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Don Lemon Tonight

London Terror Plot; Ebola Worries; Dallas Ebola Patient Could Face Charges; High-Tech Gear used in Battle Against Ebola; 29-Year-Old Choosing to Die

Aired October 07, 2014 - 22:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Tonight, breaking news, London on edge after an Islamic terror plot is foiled, four young men arrested, just weeks after 10 others were taken into custody. "The Telegraph" is reporting one of the men may have ties to ISIS. But it's unclear what they were planning.

Meanwhile, what may be a second Ebola case in Europe, while in this country, a mother and father's desperate vigil, their son isolated in a Nebraska hospital fighting Ebola. They're going to tell us how he is doing tonight.

Plus, taking the fight against Ebola into your own hands, what you can do to stay healthy.

And an absolutely heartbreaking story, a fairy tale wedding and then a beautiful 29-year-old learns she has brain cancer that will kill her. She decides to choose the day she will die, November 1.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITTANY MAYNARD, CANCER SUFFERER: I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side, and pass peacefully with some music that I like in the background.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Tonight, we will tell you why Brittany Maynard is campaigning for others to have the right to make the same choice she is making.

But we are going to begin tonight with our breaking news on Ebola, fears of another case in Spain where a second nurse's assistant is under observation with a fever. She was part of the team treating two Spanish missionaries who contracted Ebola in West Africa. Meanwhile, the first patient diagnosed in this country, Thomas Eric Duncan, is in critical condition in a Dallas hospital.

The other, Ashoka Mukpo, is in stable condition in Nebraska.

Joining me now is Ashoka Mukpo's parents, his mother Diana Mukpo and his father, Dr. Mitchell Levy. I am so glad you guys could join us.

Diana, I have to start with you. Have you spoken to your son today? Are you able to see him if you choose to?

DIANA MUKPO, MOTHER: Well, we are able to speak with him through a video cam that is set up in a room outside of the unit where he is now.

And we spoke with him briefly today. He actually looks quite good. I know he has been nauseated and having some of those symptoms. But he actually looks a lot better than I expected. That was really heartening to see.

LEMON: Dr. Levy, you heard about your son's diagnosis via text message. What did you think?

DR. MITCHELL LEVY, FATHER OF EBOLA PATIENT: Well, as I have said in the past to people, my heart sunk. He called me. I was in the middle of a meeting at a medical conference in Barcelona. It was about 6:00 at night. And he called me. And I was in the meeting, so I didn't answer.

And then he texted me. He said, dad, answer the phone. I think I am in trouble. And I immediately knew, and my heart sunk. I immediately jumped out of the chair like I had been shot and ran out of the room.

LEMON: You think that -- you at least hope that he will be OK, because in your opinion, it was found early on, Doctor?

LEVY: That's correct. I am very encouraged, especially by what the physicians and team here have said.

He -- as soon as he felt a fever, he self-quarantined. I, shortly after, talked with the American Consulate in Monrovia. We airlifted him out about 72 hours later. And he really hadn't begun to develop very many symptoms until he landed, until he got in the plane and then landed here in Omaha. So we got him out very, very quickly, which is, I think leading the physicians to feel very optimistic about his recovery.

LEMON: Reports say that he is now being treated with an experimental antiviral drug. It's called brincidofovir. Do you know how this drug was chosen? And are you hopeful about it?

LEVY: Well, I talked with the clinical lead at the CDC and the physician team here.

And so I knew that was the drug they were going to choose. It hasn't been tested in animals or humans for Ebola yet. But it has been used in cancer patients. And I think -- and has some activity in the lab against the Ebola. The most important thing is this agent has a very low side effect profile.

So I was very encouraged and I felt very good about it being used for Ashoka. LEMON: So, brincidofovir.

So, listen, Diana, we saw your son walk off the plane when he arrived here in the U.S. Do you think that his symptoms will likely get worse before he gets better?

MUKPO: From what I understand from speaking with his physicians, he is now in the phase for the next few days that things might get somewhat more extreme. But apparently his blood work is good. And everybody is feeling very optimistic. We just have to fasten our seat belts, so to speak, and get through these next few days.

LEMON: You guys are -- you seem really strong right now. You are speaking very clearly. But I would imagine this is very difficult for everyone involved.

How are you coping? You must be going through so many emotions. What are you leaning on to help you get through this?

