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At This Hour

Awaiting Press Conferences on Ebola Patients; New Info on NY Police Attacker in Queens; Lawmakers Question Safety of U.S. Troops Sent to Ebola Hot Zones; Interview with Rep. Patrick McHenry; Nina Pham Speaks at Press Conference

Aired October 24, 2014 - 11:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are awaiting two news conferences set to begin at any minute on Ebola. One here in New York City, which will update us on the condition of the first Ebola patient in the country's largest city. Craig Spencer is at Bellevue Hospital. Mayor Bill de Blasio will tell us how he is doing that. Will happen any minute.

Another news conference from the National Institutes of Health in Maryland where we will find out how Nurse Nina Pham is doing, we know she's doing very, very well. We are told she is now Ebola-free and is being discharged from the hospital. That is remarkable news. So these two news conferences due to begin any second. We will bring them to you the minute that they start.

As we've been saying the, the country's largest city dealing with its first case of Ebola. Dr. Craig Spencer in isolation at Bellevue Hospital here in Manhattan. There are some people asking about why he was allowed to travel so much within the city, who he came in contact with before his fever rose to more than 100 degrees. Officials say Spencer, who returned to New York a week ago after bravely treating Ebola patients in Guinea, he was in a Brooklyn bowling alley, he went for a three-mile run, he road the city's crowded subway system, again, all before he was systematic. There's now a Go Team from the centers for disease control here in New York City.

I want to talk about news on both fronts today, the news surrounding Dr. Spencer, also the remarkable news we just got that Nina Pham has been declared Ebola free and is being discharged from the National Institutes of Health.

Joining us by phone are chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta; and Elizabeth Cohen joins us live from Bellevue Hospital where we are awaiting the news conference any second.

Sanjay, let's start with the remarkable news, the good news. Just a week ago, Nina Pham was airlifted to the National Institutes of Health. She had Ebola. Today, we just learned tests showed she is Ebola-free and is being discharged.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's fantastic news, John. Obviously, it's great news for her. I think it's also -- it can be really important scientifically as we see more and more patients in the United States starting with Dr. Brantly who was diagnosed in Liberia and flown over here, as was Nancy Writebol, but they both got treatment here. Nurse Pham, Nina Pham, as you mentioned, they've all done really well.

When we talk about the mortality rate surrounding Ebola, it's been as high as 90 percent, we know at times, in outbreaks in Central Africa. With early detection, treatment, even just fluid replacement, possibly experimental drugs, they seem to be making a difference. So it's really good news.

Likely what happened, John, is she got a couple blood tests over a few days that showed that she had no evidence of the virus in her blood anymore and that's what it takes to declare somebody Ebola free.

BERMAN: I want to talk more about this remarkable strength of success in treating Ebola in the United States but even as some cases come to a close very favorably, I might add.

Elizabeth Cohen, outside Bellevue Hospital, there are new concerns here in New York City with the first Ebola patient in the country's biggest city. And now we're learning that the fiance of Dr. Craig Spencer, she is under quarantine in that hospital behind you.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we've just learned that. CNN's Poppy Harlow heard from that from one of he sources. And this is to be expected, really. Obviously, a fiance is going to have close contact with the patient, perhaps helped him if he was feeling sick. And also, you know, Ebola can be spread sexually through bodily fluids so these are important things to keep in mind.

And I think New Yorkers get this. The New Yorkers I've been talking to, they get it. They get that there are different levels of exposure. She obviously was much more exposed to Dr. Spencer than your average person walking around. I have to say, John, talking to people here, people don't seem panicked. This hospital is full. I was just inside. People aren't scared. They're not staying away from this hospital.

BERMAN: Look, Elizabeth, that's so important to say. New Yorkers are always the ticked off a about something so, yes, people are ticked off about this notion of Ebola and where Dr. Spencer went, but I don't sense any fear as I'm walking the streets in this city.

Sanjay, let's talk about the fact that Dr. Spencer's fiance is in the hospital. I don't recall any other contacts with the patients here in the United States, the different Ebola patients. I don't recall them being quarantined in a hospital itself. They've been isolated in an apartment here or there. But the fact she is in the hospital, does that indicate to you a heightened degree of concern about her risk?

