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New Day

New Protocols Introduced in U.S. for Treating Ebola Patients; Turkey Moving to Fight against ISIS in Kurdish City; Two Arrests Overnight in Ferguson; What Does New Forensic Evidence in Mike Brown Case Show?

Aired October 21, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He seemed to want to contribute while in jail, suggested perhaps that he could perhaps start a gym club or help some of the inmates with literacy, with reading classes. So there has been, at least over the past few weeks, a preparation mentally and emotionally from him in terms of what happened today, was that he left court, went down (inaudible), got into a police van, and is being taken a local prison.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Robyn Curnow, thank you so much. I just want to clarify. We said that he was just sentenced for murdering his girlfriend. It's actually culpable homicide. There's a distinction in South Africa.

CUOMO: Absolutely. Everywhere. There's a homicide charge but there was no finding that he intended to kill Reeva Steenkamp, which is why he got a relatively light sentence, I'm saying that by American standards, for manslaughter, relatively light sentence. So we'll follow up on that as there's more reaction on it.

But we do have new information for you back here at home. Two Dallas nurses, as you know, already infected with Ebola. The CDC has released new protocols for health care workers to deal with working around the virus. The updated guidelines call for vigorous training and practice for putting on and taking off personal protective equipment, what we've been calling PPE. Now, as we speak, over 120 people in this country are being monitored for possible exposure to Ebola. So this is a very ongoing thing.

And we're lucky to have chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta with us this morning to tell us about these guidelines. Am I right to keep phrasing it in terms of finally? Because for me, it feels like when you were down in Monrovia, you knew it the right way to do it. In tents in West Africa they know the right way to do it. Why didn't we know the right way to do it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we did and I think that's making your point. For nearly 40 years they've been doing this in very tough spots around the world. And I think you know, we didn't do that here. There's a lot of different reasons probably for that. You hear different things from different people.

But let me show you what we're talking about here. As you mentioned, intensive training -- no brainer, right? And not only training, but you have got to prove competency before you can actually take care of an Ebola patient.

This is the equipment. I can go through it for you, but let me just tell you the bottom line here is that there's no part of your skin that is going to be showing any more. We've talked about this over and over again, this idea that even a little bit of infected bodily fluid getting on your skin can cause an infection. Cover your skin. That's sort of a basic thing.

And so -- and then you want to have people who actually observe you putting this on and off. Mistakes can get made. When I was showing the demonstration, you need somebody to show you and look at you and say, one moment before you do this particular step. That could possibly be a source of infection. So it's those observers. Those are sort of the three main things. And again, that's just, it's if you go to Monrovia, if you go to Guinea, that's what they've been doing for a long time there.

CAMEROTA: So now their neck is covered, is that the big difference?

GUPTA: That's the big difference. And there's a hood that comes over, obviously it covers up. You got the face mask instead of the goggles specifically to get your whole face covered. And then the neck, that was the big thing when I did that demonstration, the neck was still showing and you could possibly get a little bit of the infected fluid.

CAMEROTA: Remember when you walked us through in Liberia, the decontamination process as well, not just the donning and doffing of the equipment, but also the bleach that was used to clean off any resistant bits that could be -- you know what I mean? Is that part of it, you actually put your hands in bleach?

GUPTA: We dunked our hands in buckets of bleach. They say that will be done on a more as-needed basis. They're not going to make it mandatory for every single step. They don't think that that needs to be part of it as much as covering of all the skin and taking off the equipment properly.

But I will say it's interesting, when you listened to them carefully yesterday, they said we had these previous protocols, they're inadequate. They made a big point of saying that. The Dallas hospital followed our protocols. Those were inadequate protocols. Stay tuned on that because I think that's going to come back again at some point and say what exactly the CDC is recommending and why. But also there is this notion that American hospitals, we do procedures that are more invasive. We put breathing tubes into people. We put people on dialysis. That increased the risk. We should have thought about that. We should have put on the more protective gear.

