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17 Americans from Hantavirus Cruise Ship Now in Nebraska; Now, Officials Give Update on Hantavirus Cruise Passengers; Person Hit and Killed by Frontier Jet on Denver Runway. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired May 11, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, Americans from the Hantavirus-hit cruise ship are in Nebraska this morning. One tested positive. We're expecting to get an update from officials any moment now.

And Dr. Deborah Birx, the former response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is live in The Situation Room.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And happening now, negotiations stalled. Iran pushing back after President Trump called Tehran's counterproposal to end the war, and I'm quoting him now, totally unacceptable. We're live at the White House.

And the suspected gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner faces a federal judge as his attorneys move to disqualify top U.S. Justice Department officials from the case.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin with the breaking news. At any moment, we'll hear directly from the federal health officials who are in Omaha, Nebraska. That's where 17 Americans returned to the U.S. overnight after being evacuated from the cruise ship that was struck by a deadly outbreak of the Hantavirus.

Three people aboard that ship, the M.V. Hondias, have died and several others are sick. Minutes ago, a French woman was confirmed as the seventh person to test positive. At least one American passenger has tested mildly positive for the deadly virus, and another has shown mild symptoms but is still testing negative.

All of the Americans are now in Omaha. They're being assessed and monitored at a highly specialized quarantine unit.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Meg Tirrell who's watching all of this unfold for us. Big developments, Meg. Update our viewers.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. So, we know that those 17 Americans were flown back overnight, as you said, to this quarantine center in Nebraska. This is a federally equipped, funded center that knows how to do this. We saw them do this with previous public health concerns similar to this, like with Ebola, for example.

And so what we do know is that there are two American passengers of particular interest right now because one of them, as you noted, did test positive, but was said not to have any symptoms. And there seems to be some sort of almost international disagreement over whether to count this person as a positive case. They are not being counted yet in the --

BLITZER: Meg, I'm going to interrupt you for a few moments. The governor of Nebraska is now beginning this news conference. I want to hear what he's saying.

GOV. JIM PILLEN (R-NE): I want to say thank you again, Dr. Gold, to you and your team, and all of our federal partners and state and local agencies that have all had a hand in facilitating and making impact on getting Americans back home. Thank you.

DR. JEFFREY GOLD, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: Thank you, Governor. And it is now a pleasure to provide some more information, specifically on the operations and the condition of the passengers. I'd like to introduce Admiral Brian Christine. Admiral Christine is the assistant secretary for health of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Admiral?

ADM. BRIAN CHRISTINE, M.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HEALTH, HHS: Well, good morning, and thank you all for being here. Thank you especially to our partners at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, thank you to Nebraska Medicine, and thank you to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Thank you all for your leadership and your readiness in this response.

At the Department of Health and Human Services, our approach is grounded in science, it's grounded in coordination, and it's grounded in transparency. This is a whole-of-government effort across federal, state, and local partners who are all working together to ensure the safety of the American people.

And let me be clear, let me be crystal clear, the risk of Hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already symptomatic.

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Even so, we have taken this situation very seriously from the very start. We've taken it seriously across HHS and particularly through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And I'm proud to see many of my U.S. public health service officers have been actively engaged in the response.

The CDC rapidly activated its emergency operations center. It deployed medical teams to assess passengers and coordinated closely with international partners. They have notified state health departments, they have initiated monitoring of potentially exposed individuals, and they have issued clinical guidance through the Health Alert Network.

And they have also brought together national partners through coordination calls. They've developed tools and resources to support public health decision-making. And they have ensured that both clinicians and the public have clear, timely information. Transparency has been and is the order of the day.

And now, with the safe arrival of these U.S. citizens here in Nebraska, CDC teams are working side by side with ASPR, with UNMC, and with state and local officials to conduct assessments and provide ongoing monitoring and care.

This is what strong public health system looks like, experienced professionals, seamless coordination, and a shared commitment to protecting the American people. We will continue to follow the science. We will stay vigilant, and we will keep the public informed every step of the way. As I said, transparency is the order of the day.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. God bless you. God bless the state of Nebraska, and God bless our republic. Thank you.

GOLD: Thank you so much for those words. And now it is my pleasure to introduce Mr. John Knox, who's the principal deputy assistant secretary, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And he will give us an update on planning and as we move forward.

JOHN KNOX, DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT SECRETARY, ADMIN FOR STRATEGIC PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE, HHS: Thank you, Dr. Gold, and thank you, everyone, for being here today. As mentioned, I'm John Knox. I'm the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

I'll start by noting that what you're all seeing here today is a true partnership and a demonstration between public and private partnerships. As all of you are aware, last night, with the coordination of multiple federal agencies and in partnership with state officials, HHS supported the Department of State in a safe repatriation of 18 U.S. citizens from the M.V. Hondas.

