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New Day

Training to fight Ebola in West Africa; Richard Branson Speaks Out after Virgin Galactic Crash; What Drives a Daredevil to Perform Stunts?

Aired November 03, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

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MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go with the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, candidates making down to the wire pushes for votes before the midterm election. Several polls show Republicans on a roll heading into the election Tuesday.

Federal investigators say the co-pilot may have triggered the Virgin Galactic spacecraft's feathering (ph) system too early, seconds before that ship broke apart and crashed on Friday. The feathering system helps the ship descend.

North Carolina officials say a patient at Duke University Hospital has tested negative for Ebola. The result is preliminary. Another test will be done to confirm that initial result.

Daredevil Nick Wallenda, man, oh, man, completed two death-defying tight rope walks between Chicago sky scrapers without a safety net, without a harness. And at one point he even did the second stunt blindfolded.

One World Trade Center is open for business. The new tower opens its doors today with publishing giant Conde Nast moving in 13 years following the attacks in lower Manhattan.

We do update those five things to know, so be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's time for "Impact Your World." In this week's edition, the debate is raging over how to handle health care workers returning from West Africa. You know that, right? But make no mistake, keeping Ebola out of the U.S. will only be done by controlling it abroad. And hundreds are still committed to fighting the disease overseas. Volunteers like Phuoc Le. He's been training in the U.S. before traveling with hopes of stemming the tide of infection that has already claimed thousands of lives. Here's his story.

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CUOMO (voice-over): These volunteers are preparing for a daunting task. Soon they'll travel from the United States to West Africa to work on the front lines in the fight against Ebola.

DR. PATRICIA GRIFFIN, DIRECTOR, CDC TRAINING CAMP: We have a mock Ebola treatment unit. We're training clinicians, who are going to deploy to West Africa to treat patients there, how to protect themselves.

CUOMO: They learn skills like putting on and removing protective equipment, drawing blood and disposing of hazardous waste.

DR. PHUOC LE, VOLUNTEER: Every detail could mean a matter of life or death to you or the people that work around you.

CUOMO: Dr. Phuoc Le is planning to take the skills he learns on this training course in Alabama and help medical teams in Liberia improve their protocols and hopefully limit infection.

LE: All of the infections of health care workers and the deaths of health care workers, most of them were probably preventable if they had sufficient staffing, the equipment that we have here, space, supplies.

GRIFFIN: We're teaching them how the virus is transmitted so that they know how to protect themselves so that they feel safe taking care of patients.

CUOMO: The training helps, but the volunteers still face a formidable foe.

LE: Whoever tells you that they're not anxious about going to Liberia and working in an Ebola unit is delusional. It's just a sense of solidarity and wanting to, you know, be there for our non-profit partners who don't have a choice but to stay and work and contribute.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Our thanks to people like Phuoc Le who are doing something that is so dangerous and so need.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, doing such great work.

Well, Richard Branson is on the record about last week's fatal Virgin Galactic crash. He's sitting down with CNN and speaking out about the future of space tourism.

CUOMO: Nick Wallenda, did you see this? He could have died performing his high wire act last night on TV. Why did he do it? Why do we watch it? Is it too much or is it truly exactly what you want? Another thrill seeker joins us to weigh in.

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CAMEROTA: Federal investigators say the co-pilot in Friday's deadly Virgin Galactic crash may have prematurely deployed the ship's feathering system, which may have caused a structural failure. But we just don't know for sure. And now questions surround the company and the future of the space tourism program. CNN's Poppy Harlow just spoke with the company's founder, Richard Branson, and she's here to tell us all about it.

Hi, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning.

We had an extensive conversation with Richard Branson, who has told me that this is the hardest project he has ever done. It has taken them five years longer than they thought it would ever take and now this is, obviously, a huge setback.

We begin by talking about the death of that pilot, Michael Alsbury, someone incredibly brave to do this. We wanted to know a little bit more about the man and then what could have caused this tragedy.

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RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GROUP: He was an extremely brave man and -- as all test pilots are, extremely brave people. He had a young family. He was married. And his family loved him enormously. I mean he had a sister that loved him enormously, parents that loved him enormously. But he was a test pilot and test pilots are trying to discover things that the, you know, 400 engineers and technicians on the ground that can't necessarily see on the ground. And the test pilots push the aircraft - the aircraft to the limit before finally members of the traveling public are allowed on it. And, obviously, -- and something happened that - which we will learn about to make sure it can never happen again.

HARLOW: This was the 35th time that Spaceship II had flown freely. An investigation is ongoing. I know it can take up to a year. But what do you know at this point in time about what could have caused this?

