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Ebola Virus Spreads to Nurse in Dallas Hospital; First Ebola Transmission Within the U.S.; Evaluating the U.S. Response to Ebola; Near Airstrikes as ISIS Forces Advance in Kobani; A West African Town Hit Hard by Ebola

Aired October 12, 2014 - 15:00   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.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Deborah in for Fredericka Whitfield. We are following a lot of breaking news today.

Happening right now in Dallas. A nurse at Presbyterian hospital is in stable condition after testing positive for Ebola. This is the second Ebola case in the United States. However, it is the first known transmission of the deadly disease inside the U.S. The nurse had substantial contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, he died Wednesday.

According to hospital officials, the nurse was considered to be at low risk because she was wearing full protective gear following CDC protocols. The White House says that President Obama has been updated on the situation by the secretary of health and human services.

Another person close to the nurse is not showing any symptoms, but has been placed in protective isolation. Our Ed Lavandera is covering this disturbing development for us outside Presbyterian hospital.

And Ed, dozens of people now being monitored for infection because of their contact either with the original patient or in the situation of the nurse, one additional person. Do health officials expect to see more cases in the coming days?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the coming days they're going to be focusing on following up on the contacts that this particular health care worker dealt with and they know of one close person who has already been isolated. They will work up that contact list just the way they did with Thomas Eric Duncan.

And if you remember, what is interesting about this situation is that there were close to 50 people who were on that official contact list with Thomas Eric Duncan. About ten of those were believed to be high risk. This particular health care worker does not fall underneath that because this was someone who came into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan after he had been admitted to the hospital here in Dallas after the second visit.

So this is someone who hospital officials say was part of the team that cared for Thomas Eric Duncan and that's why they're monitoring the situation very, very closely with her, obviously, and they do. But you know, health officials here in Texas, Deb, have been saying that they are not surprised that there has been another case that they have been putting plans and procedures into place preparing for just this kind of event.

FEYERICK: And Ed, is there a prevailing theory about how this nurse contracted this? There was a breach in protocol. They haven't said at what point, whether it was while she was in the room wearing the protective gear or when she came out from wearing the protective gear. Was the hospital a little too confident that they could contain any future infections?

LAVANDERA: Well, they're describe in this particular part of the story as very concerning because they do say that this particular health care worker, every time she had come in contact with Thomas Eric Duncan did wear the proper protective clothing, the facial mask, gloves, and everything else that was part of that. Somewhere along the line the health officials here are saying that there were some sort of breakdown in the protocol. Perhaps, in the way these garments were removed is one possibility. They need to track down where exactly this came from and the director of the CDC talked about just how concerning this part of the story is for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, CDC DIRECTOR: We don't know what occurred in the care of the index patient, the original patient in Dallas. But at some point there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: You know, Deb, it was interesting when Thomas Eric Duncan has passed away and speaking with hospital officials here, you know, they talked about how there were close to some 50 people who were involved in the care for Thomas Eric Duncan during his ten days or so here in the hospital.

CDC officials now are saying that they're going to work on limiting the number of people who were exposed to this particular patient to as few people as possible as they kind of go through the process here and investigate just where the breakdown was and how someone who was supposedly under all of this protective garments and clothing and everything you need to do, how despite all of that, they still were infected.

FEYERICK: Yes. There's no question. Ed Lavandera for us, thank you.

Clearly, healthcare workers are the heroes in all of this. A number of them have died in West Africa. Now, one here in the U.S. is contracted it, and everybody is saying that their thoughts are with this nurse at this time.

We are breaking medical ground here in the U.S. not in a good way. In just a matter of days, the first person to ever be diagnosed here with Ebola and now the first ever to contract the virus. Joining me here in the United States, joining me now, Dr. Alexander

Garza, the former assistant secretary for health affairs, and Dr. Amesh Adalja, board certified physician for infectious diseases.

Dr. Garza, let me start with you. One thing that the CDC director said was that when it comes to disaster response, you need humility because clearly what they're dealing with is so dangerous and so deadly. How alarming is this particular diagnosis to you given the conditions as we know them?

