Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

First Ebola Death on U.S. Soil; Terminally Ill Woman Chooses Time of Death

Aired October 08, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: This coming Sunday marks the beginning of the incredible journey never seen before on CNN. 13 of our network's hosts and anchors took an emotional trip across several continents discovering details of their family histories that they never knew before. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: CNN all next week: They traveled the world to chase the story, but not just anyone's story, their own.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a journey of surprises.

NARRATOR: The story of how they came to be.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, "PARTS UNKNOWN": I had a great-great-great- grandfather come over to Paraguay around the 1850s.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My grandparents died here.

NARRATOR: The stories of their ancestors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where my great grandmother was given up for adoption.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: My dad's report card going back to 1944.

NARRATOR: Their history.

GUPTA: These records go back 40 generations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we found out that there's people here related to us, that's when it felt real to me.

NARRATOR: And now they share those stories with you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like going back in time.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: My colonial ancestors were on the wrong side.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like coming home.

NARRATOR: Join the familiar faces of CNN as they trace their "Roots," all next week starting Sunday on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died -- and I'm quoting here -- "an insidious death." This is the statement. These are words from the Texas hospital where 42-year-old Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national, died this morning from Ebola.

You know the story. He traveled here to America for the very first time according to relatives from Liberia late last month to reunite with his family and fiancee, who lived in Dallas. Once he became ill, Duncan ended up at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where he received this experimental drug currently being used on an American Ebola patient in Nebraska.

What Duncan did not receive a blood transfusion that, according to some, might have saved his life. His fiancee, Louise Troh, had this to say about his death and medical care. And this is what she said, releasing in a statement a little while ago.

Let me read it for you. She says this: "His suffering is over. My family is in deep sadness and grief, but we leave him in the hands of God. I trust a thorough examination will take place regarding all aspects of his care. I am now dealing with the sorrow and anger that his son was not able to see him before he died. This has dramatically changed our lives, and we will be grieving for a long time. May Eric rest in peace."

Let's go to Dallas now to our senior medical correspondent there, Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, where to begin? He hadn't seen his son before he passed this morning. He's engaged to this woman whose apartment he was staying in there in Dallas. He died this morning. What happens now to his body?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are very strict rules from the CDC about exactly how to handle the bodies of people who passed away from Ebola. The state of Texas says they are following them to a T.

There are two choices of what to do with the body, cremate it or put it into a hermetically sealed casket. The state of Texas is telling us that the body will be cremated -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: What about the questions over why he didn't receive a blood transfusion from one of the former Ebola survivors? Do we have any reaction from the family, any legal course they may be taking over that?

COHEN: Just an hour before he passed away, I was texting with Mr. Duncan's nephew. He said they were told -- he said that they wanted a blood transfusion or blood donation for him, but that they were told it hadn't been proven to be effective, and then they were later told, well, it's too late.

We asked the hospital repeatedly for a response to this. We have not heard back from there. And of course it's true it hasn't been proven to be effective, in the same way that ZMapp hasn't been proven to be effective or other drugs haven't, but doctors are just doing what they can, things that theoretically make sense and then hoping for the best.

BALDWIN: Can you just also remind us just his personal story? He had been in Liberia. He had not seen Louise Troh, this woman with whom apparently he is recently engaged. He comes over. It had been some 16 years. She's the mother of his child. At what point did they get engaged?

COHEN: You know what, actually, Brooke, I'm not familiar with all of the details. I'm not sure.

I do know that family members have said that when he came here, he wasn't feeling ill. He didn't realize that he had Ebola. And that was why he was staying with his fiancee and her children. He didn't realize he had been infected.

BALDWIN: That is a point we're getting to here right now. Elizabeth Cohen for me in Dallas, thank you.

But, first, Thomas Eric Duncan's family is fighting accusations that he lied on this travel questionnaire, these multiple screenings at the Liberian Airport, if he had been exposed to Ebola or not. Prior to Duncan's death, Liberia and Texas officials were even considering bringing possible charges against him thinking he may have hidden the truth about his exposure when he helped this pregnant woman who ultimately died back in Liberia.

But now we are learning that that woman may not have been tested for Ebola at the time.

Let's go live to CNN's Nima Elbagir. She's live in Monrovia for us and actually traced his steps before his trip to the U.S.

Nima, what have you learned?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We spoke to his friends, his neighbors, those close to him in those days preceding the moment he got on that flight, Brooke, and they all paint a pretty compelling picture that he had no idea.

Even the Liberian health officials tell us that Thomas Eric Duncan got on a plane on September 19. Marthalene Williams, who is considered patient zero in this outbreak, she passed away on that same day, but there was no sense that she had died of Ebola. It took the contact tracing when those who had been in contact with Williams began to die that that led the Liberian health officials to surmise that she had had Ebola.

