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New Day

U.S. Considering Increased Ebola Airport Screening; Hong Kong Protesters Ignore Deadline to Leave; Ebola Patient is Fighting for his Life; Obama to Meet With National Security Team Regarding Ebola

Aired October 06, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

DR. IRWIN REDLENER, DIR., COLUMBIA UNIV. NATL. CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: So, if it's done right, I think we have an opportunity to show what we can do --

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

REDLENER: -- and how we can respond to a true humanitarian crisis. And that's not a small point.

PEREIRA: No.

REDLENER: So -- and the other point about the military being there, in a certain sense, it helps replace parts of the infrastructure in these very poor African countries that simply don't have it. These other countries in Africa, let's say Nigeria, where they've been able to contain the outbreak.

PEREIRA: What's the key then?

REDLENER: The key has been a good -- relatively good health care system and very good enforcement of the contact management and all that. These other countries, Sierra Leone and Guinea and Liberia, those infrastructure elements are not really in place. And they really do need what the U.S. military can provide.

PEREIRA: Yes. Liberia has seen the bulk of the fatalities. Let's talk about the situation we saw happened at Newark. We saw an incoming airplane quarantined because of concerned of two patients who got on the plane, not showing symptoms. One the man became sickened on board the plane. They isolated he and his daughter at the back of the plane until the CDC and officials could come on board. But that plane was quarantined for sometime and delayed, obviously -- interesting to hear anecdotally from some of the passengers onboard, that it seemed as they were making things up as they go.

Now, is that U.S. just sort of catching a headline or is there something to that? I mean, we can't really rehearse some of these things. Can we?

REDLENER: Exactly. There's too many different scenarios to rehearse every single one. So, here's where we are right now with all this.

First of all, we know the general principles. Somebody comes from a western company, they get sick, and they have Ebola until proven otherwise. The problem now or the challenge is to go from those general principles, to the specific policies and procedures that will apply to individual situations.

So, we know what we are supposed to do. Who is supposed to do it? When are they supposed to do it?

PEREIRA: Right, what category does it fall under?

REDLENER: How many rows back are they going to keep in the airplane? So, there's lots of details. Those are details we're going to have to get worked out as we go.

PEREIRA: Yes, and you make a very good point there, because some of this, you can plan for, some of it you cannot. In terms of the airport, do you think we're going to see increased changes, guidelines, recommendations being made here stateside?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. And I think that's a great point. You know, you can -- a lot of this, we don't know -- there is no established protocols in place yet.

PEREIRA: They can catch up in a certain way, are we not?

FRANCONA: But we are making it up as we go along because we've never been placed to this before. You know, I go back to the military training, you work on a set of assumptions, but the assumptions can't cover everything, and when you are presented with something different, you have to adapt. And now, that's what we are seeing doing there -- adapting to this current situation.

REDLENER: One quick point about this --

PEREIRA: Yes?

REDLENER: -- is that all this is true. I think they need to be figuring out how they will exercise whatever protocols there are. What we don't want to see is the kind of incomprehensible common sense mistakes being made. Like when they left Mr. Duncan's contacts in that apartment for nine days before moving contaminated waste, you don't feed a protocol to understand that that didn't make any sense whatsoever, and those things need to be corrected, by the way.

PEREIRA: And to the point of, the fact is remind people that if someone is showing symptoms, there are a host of other illnesses, malaria, for example, that shows similar symptoms. So, we don't want to stigmatize people that are coming from West Africa.

Gentleman, a really great conversation with you. Dr. Redlener and retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona.

In our 8:00 hour, we're going to answer your questions and concerns. We know there are so many about Ebola and its spread. You can send us those questions to us via Twitter. Use #EbolaQandA. Gentlemen, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

Coming up, a man who can help answer some of those questions. We are going to speak to the man in charge of the CDC, Dr. Thomas Frieden, about the possibility of screenings. We're also going to ask for an update on the patients that are currently being treated in the United States.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Hong Kong officials and protesters remain at a standoff this morning. And while the crowds are smaller, there are still a large number of protesters lining city streets. Pro-democracy activists ignored a government deadline to disperse, but they did allow city workers to enter offices that have been blocked the past week.

