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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

American Freed by North Koreans; Ebola Apology Tour; Home Grown Terror

Aired October 22, 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: Breaking news this morning: an American detained by North Korea for five months is finally on his way home. The surprising release is now fuelling hope for two other Americans being held in that country.

The hospital where the first Ebola patient in the United States die is apologizing for how it handled the situation admitting what they did there was wrong. We'll tell you how they plan on preventing it from ever happening again.

And homegrown terror concerns this morning. Three high school girls from Denver intercepted in Germany, heading to join ISIS fighters in Syria. So, how the teens were able to get out of the country and why? We'll tell you, coming up.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. Christine Romans is on assignment today.

It is Wednesday, October 22nd. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And we do have breaking news overnight: an American held by North Korea for five months is on his way home to Ohio. Jeffrey Fowle is due to arrive there in an American government plane within the next couple of hours. This is the answer to a plea that Fowle made in an interview with CNN, an interview that out of nowhere North Korean officials abruptly arranged last month.

Standing by live for us in Seoul, in South Korea, is CNN's Paula Hancocks with the very latest.

Good morning, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, John.

Well, it just could be a matter of hours now before Jeffrey Fowle is reunited with his family. Now, as you say, it was five months, almost six months that he was detained in North Korea. His crime, according to the North Korean authorities was that he had left a Bible in a seaman's club in the northern port city of Chongjin.

Now, this is seen as a very serious crime in North Korea. They do have some state-controlled churches, but they certainly do not condone any non-state sponsored religious activities. The Kim regime very nervous about Christianity and about any other religions that they don't control.

Now, certainly what we have seen is something quite sudden and quite surprising. It effectively seen as though Pyongyang said, we're releasing him so come get him. So, Washington sent a Department of Defense plane over to Pyongyang. We saw it sitting on the tarmac, something you don't often see in Pyongyang, a U.S. plane sitting there.

And he was taken to Guam where the State Department says that he did undergo some evaluation and Fowle to be in good health. But they did also point out that he has been a prisoner in North Korea. Now, he's likely to go through a debrief when he gets to the United States probably when he's been reunited with his family.

But it is certainly an interesting development. North Korea had been insisting that they wanted a high-level delegation to come and talk about these three U.S. citizens they have in detention. Like we've seen in the past, ex-presidents, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton have secured the release of previous citizens.

As far as we know, that didn't happen with Jeffrey Fowle, but there are still two U.S. citizens in detention -- John.

BERMAN: And, Paula, any indication why Jeffrey Fowle and not the other two citizens as you say, still being held in North Korea?

HANCOCKS: I was talking to a couple of North Korean observers who watched the country for many years about this and they said basically because maybe his crime was seen as a lesser crime in North Korea. Kenneth Bae has been sentenced to 15 years hard labor. He's already spent almost two years in the country.

His crime, former missionary is considered to be more grave, at least in the eyes of North Korea. So, maybe that was the case. He hadn't gone to court yet. He hadn't had his day in court, Jeffrey Fowle. So, it was easier for him to be released. Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae had both been sentenced, both been found guilty, so their negotiations will, of course, be trickier -- John.

BERMAN: Well, you know, our congratulations to Jeffrey Fowle and his family. And, of course, we continue to think of the families of the two other men still being held in North Korea.

Paula Hancocks in Seoul for us, thanks so much.

We do have some Ebola news this morning.

Two airline passengers who arrived in United States are under close watch this morning in Chicago. Officials say they are both Liberians. They arrived on separate planes, both vomited during their flights, neither, though, had a fever. They and their traveling companions are being isolated and screened at Chicago area hospitals right now.

Another Liberian individual landed at Newark with a fever. The CDC says he was isolated and being screened at a local hospital out here. And according to the Department of Homeland Security Web site, as of

Sunday, Washington Dulles had also referred four people to a medical facility for Ebola screening.

The administration announced Tuesday it is tightening the net on these airport screenings. It has ordered all passengers entering the U.S. from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to come through come into the U.S. through one of five airports. You can see it on the map right here. They're the ones doing enhanced Ebola screening. In addition to Chicago, in Newark there, in New York's JFK, Washington Dulles and Atlanta.

