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New Day Saturday

Doctor with Ebola in Isolation at N.Y. Hospital; Students Recall Chaotic Shooting Scene; Interview With Congressman Phil Roe of Tennessee; Could Parents Be Charged for Teen Shooting?; Remains Confirmed as Hannah Graham's; Nina Pham Cured of Ebola, Hugs Pres. Obama; Exploding Airbag Recall Could Expand

Aired October 25, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik, in for Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Seven o'clock straight up here on the East Coast.

First this morning, we are learning that a health care worker in New Jersey has tested negative for Ebola.

KOSIK: She has been in isolation at a hospital in Newark, New Jersey, since coming back to the U.S. yesterday from treating patients in West Africa.

BLACKWELL: And New York and New Jersey are ordering a mandatory quarantine for anyone returning from the Ebola hot zone there in West Africa who had direct contact with an Ebola patient.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We believe it's appropriate to increase the current screening procedures for people coming from affected countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Dallas nurse Nina Pham is back home after recovering from Ebola. Her dad greeted her at the airport, and she got a welcome home gift. Scrubs signed by her colleagues at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

BLACKWELL: And at the White House yesterday, Pham got a hug from President Obama. We got a photo here at that moment.

Amber Vinson, the other Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola, she's still in the hospital. But she's expected to be moved from isolation soon. So, that's good news as well.

Dr. Craig Spencer, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in New York City, he's in isolation still at Bellevue hospital. Officials are also retracing his footsteps from the city's subways, to a bowling alley, an Uber taxi as well.

CNN's Alexandra Field joins us now from Bellevue.

What's the latest on Dr. Spencer's condition?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, maybe a little good news to report here. Still in isolation here at Bellevue, the last update on his condition he was stable. We're told he was able to use his cell phone. New York City's Mayor Bill De Blasio said he's able to communicate even though he continues to be in isolation. We know three people who had been in close contact with him are also under quarantine.

But as this is happening, we're hearing more positive news out of New Jersey, which is a preliminary test for Ebola for a health care worker who had returned and arrived in Newark yesterday from the hot zone, she has preliminarily tested negative for Ebola. However, she's still at University Hospital in Newark this morning.

BLACKWELL: The New Jersey health care worker who has been quarantined. We know she's tested negative. Preliminary tests, are we expecting other tests? And after this negative testing, should we expect to see her removed from isolation? Or quarantine, rather.

FIELD: Well, at this point -- sure, at this point, what the state department of health in New Jersey is saying that she is still in isolation. She's still in quarantine. She's at the hospital and she's being observed by health care officials.

While they did say this was a preliminary test, they said at this point they would be consulting with the CDC and Department of Health to determine if further testing would be needed.

But this all comes on the heels of New York and New Jersey deciding to ramp up their efforts to regulate and restrict people who are coming back from the hot zone. It was just yesterday that Governor Cuomo and Governor Christie ordered a direct quarantine for anyone returning from the hot zone who had been in direct contact with someone with the virus.

This health worker arrived at Newark. She was taken to the area to be examined, and what we understand from the State Department of Health is that she did not show any symptoms when she first arrived. They say, however, that she developed a fever at the time that they were checking her out. That's when the decision was made to bring her to University Hospital in New York. That's one of the hospitals prepared to deal with these cases. From there, they did the testing, at this point again, the headline this morning, being that that preliminary test turned out to be negative.

BLACKWELL: All right. Well, good news there. Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

KOSIK: And we've got new details this morning about the student who may have been targeted when a popular freshman opened fire in a crowded high school cafeteria. One girl at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington was killed in what witnesses described as a chaotic and bloody scene.

Now, four others, two boys, two girls, are fighting for their lives.

Our Dan Simon is following this developing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds gather at a Washington state church seeking comfort just hours about a nearby school shooting.

