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NEW DAY

On the Trail with Senator Elizabeth Warren; New York Revises Quarantine Policies

Aired October 27, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, a five-year-old boy is being monitored now for Ebola symptoms in New York City at Bellevue Hospital. This as New York state revises its Ebola quarantine policy so that people without symptoms can stay home for three weeks and self-monitor instead of doing that within a hospital.

A second student has died after a freshman opened fire inside a Washington state high school. Three students, including two of the gunman's cousin, remain hospitalized. In the meantime, a vigil was held for the victims Sunday night.

U.S. Marines and British troops have officially ended their combat operations in Afghanistan, transferring Camps Leatherneck and Bastion to Afghan control.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff celebrating re-election after winning an incredibly tight race. She beat opposition candidate Aecio Neves to win.

Speaking of winning, just one away. The Giants shut out the Royals 5-0 to take a three games to two lead in the World Series. They can take the series with a win Tuesday in game six in KC.

We always update those five things to know. So be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Have to wait for it. There it is. It's CNN Money time. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans with what's going on with stocks today.

This is usually a rhetorical question, but not anymore. We need to look day by day.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know. I know. Look, no, we really do. Well today it looks like a little weak, maybe, but let's talk about last week because late week was one of the best weeks for stocks in almost two years. The Dow climbed, in just one week, guys, 425 points. That's 2.6 percent. The S&P 500, that did even better, 4 percent last week. That's why you don't bail out when things get rough because you miss the big moves.

Talking about major retailers declining Apple Pay. CVS stores no longer taking payments through Apple Pay following Rite Aid's lead. Now, the drugstores are part of a group of retailers who are supporting a rival mobile payment system in development. So there could be a mobile pay fight. Watch this space.

And gas prices plunging, plunging. The average price for a regular gallon of gas, $3.03. That's the lowest price in almost four years. It's down 30 cents from just a month ago, 60 cents from the big prices over the summer. Why? Oil prices are plunging on weak global demand and because we are producing a heck of a lot of energy in this country.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, you make me feel like driving somewhere right now.

ROMANS: I know. Don't spend it all in one place, right? You're getting like another extra couple bucks a week. But it is almost like a tax break for consumers. And if it lasts, it's something that we could see in other economic numbers. People have a little more money to spend. You'll spend less on heating oil and heating bills this winter too. So that's good news for consumers.

CAMEROTA: Great news.

ROMANS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: All right, New York state, this morning, adjusting quarantine guidelines for health care workers back from the Ebola hot zones. All of this just a week before voters decide which politicians can keep their jobs. So is the Ebola battle being fought on political grounds? We'll debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: It's good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY.

We are getting word this morning that a five-year-old boy is being monitored for Ebola symptoms here in New York City. All of this as New York state adjusts its mandatory 21 day quarantine for health care workers that are returning from the Ebola hot zone in West Africa. New York now allowing quarantines to be served at home. So is this all about public health or has it deteriorated into some sort of political posturing? Joining me now is CNN political commentator and political anchor for New York One News, Errol Louis.

Good morning to you, dear.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

PEREIRA: I mean I'm sure that you're watching this with a keen eye on several respects. You're a New Yorker, you're concerned about our public health here, but do you view all of this going on with the governors of New Jersey and New York as being politically motivated?

LOUIS: Always. Always. The politics never goes away. And, frankly, it's not a bad thing. I mean the politicians are supposed to respond to the public. They're supposed to be aware of what the public want.

PEREIRA: Sure.

LOUIS: And so they do indeed end up sort of adjust their positions in order to appeal to the public. We've got a big election coming up in New York just next week and, of course, it's no secret that Chris Christie wants to be considered for president. So, a lot of stuff going on.

PEREIRA: To that end, we know also now that there is the potential case in New York, a five-year-old boy returning with his family from Guinea. Tested with a 103 degrees fever. Is at Bellevue now being monitored and observed. They haven't tested him yet. They're going to observe and go off on their checklist until they decide when they're going to test this young one. It makes you wonder, are you potentially going to see Governor Cuomo reverse decisions again or pivot again?

LOUIS: Well, one would hope, first of all, that everybody would be most concerned about a five-year-old with a 103 temperature -

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

LOUIS: Because whether it's the flu or anything else, you've got to feel for that family and for that kid.

PEREIRA: Yes.

LOUIS: But, no, I think what we're going to find is that the governor, I think, has already acknowledged by his actions that he may have jumped out a little too quickly. I mean he stood there with - or sat next to the governor of New Jersey. They announced this quarantine. Absolutely no details that were included with it. It led to this tent with this nurse sort of being basically imprisoned. Now there are legal issues that are flowing from it. The governor of New York sort of walked it back the very next day and said, well, look, we're not doing the tent thing. We're going to let people go to their homes. We're going to try to invent a protocol that will allow them to be with their families and not overreact. Clearly the result of political pressure.

PEREIRA: They hadn't written the book on this before, though, Errol. I mean the fact is, this is somewhat unchartered territory. Is there a case to be made for an overabundance of caution when we're looking at this?

