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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Airports to Screen for Ebola; ISIS Gains Ground in Syria; Deadly Police Shooting Protest
Aired October 09, 2014 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, airports planning new security procedures to stop possibly infected travelers from bringing Ebola into the United States. This as Texas reels from one death of an Ebola and then another possible case.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS gaining ground in Syria, on the brink of taking over another crucial Syrian town. U.S. airstrikes unable to stop the terrorists. We're live near the battlefield.
BERMAN: And then breaking news overnight. Angry crowds on the streets of St. Louis protesting another deadly police shooting. What we're learning this morning is ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It's Thursday, October 9th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
This morning, tighter screening is planned for U.S. airports. Officials hope to prevent another person infected Ebola from entering the country. President Obama calling it an added layer of protection, on top of the measures already in place at major airports. The new screening expected to apply only about 150 travelers a day from three West African countries where Ebola is spreading quickly.
CNN's Rene Marsh has more from Washington's Dulles International Airport.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The White House announcing today enhanced screening at specific U.S. airports. It will begin this weekend at JFK in New York, and will eventually expand to Newark, Chicago, Washington Dulles, and Atlanta airports.
We know that Customs and Border Protection officers, they will be on the front lines using laser thermometers similar to this one. It does not require these officers to touch the passengers. They simply hold up the thermometer to the passenger's forehead and they will get the reading as far as what their temperature is.
The other layer to this is a CDC questionnaire with detailed health information. That will be handed out to passengers the moments they get off the plane landing here in the United States. We also are hearing there will be a surge in personnel at these major international airports. That will include the CDC as well as the U.S. Coast Guard to coordinate all this and make sure the targeted passengers from the Ebola-impacted countries are getting screened, getting that aggressive screening involving temperature taking and making sure they get those questionnaires.
Reporting outside Washington at Washington Dulles Airport, I'm Rene Marsh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Rene for that report.
The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States has died. The officials at Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas say Thomas Eric Duncan had been on a ventilator and on dialysis. His kids had been failing. Duncan received an experimental drug to treat Ebola, but not until nearly a week after being admitted to the hospital. That's much later than four other Ebola patients who've been treated in the United States.
His fiancee Louise Troh released a statement saying, quote, "I trust a thorough examination will take place regarding all aspects of his care. I'm now dealing with the sorrow and anger that this son was no able to see him before he died. This will take some time, but in the end, I believe in a merciful God."
At the urging of the public officials, Duncan's family has agreed to cremate his body.
One of the Dallas deputies who was in the apartment where Duncan was staying was rush to the hospital Wednesday. Sergeant Michael Monnig's family says officials have assured them it is unlikely he has Ebola. He had no direct contact with Duncan, but they say they're still a little bit scared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LONDON MONNIG, SON OF MICHAEL MONNIG: He woke and just felt a little sore, just kind of fatigued, and had a little bit stomachache. No fever, vomiting, diarrhea or anything like that, just experiencing some flu-like symptoms. My dad is a cautious person that he is, decided to be rather safe than sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Good idea.
The fear does seem to be spreading faster than the virus. Parents removed two children from a Dallas school because it is the same attended by the daughter of a politician who visited Thomas Eric Duncan's family. There is no chance the politician or his child could spread the Ebola virus.
Meanwhile, we are learning new information this morning about the Spanish nurse infected with Ebola. How she may have caught the virus. We're going to go live to Madrid in about 15 minutes.
ROMANS: The Islamic militant fighters pushing further into the Syrian city of Kobani this morning. As the U.S.-led coalition conducts more airstrikes against ISIS targets in and around the Kurdish city. But Pentagon officials insist air power alone will not be enough to save Kobani without what spokesman John Kirby calls a, quote, "willing, capable, effective partner on the ground."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Air strikes along are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobani. We know that. And we have been saying that over and over again. And yet, we continue to get questions of why aren't you doing more and how come they are not effective? What we've been very honest about the limits of air power here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: CNN international correspondent Phil Black, rather, is live on the border between Syria and Turkey for us this morning.