It was around 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Students were gathered in a crowded cafeteria at Marysville-Pilchuck high school 40 miles north of Seattle when fellow students and eyewitnesses say freshman Jaylen Fryberg opened fire with a handgun apparently targeting a specific table.

JORDAN LUTON, WITNESS (via telephone): The table he went up to, he came up from behind and had a gun in his hand, and fired about six bullets into the backs of them. And they were his friends, so, it wasn't just random.

SIMON: Students scattered. Many in the rest of the building say they thought a fire drill was under way and many ran outside.

STUDENT: He was sitting behind me, I heard the shots, I fell over. I just got up and saw everyone running and I ran.

SIMON: In the hallways, teachers started herding in the classrooms and ordering a lockdown. At some point, someone inside placed a 911 call, and by 10:40, police were swarming the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move to the west side of the gymnasium and link up to escort an additional 30 students out to the south.

SIMON: Going room to room, placing paper over the doors of those they secured so they know what had been checked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In that process, they discovered the alleged gunman, by noon official saying he was dead, apparently having shot himself.

SIMON: And in the process, they discover the gunman. By noon officially saying he was dead apparently having shot himself. A female student was also killed in the attack. And four injured students are hospitalized. The grandfather of one of the survivors said the shooter and two of the wounded are related.

DON HATCH, SHOOTER'S GRANDFATHER: All three of them are cousins. All three of them are cousins and they live right close to each other.

SIMON: Fryberg was considered to be a very well-liked student and the freshman athlete was recently elected homecoming prince. But his social media accounts paint two different pictures. Fryberg's Facebook page shows his active engagement with Native American Tulalip tribe. He loved the outdoors. Smiling here fishing on a boat. Another picture hunting.

But turn to Twitter, a second more troubling image appears. In recent months, the freshman tweeted multiple times a day. It breaks me, it actually does, I know it seems like I'm sweating it off, but I'm not. I'm never going to be able to. I'm tired of this expletive. I'm so expletive done.

And 36 hours before the attack, he sent this, it won't last. It will never last.

For students who lived through the attack, it's a day they will never forget.

STUDENT: I heard the guns, and I turned around he's just shooting everyone. There's blood on everywhere. Some got on other girls' faces and stuff.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Dan Simon joins us from Everett, Washington. Dan, you know, after the Newtown shooting, a lot of schools put in security officers or metal detectors. Do you know if this school had any of that, and maybe how Jaylen got this weapon onto school grounds?

SIMON: Well, Alison, in terms of the security of the school, I'm not aware of any efforts they had to sort of control security, whether or not they had metal detectors. I think that's still an open question, or we'll try to get more information from police today. In terms of the weapon, we're told that it was a.40 Beretta handgun, which is a high weapon.

Obviously, we're talking about very significant injuries, we are here at Providence Hospital in Everett Hospital, where two of the victims are said to be in critical condition after suffering what could only be described as horrific injuries.

We're also, Alison, getting more information in terms of the final moments of what happened here. According to affiliate KIRO there was a teacher, a social studies teacher who approached the shooter as things were going on. In the final moments, he tried to grab his arm.

And in the process of doing so, the shooter shot himself. Certainly should be interesting to hear that account from what sounds like a very brave woman -- Alison.

KOSIK: Wow, very chilling. The teacher stepping in there, amazing.

All right. Dan Simon in Marysville, Washington. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, that attack by a man with a hatchet on New York police department officers is being called a terror attack. The question here, was he tied to a terror group or was this random?

KOSIK: And out west, another attack on police in California left two officers dead. Those stories and much more, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Busy day here. Let's get to your "Morning Read."

KOSIK: Officials are calling a hatchet attack on a group of New York police officers an act of terror. They say the attacker Zale H. Thompson was a self-radicalized convert to Islam, but he wasn't tied to any terror group. He charged at the police officers with the hatchet on Thursday, striking one of them on the back of the head. The officer is still in critical condition.

