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Interview with NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Is New York Prepared for Its First Ebola Case?; Learning More about Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers

Aired October 24, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Governor, thanks so much for being with us.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: My pleasure. Thank you for having me, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We know you have a bit of delay there from Albany. So we will make the best of that.

Let's talk about how New York is better prepared, if it is, to deal with the first Ebola patient than Dallas. What gives you confidence that they will deal, at Bellevue, better than the Dallas hospital did with their first patient?

GOV. CUOMO: Well, first, Alisyn, we had a definitive advantage because we watched what happened in Dallas and we learned from it. And this is New York. We hoped that we wouldn't get such a case, but we expected that we would. And we have been preparing for weeks, literally.

We did a session this week; we had 5,000 health care workers come in. They've all been trained. We're working with the hospitals, together with the union that represents the health care workers, 1199 here in New York. So the workers feel that they've had the training. They have the equipment. We've gone through the protocols. We've drilled, we've drilled, we've drilled.

We then had eight hospitals designated, Bellevue is one of them, as the receiving hospitals for this situation. So we -- we were fully prepared and the team felt fully prepared.

This happened to be a doctor, so he had information about the disease. When he saw that he had a fever and he believed he was symptomatic, he presented himself to the hospital. And we were prepared, Alisyn. It was handled exactly right. A team went out with protective gear. He was picked up. He was brought right to a pre-prepared isolation unit. So it couldn't have proceeded better.

CAMEROTA: But, see, Governor, here's what worries New Yorkers today. As recently as I believe Tuesday, this patient was riding the subway. And I ride the subway every day, as do six million other New Yorkers. Sometimes you're packed in there like sardines. If one person sneezes, the rest of us catch a cold. How can New Yorkers feel safe today to take the subway?

GOV. CUOMO: Well, Alisyn, I understand the fear that comes from that word now -- Ebola. And it is scary. There's no doubt about that.

But a little dose of reality, also, right? This is not transmitted like the flu is transmitted or a common cold or a common virus. It's not about sneezing, et cetera. This is basically bodily fluids transfer when the person is symptomatic. The more ill the person is, the more contagious the person is. But the person has to be symptomatic.

The doctor presented himself when he had a 100.3 fever. Not a 103 fever, as it has been reported. So as soon as he saw he had a fever, he presented himself to the hospital. And at that point, everything that should have happened, happened exactly right. Kudos to Bellevue and that team. And this doctor obviously reached the conclusion that he wasn't symptomatic up until that point.

CAMEROTA: I mean, what's so confusing, though, obviously are the mixed messages that officials give us. Because, as we know, passengers on airplanes have been contacted when there has been a patient who later presented with Ebola symptoms and you're not as close to the passengers on an airplane as you are sometimes right up against somebody on the subway. So it is a bit of a mixed message.

GOV. CUOMO: Well, it's a mixed message, Alisyn, because, on the one hand, you want to err on the side of caution and you want to make sure that you're doing everything that you can do, right? On the other hand, what the data shows is, it's not that easily transmitted. Again, bodily fluids once you're symptomatic.

And if you look what actually happened in Dallas, they were very expansive in the number of people they brought in for quarantine. But most of the people, overwhelming majority of the people never got ill. So that's, that's the mixed message I think you're hearing: On one hand, you want do everything you can to be safe. On the other hand, it may not be absolutely necessary and you're erring on the side of caution.

In this case, the doctor was exposed to basically four people: his fiancee, two people who he went bowling with, his friends, and he took a cab ride. We have all four people, we've talked to all four people, and we feel good about that.

And also this is not a virus that lives for a long period of time outside of the human body. So again, we're in the same situation; we're erring on the side of caution. But we feel good that we were fully prepared, there's no reason for New Yorkers to panic or feel that they have anything to worry about on the subway system, et cetera.

CAMEROTA: So you're saying, Governor --

GOV. CUOMO: Everything that has to be done was done.

CAMEROTA: So you would ride the subway today. You will ride the subway today, we hear?

