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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Disturbing Accusations: No Ebola Protocols at Texas Hospital; ISIS Advances in Iraq; Clashes in Hong Kong; 2nd Ebola Case Announced in Texas
Aired October 15, 2014 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Disturbing allegations against that Texas hospital where a man died of Ebola. A group of nurses claims there were no protocols in place to deal with the virus before a nurse there became infected. Should the CDC have stepped in sooner?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight -- clashes on the streets of Hong Kong. Police trying to clear barricades using tear gas on protesters. We're live on the ground.
ROMANS: The war against ISIS raging in Syria. The terrorists gaining ground in a key border city despite more coalition airstrikes. And now, new questions about Turkish airstrikes and who they're really targeting.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Great to see you this morning. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
ROMANS: Stunning accusations this morning from nurses who work at a Dallas hospital that treated a Liberian man who died of Ebola last week. A National Nurses Union claiming nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian are telling them that guidelines were constantly changing. There were no protocols for Ebola treatment there. The union wouldn't name the nurses to protect them from possible retaliation.
The hospital released a statement Tuesday night saying we have numerous measures in place to provide a safe working environment, including mandatory annual training and 24/7 host line and other mechanisms that allow for anonymous reporting.
BERMAN: Unclear to me how a 24/7 keeps you from getting Ebola.
But the CDC responded to the nurses' claims to a statement to CNN saying, it is, quote, "committed to their safety."
Earlier Tuesday, CDC Director Thomas Frieden admitted that federal health officials did not do everything they should have to prevent Ebola from spreading from Thomas Duncan to the Texas Health Presbyterian nurse who cared for him. Frieden promised Tuesday to put a team of Ebola experts on the ground within hours after a confirmed diagnosis anywhere in the country.
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DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: You know, I've thought often about it. I wish I had put a team like this on the ground the day the patient -- the first patient was diagnosed. That might have prevented this infection.
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BERMAN: The infected nurse Nina Pham is doing better this morning with an upgrade in her condition. That's good news.
Later this morning, President Obama will join a video conference with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy to talk about the international response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Officials say the U.S. is requesting permission from Spain for this ongoing military basis for transports and logistics in the fight against Ebola in West Africa.
ROMANS: In Spain, the Spanish nurse's aide, who was the first nurse to contract Ebola in Europe, she's still in grave condition. But Teresa Romero Ramos' doctor says she's doing slightly better and producing antibodies to fight the infection. Romero's case is sparking outrage in Spain as health workers union charge officials of blaming Romero for her own illness to deflect attention from government steps in responding to Ebola.
CNN Madrid correspondent Al Goodwin is standing by for us live.
And, Al, I know yesterday, her family, people around her were saying the nights were terrifying for her. She really suffered in the nights. How is she doing now?
AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID CORRESPONDENT: She has come through another night. And doctors say when you get to this two-week point in the Ebola patients, the history shows of the Ebola patients, if you make it this far, it's a very good sign. She's definitely not out of the woods but she is on the upward curve they say.
In terms of the controversy, we just heard in Spanish parliament a heated exchange. The prime minister defending his conservative government's handling of this crisis, saying they were doing things right despite withering criticism from the opposition socialist leader who said the government really dropped ball and the conservatives blamed Teresa Romero for getting the Ebola virus.
Remember, she was on the medical team that treated another Ebola patient, a Spanish priest in Africa who came back here and died, and after, she got it -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Al Goodman for us this morning in Madrid -- thank you, Al. Violence erupting overnight in Hong Kong as protesters try to retake a
major road outside government headquarters, encircling police. Officers pushed protesters back with pepper spray, arresting dozens. Police officials are promising to investigate six officers who were captured on video by a local TV station taking a democracy protester behind a building to kick him during the street clearing operation.
International correspondent Manisha Tank is in Hong Kong live with the latest.
Good morning, Manisha.
MANISHA TANK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.
