security considerations. she using her limited time, an outstanding job in different hat government branches are coordinated. >> in other words, when did the ebola situation developed to point that the president somebody who eeded could dedicate time. >> he has been carefully assessing other responses in place. monaco and ms.

susan rice have done an outstanding job -- >> and he decided he needed somebody 100% of the time? >> he believes that person will be an official to the broader effort. >> [indiscernible] >> i want to make sure we get around the room. >> what was motivating his choice? >> it was beneficial to his response to have somebody with 's credentials focus on the task 100% of the time. questions -- two quick questions. the president has made it clear in the military piece is one prong. the other is the arming and equipping of syrian rebel forces . in the more than one month that has passed since the president

gave his address, how is that going? made ingress has been the equipping of the moderate syrian rebels? >> i refer you to the department of defense. >> following up on the question, encement the comm of airstrikes, was there any evidence that the --? grouphad advanced >> on the plotting stage what i can share with you is the intelligence assessment from other officials, that we believe that the group was nearing the execution phase of a plot against the united states. that is why the president ordered the strikes in syria against them. >> prior to that, had there been any attack with which they were associated and moved the on the planning stage? >> i cannot provide an assessment on that issue. jim? the disease,

itself, ebola, even carries more fear than perhaps is warranted. art of the problem seems to be a lack of confidence in the american people right now in their response. and part of that seems to be caused by health workers in this country who have dealt with this problem traveling around, including one now on a cruise ship. and the other one who traveled daynd the country the other . is the president as flabbergasted as the rest of us that this is going on with health workers? >> let's talk about a couple of these issues, and i'm glad you raised them. the first is as it relates to the hospital employee on that cruise ship, you saw from the state department in their statement last night this is an individual who had been responsible for handling the

laboratory specimens of the patient. an individual who is in that role is facing a much lower risk than some of the health care workers that are being closely monitored in dallas right now. it is important for people to understand that. the second thing is as it relates to the travel of these two individuals, that travel commenced prior to the first --se care worker health care worker being tested positive. once that worker tested positive, the assessment of risk changed and the monitoring regime for all of the health care workers that came into contact with the patient or his laboratory specimens changed. essentiallym= those monitoring regiments changed after those travel.als had c

dr. freeze and address whether the second health care worker should have returned from ohio on a commercial aircraft. he said that should not have happened, and that was the result of an error that occurred at the centers for disease control. but ultimately, even given all those circumstances, that thing our medical experts tell us is even those individuals who were on the plane with a second health worker, the risk they face is low, but the cdc believes it is prudent for those individuals to be in contact with the cdc. i believe they have been in touch with the vast majority if not all the passengers and will be working with them to ensure they understand accurately the risks they face and they are getting that kind of support they need in terms of engineering -- answering questions. >> i and your stand, but fear is a major -- i understand, but

fear is a major factor. when health care workers themselves are not overly careful, in effect you have a situation now where this health-care worker on the cruise ship cannot even get back to this country because the other country will not let the ship go it time for't somebody in the administration to stand up and say publicly to health care workers, stay put, do not travel around, do not frighten the american public? >> we are talking about health care workers here that particularly in the situation in dallas who were willing to step up to the plate and assume some risk to themselves in order to care for a victim of this terrible disease. that is a decision that demonstrates a lot of character, and is consistent with the kind of spirit that makes the citizens of this country so

proud of. i think today is a day for us to be reminded, particularly with the emergence of this video, the worker,v health-care who was transported to nih read this is a woman who assumed significantly personal risk, more risk than she thought, not because she thought it would get her fame, because she thought it would give her a raise, she did this because it was her job and she is passionate about her job in caring for someone who is sick, someone who she did not even know. that is worthy of praise and acclaim and attention. at the same time, the cdc has a responsibility to make sure they are communicating clearly with these health care workers that face an elevated risk, and that is what the cdc has done, particularly in light of at least two of their coworkers testing positive for the ebola virus. questions back on

the th ebola coordinator. can you explain what the long-term plans will be with the military, because is that something he will be coordinating? he will perform includes both activities taking place here in the united states to detect, isolate, and treat ebola patients in a way that protects the public and health care workers. it also includes coordinating activities of a variety of federal agencies overseas. there is an effort underway by cdc, usaid, and the department of defense to try to stop this outbreak at the source in west africa. our experts tell us the only way we can completely eliminate risk from the ebola virus is to stop the operator at it source. ont is why you see officials

the ground since the outbreak occurred. it is why you see the president giving resources to response and that -- to respond in that effort, and mr. klain will have the responsibility to make sure those efforts are integrated into the overall approach we are taking. >> you have talked about the focus on implementation. created a deputy chief of staff for foreign policy intimidation a few months back. part of it was trying to do with emerging issues. can you talk about why there was a need to do this or what it might say about the limited staffing eu have at the white house, that -- staffing you have at the white house? >> you are referring to my colleague who is the deputy chief of staff for implementation. is does some work, and she

somebody who has demonstrated on a variety of occasions the kind of tremendous capability the president expects from members of his senior staff and from a range of national security issues to the implementation of health care reform, she has demonstrated an ability to handle a lot of different highly sensitive topics and complete them exceedingly well. important has responsibilities, and this coordination function were car somebody who can dedicate 100% of their time. in short, what i am saying we that mr. klt ain is somebody who has credentials that will allow him to succeed in severance, because he will be able to dedicate 100% of his time to focusing on this particular response. >> right now this is an open ended commitment with no timeframe? >> i believe the expectation is

this is not a permanent commitment, that we are looking at something on the order of five or six months. we can get you greater clarity on that as he assumes this role. >> i am a little unclear on exactly what he will do. will he make decisions? will he explore the policy things? will he be leading up the explanation of -- expiration of whether personal travel bans or changes to policy changes -- will he be doing that or will he doing conference calls and stuff? you can assume his role will be an important high-level implementation role, and it will be his responsibility to make sure all the government agencies who are responsible for aspects of this

response, that their efforts are carefully integrated. he will be playing a role in making sure that decisions get made, that a love of decisions we are talking about here have different equities. to use the example of his school, that is a situation thee you have hhs, cdc, department of education, all with a point of view and all with a legitimate perspective on a policy decision that should be made. it will be his responsibility not to make that decision, overruling these other agencies, but rather to convene the kind of conversations necessary to make these decisions that reflect the government's equities and make sure those decisions happen promptly. klain, this is a special area of his expertise. he has spent a lot of time in government positions and previous administrations in shoring that these kinds of decisions get made properly.

