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CNN TONIGHT

Ebola in America

Aired October 17, 2014 - 22:00   ET

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


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Tonight, nurse Nina Pham is resting comfortably at the National Institutes of Health clinic in Bethesda, Maryland, where she arrived last night. Meanwhile, as nurse Amber Vinson is being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, questions are swirling about exactly when she first had symptoms of Ebola. We are going to have the latest on both nurses.

Also, cruise ship quarantine, a live report from the Carnival Magic, heading back to Texas after authorities learned a passenger on board is a health care worker who may have handled lab specimens from Dallas Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan.

Plus, proof positive that Ebola has gone viral. This is the Halloween costume of the year. Also tonight, your questions on Ebola. Our expert team has the answers for you.

We are going to get right to it now.

CNN's Brian Todd at National Institutes of Health clinic -- center in Bethesda, Maryland, where Nina Pham is being treated. Alina Machado is in Dallas at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Brian Todd, to you first. We were live last night as Nina Pham was transported to NIH, where you are. What is her current condition? What kind of care will she be receiving?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, she is under 24/7 care in a biocontainment isolation unit at the special clinical studies unit here at NIH. She is being tended to by highly trained staff of doctors and nurses.

They're working in two 12-hour shifts, Don. And each minute basically, someone is with Nina Pham, the doctors who are attending to her. There will always be an infection disease specialist with her and a critical care doctor with her, but also on each shift, five nurses will always be there. Two of them will always be in the room with her at the same time.

One expert says as far as the treatment she is going to be getting, the NIH is not really telling us specific treatment. But one expert says she is going to be getting fluids, electrolytes, she is going to get antibiotics if she has an infection, that kind of thing. They really have to look after her system -- or excuse me -- her symptoms, because there is no actual direct medication for Ebola. Now, as far as whether she will make a full recovery, we asked

that to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of division of infectious diseases and allergies here at NIH. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: When you say recoverable, in the sense of recovering, absolutely. We fully intend to have this patient walk out of this hospital, and we will do everything we possibly can to make that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, tending to Nina Pham and her care also involves watching the condition of her caregivers. They're really watching that very meticulously, Don.

Each caregiver has a buddy watching him or her going into and out of the unit. The buddies check each other as they get dressed in their isolation garb and their hazmat suits. They check each other as they're getting undressed. It's a very meticulous process because they cannot have a breach in protocol, Don.

LEMON: Brian, let's talk about the other infected nurse, Amber Vinson, in Atlanta at Emory University Hospital, and officials in Ohio are tracking her movement while she was there. What do you know about that situation?

TODD: Right.

Well, Gene Nixon, he's the health commissioner of Summit County, Ohio, says that they're tracing all the close contacts that Amber Vinson might have had during that trip that she made to Ohio. And that was between October 10 and October 13. The latest information is that she might have had as many 16 close contacts with people at a store she visited and on the planes that she took.

Now, the planes are an interesting question as well, because Frontier Airlines now says it has contacted about 800 passengers who were on the planes that Amber Vinson took, again, one flight from Dallas to Cleveland on October 10 and another flight from Cleveland back to Dallas on October 13; 800 people who were on those flights as well as flights that the latter plane that went from Cleveland to Dallas took for several days before that plane was taken out of commission, a total of about 800 people are being contacted.

But the health commissioner there in Ohio and other officials are saying, Don, those people have a very low chance of even getting symptoms of Ebola. But they just have to be careful and contact everyone who was on those flights.

LEMON: They will be monitoring them as well.

Alina Machado, we are hearing for the first time from the doctor that treated all three Dallas Ebola patients. What are we learning? ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, WFAA, an affiliate

from CNN, spoke with Dr. Gary Weinstein about Thomas Eric Duncan. They talked about everything, even about how Duncan died. He described the death as very, very quick. That's a quote. Also saying that it was over a period of minutes, he lost his pulse and was dead.

The reporter for WFAA asked the doctor about the care Duncan received, specifically about claims that Duncan perhaps didn't get the best care because he didn't have health insurance and also because of his race because, he was black. Listen to what Dr. Weinstein had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GARY WEINSTEIN, TEXAS HEALTH PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL: I find that remarkably insulting. That's -- I don't know how better to describe that. The team here worked their tails off trying to save his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: You can really sense the emotion there in that response. It is still difficult for this doctor to deal with what has happened -- Don.

LEMON: OK.

Alina, in the short time we have left, I want to ask you about officials in Dallas. They issued new restrictions today for the other medical workers involved in Duncan's care. They have been asked to stay away from public gatherings, correct?

