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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

First U.S. Ebola Diagnosis Identified; Car Bomb Attack in Baghdad; Protesters Target in Hong Kong's Leader

Aired October 02, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Alarming new concerns over the handling of the first Ebola case in the U.S. The hospital that turned the patient away leaving him sick, contagious and among the general population for days.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Secret Service director stepping down, resigning after a series of blunders that could have put the president and the first family in danger. We'll tell you what is next for the embattled agency, ahead.

ROMANS: ISIS advancing toward Baghdad as the U.S. and its partners escalate airstrikes. We are live in Baghdad with the very latest.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It is 30 minutes past the hour right now.

And this morning, we have new information about the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. His name is Thomas Eric Duncan. A 42-year-old Liberian citizen. On September 15th in Monrovia, Duncan assisted a pregnant woman who later died of Ebola. He was trying to help but ended up with Ebola himself. Four days later, he flew to Dallas to visit family and friends.

The CDC says that four or five days after that, he developed symptoms, but was initially turned away from a Dallas hospital. Then on September 28th, Duncan's nephew Josephus Weeks became so frustrated that Duncan wasn't getting care, he called the CDC. And finally Duncan was admitted to the hospital. Now his worried family members are waiting to hear word of his condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPHUS WEEKS, NEPHEW OF THOMAS ERIC DUNCAN: It's very stressful. We're here. But we just want -- I mean, we appreciate as much help as we can get because Eric just got here. He contracted the stuff and now he needs to pay back the hospital. We're still here. We will not sleep just like you. We feel the pain. We feel the pain. We just hope and pray that Eric survives the night. And we just -- we got our hopes up for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: Another huge part of this story now. We now know that Duncan had contact with at least a dozen people during the period that he had Ebola symptoms, including children.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Christine, there is no question what happened was very historic. A patient being diagnosed in the United States with Ebola. It's never happened before. In fact a patient has never been diagnosed with Ebola outside of Africa. But it's happened now. And it raises some concerns.

And then I'll also, I will tell you, it was not that unexpected. Patients getting on planes in these West Africa countries, they're not sick, but they're carrying the Ebola virus in their bodies. They're in what's called the incubation period. That can last up to 21 days. And they can travel anywhere in the world during that time.

So it's surprising it'll happen. And it's likely to happen again in the United States and many other countries around the world. Unfortunately, what happened regarding this first patient and the missteps regarding his diagnosis and early treatment is unfortunate. But hopefully it sends a clear message to hospitals and emergency room departments around the country that it should not happen again.

John and Christine, back to you.

ROMANS: We can only hope -- thanks, Sanjay, for that. That the public health system is getting that message. You know, the Dallas hospital that initially turned Duncan away now investigating that misstep.

Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital say Duncan came to the ER with a low-grade fever and abdominal pain. Those symptoms -- did not warrant admission at the time. What doctors reviewing the case did not learn was that Duncan had told a nurse he was visiting from West Africa. A U.S. official tells CNN that was clearly, quote, "a screw-up."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARK LESTER, TEXAS HEALTH RESOURCES EXECUTIVE VP: He volunteered that he had traveled from Africa in response to the nurse operating the checklist and asking that question. Regretfully, that information was not fully communicated throughout the full team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Wow. So during those few days between Duncan's first symptoms and admission to the hospital, every one he came in contact with may have been exposed to Ebola. Health officials say they are closely watching for symptoms in those 12 to 18 people that he had close physical contact. This includes five children who attend four different area schools. And as you can imagine, this has Dallas public schools scrambling to reassure nervous parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been confirmed that five students may have come in contact with an individual recently diagnosed with the Ebola virus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I am concerned that if my son gets fever or anything like that, I will definitely immediately take him to the emergency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: As for Thomas Eric Duncan, Texas Health Presbyterian says he is currently in serious condition.

Meanwhile, WFAA is reporting the Dallas health officials are closely monitoring one other person who had what they call very close contact with Duncan. This could be a second potential Ebola patient.

