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New Day

Kentucky Senate Hopefuls Square Off; CDC to Hospitals: "Rethink Ebola"; NBC Doctor Apologizes for Breaking Quarantine; "San Francisco Shaken" to Premiere Tonight

Aired October 14, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's totally fair and that's right. But here's what's fascinating, right. You've got the Senate minority leader, who's trying to ride his team into leadership in the Senate, fighting for his life in Kentucky, a deep red state with a surprising Democratic tradition. Democratic governor, a state where Obamacare as implemented is actually quite popular. Last night, he embraced the Kentucky exchange.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Half-heartedly.

AVLON: Half-heartedly. He's saying he's the bridge-builder in Washington.

(CROSSTALK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he liked the exchange. He didn't like Obamacare. He likes kynect though.

AVLON: Yes, yes, which is one and the same thing.

CAMEROTA: Let's listen. Let's listen. Because he was asked about that last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would support the continuation of kynect?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: Well, it's a state decision. Several states have --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you support it?

MCCONNELL: That's fine. Yes, I think it's fine to have a web site.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's not, an embrace.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: A half million people with health insurance thanks to that quote/unquote "website," which of course is made possible because of Obamacare, which he wants to exterminate, root and branch. JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: One of the big debates last night was from Mitch McConnell last night, who is trying to present himself as a reasonable guy who can get things done in Washington and has been key to stopping all this terrible gridlock.

And Mitch McConnell, the record he's built over the last six years, it is discordant. It's telling he's afraid to attack Obamacare in that debate because it's important. It's telling to say he's the solution to gridlock, not the cause of it. That's really significant in saying where the Kentuckians are.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You want to ask him who he voted for in the last election. Who wins?

AVLON: That debate?

CUOMO: No. Forget the debate. Who wins the race?

LOUIS: It's a toss-up. Three or four points. He only won by a few points last time and he blew out his entire $21 million budget. This is a state although it votes deeply red in presidential elections is mostly Democratic state if you look at registration.

You look at the eastern coal counties they've elected Democratic governors for decades. So it's not at all assured that Mitch McConnell gets a re-election.

AVLON: And Mitch McConnell is a great parliamentarian. Not the biggest populist you ever met in your life. That's a bridge he's got to cross. These tight races that are going to decide the Senate, this one being more frankly impactful because it involves leadership, this would cut to the heart of the Republican Party if Mitch McConnell lost is ultimately going to come down to turn-out.

That sounds, Obama and his campaign were able to dramatically change the shape of the electorate in 2012. In '10 you always have a much lower turn out, but if Democrats could goose registration and the turn-out that could be a game changer in these races that are two, three points.

CAMEROTA: Errol, two words -- Mitt Romney.

LOUIS: On the campaign trail. He is out in Iowa this week.

CAMEROTA: What does that mean?

LOUIS: Well, it means a couple of things. First of all, it means that he's a very rich man who likes to make donations to candidates in the closing weeks of a tight election season.

CAMEROTA: This is about other candidates.

LOUIS: Well, the other candidates are not going to disabuse anybody of the notion that you know, that he's a great guy, and that they like to take his checks. Now beyond that, does Mitt Romney actually want to run again? He's polling very well. He's the only one of the leading Republican possible candidates in 2016 who beats Hillary Clinton.

CUOMO: Many inside his camp, the Republican camp feel that this is one of the few races where they should have won and didn't. He is carrying that like a yoke around his neck, John Avlon, and you know that. People believe he should have won and he blew it.

AVLON: Now the only people who believe he should have won are people who were spinning themselves in the unskewed polls, but what is significant is that normally a two-time loser is kryptonite and Republicans want Mitt Romney on the campaign trail more than Democrats want President Obama.

As long as there's not a candidate who can coalesce the Republican establishment, the people in Romney land have gone from, that's ridiculous, could be. And let's see what Jeb says, let's see what Chris Christie does, let's see what Marco and Paul Ryan does?

LOUIS: None of those guys are going to step aside for Mitt Romney.

AVLON: Paul Ryan said he would. I take him at his word.

