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New Day Sunday

Galveston Officials: No Public Health Threat; Remains Found In Search For Missing Student; Dangers Of Ebola Myths And Misconceptions; Kurds, ISIS Battle For Kobani; Interview with Attorney Danny Cevallos; Bowe Bergdahl's Controversial Homecoming

Aired October 19, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you on a Sunday morning. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 6:00 here on the east coast. And this morning, all eyes are on a Carnival cruise ship in Galveston, Texas, this morning.

PAUL: Yes, the Carnival "Magic" has been caught up in this Ebola travel scare. Dallas lab technician who may have had an indirect contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola, of course, self-quarantined herself in a cabin on that ship. Now the Galveston County Health District says there is no evidence of a public health threat at this point.

BLACKWELL: Duncan's fiancee, Louise Trough, her son and two young men were in the Dallas apartment where Duncan became ill. They'll reach the end of 21 days of quarantine tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE CLAY JENKINS, DALLAS COUNTY: This is a critical weekend, if we don't see new patients this weekend, we'll see the remainder of the 48 that we're tasked with following come off the list. We'll see Louise and the three young men be able to come off the list and we'll be statistically unlikely -- or less likely to see more cases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: An Ohio TSA officer who patted down Amber Vinson, meanwhile, one of two Dallas nurses, who are now sick with Ebola, is watching for any symptoms now. Ohio health officials have increased the number of people being monitored at this point after having direct contact with Vinson from 16 to 29. We know 87 passengers on her flights to and from Cleveland are also self-monitoring.

BLACKWELL: And the family of the first man diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., Thomas Eric Duncan, his family, grieving this weekend. They attended a memorial in North Carolina yesterday.

Let's get more on all of this from CNN's Nick Valencia. PAUL: Yes, he's in Dallas. Nick, good to see you this morning. First of all, what are Galveston health officials saying exactly about this passenger?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christi and Victor. We're just getting new information from Galveston health officials saying that that lab supervisor, her blood samples came back asymptomatic for the Ebola virus. As you mentioned, this lab supervisor did not have direct contact.

It's not believed she had direct contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, but she may have come in contact with one of his lab specimens. Out of an abundance of caution, she self-isolated herself on that Carnival cruise ship. Incubation period is 21 days according to CDC guidelines.

And she may have come into contact with that lab specimen about 21 days ago. This all turned into a bit of a political football, U.S. State Department wanting to evacuate this lab supervisor by air from Belize where she was located earlier this week.

But the Belize government closed its borders to anyone who had come near the Ebola virus. That's why this cruise ship now docking, about 20 minutes ago is our understanding, at the Port of Galveston.

So now she's back on U.S. soil, asymptomatic. It's not clear where she will go next or what will happen next. That incubation period, 21 days, has passed -- Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: So I understand it was a pretty dramatic scene getting these blood samples to the lab to be tested.

VALENCIA: Yes. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter, hoisted down a basket. There was a doctor on board that Carnival cruise ship, who took blood samples from this lab supervisor and the U.S. Coast Guard was able to retrieve those blood samples by hoisting down a basket and those test results coming back to CNN this morning, Galveston health officials saying she's asymptomatic, guys.

PAUL: Nick, let me ask you something. I know that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital really doing something unique. They took out full-page ads in two Texas newspapers, apologizing to the community. What did it say?

VALENCIA: There's been no shortage of criticism, as you guys are well aware, for Texas Presbyterian Hospital. Some say the response has been really abysmal, negative spotlight cast on this mainstay, this hospital in this community for 50 years.

I want to read part of this letter sent out by the CEO of Texas Health Resources, which owns Texas Presbyterian Hospital. It says in part, "Based on what we already know, I can tell you that many of the theories and allegations being presented in the media do not align with facts stated in the medical record and the accounts of caregivers, who were present on the scene. We have remained committed to complying with CDC guidelines from the start. We believe our procedures complied with the CDC Ebola guidelines and our staff implemented them diligently.

Now to grab some context here, earlier this week, Anderson Cooper spoke to one of the nurses here at the hospital who came out and was just very critical of the hospital's handling of this. She claimed that nurses were exposed to the virus and that the hospital didn't do enough to prepare or be prepared for this unprecedented Ebola virus here in Dallas -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right. Nick, thank you so much. We'll get to that sound in just a moment. Nick Valencia there in Dallas for us.

