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New Day Saturday

More U.S. Troops to Help Fight Ebola; Searching for Hannah Graham; Hong Kong Protesters Report Beatings; North Koreans Open to Talks with South; CDC: 10 People At "High Risk" Of Ebola; ISIS Threatens To Kill American Hostage; White House: Ebola Virus Under Control; Ebola In U.S.: What You Need To Know

Aired October 04, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It is so good to see you. We're grateful for your company here. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Eight o'clock here on the East Coast, 5:00 out West.

And the big story that everyone is talking about, Ebola now in America.

PAUL: People are really shaken up about this. Federal health officials telling us that 10 of the 50 who came into contact with the Dallas Ebola parent are at high risk of contracting that virus and this morning, Thomas Eric Duncan is in isolation and serious condition at a hospital there.

BLACKWELL: His partner and three of her family members are among those at high risk. They have been quarantined in their apartment for the past week, but they are now in another location as hazmat crews are giving the apartment a good cleaning and we understand the process could take days.

PAUL: Now the Dallas County District Attorney's Office is also, quote, "looking into whether he knowingly and intentionally exposed the public to a deadly virus." That basically comes down to the fact that Duncan could possibly face criminal charges.

BLACKWELL: Here's why. Because Duncan traveled from Liberia to the U.S. last month and has been accused of lying on a pre-flight questionnaire about whether he had contact with any Ebola patients while abroad. Duncan's nephew says those claims simply are not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPHUS WEEKS, NEPHEW OF EBOLA PATIENT THOMAS ERIC DUNCAN: I heard it from his mouth himelf. Even though he was struggling in pain he told me he wasn't in the area. That's what I believe. The lies that is spreading they need to stop. This man is fighting for his life and there's no reason to be slandering his name over something that he didn't do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: All right, let's bring in CNN's Nick Valencia here.

BLACKWELL: Yes, he's joining us live from Dallas. Nick, the work is now being done to clean up the apartment as we said. The people who live there, they have been moved to a more controlled environment, a larger house. Any indication that the fears there are easing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there certainly is some curiosity, especially yesterday during the first phase of that apartment cleanup. A lot of residents in that apartment complex and in that neighborhood looking on, never seen anything like it before.

I spoke to a handful of residents who were concerned, some are really uneducated about Ebola and that seems to be one of the principle concerns of the county officials here is trying to educate the public and saying listen, there's only one person here, Thomas Duncan, showing signs of Ebola.

We are taking a look at 50 others, who may have had contact. Ten as you mentioned having direct contact and being at high risk. They are trying to educate the public to really temper those fears and those concerns -- Victor and Christi.

PAUL: OK, so Nick, let me ask you something. A lot of people are wondering. What have you learned about why Duncan left Liberia and came to Dallas? What is the story there?

VALENCIA: So we're now hearing from the family's church that Thomas Duncan intended to arrive here in Dallas, Texas to marry his girlfriend. Several years ago, they had started a relationship and they had a son a 19-year-old now in college.

Along that period, somewhere along there, they had a falling out, recently reconciled. She had taken a visit to Liberia in August and he was planning on coming here to marry her.

Now instead he sits in isolation in Texas Presbyterian Hospital and as far as we understand from the hospital, he still is in serious condition. We're waiting for an update later today about his now condition.

BLACKWELL: We'll stand by for that. Nick Valencia in Dallas for us. Nick, thank you very much.

PAUL: Thanks, Nick. In Maryland meanwhile, hospital officials say a patient who was admitted to that hospital after exhibiting flu-like symptoms yesterday has tested positive for malaria, not Ebola but malaria.

Meanwhile there is another patient being tested for Ebola at Howard University Hospital in D.C. who recently traveled to Nigeria. Officials say the patient is in isolation, in stable condition now.

BLACKWELL: We know you have a lot of questions about with Ebola. So just in a few minutes, two doctors will join us live to answer questions shared with us on Facebook and Twitter.