he has spent a lot of time implementing the recovery act with tremendous results for our country, but in a way that was consistent with the commitment to transparency. who wass somebody responsible for monitoring that program to assess the level of fraud. there is an extraordinarily low level of fraud associated with the recovery act. that is a testament to the management skills of the vice president and mr. kliain. all that leads me to the thisusion of somebody with set of management experience and somebody who has the kind of solid working relationships with members of congress, of the administration, with state and local officials them can drive a process that will drive decisions and making sure we are putting in place the kind of healthy response the american people can expect. >> will he be talking to the present on a semi regular basis come up dating him -- updating

him? >> i'm sure he will be in touch with the president as often as ms. monaco and the national security advisor determines is necessary. yes? >> the president, for the last several weeks, has been making a lot of questions about the international response. he said the international community has not done enough. for the last four or five weeks, he has been making that same comment. what exactly what does he want from the international committee? what has he been able to get so far? and why does he seem to have trouble getting everyone on board? >> let me say a couple things. that inident has said private. you recall he conducted a phone call with the prime minister of japan a couple of days ago. he convened a meeting of european leaders by way of a secure conference to talk about the international response to this issue.

yesterday the president talked to the prime minister of sweden about this. i did know as i was reading the clips that hours after hanging up with the president of the united states government of sweden committed another $10 million or $12 million to this effort. that is indicative of one small example of the president getting results. the expectation the president has is the response from individual countries across the world should reflect the severity of the situation in west africa. we need a substantial commitment of resources and ask for teas from countries around the world. to make sure we are confronting the worst ebola outbreak ever. you have seen a significant commitment of american resources, the department of defense is using their logistical expertise in a way that will enhance the response. i think that will inspire the confidence of the lord, that their investment of money and resources in this spot effort will be well spent. it certainly is in the clear

interest of countries around the world and the united states that this response move expeditiously to stop this outbreak at the source. >> is it more about money, or is there more to it than that? >> it is certainly about money, and also about expertise and personnel. are getting sure we the word out to people in west africa about how they can avoid contracting ebola. it also means health care professionals who can treat ebola patients. there are a variety of things that are needed. for a more detailed assessment of what is needed on the ground, i refer you to the usaid and they will be able to give you a better assessment. they have personnel working in communities across the street countries trying to maximize the impact of response. >> is there any level of frustration, says the president has been making comments for several weeks, that he has not been able to get the international community to do as much as he would like them to do?

>> we have seen commitments from countries across the world. we have not seen as much as we would like. i think you could describe the president who understands there is a sense of urgency. klain willu said mr. be behind the scenes. i am wondering if there is messaging in the administration, , and the level of fear things that are frankly misinformation? >> it is not a coincidence yet for the president talking to days in a row about this issue. he is a singular voice in terms of the administration loss response. effect of the matter is there are a variety of government agencies that are leveraging expertise to try to deal with the situation. johnsonwhy you see jeh talking about the issue. it is what you seek medical en ands like tom fried

anthony fauci talking about their role. a newsks ago you saw conference to meet in the spirit. lisa monaco and general rodriguez was here alongside the administrator of usaid to demonstrate all of you that we are pursuing a whole of government approach to the situation. i think that whole of government approach is evidence by you heard the president talk about it quite a bit lately, but evidence by the fact there are other officials and medical experts who are communicating the facts to the mac in public about what we are doing to respond to the ebola virus and help people understand what level of risk they face. re is still, they misinformation out there. and we have seen some of the reactions of that habit across the country. is it possible that some of that

is because it will have heard from so many different voices within the administration and do not have one familiar face to turn to? >> i do not exaggerate what they're hearing is the same thing, that the risk of the ebola outbreak in united states is exceedingly low, that the risk to the average person is exceedingly low in terms of catching ebola. there are two americans that have contracted ebola in this country, and those are two health care workers who have assumed a personal risks to meet the needs of a patient. they obviously were at a different level of risk than the average american, and the fact is people can take solace in the fact and understanding what we to deal with the situation. you do not catch ebola by the air, only by coming into close contact with bodily fluids of an individual that is

demonstrating, exhibiting symptoms of a ebola. it is important for people to understand that. i mentioned this to jim yesterday when he appears on cnn. it is true when you appear on bc, they know they are hearing from a trusted voice. we are counting on people like you who that kind of status with the american public to help them understand exactly how they are affected by ongoing events of the world. this is a terrific example of that. >> my family thanks you for that. >> [indiscernible] >> it is not. it is not. people get information by watching your network, and they rely on you on what is happening in the world. the reason you have the jobs you do is because people trust you. important responsibility. at least the people in this room take that responsibility seriously. is why we spend so much time talking to you about what is

happening, that we want you to countryple across the understand what this government is doing to keep himself and help them understand what risk among what level of risk they face. in this case, that risk is exceedingly low for the average american. >> are you suggesting you are not surprised that republicans were critical-- >> i was not -- i regret i'm so cynical and that. >> you've suggested that politics have played a role. i assume you will say this is a public health decision, not a political one, but was there democratic treasurer from those who are running in a few weeks to do something? >> i will tell you that the sense of urgency that everybody in this administration feels is not from a politician, it is from the american people, that they have high expectations from the government to keep them safe. >> [indiscernible] people who are paying

close and careful attention to what members of congress say can probably find a quotation or two from members of congress saying something like this would be a good idea. what we are focused on is making sure we are protecting the american people, and that is something that the president believes is his first responsibly. -- first responsibility. that is the sentiment that is driving this response, and that is the value that is driving the decision to ask mr. klain to step into this role. >> do you have any sense w hen we will see him? >> i do not know. whether youto ask are deputizing us as sort of represent the response to the record people. >> we will be happy to work with

you on that. >> we would do a better job if we went to the meetings. >> the last couple of days, you have been at the ends of the meetings. mentioned hisnt problem with a credit card in new york a few weeks ago when he was signing the order to they could did anyone find out why his credit card at a restaurant in new york city was not accepted? >> i'm hearing from this for the first time today. >> he went out to dinner in new york city and was fortunate that michelle had her credit card. >> i am not able to speak to the current status of the presidential credit card. --hink the thing and clear unclear is whether the president left a tip at the bottom of the executive order. >> oh -- >> it seem funny when i thought about it in my office.

