check out our show page on cnn.com/thelead. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i now turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we now know the identity of a dallas nurse who's the first person to contract the deadly disease in this country even though she wore protective gear. now officials are scrambling to find out what happened. isis on the move. a desperate battle to keep the terrorists from seizing a key syrian border town even as they advance within miles of baghdad's airport. what's behind their battlefield success? and parents plea. a month after their daughter disappear, the parents of hannah graham beg for information and an end to the nightmare. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." let's get to the breaking news. a dallas nurse has become the first person to contract the deadly ebola virus in the united states.

she had what's being described as extensive contact with the liberian man who died of ebola last week in dallas. she became ill despite the fact that she was wearing protective gear. there's an urgent effort under way right now to try to find out what happened. president obama is under pressure to name a so-called ebola czar, has just huddled to top administration officials. and we're monitoring a situation at boston's logan airport where medical teams in hazmat gear have boarded on airliner which arrived from the middle east. dr. anthony fauci is standing by along with our correspondents, our analysts and our newsmakers. let's begin with cnn's victor blackwell who has the latest from dallas. >> reporter: cnn affiliate wfaa identifies this nurse as nina pham, 26 years old. hospital officials say she followed the protective procedures just the way the cdc lays them out. she wore the gown, the masks, all that's involved. but obviously something went

wrong and now cdc detectives are here in dallas trying to figure out exactly what that is. texas state and federal officials are scrambling to determine how the transmission happened and whether it could have been avoided. the dallas nurse, nina pham, is being treated and in clinically stable condition. during her care of duncan, she took all the precautions. she wore a mask, gown, face shield and gloves. officials are looking at some of the last-minute procedures the texas health presbyterian hospital took in the final days of duncan's life. an official tells cnn that there were inconsistencies in the type of personal protective gear she wore and with the process used to put the gear on and remove it. >> the protocol, if you follow -- >> reporter: officials described the inconsistencies as a breach of protocol. but today, they're dialing back. >> we have to be careful that that word breach doesn't imply that the nurses did something wrong. they are amazingly courageous to do what they're doing.

a breach in protocol may be that the protocol is fine, they were not trained properly. >> reporter: state and federal health officials are re-examining those protocols and say they will aim to make care of ebola patients easier and safer. >> we have to rethink the way we address ebola infection control. >> reporter: a far different message nearly two weeks ago when there was an assurance that everything was under control. >> we're stopping it in its tracks in this country. >> reporter: health care workers across the usa say the nurses handling ebola patients need better education. >> we have been asking our hospitals throughout the country to provide us with training. >> reporter: more than 4,000 people have died from this ebola outbreak. and the world health organization says at least one in every 20 has been a health care worker. and today cdc director tom frieden said that he had to clarify a statement about that breach of protocol saying that some took that to mean that he was blaming the nurse or the hospital and that was not the impression he wanted to leave.

shortly after that, texas health resources sent out an e-mail blast highlighting that statement, quoting dr. frieden saying that ebola is the victim, not a person, not a country, not a hospital, but the virus. >> victor, thanks very much. president obama has just wrapped up a meeting with top officials on the ebola crisis. but the u.s. response to the deadly disease is now the subject of a growing political fight right here in washington. let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta, he's got the latest. jim? >> white house officials remain confident the u.s. will not experience an outbreak of ebola. but that is not stopping the calls that are starting to crop up from both sides of the aisle for the administration to toughen its response. huddling with top advisers on the ebola scare, president obama offered no public comments when cameras were allowed into the oval office. >> stopping ebola is hard. >> reporter: instead, the white house is letting the cdc do

moist of the talking to explain how a nurse in dallas contracted the virus. >> we're concerned and would unfortunately not be surprised if we did see additional cases in the health care workers who also provided care to the index patient. >> reporter: less than two weeks ago, top administration officials insisted the u.s. medical system was unmatched in its ability to keep ebola contained. >> we have a public health infrastructure and medical professionals throughout this country who are capable of dealing with cases if they present themselves. >> reporter: after dubbing ebola a national security priority, president obama tapped counterterrorism adviser lisa monica to lead the agencies and departments combatting the virus. some republicans say that's not good enough. >> there has to be more reassurance given to them, i would say that we don't know exactly who's in charge. there has to be some kind of czar. >> reporter: the white house

pointed out senator john mccain once slammed the president for having more czars. ebola has been injected into the political bloodstream. one liberal group launched this ad accusing republicans of slashing public health budgets. >> it's a bad idea. i think if we want to continually have problems in this area in public health, today it's ebola. tomorrow it will be something else unless we make the right investments. >> reporter: still, there are questions from both parties. the top democrat on the house homeland security committee wants patients to be transported to the nation's biocontainment centers. an official tells cnn, that's a decision we're leaving to the medical professionals. we plan to follow their recommendations. to date, they have not made such a recommendation. as for naming an ebola czar, the white house is not budging from its position. two weeks ago, the white house gave us a response as to why they're not naming a czar, essentially the same response

