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Difficulty to Get to Crash Site in Ukraine; ESPN Anchor Apologizing over His Remarks about Victims of Domestic Violence; Ebola Can Be Contained in United States; Russia's Violation Important Arms Control Treaty Raises U.S. Concern

Aired July 29, 2014 - 8:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SPOKESPERSON FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE: We have looked to day - have not yet attempted to access the crash site. However the day is not yet over. There have been very high level talks being held in Kiev going with our chief monitor ambassador Apakan, and then also here on the ground overnight a lot of talks with the rebel groups here. So, you know, after yesterday and the day before, where we had to call off attempts to go to the site, we just want to make sure all of the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted so that when we do make an attempt, not only is it going to be safe but it's going to happen for sure.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Are they protecting the site in any way right now, the self-appointed prime minister, the militia in the area and are they threatening violence if you do go there without meeting their conditions?

BOCIURKIW: Well, that's one thing will be answered - will be able to answer once we are there on the ground. You know, it's following up by now that part of our strength as a monitoring mission, is we only report what we see, but really, Chris, we can't emphasize this enough that our intentions are very well-known. We're providing a list of the people who are with us, how many numbers of cars, license plate numbers, everything they need to feel that we're fulfilling a mission, a humanitarian mission, an investigative mission. The number one thing, we are after right now with our Dutch (INAUDIBLE) colleagues is to resume that very, a very intensive search for human remains. Because as you know, you were there, you know they're out there exposed to the elements.

CUOMO: And there's very little chance that all of the victims have been recovered because as we know the villagers were bringing people forward and you haven't had any forensic experts there. The question of control looms large here. Is there confidence on your side that the leaders you're speaking to can control all these different disparate militant groups or is there going to be risk inherently out there because you don't know who you're dealing with?

BOCIURKIW: Yes, it's something we reported in the past over the past three months since we first arrived here in Ukraine is that there are many different groups especially in the neighboring oblast of Lugansk, which, not that far from the crash site. So, it is such a patchwork in some parts of eastern Ukraine where you can make an agreement with one big group but yeah, it may not hold with another, but again, Chris, we are really confident that once an agreement is reached, the parties, whoever they are, will stick to them. Because, you know, it is in nobody's interest that this investigation that this mission does not go forward. The critical mass of all these experts, I mean, the Australians even have people who can do [no sound]

CUOMO: All right, the communications are so difficult in that situation, we'll make sure that Michael is OK, as he said, there has been shelling in and around the main city of Donetsk. They are not even just out in the remote areas where the fighting had been. So, we'll check back in with him, make sure he's OK.

The big takeaway, though, still not safe enough. The militants on the ground there have not given their assurances that international investigators can get there. So a little bit of the responsibility is now starting to shift over to Ukraine. They are shelling very heavily in areas there, trying to advance their gains, take more control. Can they secure the crash site? Will they provide safe entry to these investigators, because remember it's not just about the forensics, it's about the dignity of the dead, many of whom may still be there and unrecovered. So we'll check back in with him, make sure he's safe, give you the latest when we hear it. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. And also staying on this issue, the United States and Russia, they have been at odds to say the very least over the crisis in Ukraine. Now there's a new strain in the already chilly relationship. Washington says Moscow is violating a landmark arms control treaty by testing a prohibited land-based cruise missile. Officials say President Obama expressed his concern in a letter to Vladimir Putin. Elise Labott is live in the Washington bureau. She's our global affairs correspondent with more of the details? So, Elise, what are the details? Why does this matter that the United States is coming out to say this now? It's not necessarily related to the crisis in Ukraine.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate. With these missile tests began back in 2008 and officials say they've been trying to raise this issue with Russia over the past year, continuing trying to talk to Moscow about it, and the Russians have said, well, they investigated the matter and considered it closed. President Putin -- President Obama talked to President Putin about this in a letter, he proposed high-level talks to resolve this and bring Russia into compliance of this treaty, because this treaty is really seen as important in curbing the arms race and that's been one of President Obama's priorities since taking office. U.S. also notified Congress, NATO allies, and there are going to be discussing what steps they would take if Russia doesn't have to come clean.

