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New York Doctor Tests Positive for Ebola; NYPD Officers Attacked with Hatchet; Recall Pressure Mounts in Airbag Problem; Human Remains Tested for Ties to UVA Case

Aired October 24, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks a lot, Chris. Have a great weekend. Thanks so much.

NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM Ebola in the big apple. Ahead this hour, facts, not fear, what you need to know, how it happened and what the doctors are saying this morning.

Plus breaking overnight a new massive airbag recall, now its German carmaker Audi. Our CNN Money unit is tracking it all for you.

And 18 days. That's how long it reportedly took investigators to act on the tip in the Hannah Graham case. Was it too long before her body was found?

Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We begin with breaking news and rattled nerves here in New York City. This morning an American doctor is hospitalized in isolation battling the first case of Ebola to crop up in the nation's most crowded city. 33-year-old Craig Spencer had been treating Ebola patients in West Africa. He returned to the United States one week ago today and he had cleared the enhanced screening for Ebola at New York's JFK airport.

That's because his symptoms did not appear until six days later, just yesterday. His fever spiked and he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, one of the medical facilities designated by the state to handle Ebola cases. Today three people who came into contact with Spencer are in quarantine because they dealt with him when he was sick and doctors say Spencer posed absolutely no threat when he visited a bowling alley in New York City or rode the subway. His symptoms had not yet surfaced and therefore he was not contagious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We feel good that we were fully prepared. There's no reason for New Yorkers to panic or feel that they have anything to worry about on the subway system, et cetera.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So you're saying, Governor, that -- CUOMO: Everything that had to be done was done.

CAMEROTA: So you would ride the subway today? You will ride the subway today, we hear?

CUOMO: Yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As will I.

Let's check in with CNN's Poppy Harlow. She's -- she's outside of Bellevue Hospital where Spencer is now undergoing treatment.

How is he, Poppy?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we know as of yesterday from the mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio is that at that time he was in, quote, "good shape." We really don't have any other updated details. Obviously the focus here is on treating him and saving his life, Carol.

Bellevue Hospital where I am is the hospital designated in New York City to prepare for something like this. They have been preparing for months, even in recent weeks, running drills.

The message here from officials in New York to New Yorkers is do not panic. We are as prepared as we could be.

You should also know overnight the CDC Rapid Response Team landed here in New York. They are also here helping, but here is how it all unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: We want to state at the outset there is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed.

HARLOW (voice-over): This morning the first positive case of Ebola hits New York City. 33-year-old Dr. Craig Spencer now in an isolation unit like this one at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital. Dr. Spencer returned to New York after treating Ebola patients in Guinea last Friday, though doctors say he wasn't symptomatic until yesterday. October 14th, Dr. Spencer flies from Guinea to Brussels, Belgium, arriving at New York's JFK airport three days later, showing no symptoms during his journey.

On Tuesday, Spencer feels tired and fatigued. He was self-monitoring for symptoms, taking his temperature twice a day, but without a fever, he goes out in public. Wednesday he goes on a three-mile run, eats at a restaurant and visits the popular park, the High Line. He then travels from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the subway. He later takes an Uber taxi to go bowling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at an alley called The Gutter, now closed until it can be sanitized.

Thursday morning Spencer develops a fever of 100.3 degrees and immediately contacts Doctors Without Borders who calls the health department. That afternoon he is rushed to Bellevue Hospital and put directly in isolation. Later testing positive for Ebola.

Authorities reiterated Thursday that careful protocols were followed smoothly at every step and for New Yorkers, the risk is, quote, "close to nil."

DR. MARY TRAVIS BESSETT, NEW YORK CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: He was not symptomatic at that time. He had no fever, and so he did not have a stage of disease that creates a risk of contagiousness on the subway.

HARLOW: The city now on heightened alert.

CUOMO: Coordinating and drilling from airports to transportations to subway stations to ambulances to hospitals, so we are as ready as one could be.

