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New Day

First Case of Ebola Contracted in U.S.; Interview with Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas; ISIS Came within 15 Miles of Baghdad's Airport

Aired October 13, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, CDC DIRECTOR: There was a breach in protocol. And that breach in protocol resulted in this infection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Fighting the for her life. New details on the Dallas nurse battling Ebola, the first person to contract the disease inside America. How did she get it, and are there other health care workers at risk? We have the very latest.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: March to Baghdad. ISIS closing in on Iraq's capital, now mere miles from its airport. Is the city at risk of falling to the terror group? Thousands of Americans are still inside the embassy.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Voyage of discovery. The anchors of CNN are going way back, way back to where it began for their families. This morning, my own personal journey to find my root, people met, and discoveries I made that changed me forever.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Monday, October 13, 8:00 in the East. Alisyn Camerota by my side.

Good to have you.

CAMEROTA: Good to be here. I can't wait to see Michaela's family story. Can't wait.

CUOMO: You know it's going to be good. But you'll have to wait a little bit. We got a lot of news to tell you about.

We want to get into the battle against Ebola because it just took a very disturbing turn.

A Dallas nurse is now the first person to become infected by the deadly virus within the United States. Health officials are scrambling this morning to figure out how this happened.

CAMEROTA: And Ebola fears also rattling the city of Boston. A Harvard medical facility evacuated and shut down for hours on Sunday after a man who had been to Liberia walked in feeling sick.

And delays in travel disruptions at Los Angeles International Airport after an Ebola scare there. A passenger with flu-like symptoms on a United Airlines flight caused so much distress that the fire department had to be called in.

So, our coverage of the Ebola crisis begins in Dallas with senior correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

What is the latest, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

This hospital here now worried about one of their own, a nurse who contracted Ebola while taking care of Thomas Eric Duncan. All of this amidst questions, how did she become infected 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.

FRIEDEN: 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 are 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 is undergoing 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're hearing that they have not been following proper protocol when we have been is asking the hospitals around 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 passenger who recently traveled to Africa became ill on the United Airlines flight from New York to Los Angeles. But Ebola was quickly ruled out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: The CDC says they're reviewing whether it was appropriate to give Duncan dialysis and intubate him.

Now, I'm told by doctors that there was a tiny chance those procedures would have helped Duncan at the very end of his life, but a high chance of making workers sick -- Alisyn, Chris.

CAMEROTA: So many important questions, Elizabeth. Thank you.

Chris?

CUOMO: I understand the urgency of the nurses and the treatment they're getting. I mean, they are the first responders. They are the real front lines. That's something we're going to have to stay on top off and we will.

So, let's get more perspective right now. Let's bring in chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, along with Congressman Pete Sessions. He's Republican from Texas. His district includes the hospital in Dallas that's treating the nurse with Ebola and the patient who died from it last week.

Gentlemen, thank you for joining us.

Sanjay, you are not a guest doctor. Please weigh in with the congressman as well. You understand the situation much better than I. So, help us along with it.

Congressman, to kind of set the context of what's going on, what are we trying to do? We're trying to balance what we need to do, what you need to do in government, to keep people safe with the panic that arises from the idea of something being the U.S. that can kill you.

So, the nurse -- she's sick. She got it. We have to figure out how. But the community is being told, don't worry about it. Yet, they see people in moon suits taking her garbage. They're getting phone calls from 911 calls like this. Can you play the phone call?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911: Please be advise that a health care worker who lives in your area has tested positive for the Ebola virus. This individual is in the hospital and is isolated. Precautions are already in place to clean all known potential areas of contact to insure public health.

(END AUDIO CLIP) CUOMO: So, Congressman, when do we get calls like that from government? When it is time to panic, that's when you get them. You get told evacuate. You know, there's a bad person in your area.

That message is going to scare people. You know that. What is your message to them?

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R), TEXAS: Well, our message back to them is first of all that they're doing the right thing by listening to the media. I believe in listening to officials who talk about what we're dealing with.

The bottom line is, this goes back to a number of instances where people were told don't worry, everything is OK. Protocol is followed. And now, several days later we learn even following protocol as best we know is not working.