MACHADO: Yes. We're talking abut more than 70 health care workers here in Dallas County who have been asked to sign a legal document agreeing to certain restrictions even if they are not showing any symptoms of Ebola infection.

Some of these restrictions include agreeing not to travel on commercial planes, on trains, on buses. Also, as you mentioned, they're supposed to stay away from public gatherings, from places where people may gather, grocery stores and theaters, during the 21 days following their last exposure, or their last possible exposure to the Ebola virus.

LEMON: All right, Alina Machado, Brian Todd, thanks to both of you.

A Dallas hospital worker who may have handled Thomas Duncan's fluid samples has been quarantined on a ship, on a cruise ship that is on its way back to Texas. A doctor declared the worker symptom-free. But she will remain under isolation as a precaution. The government of Belize, well, it turned down the request by the U.S. to evacuate the worker through its airport.

Joining me now on the phone is Eric Lupher. He is on board that Carnival cruise ship and he's also reporter for KMGH in Denver. Eric, thank you for joining us.

How did you learn that something was wrong on the ship and what was it?

ERIC LUPHER, SHIP PASSENGER: Good evening.

We actually were told by the captain early this morning, via the loudspeaker, what was going on. And a lot of people were upset about that on the ship, because we were in Belize, about five miles off the shore of Belize, just sitting in the ocean, in the boat. And that was last night wondering what was going on.

We didn't know why we were not moving. We knew were supposed to head to Cozumel. The boat was not moving. That really that way for several hours. We went to bed with the boat parked out on the water there. Finally started moving in the middle of the night, and then we were told, finally, this morning, more than 12 hours later, what was going on and that this person was on the ship.

LEMON: I want to read something, Eric, that you tweeted. You said: "Ebola scare on my vacay. Still a party on the ship, though. We weren't allowed to get off in Cozumel."

And the question is, what its the atmosphere now like on the boat? Did people freak out about this?

LUPHER: You know, not really.

I mean, it was almost -- it was really surprising. But I think it was because we were told that we were given clearance by the government to go ahead and port in Cozumel. So our government was comfortable enough letting us get off the boat after all of this was going on with this passenger.

So we were under the understanding via the captain that it was Mexican authorities who were not allowing us off the ship. The party kind of just kept going. The pools were open. The slides were open. People were still eating at the buffet, touching areas that everybody touches. So there (AUDIO GAP) really things were as normal here on the ship.

LEMON: You have another day-and-a-half until you reach Galveston. Are you happy the way the cruise ship handled this, Eric?

LUPHER: You know, as a passenger, not a reporter, I thought the communication was a bit of a problem, the fact that they waited so long and I have heard a lot of people saying that same thing, that it was -- seemed very secretive as to what was going on. I wish they would have told us last night, when we were stuck, you know, five miles off the shore in Belize just sitting there.

But then there is also the sentiment on the boat that it is understandable that it's not the boat's fault. It's the fact that we weren't allowed to go to Cozumel because of authorities there. There is concern over communication and also what is going to happen when we got to Galveston. It's understanding right now that we are just going to get off the boat and go home. But is that really going to happen? That's the question a lot of people have as well.

LEMON: Yes. Well, you can -- better believe a lot of people will be wondering that as well and will be there waiting for you.

Eric Lupher on board the Carnival cruise ship, the Carnival cruise ship Magic, and is also a reporter for KMGH in Denver, thank you. Best of luck to you.

When we come right back here on CNN, you have been sending your questions on Ebola. Tonight, our team of experts answers them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You just heard our live report from that cruise ship heading back to Texas after a passenger was quarantined who may have handled specimens from Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan.

Now, I want to know what my experts think about all of this.

Joining me now is Dr. Devi Nampiaparampil. She's an assistant professor at NYU school of Medicine, and Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation. She's now an attorney for victims of transportation accidents.

Mary, this is exactly what you do because -- and talk about all the time. What do you think about what we just heard from Eric Lupher aboard that ship, all the precautions? Is it necessary?

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR GENERAL: Well, it's necessary for a couple reasons.

One, if this person does turn out to have any kind of symptoms, they're going to have to find and track all the people on the ship. But it is also necessary because, once again, I mean, the country has to get control of this situation.

We had one person on an airplane. And we're now tracking 900 people. We had one person on a ship. And there are a couple thousand on the ship. We can't -- the country cannot continue on this way. That's just two people. Can we imagine if it is 10, if it's 100? And so, yes, it is necessary, but we must get control, because this is absurd. There's a lack of common sense all the way around.

