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House Holds Global Threat Hearing; U.S. Troops To Help Fight Ebola Outbreak; Source: Joan Rivers' Doctor Snapped Selfie

Aired September 17, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The hearing comes one day after Senator Lamar Alexander says the epidemic is as big of a threat as ISIS. But we begin with that House Homeland Security hearing where top U.S. officials will discuss the global threats facing Americans here at home.

It's happening on the same day President Obama tries to bolster support for his strategy against ISIS with a visit to a military nerve center. Mr. Obama will speak next hour at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, or Centcom.

Let's begin with CNN justice correspondent, Pamela Brown. We're also joined by senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta. First of all, Jim, tell us about the president's visit and what we might expect him to say.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we do expect to hear the president reiterate his strategy for taking on ISIS, repeat that pledge of no U.S. combat boots on the ground in Iraq. He also wants to talk about the international coalition that he's building, I'm told by White House officials.

Now in the meantime, as you said, Carol, the president will be hearing from U.S. Central Command leaders first, they're the ones coordinating the fight against ISIS and as he arrived in Florida, the White House was busy clarifying surprising statements, as you know, from Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey on whether there would be U.S. combat troops fighting against ISIS in Iraq.

Dempsey told that Senate hearing yesterday that it's not the plan at the moment, but he added "if I found that circumstance evolving I would change my recommendation." Asked about that at the White House, officials said General Dempsey was engaging in hypotheticals and that the president's pledge of no combat boots is not changing.

But as one official put it, it's the president who has the final say and aboard Air Force One yesterday, White House Press Secretary Josh Ernest told reporters that he is confident that General Dempsey is on the same page as the commander-in-chief -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, now to Pamela Brown. You're monitor this hearing that's going on, the Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson is going to speak. What might he say?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: We'll hear from three leaders, Carol. This is an annual hearing held by the Homeland Security Committee with leaders in the law enforcement and intel community. But of course, this year is especially significant with all the focus on ISIS.

So we'll hear from FBI Director James Comey, national counter terrorism Center Director Matt Olson as well as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. They'll testify on the kind of threats that ISIS poses to the homeland.

There's been a lot of questions about that as well as the threat to the ISIS poses to U.S. interests overseas. Carol, I think we can expect to hear is the concern about homegrown violent extremists.

People who are living in the U.S. right now who might sympathize with ISIS and want to launch a simple sophisticated attack in the homeland and we can expect officials to talk about what they're doing to combat this problem.

So far, the FBI has arrested more than half a dozen people who wanted to travel from the U.S. to Syria to join the fight including one yesterday from Rochester. And there's tracking of individuals who want to travel from Turkey and those who have actually returned to the U.S. from the fight and are currently living here as we speak.

There's open cases and an emphasis on community relations between law enforcement and leaders in communities where there have been foreign fighter recruits. You'll probably hear about that. Not only ISIS, Carol, but the threat that al Qaeda and specifically AQAP poses to the U.S.

Right now, ISIS is focused on establishing an Islamic caliphate, but al Qaeda and its affiliates are actively trying to target the west, specifically aviation. They've tried to conceal explosive devices to destroy aircraft and that's a major concern to U.S. officials and that's why we've seen increased aviation security overseas and particular in response to that -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Pam. I'm a little distracted. I was watching Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson shake hands with code pink anti-war protesters. It should be another interesting hearing. Pamela Brown, Jim Acosta, thanks to both of you.

In the meantime, the fight against ISIS shifts to American soil. You heard Pamela Brown outline this. A grand jury has indicted this man, Yemeni born, Mufid Elfgi. Federal officials say the 30-year-old tried to arrange contacts for Jihadist hopefuls who wanted to join the extremist fight.

Authorities say he was planning to gun down American troops who served in Iraq. Let's talk more about this with CNN's justice reporter, Evan Perez. Apparently the FBI has been looking at this guy for a couple months. Tells us about it.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: He got the tweets where he says "al Qaeda said it loud and clear, we are fighting the American invasion and their hegemony over the earth and the people." This is the kind of thing that gets the attention of law enforcement and they decided to introduce him to a couple informants to see how far he might go with the support of ISIS and after a few months it turns out the FBI decided that there were charges to be brought against him for supporting ISIS.

