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New Day Sunday

Cruise Ship in Ebola Scare Arrives in Texas; Dallas Lab Worker on Cruise Ship Asymptomatic; Remains Found in Search for Missing Student; Bishops: No Agreement on Gays, Lesbians

Aired October 19, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Let's get right to it.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a big sigh of relief for passengers aboard a Carnival cruise ship that has steamed into port in Galveston this morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes, a Galveston County health authority says that a lab worker who was on the ship may have handled lab specimens from an Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan -- of course, we know that he has died -- but the worker is still asymptomatic and there's no evidence of a public health threat. We've got part of the statement here.

The passenger and her travel partner have been allowed to disembark without restrictions.

PAUL: The man who died, remember, Thomas Eric Duncan, is being remembered as someone who gave his life because he helped another woman who was ill with Ebola. Here are pictures, his mother and other relatives attending a memorial in North Carolina. This was yesterday.

BLACKWELL: The Ebola scare is ripping across Ohio, where one of two Dallas nurses now sick with Ebola travelled. A TSA agent who patted Amber Vinson down in Cleveland is on paid leave and is watching for any symptoms.

So, we've got CNN's Erin McPike at the White House for us. We also had Nick Valencia at the Dallas hospital where Duncan died and two nurses have become ill. We know they are now apologizing.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this morning -- good morning, Victor and Christi.

This morning, the hospital here, Texas Health Resources, that company that owns this Texas Presbyterian Hospital, releasing a letter to the community, they're calling it, in two papers here. And let me just read part of that.

This is this morning's paper, this "Dallas Morning News," part of that statement says in part, "Based on what we already know, I can tell you 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've remained committed to being compliant with the CDC guidelines from the start. We believe our procedures complied with the CDC Ebola guidelines and our staff implemented them diligently."

Now, there's no shortage of criticism for Texas Health Presbyterian. They've been a mainstay in this community for 50 years. It's not just criticism from outside of the hospital. It's also inside. Earlier this week, Anderson Cooper spoke with one of the nurses here at the hospital who was very critical at how it handled it. They said that the nurses here may have been exposed to the Ebola virus and that they were unprepared to handle this unprecedented virus at their doorstep -- Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: And we know that although we have this summation from health officials that there's no threat to public health, the blood test results are not back for this cruise passenger. Is that correct?

VALENCIA: Well, the -- I'm sorry, the Galveston County health officials did release a statement to CNN saying that the public health assessment of this lab supervisor, who may have come into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan's lab specimens show there's no threat to the community and she is asymptomatic. We don't have those lab tests officially ourselves at CNN.

But we know from Galveston County health officials that they say there's no threat to the public. Now, she's passed this incubation period. CDC guidelines say it's 21 days for an incubation period. We don't exactly where she'll go after she lands, but we know that that ship, that carnival cruise ship she was on has now docked in the port of Galveston -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Nick Valencia there for us in Dallas -- Nick, thanks so much.

PAUL: So, let's go to CNN's Erin McPike now. She's at the White House and we know that President Obama held a high-level meeting there last night on this very issue.

Erin, who was there?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, as you said, it was a high-level meeting. Many cabinet officials, other high-ranking administration officials as well, they also had a meeting Friday evening as well as last night. So, Friday and Saturday evening, back- to-back meetings.

Some of the names who were there: Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, as well as the chief of the staff, Denis McDonough, Tony Blinken, the deputy national security adviser to the president, also Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the CDC, some 20 names or so, both nights, few different names for these two nights but these meetings were all about Dallas, what happened in Dallas, contact-tracing of other potential people who could have been affected and also the state and local measures that are being taken in Dallas and what kind of help they need from the federal government.

I want to read to you a little bit of the readout of that meeting so the meeting concluded with a discussion of broader steps to increase the preparedness of our health sector nationwide. The last thing I would tell you is that there was another big meeting last Friday evening that the White House office of science and technology policy convened with USAID and others, to meet with 100 or so experts, doctors, physicists and others about what they are doing to come up with new technologies to treat and diagnose Ebola, Christi and Victor.

PAUL: All righty. Erin McPike, thank you.

So, I want to let you know that police, we've learned, are calling off the search for missing UVA student Hannah Graham because they say the case has now turned into a death investigation after they found human remains. These were found yesterday.

Now, the remains were apparently discovered on an abandoned property just eight miles from where 18-year-old Hannah Graham vanished. The body, we do want to point out, has yet to be definitively identified. But investigators have notified Graham's parents.

One of the officers who found the remains says, you know, his team never gave up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. DALE TERRY, CHESTERFIELD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I don't know how else to explain it other than something just inside me told me just continue to look. No hair, no flesh whatsoever, completely, completely bones. There was no crushing of any bones as far as skull or anything like that. Everything looked to be intact to me, from what I could see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Graham vanished five weeks ago after leaving dinner with friends and was last seen on surveillance cameras leaving a bar in downtown Charlottesville with 32-year-old Jesse Matthew. He has since been charged with her abduction and has been linked to the case of Morgan Harrington. She's a 20-year-old Virginia tech student who was found dead back in 2009. Matthew is scheduled to appear in court again in December.