LEVY: Well, you should have seen us last night. Last night, we were utterly exhausted and spent. And I think we are leaning on each other a lot. And we have a large community of friends. And there has been an outpouring of love and well-wishes from all across our own community and from both Diana's writing community and my medical community that really have sustained us in many ways.

LEMON: It was interesting. I talked to several doctors, including a doctor at the hospital, our very own Dr. Gupta here, about how Ashoka believes that he may have contracted Ebola. And he thinks it was while cleaning an infected car.

Can you explain that to us a little more? Did he talk to you about that? Did he have any cuts that he believes, or maybe got into his eye?

LEVY: So he talked to me about it the night that he realized he had the fever and then a little bit the next morning. And I have to admit, he was I would say in a state of panic, but almost grief already. And so I don't know that he was remembering all that clearly. He was trying to rack his memory looking for some point at which he might have come in contact with fluids.

But he was around patients who had died, both inside the clinics and outside waiting for care. And so there are a lot of opportunities for perhaps his protective equipment to not be as adequate. So what he remembered was helping to spray, spray disinfectant chlorine on a car in which someone had died and he thought some of that had splashed into his face.

But he couldn't quite remember. And so that's the story I am telling. But honestly I'm not sure that is the only story.

LEMON: Diane, your son is an extraordinary young man, and he lived in Liberia previously working for an NGO there. I am sure you had some concerns when your son told you he wanted to go back to cover this current outbreak. MUKPO: Oh, I was beside myself, actually.

Mitchell called me that afternoon and said, Ashoka is going to call you and he's going to give you some news that you are not going to like. And I said, well, what is it? He said, I can't tell you. Ashoka is going to tell you himself. And I know. And then the phone rang and it was Ashoka.

I said, I just can't believe you are going back. He said, mom, this is what I think I ought to do. It's the right thing for me to do. You know, I was distraught. But at the same time, he had his mind made up. And he has a tremendous commitment to the Liberian people after the time he spent there. He felt he had something positive to offer.

Even though both his father and I were completely distraught and wished that he wasn't going to go, there was no changing his mind.

LEMON: So Ebola, was that at the top of your mind?

MUKPO: Of course. It was the first thing I thought about. In fact, I had been so relieved when he came home end of May. I thought, gosh, he made it out healthily and I am so happy that he is back home.

So, when he actually made the decision to go back again, was really, really worrisome.

LEMON: Yes.

So, what happens next in his care? Is it just watch and wait right now? What's next?

LEVY: Yes, I think the main state of therapy right now is fluids into his veins, simple saltwater, honestly.

And that's exactly what people don't get in Liberia, which may in part account for the high death rate there. So, really, here it is giving fluids, rehydration, keeping up with any of his losses from his nausea. and just making sure he stays well-hydrated, and just waiting.

LEMON: Were you able to speak to anyone else there, even Dr. Nancy Snyderman or anyone else who was with him?

LEVY: Yes, I did. I talked to Dr. Snyderman. She called to express her concern and appreciation for Ashoka. And I felt concerned about the team itself. They immediately went into self-quarantine and were brought back to the United States, so I was able to talk with them a little bit.

LEMON: What do you want people to know about your son?

MUKPO: I was going to say that it's painful for us as a family to know that he is really feeling sick and it's frightening and he is isolated and we can't be close to him.

But, at the same time, it is extraordinarily encouraging to know that he is getting the best possible care and we have tremendous faith in the medical team that they're going to pull him through.

LEMON: Diana Mukpo and Dr. Mitchell Levy, thank you.

LEVY: Thank you, Don.

MUKPO: Thank you.

LEMON: Want to bring in now CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, of course.

Doctor, thank you for joining us. You heard from his parents he is taking now an experimental antiretroviral drug. What can you tell us about this drug?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brincidofovir is an antiviral, similar to ZMapp, in that they both work on viruses.

Remember, antibiotics work on bacteria. There are not as many antivirals out there. This basically prevents the virus from duplicating itself, how people get sick. The virus starts to replicate, gets into bodily fluids, gets into organs, and that's what causes the problem.

This tries to stop it. As you heard Dr. Levy just mentioned, it worked on adenovirus and other viruses. It's never been tested on Ebola in animals or humans, so as with the other patients, this is a first, first time ever in a human being.

LEMON: Then people will be watching it closely all over the world. You heard his father talk about his son relaying how he think he's came in contact with it, with Ebola or contracted Ebola.

