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New Day

Another Ebola Case in Dallas?; Rep. Duncan Hunter Remarks About ISIS Crossing the Mexican Border; Midterm Election Update; Kim Jong-un Mystery

Aired October 09, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman Hunter's staff is now trying to tone down those comments, claiming that the congressman was told by a border patrol source that ten people detained at the border may have a quote, unquote, "suspected affiliation with ISIS." There's your headlines, guys.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR AND CO-HOST OF CNN'S MORNING SHOW "NEW DAY": Not the right thing to be playing politics with.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, NEWS ANCHOR FOR THE CNN'S MORNING SHOW "NEW DAY": No. No, no, no.

CUOMO: Not at all. They've got to be able to substantiate that. All right, so what does this mean politically? Let's take you "Inside Politics" on "New Day" with a man known as John King.

JOHN KING, CNN'S CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF "INSIDE POLITICS": Chris, Alisyn, Michaela - good morning to you, a very busy day on "Inside Politics". A lot of senate ground to cover including some brand new polling. Here at CNN with me this morning to share their reporting and their insights POLITICOS - Manu Raju, Josh Kraushaar of "National Journal." Let's start with a brand new poll we're releasing right now. One of the most hotly-contested senate races. Remember, Republicans need a net gain of six and they get control of the senate. You see the Republican candidate Dan Sullivan there ahead in our brand new poll - 50 percent to 44 percent over the Democratic incumbent Mark Begich. Democrats desperately trying to hold on to this seat, but it seems to be sliding away, and here's one reason why. The President's job approval in the state of Alaska - 30 percent. Thirty percent of Alaskans approve, 61 percent disapproving of how the President is doing his job.

Let's, before we talk about this, let's move on to Kansas as well. That's a state Republicans are very nervous about. The Republican incumbent Pat Roberts in a tough race against an independent candidate Greg Orman. We released this poll last night , and look at this one - Roberts who was behind in some polling we've seen recently - here in a statistical dead heat, maybe with a very slight edge over Greg Orman. Again, the President is an issue in Kansas - 34 percent approve, 59 percent disapproval. Manu, let me start with Alaska. A couple of months ago Begich was

holding on and Democrats thought that would be one of the races where they proved history wrong - proved momentum wrong and that the incumbent would hold on. But seems to be trending away. MANU RAJU, POLITICO: It does right now. For the Democrats, they got

to hope that these polled numbers are wrong because Alaska of course is a very difficult state to poll - there're a lot of voters in very far-flung rural areas, and what Begich is relying on is a very aggressive get out the vote effort in those rural areas, something that has not really been done before in Alaska politics. If they can bring those voters out to the polls, maybe they can neutralize the Obama effect, but as you saw from the poll, Obama's really hurting Begich right now.

KING: Right, and so there they're trying to use mechanics, technology, outreach to defy the momentum of the race. Josh, I'll leave this one to you and see if you can do it. What is happening in Kansas?

(LAUGHTER)

JOSH KRAUSHAAR, "NATIONAL JOURNAL": Kansas is the most fascinating senate race on the map. Republican strategy is pretty clear in the final month. They want to nationalize the race, they think people don't know who this independent Greg Orman is, and they think with lots of ads mentioning Harry Reid a lot as Senator Pat Roberts did at yesterday's debate, they can move the numbers in a pretty quick direction. I think the race is tightening, it's going to be close, Pat Roberts is still very electable, he hasn't done a very good job with his campaign. But the big news is if Republicans can hang on to Kansas, the seat that they have at the most at-risk, it's a very good sign for their overall prospects.

RAJU: And I would just add that the Republicans believe that their message really hasn't taken hold yet in Kanas because Roberts wasn't even prepared for a general election race, and really only started to run negative ads. The question is whether or not it's enough to move the numbers as much as that poll suggested.

KING: Whether disgust with the incumbent or dissatisfaction with the President, questions about the challenger, we'll see if that one plays out. It's fascinating but it's a dead heat. In Kansas it'll go forward, as both these guys note, the Republicans need to hold that one. Another one they need to hold is the state of Georgia where the incumbent is retiring. The two candidates - a lot of debates this week. The two candidates - David Perdue's the Republican, Michelle Nunn, daughter of the former Senator Sam Nunn, is the Democrat. And during the debate, David Perdue, her opponent kept bringing up President Obama, who's quite unpopular in the state of Georgia. And Michelle Nunn got a little annoyed.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

MICHELLE NUNN, (D) GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE FOR: My name is on the ballot. We have two more years of President Obama and then we will have another president. And we need someone who is going to work with and respect whoever is the president to actually get things done on behalf of the American people.

