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New Day

Cancer Survivor Trains with CNN's Fit Nation; Dewan Williams Speaks Out About Domestic Violence in the NFL; EV-D68 Has Now Spread to 12 States

Aired September 10, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go with the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

At number one, President Obama is open to airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria. He'll unveil his plan for defeating the terror group tonight, 9:00 Eastern. You can watch it here on CNN.

Secretary of State John Kerry doing his part, meanwhile, in the battle against ISIS. He is in the Middle East trying to establish and enlist Arab support for a global coalition to defeat the terror group.

The Baltimore Ravens owner apologizing in a letter to fans for the team's botched handling of the Ray Rice investigation. He says they saw the elevator video for the first time when TMZ Sports released it.

Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, interrupting the start of the first city council meeting since Michael Brown's shooting. This as a judge denied a petition to release Brown's juvenile record.

The great white way goes dark for comedy trailblazer Joan Rivers. Broadway theater marquees dimming their lights for one minute last night as tribute.

Those are the five things to know for your NEW DAY. Now, here are a few extras to help brighten your day.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In this week's "Human Factor," more than 5,000 people will compete in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. Among them, CNN's Fit Nation team. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is introducing us to one member of the team who, despite a cancer diagnosis, plans to cross the finish line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 18 months ago, Jamil Nathoo was in his prime, young, healthy, and training for a triathlon. But race day came and went.

JAMIL NATHOO, CANCER SURVIVOR: I was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer and it had spread into my abdomen and chest. GUPTA: His triathlon dreams had to be put on hold as he battled the

cancer with chemotherapy and surger. It took a toll on his body, but he was determined to get healthy again.

NATHOO: I owe it to myself and I owe it to other cancer patients and survivors to let them know that you can be fit again. You can be healthy again.

GUPTA: Nathoo started training, and he joined the CNN Fit Nation triathlon team. Over the past seven months, he has rebuilt his strength in the water, on the bike, on the run. He even held a cycling fundraiser in New York, raising more than $30,000 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and now he is cancer free. Ready for his next triathlon this weekend with the Fit Nation team.

NATHOO: I feel good. I feel strong. I feel like I'm ready for next week. It's exciting to just kind of feel like me again.

GUPTA: And he has a renewed determination to his cause.

NATHOO: I took an oath early on that if I can get through this, even if I can get through the ordeal, the journey will never be over for me.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: He is amazing. My goodness.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: True strength.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Sanjay, for introducing us to him.

CUOMO: So Ray Rice's wife, she's come forward also. We're hearing from the commissioner but also from her, the victim. She is standing by her husband and her rage is directed towards us in the media.

Now, another NFL wife is coming forward to us and she's speaking about something very different, what she says is a culture of domestic violence in the NFL.

BOLDUAN: And children in a dozen states now have been sickened by a cold-like virus. Health officials are growing more and more concerned by the day about this as it moves from the Midwest to the south. We'll tell you about it.

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PEREIRA: Ray Rice's wife is speak out, coming to her husband's defense. Janay Rice taking to Instagram, saying in part, quote, "I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closet my friend. This is our life. What don't you all get? Just know we will continue to grow and show the world what real love is."

Earlier, I spoke with Dewan Williams. She is married to retired NFL player Wally Williams. She claims there were domestic abuse issues in their relationship, and claims that the NFL has a history of not helping women in those circumstances. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEWAN WILLIAMS, MARRIED TO RETIRED NFL PLAYER: I'm not here to throw my husband under the bus. He's a wonderful provider, great father. And somehow we're still married. However, there were issues and when those issues were going on, when I reached out for help, whether it be through counseling, whether it be to talking to other coaches, coaches' wives, you know, they listened but it's just a nod of the head and how can you help me? Or can you help me? When will you help me? Who's going to help me?

PEREIA: Very isolating.

WILLIAMS: It was very isolating. And it breaks my heart to see because I know right now she's on an island, and because she has to protect what she has, because that is her life right now. And she's riding on Ray Rice's career at this point and so she has to protect that. And if he punches like -- punches her like that in a public place, I can't imagine what she's going through at home.

