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ISIS Forces Advancing on Two Fronts; Ebola Airport Screenings Begin at JFK; Thousands Expected in Weekend of Resistance; Protesters Fill Streets in St. Louis; Fighting the Ebola Epidemic; Candidate Faces Sexual Harassment Claims

Aired October 11, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can do it, Ned.

NED NORTON, HERO OF THE YEAR FINALIST: Yes, you can. Good job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did up to 10.

NORTON: I'm building them up, building them stronger, so they can go out and live life like they're supposed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick and here's what's happening right now.

Well, breaking news. Two key locations in danger of falling to ISIS and now there is word that there may be 10,000 terrorists on the move, heading towards Baghdad. We're live there next.

Plus, the fight against Ebola in full swing. New safety precautions just going into place at one of the nation's busiest airports. Also, a look live at St. Louis, where a weekend of protest is underway. The big question, will today's rally remain peaceful? We're live, on the ground.

And we begin with the militant group ISIS. It continues its assault on two key fronts this hour, making advances in both Iraq and Syria. Coalition airstrikes are ongoing, but the militants don't seem to be slowing down.

Here's what we know. Officials from Anbar Province claim that ISIS dispatched as many as 10,000 fighters there. The Anbar Provincial Council is asking for the U.S. to send ground forces to stop the ISIS advance.

Hours ago, coalition airstrikes killed more than 30 ISIS militants west of Ramadi. U.S. and allied war planes had been hitting ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq since yesterday, striking a command and control facility, a staging building, a fighting position, and two small units north of Kobani.

On the Turkish border with Syria, reports that the city of Kobani is also in a very bad position. The Kurds fighting ISIS are greatly outnumbered. Let's bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman in Baghdad, where there's concern

that ISIS is closing in on Iraq's capital city.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, they're in Baghdad, according to Iraqi security sources. They believe there are many sleeper cells in the city and that is why we see almost on a daily basis one or two suicide bombings, car bombs, going off in the capitol. But the immediate threat to Baghdad, of course, is from the outside. They're in a place at the moment, we understand, just about eight miles from Baghdad International Airport.

We were out on the Baghdad defensive perimeter the other day. We were told by Iraqi officials there that at the moment, ISIS is just conducting hit-and-run attacks on that defensive perimeter. But really, the real danger is along the Euphrates River, just to the northwest of Baghdad, where we've seen ISIS taking, for instance, just a few days ago, the town of Hitt.

They're also -- they've apparently today surrounded the town of Haditha, also on the Euphrates River. That city particularly important because it is right near a very large dam from where much of the water -- from Baghdad comes.

Now several weeks ago, U.S. and coalition airstrikes on ISIS in that area prevented the takeover of that dam. But, of course, now their hold on that area is beginning to look very shaky. We understand from the Pentagon that they did drop supplies, ammunition, water to some beleaguered Iraqi outposts -- Iraqi Army outposts in the area. But that doesn't seem to be quite enough.

As you mentioned, the Anbar Provincial Council is asking Baghdad to get American troops to deploy in Anbar, to stop the onslaught of ISIS, but the Baghdad government says they haven't received that request.

And in the past, Baghdad has been adamant about not allowing U.S. combat troops in Iraq and the Obama administration basically says the same thing. That they have no intention at this point to deploy U.S. troops here.

FEYERICK: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Well, is it time to rethink the strategy against ISIS?

Let me bring in CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona.

And, Colonel, as we just heard, there are up to 10,000 troops headed to the Anbar area. Takes a lot of coordination to get them there. But that is on the doorstep of Baghdad. The question, where are the Iraqi troops? Why haven't they been able to push these fighters back?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's the question of the day, and in spite of all this American air power and coalition air power that's being brought to bear, the Iraqi army still has not been able to dislodge the ISIS fighters from virtually anywhere. Everywhere they've tried to go, except the Mosul dam and hang on to the dam of Haditha, the Iraqi Army has pretty much failed miserably.

I talked to an Iraqi official the other day and he told me that the command structure is what has evaporated. He said the leadership is all but gone. So what we're seeing is ISIS taking advantage of this.

