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CDC Experts Slam Trump Administration Plan to Send U.S. Ebola Patients to Kenya; Jill Biden Feared Joe Biden was Having a Stroke at 2024 Debate; Inflation Gauge Hits Its Highest in Nearly Three Years; Spellers Compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee Final. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 28, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Trump administration's plan to send U.S. citizens who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus to Kenya was strongly opposed by officials at the Centers for Disease Control. A source tells CNN that some CDC officers are furious about it, including Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The administration says it's setting up a state-of-the-art care facility in Kenya for Americans who may need treatment rather than bring them back to the U.S. for care. CNN has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, for comment.

Let's talk about this now with Dr. Demetre Daskalakis. He's the former director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. He resigned from the agency over concerns about HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Talk to us a little bit about what we're seeing here. CDC officials strongly recommending against this plan, and yet it's going ahead.

Why would that be?

DR. DEMETRE DASKALAKIS: It's a great question. I think that that is the factor that we don't know the answer to. I mean, there is capacity in the United States.

There are biocontainment units that exist. When I was working at the New York City Department of Health, I worked at the Bellevue biocontainment unit, and I'm familiar with the Emory unit. There are units all around the country that exist just to be able to receive Americans who have been exposed or are suffering with a high- consequence pathogen, as we saw with Hantavirus.

So it is unclear why we're not using the capacity built in the United States to be able to care for Americans.

SANCHEZ: But, Doctor, a CDC source told CNN they believe the plan is going to make recruiting and staffing for Ebola response activities harder. Do you agree with that assessment?

[15:35:00] DASKALAKIS: I think that it's going to be hard to recruit internally at CDC for this purpose, especially since, again, it's seemingly creating a shadow strategy that is duplicative of what we already have in the United States. And I'll just make another mention that CDC folks are really very focused on making sure that the work that they do is equitable.

So the notion of creating a high-tech, high-containment unit in Kenya in the middle of Africa, when that same level of care isn't available to Africans on that continent is likely going to be a pretty significant issue for lots of folks in the CDC.

KEILAR: Yes, that's a really interesting issue that you raise. So they say they're setting up these state-of-the-art facilities. Is it possible to set up the kind of facilities that we have here in the U.S.? And is this too late for them to be doing this now, or do you think they can get that going?

DASKALAKIS: I mean, you know, I think if there's enough resources that are put into a project, you know, things can be built very quickly. I mean, we know that from the COVID era, where there was nothing. Sometimes we moved very quickly when investments were made to be able to set things up very quickly for containment.

You know, I think ultimately, I do think that we already are in a too- little-too-late scenario, because really the main strategy that we need to use is to really address the Ebola outbreak at its source. And so we're, in effect, wasting time and resources by creating a biocontainment center in Kenya, when instead what we should be doing is focusing on how we can help people in DRC, in the Congo, to make sure that we are controlling the outbreak at its source, and then using the resources we have in the United States to be able to, you know, receive Americans who are exposed to Ebola or are suffering from the infection.

SANCHEZ: Doctor, I wonder if you are watching the outbreak closely, if you've seen something that indicates to you that at some point the numbers are going to slow down, or if you think this is going to continue to get worse.

DASKALAKIS: Yes, I mean, my crystal ball is not great, but I know what the slope is of the epidemic curve, and it continues to go out. And so the epidemic curve is just a way to see how cases look as they accrue, and it's not looking like it's stabilizing. So though things can change and there can be an inflection point at some time in the future, it doesn't seem as if we're there yet.

So the growth phase of this outbreak seems to be pretty robust, like a pretty fast growth rate. So I don't foresee that we're going to get to a plateau or a decrease for a while.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, appreciate the expertise. Thanks for joining us.

DASKALAKIS: Thank you so much for having me. Have a great day. SANCHEZ: So a former senior CIA official has been arrested after the FBI says it found millions of dollars' worth of gold bars stashed in his house. David Rush was taken into custody last week in Virginia on a charge of theft of public money. The FBI says that Rush also lied about being a Navy pilot, about having a series of advanced degrees, but still got hired and then promoted by the CIA, where he worked for 17 years.

KEILAR: Court documents say from last November until just this recent March, Rush received a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars of these gold bars for work-related expenses. Before his arrest, the FBI searched his Virginia home. They found over 300 of these bars.

They're worth about $40 million, according to the court filings. FBI agents also found $2 million in cash and also 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolex watches. Rush has not entered a plea. He remains in jail pending a hearing.

