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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Mysterious ISIS Figure; Ebola Fears Growing; Ebola Patient "Slightly Improves"; Ebola Patient Gets Experimental Drug; Terror Plot Foiled in U.K.?; FBI: ISIS Killer Has Western Accent

Aired October 07, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Ebola making another alarming jump, and not even a hazmat suit helped.

I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD.

The world lead. She only had contact with her patient two times. We're learning much more now about how a nurse's assistant has become the first person to catch Ebola in the West.

The national lead. An ISIS terrorist bragging about executing Syrian soldiers who are digging their own graves, and the bragging is being done in perfect North American English.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're here with the soldiers of Bashar. You can see them now digging their own graves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Listen to that. Now the FBI is issuing an alert asking, do you know who this is?

And the money lead. She says it's a sex crime. Jennifer Lawrence speaking out for the first time about the hackers who gave creeps a new high holy day by posting her naked pictures online. Should Google have to pay for it?

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We're going to begin with the world lead and another scary first in this worldwide battle against Ebola. Spanish health authorities saying now that they are monitoring three more potential cases of Ebola in Spain, a day after a nurse's assistant became the first person to contract the deadly virus outside Africa during this epidemic.

Authorities say the nurse's assistant helped treat two Ebola-stricken priests after they returned to Spain from two countries at the center of the crisis. Both patients died. In fact, other doctors and nurses say the priests were almost dead upon arrival back in the country, which is, in itself, raising all kinds of questions about why the priests were moved in the first place. Spanish authorities have even announced that they will put down the

infected woman's dog because some research shows there's a risk that dogs could transmit the virus to humans.

CNN's Isa Soares is live for us in Madrid, Spain.

Isa, what is the latest on this patient's condition?

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jake.

Yes, what we know is that she's doing OK, given the severity, obviously, of Ebola. We know from doctors here that she's on an I.V. drip with antibodies from other Ebola survivals. We also know that she's receiving an antiviral drug that is being recommended by the World Health Organization.

But today, Jake, it hasn't been so much about the nurse, this auxiliary nurse. It has, in fact, been about the protests here on the streets that perhaps the fact that this hospital behind me wasn't ready to receive or to deal with Ebola in the first place.

We have seen -- we saw protests yesterday. We have seen protests today. And we're expecting to see protests tomorrow from nurses to really trade unions. Unions have come out today telling CNN that this hospital didn't have the means, the capacity really to deal with this.

And they basically told CNN that the equipment that they had really wasn't up to scratch, it wasn't up to the standard of the World Health Organization, one trade union basically it didn't have a -- clothing didn't have a level four biological security.

And basically what it means it wasn't fully waterproof. It wasn't fully impermeable. Also said they didn't have an independent breathing apparatus. This has also come out in main newspapers here, "El Pais," a very well-known newspaper here, where really health workers have been telling "El Pais," instead of having a level four training equipment, rather, they have a level two, so very, very poor, substandard.

And, in fact, they had latex gloves and their gloves were bound with adhesive tape. So, all this really puts into perspective why we have seen three more suspected cases of Ebola here they are trying to figure out here. This hospital wasn't, in fact, ready, and nurses here telling CNN today, Jake, that back in July, they signed a letter and took it to court basically saying, if anyone comes to Spain, if anyone is brought from West Africa, we will not have the means to deal with this, so the warning signs were there, Jake.

TAPPER: Alarming news. Isa Soares live in Madrid, Spain, thank you so much.

Joining me now is Dr. Alexander van Tulleken. He's an infectious disease expert. He has worked in these Ebola hot zones and is a senior fellow at the Institute for International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University.

Doctor van Tulleken, thanks for joining us.

Health officials in Madrid say that this nurse's assistant only entered the infected priest's room two times, once to treat him and then once after he dies to collect some of his things. She says she was wearing a protective suit, so how could she have contracted the disease?

DR. ALEXANDER VAN TULLEKEN, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: Well, it's very concerning. And it does seem like there's been a failure here.

There's either been a failure of protocol in taking gear off or putting it on, or there's been a failure in the protocol of the gear, which it sounds like has happened.

To the best of our knowledge, this virus only transmits itself with bodily fluids coming into contact with mouth or eyes, a place where you can exposed like that, or with an open cut. So, it must have -- something like that must have happened.