LOUIS: Well, you know what, there -- there is and there isn't a precedent. I mean if you go back and look at what happened with the AIDS scare and it was -

PEREIRA: Fair enough. Yes. LOUIS: And it was an absolute panic in New York. Came through here in the 1980s. People had to invent protocols. They had to figure out what to do. But the public played a big role. I mean the gay and lesbian community, they really took a lead in spreading good information, not panic, and inventing protocols, in creating sort of a self-help and self-care possibilities within that community that really helped us through what was, in the end, a very tragic time with a lot of lives lost.

So there's absolutely no excuse to say, we don't know, so let's just do whatever we feel like or whatever the latest poll suggests would be popular. And that's what we've seen, frankly, in Texas. We've seen a little bit of it in New York and we're seeing a lot of it in New Jersey.

PEREIRA: But New York is reasonably prepared. We've seen, for example, a few weeks ago, they're sending actors into ER units acting like they had symptoms. There were drills being done. There were preparations. There were -- we've had many of the medical professionals here. So it didn't catch them completely by surprise. But there - you know, now I think all of us are going back and forth on the, you know, the science versus the optics of it. And that's always going to be a debate.

LOUIS: Absolutely. I mean New York City has extraordinary resources. I talked to the head - I mean we have 11 publicly owned hospitals. It's unique here in New York City. And the head of that system, Rom Raju (ph), I've interviewed, and he was -

PEREIRA: He was here earlier this morning.

LOUIS: He had a certain amount of swagger. He said, we are - we are really ready for this. Mary Bassett (ph), who was the head of - the health commissioner for New York City, she spent 13 years running health systems in Tanzania.

PEREIRA: But she also admitted yesterday that it's going to be a long fight.

LOUIS: Well, she knows it's going to be a long fight, but why not give her a call? She was not even contacted before some of these quarantines suddenly popped up right in her backyards and so -

PEREIRA: So what is this, is it too many eyes on the midterm elections and not paying attention to a national crisis that could be building here?

LOUIS: Too many eyes on the midterm election, too many eyes on, frankly, the 2016 elections. Too many eyes on the politics of the moment and trying to outmaneuver the other people and sort of playing these heavy games with who's in charge and who can show authority and leadership and not enough time doing what all of the politics say they're going to do, which is to be led by the science. I mean there no - any way you look at it, this fight is going to have to take place in Africa. We've got to get workers over there.

I mean the World Health Organization, Michaela, has said that, at the end of the year, if this isn't stemmed, there could be 10,000 new Ebola cases per week.

PEREIRA: And that is devastating.

LOUIS: And that will overwhelm everyone's systems.

PEREIRA: Right.

LOUIS: And there's no quarantine anywhere in the world that's going to contain that.

PEREIRA: That can help that. Exactly.

LOUIS: That's right.

PEREIRA: Errol Louis, great to have you with us, as always.

LOUIS: Good to see you.

PEREIRA: Thanks so much.

Chris.

CUOMO: So here's one you may not have heard of. The Democrats, they say they have an amazing woman who could be president. The big question is, is she going to run? Oh, by the way, I'm not talking about Hillary, I'm talking about her, Senator Elizabeth Warren, on the road, in demand. We have an candid, new interview with the Massachusetts senator. A must watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Well, she said outright that she's not interested in the White House in 2016. But that's not stopping Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren from upping her national profile ahead of the midterms and trying to help Democrats keep the senate. And even with her soaring popularity, Elizabeth Warren remains a bit of a renegade in her party.

Our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger spent some time with Warren on the campaign trail. And she joins us from Washington. Hi -- Gloria.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Alisyn. Hi, how are you doing?

Well, she's an interesting person Elizabeth Warren. Her latest campaign stop was this weekend for endangered New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. While everyone else seems to be whispering about her future, Warren made it very clear to me that for now she's just working on 2014, trying to keep Democrats in control of the senate. But the more she's out there, and she's out there a lot Alisyn, the more speculation there is about 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BORGER: She's a Democrat in demand on the campaign trail. SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's about making sure

nobody steals your purse on Main Street or your pension on Wall Street. That's what we believe.

BORGER: Rallying the party base in states where the President and his dismal approval rating are not welcome -- as in Colorado with endangered senator, Mark Udall.

WARREN: You, Mark, me all of us -- that's how we're going to build the future. We do this together.

BORGER: Senator Warren is an unusual Washington phenom, a combination of loyal soldier and inside agitator, a party star who takes on her own party.

WARREN: What Democrats have to do is be willing to stand up and fight.

BORGER: Have they not been --

(CROSSTALK)

WARREN: I just think we could use a little more of that. I think we could use a little more of standing up and saying this is what it's about. And I'm willing to do it.

BORGER: She's willing all right. Always has been -- complicating her relationship with President Obama whom she manages to praise just before slinging arrows his way.

WARREN: If President Barack Obama had not been in the White House, then we wouldn't have a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today. This is an agency that has forced the biggest banks in the country to return more than $4 billion directly to people they cheated. That's been in just three years.

BORGER: But I hear a "but" coming.

