Chaser. Im not talking about Hillary Clinton. Im talking about Jackie Kennedy, putting into the words the private thoughts she never shared with the public. Good afternoon, everyone. Im jake tapper. This is the national lead. Fever, cough, sore throat. By then it could be too late. Its called middle east respiratory syndrome, or m ecer for short. Both were placed in quarantine. One is still there. The other was sent home. They are not the only ones that may have been exposed. Five team members were identified to be exposed. In the hospital a total of 15 to 18 members were exposed. All of those individuals are being tested. We are now awaiting the results. Both of the two confirmed cases involve people who recently traveled to saudi arabia and then unwittingly flew on planes to the united states. Thats why if you are flying, the tsa will post a check list. Its a Health Advisory that asks if youre going to the Arabian Peninsula, they warn you about this mers. Athena jones is joining us. Have they been put up yet . Reporter they are in the process of being put up. The cdc has put out an advisory and the tsa says they will put them at 21 airports across the country. Not just here at dulles but major airports on the east coast and central and west coast. International airports may place this at various places around the airports. This is a level 2 alert. Its higher than a watch but lower than a warning. A level 3 warning which would mean that you should avoid all nonessential travel. It means people shouldnt change their travel plans but practice what the cdc calls enhanced precautions. Thats basically looking after their health and following what is on this sign to avoid getting sick. Wash your hands often, avoid contact with sick people, wash after symptoms like the one you mentioned, fever, cough, shortness of breath. Contact a doctor and let that doctor know where you traveled. The cdc has not issued a formal travel restriction but they recommend that if you get sick, stay home from work, delay any future travel and advise that if you are sick while traveling, its possible you may be denied boarding at any stage along your journey. Jake . Athena jones, thank you so much. The cdc is trying to assure travelers that the risk of mers is low for them but the virus has reached the white house. The cdc is monitoring the situation closely. Its something of a nature that would be briefed to the president and has been briefed to the president and our team is watching it very closely. Our senior washington correspondent joe johns is standing by live at the white house. How big is the level of concern over mers in the Obama Administration . I think you really hit it there, jake. The concern about mers has now reached the highest levels of the government. This has been on the front burner for quite some time. Many federal agencies, Homeland Security, health and human services, the centers for disease control, the National Security council. But now at the point where the president himself is getting briefed, despite a low number of cases in the united states, a handful of people and protected, this is being seen as a Homeland Security matter with lots of updates across the administration. Its because the threat has crossed the border, its being carried here by plane by saudi arabia. Also, because the number of cases abroad has simply increased so dramatically. Lisa monacco, counterterrorism in the white house would be the person taking the lead on that and also the person actually doing the briefing for the president of the united states. Press secretary jay carney saying the cdc, of course, has taken all of this very seriously. We do know they are monitoring it very carefully and thats about it, jake. Joe johns at the white house, thank you so much. Here is what we know about the two confirmed cases of mers in the u. S. The first confirmed case involving a person were going to call patient x was discovered in indiana on may 2nd. Patient x is an American Health care worker who traveled from saudi arabia to see family. Patient x has been released and recovered. The second confirmed case traveled from saudi arabia to the u. S. Patient y is still being treated. I want to bring in the director of cdc forress sp respiratory d. The cdc has confirmed that mers is a low risk for americans but you are concerned enough to post warnings in airports. Why . Whenever we see a new virus like this capable of causing severe illness and death, we take it seriously. Weve been preparing for two years since this virus emerged to be ready if the virus was imported. That preparation paid off when we did see the first importation to indiana and now the second to florida. We do take it seriously. We know some things about this new virus. We know that it is not easily spread persontoperson. The spread that has been seen so far has generally been with ex troom treemly close contact in the health care environment. Thats why weve seen tracing along Health Care Workers and households. Its really out of an abundance of caution that weve been contacting people on the same flights as the two patients who traveled in with the virus. We dont know yet that this virus can be spread in that kind of context but early on in an investigation like this, we like to gather as much information as we can quickly so that we can improve or recommendations going forward. So right now weve been working to contact everybody who was on flights with the patient who traveled into florida. That contact work is ongoing right now. And i would imagine over the days ahead well learn more whether there was any transmission at all. Based on everything that i know so far, im not expecting it. But i think it is likely that there will be more importations