GUPTA: That's the important point, because, look, you've been great on this, Sanjay, that don't be afraid of Ebola. It's not going to break out here the way it is in West Africa. But what was fueling a lot of the panic is, I don't trust what they're telling us, is what we kept hearing from the audience. And I want to play a little sound. Amber Vinson, the second nurse to get it, even on here there was a little suggestion, oh, maybe she didn't do what she was supposed to do. And you didn't hear authorities coming out and defending her. But listen to what her mother said to Don Lemon last night, because it's important to know who did what and why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I just want to get this clear. Did she call the CDC or did a representative from the health agency in Dallas call the CDC?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The protocols that were in place was she was to call a team member of the Dallas County Health Department. And they did the reporting to the CDC.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You know the protocols. Did this nurse do everything right as she was told to do?

GUPTA: It certainly sounds like it. I mean she was probably told the monitor her temperature. She was told to call in if there was a problem. She wasn't told, and this is a critical point, not to get on a commercial aircraft. Had she been told that, she probably wouldn't have done it. And I think that's the interesting thing. You come back and hear from the CDC saying of course someone who is being monitored, they're in this controlled movement stage. They can get in a car, they can get on a charter airplane. They can't get on a commercial aircraft. They can't get on a cruise ship. It all makes sense, but at the time Amber Vinson, it doesn't sound like she was told that. The person who got on the cruise ship wasn't told that. So you do get the sense in terms of you point in challenging the system a little bit here, and that makes people question it a little bit as well.

CAMEROTA: I was interested, one of the new guidelines is they have to wear a respirator so they can breathe in here. Was that a problem before that they were just breathing without a respirator?

GUPTA: One of the things, and this is important. It's not a respirator in the sense it's filtering out any kind of airborne particles. This is basically because you have all this garb on, you're going to be in there for a long time. This circulates air through the whole system so you, it's more comfortable. I can tell you in Guinea, if you were wearing that thing for 20 to 30 minutes, you were done. You couldn't do it anymore because you just got so exhausted so quickly. This helps with that.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Now to the fight against ISIS. The government of Turkey moving to help Kurdish troops defend their besieged border town of Kobani. Officials have cleared the way for Peshmerga fighters from Iraq to use Turkish territory to launch attacks against ISIS in Syria. CNN's Ivan Watson is live at the Syria-Turkey border. Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This appears to be a bit of U-turn, Alisyn, Turkey now saying that's right, reinforcements can come in to help this besieged city behind me, which has been hit we believe by what appears to have been two air strikes within the last half hour. There's still smoke going up from that.

But if and when these Peshmerga fighters from northern Iraq come, they will be welcome reinforcements bringing presumably some more weapons, and the Kurdish defenders of that town are getting other help. Of course the U.S. making its first air drops of ammunition and much- needed medicine to this town early Monday morning. And we have exclusive video of some of the medicine getting to some of the people who need it most. A doctor we've been talking to for weeks, showing us basically with video that we obtained from inside Kobani some of the medicine he got that he's using to treat wounded civilians and wounded fighters in that town of Kobani. This doctor has had to move his clinic four times because of artillery fire coming from ISIS. He's had desperate people coming to his clinic asking for bread, just to give you a sense of how limited the supplies are in there.

So if the Iraqi Peshmerga fighters come and join as well, that will be another bonus perhaps that could perhaps break the back of the ISIS siege around this beleaguered city. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope that works. Ivan Watson, thanks so much for the update.

CUOMO: A lot of news this morning. Let's get right back to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with your headlines. Everyone, good morning once again. The prime suspect in the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham has now been indicted for the 2005 attempt murder, rape, and abduction of a woman in Fairfax, Virginia. Police say Jesse Matthew is cooperating with their investigation. This morning investigators are still trying to determine whether the skull and bones discovered behind an abandoned home on Saturday are indeed the remains of Hannah Graham.

The Ukrainian army appears to have fired banned cluster bombs into rebel-held Donetsk during at least two attacks earlier this month, that's according to the "New York Times," based on physical evidence and interviews with witnesses and victims. Those attacks wounded at least six people and killed an international Red Cross worker. These new developments could complicate efforts to reunite the country. Human Rights Watch says pro-Russian rebels likely also used cluster weapons in the conflict.