Last Friday, Chairman Michael McCaul from the Homeland Security Committee of the House had a hearing in Dallas and talked about to some 13,000 visas that sit in people's hands in Africa who could come visit the United States.

We're once again asking the administration to re-establish a viewpoint about stopping these flights to the United States to give Dallas, Texas and other communities a chance to catch up and work through this difficult problem. Dallas, Texas is reeling from this problem -- our schools, hospitals, businesses, our churches. We need a little reprieve.

CUOMO: Sanjay, what do you think about that? I guess on the plus minus side, the negative is you don't want to see xenophobia. You're not dealing with a lot of people. But what do you think about these restrictions?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's no question there's been growing movement about that. I think two of the big concerns, and I'm curious what Congressman Sessions thinks about this. One is that it's difficult to get humanitarian aid in. Airplanes of people come in. They can't leave. All of a sudden, you're just going to have people not bringing in humanitarian aid possibly.

But also, the larger thing, is that if people can't leave the country by air and people are sick, what are they going to do? They're going to start leaving by land. They're going to start going into other countries by land. They're going to be harder to trace, contact trace, which we know is the tried and true way of stemming an outbreak. They're also not going to get care.

So, you could potentially treat symptoms in places like Dallas. But treating the root cause becomes harder. That's you hear from the infectious disease experts.

I wonder, Congressman, how would you address those other concerns?

SESSIONS: Well, Doctor, first of all, you just said that we should move sick people to the United States of America and allow them to have air travel. That is silly on the surface. We should isolate people who are sick or who might be sick and then separate them out.

There are plenty of opportunities, but to move people around. But we have 4,000 members of military who are there. That needs to be handled where it is in Africa to give them confidence that they're going to deal effectively with this.

To say that we would move sick people out of the area where they are into the United States simply infects many more people.

CUOMO: Well, I think Sanjay's point is -- and, obviously, Doc, you weigh in and tell me if I'm wrong -- but he's saying it's not that you are going to volitionally move them to the U.S. It's that they're looking to get out of the area where they're getting sick. If you restrict them, they're going to find another way to get out. Then you're going to wind up spreading the disease in places that can't handle it.

Do you understand that preoccupation?

SESSIONS: No, I don't. I think what they should do is take people, keep them there, work with them as best as possible. But to simply -- you spread it around as you move them.

There are so many people who are innocent in this environment and will not come down with the disease. But it's causing fear and spreading panic. If this were measles, I can't imagine that we would do the same thing that Dr. Gupta is suggesting to move people out into other areas.

GUPTA: Let me clarify.

(CROSSTALK)

SESSIONS: We need to come up with a circumstance where they can be effectively handled and screened and put into place they can have a chance also for their own life.

CUOMO: Go ahead, Doc.

GUPTA: Congressman, just to be clear, that is not what I'm suggesting. I hope anybody is not suggesting sick patients start getting on commercial flights and traveling around. That obviously is silly, not at all what I said.

The notion is of Mr. Duncan, someone who may have been exposed had a known exposure, is not yet sick. Looks around them and sees people dying in parking lots -- in hospital parking lots there in Liberia and says, I don't have a chance if I stay in this country. I've been exposed. I'm not yet sick. If I do get sick is, this is not going to work for me here.

If it were you, if it were anybody, that person may consider, look, I need to get out of this country. If you ban airline flights, they'll start leaving by land. They may be more difficult to contact. They may be more difficult to treat. That's the scenario, just 100 percent clear.

SESSIONS: Well, let's be clear back. The United States government should have a plane for United States citizens not 13,000 people with visas to want to come visit.

CUOMO: You know --

SESSIONS: My job -- I'm a member of Congress from Dallas, Texas, and the United States of America. My job is to speak for and help protect Americans.

Through this process, we have offering humanitarian aid. The Congress is aware of that. The administration has done that.

But we need to still protect American citizens. So, if American citizens need to come back, then we should find a way to get them back or to house them in an area where they could be safe.

CUOMO: Go ahead doc. Button this up.