Two deputies are dead and two others wounded in a shooting rampage in California. The alleged gunman and another suspect are reportedly now in custody. Sacramento deputy Danny Oliver was killed, along with Placer County homicide investigator Michael David Davis Jr.

BLACKWELL: A massive recall involving exploding airbags could be expanding. Senior federal administration officials tell CNN it could go nationwide. Right now, the recall mainly affects regions with humid climates. Nearly 8 million cars and nine automakers are involved. These air bags can spray sharp metal pieces when they're activated.

KOSIK: The Kansas City Royals are now in control of two games to one, after slipping past the Giants last night in San Francisco, with a score of 3-2. K.C. doesn't have much time to celebrate, game four ticks off tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

BLACKWELL: That storm system that you're looking at here. Yes, there's a storm system, OK, yes, there it is. You see rain on the left of the screen -- I see warm, sunny, mostly sunny.

KOSIK: Glad it's the good stuff.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I tried to. Soaking rainfall there at the northwest, up to three inches in Seattle, two inches in northern California. But if you live on the East Coast, summerlike in the south. It's under the word "northwest" there. The northeast will see mild fall-like temperatures.

KOSIK: Friday's shooting tragedy in Marysville, Washington, left many asking a very familiar question. Why? Why the violence? Why at school?

To give us more insight, we're joined by author Katherine Newman. She wrote "Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings."

Why is it that we see these violent outbreaks on school campuses, why do you think?

KATHERINE NEWMAN, AUTHOR, "RAMPAGE": Because young men still experience a sense of marginality and deep unhappiness and they magnify the plight they encounter as adolescence. And there's now a template or a script for how you respond to such a sense of personal tragedy, unfortunately, and it involves guns. And we have seen this many times before.

KOSIK: Social media can often give so many clues. I went through some of his tweets going back to June. I'm a parent, and my opinion if I saw tweets like that -- I'm not making a judgment call here because I'm not the perfect parent -- but if I saw tweets like that, I would have to find out what's going on because he has seemed anguished since June. And I get it that kids cab be -- you know, drama -- they can feel drama when they're going through a breakup with relationships, everything's new and they're not used to that kind of thing.

But at what point do parents feel like they should go ahead and step in?

NEWMAN: Parents don't usually like to see the tweets of our children. We don't like to admit it but our children live in a different world than the one we live in. And so, they can appear on the surface to be very happy, very popular, and live a life of anguish on the inside that may be visible to their peers who are receiving those tweets.

But we give them a zone of privacy because we want them to grow up and become independent people. If we start treating them as appendages of ourselves at 14, we worry they will never grow up.

So that zone of privacy is what makes it so difficult for us to understand their interior world. It's very different from the surface world we see as adults.

KOSIK: But social media really is what kids are on. So, don't you think that parents, I understand that they want to give their kids privacy, but shouldn't they also draw the line and say wait a minute, you seem really upset? What's going on here?

NEWMAN: Well, if they seem really upset and they see that, perhaps they should draw that line. But when you listen to how people describe this young man, they don't describe someone on the surface who seems upset. They talk about someone who is elected as the homecoming prince say. People say this is the last person in the world I would expect to do something like this. And that is what they can see on the surface.

But I think we will learn more in days to come about how his peers understood him. And generally speaking, from the research I've done, the peer world looks very different. Very often, sadly, young people will say, yeah, I could see that coming. I didn't need the police to tell me who did this. So, well, the adults would say, I could have told you 50 other kids I might have expected and not this one.

KOSIK: Al right. Katherine Newman -- thanks for your analysis.

NEWMAN: Officials in Virginia are now building their case against Jesse Matthew, of course, after confirming the remains they found at abandoned creek bed are those of missing Hannah Graham.

And with a new case of Ebola in the U.S., has a time now come for travel ban? Well, some U.S. members of Congress who happen to be doctors are calling for one. We're going to speak to one of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The toll from one of the world's most dreaded diseases Ebola is climbing. The World Health Organization says 4,900 people have now died of that virus, and the number of cases worldwide have surpassed 10,000.