You'll recall the White House fence-jumper who made it all the way to the East Room before being arrested last month? Well, he face as competency hearing today. Omar Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to several charges including unlawfully entering a restricted building while carrying a weapon. Last week a federal grand jury also charged Gonzales with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.

I've got to show you this celebration here on "The Price is Right." That's contestant Eliot hitting the dollar sign on the big wheel. Wait for it, here it comes. And then he breaks into what can only be described as like a -- I don't know, watch it for yourself. Is this a belly-flopping fish dance? I'm not sure. Wait.

CUOMO: Stirring the pot.

PEREIRA: Yes, stirring the pot. But then he spins the wheel again. This is the second time. What more does he have in him. He lands where? Big money, big money, big money.

CUOMO: He didn't get the one double zero again, did he? Uh-oh!

PEREIRA: This time for $25,000 he really lets loose.

CUOMO: Watch the handsprings.

PEREIRA: He wins an 11-night cruise to Tahiti, a new car, $6,000 in cash. That's like a $60,000 haul. Here's what I'm going to say.

CUOMO: What are you going to say?

PEREIRA: Sometimes I do things and I feel like you could be a little more supportive. I want to see more exuberance from you. I want to see a little of that spirit, not a lot, just a little.

CUOMO: I've got a lot in me, I'm not going to lie. I got a lot of moves. Do not kid youself. They're not good moves, you may not want to see them. But they're moves nonetheless.

PEREIRA: They're moves nonetheless.

CUOMO: The only thing that will get my kids to go to sleep is when daddy starts dancing. You know the sprinkler. Wait for it -- that's the sprinkler, it's strong. You know you're going to try it later.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for busting that one out for us.

CUOMO: I told you that you don't want to see it, but I have moves.

PEREIRA: We may have created a monster.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Back to the news, the situation in Ferguson is threatening to erupt again. Why? Because of these new details that are coming out about the Michael Brown shooting, evidence that may support the officer's account of the fatal shooting. The question is, who leaked the information and what could it mean?

CAMEROTA: And when president Obama went to vote early for the midterms, he got more than he bargained for. What he did when another voter told him not to touch his girlfriend. That's coming up, "INSIDE POLITICS."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: Good morning. Tensions rising once again in Ferguson, Missouri, as new details emerge about the Michael Brown police shooting. Overnight, two people were detained, including a Missouri state senator, while protesting outside the Ferguson Police Department. Why? Well, here's what's going on right now. There's new forensic evidence that could should light on exactly what happened the night (sic) Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot the unarmed black teen.

CNN's Pamela Brown is in our Washington bureau with details. Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, a source with first- hand knowledge of the investigation says one of the bullets that struck Michael Brown was at close range and is consistent with a struggle at Officer Wilson's car. And new forensic evidence showing where Brown's blood found at the crime scene is backing up that narrative.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police shot this boy outside my apartment.

BROWN (voice-over0: CNN has learned new forensic evidence shows Michael Brown's blood was found on Officer Darren Wilson's gun, uniform, and inside the interior door panel of the officer's car.

RON HOSKO, FMR. ASST. DIR., FBI, CRIMINAL DIVISION: If in fact there's significant blood evidence inside the car, or gunshot residue inside the car, that tends to undergird the officer's assertion that Brown came in the car and they were fighting in the car and there was a struggle for his gun inside the car.

BROWN: Officer Wilson told investigators he feared for his life after struggling with Brown in his police car. Wilson says Brown tried to grab his gun. But Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown at the time blames the officer was the aggressor.

DORIAN JOHNSON, MICHAEL BROWN'S FRIEND: The officer is pulling him inside the car and he's trying to pull away.

BROWN: And the attorney for Michael Brown's family said what matters most is what happened in the street when Officer Wilson fired the fatal shot at the unarmed Brown, not what happened inside the car.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: That's not when Michael died. Michael died later as the officer got out of his car, as Michael was running away from him, and the officer decided to shoot him as he ran away.

BROWN: As anticipation mounts for the grand jury decision on whether Wilson should be tried for murder, questions remain about why the information about the new forensic evidence, first reported about "The New York Times", was leased in the first place.