BLACKWELL: Some residents of Ferguson, Missouri, say they are very suspicious of new details emerging about the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. It's all over a "New York Times" report that gives Officer Darren Wilson's version of what happened when he encountered the teenager. Of course, this was in August.

Now, citing unnamed government officials close to the investigation, the paper says Wilson fired his gun twice while still inside the cruiser. And a forensic test found Brown's blood on Wilson's gun, his uniform, and on the inside door panel of that cruiser. The newspaper reports Wilson says he was pinned inside his car and feared for his life.

People who live there in Ferguson say the account has been constructed and contrived to try and justify Brown's killing. Others alleged it was leaked to the newspaper because a St. Louis grand jury is now leaning toward not indicting the officer.

PAUL: Could be a possible break in the hunt for a suspected police killer who investigators believe may have been spotted now near his former high school in eastern Pennsylvania. They say a woman spotted a man whose face was covered in mud and she says he was carrying a rifle. Now, the sighting was only a few miles from where police have been heavily searching for survivalist Eric Frein.

BLACKWELL: A pumpkin festival, it's supposed to be a fun time, right?

PAUL: You would hope so.

BLACKWELL: This one turned into a scene of chaos and mayhem in New Hampshire. We'll tell you what went wrong here.

PAUL: Plus, the pope is edifying one of his predecessors today. We're taking you live to the Vatican.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So glad to see you here on NEW DAY. I want to get you caught up on the "Morning Read."

BLACKWELL: All right. U.S.-led airstrikes are pounding ISIS targets in Syrian town of Kobani this weekend. CNN crew saw a huge plume of smoke rise over the city from nearby Turkey.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Syrian Kurdish forces are fighting ISIS militants near the Syria/Turkey border. They also say at least 10 civilians were killed in those air strikes.

PAUL: An annual pumpkin fest, my goodness, turned into one heck of a mess. Look at these pictures coming in. This was last night in Keene, New Hampshire. Police in riot gear had to try to disperse rowdy partiers who were allegedly throwing liquor and beer battles, tearing down street signs, setting fires. Dozens of people were arrested, and multiple ambulances were sent to the scene.

BLACKWELL: Sports now. A thriller last night in college football. Number two Florida State took on number five Notre Dame in Tallahassee, with 13 seconds left in the game. Notre Dame scored a touchdown that would have won the game but it was called back.

PAUL: No!

BLACKWELL: Seminoles take this one, remain undefeated.

PAUL: You know that ticked off a lot of people.

BLACKWELL: A whole lot of people. PAUL: All righty. In weather, Hurricane Ana is brushing the

West Coast of Hawaii. Now, look at some of the pictures coming in to us. It's a category 1 storm with sustained winds of 80 miles an hour, moving northwest at 6 miles an hour. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Kauai County. You've got a tropical storm watch in effect for Oahu, and flash flood warnings in effect for all Hawaiian counties.

BLACKWELL: Pope Francis is beatifying Pope Paul VI in a ceremony at a Vatican this morning. We've got live pictures for you this morning I believe as well. Meanwhile, Catholic bishops ended a two- week summit this weekend, but without coming to an agreement on same- sex relationships, divorce, and remarriage -- some controversial issues for the church.

Let's go to CNN Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher in Rome.

Delia, let's start with the bishops meeting. There was an initial report welcoming same-sex couples or at least changing the tone, maybe some content. It was heavily revised. Tell us about it.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. There was a surprising report on Monday with new language from the Vatican on same-sex couples, on valuing the homosexual orientation, which was very different wording from anything we've ever heard out of the Vatican.

And, apparently, surprised some of the bishops and cardinals inside the meeting as well, because they spent most of the week trying to backtrack from that position and, indeed, in the final document, which we received last night, the language is completely changed. It has gone back to the more traditional language, with regard to gays and lesbians, that there should be no unjust discrimination against them and they should be treated with respect and dignity.

But the fact remains that that interim report that came out was representative of some of the views that were heard in the Synod Hall. That leads some to suggest that there has already been a kind of opening on the part of this Synod, even though there was no agreement reached on the exact wording. Because even the wording last night, the more traditional wording, did not receive the two-thirds quorum necessary to find approval with the Synod.

So, it will be at least another year before we know exactly what the wording will be when they meet again in October 2015 -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Even the consideration was an olive branch to some. To some, it was really supposed to be an effort to bring some who left the church back to the church. Did even the conversation achieve that goal, even if they came to no agreement?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think that Pope Francis, from the beginning, has been reaching out to those who feel excluded. So, probably on his own, quite aside from any conversation going on in the Synod, he has accomplished some of that. In fact, what's interesting about all of this is that it's been

such a public debate and the pope is OK with it. He said last night in his closing remarks that he would have been saddened, he said, would have been saddened had there not been this lively debate, this animated discussion. And he was the one who, in the very beginning, when they started in, in the hall, said I want this to be frank and open. Everybody speak your mind. Don't hold back just because the pope is here.

So, what we're calling divisions and so on we already knew existed, frankly. They've just come to the forefront. And they've come to the forefront because Pope Francis has requested it.

