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New Day

How Well is Obama Handling Ebola and ISIS?; Wendy Davis Criticized for New Campaign Ad; U.S. Troops Battle Ebola in Liberia; NYC Restaurant Smoke Bomb Attack; SHINE Encourage Women in STEM

Aired October 13, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's start with Ebola, shall we? So you have John McCain says we need a czar, he says, to deal with this. Do you think that's a good step? Do you believe that there's any real point of criticism here, Margaret Hoover, about what the U.S. is doing with Ebola? We seem to have everybody running around.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, there are not a lot of places where a conservative is going to make the argument that you should have a stronger role for the federal government. But the point of the federal government is to secure the citizenry, to secure the population, and a pandemic outbreak, or the possibility of a pandemic, and frankly the possibility of panic, begs for strong leadership, a clear line of authority, and for Americans to know -- nurses to know what to do, doctors to know how to act, individual citizens to know how to handle this, and that it is handled.

So I think actually there is a very clear argument for a buck stops here person. Somebody who is going to be in charge, who is going to take responsibility, a clear line of authority to handling something that could become quite disastrous.

The president has an opportunity to be the face of leadership in that. I mean, you remember the last presidential cycle election. Chris Christie and President Obama were the face of handling Sandy.

Anytime there is a crisis that looms right before an election the president has an opportunity to take the bully pulpit and be the face of leadership for the American people. So I think he has an opportunity here that he may not be rising to.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: John, you seem to get in there?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So the person who would normally be in charge, the buck stop here, would be the surgeon general. We don't have a surgeon general right now because even though President Obama nominated someone a year ago, it's been held up by the Senate since March.

Republicans in the Senate were now asking for a czar, which is a really bizarre change, all of a sudden conservatives are asking for czars, are actually blocking the appointment of the very person that would normally be running the point. That said, it's bully pulpit position. The administration is taking action and when you try to apply domestic politics to pandemic, you start looking silly because it really exist beyond domestic politics.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It seems to be a little bit of a naked ploy. I got to be honest with you, Margaret. There is no reason to say right now that we don't what we're doing. What happened in Texas? They don't know what happened in Texas. They know it's very dangerous to treat people with Ebola. You have one case on American soil to be concerned. Where is the panic?

HOOVER: There isn't a panic. We need to stop, prevent a panic and I am not saying -

CUOMO: That's what the Republicans are doing by frontrunning this issue, by saying he is not doing it right?

HOOVER: I don't think you actually see people blaming President Obama for an outbreak or for two cases. But that's not what's happening here. All John McCain is saying is you need a clear line of authority in order to be able to handle this.

Nobody knows who is in charge. That's a reasonable plot. Nobody is blaming the president for cases of Ebola in Dallas. But you do need somebody in charge. Who is in charge? By the way, it doesn't have to be surgeon general.

Because we know the surgeon general is a policy position. It's not the prescriptive on the ground position. It could the HHS secretary. It could be somebody else. Everybody needs to know who is in charge.

AVLON: Fair enough. What you are seeing is you're starting to see candidates start to play the Ebola card, right. They are tying it to the border. You saw Tillis do it in North Carolina. Scott Brown mentioned it up in New Hampshire.

What it is, is let's be honest, it's an attempt to create a drum beat where ISIS gets infused too, which is things are going to hell in a hand basket. The president of the United States hasn't, you know, been - manage to control a number of crises on national front, put Republicans in charge.

That would make a lot of sense if the math worked remotely, but Republicans control Congress and going to have anything to do with ISIS or Ebola at the end of day.

CAMEROTA: Let's play for you a sound bite from Leon Panetta yesterday on a Sunday show in which he talked about the president's leadership style and basically said that he is too insulated by his advisers. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I always think it's a good idea to bring new life into the White House. The problem with the White House is, as you mentioned, is isolation. You isolate the president from a broad range of views.

