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NEW DAY

Lawmakers Rip Secret Service Director; Interview with Congressman Stephen Lynch; First Ebola Diagnosis in the U.S.; Interview with Josh Earnest

Aired October 1, 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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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An individual has been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, the danger is real. Ebola diagnosed in the United States. A man in Texas tested positive with the deadly virus. Can health officials find everyone he made contact with to prevent it from spreading?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Another shocking blunder. The Secret Service facing another security lapse. How did an armed contractor ride an elevator with President Obama? This news coming hours after the agency's director is grilled by Congress and omitting that elevator incident. Did she misled lawmakers?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wide net. The suspect in Hannah Graham's abduction linked by DNA to a 2009 murder. Now, police are looking at other unsolved cases for connections to Jesse Matthew. Have they nabbed a serial killer?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

PEREIRA: Are you going to be okay on this?

CUOMO: I still don't get it.

PEREIRA: OK, we'll work it out this hour.

Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is the first day of October, 8:00 in the East.

Congressional leaders are calling for an independent investigation of the Secret Service after another embarrassing security breach involving the president. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson was torn apart by lawmakers Tuesday following an incident involving an Iraq war veteran who climbed the White House fence, was able to make it inside the executive mansion.

Now, just hours after Pierson finished her testimony, a new and equally disturbing security lapse surfaced -- one involving a contractor with a gun who was somehow able to get into an elevator with the president.

Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski who's tracking all the latest developments and, well, all the latest gaffes. Let's be honest.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it just seems like it's more each day, right?

Well, you know, while this hearing was going on yesterday, this is the new Secret Service director, hours of testimony before the House Oversight Committee, outside of that hearing, new details kept coming out again from whistleblowers, details that she never mentioned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI (voice-over): The latest known incident to plague the U.S. Secret Service, again coming from whistle-blowers, happened three days before Omar Gonzales jumped the White House fence.

This one in Atlanta at the CDC. A security guard was inappropriately taking photos of the president inside an elevator, who it turned out had a gun in violation of Secret Service protocols.

They're supposed to know who is armed on location and limit their access to the president.

Before Congress even knew about this one, the disbelief over the fence jumper.

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: Omar Gonzales reached at least five rings of security --

KOSINSKI: The verbal takedown.

REP. STEPHEN LYNCH (D), MASSACHUSETTS: This is absolutely disgraceful that this has happened.

KOSINSKI: Went on for three hours.

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Don't let them get in the White House, ever.

KOSINSKI: But from the Secret Service Director Julia Pierson. One year on the job --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, no, stop, please?

KOSINSKI: -- many non-answers.

JULIA PIERSON, DIRECTOR, SECRET SERVICE: It is obvious that mistakes were made.

KOSINSKI: She called it unacceptable saying a thorough internal investigation would uncover the facts and make sure it never happens again. She said that evening after Gonzales made it on to White House grounds, the officers stationed inside the front doors began locking them.

When Gonzales burst through knocking the officer backwards. That officer tried to stop him but couldn't. Both of them struggling their way down the hallway, into the East Room, back out into the hall.

PIERSON: Another officer rendered aid and he was placed on the ground just outside of the Green Room.

KOSINSKI: Which she never mentioned, but emerged while she was on the stand. Was that it was two off-duty Secret Service agents downstairs who heard the scuffle, ran up and finally helped stop Gonzales.

The firestorm of security gaps providing endless punch lines on late night.

JIMMY FALLON, "THE TONIGHT SHOW" HOST: An intruder got to the East Room. It got worse when the Secret Service said, whoa, there's an East Room?

DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW" HOST: The wedding of George Clooney had better security than the White House. Are you aware of that?

KOSINSKI: But the implication of these issues -- deadly serious.

LYNCH: I wish to God you protected the White House like you protecting your reputation here today. I wish you spent that time and that effort to protect the American president and his family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: Clearly, the Secret Service's own internal investigation and the hours of testimony from the director were not nearly enough. Now, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is announcing this outside review of the Secret Service. He said it was deeply concerning the lack of transparency. He said the White House fence jumper is just one more in what he called a growing list of failures -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Michelle, the problem seems pretty obvious. So, the question becomes, what's the solution?