I don't think there is any suggestion here that the virus has become airborne or anything like this, but what it should do is make anyone running a hospital sit up and take note and say, it's not good enough to have some protective gear. It's not good enough to have some a protocol in the drawer.

The staff have to be practiced, drilled, trained, well-rested. There need to be adequate staff. Everyone needs to know what they are doing. This is about contingency planning. That's how you stop people getting Ebola.

TAPPER: There does seem to be a disconnect. I noticed you said that as far as we know, everything we know suggests that it's only -- you can only contract it from fluids. It's not airborne.

But there does seem to be a disconnect with stories like this, doctors and nurses, seemingly the most informed and one would hope protected individuals, becoming infected.

Why do you think -- I mean, obviously they are on the front lines, but one would also think that they know how to not get it. Why do you think this is happening?

VAN TULLEKEN: It's a really interesting question and it's probably the most important question to address if we're trying to reassure people at home.

And I think it's very important to say, if you're at home in America, you shouldn't worry about getting Ebola. Doctors and nurses will be wearing protective gear. But, on the other hand, they are exposed to bodily fluids, blood, vomit, diarrhea. These kinds of things are in much, much more abundance if you're caring for someone who has Ebola.

And this is someone who is in late-stage Ebola who subsequently died from it. And so we can imagine that their symptoms would have been dramatic. And so the other issue is that we don't deal with patients this sick every day. It's nerve-racking to deal with them. And the protocols that keep you

safe are quite difficult to follow. My brother is on the Ebola response team for London. And they drill, they practice, they rehearse all the time. And I don't get any sense that that is what was happening here.

So, yes, doctors and nurses can get it, but they are exposed in a very different way to the way you would be on the subway. And if you think, the guy who discovered Ebola said he would confidently sit next to somebody on a subway, and I think that's right -- who had Ebola. I think that's right that it's a difficult disease to catch unless someone is very ill and shedding large amounts of virus in body fluids.

TAPPER: We learned today that a Norwegian staffer with the group Doctors Without Borders has contracted Ebola.

Is it getting difficult for these aid organizations to get staffers, volunteers, doctors, nurses to go to West Africa?

VAN TULLEKEN: Absolutely.

I mean, there are a lot of people -- if you do this kind of work -- I do this kind of work, and lots and lots of my friends do. The resistance you get is not just personal fear, but also my mother wouldn't want me to go. My son wouldn't want me to go. My family wouldn't want me to go, and so on.

And so you have a big resistance to people leaving. We have seen that with the NBC cameraman, with lots of people. The interviews is poor old dad saying, we didn't want him to go and he's crazy and we know he's going to go back.

So, huge human resources problems, getting staff, and very much needed staff. If you think why are health care workers contracting the virus in West Africa, it's because they are working 20-hour shifts. It's because inside their suits it's 115 degrees.

I speak to colleagues there and it's so easy to wipe a brow with an infected hand and it's so easy to get something in your mouth and not follow protocol because you're exhausted and you're frightened.

TAPPER: Yes. It's the Lord's work, but very dangerous as well.

Dr. Alexander van Tulleken, thank you so much. Appreciate it, as always.

VAN TULLEKEN: Thanks.

TAPPER: So, what is it like for the medical staff who come into contact with Ebola patients? Two doctors who are right now treating that American journalist who has contracted Ebola in Nebraska join me coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

The national lead. Of the nearly 50 people in Dallas being monitored for Ebola, none shows any signs of the disease. That's according to Centers for Disease Control Director Tom Frieden, who just spoke to the media about progress in containing Ebola, not just in the United States, but also in West Africa.

Now, those under observation all came into contact with Thomas Duncan, who I'm sure you recall is the Liberian national currently in a Dallas hospital who last week became the first person diagnosed with the virus on U.S. soil.

It is nothing short of miraculous, some might say, that Duncan's contact seems to be OK, especially given how his case seems to have been mishandled from the start. Still, the CDC continues to assure the public there's no need to panic and the message does seem to be working.

According to a new poll released by the Pew Research Center, most Americans are not very worried about the Ebola threat and a majority have faith that the U.S. can prevent an outbreak.

Joining me now live from Dallas is senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, do we know anything new about Mr. Duncan's condition?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We do, Jake.