DR. ALEXANDER GARZA, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AFFAIRS: Yes. So this is a very formidable virus, and so Dr. Frieden is entirely correct. And you need to have a little bit of fear and a little bit of humility when you are handling both the patients and the virus. And so the news coming out of Dallas as well as out of Spain with health care workers now becoming infected from helping to treat these patients is a little bit concerning.

FEYERICK: And when we think about Dr. Adalja, when we think about how this did spread, look, you have Mr. Duncan, was exposed to several people during the point that he was effectively contagious and the contact spread to the contact virus. This healthcare worker was with Mr. Duncan for a much shorter period of time. Those he knew first were not dressed. Those he knew after were in fact, dressed. So how do you reconcile those two images as somebody in full protective gear coming down with this?

DR. AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: Well, it's definitely concerning. And what I would emphasize is that when he was taken to the intensive care unit at Texas Presbyterian. He was getting very high-tech state-of-the-art critical care. For example, he was intubated on a ventilator so they had to put a breathing tube into his lungs. He was also getting dialysis. These are all procedures that put you at high risk for blood and body fluids because you are actually putting things into the patient's body.

For example, you know, a dialysis catheters is a large IV line that needs to be inserted into one of the central veins. So there is a lot of more potential for blood exposure in a hospital setting, and that may be part of it. People can get contaminated on their outside personal protective equipment, and when they're taking it off, they may contaminate themselves. That's where we need to really be just as meticulous with taking off the gear as when we put it on.

FEYERICK: So for example, you are suggesting a droplet of blood that may have gotten on some of the protective gear and then somehow spread or been touched. Is that sort of one way it could be transmitted?

ADALJA: Right. Yes. When you are taking it off, it could have flick off or could have been some mini steel (ph) type of amount of blood that was totally in apparent and inadvertently got the patient contaminated, and that's why we need to have a second person watching someone take off this gear.

FEYERICK: Right. A supervisor or the buddy, for example that, we've talked about before.

Dr. Garza, how hard is it to follow Ebola protocols inside of a hospital setting when you have, as you heard Doctors Adalja say, this minuscule droplets of blood, for example.

GARZA: Right. And so I think that really speaks to again, respecting the virus. But also of having the training and the environment and the personnel to make sure it is executing correctly. I mean, there is no mistake that doctors with our borders as they bury (ph) few people get infected with the virus even though they treated thousands of these people. And that is because they have experienced, they have the training and they dealt with this for a long a time.

The people down in Dallas, this was their first time. And so, I don't think it is too surprising when we see healthcare workers getting the virus transmitted.

FEYERICK: But it doesn't go to the point that perhaps there should be certain hospitals that deal specifically with Ebola cases given the fact that, look, you know, it's much easier to train, say, 100 people than it is a thousand or 10,000 people on how to deal with these kinds of protocols, Dr. Garza.

GARZA: I think that's an excellent point that you are making. And it's one that is probably taking place now at the highest levels, whether these patients should be treated at these high containment facilities both in Atlanta and in Nebraska where the people do have the equipment, the know-how, and the training and now, unfortunately, have the experience in dealing with these types of patients.

FEYERICK: No question. Everybody getting sort of a crash course.

Dr. Alexander Garza, Dr. Amesh Adalja, thank you so much. Appreciate your time and your guidance.

And ISIS is making big advances in the province surrounding Baghdad. Up next, we will hear why the White House says, well, it's not worried about the city falling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: The U.S.-led coalition has unleashed nine new airstrikes on ISIS targets on Iraq and Syria. That is not seems to be stopping ISIS terrorists from advancing. There had been deadly explosion in parts of Iraq. One of the blast killed the Anbar police chief, several other blasts rocked Baghdad itself. It's not clear in ISIS is responsible, but the terror group is tightening its grip on Anbar province. It is about eight miles from Baghdad international airport. The province's leaders are pleading for U.S. ground troops to defend it against ISIS. Baghdad saying it doesn't troops. The White House insists Iraqi forces can defend the Iraqi capital.

CNN's Erin McPike is at the White House that says it all straight.

