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Interview With John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator For Strategic Communications; Pediatric Hospital Beds Filling Up As RSV Rages. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 21, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:33:55]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Ukraine's president is warning Russia is planning to destroy a key dam and hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine.

In fact, he says the Russians have the explosives in place to take it out. And that the move would also flood the Kherson region, potentially causing cooling issues at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The Kremlin, though, says it is all nonsense.

Joining me now John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.

Good to see you this afternoon.

We are going to get to Ukraine.

But I want to get to new reporting from "The Washington Post," details about some of the classified documents reportedly found, according to "Post" sources, during the FBI search in August.

Specifically that one of those classified documents describe Iran's missile program. Others had to do with China. We know the DOJ thinks there could be more there.

What is your level of concern this afternoon in terms of the potential exposure because of these documents and the exposure for the country's national security?

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: I want to be careful here, Erica, and not get ahead of a Justice Department investigation. So I'll refer all questions like that to the Justice Department.

[14:35:00]

This is an ongoing investigation and it just wouldn't be prudent for us to speak to it, especially here from the White House. Absent from that discussion, just in general, of course, we take the

proper treatment of classified and confidential information very, very seriously here.

There are protocols in place that are designed specifically not only to protect sensitive information but to protect our ability to continue to collect and analyze that kind of information going forward

HILL: I think I know the answer but I have to ask anyway, as you will understand. I'm curious whether the White House and administration officials have heard from officials in Iran, in China or from allies over concerns about what is being reported

KIRBY: I am not aware of any such discussions as an outgrowth of this press reporting.

HILL: So looking at -- if we move on now to Iran -- there's been little back and forth today.

I know Defense Secretary Austin spoke with his counterpart in Russia. This comes after the Russian ambassador said, you know, there's really not a channel open here.

We have heard from Secretary of State Blinken, who said, "Whenever the U.S. has something important to communicate to Russians, the U.S. will do it."

Does a diplomatic channel remain open and how important is that?

KIRBY: Of course. There are many channels open with Russia. Even down to the fairly low operational level.

We still have a de-confliction line set up in Europe so that we can properly de-conflict operations with respect to NATO's eastern flank with Russia.

Of course, you saw today the secretary of defense spoke with his counterpart. The secretary of state still has an open line of communication with Foreign Minister Lavrov, if needed.

Yes, there are many channels here at various levels throughout our government to continue to communicate with Russia.

That's important, particularly now. Particularly now when bellicose rhetoric by Mr. Putin about the potential use of nuclear weapons only could lead to confusion and miscalculations.

So, yes, those channels are open. And as you saw this morning, we'll use them.

HILL: The U.K., France, and Germany are now urging the U.N. to investigate Iran's transfer of drones to Russia. They're saying it violates some security decisions.

Russia's ambassador to the U.S. has warned that if an investigative team was sent into Ukraine it would have to, quote, "reassess its cooperation with the U.N. secretary-general.

Would you support an investigative team being sent into Ukraine to take a look at what may be happening with those drones?

KIRBY: We just yesterday publicly acknowledged what we know to be a fact that Iran did sell drones to Russia, that those drones are being used inside Ukraine.

And the third thing we declassified and talked about yesterday was the fact we know there are Iranian individuals in Crimea right now as you and I talk, Erica, that are providing technical support and training to Russian operators to use those drones.

So it is a bald fact. It's out there. And Iran can say what they want and so can Russia. But it's true. They are on the ground there using their capabilities to help the Russians kill more Ukrainians and strike at Ukrainian infrastructure.

HILL: Really quickly, before I let you go, retired Brigadier General Steve Anderson, on this program earlier this week, said he believes American contractors should be on the ground to both operate and maintain some of the systems that the U.S. has put in place.

He said he knows this is prohibited but this is, in his words, quote, "a bridge we need to cross."

Would that be an option?

KIRBY: The president has been very clear that there won't be any American troops fighting inside Ukraine. And right now, there's no contractual --

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: These are contractors

KIRBY: -- requirements -- I understand, Erica.

HILL: Yes.

KIRBY: There's no contractual -- I get that. There's no contractual requirements that we're looking at that would put American contractors on the ground in Ukraine.

We have said, State Department has been very clear, this is not the time for American citizens to be in Ukraine. If you are, you should be leaving right away.

HILL: John Kirby, appreciate your time as always. Thank you.

KIRBY: My pleasure.

[14:38:59]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Doctors are warning parents of an unprecedented surge in a respiratory illness among children. How to keep your children safe. That's next.

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[14:43:43]

HILL: This just in. Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. is now warning parents about long wait times because of a surge in RSV and flu cases.

BLACKWELL: This is one of many hospitals across the country overwhelmed by respiratory infections.

Health and Human Services reports that pediatric hospitals are more full now than they have been in the past two years. And consider all that's happened over the last two years.

Joining us now are Dr. Charlotte Boney, the pediatrician-in-chief at Baystate Children's Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Dr. Jim Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

Thank you for being with us.

Let's start with setting the scene for us at your respective hospitals. How many kids you have in, the percentage of the pediatric beds that are occupied right now.

Dr. Boney, let me start with you.

DR. CHARLOTTE BONEY, PEDIATRICIAN-IN-CHIEF, BAYSTATE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Thank you for having me.