And I understand this has developed over the years, more concentration of power in the staff of the White House. As a result the president doesn't get exposed to a broad range of views that he needs in order to make the decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: John, is the president disconnected? Is it time for some new blood in the White House?

AVLON: This is a perennial problem in the White House. I think Leon Panetta is speaking the truth. You do want different voices in there. That's why there are usually shakeups of senior level around every two, two and a half years in the White House.

You know, Panetta is a guy with enormous bipartisan credibility. I do think that in this administration, any administration at this period, you want to bring in people who are going to shake up the status quo and bring new voices into the room.

CUOMO: How do you get people in the government now when the guy who is on his way out. It's a lame duck session. They are not going to be able to get those nice jobs.

AVLON: You should be motivated by service, not whether you're going to be on the right part of an administrative cycle.

HOOVER: The criticism is that his insular team, his inner circle hasn't changed. That's who he is getting his direct advice from. Not from his experts who are actually heading up agencies.

I find it very rich criticism because this was the chief criticism that President Obama had of outgoing President Bush. That he was too insular. That he didn't have new voices. That he was isolated and out of touch.

Sure enough, it is a problem of the office, not of the individual and it sort of goes to show that no president is isolated from that.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about some of these midterm races including the gubernatorial race in Texas where Wendy Davis is running for governor. She put out an ad that has become very controversial. Let's show you what she is saying about her opponents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A tree fell on Greg Abbott. He sued and got millions. Since then, he spent his career working against other victims. A woman's leg was amputated, was not disabled because she had an artificial limb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Margaret, you are wincing. HOOVER: I mean, Wendy Davis is a desperate candidate. She has been trailing Greg Abbott for a long time now, right. She is nine points behind by all of the polls. So she's, this is a sort of beg, feels like a desperate blow.

CAMEROTA: He is disabled. He's in a wheelchair.

HOOVER: I think Texans know that. It's no surprise that Greg Abbott has a disability, but it's just feels like a very low blow. She's trying to point out a supposed hypocrisy, which my husband always said hypocrisy is the unforgivable sin in politics.

AVLON: I can't believe you said that.

HOOVER: I can't believe why anyone who won't admit it in the spoils of war.

CUOMO: Is this motivation for public service?

AVLON: This is definitely a cheap shot. This is the kind of thing if a Republican ran this ad, Democrats would be all enflamed about this. The only layer of complexity in this is trying to point out hypocrisy.

And I don't think when there is policy hypocrisy, this is an ugly, awkward, ultimately, I think, self-defeating way to get at it. But when people are supportive of, you know, hard core tort reform and acting that way in their public life, they may have had a different record in their personal life. That's worth honing in on. In that wheelchair, it causes more problems than it solves. That's one of the key lessons of politics. You don't want to do that. But we got a lot of great races three weeks out, real tight this year.

CAMEROTA: So what will happen?

HOOVER: Republicans by a hair. I'm going to tell you, it's the last gridlock in Congress. Nobody thinks the (inaudible) editorial page is centered right by any means. They said if you look at history, more will get done because the Senate is a moderating force and it won't create this log jam in the Congress. I actually think we will see things done by Congress. You can laugh all you want.

AVLON: I am. I like the optimism. That's an impressive spin designed to appeal to independents. I appreciate it. But the idea that we're giving Republicans control of both sides of Congress is going to leave --

CUOMO: They are motivated by public service, John.

CUOMO: Boy, I'll tell you. That's an oasis. I'll tell you that right now. One thing, you do have to remember, though, negative ads are done for a reason. They work, better than anything else in a campaign. That's an unfortunate reality. They happen every time. They keep happening because they're effective.

CAMEROTA: Margaret, John, thank you. CUOMO: And the other war, of course, when you are not dealing with politics, you have ISIS and you have Ebola. Fighting Ebola in the middle of the hot zone, American military personnel aren't figuring out what to do with ISIS.