HOSKO: It could be really, in part, for a beneficial purpose, to start leading those community leaders and those leading the protests to believe that there won't be an indictment. And maybe over time, that will have a beneficial effect of no riots, no battles in the streets again.

CROWD: The whole damn system is guilty as hell.

BROWN: Two months since Wilson killed Brown and anger in Missouri still simmers. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Attorney General Eric Holder tried to temper expectations on whether there's going to be an indictment.

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: My hope would be that people will understand that, certainly with regard to the federal government, that we looked at the facts, looked at the law, had to deal with that high standard and came to an appropriate conclusion -- when we do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (on camera): It's unclear at this point when the grand jury will release its decision. But officials say there's a good chance it will be mid-November. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Pamela, thanks so much for that. Let's talk more about it. Jeffrey Toobin is CNN's senior legal analyst and he joins us now.

Jeffrey, great to see you this morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So what do you think of the new testimony and evidence that's come to light that blood was found inside the car, it was found on Officer Wilson's uniform and on the gun?

TOOBIN: Well, I think the problem is when you look at one piece of evidence in a complicated case, and this is fairly complicated, and think you somehow have the answer. But, yes, this is a fact, this latest forensic evidence. That seems helpful to Officer Wilson because it suggests that he was not the aggressor in the struggle. However, it is important to remember, that Michael Brown was shot outside the car. And the most important forensic evidence we don't know yet. How far apart were they? Was he shot in the back? Was he shot in the front? Those are going to be the key issues, not what went on inside the car.

CAMEROTA: But, by the way, just because Michael Brown's blood was found on the gun and inside the patrol car and on the officer's uniform, how does that mean that he was the aggressor? We don't actually know what happened.

TOOBIN: We don't know that. And it's been clear for a long time, eyewitnesses said there was some sort of confrontation between Brown and the officer by the car. But, as you point out, the key issue here is when Michael Brown was killed. And he was killed outside the car.

And, you know, even if Officer Wilson was threatened inside the car, even if the gun went off inside the car, which it apparently did, that wouldn't give Officer Wilson the -- the right to shoot Michael Brown in cold blood if there was no threat outside the car.

CAMEROTA: Is that right, Jeffrey? Because we've actually heard diverging things about this, that if he were threatened, if the officer were threatened, if Michael Brown had gone for his gun inside the car, that that does justify what happened outside the car. Because then the officer was in pursuit of an aggressive assailant who had been trying to kill him by grabbing for his gun.

TOOBIN: No, that's not necessarily true at all. I mean, just think about it, you know, hypothetically. Again, we don't know exactly what happened outside the car. But suppose Michael Brown ran away after this confrontation, and 25 feet away, Officer Wilson shot him in the back. That wouldn't be justified under any circumstances.

Again, I'm not saying that's what happened, but that is a possible scenario that certainly would be an unjustified shooting. If, however, Michael Brown continued to come at Officer Wilson, and they're two feet apart and Wilson shot him in self-defense, that would be justified. But again, we don't know what happened outside the car, at least based on forensic evidence, and that's the most important part of the case that we don't know about.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, isn't all this information supposed to be secret and sealed from the grand jury?

TOOBIN: Yes. But in high-profile investigations, some stuff tends to come out. You know, I don't really buy the conspiracy theory that, you know, someone's leaking to anticipate what the ultimate result will be.

You know, we're journalists. We try to find out stuff. We're going to try to find out stuff in all circumstances. I don't necessarily believe that someone is sitting there thinking we are leaking for -- to anticipate what's going to happen six weeks from now. You know, journalists are pressing for information. We're good at our work; we find stuff out. I don't think that means that one result is more likely than another.

CAMEROTA: So the fact that there is such a discrepancy, between what witnesses, such as Dorian Johnson, who was with Mike Brown say, and what Officer Wilson says, does this mean the grand jury should send it to a trial for a jury to hear all of this?