HARLOW: Health officials note three people had contact with Spencer, two friends and his fiance, all doing well, but in quarantine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And Carol, I can also tell you that the hospital where Dr. Spencer is employed, Columbia Presbyterian, has told us that he is a committed and responsible doctor. He has not returned to work or treated any patients since returning from Guinea. So people should not worry about that.

Also I cannot overstate the fact that this disease -- you're not going to catch it by riding on the same subway train as him or going to the same restaurant as him. That's just not how it works. So New Yorkers need not panic about this.

Also I've seen a lot of traffic on social media, heard people talking about it here, criticizing this doctor for going out. Why was he out? That is a discussion certainly to be had but let's do it in the context of remembering that this is a doctor who risked his own life to go to West Africa to cure people, to try to save lives in a region of the world where thousands of people are dying from Ebola. So he put his life on the line to try to save them -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All great points.

Poppy Harlow reporting live in New York City this morning.

Also new this morning, researchers may be getting closer to a vaccine against Ebola. Just last hour the World Health Organization announced that five more experimental Ebola vaccines will soon be tested in clinical trials. The trials would be massive involving tens of thousands of people and the WHO is not ruling out the possibility that there could be a mass inoculation program in the first half of next year.

In other news this morning, New York police officers are being told to watch out for random attacks. This after a bizarre scene where a man with a hatchet attacks four officers in Queens. It appears the officers walked into an ambush as the attacker hid behind a bus shelter. Late last night the president was briefed on the attack.

The question remains, though, is this unprovoked attack tied to the work of terrorists targeting law enforcement?

Alexandra Field joins me now with more on this.

Good morning.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Law enforcement officers certainly seem to be saying that this was unprovoked. These are four rookie officers that we're talking about. There was no confrontation with the man wielding that hatchet. In fact they had just posed together for a picture when suddenly they were ambushed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): This morning, law enforcement authorities on heightened alert after this terrifying ax attack in Queens yesterday. The assault caught on camera watches this man rushes at four NYPD officers, a metal hatchet in hand. The suspect hitting one in the arm, striking another in the head before two uninjured officers shoot and kill him.

Law enforcement officials say it appears the suspect was stalking the officers, hiding behind a bus shelter, waiting to attack.

The suspect identified as Zale H. Thompson, CNN now learning he has a criminal record in California and was discharged from the Navy for misconduct. On a Facebook page bearing his name and location in Queens, the black and white profile photo shows an armed masked fighter, spear, sword and rifle at the ready. The cover photo, a quote from the Quran, "Judging those who have wandered astray."

This brutal assault comes on the heels of heightened security across North America after radical jihadists recently threatened to attack military and police officers. And two attacks in Canada believed to be motivated by Islamic extremism. Authorities are investigating any possible links Thompson might have had to extremist groups.

BILL BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: There's nothing we know as of this time that would indicate that were the case. I think certainly the heightened concerns relative to that type of assault based on what's just happened in Canada.

FIELD: Both officers struck by Thompson's ax now recovering at Jamaica Hospital. An additional person, a 29-year-old bystander, was shot in the back during the scuffle. She was taken to the hospital but her condition remains unknown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: OK, so, Carol, at this point investigators say they're not yet ready to specify what could have motivated this attack but certainly they are looking into the possibility of extremist ties and you have to consider sort of the background and the context here. This is a week when we saw these attacks unleashed in Canada. We also know recently that ISIS called on people in the West, sympathizers in the West to launch attacks on men and women in uniform, four uniformed officers here in New York City.

COSTELLO: And I would suspect that this is the kind of tactics difficult to prevent or protect yourself against.

FIELD: We're talking about these lone wolf attacks again. And yes, we can all be vigilant and we have all been warned that these attacks are a possibility. But you see, what we've been watching unfold in Canada, you see this here, and you've got to step back and think, is this something that's preventable even with intelligence, even when we're aware of the possibility of these threats. Is there anything you can do to intercept in a case like this?