Republican Congressman Phil Roe joins us by phone now from Johnson City, Tennessee.

Congressman, it's good to have you with us this morning.

REP. PHIL ROE (R), TENNESSEE (via telephone): Thanks for having me on.

BLACKWELL: So, the head of the Red Cross said the travel bans are not the solution, and called the idea irrational. I want to put up on the screen what the president of the World Bank said. "It's as if you were in a burning house in your home and you started putting wet towels under the door to keep the smoke from coming in."

You think a travel ban is a good idea. Why?

ROE: That's a silly analogy. First of all, let's just go back and not look at this -- I mean, the way I look at it, when I was trained in medical school, in top medical school.

Outbreaks, the way they work, if you have a group of people, roomful of people who are immunized and someone comes in with the disease, they can't give anybody the disease because everyone is protected. If you're in a room where no one has the disease and someone comes in, and that someone contacts some -- the person who is not immunized, you quarantine and isolate those people. It's worked for centuries. We know how to take care of epidemics, and the evidence is apparent, with what's going on in the United States, if we had had a travel ban, you would not have a single case of original Ebola in the United States. Not one.

Now, can we handle an epidemic in this country? Absolutely. And Dr. Spencer who contracted Ebola taking care of patients in West Africa, I want to thank him for going and doing that. I mean, most of us, medical people, practicing medicine on the front line, and this is a very skilled physician who used precautions and still got the disease once the two nurses did. So, once you're infectious, that's a highly infectious disease and highly disease. Now, fortunately, for those folks that appear to be virus-free, hopefully Dr. Spencer will be.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Congressman, I hate to interrupt but I want to get specifically to the proposal of the travel ban. You say that people who are in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, they should not be, of course, traveling to the U.S. That's the heart of the travel ban. But it assumes that that they can't go to a neighboring country and get in the U.S. Doesn't this travel ban if it's enacted, encourage people who want to get to the U.S. to be evasive?

ROE: But you still have -- I mean, when I have a passport to travel, I have to have a visa to the country I'm going to. So, we know exactly where your point of origin is.

Let me also say that the U.S. military is doing exactly what I just guessed and what we wrote the president this week. They're going to keep their troops in West African countries to help, thank goodness they are, for 10 days. And then quarantine them for a full 21 days, make it a full 21 days, once they get back. And they're going to make sure that they don't have Ebola break out in the troops. And I think that's a smart thing to do.

BLACKWELL: So, I want to give your response to what we're seeing in New Jersey and New York, this requirement for health care workers coming back who had, of course, contact with Ebola patients coming to the U.S., this 21-day mandatory quarantine. I did not hear what mandatory means. Of course, I know the definition of the word.

But are you going to -- are we expecting them to go and visit these people every day. And for someone who I know is a fiscal conservative, that seems pretty expensive.

ROE: Well, let me tell you, it's very inexpensive compared to the cost of treating this disease once it gets in.

Let me give you an example, just with hazmat suit, a top hospital officials, it's about $200 a suit to suit up. And by the requirements of the CDC, and the way we should be treating these patients, you go in with two people so you can observe each other. So, it's very expensive. And hospitals around the country already have spent millions of dollars to prepare for this buying equipment that they otherwise wouldn't have.

My local hospitals in Johnston City in Kingsport, Tennessee, have already spent tens of thousands of dollars plus the training that's required to uptrain our staffs.

BLACKWELL: All right. Congressman Phil Roe, we appreciate you talking with us this morning.

ROE: Thanks very much for having me on. I hope and pray that the folks that are infected get well. And certainly I hope we restrict the travel so that Americans don't have to worry about the disease spreading here.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, sir.

Alison?

KOSIK: The school shooter killed himself. But could his parents be charged or blamed for the crimes he committed?