And you brought up a very good point, was being able to move 10,00 fighters from Mosul to Baghdad. That's 250 miles. Consider that they're doing that at the same time they're running a battle in Kobani.

FEYERICK: Yes.

FRANCONA: Which is 500 miles away from Baghdad. So their command and control is still fairly effective despite the pounding they've taken from the air.

FEYERICK: But let's talk about that. Why aren't these airstrikes aiming directly at these fighters? They've got to be moving with caravans, convoys, you know, those are the kinds of things that satellites could pick up from the air in the desert. So why aren't there more direct strikes on the fighters themselves?

FRANCONA: Yes, good point. And you know, you can pick these up from drones, from all the other reconnaissance aircraft. And also the pilots themselves are flying armed reconnaissance. In other words, they're fully armed and they're looking for targets on the roads. But ISIS has taken to moving, you know, on the back roads. They're also moving at night. They're trying to space themselves out, move when they know we're not in the area.

We can't be over every area at one time. They're pretty aware of when we're flying and we're not flying that many sorties. If you look at the sortie count, it sounds high, but it's really not. Four hundred airstrikes over a few -- over these couple of weeks is nothing compared to the normal ops tempo that we in the Air Force are used to. So --

FEYERICK: You know --

FRANCONA: We're not putting the resources that we have to good use.

FEYERICK: You know, I want to talk about that in just a moment. But you've got -- between 8,000 and up to 30,000 ISIS fighters. Where's the vulnerability? At some point don't they overextend themselves to such a point that either they wear themselves down, or is this such a matter of getting troops on the ground, putting them in there to fight perhaps what could be a weakened ISIS?

FRANCONA: Yes. This is -- this is a really good point. What we're seeing is asymmetric warfare pretty much at its finest. They're using everything they have to their advantage and to our disadvantage. They're moving on the ground in small units, doing these hit-and-run tactics and they're dispersing themselves, mixing themselves up in the civilian population, blending in very well.

We're trying to do this in 30,000 feet. It's much -- it's very difficult to do that. When the pilots are over Kobani and they're watching the fighting, they could see the fighting but they can't tell the good guys from the bad guys. And once day they get within, say, 500 meters of each other, you can't put bombs on that unless you've got eyes on the target.

FEYERICK: Right.

FRANCONA: So without people on the ground to control this, it's very difficult to be effective in these close quarters.

FEYERICK: Right. And so not only are they chameleons blending into the general populous, but that's another way that they control the people who are living there to fear and terror that they are in fact among them.

Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, thank you for your insights.

And happening right now, passenger screenings for Ebola are beginning at JFK airport in New York. It is the first of five airports that will get enhanced screenings around the country. Public health officials are trying to prevent another Ebola-infected person from entering the United States.

Let's bring in Alison Kosik who's at JFK today.

Alison, do they really believe they can stop somebody who might be infected from entering the United States simply by taking their temperature?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deb, I think what you're seeing is the CDC coming out and really setting those expectations and saying, you know what, the screenings that they put into effect starting here at JFK are really just one layer of what they're trying to do, to try to keep someone who may have Ebola from leaving the airport and getting into the general population.

So what's happening here today, as what will happen at four other airports starting on Thursday here in the U.S., is once these passengers who come from some of these hot zone areas where Ebola has really ravaged their countries in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is these passengers are going to be let off to a designated area, to have their temperatures taken. They're going to fill out questionnaires, they're going to be asked questions about their travel.

And if they've had any contact with anybody who has Ebola. And if everything checks out, they will be allowed to go ahead on their way. However, they will be asked to hand over their contact information. Also to log their temperatures for another 21 days.

And that gets to your point. The question of whether or not this is really effective. And that really is a good question. And it's something that the CDC realizes is something that's being asked.

