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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Racing To Find The "Breach In Protocol"; Spanish Nurse Had Little Ebola Training; New Photos of Kim Jong-Un; A 7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles El Salvador; Intense Fighting Over Kobani; Grimes Refuses Again
Aired October 14, 2014 - 05:00 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.
Look at him. 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 towards the gay community. The surprising document they just released and why 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. It is 5:00 a.m. in the east. There is clear concern this morning among CDC officials.
The fear is there could be more cases of Ebola transmission such as 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. The nurse infected already has now been identified as Nina Pham. CDC Director Thomas Frieden says Pham is clinically stable.
She has received a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor, Dr. Kent Brantley. 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 this effort.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We've learned that Nina Pham received the 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. CDC detectives are here in Dallas trying to determine if all of the protocols were followed. We heard from the hospital on Monday. They were quick to point out a statement made by Dr. Tom 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 hospital. That was not his intention.
Immediately after that, the hospital sent out an extended quote also highlighting that Frieden said 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: All right, thanks, 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 tells CNN's Jake Tapper 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 knowledge or the education or the training, then it's really a disaster waiting to happen. When do we want to do the training? We want to do it now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: In Louisiana, a judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking the disposal of the incinerated waste from the Texas apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan stayed. Now the company that incinerated the waste tells CNN it had no plans to move 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 it had broken its word to self-isolate. That crew including NBC 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 the results of an Ebola test expected later today. Officials do say they believe he is at low risk.
Breaking news this morning, a member of the United Nations staff working in Liberia has died of Ebola. The Sudanese national was being treated at St. George Clinic in Germany. A statement from the clinic says the U.N. staffer was admitted on October 9th. That is last Thursday, so much news going on with Ebola.
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 Ramos remains in critical condition in a Madrid hospital.
Her husband wrote a scathing letter calling for the regional health minister to resign. Javier says his wife received only 30 minutes of training in how to use the protective gear.
I want to turn now to CNN's Nic Robertson who is live in Madrid this morning. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. All of the regional health care officials will say at the moment is that they have no comment about this letter. It is a very direct letter. It is a very passionate letter.
Teresa Romero's husband said that he is in tears. He is in anguish because of his wife's condition. And indeed says if the government had given his wife better training, proper training, this would not have happened.
He also says that if his wife and other health care workers working with Ebola victims here had been properly monitored, then again, this situation that they're in and his wife is in, a life and death situation, he says would not have happened.
He doesn't mince his words when telling the regional health minister to resign. His wife, however, we've heard from a family friend saying that it is the nights that his wife fears the most, the nights where her condition worsens. She has a pulmonary edema. Her lungs are affected.
We are hearing from hospital officials that she is having difficulty breathing. There are concerns. Her condition remains critical but stable. What we are being told and what this friend says is the next 48 hours are going to be very, very critical for Teresa Romero -- John.
BERMAN: The anger from this husband is extraordinary. Nic Robertson for us in Madrid. Thanks so much, Nic.
It's 6 minutes after the hour, after going missing for than a month, Kim Jong-Un has reportedly been out and about. North Korea's state media released photos of Kim making two official visits while using a cane.
His disappearance from public view fueled speculations about his health, even a possible coup in North Korea. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul. Paula, what we do know right now about his condition and about these photos?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we have seen the photos a number of times today on North Korean television. We have seen more news bulletins. Obviously, they want to show the domestic audience and also the international audience that the North Korean leader is back.
He is smiling in the vast majority of these photos. You can see he is holding a cane. He is leaning into that cane in a number of the photos. This suggests it was health issues, which meant that he disappeared for more than five weeks.
This is what the South Korean government had suggested. This is what many analysts I spoke to have thought. The rumors of a coup or deposed had been negated by many people who had been watching the country for many years.
But of course, the question now is how ill was he and what exactly was wrong with him? Now you can see the cane and suggestions that he had gout. He has had ankle problems or maybe surgery. All of those could be possible now. It does appear.
We haven't seen any footage though. All we have seen are photos. It should be noted there are no dates on the photos. We have not been told when they were taking place. We know in the news article that accompanied it, he was doing what he does best.
He was giving field guidance as they call it basically going along and telling officials what he thought of a newly built residential district. It will be interesting in a couple of hours' time when the next news bulletin happens here in North Korea to see if there is footage of him walking around and see what kind of condition he appears to be in -- John.
BERMAN: Stay tuned for the moving pictures of Kim Jong-Un perhaps walking around with that cane. Paula Hancocks for us in Seoul, thanks so much.
It's 9 minutes after the hour right now. A new tone of tolerance toward gays from the Vatican, Vatican officials released a document stating that gays, quote, "have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community."
This document asks 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 place of judgment.
President Obama and defense ministers from more than 20 nations are set to meet this afternoon at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland. The topic is how to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
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 7.3 magnitude earthquake rattled buildings and nerves in Central America overnight. The quake struck off the Pacific coast of El Salvador, you can see it right there. Officials did issue 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.
It has been a scary 24 hours for a lot of people in the United States, severe storms raking through the country affecting millions. For more on today's severe weather, I want to go to Alexandra Steele in Atlanta where the weather is coming.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it absolutely is coming. We do have a tornado watch here in Atlanta. You know, yesterday, two deaths because of these tornadoes. It was the first deadly October tornado since 2009. One is a 33-year-old Marine and the second was a 75-year-old woman. They were both one in Alabama and one in Arkansas.
So here's a look at the radar right now. You can see kind of a classic comma shape. Here's the area of low pressure and the extending front along it. We will all going to see this move east rapidly for some.