We received actually quite a bit of new information this afternoon. We know that right now Mr. Duncan is in critical condition. He's on dialysis for his kidneys. He's on a ventilator, which means a machine is breathing for him. He's not breathing on his own.

He's also under medical sedation, according to his family. And so, therefore, they are unable to speak with him. But they did say that there were a few reasons to be optimistic. They said his blood pressure is back up, his temperature is normal, his diarrhea has slowed down, which is really crucial, because preventing dehydration is key here.

And, also, they said that his liver function numbers have been getting a bit better -- Jake.

TAPPER: Now, Elizabeth, these drugs tend to work best when they are given immediately. Did that happen in this case?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Jake, it didn't happen. You mentioned the mishandling. So, first of all, several days passed. You know, he went to the hospital, as we've discussed many times, and was turned away, sent home and then came back again. So, there's that delay.

And then once he got into the hospital on September 28th, it took nearly a week for him to get the experimental drug called Brincidofovir. Now, contrast that to the other patients with Ebola, who've been treated in the U.S., they got experimental drugs immediately.

So, it's unclear why this took a week, and other hospitals got their patients drugs immediately. I was speaking with the Reverend Jesse Jackson who held a press conference here just now, and also with Duncan's nephew. And they think it's because he's African. They said that they're lives -- his life is not valued as much because he's African and not from the United States.

TAPPER: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Now, we have just learned that that American photographer being treated for Ebola in Nebraska has also been given the experimental drug. Ashoka Mukpo was in Liberia working with an NBC News crew when he was diagnosed with the disease. He was flown to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, which has state-of-the-art bio containment unit and previously treated another American who made a full recovery.

Joining me now to discuss live from the Nebraska Medical Center are Dr. Angela Hewlett and Dr. Phil Smith.

Doctors, thank you so much for joining us.

So, let's start with you, Dr. Hewlett. You've given Mukpo an experimental drug. What drug is it? And how was he responding?

DR. ANGELA HEWLETT, NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: Well, the drug is called CMX-001. And actually, he -- we can't really tell how he's responding. It's too early to say.

But the drug itself was something that we chose, based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and also our assessment of products that have been utilized for treatment of Ebola.

TAPPER: Dr. Smith, how is the drug you're giving to your patient different from the experimental medicine ZMapp that the two American Ebola patients in Georgia took, apparently that worked well for them?

DR. PHIL SMITH, NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: Well, ZMapp is a monoclonal antibody, (INAUDIBLE) antibodies against the virus that are pre-made (ph). And this is an anti-viral medication that has been used actually in a number of other infections and it interferes with viral development.

TAPPER: Dr. Hewlett, Mukpo has said that he may have contracted Ebola while he was cleaning a car that was used to transport an Ebola patient. I know that it's not easy to get Ebola. It comes from bodily fluids. But that sounds like a fairly innocuous way to get it. It sounds like a fairly way to get it.

HEWLETT: It kind of depends on the situation, I would say, how sick the person was in the car was. If they just had a fever, then that's very different from the patient that was actively vomiting or having diarrhea or bleeding. You know, contact with bodily fluids like that actually can transmit this disease.

TAPPER: Dr. Smith, your hospital also treated Dr. Sacra, the American doctor who contracted the disease in Liberia. Now, he's since been released. Did the hospital -- did you learn any lessons from that treatment that you might use to help in treating Mukpo?

SMITH: I think we did. We learned quite a bit. We learned some techniques as far as supportive medical care, the importance of early fluids. We modified our bio containment unit to add small laboratories, so we can get laboratory results done very close next to the patient, and a number of fine-tuning measures like that.

The basic approach we have to the high containment isolation was pretty much the same.

TAPPER: Dr. Hewlett, obviously, a lot of people on the front lines, the nurse's assistant in Spain, the doctors who were treated in Atlanta, have been the ones getting the disease. What safeguards are you putting in place to keep your medical personnel safe from Ebola while treating patients?

HEWLETT: Well, I want to stress that our unit has been opened since 2005 and we have been drilling, we have been preparing for exactly this situation for a long time. We have a lot of protocols in place for protection of our health care workers, and we also have a system of checks and balances, which I think is incredibly important in that we don't allow human error in this situation.