I want to make sure we read a bit of a statement from the Galveston County Health District. We have not received the formal results from the test. But they have said that Galveston County Health authority has made the assessment that there is no evidence of a public health threat to cruise passengers or to Galveston County.

This is based on the fact that the person was confirmed to have remained asymptomatic and reassurance provided by the Department of State Health Services lab testing.

So, we just want to be clear that the blood test results have not been returned. So, no positive or negative result as it relates to Ebola. They believe based on the information available thus far because she's asymptomatic that there's no threat to the public health. Just want to be crystal clear on that.

PAUL: Yes. We also need to start talking about this other major break this morning in the search for missing UVA student, Hannah Graham, because police have called off the search after discovering human remains. They were found just eight miles from where she was last seen.

BLACKWELL: The body still needs to be identified, but investigators say they have notified Graham's parents. CNN's Jean Casarez has more for us this morning. Jean, good morning.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor. It was five weeks ago this weekend that University of Virginia sophomore, Hannah Graham, went missing from the downtown Charlottesville Mall. And it was after that the largest search in Virginia's history began.

That search has now gone from a missing person's investigation to a death investigation. Police are saying that it was during a routine search on Saturday that a team of volunteers along with law enforcement began searching an abandoned property in the county outside of Charlottesville.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TIMOTHY LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: Countless of hours. Thousands of hours have been spent by literally hundreds of law enforcement, civilian volunteers in an effort to find Hannah. We think perhaps today proved their worth. A search team from the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department was searching an abandoned property along Old Lynchburg Road in Southern Albemarle County when they discovered what appears to be human remains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Shortly after that, the Charlottesville police called the parents of Hannah Graham. At this point, the remains have not been identified. That will be the job of a medical examiner, who will perform an autopsy to try to determine the cause and manner of death.

The cause of death may be difficult because of the length of time that has passed. The University of Virginia sophomore was last seen on surveillance video in the early morning hours of September 13th, walking throughout parts of downtown Charlottesville.

She had gone to dinner with friends that night, but then appeared to be lost. Video also shows a man police believe to be 32-year-old Jesse Matthew. Matthew appears to be walking behind Graham and then, shortly before she vanishes, appears to have his arm around her.

It took 40 hours before Hannah was reported missing. But once that happened, an all-points bulletin went out to find her. Every single day in the last five weeks, volunteers, professional search and rescue personnel, along with law enforcement tried to find the college student but nothing.

No sign of Graham. Matthew walked into the local police department with his family a week after she disappeared, asked for a lawyer, got one, but then left without talking. He was found days later on a beach in Galveston, Texas.

Now back in Virginia, he is currently charged with the abduction of Hannah Graham with the intent to defile and sits in the county jail without bond. No word on how long it will take to identify the remains. But if they are those of Hannah Graham, Jesse Matthew could be facing a murder charge -- Christi, Victor.

PAUL: All right. Jean, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: The man suspected of killing a state trooper, some people believe that they've seen him. We'll tell you where these people believe they saw the man and what officials are doing right now to actually find him.

PAUL: Plus, with so much information -- maybe we should say misinformation and fear about Ebola, how will Americans and the government react when flu season kicks in? That's going to happen soon. And people all over start developing fevers, aches and stomach pain. It is bound to happen. We'll talk more about it in a moment.

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PAUL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. So glad to have you with us. Listen to what is happening in our week here. First of all, a break in the case possibly, investigators on the hunt for that suspected police killer, believe he may have been spotted near his former high school in Eastern Pennsylvania.

They say a woman spotted a man whose face was covered in mud and carrying a rifle. The sighting was only a few miles from where police had been heavily searching for survivalist, Eric Frein.

Annual pumpkin fest, look at this, basically turning into mayhem in New Hampshire. Police in riot gear had to use tear gas to partiers who had been tearing down street signs, setting fires allegedly. Dozens were arrested and multiple ambulances were sent to the scene.

The head of the Russian Tennis Federation has been banned from the WTA for a year and fined $25,000. Why? He referred to Venus and Serena Williams as the Williams brothers during a TV appearance. He said in a statement he didn't mean to insult the sisters and was sorry that the joke was taken out of context.