Officials say the timing was coincidental, not related to the current tensions. There was an administration review and basically it was finished and they put this into report to Congress, but it remains to be seen how Russia is going to view this, Kate, as you know, the European Union and the U.S. are poised to announce new sanctions on Russia, sanctions on the arms industry, the financial industry, the energy industry. And so how is Russia going to perceive all this when new sanctions are going to be announced this week? Clearly, they're going to see it as a provocation, Kate. BOLDUAN: Yeah, and both of these, although unrelated issues clearly

could be seen as warnings coming from the United States and European allies to warn Russia to get in line, but of course, as you mentioned earlier, is it - is all of this together enough to bring Moscow to its knees to actually get into line? We will see. Elise, it's great to see you. Thanks so much.

LABOTT: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: All right. Let's take another break. Coming up on "NEW DAY," NFL player Ray Rice's two-game suspension sparking criticism that the league is being too lenient on domestic violence. CNN Newsroom anchor Carol Costello, she is going to be joining us with her powerful - her powerful perspective. She wrote a piece about the message that the NFL is sending and her own personal experience with domestic violence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to "NEW DAY," on the ESPN show "First Take" anchor Stephen A. Smith made comments seeming to suggest that women might be responsible for domestic violence at the hands of their partners. He then apologized on Monday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN A. SMITH, ESPN ANCHOR: On Friday, speaking right here on "First Take" on the subject of domestic violence I made what can only amount to the most egregious error of my career. I ventured beyond the scope of our discussion by alluding to a woman's role in such heinous matters, going so far as to use the word "provoke" in my diatribe. It is not what I was trying to say, yet the failure to clearly articulate something different lies squarely on my shoulders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Smith was talking about the NFL's decision to punish Raven's player Ray Rice with only a two-game suspension after allegedly knocking his then fiancee now wife unconscious, dragging her limp body out of an elevator. It's penalty that has many up in arms for being far too light.

Joining us now my colleague "NEWSROOM" anchor Carol Costello. She wrote a really important and thought-provoking op-ed for cnn.com opening up about her very own experience with domestic violence and her anger over the NFL's decision. Good morning, my dear.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Michaela. This was really painful for me, because I've never spoken about this incident. I've never spoken about it. I just told my mother a few years ago because of so many reasons, but back in college, I had a very jealous boyfriend and in a rage one day, he threw me against the wall and he knocked me out, and things got worse from there and I choose not to go into them, but when I heard the NFL's punishment for Ray Rice and when I heard Stephen A. Smith say that "sometimes a woman can provoke a man into battering her" I just ....

PEREIRA: It set you off?

COSTELLO: I was so angry. I was so angry that I poured all of my anger into this op-ed for cnn.com and I must say it made me feel a little tiny bit better. Stephen A. Smith's apology, not so much. I mean, it's great that he went on the air, Michaela, I think he apologized, but come on, he should have been suspended for what he said.

And I'll give you one reason why. A couple of years ago, two ESPN employees used the phrase "a chink in the armor" in regard to the basketball player Jeremy Lin.

PEREIRA: Yes.

COSTELLO: One of those employees was fired. The other was suspended for 30 days. Why is what Stephen A. Smith any less offensive than what these two men said?

PEREIRA: You know, it's interesting, and as full disclosure, I know Stephen A. Smith. I don't know him to be a Neanderthal. I'm guessing, from what I make of this, this was him being tone deaf on an issue that so many people in our society are still tone deaf on. It points to a larger conversation that needs to be had, and should - we should still be having, no, Carol?

COSTELLO: OK, you say points to a larger conversation. Then why, at the very least, did ESPN have that larger conversation? Why didn't ESPN have that larger conversation? Why not have Michelle Beadle on along with Stephen A. Smith? Because she wrote a series of tweets.

PEREIRA: And she got attacked for the tweets.

COSTELLO: And bashing him, and she shouldn't have gotten attacked for those tweets. But what if she was on set with him and they were having an interesting in-depth conversation about domestic violence?

