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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Dallas Ebola Patient Dies; ISIS Fighters Continue to Attack Kobani; Spanish Nurse Knows How She Got Ebola

Aired October 09, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Now the screenings will affect only about the 150 or so passengers arriving from West African countries that are of course hot spots for the Ebola virus. Customs and Border Protection officers at the airport will use thermometers and a questionnaire trying to spot passengers who may have been exposed to Ebola.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We are asking passengers to fill out a declaration about what symptoms do you have, are you feeling ill, where have you been in for the last 21 days, and where will you be for the next few days? And through a noncontact thermometer, we're going to be taking the temperatures of every passenger that comes from one of the three affected countries. If you answer positive or you test for a high fever, the passenger is immediately referred to CDC.

DR. AMESH ADAJA, INFECTIOUS DISEASE PHYSICIAN, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER: There is a 21-day incubation period. People may not have a fever when they're passing through the airport. And invariably, when a case comes through, people are going to ask, you know, we had this temperature screening set up, why did this happen?

And I'm telling people that it's completely predictable that it will happen because this is not a foolproof way to prevent Ebola from coming into the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So many people still dealing with the news this morning about the first person diagnosed in the United States with Ebola. Thomas Eric Duncan died of the disease on Wednesday. Officials at the hospital treating Duncan say he had been on a ventilator and on dialysis for kidney failure.

Duncan's death came amid growing questions about the medical treatment he received and when he received it.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in Dallas with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Today in Dallas, family and friends mourning the loss of Thomas Eric Duncan and still so many unanswered questions about the care he received at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. For example, why did the hospital wait five days before asking the Food and Drug Administration for permission to use an experimental medicine?

His girlfriend Louise, she issued a statement thanking the mayor of Dallas, the judge who's been involved in the case, the pastor who's been involved, members of the community, but not thanking the doctors and nurses which is quite telling. In the statement, she said this, "I trust a thorough examination will take place regarding all aspects of his care."

Now in a related development, a deputy sheriff was rushed to the hospital in full protective gear because there were fears that he might have Ebola. However, there are lots of reasons to think that he doesn't. Consider this, he never actually had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan. He did go into the apartment where Duncan was living, but he was there three days later and he touched surfaces, but Ebola can't live on surfaces for more than a few hours. And Duncan had been out of the apartment for several days.

Also, Monnig doesn't have all of the signs of Ebola. For example, he doesn't have a fever. So health authorities saying that the risk of him having Ebola is very low -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Elizabeth for that.

Now 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 just 15 minutes.

ROMANS: All right. More coalition airstrikes hit ISIS in the last 24 hours. Islamic militant target hit in Ramadi, Kirkuk, Mosul, also in Raqqa. That's the ISIS self-declared capital. Also airstrikes in Kobani where Islamic militant fighters are gaining ground despite the pounding from the air.

It underlines a point Pentagon officials have made repeatedly. They 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: Airstrikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobani. We know that. And we've been saying that over and over again. And yet we continue to get questions of well, why aren't you doing more, and how come they are not effective? Well, what we've been very honest about the limits of air power here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. CNN's Phil Black live on the border right now between with Syria and Turkey.

Phil, what do you see now?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, as we speak, I can hear fast-moving aircraft overhead. We have seen a number of large explosions, the size of which suggests they could be airstrikes. And you can see, as we zoom in towards the city of Kobani behind me, there's still a lot of smoke there towards the southeast. That suggests that there is something burning following the blast that we've seen in that region of the city just this morning.

This will all give some heart to the Kurdish fighters inside the city who believe that these airstrikes are making a difference despite the Pentagon claim that they alone will not be enough because the fighters inside believe that if U.S. aircraft is striking the right ISIS targets around the perimeter of the city, then that will affect ISIS' ability to move in towards the city and control it.

And in fact the Kurdish fighters believe they have taken back ground within the city over the last 24 hours or so, but there's a problem. They don't have enough fighters to hold that ground. And it really underscores why the momentum is still very much against them. They don't have enough fighters. They don't have the same fire power either in the strength or sophistication. They don't have access to resupply.

The other country that is under pressure to do more here of course is Turkey. And Turkey does have a military presence here on the border and resources. I want to show you that could make a difference in that fight. Off in the distance there, you should be able to make out a formation of Turkish tanks. They've been there for a while. They are parked just behind the crest of a hill. Not far from the border here.

And of course Turkey says it is not going to launch any sort of ground operation on its own until there is a no-fly zone over Syria and without further international involvement. Those are Turkey's red lines for getting involved here. But the Kurds don't necessarily want that sort of assistance. They're not calling for Turkish armed forces to get involved here.