Good morning, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
Yes, as we speak, the sound of fast moving aircraft overhead once again. We believe we have witnessed at least one air strike on positions near the city of Kobani behind me. That is where once again, there is smoke over the city. It is where the fight, the desperate fight for that city continues.
It's where the people resisting is would disagree that they are not a capable fighting force. They have done a great deal to slow down the ISIS force over last few years. They are certainly motivated. These are men and women who, while risking everything, to try to protect their homeland.
The news, the pronouncement by the United States, if you like, that it cannot and won't try to save the city through air strikes alone will not be welcome to them because they believe that the uptick in air strikes we have seen in the last 48 hours or so has made a difference. They wish, certainly, it started sooner, before ISIS actually reached and entered the gates of the city. But they believe that these air strikes are the only things that can decrease looking like the inevitable, the fall of the city to ISIS.
They believe air strikes and more of them, can slow down the ISIS advance, but the same problems for these Kurdish fighters remain. They have limited resources, they are running out of places to fall back to. And they are up against an adversary that is bigger in number, has more sophisticated and greater, more powerful firepower and indeed is continually being resupplied from further positions behind, from the territory that is has taken over in the last few weeks. Fighting continues. Air strikes continue. And it is looking
increasingly desperate for the Kurdish fighters that are still in the city, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Phil Black for us on the border. Thank you, Phil.
BERMAN: ISIS militants are celebrating the downing of an Iraqi military helicopter. Photos posted to an ISIS Web site saw the flaming charred aircraft. Iraqi military officials say both pilots onboard were killed.
The head of the Kurdish regional government in Iraq is calling on the U.S.-led coalition to step up airstrikes against ISIS. Massoud Barzani also pleaded with the international community to help the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing the ISIS advance.
ROMANS: The desperate mother of American hostage Abdul-Rahman Kassig is reaching out to ISIS. Take a look at this tweet sent by his mother to the leader of the terror group. She writes, "I'm trying to get in touch with the Islamic State about my son's fate. I'm an old woman. And Abdul-Rahman is my only child. My husband and I are on our own with no help from government. We would like to talk to you. How can we reach you?"
ISIS has threatened to kill him next. He was doing humanitarian work in Syria when he was captured earlier this month.
BERMAN: Federal prosecutors are asking for a closed court room later this morning when a Chicago-area teen appears in court to face terrorism charges. Nineteen-year-old Mohammed Hamzah Khan is accused arrested at O'Hare airport on Saturday trying to board a flight to Vienna with a connection to Turkey. It is not clear if the judge will honor the request to keep the media and public out of the hearing this morning.
ROMANS: New revelations this morning about the 2012 prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service agents. The White House has repeatedly denied inappropriate behavior by the administration staff. But according to "The Washington Post," new details drawn from government and interviews suggest a White House aide may have had a prostitute stay overnight with him at his hotel. Documents also reportedly show senior officials were made aware of it. At the time, the aide denied to investigators he hired a prostitute or brought anyone to his room.
BERMAN: Yes, some of the damning charges or allegations are the White House knew about it and did not respond. Put political pressure on the Secret Service.
Smoother and faster -- that is how official say signing up for Obamacare will go this time round. Official health officials unveiled what they call a cleaner healthcare.gov Web site, and a more logical signup process for insurance. The next open enrollment period begins on November 15th.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money.
Asian and European markets opened higher due to the U.S. markets biggest one-day gain of the year. It was a big gain yesterday. Stocks closed nearly 2 percent higher. The Dow alone gained 274 points.
You can thank the Fed Chair Janet Yellen for the run. The Fed would not raise interest rates soon. It was a nice recovery from Tuesday's selloff. That was spurred by worry over sluggish global growth. Right now, futures are slightly higher. It's a reminder not to jump out of the market when they're selling because you miss out on the biggest day of the year.
BERMAN: That's the one I miss, always the one I miss.
ROMANS: All right. The hackers who broke into JPMorgan, they may have targeted 12 other financial institutions. That's according to "The Financial Times" this morning. On the list, Fidelity, Citigroup, E-Trade, HSBC.