they gave us today. we should point out in just the last few minutes, the white house did release some read-outs of some phone calls the president had today with the u.n. secretary-general, ban ki-moon, also president francois hollande of france. the read-out from the president's meeting he had with his national security team and top administration officials earlier today, the president saying say ing in that read-out, that he wants this investigation in dallas to be wrapped up as quickly as possible. >> thanks very much, jim. let's go in depth with dr. anthony fauci, director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases at the national institutes of health. thanks very much for joining us. do you understand yet how this nurse contracted ebola? >> no, we don't. that's why the cdc experts are there right now doing a couple of things. first, trying to find out if they can pinpoint exactly happened but also to examine things like the training, the proactive training of people because one could follow a protocol, think they're

following a protocol and inadvertently or innocently do something that's at odds with that. we don't know that yet and all of that needs to be investigated. there's a very experienced team of cdc people who are now in dallas looking at that. >> because it's so worrisome that she was wearing all that protective gear as far as we know, right? >> yes. wearing the protective gear, just wearing it, there are things that can happen, wolf, that we know from others -- for example, taking it off, putting it on, inadvertently doing something where you think you're doing everything correctly and innocently and accidentally you don't. that could happen. i don't know what happened in this case. but all those possibilities are being looked at now by the cdc. >> so simply taking it off the wrong way when you've got bodily fluids or whatever on that protective gear, that could be the problem? >> of course. a typical example is if you get fluid on -- particularly with a very sick patient where there are splashes of material, when you take it off, sometimes you do it and your hand might inadvertently hit part of the

material and then people tend to touch their face, their nose -- again, i don't know if that happened. but we know from people in west africa who are doing this every day, that that's one of the ways that you can have an accidental infection when you don't even realize you're doing it. >> we're told in his final hours of the desperate help given to mr. duncan, there was kidney dialysis, there was some lung -- >> intubation. >> right. and that that in and of itself, even though it was very unlikely it was going to do much good, that could cause some of that bodily fluid to get on top of her, if you would? >> yes, a lot of material gets splashed around. having been this that situation myself, i can tell you that's what's happening. >> if you're wearing that protective gear, it's supposed to protect you? >> it is. but something went wrong. >> dr. frieden, the head of the

cdc, said he wouldn't be surprised if there were more cases that erupt in the united states in the next few days. what's the major lesson we have to learn from the case of this nurse? >> we have to learn that something went wrong and we need to find out why and what. and if that means more proactive training, more proactive drills, having someone there who actually looks at things and makes sure they're done well as opposed to the people who are just knee-deep working in it, a lot of things are going to be examined. that's what the cdc does well and are doing that right now. >> would you be surprised if there were more cases in the next few days? >> no, i wouldn't. i hope there are not but i wouldn't be surprised if there were more cases of people who got it from mr. duncan taking care of him. >> but now this nurse has it, too? >> right. >> so you have to be really careful with what's going on with her. >> well, remember, she's being taken care of now. the care of her is going to be very carefully supervised

proactively now. hopefully we won't see another transmission. >> i have a lot of people e-mailing me, tweeting me saying to me, you have to get this lady, this nurse, 26 years old, nina pham, out of there, you have to get her to emory hospital in atlanta that knows how to deal with this, or the university of nebraska that knows how to deal with it. they're arguing in dallas they don't know how to deal with it. to which you say? >> obviously everything is considered. they're being discussed right now. i can't lean one way or the other what should be done. the people that are there, there are conversations going on now between the health officials at the hospital and the cdc experts to try and determine what's the best way to take care of this person and what is the best way to protect the health care workers and the american public? >> we'll have a lot more questions. don't go away. one of the world's experts on this issue. we have a lot more questions, much more right after this. go ahead and put your bag right here.

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but i take it as an abundance of caution they're dealing with this issue with all those hazmat protective gear, operations under way. dr. anthony fauci is still with us. what do you make of that? the plane coming in from dubai, not from sierra leone or guinea or liberia but from dubai. these people complaining of flu-like symptoms? >> i have to say if. if there was no one on that plane -- if, and sometimes you get information wrong -- that had any connection with west africa, the fact that they were nauseated and vomiting on the plane, to me, i would be somewhat puzzled as the why they did this maneuver with hazmats. but, then again, let's make sure that there was no one on that plane that actually had a connection in dubai that came from west africa which may have triggered that.