Let's bring in Congressman Steven Lynch. He's a Democrat from Massachusetts, sits on the House Oversight Committee, and you just saw was out front in yesterday's hearing and pretty heated up.

Congressman, the outrage and the need for it is obvious. However, it's what you do with it. What are the changes that are necessary?

LYNCH: Well, I think we need to shake things up in a big way. Good to be with you this morning, Chris.

I think the call for an independent investigation from stem to stern, look at the culture there at Secret Service, and maybe even removing them from homeland security and putting them either under a more military-based security team or trying to instill in them the esprit de corps and the excellence that we see in, you know, the Special Forces that we have in the military, the Navy SEALs, that type of operation.

Remember, this intrusion was one mentally ill person, and he was successful in breaching all of the provisions that we have in the current Secret Service security protocol at the White House. If this was an organized attempt, the results could have been much more severe. We could have had a complete disaster at the White House.

CUOMO: Yes.

LYNCH: So, they're not operating at the level of risk and vulnerability that we need to be operating with, and some of the assumptions I think go back to what the traditional objectives and mission of the Secret Service were. We're in a new world now --

CUOMO: Yes.

LYNCH: -- and they need to step up and make sure their response is appropriate to the risks that exist today.

CUOMO: Yes. I mean, look, this is legit criticism here you have an old organization doing things an old way, right? I mean, they're still involved with counterfeiting investigations and they're supposed to be protecting dignitaries and the president. Almost their mandate doesn't make sense anymore so maybe there's a silver lining here you get a chance to do it right now.

The bigger problem you have is at the top, right? Because it's not just what's going wrong, it's they're not telling but it. You're not finding out about what depose wrong the way you're supposed to. Does Pierson have to go?

LYNCH: Well, I think the president needs to have a long conversation with Jeh Johnson and his security team, but there is this pattern, as you've pointed out correctly, Chris, of security lapse and then cover- up. So -- and it's gone on, this is multiple times. We have the incident in 2011 where you had a shooter shoot at the White House, hitting the White House six or seven times, and then four days later, they discovered the White House had been attacked.

We picked up Mr. Gonzalez back in July. He had 11 weapons including several sniper rifles and scopes and red light laser scopes, those were, you know, those were the ideal weapon to go after the president at the White House. They knew he had mental illness. They picked him up several weeks later outside the White House with a hatchet in his belt. CUOMO: Right.

LYNCH: And yet, on both occasions, they let him go. I mean, where do the red flags start?

They don't have to incarcerate the person necessarily, and they discussed the problems dealing with people with mental illness. If they'd gone to court and said, we want a restraining order against this individual because this is the evidence that we have against him, I think any court in the nation would have granted him that restraining order.

CUOMO: Congressman, their authority and their mandate and ability to do things is clear. You don't need to change any of that. They have all the tools at their disposal. They get a lot of money, they get training and they're a big force.

The question is, how they're doing the job and how they're led? The problems obvious also, our reporting reveals this isn't new. They've had problems for a long time.

Now is your opportunity to do something about it. You put in a change agent in Pierson, things haven't changed. That's a decision you all are going to have to make, when do you think you're make one? How long are you going to talk about this?

LYNCH: Well, you know, we do want to make sure that we do it right. I think that first of all, the internal investigation that the Secret Service is doing of themselves that's not really credible.

CUOMO: I mean, come on, they're not even telling you when things happen. You think they're going to tell you what they investigated about themselves? You know, they let a guy into an elevator with a gun with the president.

The conversation's over about whether they're doing the job right at that point, isn't that fair?

LYNCH: That's right. And we need to figure out what's the optimum configuration for the Secret Service, where should the buck stop? Should they be taken out of the general Homeland Security Department? Should we set up a more rigorous paramilitary operation there to deal with the threats that we have?

I think those are important questions, and we need to do it as soon as possible.

CUOMO: Congressman, I heard the advice that you gave to Pierson yesterday, it was more of an admonition, protect the president as well as you're protecting your reputation right now.

Similarly, harness this outrage you have right now. The people want change. You have that on your side.

You're going to get pushback. They're going to say it's expensive. They're going to say it's going to take time. They're going to say there are so many levels of process and you have other priorities and this isn't a top priority. Don't let it go because God forbid something happens and we have to learn this lesson a harder way than we have already.