In New York City, thousands of workers at health facilities, from doctors to janitors, filled the convention center for a demonstration of the latest protocols for preventing Ebola transmission.

They did bring some good news. Freelance NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo who caught the disease tweeted that he's been officially declared Ebola-free. He added, "Feeling so blessed. I'm very happy to be alive."

This, of course, is all what awaits the new Ebola czar Ron Klain. Today is his first day on the job.

At the NIH in Maryland, the condition of a Texas nurse who has Ebola has been upgraded from fair to good. Nina Pham cared for Thomas Eric Duncan who was the Liberian Ebola patient who died in Dallas.

Texas Governor Rick Perry announced Wednesday that a now state-of-the- art Ebola treatment and bio containment facility will be built in North Texas. The governor also said that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital where Pham and another nurse were infected and where Duncan died, that hospital will no longer treat Ebola patients.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more now from Dallas and what officials are doing there and on the apology.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, officials with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital have been on a campaign apologizing for the way it handled the case of Thomas Eric Duncan. We sat down with the chief clinical officer, Dr. Daniel Varga, to dig deeper into just exactly went wrong.

Do you think this is also a case of Ebola had been in the news for the last six months or so, it is a deadly disease, trekked halfway around the world. Was there a sense with the health care workers that it wasn't really anything that was going to show up at our doorstep?

DR. DANIEL VARGA, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, TEXAS HEALTH PRESBYTERIAN: You know, I think that friend of mine awareness is hard to capture in the absence of real presence. I will tell you, we were worried up front about Ebola. As I think anyone else, we looked, you know, starting in August and moving forward. But in the absence of Ebola showing up in August, Ebola showing up in early September, et cetera, it does become sort of isolated.

LAVANDERA: Let your guard down?

VARGA: Yes, I think you let your guard down a little bit on that.

LAVANDERA: We asked Dr. Varga where exactly was this breakdown in communication. He said that one of the nurses that treated Thomas Eric Duncan wrote down in his health record that he, quote, "had came from Africa." But at the same time, one of the physicians treating him wrote down that he was a local resident, that was showing no signs of vomiting, diarrhea or nausea, and that he hadn't been around sick persons.

Clearly, two very different versions of the story that were never reconciled and led to the misdiagnosis. And Dr. Varga also says that the hospital didn't prepare adequately, that there was never any simulation or training drills that would prepare the health care workers on how to handle an Ebola patient that just walked in off the street and into their emergency room -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Ed Lavandera in Dallas.

New this morning, identifying the biggest threats to U.S. security. The former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olsen, told our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto that the Khorasan group and al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula posed the biggest threat to the U.S. But he said so-called lone wolf attacks such as the Boston marathon bombings are more likely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT OLSEN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER: I would say the most likely type of attack is one of these homegrown violent extremists, or, you know, lone offenders in the United States perhaps. And the rise of ISIS and the number of people going to Syria, whether to fight with ISIS or just fighting just in the conflict there against Assad. The likelihood, I think, does go up because of the number of people who are there who have gained some degree of training and radicalization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Olsen says the U.S. lost track of terrorists after Edward Snowden's NSA leaks. He said Snowden's revelations changed the way terrorists communicate, causing them to go further underground and making them much more difficult to track.

Breaking overnight, new details concerning Michael Brown's autopsy. "The St. Louis Post Dispatch" said reports found that Brown had marijuana in his system and that a wound to his hand as a result of a shot from close range. Now, this could support police Officer Darren Wilson's of a struggle outside of his police cruiser before the fatal shooting. Officials in Ferguson are bracing for more protests to mark a national

day of protests to stop police brutality. A grand jury decision on whether to indict Officer Wilson in the Brown shooting is expected soon.

A suspected serial killer makes his first court appearance in Gary, Indiana, this morning. Police say 43-year-old Darren Vann has confessed to killing seven women after he was arrested this weekend. He led the officers to the victims' bodies in several abandoned buildings. Not much is known about his man, he's been in prison twice on felony convictions, including one for aggravated rape.

