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Former State Lawmaker Thinks Water Crisis "Vastly Overblown"; Iranian FM: "Happy" For Freed Prisoners' Families; Growing Concerns Over Zika Virus. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired January 21, 2016 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: -- said you campaign in poetry and govern in poems. A wise man you knew very well.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That was my line.
AXELROD: That was a great one.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Why did he not credit you with that? But the truth is, she's not good at the poetry of politics. She's good at the mechanics of governing. She's good at the details. She masters the details. She struggles with the poetry of campaigning and it shows up at times like this.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: David Axelrod, always great to get your take on things. Thanks very much.
AXELROD: Great to be with you, guys.
CAMEROTA: Michaela.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there's anger in Flint, Michigan, over the water contamination crisis. There is one former state lawmaker, though, that isn't sold. We're going to ask him why he thinks the situation is overblown and why he's questioning the number of children that have been poised by lead. That will be next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Outrage over the Flint water crisis is growing across the country, but here's a provocative question, is it overblown? Bill Ballenger is a former Michigan state senator and representative. He worked for the Ford administration in the area of dealing with the environment. He lives in Flint.
[07:35:04]He says he bathes and drinks the water and says he has not been poisoned. He joins us now. Mr. Ballenger, first of all, thank you for taking the time. Thank you for standing outside to do it.
I know it's not that hospitable weather, but it's an important conversation. Why do you believe that the situation in Flint is overblown? BILL BALLENGER (R), FORMER MICHIGAN LAWMAKER: The publicity about it is overblown. Look, there is a problem with the water in Flint, or there has been. But for parts of the last decade, Flint has been number one in crime. Number one in murder. Number one in poverty in the country and Flint has been pounded.
It's lost half its population. This is terrible publicity for Flint. It's vastly exaggerated. The percentage of children and people affected in these tests is probably less than 2 percent.
There are half a million people in this country, children under age 6, with elevated lead levels in their blood right now. Flint has only 43 that have been demonstrated.
CUOMO: But you have so much counter indicative data to that. You have Dr. Mona (ph), who brought it out because she and her colleagues were seeing such off-the-charts numbers of lead in young kids. You have the state itself that has now been forced to recognize that the lead levels were much higher than anticipated.
They've tracked it back to their inability to treat the water correctly. Maybe it was ph level or something else, but it corroded oxide layer on the pipes and allowed the lead leached. Everybody is saying this.
I get that Flint is going through a hard time on other levels, but why mitigate this when it's life and death for so many?
BALLENGER: I'm not mitigating it, Chris. What you just said just now exaggerated things.
CUOMO: How so?
BALLENGER: Go to the Kettering University report. Mary Barra, president of General Motors, you're well aware of her. Her alma mater is Kettering University. It used to be General Motors Institute of Technology just came out with a nine-page report it's on the web.
Everybody should read that. It puts everything in perspective about Flint, the current crisis, the history, the demography of Flint. The questions of where the alleged poisoning, if that's the word we want to use, have occurred in Flint, and what's being done to rectify it.
People have got to stop pointing fingers of blame and assigning culpability to public figures and concentrate on solving the problem.
CUOMO: Well, I'm with you on that. I think there's way too much energy on the politicizing of it because that's easier. Frankly, it's easier for politicians to deal with even if it's pointing the fingers at themselves than actually fixing it.
I'm with you that. You get a full amen. You mentioned the head of GM. GM stopped using the water because it was rusting their parts and they got put on a different water line while the rest of the population was told it was safe. What do you say to those families as a former representative who is saying my kid's been poisoned, my water, I can feel it, I can see it, I can taste it. You're telling them they're wrong?
BALLENGER: I'm not telling them they're wrong. I think mistakes were made in the way the switch was made to the Flint River to use that as a source of water and to keep the water clean. Mistakes were made.
And everything you just described about General Motors and its plant is true. So, let's go forward, let's see what needs to be done. Let's gather information which is not as much in evidence as you're describing.