And for the first time ever, former first lady Jill Biden is opening up about her husband's disastrous 2024 debate performance. Here what she feared had happened in the moment.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Former First Lady Jill Biden is revealing the fears that she had real time watching her husband give arguably the worst presidential debate performance in modern history. It ultimately led to the end of his presidential reelection campaign. She writes in her book, according to The Atlantic, which obtained an early copy, quote, " he short-circuiting? Has he been drugged? Oh, God, will people watching assume this is how he is all the time?" Jill Biden also told CBS News she was not horrified but frightened by her husband on debate night nearly two years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL BIDEN, FORMER FIRST LADY: I don't know what happened. I mean, as I watched it, I thought, oh, my God, he's having a stroke. And it scared me to death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Alex Thompson, national political correspondent for Axios, is with us now to talk about this. He co-wrote the book, "Original Sin, President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice To Run Again," with my colleague, Jake Tapper. All right, Alex, so she was worried he had a stroke, perhaps, worried he'd been drugged.

I mean, get him to a doctor, right? What is your reporting about how those around him responded to these concerns at the time?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, a lot of Democrats, including several Biden aides that I've talked to since yesterday when this interview came out, just simply don't believe her. Because you have to remember, going back to that night afterward, she then took Joe Biden to a rally where he spoke, where she led a chant of four more years. They then afterward went to a Waffle House.

[15:45:00]

They then flew overnight to North Carolina, had like a mini rally when they landed. Then they had a big rally where she introduced Joe Biden the next day. And a lot of former Biden aides have told me, if you really believed he might be having a stroke, that's not necessarily the same behavior that you would do.

There's no evidence that there was any significant medical exam afterward. There was never a cognitive test afterward. Although in the Atlantic piece, she says that she suggested that maybe he should do one but was overruled.

And a lot of Democrats think that this is simply unhelpful to come out at this moment and try to rewrite this portion of history, especially given that many of the top Biden aides, the loyalist aides that still insist that Joe Biden could have won, that the Democratic Party overreacted, they have said since the 2024 election, they've gone before Congress and said, it was only a few bad answers, the debate was not that bad, and the Democratic Party overreacted. And then for the former first lady to come in and say that she was frightened and that she thought her husband, the president, might have been having a stroke, you know, I have to say that there is significant skepticism that she is trying to rewrite this narrative right now.

KEILAR: The former first lady says that Biden was slowing down, but that he wasn't cognitively declining. She said she'd never seen him like that before or since, the way he was that night of the debate. What's your reporting on whether his debate performance was a one-off?

THOMPSON: My reporting is that many top aides said that they had seen Biden like that behind the scenes in the many, many months before, especially coming in late 2023, early 2024, that he had had moments like that, where he would stumble, where he would meander, where he seemed to lose track of what he was saying, where there would be this sort of look as if he was looking lost in the distance. And they saw that behind the scenes. And you can listen to the interview that he did with special counsel Robert Hur in late 2023.

And there are moments that sound exactly like that, which, again, is why there is a sense of disillusionment among some Biden aides who basically trusted the inner circle that really restricted access to Biden. And they believed them when they were saying that he's on top of it, he's completely fine, no sort of decline or really slowing down. And they just feel that the inner circle gaslit them.

And there's actually, I've been surprised the level of anger and frustration I've heard from former Biden aides toward the former first lady the last 24 hours.

KEILAR: You know, trying to be charitable, sometimes people are a bit in denial, right, when their loved ones are having health issues. It's interesting to hear that as you're talking to sources, they don't necessarily believe. It sounds like that that is what's going on here.

What are they telling you about that and why they think that this book is out, even as they feel that what's being said is unhelpful?

THOMPSON: The Biden aides I've talked to think, you know, even the ones that had been giving the Bidens a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, especially the former first lady, and that we're trying to be more charitable, but they see this book, at least what they've seen of it so far, as trying to reframe the narrative of her being a scared, frightened spouse, but also trying to say that she never saw him act a certain way, like he was on the debate, ever again. And a lot of them just don't believe that, and they feel that she is more focused on trying to reframe her own narrative rather than, you know, trying to tell the full truth.

The fact of the matter is that the Biden aides, including the first lady's office, bullied, tried to silence, mocked people that said that they were disturbed by Biden's debate performance, and were trying to enforce loyalty in the aftermath of it. And that just doesn't seem to comport with what she's saying now.

KEILAR: Alex, thank you so much for being with us and sharing your reporting. Alex Thompson, thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: This just into CNN. Police in Hawaii are searching for a man suspected of killing three elderly men over the span of two days. Investigators are asking for the public's help locating this man, 36- year-old Jacob Baker.

They describe him as five feet, nine inches tall, weighing about 190 pounds with a tattoo under his left eye. Police consider Baker armed and extremely dangerous and warn that if you see him, he should not be approached. Officials are not saying exactly how they connected him to the victims.

They are saying that they are confident he's responsible or, at the very least, involved in some way. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

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SANCHEZ: High gas prices have been pushing up inflation to a three- year high, and a new report shows that households are saving at the lowest rate in nearly four years.