The other big story we're following this morning, the brutal killing of the British aid worker and taxi driver by ISIS.

PAUL: The terror group is now threatening to kill 26-year-old Peter Kassig. He has been held hostage by them for a year.

BLACKWELL: And ISIS has released a video showing the apparent beheading of the Britton Alan Henning. He was killed despite pleas for his life by his family and Muslim leaders in the U.K.

British Prime Minister David Cameron says this is enough. He sent out a tweet saying he met with his security chief this morning, Cameron says Britain and its allies will go after Henning's killers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We will use all the assets we have as we have been up to now, to try and find these hostages, to try to help these hostages, to help their families and do everything we can to defeat this organization which is ruthless, senseless and barbaric in the way it treats people. And this will be the work that we continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: In a statement, President Obama also condemned the killing saying the U.S., quote, "is standing together with a broad coalition of allies and partners and will continue taking decisive action to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL."

BLACKWELL: Now Peter Kassig in 2012, an American aid worker who is now also being threatened, as you can imagine, this is trying time for his family.

CNN's Alexandra Field is in Indianapolis, Kassig's hometown. What struck many of us is how Kassig's family first offered their thoughts to Alan Henning's family. You can imagine what this family is going through, but they thought of Henning's family first.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Difficult, Victor, to even imagine what Peter Kassig's family is going through. They have shown such tremendous grace during a time that is more trying than most of us really care to imagine.

I want to share with you a statement that they put out. I'll read it to you in its entirety. Here's what Peter Kassig's parents are saying, they say, "The Kassig family extends our concern for the family of Alan Henning. We have read about his work and his generous character, with great respect and admiration.

We ask everyone around the world to pray for the Henning family, for our son and for the release of all innocent people being held hostage in the Middle East, and around the globe."

Again, Peter Kassig has been held for a year now. This is a young man from Indianapolis, a native of Indiana, in captivity, for an entier year. His family desperately waiting for his release.

But we've learned a lot about this young man, this is someone who has truly been called to service throughout his life. We know that he is a veteran with the army, an army ranger deployed to Iraq, was honorably discharged on medical leave, returned here to his home state of Indiana for some schooling.

He was in college for a period and then decided that he wanted to do a different type of work and that's when he decided to go for EMT training, he ultimately decided to return overseas. He was aiding Syrian refugees bringing to them the medical help and humanitarian aid he was able to offer.

This is something that he felt deeply about, a call that he was really passionate about. He had been to Iraq and really wanted to return to offer help, Christi and Victor, in any way that he was able to.

BLACKWELL: All right, CNN's Alexandra Field there in Indianapolis. Thank you so much.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, joins us now from the Turkish-Syrian border. Arwa, we've been talking this morning that you met Peter Kassig in 2012. Tell us about this man.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is an incredible individual, Victor, he is one of those people where he inspired everyone him to really jump up and take action because of what he himself had decided to do.

We first met him in the summer of 2012. He had only been in Lebanon for a few months, but we met him at a hospital in Tripoli that's in the northern part of the country where he was volunteering his time to help out wounded Syrians and take a listen to what this young man told us back then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER KASSIG, AMERICAN AID WORKER: We each get one life and that's it. You get one shot at this. We don't get do overs, and for me it was kind of put up or shut up. The way I saw it I didn't have a choice, you know. Like this is what I was put here to do. I guess, I'm just hopeless romantic and idealist and I believe in hopeless causes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: It was that very belief that also drove Peter Kassig to do even more. He kept saying that he felt like he could contribute even more to help ease the suffering of the Syrian population. So a few months after we met him he actually started up his own non-profit, SERA, Special Emergency Response and Assistance.

Focusing on helping out in the refugee camps in Turkey and Syria, but also running much needed missions into Syria where he was helping to train up along with his team volunteers at the make-shift medical clinic, delivering much needed medical supplies. It was during one of those missions where Peter Kassig was kidnapped on October 1st, 2013. According to that statement by his family, Peter converted to Islam at some point during his captivity, now calling himself Abdul Rakman.