GUPTA: I don't think so. I think when you talk about the quarantine, first of all, it's -- what we're trying to achieve, people are trying to achieve is protecting the public's health. There's no evidence that she is sick so there's no evidence that she would transmit the virus. It's not even confirmed she has the virus, so what I think -- there could be a logistical thing. It could be the apartment where she was may not have been a good place for her to stay indoors, to be monitored. You remember, in Dallas, the family and friends of Mr. Duncan, they were essentially told to stay in that apartment until they could find a new apartment or a new place for them, which they eventually did. It could be that in New York at Bellevue Hospital they now have an area set up. So people who need to be monitored in this way, have a place where they can do that reliably inside. But no evidence she's sick and certainly no evidence that she's going to get anybody else sick.

BERMAN: I should say now I do recall some of the health workers in Texas who never were diagnosed with Ebola did spend time at the hospital. I think they lived out of that hospital for some time as they were in that 21-day period. So this is the type of thing that can happen.

Sanjay, Elizabeth, stick with us.

Right now, we are waiting to hear from Mayor Bill de Blasio in New York to get the latest on the condition of Dr. Spencer. We're waiting to hear from the National Institutes of Health to hear more on the remarkable news of Nurse Nina Pham and being released, declared Ebola- free.

Stay with us.

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BERMAN: @THISHOUR, New York police are on alert after yesterday's random attack on four police officers in Queens. We are learning more about the attacker, a senior law enforcement officer tells CNN that they have no indication that Zale Thompson had tied to radical Islamic groups that, despite a Facebook page under his name that had an image of a warrior and a quote from the Koran about judgment against those who have strayed from the faith, two officers were wounded in that attack. One had a serious head wound. Two other officers shot and killed Thompson before he could do more harm.

Now, whether Thompson had jihadist tendencies or not, the timing is notable given the two fatal attacks on soldiers in Canada, one in Ottawa, the other outside Montreal. Both of those cases do have links to radical jihadism in Canada and come after security officials warn of the threat of lone-wolf attacks.

I want to find out more about what all this information means. We want to speak with security affairs expert and former CIA officer, Peter Brookes.

Peter, thanks so much for being with us.

Help me unpack this. Because we are being told, CNN is being told by a senior law enforcement official here in New York that the man behind this brutal hatchet attack had no ties to radical Islamic groups. Nevertheless, he had clear messages of hate, he had quotes from the Koran, angry quotes, I might add, on his Facebook page. So is this a case, again, of where it's possible to have no ties to a radical group, you have no communication with a radical group, but maybe you're inspired by this type of message?

PETER BROOKES, FORMER CIA AGENT: That's right, John. I agree with you. And I think the operative word there in that statement from the public official was "group." Because he may not have had any ties but these individuals in Canada and New York may have been inspired but what we've seen coming out of, for instance, the Islamic State, which has called upon its followers, its sympathizers, its foot soldiers, to attack Americans, Canadian, Europeans, Australians, anybody involved with the coalition in Syria and Iraq and especially those in the security services and they mean the military or law enforcement. So just because somebody hasn't had training by these individuals or had specific contact with these groups doesn't mean they can't be self- radicalized and sympathize with them and then take up action that supports their agenda. So, yeah, I'm not convinced at all that these people don't have some sort of ties, whether it's inspirational or otherwise, to what is happening in the Middle East right now.

BERMAN: And, in fact, based on what we've been hearing from officials over the last several days and weeks, one of the things that concerns them is the possibility of these people acting alone. So, as officials tell us, he did not have ties to radical Islamic groups. He came up with these ideas maybe on his own from the Internet based on however he was living his life. Maybe he was disturbed. That doesn't make him any less dangerous to officials, police officers, military personnel on the ground, does it?

BROOKES: Absolutely right. I mean, that's the problem here. I mean, we can try to dig deeper and deeper into this, but I think we values to look at the evidence that's presented in front of us. We've had a number of terrible incidents here, smaller scale than something like 9/11, obviously, but this is part of the Islamic State's and other extremist groups, the Khorasan group and others, this is part of their agenda. So it doesn't diminish the threat we're facing at all, no matter where that inspiration comes from. We're in uncharted water here and I'm afraid, John, we may be dealing with what I'm calling the new normal.

