>> again, we are live down in dallas, texas, while congress

continues its break for the elections, members of the house homeland security committee are convening this field hearing today on the u.s. response to ebola. this is taking place in the dallas-fort worth area. committee now in a little bit of a break. we expect it to resume in just a moment. jones magazine said this. house legislatures have -- legislators have approved the $7 million toward the fight to contain ebola. the figure is still below the the department of defense and the budget battle is not over. back to the hearing, live. laky.st, dr. david is leads one of the state's largest agencies with a staff of 11,500. he oversees programs such as andase presence bioterrorism preparedness, many others. we have brett jerar, of the

texas a&m health science center. just there a couple days ago. center is a premiere assembly of colleges devoted to educating health professionals and investigators through teaching and research. on.the list goes on and you served as vice chancellor innovation and center is a advanced development. and resume is very lengthy very illustrative. thank you for being here. honorable jenkins, county judge for dallas county. for thesponsible truancy court system. addition, he is the chief elected official of the county. judge jenkins is responsible for the county's disaster and preparedness. he is the person to manage the county's 24-hour operation. thank you for being here, sir.

the university of texas, with expertise on diseases, including influenza, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases as well as outbreaks, including ebola as well. thank you so much for being here. recognizesow dr. leakey. >> good afternoon. chairman.you, thank you, ranking member, sheila jackson lee and all the today. here i thank you for this opportunity to discuss our efforts here in spread ofprevent the ebola. i want to start by saying i know the people in dallas and the and i know state, also in the rest of the nation, are scared. disease a frightening consequences.lth is it unknown? something we've diagnosed here

within our borders before. and the specter of the heartbreaking outbreak in west reminds us how serious this situation woul could be. also ately, ebola is disease we can fight. measures we have in the united states and have long experience with. measures that we have had success in, that we can depend effectiveness. regretfully, as you know, mr. duncan lost his fight with ebola on wednesday. my condolences really go out to right now. it is hard to imagine what he and his family have endured in the last two weeks. and the struggle for mr. duncan's family is not over yet. our goal, however, is to minimize the possibility that be exposed toill ebola and thus reduce the possibility of another case, anotherdeath and grieving family. ourow that, for all of us, minds weigh heavy on the thought of mr. duncan's family right now

48 individuals and their loved ones who must wait another in weeks to feel confident their health again and certain of their future. state health official, the responsibility weighs heavy on me that we identify every possible contact, that we take every precaution to prevent the spread of a disease, we monitor individuals closely and that we're earning in public' trust health protection and control. public health has taken the role to infectious disease events. public health response includes identification of individuals have been exposed to the disease, monitoring people risk ford as having exposure and immediate care and public health follow-up should become apparent. every infectious disease event is different, based on the and thef the disease scope of the event. despite these differences, the remains theucture same. in texas, local authorities who

their affected community lead response efforts. that is not to say, however, are alone officials in this response. effective disease investigation also involves support by the state and by the federal government. the department of state services are always prepared to offer local governments our knowledge and experience as they respond to infectious disease events. when an event outstrips local capabilities, the state is servs prepared to offer local ready, as appropriate, to take a leadership role. similarly, the center for disease control and presence offers expertise and advice and can provide additional help for inge-scale events multijurisdictional events. public health is for all three levels of government to work in local, state and federal government ready, as working together, healthcall the public enterprise, providing each other toport and filling in gaps,

provide a cohesive response. and i do want to take a second thank the centers for disease control and prevention for their ongoing work here in the state their expertise, the help in our laboratory, the epidemiologists here in dallas right now. is notoperative effort always easy. it's not always executed perfectly. will providehip the best results and serve the the -- to best protect public's health. in this particular incidence, dallas county health and human services will lead the investigation and response effort. the department of state health and the center for disease control became very on, givinglved early the significance of this deadly disease. fact, the department of state recently qualified to test for ebola in austin.

of only 13 state laboratories able to do so. we were involved very quickly, providing consultation about the possibility of testing and diagnosing the case in our laboratory. as you know, we are still in the midst of this response. 48 individuals are being monitored for symptoms of ebola, due to the risk of exposure. ten of those individuals are considered high-risk. our response will not be over until we can confidently rule out ebola infection in each of individuals. i want to reassure texans and the folks in dallas right now of these individuals are sick at this point. keep in mind that the symptoms evident anywhere from exposure.days after all response efforts here in texas, we are learning new lessons for improving our preparedness for outbreaks and future disasters.

at the end all response efforts here in texas, we are learning e department of state health services initiates a review to determine what went well, what improved and how those improvements should be made. the afteraction process will state and federal responders to ensure we're looking at all aspects of this response. in the meantime, two themes are apparent. know that diseases -- that disease reporting systems works and as key to public quicklys workers stopping the spread of disease. providers and facilities must be aware of the responsibility and agency, must do our part to reinforce this responsibility through reminders, through updates and through easy-to-use reporting systems. aware, providers must be of outbreaks worldwide so they diagnoses are possible travel history. until the west africa outbreak

thever, ebola must be in differential diagnosis of those individuals who have recently arrived from one of the three countries. again, as an agency, we must do our part to remind providers and facilities about outbreaks in other countries. through our current chains, byon harnessing federal reminders and by keeping health care providers armed with up-to-date procedures and guidance. the importance of taking a history cannot be understated given the interconnected world in which we live. after the ebola response ends, and there has been time to evaluate the entire event, we will complete an analysis of the event in our to improve response efforts going forward. texas,ove response in our governor, rick perry, has announced the formation of the infectiousforce for disease preparedness and response, to assist and enhance capabilities to respond to outbreaks such as we are in right now. task forceer of this

and i look forward to working on this important effort with expertise inve fields like epidemiology, preparedness and response. are focusing on our immediate jobs, ensuring there related to exposures this case in dallas. we know that we can complete successfully. we know this, because the science is sound. through the direct contact of bodily fluids and there's very little risk otherwise. individuals are not contagious until they have symptoms. thea does not thrive in environment. and it is easily killed. infection control is prevalent in the united states hospitals. we have the supplies, the equipment, and the protocols to minimize the chance of disease spread within our hospitals. community is the simple. maintaining hand washing, avoid directto contact with people who are medically suspected or known to

have ebola. we know importantly, that we can and will successfully complete this job, we have done so in the past. defendable -- depending results of sound public health measures have been proven on like tuberculosis, measles and middle east respiratory syndrome. we have a history in public health of successfully of diseasethe spread and i'm confident we'll do the same with this case of ebola. recognizes the next speaker. ther. chairman, members of committee, thank you for inviting me tow -- to testify before you today. i'm a formally trained physician on the reduction advisory committee where i chair the panel. monday, october 6, governor perry named me as the director infectious task force. the task force includes recognizedally

biomedical experts, not only from health and human services from transportation, public education and diverse other areas. why such diversity? because the dallas case proves responseffective requires much more than public health professionals alone. waste disposal was complicated by broad challenges, decontamination decisions, temporary housing, logistic availabilities and permitting for transportation and disposal. cleaning a single apartment 140 55-gallon a hazardousf class waste, each of which needed to be transported to an incinerator. we believe that the coordination local and state workers has been very good. our task force has already been

very active and has identified seven major areas for assessment and recommendation. these include hospital preparedness for patient identification and isolation. command and control, including education and activation of the incident construct fors. implementation of ee efforts,ogical complexities of patient care, including use of experimental therapies. care of contacts being monitored by public health officials. added have also management of animal exposures. respectfullyto offer three suggestions for consideration by congress and the president on how to improve preparedness and response. the first is to reestablish the special assistant to the president for biodefense. doing so would restore

accountability, and consistent prioritization at the government.l of this position had existed both under the president clinton and administrations, and i would refer you to thornbury's letter to the president on april 22, this very subject. point number 2, restore funding to hospital preparedness programs. our nation's public health infrastructure has been impeded by cuts to the federal hospital preparedness program, which has from approximately fiscallion per year in million7-2008, to $230 today. there should also, however, be clear metrics for accountability staff, close integration with fema emergency -- management programs.