First of all, Erin, are we getting a clear message from the Obama administration or have we been seeing hedging on Baghdad, what's going on with Baghdad, what's going on with nearby Anbar province. How do you wrap it you will for us?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deb, there are certainly mixed messages coming from the administration. Just this morning, General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was on ABC and he was saying that there certainly will be days when ISIS can use indirect fire into Baghdad. Now, that comes just hours after secretary of defense Chuck Hagel was saying that Baghdad is safe and secure. Listen to those comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iraqi security forces are in full control of Baghdad and continue to strengthen their positions in Baghdad. We continue to help them with airstrikes with our assistance and our advisors which I have at the direction of President Obama added to our numbers there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Now, just the night before on Friday, Chuck Hagel was saying how dire the situation is in Anbar province as other administration officials have said and they have said that they expected a long fight that ISIS, of course, uses very brutal tactics. But the other point I would make, Deb, is that President Obama has said very recently that they have overestimated the Iraqi armed forces for five years or so, and those are the very armed forces who are supposed to be securing Baghdad. Now, of course, though, there are American troops there in security roles, Deb.

FEYERICK: Are there growing signs that the administration is getting pressure from the outside, as taking heat for what is going on within Iraq?

MCPIKE: Well, we are essential hearing more and more from Republicans who are criticizing the administration and also the situation on the ground that it is not going as well as planned. I want you to listen here to comments that Senator John McCain made this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: First of all, they're winning and we're not, and the Iraqis are not winning, the Peshmerga, the Kurds are not winning, and there's a lot of aspects of this, but there has to be a fundamental reevaluation of what we're doing because we are not -- we are not degrading and ultimately destroying ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: And also, Deb, this is becoming a bigger issue in the midterm election with more and more Republicans saying that the administration has to do more.

FEYERICK: All right. Erin McPike, thank you so much. We appreciate that.

Well, let me bring in CNN military analyst lieutenant colonel Rick Francona.

Colonel, you look at everything that is happening right now. Baghdad apparently is not in danger. There's no effective strategy that ISIL has. But can they potentially do enough damage either by choking off the city, by taking control of the airport, pounding it and creating terror within that, in fact, is destabilizing Baghdad right now?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. I think all of the above. What we're seeing is ISIS make a concerted effort to get lowers to the airport, and as the chairman mentioned, Baghdad is susceptible to indirect fire. What that means is artillery and mortars.

And we've already seen mortars impacting into the green zone and we're seeing a lot of car bombings. These fit ISIS' tactics very well. What they like to do is surround an area, choke it off, and then send in a bunch of suicide bombers to destabilize it before they do anything else. And we are seeing the initial faces of that.

Now, I don't think that we're going to see a frontal assault on Baghdad. Baghdad is just too big. The military forces there are too strong and that's where the best of the Iraqi military is going to be.

What we're seeing in Anbar province, on the other hand, are the lesser qualified units of the Iraqi military and despite the use of American airpower, they still have not been able to retake any of the cities that ISIS has rolled up and, in fact, ISIS continues to take territory from the Iraqi army.

FEYERICK: So when you think about it, the situation that you have just described effectively Baghdad is sort of the one city that it seems that the United States has some control inside. You've got U.S. advisors who are there. You've got troops. You have the embassy. When you talk about destabilizing Baghdad, how does that change the game? Even if ISIS doesn't take the city, how does it change the game?

FRANCONA: Well, what they're going to be able to do is create terror inside the city. If they put enough artillery, mortars, car bombs in the city, that makes it very difficult for this new government to say that it's maintaining control or that it's able to open up to the Sunnis and create this inclusive government that everybody hopes will change the game in the country, and we're not seeing that.

ISIS continues to move around the city. They're moving on the north. They already control much of the west, and some of the southwest. And if they can actually get more around the city, that puts us in a bad way.

And I want to underscore what I think Barbara Starr said earlier. That Baghdad airport is critically important to all of our plans there. There are a couple of hundred American troops there. There are six apache helicopters there. So that's very critical to us. And they're only eight miles from that. So unless the Iraqi army can get its act together and start securing that area out there, somebody is going to have to go do it. I don't know what that's going to be. FEYERICK: OK. And so, let's include the U.S. who wants to put more

force there or certainly reinforce that airport, but let me just ask you this question that keeps plaguing me. There's something, like, 30,000 ISIS fighters. No more than that is the numbers that we were being given. So how is it that they are able to make such ground, hold these different cities and effectively now come so close to Baghdad?