PEREIRA: Right.

COSTELLO: Wouldn't that have been better than just a taped apology from Stephen A. Smith?

PEREIRA: It sound as though, I mean you and I both know that in these circumstances, there's always more to be done, and oftentimes we take the easy way out, right? I almost think that there's an opportunity here. I think Stephen's a reasonable man. What if they did sit down and use this as a learning opportunity, a teaching moment and they took your, in fact, why don't we just tell ESPN right now, as you're on camera, that's a really good suggestion because obviously this is something that also speaks to the nature of what's going on and the NFL, which started this whole thing off. People are so upset about the fact that this guy got a two-game suspension. You get more for testing for PED or getting busted for marijuana, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, the most disturbing thing about this whole thing to me is the victim blaming, right? Because while that terrible thing happened to me back in college, I thought my friends would stand by me, but many of them blamed me. They said things like "well he's such a nice guy. He really loves you." I mean maybe this was just a one- time thing." Right? And it seems like, you know, with Stephen A. Smith's comments it was the same thing, victim blaming and I think we need to stop that. I'm tired of that.

PEREIRA: It seems that you must have made him mad is a common refrain when you hear people telling family members and loved ones that they've been hit by someone they're in a relationship with.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, I can make a lot of people mad with the things I say, but that doesn't give a man a right to throw me against the wall and knock me out, because that would be a crime, and that's called assault.

PEREIRA: Right, exactly. I want to know, Carol, there's likely the chance that there's a young woman watching right now who is in a situation similar to the one that you were in, similar to a situation too many women are in. What do you want her to know?

COSTELLO: I want her to know first and foremost it is not your fault. You did nothing to deserve that and I want her to know secondly that she should tell as many people as she possibly can, including the authorities and not be afraid. She shouldn't be afraid of the outcome, because there's nothing to be ashamed of, number one, and number two, you got to do something about it, because you don't want this guy going around doing it to somebody else, and actually, I'll take it back, the number one thing that young woman should do is run away from that relationship as fast as she can.

PEREIRA: As fast as you can, and then get help and then tell authorities. Carol, I think you're one of the bravest, baddest girls I know.

(LAUGHTER) PEREIRA: I really do, and I appreciate you coming forward now. I know this is not easy, it's not something you want, you don't want to turn the camera on yourself. But I appreciate it on behalf of other women who have gone through their own version of this kind of hell.

COSTELLO: Thanks so much, Michaela. I appreciate that. I do. A lot.

PEREIRA: This is not going to be the last we hear of this. So you and I both will be covering the story in the days to come I am sure.

COSTELLO: I hope so.

PEREIRA: All right, Carol, stay well. You can read all of Carol's op-ed on cnn.com/opinion. Be sure to watch "Newsroom" with Carol Costello, it starts in about 14 minutes from now. We're going to take a short break on our show here.

And up ahead the Ebola concerns are spreading. Two Americans have been infected overseas. Also we're going to hear from the wife of a Minnesota man who died from the virus. We're going to speak with a CDC doctor to get a little perspective on it all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DECONTEE SAWYER, HUSBAND KILLED BY EBOLA: It's a global (INAUDIBLE) because Patrick could have easily come home with Ebola. Easy. Easy. Ebola -- It's as close as your front door, my front door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That right there was the wife of an American who died from the Ebola virus, she was speaking to local news station KSTP in Minnesota. Patrick Sawyer, he contracted the virus working for the Liberian government overseas. He was supposed to be returning home soon, which is why so many people fear that the deadly virus is just one plane ride away from coming to the United States. Right now, Ebola is hitting West African countries very hard, in Liberia, two American doctors are currently fighting for their lives, suffering from this virus. So how concerned do Americans need to be? How concerned do you need to be about the spread of this disease as West Africa faces this outbreak?

Joining us to discuss from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, D. Marty Cetron, the director of the CDC's global migration and quarantine division.

Doctor, thank you so much for your time. I think - I mean you are perfectly suited to be talking about what is the biggest fear that folks are facing here. The focus you have is, if the virus is there, and we live in such a global and mobile society today, how easily can it make it here?