The family not elaborating further, but saying that they understand from hostages that have been released that Peter or as he is now being called, in that statement, took great comfort in his faith -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Arwa Damon joining us this morning. Arwa, thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Arwa. All right, well, back here at home, the new jobs report, it sounds good.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Unemployment rate, at its lowest in six years. What effect did it have on Wall Street?

BLACKWELL: And are people feeling it on main street we're going to talk about that.

Plus, a 4-run lead for the best pitcher in baseball. That should be enough. Tossed in a little playoff magic and he's got an October classic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. There's a lot going on. Let's get to this morning's read.

PAUL: In Dallas, the family of four people who came into contact with the Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola have moved out of their apartment. They are now in a home secluded from neighbors, we are told. In the meantime, though, crews are cleaning the apartment. You see it here where Thomas Eric Duncan had stayed.

The 9/11 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania is due to open next hour as officials assess fire damage to that site. It commemorates the terror attack on United Airlines Flight 93. Among the artifacts and four damaged buildings is an American flag that flew over the U.S. capital on the day of those attacks. Some memorabilia may have been lost in the fire.

BLACKWELL: Wall Street is celebrating September's jobs report. Stocks rose more than 1 percent after U.S. unemployment rate fell below 6 percent, for the first time in six years. Employers added 248,000 jobs last month.

PAUL: In sports, the St. Louis Cardinals, they stole the show. Beating the L.A. Dodgers on their home turf. That always hurts more, doesn't it? The final score said 10-9 and now the Cardinals are leading the national league division series one game to none.

BLACKWELL: All right, here is a weekend forecast. Several parts of the country are facing cooler temperatures, and I got to say I'm enjoying being in one of them. Although there are freeze warnings for the northern plains this morning. So that's not great.

PAUL: But you're not there.

BLACKWELL: I'm not there. So I'm all right. The highs today --

PAUL: We feel for the rest of you, though.

BLACKWELL: -- in the 10 to 25 degrees below normal. I'll take it while it lasts.

PAUL: All righty. This morning, the White House, it's really trying to defuse fears of an Ebola outbreak on American soil. Health officials say 10 of the 50 people who came into contact with Ebola patient, Thomas Duncan, are at high risk of contracting that virus.

And then you go to Washington in a separate case, that's where hospital officials are waiting for test results to determine whether a patient who recently traveled to Nigeria contracted Ebola.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN's Erin McPike. She is live from the White House this morning -- Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, good morning to you. The White House trotted out five high ranking administration officials yesterday for a briefing inside the White House to tamp down those fears.

And Sylvia Burwell, who is the secretary of Health and Human Services even said we cannot over communicate this. And that is because in recent days we've seen more and more articles that are having growing fears because you might not know if you are at risk of contracting the disease.

Because during the incubation period some people don't necessarily show signs of the symptoms. Well, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute for Infectious Diseases addressed that yesterday. Listen to his comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: Although Ebola is an extremely serious viral disease with a high fatality rate, it is not easily transmitted. Specifically, the Ebola virus is not easily spread like a cold or influenza.

You must come into direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person or through exposure to objects that have been contaminated with infected bodily fluids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Dr. Fauci also made the point that countries in West Africa have not been able to handle the outbreak because essentially the health care systems in West Africa are grossly inadequate. He made the point that the U.S. has some of the most advanced health care systems in the world. And so U.S. officials should be able to handle it, but we should stress should because of what happened in Dallas -- Christi and Victor.

PAUL: Very good point. So let me ask you, what kind of Ebola response work are U.S. troops going to be doing?

MCPIKE: We did hear from the Pentagon yesterday that the U.S. has already committed about 3,000 troops and just yesterday, they announced that an additional 600 troops are headed over to the region in the coming weeks and months.

Now U.S. troops will not be treating any individuals who are affected with Ebola in that region, but we do have some idea of what they will be doing and that is that they will be training medical volunteers who are over there in the region.