(END VIDEOCLIP) KING: The question is, will it work? Saying, you know, I'm not - he - Obama's not on the ballot, I'm running. But will it work?

RAJU: I don't know, especially in a red state like Georgia. I mean, Nunn has made some moves and really tightened up this race, particularly as David Perdue's been hit with his career over outsourcing which came out last week. But at the same time, this is a red state, this is a state that while it may be purple in a few years, it's still a solidly Republican where the President's numbers are under water and a mid-term election as we talk about all the time, it's a referendum on the party in power, and this is something that Nunn is going to struggle to overcome.

KING: We have a Democratic incumbent in North Carolina - another one of the great races. Definitely a lot of great races, and she's in a bit of hot water. She had a debate yesterday, and after the debate, she conceded. Her staff for months has been saying - weeks, I'm sorry, had been saying -that she missed a senate hearing on ISIS because she was at another senatehearing. Yesterday after the debate, Kay Hagan, the Democratic incumbent concedes and you listen here that she wasn't at another hearing - she was at a fundraiser.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SENATOR KAY HAGAN, (D) NORTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: You know, there was one. And what had happened at that hearing, it was scheduled early in the day, and then votes were scheduled, and that hearing then - that hearing then had to be postponed later that day. So, yes, I did miss that one.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

KING: Yes, she did miss that one. And that does happen sometimes. The schedule does get juggled around, but the staff knew where she was, and the staff was trying to suggest for some time that she was at another hearing. Does this have an impact on what - she has been slightly ahead. This is one of the races Democrats have been happy about where you have an embattled incumbent slightly ahead. Does something like this hurt credibility - a fundraiser instead of an ISIS hearing? Does that change that race?

KRAUSHAAR: You know, it's one of the surprising issues that Republicans have used, not just in North Carolina but in New Hampshire and Iowa - the issue of missing committee hearings. And like you said, John, it happens a lot. It's not that uncommon, but voters in a time when they're angry at Washington and they're angry at their members of congress, it's an issue that's really resonated in the internal polls that both Republicans and Democrats are doing. And it's an issue that could be one of the sleeper. The close race like North Carolina - very - Kay Hagan as a small lead in the polls. It could make a pretty significant difference.

KING: Coming soonto a TV ad near you?

(LAUGHTER)

RAJU: That's right, and you saw it happening in Kentucky too. Alison Grimes -

Male: Yes.

RAJU: -- then Mitch McConnell (inaudible).

KING: And one more here. South Dakota. I've been counting that. There's three states where even for months everyone has said Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia - those are the first three Republican pickups. Now we hear Democrats are going to try in South Dakota. We can show you there are four candidates in the rates, and this is why Democrats think they might have a shot here. You have former RepublicanSenator Larry Pressley, he's running as an independent. Another independent candidate - former Governor Mike Rounds is the Republican. Everyone thought he was going to win in a walk. Rick Weiland is the Democrat there. The Democrats are going to want to spend some money. Do they really think in South Dakota, because of the crowded field, they can pull this one off? Or is this because they're so worried about the math elsewhere that they're just going to take a gamble?

RAJU: It looks like the polls have an opening for that. I mean I think if they throw money in to raise a million dollars in South Dakota goes a really long way. And maybe if they can bloody up Mike Rounds, maybe one of those independents or even Rick Weiland who the national Democrats have been down on the entire cycle -

KING: Right.

RAJU: -- maybe he sneaks into office and the Republicans lose their chance at a majority -

KING: Right.

RAJU: -- in South Dakota. Right now it seems almost, you know, like a last ditch effort, but who knows. This is a crazy midterm election.

KING: The reflection of just that though, right? That we're worried about Kansas, runoff maybe in Louisiana, possibly a runoff in Georgia. Now a little mischief in South Dakota in the final weeks. We got a fun year.

KRAUSHAAR: Yes, people don't like politicians. Republicans were worried about Mike Rounds early on when they thought Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a strong former congresswoman from the state could've run in that race. Rounds doesn't fundraise well, he wasn't a great campaigner. He hasn't even run any negative ads or done anything to help his campaign, so they're a little concerned -

KING: Right.

KRAUSHAAR: -- in the Republican world.

KING: Josh and Manu, thanks for coming in. And Alisyn as I get back to you in New York. Bill Maher I think would call this new rules. Bill Clinton has been a former president for a long time, but what's different about being a former president at the moment is that his wife might run for president. So, Bill Clinton, listen here, says that makes things a little different.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The great thing about not being president anymore is you can just say whatever you want.