Congressman, thank you for joining us on NEW DAY today. Appreciate you being out in front on this.

LYNCH: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Coming up in a few minutes, we're going to get more on this situation, we'll have the White House spokesman Josh Earnest. We're going to ask where the administration is on this and, of course, what's going on with the war.

Mick, back to you.

PEREIRA: All right. We'll turn to another big story today. You're likely waking up to this, officials are scrambling after the first Ebola diagnosis on American soil. The Centers for Disease Control says the patient traveled from Liberia in West Africa to Dallas, Texas, last month, became sick once he was on U.S. soil.

Now, the race is on to locate everyone that that patient came in contact with. We know a CDC team is on the ground in Texas. We also know an ambulance crew who transported that patient -- they have already been isolated.

So, the question remains how concerned do we need to be about an outbreak in America?

We want to turn to our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from the CDC in Atlanta, at the heart of it, letting us know what we need to know.

Hi, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela. You know, this is historic what is happening today, this has never happened before where someone has been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. It's never happened outside of Africa, frankly. It is concerning for obvious reasons, but it wasn't entirely unexpected.

We've been anticipating this for some time, patients getting on planes in West Africa, flying anywhere around the world with the virus in their body not knowing it, because they're not yet sick. Two big concerns now, one is obviously taking care of this patient who we hear is talking but still in critical condition, and two is figuring out who are all the people this person came in contact with before he was officially diagnosed?

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): This morning, the door-to-door investigation begins. Health officials, including a crew from the Centers for Disease Control, now in Dallas, in search of anyone who may have come in contact with the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

DR. EDWARD GOODMAN, TEXAS HEALTH PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL: The patient admitted to this hospital has tested positive for Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola virus disease.

GUPTA: According to the CDC, the unidentified patient traveled from Liberia on September 19th, landing in the United States the following day, September 20th. Doctors say he did not feel sick until the 24th.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR OF THE CDC: The patient was visiting family members and staying with family members who live in this country.

GUPTA: Ebola is a virus that can affect multiple organ systems and can sometimes cause internal bleeding, those symptoms don't appear for two to 21 days after infection, signs do include sudden fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat.

The disease is also spread by direct contact via bodily fluids, only after symptoms begin.

GOODMAN: This is not transmitted by the air. There's no risk to a person in this hospital who is walking or is a patient. There's simply no reason to be fearful of that.

GUPTA: Paramedics who transported the patient now quarantined. The ambulance used, decontaminated. It's cordoned off.

There's some concern because Ambulance 37 was used for two days after transporting the patient. Though health officials saying -- it's OK.

The city spokeswoman telling CNN the Dallas County Health Department has confirmed that paramedics did follow proper guidelines to avoid contaminating additional patients.

So far, none of the crew members are exhibiting signs of the disease, this as the CDC says fellow passengers on that same flight from Liberia are likely not at risk. Still, doctors warn to remain vigilant.

FRIEDEN: I have no doubt that we'll stop this in its tracks in the U.S. But I also have no doubt that as long as the outbreak continues in Africa, we need to be on our guard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: So, I'll tell you again, Michaela, just to clarify the patient arrived in the United States on the 20th, had no sickness, had no symptoms at that time. On the 24th, this person became sick, two days later on the 26th, they went to the hospital, but were not tested. They were sent home. That's a cause for concern.

Two days after that, they subsequently came back to the hospital. There were four day this is person was sick and not diagnosed. Who did the person come in contact with? That's what they're trying

to do right now in Dallas. That's the investigation, find those contacts.

PEREIRA: And we know this is so unprecedented here in the United States but that point of the fact that that patient who said I'm a little concerned about Ebola. I just got back from Liberia, the fact he was sent home is really an issue.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CDC in Atlanta, thanks so much.

Fifteen minutes past the hour. I think it's time for some headlines.

What say you?

CUOMO: I say yea.

BERMAN: We have second source.

All right. Thanks so much.

Protesters in Hong Kong say they will escalate their demonstrations unless the chief executive steps down by tomorrow. Thousands of protesters marched. China's national day was another day of pro- democracy demonstrations. Hong Kong's leader says people should be satisfied that they can vote on a leader. Protesters argue that the right is moot if the candidates are decided by government officials.