They are also going to be providing many of those volunteers with personal protective equipment so that they don't also get Ebola. The big thing that they are going to be doing is building treatment and care centers so that they can more effectively handle the disease.

They are also going to be implementing enhanced airport screenings, and to deal with the bodies who have died from Ebola, they are going to be implementing some safe burial procedures -- Christi and Victor.

PAUL: That's been a problem. Erin McPike, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Also if you want to know how you can actually help in the fight against Ebola, do something, visit cnn.com/impact.

PAUL: And thank you for doing so. Whenever a story is posted on a web site, you all have a lot of questions and comments.

BLACKWELL: Understandably. Our experts will answer them and tell us just how likely the virus could become airborne. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: I know that a lot of you and we, too, have so many questions about Ebola right now. We've been looking at what you're asking on Twitter and Facebook, specifically under the #Ebolaqanda, and we want to put some of those to experts for you.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We have two here with us. Dr. Amesh Adalja of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and also joining us, infectious disease specialist, Dr. Frank Esper, of the University Hospital Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

Thank you, Gentlemen, for being with us. I want to get to Lisa, her question from Twitter first. Why is Ebola not considered airborne when a sneeze with saliva drops can be put into air? Let's go to Dr. Adalja first.

DR. AMESH ADALJA, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER: So we draw a distinction something that's transmitted through a sneeze and something that can be suspended in the air. Diseases like the common cold and a sneeze from an Ebola patient is something that's transmitted through big droplets.

That only go about 3 feet. They don't get suspended in the air like in tuberculosis or in measles. So that's what we mean by airborne. For those you need special precautions like negative pressure rooms where air only flows in, in special mask.

But Ebola doesn't transmit that way. It's just through sneezes and can only travel about three feet and falls to the ground.

PAUL: OK, Dr. Esper, for you, John O'Neal tweets under the name Red Hand New York. He wants to know if Ebola is not spread through the air as he was saying, why are doctors dressed like astronauts when they encounter patients? Good question.

DR. FRANK ESPER, UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS CASE MEDICAL CENTER: It is a great question because it's very impressive how much we gown up for. There's a lot of abundance of precaution we take when we have come in contact with Ebola patients or with any other infectious patient.

A lot of times we have full body gowns that protect from getting secretions on our clothes. We wear masks. Again, we have that 3 feet rule as we just mentioned to ensure that secretions don't get into our mouths as well.

And then sometimes there is a face shield or an entire hood. Also to ensure that we don't get splattering on our face near our eyes and things like that. So it can be impressive.

Sometimes as a physician we are not too happy about how much we have to wear because we don't want to scare people. We don't want to feel imposing to the patient. We want to comfort them. Sometimes it's very hard to do when we're geared up like that.

BLACKWELL: You know what scared a lot of people is what they heard from the U.N. chief that it would be a, quote, "Nightmare scenario if Ebola were to mutate into some airborne strain." Dr. Adalja, how likely is that mutation?

ADALJA: That mutation is very unlikely. All viruses mutate, but we have never seen a virus spread through blood and body fluids become airborne. Think of HIV, for example. That's spread through blood and body fluids.

It's been through millions and millions of infections, but yet has no airborne characteristics. It's not just a switch that a virus can turn. A lot of evolutionary trade-offs that a virus has to do to acquire new properties and there is no evidence that this strain would go airborne or has the capacity to do so.

PAUL: OK. You know, Dr. Esper, even if the experimental Ebola drug, ZMapp were a cure-all and we know that it is not, we should say, the company that makes it apparently has run out of supplies. Why does it take so long to produce this? ESPER: Well, what they are doing right now specifically with the ZMapp, that's a lot of specific antibodies against this virus. At least in certain small trials, both with monkeys as well as a few patients with humans it has shown to suggest that there is some benefits.

But in order to make those antibodies, they have to go through very rigorous changes in cloning, in order to produce the amount of antibodies and they still don't even know exactly how may -- what the correct dose is for these antibodies.

