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Missing Teen Found Alive; TSA Absences for Terminal Closure; Shutdown Threat to Safety; Flu Cases Rise Across the U.S. Aired 6:30- 7a ET

Aired January 11, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:49] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We have huge, breaking news overnight. Missing Wisconsin teenager Jayme Closs has been found alive three months after her parents were murder in their home and she disappeared.

CNN's Ryan Young is live in Barron County, Wisconsin, with all of the breaking details.

What happened, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, really an extraordinary story. Of course the teen's been missing since that 911 call that came from her mother's cell phone. No one has seen her since. In fact, I called the sheriff just last month to ask if they were still searching. There are billboards all across this area trying to find this teenager.

But yesterday a woman tells "The Minneapolis Star Tribune" that she was walking her dog. And she didn't want to use her name, but she saw this teenager. And then all of a sudden they saw her talking. She realized that it was Jayme Closs. And then, as they looked at her, she said she didn't look very well. She was very skinny. And then when she went on from there, the emotions under here just kind of welled up because obviously they finally discovered where this girl had been missing for quite some time.

A man was arrested maybe about ten minutes later. From what we know, there will be a news conference around 10:00 a.m. this morning. We'll get all of these details about exactly what happened.

But listen to her aunt talk about the idea that the missing teen was finally found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUE NAIBERG ALLARD, JAYME CLOSS' AUNT: There was rumors earlier today, and I prayed and prayed they were true, and they come to not be true. And I just shut myself totally down because I thought today was going to be the day then to find out two hours later that she was found. I just -- I just cannot believe this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) YOUNG: You can imagine the pain that this family's been feeling, the fact that the two loved ones had been killed, this girl's been missing for quite some time and then all of a sudden some woman walking her dog discovers the teenager.

Of course, we're going to try to get some more details today at 10:00 during that news conference, try to find out who the suspect is who obviously kidnapped her. As soon as we know more, we'll pass it along to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ryan, we have so many questions. A stunning development overnight.

YOUNG: So many.

BERMAN: Thanks for being on this for us. Let us know if you hear anything new.

All right, the first stage of the U.S. withdraw from Syria order by President Trump appears to be underway. An administration official tells CNN that some U.S. military ground equipment has already been moved out of the country.

But, listen to this, the official says the Pentagon wants to show progress to the president and these movements are a way to do that. In other words, convince the president this is happening. Whether or not there is a full withdraw, that might be a different thing.

The official would not provide further details because of security concerns about exactly what was moved.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh. I mean that's just also amazing, that all of this is being done to convince the president that his orders are being followed.

OK, now to this story.

A Milwaukee bus driver is being hailed a hero after saving a toddler who was running barefoot and alone in subfreezing temperatures. The scene was caught on surveillance video. This is three days before Christmas. Look at this. The bus driver is named Irena Ivic. She was driving along this freeway overpass when she spotted the child running. She jumped out. She grabbed the little girl, look at that, who was wearing only diapers and a onesie. Oh my gosh, look at this. This is just before the one-year-old could have wandered into that street.

The bus -- a bus passenger, look at this, gave the toddler her coat. The child's father says the baby wandered away from her mother who he says was at the church nearby.

[06:35:06] BERMAN: Thank goodness there are people who will take action and will just try to help.

CAMEROTA: And who are observant enough to see something like this, though you're busy on your bus route. BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I mean I guess a toddler in a onesie jumps out at you and you notice that, but I'm not sure I would when I'm driving down the road.

BERMAN: You would normally -- you know, onesie-wearing children aren't walking all by themselves on an overpass there.

CAMEROTA: Get your attention. Oh, my God.

BERMAN: All right, a major airport forced to temporarily close a terminal because of security screener staffing. This is all about the shutdown. We're going to talk to the former head of the TSA about whether the shutdown is threatening passenger safety. That's next.

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CAMEROTA: The real life impact of the government shutdown, it is now impacting a major airport. Starting tomorrow, Miami International Airport will close a terminal early for three days because of a shortage of TSA screeners.

CNN's Rene Marsh is live at Reagan National Airport.

What's this about, Rene?

[06:40:00] RENE MARSH, CNN TRANSPORTATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, I can tell you that this shutdown has been particularly hard for federal employees, especially TSA employees. But today hurts particularly bad because, as you know, this is the first Friday they will actually miss their paychecks.

I want you to take a look at this image that we have here. This is what many federal workers are going to see on their paystubs when they get them, $0 for the work that they have done the last two weeks. And in speaking to several TSA employees, for some of them the breaking point is right now. For others they say they can last another week or two, but it is clear we are approaching that collective breaking point.

You talked about Miami International Airport. Travelers will start seeing the real-life impact too of this government shutdown. The airport says that they will be shutting down one of their concourses, one of their terminals, Concourse G, for half of the day over the weekend. And it is all because of this government shutdown.

Take a -- the spokesperson for the airport telling CNN, and I'm quoting, due to an increased number of TSA screeners not reporting to work, we have decided to take this precautionary step to relocate about 12 flights to an adjoining concourse in the afternoons.