point number 3, new vaccines and therapy. in terms of the availability of countermeasures against ebola and many other threats, our country is woefully deficient. this relates both to scientific but alsoical obstacles a lack of prioritization, thatntability, and funding is based on outcomes. nowhe government is prioritizing ebola, it is critical that we back-fill all funding that has been redirected from other biodefense priorities. not fight the battle against ebola at the cost of forfeiting the broader war other menacing diseases, such as middle east respiratory syndrome. note, the texas a&m center is home of one of three centers to develop and manufacture vaccines and medical countermeasures against chemical, biological and nuclear

threats. each center, including our own, will be responsible for producing 50 million pandemic influenza vaccine doses within of thenths of receipt strain. our center and the others are supportingcapable of development and manufacture of and therapeutics against ebola. chairman,, thank you, and the members of the committee for your leadership and for engaging on this critical aspect national security. >> thank you, doctor. the governor, i believe, made an excellent choice in appointing this taskthe head of force. judge jenkins? >> thank you, chairman, congresswoman, members of this committee, and my friends from who ares delegation, here with us today. innk you for your support this challenging response. local government has treated

everyone involved in the ebola crisis with dignity and compassion, and as fellow human beings, not merely as diseased contacts. in interacting with louise and those three young men, it was important that we follow all cdc to avoid any chance of spreading that virus. but it's also important that we not move that family wearing a hazmat suit. to seeportant for them me as a fellow human being, face to face, and for me to converse equals.m as that is a basic tenet of leadership and it is in keeping with modern medicine. louise and those three young men have been handling an scary, sad and difficult situation with grace. louise and her 19-year-old son

fine young man, forced to of histh the loss without being able to hug and hold his mother. death of eric duncan is a loss of a father, a fiance, a son and a person that was loved by an extended family. people were found to be diseaselly exposed contacts by death of eric duncaa the excellenter, a epidemiological and disease detection work performed by dallas county, the state of federald the government. for these 48 people and their a tense, this remains and anxious period. they all need our thoughts and prayers. thankfully, all are without symptoms or fever on this, the 12th day of monitoring. one fight, and, we are committed to working

together. our dallas county emergency operation centers and incidentting under the command system with federal, state, county and city assets. team.artners but one one team, one fight. simply put, there is no other to stop ebola. there's a lot of fear out there, and i understand why. a scary, terrible disease. there is a zero percent chance of contracting ebola into contact with the bodily fluids of a symptomatic ebola victim. tople who have been exposed ebola but have no fever or symptoms cannot transmit the virus. not allow fear and panic resolve, nor force us to abandon the values that

country.s great everybody has a job to do in this outbreak. federal, state and local governments are doing their job. congress to pass the appropriations necessary to isht ebola in africa, which the best way to stem the humankind andect for you to perform your important role in the strengthening and streamlining ebola response in the united states. we are doing sting that has not been done before and we -- has not been done before, and we cannot fail. the ebola virus in texas. help us win this fight. must win now. work with us to fight this abroad and strengthen our public health security. thank you. judge.k you, the chair recognizes the next speaker. ranking you, chairman,

member lee and members of the committee. infectious disease epidemiologist at the university of texas and i've also practiced local health at the level. i'm a member of the american public health association and the texas public health association. adequate funding of all levels of public health systems is a top priority for these organizations. i'd like to start with the public health, a term sometimes confused with medical care. defined as alls organized measures to prevent disease, promote health and among thefe population as a whole. while medical care is concerned individual, public health patient is the community. i would argue that this public health puts it in the realm of public police andt as firefighters protect communities from crimes and blazes, public protects communities from disease. indeed, of the 30 years of added

life expectancy during the last century, 25 of these are due not to medical advances but to public health interventions, such as immunizations, workforce safety, tobacco control, et cetera. it's been said that health care is vital to all of us some of the time. but public health is vital to us, all of the time. i hope i've convinced you of the public health efforts in maintaining and promoting the health of our nation and the world. this cannot be done without resources. i'm sure that you're much more with thethan i negative efforts of sequestration on public health agencies such as the cdc. federal funding for public this hass declined and affected flow-through funding through states and locals. funding has decreased more 2005, 15%.lion since at the state level, the association of state and

officialsl health reports that budget cuts continue to affect the health of americans. health departments in 48 states have had budget cuts since 2008, 95% of departments reducing services that they offer. america's health and rwj foundation released a report showing that the majority states reached only half or fewer of key indicators of and capabilities to protect against infectious disease threats. ten. scored four out of one of the indicators, increase maintain level of funding, not met by 33 states. the same trends can be found at the local level. the national association of county and city health officials reported that over one quarter of local health departments experienced not met by 33 state. a budget cut in thebe found current fiscal year and this has happening over the last six years. almost half of these had services. in overall, the boots on the ground, providers of public

have lost over 51,000 jobs since 2008. publicpresents 20% of health jobs, at the state and local level. ebola is a frightening disease with horrific symptoms and concern is naturally high that spread may occur in the u.s. highly, this is unlikely. to become infected, you must have physical contact with bodily fluids from someone with symptoms. we know how to stop barriersion, by using nursing practices such as gloves, disinfectants and patient isolation. unfortunately, many countries in africa do not have the resources for these precautions. ebola is a major concern for the affected countries, and the fear loss of life are devastating. the danger is that we will be fixated on this virus and not on other pathogens that have flu,eak potential, such as s.a.r.s. loss of life are devastating. the danger is that and m.e.r.s.g others. diseases such as measles periodically cause outbreaks due

thosek of immunity among not vaccinated. the food-borne illnesses, enterovirus infections that we might fight every day in public health. to prepare?do congress must begin to prioritize public health funding. critical to the capacity to respond to any type of outbreak, areine or otherwise, epidemiologic and laboratory capabilities. these involve disease reporting, case investigation, outbreak response management, contact and data analysis, synthesis and communication. disease of the month type of response limits our ability to andt to threats disease-specific funding streams whenublic health hands prioritizing. response to the initial outbreak would have mitigated spread. the u.s. funding for w.h.o.

have decreased one to 2013.m 2010 in summary, public health is on a par with police and fire, protecting the community from disease. order to provide this need ongoing, adequate funding to make sure our epidemiologists and laboratories have the resources they need to quickly identify and stop infectious disease outbreaks. thank you for the opportunity n, toquate funding to make sure testify about public health and our ability to deal with public health threats. you, doctor. recognizes for question. judge jenkins, you mentioned we've never encountered this before. agree. this is new territory. in this county, we experienced to ebola fatality due in the to testify united states. of fear amongst here butresidents across the state and across america about this.

