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New Day

Mandatory Quarantine Issued for NBC Team in U.S.; ISIS Calls for Attacks Against Law Enforcement, Media; Oscar Pistorius' Sentencing Begins; Dallas Nurse Contracts Ebola

Aired October 13, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right. Also, hey, locally what we got, active weather to boot. Showers, thunderstorms, the potential today for quite a severe weather outbreak, a moderate risk for some. Kind of the setup just perfect here.

Area of pressure moving eastward. The showers and storms will fire up. Also, some pretty big hub, especially in the mid-south. So, as we head for tomorrow, potentially, Atlanta.

But here's where we're going to be today. So, from Indy, St. Louis, Little Rock, Memphis to Jackson to Houston, that's the potential for isolated tornadoes, some strong winds and hail as well.

And, Alisyn, tomorrow, it just a little bit further eastward, big Delta and U.S. Airways hubs in Charlotte.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Thanks so much for keeping an eye on that. We will, too. Thanks, Alexandra.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Other news this morning, and for that, we go to one Michaela Pereira.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Conveniently, that is me. Let's take a look at your headlines right now at 30 minutes past the hour.

A Dallas nurse has become the first person to contact the deadly Ebola virus inside the United States. Health officials now are scrambling to figure out just how this happened. The unidentified nurse was part of the team that treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who died of Ebola last week. We'll have more on this coming up.

Breaking overnight, a suicide car bomber targets a NATO convoy into Afghanistan's capital, killing one person. At least three others injured in that incident. The Taliban has claimed allegedly responsibility for the attack. "Reuters" reports two other bombings other hours later, injured a total of 22 other people.

So, scary moments aboard two US Airways flights. Two planes had problems before landing in Charlotte, North Carolina, Saturday night. Officials say one of the aircraft developed air pressure problems within the cabin. The other plane they say was forced to land because of hydraulic problems. Fortunately, no one was hurt in either incident, but I'm sure there are a few frazzled nerves. I wanted to share this with you. A CNN iReporter captures quite a deed by New York police officer in Times Square, seeing him give an NYPD cap to a little boy with Down's syndrome. Fellow officers helped him adjust it so that it fits just right.

You can tell the little one is really quite thrilled. Look at him salute. The officers get a well deserved salute there. IReporter (INAUDIBLE) is a tourist from Brazil. He's the one that captured it and he says seeing an officer like that is a rare sight from his home nation of Brazil. He wanted to send it on into us.

A great moment.

CAMEROTA: That's so nice.

PEREIRA: I like it.

CUOMO: New York's finest.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: Thanks for that, Mick.

PEREIRA: No problem.

CUOMO: And now from good news, well, a little NFL talk here. The jets season is over. They are now one in five losing to Peyton Manning. They didn't lose that badly, which shocked me out of my ravioli yesterday.

On the other side of spectrum, you got the Dallas Cowboy's, America's team, quite impressive with a win over the Super Bowl champs known as the Seattle Seahawks.

CAMEROTA: I've heard of them.

CUOMO: Let's bring in Andy Scholes this morning.

Happy Columbus Day to you.

The Jets didn't get crush and that's a victory here in the Corazon, isn't it, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: I guess so, you guys look for small things at this point for Jets fan.

But, you know, these Dallas Cowboys, I guess they are for real. You know, they're just a second team in the past two years that go into Seattle and get a win. They were trailing this game by three late in the fourth quarter.

On 3rd and 20, Tony Romo, an amazing pass to Terrance Williams, who somehow stays inbounds. Take a look at the guy. He barely gets his toes down that. And that first down leads to a DeMarco Murray touchdown run. Cowboys get the big win 30-23. They're now a league best, 5 and 1 on this season. Now, Eagles are looking to keep pace with the Cowboys. They host the

Giants on Sunday night football. This one was all Philly. They shut them out 27-0. If the loss wasn't bad enough for the G-man, in the third quarter on this play, Victor Cruz goes down. He has a torn patellar tendon in the knee. He's likely going to miss the rest of the season.

