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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
NBC Indentified Ebola-Infected Cameraman; War on ISIS: New Help; JPMorgan Hacked: 83 Million Accounts Breached; Royals' Magical Run Continues
Aired October 03, 2014 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Online lenders make up a third of the market, but they are subject of nine out of 10 complaints to the Better Business Bureau.
It is 5:00 in the East. EARLY START continues right now.
Breaking news this morning: another American infected with Ebola. An NBC cameraman being treated as we learn details about the Texas patient sick with the deadly virus and the people he has had close contact with who are now under quarantine.
ROMANS: ISIS moving closer to a Syrian city. Can anything stop the terrorists from taking over another town? We are live near the battlefield, ahead.
JPMorgan chase hacked. Accounts for 83 million customers compromised. What you need to know, ahead.
Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It's Friday, October 3rd. It is 5:00 in the East this morning.
Let's begin with breaking news. NBC News has now named the freelance cameraman who was diagnosed with Ebola on Wednesday. He is 33-year- old Ashoka Mukpo. NBC hired him one day earlier as a second cameraman for the network's medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman. The network is flying him, Snyderman, and the whole entire crew back to the United States for quarantine and for treatment.
NBC News president Deborah Turness released a statement saying, quote, "We are also taking all possible measures to protect our employees and the general public. The rest of the crew, including Dr. Nancy, are being closely monitored and showing no signs or symptoms -- or warning signs or symptoms. However, in an abundance of caution, we will fly them back on a private charter flight and then they will place themselves under quarantine in the United States for 21 days, which is the most conservative end of the spectrum of medical guidance."
Concerns growing of the spread of Ebola in Texas. Officials in Dallas now trying to check on the longer list of people who may have had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan. He is the Liberian national who flew to Texas last month and is now hospitalized with Ebola.
Chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta is at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. He's got the latest for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, we are getting some more details about Mr. Duncan. We know he is still in serious condition, but stable. He had been asking for food, able to talk to people as well. And we are hearing more about what's happening with all of the potential contacts around Mr. Duncan.
Now, the Texas Department of Health trying to find about 100 people, they say. That doesn't mean all of the people need to be monitored, but about 100 people may have come in contact at some point with Mr. Duncan. They want to talk to them. They want to find out if they had contact and what that contact was.
Right now, they are monitoring 12 people. That means they are taking their temperatures. They're going to monitor them for 21 days. If they don't develop a temperature during that time, they get the free and clear sign.
Four people within his immediate vicinity, his girlfriend and three more people, are being quarantined now. They're going to be forced to stay in their home. They're going to have their temperature taken there.
This is a legal matter. If they leave, Christine, they could actually be charged by law.
Inside that apartment where Mr. Duncan was staying, we know some squalor detail about that. Apparently, the sheets and towels that he had used while sick were not removed from the apartment, had not been decontaminated. His girlfriend, Louise, says she was not given any instructions by the CDC on how to do that.
We're going to be getting plenty more details about Mr. Duncan as we get them. We'll certainly bring them to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Sanjay for us this morning in Atlanta, thank you, Sanjay.
In Dallas, Dallas officials found a cleaning company willing to go to Louise's apartment to decontaminate it, but the crew had to turn around and leave, it discovered it didn't have the permits for that job.
Louise tells Anderson Cooper that leaving under quarantined has been very difficult.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Have you gone outside?
LOUISE: No, I'm inside. They did not bring food here. They brought paper work for us to sign. If we step outside, they're going to take us to court. They will say we committed a crime. They have not brought any food, any food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Dallas schools are struggling to cope with the Ebola fears. Custodians there dressed in white hazmat suits cleaning the elementary school which is one of the four schools attended by five children who had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan. The school district says the five children are now being home schooled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUPERINTENDENT MIKE MILES, DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: W also enrolled the five students into the home-bound program so they will get curriculum support and technology support to continue their education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: United Airlines is reaching out to the passengers on the same flight as Thomas Eric Duncan. The airline is referring the nearly 400 passengers to the CDC. United says it doesn't believe any fellow passengers are at risk, but it was making the move out of caution.