I want you to hear what one official said earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. MARTIN CETRON, CDC INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: This century screening procedure, for example, would not necessarily have caught the patient in Dallas as indicated. And no port of exit or port of entry or airline response procedure will supplant the need for state and local public health departments, clinics, hospitals, to be prepared to detect a case might it occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And in Duncan's situation, the man in Dallas who you remember, his situation was, he didn't -- he didn't show any signs of being sick when he was at the airport. Only after he left the airport did he exhibit those signs. And that is the criticism or the worry that many people have, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, there's no question. Because you can answer a question, but if you don't answer it truthfully, then, obviously, it's going to make it much more difficult to track, though it sounds as if, at least, the health care workers will have a list of people that they can follow up with.

All right, Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

And folks from around the nation are rallying in St. Louis. It is a weekend of resistance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Happening now. A weekend of resistance rally in St. Louis. Supporters of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who died at the hands of a white police officer, are calling attention to what they say is racial profiling and police violence nationwide.

CNN's Jason Carroll is at the rally.

And Jason, you were there on the ground in the early days of the Ferguson riots. People now, from as far away as the West Coast, how are these different? What are you feeling? What are you sensing?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, still sensing the same anger that we saw out here weeks ago. This Justice for All Rally is about to get underway in this park here that you see.

Just going to do a bit of a pivot here. Because if you turn around, you can see they're just now starting to file into the park here as things get underway. These are some of the demonstrators, several hundred of them, that started several blocks up this way. They're now making their way into the park here where they're going to be holding this rally. The rally going to be taking place for several hours.

The protests so far this morning have been peaceful. The protesters, you can see, carrying all sorts of signs, chanting, "no justice, no peace." Peaceful protest this morning. We saw some demonstrations last night in front of the Ferguson Police Department. That was peaceful as well. They're out here in support of Michael Brown, but also VonDerrit

Myers, the 18-year-old that was shot and killed by an off-duty St. Louis police officer on Wednesday night. Police saying that Myers fired first, fired three shots at the officer, the officer returned fire.

Myers' parents, Deborah, do not believe that narrative. They believe that Myers was unarmed. I spoke to his parents yesterday. They are still grieving for the loss of their only child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYREETA MYERS, MOTHER OF VONDERRIT MYERS: It's the worst pain ever. Shouldn't no parent have to put their kid away. Kids is supposed to bury their parents. He was my only child. My only baby. He was my baby. And they took him away from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: A mother very much -- a mother very much in pain there. The Myers' family calling for peaceful demonstrations, whether it be today or tomorrow or going forward.

As for this demonstration, the folks plan out -- to be out here in this park, Deborah, for several hours -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: And Jason, you look at the case of VonDerrit Myers, it's a little bit different, because police there saying that he did have a gun, Michael Brown did not so the officer in that case say he reached for the officer's gun.

What is it that the protesters really want to communicate? What is their message to everyone?

CARROLL: Well, it's interesting that you use the word communication because my -- the perspective that I get from being here on the ground is that there is no real communication with most of the people here. Whatever people may believe, they're entrenched in their beliefs. Whether it be those who support the police department, many of those people, most of them white, feel as though they can't express that point of view without being called a racist.

On the flipside of this, you have many in the African-American community, who do not trust the police, who feel like white people aren't listening to what they have to say. So when it comes to communication, again, I find that to be an interesting word, because I feel like people are expressing their points of view, but I'm not sure one side is really listening to what the other side has to say.

And throughout all of that, the facts, whatever the facts may be, seem to be getting lost in many ways, between all the rhetoric and all the protesters going back and forth. And people like that, who obviously have very strong points of view, but a point of view that people don't hear. That's someone who's angry. But the facts get lost in all the anger. FEYERICK: All right. Jason Carroll for us there on the ground. We

know that you're busy working your contacts and your sources there. Thanks so much.

And some of the protests that happened this week got very violent. That's because some folks don't trust the police. Many of them, in fact. So how do you bridge that gap? We're going to talk about that, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And this is a live look at protesters rallying in St. Louis, Missouri, today, days after another black teenager was shot and killed, this time by an off-duty police officer.

I'm joined now by Cedric Alexander, the deputy chief operating officer of Public Safety in DeKalb County, Georgia. He's also the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. He's been working with law enforcement in Ferguson amidst all these protests.