COSTELLO: Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

Investigators are now going frame by frame through a new video that may show the Canada gunman getting into a car near the war memorial just after killing that soldier on Wednesday.

This video was obtained by the CBC News. It shows what could be Michael Zehaf-Bibeau entering a car while carrying something in his right hand. According to CNN global affairs analyst Colonel James Reese, when analyzing this video you can see a shotgun -- a shotgun sling over this man's right shoulder. The barrel goes down the gunman's right leg and it looks like he's trying to hide it under his jacket. The car has no license plates and it is similar to a vehicle now under impound by Canadian authorities.

Police say the gunman was not part of a group of high-risk travelers who applied for a passport to travel to the Middle East. He had been in Ottawa since October 2nd, most recently staying at a homeless shelter.

Top stories for your Friday morning, a midair collision between a chopper and a small plane kills three people in Frederick, Maryland. The plane was flying into the airport and the helicopter was involved in a training exercise when they collided.

This morning's "Washington Post" is reporting that ISIS has allegedly used chemical weapons for the first time. Eleven Iraqi police officers were attacked last month with chlorine gas. Officers are reportedly saying ISIS was behind the attack.

The most recent White House fence jumper has tried before. Dominic Adesanya was arrested in July for hopping over a White House barrier and detained again three days later for trying to break into the Department of Treasury.

New CNN poll out this morning puts Georgia Democrat Michelle Nunn over David Perdue 47 percent to 44 percent. If neither Senate candidate garners 50 percent of the vote, the race heads to a January runoff. Sears is closing 77 Sears and K-Mart stores and cutting 5300 jobs and

that's not even the worst news. The fact that most of these stores will close before Christmas is akin to raising a white flag, since holiday sales are the linchpin for any retailer's entire year.

We're back after a break but first, late-night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": This is fascinating. Yesterday an Apple computer built by Steve Jobs in his garage in 1976 sold for nearly $1 million. Ooh, yes, which makes it the most affordable Apple product currently on the market.

(APPLAUSE)

Yes, you bought it?

(LAUGHTER)

Half the price of the 6 Plus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Yet another recall because of air bag problems. Audi is recalling 850,000 A4 models worldwide. The company says the problem with software is preventing the front air bags from deploying in models made after 2012.

In the meantime, the pressure is mounting for the government to issue a nationwide safety recall on this other very serious air bag problem, air bags could explode when they deploy, raining metal shrapnels on drivers and front seat passengers in many other car models.

Cristina Alesci joins me now.

So, tell us about this latest -- just so many recalls you can't keep them straight.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. For this particular that you described, the Takata air bags, that's the manufacturer that makes these airbags, that has a faulty inflater, that may send debris into the passenger, and those specifically, the latest round of recalls specifically focused on areas where there was persistent heat and humidity.

Now, some members of Congress expressed an extreme amount of outrage yesterday saying out of an abundance of caution, these recalls should be nationwide. Why are you only focusing on the acute problem?

Now, we took this question to the national regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and they said look, there's a limited supply of parts to replace the air bag, to replace the air bag and the part that's faulty, right? So, we're addressing the areas where the problems are most acute because if we try and address everything, then there will be a real dramatic shortage for those who need it the most.

COSTELLO: Which is -- which is disturbing, so what do you do, pray you don't get in an accident if you live in a cold weather climate and you happen to own one of the cars with the faulty air bags?

ALESCI: The most important thing that consumers could do is check to make sure that their car is not subject to a recall, and you can do that by either going to the government Web site, calling the government itself or reaching out to the manufacturer to address, to see whether or not your car is in fact subject to the recall.

COSTELLO: Bottom line: are cars less safe these days, so we just expect something should go wrong with our automobile? I mean, 52 million cars have been recalled this year alone.

