Senator Dianne Feinstein's
office confirming
that she suffered
from complications
from singles,
including encephalitis
or swelling of the brain in Ramsay
Hunt Syndrome.
Which affects your facial nerve.
CNN's Manu Raju and Dr.
Sanjay Gupta are with us. Manu.
What are you hearing from sources
and from Senator Feinstein's office
about her diagnosis?
Well, Senator Feinstein,
the office has not provided many details
about her condition
ever since she was gone
in mid-February, suffered the shingles
it had shingles.
And the 89 year old Democrat was gone
for several months, didn't return
until last week.
And there still has not been many
much information.
Then the New York Times reported
earlier today that she did have
broader complications
related to shingles and stuff, colitis
and the Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
I heard from a source familiar
with the matter afterwards who confirmed
the senator
had that
those was diagnosed
with those two issues.
Then she talked to our colleagues
on Capitol Hill, Christine Wilson
and Jessica Deane,
and she denied having any broader
complications, simply
saying she had a very bad flu.
Then after that, Jake,
her office
put out a statement
confirming The New York Times
report, saying the senator
previously disclosed
that she had several complications
related to her shingles diagnosis.
Those complications included Ramsay
Hunter syndrome and encephalitis.
While the encephalitis resolved itself
shortly after she was was released
from the hospital in March.
She continues to have complications
from Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
Now, there have been questions
for some time about Senator
Feinstein's health.
She passed up being the president
pro tem,
which is in line to the presidency.
Because of her condition.
She also was pushed aside by Democrats,
did not become the chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee
because of questions about her fitness
to serve in that position.
But when I asked senators today
about whether they believe
she is continued to fit
and serve as senators,
they sidestepped that question.
We're all
here right And we all have health issues.
And right now
she is performing as a United States
senator, doing her job.
Do you think she ought to resign
and you think that these things
that they're all saying
anonymously or through, then, by God,
go to Amazon and buy Spam online
and stand up and say in part
be a man or be a woman
Yeah.
And Jake,
as I asked the Democratic leader,
Chuck Schumer,
right out of the
Democratic lunch today,
whether or not
he was aware
of Feinstein's diagnosis, diagnosis,
he declined to comment.
And the Senate number two Democrat
who chairs the Senate
Judiciary Committee,
Dick Durbin,
told me that he was not aware
of any of these issues Jake.
Yeah, and as you
as you alluded to, money,
there been questions
about her cognitive abilities
for several years now.
Sanjay,
how difficult
is it to diagnose and colitis
and what does that mean?
What is Ramsay Hunt syndrome mean?
Yeah, so it can be challenging
to diagnose encephalitis, encephalitis
basically means inflammation
of the brain.
People often hear meningitis
that is inflammation of the layers,
the outside layers of the brain.
But with encephalitis,
you're actually getting swelling
in several different areas of the brain.
Now, it can be challenging to diagnose.
Usually you have some suspicion.
As Monty mentioned,
she had diagnosed shingles.
Shingles
can sometimes lead to
encephalitis, inflammation of the brain.
You have several tests
that you start to do
to try and figure that out.
Imaging tests, for example, EEG
electroencephalogram
would be another test
and even a lumbar puncture
where you'd actually look at fluid
that bathes the spinal cord
in the brain and see,
look, is the virus
and there are indications
that there is a swelling and inflammation
around the brain.
That's how you'd make that diagnosis.
Sometimes it's hard.
People have fever.
They may have headache
sometimes those symptoms are resolve,
but people may be left with memory
sort of difficulties.
So it can be challenging, Jake.
And what about Ramsey Hunt?
What is that?
So so when someone has shingles
and a lot of people know what shingles
is, typically it's a virus
that you may have had chickenpox
when you were a child.
Even the virus doesn't leave your body.
It stays sort of
hanging out around nerves
at some point in adult life.
It can get reactivated that shingles,
if that reactivation occurs
around the face
and specifically around the facial nerve.
And I think we have an image here
of what the facial nerve sort of. Yes.
That yellow area there, the facial nerve.
If that becomes inflamed,
as a result of the virus,
you can develop
a weakness of that side of the face.
You can develop lesions
even inside the ear.
Difficulty with hearing,
difficulty with vision.
It can be inside your mouth.
It can be very painful.
People who have had shingles
know how painful it can be.
Imagine that
same sort of thing happening on your face
and possibly affecting the nerve
that gives your face. It's movement.
It can resolve if it's treated early
and it's typically treated
with steroids and antiviral medications.
If it's recognized early and treated
early, people can resolve,
but it can take a while.
By the way, Jake,
just quickly, it's different
than Bell's Palsy.
With Bell's palsy,
you can get similar symptoms
We don't always know
what causes Bell's palsy.
With this Ramsey Hunt,
it's almost always that virus
that causes shingles.
All right, Dr.
Sanjay Gupta and Manu Raju, our
thanks to both of you.
Let's talk about this,
my political panel.
Let me start with you.
So one of the issues going on here
is well,
first is the issue that she doesn't
want to step down.
And apparently her staff
doesn't want her to step down
and no one in
her family wants to make her step down.
Beyond that, there is the issue of like
a worker who gets the job
There is a very
competitive Democratic
primary going on right now in California
to get that job.
Adam Schiff is running
Congressman Adam Schiff.
Pelosi likes him.
There's Congresswoman Barbara Lee,
very favored by people
in the San Francisco area.
There is Katie Porter,
a very popular with the progressives
And unfortunately,
all of this is playing a role.
And also the governor of California
has made a commitment
also to fill
that slot with a black woman as well.
If he
if he
if he gets the opportunity
to get the opportunity to. Yes.
Right now, I mean, absolutely.
I mean, one,
you have the question of, as you
noted, is you going to step down
Is the senator going to step down?
But after that, you're going to have
a certain
contest here
of these different sort of allegiances
and relationships that have been built
by these different members of Congress,
all ready to fill that seat.
But first, I mean, I think really
the pressure is on
some of these Democratic leaders
to based
on whether or
not they are going to talk to the senator
about stepping down.
You talked
my colleagues
reported on that story today,
and they talked about how this puts
Senator Schumer
in a sprint in a certain spot
and really increases
the pressure for him,
especially with the
evidence that we have, that
there was one person
there in an interview.
One of the senators mentioned
while her job as an impacted.
We do know that she has a lighter
schedule here, of course, with jobs.
And of course, her job is impacted.
I mean, you have the L.A.,
the exchange with an L.A.
Times reporter as well, where he was
basically
she did come off as confused and appeared
to not remember some of this as well.
So her job is impacted right now.
And it'll be interesting to see
how Democratic leaders
basically respond to this report as well
and see if they do afterwards
that I've heard Democrats and Republicans
say it is an absolute tragedy.
This is what she's going
to be remembered for
and not her trailblazing career.
Absolutely.
And you've heard that for years.
That has really been a concern
for those around her, for her
staff, that this is really going to lead
a potential obituary
one day instead of all of these things
that she's been able to do.
And I will add one other pressure point.
I think for Democratic leaders,
especially Schumer is
just look at how narrow
that margin is in the Senate.
One vote, one literally one vote.
So even if she were to step aside,
that makes everything way more difficult.
And we are looking at the debt
ceiling, government
funding, so many more different things.
And I will say
a completely different situation.
But even on the House side,
you see it with the pressure
for Kevin McCarthy
doesn't want to get rid of George Santos.
Totally different situation.
But the margins
really matter to these leaders
and really motivates them.