All right. Baseball we go, National League Championship series. Giants and Cardinals, bottom of the ninth, Kolten Wong, hits this one deep to right. It's a walk off home run. St. Louis wins 5-4. That even the series at a game a piece. That's 11 home runs in six playoff games for the cardinals. Not bad for a team that had the least amount of home runs in the National League this season.

Game three Tuesday in San Francisco.

And, guys, tonight on TBS, game three between the Royals and Orioles. The question is, will Kansas City ever lose a game? They are 6-0 so far in the post-season. It's incredible.

CAMEROTA: My husband is a big Kansas City fan.

CUOMO: Is he?

CAMEROTA: Yes, he's from there. So, he was subjecting us all to the game.

CUOMO: Well, he's been waiting since, what? '80, what?

SCHOLES: Ninety-nine years since they've been in the post, they are making the most of it right now.

CUOMO: So, are you supporting him and his love? What do you do?

CAMEROTA: Not much. I mean, I let him watch it. But I'm not going to sit there being enthusiastic. I've got things to do.

CUOMO: Heaven for fan, you support him after 29 years of waiting?

CAMEROTA: I didn't actually know it was that long. I will indulge him more. Thank you, Andy.

SCHOLES: You're welcome.

PEREIRA: See, we made progress.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: It's beautiful.

CAMEROTA: Bringing people together.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Beautiful.

CUOMO: Bye, Andy. You're gone.

So, this reporter just back from Liberia violates her quarantine here in the U.S. You probably know her, Dr. Nancy Snyderman. She was spotted in a car outside her favorite restaurant. Now, New Jersey health officials are taking swift action. What is the risk? We'll give you the facts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: The first transmission of Ebola in the United States has certainly sparked new concerns about how to keep the deadly virus from spreading in the U.S. This all comes as the NBC News team that worked in Liberia is now under mandatory quarantine in New Jersey.

Their chief medical correspondent, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, reportedly broke the terms of the voluntary quarantine. She was spotted out in the community in her car.

So, how much risk is there for the public?

We want to discuss with CNN commentator and legal analyst Mel Robbins. Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, he's an infectious disease specialist and deputy physician in chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and a contributor for "The Daily Beast."

Good morning to both of you.

I can already predict this is going to get Mel hot under the collar. So, I'm going to start with you, Dr. Sepkowitz.

I think first of all, people were struggling to understand why it was a voluntary quarantine, should this not have been mandatory from the job?

DR. KENT SEPKOWITZ, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, MEMORAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: It depends on the perception of risk by the persons making the determination. The rules are not iron clad.

PEREIRA: They are not, and that's problematic, isn't it?

SEPKOWITZ: It could be. I think quarantine is kind of a miserable cabin fever existence, someone must be sympathetic to that. On the other hand, as we have learned -- yes, as we have learned, Ebola can spread.

PEREIRA: What do you make of the fact that now there is a mandatory quarantine in effect for 21 days for Snyderman and her crew. We should point out, we have reached out to them. And NBC is not commenting.

What do you make of this?

SEPKOWITZ: It's hard to know if it's a heavy-handed political action on New Jersey side which is known for heavy-handed political action, or whether or not there is a bigger breach than we realized. I think as long as people are taking their temperature, I'm not getting too worked up over this.

PEREIRA: You are not too upset? I feel Mel might be.

Go ahead, Mel. Sound off. Give me what you have been building up to.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Listen -- you know, this is what's upsetting to me. You have somebody who is holding herself out as an expert on a global television platform, reporting about the crisis of Ebola. One of her cameramen that she was working with day in and day out, overseas contracts Ebola. He is still in critical condition being treated in Nebraska. She comes back. She claims to the public that they took extreme precautions, they go under a man -- you know this, quote, "voluntary quarantine".

And then she has the audacity and the arrogance and the irresponsibility as a public figure reporting on this, Michaela, to be driving around in a Mercedes reportedly.

PEREIRA: So, you're more concerned about the optics of it, and the PR, right? Or are you concerned about the actual threat?

ROBBINS: There is a little bit of that. I'm not as concerned about the threat except for the fact that she was working side-by-side with somebody who now has it and we just had -- yes, Michaela, we just had a nurse who followed all of the protocol come down with this. It's got a 21-day incubation period.

