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Where is the Ebola Czar?; Ebola Quarantines Slammed; Report: Gender Pay Gap Won't Close Until 2095; Opening Night in the NBA
Aired October 28, 2014 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, where is Ron Klain, the Ebola czar, who's so far been MIA.
Plus, a new silent ally taken to the skies to help in the search for the suspected cop killer Eric Frein.
And, ladies, listen up. If you're waiting for the wage gap to close soon, don't hold your breath. It might take another 81 years.
NEWSROOM continues now.
And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Ebola may be on the minds of Americans, but a new poll finds people are not all that worried. Yes, they think Ebola will hit somewhere in the United States, but not in their community and definitely not in their family. A new CNN/ORC poll finds eight in 10 people believe someone in the United States will be infected with Ebola in the next few weeks, but about three-quarters of those polled say it's unlikely an Ebola victim will be from their community. And an overwhelming number, 93 percent, say it is not likely someone from their own family will be infected.
It's been a week and a half, though, since President Obama appointed Ron Klain to handle the federal response to Ebola. But critics say he is missing in action. I mean check out "The Daily News" this morning. It says, "where the hell czar you?" CNN's Michelle Kosinski is at the White House.
Can you answer that question?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, I wish I could. Yes, I think that's a headline you would expect to see there. But at the White House here, we've been asking the same question of the administration because when Ron Klain was appointed as the Ebola czar, or as the White House likes to call it the "Ebola response coordinator," plenty of people thought, OK, well this is going to be the point person, he's supposed to be coordinating this multilevel government approach to dealing with the problem. Is this going to be really the face of the government's process from now on? Is he going to be the one delivering that message?
But pretty much from the start, remember the White House did say, well, his job is going to be primarily behind the scenes. So as soon as we heard that, and this was when he -- you know, shortly after he was appointed, we knew that, OK, we're probably not going to see a lot of him. But right after he was named to the position, there was a big meeting of the public health and national security teams here with the president. He was a no show. The White House said, oh, well he hasn't officially started on the job yet, but once he does, we're going to be seeing more of him at these meetings.
So we know that he did attend a similar level meeting on Ebola here at the White House on Sunday. He's going to be at the CDC at some point this week. So we know that he's working on the problem. He's at these meetings. We just don't really see him publicly.
The thing is, what we have seen over the last few days has been extraordinary. I mean the federal government put out these guidelines. They have changed them over the last few weeks. Seeming at some points to be kind of a step behind the criticism that's been out there after problems arose. But now we see states step forward and say, oh, well that's not enough for us. We're going to go a step further than the federal guidelines. The Pentagon did the same thing.
So this big looming question out there is, what kind of coordination is there among all levels of government? And what has Ron Klain been doing? The White House's response to that has been, well, look what happened in New Jersey. They did release this nurse from quarantine. The White House says that was because of conversations with the CDC and that that proves that the coordination is working. That's what the White House says, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, could people stricken with Ebola in West Africa soon be dealing with another problem? Health care workers may decide not to go to the region. We'll talk about that next.
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COSTELLO: Doctors Without Borders has been on the front lines of the Ebola fight in West Africa for seven months now. So when one of its nurses, Kaci Hickox, was quarantined in New Jersey, the group immediately raised concerns about the impact of such an action both here in the United States and abroad. Now the group's executive director tells CNN those quarantine could actually exacerbate the problem rather than help solve it.
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SOPHIE DELAUNAY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: We're not just concerned about the quarantine and we're totally opposed to it. And there are three main reasons for that. The first reason is that it is not based on medical science, and we feel that -- we've learned by experience that's the best way, the most effective way, to tackle infectious disease like HIV is transparency, is education. The population need to be informed about the risk. They need to be in a capacity to protect themselves. And a quarantine is actually misguiding and providing the false sense of security.
Quarantine of a healthy aid worker who presents no symptoms is not -- does not present a danger to society. And the second concern, of course, is that because it creates the perception that the person is a threat, a danger to the community, it contributes to stigmatization. And more importantly, we already know that it will inevitably lead to disincentive for aid workers to respond to the outbreak where at its source --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, let's talk more about that. I'm joined now by Dr. Celine Gounder. She's a specialist in infectious diseases and public health.
Welcome, doctor.
So let's talk about the stigma. You're going to West Africa and you're going to treat Ebola patients there. Do you fear what happens when you come back home?