Last week, JPMorgan confirmed the hackers stole information from more than 80 million accounts. Now, investigators reportedly believe they took data from at least one other organization. (INAUDIBLE) familiar with the matter. Watch this on that. That's a lot, 13 big, big financial names.
BERMAN: All right. We have breaking news overnight. A new deadly police shooting in Missouri. Protesters on the streets. We have new dramatic new video, ahead.
Plus, a family sharing their story with CNN of how a routine traffic stop ended with police smashing into their car and tasing a passenger.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Outrage in St. Louis after a police officer guns down a man. You can see a large crowd gathered at the site late Wednesday where the victim was shot dead. Tensions sparked after an off-duty police officer shot a black man in his 20s. The police officer had attempted a pedestrian check when the victim took off on foot and shot at the officer. The officer, fearing for his life, returned fire ultimately killing the man. The scene playing out miles from the city of Ferguson, where officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.
BERMAN: New details this morning about the Indiana police involved in a violent traffic stop. It turns out this is not the first time they have been accused of using excessive force. Lieutenant Patrick Vicari (ph) has been involved in three prior cases. Charles Turner was involved in a separate one. Each of the cases were settled before trial, but this time may be different.
Last month, the officers were caught on tape smashing the window of a car and tasing Jamal Jones. Both claim they took action after Jones refused to cooperate. In an exclusive CNN interview, Jones and the family say they did not do anything wrong and that is why they are suing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA MAHONE, ACCUSING POLICE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: He went from the left to the right. I didn't know which way to pull over. I said, oh, my God, he is pulling me over like a robbed a bank. He came to the car and asked me for my identification. He was pacing. He was moving around. He was making frowns on his face.
JAMAL JONES, ACCUSING POLICE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: I wasn't going to leave my family in the car when they have their weapons drawn. I felt to protect my family to stay in the vehicle.
JOSEPH IVY, ACCUSING POLICE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: He cussed Jamal out. He was getting aggressive with my mom. He called for back-up over a seatbelt violation. So, I started videotaping it because I knew he was doing wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The Hammond Police Department says they are standing by the officer's actions.
ROMANS: The manhunt for the alleged cop killer in Pennsylvania has intensified. There are several reported sightings of the suspect Eric Frein in the Pennsylvania woods in recent days. And police are telling reporter Wednesday, they found a journal, apparently written by him, that describes in chilling detail how he shot and killed a state trooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: Friday, September 12th, got a shot around 11:00 p.m. and took it. He dropped. I was surprised at how quick. I took a follow-upshot on his head and neck area. He was still and quiet after that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Frein allegedly shot and wounded a second trooper. Now, he's been on the run for 27 days.
BERMAN: NFL owners are considering a plan to reduce Commissioner Roger Goodell's power when it comes to enforcing the league's personal conduct policies. The NFL, of course, has come under fire with cases like Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson.
I want you to listen to the commissioner's intense day-long meeting with owners in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: It is my job, obviously, to admit mistakes. But more importantly, it's my job to go and figure out how we're not going to have those mistakes occur again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Meanwhile, Ray Rice is appealing his indefinite suspension, and he wants a decision fast track.
According to "USA Today", the former Ravens running back has asked the NFL players union to resolve his appeal quickly so he could begin the process of restoring his name and resuming his career. Rice was released by the Ravens after video surfaced of him knocking out his then fiancee in an elevator.
BERMAN: Adrian Peterson is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in Texas in felony child abuse charge beginning December 1st. Peterson did not enter a plea at his arraignment on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Vikings running back says he is not looking for a deal and intends to go to trial. The proceeding could be delayed if the judge has to recuse himself for calling lawyers on both sides "media whores". That's in quotation marks right there, his words not mine. The judge says he meant it as a joke.
ROMANS: All right. In Kansas, the stakes in the Senate race are high. The winner could determine who controls the Senate. The incumbent Republican Pat Roberts faced off Wednesday with his challenger independent Greg Orman in their first debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG ORMAN (I), KANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: The truth is both parties are more interested in political games than problem solving.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: A vote for Greg Orman is a vote to hand over the future of Kansas and the country to Harry Reid and Barack Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Both candidates seem less interested in attacking each other than blasting the Democrat not in the room, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. His name came up in nearly every response for Roberts or Orman blasting Reid for his stewardship in the Senate.
