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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Racing to Find the Breach in Hospital Protocol; Spanish Nurse Had Little Ebola Training; Pistorius Sentencing Hearing Continues; New Photos of Kim Jong-Un
Aired October 14, 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: What went wrong? CDC officials concerned that a lapse in protocol could turn up even more cases of Ebola. That as the World Health Organization calls the outbreak the most severe acute health emergency seen in modern times.
He's back. After a month of speculation about his whereabouts, North Korea's leader is spotted, but questions remain about his health.
And a possible historic moment from the Vatican. A new tone toward the gay community. The surprising document they just released and why they say Christians should embrace the gay community.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. Christine Romans is off today. It is Tuesday, October 14th. 4:00 a.m. in the East.
And there is clear concern among CDC officials this morning. The fear is there could be more cases of Ebola transmission like the Dallas nurse who became infected caring for the first man diagnosed with the virus in the United States. Federal health officials say others who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan could become infected the same way.
That nurse has now been identified as Nina Pham. CDC director Thomas Frieden says Pham is clinically stable. She has received a blood transfusion from en Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly. And now investigators are racing to determine exactly how Pham became infected. They want to prevent it from happening again.
CNN's Victor Blackwell is in Dallas with more on that effort.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We've learned that Nina Pham received a certification in Critical Care Nursing just two months before she began treating Thomas Eric Duncan here at this hospital.
A person who knows the family very well through their church says that Pham likely was doing more than she was supposed to have done in treating this patient. That's what that person told the local newspaper.
And CDC detectives are here in Dallas trying to determine if all the protocols were followed. And we heard from the hospital on Monday, they were quick to point out a statement made by Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC, when he on Monday walked back something that he said the day before.
Now you remember on Sunday, he said that there was obviously a breach of protocol here that led to the infection. Well, on Monday, he said that some people likely took that as blaming the nurse or blaming the hospital. And that was not his intention.
Immediately after that, the hospital sent out an extended quote also highlighting that Frieden says that Ebola is the enemy here, not a hospital, not a person, not a country, the virus is the enemy. Essentially, saying that no one should blame us, at least not yet.
Again, the investigation is continuing here in Dallas -- John.
BERMAN: Our thanks to Victor Blackwell for that report.
The National Nurses Union says health care workers are not getting the kind of training or the protective equipment that they need.
Zenei Cortez is a registered nurse and head of National Nurses United. She tells CNN's Jake Tapper that without better preparation, Ebola is a disaster waiting to happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZENEI CORTEZ, REGISTERED NURSE AND V.P., NATIONAL NURSES UNITED: We do not have the proper protective equipment and also the information or the knowledge or the education or the training, then it's really a disaster waiting to happen. And when do we want to do the training? We want to do it now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: A judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking the disposal of incinerated waste from the Texas apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan stayed. The company that incinerated the waste tells CNN it has no plans to remove the waste to Louisiana.
The condition of the NBC cameraman with Ebola is improving. Ashoka Mukpo tweeted Monday, quote, "Feeling like I'm on the road to good health." The NBC crew that had been with Mukpo admitted in a statement that it had broken its word to self-isolate. That crew including medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman is now under a mandatory 21-day quarantine.
A patient in Boston who had been to Liberia has now been cleared of Ebola, while a medic who had been working on a ship off the coast of West Africa has been hospitalized in Kansas pending results of an Ebola tests. Those are expected later today but officials do say he is at low risk.
This morning, there are new questions about the training involved in the case of the Spanish nurse's assistant who has been hospitalized with Ebola in Spain. Teresa Romero -- excuse me, Ramos remains in critical condition in a Madrid hospital. Her husband wrote a scathing letter calling for the regional health minister to resign. Javier Limon says his wife received only 30 minutes of training in how to use protective gear.
For more I want to turn to CNN's Nic Robertson who is live in Madrid.
And Nic, the letter this husband wrote, I have never seen anything like.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. Well, what we're learning here is perhaps new details. While it is new details or new specifics from family and friends, friends of Maria Romero and her husband Javier Limon.
What we're being told by this friend is that Teresa Romero has at the moment a pulmonary edema. An infection between the lung and the chest wall. But she also tells us that it is the nights that are the worst for Teresa Romero, that she in fact fears the nights because that's when her condition deteriorates.
We don't know her situation this morning. Until now, the hospital has described her condition as critical but stable. There's just been talking that she has been conscious. But the concern among her friends at the moment is this -- is this problem that she is having with her breathing with her lungs.
The friends also tell us the very distraught situation that her husband is in right now, not just writing this letter calling for the regional health official -- health minister to resign, but in fact saying that if Spain put in place the protective measures, sort of post-treating people with Ebola, for health care professionals, if they were monitored after treating people with Ebola, then perhaps his wife would be in a better situation right now.
So he's very -- the husband of Teresa Romero, very, very critical indeed of officials here -- John.