if not, then you have to wonder why they did that. >> it underscores the fear that is out there right now. local officials want to err on the side of caution, right? >> exactly. that's one of the things we're having that's unfortunate. it's understandable but unfortunate. it's an epidemic of fear. you'd be surprised the questions i get asked from people who you would think would know saying, i'm taking a trip from san francisco to minneapolis, do i have to worry? worry about what? it has nothing to do with ebola. >> i've gotten questions from people in europe or in the middle east far from west africa, should i come home right away? will there be flights in the next few days? people are to a certain degree panicking. >> yes, there are. that's why you have to keep coming out with the evidence base about why there will not be an outbreak. what you need to do to isolate and protect when you do have someone, the kinds of things you need to do when you get someone who truly comes from west africa and is sick.

those are the kinds of things we have to keep repeating over and over so that the american people have confidence that they will be safe. >> let's go back to this nurse, 26-year-old nina pham who has now contracted ebola in the united states. she got it from mr. duncan, the liberian who died of ebola over past few days. there's the picture of her and her dog. a lot of people are asking me this question. patients that she treated in recent days, should they be worried? >> if she treated them before she became symptomatic, they have no worry at all. in fact, the story with her, she did it just right. she got a fever on a friday night. she reported it the next day. she got her test. it was proved to be positive. she went into isolation. so she should be looked up to that she did it correctly. and she had only one single contact with someone after she became symptomatic.

so the risk from her to other people is extraordinarily low. and that's one person who's now being followed. so she did it exactly the way she should have done it. >> so when you say that one person -- we know who that person is, without identifying his or her name. when you say followed, what does that mean? >> you monitor that person for the period of a 21-day period which is the outer limit of the incubation period. you monitor them with temperatures and to make sure they don't have symptoms. >> this nurse was not among those 40 or 50 people who were being examined who had had contact with mr. duncan who passed away from ebola. she was outside of that limit. but as far as we know, none of those 40 or 50 have had any symptoms at all, right? >> that is true. >> but they're not completely out of danger? >> they're not out of the woods. what this patient did -- she was monitoring herself carefully. as soon as she found she had a temperature and was feeling badly, she immediately reported it.

that's very unfortunate that this brave person is infected. but she certainly did it correctly afterwards. >> this 26-year-old woman, nina pham, should she immediately receive some of those experimental medications, blood transfusions from someone's whose recovered from ebola or should they wait? >> this is a decision made between the health care providers and the patient themselves. we do that all the time, tell them, these drugs are all not proven. they're experimental. we hope they work. we don't know and they could do some harm. so when the option is presented to the patient, we can or cannot have access to a certain experimental drug, would you like us to give it to you? that's how it's going to work. that's a decision between the primary health care provider and the patient. >> we know for sure a blood transfusion with the antibodies or whatever, that somebody who's survived ebola, that that would make a difference? >> we don't know, wolf. there's anecdotal reports that

it helps but we don't know because there's not been a definitive trial that proves that it actually works. so everything that's interventional with regard to therapy is still to be considered as experimental. >> and finally one last question, variation of what i asked you before, if this was one of your relatives, sister of yours, let's say, or daughter of yours, would you want that person to stay in dallas or go someplace else? >> i don't think i could answer that because i would have to take a look at the dallas situation myself personally if it were my family member and make that decision. it would not be appropriate for me from a distance to make that kind of decision. >> dr. fauci, thank you so much for joining us. thanks for what you're doing, giving us valuable information, this story unfortunately is continuing. >> good to be with you. >> dr. anthony fauci. coming up, isis tightens the noose of a key syrian border town and moves within only a few miles of baghdad's international airport. can the jihadists be stopped? a month after their daughter disappeared, the parents of hannah graham plead for

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rocked by a series of giant explosions sending huge plumes of smoke in the area in kobani, the kurdish town in syria along the border with turkey. it's on the brink of falling to isis forces, we're told. those isis forces have advanced in syria and in iraq and they are seemingly unstoppable right now. they're only within a few miles of the baghdad international airport. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is working the story for us. barbara, what are you picking up? >> reporter: wolf, there are now

more than 12 teams of u.s. military advisers on the ground in iraq trying to help iraqi security forces. but it is not enough. isis now controls 80% of anbar province, the western approach to baghdad. small numbers of isis fighters now just eight miles outside the city and yet another iraqi base has fallen to isis control. army chief of staff general ray odierno bluntly suggests the u.s. government hasn't paid enough attention to isis. >> i will say we were a bit surprised by their capability. and there's no excuse for that. >> reporter: the general has a cautious view about whether the iraqi capital will hold. >> i believe the capability is there to defend baghdad. so i think with somewhat confidence, we'll have to see