And so they are probably getting a lot more than they need to because they just don't know just yet. Further trial as they go forward are going to be to assure that it works, to ensure that it's safe and to try to figure out exactly what the right dose is.

But may be right now they are just using too much and it's very difficult for us to produce these kinds of antibodies.

BLACKWELL: We know that Writebol and Brantly and -- Nancy Writebol, they received ZMapp and then Richard Sacra receive a transfusion from Brantly, the first three Americans. Now that we have Thomas Duncan in Dallas, how is he likely being treated right now, Dr. Adalja?

ADALJA: It's unclear how he is being treated now. There's a few options with some of these experimental drugs. But the mainstay of his treatment is going to be good supportive care. That's means IV fluids, fever control, anti-nausea medications, maybe supplemental oxygen.

And he'll be probably briefed on all of the different options that are available, they are all very scarce, but I'm sure he will be offered some of these experimental therapies if he is able to consent to have them because they are still experimental. It will be interesting to see which of the few that we have he actually receives.

PAUL: Dr. Esper, Eric Leeman wrote to us saying given the health care structure in the U.S., what is a realistic worst case scenario for an Ebola outbreak here?

ESPER: You know, you have to understand that the control of Ebola is directly related to how much resources that you're able to apply to that outbreak. So it's one of the reasons why there is a bit of a dichotomy.

We try to say how confident we are here that we could do it, but then we talk about what's going on in West Africa and we're very concerned. We are able to put -- dedicate a lot of people, a lot of money, to dedicate a lot of resources to controlling this outbreak.

Where they can't do that so much in most of those parts of West Africa. What is a realistic expectation, I don't expect to see a substantial outbreak of individuals from this person in Dallas, although some of his close contacts, the people who are living in the apartment with him, may come down with those symptoms. And that's one of the reasons why they are being monitored so closely. But if we were to see another person with Ebola, it's only going to be one of the very close contacts or it's going to be someone new that enters our country from an infected region or it's going to be one of the health care workers that are working very closely.

But they are using very meticulous infection control strategies that I have a feeling that the health care workers are going to be OK.

PAUL: OK, good to know. Dr. Adalja and Dr. Esper, thank you both very much for being with us.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Gentlemen.

Police encounter a lot of road blocks during a high-speed chase. Traffic, maybe a suspect jumping from a car, probably not a chain saw.

PAUL: Also, some surprise visitors from the north in South Korea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All right. Saturday morning is upon us. Welcome back. We're so glad to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Here are five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

Up first, President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are condemning the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning by ISIS. The terror group released the video showing the brutal killing of this 47-year-old taxi driver. It's now threatening to kill another hostage, American aid worker Peter Kassig.

PAUL: Number two, there may be a thawing in relations between North and South Korea. Three top North Korean officials paid a surprise visit to South Korea earlier today. And according to the South, officials from the North said they are open to a second round of talks this fall. This of course all coming as North Korean leader Kim Jong- Un is still out of sight after three weeks at this point.

BLACKWELL: Number three, look at this dash cam video. The thieves here hurled chain saws at police during the chase. This happened just outside of Atlanta. A separate surveillance video reportedly shows two men stealing 19 chain saws and a weed trimmer for good measure, from a hardware store. And when police chased them the suspects just started throwing them out the window. Police are still looking for those suspects.

PAUL: Oh my gosh, they actually got away.

Number four, Marriot has agreed to pay a $600,000 fine to the FCC for blocking guests' personal Wi-Fi last year during an event in Nashville. Now at the same time Marriot was charging exhibitors and others as much as $1,000 per device to access the hotel's wireless network. Marriot says it was acting to protect guests from, quote, "rogue wireless hot spots." BLACKWELL: New term there.

Number five, Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, he could face criminal charges. that's according to the Dallas County Attorney General's office, or actually the district attorney's office. They say they are looking into whether he knowingly and intentionally exposed the public to a deadly virus. Duncan, who remains in serious condition, has been accused of lying on a pre-flight questionnaire about whether he had contact with ebola patients before he left Liberia. Pentagon officials say the U.S. military will be sending about 4,000 troops to ebola infected countries in West Africa. Key among their priorities -- to help contain the virus and of course, don't get sick themselves.