BERMAN: Serious raising more questions about the health care system there. Perhaps a lesson for what should be done here in the United States.
Nic Robertson, our thank to you in Madrid. I appreciate it.
So after going missing for more than a month, Kim Jong-Un has reportedly been out and about. North Korea state media releasing photos of Kim making two official visits. He's been seen, though, using a cane.
His disappearance from public view fueled speculation about his health, even a possible coup in North Korea.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul.
Paul, what do we know about these photos and about this resurfacing?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, North Korea TV is actually broadcasting a news bulletin right now and they are showing these photos of Kim Jong-Un giving what he does best really, giving field guidance. This is when he walks around a building that's being built already, was about to be built, and tells people how it should be done.
This is exactly what we are seeing right now. And as you say, we do see these photos of him with a cane which of course shows that many of the analysts we spoke to and also the South Korean government saying leadership was intact, but it seems he has health issues were in fact it appears correct. So it seems as though that is what has been going on the past five weeks or so he has been missing.
And certainly many analysts I've spoken to are not surprised that he suddenly turned up now. It should be mentioned, though, there's no dates on these photos. We don't know exactly when they were taken. The news article as well, he's on the front page of the North Korean newspaper. It doesn't say when he carried out this visit. So of course that's still up in the air.
But it does lay waste to some of the more enthusiastic rumors and speculation we've been hearing over recent weeks, of course, suggestions there was a coup, suggestions he'd been deposed from power. It doesn't appear so, at least from these photos. But we haven't seen any footage yet. Usually we see photos early on in the day. It's 5:00 p.m. local time. In three hours time, we'll have another broadcast and we'll see if it's actual footage of him moving around and we can see how he is moving around -- John.
BERMAN: Now all we see is that cane. We had seen a limp for quite a few weeks before he simply up and vanished. But now there's the cane. We'll have to wait and see that footage when it comes out a few hours.
Paula Hancocks, our thanks to you.
Other news here in the United States -- well, around the world really. A new tone of tolerance toward gays from the Vatican. Vatican officials have released a document stating that gays have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community. This document asked Catholics to consider whether gays and lesbians should be embraced by the church. The Pope has said the Catholic Church needs to be a place of welcome and not a place of judgment.
President Obama and defense ministers for more than 20 nations are set to meet this afternoon at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The topic, how to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Now the session will be hosted by Joint Chiefs chairman Martin Dempsey. Top officials from Bahrain, Britain, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait are among those attending.
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake rattled buildings and nerves in Central America overnight. The quake struck off the Pacific Coast of El Salvador. Officials there issued a tsunami warning, but so far there have not been any reports of large waves. The quake was strong enough to cause severe shaking felt by millions of people in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. There has been only one fatality reported along with some damaged buildings.
Worry on Wall Street. A late-day selloff Monday sends stocks sinking even lower. The Dow slid 223 points. That's the fifth straight week of triple-digit moves and only one of them in the positive direction. The move dashes hopes for a rebound following last week's plunge. The market has been in shambles since last week after fears emerged of a global growth slowdown.
New huge explosions rocking the city of Kobani as the fight for the control over that key city wages on. Can coalition forces keep ISIS from taking that city?
And new tension in Ferguson, Missouri. Protesters on the streets demanding justice and equality. Dozens arrested, including one very prominent figure.
We have all the latest coming up.
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BERMAN: A series of explosions rocking Kobani as the fight gets more intense for that key city on the border between Syria and Turkey. Three airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition were reported around Kobani this morning along with four oil refineries in southern Syria hit overnight. ISIS is continuing its push for control of the city while also scoring a victory in neighboring Iraq taking a strategically important military base in Anbar.
Kurdish fighters managed to push back an attempt in advance by ISIS on Monday, but one fighter tells CNN it would be impossible for them to hold their ground if current conditions continue. Should militants take Kobani, it would essentially control three official border crossings between Turkey and Syria in a stretch of border about 60 miles long.
At this very moment, the South African prosecutor is pushing for prison time in the sentencing hearing for Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius. He of course was found guilty last month of culpable homicide in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The sentencing phase of that trial began Monday in Pretoria.
CNN's Diana Magnay is there for us this morning.
Diana, what's the latest?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John, well, the prosecutor who has been dubbed pit bull by the South African media is cross-examining one of the witnesses for the defense who's been listing all of Pistorius' various charitable endeavors and what Nel, the prosecutor, is doing is trying to undermine that and saying really everybody who has a high profile, all sports personalities are engaged in charitable endeavors. This isn't really very persuasive and certainly shouldn't mitigate a longer sentence.
It seems a bit -- a bit mean-spirited to be fair. I think there is a very real sense amongst the South African public that Oscar Pistorius was involved beyond what he needed to be in terms of charitable activities especially in terms of helping people who suffered with -- who need prosthetic limbs, for example.
