>> hello, and welcome to the news hour, coming up on the program, the number of people killed by the ebola outbreak continues to rise. liberia is the hardest-hit country, and we'll be speaking to the liberian information. >> you bring in boys and girls now on the front, for the

freedom and the democracy, we need your support. >> asking for more help, from ukraine's president to the u.s. congress. not backing down, yemen rebels fight government forces as they try to take over the airport. decision day in scotland, voters head to the polls to know whether to remain part of the united kingdom. we begin with another warning from the world health organization that says that the ebola outbreak is showing no signs of slowing down, with 700 new cases reported in the past week. more than 2,600 people have now died of the disease in west africa. the council is set to unveil a global strategy to contain the virus at an emergency meeting in the next few hours. more than 5,300 people have been infected.

about half of those victims have died. liberia is the worst affected country. close to 1500 people have died there. in guinea, where the outbreak began, more than 600 people have died. and more than 560 people have died in neighboring sierra leone. joining me now on the skype from the capital in monrovia, welcome, lewis brandt. and the numbers are on the rise, what is the situation at the moment? >> well, the situation continues to be grave. these figures are certainly grim. the projections are even grimmer, but we're hopeful that given the new sort of robust response from the international community, that we advocated, given the fact that we are ourselves repositioning ourselves, we are hopeful that

we can -- we may not be able to reach those projects. >> tell us how you are communicating this to the country and they must be petrified. many of them can't even find hospital beds. >> absolutely. the anxiety levels continue to rise as we speak. and the president rallied the country yesterday, and in fact, chef herself is visiting an infected area. she is there, seeing that the response effort is ongoing, and we continue to welcome international support and assistance. you spoke about the upcoming meeting of the security council. there will be another meeting by a secretary. we continue to welcome the support. we want to continue to say to the world that we hope the

action by the united states will spur additional support. and in liberia, able to fight back. so far, it has been head of all -- >> so excuse me for interrupting, the u.n. security council is meeting in the next couple of hours, and trying to put together a global strategy to deal with this. is it a case of one sized model does fit all when it comes to ebola? >> no, it is not. it is not a case of one size model fitting all. there are uniquenesses to each of these countries. for liberia, for instance, we need a high skilled unprecedented level of response. we need up to $1 billion. and we need to extract people

from their homes and communities that are infected and get them into treatment very very quick. that's one way. and at the same time, we are going around the country, ensuring that our people understand preventive measures. >> excuse me, jumping in again, many in the media particularly are saying that the government didn't do enough to communicate what was going on, and the government was too late in dealing with the virus, is that true? >> well, that may be the criticism of some out there. but when you understand the scale of what we're dealing with, a government coming out of conflict like ours, how it deals with this kind of problem on its own. we have always indicated the world health organization, made

it very very clear, internationally as well as locally, no one could have been able to deal with the size and scale of what we're dealing with. >> sadly, we lost lewis brown, the information minister. but we got what we needed. in sierra leone, radical steps have been taken. people have been ordered to stay indoors for 72 hours, starting on friday. and meanwhile, burial teams are working for as little as $100 a month to dispose of victim's bodies. joining us from eastern sierra leone. >> a burial team is being called to an isolated village. a 16-year-old boy here has died. he was never tested but there are fears that he had ebola. if so, he's the first to die in

the village. and people are afraid. chlorine is afraid to disinfect the house, and inside, the boy's body is wrapped up and sealed. >> so when the family, [ unintelligible ]. >> traditionally, close family members wash and dress the body. but those who died of ebola are specially contagious, and the burial practices are blamed for the spread of the disease. >> we can build treatment centers forever, and it's still not enough. it will be continually passed from person to person, so we have to do more than just treatment. we have to stop the transmission. >> the international red cross' education and the change in people's behavior is the only way that the virus will be stopped. they're running awareness

campaigns in the town, but people remain deeply suspicious of the virus and outside help. >> we need to be able to get trucks into the remote small villages to make sure that everybody is getting reached and how we can get the right message to prevent the spread further. >> back in the village, the boy's body is being prepared for burial in a small clearing, well away from the houses, friends and family members follow the burial team. they pay respects to their friend, their brother, their neighbor. they pray the virus has not been passed on. and that his death does not mark the beginning of more to come. tarrick bezly, aljazeera. >> calling for more international support in repat rating foreigners, and workers say that it has taken two days