Plus, fears that 43 students were shot and burned to death in Mexico after trying to stage a protest against the government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Five things you need to know for your NEW DAY now.

KOSIK: Number one: a tragic end to the search for missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.

Officials have confirmed that human remains it discovered along abandoned creek are those of the 18 year old who was seen in September. As the parents deal with the heartbreaking news, police are now building a case against their prime suspect Jesse Matthew.

BLACKWELL: Number two, tensions are tightening in Ferguson. Protesters, they doubt growing -- their doubts, rather, are growing that Officer Wilson will ever be indicted.

Now, earlier this week, "The Washington Post" reported that several black witnesses support the account of Officer Wilson. He's the officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown back in August. This latest leak from the grand jury proceedings threatens to reignite a heated situation in Missouri.

KOSIK: Number three, the governor of Guerrero, Mexico, is stepping aside in the wake of a mysterious mass kidnapping. Critics say Governor Angel Aguirre didn't act fast enough when 43 student protesters went missing last month. The students still haven't been found. Some activists fear they were turned over to gang members and were murdered. Mexico's attorney general accuses the town's mayor of being involved.

BLACKWELL: Number four, the queen is tweeting now. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, he dipped her toe into the 21st century communications yesterday when she posted her first tweet. The monarch signed it herself, Elizabeth R.

The inaugural tweet welcomed visitors to a new information age gallery at the Science Museum in London.

KOSIK: And number five, if you're planning a Halloween costume, this may scare you when you see the price tag. More costume is selling for a cool 1.6 million bucks. It's encrusted with 70,000 diamonds. Hey, if that doesn't fit your budget, the company also sells a robot costume for $25,000. And for you, Victor, a cowboy costume for $2500.

BLACKWELL: I always wanted to be a cowboy.

Let's go now back to the shooting rampage at Marysville, Washington high school. Jaylen Fryberg targeted a group of teens whose schoolmates say were his friends. A grandfather says two of them were his cousins. He killed one of them and wounded four others before they turned the again on himself. Officials say the gun he used has been traced to his father. And now

investigators are searching the family home.

Let's bring in CNN legal analyst Paul Callan. We have Mel Robbins with us as well.

Good morning to both of you.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Paul, I want to start with you.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor. Good morning, Paul.

BLACKWELL: Jaylen was a freshman. At that age, would he have been permitted to even use this kind of gun? The reporting is he's 14 years old.

CALLAN: Well, you know, in many jurisdictions, even at that age, you're allowed to go to a range and fire a weapon under adult supervision. So, it is possible he could have developed familiarity with how to use a weapon of that kind. But to have it in school or have it on the street is quite a different matter.

BLACKWELL: Mel, is there any liability here for the father?

ROBBINS: Well, there's two different aspects to discuss, Victor, and it's a terrific question, because, you know, as we've reported that sources are saying it's being traced back to his father. I doubt very highly there would be any kind of criminal liability in this case for the father, Victor, but perhaps there could be some sort of negligence charge brought in a civil lawsuit for wrongful death or injuries from the other students who were hit, if the father, for example, were negligent in the way that he stored the weapon, Victor.

CALLAN: Yes, there is -- Victor, I wanted to throw in because I've been involved in a couple of these in New York. And I agree completely with Mel, with respect to the difficulty of bringing criminal charges. Sometimes, prosecutors will say that leaving a gun where a child can access it is an act of recklessness or gross criminal recklessness. They might be able to stretch the law to go after the father. But it's very, very unusual. Usually, as Mel says, it's a civil case for money damages.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we've seen that in dozens of cases over the last couple of years.

Let's turn now to the case of this UVA student Hannah Graham, her remains found and identified. Suspect Jesse Matthew, he's in custody, charged with abduction with intent to defile. I want to say this, Paul, and then to Mel. Now that authorities know that she was possibly murdered, they found the body. Would we expect the charges against Matthew to change?