Well, of course, this is stepping up now the campaign from the government, from the authorities against the demonstrators who have been here for some two weeks. We did see the use of tear gas two weeks ago, but since then, we sort of saw the police retreat somewhat. It was very difficult to stop them around here in the protest area.
But, yes, there were clashes and there have been in the step-by-step, incremental approach to try and get them to move away from the areas and open up the roads in Hong Kong city state and get things flowing again. So, yes, pepper spray was used to disperse the protesters, John.
BERMAN: These pictures we have, scene like since the beginning of these protests really, Manisha. And what about the video of police beating that one protester?
TANK: Well, just to explain, John, this video was taken by a local TV station. It is now available on the Internet, so more and more people are getting to see it. But what it shows is six plains clothes policemen allegedly beating a demonstrator.
That demonstrator's name is Ken Sung (ph). That was the victim. He's in his late 30s. And he's a social worker.
We actually spoke to his lawyer who is calling for the six to be arrested. But so far, the police are saying they have suspended the police from duty but it does call into question the tactics of police and many people will want to see a full inquiry as to what actually happened, John.
BERMAN: It will be interesting to see the effect on public opinion as that video gets seen by more and more people.
Manisha Tank in Hong Kong, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Federal prosecutors have added 17 new charges that could bring the death penalty for Ahmad Abu Khatallah, the alleged mastermind of the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Now, the new grand jury indictment includes multiple counts of murder. The previous indictment only charged him with providing materiel support to terrorists. The Libyan militant has been held since his capture by U.S. Special Forces in June. Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, died in that attack on that compound in Benghazi.
BERMAN: The Pentagon says it has completed an investigation to the circumstances surrounding the Taliban capture of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan. Military officials are now reviewing the results. Several soldiers who served with Bergdahl claimed he deserted their army unit. Bergdahl was released in May after five years in captivity in a controversial swap for five Taliban prisoners.
A lot of people asking when are they going to see the report? It could be soon.
ROMANS: All right. "The New York Times" reports at least seven soldiers and seven Iraqi soldiers were exposed to nerve or mustard gas after 2003, and the U.S. government withheld that information from troops and military doctors it was sending into harm's way.
According to the report, the government secrecy prevented soldiers from receiving proper medical care and official recognition of their conditions.
BERMAN: This is a terrific piece of journalist in "The Times" this morning. I commend everyone to go read that if you can. A lot of detail and record.
All right. Breaking news this morning: Toyota recalling nearly 1.7 million vehicles worldwide. The recalls address three separate defects including faulty brake cylinders. Toyota says it's not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths as a result of those defects.
St. Louis police say test results on a teenager who died in an officer-involved shooting last night show gunshot residue on his clothing and hands suggesting 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers was armed and may have fired on the officer before he was killed.
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CHIEF SAM DOTSON, ST. LOUIS POLICE: Those findings are without question revealed with gunshot residue on the shooting hand and his belt line where the officer said he produced a gun.
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BERMAN: The shooting sparked outrage and protests in the streets. Myers family has proclaimed publicly that he did not have a gun when he was killed.
ROMANS: All right. Forty -- 38 minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this Wednesday.
Stocks are down. Oil prices plunging, folks. U.S. stocks futures pointing slightly lower right now. But it could be another rough for stocks. Too soon to tell.
But that correction that everyone talking about, a 10 percent drop still hasn't happened yet. Are we in the midst of it? Who knows?
The S&P 500 ended a three-day losing streak yesterday. Just a month ago, it was an all-time high. It has 6.6 percent --
BERMAN: It's on the way.
ROMANS: I would say you're in the midst a correction if it keeps going. A big drop but not what the true investors so far have been expecting yet.
Oil prices plunging, weak demand the issue there. Oil prices yesterday, the biggest drop in two years. Crude oil sitting at 81 bucks a barrel right now. Down from $107 back in the summer. That's driving the gas prices down.
The average price per gallon has fallen 40 cents in the last few months. And that trend, guess what, you're going to see lower gas prices unless something crazy happens, like, oil prices, gas prices continue to fall.
BERMAN: No, it's basic economics, weak demand, but booming supply here in the United States.