what plays out. >> reporter: the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in an interview noting several days ago the u.s. had to sent apache helicopters after isis fighters when they almost made it to baghdad international airport. >> had they overrun the iraqi unit, it was a straight shot to the airport. so we're not going to allow that to happen. >> reporter: in an emergency, the airport is the only way to evacuate hundreds of west military and diplomatic personnel. and isis knows it. the pentagon doesn't expect a frontal assault on shia-dominated baghdad, a city of 7 million. isis instead may try to choke the capital off. >> from the positions where they are, just west of baghdad airport, they have sufficient artillery capability to put rounds anywhere in the city. >> reporter: isis is maintaining momentum and as this video claims to show, training significant numbers of new recruits. for the iraqis, huge battles lie

ahead, especially in trying to retake mosul, iraq's second largest city. dempsey suggesting he could recommend a small number of american ground troops be sent to help spot targets. >> when they are ready to go back on the offensive, my instinct at this point is that that will require a different kind of advising and assisting because of the complexity of that fight. >> reporter: now, the u.s. wants turkey to take on a role in the coalition. over the weekend, u.s. officials said the turks had agreed to allow u.s. warplanes to fly out of their bases. but the turks say that is not yet a done deal. wolf? >> still missing in action, the iraqi military which was trained, financed, armed by the u.s. for nearly a decade. they've got a couple hundred thousand troops but are refusing to fight for their own country. huge disaster unfolding. barbara, thanks very much. let's get the latest on the

battle for kobani along the syrian/turkish border. nick paton walsh is joining us from across the border in turkey. you can see what's going on from your vantage point. what does it look like, nick? >> reporter: remarkable number of explosions today. centcom on behalf of the coalition air strikes saying that since sunday, seven air strikes have been taken on around kobani targeting isis buildings, locations, convoys. it's not quite clear how the fight inside that city is progressing. the kurds claim they've pushed isis back in some areas. but we know time is against them, they're running out of ammunition, supplies. cut off effectively. one troubling thing, it seemed the air strikes we saw progressively moved west, which would suggest they were targeting isis positions that had in fact been advancing towards kurdish territory. a very negative situation certainly. and in one area where yesterday

we saw a kurdish flag, that was now down and an explosion hit that building. certainly i think the kurds on their back foot in some ways, remarkable, though, to see the volume of explosions we saw, potentially three isis car bombs detonated in the battle, it seemed, for a central part of that town and the coalition totally unafraid to dump of ordinates today. >> no evidence that turkish tanks or armored vehicles or troops are about to go in and save those syrian kurds who potentially could be massacred? >> reporter: small number in the city of civilians, we understand a number of fighters. but bear in mind, turkey considers them to be terrorists. the idea of their military intervening or assisting is a long shot for ankara. >> nick, be careful over there. on the scene for us as he always is. other news we're following,

including political news, a high-stakes debate in one of the most closely watched races in the country. the man who could be the next majority leader of the united states senate, republican mitch mcconnell faces off with the democratic challenger, alison lundergan grimes. the winner of this race could determine whether republicans will control the u.s. senate with mcconnell as their leader. still ahead, inside isis basic training, we have new video that shows how raw terrorists are turned into a ruthless fighting force. she disappeared exactly one month ago tonight. now a desperate new plea by the parents of the missing college student, hannah graham. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars.

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get the future of phone and the phones are free. comcast business. built for business. how did isis become such a formidable force? new videos revealing how the group's fighters are trained. cnn's brian todd has been taking a look at this video. brian, what are you finding out? >> the tactics in this video are striking. and the tactics for isis sharply in focus because the group has captured about 80% of iraq's anbar province just west of baghdad. fierce fighting under way for the cities of ramadi and hadi a haditha. and earlier today, the iraqi army abandoned an army base near the city of hit. it shows recruits being kicked, fired at and dragged, an

indication of how brutal isis can be even within its own ranks. crawling through simulated barbed wire. the last man gets the honor of a knee to the body, a fighter drags a cloth mat to rescue a wounded comrade. as they pull away, they're fired at. this is the latest isis propaganda, a video called "blood of jihad" showing fighters in basic training. is this anything that they would use in anbar right now anywhere on the battlefield? >> almost never. this type of hand-to-hand fighting with automatic weapons, mortars, artillery, vehicles, almost never really occurs. throughout this entire video, what you have is the stage set of exercises. you look at them and this really isn't a training exercise. it's a video exercise. >> reporter: propaganda? >> exactly. >> reporter: but somehow isis has captured most of anbar province and come within just a

