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Possible Treatments for U.S. Patients with Ebola Discussed; Interview with Dr. Thomas Frieden; Interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci; A Look at Humanitarian Response in West Africa

Aired October 6, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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


ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Sure.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: We have to ensure that we are focusing on stopping the outbreaks, that something we might do out of the best of intentions to protect Americans might actually increase American's risk.

CAMEROTA: But just explain again what the difference is between not stopping flights in, everyone needs medical supplies in Liberia and other disease-torn countries, but stopping the flights with passengers out of those countries?

FRIEDEN: Well, first off, most of the people leaving those countries have the right to leave. They are American citizens. They are people with dual citizenships. They are people who are traveling to other parts of the world, and airlines aren't going to fly one way. They are going to have to have travelers in both directions if they're actually going to keep flying. If you isolate these countries, the governments will get less stable and the ability to stop the outbreak there I think will be very problematic.

CAMEROTA: So we know you are going to the White House. You are meeting with President Obama today. What will you be recommending to him?

FRIEDEN: We're going to be discussing what we can do to follow up on the president's directions, do everything possible to protect Americans and stop the outbreak.

CAMEROTA: We just about an hour ago, we had breaking news, and that is the second American with Ebola has now touched down on U.S. soil. They refueled in Maine. He is headed to Nebraska. What will the treatment be like that he receives at the Nebraska medical center? And how will you make to mark sure it's contained there?

FRIEDEN: The most important care of patients with Ebola is to manage their fluids and electrolytes, to make sure that they don't get dehydrated, that none of the electrolytes in their body go down to dangerous levels or up to dangerous levels. And that requires some meticulous attention to detail and aggressive rehydration in many cases.

In addition we work with the hospital to make sure that no health care workers get exposed to Ebola while caring for him. In Texas the team there has done a terrific job and every single person who even might have had contact with the index patient has been tracked. They have been monitored for temperature yesterday. None of them have fever. If they do, they will be isolated. That's how we are sure we'll be able to prevent Ebola from spreading widely in this country. That's not going to happen.

We do hope for the recovery of all of the patients with Ebola and recognize that it's going to take time. But we are seeing signs of progress. The CDC has now trained over 4,000 health workers in Africa. We have 60 American health workers going through training here in this country to deploy to Africa and help fight the outbreak. And we are seeing people all over the world come and help to stop it. We are also seeing some behavioral changes that we think are promising in terms of safer caregiving, burial practices. So there is going to be a long, hard fight. We are making progress and I am encouraged by where we are.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Frieden, what is the status of that experimental serum that has shown effectiveness, the ZMapp as it's called?

FRIEDEN: ZMapp may work. It's a promising drug. But there is, as I understand it, no more of that. Right now we are looking very closely at vaccines because there are a couple vaccines that are very promising and that are already in clinical trials. We don't know ii they work, but we need to quickly physical out if they do work, and if they do, get them into the field so that can be another tool to help stop the outbreak. But we know now how to stop Ebola. You isolate patients. You track contacts, and you make sure in Africa burials are safe. Do those things, and Ebola goes away.

CAMEROTA: But it terms of treating it once people had it, the ZMapp seems to have been effective thus far and the people who have recovered from it. When will more doses be available?

FRIEDEN: We don't know whether ZMapp works. A couple patients have been given it isn't proof that it works. It is promising, but unfortunately it's hard to make and there won't be much more of it for a long time. But we know that just managing a patient's fluids and electrolytes carefully can double the likelihood that they will survive Ebola.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Frieden, you sound optimistic. You sound as though you believe that U.S. authorities have a handle on this. But as you know, Americans are concerned. So what is your message to them this morning?

FRIEDEN: I understand that Ebola is scary. It's a deadly disease. But it's not going to spread widely in the U.S. We can stop it in its tracks here. CDC works 24/7 to protect Americans. We need to stop it here, which we are doing, and keep Americans safer by helping to stop it at the source in West Africa.