and because of that, were really working closely with the state and local health departments. Doctor, just to play devils advocate, theres been two confirmed cases in the u. S. One of those persons is cured. The other person is treated. More people will die today in car accidents, from guns, from slipping in a bathtub, from obesity. Explain to me why these drastic measures drastic is overstating the case why putting up these warnings in airports when really the fatality, as you explained, the difficulty to get mers is so low. We think its really critical to avoid overreacting in the community but also avoid underreacting in the health care environment. The reason for the signage is so that we can promptly identify potential cases so they can be separated from other people. What we saw in the sars virus is somewhat like this and what we see in certain episodes in the Arabian Peninsula is outbreaks in the hospital environment. Those outbreaks can get larger and larger if you dont know who is infected and who isnt. We think its important to make sure people traveling are aware of this new virus and are aware to tell their doctors about their travel history so that they can promptly be diagnosed. The sooner we know about a problem, the sooner we can control the exposure. Really an educational step. Absolutely. Thank you so much. A clinton nemesis takes a shot at hillarys health, indicating that she maybe has a brain injury because of the glasses she was wearing in 2013. How is clinton responding. Plus, Donald Sterling says he doesnt do anything for africanamericans and Magic Johnson is responding. He spoke with Anderson Cooper. That exclusive interview is straight ahead. Passion. Became your business. At t can help simplify how you manage it. So you can focus on what you love most. When everyone and everything works together, business just sings. Tigers, both of you. Tigers . Dont be modest. I see how youve been investing. Setting long term goals. Diversifying. Dip you got our attention. We did . Of course. Youre type e well, i have been researching retirement strategies. Well thats what type e s do. Welcome home. Taking control of your retirement . E trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. Are you type e . Mom has a headache had a headache but now, i dont. Excedrin is fast. In fact for some, relief starts in just 15 minutes. Excedrin. Headache. Gone. Life with Crohns Disease ois a daily game of what ifs. What if my abdominal pain and cramps come back . What if the plane gets delayed . What if i cant hide my symptoms . What if . But what if the most important question is the one youre not asking . What if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation . For help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo. Com to get your complimentary q a book, welcome back to the lead. The politics lead now. After decades in washington, Hillary Clinton, whatever you think of her, she has weathered some memorable and personal attacks. Rivals have called her everything from cold to a murderer. Now with rumors of her possible president ial candidate at a fever pitch, here comes some brandnew ones. South of los angeles, last thursday, one of the republican parties most lauded strategist upped the ante by just asking the question, asking the question if she may have suffered a traumatic brain injury after a fall back in 2012. Brianna keilar is here with more. Brianna. So rove apparently said this last week but this just broke on the gossip page of the New York Post today. Karl rove back peddling but not apologizing for hinting that hillary may have suffered from brain damage back in 2012. Former bushs top aid, raising new questions about clintons medical scare when the then secretary of state suffered a blood clot between her brain and skull. She had a Serious Health episode. This was a serious deal. Reporter in offcamera comments reported by the New York Posts gossip column, page 6, rove said these glasses were patients for people suffering traumatic brain injuries. Clinton actually spent three days in the hospital to treat the clot caused by a fall while battling the flu. And those glasses i think that the idea that you have specific glasses that are used for traumatic brain injury is not necessarily accurate. The glasses have helped her tremendously during that year, year and a half that shes been using them. The fact that she doesnt seem to be using them now means very sugge sugge suggestively improved by it. Reporter calling his comments, way to insert smears about her health and age into the political debate because, quote, they are scared of what she has achieved and what she has to offer. What hes doing is its own form of sickness but she is 100 , period. Time for them to move on. Clinton emerged healthy, according to her team and doctors and withstood harsh questioning three weeks later at a hearing in benghazi. What difference at this point does it make . Reporter at that time, former bush officials were saying that she was faking her illness as she left the state department in 2013, clinton spoke with cnn about her health. I am lucky because ive been very healthy. I feel great. Ive got, you know, enormous amounts of energy that have to be harnessed and focused. So i im very fortunate and im looking forward to this next chapter in my life. Reporter rove is holding firm saying that clinton needs to be upfront about any Health Problems should she run. Now, that may be where rove is correct. She will be 69 on election day in 2016, years older than republicans, years older than the proper republicans who may jump into the field. Thats interesting, brianna keilar, thank you so much. Insinuation is a delicate art here in washington. So was rove really saying