LEMON: How do you get control? Because, in the beginning, the officials said, oh, you shouldn't worry about it. It is hard to spread. It is probably not going to come here to the United States, and on and on and on. And now we see this. What do you do, Mary?

SCHIAVO: Well, I think we do exactly what the -- what Washington does not want to do.

We have to put in travel restrictions. They have been used literally since the Middle Ages. And they're effective. Every country in Africa has now put them in place. And some of them have used them to wipe out Ebola in their own country. All the -- several countries have done it. Of course, you restrict people who have had any contact with Ebola. That would have eliminated these two cases. And you do not allow unnecessary transportation to and from Ebola- stricken countries, especially since the United States military its now providing transport.

LEMON: OK.

Dr. Devi, Mary is saying got to get on the same page. She's also saying travel restrictions. But speaking of getting on the same page, President Obama has appointed Ron Klain as the Ebola czar. Do you think that will help?

DR. DEVI NAMPIAPARAMPIL, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I think it is good that we have an Ebola czar. So, I'm definitely in favor of that.

I think that what we need is someone smart and capable, which he seems to be. So it is important for him to get the right team of advisers. He will need people, let's say, you know, from the nursing side, from the medical side, from pharma, even from facilities. Like, let's say, in the hospital -- for example, this person that is on the cruise ship, they're concerned that they might have gotten exposed from something within the facility, let's say, the blood that was transported.

So I think it is important to get some input from those folks, and then of course in terms of the transportation and the travel restrictions, So it is actually involving so many different things. I hope this Ebola czar will be able to coordinate it all and come up with an effective plan.

LEMON: What you are saying, Dr. Devi, is you said I hope he has the right set of advisers, because he's regarded as an excellent manager. But he does not have a health care background. Are you saying -- does that matter?

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: I don't think he needs to have the health care background. But he has to be able to understand what the advisers are telling him and then execute that plan effectively.

If he comes up with a plan, he has to be able to adapt to changing circumstances, too, which is what has been happening throughout this whole situation.

LEMON: I'm sure you heard yesterday a passenger on a flight from Nigeria to New York's JFK Airport died in his seat after following a fit of vomiting profusely. I hate to say that, but that is what happened.

The CDC and customs officials were called. After what is being described as a cursory exam by the CDC, it was determined that the man did not have Ebola. Is it possible though to rule it out that quickly, Dr. Devi?

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: Well, if he died right on the plane and they got the specimens like the vomit and the other bodily fluids, then they should be able to rule it out, because if you are in the later stages of Ebola where this would happen, you have got virus throughout your bodily fluids.

So, it's easier to test. It's hard to find the Ebola virus when you don't have any symptoms because it's not enough high concentration in your blood.

LEMON: Mary, I want to talk about Republican Congressman Peter King. He says there are 70 to 100 patients arriving every day at the airport from countries where Ebola is rampant, or passengers at least. He is demanding to know what the protocols are for when the passenger falls sick. What are they? Do we know specifically?

SCHIAVO: Well, there are loose guidelines, unfortunately.

The CDC has the power -- actually, it's the secretary of health and human services has the power to stop quarantine, et cetera, has all of those powers, and has delegated them to the CDC. The CDC may stop anyone that has a communicable disease. Ebola is one of the particularly enumerated ones.

And the public health laws allow it. but that's where it kind of breaks down after that. While they can stop, inspect, examine, and quarantine, then they have to rely on state and local officials and health facilities because the CDC is very limited. Every state has the legal ability to do that.

Some states, it's a felony if you don't comply. Others, it's a misdemeanor. So, it's kind of a patchwork quilt of laws. But there is the power to do that.

LEMON: Mary, Dr. Devi, thank you. Have a great weekend. We appreciate you.

NAMPIAPARAMPIL: Thank you.

LEMON: Coming up, Ebola has been all over the headlines. It was only a matter of time before Ebola spread to pop culture -- more on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ebola has been all over the headlines for weeks. Now it is taking over pop culture.

Here is CNN's Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everywhere you look, it is Ebola, from people in protective suits on the news to the deadly virus making cameos on your favorite shows. Ebola has gone viral.

ZENA BURNS, POP CULTURE COMMENTATOR: We have such a long history of outbreak entertainment in the American culture. People are used to this type of thing in entertainment, so it has desensitized them a little bit to the realities of what is happening.

CASAREZ: On Twitter, someone posts a picture of a pretzel shaped like the virus. And there's a softer version too, this stuffed animal.

And Ebola has even broken into the music industry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Is it Ebola, Ebola?

CASAREZ: This artist changing the words to the Kinks hit "Lola."