We have Will Ripley there live in Hong Kong with the latest.

Will, what's the situation?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's Monday evening here. And, yes, the crowds are smaller at this hour. But over the weekend, we saw perhaps the biggest crowds yet, tens of thousands of people filled this area.

You can see this look of the place keeps evolving. This is a stairway now lined with post-it notes. All of them with messages supportive of the umbrella movement that has taken shape.

There is even art popping up, Chris. This is a new, it's already trending on Twitter, Umbrella Man, an artist wheeled this out over the weekend, and photos of it immediately begin springing up, because all of these protesters, thousands of them, have been using their cell phones to share information and share photos about what's happening here.

The Hong Kong government is facing a huge challenge right now, trying to figure out how to disperse these crowds, because what you're looking at here is an onramp to that should be a highway, that for more than a week has been filled with people. Tents continue to spring up. People are sleeping out here at night, and it's causing financial trouble and gridlock in this city of 7 million, Chris.

CUOMO: And the statue relevant, Will. Thank you for pointing it out, because it does remind of that statue that was erected all those years, 25 years ago in Tiananmen Square. Of course, there are different situations, but motivated by the same pro-democracy sentiment.

And, Will, that winds up bringing in the real factor here, the government in Beijing. Yes, there's negotiations between the protesters and Hong Kong's government. But what is going on, on that level?

RIPLEY: Sources very familiar with the Hong Kong and Beijing leadership tell us that this is very concerning to the communist party in China. They are fearful that the images of this will spread to other Chinese cities, that perhaps people in mainland China will feel inspired and try to start similar movements, which could, of course, undermine the entire power structure in China. And, of course, we know what happened 25 years ago. But we are also hearing from those same sources that the Chinese government has instructed Hong Kong leadership to resolve this in a peaceful way.

We are told that they are essentially considering this as a long battle. That they're going to try to wait it out, to see if these crowds disperse will eventually disperse.

We see smaller crowds right now. But keep in mind over the weekend, one week into this, tens of thousands fill the streets. And it's not to say it couldn't happen again, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Will, thank you very much. We'll be checking back in with you.

Mick?

PEREIRA: All right. It is 40 minutes past the hour. Let's give you a look at your headline.

A U.S. airman is dead after being swept out to sea following a monster typhoon that slammed Okinawa, Japan, on Sunday. Two of his colleagues are still missing. They, too, were overcome by those waves. Officials, in fact, say rough seas are further complicating rescue efforts.

Search teams hunting for Eric Frein, the suspected killer of a Pennsylvania state trooper. They have narrowed their focus after a possible sighting by law enforcement. This just days after authorities found, ammunition, clothes and other supplies at a campsite in the Pennsylvania woods that they believe was Frein's. He, of course, is accused of ambushing two troopers last month, killing one, wounding another.

Pope Frances is presiding over a two-week gathering at the Vatican to debate reforms in the Catholic Church. Cardinals from all over the world are all in attendance. Issues like allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion top the agenda. The pope has been challenging the conservative faction of cardinals to be more merciful and inclusive with the faithful.

An American and two Norwegians will share this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine. American John O'Keefe and his two colleagues May-Britt Moser and Edward Moser were recognized for their discovery of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. The Nobel committee says they solved a problem that baffled scientists and philosophers for centuries. Tomorrow, they'll announce the prize for physics.

Now, you have probably seen those segments where celebrities read mean tweets about them. Well, now, professors at the University of Alabama are doing their own version, reading their own reviews from ratemyprofessors.com. Let's give you a little taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's the miserable teacher, worst I ever had at Alabama. Stay away from her if you want to pass this class. So, I know who that is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Many of the professors say end of semester surveys, not the Web site, are the better barometer of their work in the classroom. Oh, you got to have some tough skin to do that. I think it's quite comical to do that. You have to, look, after being a teacher for a -- a professor for so many years, I'm sure you had your share of snarky students.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We should do that. We should read our mean e-mails.

