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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

2nd Dallas Nurse in Atlanta for Treatment; Calls for a Travel Ban; Protesters, Hong Kong Leaders to Talk?; Pistorius Could Be Locked Up for 15 Years; Royals Advance to World Series

Aired October 16, 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: Thirty minutes past the hour.

Troubling details about that second nurse infected with Ebola. Did someone at the CDC tell her it was OK to fly in a commercial plane? Did officials have any clue how to keep this virus from spreading?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now, there are growing cries for bans on flights from West Africa into the United States. House Speaker John Boehner saying the Obama administration needs to increase its response to the Ebola situation. The White House says that travel ban is not on the table.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty minutes past the hour this morning.

BERMAN: A lot going on.

Breaking news overnight: the second Dallas nurse to come down with Ebola has now arrived in Atlanta for treatment. That amid new controversy over her air travel. Ninety-nine-year-old Amber Vinson was part of the team that took care of Thomas Eric Duncan. He, of course, is the Liberian man who died from Ebola in Dallas last week.

But now, there are questions about why Vinson took a commercial flight from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday with a temperature of 99.5 degrees.

ROMANS: CDC Director Thomas Frieden says she should never have stepped foot on an airplane after taking care of Duncan, knowing that another nurse, Nina Pham, had already been diagnosed with Ebola. But a federal official tells CNN that Vinson informed the CDC of her travel plans and she was not told she shouldn't fly.

The CDC is reaching out to each of the 132 other people on Vinson's flight. It says the risk any of them infected with Ebola is, quote, "extremely low".

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Dallas with more on Vinson's case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the second worker Amber Vinson was moved from Dallas to Emory University in Atlanta where she will begin her treatment, this morning, continue her treatment here this morning. But she was moved on the very day that much bigger questions are now being raised about how well-prepared these health care workers that treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient that died of Ebola last week here at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

A prominent nurses union, a national union, saying that the health care team was simply not given the proper protocols, not prepared to handle the situation in which they were entering. A lot of questions about the protective gear that they were wearing, and whether or not that could have been a failure in that area is what led to their infection.

CDC investigator say they're really concentrating on the first two or three days that Thomas Eric Duncan was brought to the hospital where sometimes the health care workers were wearing two or three layers of protective gear and in some cases had skin that was exposed. So, that's one of the areas they're exposing.

The hospital officials have not commented directly on these allegations, only have said that the safety and care of their employees is a top priority -- Christine and John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Ed, thanks for that.

Federal officials ramping up the government's response to the Ebola situation this morning. President Obama has canceled campaign events two days in a respond to the issue. He meet with top health officials at the White House on Wednesday. The president is ordering the CDC to issue a medical SWAT team within 24 hours of an Ebola diagnosis anywhere in the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)(

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a consequence, what we've been doing here today is reviewing exactly what we know about what's happened in Dallas and how we're going to make sure that something like this is not repeated, and that we are monitoring, supervising, overseeing, in a much more aggressive way, exactly what's taking place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN has learned that later today, the administration plans an order giving the Pentagon authority to call up reservists to fight Ebola in West Africa. We are told there are no immediate plans to that. But the move could help fill the need for medical personnel and technicians with special skills in the effort to fight the deadly disease.

BERMAN: A lot of expertise among the reservists that they want to tap into.

On Capitol Hill later this morning, a House committee holding a special hearing on the Ebola outbreak in Texas -- actually, it's not an outbreak -- on the Ebola situation in Dallas. Among those under the microscope, CDC Director Thomas Frieden. A top official from Dallas Health Presbyterian Hospital has submitted written testimony saying, quote, "we are deeply sorry for failing to initially diagnose Thomas Eric Duncan with Ebola.

ROMANS: Congressional Republicans demanding further action against Ebola. House Speaker John Boehner says the White House needs to consider a travel ban from West Africa countries where Ebola is prevalent. Pennsylvania Congressman Bill Schuster and Tom Marino, along with South Dakota Senator John Thune all joining this call. Marino is also demanding the immediate resignation of CDC Director Tom Frieden.

