CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Ebola Outbreak

Interview

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At least one lawmaker is already demanding a longer watch period for those who come into contact with Ebola patients. Hawaii Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard released a statement which reads in part -- quote -- "The research the CDC is basing its 21-day standard on is outdated and therefore its policies regarding quarantine or the monitoring of individuals who have been directly exposed to Ebola patients needs to be updated."

Congresswoman Gabbard joins me now live from Honolulu.

Congresswoman, thank you for joining us.

Thomas Eric Duncan's family was released from quarantine today. Essentially, you're saying they should still be in isolation even if health officials think they're OK.

REP. TULSI GABBARD (D), HAWAII: First of all, aloha, Jake.

When we look a the recent studies that have come out, when we look at some of the information that the World Health Organization has put out, we find in about 5 percent of Ebola patients, their incubation period went beyond that 21-day period.

What I'm saying and what I'm calling for the CDC to do is to recognize the seriousness of this illness and make sure that we're erring on the side of caution and understanding that extending this incubation -- or extending this period where people are monitored or quarantined beyond the 21 days would be in the best interest of making sure that more people aren't infected here at home.

TAPPER: Well, let's talk about that. So, 95 percent of these cases, according to the World Health Organization, the incubation period is 21 days. And as you point out, 5 percent, it's longer than that.

Of that 5 percent, 3 percent is 42 days. And then there's 2 percent that's beyond 42 days. So using that logic, why 42 days, why not 60 days, why not 90 days?

GABBARD: I think we can look at the direction that's coming from the World Health Organization. We want to get to as close a foolproof methodology as possible to make sure people aren't spreading this illness.

But I think actually it's even more important for us to answer a different question, which is, how do we stop us from getting to this point? The situation as I see it is kind of like we're in a boat. There's a big hole in the boat and the boat is filling up with water and people are scrambling and trying to bail the boat out with buckets, but not actually plugging the hole.

And the hole that we have to deal with here is the fact that the procedures that are in place, interviewing and checking temperatures, that allowed Mr. Duncan to come into the United States infected in the first place are still in place today. And that is a gaping hole that we have to deal with.

And there's a couple of things that I think we need to do to make that happen.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Right. You have talked about a travel ban for people coming from West Africa.

GABBARD: Exactly.

TAPPER: I want to -- President Obama was asked about that just a few days ago. And here's how he responded, because he does not think there should be one put in place. Let's take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: History shows that there is a likelihood of increased avoidance. People do not readily disclose their information. They may engage in something called broken travel, essentially breaking up their trip, so that they can hide the fact that they have been to one of these countries where there is a disease in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, Congresswoman, President Obama, who I know you support very much, he says it's counterproductive to have a travel ban, people will hide that they came from West Africa. Your response?

GABBARD: Mr. Duncan did not disclose that he had been in contact with people infected with Ebola. That's a case in point right there.

That shows the holes in that argument. And, secondly, as far as the broken travel, people can travel to different countries and take different routes. That's why we have passports, and we can look at the stamps and the visas in their passports to look back and see if their country of origin was coming from one of these West African countries that's stricken with this illness.

TAPPER: Congresswoman, what do you say to those who say that politicians like you, people in the media like me, we are sensationalizing this, we are making a bigger deal out of it than it is, it's only one death in the United States, everybody, get a grip? What do you say to that?

GABBARD: Well, let's look at how many thousands of people have died from this virus in other parts of the country where it has been allowed to spread.

TAPPER: You mean other parts of the world.

GABBARD: It is our responsibility -- in other parts of the world, sorry.

It is our responsibility to make sure that we don't allow that to happen, which is why we need to take steps to make sure that the American people are protected and we don't end up in a situation where we have a growth of infections and a further outbreak that will become -- it will put us in a position where we're no longer able to help quell this in the source in West Africa, because we will be focusing all of our resources, all of our attention on dealing with an outbreak here at home.

We can best help those in West Africa by making sure that we take these important steps to close the door, to plug those holes here in the United States. And then we can dedicate resources to stopping it at its source in West Africa.

TAPPER: It's kind of interesting that you're speaking out on this, just because a lot of the people speaking out have been accused of doing so because of election-year politics.

I know you won your election with 80 percent of the vote. It's not like a thriving Republican Party in your congressional district exactly. Why are you speaking out? Are other Democrats asking you to do so because they don't want to be seen as disloyal to the president? What's the reason that you're doing so?

GABBARD: That's the problem right there, Jake, is far too many people are politicizing an issue that's not political at all.

This is an issue that deals with what is in the best interest of keeping the American people safe from an infectious disease that is killing thousands of people in other parts of the world and that we have seen has already affected certain communities here at home.

We actually have a responsibility as elected leaders to do what's right for the people, to transcend the politics of the season and actually do the right thing to make that change and prevent that outbreak from happening here.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawaii, thank you so much. Really appreciate that. Better get that phone call. Thanks so much for joining us.

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