CALLAN: Well, most certainly, the charges are going to be boosted with murder charge. He's charged with that odd thing which is abduction with intent to defile, which is kind of a strange wording, but it's a sexual intent, and a murder has now been added to it. So, it will up to that level. And, of course, the punishment is much more severe. He could even face the death penalty, depending upon how authorities decide to charge it.

BLACKWELL: With the identification of the remains, Mel, there could be a lot of clarity offered here, but also this could muddy the waters in some ways, because a defense attorney could use some of the information that's found at the scene, near the body or on the body, to kind of point to a different person, I'd imagine.

ROBBINS: Yes, you know, that's probe what the defense will do in this case. I mean, it's all a circumstantial case. And, Victor, what's really important, yes, they have identified Hannah Graham. Now we can go forward with first degree murder charges along with the kidnapping and the rape charges.

However, there may be other things at the scene and that's the most important thing, Victor. Can they connect the defendant to the scene? We know they can connect him to the body, because he was seen with her. He's the last person seen with her, but can they connect him to the scene, and that's when everybody is going to be waiting to hear more evidence -- as we learn more evidence, Victor.

BLACKWELL: And, Mel, he's being connected to other missing young women in that community, women have either found dead or never found at all. How do those cases play a role in, I guess, in prosecuting one another?

ROBBINS: Well, here's how this is probably going to play out. They've already charged him now in a rape in Fairfax County, 2005. They've got a victim that is alive that's coming forward. They also charged him in that case, Victor, with attempted murder.

So, I think what you're going to see them do is go forward with that case very quickly and hopefully convict him, then you take him back to, you know, the Charlottesville case which is Morgan Harrington and now Hannah Graham. What we're looking at there, they charged him with the murder of two women but he's now a convicted rapist, which changes things dramatically in terms of whether or not he would ever get on the stand which you'll never see him do.

But what the prosecutors are going to try to do is try to get some leverage here, because nobody ever tries these cases -- we want to get this monster in jail for the rest of his life. We want information about other bodies and we want these families to be able to move on with their lives, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Absolutely. Mel Robbins, Paul Callan, thank you both.

CALLAN: Thank you, Victor.

ROBBINS: Thank you.

KOSIK: Our coverage -- our coverage continues on the Ebola crisis. And we're live at the White House and the CDC.

First, let's go to Erin McPike.

What do you have coming up?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, what we learned from the Obama administration overnight that on the decision in New York and New Jersey on quarantining, the White House is still evaluating whether to take that approach.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And coming up here from the CDC, we'll talk to you about contact tracing, and the biggest challenge for medical detectives in trying to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.

You're watching CNN NEW DAY SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Mortgage rates moved higher this week. Have a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The 26-year-old nurse infected with Ebola is cured and back home. But on the way, Nina Pham made a quick stop at the White House to hug the president.

She, of course, went there to show the country is, yes, she's indeed free of the deadly virus.

CNN's Erin McPike has more for us this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCPIKE (voice-over): President Obama hugging nurse Nina Pham to show Americans the Ebola scare is under control. Just minutes after her doctor did the same.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: She is cured of Ebola. Let's get that clear, OK? That's for sure.

NINA PHAM, NURSE DECLARED FREE OF EBOLA VIRUS: And on my way back to recovery, even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think this also should be a pretty apt reminder that we do have the best medical infrastructure in the world.

MCPIKE: The White House given the alarm over a new Ebola patient, a doctor in New York City, was quick to point out one of the CDC SWAT teams the president ordered was on the case.

EARNEST: I'm told that the SWAT team actually arrived in New York the same evening that this individual was a confirmed Ebola patient.

MCPIKE: But on Capitol Hill, a national nurses union leader called the overall response dangerously inconsistent and inadequate.

DEBORAH BURGER, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED: No nation would ever contemplate sending soldiers into the battlefield without armor and weapons. Give us the tools we need. All we ask from President Obama and Congress is not one more infected nurse.