PEREIRA: We would be here a long time. Yes, that's right.

CUOMO: She gets from me. I send --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: She knows what it's like to be me. I will send her a couple mean ones.

You know, here's what I don't get -- I don't get whether social media has created something where people can be more candid, give voice to people. Or is it just this form that's becoming more and more toxic.

PEREIRA: It's both. One feeds the other.

CAMEROTA: Right. The fact that it's a venting machine, without anybody responding, which is why sometimes, it's great to respond.

CUOMO: I feel like the nature of disagreement has changed on social media, where instead of saying I disagree, like they do in e-mails. We get lots of great emails. Keep them coming. Facebook also, but Twitter especially.

It does seem like it's more, I'll say I disagree with you by saying something mean about you personally. And I don't get it.

CAMEROTA: I think that's right. So, yes, but we do appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming.

CUOMO: Yes, kind of. Look, I want to be insulted, I don't have to go on social media. Let's go to Indra.

CAMEROTA: Yes, you can just turn right there.

CUOMO: Meteorologist Indra Petersen, keeping track of the latest -- always quick to tell me when I am quick to screw up.

(LAUGHTER)

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: But think about it. Weather. People are not so happy. A lot of haters out there, thanks to the fact that the weather has cooled off. We actually have a little bit of good news.

The weather pattern is going to change. Things are improving, at least in the short term.

You can actually see the temperatures not nearly as cold in the morning hours, as we saw yesterday in the Upper Midwest and into the north. You so slowly starting to see improvement. Not to say we don't have frost and freeze warnings still out there into the Northeast today. But again, the pattern will be changing. We're going to be watching as the cold front making its way through the day. Seeing some light showers in the Ohio Valley, down to about the Gulf.

But there will be a threat for severe weather. So, that's where we're going to see the larger amounts of showers, even some large hail possibly, even an isolated tornado, guys. Yes, this time of year -- Cincinnati, Nashville, Jacksonville, even out towards Shreveport, that's where we're going to be looking for the severe weather threat.

But, again, the showers are being kind of more widespread, one to two inches out towards the Northeast, where you have that severe weather, that's where we're going to see those higher amounts, but to four inches of rain. But you know, it's raining, but it doesn't mean the temperatures are not improving.

There's a cold air that was in place. Look at that. It is going back to the north, where we want it to retreat.

Meanwhile, the warm air will start to fill in, maybe too hot for you down to the south. You're talking about '80s and 90s. I do not feel sorry for you, because the cool air. We want that to go as long as possible.

And here we go, we're seeing the temperatures rebound already, New York City going back to the 70s. Notice D.C. actually getting close to 80 degrees, again by the middle of the week and I can take that, because you know what? Now, I appreciate it so much more after cold weekend, right?

PEREIRA: Two days and now, you suddenly appreciate it.

PETERSONS: Yes. And all the Twitter hate will go away as well. Thanks, everyone, complaining about it. Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: In weather terms for Twitter to become a nice place, something else would have to freeze over. And it won't be the Northeast.

PETERSONS: Well put for one.

CUOMO: Hey, look at that. Things are looking up. U.S. officials now considering extra security at the airport. The

reason is obvious, to keep Ebola out. But is that the right move? Would it even be effective, or is it just too little too late? The director of the CDC, Dr. Thomas Frieden, will join us next. He'll know the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: We have breaking news this morning. The NBC cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia is back in the United States. He's on his way to Nebraska after a stop to refuel in Maine. And later today, President Obama will meet with the director of the CDC to discuss the latest efforts to contain Ebola. This comes as the administration and CDC considers stepping up screening for the deadly virus at U.S. airports.

So how would that work, and is there a chance that they will ban travel to those affected countries? We have every angle covered for you this morning. So, let's first bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, what's the latest?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that the patient inside this hospital, Thomas Eric Duncan, is fighting for his life. In the meantime, officials here in Dallas are trying to keep the disease from spreading. If possible officials are trying to keep it from coming to our shores once again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are scared.