We ensure that we have a person who puts on your personal protective equipment and checks you before you go in the room. We have a person that assists you when you're taking off your personal protective equipment. That way, there's -- you know, we're trying to minimize the risk of contamination in that scenario.

So, again, a lot of the protocols we have in place and our health care workers feel safe when they care of these patients because of all those especially protocols that we have.

TAPPER: Dr. Smith, I know it's too early to report on how Ashoka Mukpo is responding to the experimental treatment. But how is he doing?

SMITH: Well, I think he's reasonable stable at this point. That's all I really can say without getting into patient confidentiality issues.

With Ebola patients in general, sometimes, they come in early and they don't look that sick and then later on they develop complications gastrointestinal fluid losses, diarrhea, high fever and other complications. So, it's early in the course. So, we really will have to see how it goes.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Hewlett and Dr. Smith, thank you so much. Thank you for the work you do and thank you for joining us.

SMITH: Thank you.

HEWLETT: Thank you. TAPPER: Who is this masked member of the terrorist group ISIS? The FBI does not know. They are hoping that you do. Could an average American help identify him based on the sound of his voice?

Plus, who needs enemies when you've got former cabinet members? One of the president's closest advisers criticizing him quite a bit, saying the president's failure to make decisions is hurting the country. His harshest words, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

Some breaking news in our world lead -- British authorities are taking action today to thwart a potential terrorist plot. They have arrested four young men, all 21 years or younger.

CNN international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live from London.

Nic, how did they track them down?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're not -- the police aren't giving any clues at the moment, Jake, about how they knew about these men, how they have been monitoring them in any detail. What they're saying is that this was Islamist terrorist- related offenses, that these men were either preparing, instigating acts of terrorism. This is why they have been arrested.

You know, what's different about this here is the language that the police are using and it certainly gives the impression -- and this is what we are hearing here -- that this was a plot that has all of -- this may have been a plot that appears to have been thwarted. But also different is the fact that armed police were along on one of those arrest raids and one of the 21-year-old men appears to try to escape arrest, he was tasered. The police are saying that there were no injuries there but it does seem to point at the moment to a serious investigation, how long they were being monitored, why the police decided to go in this time isn't clear.

The police are continuing to investigate several properties and vehicles in the center and the west of London where these arrests took place. This, at the moment, without further details, anything else becomes speculation but this does seem to be a big arrest for the police at the moment, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Nic Robertson, we'll check back with you as matters develop.

Back here in the United States, the FBI is asking for the public's help in tracking down an English-speaking terrorist and the man they're trying to find makes a cameo in a slickly produced ISIS propaganda video called "Flames of War".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They lied! Malahi! We are the harshest towards the Kufar, and the flames of war are only beginning to intensify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now the FBI wants your help to learn who this terrorist is.

Our Joe Johns is following developments.

Joe, is this the law enforcement definition of crowd-sourcing, do you agree?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think you can say that, Jake. The FBI is putting this video on its Web site, and hoping that someone will be able to identify this man as part of a broader outreach to try to get the public to help identify people who might want to travel overseas, to fight with terror groups, and it goes without saying that perhaps even more important is learning the identities of ISIS fighters who might be returning to the United States.

Meanwhile, the intelligence community is trying to determine whether the ISIS fighter in the mask is American or Canadian, not quite clear on that.

TAPPER: Joe, this video, "Flames of War", it was shocking but one thing it wasn't was amateurish. It was pretty well-produced. What other significance can we find in this video?

JOHNS: It is. The video significant for a lot of reasons. Not only is it the latest video of ISIS fighters executing prisoners, it also appears to show a jihadist spouting ISIS propaganda speaking English with an American -- a North American language, also alternating in Arabic, delivering an on-camera tirade before he and other ISIS fighters appear to shoot hostages. We're not showing all of it, of course.

The victims appear to be Syrian soldiers and the man the FBI wants to identify has that mask over his face which makes him unrecognizable.

TAPPER: All right. Joe Johns, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, could the president have stopped ISIS sooner? A man who was one of his closest advisers says probably yes, telling CNN that Obama's bad decisions on Iraq and Syria may have led to the terrorist plant their black flags. And with less than a month until election day, the mud is flying fast and furious on both sides.

Coming up, we'll go in the inside knock-down fight for control of the U.S. Senate, where even die-hard Democrats are now worried.

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