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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New York Doctor Diagnosed with Ebola; Man Attacks NYPD Officers with Hatchet; Ottawa Shooter's Criminal Past

Aired October 24, 2014 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: Ebola now confirmed in New York City. A doctor in isolation this morning three others quarantined including this doctor's fiancee. Questions about extensive movements hours before his diagnosis.

A vicious attack on New York police. Why officials feel the unprovoked hatchet attack might be terror-related.

And a hero's welcome for the man who is credited with stopping what could have been even more bloodshed inside Canada's parliament. Plus, the disturbing details of the gunman's checkered past and possible ties to terrorism.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. A lot going on. I'm John Berman. Christine Romans is on assignment this morning. Twenty-nine minutes past the hour.

The breaking news overnight: Ebola in New York. An American doctor who volunteered for Doctors Without Borders in Guinea is in a New York hospital this morning with Ebola.

Dr. Craig Spencer received a positive test for the virus Thursday night. That was after he was rushed by ambulance from his New York apartment into isolation at Bellevue, a hospital in Manhattan.

Officials are now tracing his fairly extensive movements in the hours before the diagnosis. Out in public in a bowling alley, a park, a restaurant, the subway, a taxi. Public officials held a news conference overnight in an effort to allay fears and to highlight what they describe as New York's world class public health system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: We want to state at the outset, there is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed. New Yorkers who have not been exposed to an infected person's bodily fluids are not at all at risk.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We have had a full, coordinated effort that has been working literally night and day coordinating city, state, and federal resources. Coordinating and drilling from airports to transportations to subway stations to ambulances to hospitals. So we are as ready as one could be for this circumstance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN's Miguel Marquez is at Spencer's apartment building with more on the public health response and the reaction from his neighbors.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, this is the apartment of Dr. Craig Spencer. Now they've sealed off that apartment and we don't expect anybody to enter that, and certainly nobody to exit it until health officials get in there and figure out they need to either sanitize anything or they need anything else from that apartment, either for the doctor or to destroy it.

Also in this neighborhood throughout the day, health workers doing two things, one, informing residents here both in Spanish and English how exactly one -- how exactly it is that one gets Ebola, what you have to be concerned with. The other thing they're doing was taking down information from anyone who may have come in contact with Dr. Spencer.

I can tell you, folks up and down this neighborhood, you show them the picture, they know the guy very quickly. But health officials want to know if there was any heavier contact with the doctor in any individuals in this neighborhood because now that there's that positive result, they may need to be in contact with some folks just to make sure that they are doing OK.

Folks in the neighborhood, for much of the day, didn't seem to care very much that this was going on. Once that positive result came back, though, police presence went up just a bit. More people starting to gather around here, taking pictures of the buildings, expressing concern, in some cases shocked that Ebola had come to their backyard, to their doorstep.

People in the building now saying that they're going to take more precautions, be a little more aware of their own health and if there's anything they can do to prevent getting this disease -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Miguel. Thanks to you.

Now there are some questions this morning after pictures you may have seen just a few image was those in Miguel's piece right there. These are taken near Spencer's apartment in Harlem. These are officers apparently disposing of some kind of protective equipment, gloves, possibly police tape in open air trash receptacles.

We don't know the full context of these pictures but as I've said people are asking questions about that this morning.

I want you to stay with CNN. An important interview coming up at about 7:30 Eastern Time. Governor Andrew Cuomo will be on "NEW DAY" to talk about the response in New York to Ebola.

Ebola also making its first appearance in a new different Africa nation. A confirmed case in a 2-year-old girl in Mali. The World Health Organization says she was brought there from neighboring Guinea after her father died. She is now in the hospital.

In Spain, five people who are being monitored for possible exposure to Ebola are out of a Madrid hospital. A hospital source says they include a doctor, a cleaning lady, two beauty salon workers and a friend of Ebola survivor Teresa Romero Ramos. More people are expected to be released in the coming days.

