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CNN NEWSROOM

Dallas Ebola Patient in Critical Condition; Marine Presumed Lost at Sea; ISIS Raises Black Flag in Kobani; ISIS Threatens to Kill Another American; Protests Continue in Hong Kong

Aired October 6, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

PEREIRA: You too.

COSTELLO: Struggling to survive. Eric Duncan quarantined in a Dallas hospital right now. So why isn't he being given a serum that saved two American aid workers?

Plus, breaking right now, command of Kobani. The Islamic flag flying over the crucial Syrian border town. We're live from the front lines of the fight.

And a parent's plea. After three weeks, 3,000 tips and an arrest, where is Hannah Graham?

Let's talk live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with breaking news.

The fifth American infected with Ebola now on American soil in Omaha, Nebraska, for treatment. The plane carrying freelance cameraman Ashoka Mukpo arrived just moments ago. Mukpo was diagnosed with the deadly virus on Thursday in Liberia while working with NBC News chief correspondent Nancy Snyderman. Snyderman says Mukpo is in good spirits and eating and drinking on his own.

As for that first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, CDC officials say Thomas Eric Duncan is not being treated with an experimental serum. They say it actually may worsen his condition.

The Liberian national is currently in critical condition in a Dallas hospital after his condition took a turn for the worse over the weekend.

And later today the CDC chief will head to the White House to brief President Obama on all that's going on with the Ebola fight here at home.

Let's bring in our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Good morning, Elizabeth. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning,

Carol.

Carol, as Thomas Eric Duncan struggles to survive inside this Texas hospital, his girlfriend and her family members are in quarantine being watched to see that they, too, don't develop the signs of Ebola.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CDC: People are scared.

COHEN (voice-over): This morning, CNN has learned U.S. officials are considering new screenings at airports to detect passengers arriving by the CDC itself. Lawmakers are now calling for the U.S. to halt flights from Ebola stricken nations to America.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: I just want to do everything we can to prevent this awful epidemic, this awful disease from coming further in the United States.

COHEN: A step the CDC says goes too far.

FRIEDEN: If we make it harder to fight the outbreak in West Africa, we actually increase our own risks.

COHEN: This as the condition of Thomas Eric Duncan who arrived in the U.S. by plane September 20th advances from serious to critical. The Ebola patient now fighting for his life after being diagnosed almost a week ago in Dallas. On Friday, Duncan's family was relocated to an undisclosed location quarantined until October 19th. Their apartment where Duncan was staying, finally being sanitized. They had lived in the home for six days after he was diagnosed.

BRAD SMITH, V.P., EBOLA SANITATION CREW: Anything that's in there, it will be completely stripped out, be gone from the carpet to the curtains to all belongings.

COHEN: Over the weekend authorities found the last of the 48 people they say may have come into contact with Duncan in Dallas after a daylong manhunt, including this man, Michael Lively, who rode in the very same ambulance after Duncan last Tuesday.

Lively escorted to the hospital in full surgical garb, a mask covering his face. All 10 high-risk patients, mostly health care workers, have shown no symptoms as of yet.

This as the fifth American to contract Ebola arrives back in the U.S. from Liberia this morning. The father of Ashoka Mukpo, an NBC freelancer, told the "Providence Journal" newspaper he still has the fever, but his spirits are very good.

The freelance journalist will be the second Ebola patient treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He'll be transported through a remote area of the airport, away from the terminal and public areas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COHEN: Now screening U.S. passengers -- as many passengers coming into the U.S. from West Africa is a little more complicated than it sounds. There are few if any direct flights left, that mean the people are arriving via connections from all points of the globe -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to talk about that a little later on in the NEWSROOM. But I'm wondering about something, Elizabeth. This serum that worked so well on these American aid workers, now doctors are saying by giving this serum to Mr. Duncan might make him even more sick?

COHEN: Well, let's -- let's talk about the two different medicines here. The first one that I think you're referring to is ZMapp. And that one, we're actually not sure, Carol, that that's what saved those two people. You can survive Ebola very often actually with really, really good what they call fluid management, making sure you stay hydrated. So we don't know that ZMapp saved those two people.

But it really doesn't matter at this point because there's no ZMapp left. So he can't even use it even if they wanted to use it on him.

There's another experimental drug called TKM-Ebola. It's not clear why he's not getting that one. It was used on Richard Sacra, who's the patient who is Nebraska recently. Tom Frieden said it might cause complications but it might have caused complications in Sacra and they used it then. So not clear why he's not getting that TKM-Ebola.

COSTELLO: So confusing. Elizabeth Cohen, reporting live from Atlanta this morning. Or from Dallas, rather. I'm sorry.