And not only that, but also plotting to attack American soldiers here on U.S. soil and Shia Muslims in the Rochester area. Up to 20 shootings is what he was planning to do -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So he's a shop owner and he is trying to talk people into joining ISIS. Was he ever successful?

PEREZ: Well, you know, the -- two people he was talking to were very fortunately FBI informants and the other person was a person in Yemen who he also encouraged, sent money to, and encouraged to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

Now we don't know if that person ever made it over there. We know, obviously, that the two FBI informants did not travel and instead were recording all his conversations, which are now a part of this case that prosecutors are bringing against him.

COSTELLO: All right, Evan Perez reporting live from Washington this morning.

Just days after President Obama vowed to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS, the terrorist group is sending a chilling warning to the United States with this new Hollywood-style propaganda video called "Flames of War."

The video shows U.S. tanks under attack and we understand a grim message. Quote, "Fighting has just begun. Coming soon." The video was released just hours after the nation's top military advisor told Congress the U.S. has not ruled out boots on the ground.

As questions grow about boots on the ground in the Middle East, some 3,000 U.S. troops are en route to West Africa to help fight the Ebola outbreak.

A recent CNN/ORC poll showing that more than one in four Americans, 27 percent, are concerned that someone in their family will be a victim of Ebola. And at least one senator says the United States better take this threat seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: We must take the dangerous, deadly threat of Ebola as seriously as we take ISIS. The spread of this disease deserves a more urgent response from our country and other countries around the world than it's now getting. This is one of the most explosive, deadly epidemics in modern time. If we do not do what we know how to do to control it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: My next guest has seen the devastation up close. He treated three Ebola patients in Sierra Leone last month and says it's the worst infectious disease outbreak he's seen in more than 30 years. Dr. Daniel Lucy is an adjunct professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown Medical Center. Dr. Lucy, good morning.

DR. DANIEL LUCY, TREATED EBOLA PATIENTS IN SIERRA LEONE: Good morning, Carol. Thank you for having me on the show.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Tell us about your experience in Sierra Leone and why the outbreak is deadly?

LUCY: I worked there for three weeks in August and I'll go to Liberia at the end of this month for six weeks with "Doctors Without Borders."

During the time, I was fortunate to work with patients who have Ebola and also to train doctors and nurses in Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Health on how to properly put on personal protective equipment and safely take it off.

It's a very rapidly fatal severe very grim and contagious infectious disease. That's the primary reason I said I think it's worse than any other disease I've seen in the 35 years since I started seeing patients.

COSTELLO: Why should Americans be so concerned?

LUCY: Because what happens in West Africa with Ebola could affect the whole world, including the United States.

COSTELLO: How so?

LUCY: Well, the devastation regionally, it's not just one country now, of course, but in the region. Impacted countries, five countries in West Africa with one or more patients can have cascading ripple effects throughout Africa and the world economy.

In addition in my opinion it's actually quite likely that in part because of the long incubation period, the time between exposure and development of symptoms for Ebola virus disease, up to 21 days, someone will get on a plane and travel to another country, in another continent outside of Africa.

Whether it's United States or to the Middle East or Asia or Europe or Central or South America and they'll have active Ebola virus infection and they'll be contagious and unless the health care workers are prepared in terms of personal protective equipment training, active coordinated training, then they'll infect health care workers and other people that they come into direct contact with.

COSTELLO: Some Americans might be confused as to why the United States is sending troops to West Africa. Why are these troops necessary?

LUCY: I should say I defer to President Obama on the issue of troops. But certainly trained, highly disciplined professionals from the United States are necessary and the evidence for is Monrovia. The evidence for that is Freetown. The evidence for that is the transnational regional outbreak of Ebola and the help that's been given so far is very, very inadequate.

COSTELLO: What more needs to be done?

LUCY: Much more needs to be done. A very comprehensive, very integrated, very international manner. To the point where I propose that there is an international coalition against a common enemy, that is the Ebola virus, akin to the international coalition against smallpox from the 1960s and 1970s.

So I think that the United States needs to work with China and Russia and Cuba and South Africa and the U.K. and France and Denmark and multiple other partners, Japan, Qatar, other countries from around the world need to integrate comprehensive response across all countries impacted in West Africa.