KEILAR: CNN's David Goldman is with us now on this story. Why does it seem to be hitting Americans harder now, David?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, well, here's the number that I want you to keep in the back of your head as we're talking about that, and that's 3.5. That is the gain, the percentage gain, that average Americans have gotten in their paychecks over the course of the past year. Now, what's more than 3.5? It's 3.8, and that is the inflation rate, right?

[15:55:00]

And so inflation has eaten your paycheck over the last year. You are now making less, on average, than the prices have gone up. And so that is why this gas price increase is really, really painful for so many Americans. It is just -- it feels like we're not making progress, and it is now true that we're not making any progress.

So all of that negative sentiment is just compounding and compounding and compounding. That's why people feel so bad about the economy right now.

SANCHEZ: David Goldman, thanks so much for the update.

Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. The Coast Guard has just received permission from officials in the Bahamas to send divers to a new location to search for missing American Lynette Hooker.

She went missing in April while sailing with her husband. An official familiar with the investigation says there are inconsistencies between what her husband has said about where to search for his wife and his own GPS location data. Brian Hooker told officials she fell from an 8- foot dinghy into rough water as they were heading back to their yacht, and he's denied any wrongdoing.

KEILAR: Also a major upset at the French Open tennis tournament, world number one Jannik Sinner out after losing his second round match under sweltering conditions at Roland-Garros. Sinner was the overwhelming favorite to win the title, but he fell in five sets to Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was just one game from defeat before rallying to victory. Sinner told reporters he began to feel dizzy, and at one point he had to leave the court to have his blood pressure taken.

And a kitten was found safe after hitching a two-hour ride across Pennsylvania. Police think that the little kitty hopped in the grill of a car earlier this week when the driver made a pit stop in Breezewood, Pennsylvania. The best place ever to make a pit stop, Boris, if you have not done that.

It's phenomenal.

SANCHEZ: That's a good one.

KEILAR: Yep, the man then drove more than 100 miles to the Pittsburgh area. It wasn't until the next day when he heard meowing coming from under the hood. The kitten is now staying with the driver's neighbor.

As for its name, they chose Breezy, a nod to the city of Breezewood, the glorious city of Breezewood.

SANCHEZ: Why is Breezewood a great place to stop?

KEILAR: So many places. You want any chip, snack, any kind of gas. It's like a mecca of stopping. You have so many choices.

SANCHEZ: I love it. Maybe you get a cat in your car.

KEILAR: Yes, all the things. You get all the things in Breezewood, Pennsylvania.

Here in just hours, some of the smartest kids in America will put their brains to the test in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals.

SANCHEZ: Tonight's winner takes home the coveted Scripps Cup and a $50,000 cash prize. CNN's Coy Wire is in D.C. with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: The Scripps National Spelling Bee, Boris and Brianna, it's the only sporting event where a single vowel can end your season. But started with 247 competitors on Tuesday, now down to just nine finalists looking to win it all. Smart? Of course, these kids can spell words that most adults think are prescription medications.

Having spent some time with contestants at the semifinal yesterday, I quickly learned that they do not possess some sort of special talent or gift. Every one of them told me they made it this far because of hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Some of them spent 10 hours each day on the weekends studying.

Now, some of these kids have coaches to prepare for this. It's like their Super Bowl. And ahead of the final tonight, where nine kids will go letter to letter, I asked them, how do you keep so calm under the bright lights when everyone is watching?

SARV DHARAVANE, SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE FINALIST: I think about how much work I did and how many words I know now. And I just clench my fists, and I take a deep breath, and I say, I can do this.

AVISHKA DUDALA, SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE FINALIST: I'm actually not that calm. I'm really nervous. And I'm really scared. But once I hear the word, and I feel like, OK, I know it, and then when I hear them say that's correct, then I'm calm.

KUSHI GOTTIMUKKALA, SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE FINALIST: It's really nerve wracking knowing that there's a lot of cameras watching you and a lot of people watching you. But it's also really fun and exciting because being here itself is like a huge achievement.

WIRE: I love that. When the lights shine bright, you shine brighter.

WIRE: OK, tonight, these kids will politely destroy each other with vocabulary. For the $50,000 cash prize, look out for Sarv Dharavane, a 12-year-old from Dunwoody, Georgia, who took third last year, and Logan Bailey, 12-years-old from Houston, the only first-time finalist and first time maybe the charm. There have been more champions crowned in their first appearance than repeat finalists all time. Brianna, Boris, these kids are unreal, spelling words that would make autocorrect crack.

Good luck to all the finalists tonight. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Good luck to them. Coy Wire, thank you so much for that.

Super exciting to watch these pre-teens, as Coy put it, tearing each other to shreds very politely through the spelling of complicated words.

KEILAR: Some of my most favorite interviews have been with the winners of the Spelling Bee. It never disappoints.

[16:00:00]

They are so fun.

They're so smart. They work so hard.

SANCHEZ: Resilient. They prep all year for this. Like, some of the smartest kids you'll ever meet, yes.

KEILAR: Unbelievable.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END