PAUL: Right. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: With 3,000 troops already tapped to head to ebola-ravaged West Africa, CNN has learned the U.S. military is increasing its fight against the deadly disease. Hundreds more troops are being added to plans to help the infected countries contain and control ebola.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's America, our doctors, our scientists, our knowhow that leads the fight to contain and combat the ebola epidemic in West Africa.

STARR: Approximately 200 U.S. troops are already in Liberia. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has signed orders for another 700 from the 101st Airborne Division to head to Africa in coming days to staff a command headquarters. 700 more Army engineers will be going to help build and advise on mobile hospitals.

CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We're standing up a field hospital and treatment units and we'll be training thousands of health workers.

STARR: Even before most have left the U.S., military officials tell CNN the Pentagon is considering drastic measures to assure they don't come back to U.S. shores with the disease.

DR. LAURA JUNOR, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We are working with experts right now on this.

STARR: That could include enforced isolation for 21 days, the ebola incubation period for high risk troops who may have come in contact with the disease. All troops deployed will be monitored daily for symptoms. And all service members will face increased monitoring for those 21 days before they are allowed to return to the U.S.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: This is a complex emergency beyond a public health crisis that has significant humanitarian, economic, political and security dimensions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: How concerned is the Pentagon about keeping the troops healthy? Well, they are going to take with them food, water, fuel, everything they need for six months' deployment -- Christi, Victor.

PAUL: All right Barbara Starr thank you.

We'll let you know, we've learned security is tight this morning at Harvard after hundreds of students -- hundreds received an e-mailed death threat. "The Boston Globe" is reporting a profanity laced e- mail was received yesterday.

BLACKWELL: Yes and according to "The Globe", it reads "I will come tomorrow in Harvard University and shoot all of you, each one of you, all Harvard students I will kill you individually. I'll be back tomorrow at 11:00 in your blank university and will kill you, you sons of blank, even Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook I will kill. I'm going to kill every one of you."

PAUL: "The Globe" says the author of the e-mail claims to be a woman named Stephanie who lives in Boston. Harvard police notified Boston law enforcement as well as the FBI. And we'll let you know what comes of that here this afternoon.

BLACKWELL: Also some new twists and turns in the search for missing UVA student including a link to another Virginia student's murder.

PAUL: Yes but now police are turning to an unlikely group to help search for Hannah Graham. We're talking about hunters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: 21 minutes past the hour right now.

Police in Virginia are asking hunters for their help to find missing UVA student Hannah Graham. She disappeared September 13th and with bear hunting season kicking off today, officers in Albemarle County want them to keep an eye out for any clues to Graham's disappearance.

Now police say the prime suspect in the case, Jesse Matthew who you see here, this week the bombshell was that officers now say DNA has linked Matthew to the 2009 abduction and murder of another young woman, Virginia Tech student, Morgan Harrington.

What kind of forensic link could police be looking at? Let's bring forensic pathologist and attorney, Dr. Cyril Wecht. Dr. Wecht, thank you for being with us. Let's talk about this DNA link. What do you think it could be?

DR. CYRIL WECHT, FORENSIC PATHOLIGIST: With regard to the case of Miss Harrington back in 2009, as I understand it, her body was not found for about three months. It was in an advanced state of decomposition, in fact -- perhaps skeletonized. So I do not understand what biological materials might have been available to allow them to obtain DNA evidence tying in to Mr. Matthew.

There may have been some garment of his or some object that had been left behind upon which he had left some biological material. And they got DNA from that. With regard to Miss Graham, now this case currently, we do not know what the story is because she hasn't been found. So there can be no DNA from her or her clothing. We do know already that he, Mr. Matthew, was with her that evening. I've seen video, you folks have portrayed it, arm around her, 1:00 in the morning, so the fact that he was there and there might have been transference of DNA at that occasion, that doesn't tell us anything.