So, he's really got the conversation going. It will be at least another year before we see any kind of concrete results or proposals that this Synod is going to make to the pope. This was his expressed intention to get the conversation start this had year.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see what will be the fruit of this summit and if the language actually changes.

Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher, thank you so much.

PAUL: This morning, Dallas hospital where three people have been treated for Ebola is under fire over accusation that it didn't have proper protocol in place. But did you know this isn't the first time the facility has faced some tough questions?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: The Dallas hospital that treated Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan under fire, obviously, for not having proper protocol in place.

BLACKWELL: Yes. It's Texas Health Presbyterian. Of course, that's the hospital where two nurses who treated Duncan contracted the deadly virus. It's not the first time the hospital has been in trouble, though. It's lost portions of its federal funding in the past for patient remission.

And you hear that term, patient readmission and you think back, because Duncan was sent home after his first visit to the hospital.

Here's CNN Money correspondent Cristina Alesci.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christie, Victor, readmission is actually a major problem for many hospitals. That's when patients come back within 30 days with the same issues.

In fact, since 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have cracked down on this problem with penalties. Presbyterian of Dallas has been fined for the past three years in a row. But those fees don't really impact the hospital's bottom line. The real problem is the financial hit it's currently taking. Since mishandling an Ebola patient, the hospital has closed down

its emergency room, a significant source of revenue. There are also reductions in other areas and is reportedly two-thirds empty. Presbyterian of Dallas is part of a company called Texas Health Resources. The network is the largest in north Texas, operating 25 hospitals.

All together, it generates about $4 billion in revenue, 17 percent alone comes from Presbyterian of Dallas. But Texas Health is well-funded in the short term. So, if Presbyterian of Dallas suffers financially or even, worst case scenario, shuts down, it won't be the end for the parent company. Right now, though, there are no active discussions of a shutdown -- Christi, Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Cristina Alesci, thank you.

PAUL: So, let's talk about some of these Ebola protocols with Sandra DiVarco. She's a health lawyer and registered nurse.

Sandra, thank you for being with us.

Let's put your medical hat on first. How confident are you in the abilities of other nurses and hospitals and their preparedness for Ebola?

SANDRA DIVARCO, HEALTH LAWYER AND REGISTERED NURSE: Well, it's hard to say. I've been out of direct clinical care for some time, but as long as clinicians are trained and have the resources available for them, I think particularly with the cautionary tale they've all had coming out of Dallas, they're going to be particularly attuned to doing the best they can to remain safe.

PAUL: OK. Well, let's talk about what one nurse had to say at the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas. She slammed conditions there.

Listen to what one of them told CNN's Anderson Cooper about her equipment, specifically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANA AGUIRRE, TEXAS HEALTH PRESBYTERIAN NURSE: No one ever spoke to me about Ebola. Why would my neck be exposed? Why do I have on two pairs of gloves, tape, a plastic suit covering my whole body, two hoods, a total of three pairs of booties, including the one on my Tyvek suit, an apron and my entire body is covered in at least two or three layers of plastic and my neck is hanging out. And I just -- I just told them why would an area so close to my mouth and my nose, why would that be exposed? And they didn't have an answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: OK. So, for their part, the hospital -- they have been trying to shift some responsibility to the CDC. What is the CDC's responsibility or irresponsibility here?

DIVARCO: Well, it's difficult to say. This is somewhat of an exceptional circumstance. While clearly the CDC and health care facilities are used to dealing with infectious disease, Ebola is one we have not had to deal with in this country. And there is going to be a learning curve.

The key for hospitals is to ensure, as it sounds like others are doing with great dedication and resolve, is to follow the guidance and to take whatever steps they believe to be necessary in accordance with that guidance. There's also nothing to say that there's no ability to go above and beyond that guidance. So, if there's a facility or a process that a hospital thinks could go above and beyond the government guidelines, they could choose to do that.

I also understand that the CDC guidance, as we learn more about the disease and how it's presenting here in this country is likely going to shift. And the key is making sure that policies, procedures and education that staff get keep pace with that.

PAUL: Sure. Sandra, put your legal hat on now, if you would, please. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital issued an apology, a major one, in two snoops in Texas this morning, saying, "I know that as an institution, we made mistakes in handling this very difficult situation, this challenge, I should say."

By admitting their mistakes, are they making themselves even more vulnerable to a lawsuit? Negligence of some sort?

DIVARCO: It's difficult to say. That's a classic lawyer answer, I know.

But at the end of the day, they've identified issues. They're well-publicized. We're talking about them now. We're not the only ones. And they're doing what they can to resolve it.

The actual act of apology might or might not influence the outcome of a civil suit, for example, if the patient's family chooses to pursue action against the hospital. They would still need to be able to prove that those things that were done by the hospital that might be alleged to cause a problem actually led to his demise for what is a disease with a high mortality rate.

PAUL: All righty. Sandra DiVarco, so appreciate your insight. Thanks for being with us.

We'll be right back.

DIVARCO: Happy to be here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All this week, 13 of CNN's anchors and hosts have been tracing their family roots across the globe, back in time.

PAUL: And it's time for our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, to tell his story. You don't want to miss it.

"SGMD" starts right now.