>> a question about ron klain. >> they might get some pinocchios. decide did the president to ask ron klain to serve in this role? had they already had a conversation when he said this decision may be necessary, but was it that the president needed to make a decision, selected somebody, all in a matter of hours? >> this happened this morning. >> he spoke to ron klain for the first time this morning? -- we will have to get you more information about the conversation with mr. k lain. he accepted responsibility this morning and that is when the decision was made. >> and that is when the president decided that there needed to be a response

coordinator. >> correct. i assume you guys are looking forward to the weekend. that is good. czars, inointed ebola expect nothing less. the president's schedule next week remains in flux. on sunday he will legislate on a campaign event in maryland. he will spend the night in chicago on friday -- on sunday night in chicago. on monday the president will have a couple of activities in chicago before returning to washington on monday night. his schedule tuesday through friday -- >> official? >> i do not have that in front of me. i think it is a little of both. his schedule tuesday through friday remains in flux, but if we can get you details of the

weekend, we will great if not, we will give you more guidance on monday. ahead andoing to go do the campaign event, does that reflect the judgment on his part is such that is appropriate for them to do that? >> the president has been time focus on ensuring that our response to this reticular situation with ebola -- but this particular situation with a bullet is up to the standards that he expects from his administration on behalf of the american people. confident while he is traveling he will have to spend time and energy on the ebola response situation, whether it is doing phone calls or receiving briefings. but the president is confident he will be able to both continue to work on the ebola response even while he is traveling. this is a decision we always have to make on this, can the president do what needs to get done even while he is on the road, and it was the assessment earlier this week on wednesday

and thursday it was necessary for the president to remain at the white house so he could focus on these things. he will continue to work on these things even while he was traveling sunday night into monday. ok, are right, everybody can have a great weekend. >> [indiscernible] >> check with -- >> thank you. the whiteeard at house briefing with press secretary josh earnest, president obama naming ron klain to coordinate the u.s. response to ebola. mr. klain was formerly chief of staff to joe biden. he is also served as an advisor for president obama, and he gore's efforts in the 2000 presidential election. reacting to his appointment as chuck schumer, released a statement saying in part i have known ron klain for

over 20 years -- c-span bringing you more than 100 debates from house, senate, and governor races in campaign 2014. check www.c-span.org for schedule of debates and as he passed dates in our video past debatesd see in our video library. one of those debates is from arkansas where democratic senator mark pryor is seeking a third term. his opponent is tom cotton. in a recent debate they were asked about this agreements with aaron parties. here is a look. i am always getting criticized by my democrats. let's talk about the government shutdown. i do not support that. i thought that was terrible.

wease bear in mind when reopen the government, when we reopened the government, i was part of the group in the senate that brokered that. it was an important moment in the senate. i have to give a lot of credit to susan collins who said i have some ideas. will you come to my office and talk about it. we got the government open again. one of the things people in washington know about me is i always try to work in a bipartisan way. that is leadership to me. that is getting things done for arkansas. it is something you all know about. news is i continue to work with republicans and i always will. -- mr. cotton? time and time again he is put barack obama over the interests

of arkansas, casting a deciding vote for obama care. innding up to big spenders washington is one example where i said i did they end up to my party. we passed a year spending bill that broke through spending caps nine months old. how did they pay it? senator pryor and barack obama and too many republicans trying to balance budgets on the back of veterans. they extended spending caps out nine years. if big spenders in congress can't have some spending discipline for nine months, i don't think they can do it nine years out. that is in keeping with his record of rubberstamping the obama agenda. you say that you vote against your party. which of the 93% of your votes that you passed for barack obama's agenda did you regret? >> the question is when did you vote against the party line and why?

>> i mentioned a few times and why and that is because i represent you. i am not there to oppose or support a president. i am there to represent you and i take that seriously. the people who watch the senate every your have ranked me, and this is folks that know the senate and know how we vote, not all the rhetoric and spin you hear from the congressman here, they rank me every year as one of the most independent senators in washington. i am independent because i listen to you. >> last rebuttal for you. when have you voted against party line? >> i did not hear many instances of senator pryor voting against barack obama and he only does it when barack obama gives him permission. if you want to go back to the shutdown, i voted for every spending bill to keep the government open, to reopening the government, and to open it. it is senator pryor who kept voting against arkansas.

you did not have to pay a tax you could not afford. i guess senator pryor thinks that congressmen and senators have special perks, but you should have to follow obamacare and he was willing to shut down the government to do it. c-span'st of campaign 2014 coverage. c-span is bringing you more than 100 debates and you can share your reactions to what the candidates are saying. the battle for control of congress. like us on facebook. the head of the u.s. central briefed reporters at the pentagon today about operation inherent resolve. that is what the military is

calling its efforts to combat isis in syria. this is half an hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> good morning, everybody. with that, i will turn it over to our briefing for today. you all know general austin. he is here to update you on activities in his area of response validity. obviously, activities against isil will be foremost on your minds. with that, sir, i will turn it over to you. i will be moderating after the general's opening statements. thanks.