And he talks about, you know, cleaning this car. Someone who died, they were infected with Ebola. He thinks maybe it splashed somehow, maybe the protective gear didn't protect him enough. Is there any real way of saying this is how he got it?

GUPTA: Sometimes, these investigations, you don't know for sure. In fact, I went back and looked at some of the CDC investigations on Dr. Brantly and Ms. Writebol. Sometimes, they're not was conclusive.

We do know that he was working in an area as part of his filming, before he started to work with NBC, he was with patients that had Ebola. I guess if you had to piece it all together, you would think that it is more likely to have actually come from patients because again it's that direct contact with bodily fluids that really seems to make the biggest difference. Could it have splashed up? Perhaps.

But if you were sort of trying to predict, it would be the patients.

LEMON: You told me last night. You said, he may never know exactly how he got it.

GUPTA: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK) LEMON: OK.

The CDC spoke out today trying to really calm people's concerns here in the United States about Ebola. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The enemy here is a virus. The enemy is Ebola. Not people. Not countries. Not communities. A virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, is there concern here that people may be being discriminated against, Ebola patients? What's...

GUPTA: I think that's happening already in Dallas. We know in that apartment complex, there is concern already that not only the people who may have Ebola, but people who may have contact even.

There is just -- there is avoidance behavior because of the fear. But I'll tell you. When I was in West Africa, Don, even stronger there. Patients just simply -- you know, Don there are people who had come into work at these Ebola camps. They were doing work. They were actually health care worker.

They would not tell their families the type of work that they were doing, because even their families might discriminate against them. I think there is real discrimination here because there is not an effective treatment and there's a lot of misinformation about this virus.

LEMON: Let's talk about the nurse's assistant in Spain. There was one who contracted it. Now there is another who contracted it treating patients.

And they seem to, they believe, have followed all of the protocol correctly when it comes to dealing with patients. Is that even more alarming to you?

GUPTA: It is alarming.

I mean, you know, like with Ashoka, you go back and look at this and try to figure out exactly what happened here. The science is pretty clear on this. It had to have been contact with infected bodily fluids. There must have been some breach in the protocol. And, sometimes, those breaches can be seemingly insignificant.

I will give you a quick example. When I was over there, you put the gear on. Right? That part is pretty clear. You have a buddy who sort of observes you to make sure you are doing it all right, you haven't missed anything. When you come out, you take the gear off. Taking the gear off is almost as important as how you put it on.

Let's say you take a glove off first, then you reach around to untie something. Well, there happened to be some infected bodily fluid that got on your gown over here. You may now have touched this with a bare hand. You may not have even noticed it. It could have been very, very quick. Those types of things could potentially be breaches of protocol.

There may be something you miss and that's what happens. If I had to guess, that's likely what happened here as well.

LEMON: We will be watching all of this. Of course, we will be watching the experimental drugs as well to see if they work. Dr. Gupta, appreciate it.

GUPTA: You got it, Don. Thank you.

LEMON: When we come right back, breaking news, a terror plot in London foiled. We're going to have the latest information on who is behind it and what may they have planned.

Plus, a prosecutor in Dallas looking at criminal charges against Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan. Could he really be charged for exposing others to the deadly virus?

A beautiful young woman with a terminal illness is planning to die on November 1, just days after her husband's birthday, why she is campaigning to give others the same choice she is making.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news tonight. A terror plot in Britain has been foiled.

Police arrested four men in London today on suspicion of planning what is described as quite a serious case of terrorism. And 10 other men were arrested two weeks ago on suspicion of terror offenses.

Joining me now with more, Pamela Brown, CNN's justice correspondent, and Phil Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA counterterrorism official.

Pam, four men arrested today in London again on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack. A paper in the U.K. is reporting one of the men had links to ISIS. What can you tell us about that?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, that is the big question, if any of these suspects had links to ISIS.

But what I can tell you here, Don, is that the metropolitan police commissioner said to BBC in an interview that some of these recent arrests in Britain are linked back to Syria or Iraq. And a U.K. security source says the terror plot aimed at Britain was in its early stages and that Islamic terrorism is the clear reason.

Now, Scotland Yard has announced that these four suspects ages 20 and 21 are being held on suspicion related to the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism, though authorities have not detailed where or when such terrorist attacks may have occurred, or what or who they may have involved, of course a lot of unanswered questions here, Don.