CAMEROTA: OK, Dr. Thomas Frieden, thanks so much for making time for us.

FRIEDEN: Thank you. Thank you very much. CAMEROTA: All right, let's go to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to another man who is helping us figure out what to do in the United States when it comes to Ebola, Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is the director of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Doctor, good to have you with us. People have concern not so much Ebola will overtake the United States but how we are dealing with it is really where a lot of the source for concern comes. Let me ask you, we had Dr. Thomas Frieden on. We are hearing from members of the Congress, we are hearing from the White House. Who is in charge the? Who is setting the policy for what happens here?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, obviously there are multiple agencies involved. It's centered around the White House in the sense of the National Security Council. But if you look at on the ground in Africa, in West Africa, USAID with their dark team, their disaster system alert response team, are the ones that are there. We are here, the Department of Health of Human Services doing the things that we do here. You just heard from Dr. Frieden, who is the director of the CDC, which is part of HHS. I direct the Infectious Disease Institute, which is a part of HHS. So it's a multi-facetted response that's coordinated at the level of the White House.

CUOMO: That can help or hurt in different situations as we've learned over the years with different types of disasters. So let me ask you specifically, who is going after big Pharma to push them on the vaccines, to push them on making more ZMapp? Who is doing that?

FAUCI: Well, there are two separate questions. With regard to the vaccines, it's not a big question of big Pharma right now. We have a few, one in particular that has now already gone into humans, vaccines, that we are testing here at the NIH. And as Dr. Frieden just correctly said, we are in the phase one testing. We will probably be finished with that at the end of November, the beginning of December, and then we will make the decision into going into a larger trial in West Africa, first to find out if it works.

CUOMO: Who is "we"?

FAUCI: So it really is testing it.

CUOMO: Who is "we"?

FAUCI: We being the NIH, the NIH, my group here at the National Institutes of Health, is testing it right now.

CUOMO: Would you benefit from the help of the private industry? I'm only asking because it seems like most of the innovation doesn't happen on the government side. It happens on the private side, and they should be involved.

FAUCI: They are involved. We have a full collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline. This is a vaccine that we did the fundamental science on. They are very, very closely involved with us manufacturing it. When we prove that it works, they will be manufacturing it at high levels to make it available. But you have to prove that it works first before you start making tens of millions of doses. So there is not a problem with the vaccine vis-a-vis the pharmaceutical companies. We already have a strong collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline.

CUOMO: What about the treatment? We just heard the Dr. Frieden say we don't think there is any ZMapp left. So you don't think there's anything to give the NBC cameraman or the man in Dallas?

FAUCI: Right now there is no ZMapp for sure. Those doses that were given, about seven people received it, two of which was Dr. Brantley and Miss Writebol that we've heard a lot about when they went to Emory. They are all out of doses right now. The federal government, HHS, in part, due to the BARDA, which is the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Association, is helping the company, and the Department of Defense is also helping the company to get the resources to scale up and manufacture. They're right now manufacturing additional lots. It probably won't be ready now until maybe a month- and-a-half to two months.

There are other experimental drugs that are still in the true experimental stage. Their availability will take some time. Again, it's not a question of manufacturing it. It's a question of proving that it works. And these are right now in the experimental stage to determine if, in fact, they work.

CUOMO: We are throwing around the term "screening" right now. It sounds good, but it seems very difficult to put into practice especially given the 21-day lag time between becoming infected and showing symptoms. Do you think it's even practical to screen? Would that really make a difference?

FAUCI: Well, first of all, there is clear cut screening going on the exit end. If you and I went to an airport in Monrovia, Liberia, right now and tried to get on the plane and we had a fever or were sick, we would not be allowed on the plane. The discussion that is under way right now, and all options are going to be looked at, is what kind of screening do you do on the entry end, namely, when people come in here right now? And that's something that's on the table now, and the discussion is, is that extra added layer of screening going to be worth the resources that re put into doing it? That hasn't been decided right now.