They didn't test her body. It was just tracing back those cases. It took them from the 19th when Duncan left to October 1 to put a quarantine in place. It's absolutely likely that he did not know she had Ebola before he landed in the States and presented at that hospital with his symptoms, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thus, he had been truthful at the airport and leaving to see this woman in the States all along. Nima Elbagir in Monrovia, Nima, thank you.

And this just in, the dog of an Ebola patient in Spain has been euthanized. There have been protests on the street and online to save Excalibur. That's the pet, this dog of nursing assistant Teresa Romero Ramos.

Look at these people. This is about this dog. The name reported by Spanish media outlets here. She is the first known patient to contract Ebola outside of Africa. Madrid's health authorities said the dog seen here on Facebook posed a risk of transmission. Reportedly, this dog showed no signs of sickness.

And happening right now at the Pentagon, President Obama meeting with his national security team about ISIS. The terror group has continued their march in Syria and Iraq even after U.S.-led airstrikes began weeks ago. Will this impact the coalition strategy moving forward? We will discuss.

Plus, a woman living with terminal brain cancer plans to end her life and now she's focusing on bringing attention to this death with dignity law that exists in just a few states. She would like it to go nationwide. Hear exactly what she wants and why some are pushing back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's talk about ISIS. ISIS will continue gaining ground. ISIS will continue taking cities. That's not just an option, that's the dire prediction from the Pentagon. Right now, we can tell you that President Obama is there. He's meeting with his national security team to get the very latest on the war on ISIS.

Jim Sciutto, let me bring you in, our chief national security correspondent for us, standing by at the Pentagon here as this meeting is taking place. Also with me here on set, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, CNN global affairs analyst.

Gentlemen, welcome.

Jim, just first to you at the Pentagon. It was your question to Rear Admiral John Kirby that prompted this whole warning from the Pentagon. Let's just back up and remind everyone what you asked.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This was a pretty remarkable moment in the press conference, because at first Admiral Kirby said something that a number of U.S. officials have been saying to me in the last 24 hours and that is that Kobani may very well fall and, frankly, if it does, it's not a strategic problem for the U.S.

I pressed Admiral Kirby and I said what about dozens of other towns and cities in Syria that are under assault from ISIS? Are they also vulnerable and will the U.S. come to their rescue? Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: How do you deny ISIL the safe haven without taking back that territory?

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The long-term fix is -- and we recognize that -- is going to be competent ground forces that can retake territory from them. We have been nothing if not brutally honest about the fact that there's a limit to what military power is going to do here.

SCIUTTO: Are you preparing the public in effect for the fact that not just Kobani, but other Syrian towns, may fall over the long haul of this air campaign until you have those competent forces on the ground?

KIRBY: I think we all should be steeling ourselves for that eventuality, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Steeling ourselves for other cities to fall.

It's a pretty sobering prospect. Now, in Iraq, U.S. officials say there territory does matter because they do have competent ground forces in the Iraqis and Kurds, or ground forces at least, and they claim some gains there, including getting back the Mosul dam, the Haditha dam, but again, Brooke, you and I have talked about this. When you look at the broader map of Iraq and ISIS-controlled territory, that's not changed very much even after 61 days of the U.S.-led air campaign.

BALDWIN: Looking at the map, Jim and Colonel, and you see Syria and Iraq in yellow and then the red area these are the consistently controlled areas by ISIS.

But, you, Colonel, were listening to the admiral and you were just sort of saying this isn't -- controlling territory in Syria was not what this was about.

JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: He's correct. I'm glad that he's just being very honest and laying it out.

What we all have to remember is the job in Syria for the airstrikes was to disrupt and degrade ISIS. Take away that safe haven. No one is going in there to grab those towns. It becomes a P.R. nightmare because now Twitter is blowing up about Kobani. It's the Whac-A-Mole syndrome that happens. And we can't save every little town.

BALDWIN: You say the center of gravity is Assad. What do you mean? REESE: I personally believe everyone -- this was two years ago.

Assad is the center of gravity on this whole piece, whether it's down the Saudi -- the Turks want to know what we will do with Assad. And so this Assad piece -- and he's still flying aircraft in Syria and dropping bombs on the Free Syrian Army, and we're flying around trying to degrade ISIS. I believe, personally believe that Assad is the center of gravity on this whole issue.

BALDWIN: Jim Sciutto, we have also talked about the recent criticism from Gloria Borger's interview with Leon Panetta, former secretary of defense. We have heard criticism from Robert Gates. We have heard criticism from now it's Jimmy Carter. The Pentagon today as we mentioned the president meeting with teams there, what other skepticism are you hearing?

SCIUTTO: You have heard from here in subtle messages, Brooke, that there is some question as to whether you can accomplish this without U.S. ground forces.