Not focusing primarily on Liberia or Sierra Leone or Guinea. We need an expert who's helped to coordinate other global health responses to contagious infectious diseases, for example, SARS in 2003.

So someone like Dr. David Hammond comes to mind who is the current head of public health even who coordinated the WHO response against SARS in 2003 and worked against Ebola and multiple diseases in Africa.

COSTELLO: All right, Dr. Daniel Lucy, thank you so much for your insight. I appreciate it.

LUCY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come, disturbing new details into the investigation into how Joan Rivers died. A source telling CNN about what her personal physician allegedly did while she was under. Susan Candiotti is following developments for us. Hi, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Joan Rivers' own doctor apparently took a selfie while she was under anesthesia. That's what staffers are telling investigators. I'll have a live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 15 minutes past. A stark warning to the Vatican from a top Iraqi diplomat. The diplomat claims the pope is at risk of assassination by ISIS during his upcoming trip to the Muslim nation of Albania.

Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican admits he knows of no specific plot. The pope is rejecting extra security and will travel in an open-topped vehicle.

A stunning reversal for the NFL's Adrian Peterson. The Vikings announcing this morning the running back will not play until legal issues brought on by felony child abuse charges are resolved. Then there's this. Castor Motor Oil severed endorsement ties with Peterson. The Vikings' course change comes after Radisson Hotel suspended its sponsorship with several other sponsors threatening to do the same. Plus --

Protesters at a St. Louis County council meeting last night calling again for the arrest of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson killed unarmed African-American teenager, Michael Brown on August 9. The shooting prompted days of violent protest and calls for the ouster of the county prosecutor who is now investigating the case.

New shocking and bizarre details coming out in the investigation into Joan Rivers' death. A source tells CNN Rivers' personal doctor snapped a selfie while Rivers was under anesthesia.

CNN national correspondent, Susan Candiotti uncovered this. She joins me now. This is insane.

CANDIOTTI: Carol, it's not the kind of behavior you would expect of any doctor to do with any patient. And a source is telling us, in fact, that staffers at a clinic are telling investigators that Joan Rivers' personal ear, nose, and throat doctor in fact took a selfie while she was sedated. It's one of many new details emerging now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): A source tells CNN investigators are learning this -- an unauthorized procedure, a biopsy on Rivers vocal chords was begun on the comedienne while she was sedated. Staffers told authorities they found no signed consent form from Rivers. If so, ethicist doctor, Arthur Kaplan says that's a red flag.

DR. ARTHUR CAPLAN, MEDICAL ETHICIST: Knowing exactly what's going to happen to you is crucial to any interaction.

CANDIOTTI: The morning began like this -- our source says Rivers was undergoing a scheduled endoscopy by the clinic's gastroenterologist, Dr. Lawrence Cohen, inserting a tiny camera down her throat looking for possible digestive issues when staffers say Cohen saw something.

While Rivers was still under anesthesia, staffers told authorities Rivers' personal ear, nose and throat specialist examined Rivers vocal chords and began a biopsy. And in addition to the fact the procedure was unauthorized, our source says the ENT doctor was not certified to operate there.

CAPLAN: Even though you are a licensed physician, you still should have, if you will, the checks and balances to get you approval to practice in a particular place.

CANDIOTTI: And there's more. In a statement, the clinic flatly says a biopsy of the vocal chords, quote, "has never been performed at the clinic." While technically true, it doesn't appear to be the whole story.

The ENT doctor may not have completed the biopsy, but our source says it was started. Our source says as the unauthorized biopsy got under way, Rivers' vocal chords began to swell, cutting off her oxygen, putting her into cardiac arrest.

(on camera): Doctor, if there were oxygen deprivation to the brain, what particular impact might that have if someone is elderly? In this case 81 years old.

DR. HOWARD NEARMAN, ANESTHESIOLOGIST-IN-CHIEF, UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS: The effect of having no oxygen on the brain is damage to the nerve cells which can precipitate as coma, paralysis. But in the elderly you have less reserve, you have less of a window to correct it.

CANDIOTTI: When Rivers' heart stops beating, seconds count. It's 9:40 a.m. The clinic calls 911. The call gets the highest code. Five minutes later, New York fire rescue arrives, CPR is under way. A defibrillator is attached, a breathing tube inserted, fire rescue takes over CPR.