So, while she may be low risk, she's not clear yet. I find it to be stunning that the medical expert to be doing this.

SEPKOWITZ: Yes, I think that she's not showing perhaps the best judgment, although we don't really know the -- I don't feel we have the whole story from the NBC side.

On the other hand, I think there is a huge difference between a nurse caring for a person dying of Ebola and the risk of transmission versus Dr. Snyderman's time with Mr. Mukpo when he was not ill.

PEREIRA: There's a lot of gray area, and you said there's not hard fact science here. A couple of points that I was curious about and you might admit this, too. Doctors aren't always the best patients.

SEPKOWITZ: We are awful.

PEREIRA: You're awful.

SEPKOWITZ: We're awful patients.

PEREIRA: Could that play into this, that she might sort of say, look, I'm monitoring my own fever, my own temperature. I'm above this. Could that be problematic?

SEPKOWITZ: Doctors in hubris run together a lot. Present company absolutely included. I think that is an issue doctors and all health care workers feel somewhat immune from risk and that's a dangerous business. PEREIRA: It is a dangerous thing. We don't know that has played into

other situations with other health care workers because the fact is, they're repeatedly put into harm's way, even if the precautions are being taken.

Let me ask a sort of a logistics question, in terms of a voluntary or mandatory quarantine, who decides that? Is that the CDC? Is that New Jersey health? How does that work?

SEPKOWITZ: I'm not entirely sure. I'm hesitant to comment on it.

PEREIRA: Isn't that a problem, if you as a medical --

SEPKOWITZ: If I don't know, who knows?

PEREIRA: If you don't know, that is a question. And I think, Mel, we are getting to one of the bigger problems here that there are a lot of question marks with all of this.

SEPKOWITZ: I should know, I don't know.

PEREIRA: Well, no, I didn't mean to put you on the spot.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: It's upsetting a lot of people in emergency rooms where people say we don't know who to ask for the latest protocol, et cetera.

SEPKOWITZ: Well, I think there's also -- the truth is that it's in flux him we saw this with SARS. I think we saw this with anthrax, that there are no real experts for this disease in North America and that we're using best judgment, but it changes day-to-day. That's difficult. But it's the right thing to do.

PEREIRA: Give us an idea of --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Go ahead, Mel.

ROBBINS: You were pointing to something that's really important. The federal government has jurisdiction over cases when it's spreading across state lines and people are coming in, for example to Newark, New Jersey, via airplanes. They just quarantined an airplane under federal jurisdiction.

But from a state by state level, the difference between involuntary and voluntary is if you break an involuntary, a mandatory isolation or quarantine order, you have broken the law.

PEREIRA: Right.

ROBBINS: So, in most states, it's a misdemeanor. But the problem is, as you said, nobody kind of knows where to look for the protocol. PEREIRA: Two quick, final questions. One for you, Mel, do you think

that she, Dr. Snyderman from NBC. Again, we haven't gotten comment from them. Could she be facing some sort of penalty, legal penalty?

ROBBINS: No, not right now because it was a voluntary quarantine.

PERIERA: Okay.

ROBBINS: If she breaks a mandatory order, she has committed a crime.

PEREIRA: And, Dr. Sepkowitz, do you think the quarantines have to be mandated, not voluntary? Do you think they have to be enforced, or do you think that that's too heavy handed at this point? .

SEPKOWITZ: I think that we are always best off in public health taking the more extreme approach first and then backing off and getting a little more liberal. So, right now I think it's, from a policy perspective, mandatory would fit better.

PEREIRA: Would fit better. All right, Dr. Sepkowitz and Mel Robbins. Thanks, so much. Appreciate it. Great conversation.

ROBBINS: Thanks, Michaela.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Michaela. ISIS going online to attack the FBI and the news media. So, how real are these latest threats? We'll have a live report.