President Obama promising the Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings all of the support his city needs to deal with it. He is offering the resources of CDC to prevent the virus from spreading. Meantime, the Pentagon is sending 1,500 troops to Liberia this month. Total of 3,000 American soldiers will be stationed in West Africa this fall to fight an outbreak that has killed well over 3,000 people.
Residents of the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani have been ordered to evacuate as ISIS fighters close in from three sides. Islamic militants have taken hundreds of surrounding villages as they push to the Syria border with Turkey. Turkish lawmakers on Thursday voted to authorize military force to repel ISIS, opening the door to some cooperation with the U.S.-led coalition conducting air strikes on the terror group.
Joining us live this morning from Turkey's border with Syria is CNN's Phil Black.
Good morning, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Christine.
Yes, the Turkish government now has parliamentary approval to take military action against ISIS. But for the movement, all of this promising is all possible humanitarian assistance to the people of Kobani. That's the city you can see behind me. And that means is that ISIS is free to continue its assault on that city.
What we have been watching through the day is really a very constant bombardment, shells have been pulling on the city constantly, particularly the eastern and southeastern edge of the city which is very close to where we are. That is where Kurdish fighters have told us they have put snipers in position, the expectation that ISIS is going into the city and take it street by street, building by building.
These ISIS fighters believe that under those conditions, they have a bit -- I'm sorry, Kurdish fighters believe they have the edge because they know the city. They know the streets. It is their home.
We have been hearing this bombardment through the day. What we have also just been hearing in last few minutes is small arms fire which suggests that close quarters fighting has already begun. And only a few moments ago, we had contact with a Kurdish fighter at the south of the city. He said ISIS fighters have entered the city from that direction.
So, the fight is now down to this -- close quarters, ISIS at the gates. Civilian population has largely evacuated. Inside all that remains are the men and women who are determined to fight for their homes and they now say they will do it, home by home and street by street -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Phil Black for us on the border this morning -- with troubling news of the advance of ISIS in a region. Thank you.
While Kurdish fighters suffer setbacks in the area around Kobani, they are claiming victor in Iraq this morning, retaking the strategic town of Ravya (ph) on the Syrian border on Thursday, with help from coalition airstrikes.
Meanwhile, Australia is committing special forces troops to advise and assist the Iraqi army in the fight against ISIS. As Australian aircraft join in coalition air strikes.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Baghdad this morning. He joins us live in just about 30 minutes with all of that.
President Obama will not be appointing a new Secret Service director until December, after a series of high profile security lapses forced Julia Pierson so resign this week. The White House and officials of Homeland Security will now wait for a panel of experts to complete a review of the agency before a candidate is chosen. Until then, Joseph Clancy takes over as interim director. He headed the agency's presidential protection division before leaving the Secret Service in 2011.
All right. More than 80 million JPMorgan Chase accounts hacked. That number dwarfs JPMorgan's previous estimates for the hack attack early this year. This was disclosed in filings on Thursday. The bank said hackers stole contact information for 76 million households and 7 million small businesses.
That includes names, address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses. Now, hackers did not get account information, like account numbers or Social Security numbers or passwords. Customers should be wary. There is still cash in selling e-mail addresses and other personal information to scammers. These are just further details of a hack in June that infiltrated seven of the largest banks.
JPMorgan says it hasn't seen fraud incidents yet. This year, the bank is spending $250 million on fraud protection. Just to give you some perspective, this is half of American households, half of American households, their personal information hacked and on the black market.
Turning to markets, stocks around the world this morning mostly higher. The U.S. futures are also up ahead of the release of the jobs report. That comes out at 8:30 Eastern Time.
Disturbing details about the man accused in the disappearance of missing student Hannah Graham, the accusations against him from his past ahead.
Plus, a mystery illness believed to be paralyzing children across the country. It's spreading. The new cases diagnosed, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: New information on the man being held in the disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham. We are learning Jesse Matthew was accused of two sexual assaults at two separate colleges, that's one more than we previously knew about. But he was never prosecuted in either case. This according to records and officials involved in both of those cases.