At 9:47, a Mt. Sinai ambulance team arrives and joins the efforts. A minute later, a second fire rescue unit arrives. By 9:50 a.m., 10 emergency personnel are on the scene.

One week later, Joan Rivers is dead. As New York's medical examiner and the state's health department continue to investigate, the clinic announcing a shakeup. In a statement saying, "Dr. Cohen is not currently performing procedures nor is he currently serving as medical director."

At this time, a source says neither Dr. Cohen nor the ENT is being accused of wrongdoing. Citing federal privacy laws, the clinic declines comment on whether Rivers' personal doctor was there and performed a biopsy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Susan, is there any indication why Joan Rivers stopped breathing?

CANDIOTTI: Well, because her vocal chords began to swell and that cut off the oxygen supply.

COSTELLO: Was that caused by the biopsy procedure?

CANDIOTTI: Well, very technical language here. As they were beginning the biopsy that's when her vocal cords began to swell. That's what our source is telling us. The clinic on the other hand, is not acknowledging Joan Rivers was even there, citing privacy rules, won't discuss any of this.

So we really have to wait now to see what the state health department investigation turns up as well as the autopsy information, of course, from the medical examiner.

COSTELLO: So are authorities investigating Dr. Cohen?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it's a broad-ranging investigation. They're not commenting on the specifics of it, but certainly they must be looking at everything that has to do with what happened that day and we're told he was part of it.

COSTELLO: So which doctor took the selfie?

CANDIOTTI: That's the ear, nose, and throat doctor, Joan Rivers' personal physician that was also there that our source tells us investigators are learning was not authorized to be there, was not certified to work at the clinic and the procedure itself, staffers telling investigators that they could not find a consent form signed by Rivers for a biopsy.

COSTELLO: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. Still to come in the newsroom, Sony's smart phone troubles. The once dominant electronics company is bleeding cash and losing ground. We'll tell you how Sony plans to fight back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: There was a time when if you had the best TV in the world it was certainly a Sony. Those days are gone and now things seem to be going from bad to worse. Sony stands to lose $2 billion this year alone. And it's the company's smart phone that's the surprising source of all of this hemorrhaging of money.

Let's bring in business correspondent, Alison Kosik. You'd think a smartphone would make money. Everyone else's smartphone seems to make money.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You'd think that. Ever hear of the Experia? That's Sony's best-selling model and no one has heard of it. Part of the reason is it's only sold through T-Mobile and T-Mobile is the fourth-biggest carrier here in the U.S.

Sony doesn't have relationships with Verizon, with AT&T. And then you pile on the competition out there, from Samsung and from Apple, they've got the lion's share of the market worldwide and you look at how Sony's doing, it's a little dark gray little nugget there in that circle, 3 percent.

That's a worldwide number, Carol, so here in the U.S. its market share is even less than that.

COSTELLO: So is it because it's a lousy phone or just poor marketing?

KOSIK: I think it's a part of poor distribution, that it's not with enough carriers, and I think the competition, I think, a lot of the customers think Apple has a better product, Samsung has a better product, even Sony's president acknowledged it hasn't kept up with innovation as Apple has done, let's say, for example. Remember the Walkman? That was the rage.

COSTELLO: I had one.

KOSIK: So did I. But since the Walkman what really has really hit the street as far as making --

COSTELLO: It's really sad, because I remember I used to buy nothing but Sony because it was the best and now I don't buy Sony products and I can't tell you why.

KOSIK: Because there are more choices out there. You've got more choices and some people may say better technology from the other companies and so what Sony is trying to do is pear down and try to get a handle on it. In fact, Sony has been restructuring for years.

The problem is it's been restructuring for years, it hasn't got that mojo back and you're seeing Sony really bleed money. That $2 billion it's going to lose, it's cutting jobs, it's cutting the number of cell phones it has out there, its smart phones. It will only put the most expensive phone out there and it's cancelling its dividend so it's in trouble.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, thanks as always. The United States ramps up its fight against ISIS. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expected to question top U.S. lawmakers today about the threat of terrorism on American soil. Why some say extremists could be planning attacks from right here at home.

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