>> good morning, everyone. i will make some brief opening comments, and then i will answer your questions. three weeks ago we began conducting offensive precision strikes inside of syria. prior to that the strikes conducted in iraq were limited to the protection of u.s. personnel in key facilities and the prevention of human suffering. the intent of the expanded air strikes is to degrade isil's capability and their ability to threaten u.s. interests in the interest of our partners. more specifically, we are enabling the efforts of the iraqis in their fight against isil, acknowledging that in addition to halting isil's advance, iraqis must secure the border, must generate and restructure their forces to be providing for are

the country going forward, and this is our main focus right now, enabling the focus of the iraqis. with respect to the airstrikes, and together with our coalition partners, we are purposely and necessarily targeting very specific capabilities. again, with the intent to degrade the enemy's ability to command and control, to degrade he's ability to project combat power, and to degrade he's ability's to sustain himself. we have conducted precision theirs targeting communications equipment and hardware, their command centers, and vehicle parks, vehicles that were stolen from the iraqi army, as well as all refinery's under isil's control. oil derives revenue from

production, and by striking these facilities we reduce the ability for them to sustain their operations. we are having the desired effects. we are seeing evidence of this not only in our battle damage assessments, but more important, we are noting changes in the enemy's behavior and tactics that reflect his diminished capability and restricted freedom of movement. we are no longer seeing them move around the country in large convoys. now they are mostly traveling in civilian vehicles in smaller numbers. this is hindering their ability shift combato power. we have also seen them alter their methods of communication, which is inhibiting their ability to courtney and sicken her eyes -- and synchronize their efforts. we are having desired effects, but this will take some time. i would also note we have been very careful in how we have gone about conducting strikes because

we want to avoid unnecessary collateral damage. had we killed a lot of innocent civilians in specifically sunni areas, we would be in a much different place at this point, but because we have done this the right way, we have secured the support of our sunni arab partners in the region. and together, we are making progress. that said, i want to emphasize that airstrikes, the airstrikes we are conducting are just one element of a campaign to counter and ultimately destroyed isil. indeed, the united states military is counterfeiting to and enabling -- is maturity to and enabling an effort that is underway. in addition to how we to counter isil and degrade their capability, which we are doing, where taking the necessary steps to enable the iraqis to secure their border and regenerate and restructure their security forces.

again, iraq is our main effort, and it has to be. the things we are doing right now in syria are being done primarily to shake the conditions in iraq. once the iraqis are able to get a better handle on the situation inside their country and regain control of their border, that will help to localize the problems a bit more. and certainly, this will serve to restrict isil's freedom of movement and his ability to send reinforcement from syria into iraq. you can be assured isil does not want this to happen and they will continue to conduct operations in different areas. in parts of syria especially, with the goal to diverge attention and force an operational response that requires us and our coalition partners to reallocate assets and capabilities away from our priority effort. and so we must be mindful of this and we must remain focused and disciplined in our approach. most important, we must maintain

strategic patience going forward. the campaign to destroy isil will take time. there will be occasional setbacks along the way and particularly in these early stages of the campaign as we coach and mentor a force that is actively working to regenerate capability after years of neglect and poor leadership. by our actions and by enabling the efforts of our partners, we intend to defeat and ultimately destroy isil. and also even more important, we want to change conditions inside of iraq and syria so that what we see happening there now does not happen again in the future. i believe what we set out to do and certainly the great men and women of our military stand ready to do all that is required to ensure our collective success. that togetherent with our interagency and

coalition partners we can and will get the job done and done well. again, it will take time. with that, i will be happy to take your questions. >> good morning. appreciate it. to your initial point about your focus on enabling iraqi security forces, when, after all this time, when will the iraqi army actually be able to retake territory in a significant way? when will they become a credible and motivated force that you said that is central to your strategy? what is the main problem with that? -- tois difficult to put designate a specific point in time when they will be able to do this. as you know, we are doing some things now. they are doing some things now to incrementally recapture ground that has been lost. in the north we have seen the kurdish security forces conduct

an excellent operation in the mosul dam. they took back a port of entry. they currently are still operating, still pushing to recapture grant that has been lost. we are seeing some of the same things in the south. a week and a half ago, you saw the ninth division attack west toward north of karma ramadi and open up a line of applications so they were able to provide logistical support to the forces in ramadi. this morning, iraqi town, correct time -- iraq time, you saw security elements attack north from the baghdad area up is-- and that assault ongoing as we speak. their effort is to relieve the

forces that have been defending the town for a. of time. and make sure that they open a line of applications as well. we are doing some things to incrementally improve conditions. at the same time, we will begin to train and equip iraqi security forces to regenerate so me much-needed combat power. >> how about mosul? a biggerwill be effort, and we will need to generate more combat power to shape the environment a bit for we go after mosul. i think -- you heard the chairman described it as the potentially decisive fight. it will be a difficult fight. as you know, i was a corps commander in iraq and a force commander there as well. i spent a lot of time in mosul. it is difficult terrain.

we want to make sure when you take that on we have the adequate capability and we have set the conditions right to get things done. thanks. at isis,hen you look do you believe at this point that they are centrally commanded, controlled by some so-called targets? -- can you talk about whether they are, but if there is a short list of high-value targets that would make a fundamental difference? we have not heard about the kora son in a few weeks now. can you tell us about if you were able to plot against their leadership? this,remain focused on and once as "are information, rest assured we will maintain pressure on that organization. in terms of the command and control for isil, a great

question. they certainly have central leadership that is guiding things overall. it is more problematic for them to be able to command and control now because of the fact that they are afraid to talk on their networks, they are afraid to assemble command groups for fear of being struck by us. so their command and control architecture is somewhat fragmented. there still field -- fairly effectives, but more challenged. this will get worse as we go along. more and will become more difficult for them to get the things done that we have seen them do prior to us starting the campaign in earnest. >> [indiscernible] >> clearly, he is a leader that i think if you eliminate him, then i think it becomes more

difficult for them to get done what needs to be done. barbara, you have seen us conduct operations in iraq and afghanistan and other places. these elements have the ability to regenerate leadership, and certainly going after -- is something that we mucst do and we will do. you have to take away their ability to sustain themselves to my finance themselves. you have or if you can stop the flow of foreign fighters coming and going. i think that generates a pool of manpower for them that has been very helpful for them. allearn from countering qaeda in iraq that if you can begin to do these things in a meaningful way, plus going after the command and control, then you begin to have some serious effects. >> general, you said the major effort is in iraq, but if you look at the tally of airstrikes

over the last several days, the main air effort has been around -- become suchsuddenly an almost litmus test of whether this campaign is on the right track, and what is the latest assessment of whether or not air power is going to be able to save khobani? >> the campaign is on the right track. we are doing the right things and we are having -- creating the right effects. you take a look at what is happening over the last couple of days in the south. we have experienced issues with nother, and that has up asd us to get our i.r. much as we have wanted to create the enemy has made a decision to ni is made ever.