witnessedcounty, we janitors wearing special suits and in our schools. this really hits home. question to dr. leakey, what can you tell us today? what can you tell the people of dallas county and the state of ofas, and the united states america, to alleviate these fears? >> thank you. thing, and i'dst repeat what i've already said, that we know the science, the the science about this virus. somebody is symptomatic, not not contagious, it's spread in the air. we're doing a lot of work right now to make sure we do preventng we can to another texan to be exposed to this virus. safeieve this is a community. i feel safe enough. schools, tothe

emergency managers, to the hospitals. individualsty of and systems in dallas and in texas. i toldthe things that the schools, i'm a father. would feel very comfortable with my kids going to these schools right now. not going to get ebola from going to the schools right now. we know the 48 individuals that had contact. monitoring them very closely. the kids that had contact, we're them home-based schooling, to address this risk. but unless you have symptoms, going to spread this disease. and so we take this very seriously. monitoring is going very well. again, partners from the local level, the state level, the federal level, working together, individuals that we're monitoring very closely, symptomatic.are >> doctor, you've just been appointed the head of this task

force. withare your plans to deal this threat, and deal with this fear amongst the population? of all, i want to reiterate exactly what the doctor said, and i agree with points, thathis the transmission is, as he said, only by close contact with fluids of an infected, symptomatic person. activities of this response, the ones that went very well, were the the contactsn of and institution of the appropriate monitoring. so we are very comfortable that was done in a very effective and efficient way. and we'll find ways to even improve on that even further. part -- one will be area that we will focus on on make sureorce is to notifiersur potential really understand, because a not justth ebola may walk into a major tertiary

hospital. they may walk into their pharmacist or they may walk into their local nurse or public health official. thing we're going to have very early is a quick and rapid understanding to make sure we educating all the potential people who could be the first contact with a patient, because the key to this whole success is identification of that patient, institution of monitoring, just like this team did. doctor, in your testimony, you mentioned there were issues involved in the apartment, mr. duncan's apartment, including the need for permits to transport the waste. confident these issues have been resolved? resolved -- i'm confident they've been resolved. by brute force and by working on issues athey -- issues as they came. is make thatto do much easier next time, so that the leadership can focus on the

specific task at hand. and remember, next time it may not be one patient. it may be five patients, ten patients, with hundreds of contacts. so it was resolved effectively. but we have lessons learned. and maybe dr. leakey would want to comment on that. think that's right. this was a challenge. first time you have to dispose of 140 55-gallon companiers and they have to have wecial permits, i think solved it for this issue. those barrels are burned today. they're gone. but i think this is an ongoing issue we need to look at, as a an event like this. aw can we transport class medical waste and get rid of it quicker than what we could do texas? the state of >> lastly, you mentioned that this senior assistant for that exists under both clinton and bush

administrations, i'm not quite why it was eliminated under this administration. is it, again, one of your recommendations that that position be reinstituted? idea, what have no the reasons are, but it is a irong recommendation that have. and a number of groups have, for position. you know, there's talk about ebola, s.a.r.s. or whatever. a one of.houldn't be this should be a priority that transcends whatever disease is around the corner. i know personally, when i was assistant to the president, we called all the agencies in. all of a sudden it just wasn't a toting where everybody had have consensus and kind of figure out what everybody wanted do, and agree on the lowest denominator, it was directives and leaderships from someone in the white house. made an enormous difference. and ipersonally feel,

think you would get a lot of support, that that's the institutionalization at the highest level of a person you could turnt to and we could depend on. you knew who was in charge. comment is absolutely health and human services has a huge part of this. of defenseartment also does. they're parallel programs. -- homeland security identifies what's on the threat list. onehis is bigger than agency. there are 11 agencies funded in biodefense areas and there needs to be someone in charge. that's what this recommendation really is. you.ank >> again, mr. chairman, let me fellow texans for setting a standard on which the world can watch. as i pose these questions, it is at the backdrop of a great

thanks to all of you. i wanted to read just an excerpt morning's newspaper, which indicates that six u.s. thetary planes arrived in ebola hot zone. this article is making a an article, that for oureone is pleading help. one of the african leaders said inis a tragedy unforeseen modern times. i do not want to create hysteria. be on alert. i think the important point to be made at this hearing for all of you is that all of those who may have been exposed will be watched and monitored for the full 21 days and maybe even to the end of the month. accurate?, is that >> we will be monitoring everyone exposed for the full 21 days. >> there are articles in the paper that indicate they haven't ten days andn they're okay. i think that is a false premise

that should be corrected. but you're saying that everyone will be monitored; is that correct? >> all 48 contacts that we identified that have a risk of being infected with ebola are daily.onitored they have temperature checks twice a day. an epidemiologist sees them day. i checked with them this morning. are asymptomatic. >> and one of my baylor doctors doctors indicated that panelists should be created across the nation. the state ofnk texas for creating that. but let me make this point. i indicated six plane loads of our best and brightest military personnel. they have to come home. believe we are prepared. and i will tell you why. i asked the chairman if i could record ano the article, even after dallas hospitals still lag in for ebola patients, say u.s. nurses. >> without objection. want to particularly bring to your attention, one third say their hospital has

supplies of eye protection, shields, googles and fluid-resistant gowns. you -- this is not condemnation. cdc has done an amazing job. they are the ones with theory and doing the research. have a problem, as we see the fluidness of people country,ound the around the world, with making sure that every hospital that afford the resources be prepared? is that something that is necessary? >> i'll start and then you can finish. think preparedness is something you do and then you're done. you have to continue to work to be prepared. you have to continue to -- educate health care providers about exotic diseases. tell folks, unfortunately, the unthinkable can happen.

we're dealing with ebola right now. while i've been in this chair, i also responded to hurricane ike, responded to h1n1, major events. publice to have a strong health system to do that. so the hospital preparedness funds would be important. it would be important for us to make an assessment of whether equipment is in places where this may happen? say that, mr. chairman, because the airline -- an airplane was quarantined by las hours ago,a few thinking it was an ebola patient. upon people's fear. we need to convince people that we're prepared. quickly, on this funding situation. do we need to ramp up our funding? need to end the sequester? be would medicaid expansion helpful here? >> i personally feel that, yes, we do need more funding for health, because as dr. leakey just said, public

there all of the time. we shouldn't just be there responding to crises. good system in place, you are better prepared. >> and medicaid expansion might well?hat as >> medicaid expansion would certainly help people who don't have insurance. have a few minutes. thank you. thank you for your grace, judge jenkins, and your heart. in thishow you lead county. thank you for treating these individuals with dignity. youlet me just say, expended dallas, 140 barrels, of the 55-gallon barrels. prepare fordo to returning military personnel that may be all over america, as heros, but having been in the hot spot of ebola be may in fact themselves impacted, coming to counties like dallas county? we wouldou see that need to do in being prepared, if that was to happen? >> well, as far as the disease, the military, i think, has a

preparedness as people come home. it's very important to me that, and womenitary men come home, dallas county is the third choice in the country by popularity for them to return to, that we get them good jobs. the right track, that we need health care for people. we need medicaid expansion. we need good jobs for our returning military. and the best thing that we can to fight ebola is to fight ebola at its source, overseas, here. it gets >> thank you, mr. chairman. may i add this to the record. it shows the kind of attire that should be used, dealing with up for ebola. i ask to place this in the record, and i ask for these two following documents, prepared by doctors without borders, i ask that these two documents be put into the record. thehe chair recognizes gentleman from south carolina,

mr. sanford. >> judge jenkins, i don't know your story. but based on what i just heard, walked in an apartment where ebola was there and somebody just died, i admire courage, your humanity, your leadership in terms of just walking in, without glove in and shaking hands with folks and giving them a hug, as the case might have been. that.re to theant to go back doctor's comment. in fact, everybody said the same thing. everybody said you can't get this disease unless it's from an infected party. a human contact. you're not going to get it out of the drapery over here. you're not going to get it out of the floor. you're not going to get it through the air. right? i mean, everybody has that.tently said yet what we just heard was

of hazardous drums waste were taken out of the apartment. unless the guy lived in a mansion, they flat-out stripped that apartment, in essence, down to the studs. out the carpet, the drapes, everything. threw it in. a hazardousclass material, wherein you're having to fight permits in terms of getting it out. folks back home are saying, this doesn't connect for me. it's the same disconnect. you're completely safe. but by the way, we're gonna go to this guy's apartment that going to strip it down to the studs. i mean, 140 55-gallon drums would fill this entire floor area right here. so which one is it? really more hazardous than we think, or did they make a going to that degree of overkill, if you will, and out the -- in dragging 140 55-gallon drums? >> i can start. if anyone else wants to chime in, that would be great.

