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CDC Will Monitor All Travelers from Ebola Hot Spots; Details Emerging about Suspected Ottawa Shooter; Interview with Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Aired October 23, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get very quickly to an update in the fight against Ebola. The Centers for Disease Control says every airline passenger who arrives in the U.S. from one of the three hardest-hit West African nations will be monitored by state and local health officials for 21 days.

And here's an encouraging update, Dallas nurse Amber Vinson's family says she's now Ebola-free. Though Atlanta's Emory University Hospital has not officially confirmed that.

So, let's bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen for all the latest.

Hi, Elizabeth.

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

Alisyn, Amber Vinson's family says that she is regaining her strength and they can't detect the virus and they say that she's been approved to move out of isolation. So she'll be in the hospital they say, but not in isolation.

Also good news for NBC cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, he is also Ebola-free and he was let out of the hospital yesterday. He went on NBC News last night and he talked about how having the virus allowed him to connect better to the people he was reporting on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHOKA MUKPO, NBC CAMERAMAN: You know, your life is hanging by a thread. It makes me remember a lot of these people that I filmed. A lot of these people that I talked to and to kind of connect with the kind of fear they must have felt. And you know, there's almost no words for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now, as Alisyn mentioned, at five U.S. airports, they're going to be handing out Ebola kits basically to folks who are returning from West Africa. This is a far cry to what happened when I returned to West Africa last month where basically they didn't do anything. Now, they're going to be handing out thermometers and instructing people to take their temperatures morning and night for 21 days, and giving them a handout, pamphlets, to let them know what symptoms they should be watching for -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth, Ashoka Mukpo looks fantastic. It's amazing how well he has recovered. I mean, he looks as though he's 100 percent better, though I'm sure he is still weak.

COHEN: Right. We know from Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, two other Ebola survivors, that it takes a while to get back to normal. And I think they would say they are still getting back to normal. But it is amazing what early intervention does, he got treatment right away and that really is the key to getting better and, you know, many experts tell me, that's why, you know, Thomas Eric Duncan unfortunately did not win his fight with Ebola, because he did not get treatment early.

CAMEROTA: You're right. That makes all the difference.

Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks so much.

I want to bring in John Berman now. He's in for Michaela.

Just tell us some of today's other headlines.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Great to be here. Thanks so much, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Good to have you.

BERMAN: And we have new details this morning about a deadly car attack in Jerusalem. The State Department says a three-month-old baby girl killed in that attack was reportedly American. Israeli police shot and killed the driver, a 20-year-old Palestinian, after he plowed into pedestrians at a tram stop and tried to flee. At least seven people were injured.

New concern about White House security after a new fence-jumping incident. Cameras captured a man identified as 23-year-old Dominic Adesanya trying unsuccessfully to fight off Secret Service dogs. Police say he unharmed. The White House was put on lockdown Wednesday night as a precaution.

Last month, you will remember that Omar Gonzales jumped the fence, made it inside the White House. He was carrying a knife.

Breaking overnight: protesters on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, clashing with police during a planned demonstration. At least two people were detained after water bottles were thrown at police. This action also comes after Michael Brown's autopsy results were leaked. It shows the unarmed teen was shot at close range, lending some credence analysts say to Officer Darren Wilson's account that he and Brown struggled the patrol car before Brown was shot and killed.

In sports, baseball's fall classic tied at a game apiece. Omar Infante with a smash. The Kansas City Royals beating the Giants 7-2 in game two of the World Series. The Royals scored five runs in the sixth inning to break open a 2-2 tie. The game now tied at a game apiece, goes back to San Francisco.

You can see tensions flaring there a little bit. The pitcher, Hunter Strickland, not happy at the demeanor that the Royals took on after he game up that. So, they were a little mad at each other. Game three Friday night.

CAMEROTA: I'm mostly impressed with your sports announcer voice.

BERMAN: Yes, you know, I do that usually all alone when I do the play-by-play for the games but here I get to do it for you and all of you.

CAMEROTA: Yes, too much information. Thank you, John.

All right. Let's get back to Chris Cuomo. He's live with all the latest in Ottawa -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. And there are a lot of new details emerging about the suspected Ottawa shooter. Let's be honest, he's not suspected anymore. He is the shooter.

So, we're going to dig deep with the journalist who has been covering this situation and getting a feel for the chaos that happened after the shooting. What was learned, what we now know, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back.