Have you even bothered to step outside this morning? Freeze warnings and advisories in chunks of the country. That cold is moving into New England tonight. So we know that there will be highs today in New York, Boston, and D.C. just in the mid-50s. That's 10 to 15 degrees below normal at this point. Folks in the southeast, it's going to be a dry, pleasant day for you. Go ahead and enjoy the weather while you've got it.

BLACKWELL: Christi, thanks.

Let's get back to this morning's top story. Carnival cruise ship connected to an Ebola scare has arrived back in Galveston, Texas. Health officials say the Dallas lab worker who quarantined herself is asymptomatic. They don't believe that there is any threat to public health.

Daniel Saman joins us. He is the chief epidemiologist at Health Watch USA. Dr. Saman, thanks for coming in this morning. Those who had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan before he was admitted, their 21 days of the incubation period, as it's called, ends to today, if they get to tomorrow without any symptoms, are they 100 percent really in the clear now?

DR. DANIEL SAMAN, CHIEF EPIDEMIOLOGIST, HEALTH WATCH USA: Well, the CDC and World Health Organization tell us that, you know, after that point that, for the most part, you're in the clear so, generally speaking, yes.

BLACKWELL: OK. You know, there have been some questions about funding, if there were more money for the CDC, if there were even a surgeon general that we would be in a different situation. Do you see that this could be improved by CDC funding if you had the surgeon general voice? Do you think we would be in a different position?

SAMAN: You know, there's been cut and funding for the CDC and for NIH. If you want to have organizations that are prepared to fight this type of battle, you're going to have to up the funding. That's critical. It's critical that we have those organizations in place and are well funded year after year. And if they're not, they're not going to be prepared.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about the response from the CDC, also from the state agencies even the hospital. As we kind of grade what's happened over the last couple of weeks, how do you grade their response thus far?

SAMAN: Well, that's a difficult question to answer. I think that they can always be doing better and they're looking, they're doing investigations right now about what could be done better in the Dallas hospital. It's hard for me to answer that type of question.

BLACKWELL: OK, so let's look forward then.

SAMAN: Sure.

BLACKWELL: Flu season is coming. You will have people who have fevers and body aches and there will be the confusion. What exactly do I have? How do you expect that they will respond or have you seen any indication of a plan to respond when you have so many people who have the symptoms of this killer virus?

SAMAN: You're right. Some of the symptoms are going to cross over. But if you haven't been exposed to somebody, if you're not a caretaker of someone who has Ebola, if you're not in direct contact with bodily fluids, you are most likely not going to have Ebola.

BLACKWELL: What's the impact of this new Ebola czar, do you think?

SAMAN: I don't know. It's way too early to judge that. He was just named by President Obama a few days ago.

BLACKWELL: What would you hope his impact would be?

SAMAN: I would hope his impact would be to relay an effective message. And to kind of push the agenda forward, that this needs to stop now. We need to have a galvanized response. No longer can Doctors Without Borders alone go after this epidemic. If we have a galvanized response, then we can stop this epidemic.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Daniel Saman, thank you for offering your insight this morning.

SAMAN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Christi.

PAUL: Victor, thanks.

There's been fierce fighting and airstrikes in Kobani, Syria, as Kurdish fighters try to keep the city from falling into ISIS hands. We'll give you the very latest.

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PAUL: The battle for the key town of Kobani in Syria is heating up now. This weekend, U.S.-led coalition jets pounded ISIS targets in Syria and in Iraq. There's been fierce fighting on the streets near the Turkish-Syria border.

Although ISIS militants appear to have vanished from some parts of Kobani, U.S. officials say the city could still fall. I want to talk to CNN military analyst, Major General James "Spider" Marks. General, thank you so much for being with us.

MAJOR GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Christi, sure.

PAUL: We were hearing the city would, indeed, fall. The fact that it is not and two weeks later they are still -- they have some grasp on this city, the citizens there, what do you say? Does that mean that these airstrikes are, indeed, helping?

MARKS: You have to draw that conclusion. Yes, you sure do. Clearly the coalition strikes are increasing in terms of their effectiveness. I would tell you there are probably some spotters on the ground that are targets.

They can either PKK, the resistance fighters in Northern Syria or it could even be U.S. forces on the ground infiltrated in with them and allowing themselves some degree of freedom of movement back into Turkey if they need to do that because of the proximity of Kobani to the Turkish border.