I think that's why you heard General Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others say, including the questions to us at CNN, that, listen, if they believe ground forces are necessary or ground controllers, U.S. special forces, et cetera, they may indeed ask for them. Whether the president agrees to them is another question. They

But At least are leaving that option on the table. One other thing I would raise in response to a smart point that the general made just about territory in Syria, yes, gaining back those cities was never the strategy, but it does raise a question as to how you deny ISIS a safe haven in Syria without denying them territory.

What the Pentagon will say is that you make them change their habits. You got them on the run here. They have got to run and hide. They are changing their habits. But the fact is in Syria it's such a mess today they have a lot of places to hide. How well can you degrade them purely from the air? That's something we will see play out over the coming weeks and months and years of this campaign.

BALDWIN: Hiding and hiding with civilians, which obviously is a big concern. Jim Sciutto, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, I really appreciate it, both of you.

REESE: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, let me show you a picture. Do you recognize this man? Could you even possibly begin to recognize this man on -- this masked man in this ISIS recruitment video? Coming up next, we will talk to a forensic expert who will explain how the FBI is using voice analysis to try and figure out who he is and where he is from.

Also breaking news into CNN right now. Police in Pennsylvania, they're holding a news conference updating the search for the man wanted for killing a state trooper. Eric Frein has been on the run for weeks. They spot him. They can't find him. They spot him. They can't find him. Here's what they have, a note, and police moments ago read the note they say Frein left behind in the woods confessing, detailing the crime. We have that for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have just turned around sound from this news conference, which we will play for you in just a second.

But just to back up, we know that police in Pennsylvania have been looking for this guy by the name of Eric Frein. They believe he's the person responsible for shooting and killing one state trooper and injuring another. He has been, they believe, hiding out and fleeing from them in the woods.

They have now read this confession, this note they have found. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE PATROL: The note pages appear to be written in a first-person narrative format and include the following passages.

"Friday, September 12, got a shot around 11:00 p.m. and took it. He dropped. I was surprised at how quick. I took a follow-up shot on his head, neck area. He was still and quiet after that. Another cop approached the one I just shot. As he went to kneel, I took a shot at him and jumped in the door. His legs were visible and still.

"I ran back to the Jeep. I made maybe half-a-mile from the G.L. road" -- that's the game lands road -- and hit a roadblock. I didn't expect one so soon. It was only 15 to 20 minutes. I did a K-turn a quarter- mile from them and pulled into a development I knew had unfinished access road. Hearing helos, i just used my marker lights, missed the trail around a run-off pool and drove straight into it. Disaster. Made half-attempt to stash AK and ran."

Significantly, I would note that a review of the notes did not give any indication that the identities of either trooper shot were known by the shooter. I will tell you after reading this cold-blooded and absolutely chilling account, I can only describe Eric Frein's actions as pure evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Pure evil, he says.

Miguel Marquez, let me just bring you in. You have been working this one for us.

Just to hear the details of how Frein describes how he shot these men and the fact that they are then reading the details, why do you think they're reading this note to us?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think they want the public to know just how sick an individual this is. This is an area of Pennsylvania that is beautiful this time of year with the leaves changing, with the hunting season beginning. They want people to know if they are on it that this is an area they need to stay clear of.

As well, Corporal Bryon Dickson was the individual who shot and killed in that note, and Troop Alex Douglass was the person who was injured very badly by him. And they're pouring everything that they can at this point in order to find Eric Frein.

BALDWIN: How big is the search area? Remind us of the charges as well.

MARQUEZ: It's a massive area.

There are two -- in addition to everything he's already facing, there are two new charges, possession -- two counts of possession of weapons of mass destruction. That's because at an encampment where they discovered, they found two pipe bombs. What is disturbing of that is that police also in this press conference describe that they could have been either lit by a fuse or used a trip wire.

Clearly, one of the concerns as hundreds of searchers, about 150 searchers during the day, 150 at night, more, many more in the thousands of support individuals over many, many miles in the countryside of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Water Gap in that area looking for him, the concern is that some of these may be set as IEDs, that there may be trip wires out there.

He's been planning this meticulously for years, probably has stashes, weapons, food, everything he needs to survive for quite some time.

BALDWIN: Miguel Marquez, thank you very much for that.

Coming up next here, how the FBI is using voice analysis to track down a possible American jihadist who appeared in this ISIS video.

Also a story that all of you are talking about. This young woman with terminal brain cancer will be taking a lethal dose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITTANY MAYNARD, CANCER SUFFERER: I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side, and pass peacefully with some music that I like in the background.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, Brittany here wants to bring attention to the death with dignity laws. So, I will sit down with different people on all sides of this debate. Do not miss this special town hall conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)