WARREN: Of course there's a "but" coming because there's another half to this. They also chose an economic team. And when the going got tough, the economic team chose Wall Street. They protected Wall Street over American families. And that's just something that I think is fundamentally wrong.

BORGER: You've also said in the past that Hillary Clinton is somebody who has likewise protected Wall Street. Do you think she's still too close to Wall Street?

WARREN: I have said I worry about everyone who is too close to Wall Street. When I described what this race is about, and it's about who does government work for, I worry everywhere.

BORGER: Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Clinton although Warren has urged her to run. Today Warren is all about selling her own populist message and on the road she comes across loud and clear. WARREN: When conservatives talk about opportunity, they mean

opportunity for the rich to get richer and the powerful to get more powerful.

BORGER: She's become the liberals' anti Hillary. And the Republicans' poster child for big government run amok.

WARREN: Barack Obama squared his shoulders, planted his feet and stood firm.

BORGER: There are some who say that you energize Republicans as much as you energize Democrats because you're so left wing liberal, populist --

WARREN: Whoa, whoa. Wait, wait, wait. Because I believe that we should have a little higher minimum wage. Because I believe that women should have access to birth control. Because I believe that the United States government should not be making tens of billions of dollars in profits off the backs of our kids on student loans. Because I believe social security shouldn't be privatized. That's what I believe in. That's what I'm out there fighting for.

BORGER: And does that have appeal in a red state like --

WARREN: You bet. It has an appeal anywhere that there are working people.

BORGER: She says that's the winning Democratic agenda for this year and beyond.

And you think if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, she can make that case?

WARREN: You know, what I care about right now is what we're focused in 2014.

BORGER: That's not a yes.

WARREN: This is the key election. 2014, it's right if in front of us. And we shouldn't take our eye off the ball on that.

BORGER: Ok. But I didn't get a yes or no to that.

WARREN: You know, I just want to be clear. this is about the 2014 race.

BORGER: She is determined not to look beyond. And while her supporters want the 2016 door open, Warren just wants everyone to stop talking about it. Really, stop.

BORGER: Why not think about running?

WARREN: I'm not running for president.

BORGER: Ok.

WARREN: I am not running for president.

I am not running for president.

BORGER: But if Hillary didn't run, you might give it a shot?

WARREN: I am not running for president.

BORGER: But she is on the run --

WARREN: Off to Minnesota.

BORGER: -- to her next state, 16 in all, campaigning for other Democrats, at least for now.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CAMEROTA: Interesting profile -- Gloria. We understand that on Friday, both Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton appeared at campaign event for the Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate and something unusual happened.

BORGER: Well, it was a warm, public embrace from Hillary Clinton. The two women chatted backstage apparently about being grandmothers. But Hillary went on stage, warm public embrace. You know, their relationships have been complicated as we pointed out in the piece. Elizabeth Warren gave no such warm public embrace to Hillary, just welcomed her to the state.

But it was clear Hillary was reaching out to her, talking about how important the things that Elizabeth Warren stands for are to the Democratic Party. But nothing like that from Elizabeth Warren, which of course raises all red flags, everybody whispering about maybe Elizabeth Warren would take her on sooner rather than later. We just don't know.

CAMEROTA: Hard to read the tea leaves.

BORGER: Yes. Yes.

CAMEROTA: That's great. Thanks so much -- Gloria.

BORGER: Sure.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you.

CUOMO: Hard unless you listen to her who says "I'm not running." Sometimes it's about the people asking the questions, not those answering it.

CAMEROTA: She said it four times.

CUOMO: I know. She'll say it 50 more. And she still won't be believed.

Know what you should believe though? Take a look at this picture of me and Mike Rowe. Why are we so cute and cuddly? Well, there's a longer story to that. But it's really about the watch, the one on my wrist. Look at me.

CAMEROTA: That one's cute and cuddly.

CUOMO: Not at all.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: I look scary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

CUOMO: Yes, it is. Time for "The Good Stuff". Today's edition -- we offer time for a good cause. This is Mike Rowe's personal watch. I told him I liked it back when he was here on NEW DAY earlier. He thought it was a thinly veiled ask for the watch. He sort of rolled his eyes and gave it to me. I said "Listen Mike Rowe, I'd rather give it away than wear it." He said, "Good idea."

So guess what we did? We put the watch up for sale. The money goes the Mike Rowe Works Foundation to give scholarships for trade training. The value of the watch $35 -- the winning bid $4,050. Highest bidder Tracy Evert, she bought it for her son Logan. He's only nine. She says bidding was such an easy decision for two reasons. One, it's going to make a little boy who's been through a lot of major loss in the past two years very happy. And it's going to a great charity. So that's good stuff.

It had great sentimental value to Mr. Rowe. But he gave it away for a better cause. He's a good man and now even though -- he felt she overpaid so he sent -- threw in a new watch as well.

PEREIRA: He had been wearing that watch -- that's right.

CAMEROTA: That's so fantastic.

PEREIRA: I love this story.

CUOMO: One for both wrists.

CAMEROTA: Nice.

CUOMO: Bravo Mike Rowe.

Time for more news in the "NEWSROOM" with Miss Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks a lot. Have a great day. "NEWSROOM" starts now.