>> welcome back. you're watching live coverage of the ebola response in the u.s. after another american was diagnosed with ebola here in new york city yesterday. i'm stephanie sy in new york, and i want to tell you about a positive development. nina pham, the dallas nurse who contracted ebola when she was ahelping an ebola patient, she's now ebola free. and she'll be holding a press conference explaining why she's being discharged, and she's the

second healthcare worker to be declared ebola free this week. amber vinson, who is a nurse, she's also ebola free. i want to bring in our washington correspondent, libby casey for an update on what has been happening at this oversight hearing. libby, we talked about it. nurses, we're also hearing from the international care community, and mr. tore bay, they have dropped the ball, and the cdc director basically has been lying or giving

misinformation about how nurses should best protect themselves, and how contagious ebola is. to put words in their mouth, they are continuing to focus on what needs to be done. and of course, making the connection that we have seen born out, that a nurse may get infected and a doctor get infected but they're members of the community, and she's willing for the right tools and education, and we're hearing from mr. tore bay that over in africa, he feels like that's the first line of defense, that over there, the workers need the tools and support to try to contain the outbreak in west africa, and not have it go across the ocean in a way that a lot of people are frankly fearful. that takes money, resources and

coordination. so we're hearing some of the details of how this is happening. it doesn't happen in a vac. it's coming on the details of news that the doctor in new york has been hospitalized, and that's coincidental. and the cdc has been ramping up their recautionary measures and reactive measures which make a big difference. >> caroline miloney, she represents mann in the 12th district. and she called the response in new york outstanding so far. but politics aside, libby, there are certain facts. the cdc has indeed had to alter its guidelines in the last couple of weeks, right. >> absolutely.

and initial reports about how adequately nurses and doctors and medical staff are protected moves not to be the case. there has been an evolution of what the cdc is saying, and also a growing awareness of healthcare professionals of how they should be protecting themselves. and that is coming out in this hearing, and republicans are asking more probing questions. is adequate procedure being followed. and the question is, if on is there failure on the behalf of the cdc, or carol maloney, or is there a plan in place that has proven effective so far less than 24 hours into the new york situation, and whether or not that's going to be adequate, not just in new york, but around the country. >> there have been several

congressional committees that have met about ebola, about the response, libby. he said that his committee is based on waste and fraud and that's the function of this committee and what do you think he's trying to accomplish from a hearing lib this. >> there's one detail that he has been asking about. our medical equipment purchased, were they adequate and purchased with intention? or was it a willy-nilly fashion that has not proven to be effective. that's what his committee digs into. he's going along those lines, if more money had been allocated, more funding if they had done more for ebola, we would not be in this situation

today. so it's a committee that's dealing with waste, fraud and abuse, and they have a lot of power, a lot of folks to testify. >> does that include some 4,000 u.s. troops that have been committed to west africa, and that is also included in the committee. because there are 200 officials on the panel that we're seeing. >> absolutely, we have a broad reset. to all branches of government. and we're hearing the department of defense saying just how american troops are, going overseas and liberia, engaging in a mission to try to create enough infrastructure there to help fight ebola.

what we're hearing from the obama administration, they are not combating the evil itself. but setting up the infrastructure. but there are many questions from a republicans and democrats about how safe they will be, and how they will be protected and if they have all of the tools they need. >> i think they're getting into this issue at the hearing, so let's listen in. thanks, libby. >> at the present time, the only aircraft that can move. >> how many patients in that aircraft? >> we're told the aircraft can hold one at a time. and do four movements a week. >> four movements a week. is that sufficient? >> given the number of ebola patients that the united states is having total at the present time, it is sufficient. but however -- >> that's how epidemics work. >> at this time, the department of defense has a statement that's working through the

statement with transcomto put together an isolation pod to put together aircraft development will begin in october. and testing will begin in january. >> january? and how many individuals at a time? >> 15 at a time remains. >> we hope to put on as many as 17, so we could move mobile c-17s. >> at current state, we can take less than ten people out of country in a week's time. >> if they are symptomatic. >> so this is not at all sufficient? >> . >> we don't know at the current time. we will not be doing direct

patient care. so we anticipate -- >> we understand, but how many american troops we have in the region by the end of the year? what would be our maximum? >> 3,000. >> 3,000. this is very disconcerting. is it a question of -- mr. lumpkin, is it a question of resources? does congress need to appropriate funds so we can get more planes and more logistical support here so we can have the cast if something absolutely horrible happens to our fighting men and women in country? >> we have a requirement. and as we have the cast, i would like to say this for the record because i'm not familiar with the process. >> i think you should get familiar with the acquisition process. we currently have one plane that's controlled by the state department, i'm asking the department of defense, with the