LEMON: Pam, "The Telegraph" newspaper is reporting online that one line of inquiry by police, whether terrorists were planning to carry out public beheadings. So, is this is a new reality in terror attacks or the same lone wolf threat we have been facing or hearing about?

BROWN: Right.

Well, in this particular case, there is nothing to substantiate that claim. But I have say that certainly a general concern among counterterrorism officials, Don, in the wake of the very public beheadings of American and British citizens, calls by ISIS to publicly behead people in the West, and then the recent apparent terror plot in Australia to publicly behead a random civilian on the streets, so you have all that put together.

And counterterrorism officials I have spoken with are concerned about that and most concerned about these homegrown violent extremists who are in the U.S. who may want to launch an attack on the homeland really in any way, Don.

LEMON: All right, Phillip Mudd to you now. It's reminiscent really the attack on a British soldier in London last year who was stabbed and then hacked with a cleaver by two men who said that they were avenging the killing of Muslim civilians by British armed forces.

They weren't al Qaeda or ISIS, but there is a psychological impact that is so gruesome about attacks like this.

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I think the thing we need to focus on this case is that we are facing a change in this game.

You look at the past few weeks or months, Don, you're looking at beheadings in Syria, beheadings by British citizens, evidently one of the beheadings by somebody from North America. You're looking at British and American security services talking about citizens from our countries going to Iraq. Now you have in the past few weeks this game starting to change.

That is, as Pam mentioned, there was a beheading plot in Australia. The question abut this plot is not whether someone was going to Syria to fight. It's whether the fight is coming home to London, whether people in London were plotting attacks in cities like London and potentially attacks in cities like New York.

LEMON: Is this the fear that intelligence officials have been have been really worried about, that it could happen here in the United States?

MUDD: I think that's right.

A lot of what I witnessed when I was at the FBI is kids in cities like Chicago, New York, Washington, Miami inspired by groups like ISIS, groups in Yemen, groups in Somalia who go overseas to fight. This is a concern, obviously. There's a potential they will come back hope. But most of those kids will go overseas to fight. They will get killed overseas. That's the brutal reality. What we

are seeing in this case, what we are seeing in the Australian case that Pam mentioned is obviously there is a second reality here that is going to increase over time as the war in Iraq and Syria continues. That is a few of these people might be trained by ISIS to come home to cities like London and New York. They won't only stay overseas to fight.

LEMON: I want to get to another element of this, Pam.

The FBI released a plea to the public today asking for help in finding the identity of an English-speaking man that is featured in this video. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're here with the soldiers of Bashar. You can see them now digging their own graves in the very place where they were stationed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Pam, how effective is a video like this?

BROWN: I think a plea with a video like this, showing the video asking for the public's help can be effective.

As we saw with the Boston Marathon bombing, the FBI asked for the President Bush's help there by releasing pictures of the suspects. That turned out to be very successful. In this case in particular, we hear the militant speaking in what could be an American accent. And even though he is wearing a mask, he still has some pretty distinct features that you can see.

So, authorities are hoping that someone might see this video and recognize him. The bottom line here, Don, is that the FBI has spent several weeks using all the tools at their disposal to figure out his identity and hasn't turned up anything. So, this seems like the next logical step.

LEMON: Pamela Brown, Philip Mudd, thanks to both of you.

Coming up, could Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan be facing criminal charges? That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Thomas Eric Duncan remains in critical, but stable condition tonight. But there is word that he could face criminal charges. A Dallas prosecutor's office says it is looking into whether Duncan might have known he could expose people to Ebola.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL WILSON II, DALLAS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The charge generally would be an aggravated assault if you intentionally, knowingly cause serious bodily injury.

And it could be more serious than that, depending on what happens to individuals that may have come into contact with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's discuss now with Miles O'Brien, a science correspondent for "PBS NewsHour." Dr. Alexander Garza is an associate dean at Saint Louis University College of Public Health and Social Justice, Mark O'Mara, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

Mark, the Dallas County prosecutor considering whether to file aggravated assault charges against Thomas Eric Duncan. Has he broke any laws in Texas?

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, I really don't think he did.

Aggravated assault requires a criminal intent. They would have not only that he knew he was infected, but he came over here with that type of an intent. I think they're just trying to show that they're doing their job, like Liberia seems to be doing theirs with their charges.