Some of these winds, we could see wind gust today and that may be some of the biggest threat, 60 to 75 miles per hour. Here is where the watches are. Tornado watches posted including the cities of Alabama, Atlanta and Macon and Tallahassee as well until about 11:00 and noon.
A tornado watch means conditions are ripe for this to happen. What we saw yesterday, storm reports, at least reports of 13 tornadoes. At least 200 wind reports and 20 large hail reports. So the stormy pattern shifting east where the access of where this is going to be is a little farther east.
Tornadoes, we could see them, but again today, the biggest threat, the heavy rain, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Pensacola. The Florida Panhandle really under the gun this morning, isolated tornadoes, but damaging winds and hail certainly a probability.
Charlotte, Atlanta, Roanoke and Raleigh, all under the gun and of course, some big hubs, John, are being impacted. It moves to New York on Wednesday night into Thursday and brings stormy conditions there.
BERMAN: So if you are watching us from an airport this morning stuck, our greetings to you. Alexandra, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us.
It's 12 minutes after the hour. Worry on Wall Street, a late day selloff on Monday sent stocks sinking lower. The Dow slid 223 points. That is the fifth straight day of triple digit moves. Only one of those triple digit moves in the good direction.
The latest move downward dashes hopes of a rebound following the last week's plunge. The market has been in shambles since last week after fears emerge of a globally growth slowdown.
A huge explosion rocking the city of Kobani as the fight for control of that key city rages on. Can coalition forces keep ISIS from taking that city? And new tension in Ferguson, Missouri, protesters taking to the streets demanding justice and equality. Dozens arrested including one very prominent figure. We will have the latest coming up.
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BERMAN: A series of explosions rocking Kobani as the fight gets more intense for the 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 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 Province. In Kobani, Kurdish fighters pushed back an attempt an advance by ISIS on Monday.
One fighter tells CNN it will be impossible for them to hold their ground if current conditions continue. Should the militants take Kobani, they control about three official border crossings between Syria and Turkey and a stretch of border that is 60 miles long.
Kentucky's Democratic Senate candidate has renewed her refusal to say whether she voted for President Obama. Alison Lundergan Grimes faced her Republican opponent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a televised debate Monday night.
Grimes drew a little bit of fire last week for refusing to reveal her presidential pick to a newspaper editorial board. She refused to answer the simple question, did you vote for President Obama? 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: It's 17 minutes after the hour. Protests are picking up steam in Ferguson, Missouri. More than four dozen people arrested at a Moral Monday march among them noted author, activist, and academic Cornell West.
Ferguson police say that 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.
Monday night football action, the San Francisco 49ers falling behind early against the St. Louis Rams, could Colin Kaepernick lead them to a big comeback win? I don't think that guy was really that fast. If he was, we have a real highlight to show you and real headline. Andy Scholes will have that in "The Bleacher Report" next.
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BERMAN: New trouble brewing for Heisman trophy winner, Jameis Winston. According to reports, Florida State is now investigating whether Winston broke NCAA rules by selling his autograph. Andy Scholes with more in "The Bleacher Report." Good morning, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, John. Hundreds of Jameis Winston autographs have been authenticated by the same company that was linked to Georgia star runningback, Todd Gurley. Now Georgia chose to suspend Gurley while they investigate.
Florida State however says Winston will continue to play. According to a report by ESPN, Seminoles Head Coach Jimbo Fisher approached Winston after Saturday's win over Syracuse and asked him about the autographs.
A source tells ESPN that Winston told Fisher he did not sign anything for money. Winston is already facing an upcoming disciplinary hearing to determine whether he violated the school's conduct code in alleged sexual assault.
Fisher reiterated yesterday that despite everything that is going on, his star quarterback will remain on the field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMBO FISHER, FLORIDA STATE HEAD COACH: This country is based on innocent until proven guilty. Not guilty until you're proven innocent. There are two sides of that. I think -- I don't want a victim for anything. That's the thing we have to -- we are convicting a guy over things that are not true based on evidence. If it continues, yes, there's no evidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Monday night football taking place in St. Louis. Protesters were outside and inside the dome showing support for Michael Brown, the unarmed teen who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. This is amateur video posted on Vine.
On the field, the Rams jumped out to a 14--point lead against the 49ers. That's when Colin Kaepernick took over. He threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns as San Francisco ended up cruising to a 31- 17 win. They are now 4-2 on the season.
To baseball, Kansas City supposed to host game three of the ALCS before heavy rains caused the game to be pushed back to tonight. Royals are playing great. Still undefeated in the playoffs. Buck Showalter was asked if the delay may cool down Kansas City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a chance this is a good thing for you guys?
BUCK SHOWALTER, ORIOLES MANAGER: No. I appreciate you throwing it out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: John, we will get a double header today. Cardinals and Giants at 4:00 Eastern and tonight on TBS, we'll get that game three between the Orioles and Royals. Will Kansas City ever lose a game? That's the big question.
BERMAN: With my apologies to my friends in Baltimore, I hope Kansas City never loses again. They are such a fun, exciting team. I love watching them play. These playoffs have been fantastic. Teams are playing differently than the teams over the last 10 to 15 years.
SCHOLES: We know the Royals are the sentimental favorite, 29 years since they have been to the post season. Everybody in Kansas City is waiting a long time for this.
BERMAN: Since well before you were born, Andy Scholes. Appreciate you being with us. Thanks so much.
New fears and growing numbers on the Ebola watch list in Texas. Why the World Health Organization says this outbreak may be the worst in modern times.
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