This just in to CNN.
We have an update on
Mitch McConnell's health.
Coming in,
the Senate Republican leader's office
has just released some new details.
I want to bring in CNN's
Manu Raju and CNN chief
medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
You've got your hands on this release.
What does it say?
Yeah, that's right.
Giving more details
after the second
health scare involving
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell,
who, as we remember, froze last week
in front of cameras
for roughly 30 seconds.
That also occurred back in July.
And this also in the aftermath of him
hitting his head, suffering a concussion
back in March,
this providing more information
in the aftermath of that
second health scare.
So this is a letter
that was released by McConnell's office
from Brian Monahan, who is a Capitol Hill
attending physician as a brief letter.
So I will read it to you
in full
says My examination of you
following your August 30th 2023
brief episode
includes several medical evaluations.
It says brain MRI imaging, EEG study
and consultations
with several neurologists
for a comprehensive neurology assessment.
And it goes on to say,
there is no evidence
that you have a seizure disorder
or that you experience a stroke.
Tia, or movement disorders
such as Parkinson's disease.
There are no changes recommended
in treatment protocols
as you continue recovery
from your March 2023 fall.
So there's
been a
lot of questions about
what exactly happened
to Senator McConnell.
Republicans are coming back
and the Senate and Democrats
coming back to the Senate
for the first time in roughly
five weeks on a recess.
And the Republican leader
facing questions himself
about how long he can continue
to serve in office.
Now, for the first time,
providing information about that,
he had these examinations
that there is no evidence of a seizure
or a stroke.
A lot of speculation
that that could have been the case
at the time, John.
As you know, Republicans.
The leader's office
only indicated
that he had lightheadedness as well.
They attributed
those two frozen moments to
and that's
last week when Brian Monahan, the Capitol
physician, released a letter.
He said lightheadedness could occur
from those
who suffered
a concussion, as McConnell
did back in March.
So it's
it was unclear exactly
whether it was tied to that fall or not.
But here
indicating in this note,
they say no evidence of a seizure
or a stroke.
The question is, are Parkinson's disease?
The question is,
will that alleviate any concerns
that are lingering on Capitol Hill?
Monti, thank you for jumping on
so quickly to bring us this update.
Sanjay, not only as a
as a dear friend and chief
medical correspondent,
but neuro neurosurgeon in your own right.
Talk to me
about what
you hear
from the Capitol
physician here that they did MRI imaging
and EEG study
and other consultations
with several neurologists.
Well, it sounds
like they
did a pretty comprehensive
sort of evaluation.
So this was,
I think, a man who said August 30th,
so a few days ago now.
So apparently
after that last episode,
it sounds like there was enough concern.
It doesn't sound like they did
these types of tests in
July after that first episode.
But after this most recent episode,
you know, the idea that was this a stroke
or was this a seizure
or was this something else
like a movement?
Disorders such as Parkinson's
and medications not wearing
not working well.
It sounds like they evaluated
for all those things, brain MRI, EEG
and then neurological evaluation
sounds like
and basically saying none of those things
seem to be the case here.
So that's that's good.
That's good news.
I think I'm curious to know
what kind of follow up.
You know,
when you do these types of imaging tests
or do an EEG,
you're getting sort of these
these snapshots in time.
So sometimes things may be happening,
but you don't catch them on the scans.
But nevertheless, it's
a pretty thorough evaluation.
And as Manu said,
they're basically saying, look,
he had this concussion back earlier
in the spring.
As a result of that
lightheadedness,
which is a little bit of a tough line
to draw
between the concussions,
lightheadedness and these symptoms.
But that's basically
what this note is saying.
We've ruled out
some of the
the leading other possible things here.
That's what the note specifically does
it says what it's not.
It says no evidence of seizure,
no evidence of stroke,
no evidence of TIA, no Parkinson's.
It does not do as much to, say,
definitive of fully what it is.
There's a suggestion
it is connected to the concussion.
Sanjay, in your field.
And again, this is very much your field.
Can you always know what it is or can
all you do is to rule things out
Yeah, that's a great question.
Sometimes you'll get
a definitive diagnosis.
I mean, something pops out.
You do an EEG
and someone is clearly
having a certain type of seizure
which could explain those symptoms
that would rule in the diagnosis.
But yeah, a lot of times
with something like this,
you are saying, hey, look,
what are the worst things
that could possibly be causing this?
You want to
you want to hope for the best,
but prepare for the worst.
That sort of mentality.
So you look at the worst possible things
and start to rule them out.
A brain MRI
is there blood, blood collection
still in the brain?
Is there a tumor
or is there something else there?
It sounds like the brain MRI.
They don't say that definitively,
but they say
basically give you the impression
that it was normal, an EEG,
no evidence of a seizure disorder.
So those are those are pretty good tests.
And then it sounds like
he had neurologists
also evaluate
him do a full exam to see
does he have any evidence
of Parkinson's disease,
a movement disorder,
which oftentimes
you can diagnose by
doing a good neurological exam.
So they've looked at sort of the the
the the worst things, frankly,
that could be causing
these types of symptoms,
these freezing episodes,
and basically saying
we don't find anything
here at this point.
So it's good news.
I mean, it's it's
good for him to know that
what I think
is still confusing a bit,
John,
I guess to your point, is concussion
in the spring lightheadedness.
Yeah, that could be one of the symptoms.
It's not something you put
at the top of the list.
And certainly
you would just hydrate for that.
If this is a problem,
why not just make sure
that he's being hydrated?
Why does he continue to have these spells
and to is then,
you know,
drawing a connection from lightheadedness
to freezing.
It's just challenging
it's just it's very hard
to connect all those dots.
So interesting.
So important to have, Sanjay,
with all of this
and the updates
that you're getting from
McConnell's office,
what are you hearing about
the Senate's back in today?
How much are we going to see
from the Republican leader?
How much are we going to hear from him?
Well, we will hear from him
this afternoon.
He's expected
to give his regularly scheduled remarks
after the Senate opens.
And I'm sure you'll just be discussing
mainly Senate business,
but he will face cameras again
tomorrow with a weekly
leadership meeting.
This will be an issue
that he will have to do
that will come up.
He'll be asked questions privately
to among some of his members.
He's already been on the phone
with some of the key members
of his leadership team.
Other members
and the rank and file
have been calling him to see
what's going on.
So there are still these questions
among these members
who he's not had face to face interaction
with since the Senate left
for its five week August recess.
Tomorrow, he'll meet
with among a full Republican conference
meeting as well.
So the question is,
will this allow Republicans
and Republicans to move forward
with the focus on other issues,
not McConnell's out.
That's what they hope
with his letter
to cool down the speculation
and ease those concerns.
Yeah.
Manu, thank you so much for jumping on.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you as always.