FRANCONA: Yes, that's a really good point, Deb. What they're doing is they're amassing their forces where they want to conduct these hit- and-run operations. So while the Iraqi army has to keep itself spread out to try and protect everywhere, ISIS moves its forces where it needs them. So if they're going to attack the Haditha dam, for instance, they will move as many forces they think they're going to need and overwhelm the forces that are there.

So it's not the numbers you have in total. It's the numbers you have on the battlefield in any particular spot. And ISIS is very good about moving people. Just take a look at what they're doing. They're controlling a battle in Kobani and almost 500 miles away they're controlling battles in Iraq. Their command and control structure has not been degraded. They're still effectively managing their forces.

FEYERICK: And meantime, they're paying people within the cities that they have taken control over to at least have some presence there.

Lieutenant colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

FRANCONA: Sure.

FEYERICK: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, the first known European case of Ebola has a nurse's aide in Madrid struggling to recover. It has left people in Spain wonder if anything their country is also up for the fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, a nurse in Dallas is not the only hospital worker with Ebola. Overseas, all eyes are on Spain. That's where a nurse's assistant is being treated for the virus in a Madrid hospital. Her case has caused a nervous public to question if Spanish hospitals are equipped for the fight.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Madrid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The very latest we have here about Teresa Romero's condition is that she's in critical condition but stable. She is speaking. She is conscious. But we are also being told by a source who from inside the hospital is familiar with their treatment that she is having difficulty breathing, that she does have a lung infection. Now, this source did add that contrary to rumors, she does not have massive organ failure.

We're also hearing from the special committee that is investigating and researching and looking at the Ebola situation here at the moment, and Teresa Romero in particular, and they say that there are some signs at least to be hopeful that the level of virus in her body is going down.

FERNANDO SIMON, SPOKESMAN, SPECIAL COMMITTEE FOR EBOLA CRISIS (through translator): The amount of the virus that she has seems to be lowering. It is important to believe that there is hope regarding her case. We have to be careful. It is a good sign for hope but a person who has contracted Ebola is always in critical condition.

ROBERTSON: Now, 15 other people remain here quarantined under observation -- five doctors, four nurses, three beauticians, two other hospital work is Teresa Romero's husband all under observation in quarantine at Carlos III hospital here.

We also understand for the European center for disease control, they consider that the facilities here in the hospital don't match what is required to treat and contain Ebola. The special committee has also commented on that saying that their facilities are too small to do the job.

SIMON (through translator): Experts are sure that the infrastructure and the treatment as well as the protection for the employees are high quality, but obviously they are here to guarantee that we learn and that what we learn is put into practice. As we have said before, one of the main issues is concern about the isolation locker rooms because of their small size or specific use.

ROBERTSON: Now, that area, where they have the concern that it's too small, the space they have to put on and take off, the protective clothing, obviously, a very critical issue for the potential of skin contamination.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: The amount of virus going down in the body, OK. Nick Robertson, thank you.

And just ahead, how did a Texas nurse in full protective gear still manage to be infected with Ebola? We'll talk with former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona about what it will take to contain this disease?

But first, it's time for our weekly series "Tomorrow Transformed" which looks at how information and communication technology is changing society. This week Richard Quest shows us an innovative way of getting around that combines the best of bus and rail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): It was in Great Britain around 1830 when (INAUDIBLE) made one of the first great contributions to mass transit. He removed the horse from the front of the stagecoach. And he replaced it with a steam engine. That discovery is still transforming our world today. For instance,

there are buses. Then there's BRT, Bus Rapid Transit. It integrates technology like traffic signal that turn red lights to green as the bus approaches and modern transport solutions like dedicated BRT only lanes. Think of this as a rail system without the rails.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think BRT is taking everything we've learned over the last 100 years about public transit and integrating it into one mode.

QUEST: Cleveland's health line is the top rated BRT system in north America. For commuters like Jeff Sleeseman (ph), this is the outside -- a revolution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually getting rid of my car.