few miles of baghdad international airport. what tactics have they deployed? on the battlefield, isis has previously used what is called a react to contact drill. that means in a firefight they make initial contact against their enemy using the smallest number of fighters possible, maybe three or four. >> and then put down fire, because those three or four guys can keep 20, 30 of the enemy focused on them. >> reporter: then a larger group of isis fighters comes around, flanking the enemy on one side, finds a weakness, attacks it. >> this is something the u.s. army ranger regiment was practiced for year. >> reporter: in anbar, analysts say they've shifted tactics. isis surrounds outposts with few iraqi soldiers in and launches nonconventional assaults. >> it's a combination of terrorism. it is the use of indirect fire to soften up positions. it's to assault key positions

with suicide bombers and then close in using automatic weapons. >> reporter: analysts say isis has been much more flexible on the battlefield in anbar and elsewhere, adapting its tactics to specific targets while the iraqi forces have been static, tied to their positions, not resupplied, abandoned. it's allowed isis to pick out the weakest links in the iraqi army and overrun them, wolf. >> do the experts you've spoken to believe that the iraqi military can retake anbar? >> not anytime soon. they say this is mostly a shia army in a sunni province. it's not going to happen anytime soon. one analyst says you're talking about a year, not just a week or two, before anbar may be able to be recaptured. >> no hope for mosul, the second largest city being retaken either. the iraqi military abandoning positions, losing more and more and more of their country. >> very alarming. >> thanks very much, brian, for that report.

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over an axis rsh t. >> reporter: the results speak for themselves. >> we saw almost a 300% improvement in their math scores. so much of what this program is about is getting girls' competency up and a lot of it is about attitude. how they view themselves. >> before this, it was more of like, oh, the nerds do the math. you can still have fun. >> reporter: it's that change in attitude that may be the key to inspiring girls everywhere to stick with s.t.e.m. >> this is a program that can help girls all over the country regardless of where they are. it's an exciting time of growth and it's a real chance for us to change an entire generation. >> cnn's michaela pereira reporting. still ahead, the identity of the texas nurse with ebola has now been revealed. but how did she contract the virus, the disease, despite layers of protective gear? and up next, the parents of the missing university of virginia student hannah graham

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the search for a missing university of virginia student hannah graham today reached the one-month mark. the suspect, jesse matthew, has been charged with abduction. police are looking to see if there's a connection with previous unsolved cases. hannah graham's parents today issued a news statement pleading for information. joining us, the investigative journalist coy barefoot. he's in charlottesville, virginia. also our law enforcement analyst, tom fuentes, a former assistant director of the fbi. coy, i know there have been new developments that you've been looking into. what are you hearing? >> wolf, the search team has looked at that eight-mile radius around the city of charlottesville, that really critical zone where the profilers say this is the most likely place to find hannah. the search team is in standown right now today and tomorrow. beginning later this week, they will enter a second phase of the search. they will conduct pointed

specific areas to go back and look at a little more in depth. i asked mark eggeman why we haven't seen dive teams. there's ponds and lakes throughout the area, and he told me we had such clear weather in the first few days of the search and the helicopters were above all of those areas of water looking down. he said you would be surprised, you can see the entire bodies of water from above on a clear day with no wind. he said, we didn't see anything that would merit a dive search. but we don't rule that out in the future. >> so it's exactly one month since she disappeared, hannah graham. do authorities believe they're any closer to finding her now than they were a month ago? >> i have to believe that from what i have learned with my contacts in law enforcement, they're tired. they are disappointed. but they remain absolutely committed to this effort to keep

looking for hannah. and that will certainly continue. wolf? >> tom, there's another young woman that went missing in 2009 in lynchburg, virginia, cassandra morton. police are looking in there's any connection between jesse matthew and her. all these additional cases, how do they impact this overall investigation into what he may or may not have done. >> they go back and see whether or not there was forensic evidence that was obtained at the time, but there was no one to compare it to. now you have the potential suspect to compare it with. that's why they could reopen many of those cases and try to see what was the evidence at the time, what did they collect. is there any possibility now that they could compare it to jesse matthew. >> all these other cases they're reopening, does that help in the investigation into whatever happened to hannah graham? >> you don't know. it could potentially help. it's going to require many more resources to do it. between the charlottesville, the

area police departments, the federal government, as well as virginia state police themselves, they have the resources. they can open up every case of someone that's gone missing in the last 20 years just to be sure. >> quickly to you, coy, with the parts now today issuing a moving statement, appealing for helping in finding hannah, how is the community reacting? >> everybody i talked to, it's what everyone is talking about. everyone is such a mix of emotions. most people just can't believe that something like this would be happening in beautiful little charlottesville. i do want to tell you, wolf, i spoke moments ago with a man who knows jesse matthew very well, and he shared this news with me, that he worked as a bouncer. the gentleman with whom i spoke worked as a bouncer at a restaurant and bar where jesse matthew was a regular this past summer. he told me, he said coy, i had to ban him for about two months

because i was concerned about the safety of the young women in the bar. he said, jesse had a type, blonde, frpreppy, a university girl and look for the drunkest among them. i told him, dude, you're going to get yourself in a world of trouble. these girls don't know who they're dealing with, and they don't know your intentions. he told him, you're not welcome here. you've made too many of the girls uncomfortable. i can't let you back in here. he finally did let him back in, because he kept pleading with him. but he said even then he would come by around last call looking for the drunkest girl in the place. they had to keep an eye on him. he told me "he always came in looking for a victim." >> coy, we'll continue our investigation. your investigation tomorrow. thank you very much. chilling stuff just reported by coy. thank you very much. all we can long, cnn is presenting a special series, "roots, our journey home."