What they want is just for simply to Turkey to open the gate at the border crossing to allow resupply for the fighters in Kobani so that more fighters, resources, ammunition can make its way into their city to help those fighters in their increasingly desperate situation -- Christine.

ROMANS: Phil Black on the border. I got to tell you, it is remarkable to see the pictures of those Turkish tanks masked there but not going anywhere.

Phil Black, thanks.

BERMAN: More than that, not letting supplies through to help the people who need it.

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: ISIS militants celebrating the downing of an Iraqi military helicopter. They posted photos to an ISIS Web site showing the charred aircraft. Iraqi military officials say both pilots on board 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 pleaded with the international community to help the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing the ISIS advance.

ROMANS: The mother of an American hostage desperate to save her son is reaching out to ISIS. Take a look at this tweet sent by Paula Kassig, mother of Abdul Rahman Kassig, to the leader of the terror group. She writes, "I am 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 the government. We would like to talk to you. How can we reach you?"

ISIS has threatened to kill Kassig next. He was doing humanitarian work in Syria when he was captured last October.

BERMAN: Federal prosecutors are asking for a closed courtroom later this morning when a Chicago area teen appears in court to face terrorism charges. Nineteen-year-old Mohammed Hamza Khan is accused of planning to join ISIS. He was arrested at O'Hare Airport on Saturday trying to board a flight to Vienna with a connection to Turkey. It is not clear whether the judge will honor the prosecution request to keep the media and the public out of this morning's hearing.

ROMANS: All right. New intrigue and complaints this morning about the 2012 prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service agents. Now the White House has repeatedly denied inappropriate behavior by administration staff. But according to "The Washington Post", new details drawn from government documents and interviews suggest a White House volunteer may have had a prostitute staying overnight with him at his hotel.

Documents also reportedly show senior officials were made aware of it at the time this aide denied to investigators he hired a prostitute or brought anyone to his room.

BERMAN: Federal officials say signing up for Obamacare will go smoother and faster this time around. Federal health officials unveiled what they called a cleaner Healthcare.gov Web site and a more logical sign-up process for insurance. The next open enrollment period begins on November 15th.

ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. Big day on Wall Street yesterday. Stocks having their biggest one-day gains of the year. The market 2 percent higher across the board. The Dow gained 274 points. Best day in almost a year for the Nasdaq and the S&P as well.

You know, this was a really nice recovery from what was a big selloff on Tuesday. Investors were concerned that global growth was slowing. And the Fed concerned about that as well. So you can thank the Fed for yesterday's run because the Fed signaled it would not raise interest rates anytime soon in this environment. Right now futures are higher.

Alcoa kicked off third quarter earnings season yesterday. The aluminum giant beat Wall Street expectations. Right now the stock is up more than 2 percent. Another big mover overnight. GAP. The retailer slid 8 percent. It announced its CEO is stepping down next February.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking news overnight. Angry crowds protesting a new deadly police shooting in Missouri. We have that dramatic new video next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Outrage in St. Louis after a police officer guns down a man. You can see a large crowd gathered at that -- at the site late Wednesday where the victim was shot dead. Tension sparked after an off-duty cop shot a victim described as a black man in his 20s.

Now the police department said the officer had attempted a pedestrian check. The victim took off on foot and then the victim shot at the officer. That's what the police department says. The department says the officer fearing for his life at being shot at returned fire, ultimately killing the man.

This whole scene playing out just miles away 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 officers involved in that violent traffic stop. It turns out this is not the first time they have been accused of using excessive force. Lt. Patrick Vicari has been involved in three prior cases while Sergeant Charles Turner was involved in a separate one. Each of these cases was settled before trial. But this time may be a little bit different.

Last time the officers were caught on tape smashing the window of a car and tasing Jamal Jones. Both claimed they took action after Jones refused to cooperate.

In an CNN exclusive the victims 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 I just robbed a bank. And then when he came to the car, I was out of the car, and he 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 out the car and leave them in the car when they have their weapons drawn. I felt to protect my family I would just stay in the vehicle.

JOSEPH IVY, ACCUSING POLICE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: He cussed Jamal out. And he was getting aggressive with my mom. And then he called on back-up over a seatbelt violation. So I started videotaping it because I knew that he was doing wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Hammond Police Department says they are standing by the officers' actions there.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Let's take a look at what's coming on "NEW DAY."

ROMANS: Alisyn, I saw (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Alisyn Camerota, we're so -- I cannot tell you how happy we are to see you.

(LAUGHTER)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Wow. I can see. I can feel the enthusiasm, guys.