QUEST: Jeff lives and works along the health line corridor. His commute door to door, less than 13 minutes. The future of bus rapid transit around the world is to expand the stations deep into the community, a society's grapple with efficiently getting more people from a to b, bus routes like this, bringing technology to the road that represent the future of connected transport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FEYERICK: And if you are just joining us, there is breaking news out of Dallas. The Ebola virus infecting a nurse who had extensive contact with the dying patient. This is especially disturbing because the nurse was wearing full protective gear when she was treating Thomas Eric Duncan. He died of Ebola Wednesday. Ten days after being admitted to Presbyterian hospital where the nurse worked.

Dr. Richard Carmona was the 17th Surgeon General of the United States. He joins us on the phone from Tucson.

And, Dr. Carmona, what is your analysis of what you're hearing about this nurse who appeared to take all precautions still being infected?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA 17TH U.S. SURGEON GENERAL (via phone): Well, thanks for the opportunity to comment and to educate the public to allay their fears. My sense is without having looked at this myself, it appears that there was a break in the protocol. Because there's no way she could have been infected by just exposure if she held appropriate personal protective gear and followed all the policies.

So I agree with my colleague Tom Frieden, the director of the CDC, that if we look very carefully, we'll probably find a break in the protocol, whether it was gloves or whether it was something in the eyes or a blood draw. But somewhere along that whole pathway of care, there was a break in protocol.

FEYERICK: You know, it's interesting because we've heard a lot of people say that in fact, you need some sort of a buddy, you need someone to be watching you, you need a supervisor who can look at exactly how you're taking off the protective gear to make sure after you do take it off, you don't come into contact with anything that could potentially have touched the patient. Is that an official CDC protocol that is followed in each at every single case?

CARMONA: Well, the CDC and other health organizations put out guidelines and some of them are mandatory within the hospitals because the hospitals have to be certified by the joint commission on accreditations. So there's a lot of the regulatory issues as well.

Whether or not hospitals are totally compliant is usually left up to their infection control committees, their chiefs of surgery, the chiefs of staff, people in senior positions to be sure compliance with all of the policies and procedures. There is no doubt in my mind as Dr. Frieden has said that the policies and procedures that we have put out over the years are the best chance of protecting anybody from all hazards, whether it is Ebola now or any other germ in the future.

FEYERICK: And, Doctor, you know, when you look, they look West Africa is ground zero for all of this. You've got more than 4,000 people who are infected. You've got, you know, close to a thousand who have died, what is the public's concern here? What is a reasonable approach by the American public in terms of how vulnerable they might be?

CARMONA: It is a very good question. We have layers of protection that are in place, both for people traveling to the country that get screened by temperature, by history. If any of the flights go up that they may have been exposed, they are further looked at by health professionals and if necessary, then they are isolated before coming to the country.

Once they get to the country, if they pass the first check, there's another second layer now in major airports where people are coming from the affected areas where they're screened once again and the same procedure occurs.

The most important issue, especially now where people are a little concerned, is that we're in flu season. Lots of people have a low grade temperature. They have aches and pains. They have stomach aches. That's not Ebola. You probably have the flu or a cold.

The real critical issue here is what apparently didn't happen in Texas is when a patient comes in and has those signs and symptoms, the health professional must right away ask where have you been, who have you been exposed to? And if the question comes back I just returned from Africa or I was in Spain and I was taking care of somebody in a hospital who had Ebola, then those people get isolated right away. So it's a combination of history and the geography of where you've been and who you have been exposed to.

FEYERICK: No question.

All right, Dr. Richard Carmona, thank you so much. We appreciate you are taking time to be with us today. And we are going to take a look now of our other top stories.

Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, want charges brought against the white officer who killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown in August in St. Louis. Protesters also marched for Vonderrit Myers. He was shot at least seven times by police and killed. But officers say her was armed and that he is the one who fired first. He was being monitored at the time.

This morning St. Louis police tweeted that protesters threw rocks at them and tried to storm a gas station. Some arrests were made. But for the post part the demonstrations were peaceful.

A haunted hay ride north of Portland, Maine, became way too scary when it flipped Saturday evening. Police say a teenage girl was one of two people who had to be airlifted to nearby hospitals. She died as a result of her injuries. Thirteen others were transported by ambulance. Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of the accident.

Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. will contribute $414 million to help rebuild Gaza. He is meeting with dozens of leaders in Egypt at a fundraising event. The Palestinian authority says it will take $4 billion to fix Gaza after this year's conflict with Israel. Kerry also emphasized that his pledge comes with a commitment to the entire Middle East peace process.

Police in Weed, California, have arrested 24-year-old Ronald Bill Marshal (ph) on arson charges. It's in connection to a September wildfire in northern California that destroyed 157 homes and more than 500 acres.

Despite a series of new airstrikes, ISIS militants are pushing ahead on to two fronts. We'll go live to Baghdad and hear why the U.S. military says the city is not in imminent danger of falling to the militant group.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: The U.S.-led coalition has unleashed nine new airstrikes n ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. But that does not seem to be stopping ISIS terrorists from advancing.

In Syria, there were more clashes early this morning on the besieged town of Kobani on the Turkish border. A fighter tells CNN that the town is strangely quiet and that's sparking fears that ISIS is quote "preparing something," unquote.

To the south, there have been deadly explosions in parts of Iraq. One of the blasts killed the Anbar police chief. It is not clear if ISIS is responsible, but the terror group is tightening its grip on Anbar province. The province's leaders are pleading for U.S. ground troops to come in and defend it against ISIS. But the White House insists that Iraqi forces can defend the Iraqi capital, which is close by.

CNN international correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Baghdad. Ben, there have been a series of bombs in Baghdad this weekend despite

what the White House is saying. Is there concern for those living in Baghdad?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deborah, just to add to that within the last hour, we've gotten reports of another bomb in Baghdad. At this point that's about four or five within the last 24 hours.

As far as the Americans in Baghdad go, they are really sort of in a fortress in the U.S. embassy. That is probably one of the most if not the most secure diplomatic facilities the United States owns on earth. So the situation for them is still fairly secure.

And apart from the very frequent bombs, suicide bombings that occur in the Iraqi capital, the city itself seems to be secure. We were on the western perimeter the other day talking to Iraqi soldiers and officers, and they seem to be fairly well disciplined, well trained, and well armed, although they did likely show us how well they could shoot out into the distance where there didn't seem to be any possible targets.

The U.S. says that the capital is secure. That American advisors are near those prim meters helping the Iraqis. And, therefore, ISIS we understand does conduct hit-and-run attacks on the perimeter of Baghdad, but there's no sign of any sort of frontal assault on the Iraqi capital.

FEYERICK: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for that update. We'll check back with you.

And still ahead, are hospitals really ready to handle Ebola? Do preparations differ from hospital to hospital? We will have that report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Last month Thomas Eric Duncan was turned away from a Dallas, Texas, hospital despite presenting with Ebola-like symptoms and even telling staff that he had traveled from Liberia. Well, he was finally admitted three days later. They did not survive. Now we're being told that a breach in protocol happened at the same hospital and a female nurse who cared for Mr. Duncan has tested positive for Ebola.

Alison Kosik joins us from New York. And Alison, what are you learning now about the readiness of New York hospitals when it comes to handling Ebola cases?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Deb, New York City's 11 public hospitals, New York City health commissions are telling me that the hospitals are ready. And you know what, they really have to be. New York City, you looked at it, this is a global city. (INAUDIBLE) gateway city for many to come to especially since almost half of the passengers who actually arrive here from those Ebola affected countries, they land here. So when I talked with Dr. Mary Bassett, and she told me that each of

Manhattan's public hospitals, they each have isolation areas, and that staffs at all of those hospitals that they have been trained not just in the classroom, but they've also gotten hands on training as well. Specifically, how to put that protective gear and how to safely and correctly take it off. That's also very key, Deb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARY BASSETT, NEW YORK CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: You know, anything that people do is really foolproof. That, you know, people do make mistakes. But that doesn't mean that people have to make mistakes. We can put in place the safeguards that we need for people. Innovative ideas like the buddy system. I can't think of a better person to lead the Ebola response than Dr. Frieden. And he is absolutely correct that we know how to stop this epidemic.