The man being held in the disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham may be linked to other unsolved cases. Police in Virginia say Jesse Matthew is being investigated for links to the 2009 murder of 23-year- old Cassandra Morton, as well as three other cases. Virginia State Police now say Matthew's arrest provided a DNA link to the death of 21-year-old Morgan Harrington who went missing in 2009.

So, the new choice for shoppers in California, paper or nothing? Plastic bags will be banned in the state under new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown. Large grocery chains and pharmacies will have to make the change by next summer. Convenience and liquor stores follow in 2016. Thirteen million plastic bags are handed out each year in California. There are those who say a lot of the stores not to mention the plastic bag manufacturers will take an economic hit because of this change, 13 million. That's a lot.

PEREIRA: Got to think outside the box.

CUOMO: Strong choice.

BERMAN: Think outside the bag.

PEREIRA: OK, there you go.

CUOMO: Strong, strong.

Breaking overnight, Ebola has been diagnosed for the first time in the United States. The obvious question is how concerned you should be? We're going to discuss exactly how you can get this, and what the real risk is with White House Secretary Josh earnest. Stay with us for that.

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CUOMO: All right. It is time to discuss two scary things that we don't understand. Both of them are facing the Obama administration, front and center, Ebola -- diagnosed for the first time in the U.S. How does it spread? How do you get it? Hard to understand from the reaction we're seeing from the CDC and the government.

And, also, how do we keep our president safe? We're learning more and more from the Secret Service not just about what they do wrong but they don't tell people when things go wrong, letting a man with a gun in the same elevator with the president?

All of this as the business of the world could not be more profound, a war going on amidst all of this.

So, let's discuss the impact on the administration, and what the message is from the White House with press secretary, Mr. Josh Earnest.

Josh, thank you for joining us this morning.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good morning, Chris.

CUOMO: Let's start as the top of the menu with Ebola. Listening to Dr. Frieden at the head of the CDC, he seems to have his head in the right place, of wanting to control this, he seems confident -- I don't get his message. If you can only get Ebola through transmission of bodily fluids like a lot of sweat and other things that we all understand, then why are they taking all these people and quarantining them that didn't get that kind of exposure?

JOSH: Well, Chris, it's my understanding what the CDC is doing is going back and trying to determine who actually had contact with this individual. And then they're monitoring them. They're not actually quarantining people that don't have symptoms. The reason that they quarantine people who have symptoms is because when you start exhibiting these symptoms, that's when you become contagious.

CUOMO: Oh, I totally get -- I get that much, thank you for clarifying, Josh. It just seems that there's a little bit of a "we don't know" feel to this. The ambulance, they took all the right precautions, they did the right things, but they cotton ball the ambulance.

But the family members who were all around this guy, not to blame him for his own illness, but the family members are all around him, don't get quarantined but the ambulance does. They were four days. How do you find all these people? It just seems like a high degree of doubt here.

EARNEST: Well, I think what you see, Chris, you see the CDC responding with medical protocols. I think people can be confident here in this country, that we have the medical infrastructure in place to prevent the broad spread of Ebola.

It's important for people to understand here in the United States, you cannot get Ebola through the air. You can't get it through the water. You can't get it through food here in the United States. It can only be transmitted by individuals who are exhibiting symptoms and by having direct bodily contact with the bodily fluids of an individual that is displaying symptoms.

So, we know exactly what is necessary to prevent the spread of Ebola, and the CDC and local health officials in north Texas are taking the responsible steps to ensure the safety of the broader public.

CUOMO: Right.

EARNEST: But we are confident department we can snuff this out here in the United States and that's because we have medical professionals and professionals at the CDC who are on top of this. The president got a briefing from the director of the CDC, Tom Frieden just yesterday on these issues, and the president continues to be confident that we are deploying all of the appropriate medical protocols to keep people safe.

CUOMO: And, certainly, we'd rather have the government being overcautious than under-cautious in these situations. So, we'll stay in touch with you about that.

Now, in terms of things that we need to protect, the president should be at the top of that list and right now, it doesn't seem like we're getting the job done of keeping the president safe.

Do you stand by Pierson, the head of the Secret Service?

EARNEST: The president and everybody here at the White House stand solidly behind all of the men and women in the Secret Service, including the director of the Secret Service. These are individuals -- these are professionals who have a very difficult job and every day they wake up prepared to put their life on the line to protect the White House, to protect the president, to protect the first family.