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: Well, I can tell you, Carol, I have friends who are on the ground right now in West Africa. Some of them have taken down FaceBook and Twitter accounts because they don't want their photos out there. They don't want people harassing them and their families. They're actually concerned about the safety of their families. Some have already talked about their kids being bullied at school. And we've seen the same thing happened already here in New York City, nurses who are treating Ebola patients -- or an Ebola patient at Bellevue Hospital dealing with that same kind of discrimination.
COSTELLO: Kaci Hickox, I mean she's gone home to Maine now. People are -- people there in her home state are afraid. In fact, I spoke with a state representative earlier who said that some students -- because her partner is a college professor, and they said we're not taking classes with him because he's going to be near Kaci. What goes through your mind when you hear that?
GOUNDER: You know, this reminds me of the early days of the HIV epidemic. I don't know if you remember, there was a little boy by the name of Ryan White who got HIV, who's a hemophiliac, got a blood transfusion. And at that time people said, what if, what if, what if. What if you could get it from a toilet seat? What if you could get it from a water fountain? And we knew, based on the science, even at that time, that was not possible. And you're seeing the exact same what if mentality even though the science tell us how Ebola's transmitted. And, unfortunately, that leads to a lot of discrimination unfairly so.
COSTELLO: OK, so you're going to go to West Africa but some of your friends are not. Why should Americans be concerned about that? Because some might say maybe they should take care of their own problems.
GOUNDER: Right. Well, unfortunately, that's just not going to happen. These are health systems that have been destroyed by civil war. They are -- they don't have the resources. The only way to control the epidemic in West Africa is for the rest of the world to rally around and help. And that is actually our best protection. It's sort of like saying, let's wait until ISIS comes here. You don't -- you're more proactive than that. You go to the root of the problem. And so that means health care workers need to be going there. And we can't be disincentivizing it -- disincentivizing health care workers to go. It's important that they go.
COSTELLO: And it doesn't -- so you're going to go. Whatever happens when you come home happens. And it's worth it to you.
GOUNDER: I think it is because I so strongly believe that this is -- I have a duty to step up here. I have the ideal training. I've worked in sub-Saharan Africa for a number of years. I have infectious disease, global public health training and how could I not step up in the face of this?
COSTELLO: Dr. Gounder, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.
GOUNDER: My pleasure.
COSTELLO: A top White House official could soon be monitored for Ebola when she returns from a trip to the Ebola hot zone. The White House says Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will adhere to the state and local restriction, depending on where she lands in the United States. The State Department spokeswoman says Power will have no contact with Ebola patients and is observing all protocols, including temperature monitoring. Power is scheduled to be in New York on Friday.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, think all women will earn the same as men soon? Think again. A new report says it's going to take more than 80 years to close the gender pay gap. CNN's Christine Romans has the numbers.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That gap is narrowing but very, very slowly. Think of the year 2095. That's when around the world women will make the same as men for the very same job.
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COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 46 minutes past the hour.
It's being called the Mile High Mystery. Investigators trying to figure out how and why a father vanished from a crowded football stadium. Now missing for more than four days, the 53-year-old was last seen getting up in the middle of Thursday's Denver Broncos game to use the restroom. He didn't have his cell phone on him and his family says it's just not like him to take off.
A reckless jogger apparently collided with the British Prime Minister David Cameron, sparking a security alert in England. Cameron was quickly driven from the scene following the encounter. The jogger says he was just out on his daily run and he didn't even know who he ran into until police arrested him. Officials say they're now examining security procedures.
Corporal Nathan Cirillo, the Canadian Army reservist, who was gunned down last week at the National War Monument in Ottawa, will be honored in the next hour in Southern Ontario. Thousands of people are expected to line the streets. The prime minister and other dignitaries are also expected to attend the ceremony.
And investigators now breaking out another tool in the ongoing hunt for accused cop killer Eric Frein. According to affiliate WNEP, cops are using this unmanned surveillance balloon with a camera inside to get pictures of the Pennsylvania woods where the fugitive may still be hiding. Unlike a helicopter, the high-tech balloon is silent.
Currently there's no country in the world where a woman earns as much as a man for doing the same job, and don't expect things to change any time soon. According to a new report, it's going to take 81 years for the gender pay gap to close. That means it will be 2095 before things even up.
CNN's Christine Romans joins me now with more on this.
ROMANS: And we'll be dead.
COSTELLO: We'll be dead.
ROMANS: On that happy note -- no, the gap is narrowing, Carol. It is narrowing and that's what I think is really important to look at here, and people are talking about this much more than they ever had about ever.