You seem to think it's a settled case that everybody in Flint is poisoned and this is the reputation that Flint has nationally.
How would any business or enterprise want to locate in Flint, which is trying to get back on its feet economically, with stories like this making the rounds which are inaccurate?
CUOMO: But you don't want to hide from the truth either. It doesn't make you look better by hiding from something that is so desperate for so many people. You talk about 43 people. Even if you just looked at the Legionnaires' disease.
You know, which can be deadly, but usually is not, you have twice as many as that, and they saw numbers that they never see with Legionnaires' disease. That alone they had almost 90 people, after they started monitoring the water levels. The problem should be obvious to everybody.
BALLENGER: There is no evidence that the Legionnaire's disease in Genesee County, which is the county surrounding Flint has any connection with the Flint River water ma so far. None. And the governor of Michigan --
CUOMO: A Flint journal (inaudible) Freedom of Information Act Request revealed Saturday 87 people diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease. The city's toxic drinking water flowed into the homes of those same people for 18 months, 10 of those were sickened and died.
BALLENGER: Most of the people in Genesee County do not get any water, drinking water, from the Flint River. Only the city of Flint does.
[07:40:03]And many of these Legionnaires' disease cases over half, occurred outside of the boundaries of the city of Flint. Look, the governor, Rick Snyder, in state of the state message the other night acknowledged his administration has made mistakes in monitoring the water quality in Flint.
He said, I am sorry and we are doing everything we can to rectify the situation. The legislature has made a $22 million appropriation just yesterday, more money will follow.
Look, I'm a water bill payer in Flint, a property owner. If they want to compensate me for my water bill for the last 20 years, I guess I should be happy, right? And I will be.
But I'll be very unhappy if I live anywhere else in the state of Michigan, 10 million people and I know only Flint is being given aid for people that have elevated lead levels.
When I can tell you right now, in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and other cities, there are children with the same elevated lead levels.
CUOMO: Look, there's a lot of reason to believe that lots of kids have lead levels, but there is as much reason to believe that it is worst in Flint and it's related to what happened with the water.
Dr. Mona Atisha (ph) wants to talk to you. She reached out to you. Let's see if we can facilitate that exchange in information. I'd like to have you on again, Mr. Ballenger. I appreciate you bring this part of the conversation.
BALLENGER: I love to be on. Thank you.
CUOMO: Thank you, sir -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: All right, it's the prisoner swap that almost did not happened. The U.S. and Iran managed to get it done, but now without drama until the very last minute.
Iran's foreign minister spoke to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a CNN exclusive. She joins us next with what he has to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:45:39]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I'm happy for all the families. I'm happy for the family of Jason and the family of Amir Hekmati and Abedini and others who now have their loved ones with them.
We believe that they have committed acts that were illegal. For their families -- I'm happy for their families, all of them are Iranian- American families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Now that's the Iranian foreign minister speaking out for the first time since the prisoner swap with the U.S. and sanctions against his country were lifted.
An exclusive TV interview with CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, he discussed the prisoner exchange which almost didn't happen. Christiane joins us now.
Christiane, great to see you. You look beautiful there against the backdrop in Davos. Tell us about this interview with the foreign minister, and did he talk about how it almost didn't happen, this swap?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he did. And it is beautiful here and it's got a huge number of world leaders here at a very important time. One of the big issues is Iran. It's kind of the dominating issue.
This new emerging market since the lifting of sanctions and since at least this nuclear deal has put it more or less on a level playing field.
So I asked him about that hiccup that we were all talking about last weekend when it look like the prisoner release from Iran was being delayed.
It turned out to be because of Jason Rezaian's wife and mother were at one point not allowed to get on the plane. He said he received a call from Secretary Kerry who said is this part of the deal?
He said, yes, this is part of the deal. He said, fine, let me tell those people who didn't know that this is part of the deal and it will happen.