GOV. CUOMO: Yes. Yes.

CAMEROTA: Which lines? which lines are you going to ride? He was on three separate lines.

GOV. CUOMO: The A and the L, which are the trains that he -- A, L and the 1 train. I'll ride any one of the three.

It's -- we have to separate sometimes, Alisyn, the fear from the reality. Or the irrational fear, if you will, from the reality. And we have a dose of irrational fear now. Now, being a New Yorker, is a little anxiety can keep you safe, right? And it's not a bad thing. But undue anxiety is unproductive and there's no reason for undue anxiety in this situation.

CAMEROTA: OK, great point. We understand that had you a conversation with President Obama last night. What did he tell you and what sorts of resources are the feds sending to New York now?

GOV. CUOMO: Well, I spoke to President Obama, I also spoke to Ron Klain, who is the new Ebola czar, Sylvia Burwell, the head of Health and Human Services, all of whom I have long-time professional and personal relationships with. They've been offering help. The CDC has been very helpful.

But, in truth, between New York City and New York State, we have been preparing for this for weeks. We've been running drills, we have the equipment, we had the training; the health care workers feel like they're ready to handle it. So we have the CDC here on site basically monitoring and helping. But we were equipped to handle the situation.

Again, it was a doctor, so that was an advantage, I believe, Alisyn. Because as soon as he believed he was symptomatic, he presented himself. But we have this, we believe we have the system contained.

CAMEROTA: Governor, while I have you, I also want to ask you about this attack on the four NYPD officers with a man who was wielding an ax. Do you or your office, do they have any more information this morning about if he was linked to some sort of larger terrorist organization?

GOV. CUOMO: We don't. We've heard the same rumors that have been spreading, but we don't have any definitive information. When we do, we'll disseminate it.

CAMEROTA: Governor, you've given us -- go ahead.

GOV. CUOMO: Also, Alisyn, as a matter of full disclosure, any help you need with your co-host, I am in a position to be helpful. I want you to know. Very, very helpful.

CAMEROTA: I'm so glad you brought that up. Because I do have some questions. How do you suggest keeping an unruly co-anchor in line?

GOV. CUOMO: Oh, I have some very secret strategies that have worked very well. Knowing the right information about him keeps him very docile. And we'll have that conversation in private, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That's great. I'm interpreting the right information as, say, a noogie. That's sort of things that you, as an older brother, probably used when you needed to.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: He's not amused. Chris is not enjoying this, Governor.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A super noogie on him.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That was really the farthest thing from a benign laugh I've ever heard in my life.

GOV. CUOMO: I hope not. I really, really hope not.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Governor, that's great. Well, you and I will have a private call. I will need your tips. And thanks so much for all of your information and assuaging any fears of New Yorkers this morning. It's great to talk to you.

GOV. CUOMO: Thank you. Thank you for having me, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: What's your problem?

CUOMO: He has some significant threats facing him this weekend. It is easy for him to be brave when he's surrounded by state troopers.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: That was great.

CUOMO: But it will be good to get more information out of the state as they learn more about the case and certainly the situation with the man with the ax. I mean, they've got plenty on their plate to deal with here. He didn't have to worry about me, that's for sure.

CAMEROTA: I'll be calling him later.

CUOMO: That's fine. I would not speak to him alone, by the way. If I were you.

All right, so we are going to be talking to you after the break about the man who stopped the Ottawa killer. He got a much-deserved hero's welcome. What an emotional moment we all got to see here. Been calling him the man with the mace, Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers. We have one of his closest friends, who's going to join us with us a side of the situation you may not have heard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(APPLAUSE)

CUOMO: The applause went on for a while for the man with the mace, Kevin Vickers; he is the Sergeant at Arms for the House of Commons. He stopped the shooter. He was greeted at work just the very next day with this touching ovation, nice words from the prime minister. An unimaginable situation he was faced with, if you think about. Imagine being in a situation, facing off a killer like that.