CUOMO: It's the 21 days that winds up really throwing a wrench into things, because you don't know where somebody is until it's too late if they've traveled. And that's why people are saying, should you be more cautious with what types of travel restrictions you allow in general?

FAUCI: No, see, people are getting confused about 21 days. It's 21 days from the time you get exposed to a person. So how do you know a person was exposed and at what time? So are you trying to say you want to keep them there for 21 days and make sure they get exposed to nobody, and then let them on the plane? That would be absolutely impossible. So I think people are a little confused about that 21-day incubation period.

So what you do when someone comes to the airport, you don't want them to get on a plane -- first of all, you certainly don't want them to get on if they're infected. But if you get on the plane, you want to make sure that they're not on the plane at a time when they can transmit it. And that's what it is when you do the temperature, because if you take a temperature and someone is sick, only when someone has symptoms can they transmit the virus. If they don't have symptoms, they can't transmit it. That's what the exit screening is all about.

CUOMO: That's the concern is that somebody can go there, be tested, not have a fever, get on a plane, go somewhere else, and then a week, two weeks later they can become sick and people who come in contact with them can become sick. That's why there is a push to restrict travel. But Dr. Fauci, this is a bigger conversation. You guys have to get on the same page down there with all the different agencies involved, and then we'll see where we take policy from there. But thank you very much for helping us along the way in understand what's going on, because, as you know, many questions.

FAUCI: You're quite welcome. Good to be with you.

CUOMO: And we are lucky to have Dr. Fauci and Dr. Frieden. We'll keep bringing them on because there are a lot of questions. And in the 8:00 hour we're going to be answering your questions and concerns over Ebola and its spread. So please, keep sending them. You're doing a great job, but we can take as many as you have. So use Twitter. Use the #EbolaQandA. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Look forward to that conversation at 8:00. Thanks so much, Chris.

Let's look at your headlines meanwhile. Abdul Rahman Kassig's parents are begging ISIS for mercy in a heart-wrenching video released Sunday. CNN is respecting the wishes of his parents to now refer to him by his Muslim name. The 26-year-old was in Syria providing humanitarian aid when he was captured by ISIS last October.

Meanwhile, a service of reflection for British aid worker Alan Henning. He was executed by ISIS. That event was held in his hometown over the weekend.

The U.S. is preparing for a potential terror attack, those words straight from the head of the FBI. In a "60 Minutes" interview last night James Comey said Khorasan in Syria may still be working on a plan to hit America. But he said where or when it may happen remains unclear. He also said they are keeping a close eye on about a dozen Americans who may be fighting alongside the extremist groups in Syria.

The next phase in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 is once again under way in the Indian Ocean. It marks the beginning of what is expected to be a yearlong stretch operation, or search, rather, for the jet which went missing back in March. The first of three ships will conduct a detailed sweep of the ocean floor in an attempt to locate wreckage of the plane. And be sure to tune in tomorrow night 9:00 eastern. CNN's special

report "Vanished, The Mystery of Malaysia Flight 370."

A man who was on a mission to travel the Bermuda Triangle to raise money for charity had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. They determined he was not promptly and properly prepared. After three days on his voyage Reza Baluchi was too exhausted to continue and was apparently disoriented and was airlifted from his floating inflatable hydro-bubble. Now that hydro-bubble is lost at sea and Baluchi wants it back because he says he left his valuables in it like his phone and his passport. Coast Guard officials say the bubble could be hundreds of miles from where he left it.

CAMEROTA: What did he expect to go when he went to the Bermuda Triangle?

PEREIRA: Apparently he had a GPS, water, and protein bars. And the Coast Guard was like, you're going to need some more gear.

CAMEROTA: You're going to need a bigger boat.

PEREIRA: So they halted it. He apparently was disoriented and asking directions to Bermuda. So they, yes, cut his voyage short.