ROMANS: The search is on this morning for a new person to head the Secret Service. Julia Pierson handed her resignation to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Wednesday. She handed in her resignation after a series of lapses, security lapses, protecting the White House and the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, Director Pierson offered her recommendation -- her resignation today because she believed that it was in the best interest of the agency to which she has dedicated her career. The secretary agreed with that assessment. The president did as well.

Over the last several days, we have seen recent and accumulating reports raising questions about the performance of the agency and the president concluded that new leadership of that agency was required.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The beginning of the end for Pierson came on September 19th -- you're seeing the video there. A fence jumper managed to get through the front door of the White House and all the way to the East Room before being tackled by Secret Service agent who was off-duty at the time, as a matter of fact. Support for Pierson eroded after the revelation that an unscreened armed man had also been allowed to ride in an elevator with the president, obviously in violation of Secret Service protocols and common sense.

The retired head of President Obama's protective detail, Joseph Clancy, he has been named acting director of the Secret Service as the search for Pierson's replacement now begins.

BERMAN: The alleged White House fence jumper has entered a plea. Omar Gonzalez pleading not guilty to charges that he ran into the presidential mansion carrying a deadly weapon, which would be a knife. A federal court judge ordered a mental competency exam for Gonzalez to determine if he is fit to stand trial. After his arrest last month, investigators found 800 rounds of ammunition, a machete and two hatchets in his car.

ROMANS: ISIS fighters making advances in Iraq this morning. Two senior security officials telling CNN ISIS has pushed the Iraqi Army out of the town of Hit. About 125 miles west of Baghdad. Raising the ISIS flag over the town hall. At the same time coalition airstrikes against ISIS intensify. Tuesday was the busiest day so far, 28 strikes total including two by Britain.

And those airstrikes are now having an effect. The mortuary at the general hospital in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, has received the bodies of 45 ISIS militants in the last 48 hours.

In southeastern Baghdad, a car bomb detonated on a busy commercial street killing at least 14 people and wounding another 51.

With us live from Baghdad is CNN's Ben Wedeman.

Ben, do we know any more about that attack?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, this is really just the latest in the string of attacks that have plagued the Iraqi capital in recent days. It took place in the evening and, of course, keep in mind that people here in Baghdad are preparing for the Eid al-Adha holidays, which marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. So there were lots of people in the street.

And we have to stress it is at least 14 people dead, some estimates as high as 25. Now on Tuesday, there were a series of car bombs in Baghdad and towns to the south of the city totaling -- that killed a total of 40 people then.

Now to get back to the situation in Hit which is just to the northwest of Baghdad, on the Euphrates, we understand that the ISIS flag is now flying over the police station and the hospital.

Now Iraqi military sources tell us they have launched a counterattack in partnership with local Sunni militias to try to drive them out, but this really underscores ISIS' ability despite airstrikes by the coalition, by the Iraqi air force to continue to take territory -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that, Ben in Baghdad for us this morning.

Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Rough day for stocks around the globe.

European stocks lower this morning. Some Asian markets are closed for holidays there but look at the Nikkei.

BERMAN: That's big. That's big.

ROMANS: Yes, 2.6 percent is a big one-day move. U.S. futures right now pointing lower.

If this all holds it will be another bad day for stocks. Yesterday, the Dow fell 238 points. That's a move of about 1.4 percent. You've got concerns about global growth slowing. You've got concerns about those protests in Hong Kong, and what the potential reaction and turmoil there could be with China. And you've got the first case of Ebola in the U.S. Hotel and airline stocks hit on those Ebola worries but that scare could eventually affect travel.

Some of the hardest hit, Starwood Hotels and Resort, Southwest, and JetBlue and Delta, they all dropped about 3.5 percent.

Interesting. It was almost indiscriminate the selling on some of those -- some of those --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: It's not totally rational. You look at Southwest. I mean, Southwest does not fly to West Africa there.

