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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Ebola Crisis: In the Clear; Hannah Graham Case: Waiting for Answers; Anger in Ferguson

Aired October 20, 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: Breaking overnight: dozens of people in the clear as those in contact with the now deceased first Ebola patient in the U.S. are told they are no longer at risk of contracting the disease.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hannah Graham's family waits for answers this morning as police hopes the discovery this weekend could be the closure they have been searching for.

ROMANS: Anger and mistrust building again in Ferguson as shocking forensic details are released in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Breaking overnight: dozens of people forced into quarantine after coming in contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, they are getting the all clear this morning. Forty-eight of them declared infection free. They can end their seclusion today. It is after 21 days.

Now, Duncan's loved ones remembering him in a service in North Carolina on Saturday. While on Sunday, cruise ship passengers who endured an Ebola scare disembarked in Galveston. A fellow passenger, who is a lab supervisor at a Dallas hospital where Duncan was treated and later died, voluntarily isolated herself on board.

BERMAN: European foreign ministers meet today to discuss ramping up the European Union response to Ebola. British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for the E.U. to put $1.3 billion in 2,000 aid workers into the fight against the deadly disease.

Some good news this morning, from Spain, the nurse's aid Teresa Romero Ramos, who had Ebola, was cleared on Sunday. Cleared of having the disease. She tested negative for having Ebola. CNN was able to follow the samples through Spain's testing lab.

Nic Robertson is live from Madrid with more on this.

Good morning, Nic.

NICK ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

We were at the lab yesterday, which is the equivalent to Spain's CDC. Officials there told us that were expecting Teresa Romero's results to come back negative. That is clear from Ebola. That's what they found. Several hours after we watched the samples come in to the laboratory, she got the all clear. She will get a second round of tests in about 72 hours, but those also expected to come back negative.

She won't be able to leave the hospital yet because she has had a chest infection and difficulty breathing. That condition is improving. What we understand at the moment is the likely some monitoring of that and just make sure she recovers from that byproduct, if you will, of contracting the Ebola virus. There are still 86 people here in Spain under monitoring, 16 of them in the hospital behind me here, three more in hospital elsewhere, the rest under observation at home.

Most of those will likely get the all clear in about a week's time if they don't show any Ebola-like symptoms. At the moment, good news for Spanish officials, but still some people being monitored. At the moment, Spain does appear to be Ebola free, John.

BERMAN: That is a very positive development. Although, obviously, there's still some trepidation as we wait for the next week, all these other people remaining in isolated, but our thanks to you for that report.

ROMANS: All right. The Obama administration's response to the Ebola crisis is under fire this morning. Congressional Republicans attacking both the president's choice of the Ebola czar and his resistant to a ban on travel from West Africa.

CNN's Erin McPike has more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, despite the fact the administration is stepping up the efforts on Ebola, they're still getting growing criticism on two fronts. The first is their choice of Ron Klain as the so-called Ebola czar. Republicans say he is a political pick because he has no experience in public health. The second is that there are growing calls for a travel ban, something that the White House has largely dismissed.

Listen here to Republican Senator Ted Cruz on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" on Sunday making that case.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: The first argument about the screen doesn't make since because they don't work during the 21-day incubation period. And the second argument that they make is they say a travel ban would prevent health care relief workers from arriving in West Africa.

No one is talking about banning flights into West Africa. Of course, physicians and nurses and health care workers should be allowed to go in there and we can send them on charter flights or military C-130 aircraft with appropriate safety precautions. That's very different from saying commercial airliners should fly day after day after day with hundreds of passengers connecting with thousands of passengers coming from around the country. The arguments they are giving don't make sense.

MCPIKE: The administration has mostly shut the door on the travel ban because they say people who are potentially affected in West Africa could still get to the United States by evading screenings after sneaking into other countries.

