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Rand Paul to Announce 2016 Run Today; Family Poisoned By Banned Pesticide? History of Selfies. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired April 7, 2015 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: This is the second explosion to hit that factory in some 20 minutes.
[07:30:03] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Here's an important story, I hope you'll all look at the screen right now. There's a pesky Easter bunny wreaking havoc with the Washington Nationals ballpark tradition. This was Opening Day. The bunny took down two presidents during the mascot's race, they came out of nowhere, as you just saw, to pummel George Washington, then Teddy Roosevelt bore the brunt of the bunny's wrath. President William Taft escaped unscathed, thankfully, to win the race. There's no word on what prompted the bunny's outburst.
PEREIRA: Why was bunny so aggressive?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's be honest. They've had a tough go here the last few days.
PEREIRA: Well, yeah, that's true.
CUOMO: People have been biting their heads off all over the place.
CAMEROTA: There's just a lot of bunny rage, as you can see.
CUOMO: You know --
PEREIRA: Who was inside that bunny costume is what I want to know.
CUOMO: A very angry man, of decent size apparently.
PEREIRA: Could he have been a former running player?
CAMEROTA: What do you mean "bunny costume?"
CUOMO: Bella showed me a cartoon, there are two chocolate bunnies looking at each other, one has no ears and one has no backside, and the one with no back side says, "Man, my butt hurts," and the other one with says, "What?"
(LAUGHTER)
He's got no ears. I thought it was really funny. Let's get to "INSIDE POLITICS" on NEW DAY with John King.
John King, what movie does that remind of you of when you watch the bunny destroying so many men?
JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": I'm not sure. You got me here. What are you - Come on.
CUOMO: "Monty Python." Hello, little bunny. Run away, run away.
KING: Is that the boot coming down? I don't know who in the marketing department thought that was a good way to use the Easter bunny, but we'll get them, we'll book them for tomorrow.
CUOMO: We'll have to see what Rand Paul says about it.
KING: We'll see if he wants to get into this one. That's a good segue. Let's go INSIDE POLITICS. A big day for Rand Paul, so a big day for the 2016 campaign.
With me to share their reporting and their insights this morning, Lisa Lerer of the "Associated Press" and Robert Costa of "The Washington Post."
Let's talk about Rand Paul. "Time" magazine last year, and we were having this conversation many times, calling him the most interesting man in politics. He came in on the Tea Party wave, got a lot of attention when the Edward Snowden story about the scope of the NSA surveillance operations. He was a libertarian, he was Tea Party, he rolls into the polls, let's show you numbers. A year ago, he was at 16 percent in the national Republican polls in first place in the field. Now he's at 12 percent. He stayed relatively static, there's a margin of error in there, but he slipped down a third percent. What's his biggest challenge today getting into a race that Jeb Bush has had a little bit of a wave, Scott Walker followed that, now Ted Cruz has got the attention, what does Rand Paul have to do?
ROBERT COSTA, THE WASHINGTON POST: You nailed it, John. Senator Paul has moved to the Right. Perhaps, he's less interesting a political figure, but he may be more competitive in a Republican primary. He's courting evangelicals, he's reaching out to some of those wary hawks, saying I could be your candidate, I could be your nominee. We'll have to watch today, what is his message? Is it going to really reaffirm his standing with his father's supporters or is he going to cast a new light and say I'm going to be someone who is more in the center?
KING: Can he walk away from his father's libertarian base, which is out in Iowa. Ron Paul had a very good organization. Rand Paul has inherited that, plus he's added some of his own people. He's pretty strong organizationally there. "Live free or die" is on the license plates in New Hampshire, you would think if there's a place for a libertarian to sell, it would be there. Can he alienate those people by trying to cozy up to the Republican establishment or is that the risk? LISA LERER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: That's exactly the question. Does
he lose some of the passion, some of the wave that boosted his father in all of these early states and would potentially boost his candidacy if he -- by taking these positions, by cozying up to evangelicals, by moving to the Right on foreign affairs and national security? Does he lose the support of some of his strongest backers? It's a tough needle that he has to thread to be viable in a general election. He needs to find a way to expand his appeal and sell the libertarian brand in more -- a broader way. But do you lose your base if you do that?
COSTA: These people think he can do that because where are those Rand Paul supporters going to go? There's no one else in the party who reflects their libertarian values. Paul's camp, I spoke to them last night, they think he'll move a little more to the center, see an electable, but still have that libertarian thread.