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>> you'll see my journey this wednesday right here in "the situation room" at 5:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, a dallas nurse becomes the first to contract ebola in the united states even though she wore protective gear. professionals are scrambling to find out what happened. chicken noodle soup >>because i make the best chicken noodle soup because i make the best chicken noodle soup for every way you make chicken noodle soup, make it delicious with swanson®

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happening now. ebola mystery. despite all the precautions, how did a nurse become infected and who else could be at risk right now? >> >> u.s. terror targets. isis inspire terrorists attacking police and other law enforcement offices or members of the news media. also -- new protests lead to new arrests in ferguson, missouri. will the crowd's demands bring about real change? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following breaking news on two major stories. first, new fears of ebola spreading. we're monitoring the situation right now in boston. emergency medical crews entered the emirates airline plane. "the boston globe" reporting five passengers came down with flu-like symptoms during the

flight. we learned that 26-year-old nina pham is the nurse infected with ebola. and a search is on whether her neighbors or co-workers could be at risk. and a key battle with the war on isis. [ gunfire ] kurdish and isis fighters are battling street to street for a town along the syrian-turkish border. throughout the day, explosions from coalition air strikes sent plums of smoke towering into the sky. but it may not be enough to stop the isis advance. an official with the world health organization is here in "the situation room." our correspondents across the nation are all standing by, as well. let's begin with new fears about ebola and the 26-year-old nurse who is the first san antonio

instani -- first known case here in the united states. suzanne? >> this first case of contracted ebola in this country is a game changer. cdc officials are baffled, because more than 50 health care workers who were involved in caring for thomas duncan were dressed in their protective gear and by all accounts following the protocol set out to protect them from the disease. but now one is infected and others could be, as well. so now health officials are doubling down on hospital training. they also have to figure out what went wrong in their attempts to contain this deadly virus. 26-year-old nina pham, a nurse in dallas, is the first person to contract the deadly ebola virus on u.s. soil. >> i feel awful that a health care worker became infected in the care of an ebola patient. she was there trying to help the first patient survive. and now she has become infected.

>> reporter: she was part of the team at texas health presbyterian hospital caring for thomas duncan. he contracted the disease in liberia but showed no symptoms when he landed in the u.s. >> we have to rethink the way we address ebola infection control. even a single infection is unacceptable. >> reporter: the new case has health officials asking what went wrong in the isolation unit where the nurse and dozens of others wore protective masks, gloves, and suits to avoid the deadly virus. >> it is possible that other individuals could have been infected, as well. so we consider them to potentially be at risk. >> reporter: while those health workers are being monitored, pham is in stable condition and her apartment being scrubbed. last week, a dog belonging to a spanish nurse who contracted ebola was put down. saturday, new screenings went

into effect at jfk airport for passengers arriving from ebola affected countries. those 91 passengers had their temperatures checked and filled out detailed questionnaires. the cdc concluded no one had ebola. this afternoon in boston, five sick passengers were removed from this flight after they showed flu-like symptoms. none of the ill passengers were from west africa. today, president obama was briefed on ebola by his national security team. in the meantime, politicians are seizing on the ebola crisis to score political points. >> cut, cut. >> make a cut. >> reporter: one liberal advocacy group is blaming republican budget cuts. in the meantime, cdc is casting a much wider net to identify those who might have been exposed to ebola. the 48 people in contact with duncan are being monitored, as

well. and the more than 50 health workers who treated him are being tracked down. the one person who came into contract with the nurse is also under observation. >> let's go to dallas with victor blackwell where this new patient is being treated. victor, what can you tell us? >> reporter: today, the hospital and the company that owns it wanted to highlight something that was said by the cdc director today. that was a clarification from something he said on sunday. he said that there was obviously a breach of protocol that led to this infection. today, he seemingly walked that back a bit, saying some people saw that as his criticizing the nurse here, or the hospital. the hospital sent out an e-mail blast to the media, including the statement that ebola is the enemy here, not a person, not a