So, what the administration has done after a series of high-level meeting this weekend is convening a military, quote, "quick strike team" that's going to be made of five doctors, 20 nurses and five trainers who are available to deploy anywhere in the United States within about 72 hours of the suspected Ebola case so that they can treat it and help hospitals deal with that case -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Erin McPike, thank you for that.

Now, scammers cashing in on growing Ebola fears, products claiming to prevent or cure Ebola have started pumping up. No surprise. This is part of an unfortunate trend. When a disaster happens, con artists prey on people's emotions. The FDA asking everyone to remember, there is no cure for Ebola. So, a product that claims otherwise is a scam.

The Better Business Bureau is warning of fund-raisers. Several donation pages have surfaced falsely to raise funds for victims and scammers have even started telephone campaigns pretending to be from legitimate organizations. Be careful out there.

Time for an early start on your money this morning. U.S. stock futures pointing higher signaling potentially good start to the week after last week's wild performance. The Dow had the second best day of the year on Friday, but finished down about 1 percent.

BERMAN: All right. Positive identification could come as early as today on human remains found over the weekend. Police suspect could be 18-year-old Hannah Graham. The University of Virginia student vanished five weeks ago. After the remains were located, the search for Hannah became a death investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TIM LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Detective Sergeant James Mooney and the Charlottesville Police Department made a difficult phone call and reached out to John and Susan Graham to share with them this preliminary discovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The remains were found on an abandoned property near Charlottesville. Authorities hope it gives Hannah's family some relief. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We stayed positive, stayed upbeat. You know, we were here for a mission, and that mission was to bring closure. We are hoping that that's what we have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Closure is a better word perhaps that relief in this case. Thirty-two-year-old Jesse Matthew Jr. is in custody, charged in connection with Hannah Graham's disappearance.

He has also been linked to the murder of Virginia Tech student in 2009.

ROMANS: The president of New Hampshire's Keene College says any student involved in turning the city's annual pumpkin festival into chaos will be held responsible for their actions. Officials say rowdy crowds threw bottles and rocks. They set fires and overturned cars. Police in riot gear responded with tear gas and pepper spray.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got hit. It was a Jack Daniels bottle across the face. Yes, I was in the health center for a little bit, but I left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys just came in with shields, started, I don't know, tear gassing me. It's crazy. Crazy stuff, real, real crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's ridiculous. It's not pumpkin fest. I'm Rhode Island. This is supposed to be a fun weekend but it's stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: At least 30 people were injured. Thirty people injured. Police reportedly made dozens of arrests. Some of the Keene college students blame the unrest on out-of-towners.

BERMAN: All right. NFL history overnight. Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning broke a record surpassing Brett Favre to become the NFL's all-time leader in touchdown passes. That eight-yard TD pass was his 509th. That went to Demaryius Thomas in the second quarter. He threw for four touchdown passes on the night. Denver just beat the heck out of the 49ers, 42-17.

ROMANS: Turns out that guy is good at playing football.

BERMAN: You saw John Elway watching from above. He also knows a little something of football.

ROMANS: A little bit of story last night.

BERMAN: Indeed.

ROMANS: All right. Tom Sater has an EARLY START on your forecast right now.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine. The seasons are changing. But take a look at these colors. In dark blue, these are frost advisories from the beautiful Shenandoah down in the Appalachian chain.

But I want to point out the light blue, freeze warnings. Which means the growing season has now come to an end. We're always seeing these issued for the first hard freeze. If you have a tender plant that you'd like to try to save for a couple more days or weeks, you've got about an hour to get it covered. But it's always coldest just before sunrise.

So, yes, things are changing. We've got a series of fronts that are going to be passing through, not so much west to east, but they're dropping from Canada, which will reinforce the cooler air and really let everyone know if there was a doubt that fall is here. A nice bubble of warmth in the Midwest and Southern Plains. High pressure on one coast. A disturbance in western Texas with smattering of some showers.

But here are temperatures. Look at the highs in the Great Lakes, low 60s. Upper 50s in New England, 70s down to the South, even some 80s in the Southern Plains, and a smattering of some 60s. We do have some high surf in the Pacific Northwest with the next cold front moving in.