MCPIKE: And Republicans continue to question why the president named apolitical aide, Ron Klain, to coordinate the effort.

REP. TREY GOWDY (R-SC), HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: All of his medical and infectious disease, communicable disease, health care delivery background.

DR. NICOLE LURIE, HHS ASSISTANT SECRETARY: You know, one of the terrific thing about the way government works together is that experts come together all the time.

GOWDY: I'm going to take that answer as he has none.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Erin joins us now live from outside the White House.

Erin, tell us more about what happened at the hearing yesterday on the government's response to Ebola.

MCPIKE: You know, Victor, as you heard there, there was still a lot of criticizing of Ron Klain and White House chose him. He was not at that hearing, but we did learn from the White House that he will be meeting with New York and New Jersey officials this coming week to talk about that decision on quarantining. And he will also be traveling to the CDC this upcoming week, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Erin McPike outside the White House for us -- thank you so much.

Alison?

KOSIK: And the race is on, the CDC has to find people who may have had contact with the New York doctor who has Ebola. Dr. Craig Spencer arrived back in New York City from Friday -- last Friday actually from guinea where he was treating patients with the deadly virus. And for almost an entire week since returning, Dr. Spencer was feeling well.

So, he did normal stuff. He went jogging. He went bowling. He even rode the subway, in contact with a lot of people.

Nick Valencia is live at the Centers of Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta.

So, Nick, tell me about the progress that detectives are making on finding these people that Dr. Spencer may have had contact with.

VALENCIA: Good morning, Alison.

It really say race against the clock for these medical detectives to try to figure out who Dr. Craig Spencer had contact with.

We know from the contact tracing process that it really starts with patient zero, in this case, Spencer. We'll talk to him about who he was with, where he might have gone. And from there, they'll do one of few things. They will evaluate people for the 21-day period, seeing if they have signs or symptoms, or they will quarantine and monitor under that quarantined.

In the case of Spencer, you know, we have three people including his fiancee and two friends that are currently being monitored and quarantined for this Ebola symptoms, health officials say they are doing well.

But really, Alison, this is about public perception. All those people who may have been at the bowling alley or shared the subway with Spencer, we know that he wasn't symptomatic until technically had symptoms until he had signs with that fever, although he was feeling fatigue in the days leading up to him establishing that fever, health officials and emphasized that he wasn't having -- he didn't have those symptoms until he developed a fever, Alison.

KOSIK: Yes. Which brings me to this. I mean, Dr. Spencer said he was feeling sluggish before developing a fever on Thursday.

So, does that mean health officials have to expand the time frame and expand the locations of possible Ebola infections?

VALENCIA: Well, it certainly has them take a look of how wide of a net they have to cast here. But part of their message to the public is trying to temper the alarmists, trying to really sort of rain in the public perception of fear and anxiety. Surrounding this deadly virus, it's really unprecedented the virus at the door step.

A lot of this has been trying to temper those alarmists and make sure that they're safe. We know from covering this and from science, that there is no way to transmit this deadly virus unless this patient is showing symptoms or signs, and unless there is direct contact, unless bodily fluids are exchanged.

So, we saw them this week come out and say there's no reason for New Yorkers in that area, in that neighborhood that Spencer lives in, for them to be concerned. Unless they came in direct contact, and right now, as I mentioned, just three people that are currently being monitored and quarantined. And health officials saying that they are so far, they are doing well -- Alison.

KOSIK: I just want to ask you very quickly, I know you're at the CDC, near Emory, where nurse Amber Vinson is. Tell me her condition.

VALENCIA: Yes, we got a quick update from her hospital here at Emory University, right next door to the CDC. They said that the latest blood test for Vinson came back clear of the virus. There's still to date or expectation of her release. But we'll stay on top of that, no doubt, Alison.

KOSIK: OK. Glad to hear Amber Vinson is feeling better. Thanks, Nick Valencia.

