to him allegedly.

And that is to Will's point, if these ideas are actually going to be fought out on the political stage, which they will be in 2016, what they're doing right now, what these GOP politicians are doing, is again, underscoring that they are a party that is insensitive to the LGBT community and to the African-American community. That is not tolerant of the LGBT community and African-American community. And essentially right now does not represent mainstream views.

They can't win with those kinds of thoughts. We saw it in 2012. In 2016 if these issues are going to be fought out on the presidential stage, it's not a good thing for GOP candidates.

CAIN: No.

COSTELLO: I've got to end it here. I'm so sorry. Will Cain, Maria Cardona, I hope you come back and discuss this more.

CAIN: All right.

CARDONA: Thank you, Carol.

CAIN: All right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Before you ring in the New Year, you absolutely must run through all of the memorable moments from the fading year. Yes, it's the unescapable list time. And as Jeanne Moos shows us, a screaming goat and a monkey in a snow suit make the a-list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 'Tis the reason to be listing from the 2013 most breathtaking science photos of 2013 to the nine social media hoaxes you fell for. Like the twerking girl pretending to set herself on fire video, circulated by Jimmy Kimmel. We should be screaming from all of these lists.

Still, how can you resist the 21 most cringe-worthy TV news moments?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is wrong with you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night Lawrence.

MOOS: Usually we try to escape ads but not the ones that make it onto a year-ender list.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can ship your pants right here. You hear that? I can ship my pants for free.

MOOS: Any excuse for a list will do. The 28 most ridiculous celebrity face mashes combine Sarah Palin and Honey Boo-Boo, Kim Kardashian and Chris Christie.

And what's with the random numbers. Why 32? Remember the days when the list was something on paper that you took to the grocery store. Now instead of bread and milk, there are even lists listing the best lists.

Jonathan Mann, known as YouTube's song-a-day man is singing his list of top viral videos.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: But the video that gets his goat -- with lists ranging from the top ten Miley moments to the top ten Harlem Shakes, it's hard to pick a clip of the year. But Jimmy Kimmel tried.

JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST: The monkey in a snow suit.

MOOS: Alas the monkey in a snow suit didn't win. Scared boss did. And as the scared boss came on the show to accept the award --

It's a been a crazy year. But if you think it's been crazy for you, wait until you see how nuts it was for the amorous cows that made it to number one on the craziest dash-cam videos. Holy cow, not only were they not hurt. The male was ready for more romance. She's definitely at the top of his list.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: SeaWorld says it is time to set the record straight insisting that it is in the business of saving and not capturing and mistreating whales and other sea creatures. But can SeaWorld turn back the tide of criticism?

Also this hour, is TV's "Duck Dynasty" doomed? Without Phil could Willie and the others walk away from their absolutely runaway TV smash hit?

And "Silent Night" suddenly not quite so holy. Wait until you hear how they changed the song and how the audience reacted.