And a team from China heading to another Ebola hot spot. Fifteen specialists from China are expected to arrive in Liberia today to help build and operate Ebola treatment centers there. And the European Union is increasing its, A, to help West Africa. Those West African nations, fight Ebola. They're increasing the aid by $388 million. That puts the total aid package now to $1.2 billion.

Thirty-four minutes after the hour right now. And a huge new concern for New York police this morning. A new terror fears. Major questions about an attack on a group of officers by a man with a hatchet. This surveillance video shows the man charging police with the weapon. Two officers were struck, one of the officers is in critical condition this morning. He was hit in the head. The other officer with them shot and killed the attacker. Police now investigating any possible links to terrorism. And they have been on high alert for so-called lone wolf attacks.

Let's get more now from CNN senior national security correspondent Jim Sciutto.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This was a brazen attack in broad daylight on the streets of Queens, New York, in New York City. Four police officers, New York City police officers walking on the street. They had paused to take a photograph when this man came out, swinging a hatchet and attacked them. One of them hit in the arm, he was injured. Another man it in the back of the head, he is critically injured.

We're now learning new details about the attacker, identified by police as Zale Thompson, 32 years old. He had a criminal record in California, we're told. He was also discharged from the Navy for misconduct. But what is truly concerning police at this point is that they looked at his social media, his Facebook posts, postings on YouTube, and they found signals there that make them believe this is possibly tied to recent calls by extremist groups to attack members of law enforcement, soldiers, like those attacks we saw on Canada earlier this week.

And to demonstrate their concern, New York City Police have issued a bulletin to all police officers there now, saying that they should a heightened level of awareness against random attacks like this one. This is a kind of attack that intelligence officials here have been told me -- telling me that they have been concerned for some time that this might happen.

And of course, the problem is they're very difficult to prevent because they are lone wolf attacks. The attacker may not tell anybody else that he is planning it. And as you saw here, just a hatchet that's the only weapon he had enough to attack, as we saw in Canada, the shooting on Wednesday had gun.

But earlier in the week, it was a car, one of the attackers using a car to attack a Canadian soldier. Tremendous alert here in the U.S. for these kinds of attacks, as we saw in Canada as well -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Jim, our thanks to you.

And this morning we are learning much more about the gunman in Ottawa who shot a soldier in the capital there Wednesday and was then killed himself by a security officer. Thirty-two-year-old Michael Zehaf- Bibeau had a long record of charges for petty crimes. He once told a court-appointed psychiatrist that he wanted to go to prison believing it was the only way to break his addiction to crack.

CNN's Ana Cabrera is in Ottawa with more now on this shooter's past -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, there has been a steady stream of people coming here to the National War Memorial, to pay tribute and to honor the life of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, the young soldier, just 24-years-old, who was shot and killed here on Wednesday.

And now we're learning more about the man who killed Cirillo. He has been identified by Canadian authorities as Michael Zehaf- Bibeau. He's an Islamic convert, we've learned. We now know he had online interactions with Islamic jihadists.

But apparently he had a low profile. He does have a criminal record involving drugs and violence and authorities had some suspicions about him, but he was not being investigated as someone who was a high risk. He was not among the 90 people classified as an important threat.

Now Canadian investigators say he came to Ottawa on October 2nd. He was in the process of applying for a passport and had possible plans to go to Syria.

What prompted Wednesday's attack is unclear. But we learn he fired at least two shots at Cirillo, hitting him in the back. He then got in his car and he drove to the parliament building.

We got a chance to see firsthand where he apparently burst through the doors. He ran right down the Hall of Honor, right next to where members of parliament, even the prime minister, were caucusing. Gun shots rang out. He eventually he stopped at the end of a hallway. And he hid in an alcove right behind an arch near the library.

And that's when we're told the sergeant-at-arms, Kevin Vickers, reportedly grabbed a gun from his office, which is just around the corner, and then he crawled along the wall to get into a position to shoot, killing the gunman.

He is now being hailed a hero. Vickers, in fact, led the ceremonial parade down the Hall of Honor on Thursday. This is a daily ritual, we're told. And he was given a standing ovation by members of parliament to start their day.