mass number of airplanes and equipment capacity that we have, nearly spending half a trillion dollars annually on the department of defense, if you need it, we'll get it, we'll demand it. because if we're putting these men and women in harm's way potentially where they can contract ebola, the idea that we have one plane in the united states to get these men and women out of the country in a safe manner, if they contract what is absolutely horrible, which we absolutely want to control, the idea that you're coming before us and giving this type of testimony races great concerns. i know you've been asked to do a lot. and i absolutely respect that. but we're asking you, in the legislative branch, to tell us what you need, and we will get t because we don't want to put our men and women in harm's way without any capacity to care for them. our veterans, our men and women deserve the best training and the best healthcare in the

world and they have it. but it means that the top prettyo calls at the top level are there to make sure that doesn't happen, and if something bad happens, they are immediately taken out of harm's way and they're cared for and taken back to the state. >> we now go to the second gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch. >> thank you, gentlemen for holding this hearing, and i think that the panel has been very helpful. as a matter of fact, there has been marked contrast between some of the testimony this morning, dr. laurie, you testified that we are better prepared than ever, and that you have a comprehensive response on the ground, and on the other hand, mr. roth, the inspector general, you were

commenting that the analysis done by -- i think you were talking about dhs in your testimony, how the equipment purchases are not adequate, and in some cases, the wrong equipment. and in other cases, the usefulness of the equipment or drugs beyond the expiration date. and dr. laurie, you have an aggressive system in place, and on the other hand, president burger says that they have done a survey of 3,000 nurses. dealing with ebola. it's inadequate.

so those are two different stories, and i understand that we don't want to panic people, but we also need happy talk with what we're doing. maybe it's just me, but lately, when a government agency comes before this committee and tells me, there's nothing to worry about, we got this, that's when i start to worry. now, i and you to believe, i think the nurses, and i know some nurses in the massachusetts nurses association as well. and they're on the front lines in this battle against ebola. they are our ground troops, doing this work every day, and exposing themselves, and perhaps their families, perhaps their families if things go wrong, and they don't have the adequate equipment. so when they tell me that they're not prepared, i tend to believe them.

i think those are facts. those are facts. and we need to make sure that we get them the equipment and the training they need to protect themselves and our communities, protect their own families. from the various panels, the cdc estimates that by this january, they will be up to 1.2 million people in west africa afflicted with ebola. 1.2 million. the estimate by dod is 1.2 million in january. they were done at different times, and the difference might be the different period they were taken if things go as they are right now, 1.4 million.

so we have a real and present danger to the people of west africa and the people of the united states. who i'm pledged to protect. now, i understand that the current approach is to use what they call a post-arrival approach. so that we're going to have these hospitals, and that as people arrive from west africa, we're going to begin an analysis and a quantity of checking them and making sure that they are not carrying ebola. but it seems to me, and i listen to mr. torevey, you've given powerful testimony, and a lot of it written, but you are saying that the focus should be on west africa. but what we're setting up right now, with this post-arrival in the u.s. approach, is we're going to set up these

hospitals, all of this equipment. and everything here in the united states and wait for those folks to arrive. and i believe that we should be doing just the opposite. we know we're going to have 1.3 people in africa with ebola. we ought to be on the ground there. instead of restriction to come to the united states after 21 days, they should be a 21-day pre-approval. when they say they want to travel to the united states, they need to present themselves and report in person 21 days before they get on that plane and we can take their temperature and a blood sample if necessary, so 21 days later when they appear to travel, we can test them again, and now we have got two contact points on that person before they fly to

the u.s., and we can also do that post-arrival check as well. but we are not taking this seriously. we are not. we need to help our brothers and sisters in west africa, absolutely, but we have to have a fact-based approach to this. this can't just be about ideology and happy talk. we have to look at this very seriously and have a scientific based approach to what we're going to do about this problem, and i don't think it helps to say, we have an aggressive thing on the ground and it's good, because i have a feeling in a couple of months, you're going to come back and give us a whole different story. we have heard that before. we have to approach this in a very deliberate manner and approach it much more seriously than what i'm hearing here today. we owe that to the citizens that we're representing in the united states, as well as those

individuals in west africa, who we obviously want to support as well. but mr. torebay, let me ask a question and wrap up here. your focus, you were saying that you want to make that continuing effort in west africa. wouldn't it be -- think about this, if we are putting out folks from all over the world, medical personnel on the ground, in monrovia, or freetown, wouldn't it be the post-arrival process here in the united states? >> thank you for your questions, mr. lynch. as i mentioned, it needs to be contained at the source in west africa. that's where the majority takes place. where the training takes place,

and where equipment and supplies need to take place, and this is where most of the investments take place. that said, we can't focus on one without the other. we're treating the symptoms of the outbreak in west africa, and we need to deal with the root cause and that's dealing with the community of west africa. i believe that predeparture, there are temperatures being taken from any of the countries before they board the flight. >> they get tested when they get on the plane, but what i'm talking about is doing something 21 days before, so you have two contact points where you have measurements on. it's not foolproof, but having two contact points in west africa. >> your response, mr. torbay? >> one thing that we worry

about 21 days. >> the minimum requirement is six weeks, and if we require an additional 21 days, that's nine weeks, and it's extremely difficult for any hospital to allow them to take off nine weeks before they come back. again, we can not completely wrap ourselves in a bubble here. people will go from guinea to sierra leone and take a flight to europe and wait a couple of days and come here, and there's not of we can do to stop it. so from both ends. >> with all-due respect, there are only a couple of flights out o of -- . >> thank you for the good points. when you were re-authorizing the pandemic act, with your position, you had an exchange from mr. rogers from michigan.