ROMANS: No.

BERMAN: But they're take a hit anyway.

ROMANS: But if you see a spread -- more cases of Ebola in the U.S. will -- it prevents people from cancelling a trip.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: Deciding maybe they're not going to Dallas for Thanksgiving. Maybe they're not going to go traveling. So we'll see.

BERMAN: Big questions.

ROMANS: Put down stocks.

BERMAN: Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. Not Ebola, but a different mystery virus that is infecting hundreds of children across the country. Now linked to the deaths of several children. We have new information on this coming up.

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ROMANS: The number of cases of enterovirus D68 has tripled in just the past two weeks. More than 500 people in 42 states and in Washington, D.C. have now been sickened by this. Federal health officials are investigating whether this virus contributed to four deaths, including 10-year-old Emily Otrando of Cumberland, Rhode Island. She died 11 days ago. Health officials there -- state health officials confirming she did test positive for D68.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. MICHAEL FINE, DIRECTOR, R.I. HEALTH DEPARTMENT: She got a little short of breath. Her parents didn't think much about it. Took her to the hospital. And really by the time she got to the hospital, everything fell apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hospitals across the country now reporting cases of paralysis in some of their patients. This began, you'll remember, in Denver. Now they're reporting this across the country. Paralysis in some patients who are infected with the enterovirus.

BERMAN: Prosecutors in Missouri have launched an investigation into a possible grand jury leak in the case of Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. A Twitter post from an account in the name of Susan M. Nichols bragged that, "I know someone sitting on the grand jury and there isn't enough at this point to warrant an arrest."

Now this account was quickly deleted when another -- when other Twitter posters pointed out the grand jury proceedings are secret. Prosecutors say they are looking into the matter.

ROMANS: All right, 45 minutes past the hour. And it is Friday eve, as Indra likes to say.

Indra Petersons has an EARLY START on your forecast. Not quite the weekend.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not quite. It's close enough.

ROMANS: Close enough.

PETERSONS: I'm completely content with it at this point. All right. If you are heading out west this weekend, temperatures are soaring. We're talking about Santa Ana winds. And of course that means fire danger as well. The temperatures are a good 15 degrees or so above normal. The trend is they'll be cooling, but not enough. Even as the temperatures cool down it'll still be well above normal or where they should be this time of year.

Into the northeast, yes, you can actually see a little bit of a spin out here. Still some light showers in play. But again very easy to see the bull's eye right in the middle of the country. This is where we have that threat for severe weather again today.

Very strong cold front out here so we're talking about that severe weather threat now for 40 million people from Chicago back down through Austin. We're talking about major hub. We have that threat pretty strong. Thunderstorms strong, wind and even a threat for isolated tornadoes.

Very easy to see the line of storms making its way east so yes, it will affect the northeast as we go through the weekend. But one of the other bigger stories is going to be not just the rain and the severe weather itself, but the cool air that's going to be filling in behind that system.

Look at this temperature drop. Chicago is going to have highs of 78 today. By Saturday, just 50s. And of course, all this cool air is making its way east. So yes, for the weekend and in the northeast as well, you're still going to see that trend. This is going to take about another day or so to see those cool temperatures make their way.

And those are the highs. We didn't even show you the lows. Look at this slow, Chicago will be waking up to 30s for Saturday and Sunday.

ROMANS: What?

PETERSONS: What happened to summer? It's fallen. It's like, boom, it just changes that quick. I guess so.

BERMAN: Take that, Chicago.

ROMANS: Yes, right.

(LAUGHTER)

PETERSONS: Not me.

ROMANS: There's Parka this weekend. For sure.

All right, thanks, Indra.

Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Michaela Pereira joins us this morning.

Hi, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Good morning, friends. How are you?

ROMANS: Nice to see you.

PEREIRA: It's almost Friday.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Look, we have a lot of news as you guys well know. We are watching all of the latest developments in the Ebola case in Texas. A patient there, it turns out he was denied admission to the hospital, even though he told nurses that he had recently been to West Africa. He left. He then had contact with up to 20 people, including children before returning.