CAMEROTA: Somebody may find that phone and his passport somewhere. It may wash up somewhere.

PEREIRA: The bubble.

CUOMO: The story that preceded it about the search for MH370 seems to suggest they probably won't find it, a bubble in a haystack to stay least. Who was there to talk to this man about his decision to go in a bubble?

PEREIRA: He apparently in another effort for charity ran the perimeter of the continental U.S. to raise money for charity.

CUOMO: Not in a bubble. It's the bubble that's the issue. I respect the man and his resolve.

PEREIRA: Got you.

CAMEROTA: Tenacious then.

CUOMO: All right, so we are going to get back to the situation at hand. Nearly 3,500 people are dead, more than 2,000 of them in Liberia alone. That is ground zero of the Ebola outbreak. The question is, can anything be done to stop the spread of the deadly virus. We're going to talk to the woman bravely leading the humanitarian response to the crisis.

CAMEROTA: And this morning another of President Obama's closest advisers is now blasting the White House. But why? John King is going to break it down on Inside Politics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: Breaking news overnight. A fifth American infected by the Ebola virus is now back on American soil. Freelance NBC photographer Ashoka Mukpo was airlifted out of Liberia.

Meanwhile, the man with the first case of Ebola, diagnosed here, is doing worse this morning. Thomas Eric Duncan has been downgraded to critical condition. Let's bring in Nancy Lindborg, she is leading the USAID's humanitarian response to Ebola in West Africa, and she has just returned from Liberia on Friday. Nancy, great to have you with us. Tell us what you saw, what the situation was like on the ground in Liberia.

NANCY LINDBORG, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, USAID: Thanks, Alisyn. What we are seeing is a country that is gripped by a virus that has jumped borders and into its capital city. The United States has mobilized in response, but you are seeing a country that is changing rapidly. Nobody shakes hands everywhere, every building you go into you have to wash your hands in a chlorine solution and they take your temperature each time you enter into a building.

CAMEROTA: According to the CDC, the cases in Liberia are doubling every 15 to 20 days. As of the latest count there were 3,458 active cases. That means in two weeks there will be 7,000. The CDC says that by January, they believe there could be 1.4 million cases. What can stop this galloping epidemic?

LINDBORG: Yes, and those numbers are predicated on no response at all, which is exactly why the United States has mobilized so that we can stop Ebola in West Africa. We have been working since August on an accelerated footing with a Disaster Assistance Response Team from USAID, Center for Disease Control, and other parts of the U.S. government. We saw that we needed to even more rapidly scale up our response, which is why President Obama, several weeks ago, announced that the U.S. military will be joining the effort. You know, really, it requires creating the kind of facilities that can take infected patients out of their homes to the isolated in, what are called Ebola treatment units, as well as community care centers so that people have options for bringing people out of their homes. And this is exactly what we are working on building, along with airlifting in critical supplies, the personal protective gear that you see healthcare workers wearing, body bags, chlorine, all the essential supplies that are critical for a successful response.

CAMEROTA: I want to talk to you about those critical supplies, because there was this very troubling article in "the New York Times" yesterday. It talked about this shipping container filled with all sorts of very necessary supplies, protective gloves, gowns, stretchers, linens, face masks, protective suits. It's sitting on a dock, unopened in Sierra Leone. What is the problem? Why aren't these supplies getting to the necessary places?

LINDBORG: Well I'm sure that now that has been identified, the government of Sierra Leone will quickly act to release those supplies. But you know, one of the challenges is the reason that Ebola has been so virulent in these countries is that they are recently emerging from decades of conflict. And so they don't have the systems, they don't have the organization that helps them respond in the most effective way possible. One of the things that the United States government is seeking to do is to help them create a more effective crisis response system. That includes things like being able to quickly clear those kind of vital supplies through customs.

CAMEROTA: One last thing, Nancy, we also understand that burial practices in Liberia have contributed to the spread of Ebola. Are those changing?