LOUIS: I don't know that he was a top-tier candidate. I think what the Romney camp does have going in their favor is that, how many times did Ronald Reagan run? He ran three times. He --

CUOMO: This is political nerd corner here.

LOUIS: -- went over and over again. It didn't spoil his chances.

CUOMO: It's the right metaphor because Romney very much wants to fashion himself as Ronald Reagan. You know not just the hair, but his disposition. So it's good to retrace the steps.

AVLON: This is Mored Eadlai Stevenson.

CUOMO: In the weeds.

AVLON: Historically unprecedented and fascinating to see him with so much leverage on the party at this point. Two-time loser.

CAMEROTA: Interesting. All right, John Avlon, Errol Louis, thanks so much. Great to see you guys.

All right, NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman is speaking out and she is apologizing. She is now under a mandatory quarantine after breaking a voluntarily quarantine. Is her apology enough?

CUOMO: And ahead, a Cuomo family mystery that traces all the way back to Italy. We're going to explore my roots next hour and how my great grandparents got here. Things I didn't know, kind of bothered me.

Plus I'm going to explain -- why am I letting these people walk all over me literally. That shirt is ruined, there's pig fat all over that pole. Crazy Italians.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: Some news for you, an apology this morning from NBC's chief medical editor after she left quarantine in New Jersey. Dr. Nancy Snyderman and her team were asked to remain in isolated after one of them contracted Ebola in Liberia, but Snyderman was seen driving around town.

So now she has issued a statement saying, quote, "She is deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused." I'll read you the whole thing a little bit.

But let's talk about the issues that are at play here. Let's bring in Dr. Irwin Redlener, he is the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University and CNN host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter.

I want to talk about Nancy in a second. First let's deal with a big population that needs more attention. The nurses, OK? We had a union head come out and say, we're not getting the training we need. The main line is backing off of breached protocol is what got this nurse Ebola in Dallas. They don't really know.

Is it fair criticism that those who really will deal with patients most which are the nurses and nurses' aides, that they haven't been given the training, there's not enough attention paid and we need quick change?

DR. IRWIN REDLENER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: There's not enough training being given. We've known it for several years, we did a study of nurses here in the New York metropolitan area just a couple of years ago, 75 or 80 percent of them said they needed more training for all sorts of issues that come up.

We didn't know about Ebola at that moment, but they were very, very concerned about lack of training and part of that, you peel back the layers goes to some serious defunding of the hospital preparedness programs, which are supposed to be there to make sure that the personnel in hospitals are properly trained and recurrently trained. It's not a one-time deal.

CUOMO: Can you fix it quickly and easily?

REDLENER: You can start fixing it. I mean, quickly and easy is a whole other story. We've definitely pulled it back. We now need to get it back in place in terms of training and retraining people to the level they need to be ready.

CUOMO: Of course, this is only part of the answer, right, because what we learn with Miss Pham, the nurse in Dallas, who contracted it trying to treat the man who died of Ebola, they say she was very careful and that she took everything off and she was very conscientious. They don't know what happened.

But we do know we have to know more, we have to train better. All right, so that's the big issue. Let's now go to the specific issue with Dr. Nancy Snyderman. Let me read the whole statement so she gets her say and then we'll talk about why she didn't say it herself to begin with.

"While under voluntarily quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed.

We remain healthy. Temperatures are normal. As a health professional, I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public. I'm deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused.

We're thrilled that Ashoka is getting better and our thoughts continue to be with the thousands affected by Ebola, whose stories we all went to cover. Stelter, gut reaction?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, she said members of our group violated the quarantine, but she's the only one that reportedly did. She was spotted out in the community where she lives in New Jersey. I don't understand why she didn't personally take responsibility.

I think that's why there was outrage online last night when the statement finally came out. People saying why aren't you talking about what you did and why you did it. I personally love to hear from her.

That's what's strange to me about all of this is that she's been back in the U.S. for a week, feeling just fine and yet she hasn't come on NBC from home via Skype or something. That's the beauty of the world we live in now. She could be on air every day. She hasn't come on air and talked about it. I'm perplexed by that.

CUOMO: You think they're just insulating her from the scrutiny?