country, not a hospital. ebola the virus is the enemy. essentially saying don't blame us, at least not yet. wolf? >> victor, what are people saying about this 26-year-old nurse, the patient, what are they saying about her specifically? >> reporter: well, her family reached out to cnn affiliate wfaa. they want to keep this private but wanted to offer a photograph and confirm she is the person who has contracted ebola. they say in 2010, she graduated from the nursing program at texas christian university, and the person who knows the family through their church in ft. worth, they say that knowing her and her big heart, that she was likely doing something or going beyond what she was supposed to do to help someone. she has this big heart, but did she go too far? that's what the cdc detectives are trying to figure out. >> victor is in dallas. joining us now a top official

with the world health organization, dr. john andres. thank you very much for joining us. you have a sense of what potentially what went wrong here? because she was wearing protective gear. >> i think it indicates what tom friedman has been saying. it's meticulous detail to infection control. in a former life, i worked in a district hospital and i was trained to never tie or stick a needle in blood that you cannot see the needle point, but you do it. i can say i've stuck myself a number of times. it's the element of human air we have to overcome with infection control, because it's one mistake that will transmit the disease. >> there could have been, in the last few hours of his life, mr. duncan, the man who died of ebola, they were doing kidney

dialysis and treatment on his lungs. potentially he would have been coughing. could it that been enough. >> unlikely with bloa cough. most likely with blood or fecal matter. it's more likely that she breached the infection control and exposed herself. we commonly see people rubbing their eye or scratching themselves as they are taking their equipment off. >> so it would be dangerous, just the process of removing that protective outfit, if you will. >> yes. again, it's one mistake. that's what dr. friedman is saying, meticulous attention to the guidelines. >> which raises the question, are our health care officials at these hospitals, in this dallas

hospital, are they prepared for ebola? >> well, they are and they aren't. i think the point i'm trying to make is that even when you have the best training, humans being humans will make errors. i think this has been well documented. if you take that model and then look at the african situation, where there is no system, there's intense -- there are poor conditions where transmission will happen regardless of how -- both situations there are different challenges. bottom line, meticulous attention to the guidelines and using procedures we know work. >> should she be there at this dallas hospital, this nina pham, or moved to nebraska where there's some other ebola expertise or the emery university hospital in atlanta. in other words, do they know what they're doing as far as

specific treatment she's going to need? >> that's a question i can't answer. that is a question that should go to the local authorities. in this case, if they feel they have adequate infection control, if they feel they have the mechanism to supervise and monitor, i think that's key in any public health intervention. that human element of supervision, monitoring, following up, is fundamental. we know in the response in africa, it's going to require human resources. more human resources. more doctors and nurses to get ahead of the curve, because this epidemic is doubling every three weeks. what we calculate now is the number of nurses and doctors in three week's time may be double that. we need to ramp up 20 times what we're doing now. so what's happened in dallas is one element. but the big picture, we're stopping the outbreak at its

point, at the source, and it is absolutely critical. because as dr. chance said today in a speech, when this virus that is so severe enters such a vulnerable population, it puts the whole world at risk. and we don't have the capacity or the ability to face it right now. >> we know that 8,000 people have already contracted ebola. 4,000 or so are dead. those numbers may be low, given the records that are being kept in west africa. thank you very much for joining us. still ahead, from airport screenings to training hospital workers, is the u.s. moving fast enough to stop ebola from spreading? a new fbi warning about potential targets for terror attacks right here in the united states.

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we're following the urgent effort in dallas right now, and major airports around the united states to stop the spread of ebola virus. joining us now, two guests, dr. emanuel and gavin mcgregor skinner. gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us. dr. mcgregor-skinner, you brought with us some information. i want you to show it to our viewers. this is from the cdc, instructions put forward on how health care workers should protect themselves from ebola. you have some problems with this. >> yes, wolf. the cdc, ebola website for health care workers, that's all health care and hospital staff

within the u.s., has a guide how to put on the pp and take it off. it doesn't match what we're seeing on tv from emery, dallas, or even what people are wearing in west africa. >> what does that mean? >> you saw the people, even in boston today, people had a head covering on, wearing special shoes, boots on their feet. what we're seeing from the cdc website, they just got a gown on and the head is exposed. >> do you think that's a problem, dr. emanuel? >> we know it's bodily contact with fluids and fluids with spray around. as you mentioned in your last segment, fluids can spray around. so having full protection is important. we also need to be aware that it's very possible that the breach happened in the d-gowning process, and so we've got to be careful that we don't layer on

so much that in de-downing -- >> explain what you mean by de-gowning. >> when you take off your gloves and gown, you have to take them off such that you don't touch your skin. that might sound trivial, but it's a real process and it takes some learning. it's not something that's intuitive to everyone to make sure that you don't touch yourself. the more you have on, the harder that process of de-gowning and removing all the protective equipment is. and again, i think we need to make sure that we've got the process that minimizes the risk to the health care workers. >> do you agree with that, doctor? >> not exactly. what happened to that nurse in dallas breaks my heart. we have an occupation incident here. we've had an accident in the workplace. we don't know what management she was getting, we don't know