This is a coordinated whole of government effort to safely return Americans home while protecting public health. Passengers were transported via Department of State plane from the Canary Islands to Nebraska with appropriate medical capabilities on board. HHS has worked with the State Department from the start for a seamless transfer back into the United States.

Upon arrival, they were transferred here to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. UNMC was selected as the U.S. entry point due to its extensive expertise in handling special pathogens, and it's the only national quarantine unit in the country. It is one of ASPR's 13 regional emerging special pathogen centers also known as RESPSCs, that are within the National Special Pathogens System.

ASPR has established this system over the years to prepare for high consequence infectious disease outbreaks with trained personnel ready to safely manage situations like this. ASPR's mission is to protect the health security of Americans, and this response reflects the strength of the National Preparedness System.

As mentioned by others here this morning, over the next several days, passengers will undergo an initial health assessment and receive guidance on next steps from the CDC experts and other partners. This event reflects our ability to coordinate across federal, state, and local partners when the health of any American is on the line.

So, at this point, I'm going to turn it back to Dr. Gold to continue. Thank you.

GOLD: Well, thank you, Secretary Knox. We have several people here as, of course, you can see. Just to introduce them quickly, we have Brendan Jackson. Dr. Jackson is from the Centers of Disease Control and Acting Director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.

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We have Captain Michael Gardner, also from ASPR, he is the regional administrator, Region Seven, of the mission field operations. We have Matthew Ferrara, who's a DVM and is an HHS counselor. We have Dr. Michael Wadman here from the University of Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine, and he is the director of the National Quarantine Unit.

We have Dr. Angela Hewlett who's the medical director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. We have Dr. Dele Davies who's the interim chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Dr. Michael Ash, who's the chief executive officer of Nebraska Medicine. And, by the way, thank you for hosting us. And we have Dr. Ashley Newmeyer, the director of public health for the state of Nebraska.

And before I take your questions, I just want to say that UNMC and Nebraska Medicine are very honored to have this responsibility to repatriate these American citizens. There is no place in the country that they could be better cared for more safely and more effectively.

As the governor said, it is the people of the state of Nebraska, and indeed here in this microcosm, it is the people of UNMC and of Nebraska Medicine that really make a difference to truly lead the world. And today, as you're all gathered here, there is no other place in the country where they could be more safely and more humanistically cared for.

We have a very simple rule here, and having served as the chancellor of the Med Center for more than a decade of my life, if we treat our patients the way we would treat family members and loved ones, we're going to be okay, and that's the rule.

So, with that, we're very willing to take your questions. There are microphones that we will pass around. If you do have a question, I will recognize you. And there are some folks who are carrying the microphones, just to be sure that everybody can hear your question. And if there's a specific individual that you want to address it to, that's fine, or we can just have volunteers.

So --

REPORTER: Hi, Waverle Monroe with KETV. Just wanted to talk a little bit about -- A.P. confirmed overnight that there was a person who was experiencing symptoms, but may have not been tested positive for Hantavirus. Can you talk a little bit more about that? And is that person at the National Quarantine Unit, or is that person at the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit?

DR. BRENDAN JACKSON, ACTING DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF HIGH CONSEQUENCE PATHOGENS AND PATHOLOGY, CDC: Yes. That's right. And so part of the decision was to make sure that they preserve space within the biocontainment unit here to make sure there's adequate care for anyone who might need it among the other passengers. Other patients were -- sorry, passengers were flown to Atlanta for further assessment and care there.

REPORTER: So, that person is not here?

JACKSON: Correct.

REPORTER: Okay. Thank you.

GOLD: So, again, just to be very clear on that point we want to maintain optimal space in our biocontainment facilities on the small chance that it becomes necessary to use that space given the individuals who are transported.

JACKSON: If you don't mind, I'd just love to add that we're going to expect to see people have symptoms, that's just -- you know, if you think in any given week or month, how many times do you experience some level of nasal congestion or upset stomach or something. We're being very liberal in how we're framing symptoms and monitoring for symptoms here, and so that's how the system is working. It doesn't necessarily mean just because someone has symptoms that they're going to end up having this illness.

GOLD: Yes.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Dianne Gallagher, CNN. Could you clarify first then how many of the passengers who were on the plane from the cruise are here, and how many have been moved to another facility in the country?

GOLD: Yes, go ahead.

JACKSON: I can just address that briefly. So, of the 18, 16 passengers are here, and two are in Atlanta.