for evacuation of a french nurse in liberia on tuesday. >> as soon as our volunteers showed signs of a rise in temperature, she was isolated, and we did the first diagnostic test two hours later. these diagnostic tests showed her positive twice, and therefore, we put into motion the medical evacuation of this person. you have to know that for us, the first thing we try to do is repat rate this person to europe and have this person treated in a specialized hospital. that's the first rule. root now, she's still in monrovia. it's going to be more than 40 hours, and that's too long, so she's unstable, and we're waiting for the plane to be take off. >> the president poroshenko speaking before a joint meeting of the u.s. congress.

ukraine wants help fighting the russian separatists. but they are concerned about escalating conflict. >> the ukrainian army. imagine, these young boys, often underappreciated by the world, are the only thing that now stands between the reality of the peaceful coexistence and the nightmare of the previous century. into the new century. ukrainian soldiers, ukrainian people, ukrainian boys and girls now on the front for the freedom and knock. they -- democracy. they need your support. [ applause ] >> live in washington d.c. patty, what else did he ask for, and what chance of getting it? >> well, you can see it was a pretty passionate speech. and he hit on awful the things

that you would expect, he adequating ukraine to israel. saying that israel has a right to defend itself, and so does ukraine, and he painted a bleak picture. he said if the u.s. doesn't support ukraine, this could lead to not only another cold war, but a war that involves all of europe. so he's trying to stir fear into the heart of congress, and asking for more. all of congress in the last few months, coming back and saying that the u.s. needs to supply saying that the ukrainian military has enough weapons, and they fear if they get involved in providing heavy weaponry, that's what would happen. >> we know that russia has called for a united nations council meeting on ukraine, and

how much of this is about containing russia? >> i think that all along, it has been that russia gets enough of a message so that they don't go to neighboring allies. he has ruled out any kind of military interventions, all the way sending the message that it's a of different story when it comes to nato members. if he thinks russia is moving in that direction, it would be on the table. and you're right, this is all about containing russia. >> a new video by the group call be itself islamic state in iraq and lav ant. and they have chosen not to show it. promising to show the motivation of the group. he said he was captured in 2012. isil has killed three hostages recently.

>> well, this appears to be another islamic state propaganda. the man appears in a darkened room, wearing orange clothing, and he appears behind a desk, talking to the camera. and it's not clear precisely when the video was shot, but it's clear that it was filmed this year. and of course its contents, we should be very wary of indeed. it's almost certain that coercion has gone on here. downing street is not commenting for the moment. they are desperately trying to discover more details about this video that has just emerged. but some sources are naming the man as john cantily. a former journalist in

britain,, and indeed, he was captured in 2012. so we should be very wary of the content. but he says i know what you're thinking, you're thinking he's only doing this because he's a prisoner, and he has got a gun to his head and he's being forced to do this. he said i am a prisoner and i've been abandoned by my government. and my head is in the hands of islamic state, and i have nothing to use. i'm going to show the truth as the western media tries to drac the public back into another war with the islamic state. and that indeed, at least as far as he says with all of those caveats that i mentioned earlier, is promised to expose the truth behind islamic state. >> all right, tim friend, thank you.

>> in the news, winning the government's first democratic election in eight years. >> i'm in andrews to talk about why independence isn't the only vote taking place in scotland. >> parliament, the prime minister's cabinet, lawmakers were demanding a cabinet with no more than ten ministers. he presented one with 16. it's another step back for the administration, which has failed to bring libya any kind of order. the parliament said that the rebels who now control the capital, tripoli, and aljazeera has more front tripoli. >> finally, the house in the eastern city has assigned to submit the government to include only 10, and as we