Here in New York City, we have confidence in our systems to identify people who have Ebola, to isolate them, evaluate them and look after them in ways that best protect their health and I hope sees them through to recovery and ensures that the people looking after them are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Now, you may have heard what she was talking about with something called the buddy system and what she is referring to is what she called innovative wear except all of that gear that these hospital workers have to wear when they're in contact with someone who has Ebola. All that protective gear can get a little clungy and that's often where mistakes happen. So what she says New York City hospitals are doing is they are incorporating this buddy system and it's very simple. I mean, it sounds simple. What essentially means is one hospital worker watches as another worker puts on that protective gear to make sure it's put on correctly. And then when they disrobe, when they take off that protective gear, that buddy is standing there watching as well. Just in case something is done wrong, if something is done wrong, that hospital worker is taking into isolation, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes. And what is amazing is that, you know, you think about when they take it off, we saw to doctor earlier who said they were like a mini steal (ph) drop of blood, then inadvertently get on your hand. You know, how many times do you touch your nose, you know, wipe your eye or something? And so, it is easy to transmit. Are the New York hospital looking at Dallas and sort of saying OK. We're safer than that, which maybe an unfair statement, because Dallas is doing the best they can. But are they looking closely?

KOSIK: You know, they -- I did talk to Dr. Bassett about that and she said basically with what is happening in Dallas is -- and New York City is really keeping an eye on Dallas and using it as a learning experience, especially after with just a few days ago, the director of the CDC came out to the public and actually was very reassuring about the spread of the virus inside of a hospital I want you to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRIEDEN: I said and I repeat that we know how to stop Ebola from spreading in hospitals but that doesn't mean it's easy. It is hard. It means you need meticulous attention to detail. You need a team working together and to make sure that every aspect of the protocol is rigorously and meticulously followed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And now, of course, Deb, we have learned of the nurse who you have been talking about all day who had close contact with Thomas Eric Duncan is now sick with Ebola. So, you know, it is a big question about are hospitals doing all they can at least here in New York City, the health commissioner says, yes. They are doing all they can.

FEYERICK: Yes. The operative word, I think, being meticulous.

KOSIK: Yes. And she repeated that word often during the interview.

FEYERICK: It's a good word to use in case.

All right, Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

So Alison just told us what hospitals in the U.S. are doing to protect us from Ebola. But imagine living one of those countries in West Africa with an Ebola isolation word made of to 7th street. We are going to take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

With the first case of Ebola being transmitted in the United States, American authorities are working hard to be sure that it doesn't spread. But is it like in West African countries where thousands contracted the virus and thousands more have died from it.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes inside a town hit hard by Ebola.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're about to go inside an isolation ward again. There's a reason you may not have seen these images before. These patients are fighting one of the deadliest diseases in the world, Ebola. It has disarmed their immune system, shut off their blood's ability to clot and evaded the organs in their body. Up to nine out of ten patients will die.

But this horror is isolated and (INAUDIBLE) beginning. We found traffic to still be busy here. Markets are full. Children, lots of children, still smiling.

You see as scary as Ebola is, it's not particularly contagious. It doesn't disperse through the air and it does not live long on surfaces either and people don't typically spread it until they are sick, really sick. And when that is the case, the patients are not up walking around on

the busy streets. They are down in bed in hospitals or worse. Even the dead are highly contagious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story unfortunately always the same.

GUPTA: Doctor (INAUDIBLE) of the CDC has helped trace outbreaks for more than 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The risk is not the people dealing with Ebola patients. It is the people doing with regular patients, not thinking of Ebola.

GUPTA: You see it only takes a small amount of the virus to cause an infection. And as I learned, no precaution is too small for the doctors who care for these parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing gets in, nothing gets out.

GUPTA: Tim is one of the doctors without borders. He is from Canada. He comes into this setting for weeks at a time. He is not married. He has no children. That can be a job liability he tells me.

Multiple pairs of gloves and masks, the head is completely covered. A multilayer gown, boots and then an apron. It is positively suffocating in the (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the final --

GUPTA: Preparing to treat a patient with Ebola is like preparing to land on the moon, but there, you are only visitor, the only person helping them survive.

They do this when people outside these wards, the people on the streets will never know what it is like to be inside.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)