PEREIA: Let me ask you about what you said about reaching out. Did you get -- at the time, when you reached out to people within the NFL organization for help or assistance, even just to be heard -- did you feel like your situation was isolated?

WILLIAMS: Oh, not only was it isolating, I was isolated. I was told by coaches -- in our particular situation, I was told not to talk to the media, not to talk to anyone, not to get an attorney. They would handle everything. It's hard to believe that the NFL had no idea what was going or did not have access to that tape.

PEREIA: So you're saying they just turned a blind eye.

WILLIAMS: Absolutely.

PEREIA: Patted you on the head. Is that what felt like?

WILLIAMS: I think it happened to me; it happened to others. And it will continue to happen.

PEREIA: Did it happen to others? Or it's what you think happened to the others. Did you and other wives speak? Tell us about that.

WILLIAMS: It was a common practice. I had friends who had black eyes. They said they walked into cupboards. I had friends tell me that their husbands ran them over like on the football field. You have these men that are playing a very violent sport and it's OK to use aggression and force to enforce their will on someone else on the football field. And they come home at night and they're not used to getting their way. So when you say no, when you say you're not going to do this, they enforce their will.

And you don't -- you don't stop it. You don't break it. If you call the police, the police tell you, you know, you don't want this in the news. I have several incidents that have occurred in my personal life that there's no record of. I mean, my kid was ran up a tree in a G- wagon truck and there's no police report, there's nothing. You know, so everything, when they want to sweep something under the rug or turn a blind eye, that's what happens.

PEREIA: What did you ultimately do? Did you -- did you turn for help elsewhere? Or did you kind of repeatedly keep going back and say this is happening, this is happening.

WILLIAMS: I repeatedly went back. And it came to a point in my life where I felt it was time for me to stand on my own, because the violence was escalating between the two of us. There was no longer arguments; it was being physical.

And so I removed myself from my situation. I moved back home to Ohio. I went back to school. And for me, the healing began -- I went back and I got my masters in psych mental health. I'm a psych mental health advanced practice nurse now and I practice psychiatry. And it's my way of reaching back and being able to talk to people that are in these types of situations to let them know they can stand on their own. It's hard work, but you can come back and be a whole person.

PEREIRA: I really think that it's important. We -- we spoke to your husband. We spoke to Wally. Wally was here yesterday and he gave a statement to us. And I think it's important for us to read that statement from him as well.

"This incident," this is Wally Williams, "this incident gives us an opportunity to open important dialogue about domestic violence. Ray Rice is 27 years old. He is not a seasoned veteran in life and he's not a seasoned husband and father. The NFL needs awareness and a dialogue about family. This isn't just about Ray; it's about the entire system."

It seems to a degree you both agree on that, that it is about the entire system.

WILLIAMS: We do. When he got off the air yesterday, we had a very intense conversation and we both agree that Ray should not have the penalties that he's getting at this point. You know, he's doing what he is used to doing. He's used to getting his way and having his way.

It's been brought out into the forefront, into the media, in front of people; people have seen it with their own eyes. If you would talk to someone and they tell you that this happened, you would not believe it, but until you actually see it with your eyes, it takes a whole 'nother viewpoint. It uncovers. The veil is lifted.

Yes, so he's being made to pay for things that have been ongoing. And I'm sure that they're very afraid that -- I can't believe -- well, me of course, I'm a talker. But I'm sure it was very difficult for you to have someone to come on to talk about this.

PEREIRA: It was difficult. We're glad you did, Dewan.

Dewan Williams, thank you so much for being here. We see that you've got a broken limb there. Thanks for making the effort to come in and speak with us and share your point of view and your experience with us.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (on camera): By the way, the broken limb had nothing to do with anything else. She just sort of tripped wearing some shoes she said shouldn't have been wearing at her son's football game. A couple of things that surprised me. So candid, so forthcoming. Also, at first initially, I was surprised that she wasn't saying that she agreed with the Ray Rice suspension. But it's again because she feels that this is a large problem. This is not a Ray Rice problem, this is a larger problem. She recognizes they have stuff they need to work on in their relationship, clearly, Ray Rice and his wife, but this is a larger issue.