KING: That's interesting because his dad made an impact in presidential race, but he was always a message in a movement candidate as a Republican candidate for president. You knew Ron Paul was never going to be the Republican nominee. You knew that on day one. So Rand Paul's challenge, keep what dad had, keep his little slice of the Tea Party and try to grow. Not every day, you know, people can say he slipped in the polls, a lot of Republicans say he had his year last year, he peaked too soon. But not ever day there's a candidate announced for president and a Super PAC from his own party, the conservative side, launches a $1 million ad campaign against him. This is an attack on Rand Paul for his views, at least his views yesterday, on the Iran negotiations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Senate is considering tough new sanctions on Iran. President Obama says he'll veto them and Rand Paul is standing with him. Rand Paul supports Obama's negotiations with Iran. And he doesn't understand the threat.
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: You know, it's ridiculous to think that they're a threat to our national security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rand Paul is wrong and dangerous. Tell him to stop siding with Obama, because even one Iranian bomb would be a disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[07:35:01] KING: Again, this is part of the challenge. When it comes to the framework, the president announced -- Secretary Kerry announced last week, Rand Paul's staff says we haven't read the details, we haven't seen the details, let's see what happens between now and the finish line in June. But that ad fairly does characterize what he has said in the past. Rand Paul has said why wouldn't you negotiate? Why do we want another war in the Middle East? Let's at least try to negotiate. The hawks have reemerged in the last year or so because of ISIS, because of Boko Haram, because of Al-Shabaab.
LERER: Right. Isolationism is such a core part of the Paul brand that it becomes very difficult for him to credibly moderate his positions or move to the Right on those kinds of issues. I think a lot of people in the party aren't going to buy it. The other thing that's happened that has made it more difficult, certainly complicate the equation for Ran Paul, is, as you pointed out, the politics have shifted. When he was first talking about getting into the race in 2012, national security, foreign policy wasn't such a huge part, wasn't something that the Republican Party really wanted to see greater intervention in. Now you have polling that says a large section of the Republican Party wants boots on the ground in Syria. So the landscape has shifted under him, and it's unclear if he can shift with it.
COSTA: That's true. And you look at every poll - Lisa, you're right. I think Paul believes, however, that there's still a part of the Republican electorate that is war-weary, that doesn't want a return to George W. Bush. He wants to capitalize on that bloc within the GOP.
KING: You can follow the polls or you can try to change them. That's what's interesting. We'll see how Senator Paul does with his speech in Kentucky later today.
Another big political announcement today coming from a not so young guy in the United States Senate, I don't say that with any disrespect. John McCain in Phoenix, Arizona, today will announce that he wants a sixth term. He's 78 years old, he'll be 80 on election day. Look at this. He's 78 today, first elected to the House in 1982, elected to the Senate in 86, ran for president in 2000 and 2008. He's loving his job at the moment, Robert, as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. His life is the Senate right now so I'm not surprised by this at all, John McCain wants another 6 years.
COSTA: I've covered Capitol Hill. There's very few senators who are as vital and energetic as John McCain. He's so involved in his committee work, he loves going on these (INAUDIBLE) around the world. He loves the Senate. Like the late Senator Kennedy, he's a man of the institution. I'm not surprised he's running for re-election, and he'll be tough to beat. He won a tough Republican primary in 2010. He'll probably have a primary again. He's proven he can beat a Tea Party opponent.
LERER: And his mom is 103. He has some good genes working for him.
KING: (INAUDIBLE). NBC's Kelly O'Donnell first reported this last night and that's what John McCain told her. Hey, look at my mom, she's 103, I'm doing just fine.
Let's end with this one. Jeb Bush filled out a voter form, a voter survey, back in 2009. He checked the box that said he was a Latino. He joked with his son about this on Twitter yesterday saying it was just an oversight. His son, George P. Bush, was making a joke about it and Alisyn, as we get back to you in New York, Conan O'Brien thought this was a little bit funny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CONAN O'BRIEN, "CONAN," TBS: Seriously, if Jeb Bush is Hispanic
then I'm Afro-Asian, okay?
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
I don't understand how that works.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how it works.
O'BRIEN: He was like, there was no box for super white. So -
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That's great because Conan O'Brien is the whitest guy in the world.
KING: The tallest, whitest, but you know, he's a member of Red Sox Nation and we're undefeated on this day so --
CAMEROTA: Love it.
KING: Go Conan.