CUOMO: And Oscar Pistorius back if court today. He's going to find out soon if he'll be locked up for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. And, the real question will be for how long? We're going to take you live to the courthouse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: ISIS hopes someone will hit the FBI and the American news media. CNN has learned the terror group is calling for attacks on social media and extremist forums. Now, there is growing home-grown terrorist, there's growing concern that home-grown terrorists will pick up the call to arms and carry out the plots. CNN's justice correspondent Pamela Brown has more for us on this. Pamela, what do we know about this?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, we're learning that DHS and the FBI sent out this joint bulletin over the weekend to law enforcement agencies across the country. Federal, state, local law enforcement agencies and telling them to be extra vigilant for their personal safety in the wake of these increased calls by members of ISIS online, on these extremist forums calling for attacks on government officials in the U.S.

We are talking FBI investigators, police, members of the military. And in fact, one of the threats was against members of the media. So, in light of that and also what we've seen in the U.K. with the plot recently disrupted there, with the plot in Australia disrupted, and the fact that there were two police officers in Australia stabbed by an alleged terror suspect, U.S. officials here in the U.S. are taking the extra step to send out this bulletin out of an abundance of caution and concern that there has been an uptick in these calls by ISIS to attack government officials. But I do want to make it clear that this is not based on any information at this point that there is active plotting here in the U.S., Chris.

CUOMO: Pamela, the flip on this is that this is a lot of hype from ISIS, right? they don't have the capabilities to launch attacks like this, so they're calling on others. Isn't that a part of the perspective on this?

BROWN: Right. That's the big concern. It's not necessarily that members of ISIS are going to make it into the U.S. and launch some attack. It's the fact that there could be someone living in the U.S. right now who is radicalized, who's seen these calls online, on these extremist forums, on Twitter and may want to launch an attack against these targets that ISIS is calling for. So, that's really the big concern and that is something that law enforcement really has a tough time being able to track, these lone wolves who may be in their parent's basement, being inspired, radicalized, but these calls, Chris.

CUOMO: Alright, Pamela. Thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting on it. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Chris, also happening right now, the sentencing phase of track star Oscar Pistorius' murder trial in South Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Last month, he was found guilty of culpable homicide in the 2013 shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. So, at this moment, the same judge that rendered the verdict must decide if Pistorius should go to prison, and for how long. Robyn Curnow has been all over this sensational trial from the very beginning.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA (on camera): So, Robyn, tell us what's happening at this hour.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. Well, all of us back in that hot, overcrowded courtroom. Oscar Pistorius, often his head bent over, sitting again very closely to him and Reeva Steenkamp's family, and the judge. Judge Masipa listening to these witnesses, three of them so far this morning, all pleading in mitigation and aggravation of this sentence.

We heard, very importantly, from Oscar Pistorius' very own psychologist. She described for the court that Oscar Pistorius found himself utterly worthless, devastated, guilt ridden after shooting dead his girlfriend, that he had unabated remorse. Why does that matter? Well, it will or might impact on how the judge sentences him.

Also very interesting witness just before I came on air. Someone from correctional services here in South Africa, suggesting they've done an investigation of Pistorius' home, suggesting that he should have community service two days a week, and three years of correctional supervision, essentially house arrest. Gerrie Nel, the state prosecutor on hearing that said that was shockingly inappropriate.

CAMEROTA: Robyn, how long is this process expected to take?

CURNOW: Yes, you know, we have been asking ourselves that from march, haven't we? But I think we're at the end here. I mean, there's a sense it's another day or two of the sentencing hearing. The judge might take another day to think about it. Hopefully, by Friday, she comes down with some sort of sentence.

That's if, of course, either the state or the defense don't appeal. If it's a very light sentence, like three years of house arrest and two days a month of community service, the state, I think, will definitely appeal. And then, of course, you're looking at this being drawn out even longer. So, it really depends on how the judge decides how to punish Oscar Pistorius, and then I think we'll have a real understanding of where to go from there.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. It will be fascinating to hear what this judge decides. Robyn Curnow, thank you.