BOLDUAN: And she also in her own relationship acknowledges that it's a very complex thing.

PEREIRA: It always is.

BOLDUAN: That's one thing that she definitely made a point.

CUOMO: Much bigger than the NFL, obviously. It's a conversation that you have to have wherever it happens.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: That's right.

Alright. Something else we're watching. A rare respiratory virus striking children now in 12 states. It is on the move from the Midwest to the South.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Health officials are scrambling to figure out exactly what they are dealing with. What you can do to keep your kids safe, that's ahead.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA (on camera): Alright, welcome back. That rare respiratory illness affecting hundreds of children.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) PEREIRA (voice-over): It has spread now from the Midwest to the South. We know that 12 states are reporting cases of EV-D68. Health officials say they are increasingly concerned by the number of children that are being hospitalized, oh, those poor little ones, with this virus.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): So just how dangerous is this virus? What do you need to know to keep your children safe? We brought in a doctor, Dr. Alexander van Tulleken, senior fellow with Fordham University. It is so good. First off, you have been here talking to me about the fact that there are hundreds of different kinds of enterovirus. This is a specific strain.

DR. ALEXANDER VAN TULLEKEN, SENIOR FELLOW, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: Yes, so enterovirus has caused more viral infections than any other category of virus, but it's a massive category. This is one particular kind which really gives you respiratory symptoms.

PEREIRA: Okay, so we know states that are reporting it. I'm going to read the list, Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Utah. Sir, that is concerning how many states are seeing this in such great numbers.

VAN TULLEKEN: What the states will do is they'll compare the number of cases of any given symptom or illness that they got this year with the same time period last year. They found an uptick, they sent samples to the CDC and this is the virus they found.

PEREIRA: And here's the CDC numbers, and we can show you the CDC confirmed cases. Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. What I think is concerning to a lot of people is that it's spreading south.

VAN TULLEKEN. Yes, yes, and I think, I mean, we can expect with the amount of movement, you can see all the states that are confirmed have joined up. With the amount between the states within the U.S. you expect it to spread. It's an easy virus to catch.

PEREIRA: Most people don't go to the hospital.

VAN TULLEKEN: Yes.

PEREIRA: And we do know that kids are the ones that are most vulnerable, correct?

VAN TULLEKEN: Yes.

PEREIRA: And let's talk about why. We're seeing this gigantic uptick in it. Talk to us about some - in your estimation some of the reasoning why.

VAN TULLEKEN: So, this is a virus that thrives in low temperatures and your respiratory tract is the one bit of your body that is air-cooled.

PEREIRA: Yes, yes.

VAN TULLEKEN: As the temperature falls, it survives better outside the body and better inside the body as well. That's the best thing is the season. The second thing is kids are going back to school.

PEREIRA: Yes.

VAN TULLEKEN: Kids are - - I have a 5-year-old, they're a little bit disgusting.

PEREIRA: I call them little petri dishes. I love them, but they're little petri dishes.

VAN TULLEKEN: Exactly, I mean, they braid each other's hair, they put their fingers in each other's mouths.

PEREIRA: They're spit balls. There's all sorts of things. .

VAN TULLEKEN: Exactly. We don't know if kids are more vulnerable to this disease or whether it just spreads more easily in schools. It's probably a combination of the two. There are probably lots of other things as well that we don't understand that well.

PEREIRA: This is why we put the question mark, because there are things that the best medical minds are struggling to understand about what and why. We can't even really pinpoint, am I correct, where it first started in this outbreak.

VAN TULLEKEN: That's exactly right and that's because most people who get EV-D68 are not going to go to the hospital. They'll be at home, they'll have chicken soup, they'll be okay, and they'll recover.

PEREIRA: And you almost think this is kind of a weird strain of cold I got this year..

