>>> WELCOME BACK
DID THE CORONAVIRUS LEAK FROM
THE INSTITUTE OF VIROLOGY IN
WUHAN, CHINA
THE W.H.O. DISMISSED THE IDEA.
FOR MONTHS, MOST SCIENTISTS
SCOFFED AT IT.
FOR MANY, THE LAB LEAK IDEA GOT
TANGLED UP IN POLITICS AND
CONFLATED WITH THE IDEA THAT THE
CHINESE DELIBERATELY RELEASED
THE CORONAVIRUS INTO THE WORLD
THERES NO EVIDENCE FOR THAT
BUT WHILE THE JUMP FROM AN
ANIMAL TO HUMANS REMAINS THE
MOST ACCEPTED THEORY, A GROWING
NUMBER OF SCIENTISTS ARE
INCREASINGLY OPEN TO THE LAB
LEAK POSSIBILITY
LAST WEEK WE LEARNED THREE
CHINESE RESEARCHERS BECAME SO
ILL WITH FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS IN
NOVEMBER OF 2019 THEY HAD TO BE
HOSPITALIZED
THATS JUST WHEN EXPERTS BELIEVE
THE VIRUS ITSELF BEGAN TO SPREAD
IN WUHAN
NOW PRESIDENT BIDEN, WHO HIMSELF
NEVER DISMISSED THE LAB LEAK
THEORY, ORDERED THE UNITED
STATES INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES TO
INVESTIGATE THE ORIGINS OF THIS
VIRUS.
JOINING ME IS MATTHEW POTTINGER,
THE DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY
ADVISER UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP.
HE WAS AN EARLY CRITIC OF
CHINAS HANDLING OF THIS
PANDEMIC
HE JOINS ME NOW.
MR. POTTINGER, WELCOME TO "MEET
THE PRESS.
I WANT TO START ACTUALLY WITH
SOMETHING THAT THE SECRETARY OF
STATE SAID TO ME A COUPLE WEEKS
AGO WHEN I ASKED HIM A VERY
POINT-BLANK QUESTION, WHETHER
CHINA KNOWS THE ANSWER ALREADY
HERE IS WHAT HE SAID TO ME
>> HERE IS WHAT I THINK CHINA
KNOWS.
I THINK CHINA KNOWS IN THE EARLY
STAGES OF COVID, IT DIDNT DO
WHAT IT NEEDED TO DO WHICH WAS
TO IN REALTIME GIVE ACCESS TO
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS, IN
REALTIME TO SHARE INFORMATION,
IN REALTIME TO PROVIDE REAL
TRANSPARENCY
>> SO I START WITH THAT PREMISE
HERE
THERES CERTAINLY I THINK NOW A
COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT THAT CHINA
HAS NOT TOLD THE FULL STORY.
WHAT INFORMATION IN THE NEXT 90
DAYS DO YOU EXPECT OUR
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO BE
ABLE TO SURFACE THAT WILL GIVE
US A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT HAPPENED?
>> HEY, CHUCK.
ITS GREAT TO BE WITH YOU.
SECRETARY BLINKEN IS CERTAINLY
RIGHT IN THAT.
YOU ASKED EARLIER IN THE SHOW
WHAT IS AN AREA WHERE WE CAN
FINALLY HAVE BIPARTISAN
CONSENSUS.
THIS IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THEM
WE HAD AN AMENDMENT THAT WAS
PASSED THAT WAS PUT FORWARD BY
SENATORS GILLIBRAND AND SENATOR
MARSHALL CALLING FOR AN IN DEPTH
INQUIRY IN THE ORIGINS OF THIS
PRESIDENT BIDEN HAD HIS
BOMBSHELL STATEMENT CALLING ON
THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO DO
A 90-DAY REVIEW TO VIEW TO COME
UP WITH A DEFINITIVE ANSWER.
I THINK THERES A LOT THAT CAN
BE LEARNED IN 90 DAYS.
ITS CONCEIVABLE WE CAN HAVE AN
ANSWER
EVEN IF WE CUP UP SHORT WHAT
WELL HAVE IS A FOUNDATION FOR
ADDITIONAL REVOLUTIONS TO COME
OUT FROM SCIENTISTS AROUND THE
WORLD WHO WILL NOW BE
EMBOLDENED, BECAUSE THEY KNOW
THIS IS A PRIORITY OF THE UNITED
STATES
SCIENTISTS PREVIOUSLY FRIGHTENED
OF BEING CANCELED BY THE TWITTER
MOB, ARE GOING TO CONTRIBUTE TO
THIS ENDEAVOR.
WHAT INSIGHTS OF THE ORIGIN OF
THE VIRUS, EARLY ON, YOU WERE
THE FIRST PERSON TO WEAR A MASK
INSIDE THE OVAL OFFICE
EARLY ON YOU WERE HEARING ABOUT
THIS IN DECEMBER
WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU KNOW
ABOUT THE ORIGINS THAT YOU THINK
NEED TO BE -- THREADS THAT NEED
TO BE PULLED
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE
TO AGREE THAT ITS ABSOLUTELY
ESSENTIAL TO FIND OUT WHAT THE
ORIGIN OF THIS THING IS.
ITS ESSENTIAL FOR US TO HEAD
OFF THE NEXT PANDEMIC.