BERMAN: Talk to me about the new normal, then. How bad can this get? Because I know one of the fears here is that it's very hard to stop some lone guy. Yes, maybe he's disturbed. The guy in Canada, he had a disturbed past as well. Even if they are disturbed, how do you stop them if they're acting alone?

BROOKES: Very, very difficult. And your guests have talked about that over the last several days. This is a real challenge because if somebody is working alone, it's difficult they don't speak to other people. They're internalizing it. People may dismiss them as being mentally disturbed whereas opposed where you have a cell where people may be talking to other people and there's opportunities to infill trait that. This is very, very difficult. But what I'm worried about is we've made it so difficult for groups to come into the United States like we saw with 9/11, to get at aviation, although they continue to try, and what they're going do -- and this goes back to Osama bin Laden, John. He talked about the value of recruiting converts who are already in place that can take up arms and support al Qaeda or, in this case, other violent extremist groups agendas. So I call it the new normal, because what we're going to see is smaller attacks. But it's actually an old concept.

BERMAN: It's the type of thing that you know is being discussed at the highest levels of security agencies here in the United States and Canada all over the world.

Peter Brookes, thank you so much for being with us.

BROOKES: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Ahead for us @THISHOUR, a quick response team, an Ebola czar, new screenings at airport, we'll talk about the federal response to Ebola. Is it enough? What more can be done?

Stay with us.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH BURGER, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED: The CDC guidelines are still unclear on the most effective protective equipment specifically allowing hospitals to select protective equipment based on availability and other factors. We are your first line of defense. No nation would ever contemplate sending soldiers into the battlefield without armor and weapons. Give us the tools we need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Lawmakers at an Ebola hearing this morning. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is hearing testimony on the safety of the U.S. troops in Ebola-affected countries and how the nation is trying to deal with Ebola here in the United States.

I want to bring in Congress Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina.

Congressman, you've been at the hearing. Thank you for being with us.

I don't know if you heard the news while you were in the hearing. We got good news on Ebola here in the United States from the National Institutes of Health that Nurse Nina Pham has now been declared Ebola- free and she's being discharged.

There has been a remarkable streak of success in dealing with some of these -- all of these Ebola patients in the United States except for the first one, Thomas Eric Duncan. Does this rate of success to you indicate that the United States has turned a corner and is now treating this in a satisfactory way?

REP. PATRICK MCHENRY, (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, in terms of getting sick patients here in the United States and taking care of them, we have the best health care system in the world, for all of its faults and failures, so our success rate has been very good. You're exactly right about that.

The concern that we have and the reason why we had the hearing today is to make sure that the government has a coordinated response on the international front as well to make sure the American citizens and our military men and women that are in harm's way are protected. The hearing today did not tell me the government is doing a good job of coordinating that response. Though, if we do take care of these patients, we will get a good result from it. That is clear. But it's the policies and procedures that we want to make sure are in place so that our Department of Defense personnel, men and women of our health care front lines of our health care delivery system are protected, and we didn't get good answers today, unfortunately.

BERMAN: Part of what you're talking about is what will happen largely in the West African nation, 100,000 U.S. personnel are there. Does it give you confidence, though, based on what you are seeing here, that these cases are being isolated when they come up and it is not spreading here in the United States anymore? And does that not perhaps give you confidence about what might happen when these troops go overseas? I guess what I'm asking is, what more do you want to see?

MCHENRY: Well, what I'd like to see is -- well, what we've seen with the CDC is nine different protocols, nine different changes in recent months on how to deal with an Ebola -- somebody who has been in an Ebola-affected region. What we want to see is solid protocols for individuals coming home from this region. Right now, the standard science tells us a 21-day isolation period is the best way to go. Our government has said a 10-day isolation period is what they want to see. The doctor we saw yesterday came up with signs of Ebola on the 11th day. So what I'd like to see is the government get -- move forward with sound science, have the protocols in place to make sure that those that could potentially be exposed to Ebola or separated from population so that this doesn't spread, so we don't have any more patients. That's what I'd like to see.

BERMAN: There does seem to be a discussion of protocol for people returning to the United States where they might self-quarantine or at least restrict their movements. It should be a --

BERMAN: Like self quarantine or at least restrict their movements --

(CROSSTALK)

MCHENRY: But it should be a self --

(CROSSTALK)

MCHENRY: It shouldn't be a self quarantine.