Clearly the strikes are working. What's happening also is ISIS is dealing with a new dynamic. The strikes have been very effective, which has caused them to disperse, which means they lose a little bit of command and control.

They have gone essentially from trying to conduct very concentrated operations. Now they're much more independent, a little more diverse, as I indicated. But they have to coalesce. If they want to take Kobani and the coalition is going after those targets. It seems to be working right now.

PAUL: It's working right now. One of the things -- one of the countries that has been noticeably absent is Turkey, in terms of any sort of action. What do you think it's going to take to entice Turkey to get involved here?

MARKS: Yes. The challenge with Turkey is the PKK and the Turks do not like each other. Turkish blood is on the hands of the PKK. So if Turkey were to engage in the fight against ISIS, they would be strengthening the PKK. That's something they cannot tolerate.

The second challenge is that Turkey wants the Assad regime in Damascus to fall. They want Assad to go away. Anything that strengthens Assad is not in their best interest. So, Turkey is sitting on the fence right now, trying to see how this thing might fall, might kind of move down the path.

Right now, they've got integrity of their borders. They've got an incredibly strong, professional military. In essence, they're over watching this fight. If something were to push or go in a direction that would challenge them, they could respond. Right now, Turkey is probably saying we've got a humanitarian crisis. We still have refugees that are coming into Turkey. Turkey is accepting them from Syria, but they are not going to get engaged in this fight just yet, unless there is some physical challenge and we don't see that coming right now.

PAUL: A few weeks ago, Bob Baer said it's very difficult to get inside ISIS because they're so hostile. We've had reports in the last couple of days that there are Syrian Kurds who are giving some intel to the U.S. from inside ISIS. How long do you think that can be sustained before those people might be found out?

MARKS: That's a -- I have to tell you, Christi, that's the heart of the challenge of the human intelligence collection challenge that we have. If you can get a source inside your enemy, you've got to be able to allow that source to report in a way and to conduct operations in a way that benefits you. That puts them at amazing risk. Think about that for a second.

What they have chosen to do to try to defeat this enemy they perceive and putting themselves at immense risk. That can continue if their trade craft is good and they can still report in a way that looks like it's normative behavior. There's no time line to this.

In many cases they might disappear because they have to go back to ground, they can't do it or they might disappear because there's an unfortunate outcome.

PAUL: All righty, General "Spider" Marks, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Sadness this morning in Charlottesville, Virginia, after police make a grim discovery in their search for missing UVA student, Hannah Graham. The case has now turned into a death investigation.

Also the Supreme Court gives the green light to a controversial voter I.D. law in Texas. You'll hear why Attorney General Eric Holder calls it a major step backward.

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PAUL: Thirty minutes past the hour. Always good to see you. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Coming up on --past 6:30 here on the East Coast. Let's start with five things you need to know for your new day.

PAUL: Got a little excited about how far along we are already, didn't you?

BLACKWELL: Moving through it.

PAUL: No. 1, just two days before early voting begins in Texas, the Supreme Court has given the green light on a controversial voter identification law that would require voters to show certain kinds of state-issued photo I.D. in order to cast a ballot. Critics say the law is unconstitutional, that it will make it harder for low-income people and minorities to vote. Supporters argue the new law will help prevent voter fraud.

BLACKWELL: No. 2, Pope Francis in beautifying Pope Paul VI in a ceremony at the Vatican this morning. Meanwhile, Catholic bishops, rather, ended a two-week summit this weekend. You're looking at live pictures now. This of course Pope Francis here. But without coming to an agreement on same-sex relationships and divorce and remarriage. You know where this is going to end. An interim report initially welcoming same-sex couples was heavily revised. Pope Francis had called the bishops meeting to update the church's teachings on family life, which is seen as outdated by many Catholics.

PAUL: No. 3, at least eight people were killed after an apparent attack by terrorist group Boko Haram. According to residents in two villages near Niger, armed militants also abducted an unknown number of people. Now, the attacks come amid cease-fire talks to release more than 200 kidnapped school girls. Boko Haram has yet to respond to the government's cease-fire announcement.

BLACKWELL: No. 4, 39 bodies had been found in a grim search for missing hikers in the Himalayas. It was after a freak blizzard and avalanche slammed the popular tourist destination. Those killed include Israelis, Canadians, Poles, Napolis. The tragedy comes just six months after an avalanche of ice swept 16 sherpas to their deaths on the slopes of Mount Everest.