theeel confident in science, that this is spread through contact with bodily fluids. that.erstood then why all the 55-gallon drums? in thishallenge was, apartment, you know, if he threw other bodilywere fluids, on curtains, et cetera, care of. be taken there was a perception related to the apartment, you know. one was going to rent that apartment again, unless we had done all we could do, in order to decontaminate it. level a agents -- >> i mean, you're not in the real estate business. you're not worried about who is going to rent the apartment next. >> we needed to decontaminate apartment, do everything we could. >> then you're going back to the side, which is it takes more than -- i wrote it down. ansical contact with affected party. that's what consistently said. >> i think most of the

was concerned about blood, bodily fluids, other that could have been in places in the apartment, such as in the bathroom or rugs or like that. the data really showed that the i on --rus is very whim on surfaces. it doesn't live long at all. was -- i -- so there believe there was a conscious to overly decontaminate do waste removal, because this was the first patient in the country. there was -- it was approached with an abundance of caution. and for example, a toilet can be decontaminated. want to sit there and decontaminate the toilet or do you just want to pick the toilet up, put it in a drum and get rid of it and be done? havingthe luxury of only one apartment to do. and i think, with an abundance of caution --

>> understood. follow, because i see i'm down to a minute. >> sorry. >> same question then in a different light, in terms of the disconnect that i seem to be hearing from folks back home. a number of y'all have talked about public health and the need prioritize spending. we're well on our way to innding about $1 billion these three countries and sending in the military, which a very expensive way of dealing with a problem. lethal,ct it's not as could it be handled by health care professionals rather than c-17's and spending them across the atlantic, why not have health care professionals do it, rather than spending $750 million, because allocate some of the resources that sheila jackson or some ofluding to, the resources around the world, given the cropup in spain and other places? extremely lethal.

50% of the people in the world who get this disease die. what thennect in visuals are on television is this. my contact and other officers' contact were with people who are monitored, to see if --y've become stiment symptomatic. their bodily fluids cannot transmit ebola. in the hazmat suits -- >> i understand. i'm still curious. with $1oing overkill billion with military, rather than health care professionals. time.see i've run out of >> the chair now recognizes the man from california. chair.k you, and thank you to the officials for being here today and thank you're doing in this fight to keep ebola from spreading here in the united states. follow-up on my colleague from south carolina. i certainly understand what he's certainlyd i understand the doctor's

in, and, that you're dr. leakey. on one hand, if you have the peoplease in america, are watching it. we're in this twitter, facebook do isere everything you going to be exponentially multiplied and told to the rest of the world. is perhaps if the science true, that it can only be spread by direct bodily contact, by somebody who is presenting with youtoms, if we are, as wed, overly decontaminating, could be our own worst enemy, in that by overly decontaminating, this perception that it is something that airborne.n be

[no audio] >> we're trying to reestablish have to theion we hearing. in the meantime, we're going to take a look at the conversation on ebola this morning. this is from washington journal. >> it is different. and it's very different. somebody with aids can live a long period and transmit the

along.on right ebola, we've had more than 25 and we'vesince 1976, been able to curb every single one of them. completely unprecedented. >> why? >> it's unprecedented because others were in rural areas, and ebola, it's not a very efficient virus. it actually kills its host too quickly. also not airborne. very, very hard to spread. but when it got into three mega cities, very poor cities, in twoile states, post-conflict states, it took off. ravaged those countries. of course, the big, big risk is not the one we're worried about, getting to the united states or the european union, the big fear

take a hold in lagos or beijing. you wouldn't shake hands, yet ebola is not easy to it?h, is >> it is not but a lot of my friends have come back from werra leone and liberia, and don't shake hands. even when they're back. it's a precaution. actually, shaking hands, even in the united states, is not a particularly hygienic thing to hand,cause you shake your you touch your mouth. it's not very infectious. so what you want to do is you want to avoid any bodily fluid and therefore bodily contact. it's just an abundance of caution. the legal side very quickly. before we go to calls, we're going to put you touch your mou. it's not very infectious. so the numbers up. legally, if this takes hold in

delhi, as you say, and really becomes a pandemic, legally, what would you like to see done or what could be done quarantine, restrict, et cetera? >> well, the w.h.o., under the international health regulations, which are virtually every -- which virtually every state has ratified, including the united states, has already declared this a global health emergency. did it much too late, actually, nearly six months after the first international spread of ebola. so it was late. the problem is, is the international health regulations don't give w.h.o. any power. they can only make recommendations. countries, as they did during s.a.r.s., countries ignore it and they do that with ebola as well. the only thing that you can do that's binding at this moment is a u.n. security

council resolution. second., for only the time in its history, in a health a resolution.ss it's binding but the language in the resolution doesn't have the binding force that i'd like to see. so if it's really spread, i thed like to see united states lead the u.n. security council to a stronger resolution. that really helped with aids. i think it could help with eeblg eeblg -- with ebola as well. >> first call, robbie from abilene, texas. >> yes. i'm just very angry that they close the borders, stop the flights, and they're sending our troops over there to catch bring it back and spread it to their families. why don't they do, the go, and whyfficials there?hey go over >> this is a very constant theme you hear. in fact, most americans in

public opinion polls want to shut the borders. this would be a really bad idea. thet of all, it would make epidemic a lot worse. it would make it a lot worse is that you have aid go tos that can't come or the source countries. fragile states. those states are going to just deteriorate. you won't be able to bring food out.manitarian aid in or the governments are so fragile, you could have a collapsed state. epidemicately, the there would unravel and that would make it worse. in thisly can't, global, modern society, you wrappert a cellophane around a disease, around a highly pathogenic novel disease

and expect it not to spread. it really would be a disaster situation. and if the united states did it, it would be around a disease, around a symbolically reallyvel disease unfortunate, because we have been the global leader on health and ebola. it would be a cascading effect. countries in the world would then put on travel bans. and the countries could be devastated. it would be a humanitarian crisis. we can't do it. >> roger, vancouver, washington. good morning. >> good morning. if ie you won't mind slightly change the subject. thei want to ask about enterovirus d68. i have two grandchildren, 12 and down in san diego. and i'm worried about their -- people are saying that the flood of children that came across the border this summer has brought into our country. and they're scattered all around the country. and more children, more people have died of the enterovirus d68, than have of the

ebola. director, would you please address that for me? they've already had their flu shots. anything else, other than don't put their hands above their shoulders and wash four times a day, that they can do to try to keep from catching this disease? sir.ank you, mr. gostin, do you want to respond to that caller? be happy to. momenty, d6 8 is at the a larger risk to the united states, not in terms of high -- highly lethal, but first of all, we always blame the immigrants for all diseases. from time immemorial. that's not the issue here. there's been circulating enteroviruses in the long, states for a long, long time. goodest approach is hygiene, and particularly good hand hygiene. kids,ure you teach your wash your hands, and just stay

safe. kids can stay safe. mount vernon, new york. good morning. >> good morning. -- i'm calling to ask, are the black people in this country, and in west africa, are they aware, and your c-span audience, are they aware that the u.s. has a patent on ebola? is that biological warfare this countrys in africans?st >> do you think it is? >> pardon? >> do you think it is? >> they have a patent on -- >> right. think -- >> on ebola. yes, a patent on ebola. what is that about? the don't believe united states has a pa patent -a

ebola, because the supreme court has already ruled that you can't assert atellectual property right on naturally occurring virus. that would be true all over the world. the inventor of the virus was from belgium. not the inventor. >> the what? >> the discoverer. from?re does ebola come circulating inen sub sahara africa since 1976. is fruitlikely source bats. then primates eat the fruit bats. the monkeys and then individuals will eat bush meat. the primates?eing >> being the primates. dies,metimes the primate so they're easy to hunt. if you eat them, they could be

dead from ebola. very first case in this outbreak was thought to be a child from guinea, the first case in this outbreak was sought to be a two-year-old child from guinea, who probably would have eaten bushmeat. he contracted it, gave it to his parents, and his parents fled to the city. host: phil is in silver springs, maryland. caller: i'm very appreciative that the u.s. is doing its best to control, if not eradicate, ebola in liberia. i'm also glad that some international companies are doing precisely that. my concern is that i was born in liberia. i have been in this country for well over 25 years. i think there is a job that needs to be done. i sincerely believe that the fears of most americans need to be calmed, sibley because those of us who were born in liberia and have lived in this country forever have not been treated

fairly. once you tell someone you were born in liberia, the countenance of the pertinence -- of the person changes. they look at you as if you have ebola. that is terrible. i hope and pray that something could be done. i was wondering if anything else could be done to let people know that not everyone who is from liberia is ebola plagued. guest: that is a good point. thank you for making it. similar to aids, and every major frightening -- this is a terrifying disease. there is a lot of stereotyping, a lot of blaming. we did that with aids, with the gay community for long time. president reagan, for example, didn't even use the word aids until late into his presidency. it is happening.