TOOBIN: Well, I don't think you can say that in the abstract. I think you have to be much more meticulous about what each witness said. I mean, I think it's important to point out that many witnesses have said now that Wilson shot Brown at some distance. Most of the witnesses support the thesis that this was a crime, this was an unjustified shooting.

Now, we don't know that all the witnesses ultimately will line up. All we know is what people have said on television, what people have said to reporters. Ultimately, the grand jury is going to hear everybody under oath and, we hope, come to a just resolution of how this case should proceed or not proceed. But, you know, this is not, you know, just some sort of even story so

far. Most people suggest, the eyewitnesses suggest this was an unjustified shooting. But it will be much more important to know what they say under oath in the grand jury.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much for the analysis. Great to see you, too.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn. As you know, the mid term elections are two weeks away. And as they go, so could control of Congress. And as that goes, as you know, comes the chaos that we all have to endure from Washington, D.C.

So John King and his INSIDE POLITICS team are going to dive deep into the most crucial races of the year to explain what factors could determine the all-important outcome of who have controls the Senate. That is ahead.

Also we have new leads for you in the manhunt for a cop killer in Pennsylvania. Are police finally closing in on one of the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives? Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY. Here's a look at your headlines.

Breaking news -- five years in prison, that's the sentence for Oscar Pistorius in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Now, he could only serve ten months because the law he was punished under calls for him to serve only one-sixth of the prison term before he could be placed on house arrest. Steenkamp's family said they are satisfied with the ruling. Meantime, prosecutors have not decided whether or not they will appeal.

New Ebola guidelines from the CDC. Health care workers treating Ebola patients must now rigorously train and practice wearing protective gear. They may not have any skin exposed. Also developing this morning, infected Dallas nurse announcing that she has hired a high- powered lawyer. She insists the CDC clearing her to fly after treating an Ebola patient, disputing claims by the agency that she had been told to avoid travel.

Quite a story here. The CEO of the French oil company Total has been killed in a freak accident at Moscow International Airport. Russian officials say Christophe de Margerie, his private plane collided with a snowplow Monday, and that the snowplow driver was drunk. Still, Russian officials say they aren't discounting other factors like pilot and air traffic control error. Three members of the plane's crew were also killed.

All right, here we go. In the spirit of the season, weird or spooky, you decide. Let's take a look.

(MUSIC: QUEEN'S "BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY"

PEREIRA: That house in Naperville, Illinois, rocking out to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", lights on point, devilish faces singing along. We're told that the light show is timed actually to some 30 different songs, including of course, hello, Michael Jackson's "Thriller". As you can imagine, the display is attracting a lot of traffic in the neighborhood. What do you think -- funny, creepy, spooky? What?

CAMEROTA: You said weird, spooky or awesome.

PEREIRA: Or awesome. I should've given you a third choice, my bad.

CUOMO: Strong. Any way you look at it.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Easy come, easy go, will you let me go.

Let him go.

PEREIRA: Oh, no.

CAMEROTA: Wow. Go on.

CUOMO: I just think it's a metaphor for the segue to John King because they're fighting over control of Congress.

PEREIRA: John King, save us.

CAMEROTA: Wow, you can find a segue anywhere, Chris Cuomo.

CUOMO: Indeed, it is time to get INSIDE POLITICS on NEW DAY with John King, AKA Bismillah, no.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": We could use some better music in politics. There's no doubt about that.

Chris, Alisyn, Michaela, good morning to you. And just for you, two weeks out, look, we broke out the fancy toys to explain this election. Our brand new version of the magic wall.

And with me this morning to share their reporting and their insights as we go through especially the race for control of the Senate, Ron Fournier of "National Journal", Jonathan Martin of "The New York Times".

Now I'm going to lay out a scenario for you. Here's what's at stake. There are three dozen Senate races across the country this year, but really only about a dozen are competitive. So the current math, Democrats have 55, that includes two Independents who work with them. Republicans at 45.

I'm going to give you a scenario. This is going to make some Democrats mad. But here's how Republicans think they get to a majority. I just changed six states -- Montana, South Dakota, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, and West Virginia. Those are the six states Republicans think they are most likely to win and they think that helps them get near a majority.