CAMEROTA: Ignore the Chris Cuomo groans coming from the set. I'm with you, John.
KING: It's just the beginning. We've got months of this to go. Sorry, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: That's great. Alright, John. Thanks so much. We'll look forward to that.
So we have an update now on a story that raised so many questions of yours yesterday. A Delaware family poisoned on their dream vacation. Two teenagers fighting for their lives this morning. We're talking with CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta about what made them sick and what we can all learn from this. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:42:42] PEREIRA: There are new developments this morning concerning the Delaware family potentially poisoned by a dangerous pesticide at their Caribbean resort. The father is improving, the mother is out of the hospital, yet their two teenage sons are fighting for their lives. A criminal investigation is underway now into what exactly happened.
We wanted to talk about the medical aspect of this, we'll do so with chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
So first of all, Sanjay, I think this is such an upsetting and disturbing story for so many of us. We go on vacations, we assume that we're not going to have to worry about something like this, exposure to a toxic chemical. What exactly is the substance we're dealing with here?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's something known as methyl bromide. This is a toxic chemical. Let me add a couple more details. It's colorless, it's odorless. So it's not something that you would even have any warning of in this particular case. When something like this happens, all of a sudden all the members of a family getting sick, the first thing investigators start to look at is obviously what do they have in common? Food that they ate? Was it some fluid they drank? Or was it the air they were breathing? And that's where they sort of settled in, in this situation, that in fact this methyl bromide, which has been banned in many parts of the world, was used indoors. It's only -- if it is used, it's only supposed to be used outdoors. It's a very potent chemical. The story seems to be it was used indoors in a condo unit below where this family was staying and it drifted up and caused these sorts of problems. But again, they had probably no clue. The first thing they would have experienced, maybe some abdominal pain, becoming nauseated, things like that and then as you've heard Michaela, as a lot of people have heard, it just got worse. They started having seizures, it started to affect the entire central nervous system.
PEREIRA: So this is the thing that is so upsetting to hear is the amount that you need to be exposed to. Help us understand that. You mentioned the room below them on the floor below them was the unit that was sprayed. Yet that was able -- the toxins were sort of able to rise up and they were able to inhale or whatever. That is really upsetting to know that just as a trace amount?
GUPTA: Very small amounts. It is -- it's a neurotoxin, which basically means that even in small amounts, either inhaled, you can even absorb it across your skin, it will get in there and basically it wreaks havoc on the central nervous system.
[07:45:10] It binds to certain receptors in the central nervous system and sort of disables them. As a result, people can have pretty frightening neurological symptoms including, you know, significant convulsions and seizures, seizures that are hard to treat. So what ultimately happens, it can paralyze certain muscles, including the diaphragm, and people can have difficulty breathing, they stop breathing. It's a small amount and again, it's one of these things where it boggles your mind. The EPA says they've never heard about a case this devastating before. There have been exposures before. Typically when it's used, it's mixed with a tear gas-like substance. Why? Just so people can have a clue that it's been used because it is odorless and colorless. Again, they use it as a pesticide, but it can have these awful human health effects.
PEREIRA: How much of a concern is it after? They were obviously rushed to a hospital. That unit would be closed down, it would be deemed a biohazard, I'm sure. Does the gas dissipate? Does the chemical dissipate? Or is that going to be a concern for people staying there in the future?
GUPTA: You can understand why people might be reluctant to stay there. Even a week later, people who went into investigate were wearing respirators, they were fully covered. It can linger in the air for a period of time, but it is a gas that eventually will dissipate. It's something that's not going to stick around in that area forever. It can have long-term impact in that unit. But also, long-term impact on humans. I mean, they very well could have a full recovery here. But what exactly in these sorts of high doses it is does to the central nervous system? We know the mother, for example, is in occupational therapy, will she continue to have weakness of her arms and hands? We just don't know. Because again, they haven't had a documented exposure that's this significant before. So they -- they are likely to recover, but they may have some lingering side effects from all this as well.
PEREIRA: That's a concern about these two young teenage boys who are still in the hospital and in serious conditions. How would they treat them?
GUPTA: So with this sort of exposure, you can probably say most neurotoxins, most pesticide sort of exposures, what you typically have to do is something known as supportive therapy. There's no antidote that you can give in there and sort of erase the methyl bromide, you have to make sure that you support their lungs primarily because, again, the diaphragm can start to become paralyzed, so oftentimes they're on a breathing machine, basically breathing for them. If the body starts to release fluid in certain places, they have to make sure that the fluid doesn't make breathing more difficult or the heart having a hard time pumping blood around the body. They basically have to do the supportive care and that can take some time. Kids may be more susceptible than adults as well.