BERMAN: You know, a CNN poll out just yesterday gives the Republican Pat Roberts a one-point lead in the race. He's picked up a lot of ground in polling. And if you're interested in Senate races, CNN has got another big poll coming out this morning. I cannot tell you what it says. But you will be interested, rest assured.
All right. Other news --
ROMANS: That's a tease.
BERMAN: I know.
The U.S. Supreme Court putting a temporary hold on same-sex marriages in Idaho. But lifting a stay in Nevada, meaning that marriage may resume there. It's a patch work, isn't it? The high court agreeing to review Idaho's request to keep the ban in place. Same sex couples have until today to file a written response to that decision. Idaho's move comes after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck same sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday.
ROMANS: All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour.
A Spanish nurse infected with Ebola, she says she did everything right while treating patients. But this morning, we may know more about how she got infected. We are live in Madrid, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: The president of Liberia is warning international aid to fight the Ebola outbreak is arriving much too slowly. And even though there are signs that the spread of the virus may be slowing in that West African nation, it is nowhere near contained and a lot more help is needed.
I want you to listen to the U.S. ambassadors to Liberia described the challenges facing that nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH R. MALAC, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO LIBERIA: The health care system was not nearly as robust as we anticipated and was very quickly overwhelmed by this outbreak. In addition, you couple the fact that you have a large 50 percent illiteracy rate. You have challenges across the board in getting messaging out to people about what they need to do to stop this -- to stop the transmission of this disease.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The United Nations is warning if Ebola spreads to some of Africa's larger economies, the financial toll on the region could reach $32.6 billion by next year.
ROMANS: Yes, that's a big price tag, and that's the worst-case scenario.
We are learning more this morning about the Spanish nurse who cared for an Ebola patient and who now has the disease herself. Maria Romero Ramos says she may have accidentally touched her face while removing her gear. And that may be the moment she became infected.
We are learning that Romero Ramos' dog has now been put down, despite a global outcry online to save that dog's life.
CNN's Madrid correspondent Al Goodman is standing by live.
Al, what's the latest? We are learning a little bit more how she may have been infected.
AL GOODMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.
Well, that is the narrative that the hospital is giving. She is in hospital here with others who are under observation that she may have, she says, that she may have touched her face, her exposed face while taking gear off after she had treated another Ebola patient here at the hospital. But there are other concerns. Were the procedures in place to protect her from getting it and were the procedures in place once she had it and was walking around?
It took her a week to actually get back in here as a patient. She went twice to her neighborhood clinic and was sent home with pain killers, she had a fever. Then she got to emergency room, tested positive, it took hours more for her to get back up here.
So, in all that time, more people exposed, and now, a lot of people exposed, dozens of people under observation. Spain telling the United Nations partners that its procedures may have been relaxed here in terms of disposing or treating, handling the corpse of the other Ebola patient who died, disposing of the bodily fluids -- Christine.
ROMANS: There was so much sadness yesterday with the court order to put down this dog. This dog that had been with her while she was ill. What can you tell us about that? I mean, where there other options here?
GOODMAN: Well, the campaign to save the dog started at the hospital because her husband is under close observation on fear that he might also develop the Ebola virus. From his hospital room, he called out to Spanish media and gave interviews, started campaigning on social media. By the end, about 400,000 had signed a petition to try to save the dog, Excalibur.
Authorities here said that they wanted to put the dog down on fear it might spread. Other medical experts, including CNN, say it might have been a better idea to hold on to the dog, isolate the dog and see what developed for research. But the Spanish officials thought differently -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Certainly, a huge public outcry for that dog.
Thank you so much, Al Goodman.
Essentially, in the end, it did not do any good. They put the dog down.
BERMAN: But there is evidence, if you read today, there is evidence that dogs can carry Ebola. They studied this over the years. And that is a fact.
Fears of Ebola here in the United States causing big changes at an airport near you. We'll have the latest, just ahead.
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