Lawmakers here at the parliament building are telling us they are determined to move forward. They will not be stopped by fear. They want to act on courage and strength and have a steadfast resolve to ensure that the bad guy does not win -- John.

BERMAN: They will not win.

Ana Cabrera, our thanks to you.

U.S. politics now. A contentious debate in New Hampshire where Ebola took center stage between the two candidates for U.S. Senate. Republican Scott Brown blasting the president's handling of Ebola in the U.S. as Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen called for faith in the public health system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BROWN (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: We need to do a travel ban. I mean, it makes sense to do a travel ban. To make sure that anybody who has been in an infected country would come and obviously get screened.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: A travel ban? If the experts tell us that that's what we need to do and that's workable, I think that's what we should support. But I'm not willing to tell the experts that this is what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: World Series back on tap tonight in San Francisco. The Royals and Giants play game three. The team split the first two games in Kansas City. The Giants won the opener 7-1, the Royals took the second game 7-2. Games three, four, and five will be in San Francisco.

A deadly plane crash in Maryland. What caused a small plane in a helicopter to collide midair? We'll have that and more coming up.

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BERMAN: Investigators are trying to determine what caused a deadly mid-air collision in Maryland. Three people were killed, two injured after a small plane and a helicopter slammed into each other. This happened shortly before 4:00 Thursday afternoon near Frederick Municipal Airport.

All the people on the helicopter were killed. The two passengers on the plane were treated at the hospital and released.

A bench warrant has been issued for the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham in connection with the 2005 rape case in Northern Virginia. Jesse Matthew currently being held in the Charlottesville area on charges of abducting Graham. Officers searching for the missing University of Virginia student found remains on Saturday. They have not yet been able to identify those remains. Adoptions by gay couples in Utah moving forward this morning. The

Utah Supreme Court lifted a stay on Thursday, which had barred the state health department from finalizing adoptions by same-sex couples.

A mammoth donation from Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. $100 million to fight Ebola. This quadruples an earlier pledge. The money will go to research to agencies including the CDC and the World Health Organization and to projects like one that evacuates infected health care workers. He's now the largest individual donor in the fight against the deadly disease.

Let's get a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us now.

Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: John Berman, good to see you. I don't know if you have heard, but Ebola has hit New York City. There's now a doctor fighting it at a local hospital. One of those hospitals designated in New York to deal with Ebola. So we're going try and get all different angles of the situation. People who know the doctor to find out what was going on, how did he get to this point.

We're going to check in with people who understand the situation from the state's perspective including New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, and the city's health commissioner will be on as well. We're going to be asking officials about what they're doing to make sure that they are doing it right.

So, also, to talk about this morning, John, this hatchet attack. It also happened in the New York area. It was on a police officer. And you just saw the video of it there. You've talked about it this morning. The obvious question is, is this guy a copy cat? Is he another deranged fool who thinks he finds his salvation through a misguided idea of faith? You know, is this the new wave of extremism?

Many experts are telling us this is the most dangerous type of threat to combat so we're going to be looking at all those different possibilities. We'll have details and examine how law enforcement are going to try to keep track of hundreds of thousands of, you know, what they're calling lone wolves, which is probably something far less sophisticated than that.

All for you at the top of the hour, my friend. And may I wish you a most pleasant weekend.

BERMAN: You too. You too, Chris. Look forward to the show. Thanks so much.

We're going to have more details here on the first Ebola case in New York. But first, the FBI warning journalists of a possible terror threat against reporters. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: The FBI is sounding an alarm for news organizations this morning about the threat to journalists now, a threat by ISIS militants. Officials say they received credible information that members of an ISIS linked terror group had been tasked with kidnapping journalists and taking them to Syria.

They say ISIS supporters seeking to retaliate against the United States and its allies for airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have identified journalists in the region as desirable targets.

After weeks of airstrikes, the United States is now trying to hit ISIS in the wallet. The Treasury Department's anti-terrorism chief, David Cohen, says the U.S. is moving to cut off its flow of cash, which includes as much as $1 million a day in black market oil sales.