PEREIRA: We wish them well in their recovery. Dr. Gupta, you look extra handsome today. I feel like you might have a big interview you're preparing for? What's up? Who are you talking to today?
GUPTA: Besides you, Michaela? That was the big interview --
PEREIRA: (Laughing.) Besides me. You have bigger fish to fry.
GUPTA: Well, I'm talking to our collective president later on today. They've been talking a lot about climate change, it's been a big topic lately, and also in particular the impact on human health. What is the relationship between climate change and what we're going to see in terms of new diseases, new weather patterns, it's something that the president is going to be talking about today in Washington. And then he's going to sit down and answer a few questions. So we're going to talk about that and we'll see what else we come up with over the next few hours as well.
PEREIRA: Can't wait to hear from you what he has to say and then what we need to know about how climate change is going to affect us, or is already affecting us.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, go and ask all the tough questions. Thanks for joining us this morning.
GUPTA: Got my lucky tie.
PEREIRA: You do look good.
CUOMO: They say 90 percent of the interview is decided by what you wear to it. That's tie. Strong choice, Sanjay. Good luck with that.
GUPTA: That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Chris. I appreciate that.
PEREIRA: Mark this day down.
CUOMO: He'll be blinded by your intelligence, anyway. Don't worry about it.
GUPTA: I'll get out while I can here.
CUOMO: Alright. Different topic. Selfies. Royal pain, right? Segue. Just ask Prince Harry. Hear what he told a fan who wanted to sneak one. Ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:52:55] CUOMO: Admit it. You've probably taken a selfie or two or a few hundred. But now, a royal reprimand that may make you put your phone down and think better.
CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It took a prince to put his royal foot down. Moments after one Australian fan tried to sneak a selfie with Prince Harry, he gently but firmly nixed the request of another.
PRINCE HARRY OF WALES: No, I hate selfies. Seriously, you need to get out of it. I know you're young, but selfies are bad.
MOOS (voice-over): Did you hear him? "Selfies are bad."
(On camera) Finally, finally, someone willing to exercise a little selfie control and just say no to selfies.
(Voice-over) Even the queen has been caught in selfies, though it's been said her majesty photo bombed these two field hockey players, they say they posed where they figured she'd walk by. Watch the fan in Washington, D.C., make a beeline for Prince Charles, shake his hand, pose, and then celebrate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But first, let me take a selfie.
MOOS (voice-over): No one's immune, from the pope to the president, and the vice president. Mr. Obama even joked around with a selfie stick as he did some shtick to promote healthcare.
(On camera) Selfies have been around since before they were called selfies. (Voice-over) In 1966, Buzz Aldrin took what may be the first
space selfie. Back on earth, though still about it, skyscraper selfies are popular. Even below ground in the pit of a volcano, George Kourounis put on a horse mask and snapped a selfie. From horses to lions, from lions to bulls, this guy was taking a selfie during the running of the bulls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me take another selfie.
MOOS (voice-over): But the prince took the bull by the horns and said you may not take a selfie.
PRINCE HARRY: Just take a normal photograph.
MOOS (voice-over): When it comes to just saying no to selfies, the red-headed prince rules. Jeane Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PEREIRA: I won't be deterred. Come on.
CUOMO: Harry swayed me.
[07:55:00] I want to go royal on this.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: What is your problem with them?
CUOMO: Encourageable.
CAMEROTA: The novelty hasn't worn off for us.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: We love being on camera, any camera.
PEREIRA: You've got a point there.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the big news this morning. That is that Republican Senator Rand Paul is about to make it official. He will throw his hat in the presidential ring. Who else will join him? When? What about Hillary Clinton? And where is Chris Christie?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: It's time for a new way, a new leader.
PEREIRA (voice-over): Rand Paul is ready to launch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should be a little bit worried about Rand Paul.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Yemen in collapse. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see this as a war of necessity in which
failure is not an option.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going to see some tragedy here soon but it's not like we didn't have any warning.
CUOMO (voice-over): It is time for justice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This jury should not be out for longer than a few hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If any crime ever warranted the death penalty, it's this one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not a who dunnit, he did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We overcame too much just to lay down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They proved it here tonight. Unbelievable.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:00:06] CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY.