This morning, the world of journalism, not to mention fans of accountable everywhere, are mourning a loss of a giant. Ben Bradlee, the legendary "Washington Post" editor has died. He was "The Post" editor from 1968 to 1991, overseeing the paper's groundbreaking coverage of the Watergate scandal, that reporting, of course, led by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, changed history.

It also really changed journalism forever. They did make a movie about it, "All The President's Men." Bradlee had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. He was 93. A huge loss.

Let's get an early look at our weather now with Chad Myers -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good early morning. Kind of a wet mess across the Northeast today, a windy storm, a coastal low going to run off and affect New England, parts of New York, and New Jersey, all along the coastal states, you're going to see either rain showers or heavy wind and certainly, with that wind, we could see some airport delays today.

Heavy wind coming on shore in the Pacific Northwest as well. In the next week, the Pacific Northwest could pick up a foot of rain in some of the higher elevations, six inches in the lower evaluations. So, that could cause flash flooding and mudslides.

Fifty-eight today in New York City, 61 in D.C., and 68 in Atlanta. A little bit better as the storm pulls a little bit to the Northeast tomorrow. Still affecting Maine into Newfoundland into Nova Scotia, all of Atlantic Canada, getting this heavy rain and wind event, and it will still be a bit windy New York City even if you're flying home. Otherwise, showers to the Midwest. And there's the heavy rain. One storm after another for that Pacific Northwest area.

Guys, back to you.

BERMAN: Thanks to Chad Myers.

That's a look at the weather. Let's get an early look at your money now. Alison Kosik here with that.

Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's looking like a walk in the park this week if you compare this week so far to what happened last --

BERMAN: It's a low bar, a low bar.

KOSIK: It really is.

A pretty good for stocks so far. We're looking at European stocks, sitting mostly higher at the moment. There's a lot of speculation continuing to swirl that the European Central Bank is going to go ahead and actually boost its stimulus measures.

We're also watching Asian shares. They are mostly higher as well.

U.S. stock futures, they're down slightly, but, hey, come on, stocks had a huge day. The Dow climbed 217 points or 1.3 percent. The S&P 500, that rose 2 percent. And the NASDAQ had its best day of the year, surging 2.4 percent.

You know, it's really been a rocky month. But yesterday's climb, that erased a really good portion of October's losses. So, all the craziness from last week may soon be erased.

That put the Dow back in positive territory for the year. The S&P 500 is up 5 percent for the year. The NASDAQ up almost 6 percent. So, you know, it's funny to go through all that craziness and, you know what, we're all sitting kind of pretty if we look at our 401(k)s.

BERMAN: Yes, until this week, with the rate we're going. Alison Kosik, great to have you. Thanks so much.

ISIS militants releasing a new video of what they say is American weapons, food and medical supplies that they now have in possession, after a botched American air drop. We're going to take you live to the region.

And homegrown terror -- why three American girls, teenagers, fled the United States in an attempt to join ISIS in Syria. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New video this morning of what appears to be U.S. supplies captured by ISIS. This video which is on the Internet claims to show weapons and ammunition, including hand grenades and rockets on the ground dropped from U.S. planes. This would be meant for Kurdish forces.

We will check in with our Nick Paton Walsh who is on the ground there when we can. But this is a development that gets in the way with what the United States is trying to do to keep ISIS from capturing Kobani. The United States had been air dropping supplies, including medical supplies, food and weapons to Kurdish fighters there. If these supplies fall into ISIS hands, that does complicate matters, to say the least. Again, we'll check in on the ground there in just a little bit.

Homegrown terror concerns on several fronts this morning. Three high school girls from Denver are back home now after leaving the country to join ISIS in Syria. The teens were stopped in Germany, before they could board a flight for Turkey, because they believe they had would walk over the border into Syria. Agents are combing through e-mail to see who, if anyone, recruited these girls, their age is 15, 16 and 17. They allegedly stole money from their parents to finance the trip.