We are live in the Canadian capital of Ottawa following the deadly shooting that truly did rock this city. There was a lot of confusion here during the shootings. But there's a lot of confusion that remains.

Now, here's what we know so far -- officials say there was one shooter. There was so many reports of multiple shooters, that it's a big reason it took so many hours to keep the city on lockdown.

So, let's bring local reporter right now, Bill Curry. He works with the "Globe and Mail."

Bill, thank you for being here with us.

Now, to say that this -- often exaggerated -- a city on edge, it is actually true here. You could feel it yesterday, that this was something that was never expected in Ottawa.

BILL CURRY, REPORTER, THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Yes. Well, it was kind of bizarre. I mea, certainly everyone around the core was definitely on edge because you had the police constantly moving people back. The police by their body language certainly made people concerned that there was potentially as you mentioned, another shooter. They were kind of crouched behind their cars throughout the day. It seemed like things would ramp up in terms of tension and then quiet down.

But then if you went a few blocks away from here, from where we're standing. Life was going on as normal.

So, it will be interesting to see as we go on today and the days to come, what prevails in terms of people's anxieties here.

CUOMO: Well, there's a big fear of the unknown. They obviously still keeping some of the streets locked off, the war memorial is where this started with this deranged man. But when you look at the challenges going forward. It's not like Canada -- you got caught flat-footed in the parliament building. The security there wasn't what I think it will probably be this day going forward, right?

CURRY: Right.

CUOMO: That's the first point.

Do you think that's going to change?

CURRY: Definitely, think there will be a lot of attention on that, because there have been a lot of warnings about security on Parliament Hill, perhaps not being as cohesive enough, because the way parliament works, center block, the main building with the Peace Tower, that's what you saw on the video, it's actually split in half. The west side is the House of Commons, and then the east side is the Senate. They actually each have their own security forces.

Then, you step outside onto the lawn of the Parliament Hill. Again, that's the National Force, the RCMP patrols that and beyond the gates, it's the city of Ottawa.

You've actually got four police forces that are supposed to be monitoring the hill. So, there have been times calls for that to be more organized. We'll hear more debate about that.

CUOMO: And you just have to remember, even though we're in the capital here in Ottawa, and there's a lot of money and influence in the city, just four homicides here in the last year. So, the urgency of how violent a place can be wasn't there and hopefully this doesn't change the character of the city, but it does have to change that level of intensity.

However, that cuts against the other reality here. You did know in Canada, you had this guy and the guy on Monday, flagged. You had their passports pulled. You had 90 different people under surveillance. You have a population here that's so much bigger by percentage of Islam than we do in the U.S.

So, how do you reconcile the two? You knew so much on one level. Not enough to be ready on the other.

CURRY: Right, that's the questions that were being asked to police when they spoke to reporters during the day. You know, that's the big challenge. We'll see the debate in parliament of in terms of civil liberties versus national security. Can you just arrest somebody for -- you know, seeming to apparently being sympathetic on the Internet, or something like that? Or just their thought or what they're saying to their friends, does it require level of action.

So, where you draw that line is going to be a huge political debate here in Ottawa.

CUOMO: To many in the U.S. audience, they'll be surprised to hear that per capita, by percentage, there's a much bigger Muslim population in the Canada than there is in the U.S. You have 200,000 coming in every year. Monitoring is very difficult. It creates culture conflict here

Are you starting to see some of that? There's a movement in government. You remove the federal gun registry. You know, there's kind of a moving to being more armed.

What are you seeing here?

CURRY: Well, I mean, certainly, a lot of the Muslim groups are issuing statements as we saw after 9/11 as well, saying this is not representative of Islam. So, we'll see that from the community there.

And in terms of the federal policy, the federal government did repeal, we had a federal long gun registry that was -- many people felt was ineffective. So, they removed that. They're focusing more on licensing, that kind of thing.

Whether or not that was the right move, there's been debates. The Quebec government is trying to preserve the long gun registry, it's actually an issue that's before our Supreme Court right now. So, that's a live issue that now takes on a different dynamic, obviously, in light of the events.

CUOMO: Well, the debate about more guns being more better goes on in the U.S. all the time. The problem is here, what we're seeing is that human beings are becoming weapons, and they're being used to disturb and create violence in the name of things that they rarely even understand. Hopefully this isn't about the frequency of attacks here, it's just about the recognition of what the threat is. Bill Curry, thank you very much for being with us.

CURRY: Thanks for having me.

