[Baldwin:] Just half past the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The new numbers. A statement from the director of the CDC showing that more Americans are contracting a disease that is so deadly and contagious that at it's worse, it killed 2.6 million people each and every year. I'm talking about measles. It's a disease that was eliminated here in the U.S. thanks to an affordable and safe vaccine, a vaccine that many are refusing to use. New numbers showing 102 people spanning 14 different states, all of the yellow states you see there, were reportedly got measles in the month of January. Most of those tracing back to the one outbreak in Disneyland in California. Dr. Isaac Thompson, let me bring you in, assistant professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University. Doctor, quickly, I was looking at the director of the CDC who said over and over the science on this is very clear for those communities that aren't, you know, having their kids vaccinated. Let me begin with this whole Amtrak story. Hundreds of people in New York may have been exposed when this college student infected with measles hopped on a train, rode through the state. My question to you would be, how does that then make someone vulnerable to contagion with the risks exposed with that kind of exposure?
[Dr. Isaac Thompson, Assistant Professor Of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University:] Sure. I think, first of all, one thing that that drives home at any time we're at risk of cases being imported from countries and there are many countries where it's still circulating. And yes, we don't know how many people were exposed to that. We know that measles is an incredibly contagious viruses, one of the most contagious that we know of. It's airborne and it spreads very rapidly. Time will only tell how many were exposed in that and there could be others just like that. We just don't know how many someone's coughing a lot on a train or airplane, for example, there's a large region where they are definitely exposed.
[Baldwin:] And then you have these communities, that Dr. Frieden is alluding to, that the parents who chose not to, for personal or religious beliefs, whatever reason, are not vaccinating their kids. The governor of Chris Christie has been slammed today after defending parents' , quote, "measure of choice" not to vaccinate their kids. Here he is.
[Chris Christie, , Governor Of New Jersey:] All I can say is, we vaccinate ours. That's the best way I can give you my opinion. It's much more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. And that's what we do. But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. That's the balance that the government has to decide.
[Baldwin:] That's the measure of choice that everyone has jumped on. His office later released a statement clarifying, there is no question, kids should be vaccinated, but he is actually right. I mentioned in certain states, you know, that these vaccines are mandated, but parents do have a choice. My question to you would be I mean, the CDC points to this. Dr. Gupta points to this. I would imagine you do, too. The science is very clear. What will it take? Can you change a law? How can you have, though, the government telling parents what they can and can't do?
[Thompson:] Right. It's obviously a very it's a very complicated issue but I think what we have to remember, personal choice, of course, is incredibly important. It's one of the concepts that this country was founded on. But safety is also incredibly important, safety of an individual, safety of a community. I think one example would be the seat belt law. We're required to wear seat belts because seatbelts are proven to be safe and to save lives. Vaccines are also well-proven to save lives, incredibly safe and very effective. I think there are certain points where and this outbreak that drives this home that if there's too much of these what are called personal exemption laws, if people are allowed to be misled by information, things read on the Internet, confusing, et cetera, and make a truly poor choice, this results in these under- vaccinated rates. Unfortunately, it will take potentially tighter mandates for this.
[Baldwin:] You think that's possible, tighter mandates?
[Thompson:] I think we have some states so it varies state by state. We have some states where they only have essentially a medical exemption and someone has an allergy or a medicine unsafe for them, they are exempt at taking that medication. With that simple measure alone, you get well over 99 percent vaccine coverage in those states. There are other states that have these very kinds of more open, personal belief exemptions, and there are loopholes around that, and we're seeing the result of that. I think we're this is proving that is what it takes. There are countries in Europe, for example, that don't have any type of mandate. It's just a personal choice. But they have nearly 100 percent vaccination in those countries and they don't have these outbreaks. And so for reasons that many can debate in our country right now, many are choosing not to vaccinate, and we're seeing the effects of that right now.
[Baldwin:] We are. Every week, more states added to this list. Dr. Isaac Thompson, thank you very much, at Vanderbilt. Next, if you watched the Super Bowl, you probably noticed many of the ads were kind of, sort of depressing, but Nationwide getting most of the backlash for that. CNN went inside the meeting this was months ago with these executives as they were pitching the idea. Here are the reasons they wanted to do it the way we saw.