But there is definitely no criminal intent for aggravated assault. There is a criminal negligence standard. But you don't even get to that unless you can prove that he knew or was completely reckless about knowing that he was in contact with an Ebola patient, so no charges.

LEMON: All right, it sound like Mark is saying intent here, Dr. Garza. The key here is intent. Did Thomas Eric Duncan knowingly go out and try and infect people or did he try to get himself help and do the right thing here?

DR. ALEXANDER GARZA, SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: Right.

And I think that is the question that you need to be asking. I think there's two questions. One is the legal question and one is the moral question. So I am not an attorney, so I can't speak much on the legal aspects. But there are laws that protect the American public from communicable disease.

And so you know you have to I think at least consider that when you are discuss things like this. But the other sort of moral question is, would any of us facing this dilemma where you're infected with this lethal disease in a country that has very poor infrastructure, would any of us have done anything different than what he had done in order to survive?

But I think those are two fundamentally different questions.

LEMON: Yes.

Mark, what do you want -- did you want to say something here?

O'MARA: Well, yes.

Now, if we are going with the premise that he knew he was sick, maybe with Ebola, and came here for treatment, that's a different standard. And that may be that criminal negligence. That might even get you to criminal intent.

But if he was unaware that he was infected, then that is a much different story.

The concern is going to be everybody else who may now know that, when you get to the states, you get great treatment, and they try and get here under false pretenses of knowing they have Ebola, or may be exposed and still come here under a lie.

LEMON: OK. Miles, you've been sitting here patiently. You have said, though, that there is a racial component to some of the reporting regarding Duncan? Is any of that element reflected here with the possibility of prosecution after the D.A.'s office received calls from the public?

O'BRIEN: Well, I do agree there's two standards here. There's legal standards, and there's moral standards. And what did he disclose? When did he disclose it? Any human being who was in his situation had the capability to seek the best possible care in the world would seek it.

But it's interesting how this whole discussion has played out. And it's -- it seems to me that we had a different parameters and different sort of discussion when the race was -- when it was a different color, when it was involving the missionary worker who ended up in Atlanta. Now, it was a different set of scenarios and different set of circumstances. But I still feel like there's an undertone here.

LEMON: All right, interesting. Mark, according to Liberian officials, Duncan reported on an airport questionnaire -- want to get it all correct here -- that he had no contact with an Ebola patient. So why do you think he would do this? And is that a crime to write on that questionnaire that he had no contact when he did?

O'MARA: Well, my understanding, at the time line, is that it wasn't known that the woman suffered from Ebola until after the contact and a couple of days after he got on the plane. So unless somebody can show that he knew, that he truly had that knowledge. Now, did he have some thought in his mind and get on a plane and come to America? That needs to be vetted out.

But for the criminal side of it, unless you can show that he had that prior knowledge, he didn't find out after the fact, it seemingly didn't even find out that he was sick until after...

LEMON: He was in Liberia. And in many area -- many areas are ravaged by Ebola, and some of the areas where he was. So, you know -- Mark.

O'MARA: Then we need to shut down -- we sort of need to shut down the airlines. Because then anybody coming from Liberia. LEMON: OK.

O'MARA: I think the reason why Liberia has already announced they're going to prosecute him is they want to keep those air corridors open...

LEMON: OK.

O'MARA: ... and tell the United States, "We will police ourselves here."

LEMON: OK. Dr. Garza, final question for you. When Duncan first went into the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, they made a big error by not asking the appropriate questions and releasing him. So, I mean, don't they bear some responsibility here, if authorities are looking into the possibility of charges?

GARZA: Well, I can't speak to how this relates to the charges, but clearly, it seems that he did present to the hospital and that he did give the information, which was consistent with the case definition for Ebola. Or at least for the investigation of Ebola.

And -- and clearly, the emergency department did not do the proper testing or do the proper investigation to look for that. How that figures into culpability or to legal ramifications I think I would leave to your attorney there.

LEMON: All right. Thanks to all my guests. Miles O'Brien, I promise you, next time we're on, we'll get to speak a lot more.

And I have a quick note, that Nova's "Why Planes Crash," a documentary produced, written and narrated by Miles O'Brien, premieres tomorrow night, 9 p.m. Eastern, on PBS.

Up next, the fight to keep Ebola from spreading in the United States. High-tech equipment that looks like it's right out of a science- fiction movie is being used. But will it work?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The people on the front lines in this battle against Ebola are taking every precaution. Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division tweeted out this photo, showing them testing the elasticity of a protective Tyvek suit as they prepare to deploy to Liberia.