GALLAGHER: And the biocontainment unit, we have the one who had the mildly positive PCR test. Can you explain a little bit more about mildly positive? I initially thought that we were not testing people who were not symptomatic. I know they said this person was not symptomatic. Can you go into a little bit more about what it means to be mildly positive? JACKSON: Sure and I'd welcome my colleagues from the University of Nebraska to weigh in as well. But I'll note that -- so this passenger, this was -- this test was not collected in the United States. The specimen was collected back, I believe, in one of the islands. It was taken on the ship. There were two specimens. One was positive and the other one was negative.

You know, with these PCR tests, it's not -- like, even though there's a sort of exact cutoff, there's sort of a range in where they can fall.

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And so for that reason, we want to just, want to make sure there's further testing to evaluate that at this point more.

GALLAGHER: And are the two individuals who stayed here, one of whom is in the biocontainment unit, did they have prolonged contact with each other, and that's why they're both here? Or what was the -- I guess, the idea behind moving the 16 to other parts of the country?

JACKSON: Sorry. So, 16 people are here. And that's for all the reasons that was mentioned. Can you repeat again what your question was related to that?

GALLAGHER: I guess the two who were moved, what was the reasoning behind moving them beside -- was it just space or were they traveling together? Are we keeping people together since this is a prolonged contact transmission?

JACKSON: Got it. I mean, it may be helpful for you all to explain the difference between the sections within University of Nebraska Medical Center as well.

DR. MICHAEL WADMAN, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, NATIONAL QUARANTINE UNIT: Sure. I'm Mike Wadman. I'm an emergency physician and the medical director of the quarantine unit. We welcomed 15 passengers to the quarantine unit early this morning. One passenger did go to the biocontainment unit, and I'll let Dr. Hewlett address that patient. The 15 that were welcomed here were in good shape. They were in good spirits. They definitely were tired and needed some rest.

So, we did a quick assessment. We brought them into the unit, very smooth and successful, safe transfer. A lot of coordination between our teams here, and I'd like to thank our nurses and techs in the biocontainment unit, as well as all the administrative support that we have for this, and also our federal, state, and local partners. It's definitely a well-coordinated activity and really proud to be a part of that team.

Once they're in the unit, we've been doing symptom monitoring as well as temperature checks. Everyone here is asymptomatic and afebrile and do not have a temperature at this time. They're all resting now, and we'll do further assessments later in the day once they've had a chance to sleep, but that's where we're at with it now. But all asymptomatic, all very grateful to be here, and we're just waiting for them to rest up, and then we'll do the further assessment.

But to be clear, as far as Nebraska Medicine, we have 15 patients in quarantine, and we've got one patient in the biocontainment unit.

JACKSON: Maybe just explain the difference between the two a bit more, if that's helpful.

DR. ANGELA HEWLETT, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, NEBRASKA BIOCONTAINMENT UNIT: Sure. So, in the -- and I'm Angela Hewlett, I'm an infectious disease physician, and I'm the medical director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. And so with our two facilities, our quarantine unit is designed for well individuals who need to be monitored. It is not a patient care space. It is much more like a hotel than a patient care space. We don't have the typical things that you'd see in a hospital room. It's a much more comfortable environment actually with some things that -- to help keep people comfortable, like exercise equipment, and it's a larger space, you know, T.V.s and things like that.

The biocontainment unit is a patient care space, and that's our unit which is also located on this campus, and that's where we provide hospital-based care to people who need it. And those patients could range from being, you know, relatively well and stable to critically ill, requiring multiple procedures and multiple interventions.

And so we do have one individual who, as you know, was taken to the biocontainment unit early this morning. And I'm happy to report that we assessed that individual. They are doing well, actually. They currently do not have any symptoms and have a good appetite, although they're very tired, understandably, but it's been a really long journey for these folks.

And so, again, everything appears to be going very smoothly. I'm really proud of how our team responded and how we all kind of came together to execute this very complicated, you know, transfer of multiple different individuals into these different units.

JACKSON: So, I might just underscore that it was -- it's a contingency planning reason. They want to make sure that if other of the people that are sort of in the more residential side of that potential medical care, there is space available. And so by moving other people who may have symptoms to another location, it makes sure there's that space to care for them.

WADMAN: Right. And then those are the preliminary conversations planning that we had in terms of bringing in a number of individuals for quarantine is when those patients develop symptoms or test positive, what is the contingency plan? Because biocontainment capacity would not be able to accommodate 16, you know, persons who would turn positive and turn into inpatients.

So, those conversations look at patients that may be identified early and travel to other biocontainment centers across the country, which is what happened in this case. Or, you know, if we have quarantined patients here and they have symptoms, positive testing, where those would be decanted to if they were stable or would go to our biocontainment unit. All those contingency plans are in place.

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And the example of the two passengers traveling on to Emory is an example of that.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to continue to monitor this news conference in Nebraska. I want to bring in Meg Tirrell, our medical correspondent.