BLACKWELL: All right. Alison, thank you so much.

Turn to the television and look at this.

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BLACKWELL: That's an air bag exploding here, part of a massive recall. And the expansion could now go nationwide.

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KOSIK: Almost 8 million cars being recalled because their air bags may explode and spit sharp metal objects into the drivers and passengers.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but that recall could expand and go nationwide after at least four deaths have been linked to the defect.

CNN's Rene Marsh reports on the latest in this investigation.

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RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Alison, Victor, more cars could be recalled over exploding air bags that shoot metal shrapnel at passengers. That comes from a senior administration official. Right now, the focus is vehicles in states with warm humid climates. But the pressure is on to expand the recall nationwide.

Meantime, federal prosecutors are looking into weather Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata was truthful about what it knew of the defects. And the lawmakers on Capitol Hill, they are questioning if the government agency that handles recalls is doing enough to keep drivers and passengers safe.

This week, the national safety traffic administration, they put out an urgent warning to nearly 8 million car owners to immediately get defective air bags replaced. Now, some air bags manufactured by Takata, they expand so fast the metal inflator ruptures and that sends metal flying. That could cause serious injury or even death.

Now, at first, NHTSA said 4.5 million vehicles were infected but later corrected that, it's actually nearly 8 million. A senior official says a review is under way to make sure a mistake like that doesn't happen again. And the agency safety culture is under review with a focus on its risk management procedures -- essentially, should NHTSA have acted with urgency to recall these cars sooner -- Alison, Victor.

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BLACKWELL: All right. Rene Marsh in Washington -- thank you so much.

And coming up in our 8:00 Eastern Hour, we'll talk more about the recall expansion with Clarence Ditlow, he's executive director of the Center of Auto Safety. And ahead, more on our top stories this morning. The first person

diagnosed with Ebola in New York remains in isolation. We're going to take you live to Bellevue Hospital for the latest on Dr. Craig Spencer's condition.

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BLACKWELL: Good news, bad news, what do you want first?

KOSIK: I like the good news.

BLACKWELL: OK. So, the weekend weather is going to be beautiful and sunny. Bad news is, it's also going to be soaking wet and windy. Just depends on where you live.

KOSIK: Jennifer Gray is at the weather center now.

Jennifer, let's start with where we are, the East Coast.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Let's start with the East Coast. And that's actually where the better weather is.

Good morning to you, Miami. This is a beautiful sunrise for you. Looking over Biscayne Bay, you have had a rough week as far as weather goes. Your weather is improving finally, still a little choppy on the offshore waters.

But we are going to continue to see sunshine through the weekend, and very nice temperatures. In fact, all up and down the East Coast, looking really nice. Temperatures 69 degrees in Philly, a little above normal.

However, nothing compared to what we're going to see in the west, the Midwest, I should say. Temperatures will be running five to 15 degrees above normal, Memphis even getting in on that, 83 degrees today. Your average is 71.

Atlanta, we'll be about six degrees above normal, lots of sunshine. So, it is going to be nice for much of the country. A lot of the warm air just feeding in from the Gulf of Mexico.

The problem area, though, will be the Pacific Northwest. We have seen a lot of rain over the last week or so, still seeing the rain come down. Soaking rains, high wind gusts and also those snow levels have dropped to 4,500 feet. Do plan on airport delays if you're traveling through Seattle.

The rain coming in this morning, we are going too see another round of it as we go through the afternoon. It's going to stretch as far south as northern and central California. Really need to rain in California. Don't need it so much in the Pacific Northwest, anymore, and it could impact the game tonight in San Francisco. The Giants and the Royals, so we're going to be watching for that, could see a few showers throughout that game.

KOSIK: OK, Jennifer, thanks. We're going to check back with you in a little bit.

GRAY: Right.

KOSIK: Much more news to tell you about this morning.

BLACKWELL: The next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.

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