You are seeing a general distrust, not only of police in Missouri, but across the country. Is that a fair statement?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT EXECUTIVES: That is a fair statement. And as president of NOBLE Exec I'm starting to hear a lot of that coming from across the country, not nearly because of the situation in Ferguson, but we think about and look at the last number of recent incidents that we have seen where there's been conflict that has been very troubling between police and community.

FEYERICK: And are we talking about white officers and black officers as well?

ALEXANDER: We're talking about officers.

FEYERICK: Officers in general.

ALEXANDER: We're talking about officers in general.

FEYERICK: So why now? Why -- why is this anger, this outrage at how people are being treated? Was it just something that needed a window to open up?

ALEXANDER: Well, I think you have to put it into historical context. For a long time now, there has always been challenges between particularly communities of color and the police. And as we move forward, and even though we've seen some great advances in the profession, in the relationship building, there's still an undercurrent of concern here. And what we saw stemming from Ferguson and everything post-that, anything that looks similar to some question around the police, people are questioning it now.

They're not feeling good about it any longer. So we've got to really get a message out. We've got to start talking about this issue because, number one, you've got to have police in your community. And police have to have communities that trust them as well, too. So as one of your guys was saying on the ground there in Ferguson a few moments ago, it's all about communication.

FEYERICK: Right.

ALEXANDER: There's totally a lack of that that's occurring right now.

FEYERICK: So when we look at what's happening, why do you think -- you know, Ferguson appears to be making some effort to smooth things over. But how long is that going to take? I mean, this is clearly, we're talking about a problem that has been decades, generations in the making.

ALEXANDER: Absolutely. Absolutely.

FEYERICK: This doesn't fix itself overnight.

ALEXANDER: No, it doesn't, because it's been unattended for a very, very long time in that community and other communities as well, too. So what we have to remember is that in order to fix that relationship, it's going to take some time which makes it very difficult in Ferguson, of course, is the fact that you have a community that is outraged going back to the Michael Brown shooting.

Nothing has changed in that community one way or the other. And -- but we all have to be patient and wait for an outcome in the judicial system. Whether we trust that system or not, that is the system we have in this country.

FEYERICK: Right.

ALEXANDER: But until then, people are feeling a lot of anger, a lot of angst. We're continuing to see incidents that occur across the country. That continues to fuel that. And I will say, as I've been saying for the last couple of weeks, is that what every police department in this country and every community in this country need to do right now, whether you have a great relationship with your police department or not, is that you need to set down and you need to start talking about these anxieties and fears.

FEYERICK: Right.

ALEXANDER: So that we can reduce that and start trusting each other again, or maybe for the first time.

FEYERICK: Right. And --

ALEXANDER: In many communities.

FEYERICK: Ignoring it will not make it go away.

ALEXANDER: Ignoring it will not make it go away.

FEYERICK: Absolutely. It's all about communication.

ALEXANDER: Absolutely.

FEYERICK: Cedric Alexander, thank you so much. We appreciate you taking time on this Saturday today.

ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me.

FEYERICK: And we turn to ISIS, which has now a grip on a town visible from the border with Turkey. Turkey is hearing the calls to tackle ISIS head on. We'll go to the border next to see just how dire the situation is at this moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Mortgage rates dropped this week. Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: We are following major developments on the war against ISIS. ISIS fighters advancing on two fronts, threatening key areas in Iraq and Syria. Anbar Province, just west of Baghdad, is under attack, up to 10,000 ISIS troops have been sent from Syria and Mosul, Iraq.

Officials in the Anbar want the central Iraqi government to ask the U.S. to send ground troops immediately to save the province from what it calls imminent collapse.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: U.N. Special Envoy to the Syria conflict, Staffan de Mistura, says there could be as many as 10,000, maybe more, civilians trapped on the other side of the Turkish-Syria border behind me in that town of Kobani.

We haven't seen ourselves from our viewpoint here evidence necessarily to that effect, but the key here is as this conflict moves so fast, who controls that border crossing behind me down there. We're hearing from Kurdish fighters that ISIS could be as little as 800 meters away from it, and we have in fact still seen ourselves some Kurdish fighters just over towards the eastern side down there, suggesting ISIS are far from their goal of controlling that main exit from the civilians that are effectively encircling those Kurds and civilians still inside that particular area.