what you have seen last several days is pour manpower into that effort. my goal is to defeat and ultimately destroy isil. if he continues to present us with major targets as he is done in this area, then we will service the targets and we have done so effectively of late. we -- ine more khobani, the less ability he has with efforts in other places. i believe he made a decision several days that khobani was going to be his main effort, and as long as he pours legions of forces into that area, we will stay focused on taking him out. >> your assessment on whether or withou can save it airstrikes? >> it is possible that khobani may fall.

the things that we have done here in the last several days are encouraging, and we are seeing the kurds actually fight to regain territory that had been lost previously. some very determined fighters up terms oft done work in standing their ground, and i think we have been able to help that along with precision air strikes in the last couple days. general, back to iraq. i'm wondering, you talked about the sunni arab partners. i am wondering about the shiite militias fighting there. and how they could damage the relationship with the sunni arabs and possibly even unravel what the coalition is trying to do their. >> -- there. >> clearly, there are a lot of things possible that can happen in a situation, and is up to the

leadership in the government to strike a balance in terms of the relationships between the shia militia or the shia in the south and the sunnis out west. it is incumbent upon this government -- it is this a terry for them to reach out to the sunni population and be inclusive. they need to do that for the kurds as well. i am encouraged by what i have seen as i talk to leadership, the prime minister, and others, that they are willing to do this. i think if they begin to follow through on other things they have said they are willing to do, then i think it will build some confidence, and i think they will be a will to strike a balance. the government really has to manage that ballots, and i think they can. >> is that one of your concerns that this could unravel the partnership? concern, has always been a concern. again, we got here because of

poor governance to begin with him a government that was not inclusive of sunnis and kurds. if we go that route again, it could fracture things. i want to ask you about the possibility of a no-fly zone or a offer zone in ich then syria wh turks want. some people say there is simply a de facto buffer zone. why not take them except put that in place officially so that you can get the turks to get more involved in the fight there? >> we are not there at this point. that will be a policy decision as to whether or not we will want to do that. as i stated earlier, i think we really need to meet remain focused on the first task, and that is to help the iraqis restore security and stability inside the country of iraq, restore their borders,

regenerate forces to help them do that. we willhether or not stand up a no-fly zone or do something different in syria is a policy decision that i will leave to the policymakers. version?bani a guy >> i do not. dohink what we are able to and manage my resources so that i can take advantage of the opportunity that he has and he presented that opportunity by continue to follow forces into khobani. general, where harry and lot hearing a lotare about isis advances in the and bar province. province.ar what is the state of play there

currently, and what threat do those forces there in anbar province pose potentially to baghdad or even more important perhaps is the airport? asi would describe anbar contested. it has been that way for some time. i would also say that unlike some of what you have heard in the number of places, we have not seen an appreciable increase fromil forces in anbar what we saw in the july-august time frame. will continue to see is anbar remaining contested. the solution going forward, to be rapidly able to go forward and establish better security is to enlist the help of the tribes

, and i think the government is reaching out to do that now. again, with their help, i think we will be able to move forward rapidly. we did the same thing back in , as you recall, and what we learned from that is with their help we were able to deny the enemy freedom of access, movement, and it was very instrumental. i have every reason to believe we can do that in this case, we will be able to create some of the same effects. >> you mentioned the sunni awakening, but the fact that the sunnis had no confidence in the central government is how isis was able to make the advances they have so far. what progress is being made there? is there any progress being made? back to the airport, do those isis forces actually threaten the airport, and would that quick reaction force there actually -- is there a possibility they could become

engaged in ground combat with the isis forces? >> i do not see a threat to the airport as we speak. us is something that we monitor, we patrol on a routine basis. i have apache aircraft they're flying the area. we work with the iraqi security forces and have a responsibility to secure that area. isr up around the airfield routinely. i do not see a threat to the airport that would cause the airport to fall. can someone launch a more for -- mortar round or rocket? throughhat back in 2008 2010, but it does not threaten the closing of the airfield. that theirly confident airfield is secure and will be secure for the foreseeable future. --the sunni issue >> yeah. governmenthe shia

ever going to be able to regain the confidence of the sunnis? >> this is something they must do, something that the leadership realizes and they're committed to doing. what we are seeing now is the shia leadership, the prime minister, reaching out to the sunni elements in anbar, that i am hopeful they will continue to establish and build confidence and build upon that going forward. this is what has to happen. i think the leaders understand that. general, thank you for doing this today. you have recommended sending u.s. troops forward to retake mosul dam. have any other recommendations have been made since then, and when would you see that as being an option you would like to pursue? coverill not recommendations that i would provide my boss on operational issues and in this foreign -- in

this forum. i will tell you it is my job to assess the situation on a continual basis and provide my best military advice on how to accomplish the mission at hand. i will never provide the president or the secretary of defense a course of action that beo not think can achieved. everything i lay out i know all have been carefully thought through and every course of action i provide them will be a viable course of action. again, i will make a recommendation on which course of action a somehow i see the situation. >> what would you say to people who are saying now the strategy is fundamentally flawed because of a lack of support on the ground, hardly because there's not an use of u.s. forces that are capable? >> most everyone has been clear that this is not to able to us from the air. they have also been clear that