CUOMO: A lot of parts of the process have been different. This one is unusually intensive. We'll keep monitoring it. If there's any developments, we'll take you to it. Just one of the stories' we're following. It's a lot of news this morning, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Dallas nurse is the first patient to have contracted Ebola in the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A breach in protocol resulted in this infection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to see more health care workers come down with Ebola.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrorists are now just miles from Baghdad's airports .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS is very adept at martialing the forces where their forces where they need them, when they need them.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The attack raising questions about the city's ability to secure it's extensive, underground subway system.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's scary, it's nerve racking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota along with Chris Cuomo. Great to be with you. We now have the first confirmed case of Ebola contracted within the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Health officials frantic to find out how a Dallas nurse got infected even though she was wearing protective gear while treating a dying Ebola patient.

CUOMO (voice-over): Now, in Boston, a Harvard medical facility was shut down after a man who had been to Liberia complained of a headache and body aches. Turns out doctors do not think he is infected.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): And Ebola jitters, also hitting Los Angeles when a passenger on a United Airlines flight into LAX became sick. That so far being blamed on air sickness. Our coverage of the Ebola crisis kicks off this morning with senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, live from Dallas. It is very difficult to rule things out and deal with the panic. Everybody is on edge, but we have to let calmer minds prevail, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, that's right. And here at the hospital they are worried about one of their own, a nurse who contracted Ebola. And a lot of questions, how did she contract the virus when she was wearing full protective gear?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): This morning, Hazmat crews continue to decontaminate the Dallas apartment of the first person to contract Ebola in the U.S. A female nurse tested positive for the disease Saturday night, after officials say she had extensive contact with the now deceased Ebola patient Thomas Duncan.

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: There was a breach in protocol.

COHEN: The CDC says the nurse was wearing protective gear, gloves, gown, and mask, and the infection could have resulted when she took her contaminated gear off.

FRIEDEN: The care of Ebola can be done safely, but it's hard to do it safely.

COHEN: The CDC also says two procedures performed on Duncan at the very end of his life, intubation to help him breathe, and kidney dialysis, were unusual. Both putting health care workers at high-risk of exposure to his bodily fluids.

FRIEDEN: I am not familiar with any prior patient with Ebola who has undergone either intubation or dialysis.

COHEN: And as the crisis continues, health care workers across the U.S. say nurses haven't been adequately trained. KATY ROEMER, REGISTERED NURSE: We are hearing that they have not

followed proper protocol, when we have been asking our hospitals throughout the country to provide us with training.

COHEN: This as another possible Ebola patient, who recently traveled to Liberia, is being isolated in a Boston hospital, complaining of aches and headaches. The medical center currently treating the man is awaiting his results, but a spokesman says the chances he has Ebola are extremely low.

Meanwhile, more Ebola scares over the weekend. On Sunday, a female passenger who recently traveled to Africa became ill on a United Airlines flight from New York to Los Angeles. But Ebola was quickly ruled out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (on camera): The CDC says they're reviewing whether it was appropriate to give Duncan dialysis and intubation. Doctors I've talked to said that there was a tiny chance that they would have helped Duncan at the end of his life, but a relatively high chance that those procedures could get health care workers sick. Chris?

CUOMO: Elizabeth, we have the immediate concern of the welfare of that nurse, and figuring out how to treat people going forward. We'll keep an eye on both. Thank you for being with us this morning. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Alright, Chris. Let's try to get more answers. Joining us now CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health. Gentleman, thanks so much for being here. Sanjay, you just heard Elizabeth's report. Is there any latest thinking on how this nurse, who was supposedly wearing protective gear, could have contracted Ebola?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the thing that people are sort of starting to wonder is does this represent a change in how the virus is spread? And I don't think there's any evidence of that. So, you hear that there was some sort of, quote/unquote, a breach in protocol. In Spain, we learn, for example, after the fact that the nurse had likely touched her face with a glove that may have been contaminated.

So, what exactly the breach in protocol was here? They don't know, but it was something at some point, infected bodily fluid touched her skin, got on. So, whether it was taking off the gown at some point, whether it was touching a part of her body with a glove, we don't know and there is a chance that we may never know exactly, because you really have to recreate your movements over that time period. But, that's what they're thinking.

CAMEROTA: Okay, Dr. Fauci, the CDC director, Tom Frieden, suggest the Texas Presbyterian Hospital that treated Mr. Duncan did two high-risk procedures that may have exposed workers to the virus.