But as you can hear behind me, there is constant heavy machine gunfire and explosions during the day and the sense of really a conflict in the city shifting increasingly westward. That's key, because it's reducing the area in the northwest of the city that the Kurds still, it seems, control. There's very little exit for them to the north. The Turkish military seem to have closed the border and ISIS advancing to the west.

We could be in the closing days here, certainly, possibly less. A lot of fear, though, to work out how many civilians are trapped still inside and how many in fact can get out -- Deb.

FEYERICK: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, for us, thank you. And from ISIS back to the Ebola crisis and a new assessment from the

CDC. No matter what we do, we can't get the risk to zero. We're all worried. Up next, we'll separate Ebola facts from fiction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. died earlier this week. And worldwide, the number of Ebola-related deaths tops 4,000. The crisis is keeping a lot of us up at night. But the fact is, it is not that easy to contract Ebola. Once you have it, though, the virus moves quickly and mercilessly through your body.

Our Miguel Marquez explains how it happens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The clock ticking from the moment the Ebola virus enters the body. The disease not easy to contract, only carried in bodily fluids, blood, saliva, mucus, sweat, tears, semen, vomit, urine or feces, and it can only enter the body through direct contact with cuts or abrasions on the skin, or through eyes, nose, mouth, throat or reproductive organs.

People can also get infected when eating meat from or coming in contact with contaminated animals. The virus can survive several hours in a dried state on door knobs or countertops. If the fluid remains wet and at room temperature, it can survive for days outside the body. Most people get it through contact with bodily fluids of patients or the deceased.

But when is someone with Ebola actually contagious? The short answer. When they start to show symptoms. Those symptoms, though, can take from two to 21 days to kick in. In other words, a person could travel and interact with others for days, weeks, without passing on the virus. The average incubation period is eight to 10 days.

The early symptoms of the disease -- fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat are often mistaken for flu, malaria, typhoid fever or dysentery. But then things get worse. Vomiting, bloody diarrhea, often internal and external bleeding, skin rashes and purple sports on the skin.

Once the symptoms set in, the person is contagious and has six to 16 days to either beat the virus or die. The death rate high. 50 percent to 90 percent chance of death depending on the strain and access to medical care. If an infected patient with a strong immune system gets proper care, the chance of surviving goes up. But if they survive, the virus could remain in the semen for up to three months.

And if you survive, you have immunity for at least 10 years. But what's still unknown is if you're immune from other strains of Ebola.

Answers and questions for a frightening disease.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: So that is the real deal about Ebola. But it's easy to get caught up in the fear and the worry.

We're joined by a panel of doctors to separate fact from fiction.

Dr. Alexander Garza is the associate dean at the St. Louis University College of Public Health and Social Justice. He's a former assistant secretary for Health Affairs.

Also with me, Dr. Mark Rupp. He is chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where a journalist is being treated.

Plus, Dr. Seema Yasmin, staff writer with "The Dallas Morning News." She's a former CDC disease detective.

Dr. Yasmin, do you think that the fear factor is unnecessarily driving up both the cost of protecting the U.S. against Ebola but also the sort of general fear? Look, a lot of people believe if somebody is near you, that they're contagious.

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, FORMER CDC DISEASE DETECTIVE: There's so many misconceptions about Ebola, Deb, and understandably, it is a very scary disease, and we're seeing it run its course in West Africa, where so many thousands of people have died, very painful and horrific deaths. So we understand that. But it's really important to keep a perspective on this.

We keep hearing about Dallas, where I am right now. It's being called ground zero for Ebola. It really isn't. Ground zero is West Africa. So any of our fear, anxiety, and concern has to remain focused on West Africa. As long as the epidemic continues there, there will be imported cases in the U.S. and in parts of Europe.

FEYERICK: And Dr. Rupp, you're the chief of infectious diseases at Nebraska University Medical Center, where the NBC photojournalist is being treated for Ebola. Clearly, West Africa, as Yasmin said, the epicenter of all of this, but what is your facility able to learn from the mistakes in Dallas, both to recognizing and treating and making sure everything is contained?