At a briefing on Thursday, Cohen was asked by CNN's Jim Acosta about targeting those involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID COHEN, TREASURY DEPT., UNDERSECRETARY FOR TERRORISM/FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE: What's different now, frankly, is that the oil that had previously moved through these smuggling networks, we now know that that oil finds its origin with ISIL. And anyone involved in the sale of this oil is, frankly, assisting ISIL, funding ISIL.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Cohen says ISIS or ISIL as he says is probably the wealthiest terror organization the United States has ever confronted. He is also calling on foreign governments to refuse ransom payments for hostages, that has helped ISIS net some $20 million this year.

A reported deal between the terror group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government is in doubt this morning after the militants kidnapped at least 60 young women and girls from villages in the northern part of that country. This is according to residents of those villages.

The abductions raise serious concerns about Nigerian government claims that more than 200 girls kidnapped in April by Boko Haram will soon be released. The girls were supposed to be set free under the terms of an alleged ceasefire that had been touted by government officials, but Boko Haram never confirmed that that was any deal.

All right. A bad omen for Sears as the holiday approaches. An EARLY START on your money next.

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BERMAN: Time for an EARLY START on your money. Triple-digits gains Thursday put the market on track for its best week in almost two years. Stocks were boosted by an improved global manufacturing data as well as strong corporate earnings. In fact two stocks on the Dow, 3M and Caterpillar, pushed the average up by as much as 300 points yesterday. It did pull back amid closing 216 points higher. That's still not bad. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished up more than 1 percent.

This morning stock futures a bit low as investors wait for more corporate report cards. Proctor and Gamble, Ford, Colgate-Palmolive, all issued more earnings before the bell.

So at a time when most stores are gearing up for holiday sales, Sears is breaking out the going-out-of-business signs. 77 Sears and K-Mart stores are shutting their doors taking 5300 jobs with them. Most will be closed by Christmas, which is a sign of real trouble for the company. Holiday sales are the cornerstone for retailers' entire year.

A spokesman for Sears declined to comment on the store closings except to say the company had notified store employees. Fitch ratings recently suggested Sears did not have the cash to continue beyond next year.

So a New York brewery is about to feel the power of the force. Lucasville suing Empire Brewery over one of its signature beers called Strikes Bock. Get it? Empire Strikes Bock. That is a reference of course to the greatest "Star Wars" film of all time. The 1980 film "The Empire Strikes Back."

The Strikes Bob lager has been around for seven years but Lucas Films filed against Empire Brewery and it tried to trademark the beer. Lucas Films said the filing the name could confuse people in thinking that the beer is related to the franchise.

I'm sure there'd be great confusion there. People think that Yoda drinks the lager or something.

All right. There's a lot to get to this morning. Breaking news overnight as New York City had its first confirmed case of Ebola. What is the city doing this morning to keep residents, health care workers safe.

"NEW DAY" is covering that and much more starting right now.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight -- Ebola hits New York. A doctor returning from Africa tests positive. But only after traveling throughout the city even bowling. His fiancee now quarantined. Did he put others at risk?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking, ax attack, a man suddenly strikes a group of NYPD officers with a hatchet. Two are injured. Why were they targeted? And police are investigating whether extremist views motivated that attack.

CUOMO: This as we get new video of the moments the Ottawa gunman carried out his attacks. CNN learning new details about the shooter and his ties to extremist groups.

Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Welcome to NEW DAY, it's Friday, October 24th, 6:00 in the East.

Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here. And we have breaking news. Overnight, new fears about the spread of Ebola as the disease reaches the most populated city in the United States. A New York City doctor, 33-year-old Craig Spencer. He's tested positive for Ebola after about a week since his return from West Africa.

Now he worked in West Africa for Doctors Without Borders. Right now he's in a hospital isolation unit as officials trace his movements since he's been back. Officials say he had no symptoms until Thursday. That's when he was rushed to the hospital. Before that, however, he was out and about in the city. Riding the subway, bowling. And other things, that they're still trying to discover.

CAMEROTA: That is troubling to many New Yorkers that he was out in the general public.