GUPTA: Just real quick. Again, just so we're not shortsighted here. So, those people can't come to the United States. Only U.S. citizens can. They then go to another country within Africa, maybe they get in on a plane to New Delhi, or Istanbul, and potentially are risk there.

Are you going to prevent anyone who's ever been to West African who may have traveled to other countries around the world not to come to the United States? You're not going to allow those people to come in anywhere? Because again, with incubation period of 21 days, these people could be around the world, Congressman, you realize.

SESSIONS: Well, as a matter of fact, I do realize that, and I'm sorry we've gotten off on a wrong track.

I believe people -- they should isolate these areas. It has grown the way it has because of people traveling. That is what we're trying to deal with.

And, Dr. Gupta, I think the world of you. I think you're smart and I think you're with it. What I'm trying to suggest to you is, is that you would not aid and abet this terrible disease simply allowing people to come to the United States.

And I will tell you, I think you're smart, I think you're on with it. I am worried about people moving. But it goes to isolating people not allowing them to travel.

CUOMO: You good to leave it there, Doc?

GUPTA: Look, I appreciate those comments congressman. This is obviously a challenging situation. I just think the idea -- we don't want to be shortsighted. I don't know you don't want to be either, Congressman.

SESSIONS: Nor am I. GUPTA: But if people start moving around the world with Ebola virus

in their systems, you know, the idea of not doing anything to reduce the impact in West Africa itself, to treat the actual root cause of this disease I think could be potentially very problematic.

I don't know for sure. I think some is a bit subjective. We're dealing with some of this for the first time. Anything that might decrease the impact in West Africa could affect the whole world in ways we haven't yet imagined.

SESSIONS: I think it can too, but it's not through travel.

CUOMO: Congressman Sessions, thank you very much for joining us and having a reasonable discussion about this. We'll check back with you, because much closer to home in Dallas, you've got to figure out what's going on at the hospital and make sure that the right protocols are in place, so that moving forward they can protect the first responders, especially nurses.

And, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, always good to have you. Thank you for helping me out in this conversation.

SESSIONS: Thank you, Chris.

GUPTA: Thanks, Congressman. Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right. Chris, now, to the fight against ISIS. Look at this enormous explosion in the key Syrian border town of Kobani this morning. This appears to come from a coalition air strike.

But despite air strikes, ISIS continues to advance in Syria and Iraq. And they may soon control Kobani and Iraq's entire Anbar province.

The joint chief chairman says ISIS came within 15 miles of Baghdad's airport. But the U.S. insists the capital is not in danger of falling. And now, Turkey says it will let the U.S. use the military bases to fight ISIS.

Let's get to all of this with CNN's Barbara Starr. She is live at the Pentagon.

Barbara, great to see you again.

What does the Pentagon say about is being so close to Baghdad and airport?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

The Pentagon says the airport is not about to fall to ISIS. That would be difficult proposition for ISIS. But there's plenty of worry about the airport on the western side of Baghdad. Beyond that lies Anbar province where even today, another Iraqi military base by all accounts has fallen to ISIS. ISIS now controlling a huge, huge swath of land west of the city and on the march, very, very close to the city.

The question, of course, is do they want to take the capital? Many people say no. This is a Shia-dominated capital. It is not sympathetic to ISIS. They're not going to take on such a challenge.

They may not have to. They're continuing to burrow into the Anbar province, to seize and control territory. No real reason to have to take the capital. They can stage bombing attacks, suicide attacks in and out of Baghdad.

The big concern again goes back to the airport with more than 1,000 U.S. military and diplomatic personnel in Baghdad. If this all went sideways, the big problem is there's no way out for them, but the airport. The chairman of the joint chief says the U.S. will not let the airport fall -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Barbara, thanks so much for the update this morning.

Let's get over to Michaela for more headlines.

PEREIRA: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Hi.

PEREIRA: It's 8:15. Let's give you those headlines right now.

Breaking news overnight: frustration boiling over in St. Louis, as part of the weekend of resistance to protest the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown and armed 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers. Early Sunday, police in riot gear, move in at one point. They arrested 17 people staging a sit-in at a gas station. But the mostly peaceful demonstration will culminate with a series of actions today. We'll clearly keep an eye on that.