The White House said on Wednesday that a West Africa travel ban is, quote, "not on the table" at this point.

BERMAN: Four major U.S. airports will begin enhanced Ebola screening today. Newark, Washington Dulles, Chicago's O'Hare, and Hartsfield- Jackson in Atlanta will join New York's Kennedy Airport which begun that screening on Saturday. Passengers arriving from those three West African countries, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, will undergo increased scrutiny, including having their temperature taken and answering questions.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.

Asian stocks ended the day lower. Tokyo down more than 2 percent, European shares mixed right now. The big news though was this brutal few days in stocks. U.S. stock futures barely budging so far.

But, yesterday, the Dow plunged 460 points and bounced back. It ended the day down 173 points, that's 1 percent. Got a lot of things going on here -- stalling global growth, also stocks climbed over 1,000 days without a correction of 10 percent or more that's almost unheard of. Right now, the S&P has come down 7.4 percent from last month's record high close.

So, it looks like it is in the process of staging a correction. Pullbacks are not fun. They are scary, I know. But they are healthy for the market and in this case, long, long overdue.

They don't just go straight up. They have actually, for 1,000 days, stocks have basically gone straight up and now, they're going down.

BERMAN: But it was crazy yesterday.

ROMANS: It was bonkers as you like to say.

BERMAN: It was bonkers, yes.

ROMANS: It was really crazy. BERMAN: All right. Thirty-six minutes after the hour. I want to get an early look at weather with Chad Myers.

Hello, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.

By the way, back in 1985, I was in Omaha rooting for the Royals. So, it has been a long drought for me to see the Royals do anything good. Just so you know. I was out of college. Not in braces or in seventh grade, just to show my age.

Today, not a day to wear the rubber or the leather soled shoes. Maybe something I don't know what you want to wear in New York City today, something up to your hips, very heavy rainfall. Maybe some flash flooding on some of the streets around New York City. But other than that, this is going to go away rather quickly.

Also, what's going to go away was Gonzalo. That is that storm now, it was a category four hurricane yesterday, now down to category three. But it is going to make a run at Bermuda.

There's the heavy rainfall for New York, for Connecticut, all the way up into parts of Maine as well.

Seventy in D.C., 68 in Atlanta, 74 in Memphis for today. A chilly weekend, I'm calling this the pumpkin-picking weekend across the Northeast. In fact, the high in New York City by Sunday will only be 58.

Here is Gonzalo. What an impressive storm. Here is the U.S. back here. There's Bermuda right there. So, if you are heading there, delay a day or two because it is heading right toward the Bermuda Island.

And good night or good evening if you are still in Hawaii up watching us. We are still watching Ana. Ana did not develop, some good news. It is yet a hurricane, although it is forecast to get stronger and move toward the big island of Hawaii later on this weekend.

John, back to you.

BERMAN: Chad Myers, our thanks to you. Among your expanding powers, the ability to declare holidays like pumpkin-picking weekend in the Northeast. So, thank you.

MYERS: Yes, just call me Hallmark.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

All right. Coalition air strikes killing hundreds of ISIS fighters in Syria. The question is, will it be enough to keep Kobani from falling to ISIS. We're going to have a live report, in moments. ROMANS: And a bizarre start to a debate in Florida last night. Why

one candidates would not come on stage and this is all over an electric fan.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking news overnight in Hong Kong. The chief executive there opening the door to talks with protesters saying he hopes the government can meet with students who are demanding democratic reforms as early as next week. This comes after another tense confrontation with demonstrators and police in the Chinese-controlled city.

We want to Manisha Tank now live in Hong Kong.

What's the latest, Manisha?

MANISHA TANK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, we did have incidents overnight in particular a protester who kicked a bottle and hit a passenger car and police rushed in to do something about it. That prompted other protesters to congregate in the area and you saw a bit of a confrontation between them and police. The police use pepper spray for the second night to disperse to crowd.

But that was really an isolated incident. Otherwise, the protest that is going on today is the civil disobedience campaign that we have seen before. The people behind me, many of them intent of those that are staying here for the long haul. All of this, as you say, in light of the first media briefing we had from the chief executive C.Y. Leung. Since this video emerged of the dozen or so policemen beating an activist who had already being restrained. There is an investigation going into the alleged abuse.

But C.Y. Leung didn't speak too much about that. Many had hoped he might. He did field a question on it and said that procedure would be followed in the investigation. So far as those talks go, he said preparations are being made, intermediaries or middlemen as he calls them are talking to the student groups about establishing talks, preparing the talks that would have moderator involved and to discuss what's going to happen next.

But no sign, really, that he is going to change any of the policies. No sign that these students are going to get what it is they have been demonstrating for all this time. That is universal suffrage. That's what they wanted to see in that election in 2017. And right now, they will have one person, one vote.

But that's just for three candidates who will be, if you like, handpicked by Beijing. This is the problem that a lot of these protesters here, the pro-democracy campaigners have with the system right now, and it doesn't look as if that's' going to change.

That said, dialogue perhaps to some is a step in the right direction, but we've spoken to people here who say, even if the police come along to move them, they are not afraid -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Manisha Tank for us this morning in Hong Kong, thank you.

BERMAN: A tragic scene unfolding this morning in the Himalayas. A freak blizzard and an avalanche killed at least 20 people in Nepal, with up to 200 more missing and feared buried beneath the snow. This is the height of the October trekking season in central Nepal. Just six months ago, 16 Sherpa guides were killed in an avalanche on Mt. Everest.

We have new details this morning about the investigation into Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. This is interesting. The "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" spoke with one witness who says he testified before the grand jury. He says Officer Darren Wilson did not shoot until the unarmed teen turned toward him, that Brown's arms were out to his side, not high in the air, and that he staggered toward Wilson despite orders to stop. The grand jury is trying to decide if the officer should face criminal charges.

ROMANS: All right. The contentious governor's race in Florida got a little weird last night. During this debate, the Republican incumbent is Rick Scott and the Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist. They were set to face-off at Broward College.

But when the debate started, Scott refused to come on the stage because Crist had a small electric fan underneath his podium. Here's what one of the moderators told the audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MODERATOR: The Scott campaign say that there should be no fan. Somehow there is a fan there and for that reason, ladies and gentlemen, I am being told that Governor Scott -- will not join us for this debate.

(BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Scott finally did emerge seven minutes late. Crist kept the fan. The candidates then resumed attacks on each other, which has been the hallmark of this campaign. So, the fan, is that like pine tar on the bat? I don't get it.

BERMAN: Well, no, you have these debate guidelines going in, and apparently, fans were not included in the debate guidelines. Nevertheless, to not walk on the stage for seven minutes was odd, I think for all those watching.

All right. Forty-six minutes after the hour.

Oscar Pistorius is back in court, awaiting his sentence. Emotional testimony already and there is more expected any minute as the judge decides whether or not to send him to prison. We'll have the details, ahead.

(COMMERCIOAL BREAK) BERMAN: The second person infected with Ebola in the United States is being treated in Atlanta this morning. Twenty-nine-year-old nurse Amber Vinson was flown from Dallas to Emory University Hospital overnight. Now, Vinson is at the center of a bit of a controversy for taking a commercial flight from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday when she had a temperature of 99.5.

CDC Director Thomas Frieden says she should never have set foot on an airplane, but a federal official tells CNN that Vinson informed the CDC of her travel plans and was not told that she should not fly. Interesting.

ROMANS: Absolutely interesting.

All right. To the Oscar Pistorius story now. He is closer to learning his fate this morning. The prosecution pressing for the athlete to get prison time for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Meantime, emotional testimony on Wednesday as Steenkamp's cousin took the stand.

CNN's Diana Magnay is following this hearing and she has the latest for us from Pretoria.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The tears that we saw in Wednesday in court after the cousin of Reeva Steenkamp, Kim Martin, testified, are unlikely to be repeated today. Today, we are hearing far more about the conditions within South Africa's prison, specifically for people with special needs and disabled people like Oscar Pistorius himself. Of course, the defense's argument is that his disability, alongside the fact that he has shown very serious remorse and first- time offender should weigh against a lengthy prison sentence.