what supervision she was being provide or whether they were using the buddy system as recommended by the cdc and the world health organization. so this needs to be investigated thoroughly. >> i know that investigation is going on, because they've got to learn from what happen pd there to make sure it's not repeated down the road. dr. emanuel, the city of dallas released these photos showing the dog being removed from the nurse's apartment. is her dog a potential threat to public health? >> they're going the isolate the dog. we don't know. the spanish put down that dog prematurely. obviously, it looks like they're going to monitor the dog and take blood tests. but probably not a problem here. >> this is an important learning point. we have had studies that show dogs producing ebola antibodies.

we don't know what ebola does in dogs. so this is a great learning point. >> so is it enough just to put the dog in quarantine or put the dog to rest? >> no, we want to put the dog in quarantine under observation. just like we would for a person for 21 days. take its temperature, check it daily, then take some blood to see whether the virus is circulating in that dog. >> a medical and ethical question. thomas eric duncan died of ebola last week. the family suggested his financial status and the fact that he had no insurance played a role in how he was received in the emergency room at the dallas hospital when he had a 103 temperature and told him to go back home for two days. do you believe that? >> look, wolf, we don't know what happened there, what was going through the doctor's and

nurse's minds. but there is some question here about whether they were -- they knew that he had come from west africa. they knew he had a fever. there were lots of things that could plain that. but it does seem a little strange that they didn't actually connect the dots of ebola or one believes they didn't, and that sending him home was probably -- was definitely a mistake, whether it changed the outcome or not, we don't know. but the fact is, again, i don't know texas health, but we -- there were some errors there, clearly some errors in communication and errors in understanding. whether it was an ethical violation that the man didn't have insurance and they turned him away, we just don't have information about that. >> it's a heartbreaking situation. he was turned away for two days, even though he was very sick. could it have made a difference if he had been treated right

away? >> we've seen over 8,000 cases in west africa. but over 4,000 people have survived. when i was there with my team, we found that people who had come to the hospital early in the first few days were the most likely to survive. so early detection is the key. >> dr. emanuel -- >> part of the problem is, you have a disease with a 50% mortality rate, and it's very hard to know which way it would have gone had he gotten treatment two days later. you don't want to turn away a sick patient and you want to provide all the care. whether it would have made a difference, we're just not going to know. >> we're going to learn a lot in the next few days. thank you very much for joining us. breaking news coming into

"the situation room." breaking news out of north korea. a state news agency says kim jong-un has, in fact, made an appearance well over a month inm public view. brian todd has more. >> reporter: here's what we got. from the north korean government and news agency, kim jong-un has appeared at two events, giving field guidance in a residential district. and on the same day, he visited the state academy of sciences. at that event, he had a photo session with a group of scientists but so far we have not seen the photo or any of the images of this event. cnn cannot independently confirm the appearances. the north korean state media does not give a date when kim's so-called field guidance was given. if he did surface, it would be

his first pub hick appearance in about 40 days, a new record for kim. just a couple days ago, a u.s. official told us that they were concerned when kim was not seen at the anniversary of the founding of the worker's party. that was friday. his disappearance has led to all sorts of speculation that something was amiss. even with these reports, there are a lot of questions, few answers at this moment. >> we want to see pictures and video. his health has been a big question. >> there's video from over the summer that shows him with a visible limp. there are reports he had gout, possible problems with his ankles. gout, high blood pressure and diabetes runs in his family. and he has gained a lot since ascending to power in early 2012. we'll be eagerly waiting to see what, if any, images of these incidents may be.

>> brian, thank you very much. just ahead, as isis fighters gain ground in syria and iraq, we're following an fbi warning about potential targets in the united states. new protests and arrests in ferguson, missouri. will it bring change to the town's police? big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. ♪ want to change the world? create things that help people. design safer cars. faster computers. smarter grids and smarter phones. think up new ways to produce energy.

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news in the war on isis. a series of huge explosions sent plums of smoke and dust soaring over the embattled syrian town of kobani. isis fighters perilously close to iraq's capital of baghdad. let's bring in jim sciutto with the very latest. jim? >> reporter: i've just been told by a military official that kobani has not fallen to isis. and that qualifies as good news in recent days there. but the fact is, isis has been advancing on that city near the turkish border, a very visible fight, if not particularly important, kobani not strategically important, but near anbar, a less visible fight. no reporters able to watch that one under way. but a very critical part of the country and isis advancing there, as well. in both places, showing the limits of the u.s.-led air campaign.