Joining us now, Craig Oliver; he is the chief political correspondent for CTV and a close friend of Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers. In fact, they spoke right after the shootings. Mr. Oliver, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

CRAIG OLIVER, CHIEF POLTIICAL CORRESPONDENT, CTV: Good morning, Chris. Good morning.

CUOMO: Let me ask you something. Yes, we want to lionize him; we want to celebrate what he did because of what he prevented. What a difficult moment for a man to be placed in. How was he? Was he OK after this?

OLIVER: I think the best word I can use to describe it, Chris, was -- he was very reflective. He said to me, you know, I had to take a human life and I had to do it to protect a lot of people who were important to the country. A great national institution of ours was being attacked. Our national leaders were all there.

You know, I think what happened with my friend Kevin, who is an unassuming, modest guy, is that he kind of bumped up against a moment of history and came to personify it. In other words, this was a brazen attack on the -- first attack of its kind on a Western democracy, and I think everybody in the west said, hey, we can take these guys on when we have to and we're not going to be intimidated or defeated by them.

CUOMO: He came up against a moment in history and that is what he wound up defining, is the reaction to it.

But, you know, it did make me feel -- he was becoming a symbol, as you suggest. And I couldn't help, when I was looking at the picture of him walking with the side arm and the look on his face, this man did just about 30 years on the force as a police officer and never had to, thankfully, get into a situation like that. There was someone who was trying to kill him. And, yes, he wound up winning the gun battle, but that's got to weigh heavy on the heart.

OLIVER: Yes, what the shooter didn't know is that Kevin, in a recent competition last year with all of his hundreds of his security officers, outshot everybody. Also, he's a big, tough guy, but very gentle. Famous for his sense of humanity, his affection for people. He's very warm.

I covered Ronald Reagan as a White House correspondent. He's got that kind of Reagan-esque warmth and impressive personality that Reagan had. No other comparisons I would make beyond that. And I think he's finding himself surprised that -- that he's -- with all of this notoriety, when really what did he do? In his view, he did his job that he had to do and he found it, afterwards, a little painful to do.

CUOMO: I'm sure. I'm sure he did.

And, you know, yesterday obviously we're all trying to track him down, trying to get him to come on camera and we were told by people who knew him at the parliament that is not going to happen.

OLIVER: No, it's note.

CUOMO: And I said why, is he traumatized? and they said no, this is not who this guy is. He doesn't want or need the attention. That's a special man.

OLIVER: He wants the attention to come on -- he wants the attention to be on the country. The fact that we're not going to allow ourselves to be a passageway, a safe passage, for terrorists heading to our friends in the United States. We're going to take these guys on. I think that's what he would like the message to be.

But he doesn't feel any need to get himself on television. Reminds me of your Sully Sullenberger and the America on the Hudson. The same kind of thing. The guy did his job; he did it cool and calm and he didn't feel the need to go and talk to people like you and me about it at all in public.

CUOMO: He is the cool Canadian. I wish him well going forward, and that he can sleep at night. Because I know those situations are not easy, no matter what the outcome and your role.

Craig, let me ask you to put on your reporter's hat for a second. The situation ended much better than it could have. But the level of access and ease with which this man got into your most important government building has to raise some concerns. Ottawa is a beautiful and peaceful place, only four homicides in the last year. But that security situation is going to need tweaking, and that's putting it gently. What do you think happens?

OLIVER: Yes, we're going to have to tighten up. The door the guy came in is a door where the public can't get in without a pass, but this guy had a pass, which was the Winchester he was carrying. So we're going to have to change that. They know that.

Also, all of our uniformed guards are not armed. We have plainclothesmen who are armed and not that many of them. So they're going to have to change that also. We're going to have to -- after years of having a look, which is not threatening, and unarmed officers, we're going to have to change all of that.

I guess all of us have to respond to this new world and that's -- you're right, we're going to have to make a lot of significant changes in that regard.

CUOMO: And I don't mean --

OLIVER: Both inside and outside.