(LAUGHTER)

CLINTON: Unless your wife might run for something, then you can say whatever you want as long as you don't make any headlines.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA: That does make it more complicated.

KING: It sure does. Everyone will watch everything he says.

CAMEROTA: So true. John King, thanks so much for "Inside Politics."

KING: Have a great day.

CAMEROTA: You too. One major U.S. city putting hospitals to the test, they are sending actors into emergency rooms faking Ebola symptoms to see how they're handled. How'd that go? We'll talk to the doctor overseeing it. And where in the world is Kim Jong-un? The North Korean leader has not been seen in more than a month. What's behind his absence?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Good to have you back with us here on "New Day." There are concerns in Dallas this morning about a second possible case of Ebola. A sheriff's deputy is now being tested after coming into contact with the family of Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncan's case created controversy after it was revealed the hospital initially sent him home. New York City now is trying to learn - trying to learn from mistake - the mistakes perhaps made in Dallas. In fact, they're sending actors into emergency rooms with Ebola symptoms to check on the response. What's the verdict so far? We're going to ask Dr. Ross Wilson, he's chief medical officer for New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation. Good morning.

DR. ROSS WILSON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, NYC HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION: Good morning.

PEREIRA: This is an interesting way to do this - actors hired to act as though they had Ebola symptoms sent out into New York City area hospitals and the response was?

WILSON: Well the response has been very good because we've been concerned about Ebola coming over the last eight weeks or so. So we've been gradually increasing our preparation, development of protocols, procedures, training, drill, working closely with the City Department of Health and the CDC. But then we thought - how do we know - PEREIRA: Test it out.

WILSON: -- how do we know they work?

PEREIRA: Yes. Yes, yes.

WILSON: Exactly. And so we have a large simulation center for all sorts of training in healthcare. So the simulation team decided that we should do simulated patients.

PEREIRA: OK.

WILSON: We do this in other areas, we train simulated patients and then we take a standard script, they arrive in an emergency department, they're seen, the staff are unaware that these patients are not real patients. And this goes though for about 50 to 60 minutes until the patient is isolated or we end the scenario. The important part is we then sit down in a very structured way to debrief and learn.

PEREIRA: What went wrong/what went right.

WILSON: Yes. And we've been gratified that most things have gone right. But there are a lot of human beings in this process. They all have to come together in the same way every time with every patient.

PEREIRA: This is where we have learned. We've - in reporting this story from Dallas, they were initially were questions about whether the nurse taking the travel history took a travel history or not. At some point, they blamed the computer patient information system as being a point of weakness. Technology and people have to work together.

WILSON: It's a complicated interaction, always. And in healthcare there are a lot of steps in the process. So what we want to make sure is we simplify the number of steps.

PEREIRA: Yes.

WILSON: Two simple things - if someone comes in with a headache, symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and a fever, they immediately get a travel history. If the travel history is positive to the three countries in Western Africa - Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia, -- they are immediately isolated then and there in the emergency room in each of our 11 hospitals. We have 11 emergency departments across the city, we see more than a million patients a year through our emergency departments.

PEREIRA: Goodness.

WILSON: But we then isolate immediately and the rest of the workup and investigation occurs after isolation.

PEREIRA: One of the things that makes it a particular challenge and so important to do this here is because New York is a gigantic city in America, but you also say it's because it is a point of entry through our international airports here receiving people that are coming from West Africa. A great number of people come here. Talk to us about that correlation. If there are patients or people - potential cases isolated the airport, how do New York City hospitals play into that?

WILSON: So, while this epidemic is out of control in Africa, and the number of cases continue to increase at the rate that they are, then these patients are more likely to arrive in the United States or other countries.

PEREIRA: Right.

WILSON: Now, nearly half of travel from Western Africa to the U.S. occurs in through New York.

PEREIRA: Yes.

WILSON: And in which case we need to be ready.

PEREIRA: Yes.

WILSON: We need to be well organized, and I must say the City's agencies - the City Department of Health, ourselves and the other agencies are working extremely well together with excellent guidance from the CDC to be prepared. Discussions with the Port Authority, discussion with Transportation, ambulance systems, FDNY - this has been well organized over many weeks. And it's gradually escalating depending on the size of the problem.

PEREIRA: Final question - are you working with your counterparts in other cities about the lessons that you've learned? Because this seems to be the kind of information we don't hold tight and fast to. This is information we want to share.