DR. MARK RUPP, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: Yes, Deb, so as an academic medical center, I think really part of our mission is to learn from these cases. And so, clearly, we're trying to learn as much as we can from the two cases that we've cared for in our biocontainment unit, using investigational agents and immune serum to try to buy time for our patients until their own immune system kicks in.

But I think we're also learning from this case in Dallas that, you know, these patients can show up in our emergency department if they travel to those endemic areas and we have to be able to quickly recognize those cases and screen them and get them into the appropriate care. But as your piece has already documented, this is not a particularly contagious virus and it's something that I think people need to keep in perspective.

That there's a lot of other risks in their lives that are probably greater right now than Ebola, although obviously everybody is focused on it.

FEYERICK: Well, everybody is focused on it, obviously, because it is so devastating, if you do contract it.

Dr. Garza, it was very interesting. I was speaking to a number of people in the Liberian community in New York City just a couple of days ago and they said the death of Mr. Duncan has actually frightened them. That they're not so sure that even if they do run a fever, they're actually going to go to the hospital to get treated.

Now that presents a whole another layer of issues in terms of trying to contain this, does it not?

DR. ALEXANDER GARZA, SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Right. And I think that speaks to the whole idea of not trying to stigmatize people that have either come from these countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, New Guinea, but also not trying to be a little bit overboard with going out and looking actively for Ebola in those cases where it doesn't fit the case definition.

So just because you're from Liberia, if you haven't traveled there in the last three weeks, you don't fit the case definition for Ebola. And so there should be no reason for people to suspect that they are a case.

FEYERICK: Although some of the people actually say that even if they get visitors, they're not necessarily going to let people know that either. So there are a lot of different challenges that are being faced.

Dr. Rupp, your hospital right now has somebody who has Ebola. Is there any pushback from the nurses or the doctors? Are they a little bit concerned, even though they're incredible professionals? Are they worried?

RUPP: Well, Deb, I think that, as you pointed out, you have to have a healthy respect for this virus, but the folks who are caring for this patient here, our doctors, our nurses, the whole care team, you know, is taking the appropriate precautions. We're very confident that we're caring for this patient safely and we're not at great risk.

FEYERICK: Dr. Yasmin, you said something very interesting, which is, look, you know, the people -- West Africa is ground zero. It's not Dallas, it's not other places, even though the fear that it's coming to the west has obviously taken root. But do you believe that these new screening measures will, in fact, be able to protect people who may have been exposed to the virus?

YASMIN: So, Deb, if we look historically, when we've tried to do this, before, other countries have attempted fever screening. For example, Canada and parts of Asia in 2002 and 2003, it was attempted again with swine flu. And it didn't make a big impact with those two epidemics. We've not tried this before in the U.S., so it remains to be seen how it will unfold here. It's really adding another layer of a public health intervention, so 100 percent of people flying out of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are currently screened for a fever. This adds an additional check, but it's a very tricky virus to try and

track, Deb, because of the fact that people can carry it and in fact not even show symptoms for 21 days.

FEYERICK: Right. Dr. Garza, you know, I was -- I was on the plane coming here the other day and I was a little bit concerned to be in the bathroom. I didn't want to touch anything, because it can live on surfaces. I wasn't necessarily worried about the person sitting 10 rows behind me, I was worried that they'd been in, you know, a facility where maybe they'd touched something and could have potentially exposed others. How do you control that?

GARZA: Well, that's hard to control. Because, look, we live in a world filled with microbes and viruses and we also live in a global society where we travel around the world at a moment's notice. And so, really, I think the key, though, there is education about the virus, about how you contract it.

FEYERICK: Right.

GARZA: And how difficult it is to contract it, as well.

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: Well --

GARZA: Now if I could --

FEYERICK: Well, Dr. Garza, Dr. Seema Yasmin, Dr. Mark Rupp, we are all going to be looking to you over the course of the next many months for your insights and your guidance to keep this under control.

Thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

GARZA: Thank you.

YASMIN: Thank you.