know, the government was rejected yesterday by the same members of the department, for many refines on top of them, because libya is based on the tribal system. and especially the tribes to the east of libya, they want to have a full representation in the new government. and also advocates in the city, and the operation dig anytimey. they wanted to have a big share in the new government, led by abdullah al thinni. >> isil has been launching heavy campaigns. isil fighters have been capturing more than 112 villages. the fighting forced hundreds to flee from their homes. border region has been besieged

by isil for about a year now. in neighboring iraq, there are reports that a u.s. airstrike has hit an agricultural college. and it was thought that it was being used by isil fighters, and more than 70 bodies have been recovered so far. in favor of president barack obama's plan to defeat fighters from the islamic state of lavant. and the senate still needs to approve it. on wednesday, the committee wigsed secretary of state, john kerry, over the isil advantage, and he will face another round of questions from members of congress. the world health organization has suspended a measles vaccination campaign in the syrian provinces. at least 15 children who were inoculated died. and investigators suspected that the vaccine as

contaminated by an antiseptic. >> we don't know the name of this girl, but we do know that she survived after being injected with a contaminated vaccine that killed more than a dozen children in syria, she died minutes after receiving an injection. and earlier this week, reports came out of the town of georgia that children were becoming sick after receiving the injections. the measles vaccine is transported as a powder and then mixed with a liquid before being injected. the bottles containing the liquid were stored in the same fridge as a potent muscle relaxant. it's believed that it proved fatal to the young children. >> the situation in the hospital, and sometimes, it can

be a very difficult situation. >> the difficulty with delivering healthcare in a country at war has led it a measles epidemic. while the vaccinations themselves can be difficult to handle directly, but the real problem in syria is getting to the people in need. >> it has little to do with vaccine safety itself. and it has more to do with basically being able to provide this important vaccine, because measles is responsible for a lot of deaths in young children. >> whether it was deliberate or a mistake, the investigation is on the way, but things like this have happened in the past with often fatal consequences. >> the tension in yemen has been simmering for weeks. >> i'm david schuster in new york, and we're interrupting our regularly scheduled programs in what is a

very busy day on capitol hill. you're looking at the chairman of the house armed services committee. and chuck hagel is going to be testifying. he is already there, and you can see people trying to make room in the room there. but chuck hagel is there, and he will be testifying on the president's plan to defeat islamic state. secretary of state, john kerry, is due to speak before the armed services economy in 20 minutes, but chuck hagel will likely face a lot of questions about what general dempsey said the other day, that the u.n. is preparing and recommending ground troops. secretary of state said that there will be questions of chuck hagel about military preparations, what the pentagon is considering, and the king sees they're looking at. and where secretary hagel says

the military assets by the united states are headed and the timeline. so with that, let's listen to the opal statement and the opening statement by secretary of defense, chuck hagel. >> in georgia, he was there, and then he was going to turkey and then he was coming back here, and then it's really great to have you here, mr. secretary, and i understand how busy you are, and how much you're traveling, and we really appreciate your time. what you, general dempsey and all of the men and women are doing to keep us safe from harm. just yesterday, the house passed an amendment to continued resolution at the president's request, which authorizes the secretary of defense to train and equip appropriate elements of the syrian opposition. we strengthened the proposal so

congressional oversight for deposited reporting and requirements. though not everyone supported the agreement that isil is a threat to our allies and to the united states. apparently, that isil agreement that isil must be defeated. agreement that the landscape is incredibly complex and will carry risks and agreement that the syrian authority is only one part of what should be a broader regional strategy to defeat isil. i listened to the president's speech last week and talked with military experts, including those who know iraq best. i traveled to the region earlier this month, and got blunt answers from our allies and partners on what needs to be done. i do not believe that the minimalist counter insurgent strategy that the president has proposed is sufficient to achieve his objective, to

degrade and destroy isil. i gave a speech at the american institute last week, and i called for swift action, and not the current go slow approach. for every week we wait, isil grows. we need to conduct military operations in both iraq and syria, to deny isil any safe haven. while the kurds and iraqi security forces are willing to fight and have some capability, they still need our trainers, advisers, command and control, intelligence, special forces. the capabilities that only the united states can provide. none of us should minimize the risk. we cannot succeed from the safety of some headquarters building, engaging those divergent groups and advising indigenous forces will put our military in harm's way. this is a dangerous business. the most irresponsible thing that the president can do is give the military a mission, but not give it the tools it