PEREIRA: Supporters of same sex marriage celebrating another legal victory this morning. A federal judge striking down Alaska's ban on gay marriage, which was the country's first passed by voters back in 1998. Officials say they will begin accepting marriage applications from same sex couples first thing today. The state meanwhile does plan to appeal that judge's ruling.

New details for you now about that hayride that took a frightening turn in Maine. Seventeen-year-old Cassidy Charette was killed when a hay wagon pulled by a Jeep lost control slamming into a tree and flipped over Sunday. A 16-year-old and 54-year-old who was the driver, they are recovering now in the hospital, 22 other people were injured but they expected to be OK.

And after that, you'll need a story to warm your heart. An Iraq war veteran's 1965 Mustang restored by a group of strangers. Retired Sergeant Kelly Foster had slowly been paying to have that car fixed up. He bought it in 2005 following his first tour of duty in Iraq. When a Texas couple heard about his story, and they said we want to do something.

So, they got friends together and all pitched in to have that beauty restored to mint condition. You know a way to a man's heart, is through his car. You got him.

Look at. That how beautiful. A group of people he didn't even know.

CAMEROTA: That's great.

PEREIRA: Right? Isn't that something?

CAMEROTA: Such a nice story. The kindness of strangers. Impressive.

PEREIRA: I love it. I know you even love it.

CUOMO: For the people that deserve it most. I'm such a car guy. To me, the car is the least of it, you know? This guy, he valued it. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get it done himself. He served in our country.

PEREIRA: It would just going to take a long time.

CUOMO: Right, and people stepped up. Love is an act.

PEREIRA: It's a verb.

CUOMO: Love is a verb. You have to act. That's what it is.

CAMEROTA: It's great.

All right. Meanwhile the rise of ISIS is causing heated debates about radical Islam. You've seen Bill Maher and Bill Affleck get into it, even author Reza Aslan and I mixed it up a bit.

So, this morning we have him back for another candid conversation. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN AFFLECK: How about more than a billion people who aren't fanatical, who don't punch women, who just want to go to school, have some sandwiches, pray 5 times a day, and don't do any of the things you're saying of all Muslims. It's stereotyping.

SAM HARRIS, AUTHOR: I'm not saying all Muslims --

AFFLECK: Some of them do bad things and you're painting the whole religion with that broad brush.

MAHER: Wait, let's get down to who has the right answer here. A billion people, you say.

AFFLECK: A billion five.

MAHER: All these billion people don't hold these pernicious beliefs?

AFFLECK: They don't.

MAHER: That's just not true, Ben.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, that was just part of the heated exchange between Bill Maher and Ben Affleck about radical Islam and Muslims. That debate sparked a firestorm online, with more than a million hits on YouTube.

Our next guest Reza Aslan and I got into our own exchange when I asked Reza about Bill Maher's thoughts on Muslim countries and their treatment of women. Here is just one moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REZA ASLAN, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE: Did you hear what you just said? You said in Muslim countries. I told you in Indonesia women are 100 percent equal to men. In Turkey, they have had more female representatives and heads of state than the United States. Stop saying things like --

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Women are still being stoned to death.

ASLAN: That's a problem for Pakistan. So, let's criticize Pakistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, Reza Aslan is back now to continue our conversation. He is a professor at the University of California-Riverside and author of "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth."

Reza, great to see you this morning.

ASLAN: Thanks, Alisyn. It's good to be back.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, you and I are about to attempt something unprecedented on television and that is to have a reasonable, cool- headed conversation about this very hot topic. OK?

ASLAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I want to start by saying I totally take your point. I think your point that generalizations with this topic are to be avoided. You're right about that.

(AUDIO GAP) beyond the generalizations that are being made, do you think that this topic has struck such a cord in this country?

ASLAN: Well, look, when talking about religion, we're talking about something people are deeply passionate about, because it's not just things that they believe or the rituals that they practice. It's who they are as human beings.

And so, people feel as though their very sense of identity is under fire. I mean, this is my life. I write and talk about religion and I'm used to passionate and sometimes very angry responses.