ROMANS: It's Friday eve as Indra says so we're actually excited about things.

CAMEROTA: That's true. We're all feeling good. So it's going to be a good show. We have a lot to talk about. More questions, of course, about Ebola. Five major airports set to start screening for the virus. Will screenings work to keep out infected people or just slow down air travel? We will get that answer from the White House official coordinating those new screening.

And a big question emerging over transmission of the disease. Are house pets carrying Ebola? Spanish authorities thought a dog belonging to the Spanish nurse with Ebola had to be put down. Why?

And what is the status of that patient in Nebraska and of the sheriff's deputy in Texas who's feeling sick? We'll get answers to all of that when Chris, Michaela and I see you on "NEW DAY" at the top of the hour.

ROMANS: All right. A lot happening today. Thanks, Alisyn. Nice to see you.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

ROMANS: The U.S. ambassador to Liberia explaining what U.S. crews weren't prepared for when they arrived to help Ebola victims. We got that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The president of Liberia is warning that international aid to fight the Ebola outbreak is arriving much too slowly. And even though there are signs the spread of the virus may be slowing, it is nowhere near contained and a lot more help is needed.

I want you to listen to the U.S. ambassador to Liberia describing the challenges facing the Ebola-stricken 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 -- of this disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The U.N. 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.

BERMAN: We are learning more this morning about the Spanish nurse who cared for an Ebola patient and now has the disease herself. Maria Romero Ramos says she may have accidentally touched her face while removing her protective gear. And that may be the moment that she was infected.

We are also learning that Romero Ramos' dog has been put down despite a huge outcry in Madrid and also online.

CNN's Madrid correspondent Al Goodman is standing by live.

Al, what's the latest this morning?

AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. This day, really, the Spanish government, the health authorities trying to contain this crisis. So in terms of the nurse's assistant, Teresa Romero, they are trying to figure out when she might have touched herself, her exposed face with the glove or some other protective gear after treating another Ebola patient. A Spanish missionary who got it in Africa came and later died here. She was on the team that treated him.

They are trying to go back and step by step and figure out when that happened if that, in fact, is how she got it. There's also concern of what happened after she got it but before she got here she was out basically for several days in her neighborhood and once she got to the hospital and finally got to the test in a different hospital, it took hours before she made it up this way.

So the government which has said they did everything right has now said publicly they may have to change the procedures and they're talking with their -- European Union colleagues who have a couple of specialists from the European Center for Disease Controls here in Spain to help out on-site -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Al Goodman, a lot of concern here about what's been happening in Spain as perhaps a predictor and a model of how systems here need to be improved as well.

Al, our thanks to you.

ROMANS: Absolutely.

All right. If Ebola goes unchecked, the financial toll could be very big. An EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this Thursday. Big day on Wall Street. Stocks scored their biggest one- day gain of the year. The market closed 2 percent higher. The Dow gained 274 points. That is a nice recovery from what was an ugly day on Tuesday. And you can thank the Fed chair Janet Yellen for this run. The Fed signaled Wednesday it will not raise interest rates at least anytime soon.

More now on the World Bank raising its economic estimate for the Ebola outbreak. As we mentioned, the newest evaluation puts the impact at $32 billion. Part of that cost is fast-tracking drugs to fight the outbreak.

My colleague Poppy Harlow sat down with Melinda Gates Wednesday who explained why we don't have any approved drugs and what we should do about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELINDA GATES, CO-CHAIR, BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: People suffer from other diseases like Malaria that we don't get much here. And so we need to make ways that public and private partnerships that we -- it's in the interest of pharmaceuticals to actually invest in those diseases. And they are doing it, but Ebola was one that was behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Ebola was one that was behind. The Gates Foundation donated $50 million to the fight Ebola.

For more of Poppy's interview with Melinda Gates, head on over to CNNMoney.com.

All right. All Beyonce all the time. That's what listeners are getting from a Houston radio station News 92. Dumping its all-news programming to play all Beyonce, 24-hour commercial free. Beyonce broadcast. The station had to fill the air time somehow. It had poor ratings. Had to lay off 47 workers due to financial losses and then it's Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce. BERMAN: Also rumors that NBC offered Beyonce "Meet the Press" after

Jon Stewart.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm just saying.

ROMANS: Well, that's innovative thinking.

BERMAN: Yes. It's good to see.

All right. Beyonce, congratulations to you. Getting the publicity she so badly deserves at last.

ROMANS: She does need a little bit more airtime and publicity. You're right.

BERMAN: All right, Beyonce and "NEW DAY" start right now.