CUOMO: Appreciate it, appreciate it. Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: Chris, four homicides in Ottawa last year? That is such a striking number.

CUOMO: Well, look, it's a safe place and it's, it's a very well- developed community here. It's got a very rich history, but you have to remember, that doesn't mean that they're naive when it comes to terrorism. The U.S. relies very heavily on Canadian intelligence. They flag passports on these guys, that's a big deal, Alisyn. We do not do that as often in the United States as they do here.

But here's the headline, this is the new threat. It's not about taking comfort that they didn't kill 1,000 people here. It's that one at a time, two at a time, that can be just as scary to everyday life as anything else, especially when who they're preying on are people who are just deranged and desperate for some type of meaning in their life. If that's who becomes the threat to Americans, let alone Canadians, we have a very big problem on our hands.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, and we will look forward to hearing more from you about the shooter's background, as well as about the victim who we know was so honorable, as well. So, we'll talk about that when we come back.

Meanwhile, the Canada shooting is triggering questions about what the U.S. can do to avoid a similar attack, as Chris was just saying. We will talk to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chair, about that, and about Democrat's chances in the mid-terms. Do they still have a chance?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The United States is on heightened alert this morning after the attack on Canada's Parliament. The violence striking as Canada ramps up its contributions to the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Addressing the nation last night, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling for unity among Canadians and with the country's allies in the fight against terrorism.

Let's bring in Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and Florida Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz to talk about this, as well as some politics. Nice to see you this morning.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), DNC CHAIRWOMAN: Good to see you both.

CAMEROTA: What's happening in Congress this morning following the attacks on Canada's Parliament?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, President Obama has offered the Canadian Prime Minister Harper the full support and assistance of the United States, and obviously we've been through attacks on our soil before in and around the capital. It's, you know, even more concerning. We've taken steps since 9/11 to really tighten security around our United States capital and our government buildings, so we are able to lend our expertise and that's what we're in the process of doing.

CAMEROTA: I mean, don't you have to go through a metal detector to get into Congress?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Oh, yes, you do.

CAMEROTA: And so, when we watch what happened in Parliament, it seems as though they just didn't expect anything like this.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, if you go back to 9/11, prior to 9/11, there was a lot less security and, you know, security measures. I mean, we had a much more open campus both at the White House and the Capitol, and we've had to tighten up, and, you know, clearly Canada will probably have to take steps in that direction as well.

BERMAN: And look, and you heard Chris talking about this - -

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: But you want to keep the buildings open.

CAMEROTA: For the public.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: It's a representative process.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

BERMAN: It's a different place, it's different city, but the security concerns up there, I think, will - -

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Security and access.

BERMAN: - - mandate that changes be made up there. Obviously, we want the changes made up there. Obviously, we want the investigation up there to be going in the direction it should be. I do want to shift gears right now to politics, talk to you about your job as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee right now. There are some who suggest these are tough times for the Democratic national party right now. The mid-term elections oh, so very close now, and there is a discussion out there. Is there a wave right now for the Republican party?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Oh, absolutely not. Just to give you evidence of that, I mean, who would have thought that less than two weeks before election day, the Republicans would have to be worried about losing the gubernatorial and a Senate race in Kansas, in South Dakota, in Georgia, in Kentucky. I mean, these are blood-red states, and normally the president's party in a second-term mid-term loses an average of 29 seats. I would say that there's a good chance that we either don't lose seats, or at best single digits in either direction. No, no, no, I mean, if you look at- -

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: You know, you say Georgia, I can say Colorado. You know, you say South Dakota, I can say Iowa, there's Alaska.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: The difference is is those are close races and those are states that have really been more purple rather than blue. I'm talking about blood-red states in which the president didn't even come close to winning, and yet they may lose the governor, and the senator, and the Senate seat in Georgia and in Kansas, and they're having to --We're expanding the map and the Republicans' map is constricting.

CAMEROTA: Well, "The New York Times" says the Democrats are actually struggling with the president's policies. Their editorial board put out an editorial, I'll read you a portion of it. It says, "One of the reasons for Obama's unpopularity is that nervous members of his own party have done a poor job of defending his policies over the nearly six years of his presidency, allowing a Republican narrative of failure to take hold." Why aren't the Democratic candidates embracing the president's policies more?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Look, as someone who 12 days from now is going to have my own name on the ballot, and who's run for office many times, when you're running for office yourself, you know, you want to stand on your own. I mean, you want to make sure that voters understand what your policies are. But obviously the issues that are important to voters unite Democrats,

and Republicans have doubled down on extremism.