And meanwhile, in the fight to keep Ebola from spreading in this country, health officials are employing the most advanced technology. CNN's George Howell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From fears about the Ebola virus, enterovirus and even the common cold...

(on camera): This machine will clean this room entirely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Entirely. In just 15 minutes.

HOWELL (voice-over): They've met their match. A robot blasting bursts of ultra-bright light after the room is cleaned, affectionately nicknamed Amber. This technology has been a vital part of the cleaning crew for two years now. Shuttled room to room, catching what people can't.

MORRIS MILLER, CEO, XENEX DISINFECTION SERVICES: So this is a germ- zapping robot. Inside of it is a xenon lamp. When you pulse the lamp, it produces UVC light that fuses the DNA of bacteria, viruses and spores. It's 25,000 times brighter than sunlight.

DR. ROBERT LUBITZ, VICE PRESIDENT, WELLSTAR KENNESTONE HOSPITAL: We've seen in the last two years since Xenex has come on board, a greater than 25 percent reduction in our hospital-acquired infections. All of our units are either at or near zero hospital-acquired infections on an annual basis now.

HOWELL: Alongside tried and true methods of germ prevention, technology is leading the fight against Ebola, from cleaning hospital rooms to taking people's temperatures with a tablet-sized device that scans your eyes. It's being used in some Dallas schools for fever watch. A vital test to determine if someone might become ill.

DR. MURRAY COHEN, WELLO (ph) INC. MEDICAL ADVISOR: It's not as precise, obviously as core body temperature, inserting a thermometer. But it is more precise than any other remote or non-touch infrared or other kind of technological system.

HOWELL: The Ebola scare also has some people taking matters into their own hand. In Idaho, survivalists grabbing anything they can at government surplus stores, like these masks at a cost of $8 to $20 apiece. John Schiff (ph) he can't keep enough on the shelves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My perception is people got emotional. And they want to act on that emotion.

HOWELL: So what should you do to protect your family? Dr. Ronald Trible with Georgia Infectious Diseases says education is the best defense.

DR. RONALD TRIBLE, GEORGIA INFECTIOUS DISEASES: This is certainly a -- certainly a serious disease, and it's a big problem in West Africa. It's not a big problem, fortunately, in this country. And with the basic healthcare system that we have and the basic sanitation that we offer, and the access to running water and soap, we're pretty well protected in this country from any kind of outbreak like that happening.

HOWELL: Even as experts say the U.S. is prepared, some believe an extra layer of protection offers a little more peace of mind.

George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Interesting technology there. Let's talk about the battle against Ebola with Dr. Robert Garry, professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane University, and Dr. Gavin McGregor-Skinner, who's a global projects manager at the Elizabeth R. Griffin Foundation and assistant professor of public health sciences at Penn State.

So Dr. Gary, take a look at this. This is a Tyvex suit that I have here, protective masks. Right? You see it here. This type of equipment, it is reported, have gone up 131,000 percent. Are we at a point now where private citizens, any private citizens should be buying equipment like this that we're showing?

DR. ROBERT GARRY, PROFESSOR, TULANE UNIVERSITY: Absolutely not. The -- the Ebola patient in Dallas is contained. His contacts are under close surveillance. We will rapidly find any person that may come down with those Ebola virus symptoms from contact with that patient. So the broad swath of America has nothing to worry about from Ebola at this time.

LEMON: OK. And so should be, maybe, keeping their money for other things now.

Dr. McGregor-Skinner, do we need high-tech equipment to battle Ebola? Or are many of the most effective techniques much more basic than that?

DR. GAVIN MCGREGOR-SKINNER, ELIZABETH R. GRIFFIN FOUNDATION: The -- the equipment that we have to prevent transmission of the virus, among healthcare staff, hospital workers, physicians, auxiliary staff, we have all that. And you've seen those suits that people wear.

What's really key, though, is in their contact tracing. And we can use technology. For example, I use a cell phone all the time when we do contact tracing. Text messaging. I have a HIPAA compliant telemedicine platform on this phone that I can talk to hospitals both here in the U.S. and in West Africa and discuss the challenges and the problems and the gaps and the needs they have on daily basis to help fight Ebola and come up with solutions for them.