FEYERICK: And ahead, disturbing allegations in a closely watched California congressional race involving a candidate considered to be a rising star in the GOP ranks. We'll hear from the accuser, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: It was already one of the most closely watched congressional races of the midterm election involving a man considered a new hope for the Republican Party. Well, now it is getting ugly, with claims that the openly gay GOP candidate harassed a staffer.

We want to warn you, this next story has some graphic content. It is not suitable for children.

CNN investigative reporter, Chris Frates, sat down exclusively with the accuser.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): Carl DeMaio is a rising Republican star, backed by heavyweight congressional leaders like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, even endorsed by Michael Bloomberg. He's positioned as a GOP candidate for a new generation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Carl DeMaio, a new generation Republican --

FRATES: After losses in 2012, top Republicans concluded in a review they must recruit more minority candidates. It's a problem DeMaio helped solve. Just look at how a local newspaper described him in its endorsement. "A gay man who will chip away at the party's image as intolerant and inflexible."

National media has repeatedly declared DeMaio a candidate to watch. DeMaio first came onto the national scene when he lost to Democrat Bob Filner in the race for San Diego mayor. But Filner was forced to step down after 18 women claimed sexual harassment. DeMaio tried to make Filner's behavior a campaign issue.

CARL DEMAIO (R), CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: And you need a mayor who is willing to insist zero tolerance when it comes to the issue of sexual harassment.

FRATES: But now DeMaio's being tested by allegations about his own sexual misbehavior and accusations of harassment. It's an issue that escalated this week when he was asked about it at a campaign news conference.

DEMAIO: Absolutely untrue.

FRATES: The allegations come from a former campaign staffer who sat down on camera with CNN. Todd Bosnich says he joined DeMaio's campaign last year eager to work for a candidate who shared his values and who, like himself, is an openly gay Republican. But he says he was fired after complaining about DeMaio's aggressive sexual behavior.

TODD BOSNICH, FORMER CAMPAIGN STAFFER: He asked me to come over to his office which is in the back, and when I came over to his office, his door was open and he was masturbating.

FRATES (on camera): And so what did you see when you walked in?

BOSNICH: I saw his hand -- his penis in his hand. And he was -- had a smile on his face and as soon as I came over, he was looking at me.

FRATES: So there was no mistaking what was happening?

BOSNICH: There was no mistaking whatsoever.

FRATES (voice-over): Bosnich, who became the campaign's policy director, says DeMaio would repeatedly find him alone and make inappropriate advances, massaging and kissing his neck and groping him. He says it started one evening after drinks with the staff at a local bar. Bosnich says DeMaio gave him a ride back to his car.

BOSNICH: We were making small talk on the way back. And when he pulled up to my car, he reached over into my lap and grabbed my crotch. And I flipped out and I pushed his hand away.

FRATES (on camera): And how did it make you feel?

BOSNICH: I just was shocked because I'd never had anyone do something like that to me especially in a position of authority and trust. And at the time, I just figured, well, maybe he was drunk and blew it off. But he progressively and progressively -- the inappropriate touching incidents continues from there.

FRATES (voice-over): It was several more months, according to Bosnich, before he mentioned the behavior to the campaign manager.

BOSNICH: The campaign manager, who, you know, laughed it off, that's just the way Carl is, and that if I really felt that uncomfortable, I shouldn't have let him know that I'm a gay man.

FRATES (on camera): And so he was essentially saying to you, it was your fault?

BOSNICH: Exactly. He was implying that it's my fault, that it's incumbent on me to stop Carl DeMaio from these behaviors. And I was really offended.

FRATES (voice-over): A few weeks after the alleged masturbation incident, Bosnich says he confronted DeMaio.

BOSNICH: You need to either stop or drop out of the race, was basically my main point. And then it was the very next day, in the morning, that the campaign manager called me into his office and said that Carl lost his trust in me and that he had terminated me. He offered me a position in the county Republican Party and also told me to sign a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for $50,000.

FRATES (on camera): Was that hush money?

BOSNICH: You know, I'll let it speak for itself.

FRATES: How did you look at it?

BOSNICH: I took it as an attempt to bribe me to keep my silence.