How did this happen? There were several balls dropped here. We're going to tell you through a series of questions that we're going to put to our panelists. A lot of questions we want to ask. And we're going to take your questions, those of you at home that are watching, all these nagging questions about Ebola.

Also, the head of the Secret Service out of a job now, not just because of security scares, but also for keeping the White House in the dark over a series of lapse until it was about to go public. We are going to speak with the reporter who exposed that very breach.

"NEW DAY" begins at the top of the next hour. Back to you guys.

BERMAN: Looking forward to it.

ROMANS: Thanks, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

BERMAN: All right, 47 minutes after the hour. Tens of thousands of protesters not moving from the streets of Hong Kong, giving the government there a deadline to answer their democracy demands or the protesters are saying they will start taking over government buildings. We are live there right after the break.

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ROMANS: Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have set a deadline. The activists giving Hong Kong's chief executive until today to step down from his job. Earlier, they staged a sit-in outside his office gates. And they say the next step could involve occupying government buildings if their demand for full democratic rights are not met.

Our CNN's Andrew Stevens is in Hong Kong right now.

And you've got to wonder what's the endgame here. Both for the protesters and for the government here. The government is not budging and these protesters, they want democratic rights in Hong Kong, Andrew?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine. And increasingly it's looking more confrontational. Just heard word from the police here in Hong Kong that they won't tolerate any obstructions, any action that puts the public security in any sort of danger. So they are making it quite clear that they are not going to be -- not going to back down or not going to be pushed around by protesters at all.

Meanwhile, protesters where we are at this site, so if you can, that is the main protest segment over there. But more and more people are starting to funnel past our live position here into the -- into the area where the central government offices are and in particular where the chief executive C.Y. Leung has his offices just about a few hundred meters down that road behind the camera position.

That is where most of the protesters are expected to congregate. That is the person they want to confront. They want his resignation. They say they are going to continue to protest until they get that resignation. The police are saying that we are going to be on hand, we are there, we will not tolerate any activity that we consider a breach of public security or an obstruction to the public.

So obviously, attitudes seem to be hardening at the moment, Christine, on both sides. We don't know yet when that deadline expires. We think it will probably be in about six hours or so from now. But it has been quite a loose deadline. It was just 24 hours from yesterday. So that's where we are at the moment. But certainly tensions seem to be on the increase here.

ROMANS: All right. Tensions on the increase. Andrew Stevens, he'll be watching it for us all day as that deadline comes.

Thank you, Andrew.

Fifty-three minutes past the hour. DirecTV is spending a lot of cash, a lot of money to keep the NFL Sunday ticket. An EARLY START on your money next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.

Rough day for stocks around the globe. European stocks much lower this morning. Some Asian markets closed for holidays, but Japan's Nikkei opened and fell, fell 2.6 percent. U.S. stock futures also lower right now. Pointing lower right now for the day. Yesterday, the Dow plunged 238 points. That's about 1.4 percent. Stocks falling on concerns about global growth, those ongoing protests in Hong Kong and the first case of Ebola in the U.S. that hit travel stocks, airlines, hotel stocks.

A big payday for the NFL. The league and DirecTV announced an extension of the NFL Sunday ticket package. The NFL's current contract with DirecTV is worth more than an average of $1 billion a year. But the new eight-year deal is worth $1.5 billion a year. The increase, big news for Roger Goodell who's been under pressure to resign over his handling of recent domestic abuse allegations. This a big financial win for the NFL.

Tesla apparently has more surprises in store. CEO Elon Musk tweeted this tease about unveiling the "D" and something else on October 9th. That tweet is causing some snarky commentary online and talk that "D" could be driverless. No details yet on the new model. Mush has hinted at a smaller SUV in the past. Tesla shares are edging higher before the bell.

That's it for me this morning. "NEW DAY" starts right now.