there is a lot of stigma around ebola in the three affected countries themselves. and here, there was stigma of thomas duncan in the dallas region. i'm sad to think that people think that if you are from liberia -- we need to do a better job of education. we need to calm the public spheres. -- public's fears. this is not going to be big in the united states. there will be more cases, but we should be able to contain them even that we had tragic missteps in dallas. i hope we will learn from those. host: could the airlines on their own pullout of these three countries? guest: they could, and some have. an airline it recently has been critical of british airways.

as your ways did cancel its flights. -- british airways did cancel its flights, and other airlines have followed. it makes it hard for aid workers, it also cuts off the economy and commerce of these very poor countries. it is a bad idea. we need to stop that. host: lawrence gostin, from your perspective at georgetown university, and your association with w.h.o., how have these three countries dealt with it so far? what kind of grade would you give them? guest: everyone gets a low-grade, those countries and here. you had shocking breaches of protocol. they are on the brink of collapse. they already had before the epidemic started, the three lowest health care worker to patient ratios that we have anywhere in the world.

they have lost hundreds of doctors and nurses. they have died. you have the situation where people are unable to cope. when the director of w.h.o. said people don't understand. w.h.o. doesn't have the funding and the power, the countries are in charge. that might be fine if you were talking about the united states, or the u.k., or france. but how is a post-conflict country in charge? i was a country where their people have been tortured and starved for so long and have no health care system going to cope with this? they can't. at the moment, this epidemic is spinning out of control. and it never had to happen. it was very preventable. but we delayed far too long. host: david in sanford, maine. go ahead.

caller: lawrence, you say that we are screening at the airports starting as of yesterday. they have already mingled with the passengers. we don't know what they have passed on. if they had it, or haven't had it. i'm not for persecuting those three countries, but you set up a strawman saying that aid will not get to those countries. we have military transports, we can fly anything anywhere in the world. anything they need will be at their disposal. we are talking about protecting the american people. i just explained to my grandson, who is 12 years old, i said the reason people are frightened is because it is a terrible way to die. please let me hear your response. guest: it is frightening. i'm not going to dispute that. it is among the worst ways to die. the virus literally attacks or organs, and organs bleed out. it has a very high death rate.

ebola viruses historically have had up to a 90% death rate, in the three affected countries, it's been anywhere from 50% to 60% death rate. it probably would be lower in a high income country like united states. the truth is, if somebody is coming from one of these areas, and they are really highly symptomatically on the plane, we have protocols in place to deal with it. but most of the time, almost all of the time, they will be asymptomatic on the plane. i know it makes people feel good to say cut off travel, let's protect the american people, but it won't protect us. in the end, he will make us less safe, because it will make those countries more incapable of dealing with it. we want to deal with the

problem, let's deal with it at its source. we say that all the time with terrorism. let's not bring it here, let's deal with it there. that is true also. the real catastrophe is in those three countries. host: why has it not spread beyond those three countries in africa? guest: we have been lucky. the first international spread outside those three countries was to lagos. we had real fears about what would happen in that country. it turns out it was a country that was able to cope. all of the film stars and celebrities came out to educate the public. the cdc flooded it, and we were able to contain it. but we have been lucky. i have to say we have been lucky. it could happen at any time, in any mega-city that is poor and congested. and then we would be in trouble.

we have to get this under control. host: al, in ohio. caller: talk about wasting my call. we are talking about commercial flights. 150, 2 hundred a day coming in from this area, and you still can't answer the question. stop saying aid workers can't get there. they could charter planes. mr. obama had better get on the ball. this is why he is dropping in the polls. we don't need to hear big stories. we can cure the problem over there, and nobody really wants to hear anything about the actors. thank you. guest: first of all, there aren't 150 planes the come in from that region. in fact, there are very few if not no planes directly from west africa. i think virtually all of them originate there, but they travel through one of the european hubs and then come to us.

it is 150 passengers that originate from one of those three countries that enter the united states. we are now screening every one of those 150 passengers. we will know whether they have \w will know whether they have been symptomatically, we will take their temperature. we will know where they have been, who they have been with, and we will know where they are going. i think we have a good handle on this. it is so easy when you are frightened to overreact. but it is so important to be calm and measured, and do the right thing. believe me. i would never recommend something i thought put the united states population at risk. we are not doing that. if we really want to protect ourselves, we need to beef up

our public health infrastructure. you saw what happened in dallas. the hospital missed the diagnoses, even though they told them they had a travel history, they sent him home. then they isolated or quarantined people who were his roommates in their apartment, but didn't decontaminate the apartment. a sheriff's assistant went into the apartment with no protection. ambulance workers took him back, no protection. if we really want to do something, and you really want to clamor for something, clamor for more congressional funding for public health and america. -- in america. host: the fever screening is about as useful as removing your shoes. it slows down security lines with no real increase in safety. guest: it has a ring of truth to it. i will pass on the idea of whether the shoes make any difference. it certainly irritates me.

you don't in a lot of high income countries in the world. in terms of fever screening, it is true it probably won't make much of a difference. most people won't have fevers. if they do have fevers, they will have fevers from the flu or some other disease. in fact, during sars, they did mass fever screenings. when i was traveling during sars to beijing, all first-class passengers were given tylenol by the airlines. i wasn't in first class. it lowered any potential fevers. you can game the system. but it is a measured response. all we are doing is taking people's temperatures. we are not making the lines longer. it is just 150 people a day, at five major international airports.

it is just a few people at each of those airports. it is not going to be a big travel inconvenience. at the same time, it might reassure the public. host: at a hearing yesterday, john kelly, commander of the u.s. southern command responsible for central america south america was quoted as saying if ebola breaks out, it -- in haiti or central america, it is haiti, bar the door in terms of mass migration of central americans into the u.s. guest: i wouldn't have put it quite that way. it is a little mean-spirited. if he got into a country like haiti or another poor country, that would be the country that would have the humanitarian disaster. they just had cholera that the u.n. brought in, and a humanitarian disaster already. a lot of people -- yes, we would probably have more people coming with the disease to the united states.

but you have to remember this, ebola is not a particularly efficient virus. if somebody really wants to get into the united states, if you have ebola, you are going to get really sick and you won't be able to get here. it isn't aerosolized, and the virus is inefficient. it just kills its host to quickly to make it an efficient virus. it is not one i would worry about a great deal. i would worry about some novel mosquito borne diseases that are in latin america at the time. they are migrating up to the united states. ebola is not a particularly great threat to the united states. it is making us scared. but we are a country that can contain it if it arises here. there will be cases, there will be outbreaks. i can't totally reassure you.