it will -- the ground forces that we would look to use are the indigenous ground forces, the iraqi ground forces in iraq, and hopefully enforce that can train -- we can train in serious to help us in syria would we get to that piece. our role would be and is to provide enablers to help them get the job done on the ground, and i think that is doable. the degree to which you provide this enablers is always a pointed question, and again, that will change from situation to situation. could you confirm syrian reports today saying that isis militants have been flying o, and do youalepp know if they have access to iraqis orts, if syrian's are training them to do so? >> we do not have operational

flying jets inil support of isil's activity on the ground. i cannot confirm that. to the degree that pilot may have defected and joined the ranks of isil, i do not have information on that either. >> how do you describe the air force syrian regime suv's since you started the airstrikes against isil in syria? >> i would say they have not challenged us since we have been flying, and i will leave it at that. this is probably the last one here. to go tol, i want something you mentioned a second ago, to recruit and train a force of syrian fighters to fight there at some point down the line. can you give us an update how that is going, why you are confident 5000 is the right number, and why would they would take these weapons and training and not go immediately and fight

the regime as opposed to fighting isil? >> the first thing i would tell you is we are looking to train units, and we are looking to provide those units with adequate leadership that will insure for the most part they stay together and they stay focused on the task at hand. as we go about recruiting the people to be parts of those units, we will be elaborate about screening and affecting them and hopefully that will -- them, andg hopefully that will do something that will allow for success. nonetheless, i'm confident if we take the approach that we have laid out for ourselves, provided we can recruit people, adequate numbers of people, and i think we can, we will be able to put quality soldiers on the battlefield that can get the job done. >> do you know when they will

start to make a difference? >> that is hard to predict. there are a number of elements in this equation. look liket does isil eight months to a year from now. my personal opinion they will be much degraded than they are now. and so i think a well-trained force that is well-equipped and well-led will have a chance of being successful. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> this morning secretary of state john kerry briefed u.s. foreignmets -- diplomats on the response to ebola. he said more needs to be done.

>> we are very privileged in washington and the united states to have one of the most distinguished diplomatic orders posted anywhere in the world. few cities are home to so many ambassadors and so much experience, which is why you come here, and so much global expertise and influence. that allows a special opportunity. meeting this crisis is going to require that we draw on each other's collective experience. and our collective capacities. no one country, no individual

group of nations is going to resolve this problem by themselves. this is going to take a collective, global response, all hands on deck. that's the only way to get it done. we believe that coming together here this morning can be an important beginning and really creating the kind of global response necessary. i know you don't need me to tell you what we are up against. i'm sure you have heard it from your own capitals. every time you turn on the television or the radio you hear or see gripping scenes that tell us in real terms about this challenge. there's to way to describe the scenes from west africa other than just heart wrenching. gut wrenching. and the images of a pregnant woman being turned away from a hospital and she's on the verge of collapse. or of men and women dying on the streets.

there are children orphaned and a lot of hopeful nations working to plant the seeds of prosperity and open societies now suddenly battling a brutal epidemic. so it's not just the suffering that we see or the potential risks that we face at that make this a different kind of crisis for us as diplomats. we live in a world of a lot of close calls, tough decisions on a daily basis. difficult and contentious issues where you can have an honest disagreement about what the best course of action is or about what the facts are or the results of your decision may be. ebola is not one of them. it should not be contentious with respect to the facts or

what is needed or how we proceed. we know the risks. we know the science. we know the medical certainties. we know what is required to beat back this epidemic. and right now we know that this is a time for nothing less than brutal honesty with each other about what we need. in both the capabilities that we need in order to meet this crisis and the real ways on the ground and the kinds of cash contributions, yes, cash contributions, that we need to fund these efforts for the months to come. and the fact is we haven't begun yet to fully meet the challenge

at hand. so there are specific needs that we can meet right now. we need 200 flat bed trucks and 350 so-called soft skinned vehicles for transport of aid and resources. we need more helicopters and capable crews who can get to work right away. we need more mobile laboratories, treatment centers, and beds. we need more incinerators and more generators. most of all, we need more of the courageous health care workers that we see making an incredible

contribution right now on the ground, and we need to do everything that we can to provide these men and women the protective equipment and the treatment that they need. we know the things that we can do and need to do. we know even in the cases of texas, for instance, we know that protocols are perhaps not followed in some instance or another, so there are ways, because we have plenty of people working who are treating people who are not getting it. and plenty of people who have been surrounding and around it who don't get it. so the fact is that you have to come in contact. and as long as you can make certain that that is not happening during those critical periods of incubation, there are ways to contain this. as president obama has said repeatedly, we approach this with humility. we approach this with a huge sense of purpose. but we know that no matter what we do we are not going to be able to do it alone.

we are proud of the fact at that we have contributed $258 million most recently and we are also delivering support in some very unique ways that only the u.s. military can provide. that's why we are sending as many as 4,000 troops to the region. and that's why we are allocating up to one billion more for our armed forces for this purpose. and that's why we are creating 17 ebola treatment units and providing support right now for the mobile laboratories and the communications infrastructure. we are using every instrument of american power in order to try to get this job done. and as many of you know, i have been making a number of phone calls each day to my counterparts from your countries in order to encourage concrete steps. we have been raising this issue in every single bilateral meeting that i have, but we know that nothing that one, two, three countries do together is going to solve it. we have to all be engaged in this. there is no country that is exempt from being able to do something to be able to contribute to this effort and help make a difference.

and everything we do depends on how we coordinate our efforts as partners and how we contribute together. already we are seeing nations large and small stepping up in impressive ways to make a contribution on the frontlines. timor or less has donated $2 million. cuba, a country of just 11 million people, has sent 165 health professionals and it plans to send nearly 300 more. we want to thank france for committing 70 million euroand for their response in guinea where they have taken on special responsibilities. we want to thank the united kingdom for the ebola treatment units they are building in sierra leone, and germany has significantly stepped up its efforts, including offering their facilities to treat health care workers.