A Marine is believed to be the first U.S. military casualty in the operation against ISIS. The Navy has identified Corporal Jordan Spears as the Marine presumed lost at sea. He bailed out of an MV-22 Osprey when it lost power. The Osprey had taken off from the amphibious assault ship the U.S. says Makin Island in the Persian Gulf.

Another crew member went into the water but he was rescued. The Osprey's pilot was able to regain control of the aircraft and return it safely to ship but this Marine remains missing this morning.

CNN's Barbara Starr joins us live from the Pentagon with more.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Such a difficult story for the family of this young Marine. Only 21 years old, he served as the crew chief on board this V-22 aircraft, the tilt-rotor aircraft that was taking off from its ship when apparently this accident happened. He was a member of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and said to be the first member of his family to have served in the U.S. military.

The Pentagon was asked whether this now qualifies as the first combat death in this mission in the Middle East. And the Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby, I just want to share with everyone what he said about this thing.

"Clearly that squadron and that ship were in the Gulf supporting Central Command operations. Some of these operations included operations in Iraq and Syria. So there's no question that this Marine's death is related to the operations that going on in some form or fashion."

And of course this is so important for his family as to how his passing, his death will be classified by military in this part -- in this mission. Most military members do get some sort of hazard pay, hazardous duty pay in this region -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr, reporting live from the Pentagon this morning. Thanks.

This video just in to CNN. ISIS flags being flown over a building on the eastern side of Kobani. That's a critical town on the Syrian border. This follows a nasty weekend of fighting between the militants and Kurdish fighters.

Our Phil Black was caught up in the thick of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Watch it. Let's move back. Let's move back. Let's move back. Are you rolling, Claudio?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, yes.

BLACK: And what you can see here is the Turkish Security Forces vehicle here. It is coming under rock fire from some of the local Kurds. We've been watching the fight going across the border on in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Arwa Damon is live on the Turkey-Syrian border with more on ISIS raising its flag in the eastern part of Kobani.

Tell us more, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, because of the intensity of the battles, the Turkish Security Forces actually not allowing the media back to that position where you saw Phil Black reporting from in that video you were airing right there.

You were talking about ISIS raising its flag in Kobani. Well, Kobani is right behind us. And we were able through binoculars and having moved further and able to see what we do believe is the ISIS flag on top of a four or five-story building. It was black, it seemed to have white writing on it.

ISIS had moved into that part, the southeastern corner of Kobani a few days ago. Now further entrenching themselves, continuing to fire relentless artillery that we are seeing get closer and closer to the heart of the city. This has been happening throughout the entire day. Remember, ISIS move into this part of the country. This part of

northern Syria around two weeks ago sending well over 150,000, 200,000 fleeing for their lives. Those Kurdish fighters that are now inside Kobani making what they're really describing as a last stand, the last battle that they do anticipate will be very intense. Street to street it already began yesterday. It seems to be well continuing into today.

We've been not only hearing the artillery fire dropping but also sporadic gun battles erupting, varying in their intensity but also reportedly hundreds of those Kurdish fighters up against the border with Turkey trying to gain access to come back across because some of them do believe that t is a losing battle. Those that are still inside say that they will fight until the very end.

And an example perhaps how desperate the situation is, yesterday one of the commanders of the female Kurdish fighting unit carrying out a suicide mission. Strapping on a vest and placing herself in the midst very close to one of the ISIS positions and then detonating. According to a senior Kurdish politician inside Kobani, she did inflict a significant number of casualties. But still those ongoing calls for this U.S.-led coalition to do even more than they already have because those fighters, the Kurdish fighters inside, most certainly are outgunned.

And when it comes to military equipment that they have at their disposal, comparing that to what ISIS have, well, they are at a clear disadvantage, Carol. And at this stage, a lot of anger and frustration with the U.S., with this coalition for allowing this situation in Kobani to deteriorate this fast because people will tell you look at landscape around here. It's fairly open. And they have been seeing ISIS moving its military equipment towards Kobani swarming on it in the last two weeks.

And they don't understand how it is that these convoys, these ISIS convoys have not been hit and have been allowed to reach Kobani in the situation that we have today unfolding -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Arwa Damon, reporting live for us this morning, thank you so much.

So as Arwa said, ISIS is still gaining ground. And the United States desperately needs Turkey's help to prevent that from happening. With the fight against ISIS, it may have become a little harder after Vice President Joe Biden said this about Turkey and some of our other Middle Eastern allies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT: And the Turks, President Erdogan told me, he's an old friend, said, you were right. We let too many people through. Now they're trying to seal their border. So this idea that somehow it's within our power early on in this process and there are a couple former members of the administration arguing we should give, quote, "the opposition," which we couldn't identify as moderate, by the way, I'm serious about that. Give them ground-to-air-launch missiles.