And now, it's the prosecutor's turn to bring witnesses who will argue that he should spend a considerable amount of time in jail. So, right now, we are hearing from the acting head of the correctional services authority who is listing all the specific ways that the needs of all inmates and the doctors, the fact that there are gyms, that there are psychological helpers. And in a way, it sounds almost perfect and as though those inmates who come out of the South African prison system are fully rehabilitated, functioning members of society. But studies prove that is not the case. That is the argument going on in court today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Diana Magnay, thank you, Diana.

Forensic evidence confirms that the body of a John Doe exhumed in Alabama is not one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives who was just profiled on the CNN show, "THE HUNT".

FBI officials believe the man who died in a hit and run crash in 1981 was William Bradford Bishop Jr., wanted for killing his mother, his wife and their children. But the FBI released a statement Wednesday saying the body is not Bishop.

BERMAN: All right. The Kansas City Royals. All the people of Kansas City rejoicing because they cannot lose. They completed a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles to win the American League Championship Series and advance to the World Series for the first time in 29 years.

Kansas City has not lost during this post-season. They are the first team to begin the playoffs, 8-0. Now, they will face the San Francisco Giants or the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Looking good for the Giants right now. They lead that series, 3-1. They beat the Cardinals last night. They can close out that series with a win in game five today.

ROMANS: All right. Fifty-three minutes past the hour.

This is a man of many showbiz talents. Now, Neil Patrick Harris has something to cross off his bucket list. He will host the Oscars. He was tapped to host the 87th Academy Awards in February. Ellen DeGeneres did it last year.

He is no stranger to awards shows. He emceed the Tony Awards four times, the Emmys twice to great reviews, by the way. He was already part of the awards season, having a supporting role in the Oscar- contending film "Gone Girl."

BERMAN: Yes, there was concern it would be a letdown after appearing on CNN earlier this year. He came on this hour. You can see.

And he's managed to salvage his career. For a lot of people, they just never come back after a high point like. This congratulations to Neil Patrick Harris.

ROMANS: Yes, he's great.

BERMAN: All right. Fifty-four minutes after the hour.

This is the announcement from HBO you have been waiting and waiting for. This could revolutionize -- that's the big word -- the television business. We have an EARLY START on your money, next.

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ROMANS: All right. Let's get an EARLY START on your money.

Is this the correction we have been waiting for? Well, a pause at least for now. European stocks are mixed. U.S. stocks barely, barely moving. Futures barely moving yesterday, though.

Look at that, the Dow plunged 460 points and bounced back, closing down 173. It's about 1 percent. What is wrong? Stalled growth in Europe. Slowing growth in China. And in the U.S., retail sales unexpectedly shrank last month. It was frenzied selling in stocks, and a rush into the safety of the bond market. The 10-year treasury yield below 2 percent for the first time since last year.

This morning, Netflix shares tumbling down 25 percent.

BERMAN: Wow.

ROMANS: A quarter of the value wiped out. Weak subscriber growth. Netflix added fewer new members in the third quarter than predicted. The company says a $1 a month price increase scared subscribers away. Netflix now has 53 million members worldwide. Expect that number to grow as it expands abroad.

Another worry for Netflix, HBO for cord cutters. Currently, HBO users can only subscribe through cable and satellite. But look at this, next year, HBO will roll out a stand alone service that only requires an Internet connection. That means users will be able to subscribe to HBO the same way they subscribe to Netflix.

I don't know how much it's going to cost. They're not saying. Not word. Netflix called the move "inevitable", saying both companies will benefit as consumers watch more TV online.

BERMAN: It's really interesting that it's happening.

ROMANS: It is.

BERMAN: There are about 10 million people in the world who have Internet, but not cable, and that's the primary target audience right now?

ROMANS: Most people still go through cable to watch all of this stuff. But there is a move to find new ways to appeal to those cord cutters as they are called.

BERMAN: Interesting to see.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.

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