STELTER: Yes. Maybe it's stubbornness or maybe it's something else. I don't know, but would love to hear from her because she's experiencing something that a lot of us can't imagine, having to be quarantined. Even if it's simply that the rest of the people in her town aren't scared of her. It's still a newsworthy moment.

CUOMO: So you have two standards of play here. One is the media scrutiny of an apology. She's not doing so great on that score. But what matters more is, should she be censured at all.

She seems to be saying in this statement. Listen, I'm not sick, this is OK and I get it. You people are all suffering from false panic and now I'm falling prey to that as a media figure. What do you think?

REDLENER: Well, I think she obviously had a responsibility to deal with the fact that she was under quarantine. It was a voluntary quarantine. But promoting the notion that people have been exposed potentially should be kept apart from other people because they might develop the disease and we want to take care of that. There's another way to deal with this, we have a very limited number of people actually exposed, which is to get them blood-tested.

CUOMO: So if you were to get blood-tested. If Nancy got blood-tested the first day of the quarantine, the voluntarily one, is that test determinative of Ebola going forward?

REDLENER: It's a very good test, Chris. The thing is it's expensive. But in terms of the limited number of people we have now, as context, they could be blood-tested and the test is really pretty reliable.

CUOMO: What if it says you don't have Ebola today, what about the incubation 21-days thing?

REDLENER: Well, this particularly test is called the PCR. It's actually able to pick up the virus even during the incubation period --

CUOMO: So we would -- you could if she has it or not?

REDLENER: With quite good reliability, there are very few false positives or false negatives --

CUOMO: If they would have had that test, do you think we would have known?

STELTER: We may look back and say this was all an overreaction. That she should been able to go back at work a few days later, but it feels like in this environment we're in right now, where her neighbors and her colleagues might be worried about being around her. It's better to be safe than sorry.

REDLENER: The other issue is what kind of example. She's a public figure. We want everybody in the population identified as a potential risk, who is going to be quarantined to pay attention to it. My concern was here's somebody who is a major public figure and a very, very good medical correspondent, actually, who is saying, well, I'm just going to, I'm going to go to the store.

STELTER: There are different rules for me and not for everybody else.

CUOMO: What's the big concern you have? The concern you have is the media telling you this. Are we getting you riled up because it's making the story more exciting? Are these actual things to be concerned about?

When you see one of us not doing what we're telling others to do. It breeds that kind of concern and that kind of questioning of us. But again, let's wait and see what happens and hopefully she does not have this virus nor does any member of her team.

STELTER: The good news is that the cameraman is getting better.

CUOMO: That should be the headline. We need every one of those we can get. Doctor, thank you very much. Mr. Stelter, thank you for rushing in and doing this for us. Appreciate it -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Interesting. Chris, thanks so much. Twenty five years ago this week, the San Francisco Bay area was devastated by a powerful earthquake. Coming up, the dramatic stories that you've never heard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Twenty five years ago, the world tuned in to watch the "Battle of the Bay." The Open A's taking on the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. However, what they saw instead was the Bay Area disaster, a 6.9 earthquake.

It brought down a double-decker freeway 25 years ago, fire among other devastation. Randi Kaye has the stories behind the images that you saw that night in our hour-long special "San Francisco Shaken." Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill and Janet Ray are still trapped under rubble. Firefighters are now inside what's left of their building.

BILL RAY, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: They said, don't worry, we're going to get you out of there, and I could sense that there's desperation. This fellow who I've never met, was working so hard to get the chainsaw started.

KAYE: The firefighter tries an axe instead.

RAY: Once they got the hole cut out, a gloved hand came through the hole. I grabbed his hand. The only thing that separated me and them was two inches of subfloor.

KAYE: They're so close, but incredibly, debris is no longer the main obstacle to their rescue. Bill and Janet realize their building is on fire.

RAY: It was during the axe chopping that the smoke started to roll in to the floor that we were on and I could smell it. That was a big concern to Janet.

KAYE (on camera): Do you remember what she said to you?