So again, why we can use -- we can use technology, but also the fundamentals of the precautions that we have. You've seen the suits. You've seen decontamination with the disinfectant, with the bleach. We have all that at hand, and it's readily available.

LEMON: All right. Let's talk about other measures here, because Dr. Garry, inefficient testing is a major obstacle in curbing Ebola, as we have seen. You are working to got a rapid diagnostic test approved, one that would identify Ebola as easily as a pregnancy test. How far are we from this being available and put into use?

GARRY: Well, hopefully, not that far. Such a test could be used directly in the field to give a result of whether a person has Ebola or not in five, ten, 15 minutes. This would make it a big impact in controlling the outbreak.

One of the big problems now is, is that people that are suspected of having Ebola have to give blood. And that blood is taken back to a central laboratory. It can take 72 hours or longer to get a result. By the time you go back to that person, that person may already have infected other people. They may have disappeared into their community. And, so, the fact that we can't test on the spot has contributed to this outbreak.

LEMON: Dr. McGregor-Skinner, we knew that this was coming, Ebola would eventually get here. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, many other experts have said that it's going to happen again. So in your opinion, are the CDC and health infrastructure ready? Have we worked out the kinks in the system with the first case in Dallas?

MCGREGOR-SKINNER: No, we're still learning. And having a platform to share those lessons that we've learned at Emory and also Nebraska Medical Center.

There's actually two phases to this Ebola process we have. There's the biological play. And then there's the psychological one. And that fear factor is way ahead of the virus all the time. And we're not using the mental-health experts that we have in the country, the counselors that we have in the country, the education, people that we have to get out the messages there, to actually create awareness and education amongst the U.S. population of how this disease is spread.

I know we've said it many times. But we haven't developed the Ebola classroom where people can go to one place and find all the information they need.

And then what we haven't done, we haven't then put on a map where all the hospitals in the country that are Ebola ready today. And they need these special instruments called autoclaves, which are these large sterilizers, which then, after you put in all the waste that you have from the Ebola patient, and it destroys and decontaminates that material and makes it safe. So that we can then properly dispose of it. We haven't identified those hospitals that have that equipment and where they are.

LEMON: Need to be doing that. Thank you, Dr. McGregor-Skinner and Dr. Garry. Appreciate both of you.

Coming up, a 29-year-old woman is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. So she is choosing day she will die, November 1. Why Brittany Maynard wants others to be able to make the same choice she's making.

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LEMON: Brittany Maynard should have everything to live for. She is 29, recently married, a world traveler, and she's a beautiful young lady. But she also has terminal brain cancer. Doctors gave her 6 months to live. And that was five months ago. So Brittany Maynard is taking her life in her own hands and choosing the day she will die. Listen to her explain it in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRITTANY MAYNARD, BRAIN CANCER PATIENT: I was diagnosed this past New Year's. We went away to the wine country for kind of a New Year's Eve celebration. And by January 1 the following day, I was diagnosed with cancer and told I was terminally ill.

It's in a safe spot. And I know that it's there when I need it.

I plan to be surrounded by my immediate family, which is my husband and my mother and my stepfather and my best friend, who's also a physician. And probably not much more people. And I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side.

I can't even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me to know that I don't have to die the way that it's been described to me the way my brain tumor would take me on its own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Just a heartbreaking story, and it's sparking a conversation all across the country. So joining me now to talk about it is Art Caplan. He's head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Thank you for joining us. Again...

ART CAPLAN, HEAD OF DIVISION OF MEDICAL ETHICS, NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: Heart-wrenching.

LEMON: My gosh. You can -- it's hard to watch. Doctors gave her initially -- what did they say, ten years, a span of ten years. Then they came back months later and told her that she just had a few months to live. So my question is could they be wrong about this? Could she possibly have longer?

CAPLAN: What's happening, Don, is we're getting better genetic tests of the tumor. So I don't know this, but my hunch is you've got a tumor that's growing, and it's probably not that malignant. And then they retested it and said, "Uh-oh, this is one of the incurable ones." And there are incurable brain tumors, sadly.

LEMON: We're seeing her in that video looking her best. But with a tumor like this, brain tumor, incredible amount of pain is there?

CAPLAN: There'd be pain, loss of control over all your bodily functions. It's a tough way to go.

LEMON: She talked about when she wrote an article saying that she was in such pain she had to go to the hospital, and she lost her ability to speak for a while. And that was frightening. She didn't want to live that way.