Meg, what's jumping out at you so far on what -- based on what we've heard?

TIRRELL: Yes, Wolf. So, what we're learning is that 15 people are seemingly healthy right now, at least asymptomatic, who are at that Nebraska facility. And the person there who was talking from the facility was saying they are in quarantine, and so he said they're in good spirits, but they were tired. They're resting up. They're going to do some more assessments on them later today.

And what we're told that involves, based on a conversation with our colleague, Jake Tapper, had yesterday with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who's leading both the CDC and the NIH right now, is that they'll be assessed for their own level of risk in terms of the closeness of their contacts to known cases aboard the ship. And then it will be determined whether they stay there at the Nebraska facility or potentially whether they're able to go home and do home-based monitoring for about six weeks. Now, that will be very important to be done in consult with local, state, public health authorities, as well as making sure that they're close to healthcare if they do develop symptoms.

Now, there are questions about that one person who did have that positive test, but we heard there was both a positive test result and a negative test result for that person. And the government said that they were a mildly positive case.

Now, some health experts are saying there's no such thing as mildly positive. If they're positive on a PCR test, which is what that was, that they're positive, but it sounds like they're waiting for further confirmatory testing of that person. But while they wait for that, that person is in biocontainment right now there in Nebraska.

We also heard, of course, that two other folks were transferred to Atlanta, to Emory. Part of that was due to space concerns. If more people test positive there in Nebraska, they want to have more space in that biocontainment area in order to care for people.

So, we are hearing now, Wolf, what is going to be the next steps, and I think there are some questions about whether all the folks should be kept in quarantine for that long duration, those six weeks where people could still develop symptoms, or if that home-based monitoring will be allowed. And I expect we'll hear probably more of that from this press conference coming up.

BLITZER: And, Meg, we keep hearing about developing symptoms. What kind of symptoms are being developed with these individuals?

TIRRELL: Yes. So, what they look for early on would be things like headache, fever. We know that one person had a cough. There can also be G.I. symptoms. You can look for things like dizziness and breathing issues. And what we really know is that people are thought to be most infectious if they have a fever, and there can be a very short duration of time when people are thought to be most infectious.

And so it is not that that this spreads very easily. Those are the things they'll be looking out for. But, of course, we also heard from one of the experts there that a lot of folks develop symptoms similar to those symptoms, and they will not end up having Hantavirus, and we have seen that happen before. And, indeed, that one person who has been sent to Atlanta, we heard reports they essentially just developed a cough, and that resolved within one day. So, we don't know if that person actually is going to end up having the Hantavirus. Wolf?

BROWN: Yes. As you heard the official there say that they're being very cautious. So, any symptoms that may arise, they're treating it as though it could be Hantavirus even though there's a good chance it's not. And they said that the public -- the risk to the public is very, very low. That is notable.

BLITZER: Encouraging. All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Still ahead, Wolf, a Frontier Jet hits and kills a person who jumped a fence at the Denver Airport, causing a small engine fire and injuring 12 on board. What we're learning about this disturbing story.

BLITZER: And later, a new class action lawsuit against Nike, the accusations that the company is charging customers extra for tariffs and then pocketing the refunds.

Lots going on. You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: Investigators are looking to that deadly runway collision at Denver International Airport. A Frontier Airlines plane hit a person, the airport says, jumped a fence and crossed the runway. New video shows that person just as the plane was about to take off on Friday. You can see the person walking on the left side of your screen in this video. That person was killed when the plane hit him.

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VANILLA ELLIS, PASSENGER: It was like boom. And then you see the flames come, and then the smoke comes, and it's just horrible. It was chaos. The flames were still like that, and it was like, everybody calm down, calm down. What do you mean calm down? The plane's on fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: That fire was in the engine and was quickly put out. The plane was headed to L.A. and had to be evacuated. A dozen passengers had minor injuries.

CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean is joining us here in the situation room. Pete, what more can you tell us about the investigation and the security concerns being raised?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington says the airport is now conducting a full safety assessment since this incident raises some major questions about how someone could possibly gain access to such a secure area.

The security video clearly shows this person walking on the Runway 17 left there at Denver International Airport from the east side of the airport. That's near the far end of the airfield. The security fence and a gate appear to be only about a few hundred feet away.

If you've ever been to Denver International Airport, you know how enormous it is. The airport's famous for long taxi times. The property spans 53 square miles, roughly twice the size of the island of Manhattan. Denver International Airport says it has 36 miles of perimeter fencing. Airport officials say they rely on a combination of technology, surveillance, and physical inspections to secure it.

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But now the airport says it's reviewing its entire perimeter safety program.