the european union is organizing medevac capacity and contributing 140 million euro, and the world bank and i.m.f. have committed more than $678 million. the african union is moving to send trained emergency responders to west africa. no matter what we have already committed, it is clear every one of us, that we have to do more and we have to do it quickly. so of the one billion in needs that are estimated by the u.n., i regret to say we are barely a third of the way there. if we don't adequately address this current outbreak now, then ebola has the potential to become a scourge like h.i.v. or polio that we will end up fighting, all of us, for decades. we shouldn't kid ourselves. winning this fight is going to be costly.

it is going to take all of our efforts. and it is not risk free. nobody knows that better than the health care workers on the frontlines right now. whatever the differences there are between us in this room on one issue or another, on one attitude or another, the fact is everyone i know respects and admires the courage of any health care worker who is undertaking this challenge. so let's make sure that those health care workers aren't hanging out there by themselves. let's make sure that we are pulling together the resources, the equipment, the commitment, the cash to support their efforts. let's make sure that their courage is motivating us every step of the way. for these men and women to succeed, they need nothing less than hour full commitment, which is why we have asked you to come forward here today.

this is a matter of real people, real lives, in countries that were beginning to take off. countries that were beginning to >> the texas nurse recently diagnosed with ebola was flown to maryland. >> good morning. i am the director of the national institute for infectious diseases.

i have dr. john gallins, director of the clinical center which we are standing in front of. dr. lane, the clinical director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases, and dr. richard davey, the director of the studies unit here. i'm going to describe what happened last night. then i'll have dr. gallin take a minute to tell you a minute about the building. we'll take questions and i'll direct the questions to each of the appropriate people. last night at 11:54, nina pham, the 26-year-old nurse from dallas, texas, who the press has referred to as nurse number one, was transferred by air vac landing at frederick and taken by ambulance in a special secure environment here to the national institutes of health to be admitted to our special clinical studies unit. she is now here with us. her condition is fair. she is stable and she's resting comfortably. in this unit we have a group of highly skilled, well trained,

and experienced physicians, technicians, and nurses. point out the extraordinary capability of the training, the experience, and the dedication of our nurses and physicians who are taking care of her right now. i would be happy to answer any questions that you have. but before we do, let me just have john take one minute to describe this particular place, which some of you may not be familiar with, and then i'll field questions if i can answer them, i will. if not, i will have my colleagues do that. >> good morning. i'm john gallon, director of the clinical center. welcome to this building which is the large hospital in the world. totally dedicated to clinical research. patients call this place the house of hope.

our nurses say there is no other hospital like it. why is that? it's because our mission -- hold on for a second. >> our patients like to call this place the house of hope. our nurses say there's no other hospital like it. why? it's because of our mission, our special mission to combine research, excellent patient care, and training. we feel very humbled and fortunate to be in a position to work on this international disaster, ebola, and to try to develop some new preventive and

treatment strategies. thank you very much. >> i would be happy to take any questions. >> her condition is fair? >> she's not deteriorating. i cannot tell you at this particular time why we have said fair because the patient confidentiality, she's quite stable now and resting comfortably. >> any idea how long she'll be here? >> we do not know how long. we'll get her -- we'll get her here until she is well and clear of virus. >> do you have a prognosis on that? any idea how long -- >> we don't know. we never make those kinds of predictions. this is a serious infection. she's getting the optimum care. prediction when she would get out. she'll get out when she's well enough and free of virus. she has the care of physicians and nurses and technicians with expansive training, experience, and knowledge of infectious diseases and infectious disease control. so there are two things that are happening. she's getting optimum intensive care if needed.

she's getting optimum intensive care if needed. but it's also being done with the optimal protection of our health care workers. >> a layperson has ever seen video of someone, the presentation right now typical for this point in her virus. we talk about what she saw in the video last night. >> i'm not so sure what you saw because i was waiting for the patient in the lobby. what was it that you saw that you want me to describe? >> obviously able to -- >> i didn't see the video, but i can tell you she had a long trip. a trip that was quite tiring. as you can see we assisted her. she was in a stretcher with a tent over it. it's the kind of thing that is optimum protection for the people in the ambulance. we had with her one of our intensive care physicians dressed in the appropriate

protective equipment which brought her out. when she came out she went from the plane and she had to walk off the plane because they wouldn't get her. when we took her from the ambulance to the room, we had her on a stretcher and we wheeled her in and put her right in bed. >> i was asking the video -- just in her environment. at this stage in her environs, how is she doing compared to other people? >> it is impossible to say how she's doing compared to others. this is an individual patient that you treat each individual patient as an individual patient. and that's what we are interested. not how she's doing compared to others. we will take care of this patient. >> is she interacting with her caregivers, the doctors, nurses? is she sitting up? what's she's doing?

>> she certainly is sitting up. she was examined by dr. davey. we saw her this morning. would you like to just give whatever information you can give without violating any patient confidentiality? >> sure. she's resting comfortably. she's interactive with the staff. she's eating. she's interacting freely and really doing quite well compared to what we were told about her status at the other hospital. >> can you talk more about the specifics like how people are caring for her and a little bit more about why this hospital to treat this disease given the special facilities and training as compared to the hospital -- >> i'm not going to compare this hospital with other hospitals. i can tell you what we have in this hospital. we have infectious diseases experts who on a daily basis

notwithstanding ebola take care of the sickest possible patients. we have a specific attention to infectious disease control because the unit of which she is in is a special studies unit. with davey, myself, dr. lane are board certified in infectious diseases and internal medicine. she also has intensive care individuals there and nurses who are highly trained, highly prepared, and highly experienced. that makes a difference. excuse me. >> can you talk about how the team and special equipment. >> there are two shifts right now. 12-hour shifts. rick, why don't you give the details of the number. i believe there's four and one five. >> right. currently we have five nurses assigned on a shift. two are in the room with her at any time when nursing needs -- on a given week we estimate an

ill patient of this type may have up to 20 nurses assigned in that week's time. >> why does it take this long for you guys to get the first ebola patient. >> i cannot answer that. we had been prepared. we had a special studies unit which was started in 2011 for the explicit purpose of being able to accept patients who have anything that has to do with either bioterror or emerging infectious diseases. we stood ready to accept the patient.