ROMANS: Yes, you hear this very Saudi America, we're producing a whole lot of oil and gas.
All right. 40 minutes past the hour.
ISIS making advances in Kobani. Can coalition forces keep the key Syrian border town from falling into terrorists hands?
And Oscar Pistorius back in court with his sentencing hearing. Was he paying Reeva Steenkamp's family blood money? I've got to tell you, this is fascinating. The latest twist in the case, next.
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BERMAN: ISIS fighters are blasting their way through the Syrian city of Kobani this morning as the U.S.-led coalition does its best to slow them from the air. U.S. Central Command says 21 airstrikes on Tuesday destroyed ISIS staging areas, a building and also three vehicles. There were at least six air strikes in and around Kobani reported overnight.
So, meanwhile, Turkish fighters hit not ISIS fighters, but Kurdish troops connected to the ones fighting ISIS. This is another confusing twists in Turkey's long battle against its own Turkish rebels that only complicates the fight against ISIS shows you where their loyalties might truly be.
Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us live from the Turkish-Syrian border with Kobani in the background to explain really this complicated situation.
Good morning, Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, as you join me, we're hearing jets still in the skies above us. It appears there have been two strikes since the sun rose. This morning, loud explosions witnessed by those on the hill here. It's hard to work out what is happening in that city.
We ourselves last night as dusk fell visited the hill off to the west. But Kurdish forces took to the night before last. An interesting tactical gave us high ground, but far away from the city itself.
That remarkable number of airstrikes, 21 in just a 24-hour period seems to perhaps changed something of the dynamic of the fight down in the city. Maybe ISIS seeing each time they gather the ordnance landing upon them perhaps have chosen to delay or perhaps decide to rethink how they're going to about this.
But as you say, this fight for Kobani has been drawn into a wider issue here. Many on the outside think it should be so simple, Turkey pushing against ISIS, like the Washington and other powers are too. But it's dragged into their decades-long dispute with the Kurds today passes a deadline, significant moment. There have been peace talks between the Kurds and the Turkish government.
Today, potentially that cease-fire could run into trouble. And the Turkish jets rather than pounding ISIS are pounding Kurdish PKK positions inside Turkey. It's an extraordinary complex situation, the relationship between the Kurdish and Kurds. It's complicating Turkey's fight against ISIS and potentially beginning to overshadow it, too -- John.
BERMAN: And just to be clear, there's nothing that helps in the fight against ISIS by bombing the Kurds within their own borders. Is there, Nick?
WALSH: Well, this is, unfortunately, you have to look at this from the angle of a Turkish viewpoint. This about is the strategic outcome for them. They don't want to see necessarily the Kurds have their own enclave just above the border here inside Syria. That's what ISIS is trying to deprive the Kurds of.
So, in a really cold, cynical viewpoint of Ankara, potentially, it's about letting one enemy fight another enemy and duke it out between them. The issue for them is they have to live across the border for decades, whereas in the immediate view of Washington, it's about feeding into the strategic fight against ISIS.
So, yes, it's an extraordinarily complex situation to perceive from the outside, but for Turkey, potentially, a much simpler calculation. They see two enemies fighting, why intervene -- John.
BERMAN: Different goals than the United States, maybe in opposition, in fact, with the goals right now. Our Nick Paton Walsh with Kobani behind them on the Turkish-Syrian border -- thanks so much, Nick.
ROMANS: All right. Forty-seven minutes past the hour.
Pistorius back in court for a third day of sentencing arguments. Prosecutors Tuesday claim the athlete offered Reeva Steenkamp's family $34,000 after he killed her, but they say that it was rejected as, quote, "blood money". It's a really kind of convoluted story but so interesting. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide last month of shooting
Steenkamp to death. Pistorius could face up to l5 years in prison. And according to our Diana Magnay, the family had accepted these apparently $600 a month payments for some time for 18 months, then it came out in open court yesterday, and the family said they would pay it back, they didn't want this money that they've already taken.