clinton was actually brain damaged or just raising the question . Lets bring in Stephanie Cutter and newt gingrich, host of crossfire. Stephanie, great to see you back from maternity leave. Ive seen your baby. Hes beautiful. Congratulations, mr. Gingrich, good to see you. Lets talk about that, youve been victim of this at well. The clever insinuation. Im just raising the question, speaker gingrich. This was not clever and it wasnt insinuation. This was karl rove running headlong into a brick wall. Hillary clinton is going to have the same questions that Ronald Reagan had and shes going to answer them the same way Ronald Reagan did. You go out and campaign and give speeches and answer questions. If, in fact, you can do that, nobody is going to believe this stuff. I think it is the worst kind of republican consultant behavior to get into this kind of personal, you know, negative attack. On crossfire, were going to talk about a lot of things but there are good policy issues to debate and performance issues to debate. We dont need to get into this kind of stuff and i would urge every republican, dont touch it, dont get near it. Stephanie, to play devils advocate here, when she had her health scare, and it was a health scare, she did appear with those glasses when she testified on benghazi and it wasnt just the conservatives talking about it, nbc news ran a story last year, Hillary Clinton sports new lenses due to lingering issues from her concussion. She was wearing special glasses that help bring images back into focus. Its fair to ask questions about her health. Is that what you think that karl rove was doing . Im asking a different question. We know what karl rove what was he trying to do . He was starting to lay a drumbeat out there questioning whether or not the health care that she did have, that shes been open about and has worn those glasses in front of a senate hearing, hes laying the ground work to start questioning whether or not that health scare is somehow disqualifying of her of being president. We know that its not. The American People know that it is not. Look at what shes done over the last year. Nothing has slowed her down. Anybody who is questioning whether or not Hillary Clinton is going to be outrun by somebody younger or somebody who didnt have a Similar Health scare is going to be proven wrong. But this is what karl rove does best. Hes just putting it out there. Hes not suggesting anything. Hes putting it out there. And people are going to start nipping away at it. Its interesting to see him try to double down on it at one of your Competitive Networks this morning and they didnt bite. Even they were questioning the facts of what rove was putting out there. Look, since both of you are such seasoned hands, even though neither of you look seasoned im a lot more seasoned especially stephanie. Since both of you are seasoned hands in politics, when decisions are made, for instance, i remember the Clinton Campaign in 2008, different operatives would bring up senator obama is going to be asked about his past drug use. Im just asking some of the questions that people were disassociated from the Clinton Campaign after that. But when that type of thing happens, is it planned . How is it done, based on your guess . Because neither of you have been involved in anything like that. Well, i think that it probably happens in all sorts of different ways. I dont think this was planned by anybody but karl rove but hes clearly been thinking about it for a long time. He raised it unsolicited last night and brought it up again this morning. Hes trying to walk it back. The damage is done and its out there. Speaker gingrich, you know what i mean. Sometimes the decision has to be made and again, certainly you never did it. The decision is made, look, we need to get this out there. Nobody is picking up on it. Were going to have joe go out there and say it and well say, well, i dont know anything about that. National politics is and should be very tough business. Both of us have been involved. Youve covered it. Thats fine. I think what you have here, this isnt some random, small this is one of the Major Political figures in the Republican Party saying something that is totally inappropriate and doing it in a way that represents the worst kind of modern politics. Nothing drives people away from running for office more than this kind of attack because they would say, why would i put my family through this. It weakens the fabric of democracy when we have this personal stuff. We have lots of stuff to fight with Hillary Clinton about. Big things, important things. We shouldnt be engaged in this. Former speaker newt gingrich, Stephanie Cutter back from maternity leave, were going to see you back here on crossfire at 3 30 p. M. Pacific. Coming up on our money lead, a warning to those who are close to retirement. Thats coming up next. Plus, Donald Sterling making a bigger mess by attempting to defend himself. Who allowed him to speak out . Thats coming up. When folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. [ female announcer ] the sun powers life. And now it powers our latest innovation. Introducing the worlds only solarpowered home energy system, which can cut your heating and cooling bills in half. Call now to get up to 1,700 dollars back or special financing on select lennox home comfort systems. Offer ends june 13th. Plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energysavings calculator. If your Current System is 10 years or older, start planning now and take advantage of special financing. So call now to get up to 1,700 dollars back or special financing on select lennox home comfort systems. Offer ends june 13th. And download our free lennox mobile app. Lennox. Innovation