VAN TULLEKEN: Exactly. So we won't measure all of those, we won't detect all of those. The few people who end up in intensive care, there we look for this virus. We don't know if we're just looking for it more now and finding more, or whether this is a new uptick. Maybe the virus has changed a little bit. We just don't know the answers.

PEREIRA: One would assume if our children are more vulnerable, the elderly and the infirm might be more vulnerable, but you told me right now that's not showing to be true, correct?

VAN TULLEKEN: When you look at the cases that we have so far, certainly those initial spikes in Kansas City and in the medical center in Illinois, what you found is that all the kids are under 16.

PEREIRA: Okay, so come on, little, there we go. What do we do? We can't tell you this information without giving you some tools. Common sense, you say. Act sensibly.

VAN TULLEKEN: It's tricky because you're dealing with kids. You want to encourage your kids to wash their hands - -

PEREIRA: More than usual.

VAN TULLEKEN: - - more than usual. If you're running a school or a place with lots of kids, or running an office, hand sanitizer and cleaning surfaces is really important. If you're coughing or you're feeling sick, coughing into your sleeve.

PEREIRA: The vampire cough.

VAN TULLEKEN: Exactly, exactly. Sneezing. And if you see people on the subway, that's what they should be doing. Don't touch your hands and mouth. It's almost impossible to do. We touch our hands, our mouth, our eyes, rub our eyes all the times, but if you can avoid it be conscious of it. Get your flu shot because you don't want to get flu and this.

PEREIRA: I'm a germaphobe. You know this leaves me feeling a little unsatisfied.

VAN TULLEKEN: I know.

PEREIRA: This is it.

VAN TULLEKEN: What's tricky is that probably overall in the world, cleaning all the surfaces and sanitizing you hands all the time is not a good idea. But to protect yourself from this, it is a good idea. So we're trying to strike a balance and say if you're in a high risk area, if you know kids from your child's school have been admitted to the hospital, then take these precautions. Probably otherwise, letting your kids be mucky is a good idea.

PEREIRA: Otherwise letting your kids be mucky. Thanks so much. Always a pleasure, Dr. van Tulleken. Really a delight.

We asked you, you'll remember this, Chris put out the call.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Help us catch a pair of guys, a couple knuckleheads who ripped off the defenseless. We didn't disappoint, we have a wonderful update to the Good Stuff to tell you about. It's the better stuff. It's straight ahead.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: You know who's the man? You are. Not just time for the Good Stuff, it's the better stuff. Here's why. We all remember last week, told you about this. Just terrible, all crime is bad, but this was like really bad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): Two teens in a Washington state mall, they steal a tablet from a wheelchair-bound couple with cerebral palsy. We said the Good Stuff would be if we caught these guys. Well, guess what. The kid in the red shirt arrested. One of the victims told David Rose of our affiliate KCPQ the flood of tips warmed her heart.

DAVID ROSE, KCPQ: What do you think about that many people stepping up to defend you and to get justice for you?

VICTIM OF ROBBERY IN MALL: I'm really happy. There was a historian who said the only way that evil triumphs is if good people do nothing and we've just proved that there's a bunch of good people in Washington state.

CUOMO: Yes, and you know who really good people are? She and the man sitting right next to her. Good people because they said they felt bad for the boys who had done this, that they're dealing with worse than they are as a couple.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (on camera): So, the 17-year-old has a lengthy record, surprise, surprise and everyone can be glad he's off the streets. They're still looking for the second suspect. But here's the good news, chances are a punk like that is going to give up the partner quickly. So hopefully this comes to a conclusion and we will tell you that when it does. A lot of news this morning. We are waiting on a speech from the secretary of state out of Baghdad, so let's get to the "NEWSROOM" and Ms. Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, because we just got the two-minute warning mark so John Kerry will be talking soon. You guys have a nice day. Thanks, I appreciate that. Have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, President Obama set to deliver a prime time address tonight. This morning we have new details about his strategy to take on the brutal ISIS militants and it could involve airstrikes in Syria. The Secretary of State, John Kerry, as I said expected to speak at any minute now.