Here's what the World Economic Forum found. This is the ninth year in a row that it has done these gender pay gap, gender opportunity gap analysis. The U.S. on wage equality, the wage gap is about 66 percent. Women make about 66 percent of what men make. Now, there are other ways to measure these numbers. Some are more like 82 percent, but you get the drift. The U.S. ranks 65th out of 142 countries.
When you look at the U.S. and who does this best, well, it's the Scandinavian countries that do this quite well. And one thing I think is important to note, many of these countries have very, very generous maternity rules -- maternity and paternity -- so that people don't have to take a lot of time off to have a child and hurt themselves in the workplace. They can take the time off and go right back where they started. The U.S. right there, number 20, when you look at it, like that. So that's kind of an interesting thing to look here.
We're making some progress but women, even doing the same job as men, don't make as much money around the world.
COSTELLO: Well, surely there's something women can do.
ROMANS: Well, we talked a lot about negotiating. Women can negotiate better. Women can know -- ask more questions about how much your colleagues make, know more about what the going rate is for some of these jobs. But early on in a career, it's incredibly important to make sure that you make as much money as men.
And I feel badly that we put the onus on the woman. She has to somehow change. Women still are more likely to take time off in developed countries than men for taking care of aging parents, taking care of sick kids. That can be -- those off ramps can slow a woman's earnings down.
But even if you adjust for that, women don't earn as much as men. So there's still discrimination in the mix. There's still this idea that jobs are men's work; men should be paid more to do the same job These attitudes are changing, but I think a woman can ask for a raise. I think she can ask for a raise forcefully and not be seen as aggressive, and I think that's a really important first step for most women.
COSTELLO: OK, got it. Christine Romans, thanks so much. I'm back in a minute.
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COSTELLO: It is opening night in the NBA and we're pulling back the curtain to reveal the big stories this season. CNN Sports guru, Andy Scholes, joins me now.
So first let's talk about LeBron. Because I was just home in Ohio and that's what everybody's talking about.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: I'm sure. It's the homecoming story everyone didn't see coming, really, right Carol? Remember, a year ago, we were sitting here, like, there's no way he goes back to Cleveland. But sure enough, it happened.
The stars aligned for it to happen to, because they were going for the threepeat with the Heat last year. The Spurs ended up winning and that loss really paved the way for LeBron to come back home. He left Cleveland five years ago and the team wasn't very good. They didn't have any stars around. And he's going back this time and they are loaded. He joins Kyrie Irving; then they went and got Kevin Love, they got Mike Miller, Sean Marion. I mean, this Cavs team, on paper, is probably the best team in the NBA. Las Vegas has them having the best odds of winning the NBA championship. Can you imagine, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the best odds in the NBA of winning the championship?
COSTELLO: No, because I'm from northeast Ohio and we've always believe there's a curse on our sports teams.
SCHOLES: I'm sure. But, man, they look good right now. We'll have to see how they mesh together and come on the court and play well, and see how -- if they play together well. But they kick off the season Thursday night on TNT against the Knicks.
COSTELLO: Oh, I can't wait.
OK, so let's talk about Kobe Bryant. Lots of rumors flying around about him. He's 36 years old. So can he still play as well? And then there are other rumors saying nobody really wants to play with him.
SCHOLES: Yes, he's 36 years old. And he's been in the NBA for 18 years, Carol. That's half of his life. I mean, there's so many miles on his tires and he's been battling the injuries the last couple of years. He had the knee injury last year; he only played six games, and then he was coming off the torn Achilles.
So he's been batting the injuries, he's been in the NBA for 18 years. But he has -- the Lakers, on paper, not a good team, unlike the Cavs. They're the complete opposite right now. He's only 600 points away from passing Michael Jordan in the all-time scoring list, so Kobe has that to shoot for this year.
But Charles Barkley, I sat down with him yesterday, and he said don't expect the Kobe that would score 30 points a night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES BARKLEY, 1993 NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Father Time is undefeated. You can't outwork Father Time. We all retire. I would like to be playing. You see how much money these guys are making today? We all retire because we get old. And Kobe's an amazing player but Father Time is undefeated.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, 15-TIME NBA ALL-STAR: People doubting the Lakers, that's another part of his motivation. He's the type of guy that you really shouldn't doubt that much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: So, Carol, so many great storylines this is year in the NBA. You've got LeBron going home to Cleveland. You've got Kobe returning from injury. And you've Becky Hammond, the first female assistant; she will be on the bench for the Spurs tonight. So a lot of cool things to watch this year in the NBA.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Andy Scholes, thanks as always. We appreciate it.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
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