ITS E ESSENTIAL TO BETTER
UNDERSTANDS THE VARIANTS OF THE
CURRENT PANDEMIC THAT ARE
EMERGING, AND THE VIRUS COULD
MUTATE IN WAYS THAT UNDERMINE
OUR MIRACULOUS VACCINES.
IT ALSO OPENS UP AN OVERDUE
CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW TO GOVERN
REALLY CUTTING EDGE BUT RISKY
JENTIC RESEARCH, INCLUDING GAIN
OF FUNCTION RESEARCH AND THE
LIKE, SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY.
SO I THINK THAT THERES ACTUALLY
AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT THAT COULD
COME OUT
WHAT WE KNOW RIGHT NOW IS THAT
BOTH OF THESE HYPOTHESES THAT
PRESIDENT BIDEN SPOKE OF ARE
VALID.
IT COULD HAVE EMERGED FROM A
LABORATORY
IT COULD HAVE EMERGED FROM
NATURE
BOTH OF THOSE ARE VALID.
NEITHER OF THEM IS SUPPORTED BY
CONCRETE EVIDENCE.
THERES A GROWING AMOUNT OF
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE IN
PARTICULAR SUPPORTING THE IDEA
THAT THIS MAY HAVE LEAKED FROM A
LABORATORY.
>> "THE WASHINGTON POST"
INDICATED OVER THE WEEKEND THERE
IS UNEXAMINED INTELLIGENCE THAT
FOLKS ARE GOING TO BE GOING
THROUGH WHICH, OF COURSE, LEADS
TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT HAPPENED
IN 2020?
DID, IN SOME WAYS, THE SORT OF
IRRATIONAL ATTACKS ON CHINA, DID
THAT SLOW DOWN EFFORTS OF THE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO
ACTUALLY DO SOME FACT-FINDING?
>> WELL, LOOK, I THINK WHAT
SLOWED DOWN EFFORTS MORE THAN
ANYTHING ELSE WERE THE EARLY
STATEMENTS THAT WERE PUBLISHED
BY A FEW SCIENTISTS DISMISSING
THE IDEA IT COULD HAVE COME OUT
OF A LAB, IN FACT, CARICATURING
PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE
COME OUT OF A LAB.
>> YOU THINK YOUR FORMER BOSS
STATEMENTS CONTRIBUTED TO THAT A LITTLE BIT
LITTLE BIT
clearly different.
>> THERE ARE POLITICAL MISTAKES
THAT LEAD TO TROUBLE IN
GOVERNMENT, AND THEN THERE ARE
INSTITUTIONAL SHORTCOMINGS
I THINK THIS IS MORE OF AN
INSTITUTIONAL SHORT COMING WHERE
THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY IN
TRUTH HAD REALLY LOOKED TO THE
CDC TO HAVE THE LEAD, TO BE THE
LEAD AGENCY TO MONITOR FOR
OUTBREAKS AND THE LIKE
THERES A LOT OF WORK THAT I
THINK THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
NEEDS TO DO TO BUILD UP ITS
CAPACITY TO MONITOR THESE SORTS
OF THREATS
BY THE WAY, IF THIS
INVESTIGATION EXPANDS NOT ONLY
TO ENCOMPASS THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY, BUT REALLY OU
NATIONAL LABS LIKE LAWRENCE
LIVERMORE AND RELY ON ALLIES,
THIRD COUNTRIES LIKE FRANCE.
FRANCE BUILT THE INSTITUTE OF
VIROLOGY
IM INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT THE
FRENCH HAVE TO SHARE IN TERMS OF
RESEARCH AND COOPERATION.
>> IM CURIOUS, IF WE HAVE TO GO
TO CHINA TO GET THE FACTS WE
NEED, AND YOU NEED COOPERATION
OF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT AND
THEYVE DESIRED TO COVER THIS UP
FOR WHATEVER REASON, MAYBE THEY
DONT WANT TO ADMIT TO THEIR
PEOPLE THEY KNEW ABOUT IT
SOONER
CAN WE EVER ACTUALLY GET A
DEFINITIVE ANSWER?
>> I THINK WE CAN.
IT MIGHT TOOK MORE THAN 90 DAYS,
BUT, LOOK, IF THIS THING CAME
OUT OF A LAB, THERE ARE PEOPLE
IN CHINA WHO PROBABLY KNOW THAT.
WE KNOW THERE WERE A LOT OF
SCIENTISTS IN CHINA -- CHINA HAS
INCREDIBLE AND ETHICAL
SCIENTISTS, MANY OF WHOM IN THE
EARLY STAGES OF THE PANDEMIC
CAME OUT AND SAID THEY SUSPECTED
A LAB LEAK
THOSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
SYSTEMATICALLY SILENCED BY THEIR
GOVERNMENT
NOW THAT THE WORLD KNOWS HOW
IMPORTANT THIS IS TO THE UNITED
STATES, THE UNITED STATES, WHEN
WE LEAD, THE WORLD FOLLOWS
THAT MIGHT PROVIDE COURAGE FOR
THE ETHICAL SCIENTISTS IN CHINA,
FOR WHOM THIS IS WEIGHING ON
THEIR CONSCIOUSES.
I THINK WELL SEE IT COME OUT AS
A RESULT OF THIS INQUIRY.
>> LETS HOPE IT DIDNT TAKE AS
LONG AS IT DID WITH THE SOVIET