BERMAN: Every time I'm shocked by the South African legal system, something else happens that makes me even more by what's going on there.
ROMANS: Right. So odd.
BERMAN: All right. Forty-eight minutes after the hour.
A nuclear deal with Iran not out of reach according to Secretary of State John Kerry. The secretary is in Vienna today for talks with Iran's foreign minister. The U.S. and five other world powers are setting a November 24th deadline to get a deal done. Earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared he was certain an agreement would be reached with the West.
ROMANS: In Kentucky, the National Democratic Campaign Committee pulling its TV ads off the airwaves in the Senate race. It just means Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes is on her own as she tries to unseat Senator Mitch McConnell. But officials in her campaign say there's plenty of money in her war chest.
National Democrats are focusing their efforts and their cash on defending incumbents in states like Colorado, Louisiana and New Hampshire. And she hadn't really cozied up to the White House and Barack Obama during all of this.
BERMAN: No, but the DSCC, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, had been sending a lot of money there. By pulling out now, that is hardly a vote of confidence. You know, they need that money elsewhere. Fascinating.
All right. Remember this when a woman threw her shoe at Hillary Clinton? That woman getting her day in court. We'll have that story, next.
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ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a 34-year-old homeless man taken into custody for allegedly stabbing two park rangers on Boston Common. The attacks took place at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. Witnesses followed the suspect identified as Bodio Hutchinson and led police straight to him.
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WILLIAM EVANS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: The officers responded quickly. And through their efforts and the efforts of the public, public was very instrumental. They helped follow the individual that was involved in this incident. Our officers were able to apprehend the suspect.
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ROMANS: Witnesses reportedly watched Hutchinson throw a knife into a lagoon at Boston Public Garden, basically right across the street, right? Officers were able to recovery the weapon. Both park rangers expected to recover.
BERMAN: All right. Remember this video, I'm about to show you -- not my face, but look at this, when a woman -- I'll do a description, remember when a woman threw a shoe at Hillary Clinton at a Las Vegas event?
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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY STATE: What was that, a bat? Was that a bat?
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BERMAN: Well, that was the video right there. A judge has dismissed a misdemeanor violence charge against Alison Ernst for throwing that shoe. But Ernst has a trespassing charge and faces six months in prison. Because she's been in custody since the April 10th shoe incident, she could be release.
ROMANS: A surprising new perk for women who work for Facebook and Apple. The Silicon Valley giants paying for them to freeze their eggs if they want to do so. Facebook is already covering this procedure in its insurance policies. Apple will start covering this in January.
It's believed the two are the first to offer this kind of benefit. The cost of freezing eggs is $10,000 per round but an additional $500 a year for storage. And frozen eggs, if you freeze your eggs when you're younger, you use those eggs later on if you want to have in vitro fertilization, if you want to have fertility procedures. So, this is a big boon for women who may not want to have children when they're 25 years old.
BERMAN: Interesting.
All right. We do have some breaking news this morning: a second health care worker has tested positive for Ebola in Texas, in Dallas. This follows the news that that nurse Nina Pham tested positive. So, this makes two people in Texas now positive for Ebola.
We do not know much. We really don't know anything just yet about this second case, what we do know that Thomas Eric Duncan, the man from Liberia who died of Ebola was treated by many people at Texas Health Presbyterian right now. And now, we have learned that a second health care worker has tested positive.
ROMANS: And the CDC Director Thomas Frieden has said that he wished right away when that first case was diagnosed -- when Thomas Eric Duncan was first diagnosed in Texas, he wished they sent a go-team from CDC there, he wished they had done that. They did not. A lot of questions about protocols and who is doing what, how carefully we've been tracking this.
BERMAN: There will be even more questions about protocols now. There was a nurses union that wrote a scathing letter overnight saying there were no protocols in place.
ROMANS: Or changing protocols.
BERMAN: Or changing protocols, I should say, correctly. That is what was said. So, this will be very interesting.
We're going to find out more right now on the second health care worker who tested positive for Ebola. We'll be right back.
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