Revelation comes after Matthew was arrested in the disappearance of missing UVA student Hannah Graham. Investigators linked him to the 2009 rape and murder of Morgan Harrington.
A woman's tweet triggered an investigation of possible misconduct by a Ferguson grand jury. She says her account was hacked. Susan Nichols says she did not tweet the message, "I know someone sitting on the grand jury and there isn't enough evidence to warrant an arrest." She also denies deleting that message and then deleting the account itself.
The grand jury is considering possible charges against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
A federal appeals court clearing the way for Texas to immediately enforce a restricted abortion law that will close all but seven abortion clinics in the state of Texas. It trumps a lower court ruling that said the law's requirements the clinics spend millions to have hospital upgrades was aimed to make abortions more difficult, not to really ensuring patient safety. Abortion rights activists say the challenges will continue.
The fast spreading Enterovirus D68 is now in California. Health officials confirming two patients have tested positive in the San Francisco Bay Area. And a boy between 5 and 10 years old has been affected in Los Angeles.
Listen to doctors describe his condition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. GRACE ALDROVANDI, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES: The child had what appeared to be normal cold, upper respiratory tract infection. After a week of those symptoms, woke up and was unable to move a limb.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Four deaths nationwide are investigated to find out if they were caused by the Enterovirus. There are more than 500 confirmed cases in 42 states now.
For the third time a week, a high school football player died on the gridiron. A Long Island mourns the death of 16-year-old Tom Cutinella. The young linebacker collapsed during a game earlier this week after an on-field collision. He passed away shortly after surgery, leaving school officials, friends and neighbors stunned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL MENEZES, NEIGHBOR: He is the type of kid you want to tell your kids to be when you grow up. He is just -- you can't say enough about the kid. He was one of the greatest kids you ever seen.
DR. STEVE COHEN, SUPT. SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT: The game involves contact. It was the result of a freak football play.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: School officials have not determined yet whether the rest of the season at Shoreham-Wading River will be canceled. Two other football players, one in Alabama, another in North Carolina, they also died on the field this week.
Severe storms beating a path of destruction across the Midwest and south to Texas. These storms with wind gusts up to 90 miles an hour causing widespread damage in Dallas Ft. Worth. More than 100,000 people lost power. Those powerful winds caused a brick wall to collapse on cars on the historic Fort Worth stockyards.
People in the town of Frankfort, Kansas picking up the pieces after the storm uprooted trees and severely damaged many homes and buildings. The local sheriff asking people to avoid traveling to the town of Frankfort because streets are covered with downed trees and power lines. No injuries have been reported, thankfully.
Stormy weather in Chicago creating a nightmare more travelers. Heavy rain forced airlines to cancel 850 flights at both O'Hare and Midway. Officials, of course, expect those delays, those cancellations will spill over into today. It creates a major catch-up scenario for airlines throughout the weekend.
So, plan accordingly, folks. Sorry to report that to you.
Indra Petersons has a start, though, on your forecast for the weekend.
Good morning.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. On that note, right? Yes. We are talking about the line of storms. It takes a second or a quick glance of the map to see where we're currently seeing those showers right now. Look at the lightning here as the storms are holding together. We're seeing that cold front continuing to push off to the east today.
Here's we're going to be seeing the heaviest amount of rain, still kind of seeing in the Ohio Valley, you'll see the heaviest rain. Notice really from north to south, still talking about that threat for showers, in through tomorrow, same system still here, just further east. Notice the northeast will get that bull's-eye of the heavy rain. And, you know, it's only one side of the equation.
It is cold. In fact, some of the first snow flurries are going to be out there in the Upper Midwest. Yes. The seasons are changing. Of course, the snow and those few flurries are going to remain there.
But what it means for the rest of us? Yes, the cold air is making its way. Look at the change. Current temperatures 20s and 30s are already out there. Talking about Montana right at that freezing mark. Yes, down in the South, you are talking about the 80 degree temperatures.