In other news -- in Canada, police shot and killed a25-year-old who ran over two soldiers with a car. One of those soldiers is dead. Authorities say the suspect may have been radicalized and he was on their radar.

And a newly released video shows a 17-year-old Australian teenager alongside ISIS fighters in Syria threatening to behead Western leaders.

The arraignment is now delayed for White House fence jumper Omar Gonzalez. The judge wanted a homeless Iraq war vet to undergo a mental health evaluation for 40 days before deciding whether he is fit to stand trial. Last month, Gonzalez sprinted across the White House lawn and ran into the executive mansion with a knife in his pocket. The judge told the court that Gonzalez has served this country well and still deserves our respect.

All right. Some shocking new pictures and sound from the Palin family brawl. This is not a reality show, folks. It is actual television news. The former Alaska governor's oldest daughter telling police how she and her younger sister were physically assaulted at a party and she used a lot of four-letter words in that description. Hear it for yourself. Well, hear the bleeps for yourself, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. Get ready -- this morning, we have new pictures and audio recordings released by anchorage police from a September brawl involving Sarah Palin's family. The fight reportedly broke out at a birthday party for Todd Palin. Listen to a taped interview from the scene between police and Bristol Palin.

Now, we have bleeped out some of the language because, you know, we had to, as she offers her version of events.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BRISTOL PALIN: Some lady with gray hair who wants to push my little --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

PALIN: -- my 20-year-old sister, I'm going to defend my sister.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a guy came out of nowhere and pushed you on the ground.

PALIN: A guy comes out of nowhere and pushes me on the ground, takes me by feet and my dress, and my thong dress in front of everybody. Come you (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Come on you (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I don't know this guy. I've never seen this guy in my life. (END AUDIO CLIP)

BERMAN: We should say that no charges have been filed in connection with this fight. Other witness interviewed by police say the Palins instigated the altercation. It's over. No charges. She sounded awfully upset.

It was billed as fangate 2. But no small appliances factored into this debate between Florida's incumbent governor, Rick Scott, and past governor, Democratic challenger Charlie Crist. It was just flat out nasty and personal however. It's their final faceoff before the election. The two shook hands and then came out swinging.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: I know what it's like to watch a parent lose the only family car we had. So, I know what people -- I watched my parents struggle when my brother couldn't get health care. So, Charlie, I didn't grow up with money like you did. You grew up with plenty of money.

CHARLIE CRIST (D), FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When I was a little kid, we lived in a small apartment in Atlanta when my dad was going to medical school, and he used to deliver newspapers to make ends meet. So, you don't know me, and you can't tell my story. And I'm not going to tell yours. But I know you're worth about $100 million or $200 million today. And, you know, God bless you for that wealth, Rick, but the way you got it was pretty unsavory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The only winner in that debate was the moderator. CNN's Jake Tapper did a terrific job.

Money is a terrible thing to waste. And so, as he does each year, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has unveiled his wastebook. This was "Wastebook 2014", outlining the most egregious examples of federal government spending. This year's low lights include $6.4 million for the border patrol to build homes for temporary works, $300,000 for synchronized swimming for sea monkeys, and $1.5 million spent to monitor attendance at science festivals.

All right. The San Francisco Giants, they did wrong last night -- they did wrong by winning, upsetting America. They drew first blood in the World Series. They beat the Royals 7-1. They jumped out all over the Royals, scoring three runs on the first inning, two on a home run by Hunter Pence, not shown here.

The Giants' ace Madison Bumgarner was outstanding. He held the Royals to three hits and one run over the seven innings. It was the first run this guy's ever given up in the World Series. And this is his third World Series appearance. He's just flat out good.

This is Kansas City's first loss in the post-season. They won eight straight to kick off the playoffs.

Game two is tonight in Kansas City.

Twenty-five minutes after the hour. We are awaiting the arrival of an American back on U.S. soil after months of being held behind bars in North Korea, released from captivity in North Korea. Why the sudden change of heart by the regime there? We will have the latest.

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