PAUL: And No. 5, this is curious. A mysterious U.S. military spacecraft, you see it there, landed back on earth. The Air Force will not explain, though, what the unmanned test vehicle was doing up in orbit for, wait for it, nearly two years. Oh, and you know that means speculation is running wild. Some theorists believe the ship might be some sort of space bomber or a futuristic spy plane. Whatever it was doing up in space, we may never know.

BLACKWELL: Police are now calling the case of missing UVA student Hannah Graham a death investigation. Yesterday human remains were found on an abandoned property just eight miles from where the 18- year-old was last seen. The body has not yet been identified, but authorities have notified Graham's parents. Graham vanished last month after leaving dinner with friends. Let's talk more with CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Danny Cevallos. Thank you for joining us this morning. Police called Graham's parents after the discovery, although the body has not been identified. What else might have been found at the site that would have made them confident that this was Hannah Graham?

DANNY CEVALLOS, ATTORNEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: One is by a parent or loved one looking at a photograph of the body and identifying it, but there are other ways, including tattoos, distinctive marks. There are reports that this -- the missing person, Hannah Graham, was about 5' 11 tall. That's pretty tall for a female. That might be an identifying characteristic. So there are a number of different ways, including things like dental records and other forensics, that investigators can use to positively identify a body when they find human remains like this, even when they're in an advanced state of decomposition, as, we expect -- and I hate to be gruesome -- after about five weeks, these remains will be.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk more about Jesse Matthew, he is the main suspect in this case, already charged thus far with abduction. Now we know that the two were together the night she vanished. Police have surveillance video. But if these remains are Graham's, there's going to be Matthew's DNA there on the body in some way or another. How hard will it be to link him to the cause of death?

CEVALLOS: Well, it won't just be DNA. There could potentially be a number of other things linking a suspect that you may find at a crime scene. Because not only do you have human remains, you have a crime scene, that somebody had to get into and then get out of. And while we walk around all day, we are particulate creatures. We are dropping pieces of ourselves everywhere, whether it be fiber from our clothes, hair pieces, I'm sorry, parts of our hair, or skin or other forms of evidence that can be used.

Now, the other side of this is that when you find a body -- remember that you can prosecute for a no-body murder case and achieve a conviction, but once you find a body, you may find evidence of the suspect being there, but you may find other evidence that sends the investigation in another direction. And a defense attorney down the road can take that evidence.

One example would be the Casey Anthony case. Once you find a body, there was evidence at that crime scene and evidence on that body that the defense used to point in another direction. So while finding human remains is absolutely critical, having a crime scene is critical, it may yield evidence that is not only beneficial to the prosecution, but it could actually confound the investigation as well.

But bottom line, if, for example, some semen is found from this particular suspect at the crime scene, that's the kind of evidence that will go quite a distance towards building a case against this suspect.

BLACKWELL: The attorneys can no longer build their own narrative. They now have facts to put in those places, and that could send the information or the case in one direction or another.

We got you just for about another minute. I want to ask you about Ferguson and the reporting from the New York Times this weekend that the FBI, forensic tests found Michael Brown's blood -- he, of course, the young black teenager who was shot and killed by a white officer, Darren Wilson. His blood found inside the cruiser, on Wilson's uniform, inside the -- on the gun as well. Considering all of those facts, could all of those still be true? Even the pinning down and the struggle in the vehicle? And we see charges against Darren Wilson?

CEVALLOS: The story of Ferguson is emerging as a story of competing narratives from different witnesses that are nothing like each other. So once we get into the forensic area, once we discover, for example, if there's gunshot residue in the vehicle, if there is blood in the vehicle, that becomes circumstantial evidence that will either support one of the narratives or discredit it.

So, this evidence, if true, will tell us that -- will tend to show us that there was a struggle in the vehicle. And if there was a struggle in the vehicle, whose narrative does that support? At least preliminarily, it appears to support the officer's story, which is that there was a struggle in the car, and that the gun was fired in the car. So then investigators and law enforcement are left to answer the question, why would somebody have a struggle in the car? If that aligns with other witnesses' version of this story and if that tends to support the Michael Brown theory, that he was innocently walking down the street, well, then that might go towards an indictment against this officer. But at this point, it preliminarily appears to support Officer Wilson's narrative. And if it does, I think now we're getting farther and farther away from an indictment against this officer.