FRATES (voice-over): Bosnich says he left the campaign without taking any money or signing any papers. He recorded an interview with a local conservative radio station outlining his allegations. That interview never aired.

But CNN obtained a copy of that recording. After hearing it, we took Bosnich's allegations directly to DeMaio, catching up with him after a campaign news conference.

(On camera): He says that, you know, you were inappropriate in the office, you -- that you would touch him and kiss him, grab his butt --

DEMAIO: All I can say is --

FRATES: OK, let me -- DEMAIO: -- the police department has --

FRATES: I just want to -- let me finish the litany. And he also says that you went out for drinks with the staff, you drove him home.

DEMAIO: All not true. None of it's true.

FRATES: You grabbed him crotch.

FRATES (voice-over): DeMaio denied Bosnich's claims saying that they are the cover story of a plagiarist and suspected criminal.

DEMAIO: This is an individual that was let go by our campaign manager for plagiarism, a well-documented plagiarism incident of taking a report from the "National Journal" and passing it off as his own work. He was terminated. He admitted that he plagiarized. He apologized for plagiarizing. And when we told him he was no longer welcome in the staff and in the campaign office even as a volunteer, he left. Days later, he broke in.

FRATES: DeMaio claims the San Diego Police Department is investigating Bosnich for breaking into DeMaio's campaign headquarters, smashing computers and cutting phone lines just days before the primary.

DEMAIO: It's unfortunate. He's clearly troubled. He got caught for the damage that he did to the campaign and now he's manufacturing in essence a cover story to explain away his actions. It's unfortunate. It's untrue. And my hope is that the police department will hold him accountable for his actions against our campaign.

FRATES (on camera): And you can provide us with the evidence --

DEMAIO: Absolutely, absolutely.

FRATES: That shows both the break-in --

DEMAIO: Absolutely, absolutely.

FRATES: And both the evidence that would refute his claims here that you were somehow inappropriate?

DEMAIO: Absolutely. Absolutely. We would be happy to do that. Absolutely. Why don't you come back to the office, we'll walk you through every single e-mail, text message. I think that you will be satisfied.

FRATES (voice-over): We went to DeMaio's campaign headquarters and were briefly shown some documents and other materials. They wouldn't us let us copy them or describe them to you. And they did not on their own appear to refute Bosnich's claims.

Police confirmed they investigated the break-in and sent their findings to the district attorney for review, and Bosnich confirms he was interviewed by police. (On camera): Four months after the campaign office break-in, police

still haven't charged anyone with a crime. And they refuse to discuss the case on camera or name any potential suspects.

Did you break into Carl DeMaio's office?

BOSNICH: No, I did not.

FRATES (voice-over): Bosnich also denies that he was the one who plagiarized from the "National Journal."

(On camera): After interviewing Bosnich on camera, CNN repeatedly tried to get detailed answers from the DeMaio campaign. First the campaign spokesman demanded to talk to my bosses and then had a top GOP consultant take over that call accusing CNN of going on a partisan witch hunt.

(Voice-over): When we followed up with a detailed list of questions, including whether the campaign manager knew about Bosnich's complaints, the campaign then hired two high-powered Washington attorneys who asked for even more time and more information about what CNN had.

CNN followed up with a second detailed letter laying out the information they requested. The next day, CNN finally got a response from the lawyers, contact the campaign with your questions. Back to square one. Their statement was almost exactly what they said when we first asked about it.

This is not the first time DeMaio has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. Last year, a fellow city councilman said he caught DeMaio masturbating in a city hall restroom, twice. It's a claim DeMaio denied. Even taking a polygraph test to support his denial.

DEMAIO: This lie crossed the line. It's so gross, it's so untrue. It's so humiliating that it demands a response.

FRATES: Now Todd Bosnich has taken an independent lie detector test to support his allegations.

BOSNICH: It corroborated my account of being sexually harassed by Carl DeMaio.

FRATES: Bosnich's attorney gave us a copy of the polygraph results and the report says no deception indicated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well next we go to the White House. What is President Obama saying about the developments in Iraq.

The next hour of NEWSROOM begins after a short break.

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