The spokesman saying that the number of callouts has been double normal. We saw yesterday protests throughout the country, aviation workers voicing their opinions, voicing their desire to see this shutdown come to an end. Not because it's affecting them only, but because it's affecting everyone who flies.

Take a listen to the safety and security implications according to one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RINALDI, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: The safety programs that we've been working on to build the ultimate safety culture that we've had in the last ten years, completely come to a stop. As this continues to go on, the layers of safety are being reduced to our airspace system for no reason whatsoever.

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MARSH: All right, so, again, if you haven't started seeing the impact, you're going to start seeing them today and into the weekend. Miami International Airport, you're prime example.

Back to you, John.

BERMAN: All right, Rene Marsh for us. Rene, thanks very much.

So what does this mean for our safety as we travel?

Joining us now is former TSA administrator John Pistole. He's now the president of Anderson University.

Administrator, thanks so much for joining us.

What are you most concerned about when it comes to TSA screeners who -- and workers who will not be paid?

JOHN PISTOLE, FORMER TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, yes, good morning, John.

So there are really two aspects to it that give me concern and I think most people in the business or who have been in the business of providing aviation security for the traveling public. One is, is there an unintentional lapse in terms of attention because somebody's distracted, because they know they can't pay their bills this week because they haven't been paid? But, two, the larger is the real or perceived vulnerability that may be created that a terrorist may see as an opportunity to try to exploit that vulnerability because, again, somebody is distracted or TSA's short staffed or any number of variations or scenarios that could be envisioned to say that this may be an opportunity for a terrorist to try exploit that real or perceived vulnerability.

BERMAN: The fear is this could be some kind of blinking light for would-be evil doers?

PISTOLE: Well, there's any number of possibilities. And, of course, you don't want to look at a worst case scenario, but that's the reason the TSA, of course, was created in the wake of 9/11 is to address those highest risk possibilities and say, how can we mitigate or buy down risk by using a risk-based approach and try to make sure that, for example, the underwear bombers from Christmas Day 2009, using that nonmetallic improvised explosive device, who could go through -- walk through a metal detector and never set it off, that that -- somebody like that who's trying to imitate that person, Abdulmutallab, the 24- year-old Nigerian, or others who might simply trying to be making a name for themselves because they're mentally imbalanced or whatever it may be, that they see this as a window of opportunity that may not exist during normal procedures because both in the U.S. and worldwide, the bad guys, we know from intelligence collection, see the U.S. aviation security regimen, the layers of security and using intelligence on the front end, is one of the strongest in the world. And so that's why we haven't seen any actual attempts since 9/11 to take over an aircraft or to blow up an aircraft. So those are the issues that they're dealing with.

BERMAN: We just reported on what's going to be happening at Miami over the weekend, which is one of the terminals will be shut down so they can shift workers around and make use of the people that they do have.

First of all, do you think that we're going to start seeing this in other places? And, secondly, longer lines, in and of themselves, what we consider to be nuisances, they have a safety impact as well, don't they?

[06:45:07] PISTOLE: Well, that's right, John. And from the standpoint of the long lines, as you mentioned, obviously present an attractive terrorist target for an active shooter or a series of terrorists who might want to come in, as we've seen at airports around the world what they don't even have to worry about going through -- trying to get through the checkpoint because they can just go into a terminal and if there's thousands of people, as we saw, for example, particularly at Chicago O'Hare in the spring of 2017, that's an attractive target to either a suicide bomber or shooter or somebody who just wants to go in and try to take out as many people as possible.

What TSA is focusing on now is the number of people who are calling in sick, callouts, and how many of those result -- are actually resigning because they haven't been paid. And so they're actually looking for other work not planning to return. So that's one of those tipping points that TSA is focused on to say, how many of these people are simply going on to other work.

BERMAN: You were deputy director of the FBI as well, so you've done a lot of work in the area of trying to keep us all safe. But there was a conference call yesterday from the president of the FBI Agents Association saying that nearly 5,000 special agents, intelligence analysts, attorneys, professional staff, currently furloughed in -- resulting in reduced staffing for critical functions in support of the field operations of the FBI. People like informants, for instance, won't get the money they need. How will this affect investigations?

PISTOLE: Well, it's one of the things that anytime you have people who have been hired to do a critical job, such as the ones you described, and are not now doing that, it's the same situation, are we creating inadvertently but are we creating potential vulnerabilities or perceived vulnerabilities that somebody, a bad guy, wants to try to exploit? So if there's an intelligence gap because an FBI special agent or intelligence analyst or somebody who is helping that collection and dissemination of information, whether in the FBI or other agencies, and that leads to something bad happening, then that's a bad day for all of us.

BERMAN: I've got to let you go, but just, very quickly, are you concerned today?

PISTOLE: Well, sure. Yes. I mean that's -- but that was -- you know, when you're head of TSA or deputy director of the FBI, in any of those positions, that's what you deal with every day. But I am concerned that this is creating additional vulnerabilities that we wouldn't have otherwise.

BERMAN: John Pistole, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Appreciate it.