Can you imagine what would happen if that went down? Does anybody doubt they would have been in the hands of al-Nusra? Or al Qaeda? Or Khorasan Group or ISIL?

PRES. TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKEY (Through Translator): If Biden has used such expressions he will be history for me. I have never made those remarks. Either at that time when I was a prime minister nor today. We've never provided help and support to any terrorist organization. I say terrorist organization including the Islamic State. Nobody can prove otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Though Biden did apologize to both Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, the Turkish prime minister, well, let's just say he remains ticked off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMET DAVUTOGLU, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER: What we expect, Christiane, are two things, fairness and empathy. First empathy. American -- United States of America has bordered with Mexico and there are two states on both sides. Is it easy to control all the borders? 1.6 million people came. This is the combined -- total combine population of Washington, D.C., Boston and Atlanta. You can imagine which type of risks and challenges we are facing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's dig a little deeper on this now. With me now, CNN military analysts, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, and the senior national security correspondent for the "Daily Beast," Josh Rogin.

Welcome to both of you. OK. Let's start with Kobani and the fall of the eastern part of that city.

Colonel, how serious is that?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the city is going to fall. I think that's a given. There was no way that the Kurds are going to be able to defend that. They're outmanned, outgunned. And fortunately most of the civilians have evacuated the city. And I assumed a lot of the Kurdish fighters are trying to cross that border as well. But I think it was a foregone conclusion that the city was going to fall.

They're 70 miles from Aleppo. I think that's probably the ultimate goal was to consolidate their positions along that border and then move to the west. But --

COSTELLO: Right. But Kobani is like a stone's throw from Turkey, right? So --

FRANCONA: It's -- it's on the border, the northern edge of the city is the (INAUDIBLE). It forms the border.

COSTELLO: Right. So it would be nice to have Turkey's help in containing ISIS.

FRANCONA: It's --

COSTELLO: But now that Joe Biden has said that, I mean, how damaging is that?

FRANCONA: Well, I think the Turks are waiting to see if ISIS is really a threat to them. And right now ISIS is not presenting a threat to Turkey. Of course there's a humanitarian crisis. But ISIS has made no move against the Turks nor will they because they know that that would be a fatal mistake because the Turks are much stronger than ISIS is.

COSTELLO: So it all depends on ISIS and now Joe Biden for Turkey to really get --

FRANCONA: I think that's a fair assessment.

COSTELLO: -- intimately involved with the war on ISIS.

So, Josh, I'm going to ask you this. Do we owe Turkey fairness and empathy in light of our own border crisis like the Turkish prime minister intimated?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think despite the crocodile tears that you see from Turkish officials this weekend, most of what Joe Biden said was actually true. Turkey has had a very complicated and mutually beneficial relationship with many groups on the ground in Syria including Jabhat al-Nusra for a very long time. And Turkey knows that ISIS is a threat to Turkey.

Let's remember that earlier this year, ISIS took over the Azaz border crossing that's right on the border with Turkey, cutting off the flow of humanitarian aid from Turkey to Aleppo. That's what they want to do again. Turkey knows that.

There's no real question that ISIS is a threat to Turkey. There's no real question that the Turks know about it. The problem, is the Turks have been supporting, and will continue to support groups inside Syria until there's a viable alternative. Now, while Joe Biden says that we couldn't fund the opposition, that may be true, but the plan now is to fund moderate opposition and to arm them. And until we do that, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, they will continue to allow the funding and supporting of groups inside Syria that we don't like.

So, Joe Biden was right and the Turks are wrong, and for them to complain about Joe Biden calling them out for what they have been doing is a little bit too cute. That's the reality of the situation, even though the politics of it are much more complicated than that.

COSTELLO: Okay, let's talk about this from a military perspective, because I know, Colonel Francona, you have worked with Turkish officials in your military and intelligence career. So, Joe Biden and the White House made two calls to apologize. Is that enough? Does it change anything? How damaging is this?

FRANCONA: I don't think Biden's comments make any difference to Turks. As Josh said, the Turks are going to act in their own interest when they feel that there's a viable threat. And I understand, you know, Josh's of them being a threat, but I'm looking at the military questions and the Turks are not going to move on that border until they think there's a reason to. So, Biden's comments notwithstanding, I think the Turks are playing politics here.

COSTELLO: Alright, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona and Josh Rogin from "The Daily Beast." Thanks to both of you, I appreciate it.

Still to come, an American , well, is he next on ISIS' list?