COHEN (voice-over): This morning, CNN has learned U.S. officials are considering new screenings at airports to detect passengers arriving by the CDC itself. Lawmakers are now calling for the U.S. to halt flights from Ebola-stricken nations to America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to do everything we can to prevent this awful epidemic, this awful disease from coming further into the United States.

COHEN: A step the CDC says goes too far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we make it harder to fight the outbreak in West Africa, we actually increase our own risk.

COHEN: This as the condition of Thomas Eric Duncan, who arrived in the U.S. by plane September 20th, advances from serious to critical. The Ebola patient now fighting for his life after being diagnosed almost a week ago in Dallas. On Friday, Duncan's family was relocated to an undisclosed location, quarantined until October 19th. Their apartment, where Duncan was staying, finally being sanitized. They had lived in the home for six days after he was diagnosed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything that's in there, it will be completely stripped out. D-con from the carpet, to the curtains, to all belongings. COHEN: Over the weekend, authorities found the last of the 48 people

they say may have come into contact with Duncan in Dallas, after a day-long manhunt. Including this man, Michael Lively, who rode in the very same ambulance after Duncan last Tuesday. Lively, escorted to the hospital in full surgical garb, a mask covering his face.

All ten high-risk patients, mostly health care workers, have shown no symptoms as of yet. This as the fifth American to contract Ebola arrives back in the U.S. from Liberia this morning. The father of Ashoka Mukpo, an NBC freelancer, told the "Providence Journal Newspaper" he still has the fever, but his spirits are very good.

The freelance journalist will be the second Ebola patient treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He'll be transported through a remote area of the airport, away from the terminal and public areas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (on camera): Now, screening passengers from Ebola-stricken countries coming into the U.S. may be a little bit more complicated than it sounds. There are few, if any, direct flights from West Africa to the U.S., so people are using connections and coming into the U.S. from various points around the globe.

CAMEROTA: A great, great point, Elizabeth. We'll be asking Dr. Frieden about that very shortly. Thank you. Chris?

CUOMO: Of course they'll be taking their directions from the White House, so let's go to senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, tracking the president's meeting with the director of the CDC. Jim, let's start with these airport screenings.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

CUOMO: Is that what the White House has at the top of the agenda?

ACOSTA: I think its on the agenda., Chris. Its not certain whether or not they'll pull the trigger on that option, but President Obama does meet with his national security team later today to talk about efforts to deal with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

One measure under consideration, as you guys have been talking about, is to have the CDC do screening at airports where travelers may be coming in from West Africa. As Elizabeth mentioned, it may be tougher than it sounds. One CDC officially did tell me over the weekend they want to make sure that any new screening is worth the disruption to travelers because there obviously would be disruption to travelers.

We should also mention which airports would have this additional screening, and officials caution no final decision has been made on this option. But, top health officials in the Obama administration, Chris, remain confident that an outbreak in the United States can be prevented.

I was here at the press conference here at the White House last Friday, where this option of a travel ban came up, imposing a travel ban on these countries in West Africa dealing the with the outbreak. They say that would be counterproductive at this point. Although it may make sense to some people that, yes, just stop all those flights coming in, they don't want to make it tougher to get people into West Africa to deal with the outbreak, and a travel ban may actually do that. Chris?

CUOMO: Yes, I mean, that's an argument to be had, right, Jim? I mean, because there are a lot of countries where you allow aide, humanitarian effort necessities in, but you limit travel to a certain degree. It certainly can be done, but its also probably a little far of field right now.

Have you heard any talk down there about pushing Big Pharma to speed up development of the vaccines and, specifically, the treatments like ZMapp and the others? Is there any pressure on that level?

ACOSTA: I think that that is natural, to hope that something like that could occur. We did hear from Dr. Fauci, Dr. Tony Fauci from the NIH. He was over here at the White House as well and he actually gave some pretty optimistic news about an Ebola vaccine. He said it's in the first phase of testing right now. They'll have the final results by December as to whether or not they want to move to an extended trial period, and they think that could occur in the first quarter of next year.