PISTOLE: Thank you.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, John, cases of the flu are growing across the country. What you need to know, next, with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

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[06:51:46] CAMEROTA: All right, "Here's To Your Health." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases of the flu are on the rise. Nineteen states are reporting high activity and the CDC is expected to release new numbers today.

Joining us to talk about this and more is chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

So, Sanjay, is this year's flu outbreak worse than other years?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think so. I mean last year's was really bad. Keep in mind, 80,000 people, they say, probably died of the flu last year. And so it's one of the highest numbers on records over the last several decades. So this doesn't look to be as bad.

The virus that's circulating, interestingly, is H1N1, which you may remember. That's the swine flu. So that's the one that's now circulating. But, guess what, you know, we now have a vaccine to that. So people who are getting their flu shots are probably going to be more protected.

And, interestingly, it was the same virus that was circulating about 40 years ago. So if you're 40 years or older, you already have some native immunity. So this isn't really going to affect people who are older than 40 or 50 as much as previous years.

But the numbers did double at last time as compared to the week before. New numbers are coming out today. I think we're still on the upward trajectory of this. We haven't seen the peak yet. But, to be fair, overall the numbers, I think, are going to thankfully be much lower than last year.

BERMAN: Should I still wash my hands?

GUPTA: John, you should definitely still wash your hands.

CAMEROTA: OK, start.

GUPTA: Start washing your hands.

CAMEROTA: He should start washing his hands.

GUPTA: Get your flu shot. That will be --

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Is it too late? I've gotten one, but is it too late right now for people out there to get their flu shots?

GUPTA: No. We are still probably on the upward trajectory of this. Flu season probably lasts until May. And, keep in mind, even if it doesn't prevent the flu, it could prevent the severity of the flu, so you won't be out missing Alisyn for as many days if you do get sick.

BERMAN: I miss her if I go a few minutes without her, let alone days.

CAMEROTA: At 10:00 a.m. he starts missing me. It's sad.

GUPTA: I know.

BERMAN: So I'd like to say happy anniversary to America because it's the one-year anniversary of President Trump's first presidential physical.

GUPTA: That's right.

BERMAN: Remember Dr. Ronny Jackson declaring he was the heathiest --

CAMEROTA: Should we listen to it?

BERMAN: Let's listen.

CAMEROTA: I think it bears repeating.

GUPTA: Do we have it?

BERMAN: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RONNY JACKSON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL DOCTOR: The president's overall health is excellent. His cardiac health is excellent. It's called genetics. I don't know. It's -- some people have, you know, just great genes. All clinical data indicates that the president is currently very healthy and that he will remain so for the duration of his presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: And forever.

GUPTA: He went on to say that, you know, he said who here thinks that he couldn't live to 200 if he improved his diet? I said, I'll put up my hand on that one, you know, just if you're asking a question.

BERMAN: What questions do you have about the president's health one year later?

GUPTA: One of the big things -- there was a lot of data that was released. I think when you're talking about someone who's in their 70s like this, you know, the big concern is always going to be your heart status, your cardiac status. What was interesting was they released all these numbers. He's on medications to lower his cholesterol.

He also had what's called a coronary calcium scan. Now, people who think about their hearts probably know about this. It's measuring essentially how much calcium is in the blood vessels leading to your heart.

CAMEROTA: Cholesterol.

GUPTA: Yes. It's an indication of plaques and blockage typically related to cholesterol. His numbers were high. I mean 133 and what that number means is that between 100 and 300 the Mayo Clinic says it -- heart disease, you're risk of having a heart attack goes up significantly over the next three to five years. That scenario where they really have to focus on for the president, like -- like a lot of men his age, they have to focus on that. So that's what I'd want to know in terms of how he's doing. There was nutritional recommendations, exercise recommendations.

[06:55:02] CAMEROTA: On that note, let's look a split screen of the president then, a year ago, and you can give us your, you know, professional assessment.

GUPTA: OK.

CAMEROTA: So that -- OK, at some point they're going to put together a split screen of the president a year ago and the president today.

BERMAN: Look at a split screen of us. Imagine one of us is the president a year ago.

CAMEROTA: No, here's my point, Sanjay, I don't think the president's aging. You know how so many presidents age so visibly when they become president?

GUPTA: Right.

CAMEROTA: I find that President Trump's hair has turned quite gold with age.

GUPTA: Yes, it's not graying at all.

CAMEROTA: It's not gray at all. I think he's not ageing.

GUPTA: No. I -- I didn't know. I'm -- it's hard to make a longevity assessment based on a split screen.

But I'll tell you this, 239 pounds, he was just shy of being obese last time, a year ago today.

CAMEROTA: Like one pound shy or something.

GUPTA: Yes, like one pound shy. So, you know, that -- again, these numbers are -- you know, people talk about the importance of them. But in terms of his health, there's a direct relevance here. Has he brought that down? Has he brought his cholesterol down? Is his heart function OK? These are -- these are real questions.

BERMAN: Is he washing his hands.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

GUPTA: Appreciate it, John.

CAMEROTA: All right.

BERMAN: Eight hundred thousand federal workers, they will not receive a paycheck today as the shutdown now matches the longest ever. Is the president about to declare a national emergency to work around Congress?

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