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most of all, know that we love you and our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO: The family of Abdul-Rahman Kassig pleads for his life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The parents of an American aid worker held by ISIS are pleading for mercy. ISIS says Abdul-Rahman Kassig is the next Western hostage who will be executed. CNN's is respecting Peter Kassig's parents wishes to now refer to him by his Muslim name. Kassig was captured a year ago while helping victims of Syria's civil war. CNN's Alexandra Field has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 26-year-old man from Indiana held captive by ISIS. Chillingly they've warned the world Peter Kassig could be their next victim following the brutal killing of Alan Henning, a British aid worker. In agony, Kassig's parents are appealing to those holding him.

ED KASSIG, FATHER OF ISIS HOSTAGE: We know that the Syrians are suffering. We also believe violence is not the solution to the problems that trouble us all.

PAULA KASSIG, MOTHER OF ISIS HOSTAGE: Most of all, know that we love you, and our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom so we can hug you again and then set you free to continue the life you have chosen, the life of service to those in greatest need.

FIELD: Captive for a year now, Kassig's parents say their son had been helping Syrian refugees.

NORA BASHA, SYRIAN-AMERICAN COUNCIL, INDIANAPOLIS CHAPTER: I just remember him saying, like, he felt like he had a bigger calling. He went to school here at Butler and he felt like he wanted to go out and do more for, you know, just humanity as a whole which was so inspiring for me. You know, as a Syrian, as an American with Syrian roots, to see someone that, you know, cared so much about a people he technically have any relation to.

FIELD: Kassig is from Indianapolis. He went to North Central High School and then decided to serve, deploying to Iraq with the Army Rangers in 2007. He went on to study political science at Butler University.

SHELBY MURDOCH, FRIEND OF ISIS HOSTAGE: He talked a lot about plans, you know. He always wanted to do something that was bigger than his life, as he said it. Being part of a bigger picture.

FIELD: Kassig soon changed course, training to become an EMT and then setting out on another mission to serve, this time taking up humanitarian aid work. In 2012 he was treating wounded Syrians when he spoke to CNN's Arwa Damon in Lebanon.

PETER KASSIG, ISIS HOSTAGE: This is what I was put here to do. I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic and I'm an idealist and I believe in hopeless causes.

FIELD: One year later, he was running a non governmental organization in Turkey, working on both sides of the Syrian border to deliver food and medical supplies, and to give refugees much needed medical care.

NICH SCHWELLENBACH, FRIEND OF ISIS HOSTAGE: He wanted to be on the ground helping people and he had some, you know, medic skills from his time in the military. And so I think he saw this dire need and he thought he could help fill that need.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was Alexandera Field reporting. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, after more than a week of violent clashes, pro-Democracy protestors refuse to back down in Hong Kong. CNN's Will Ripley is there.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Carol, right now thousands of protestors continue to fill the streets of this city, causing congestion, causing chaos. But the big question right now, how long will the government allow this to happen, and what will be their next move?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The standoff and gridlock continues in Hong Kong as pro- Democracy protestors remain camped outside of government buildings, ignoring requests to disperse.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): You'll notice one big difference today, however. Calm. It was a very different scene over the weekend when tens of thousands packed the streets, facing off, sometimes violently, with police and opponents. Take a look at what it was like on the ground during those clashes.

Frightening right? CNN's Will Ripley is live on the scene this morning.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (on camera): So, why is it calm now, Will?

RIPLEY: Well, certainly it's Monday evening here, and so some of these people went back to work. But still, there are several thousand people out here on the streets tonight, on what should be a busy highway in the heart of Hong Kong. It has been causing gridlock in the city, as you talk about, because of the fact that these protestors continue to fill the streets illegally because they're demanding true democracy in this city, Carol.

Happening as we speak, at this moment, there are meetings underway between the students who organized this protest, the students who set up barricades like the one back there, and alos Hong Kong government leaders. For the first time they're laying the groundwork to sit down at the bargaining table and try to find some resolution to this situation, Carol.

COSTELLO: That's good to hear, because some people are afraid that what happened in Tiananmen Square will happen in Hong Kong.

RIPLEY: Yes, they are afraid and you can see why there are some comparisons drawn. This is, of course, the biggest pro-Democracy protest in China in 25 years, since Tiananmen Square. It was students back then, its students right now.

There's even a new version of Tiananmen Square's goddess of Democracy, the umbrella man statue, which is going viral on Twitter right now. But the big difference, Carol, is that government officials, or I should say people with a close familiarity with the Hong Kong government and the Beijing government, they are telling us that the Beijing government has issued an order to find a peaceful resolution to this situation, which is why we see those talks in the works. But the question, what are they willing to compromise, if anything, to get these students to clear the streets and get life back to normal in this city of 7 million people which has been, at times, brought to a stand still as a result of this protest. Carol?

COSTELLO: Alright, Will Ripley reporting live from Hong Kong this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, CDC officials say screenings at U.S. airports could get tougher as the United States tries to prevent the spread of Ebola. But what would those enhanced screenings look like, and would they work?

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