needs to do the job. by taking options off the table, i fear the president is setting the mission and our military up for failure, rather than successful i know when eisenhower was planning the invasion of normandy, one of his subordinates questioned some of the planning, and he said we're planning for success. failure is not an option. we're in that same situation today. today's hearing is important for us to understand the administration's strategy for isil. the president has identified his objective to degrade and ultimately destroy. we need to hear from our defense and uniformed leaders on what you believe will be required of the military to achieve that objective. we need to understand the campaign, the role our partners will play, the risk, the capabilities our military will need. and the consequences of inaction.

mr. secretary, here in thisquential moment, i look forward to your questions and gaining answers to our questions. i would like to point out that we have a staff member who is leaving us. deborah. is deborah in here? >> so the chairman, the staff neb emphatically underscoring, and you heard that yesterday, but you now have the chairman of the armed services committee saying that he believes that the united states should go in militarily with both airstrikes and ground troops in iraq and syria, starting now, and this is the kind of skepticism from republicans that we have been expecting throughout the day. and we heard some of that on the senate side. but again, members of congress believe that the president's pledge not to use ground troops

is wise that it sounds a message in terms of the policy. let's go to mike viqueira on capitol hill. and how is the administration planning to respond? >> it's fascinating the way that this is unfolding, the debate on capitol hill. but in the wake of the comments from the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff yesterday. and the white house has furiously tried to walk back those comments, but what we're going to hear, what general dempsey said the other day is true, if he were to come to the president and say, we need advisers at not the so-called brigade level at the headquarters that he just referred to. but at the front lines, calling airstrikes to advisers as they're engaged in battle, then the president will consider this, and they're going to split this hair fine, david. and it still does not mean that they're in combat and will not

be engaging the enemy directly. it's a fascinating thing that they have been talking about for the last hours. >> congressman smith, and after that, secretary hagel's opening statement. let's hear what the congressman ranking minority member, smith has to say. >> ever since 9/11 and since we have learned about the terrorist threat out there, the two wars that we have fought. and believe me, it wouldn't be hard for anyone to go over the decisions and criticize them step-by-step, and why didn't we do this? and if only we hadn't done that, it would be fine. but the bottom line, this problem is not going away, and i personally couldn't imagine any set of decisions we would made in the last 13 years that would make it go away now. we can look back and say it was not a good decision, but the

threat we face, and isil is just one piece of it, is the ideological threat that we first came to understand with osama bin laden and al qaeda. it's an incredibly violent extremist ideology, attempting to hijack one of the world's great religions, and their ideology is forward, they want to destroy us. and the only thing that stops them from doing it is our efforts, and the efforts of those like you. and we have to confront it. every time a decision comes up, a lot of the opposition is, we don't want to have to deal with it. but it's there, and we have to deal with it. the threat is real, and it's not being made up. isil is the latest manifestation of that threat. we have seen how absolutely brutal and involved they are. they have committed small scale genocides every place they have gone, and everyone who doesn't believe they kill in the most brutal fashion imaginable.

and they threaten us. certainly, they threaten the region first. there has been considerable debate on whether isil is a direct threat to us right now. and in a truly technical sense they aren't. but they have not yet set up a system for planning and plotting attacks overseas, but i vividly remember, and this is a mistake that i made along the way. when we were focused on al qaeda and pakistan. and for the longest time, i said pakistan, that's where it's at because every attack against u.s. targets has balance been plotted out of that region. and that was true when abdul showed up on the plane in detroit. and it showed that the threat can spread, and we responded to that. make no mistake about it. if isil were to settle down and get secure territory in syria or iraq, i have no doubt that they would try to train fighters and send them back to

fighters in the west. anyone who wants to say that wouldn't happen, i wish you were right. but you're not. their ideology is clearly a threat. and the one thing is how do we confront that threat? the one thing that we can learn, is we can learn from our past mistakes, and one of the mistakes that we need to change moving >> it gains strength from over aggression in the region. the stranger case isil has to present to the people who want to join them is they are