i think the white house has been too reassuring in the sense that they think we are the best health care system in the world. we have over 3000 local health department's. we have tens of thousands of hospitals. we have variable capabilities, we do shore that up. -- need to shore that up. host: cynthia from kingston, jamaica. caller: i have listened to this gentleman talk, and the more he talks, the more he worries me. why is it everything in the world coming into the united states? we've a soldier in mexico that no one is doing anything for him. you can't step in jamaica without having legal documents. when it spreads, the way you will live in america, the white

people there that helped to make america what it is will run for the hills. this man talk to talk, but ebola is dangerous. it has always been there. you need to do something to protect the public. stop the planes from coming in. guest: i have been trying to calm the public. forgive me if you have been alarmed. there really is no reason to be alarmed. disease is coming into the united states all the time. remember, we are part of a global community. diseases don't come to the united states anymore than they come to any other country in the world. we have been one of the most fortunate countries in the world. we live in a climate where we don't have a lot of malaria, dengue fever. we don't have some of the really

devastating diseases in the world. we are a fortunate, privileged country. you are one of several callers that have suggested some racial component to this. i don't want us to be divided. i really want us to come together on this. if anything should bring us together, it should be a global health threat. we should unify, we shouldn't stereotype, we shouldn't divide, we shouldn't blame it. we should just have a good, scientifically-based locale approach. -- public health approach. that will keep us the safest. host: is it legal, ethical, to quarantine people? guest: it is legal and ethical in the united states to quarantine people under certain circumstances. people misunderstand the difference between isolation and quarantine, which are different things. you isolate a known ebola

patient. a confirmed case like thomas duncan in dallas was isolated. it is unquestionably lawful to do that. it is also lawful to quarantine somebody who you have good reason to believe has been exposed, and might have the virus. you can quarantine them for the period of incubation. but you need to do it with good evidence. you need to have a court like review, if it is challenged. and you need to keep the people safe. the big problem i have with what happened in dallas is that the court have said that quarantine is not a criminal offense. it is not something that you are punishing someone with. you have a responsibility to keep them safe and keep them in humane conditions.

to force for people into a home that hasn't been decontaminated, with soiled bedsheets and soiled towels, is unconscionable, unethical, and also unlawful. it took days before they were able to accommodate them. you have four people who were living with mr. duncan. perhaps one of them did contract the ebola virus. the other three didn't. confining them all in the same house with contaminated material, and they can cross contaminate. it wasn't smart, and it was a very big breach of protocol. we just need to really learn from those lessons. host: david in albuquerque. caller: i'm really confused. i don't understand. both you and the director of the cdc both have said that we have

-- we should allow flights coming in. isn't containment the rule of thumb in the medical world? the only way you will contain it is to keep people where they have the disease. is that not right? guest: it's actually an 18th or 19th century view. the current international health regulations which govern global epidemics for the w.h.o. date back to the first international health conference in paris in 1860. the whole idea there was nations in europe and then the united states came aboard through the pan-american health organization. they basically took the view that they wanted to seal off plague and other nasty diseases

from the south coming to europe and north america. that is a really antiquated way of thinking about it. today, the best global health medicine is to deal with it at its source. and also if you need to, screen people coming into this country in a sensible way. we are doing that in a measured way. banning travel will not do anything. it really will make things worse. it will fuel the epidemic in those three countries. they won't be able to cope. eventually you just can't contain a highly pathogenic disease in a little bottle in a little region. we have never been able to do it. modern,ainly in a globalized world, where if you have been on a plane -- somebody can go to beijing, from beijing

to washington, d.c. they can go to frankfurt, london, and then here. in a world of international travel with highly congested -- if you look at a panoramic of the sky of flights coming to and from the united states, you will know you simply can't stop international traffic. befact, to do so would unlawful. if the united states would declare a travel ban, we would be in violation of international law under the international health regulations which we have ratified great is not a place we want to go. i'm really pleased president obama has taken it off the table. >> jackie in milford, connecticut. jackie? caller: hi. the reason i was calling is back in the 1980's i read a book called "the hot phone," which spoke to the ebola virus and the dangers of the disease.

at that time, the world health organization and the cdc were if aware of the fact that this became an epidemic, how serious and deadly this disease would be. my question is why if they knew of this disease and what could happen, why haven't they worked on an antiviral or vaccination such as eradicating polio, waiting for the aids virus to go worldwide before they did something about that third we spend the money constantly for other things, but the ebola most which is one of the dangerous -- both of these organizations have done nothing that is preventative. guest: it's a sensible question on why didn't we. there are a variety of reasons. one is to look back in hindsight. outbreaks.been 25 we have always been able to contain it.

i think there is a sense of complacency. i don't think anybody thought this could take hold in three just spent itself the way it did. that has never happened before. the other reason is that we have been focusing on our research dollars at nih and other places on diseases that have much higher burdens of disease. malaria, a potentially global pandemic like holyoke, which once was -- polio, which once was. was that a mistake? perhaps in hindsight it was. the other issue is an economic one. the economic one is that the private sector is usually a very big engine for innovation. they have been ignoring ebola for two reasons. one, the market is

unpredictable. we never knew we would have an outbreak like this. secondly, people who get it are too poor to pay the price that we would want to charge if we had a patent on it. for those two reasons, we did not ramp up production. we are now. , iss a genuine question this a pivotal time when you want to rethink or research priorities? host: your question or comment. it is a ridiculous conversation. you are saying that we should import this virus into this country because somehow that is going to help curtail it. your figures of, it's only 150 people a day from four airports -- i'm in the tampa bay area. have a dozen people come in every day. there is no additional screening.

day -- theypeople a are not going to be touched at all. they are going to spread. the same liberal take on the border. we have an open border, and what happens? more people across the border. we will just take everybody in from those countries. what is going to happen? more people are going to get in planes. they know they are going to die if they stay here. if there was ever an issue that wasn't a democrat-republican-liberal -conservative issue, it is health. we all have to rally around health. i'm not taking a liberal position. i'm taking a public health physician. it is based on science. if we really want to protect ourselves, we need to calm some andhe fears, even vigilant, do the right public-health thing to do.

we are not importing this virus. there has been one diagnosed case on american soil. one case, and is not going to lead to a major outbreak. we will be vigilant, we will be careful. if you really want to make thing to dofer, the is invest in our public health infrastructure. at the moment, only about 1% or 2% of all health dollars are spent on public health. the rest go on high-tech medicine. if you really want to strengthen state and local health departments of local hospitals, this is what we need to do. we don't need to try to punish people who are undergoing a tragic humanitarian disaster. host: larry in tennessee. caller: i have two questions. how long before the fever shows up after a person is exposed to ebola?

uestion, how about in those three countries that are infected by ebola, how about supplying those countries with days and thenr 21 have their country's government to have the people stay indoors for that period of time? >> the incubation period can be up to 21 days from the time you are exposed to the virus to the time you have symptoms. to 10lly it can be a week days. it can go as long as 21 days. it makes it hard to detect. you can get on a plane and be in europe or the united states in 24 hours. symptoms may not arise. food andof providing

humanitarian assistance to these countries, we should have been doing it a long, long time ago and we need to do a lot more. there is a food security crisis there. the idea of a locked down in the countries i have never been in favor of. sierra leone actually did that. the president of sierra leone had a several-day lockdown where everybody was forced to stay in their homes. it exacerbated the problem because people were congregating in their homes. they might have cross infected trade some were trying to flee. many could not go to work. they could not get food. it raised the food supply. farmers cannot get out. it did not change the course of the epidemic at all. we want to just lock everything down, we want to stop the planes