Now then you've got the rape case of 2005. In that case they should have obtained some seminal fluid or other material and as I understand it they identified Mr. Matthew. I do not know why charges haven't been brought against him until now. And then I have heard that there were cases of 2002 and 2003 at two other universities in which he had been charged initially with rape or sexual assault and those charges were dropped when those two young ladies in separate cases chose not to pursue the matter.

So the question is, why hasn't his DNA been fed into the Commonwealth of Virginia's DNA data base and into the national data base? That's the way you try to pick up these serial rapists, serial killers and I'm puzzled why there is no DNA apparently in that data base of Mr. Matthew in light of all of these episodes.

PAUL: It's a good question. And when you talk about DNA, some people think if there is DNA, it's a slam dunk if there is a link in that regard. But really, let's talk about the credibility of DNA evidence. Is there any part of it that is unreliable?

WECHT: No. Cellular DNA is the only absolute forensic science. It has been so stated in the National Academy of Science report of February 2009. Cellular DNA -- not even mitochondrial or maternal DNA although that has a very high exclusionary rate too. But if you've got properly performed tests by competent people and it's cellular DNA you can say it is that individual as contrasted with anybody else that has ever existed on this planet not only today but in the past other than an identical twin.

So, the other thing about DNA some people don't understand is that it's easily transferrable. If you and I were to shake hand there would have been a transfer of DNA from your palm to mine and mine to yours. And the other thing is, the DNA cannot be dated. You can't do a DNA test and say this is from yesterday or this is from last year or this is from five years ago. You can correlate it with known events in that fashion come up with a temporal relationship but you cannot from the testing say how old DNA was.

So, there's a lot to be learned in this case. I don't know what DNA they have that they say they have linked Graham to Harrington and Harrington back then to 2005 rape case. We've got to have more detailed explanation from them in order to comprehend exactly what kind of material they have performed testing on for these DNA results.

PAUL: All right. Well, Dr. Cyril Wecht, thank you so much for the great explainer this morning.

WECHT: Thank you. PAUL: We appreciate you being here.

BLACKWELL: All right. This is a crucial time in Hong Kong because there are fears this morning that more violence could erupt at any minute. Pro democracy protesters refuse to back down. We're headed there live for the latest, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, some raw nerves in Hong Kong as massive crowds of pro democracy protesters are again hitting the streets today facing off both with police and with anti-occupy opponents.

Look at what it was like just a bit ago.

BLACKWELL: Already today at least 20 people have been arrested in clashes with police. In the seven days of protest, 148 people have been injured. More than a dozen still are in the hospital. And now, students have called off talks with government officials.

Our Will Ripley joins us on the scene. Will, Hong Kong's leader urged -- we're going to talking about North Korea in a moment -- the leader in Hong Kong urged today calm but also said protesters must clear out by Monday. What if they don't leave?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's really the million dollar question right now, Victor and Christi, because We are one week into this and we are now seeing perhaps the largest crowd in the heart of Hong Kong that we've seen since this movement began despite repeated warnings by the Hong Kong government, despite some action by police to try to encourage protesters to leave these areas and, of course, the controversial actions on Sunday where tear gas was used in some of the protesters. All of that has only caused more Hong Kongers to rally in this area, fighting for true democracy in this city.

So it leaves the government right now with a real dilemma. Do they try to mobilize the 35,000 Hong Kong police officers and try to disperse all these protesters by force or do they play the waiting game and see how long this drags out. If they do that they risk continued financial trouble for the city, emergency services interrupted and growing hardship for a number of people here who are divided and who feel that this has lasted far too long and essentially put the city into chaos and gridlock.

Also you have Beijing, the Beijing government that of course is very influential here. This is a Chinese city. They have to be concerned that this pro democracy movement will spread to other Chinese cities. It's a real dilemma right now but the protesters here are saying they are going to stand firm -- Christi and Victor.

