Calcium In President`s Blood Vessels Is Sign Of Heart Disease.
GORANI: The White House is standing by a doctor`s assessment that the president is in excellent health. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says the White House doctor knows Mr. Trump`s health better than anyone. But some of the data released about Mr. Trump paints a different picture. A measurement of calcium in his arteries was elevated, which is considered a sign of heart disease potentially. Our chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta was the first person to notice those elevated levels of calcium. He joins me now live from Washington. In layman`s terms, can you explain what you noticed when those results were announced?</s>SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I asked the doctor specifically about a type of test, which he hadn`t talked about originally that measures the amount of plaque that -- these are things that causes blockages in blood vessels, the amount of plaque in blood vessels that specifically lead to the heart, those are called the coronary blood vessels. A lot of people may have heard that term. This test gives you an idea of how much plaque there is and how much blockage is potentially being caused by that. That`s the concern. This is called a coronary calcium test. In simple terms, Hala, you`d love for that score to be zero, that you have no calcium in the plaque of those vessels. Anything above a hundred is considered moderate heart disease. His score is 133. So, he has evidence of this plaque, that plaque has calcium that can be measured. It does not appear to be causing him problems now, but it`s definitely an indication of heart disease and something that doctors, you know, need to address so it doesn`t become a problem later on down the road.</s>GORANI: I want our viewers to listen to some of the exchange that you had with the doctor, in fact, at yesterday`s briefing in Washington.</s>GUPTA: Just to be fair, though, Dr. Jackson, he is taking cholesterol medication, he has evidence of heart disease and he`s borderline obese. Can you characterize that as excellent health?</s>DR. RONNY JACKSON, PRESIDENTIAL PHYSICIAN: I think based on his current cardiac -- you know, study, his heart is very healthy. Those are all things that we`re looking at with regards -- you`re a neurosurgeon. There`s stroke issues there, too, but we`re focused on his cardiac, you know, health, you know, as an indicator of what the rest of his vascular health might be like.</s>GORANI: So, what did you make of that reply?</s>GUPTA: Well, it`s interesting because I sort of mentioned that the president in this case does have heart disease and high cholesterol and borderline obesity, and Dr. Jackson agreed with all those things. I think the point that Dr. Jackson is trying to make, and I think he did a very diligent job of assessing the president, but the point he is taking a picture in time looking at his heart with an ultrasound, as they did. Looking at his heart as it is being stressed, called a stress test, his heart seemed to function normally. Those tests were normal. But the concern still going forward is if those plaques become worse, if that blockage becomes worse, that`s when you start to worry about heart problems. No one is saying that has happened, no one is saying that`s currently happening, but in order to prevent it from happening down the future, this is a clue. This is why you order these tests to basically, you know, arrive at this diagnosis to try to prevent some sort of bigger problem later on down the road. So, you know, it maybe seems a little nuanced (inaudible) inside baseball, but the president has heart disease that`s not caused him symptoms as of yet. It can stay that way if certain things happen, lifestyle changes and medication alterations which the doctor is doing.</s>GORANI: All right. Thanks very much for those clarifications, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Appreciate having you on the program.</s>GUPTA: Yes. Thank you, Hala.</s>GORANI: One by one, women who were victimized by an American gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar, are confronting him very bravely and courageously. Ninety eight women in all are expected to face their abuser this week during his sentencing hearing and testify about what he did to them. He`ll have to listen to every word. The former U.S. gymnastics team member, Janet Antolin, told Nassar was a monster who preyed on innocents.</s>JEANETTE ANTOLIN, FORMER U.S. GYMNASTICS TEAM MEMBER: Larry, you made me believe that you were my friend. You deceived me, you manipulated me, and you abused me. I truly believe that you are the spawn of Satan. Those little girls that you took advantage of so easily have now come back to haunt you all of the days of your life.</s>GORANI: Let`s get to CNN legal analyst, Areva Martin, who is joining me from Los Angeles. I guess, my question is for a team doctor to have done this for years to dozens and dozens of girls, legally speaking, are other people going to be held responsible because they were the adults who were tasked with taking care of these athletes? Can other adults be held responsible for not having spotted this or intervened?</s>AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That`s an excellent question, and that`s one of the questions that will be definitely answered in the civil lawsuits that we`ve seen filed. There are over a hundred of the young women who filed civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault and sexual inappropriate conduct with respect to the doctor. Now, the question is, are law enforcement agencies, are those that have the power to criminally prosecute, are they also investigating whether individuals that the Michigan State University or that were affiliated with U.S. gymnastics, were they knowledgeable? Did they have information? Should they have known that this kind of conduct was taking place, and did they turn a blind eye? That`s one of the big questions to be answered in this case. Because you`re right, how could this happen for so long, involve so many young girls and no one else in authority not be aware of the conduct?</s>GORANI: Obviously, there`s the distinction between the civil lawsuits being brought forward and whether or not law enforcement decides to bring charges against other people involved in the U.S. gymnastics team.</s>MARTIN: Yes. There are two parallel cases that are happening, civil lawsuits that have named Michigan State University and the U.S. Gymnastics Association. So, there will be discovery with respect to those civil lawsuits, depositions, and questions asked and an investigation to determine what those individuals knew and when they knew it. Now, what we don`t know is if a parallel investigation is happening with respect to law enforcement into the university and into U.S. gymnastics to determine if there will be other criminal charges filed against any of those individuals that might have had knowledge, might have had information but yet failed to act on it.</s>GORANI: And this must be a harder case, right, to prove, to say, well, there were rumors, people were whispering, you must have known, there`s something that you must have known that you didn`t act on. It must be harder, right, to be able to prove that someone in authority had knowledge but didn`t act.</s>MARTIN: Absolutely, Hala. It`s a higher standard particularly on the criminal side to try to prosecute or bring charges against some of those individuals that weren`t directly involved in the sexual assault or misconduct, but on the civil side, the standard is a lot lower. And we have seen reports where parents have said they went to the university. They went to the U.S. Gymnastics Association and they did make reports. So, the question remains are they verifiable? Will there be evidence that those reports were made? And will those plaintiffs be able to prove that reports were made but not acted upon?</s>GORANI: All right. Thanks so much, Areva Martin, for joining us. We appreciate it. Still to come tonight, a Republican senator says President Trump`s cries of fake news have very real consequences, destroying democracy and inspiring dictators around the world. More on what Jeff Flake had to say, next. And as the fight over U.S. immigration law rages on, real lives hang in the balance. We`ll talk to one young man brought to the U.S. as a baby. How his life will be changed if Congress doesn`t come up with a DACA deal? We`ll be right back.