They are figuring out what to do with Ebola on the ground in Liberia and they are taking this fight very personally. We're going to talk with two men leading the effort. Coming up, you want to hear them. They are really impressive guys.

CAMEROTA: And New York City police are searching for a suspect who smoke bomb a crowded popular restaurant from the wrong side of the subway grade. How did he get in there and what does it say about how safe America's biggest terror target is? New developments ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: -- center for health care workers. Joining us from Liberia right now are Colonel James Czarnik, he's U.S. Army, Africa's command surgeon and Rear Admiral Scott F. Giberson. He is the acting deputy surgeon general and is with the U.S. Public Health Service. Gentleman, thank you very much more joining us today.

We know you are somewhere that you believe is the utmost importance. So let me start with you, Colonel Czarnik. What is the current state of play down there? How much progress has been made? What have you learned in terms of unanticipated obstacles? Do you have what you need? Just take us through it.

COLONEL JAMES CZARNIK, U.S. ARMY AFRICA'S COMMAND SURGEON: We have built a tremendous momentum right now since we were on the ground just a little over 30 days. We started with a small group. What we started to put into play was the building of these 17 Ebola treatment units.

The building of the life support systems, if you will, for the soldiers and sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard folks will be coming after us, and really developing the cooperation with the dark team of the USAID and the mission here.

So as you start out, there are a lot of unknowns. Now after 30 days, we feel like we have the momentum needed to pursue this mission.

CUOMO: It's good to hear. Admiral Giberson, there is word that Liberian health care workers are saying they may strike as early as today. What does that mean in terms of how you can train up people to deal with this and the potential chance, let's say, that you may have to have some of your men get involved in duty that you did not anticipate?

REAR ADMIRAL SCOTT F. GIBERSON, U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE: Well, the point we want to focus on, as Colonel Czarnik mentioned, we are building our momentum. We are building our capacity here. One of the focuses of our mission specifically is to provide a facility to take care of healthcare workers especially Liberian national health care workers. So when they are taking care of their Liberian nationals, their people, they feel comfortable that they will be treated if, in fact, they happen to get infected. So the same for international health care workers.

Really the focus of our specific hospital is to create that environment so that people feel safe and secure that if by chance they get ill, we will have a place to take care of them, a high level care.

CUOMO: Well, Colonel, you know, the concern is obvious. We want to make sure that our fighting men and women are safe. Nobody understands completely how this virus gets from one place to the other regardless of the science.

And that's the big concern, right, is how do you keep the U.S. troops out of harm's way? Is there any anticipation for what you have to do if a mission changes and you need to get closer to those who are infected?

CZARNIK: So, Chris, I will tell you that the focus of our secretary of defense and our chairman and our U.S. government, quite frankly is clear that right now we will not be doing direct treatment, but we will be training not only Liberian national health care workers and others to work, but the international community that comes in.

We are starting to see that build out of other nation's health care workers coming. So if such a change comes down, we will take our orders from the top and we'll respond, but right now, I don't see that happening.

CUOMO: Colonel, tell us what you see on the ground and why you know you need to be there?

CZARNIK: Chris, I'm passionate about the battle and it's a fight because this enemy knows no borders. It does not discriminate based on gender, ethnic background, based on religion and it moves at the speed of transportation.

You cannot sit on the sidelines and watch this develop. There is no nation that is immune. So I would ask people to think about action. This is about loving your fellowmen and love is a verb.

That means you act. That's why I'm here because this is about saving people from an international threat.

CUOMO: Admiral Giberson, Colonel Czarnik, thank you very much for being on the ground. Thank you for taking the time. Please let us know what we can do to help get the word out about what matters where you are, back here at home, we are happy to do it.

GIBERSON: It's our privilege, Chris, I appreciate it.

CZARNIK: Chris, thank you very much for your time.

CUOMO: All right, be safe, fellows. Alisyn, back to you. As you heard the colonel say, love is a verb, it's what you do when they're doing the work that needs to be done in a very dangerous place right now.