You know, I'm sorry for you to have waded into this and for sorry for extreme negativity that's come your way, because, you know, the fact of the matter is this is a very important topic. Religion is on the rise around the world. It's on the rise in the United States. Majority of Americans want more religion in public life.

And so, if we can't figure out a way -- a calm way of talking about this, we're all in big trouble.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I really, really appreciate you saying that, because there was a lot of vitriol after our exchange online. It was almost as if people sort of resorted to personal attacks. They weren't elevating the discussion I can assure you.

It was almost as if they didn't want questions being asked. Even asking the question felt wrong to people.

So, it's as though they're trying to stifle the discussion. But that's the opposite of what should be happening.

ASLAN: Yes. Well, the thing about belief systems and by the way, this is true whether you're in religion or whether you're an atheist. Atheist is a belief system like any other. And like any other belief system, it's impossible to prove or disprove, is that they are all encompassing.

And too often, I think people grip on to those belief systems for dear life. And anything that seems to attack those belief systems or question them become a real attack on the very sense of self of the person itself. And those reactions are very, very passionate.

But the danger for this is that there are real serious issues about religion and extremism around the world not just Islam. In Buddhism, in Christianity, in Judaism, and this extremism goes all the way back to the beginning of religion itself.

And so, the real issue here is how do people of faith and people without faith come together, put a side differences and figure out how to actually do something about these grave human rights violations taking place across the world in the name of religion?

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. But, Reza, do you think there's something particular about Islam that makes it a more heated topic than the other religions of Buddhism and Christianity that you talked about right now.

For instance, let me read for you what Fareed Zakaria wrote about on his recent column on this very topic on CNN.com. He says, "I know the arguments against speaking of Islam as violent and reactionary. It has a following of 1.6 billion people. Places such as Indonesia and India have hundreds of millions of Muslims who don't fit these caricatures. But let's be honest, Islam has a problem today. The places that have a trouble accommodating themselves to the modern world are disproportionately Muslim."

What is response to his thoughts?

ASLAN: Yes, and, you know, once again, Fareed Zakaria is absolutely right.

The key thing is the word today. What he talks about is over the last 1,400 years of Islamic history -- it's really been over the last 50 to 60 years we've seen the rise of this radical extremist strain, this Wahhabist strain has really taken over like a virus large part of the Muslim world, particularly within the Middle East.

And he's absolutely right. Right now, what we're seeing that a particular region of the world, the Middle East, which is dealing with profound political, religious, economic, culture instability has also at the same time grabbed on to this ultra orthodox puritanical Saudi inspired version of Islam as an answer to all of society's ills.

Now, the really important thing that Fareed says there, of course, is that this is an infinitesimal small group. So, it can't be used to make generalizations about lived experience of 1.6 billion people.

But the danger -- this is something I preach against -- is that too many Muslims, because they see this radicalism, this extremism so foreign, unlike anything they themselves practice, they are too willing to just simply say, this isn't Islam. Let's change the subject, stop talking about this. This has nothing to do with us.

Well, just that's not true. Fact of the matter is ISIS is Islamic for the simple fact they call themselves Islamic. But at the same time, people that ISIS kill are Muslim. The people who are fighting against ISIS are Muslim.

And so, the Islamic identity of ISIS is important in dealing with ISIS but it doesn't tell us that much about Islam itself as a global religion.

CAMEROTA: Let's -- I know you said that it's best to avoid generalizations, but Fareed does get into some numbers. I want to get your reaction to this. He also writes in 2013, the top ten groups that perpetrated terrorist attacks, seven were Muslim.

The Pew Research Center rates countries on the level of restrictions that governments impose on the free exercise of religion. Of 24 most restrictive countries, 19 are Muslim majorities. Of the 21 countries that have laws against apostasy, all have Muslim majorities.

How, Reza -- help us understand, since we want to avoid generalizing, why those sound like a connection.

ASLAN: Well, right, and as I was saying, so what we're talking about is undeveloped countries primarily, countries in which where there are profound social, political, religious and economic instability. And all of that has created a situation of great repression. Now, again, that's not unique to Islam.