WILSON: We are openly sharing, and in fact last evening I was sharing with a colleague in the lodge (ph) system in California.

PEREIRA: Great.

WILSON: And we're setting up calls today to share tools and lessons learned.

PEREIRA: Dr. Ross Wilson, thank you so much for joining us and showing an example how New York can be prepared and the example it's setting for other cities to do so as well. Appreciate it.

WILSON: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Chris, over to you.

CUOMO: All right, mix something else for talking about this morning. The Kim Jong-un mystery - it's deepening. The North Korean leader has not been seen publically in more than a month. Does that mean something's up? And would that be so bad?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT WITH "THE SITUATION ROOM": Kim Jong-un hasn't been seen publically in more than a month. Recently, for the first time, he missed an important parliament session called the Supreme People's Assembly. He also missed another key meeting to mark the 17th anniversary of his father Kim Jong-il's election as general secretary of the ruling party. There was the weight gain and signs that he might have developed a limp. And now some believe Kim's younger sister could be running North Korea. Analysts say Kim Yo-jong who's believed to be in her mid-20s has unfettered access to her brother. The belief that she might have ascended to the top temporarily comes from the North Korean Intellectual Solidarity - a group of defectors which has not revealed the source of its information. CNN cannot independently confirm it.

VICTOR CHA, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: I can see how it's possible that he' s in some sort of temporary position. It's very difficult for the North Korean system to run without one of the Kim family at least titiaraly in charge.

TODD: Analysts say Kim Yo-jong went to private school with Kim Jong- un in Switzerland under assumed names experts say, and later took on important responsibilities for her father like inspecting sites before official visits. Analysts say Kim Yo-jong now does similar tasks for her brother but also gets intelligence briefings and handles government policy.

CHA: If in fact she's running the country as a - someone in their early to mid-20s, to me that is quite alarming. It means there's something seriously wrong with Kim Jong-un and there is some sort of void that they're trying desperately to fill.

TODD: South Korea's defense minister now says Kim is not in the capital city. One analyst says he could be north of Pyonyang in one of three different compounds used by the ruling elite. And there's one other possibility.

CURTIS MELVIN, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Another option is over here in Wonsan. This summer Kim Jongu-un spent a lot of time over here. He observed military demonstrations and practices out in the bay here, and he even had military practices take place right off the beach in front of his family home.

TODD: Now all eyes are on a big event this Friday. Will Kim Jongu-un show up at the anniversary of the founding of the Ruling Workers Party? He was at the same event last year. If he doesn't show, the concern over his public disappearance will only grow. If he does, intelligence analysts will be looking at his appearance, his body language, every detail very carefully. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, we'll stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, five major U.S. airports will start testing passengers that come in from Ebola hot spots, but the battle to contain and defeat Ebola ongoing - it's going on right now at a Nebraska hospital. So we will speak with the doctor helping to treat the infected NBC cameraman.

CUOMO: And protestors erupting in St. Louis over a police-involved shooting again. This time Wednesday. This comes two months after Michael Brown was killed in nearby Ferguson. But police say this is different. The teen fired first. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Another Ebola case in the U.S. A Dallas-area sheriff's deputy who'd been inside the Ebola patient's apartment, rushed to the hospital. We have the latest. This as another American fights for his life in Nebraska. We talked live to the man treating him.

CAMEROTA: Also we have a breaking story overnight. Anger boils over in St. Louis after a black man is shot 17 times and killed by police. Protestors taking to the streets, kicking police cars. The police say the officer was shot at first. We have the latest.

PEREIRA: Speaking out - CNN goes one-on-one with GM CEO, a no-holds barred interview about the car company's very bad year and claims that profits were put over lives. Plus - what about GM's sponsorships of the NFL?

CUOMO: Your "New Day" continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is "New Day" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Thursday, October 9th. 8:00 o'clock in the East.

Joined by morning favorite, Alyson Camerota. Thank you for being here today. It's good to be with you and Michaela.

CAMEROTA: And Michaela.

CUOMO: I always feel like, you know -- I feel like sometimes I miss the whole group (ph).

CAMEROTA: The other morning favorite, is what he means.

CUOMO: You're my favorite every day. You're always here. You're the best.

They all think I want something from them, but they're wrong!

CAMEROTA: You want doughnuts. That's tomorrow.

CUOMO: That's tommorow, doughnut day. Don't forget. Blueberry my favorite.

We're going to begin by going to the Ebola fight in Dallas. Here's the latest.