With Ebola, everybody wants to know if they have it and, if so, how to cure it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone knows that Ebola kills, but what exactly does it do?

CASAREZ: Even the New York Giants playing the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday got a class on Ebola 101, although some have suggested the Giants can't catch anything, let alone Ebola.

But there is a lot of information you can't trust.

BURNS: Any time people are scared of something, it often helps to talk about it in some way.

CASAREZ: Case in point, watch this spoof from a recent "Saturday Night Live."

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I'm sticking with you no matter what kind of cancer you have.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: No, I don't have cancer. I have Ebola.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Oh.

CASAREZ: Or this "South Park" comparing the Ebola scare to the fear of gluten.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We have word of a possible gluten exposure in your home.

CASAREZ: And after Dallas nurse Nina Pham was diagnosed with Ebola, her quarantined dog has become a household name. Bentley has his own health care provider suited up from head to toe.

But those protective suits aren't just for health care workers. These suits might just become the hottest Halloween costume this year. This California company expects to sell hundreds of these costumes and has no regrets.

JONATHAN WEEKS, CEO, BRANDSONSALE.COM: We don't see any controversy with it. We think it is in good taste. We don't have any blood splattered on it or anything else that is disgraceful.

CASAREZ: Other retailers say it's just not right.

RICHARD PARROTT, PRESIDENT, RICKY'S NYC: We follow what the cues are in social media, things that are funny -- lighthearted and certainly funny, nothing that is going to cross the line into serious or poking fun at tragedy.

CASAREZ: But experts say poking fun at tragedy can be a way to cope with a crisis, if the suit fits.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Ebola is no laughing matter in Dallas, really everywhere.

But joining me now is Dallas resident Ben Ferguson, CNN political commentator and host of "The Ben Ferguson show."

So, it's no surprise, Ben, that Ebola has hit pop culture. I noticed when we started seeing a week ago "SNL" and that sort of thing. But how is that playing in Dallas where you are?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I can tell you the top things people aren't interested in this Halloween. For example, they say being the hot nurse not so hot anymore.

You don't want to buy that outfit is what everybody is saying. There's plenty of those on the shelves. And some people are saying they're going to go as a Clorox guy. I think that one is probably the best so far, or the exterminator. There's other people that are saying they're going to wrap their cars and be the guys that look like they were trying to clean the house.

So, some people are trying to have a little bit of fun with it, because I also think it is such a scary thing.

LEMON: Yes.

FERGUSON: And for people that are here, it was, don't worry, don't worry. Then, all of a sudden, you have a nurse that gets on a plane. Now you have got this cruise ship in Galveston. It's not coming to America. The CDC has it under control.

And all that here is pretty much -- no one believes anybody anymore.

LEMON: Yes. It seems to be mounting. But I think, generally, generally, the consensus has been too soon.

FERGUSON: Yes, too soon especially if you are living in an area where you are truly concerned about it.

You have different people that are walking out of hospitals or going into hospitals or having -- like, a great example, where I live, there are four people that we found out yesterday from the health commission are in quarantine. They're self-imposed who -- two of them were on the flight. And two of them worked at the hospital that were around the Ebola patient.

So, when you see schools in your own neighborhood that were let out today, that didn't have class because they were making sure they clean the place again, I think that's when it becomes incredibly real, when you hear about parents not taking their kids to school for the last four days in a row, because there was one kid that had a connection with a nurse that was in that hospital. That's when it becomes real life.

LEMON: Do you think that people who come in contact with someone who is suffering from Ebola do you think they have a bigger responsibility not to go out and to be among as little people as possible, even if it was a peripheral contact?

FERGUSON: I do.

And I think when -- we saw things change here in Dallas, the mentality. A lot of people were rooting for the first nurse. And they were -- they were saying what an incredible person and these people that work in medicine, willing to go in and try to help save the first patient's life.

And then, when everything here changed, the mentality, as soon as we found out about the second nurse that got on a plane with a fever, and it was, I would never do that, so why would a nurse do that? Why would a nurse do that that was in a room with a man that had Ebola, what is wrong with you was kind of the mentality.

And that's when I think everybody here changed to be more angry.

LEMON: Got to go, Ben. Yes, I'm up against the end of the show.

Ben Ferguson, thank you. Have a good weekend. We will be watching, see what happens in Dallas and around the country.

FERGUSON: You, too.

LEMON: That's it for us tonight. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you back here right on Monday night.

Make sure you stay with CNN throughout the weekend for live coverage of the Ebola crisis.

UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS starts right now.