DR. MARTY CETRON, CDC DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL MIGRATION AND QUARANTINE DIVISION: Well, I think the most important question is how prepared are we to recognize, detect, prevent and contain, if a case were to be introduced, and rather than speculating on probabilities of the disease moving around by plane, certainly serious diseases are only a plane ride away, but the key here is to be prepared to recognize it, prevent it and contain the spread so that's an effective means. And our infrastructure, for health care and infection control, is quite different than what they're facing right now in West Africa.

BOLDUAN: Then get to that point then. Why is it so difficult to contain, number one, and why are United States hospitals, I guess is what we're talking about here better suited to handle it?

CETRON: Well, first of all, there's the resource constraints of effective infection control materials, protective equipment, and so on, but also the ability to recognize the case amidst the many other things that cause fever, and the ability to identify cases and effectively trace all those contacts. That's the way to stamp out an epidemic like Ebola. Epidemics of disease are often followed by epidemic of fear and epidemics of stigma. All these types of things occur in a social context that can make containment very, very challenging. BOLDUAN: The director of the CDC, Dr. Tom Friedman, he did say that he doesn't anticipate that this will spread to the United States. Why does he think that?

CETRON: I think what Dr. Friedman means is that I think even if we had a case introduced in the United States, the likelihood and probability of extensive spread is extremely small, and in part because we have the ability through education to recognize cases, ask physicians, make sure they take good travel histories, educate patients and travelers who've been to the area to know their risks and to monitor themselves for early recognition of symptoms, present to health care in advance, identifying that they may be at risk and implementing it very prompt and effective infection control, all the way from the emergency room visit through the hospitalization, and that knowledge has been proven to effectively contain and stamp out epidemics of hemorrhagic fevers in the past.

Just this spring we had an incident with Lhasa fever, another hemorrhagic fever that was introduced, there have been three others in the United States in recent memory and none of them spread, they were all effectively identified and contained to the individual, single case.

BOLDUAN: One of the - I think one of the reasons that this one case that they were talking about here where this man died is really stoking so much fear is that he was traveling from Liberia to Nigeria. He died after he collapsed in the airport there, which makes me wonder, is there a discussion that is needed or is already being had with airlines and airports about how to better protect and prepare?

CETRON: Absolutely. Those discussions are ongoing actively coordinated through the World Health Organization as well as individual nations and their carriers, and active engagement with CDC, and as with many other global infectious disease outbreaks, airline carriers, crew members, airports can be very important partners in that front line. Being educated, knowing the symptoms, recognizing what to do, having a response protocol, knowing who to call, those are really, really important parts of the global containment strategy to deal with threats like this.

BOLDUAN: And you talk about being educated and being prepared and knowing what to look for, for just the average person who is traveling, who travels quite a bit, what would you say? What do you look out for? What are the symptoms you should do and how do you protect yourself?

CETRON: Sure. Well, firstly, avoiding areas that are experiencing large outbreaks and coming in contact with Ebola patients is obviously first and foremost. This is not an airborne transmission. There needs to be direct contact frequently with body fluids or blood and so being able to have good sense and common sense about knowing what's going on around you is a very first start.

The symptoms, being able to - if you're in an area, if you are a humanitarian worker and you are serving on the front lines in responding to the outbreak, being very familiar with good infection control precautions, barrier precautions, using good, wise means to prevent yourself from contact with blood and body fluids is a first start. Also understanding that if you were to develop a fever, malaise, muscle aches, illness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, in a period of 21 days after your last exposure or contact to recognize that you need to call ahead and get assistance right away. Report needle sticks if you're on the front lines and you have an accidental needle stick exposure. Don't conceal that, report that up front. Knowing early about a possible exposure gives the best opportunity for getting a response.

BOLDUAN: Keep yourself and those around you safe. Important advice, Dr. Marty Cetron, thank you so much for your time.

CETRON: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Of course. Coming up next on "NEW DAY," we're going to go back to the Middle East where Israel just unleashed the largest barrage of air strikes that appears yet. A live report coming up in moments.

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