CAPLAN: I think there's no doubt that she faces a tough quality of life. It's making her think about "how can I take steps to control it?"

LEMON: OK. So in Oregon, this is legal, right?

CAPLAN: It is legal. LEMON: She plans to take medication, she says, on November 1, correct? Her family moved there so that she would be able to have this option. So explain to us. It's still highly controversial. Explain to us what the concerns are about this.

CAPLAN: So 14 years ago, Oregon said if you're terminally ill, two doctors say you're terminally ill, you're not depressed, you have to be examined psychologically, you have to have a waiting period and asked a lot of safe guards, if you do all that, you get medicine. You have to take the medicine. So she will have to take the pills herself. The doctor won't put them in her mouth.

LEMON: Right. You mean you have to take it if you decide to do it. Because there are people who take the medicine -- who get the medicine from the doctor, but they don't end up taking it.

CAPLAN: You know, that's a great point. It's important we all understand that. Of the people who request the medicine, well over 30 percent never take it. They have it. They like it as a ripcord or a parachute that they could use. But that ability to control their dying, most people I'm going to tell you, don't really want to die. They want to be there for the baby shower, or the -- you know, the Super Bowl or whatever is motivating them to keep going. So they like having the control, but some don't use it.

LEMON: Yes. She said she's going to do it after her husband's birthday, which is my gosh, two days after.

CAPLAN: Let me jump in on that. One of the things that bothers me about her case is I think you want assisted suicide -- and its legal in Oregon and Washington -- to be the last resort.

But when you announce, "I'm going to do it on date X," you're kind of putting a strange pressure on yourself to say, you know, did she do it? Why didn't she do it? What you really want is a situation where someone says "I feel -- I feel bad now." If she feels great on the day of her birthday, I don't want her to end her life. And I wouldn't want her to feel pressure that she had to do it because she just told us all she was going to.

LEMON: Well, I think if she doesn't do it, I think people will, you know -- no one is going to say, "Why didn't you do it?" Right?

CAPLAN: She may feel the pressure.

LEMON: Let's hope -- let's hope she's feeling better and she doesn't do it, right?

CAPLAN: Exactly.

LEMON: Does that make a difference legally in what the terms are? Because she's saying, listen. She's saying -- she told "People" magazine, "There is not a cell in my body that is suicidal or that wants to die. I want to live. I wish there was a cure for my disease. But there is not."

So, I mean, is this -- you know, because she has chosen the date, does that make a difference?

CAPLAN: It does a little bit to me. I just -- you don't want to turn it into any type of expectation. People come in to say good-bye. You don't feel bad. You feel like, "Oh, I better do something. I've got them all here."

But the overall point is this. State of Oregon, state of Washington had this in place a long time. She's trying to argue that other states should follow that. I think we're going to see that, because Oregon and Washington have not seen big abuses. People haven't been rushed off to death. People who use this have been college-educated. They've had insurance, and they know that the option is out there for hospice, which is crucial for this.

LEMON: OK. Well, regardless of what you -- how you feel about this, right, she's making a bold move. Because she is, you know, doing a lot to help a group called -- the Compassion & Choices. Using some of her remaining time, really, to campaign for the rights of assisted suicide in other states. She's saying people should be able to die with dignity. Is this movement gaining ground nationwide?

CAPLAN; Well, another state, Vermont, has made it legal. A couple of courts -- Montana, New Mexico -- have said they may allow assistance in dying to take place. Quebec has just done it. British Columbia has done it. I think there is something of a movement here. And when you push Americans to say, "Do you want choice on this matter," I think a lot of them are going to say yes.

LEMON: Can't even imagine what she's going through. And to do this, to take on this responsibility now, as I said, pretty bold and pretty strong of her. Art Caplan, thank you.

CAPLAN: Thank you.

LEMON: Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

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LEMON: A traffic stop in Indiana turned ugly when police smashed a car window and used a Taser on a man in the passenger's seat. The whole thing was caught on cell phone camera by the driver's 14-year- old son in the back seat. As for the driver, Lisa Mahone and her friend, Jamal Jones, who was Tasered, they say the incident was a case of excessive force. Police say they were following the law.

Tomorrow night the family will be here exclusively, in primetime, to tell us their story.

I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for watching. I'll see you back here tomorrow night. "AC 360" starts right now.