RAY: "We're not going to get out of here."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: The CNN special "San Francisco Shaken," 25 years after the quake airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Randi Kaye is here to talk more about it. I have to tell you, I lived in San Francisco. I know this story very, very well. We're watching this, though, we beg to know what happens, but of course, we want people to watch and tune in.

KAYE: Of course, Bill Ray told us he felt like that night he was in a coffin in his own apartment, so of course we want to you watch. You'll have to see how his story ends, but really it's just one of four really terrific stories that I think we're focusing on in this documentary.

You have the story of Bill and Janet Ray and then the story of the Cypress Freeway, which pancaked down on the cars. We'll introduce to you a person who went through that. We also share the story of one man who was trapped on the Bay Bridge, which you know sort of one piece had collapsed and his car was literally caught in that crevasse.

We'll talk to him and this amazing rescue story from this firefighter, Jerry Shannon, worked for over two hours crawling on his belly to, putting himself in danger to try and save this woman inside.

PEREIRA: You know, having lived in the Bay Area for a number of years and in California for a decade you realize that threat is always there of the big one, in fact, we know seismologists are working on some sort of predictor so that they can warn people, an early warning detection system, anything. It's eminent.

KAYE: It certainly is. San Francisco they say is the urban area with the most active fault system under it. So this one, the 1989 quake, was a 6.9 as we said, 67 people died, $10 billion in damages, but this wasn't the big one, they say.

PEREIRA: Randi Kaye, we want to point people to this wonderful work you've done. It's really, really compelling, if you lived there or around it you know people who did. "San Francisco: Shaken, 25 Years After The Quake" 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. Guys, back to you.

CAMEROTA: All right, we will be tuning in for that. We're learning more about the Dallas nurse fighting Ebola. Who she is and what with he know about the treatment that she has received so far.

CUOMO: Plus the city at the center of it all now telling other major cities to learn from their mistakes. The dire warning from Dallas to the nation, you're going to hear it from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Fighting for her life, the Dallas nurse battling Ebola now has a new weapon, the blood of an American survivor. This comes amid of new questions how she got it and what hospitals need to do now to keep their employees safe. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us just how hard that could be.

CAMEROTA: And he's back. North Korea's mysterious and previously missing leader finally shows up. These pictures just released show him walking with a cane. Does this mean he's in charge or is it just more propaganda?

PEREIRA: Going home, CNN anchors making emotional journeys to explore their roots. This morning, Chris takes us to Italy where his great grandmother was put up for adoption. The amazing story how she made it to America and why these Italians are standing on his shoulders.

CUOMO: Good morning and welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, October 14th, 8:00 in the east. Alisyn Camerota back with us.

CAMEROTA: Bravo with the Italian.

CUOMO: Three men.

CAMEROTA: Three men.

PEREIRA: This is what I like. The face is what I like.

CAMEROTA: I can't believe you stood up there. You are strong, Chris Cuomo.

CUOMO: Sure, sure. That pole, greased pole you ever hear that? That pole was greased with pig fat and those guys wearable terribly smelly and harsh wool socks, that's a foot in my face.

CAMEROTA: You'll explain the reason behind all of that.

CUOMO: I still don't understand why that happened. Next thing I know I got three guys on top of me. How many times have I told this story?

CAMEROTA: I can't wait to see your roots story.

CUOMO: It's going to be good. It's a great opportunity we've had. I look forward to getting your take on my story, but first we want to give you what's going on in the news.

We begin with a warning from the CDC to every hospital in the country it is time to rethink Ebola. This as we learn the name of the infected 26-year-old nurse in Dallas, she is Nina Pham. She's in stable condition and is being treated with the blood of a doctor who survived Ebola.

CAMEROTA: It is still not clear how she contracted the virus. She was part of a 70-person team treating the Liberian national, Thomas Eric Duncan. So we will talk with the mayor of Dallas in a moment.

But senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is tracking all of the latest developments for us. Good morning, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. The heroes in this unprecedented Ebola outbreak are the doctors and nurses on the frontline risking their lives to take care of Ebola patients.

Now, we've learned that nurse Nina Pham who became infected, she's getting an experimental blood transfusion and she got it very quickly.