There is -- it is clear, however, that there are some reforms that need to be implemented to bolster that security, particularly here at the White House. The Secret Service is engaged in conducting that review to determine what exactly happened on the day of the incident that an individual jumped over the north fence at the White House, and to determine what security protocols were in place, determine whether or not the protocols were followed and to determine whether or not those security protocols should be changed.

And what you heard from the director yesterday she testified before Congress and took full responsibility for the failures that were evident in the aftermath of this incident. She also took full responsibility for ensuring that the necessary changes are implemented in a way that the security around the president of the United States and first family is strengthened.

CUOMO: Josh, she was put in as a change agent, things seem worse a year plus later, by all accounts, it did not hold up well at the hearing yesterday, Director Pierson. The administration, the president known for loyalty to his appointments, Sebelius, Holder, sometimes it's the right call, sometimes it's the wrong call.

Do you have to be open to making changes to get progress?

EARNEST: Well, respectfully, Chris, I think she performed well at the hearing yesterday. She was faced -- she sat at that table and she spent hours answering very difficult, challenging questions from members of Congress. It is appropriate for them to ask tough questions to the person responsible for the Security of the president. It's also her responsibility to answer the questions and that's exactly what she did. Now, she also acknowledged there are changes that need to be made and took responsibility for ensuring those changes are implemented.

I assure you that folks here at the White House are focused on making sure that those reforms that once they are recommended they are properly implemented. It's important for people to understand also that the men and women of the Secret Service have a unique role in providing security for the president of the United States. Obviously, securing the White House and the president is their top responsibility.

But the other responsibility they have, is have responsibility for providing security for what is essentially a large office building. There are people like me who come through the gates every day who show up to work here, they have the responsibility to protect the perimeter and give us regular access to the White House.

There are also thousands of tourists who visit the White House on a daily basis.

CUOMO: Right.

EARNEST: We want to preserve the open access the tourists have to the White House, to the symbol of democracy while at the same time keeping it safe. So, this is not a matter of building a tougher fence or adding more armed guards. What's standing behind me right now is the people's house.

CUOMO: Right.

EARNEST: And the Secret Service takes serious their responsibility, not just to protect the president, but also to protect access to the American people to the people's White House.

CUOMO: And the House behind you got dinged up by bullets, Josh, and I took the housekeepers to notify the Secret Service about it. Obviously, there's got to be change.

Let me ask you about one big issue, another issue that we have. As big as the war is, if you ask voters what's on their mind as they head into midterm elections -- 65/35 the economy, the middle class, the economy's coming back but not for them. What's the message from the president? EARNEST: Well, Chris, the president is going to give a speech on this

topic tomorrow at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the Chicago area.

And what the president is going to talk about is he's going to talk about how the strength of our economy is critical to our strength around the globe, that our ability to lead the world's response to an Ebola epidemic, to lead the world's response to building an international coalition to confront, degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, to lead the international response to ensure that Russia is respecting basic international norms in Ukraine, that if we're going to preserve our ability to lead the world, we also need to ensure we're leading the world's economy.

And we also want to make sure and this has been the focal point of the president's policy-making agenda since his first day in office, is ensuring that our economy remains strong by ensuring the middle class families benefit from it.

Our president believes the economy works best, we need to be growing from the middle out. That stands in pretty stark contrast to the philosophy that's espoused by Republicans in Congress who think we should offer benefits to those at the top and expect those benefits are going to trickle down to everybody else.

We've tried that approach and it doesn't work. What we need to invest in the kinds of policies that are good for middle class families because when middle lass families are able to grow and thrive, our economy is able to grow and thrive, and that is critical to our ability to lead the global community to respond to the many challenges that we face.

CUOMO: Josh Earnest, to be sure -- the need is great when you talk about the economy and the American family. Thank you for joining us this morning and taking the opportunity on NEW DAY.

EARNEST: You bet, thank you, Chris. Have a good day.

CUOMO: All right. You as well.

Ebola, it's here. You just heard us talking with Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary about it.

What are you hearing from health officials? They say they're not worried. Is that the right answer? Should you be?

We have a panel of experts weighing in because this situation's confusing. Stay with us.

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