BRANSON: Well, the NTSB are a wonderful group of people who investigate crashes. And they have a very strict rule, and that is, no speculation. And, in fact, you know, the British press have, I think rather irresponsibly, you know, speculated that it might have been rockets exploding, it might have been fuel tanks exploding. In fact, you know, there might have been an explosion. The NTSB has firmly ruled all that out and have made it clear that they're coming down to one particular area that -- or one particular thing that they believe happened. But if you don't mind, I'm going to leave it to the NTSB to let you know exactly what it is they think happened and then we'll wait for their definitive - their definitive decision.

HARLOW: Let me ask you this, Richard. A year ago, when I interviewed you in the Mojave Desert right next to Spaceship II, I asked you if the risk is worth it and you said, "unless you risk something, the world stays still." Given this, is the risk still worth it?

BRANSON: Yes, the risk is worth it. And as I say, Mike would have been the first to say that. I'm sure his parents and his wife and his sisters would not say that, but test pilots would say that because they know the risk they're taking. They know the importance of what they're doing. We know the importance of what we're doing. And, you know, if we - if test pilots haven't taken risks, we wouldn't have had the 747. You know, the - you know, two of the comets (ph) blew up in early days of airline travel and now airline travel's as safe as anything.

We've got to go through the difficult testing stage of creating a space line in order to make it safe for travelers who want to travel on that space line in the years ahead. And, you know, we will persevere and we will succeed.

HARLOW: Will you still be the first, along with your family and a few others, to take that first civilian flight into space, Richard?

BRANSON: There is no way that I would ask others to travel on Virgin Galactic unless I'd been the first to go myself and, therefore, I will certainly be the first to travel. If it's - if I didn't feel it was safe enough for myself, I would not ask other people to take a flight. So, you know, we will finish building the next spaceship. We will learn from what happened to the first spaceship. We will test it many, many times before we go with, you know, many test pilots flying it. And then I will go. And then the 800 astronauts who have been so supportive and have signed up to go will start to go.

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HARLOW: Now, Virgin Galactic is building a second Spaceship II. They are nearly done with it. So I asked Branson whether or not he would send any test piloting up in that before the NTSB investigation is complete, which could take a year. And, Alisyn, he said that the NTSB has told them to move forward with this. So he didn't definitively say that they won't send more test pilots up there as soon as that rocket is done. That was an interesting development.

CAMEROTA: It is. And Poppy, also earlier on NEW DAY, we spoke to Miles O'Brien, CNN's aviation analyst who said that Richard Branson, while charming and a great PR man has routinely downplayed the dangers and the challenges of space travel.

HARLOW: I asked Richard Branson about that. Miles and I spoke about that before this interview. He really believes that Richard Branson and Virgin have painted a gloss, he said, on what the real risk is. What it takes to send average people to space. Richard Branson said, quote, "People have said some unbelievable things in recent days". He thinks the criticism out there is completely unfair. He does not believe that they have miscommunicated the risks to public.

But what he did is equated it to airline travel across the Atlantic in the 20s and 30s. I mean he has consistently said if you don't take these risks, you will not achieve the next thing in the future of space travel. The question is going to be, do people trust him? Do they trust Virgin Galactic enough to stand behind by them through this? This is definitely going to push things back.

CAMEROTA: Yes. We'll see what the NTSB has to say about all this as well. Poppy Harlow, it's great. Thanks for the interview.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: If you don't take the risk, you don't get to the next level. That's a great segue for our next story. Nik Wallenda was close to 600 feet above the Windy City. He could have died during his high wire act but he was pushing it. That's what he does -- right? The question is should this be on TV? Is that really a question at all?

We have another daredevil telling us what drives the daredevil and the watchers and he knows the risks. He says he has dived trying -- twice.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(NIK WALLENDA CROSSING HIGH WIRE IN CHICAGO)

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CAMEROTA: I'm sweating just watching it. My palms are sweaty. With that Nik Wallenda set his ninth genius world record. The high wire walking Wallenda had already crossed the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls but his feat last night in Chicago included two walks. One up an incline on that tight rope and one he blindfolded himself for good measure between the two towers.

So what drives someone to complete such death defying acts? Here to help us all understand is Big Ed Beckley. He's a daredevil and the world's largest motorcycle jumper. He's currently preparing to recreate Evel Knievel's failed 1974 jump across Snake River Canyon in Idaho.

Hi Big Ed.

PEREIRA: Big Ed's crazy.

ED BECKLEY, MOTORCYCLE JUMPER: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: All right. So you watched Nik Wallenda's high wire act last night. What did you think?