, but that is not going to work. basic common sense says, let's keep it over there. you just can't. i know the common thought is just keep it over there but you just can't. >> two comments and a twitter. u.s. constitution trumps international law in the u.s. first responsibility of the president is to protect u.s. citizens. and larry says, funding public health is not going to help broken socioeconomic of health care. finally, a question, can we get insights on the drugs available for treatment, stage of development, and role of government in development? >> okay. well, there is nothing i have said or would say that i think the united states should do that i would think would violate our constitution. quite the reverse. and i think the president

particularly in this border decision, decisions about screening, is well within the authority of the united states and the constitution. as a constitutional lawyer i would never propose such a thing. in terms of public health, what i said was is to increase our funding for public health, and hat would protect us more. if has historically and is our safest bet to keep us safe not just from ebola but from obesity, chronic disease, measles, a whole range of things. vaccinations and the like. in terms of drugs, we do want to rapidly develop medications and vaccines. vnih is doing that. i've been working with them and i think we've finally -- it's late but we're ramping up production and we actually have two promising vaccines in first

phase clinical trials at the moment. >> georgetown university, here's his piece in the lancet in case you are interested in reading this for yourself. ebola, a crisis in global health leadership. and, finally, "the washington post," front page story, "ebola outbreaks grim equation" talking about how it could spread. you can see some figures there. you can read that for yourself at "the washington post." thanks for being with us. >> it is really my pleasure. i've enjoyed it. >> and on c-span's facebook page we're asking the question, how confident are you in the u.s. response to ebola? some of the responses so far include one from andy, who says ebola isn't that contagious. it is spread this west africa because of poor sanitation and practically no health care infrastructure. the media is over hyping this. heather writes, she is not confident at all. it should have been handled when the first person developed symptoms.

share your thoughts. and tonight more of c-span's 2014 campaign coverage. live tonight from wisconsin for the governor's debate, between incumbent scott walker and democratic state senator mary burke. here's a closer look at the race in the badger state and some of the recent campaign ads. >> this week marking the first of two debates in the wisconsin governor's race where republican governor scott walker is seeking a second term. he's being challenged by democrat mary burke. and joining us from milwaukee is bill glauber. he is following the story for "the journal sentinel." thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> two debates, both on a friday night. why? >> i guess they want to compete against high school football. actually, i think the reason is that's when they can clear the stations. that's where they get the air time. and, frankly, that's how the wisconsin broadcasters have done it for years, always a friday night debate. >> this first one taking place in eau claire, wisconsin, at the mayo clinic.

explain the format and what you're looking for. >> well, the format is very stilted. i wrote that it was a 1990's format. some might say 1970's. a modwrator, four panelists, question to each of the participants, 90-second answers, 30-second rebuttals, long opening statements, two minutes closing statements, three minutes -- it's going to be a stilted venue, i think, and it will be a lot of sound bites and sort of canned zingers. >> governor walker faced his own recall. he was able to overcome that campaign. and now his re-election battle in wisconsin. give us a sense of what's been happening in this race. what do the polls tell you? >> well, the polls right now are showing that walker leads by five percentage points among likely voters, that is outside the margin of error. i would say that the race is very close. mary burke, a former track bicycle corporation executive has come on as a pretty good

campaigner, has kept it close, and walker is trying to move the needle and move the electorate over 50%. he is a well known commodity. people either love the governor r don't like the governor. the opinion about him is deeply entrenched so that's why i think this race really hasn't moved much, though walker has finally gotten a lead late in the going, but it's volatile and it could switch. anything can happen here. >> the fact that this race is so close, does that surprise you? >> no, it doesn't. this is wisconsin, and wisconsin is the definition of a purple state. although it's purple in different hue, i'd say, because you have a deeply blue milwaukee and madison and then you have a red surrounding those areas. so it's a polarized state. and you're always going to have a close race here, whether it's in the statewide races or ex-accepting for the last two

presidential elections usually a very close presidential state, too. >> what about mary burke? what is her political background? what does she bring to this race? how does the walker campaign view her? >> she has been tough to pin down by the walker campaign because she's not really a politician in terms of it's not been her career. as i said, a business executive, a phelan thropist. she is on the madison school board. this is her first statewide race. it has taken the walker team a lot of time to try to attack her and to sort of drive up her negatives. it finally happened a little bit when there was a jobs plan that she released that turned out to have been sections were used in other plans by other democratic candidates. it was the consultant's fault, but the mess landed in burke's lap. >> let me ask you about one of the issues we've been seeing in these campaign ads. the tax cut that wisconsin voters were able to get. a few hundred dollars a year. and the walker campaign pointing to that as something

that's been positive for voters in the state and the burke campaign saying it's really too little too late. >> well, they have been saying that, the burke campaign. the main issue in this race is jobs. governor walker promised the 250,000 jobs would be created during his first years in office, his first four years. that hasn't happened. so they're going to be doing with numbers, labor statistics, during the debate, and it's basically a view of the economy. is it working or is it not? >> and, governor walker has been talked about as a potential 2016 presidential campaign. clearly he has to get through this campaign first. what are you hearing in wisconsin? >> yeah. he is. i mean, he's been looking at that race for a long time. it's been pretty obvious. he's done everything that you do. if you're going to run for president. you know, was running around the country giving speeches after the recall election in 2012, has written a book, is

definitely a guy that some people see as a person who could unite the republican party. but, again, he has to get through this and then the other question mark out there would be if paul ryan decides to run for president, what would scott walker do? and right now they're really focused on winning the governor's race. >> those two are good friends, correct? >> walker and ryan have known each other for many years, yes. they are friends. there's -- and also reince priebus who is head of the national republicans also comes from wisconsin. so you have a real wisconsin connection at the highest reaches of the republican party. >> bill glauber is joining us from milwaukee. he writes for "the journal sentinel." thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> hi. i'm scott walker. i'm pro-life. but there's no doubt in my mind the decision of whether or not to end a pregnancy is an agonizing one. that's why i support

legislation to increase safety and provide more information for a woman considering her options. the bill leaves the final decision to a woman and her doctor. now, reasonable people can disagree on this issue. our priority is to protect the health and safety of all wisconsin citizens. >> the midwest is coming back. >> the indiana economy is improving significantly. >> minnesota's unemployment numbers are down and jobs numbers are up. >> michigan's economic recovery is ontrack to out pace all 50 states. >> but in wisconsin, scott walker cut taxes for the top, slashed public education, and we fell to dead last in midwest job growth. >> wisconsin lags behind most of the country when it comes to job growth. >> tax cuts for the top, dead last in jobs. scott walker's not working for you. >> hi. i'm scott walker. thanks to our reforms, the average family will have an extra $322 to spend. what are you going to do with your savings? >> we're going to buy more

clothes and school supplies. >> 96 gallons of gas. >> we're taking a trip to see the grand kids. >> getting new tires for my truck. >> that's over 2700 diapers. >> my opponent criticizes the wisconsin comeback. she wants to undo our reforms and keep your money in madison. i want you to keep it. >> what's $11 buy you in wisconsin? how about a pizza? well, scott walker thinks $11 buys your vote. because under his tax plan, the average wisconsin taxpayer got just $11 a month. but corporations got $610 million in tax cuts. millionaires got at least $1400 per year. and you? well, enjoy your meal. scott walker -- millions for them, pizza for you. >> recent polls are rating the wisconsin governor's race a toss up. we'll have live coverage starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight here on c-span. back now to the response to the

ebola outbreak in west africa from the united nations general assembly meeting held earlier today in new york. a senior u.n. coordinator talks about the dangers of the disease and how people have to change the way they handle victims. this portion of the meeting is about an hour. >> i call to order the formal meeting on the public health crisis emanating from the ebola virus outbreak. s noted in my letter october 20, 2014, i have invited dr. david navaro special envoy of the secretary general on the border and the special representative and head of the united nations mission

regarding ebola united response o brief the membership on this pressing matter. i take this opportunity to warmly welcome the deputy secretary general, his excellency, representative of the office of the secretary general, and our distinguished invitees to this meeting. mr. ban brie -- banbury is joining us via video conference. by its resolution 69-1 on 19 september, 2014, the general assembly welcomed the intention of the secretary general to establish an ebola response and call upon member states to provide their full support to the mission.