BLACKWELL: Even considering that after you're outside the vehicle, Brown has already been shot, and quite possibly the threat has subsided if you're outside the vehicle?

CEVALLOS: Well, legally, let's talk about that very briefly. If there is a struggle, attacking a police officer, if there's any -- if you attack a police officer, legally, even if you are responding, practically you're going to be somebody that, in shorthand, the officer is allowed to use deadly force on. And once you're fleeing -- I want to correct this. People get very upset about this. There is a fleeing felon rule. It doesn't mean Michael Brown had to be convicted right there and then of a felony. Instead, if that officer believes he is apprehending a dangerous felon, he may be able to use deadly force. And the net effect of that is, as shocking as it may be -- and if you don't like it, take it up with Congress and the Supreme Court -- that a police officer can use deadly force to apprehend a fleeing felon in certain instances. By that I mean someone suspected of a felony.

BLACKWELL: Danny Cevallos, thank you so much for clearing up some things for us this morning.

CEVALLOS: Thank you.

PAUL: Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's rescue has not come with a triumphant ending. We're heading to his home town in Idaho, where the relationship with their homegrown prisoner of war is becoming even more complicated, to say the least.

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PAUL: Want to get you some pictures we're just getting in now. This is a Carnival cruise that people had been waiting for just docking in Galveston. With that person on board who had been in self-imposed confinement in her cabin, because she had -- possibly had some connection to the treatment of the Ebola patient, Thomas Duncan, who of course died from that disease. And for the last several days, people on that ship had been aware that she is there, but these are the pictures as they get ready to disembark, and again, no public health threat, we're being told, that she is still asymptomatic. So she may be in the clear. We'll have to wait and see.

BLACKWELL: We'll have the latest on that. Our Nick Valencia watching that story line for us.

PAUL: Switching topics here, it's been more than four months since Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl returned home after nearly five years in captivity.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but these days, just about all the ribbons, and the banners and the feverish support for the former prisoner of war is all gone. Even Bergdahl's hometown is uneasy about its one-time hero. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is a pile of boxes sitting inside the Haley, Idaho police department.

STEFANIE O'NEILL, BERGDAHL FAMILY FRIEND: This is love right here. This is support for a fellow American.

LAVANDERA: Filled with cards and letters of support, waiting for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to read them.

O'NEILL: It's over 700,000 cards.

LAVANDERA: It was part of a holiday campaign last year to bring Bowe home. All the letters were sent to the White House a few months before Bergdahl was released after almost five years in captivity.

(on camera): This would take weeks to go through.

O'NEILL: If not years.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Now, they sit, forgotten. A symbol of how the story of Bowe Bergdahl's rescue hasn't come with a triumphant ending. For Stefanie O'Neill, a Bergdahl family friend, it's a more bitter symbol.

O'NEILL: There was never any question about the fact that Bowe could have walked away, and everyone acts surprised when he was released. And you know it, you know the story always was, that there's a chance that Bowe walked off. For what reason, we don't know. From Bowe's release, some of these organizations were the first ones to pull their support from Bowe. They came out with the standard answer, we've done our job, he's home, we're not helping anymore, we're not supporting him.

So, it's interesting to see that so many of these came from organizations that almost within a week of Bowe's release turned their back on him.

LAVANDERA: That's what brought us back to Bergdahl's home town of Haley. An Army fact-finding investigation found Bergdahl had left his outpost deliberately and of his own free will. Several soldiers in Bergdahl's Army unit say he is a deserter and a traitor. The signs of support and yellow ribbons along Haley's main street are now gone.

For five years, this town stood by its soldier held as a prisoner of war. But now, the relationship is complicated.

(on camera): We asked the mayor of Haley to sit down with us to talk about Bowe Bergdahl and the homecoming that never was. But he refused, saying, we're done, we're over it, we stood by the Bergdahl family to get Bowe home, but we need to move on.

And that captures the mood of many around here, who simply want the Bowe Bergdahl saga to go away.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Their son Bowe is coming home.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): When Bergdahl was released, Army officials said a family reunion would likely take place in days. It never happened. In fact, Bergdahl refused to see or even talk to his parents. But that's starting to change.