Anyway, the defense is going to be calling one more witness and then the prosecution will start calling witnesses to argue for a longer sentence. Yesterday, a correctional services officer came on and said that the appropriate sentence for Pistorius should be a three-year correctional services. So basically under house arrest and having to do cleaning work for the municipality.
The prosecutor described that as shockingly lenient. And I think, John, that many people here who feel that the culpable homicide verdict is too lenient, want to see Pistorius serve jail time. But there is still a bit of time to go. We have more witnesses to hear from and possibly testimony whether it's just read allowed in the court or whether she actually takes the stand from Reeva's mother June. That's certainly something that we're expecting -- John.
BERMAN: Diana, in the United States we have sentencing guidelines for certain crimes. Are there any official parameters of what type of prison sentence if any he will receive?
MAGNAY: For culpable homicide there aren't. There is no minimum or no maximum. So it literally could be years inside a South African prison, notorious for its overcrowding and not well-known for its particular facilities for disabled prisoners. Or it could be no jail time at all and a suspended sentence and community work. So it really is a very broad range and it is up to Judge Masipa to make that decision when she's heard all the evidence that'll be presented this week.
BERMAN: Just one more surprising fact I think many Americans realizing how much leeway the judges do have in the South African court system.
Diana Magnay, live for us in Pretoria. We'll check back in with you a little bit. Appreciate it.
Kentucky's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate has renewed her refusal to say whether she voted for President Obama. Alison Lundergan Grimes faced Republican opponent, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell in a televised debate Monday night. Grimes drew fire last week for refusing to reveal her presidential pick to a newspaper editorial board. She refused to say who she voted for. She stuck to that position on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALISON GRIMES (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: This is a matter of principle. Our Constitution grants here in Kentucky, the constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box for a secret ballot. I'm not going to compromise a constitutional right provided here in Kentucky in order to curry favor on one or other side or for members of the media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Eighteen minutes after the hour. Protests picking up steam in Ferguson, Missouri. More than four dozen people were arrested on a moral Monday march. Among them noted author, activist and academic Cornel West. Ferguson police say he and others disturbed the peace by trying to push through police lines. Demonstrators don't see it that way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no us against them. This is a "we" problem. It is we and we all have to work to dismantle a system that unfairly privileges some people over other people. No matter what the injustice is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: It has been two months since a white police officer in Ferguson shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager.
It has been one month since University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham vanished without a trace. Her parents released a statement urging the public to keep searching for their daughter. The statement says, in part, "It is heartbreaking for us that the person or persons who know where Hannah have not come forward with that information. It is within their power both to end this nightmare for all and to relieve the searchers of their arduous task."
The 18-year-old was last seen on surveillance video with Jesse Matthew, Jr. He is charged with abduction with intent to defile. Matthew has reportedly been linked by DNA to the case of a woman killed in 2009.
A Penn State student is under arrest this morning for allegedly threatening a mass shooting at the University Student Center. Police say 20-year-old Jong Shim, a sophomore student, used a social media site to make that threat. That site helped track the posting to Shim's off-campus apartment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYRONE PARHAM, PENN STATE CAMPUS POLICE CHIEF: He admitted to -- making the post on comments on Yik Yak the night before. We searched his residence. There were no weapons found.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Police also say that Shim told them the threat was a -- meant as a prank. Penn State students failed to see the humor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAYLEY KOHLER, PENN STATE STUDENT: It is not something appropriate to joke about. And he has to be made an example of because we can't have these interruptions, you know, happening frequently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Jong Shim is charged now with making terroristic threats. He's being held on $100,000 bail. All right. As stocks sink even lower, so do oil prices. A four-year
low that might be good for you and your wallet in the coming weeks. We'll have the details ahead.
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BERMAN: So if you're feeling the pain of the recent stock market selloff, there could be a silver lining. Oil prices are plummeting right along with your 401(k). In fact the oil prices have reached a four-year low. Some parts of this country already enjoying gas prices below $3 a gallon.
Home heating oil and natural gas are also conveniently declining as we get closer to winter. The falling prices, though, could have an impact on the booming gas and oil industry in the United States particularly in states like North Dakota and Texas.
The largest chocolate companies in the world are joining the battle against Ebola. Nestle, Mars, Hershey's, Godiva and others all raising money to fight the outbreak. They plant to announce how much they are donating to the International Red Cross and other charities tomorrow. Much of the world's chocolate production comes from West Africa and the companies are worried about production interruptions.
So the zombie apocalypse is back and bigger than ever. The season five premiere of "The Walking Dead" on AMC shatters its previous ratings record. 17.3 million people watched Sunday night. Wow. It's up on the then record 16.1 million viewers for the season four premiere.
It's 25 minutes after the hour. New fears about the Ebola watch list in Texas. The numbers keep getting even bigger. Why the World Health Organization says this outbreak may be the worst in modern times.
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