LINDBORG: Absolutely. And we have supported 50 burial teams just in Liberia. And these teams go all across the country, collecting bodies, and insuring there is a safe and dignified burial. Because traditionally, Liberians would wash the bodies of their dead ones. And this is one of the most critical ways that you can spread the disease. We're already seeing behaviors are shifting. And we have provided the ways to have alternative burials.

CAMEROTA: Nancy Lindborg, thanks for all of your great work. And thanks for all the important information this morning. Great to talk to you.

LINDBORG: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, what did a Republican New Hampshire congressional candidate do that made speaker John Boehner so mad that he cut off funds for her campaign? John King will tell us, Inside Politics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: A look at your headlines at 26 minutes past the hour. Protesters in Hong Kong ignoring a deadline to disperse after a week of demonstrations that clogged city streets. They did, however, let city workers in their offices that had previously been blocked. Leaders say they have met with government officials, trying to find a way to diffuse the crisis. However, so far the two sides have failed to reach an agreement.

The NFL is investigating a complaint that someone in the stands at Detroit's Ford Field was shining a laser pointer at Buffalo Bills players during Sunday's game. The Bills say it was used to try to distract quarterback Kyle Orton and Colton Schmidt on pass plays and field goal attempts. Didn't help. The Bills won 17-14 on a 58-yard field goal in the game's final seconds. But still, they'll investigate.

Talk about taking the plunge. Imagine this, near San Diego, California, a man was about to pop the question to his fiancee, when suddenly something went wrong. The hot air balloon they were in drifted off course and hovered over the ocean. What is really cool, they threw a line over and surfers helped pull the balloon back to shore. It's such a great ending to the story. Fortunately, no one was injured. This happened at Cardiff by the Sea. The best part is, of course, she said yes when he finally got around to asking her. Look at the beautiful sunset. I'm really trying to distract from that fact that it was --

CAMEROTA: A life-threatening situation.

PEREIRA: Yeah.

CUOMO: It looks gorgeous. The question, is karma at play, Alisyn Camerota, do you believe that the balloon almost tanking was metaphor for, let's get the worst part of better-for-worse out of the way, or maybe not the right time to ask?

CAMEROTA: I liked it. I think it was a good trial balloon for marriage.

PEREIRA: Oh nice. I liked the surfers. I think you turn to a surfer in times of need. I don't know.

CUOMO: Do you want to be asked for your hand in marriage after the near-death experience in the balloon? Is it too soon? Was it right? She said yes, so he got the answer. Was it under duress?

PEREIRA: Wrong person to ask.

CAMEROTA: Get back to her on that.

PEREIRA: Yeah, let us think about it.

CUOMO: As a lawyer, I don't know that she doesn't have to hold to that, by the way.

CAMEROTA: Oh, you don't think that that's valid?

CUOMO: She's under duress, she almost died in the balloon. I was with you, maybe I think you helped save me.

PEREIRA: Well, way to add the romance, Chris Cuomo.

CUOMO: That's how I got married. I convinced my wife there was an earthquake. I said there's an earthquake, it was really just a bad muffler on my Firebird.

Alright, a lot going on with politics today. Lucky for you, we can take you "INSIDE POLITICS" on NEW DAY with Mr. John King, J.K.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Lucky for me, I'm just going to segway away from the balloon. I'm going to leave the balloon out there on the water. Back to you guys in just a couple of minutes. Happy Monday. Let's go Inside Politics. 29 days until the mid-term election day, and one of the president's former top aids says he made a big mistake. With me this morning to share the reporting and their insights, Jackie Kucinich of "the Washington Post," Olivier Knox of Yahoo News.

Let's listen to David Axelrod. He ran the president's campaign. He was his big strategic guru. The president last week in a speech about the economy said, no, I'm not on the ballot, but my policies are. Make no mistake about it, the president says. David Axelrod says, give it a rewrite.