CAMEROTA: So true, Chris. He made really poetic points there. Thank you for that.

Well, now to a bizarre attack to tell you about. A man creeps out of an underground subway hatch, sets off a smoke bomb at a New York restaurant then disappears. So just how safe is one of the world's largest mass transit systems?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: This morning, police in New York are hunting for a suspect who emerged from underground and tossed a smoke bomb at diners in a crowded Greenwich Village restaurant. CNN's Rosa Flores has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A guy came out of the subway over there, jumped out and threw a smoke bomb at people here.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A frightening incident at a New York City restaurant as smoke billows around a crowd of diners. Surveillance cameras capturing footage of this man popping out of an emergency subway hatch and throwing a smoke canister before disappearing back underground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of what's going on, it's scary. It's nerve racking.

FLORES: The attack raising questions about the city's ability to secure its extensive underground subway system.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You're talking thousands of miles. Who knows of these grates and escape hatches and doors that lead to the outside? You have the idea that obviously a terrorist could pop up out of the grates and throw a real bomb and then escape down below. It does raise concerns.

FLORES: According to authorities, no one was injured in Friday's attack. Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect who was wearing an American flag t-shirt and is believed to be in his mid-30s. So far no connection to terrorism has been reported.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing and will hopefully shed light on the suspect's motive and how he went undetected underground.

FUENTES: About five and a half million people a day ride on the New York subway. You're looking at a very difficult task to add enough security to completely prevent an incident like this.

FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Rosa, thank you.

Now we turn to our "Science of Work" series. Only a quarter of people who work in fields like science, technology, engineering and math or STEM are women. New initiatives to keep girls interested in stem fields are getting a warm welcome including a unique one that combines math with movement. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): It may look like they're playing games, but these girls are doing geometry. The combination is the brain child of dancer and MIT graduate, Kirin Sinha, who based her after school program "Shine" on the theory of kinesthetic learning.

KIRIN SINHA, FOUNDER, "SHINE": By moving your body and using your brain simultaneously you're better to retain information. I couldn't recite the periodic table, but I can play piano pieces or do dance moves to what I learned years ago.

PEREIRA: The girls act out math problems using games and dance moves.

SINHA: This you reflect over access.

PEREIRA: Sinha says the results speak for themselves.

SINHA: We saw almost 300 percent improvement in their math scores. We saw 100 percent improvement in confidence. So much of what this program is about is not only getting girls competency up, but a lot of it is about attitudes, how they view themselves, how they view the field.

MOLLY CALKINS, STUDENT: Before we had this, it was more of like the nerds do the math. You can still have fun doing the dance. It's less a stereo type.

PEREIRA: It's that change in attitude that Shine believes may be the key to inspiring girls everywhere to stick with STEM.

SINHA: I do think that this is a kind of programming that can help girls all over the country regardless of where they are. It's a really exciting time of growth and real chance for us to change an entire generation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: So great. Did you see that, 300 percent increase and improvement?

CAMEROTA: That makes perfect sense. You have to engage people with math or you glaze over.

PEREIRA: Did you glaze? I glazed.

CUOMO: I'm not great with numbers, but 300 percent I get. Having the two girls at home changed me. I was raised by such strong women, three sisters and a mom always there. You do have to help them emphasize science and math. It's changing. Every piece I've loved that you've done, that one particularly strong.

PEREIRA: Score a win.

CUOMO: All right, so we want to keep talking about this Dallas nurse, she is the first person to become infected by the deadly virus within the United States. It's very important to know how it happened. We're going to ask a Sanjay Gupta and a Texas congressman, Pete Sessions. His district includes that nurse's hospital.

CAMEROTA: Chris, as you know, debates are raging in this country about whether the rise of ISIS says anything about the Islam or the Muslim world. Ben Affleck and Bill Maher got into it. We have heated discussions as well. In a few minutes, religious scholar, Reza Aslan, joins us for a candid discussion about this very hot topic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)