ALESCI: I think this raises the awareness for consumers to take recalls seriously. Sometimes you get the recall notices in the mail and you may not pay that much attention to them, right?

And it also raises the awareness for car manufacturers. Think of GM and the grilling that it got on Congress and in media.

They actually put out a release in April, a recall for faulty windshield wipers. So, that was an example of maybe an overreaction from an automaker.

Look, to your question about whether or not cars are actually getting safer, they are. If you look at technology like anti-lock brakes and traction control, that has saved lives or prevented accidents. On the other hand, you know, we have to kind of question the carmakers taking so long to identify the problems in these cars.

COSTELLO: OK, we're going to talk about that in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

Cristina Alesci, thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as officials await the DNA tests on remains possibly connected to the disappearance of a UVA student, the man who led them to those remains is speaking out.

CNN's Brian Todd has more for you this morning.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The DNA testing on the human remains is going to be crucial in how we move forward in the Hannah Graham case. You're going to hear from the man whose tip was instrumental in the discovery of the remains, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: His tip led Virginia officials to a set of remains being tested in the connection with disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham. Now, Bobby Pugh, a local landscaper, is speaking out to who prompted him to alert authorities. He talked to CNN's Brian Todd.

Brian now joins me from Charlottesville, Virginia.

What did he tell you, Brian?

TODD: Well, you know, Carol, Bobby Pugh spends a lot of time outdoors and what he saw on that abandoned property more than two weeks after Hannah Graham went missing, he told us it really struck at him and still haunts him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): This crime scene is where Bobby Pugh saw something unusual on September 30th and decided to call authorities searching for Hannah Graham.

BOBBY PUGH, ALERTED POLICE TO CRIME SCENE: Heading to work that happening, happened to glance to my left at a house that I knew fairly well, and noticed the roof as well as a tree in the back corner of the property was full of buzzards.

TODD: Pugh is a landscaper working on this road outside Charlottesville. After he spotted the buzzards he went off to work. When he drove by later he noticed something about the type of bird you saw.

PUGH: It wasn't your normal deer carcass on the side of the street buzzard, this was 20 to 30, what we call black-headed buzzards which are competitive scavengers. They're pretty aggressive scavengers.

TODD: Pugh says he didn't get out of his car because he didn't want to trespass on the property. Human remains were in fact found here. The skull has been brought to a forensic lab in Richmond according to a police source close to the investigation.

Why the skull?

BRANDON GARRETT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL: There isn't any ability to DNA test blood or flesh or body fluid, if there's none of that left teeth can be really important.

TODD: The family of Hannah Graham provided DNA to authorities to compare any samples they find. This forensics lab is expected to handle the testing for evidence that could link the remains of the victim to a suspect.

JEFFREY BAN, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORENSIC SCIENCE: All of a sudden, you find a DNA type on clothing that there's no reason for that could be there, that's when you've got the a-ha effect there. It's like ah-ha, we've found something that might be probative.

TODD: But Virginia's chief DNA analyst says getting conclusive samples is not always a sure thing.

BAN: Maybe you know, bloody clothes are found out in the woods, so they've been sitting out in the environment for a long time, so you've got degradation, you got sun, you got moisture, you got chemical things, you know, that could cause degradation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: We're waiting for the forensic results that could tell us whether the remains discovered on that property are Hannah Graham's. That could come any time now.

We have to note that when the skull of those remains was taken to the medical examiner's office, the rest of the skeletal remains were kept at the site where they were found so that search teams could look for additional DNA around the remains and even beneath them.

They were also looking to see if possibly more bodies were discovered on that site. But so far, no word of that, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Brian Todd reporting. Brian, thank you. And don't go too far because you also went inside the apartment of the lead suspect in Graham's disappearance, Jesse Matthew, went inside his apartment and we'll want to talk about what you found there. We'll talk to you in the next hour of NEWSROOM. Thanks, Brian.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)