and he said this. there is a point person, somebody that makes the decision, somebody that is absolutely in charge. not cdc, not nih or fda or anyone else. it's you. your response was, that's right. so you're the key person, right? >> my roll is the personal adviser to the secretary on this. >> for health emergencies, you're the key per in the united states government. >> yes. >> got it. >> let's go to the site. and this is straight from your website just to be clear. you are the person, your agency, the second person in response to leading the nation in preparing for responses to public health and disasters, and the press secretary delegates to you all health, support, function and health

emergency and public health events. you're the key person, correct? >> that's what the legislation says, yes. >> that's not your legislation, that's your website. >> that's my role. >> your website confirms that. you are the key person. have you met with ron claim, the new ebola response coordinator. >> yes, i met with him his first day and had several conversations with him. >> have you met with dr. tom frieden at the cdc? >> i meet with and talk to him almost every day. >> yes, and are you familiar with a story that miss harrington did in the washington -- i think story that says $39 million worth of nhi funding that could have been gone to ebola. are you familiar with that story? >> i'm not familiar with the story, but -- but-the specifics. >> i'm going to do that.

are you familiar that $275,000 on a new children's menu was spent of nih dollars? are you familiar with the fact that $2 million was spent to encourage the elderly to join choirs? from nih, are you familiar with that. >> i'm not familiar with grant programs at nih. >> $53 million on a project studying size. are you familiar with the fact that $39 million of nih funding was spent for all kinds of things -- i guess to cut to the chase, one of the things that you learn in your first economics class. i was not a great student, but opportunity costs. the resources for something else. and here's one thing that the american people want to know,

why did we spend so much for puppet shows for preschoolers, and with the press account and by staff, totaling $39 million could have been used to help with treatment for something like ebola, and potentially vaccine. are you involved in the decision that's nih makes when they're allocating some of that money. >> i'm involved in the decisions for defense, and cdc, dod and da, department of agriculture all work together. >> so the point is you're coordinating all of that. >> so at some point you have to sign-off and say it's okay,

that $53,000 is used for puppet shows instead of using that money to develop a vaccine to deal with something like ebola? >> i would like to do a little bit of clarification here. there's a little bit of misunderstanding of how the nih budget is allocated, but that's not my responsibility. >> let me go back to the exchange that you had with congressman rogers three years ago when we re-authorized your position and made you the key per. mr. rogers says this: you said this when you responded to mr. rogers, how can we improve functions at hhs to prove you're the person in charge. you're the key person, and how can we improve, mr. rogers asked you. and you said, i found through experience that indeed i have the authority that i need to be in charge. and you followed up by saying, i find that the collaboration

with sister agency and hhs, i don't think it has ever been better, we're working extremely close together. and i think that they recognize the fact that we provide policy direction and are in charge. and all of the efforts we have prided across hhs have done that. so you told mr. rogers that in fact everything was working great. and you were the person in charge, working with hhs and coordinating policy, direction, and you were in charge and working closely together. >> and i would stand by that statement. >> so back to the key question. might we be a little bit closer to having a vaccine today if you weren't spending all of these millions of dollars on these things. >> thanks to the investments that we have had in biodefense and our focus with the department of defense on this critical issue over the past

decade, we now have two vaccines in safety testing. >> you can hear, very loaded questions are being asked at the oversight committee meeting with the house, and we should note that those folks on the panel, none of them are in charge at the agencies but all assistants and deputies trying to answer tough questions on accountability. we're continuing to follow several developments on the ebola crisis, and we're awaiting two conferences. first one in new york, where the city's mayor, bill de blasio will be addressing concerns because the latest ebola patient here in the u.s. was just diagnosed yesterday. and he arrived at the john f. kennedy airport, and he's being treated at a hospital. and we're awaiting a press conference in bethesda, maryland, where that elite

clinic w. the nih is. and for dallas nurse, nina pham, has been cured. they're going to explain how, and we'll be right back.

>> welcome back to our special coverage of the ebola crisis. this is aljazeera america. and you're looking at a live picture of a news conference that's about to begin in brooklyn, new york. and mayor bill de blasio will be addressing the public. the latest ebola patient diagnosed here in the u.s. is a doctor that works with doctors without borders in new guinea, and he's now in isolation at a hospital in new york city. and we're also waiting a live press conference at the nih clinic in bethesda, maryland, and they're set to announce why the nurse, nina pham, is expected to be dar