secretary ncy, mr. general, dr. navaro, mr. banbury, distinguished delegates, ladies and this morning nt for a briefing on the ebola outbreak and the global response. let me begin by thanking the deputy secretary general for joining us today and also special thanks to david navaro, special envy to secretary general on ebola and mr. banbury special representative of the head of the united nations mission for ebola who will be briefing the assembly -- he latest government latest information on this

crisis. as you recall, in the meeting of this 69th session exactly three weeks ago we adopted a /ie/69/1. a welcoming the secretary general's initiative to establish the united nations ission for ebola response. this called on united nations to provide full support to the mission. i am pleased to note yesterday the assembly approved preliminary funding required and also yesterday local government leaders met in washington, d.c. to discuss the critical issues and solutions and socioeconomic impacts of the crisis. discussed g, leaders

the consequences if the outbreak is not quickly contained. as you well know the situation on the ground in the affected countries remains extremely precarious. nurses, doctors, workers, and citizens are doing extraordinary work at great personal risk. yet, despite their heroic the numbers are rising with each passing day. in light of the spread of the disease, there are real concerns that the outbreak has evolved from the original to an nternational crisis. i'm therefore pleased to see that the international community has wasted no time in responding to the call of for

action. many member states have come forward with generous pledges of support both in terms of financial help and in kind contributions. for these efforts member states deserve thanks and appreciation. furthermore, help has already been deployed on the mission and response efforts in the most affected countries. the record tion levels of support, implementation of critical provision and containment measures, yet where the initial response is commendable, much more needs to be done to stem this crisis health crisis. in this context i ask the member states to follow through on their commitment and pledges

of support. addressing the crisis requires coordinated action on the part f the international community. your support is a vital component of the response. commitments already made by member states are the basis of concrete proposals on how the global community can affect those most affected areas in terms of financial, humanitarian, and other requirements. given the unprecedented nature of the epidemic the international community must work together to come up with practical solutions to contain further spread of ebola. ask the egard, i member states to remain involved in the situation and share specific proposals on how to improve or streamline responsive efforts. even for those member states who have already made contributions, more is needed.

i thank you for your kind attention. i now give the floor to the secretary general of the united nations, his excellency. >> mr. president, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, i first present ank you, the general assembly, for calling this crucially important and timely meeting to which i have the honor to represent the -- tary general who is on let me say from the very beginning our response to the ebola epidemic must be swift and effective to match the scale and urgency of the challenge. now is the time for action. we must catch up for the menacing, exponential curve of

the virus. the crisis is multi dimensional with serious affects not only -- effects not only on public health, but food security, economic and social and political stability. hard won development progress is in jeopardy. neighbors are at risk. none of us are insulated from this threat posed by ebola. it is a global concern and demands a global response in compassion and solidarity with those affected. that is why the secretary general formed the global ebola response coalition, to galvanize international action as well as the u.n. mission for ebola emergency response and to coordinate action on the ground. the secretary general and i thank the general assembly and also the security council and member states for decisive and generous support for these

initiatives. this morning i presided over the first meeting of the global air response coalition. we noted a wide range of actions and commitments and discussed how we most effectively can catalog action. but let us be clear. while the u.n. has stepped up to play a coordinating role, we cannot do this work alone. no country, no organization can . this crisis requires collective organization outside and inside the affected countries as the president just stated. here i would like to pay tribute to the courageous work of local health workers since the very onset of the outbreak in march. many national health workers have lost their lives. others also working for cross ations and the red or red crescent are selflessly

risking their lives. so, too, are our colleagues from many agencies, u.n. agencies, defeating ebola is going to demand the best efforts in all of us working together. governments must involve nongovernmental organizations and many others. we must work in concert to support the affected countries to implement their national response strategies for ebola. to that end, we are rapidly deploying people and assets and are working with unprecedented collaboration and speed. we are guided by five simple commands. one, stop transmission. two, treat those with ebola. three, ensure essential services. four, preserve stability, and, five, prevent further spread. the u.n. peacekeeping mission in liberia and all human entities in the affected countries have been providing

critical assistance for many months. they have continued to partner with the unified framework provided. n the 29th of september, banbury arrived at our headquarters in africa with the advanced team. he has just finished a visit to the three most affected country to assess how we can best implement the national structures and programs without duplicating them. the ebola crisis managers for each country have just been appointed and he is in regular contact with the three presidents of the three most ffected countries. they remain fully engaged in efforts to forge strategic partnerships to achieve the massive scale up of financial and in camp resources so urgently needed. there are now over 18 newly

deployed in the mission area with more on the way but many more staffers will be needed to reach those areas where support is most needed especially at the district level of the three countries. i now appeal to all member states to act generously and swiftly. speed is of the essence. the contribution within days is more important than a larger contribution within weeks. recent cases of the virus outside the region have shown that this is a global crisis but the answer is not to close borders or impose travel bans. such measures will isolate the affected countries, not to de receive. they will prevent urgent aid from reaching those in need. we need international solidarity to face this threat. the secretary and i are grateful for the growing number of financial and in kind contributions flowing in. over $20 million has been raised for the trust fund in

the last week but we need more. we need much more of the $1 billion sought by u.n. agencies only one-quarter has been funded. we also need a surge in trained health care personnel who can deploy the staff to staff ebola treatment units in ebola community centers. here we have some very important contributions from member states like cuba. we need to make medevac available to health care and responders and provide the necessary assurances for personnel to be deployed. we need dedicated treatment facilities for all health care responders in country who con tony: it work at great personal risk. we must aim to achieve quality care for all affected citizens of guinea, liberia, and sierra leone. we should also recall that with the crisis in the health sectors in these three countries there are so many people who are not getting

normal medical health. the hospitals are over burdened and people are even worried to go to the hospital. so you can imagine the number of people that are suffering and maybe dying from other diseases -- malaria, tuberculosis, all the things we would normally treat. that is not part of our statistics yet. we want to generally strengthen therefore the health sector and of course now make sure they have food security and stronger regional preparedness. ebola is an unforgiving and frightening disease. it can be defeated if we work together in solidarity and with effective coordination. every hour counts. every contribution counts. the people of the world are watching. the people of west africa now . a great deal depend on us

national ownership is absolutely crucial. let us give them hope. let us be at their side. let us end this crisis swiftly and decisively. thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the secretary general for his statement. i now give the floor to david navaro special envoy of the ecretary general on ebola. >> mr. president of the general assembly, mr. deputy secretary excellencies, ladies d gentlemen, first of all, i would like to acknowledge the really important role of this global body focusing attention on and

leading support for the response to the current outbreak of ebola. n my remarks i'd like to cover i'd like to talk a bit about the history of the outbreak. i'd like to focus on its significance. i'd like to reflect on some of the actions being undertaken ow to build up the response. i'd like to concentrate on the different partnerships that are being built, the leadership of different bodies, in particular the presidents of the countries, and then the coalition that has been referred to in the deputy secretary general's remarks. i'll be followed by anthony banbury who will give a more specific presentation on the

work of the united nations mission for the ebola emergency response. let me start a bit with some history. i've worked as a public health doctor for 35 years. and i've been involved in many disease outbreaks and, indeed, some pandemics, but i've never encountered a challenge like this one in my professional life. the reason is that this outbreak has moved out of rural areas and has come in to towns and cities. it's no longer just affecting a very defined, geographical location. it's affecting a whole region and it's now impacting on the

whole world. advancing break is quite rapidly ahead of the ontrol effort. the rest of us are having to work really hard to catch up and overtake it. but we know what's got to be done and together we're going to do it and our commitment to all of you is to achieve it within a matter of months, a few months, rather than going slow and letting the outbreak cause a lot more harm and misery. so my second point is about the ignificance of the outbreak. it's got into societies in west africa in a very deep and worrisome way.

for many of the communities that are currently affected, the day a person dies is the most important day of that person's life. that's the day when the spirits move from the person into friends and relatives into the community. the day of death must be treated with proper respect and ritual. otherwise it undermines the very fabric of society. yet people who are dying of ebola are very dangerous. if they're touched, and if they're held at that moment of death, they can infect large numbers of other people, because their bodies are toxic. heir bodies contain the virus. it's often on