(on camera): Two sources tell us Bowe Bergdahl is now communicating with his parents, but as far as we know, they still haven't seen each other, even four months after Bowe Bergdahl was rescued in Afghanistan. The Bergdahl family doesn't want to talk about any possible family reunion. Bergdahl's parents have only said that they want to give their son the time and space he needs to recuperate from almost five years in captivity.

(voice-over): Many who knew Bowe Bergdahl before he joined the Army, now say the boy from Idaho probably wasn't a good fit for structured military life.

(on camera): Bowe has been out here to this property?

TIM KEMERY, BERGDAHL FAMILY FRIEND: Yes, a long time ago.

LAVANDERA: Tim Kemery has known the Bergdahl for 20 years.

KEMERY: He became frustrated because he saw no end to a crisis.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Do you think he left -- voluntarily left his base there in Afghanistan?

KEMERY: Absolutely. And I'm not -- there is nothing evil about what he did, no intent of evil, but I believe he had becomes disillusioned, and he was used to as a boy and a young man going off on his own for many days at a time.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Kemery's son was one of Bergdahl's best friends. The families were part of a home-schooling community in Haley. Kemery says Bergdahl was raised in an intensely religious environment with a strict code of conduct.

KEMERY: There definitely was a time when he left home, in that 15- and 16-year-old range, left home for a little while, and no doubt it was some type of rebellion. His dad was making him -- and like with my boys, too, I was making them comply with certain things that they didn't, as boys, they didn't like, and there may have been something there, there was a bone of contention. And Bowe did have a tendency to get really frustrated and just to walk off and throw up his hands.

LAVANDERA: Kemery can't say if that childhood rebellion is still a source of strain on Bergdahl's relationship with his family, but he sees a parallel between the young Bowe he knew and the one who some say walked away from his post in Afghanistan.

(on camera): But that's fine up here in Idaho.

KEMERY: That's fine.

LAVANDERA: But when you're part of the U.S. military, that doesn't go very well.

KEMERY: It doesn't go. So what would drive that? That's the issue here. What would drive that kind of frustration that he is actually breaking code?

O'NEILL: Bring Bowe home.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Those letters are still waiting for Bergdahl in his home town, and so are his family and friends.

(on camera): Do you think Bowe Bergdahl will ever come back to Idaho?

KEMERY: I believe so. We have a hunting trip waiting for him. Yeah. Long overdue. And we're going to talk about things around the fire. Yes.

LAVANDERA: But no one knows for sure when or if he'll ever return to the place he called home.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Haley, idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So we want to shine a spotlight on the top ten CNN heroes of 2014. Give you something really good this morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes. This week's honoree has found a unique way to keep the children off the streets of Hartford, Connecticut. Meet Patricia Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough. It's tough growing up here. It's just so easy to take the wrong path. I was walking around with a lot on my shoulders at a young age. I didn't really care about life anymore. When I met Ms. Kelly, everything changed. PATRICIA KELLY, CNN HERO: Fred (ph) was hurting. He needed a place

where he could just be himself. Our program provides a year-around urban oasis, seven days a week, 12 months a year. For children up to 19 years old.

We use horses to create pride, esteem and healing. The children take care of animals, take care of the farm. When they get to a certain riding level, young men become mounted park rangers. When they put their cowboy hats and they go out on patrol, the myth of the urban male has changed instantly. When kids see other kids ride, they want to know how it's done. That's the hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell you where I'd be without this program. It's changed my life. It's helped me set goals for myself. I'm a part of something.

KELLY: When you teach a child how to ride a horse, they learn that they are the center of their environment. Once they make that connection, they can change what happens in school, at home, and the community. It's through their minds and through their hearts. They have ability. They just have to unlock it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Of course, you can go to CNNheroes.com online or on your mobile device to vote for Patricia or one of the other nine nominees for hero of the year. They will be honored at "CNN Heroes, an all- star tribute," hosted by our very own Anderson Cooper on Sunday, December 7th, and the winner receives $100,000 to help further their work.

PAUL: And we're back after a quick break with our top story, the arrival of Carnival cruise, the ship in connection to the Ebola scare. Those people are probably just itching to get off of that ship. We have some of the first pictures coming up. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)