So, what we all do have in common is that we have to create jobs, focus on turning the economy around, make sure that we can invest in education and health care, while the Republicans have doubled down on extremism and put suing the president at the top of the agenda for doing his job and, you know, trying to repeal or gut health care reform 55 times. I mean, that's the contrast, and the voters over the next 12 days are going to ask themselves who has my back and they'll consistently say Democrats do.

CAMEROTA: Well, it was interesting. In Kentucky, Alison Lundergan Grimes did have a campaign event this week, and she did embrace the president, but it was the wrong president, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES, (D), KENTUCKY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Kentucky welcome to a man who is family to me, who is the job's president, here to endorse the jobs candidate. He didn't stop working after he left the White House. No, he's tried to clear the way in Washington for Kentucky to have a new senator.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: Not the president now.

CAMEROTA: She used Bill Clinton.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, Bill Clinton has been remarkable in his efforts to make sure that voters understand the clear contrast and choice that Americans have. Which is, for Democratic candidates like Alison Lundergan Grimes, who focuses on jobs, who focuses on education, and health care, and getting the economy turned around, and Mitch McConnell who said - - and who has supported a government shutdown a year ago, costing our economy $24 billion, and predicted that if he gets the majority, he'll do it again.

CAMEROTA: Sure, but why not use President Obama as the jobs president instead of Bill Clinton.

BERMAN: Well, she hasn't even said she's voted for him.

CAMEROTA: Oh, right.

BERMAN: So, I think that would be a big jump to support his policies when you haven't voted for him.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Alison Lundergan Grimes is focusing on the issues that unite all Democratic candidates, and that is jobs and the economy, and she's running against a guy who doesn't support equal pay for equal work, who opposes a minimum wage, who refused to support legislation that would make college more affordable for young Americans, and who's shut the government down a year ago, and has predicted that if he's majority leader he would shut it down again.

That's the choice for voters over the next couple of weeks. Alison is standing on her own, as Democrats and any candidate would want to. What unites us is the agenda that voters have said is the top of their agenda.

CAMEROTA: Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for being in studio.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: My pleasure.

CAMEROTA: Nice to see you.

Alright, we are following a lot news this morning, so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terror on Canada's Parliament Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, there's a shooter on the loose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new fence-jumper at the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am shocked that someone would have the audacity to make that jump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Brown's autopsy report is the latest leak from the investigation into his death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can we have confidence in this process?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to fight back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a lot of people that are scared, but it's some people that are just so angry, they don't care.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning, I'm Chris Cuomo, live from Ottawa, Canada, where the country is mourning one of its soldiers after a deadly shooting. The prime minister says very simply, it was an act of terror, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, Chris, it's great to have you there this morning. I'm Alisyn Camerota in New York. We want to welcome our viewers across the country and around the world. That attack and the chaotic scene that followed at the Parliament building are raising new questions and concerns about homegrown extremism, and whether something similar could happen in the U.S.

CUOMO: Alright, we have the very latest information on what happened here.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): There was a lockdown, it's still partially in place behind us here, near the national war memorial where this all started, but it has been relaxed over the last few hours. But it was lockdown in place for well over 10.

Now, despite initial concerns, the motivation there was that there were multiple shooters. There were so many eye witness accounts of multiple shooters. But, right now, officials believe that the man who was killed was the only man involved. And he was killed by the sergeant-at-arms from the House of Commons. There are new details about how this happened ,and certainly about the man responsible for all of it.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): His name, for what it is worth, Michael Zehaf- Bibeau. He has a criminal history. He has a history of being troubled. He converted to Islam, but clearly didn't understand the faith, became radicalized, and he was on the radar enough here in Canada to have his passport flagged. And that raises a lot of questions about what they knew, but what they weren't able to control. And also, about this as the new threat in the U.S. and in Canada. What did it all mean? here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN HARPER, PRIME MINISTER, CANADA: We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated.

CUOMO (voice-over): Prime Minister Stephen Harper promising justice after what he calls, a terrorist act on Canada's Capitol.

9:52 a.m. --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, there's a shooter on the loose.

CUOMO: Shots ring out at the national war memorial in Ottawa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of the way! Move, move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the sudden I just hear a shot, and, just, pow.

CUOMO: The shooter, 32-year-old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the Muslim convert, but officials say he had a troubled past and was planning to fight overseas.