BERMAN: Being isolated?

MCHENRY: Yes. There shouldn't be a self-reporting of this. I think we need to have solid policies and procedures so the American public can have confidence in their government and confidence that we will not expose people needlessly to an absolutely horrifying disease.

BERMAN: Congressman Patrick McHenry, thank you so much.

The news conference at the National Institutes of Health is about to start.

I want to add one piece of breaking news. We've learned from Barbara Starr that U.S. personnel in Canada are being told not to wear their uniforms when they are not on duty. That is following the attack in Ottawa. We'll have much more on that in a second.

Let's listen now to the NIH where Nurse Nina Pham is being discharged.

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: You have already noticed a guest of honor who will be introduced in a few moments by Dr. Fauci.

I do want to recognize the people standing behind me who have been part of the medical team that has cared for Nina Pham. Among them, really distinguished and remarkably dedicated nurses and social workers and physicians. Among the physicians, we have Dr. Rick Davey, Cliff Lane, Dr. Tara Palmore -- and who am I leaving out? Yes, I've got you -- Dr. John Gallen, the director of the NIH Clinical Center, all of whom have been involved directly in the care of this patient.

We think of the National Institutes of Health as also the national institutes of hope and I think hope just went up a notch today by the fact that we are all here to celebrate the recovery of a patient who was clearly afflicted by a disease and, yet, under the careful care of this staff, is here before you.

I'd like to call on Dr. Tony Fauci to come and tell you more about why we are all here. Dr. Fauci?

(APPLAUSE)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Thank you very much, Francis.

As you probably are anticipating, I have some very good and happy news to impart on you right now. Our patient, Nina Pham, is free of Ebola virus. We know that because we have multiple determinations of her PCR. She has no virus in her. She feels well. As you will see in a moment and probably have already seen, she looks extraordinarily well.

I want to first tell you what a great pleasure and, in many respects, a privilege it has been for me and the staff here of the Clinical Studies Unit, the special Clinical Studies Unit here at NIH to have the opportunity to treat and care for and get to know such an extraordinarily courageous and lovely person. She, as an individual, is extraordinary but she also represents the nurses and health care workers who put themselves on the line and put themselves in the risk to take care of people who are in such need. So I'm going to introduce and bring her here.

But before I do, I want to have a shout-out to people and individuals. First, thank you very much to the doctors and nurses of Texas Presbyterian who took such good care of her before they sent her to us.

I also want to have a recognition for the extraordinary staff of doctors and nurses here in our own Clinical Studies Unit who did an extraordinary job of taking care of Nina.

Nina is very sensitive about the role of nurses because she's such a devoted nurse. So as a tribute to her, I'm wearing the colors of her nursing school, Texas Christian. So we should have a shout-out for Texas Christian for training such an extraordinary individual.

(APPLAUSE)

FAUCI: So what we will do, I will have Nina read a statement. She will not answer any questions. Then I will answer a few questions and then she will go back to Texas to resume a normal, healthy and happy life -- Nina?

(APPLAUSE)

NINA PHAM, NURSE INFECTED WITH EBOLA VIRUS: Good afternoon. I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today.

I would first and foremost like to thank God, my family and friends. Throughout this ordeal, I have put my trust in God and my medical team. I am on my way back to recovery even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate.

Of course, I am so incredibly thankful for everyone involved in my car from the moment I became ill and was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, up to today, my discharge from the clinical research center of NIH.

I would especially like to thank Dr. Kent Brantly for his selfless act of donating plasma to me.

As a nurse, I have a special appreciation for the care I've received from so many people, not just doctors and nurses but the entire support team.

I believe in the power of prayer because I know so many people all over the world have been praying for me. I do not know how I can ever thank you, everyone enough for their prayers and concern of hope and love.

I join you in prayer now for the recovery of others, including my colleague and friend, Amber Vinson and Dr. Craig Spencer.

I hope that people understand that this illness and this whole experience has been very challenging and stressful for me and my family. Although I no longer have Ebola, I know that it may be a while before I have my strength back. So with gratitude and respect for everyone's concern, I ask for my privacy and for my family's privacy to be respected as I return to Texas and try to get back to a normal life and reunite with my dog Bentley. Thank you, everyone.