But here goes the cold air. It is on the move today. Departures alone, but 20 degrees below normal for Minneapolis, even towards Memphis, we're seeing temperatures below average for this time of year. Eventually, that's going to spread right on the weekend. I'm sorry. Temperatures are going to be going down.
Look at Chicago Saturday. Your high is 48 degrees. Of course, that's the warmest out there. The overnight lows, they are chilly as well, even out towards New York City, we're going to starting to see the big 4-0. More like 49. But either way, it's the 40s.
ROMANS: Oh, wow, four in front of that number, Indra.
PETERSONS: I was shaking in the 60s. So, I'm in a lot of trouble, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thank you, Indra. At least, it's Friday. We always have that.
PETERSONS: I can snuggle.
ROMANS: All right. It took nearly three decades for the Kansas City Royals to finally return to the playoffs. Three decades and all that patience is paying off for their loyal Royal fans. A royal magical night in Anaheim.
Andy Scholes has the "Bleacher Report", next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The Royals are playing like it is 1985. Kansas City opening the divisional series with a huge win over the Angels.
Who better than Andy Scholes to give us the "Bleacher Report" this morning.
Hi, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, Christine.
You know, when it comes to the post-season. It's all about getting hot at the right time. Right now, no one has more momentum than the Kansas City Royals. They are opening the division service last night in Anaheim.
This game would go to extra innings tied at 2-2. In the 11th, Mike Moustakas gets ahold of this one, solo home run. The Royals get another clutch one-run win. They take a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Orioles, meanwhile, does not need extra innings to take care of the Tigers. Baltimore's offense exploding for eight runs in the eighth inning. They crushed Detroit, 12-3. The 12 runs for the Orioles was a post-season record for the team. Today, the rare post season quadruple header. It all got started at noon on TBS with game two of this series.
All right. Aaron Rodgers told Packers fans not to panic after the team's 1-2 start, well, looks like he was right. Rodgers threw three touchdowns in the first half against the Vikings on Thursday night football, including the 200th of his career. The packers absolutely dominated this one. Winning 42-10 over the Vikings.
Dallas Cowboys say C.J. Spillman will play Sunday despite facing accusations of sexual assault. Police are investigating the special team's player for an incident last month in a Texas hotel. The team says until Spillman is charged or arrested, he will remain on the active roster. Police say Spillman is cooperating with their investigation.
All right. We saw a huge upset last night in college football. Unranked Arizona stunning second-ranked Oregon. Wildcats scored the go ahead touchdown with under three minutes to go on the 1-yard touchdown run.
The Ducks had one last chance to tie to game up. Stripped and fumble. Arizona recovers. Ball game over. Wildcats big win, 31-24.
Christine, this will have huge implications on the four-team college football playoffs. Pac-12 -- they might be in danger not having a team in the playoff at all after this loss.
ROMANS: I'm sure if John Berman were here, he'd have a wonderful comment to bottom up all of that analysis, however, Berman is not here. So, I'll take it from here.
Andy Scholes, thank you. All I can say is that was a stunning game. And it was.
Thanks, Andy.
SCHOLES: All right. ROMANS: All right. Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Breaking news this morning: another American -- another American infected with Ebola. This as we learn new information about the Texas Ebola patient who he came in contact with and what is being done about it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking news this morning. New information about the NBC photojournalist infected with Ebola. This as we learn new details of how many people came in contact with the Texas Ebola patient and what's being done there to stop the virus from spreading.
New help on the way this morning in the war on ISIS. What's now being done to stop the terrorists. We're live in Baghdad, ahead.
Hackers attacked JPMorgan Chase in one of the biggest security breaches ever, 83 million accounts affected. We are breaking down what you need to know and what you need to do about it this morning.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour this Friday. John Berman has the morning off.
We have breaking news for you this morning: the freelance NBC News cameraman who was diagnosed with Ebola on Wednesday has now been named. He is 33-year-old Ashoka Mukpo. NBC hired him just a day earlier, as the second cameraman for the network's medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman.