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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Ebola in U.S.: Breach in Protocol; New Targets for ISIS; St. Louis Overnight Protests
Aired October 13, 2014 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A new case of Ebola. This time contracted inside a U.S. hospital. Shocking hospital officials in Texas prompting the CDC to claim a breach in protocol.
New concerns over possible threats on U.S. soil from ISIS. The groups the government feels are targeted by the militant group and the terror chatter that has FBI and homeland security officials on edge.
A thousand people in the streets overnight, police in riot gear, as protesters hold signs that say "Black lives matter". We are live in St. Louis.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the morning off.
It is Monday, October 12th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Serious jitters around the world this morning as the global death toll from Ebola climbs over 4,000 for the first time.
In Dallas, health officials baffled by the first case of Ebola contracted in the U.S., a nurse who took care of Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncan, of course, traveled from Liberia to Dallas. He fell ill. He died of Ebola last week.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Dallas with more on the investigation into just how this nurse could have contracted Ebola, even though she wore protective clothing.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CDC officials say they will investigate what they're calling a breach in protocol. They say that this health care worker, a female nurse was wearing all of the protective gear, a mask, gloves, gown, everything that she needed. But despite all of that, she somehow became infected during the time that she was taking care or part of the team that was taking care of Thomas Eric Duncan before he died here at Texas Health Presbyterian last Wednesday.
This health care worker reported having a low-grade fever Friday night, and then she drove herself here to the hospital. CDC officials say they will be investigating just how all of this happened, that it's critical. In the meantime, they will try to limit the number of people who have exposure to her, this new patient. They want to keep the number of health care workers who have direct contact to the fewest number of people possible. So, they will continue to do that.
In the meantime, they are continuing with the decontamination process at her apartment and the various places that she walked through coming here to Texas Health Presbyterian. That work will continue as well as the calls for calm and explanation to people who live around the apartment complex not too far an away from the hospital where she lives here in the Dallas area. But, really, the main focus at this point is trying to figure out just what went wrong and how this could have happened -- someone who was wearing all of the protective gear still managed to get infected. That is the question that faces officials here at the hospital and CDC investigators as well.
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ROMANS: We certainly wish her well.
Nearly halfway around the world from Dallas, troops are going into battle against Ebola in West Africa where most of the deaths in the current Ebola outbreak have happened. On Thursday, 90 U.S. marines and airmen landed in Liberia, bringing America's total deployment of Ebola fighting troops now to 334. Another 700 are scheduled for later this month.
There's new concern this morning about ISIS. Attacks by U.S. soil by ISIS-inspired terrorists. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning law enforcement personnel and the news media that they could be targeted by ISIS militants. Law enforcement officials tell CNN that a security bulletin with the warning is based on chatter and extremist forums and on social media. It's not on any specific threat. It is based on chatter.
In Iraq, ISIS is advancing on Baghdad, despite further airstrikes over the weekend by the U.S.-led coalition. More than 30 suspected ISIS fighters in Iraq were killed in an air strike Saturday, on an armed convoy west of Ramadi. But officials say ISIS is moving aggressively, dispatching as many as 10,000 fighters to Anbar province from Syria and from Mosul.
Standing by live in Baghdad this morning, senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.
Ben, you know, Anbar is very close to Baghdad. Do these moves by ISIS represent a serious threat to the capital?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is very close to Anbar. But it's important to keep in mind that Anbar province is about the same size as North Dakota. So, the focus of their efforts up until now has not been so much the area around Baghdad, although they are out there and they do occasionally make hit-and-run attacks on the defensive perimeter to the west of the city. But really, their focus is on towns like Ramadi, where yesterday the police chief was killed for the entire -- the police chief for an entire province was killed in a roadside bombing; in other towns along the Euphrates River, where they clearly want to get a foothold.
But Baghdad itself, at the moment, is well-defended according to U.S. officials. There is a problem, of course, of frequent car bombs. There is a car bomb at least one every day at the capital. In fact, on Saturday night there were two that killed more than 40 people.
So, the concern of the Iraqi security officials itself has more to do with the threat of these car bombs presumably from ISIS within the city and not so much as these occasional probing attacks on this city's defense -- Christine.
ROMANS: Ben Wedeman for us live this morning in Baghdad --thank you, Ben.
Hillary Clinton getting heckled during a speech Sunday night in San Diego. Clinton was addressing the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics when she was interrupted by a man carrying a bullhorn. Listen.
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(INAUDIBLE)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Millions of our children are at risk. Though, there are some people who miss important developmental stages.
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ROMANS: The man was taken out of the room by security. Officials say he had a one-day badge for the weekend conference.
This morning (AUDIO GAP) New York City are asking for the public's health finding the suspect who threw a smoke bomb into a crowded restaurant. This happened Friday night. Authorities say the man emerged from a subway grate, tossed the device on the patio dining room area, and then she escaped again underground. Actress Rose McGowan was there and tweeted, "Someone just threw two red smoke bombs into a restaurant I was eating in. My eyes are burning."
The incident threw a scare into other patrons.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was ISIS because of what's going on, it's scary. It's nerve wracking, as a native Long Islander, coming to this city for dinner with friends and family. I'm glad I did not bring my daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Police say the suspect is a man in his 30s with blond hair. He was wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt with an American flag on it.
It has been a weekend of mostly peaceful resistance in St. Louis and Ferguson, Missouri. Thousands taking part in the marches and vigils during the four-day event, which wraps up today. Protesters are calling for Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson to be charged with the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Seventeen people were arrested early Sunday. Police used pepper spray on protesters staging a sit-in outside a convenience store in St. Louis, where another black teen was fatally by a white police officer last week.
In St. Louis, some 1,000 protesters rallying overnight that started out at just 200. They wanted to remember Vonderrit Myers, the teenager shot and killed by a St. Louis police officer last week. Police say Myers shot first.
CNN's Sara Sidner live for us in the Shaw area of St. Louis.
Sara, what's happening at this hour?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The protesters actually marched more than 1,000 of them several miles from the Shaw neighborhood to the Tower Grove neighborhood which is mostly a business district. They stopped in the middle of an intersection and chanted a different chants like "Black lives matter." They then made their way to St. Louis University where they have stopped and the crowd has dwindled significantly. Now, there's a few dozen people who are here, but they say they're going to stay here as a sit-in under the clock tower here at the St. Louis University.
And they have been doing this as part of, as you mentioned, a "Weekend of Resistance" that was planned Friday, Saturday and Sunday into Monday. This is part of that. Hundreds and hundreds of people have shown up. The biggest event was on Saturday with about 3,000 people showing up there. This is all in an effort to bring attention to the issue that protesters say has been ignored for far too long.
They are standing here. They are talking about police brutality. They accuse the (AUDIO GAP) of being overbearing.
They also are talking about the shooting of Michael Brown that happened back on August 9th. Michael Brown was an unarmed teenager in the Ferguson neighborhood which is about 10 or 15 miles from here who was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. That sparked off huge protests through August that have not stopped and these protesters talked about the 65 days of protests every single day that have happened.
They have generally been much smaller over the last few weeks. We have watched that progress. But this weekend, a significant change. People from across the country have shown up in both St. Louis and Ferguson to take part in these protests.
And as you mentioned, most of them we have seen, especially tonight, have been a concerted effort to have a peaceful protest. That is what has happened tonight. In some of the other nights, there have been clashes with police. But this one peaceful, this sit-in is supposed to last into the morning -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Sara Sidner for us this morning live in St. Louis -- thank you so much, Sara.
Nine minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning.
Reality check time for stocks. Futures are lower right now. Points to potentially more losses at the U.S. open. The Dow industrials are down for the year. The NASDAQ is up 2 percent. The S&P 500 is still positive in 2014. But those averages suffered the biggest loss in two years last week.
As big U.S. companies are set to report earnings this week, tech companies like Google, Netflix, eBay, plus a slew of big banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, signs of growth are the key of investors. If investors don't see it, stocks could drop.
Coming up on EARLY START, health officials are questioning the ability of the hospital handling the Ebola case in Spain. The city of Boston waits to hear if the patient there test positive for the deadly virus.
And an Ebola scare in the air. A flight to LAX has flyers on edge as one passenger falls ill. How miscommunication terrify the plane full of people. That's all coming up.
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ROMANS: A Spanish nurse infected with the Ebola virus is showing marginal signs of recovery this morning. Health officials in Madrid say Teresa Romero is improving slightly, slightly improving, but in critical but stable condition. And there are also concern the hospital where she is being treated is not prepared to handle a crisis like an Ebola outbreak.
I want to bring in Nic Robertson live from Madrid.
So, slight improvement but concerns that if this thing spreads, they're not going to be able to handle it?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are concerns. Certainly, there are concerns about the ability of the hospital to contain this. The European Center for Disease Control has said that they believe that the facilities of the hospital. The physical facilities they have are not adequate for treating Ebola. The spokesman for the Government Commission on Special Commission on Ebola has said that the facilities they have for changing, putting on, taking off the protective equipment is too small. It's not as they would wish it would be.
But we're also hearing that the assistant nurse, Teresa Romero, has had there are reports that she has had something of a rough night. We did not confirm that. We understand someone familiar with her treatment is she has a respiratory problem. That she has an infection in her lungs, which one of the things we're told.
However, she is stable but critical. She is conscious. She is talking. What we are being told and what officials here now say is that they feel that there is some room for optimism. This is what they say.
ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much. Sorry, Nic, I thought you were going to toss to some sound there. But we'll glad to hear that she's at least stable and will continue to report from the scene any kind of developments we can get on that later on the day. Nic Robertson, thank you.
All right. An Ebola scare on the United Airlines flight from New York's JFK airport to Los Angeles International. This scare started when a passenger with flu-like symptoms began vomiting on board. That prompted the fire department to respond.
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CAPT. JAMIE MOORE, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPT: The patient has been assessed by the Los Angeles Fire Department, as well as Los Angeles County public health officials. And there is no reason to believe that this person has been exposed to an Ebola virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Now, a miscommunication fueled this incident. Airline officials initially believed the sick passenger had been to West Africa. Turns out it was South Africa.
Fear of the Ebola outbreak also rattling nerves in Boston. Dozens of workers and patients at Harvard Vanguard Medical Center quarantined for hours after a man who recently visited Liberia entered the facility, complaining of a headache and body aches. According to one patient, things go hectic.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't get to wash our hands. We didn't get to do anything. And no one has really told us what to do. They just said take a shower and check your temperature for the next 21 days.
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ROMANS: Late last night, hospital officials announced the patient likely does not have Ebola, but he is being kept in isolation as a precaution.
A second child's death is blamed on Enterovirus D68. A 21-month-old Michigan girl Madeline Reid died at children's hospital in Detroit. Last week, the New Jersey's medical examiner confirmed a 4-year-old boy died from the virus. According to the CDC, this strain of Enterovirus has sickened nearly 700 people in 46 states.
Authorities in Virginia are looking for any link between the man charged with the disappearance of Hannah Graham and another possible victim. Twenty-three-year-old Cassandra Morton went missing in 2009. Weeks later, a hiker discovered his decomposed body at a camp ground owned by Liberty University. Police hunted for her killer, but eventually, the case went cold. Now with Graham's disappearing and subsequent arrest of Jesse Matthew, police are looking into several similar cases, including Morton's. The Campbell County sheriff's office acknowledged the investigation but declined further comment.
Another legal victory for supporters of same-sex marriage. This time, it's Alaska's ban biting the dust. A federal judge issued a surprise Sunday ruling that overturned the constitutional amendment approved by Alaskan voters in 1998. The state is planning to appeal the judge's ruling.
After months in the courtroom for killing his model girlfriend, it is sentencing day for Oscar Pistorius. We go live to South Africa as the Blade Runner learns his fate.
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ROMANS: The murder trial that gripped a nation entering its final phase in South Africa. Oscar Pistorius back in court today for sentencing in the killing of his girlfriend. Last month, the athlete was convicted of killing model Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius faces several years in jail, although the judge could decide to go easy on him.
CNN's Diana Magnay is following the latest development. She's live for us this morning from Pretoria, South Africa.
Good morning, Diana.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.
While he was found guilty of culpable homicide in the killing of his girlfriend, not a premeditated murder. And there is no minimum or maximum sentence for culpable homicide. So, he could go to jail for an indefinite number of years and the judge could give him a suspended sentence and he could serve community service. It really is anyone's guess from the legal analysts we speak to, through the South African media, which one of those will actually end up happening.
Right now, in the courtroom, we have been hearing from his psychologist who has been painting a really very, very sad picture of a man filled with remorse, a broken man as she described him as. One who when he would relive the events of that night with the sessions that she had with him would retch as he was going through it.
This is the first of various witnesses who will be called by the prosecution and defense to testify as to whether they think he should serve a longer or a shorter sentence. And that should go on for a few days. We are expecting a sentence this week, but then again, Christine, this could always go to appeal. So, it isn't necessarily the end -- Christine.
ROMANS: Right. And it could take a couple days for the sentencing phase.
We'll check in with you again, Diana, as things continue.
In Ukraine, Ukrainian search teams today scouring the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17 crashed. Officials will be collecting the remains of the bodies and personal belongings of the victim. Ukrainian authorities will then transfer the findings to a Dutch team. Forensic teams have so far identified 272 people of the total 298 onboard. (AUDIO GAP) was allegedly shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine back in July.
Hong Kong students facing off with police clearing protest barricades. The protesters turned to social media, calling on supporters to reinforce other barricades. The students have invaded major districts in the city for three weeks in a row now.
Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong for us this morning with more.
So, some scuffles this morning after what's been mostly peaceful for several weeks.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Things have calmed down a bit now. As you can see some of the demonstrators quite literally sitting in, using their bodies to block the police right now. At the edge of their encampment, where they've been camping out now, or holding the sit-in that's blocking off downtown Hong Kong for some two weeks. As you can see over in the distance here, Hong Kong police as well.
Now, throughout the day today, the police have pulled away some of the protesters barricades and hours later, some opponents to the protesters came in with scenes more confrontational which involved swinging fists and some kicking. And some real big confrontations hurling abuse back and forth, where some of the pro-democracy protesters responded by singing "happy birthday" in kind of their show of civil disobedience.
Clashes about this controversial tactic to basically shutdown downtown parts of this very congested, very densely populated city. The pro- democracy demonstrators saying, listen, we have to make this sacrifices, to get freedoms, to get free and fair elections in the year 2017. Their opponents are saying, this is illegal, you cannot hold the entire city hostage. That is why you have seen the intense scenes break out earlier today in these very streets -- Christine.
ROMANS: Tense indeed. Ivan Watson, you're watching it for us. Thank you, Ivan.
Twenty-six minutes past the hour.
A new case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. And officials are saying, it's a result of a breach of protocol. That's coming up.
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