CUOMO: Yes, and I don't mean it as a point of criticism in terms of a shortcoming. OLIVER: Well, why not? You're right.

CUOMO: All of us are learning all the time about it. And one of the things that I took from the officials there on your intelligence side, and also just the general population in Ottawa -- beautiful, sweet people, as you know -- was that this is very, this is much more scary than the idea of a group coming and doing a huge, massive event where they try to take down a building or something horrible. That this is anybody at any time that doesn't have enough of a soul and a conscience to understand what religion is and to think that they can find significance for themselves through violence. And that is a scary proposition to live with day to day.

OLIVER: Well, I think the other thing that worries us is, get back to your point, that this guy killed a soldier, you know, two blocks away from the front door of the House of Commons and then sprinted all the way up there with a rifle. And the Mounties on the Hill didn't get him. So that wasn't good, either.

So we do have to -- we've got to start realizing this is a world that's affecting us. We -- I suppose we knew it intellectually but now we know it for sure, that we're part of the target jihadists and others are trying to get at.

CUOMO: Or anybody mindless enough to think that violence is a path to glory can now cling on to this idea and be a risk to the rest of us.

Well, Craig Oliver, thank you for the insight into your friend and into the security situation up there. I think it's safe to say, as understated as he is, I think the beers are going to be on you for a while when you're out with your friend.

OLIVER: Tonight it will be scotch.

(LAUGHTER)

OLIVER: Good to talk to you.

CUOMO: Respect that. Take care, Craig. Thanks for being with us.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. Ebola makes its way to New York City. The doctor who treated those in Guinea now a patient here at home. He had been socializing around the city on subways and in bars, even bowling, before he was hospitalized yesterday.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz will be here. He is fired up about what he says is the flawed federal response to Ebola. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Let's take a quick look at your headlines right now.

A New York City doctor is now an Ebola patient after going to Guinea to help treat Ebola victims. 33-year-old Craig Spencer is the first confirmed case in New York; he is now in a hospital isolation unit. The officials insist there is no cause for alarm even though Spencer rode the subway, went bowling, went out to eat since his return from West Africa last week. Three people Spencer had close contact with, including his fiancee are now quarantined. Also this morning, Ebola has been diagnosed in Mali for the first time. A 2-year-old girl is the patient. She traveled to Mali from Guinea where her father died from the disease.

Federal prosecutors are looking into the manufacturer of defective air bags that forced millions of cars to be recalled. Investigators want to know if Takata provided wrong information to federal safety officials. The air bags may inflate with too much force, potentially spraying metal at the people inside the car. 12 million cars have been recalled worldwide, almost 8 million of them here in the United States.

Anticipation is high and so is security ahead of tonight's Game Three of the World Series. Fans will have their bags screened as they enter AT&T Park and every delivery truck will be scanned as well. Homeland Security officials are using imaging equipment to look inside the trucks and check for radiation. Standard operation at big events like this.

We're getting our first look at the Secret Service guard dogs who took down the latest White House fence jumper. Yes, they look cute, right? Hurricane and Jordan attacked Dominic Adesanya as he leapt onto the North Lawn. They knocked him down before the human Secret Service swooped in and arrested the 23-year-old. The dogs were taken to the vet; they were treated for minor bruising. They have been cleared they and are back to work.

CAMEROTA: Cute or deadly?

BERMAN: Yes, I think the answer to that is yes.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Berman in the break said that he could take one of those dogs but would struggle with two.

BERMAN: Both? Never both. I would need your help or Alisyn's.

CUOMO: I would go with Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I would lure the dog with a Scooby snack away, and that always works.

CUOMO: See, we would have never thought about that. I was thinking about using my forearm.

CAMEROTA: No, snack.

Thanks so much, John.

The Ebola scare is now very real in New York City this morning. The infected doctor with Ebola was making his way through the most populated city in America. Did he inadvertently put people at risk? We will speak with the city's health commissioner and a Congressman who has a lot to say about the response to the disease so far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)