But that's what we're watching. That is the story, more than just frost on the pumpkins. It's everywhere in the east. We'll keep you posted on the day's events as they unfold.

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to you, Tom. Take care of the tender plants.

ROMANS: Always cold just before sunrise. I didn't know that.

BERMAN: Yes, bleak.

All right. Thirty-nine minutes after the hour.

Coming up, fury in Ferguson as new details emerge about blood found on Officer Wilson's gun.

ROMANS: And Nigeria says it has negotiated with Boko Haram. More than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls will be set free. All the details straight ahead.

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ROMANS: Frustration and anger building in Ferguson, Missouri. According to "The New York Times", Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson has told investigators he feared for his life when he shot and killed Michael Brown. New details about forensic evidence in the case seem to support his story.

We get more this morning from Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, good morning. Tensions remain high in Ferguson as people wait for the grand jury decision on whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson.

Also, people are reacting to this weekend's reporting. "The New York Times" reports that Mike Brown's blood was found on the gun of Officer Darren Wilson. Also, blood was on Officer Wilson's uniform and on the inside panel of Officer Wilson's police vehicle.

Also, "The New York Times" reporting that Officer Wilson actually testified in front of the grand jury, basically giving the opportunity to tell his side of the story. And his side of the story is that Mike Brown was the aggressor, especially in the early meeting between the two. That Mike Brown pinned Wilson into the vehicle and Officer Wilson also saying that Mike Brown punched him, scratched him and went for his gun, which could have potentially put his life in danger.

Now, people here on the ground, in Ferguson, specifically, people in his neighborhood, after the weekend. In fact, over the weekend, we were talking to them at the memorial for Mike Brown. They are skeptical. In fact, they've lost faith in the system. They believe that there's a very good chance there won't be an indictment because the investigation is being done in secret with the grand jury.

They are concerned of what will happen if there is no indictment not only in their neighborhood, in their city, but in cities across the country. The grand jury is still investigating. We do expect according to the St. Louis County prosecutor, a decision one way or another some time between now and the middle of November -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Ted Rowlands for that report.

Forty-five minutes after the hour.

The government of Nigeria claims it has a cease-fire deal with the Islamist terror group Boko Haram that includes an agreement to release more than 200 kidnapped school girls. Nigerian officials expect the girls to be freed after the meeting in Chad this week. No confirmation of any agreement has come from Boko Haram. In fact, the group launched attacks on two Nigerian villages after the cease-fire was allegedly signed.

ROMANS: The trial of a London man in a terror plot resumes today. Erol Incendal is accused of planning either an attack on a prominent person or an assault similar to the 2008 Mumbai attack which left 174 people dead. We are told the 26-year-old had the address of a property belonging to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and had a phone containing material support from the Islamic State. Incendal denies these allegations.

BERMAN: On Mars this morning, they are breathing a sigh of relief. After the comet Siding Spring buzzed the Red Planet, that NASA says is the closest fly-by ever recorded. The comet got within 87,000 miles of Mars in near miss. That may not seen close to you, but it was enough for NASA to hide the rover and orbiters on the other side of the planet.

Run away, Rover.

ROMANS: Hide your rover.

All right. Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Dozens killed over the weekend in the surge of violence in Baghdad. Who's responsible for this bloodshed? We are live from Baghdad with the latest.

BERMAN: Pushing the enemy back. U.S. airstrikes reinforcing the fight for Kobani. But will it be enough to keep ISIS from a major land grab. We are live, coming up.

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BERMAN: A new surge of violence in Baghdad. A series of bombs killing dozens over the past few days.

The most recent attack happened at a Shia mosque, killing at least 21 people.

Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman following these latest developments from Baghdad.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

This happened yesterday evening. Man with an explosive belt went into a mosque in northeast Baghdad, blew himself up with worshippers inside killing at least 21 people and wounding 25 others. This really fits the pattern that we have seen here for weeks now. Much of the focus of the world has been on the perimeters of Baghdad, with small numbers of ISIS operating around that defensive perimeter.

The residents of the city of 9 million people, a sprawling city, is the problem of these car bombs that go off every single day, and these suicide bombers as well. If you drive around the city, you do see a lot of security, but clearly, people are getting through. It's not all together clear if all of the bombings are from ISIS, although it has claimed responsibility for many. But it could be that these are other groups that are also opposed to the government in Baghdad, including loyalists to the former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Ben Wedeman in Baghdad, where the violence never seems to stop completely. Our thanks to you.

WEDEMAN: All right. Relentless U.S. air strikes keeping ISIS forces from overrunning the city of Kobani. Dozens of ISIS troops reportedly killed over the weekend. The American air support helping Kurdish fighters on the ground pushed the enemy back. Meanwhile, the U.S. cargo planes are delivering desperately needed weapons and medical supplies to resupply those Kurdish soldiers in the last-ditch attempt to keep the critical Northern Syrian town from falling.

BERMAN: A new weekend of violent clashes between pro-democracy protesters and police in Hong Kong demonstrators seized back control of the city's busy Mong Kok district, after losing a day earlier, at least 240 people were injured in the violence, including 18 police officers, 33 others were arrested. The two-hour meeting with the two sides is set for Tuesday. It is expected the meeting will be broadcast live.

ROMANS: We may learn as early as tomorrow what Oscar Pistorius' fate will be. Prosecutors are pushing for the athlete to be locked up for 10 years for shooting and killing Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year. Meantime, the defense argues he should not do time behind bars and he should be sentenced to community service instead.

Get ready for the Jodi Arias take two. Her resentencing retrial in Arizona gets under way today. Up first, an evidentiary hearing. Opening statements are set for Tuesday. A jury convicted Arias last year of murdering Travis Alexander, her former boyfriend back in 2008. But the jury was deadlocked in whether Arias should received the death penalty.

All right. Two mortgage giants planning to loosen lending standards. A good thing or bad thing? We're going to get an EARLY START on your money, next.

BERMAN: I feel like it's a trick question.

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ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning. Asian stocks higher on their day. Japan's benchmark Nikkei rallied 4 percent. European stocks, they're not following the lead so far. They're down slightly right now in Europe. But U.S. stock futures are higher after a very crazy week last week.

The Dow rose 263 points on Friday. That was the second best day of the year for the Dow. But for the week, it was down about 1 percent in a week of really big swings. Corporate data out this week. We're going to need strong numbers to send stocks higher, a lot of earnings report today, including Apple.

Two mortgage giants could soon loosen lending standards. According to "The Wall Street Journal", Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and private lenders are near a deal to lower restrictions on borrowers with weak credit. They're also considering programs to offer mortgages as down payments as little as 3 percent. Yes. That was not such a great idea the first time around.

After the financial crisis in 2008, lending standards became much tighter and made it harder to qualify for mortgages. The deal later this week could raise concerns about, of course, repeating mistakes that led to the housing collapse. Watch this space.

Apple Pay is here. The new mobile payment system let's shoppers buy items at more than 220,000 stores using an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. The Apple is partnering with most major banks and three major credit card networks, plus major retailers like McDonald's, Macy's and Whole Foods.

So, does this mean the end to the traditional wallet? Not yet at least. Many like Walmart are not on board yet and other mobile payment platforms haven't gained much traction. But Apple Pay is here.

BERMAN: Interesting. I don't know if I want to use it. I have my phone and I have my wallet. I don't think it is that big a deal.

ROMANS: Do you have money in your pocket? That's what I want to know. Do you carry money?

BERMAN: Not right now. Do you need some?

I can go back to my office.

ROMANS: Do you carry money still?

BERMAN: Very rarely.

ROMANS: I don't have any money.

BERMNA: I don't know what you need, why are you asking for.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.