So he described it like that and that is the general consensus of what went on. One faction didn't know that the wife and mother of Jason Rezaian were to get on the same plane. So, that's that.
As for the bigger picture here, the big worry here about the region right now is the fight, the conflict, the tension between big Shia power, which is Iran and big Sunni power, which is Saudi Arabia.
When he was sitting on the stage here in Davos, Zarif basically said the global message of we can achieve is that diplomacy works.
He said if we can come to an agreement on this seemingly intractable problem such as the nuclear issue then surely we can resolve our differences with our neighbors. This is what he said about Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZARIF: We do not have a fight to pick with Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, the fact is that the instability in our region is caused by panic in Saudi Arabia. Iran and Saudi Arabia can be two important players, who can accommodate each other, who can complement each other in the region.
We don't expect or we're not interested, even, in pushing Saudi Arabia out of this region because Saudi Arabia is an important player in this region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So, conciliatory remarks towards Saudi Arabia, he again condemned that storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. Reminded the world that the government, him and his president had condemned it and sent the police to investigate and arrest the perpetrators. And obviously, there's the whole Syria issue that's being discussed as well. To that end, Secretary of State John Kerry is here in Davos too -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: (Inaudible) to hear as Zarif said that he believes that he can co-exist there with Saudi Arabia. I know that you also just sat down with the Afghan president. Tell us about that interview.
AMANPOUR: Yes. Well, that also incredibly important because there's a resurgence of al Qaeda, imagine that, in Afghanistan. The president told me that we thought overly optimistically at the beginning of 2015 that al Qaeda had been defeated and of course, it has not been.
Couple that with the emergence of ISIS which is a real worry these big issues, which we need help for. So he said that his country needs more air power, which is also what General Petraeus has just said.
There needs to be more air strikes against the terrorists in Afghanistan. And he also praised and was very pleased about President Obama's instruction to the Pentagon that U.S. forces in Afghanistan can now go after ISIS. He said, this is what he said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last five days, Daesh in the province of (inaudible) is on the run. We are already starting to drive them out and this -- we welcome this and it is a very, very good decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[07:50:00]AMANPOUR: So there you hear the president of Afghanistan saying that it has made a fundamental difference on the ground, this new authority by U.S. troops to go after ISIS, actually proactively -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: OK, Christiane, two very big interviews. Thanks so much for sharing them with us this morning. See you soon -- Michaela.
PEREIRA: Postcard backdrop where she is. Beautiful.
We are going to talk about something that you might not have heard of, the Zika virus. Not very well known. It is certainly having a big impact around the world. We're going tell you what pregnant women should know when we speak with Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is from the National Institute of Health. He'll join us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: An important health alert this morning for pregnant women who travel. The mosquito born, Zika virus, has now hit the U.S. What exactly is it? How serious of a threat are we talking about?
We want to go straight to the guy who knows, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a familiar face here on our show. Dr. Fauci, thanks for making yourself available to us for this. What exactly is this Zika virus and why are we particularly concerned about pregnant women?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, Zika is a virus that's transmitted by mosquitos. The Zika virus was discovered many years ago in 1947 and has been around Southeast Asia, Africa, and some of the Pacific islands.
It generally was thought of and is still for people who are not pregnant and inconsequential virus. It gives symptoms of arthralgia, rash, fever, conjunctivitis or redding in eyes and then it goes away as a relatively mild illness.
The problem that we're dealing with right now is that in Brazil and in other countries in South America and the Caribbean, it is clear that there is now an association in pregnant women who get infected during the pregnancy.
Namely, who get bitten by a mosquito who transmits the Zika virus, that there is an alarming incidence of what we call microcephaly in the fetus or baby. And that is developmental abnormality of small brain.
[07:55:07]And many of these children die or if they are born they have a real difficult time following birth with a lot of impairment. So that is the thing that's causing the alarm.
PEREIRA: That is the concern.
FAUCI: That's the concern. Not Zika as infection, if I got infected with Zika --
PEREIRA: You would be fine.