So our hospital, we are the only accredited children's hospital in western Massachusetts. This is September and October the likes of which we've never seen.

I would say half the patients in our hospital, both acute beds and intensive care beds, are in with respiratory disease attributed to RSV, rhino virus, interral (ph) virus and some other respiratory viruses unheard of for this time of year.

[14:45:10]

We have no patients in the hospital with COVID.

We are almost at capacity. We are really over capacity in our pediatric emergency room. We never saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Versalovic, what does it look like where you are?

Dr. JIM VERSALOVIC, PATHOLOGIST-IN-CHIEF, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Well, Texas Children's may be a bit different. It's the largest integrated delivery system for children in the United States. We have tremendous capacity in terms of bed capacity for children. We are seeing certainly another surge of RSV and plenty of influenza

cases in the double-digit percent-wise. I would say 10 percent or more of our beds occupied by children with respiratory illnesses. That is a big number for us.

And certainly, we are dealing with both an influenza A and RSV wave at the moment.

HILL: Dr. Boney, what do you think is driving this? Because as I understand it -- correct me if I'm wrong because, clearly, I'm not the doctor here -- but RSV is not something that would typically lead to a child being hospitalized or certainly not in these numbers.

BONEY: So certainly not in these numbers. We're used to seeing RSV cause severe respiratory illness in infants and young children in the winter, not in August, September and October.

So, number one, what is unprecedented here is the seasonal variation has been turned upside down. Number two, we're seeing kids hospitalized with rhino virus, the common cold. That is really unheard of.

We're seeing some other respiratory viruses that typically show up in late summer early fall.

And most of our kids with respiratory illness are under the age of 2. We've got some older kids in with respiratory disease because they have underlying asthma.

It is this unusual seasonal variation and this surge right now that's really unprecedented. Why? Well, I like the hypothesis that all those infection control strategies have been relaxed.

Kids are back at school, back in daycare, in sports. They are visiting with friends. Nobody is wearing masks anymore. People are not washing their hands as much.

So we went for a couple years with really strict infection control strategies, which worked, works against COVID, worked against other respiratory viruses.

Now here we are with this surging respiratory virus sort of milieu with no infection control strategies and with kids who have never seen these viruses before if they're under the age of 3.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Versalovic, what are the symptoms that are so severe that are requiring this hospitalization that the children have to stay? And what are you offering them while they're under your care?

VERSALOVIC: We need to help them with their young airways as was just mentioned for infants and toddlers. Children under 3 years of age.

RSV can cause severe illness in the lower respiratory tract and the lungs, severe pneumonia, bronchiolitis.

The children may present with respiratory distress, difficulty breathing. And of course, that can and should be an alarm for any parent. We can see this disease rapidly progress. Children need attention quickly.

We have plenty of diagnostic testing capacity. Our emergency centers and urgent care centers are very busy.

But we're doing all we can to see these patients, in person, virtually, at more than 100 care locations. We're fortunate in that we can meet the demand.

But as you highlighted, these symptoms can present acutely in a child, coupled with fever, persistently, and difficulty breathing, respiratory symptoms that can progress rapidly.

And that's the main issue with respect to hospitalization. We need to get the children diagnosed and get them to supportive care in the hospital, as needed, as quickly as possible.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Boney, you were talking about the impact of the last couple years. We've all been masked, washing hands, distancing more.

I remember, when my kids were little, you kind of went through the phase in the beginning of the year where the kids bring home the cold and everybody gets the cold, and we would look at it as, OK, we're building up their immune system.

Is that part of the larger issue for especially these older children they just haven't built up immunity or their body isn't used to something like the common cold?

BONEY: I think that's probably part of the explanation. I'm not an immunologist or infectious disease expert but that certainly makes sense to me.

If you've not been exposed to these viruses now for almost two years and the viruses are surging in your population, then, yes, I think you can become very sick. That explanation makes a lot of sense to me.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Charlotte Boney, Dr. Jim Versalovic, thank you both.

[14:49:52]

HILL: A former Trump adviser, Steve Bannon, getting some prison time for refusing to comply with the subpoena issued by the January 6th congressional committee. We'll have more on that, next.

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BLACKWELL: Steve Bannon has been sentenced to four months in jail. A federal judge sentenced the former Trump adviser for defying a subpoena from the January 6th committee. He was also convicted for failing to turn over documents investigators demanded.

HILL: Prosecutors wanted six months along with a $200,000 fine. Bannon, though, was fined just $6,500, and is vowing to appeal.

BLACKWELL: The Environmental Protection Agency is launching a civil rights investigation into the Mississippi water crisis.

Now the EPA will investigate whether the Mississippi Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality discriminated against the majority black population of the city of Jackson on the basis of race in the funding of water infrastructure and treatment programs and activities.

[14:54:59:]

HILL: Now this follows the NAACP's complaint that state officials intentionally starved Jackson of the resources to maintain its water infrastructure.

The NAACP reacting to the news with the following statement which says, in part, "Today's decision by the EPA is a significant first step in holding the state accountable for its role in exacerbating the Jackson water crisis."

BLACKWELL: President Biden acknowledges that, yes, Democrats are struggling in polling. But he predicts the momentum will shift back to his party in the final sprint to the midterms. We'll discuss.

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