PAUL: All right Will -- I hope you can hear me because we need to ask you about North Korean delegates now who say that they are open to a second round of talks with South Korea. What do you know about those developments?

RIPLEY: Well, obviously North Korea is a very important topic in this region because China is a key ally of North Korea and we had some diplomats from the North make a rare trip to the South where they said that they would be willing to open up talks, dialogue essentially, with the South Korean government. The key topics the two countries will need to discuss -- denuclearization and unification, bringing the two countries together.

The sense I got when I traveled to North Korea last month is that it appears that government wants to open up a line of communication. You remember they let us speak with the three detained American there is trying to send a message to the U.S. Government. Now, it appears the North is also trying to send a message to the south at a time when they are facing increased isolation.

And this country, China, and the financial support and the trade that comes from China is one of the things that is helping the North Korean economy barely limp along. Times are not good for the country. It's also a troubling time for them considering there are serious concerns about the health of their leader Kim Jong-Un.

PAUL: Yes. And what is happening there because it seems they've been very secretive as of late.

Will Ripley in Hong Kong, thank you so much.

All righty. I'm a little jealous. Just a little.

BLACKWELL: Are you?

PAUL: At the West Coast.

BLACKWELL: Oh, yes.

PAUL: Yes. Because all of you out there, you get the best view of the blood moon in October right before Halloween.

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PAUL: If you live in the western half of the U.S., are you the lucky one today.

BLACKWELL: That's because you'll have the best view of next week's blood moon. It's when a lunar eclipse gives the moon this burnt reddish orange color.

PAUL: Much like Victor's tie today.

BLACKWELL: Thank you for that. The full eclipse will start Wednesday at 6:25 Eastern, and last about an hour. This will all happen when the earth is closest to the moon's orbit so not only will the moon look like it's bleeding, it will also be huge. Almost as big as the super moon -- remember the super moon.

PAUL: Super moon, yes. Remember that one. Meanwhile, it's pretty cold out there. And it's going to get worse tonight.

BLACKWELL: Just a little chilly. I don't see cold. I like it though.

PAUL: 44 isn't cold to you?

BLACKWELL: It's definitely colder than fall temperature.

Let's hand it over to a professional. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: If you didn't think this morning was cold Victor, you probably will be cold tomorrow morning because it's going to be even cooler.

Folks in Chicago definitely feeling the chill; in fact, snow flurries this morning in Chicago and the National Weather Service in Chicago just tweeted out a few moments ago that is the third earliest snowfall on record in Chicago this morning. So, bundle up if you are up in Chicago.

Here's the radar. Just a couple of little flurries out there -- nothing major. We are seeing some rain though, just to the west of Green Bay heading through Detroit. This is all part of that same system that caused all of those storms across Texas, that pushed through Louisiana, Arkansas and on to the Mississippi.

So there is a closer look at Chicago. You can see just on the western side some of the suburbs getting some of those flurries this morning. It's cold out there. There are frost and freeze watches or warnings rather, in place across the Northern Plains and it's going to be even cooler as we go through tonight. 30 degrees in Sioux Falls, 25 in Minot this morning, 38 in Chicago, 43 in St. Louis.

Temperatures will be warming up quickly over the next couple days so this chilly weather isn't going to last too long. 47 today in Chicago, 56 tomorrow. Overnight lows tonight, dipping very chilly. 44 in Atlanta tonight, 49 in Memphis, even 58 as far south as New Orleans.

And I also want to mention we have quite the opposite scenario going on over on the West Coast. We have very, very hot temperatures. Fire threat remains high for southern California for today and tomorrow. So do be on the lookout for that. Be very careful, temperatures in L.A. will reach 91 degrees. (inaudible) will be much higher.

PAUL: I was there yesterday and it was hot for sure. Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thanks, Jen.

All right. So that's it for us. We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern today, 7:00 out on the West Coast -- the CNN NEWSROOM.

PAUL: Stay here, because "SMERCONISH" is coming at you now. Stay close.