BECKLEY: I thought it was plum nuts of course but what he does. With me, I'm in control of a motorcycle or this rocket or whatever it may be. But you know, he's really not in control of anything. Too many things could fail with that thing. That cable could break, come undone. He makes one misstep and it's over with. So, you know, that man really has my respect for sure.

PEREIRA: Big Ed, you're crazy if your own right because you just said something that doesn't make a lick of sense to me. You said he is just him. He only has to rely on him. You have to rely on that motorcycle working or that rocket not, you know, having an accident or some sort of thing. I might say that you're just as crazy.

BECKLEY: Maybe that's it. I'm not so sure you could fall into a mold here that fits the perfect person. I'm not going to be the clerk that's going to wait on you or anything like that or a car salesman. That's not me. That's not what I do. I jump cars with a motorcycle or over helicopters and all that kind of stuff. What I do, if it scares you, that means I'll do it. PEREIRA: Oh my goodness.

CUOMO: Well, I'm going to ask you about jumping Snake River Canyon going after Knievel's record in a second because a lot of people believe that can't be done. And we'll talk about.

But let's talk about -- you're not crazy right? You want something out of life. You want to test something to yourself that maybe others aren't willing to do. But the question becomes, maybe it is PC, maybe it isn't. What's your take? Is this the right thing to have on television of the God forbid that it goes wrong?

BECKLEY: Well, you know, live anything is going to be something that could go wrong. I mean world Series could have got a baseball up beside the head and ended everything. Of course -- I don't know, people are ready to watch you do the most extreme thing that you could think of maybe that they can't think of. They're ready to watch that.

Is it ready for TV? Oh hell yes, it's ready for TV. You guys have had all these people with reality shows that are not real. What we do, what Wallenda did, what I do is real.

CAMEROTA: But Ed, it's so real that you actually failed at one of your more recent attempts in March. You didn't clear the cars you were jumping in your motorcycle. You crashed, you broke six ribs, you collapsed a lung, you tore your kidney, you got a concussion and your brain wouldn't stop bleeding.

CUOMO: How about a little sympathy in the read there Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Because Ed, I don't understand why you didn't learn your lesson after that.

BECKLEY: You know, I'll tell you something, I died twice on the helicopter from over New Mexico into Lubbock in a 40-minute ride. People that's driven that drive think that they've probably died twice too. My whole thing was I was on (inaudible) and to help my blood pressure. Whatever and what that is, is a blood thinner. That's the most stupidest thing any heart doctor could every do to a stunt guy.

I was bleeding to death inside my head. It was shutting down this part, that part, this part. I had pretty much tore all my ribs loose, my solar plexus and my shoulder blade, broke six ribs on this side.

CUOMO: So Ed, the point becomes -- what's the rest of the story? I've got to hear that.

BECKLEY: The rest of the story, I was ready to dance two weeks later.

CUOMO: Well, that's because you're unusually durable. The question becomes, why tempt fate?

BECKLEY: That's what the neurosurgeon -- you took the words right out of the neurosurgeon's mouth.

CUOMO: I play one on TV but I'm not. I did stay at a Holiday Inn though last night. Maybe that's why --

BECKLEY: Me too, exactly.

CUOMO: It didn't make you a genius on this score. They a say you can't do the Snake River jump. That the bikes aren't meant for it, you can't get right the right angle of pitch. You've got wave currents, you've got to deal with air. You know, that Knievel stunt they say failed for a reason. Why try it, when you know it could be your last stunt?

BECKLEY: You know what, every stunt is almost your last one. That one pays a lot of money for one thing and I know we can do it. We have the technology 40 years later that's way different than what Evel had. Evel was by gosh by golly on the seat of his pants.

You people on TV are not going to let us take a risk unless it's very calculated. And that means we're going to be a lot more smarter people than you and I making that calculation.

Of course as Branson found out, not always do the engineers do things correctly. We know that. That's sad thing to happen. I'm willing to take that throttle in my hand, hit those rockets ready to blast over that canyon. Only thing holding me back is the big pay check.

PEREIRA: Oh my goodness.

CAMEROTA: Big Ed Beckley, we wish you the best of luck in your next stunt. Come back and talk to us about it afterwards.

PEREIRA: Goodbye Ed. Thanks so much

BECKLEY: You bet.

CUOMO: Hopefully he'll be able to talk to us afterwards. That's what we want. God bless you. Good luck going forward.

On another risky proposition, just hours from now, election season turns into Election Day. We have the latest from the campaign trail when "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello begins when -- right after the break.

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