But as you know, Chris, dealing with radical new vaccines like the one that they're trying right now at the NIH on Ebola, speeding up the process might carry with it some risks. And so they're going through the normal process of getting that vaccine up and running, and they're hoping that by next spring they might have actually something that could be put into practice on a widespread basis. But I'm not sure that the timetable can be sped up that much.

CUOMO: Jim Acosta, thank you very much. We'll check back in with you later on, find out what the message from the White House is. We're all over what's going on with Ebola, obviously, but there's a lot of news this morning. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Ebola patient now fighting for his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dallas is fearful, but there is no fear in our eyes. We will be safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People have a legitimate reason to be concerned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALEL: We have no doubt that we will stop it in its tracks in Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NBC is reporting that its cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, has now arrived on U.S. soil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, dad, you need to answer the phone. I think I'm in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Ebola outbreak could soon have an impact on airport security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There really is no way to limit people's travel throughout that region of West Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not facing just a health crisis. We are facing a national security priority.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Breaking overnight, a fifth American infected by the Ebola virus, now back on American soil. He is, of course, freelance NBC photographer Ashoka Mukpo, and he touched down in Bangor, Maine, just hours ago after being airlifted out of Liberia. He is expected to arrive in Nebraska for treatment later this morning.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, the prognosis not good for Thomas Eric Duncan. He was of course the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. He has been downgraded to critical condition.

CAMEROTA: Alright, joining us now is CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden. Dr. Frieden, thanks so much for being here.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Okay, let's talk about what we have been talking about thus far this morning, and that is are you considering enhanced screenings at U.S. airports for people traveling in from Ebola-stricken countries?

FRIEDEN: We're looking at all options to protect Americans, because that's our number one priority. We do that 24/7. The first thing we did was to implement control measures in every airport in West Africa. Every patient who leaves, every person who leaves has their temperature monitored. The patient in Dallas had a temperature of 97.3 when he left. He didn't become ill for about four days after he arrived. And we've had over 40,000 visitors from West Africa, or people returning from West Africa, Americans and others over the past six months. But, we're going to look hard at every opportunity, and see what we can do to further increase the safety of Americans.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, as you point out, the screening in his country did not work for Mr. Duncan. It failed. His temperature hadn't spiked yet.

FRIEDEN: It failed to identify a patient with infectious Ebola. He didn't have infectious Ebola, he developed that four days after he landed in the U.S.

CAMEROTA: Yes, okay, so - -

FRIEDEN: One of the things that we're doing is making sure that people who have symptoms, doctors have this top of mind, so that the moment someone comes in from any of these three countries with fever, they're isolated, and evaluated and tested. CAMEROTA: Yes, and I understand that you have removed 77 passengers

already from planes who were trying to board, but they were exhibiting some sort of symptoms. So, in that way, I believe it's working. But in terms of the enhanced screening once they arrive on U.S. soil, isn't that a no-brainer? Why not just institute that today?

FRIEDEN: We need to look at exactly what would be done, how it will be done. There are a lot of operational issues to do it right, and looking at other options as well that would further improve safety of Americans here. We're open to suggestions, we're open to seeing what works and how to make it happen.

CAMEROTA: As you know, there's a whole bunch of lawmakers who are calling to ban flights. They want flights out of these African nations stopped. Now, we understand why you wouldn't ban flights going in, they need supplies obviously, but why not ban them returning to the U.S.?

FRIEDEN: One of the challenges is, if we can't get assistance in, if we can't keep the airlines flying, it will be harder to stop the outbreaks there. And I'll tell you what could happen very easily if we isolate these countries. Harder to get help in. The disease spreads more within these countries, it spreads to other parts of Africa, and within a few months, we are dealing with outbreaks in many parts of Africa, a big problem. Not just health wise, but economically, and a threat of Ebola that continues for months or years that we have to deal with.

CAMEROTA: Sure, sure.

FRIEDEN: We have to ensure that we're focusing on stopping the outbreaks, that something we might do out of the best of intentions to protect Americans, might actually increase American's risk.

CAMEROTA: But just explain, again, what the difference is between not stopping flights in, everyone needs medical supplies in Liberia and other disease-torn countries, but stopping the flights with passengers out of those countries.