FAUCI: It would be a relatively mild illness.
PEREIRA: OK, so I want to bring up the map because you know well that the CDC is now urging pregnant women who have been traveling to be screened if they have traveled to the areas that are affected by the virus.
We can see those areas in yellow. Some of the countries are small enough that you won't be able to see them so well. You mentioned Brazil has been incredibly hard hit.
Having a real problem. Add to that, sir, we've got Brazil hosting the Olympic Games this summer. How big of a concern that?
FAUCI: Well, what the Brazilian authorities obviously are going to try and do is to put a lid on that as much as they can. One of the major ways do that is by mosquito control. And there are two ways you address a mosquito.
Mosquito avoidance by making sure the way you dress or what kind of mosquito repellant you put on. But the other is actually mosquito elimination either by insecticides or what they are thinking of now is releasing a type of mosquito into the environment that would actually create a situation where they would not be able to reproduce.
The male would mate with the female, but the female would not be able to have larvae that would then continue to propagate mosquitoes. So the Brazilian authorities obviously with the help of the CDC, our own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are really jumping on this as best they can but still is a serious problem.
PEREIRA: Well, let me ask you this, help me understand, do people have to travel specifically one of those countries to get the virus? For example, if a mosquito bit me and that had the disease and then bit someone -- or if I had the disease, bit me and then bit someone else, can that person get the disease? Can it move from one person to another?
FAUCI: That is possible, but let me tell you what has already happened and what the American public should understand so they don't get concerned. There will be cases reported in the United States and there already have been.
PEREIRA: In Hawaii.
FAUCI: In Hawaii and certain states of people returning who have been bitten and who have symptoms and are infected. So you shouldn't confuse that with it being spread within the United States.
You will ask the possibility, can it ultimately if someone comes back start to have what we call primary spread within the United States? That is possible.
We've seen that with dengue that is a similar virus in South America and the Caribbean. And we've had over the years many little transmissions within the United States.
In Florida, the Florida Keys and Dade County and in Texas, but that has been something that has been very well controlled. The idea of our having a major outbreak of Zika the way they are having in Brazil is extraordinarily unlikely. But we shouldn't be surprised if we continue to hear reports.
PEREIRA: OK.
FAUCI: Of people who are coming back from that area and coming into the United States. And you should not confuse that with an outbreak within the United States.
PEREIRA: That is an important piece of information to get across. Dr. Fauci, always appreciate it. We'll be talking with you in the coming weeks I'm sure.
All right, we're following a lot of news, let's get to it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEREIRA: The snow storm of potentially historic proportions is heading for the east coast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A wind that could gust 45 to 55 miles per hour.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The nation's capital could be in the bull's eye for record breaking 30 inches of snow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was pretty rough driving home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to stay off the road. Stay warm.
SARAH PALIN: My son like so many others, they come back a bit different. They come back hardened.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): Sarah's endorsement is a very powerful endorsement, especially in certain areas like Iowa.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Washington establishment is rushing over to support Donald Trump.
CUOMO: White House and State Department officials have said they believe Levinson is no longer in Iran.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can only hope that they are really doing everything they can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just know in my heart that he is alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: The calm before the storm.
CAMEROTA: Thinking the same thing.
CUOMO: Welcome back to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, January 21st, 8:00 in the east and we're being told a snow storm of potentially historic proportions is bearing down on the east coast.
Two to three feet of snow could fall in and around D.C. by the end of the weekend. Tens of millions along the I-95 corridor are waking up to blizzard and winter storm warnings and advisories.
CAMEROTA: Before the heavy snow arrives, icy conditions already wreaking havoc in our nation's capital. Hundreds of car crashes in Virginia alone and schools in cities like Nashville are closed today because of the treacherous conditions.
So let's begin our coverage with Rene Marsh. She is live in Arlington, Virginia where I know it was a heck of a commute last night. Rene, what's the latest?