when we were asked to accept the patient we accepted the patient. i cannot answer why. i believe it's pretty obvious the man was sick in dallas and he went to the emergency room and then to the clinic at texas presbyterian. >> once she was diagnosed with ebola -- >> again, you've got to be careful there. more than one place that can well take care of people with

>> is this recoverable. >> we fully intend to have this patient walk out of this hospital. we will do everything we can to make sure that happens. >> we are -- we understand there are less than two dozen that can handle patients like that. >> i am going to restrict my remarks for the national institute of health unit. here it is a research hospital. we put patient welfare first.

although she is on a research concern isur main the help and recovery of nina. >> account for a steep trajectory of the virus. >> she came here. all of us has -- have been up all night. known a lot about the virus yet. we are taking care of the patient. >> do you expect any experimental drugs, anything like that at this point as part of her care? >> everything is on the table to be able to consider. this will always be done. we do this at all times with all of our patients that whenever an experimental drug is given, it's given with the express consent of the patient if it turns out that way. >> do you feel like there should be an ebola --

>> that's not a question i want to answer right now. i'm sorry i want to tell you what we do hear. this is what we do. >> at this point it's fair to say you're treating the symptoms and not the ebola virus. >> there is no treatment for the ebola virus. we are giving her the best possible care on a symptomatic and systemic basis. >> the question is, does taking blood from dr. brantley and transfusing it into this patient, could that make a difference? the answer is absolutely yes. it could make a difference. because dr. brantley has within his plasma antibodies against the ebola virus. it is theoretically and possibly likely, practically true that that antibody had a role. we don't know that.

i think that's one of the things i want to emphasize about this particular institution. not only do we have the patient's welfare first, we need to learn things from other patients. we are going to try as best as we possibly can to learn something. but the theoretical answer to your question it could have made a difference. >> you talk about there being no treatment for the ebola virus itself. what does that involve? you talk about rehigh budget reconciliation and that sort of thing? giving back fluids. >> as you know, you've all heard, there are a variety of symptoms that have to do with ebola. there's diarrhea. there's vomiting. there's fever. there's rash. and there's sometimes there's organ systems dysfunction. whatever it is, we deal with it, we take care of it. but there is no specific therapy that has been proven to be effective against ebola. that's why excellent medical care is critical. >> was she able to give you any insight as to how she contracted the virus in terms of any practical moments she might recall? >> we are trying to work that out now because that is part of

the issue of the kinds of things we might want to learn. but there will be more on that later. right now we just wanted to make her comfortable and take care of her. then when we get further information, if appropriate, we'll make it known. >> did you have a role in suggesting the texas -- were you urging the hospital to release her? is >> the answer is no. we made ourselves available and when called upon we accepted the responsibilities. >> one more time, explain the difference in condition. she left dallas in good condition. now you're saying she's in fair condition. can you explain why the change? >> when you get a patient in you evaluate them. dr. davey was primarily involved in that. there were things we saw we wanted to make sure we were not missing anything. we are very meticulous about that. you may start seeing a change in the status. so stay tuned. we'll give you updates as much as we can. >> is that a precautionary move? are you still evaluating her? >> no. i want to tell you that she came

in. she's stable. when we give a level, it's based on what we see and we take care of it. it is highly likely that that will change. but she came in the middle of the night and for us that was -- starting that point, as soon as she got into the door. >> talk about her symptoms. >> she's very fatigued. this is a virus that wreaks havoc on you. you could come in and be getting better. you could decrease in diarrhea. decrease in vomiting. but you're still very, very tired. this virus knocks you out. >> we cannot predict that. this is a very unpredictable situation. we never make predictions until we have the patient walking out and talking to you and you can all ask her that question. we don't do that. >> i know you said you want to stick with the initial institutes of health. let me ask you this, we heard the president will nominate an ebola czar. for the purpose of the national institutes of health, what do

you think about having someone to report to? >> i tonight know exactly what is meant by a czar, but we will certainly follow the lead of the president and follow the lead of secretary burwell. i take care of patients and i do my job. other people do their job. >> speculation in the medical community this could become airborne? precautions taken here, do they include that possibility? >> there is no evidence whatsoever that this virus is airborne transmitted. everything we know about this virus is that it is direct contact with bodily fluids. you know them. we have mentioned them many times. vomit. diarrhea. blood.

other body fluids. direct contact. >> while there is no evidence, do some of your precautions include that possibility? >> if you look at the protection that we have, it would include that. but we are not doing it for that reason that we think it's respiratory. we don't. we are doing that for complete covering so that there is no part of our doctors, nurses, or technicians' body that is exposed when they see the patient. we have a very strict system of getting dressed with someone watching you, going in, coming out, getting undressed with someone watching you. we have a limited amount of time when the person can be in the room so that they don't get fatigued. that's what keeps our health care workers safe. >> two more questions. >> dr. davey, can you be more specific, without violating confidentiality, why she's labeled in fair condition at this point? >> you have to remember as dr. fauci said, she's been under our care for less than 12 hours. we are taking a very conservative assessment at this point. as dr. fauci said, if the situation changes or we have more time to evaluate her, that

situation may be upgraded. we'll see. >> absolutely. >> she's in isolation and vincent is in isolation, we hear about this third health care worker and believe now been isolated. in light two of the three health care workers at that are in isolation -- a one a cruise ship and one an airplane. is he frustrated they were allowed -- what would you say. would you allow that to happen? >> i'm going to tell you something about ebola and i'm

not going to specifically answer your question about who went where on what transportation. if a person is a symptomatic and body fluids that someone could come into contact with, that person is not infected. our person is in isolation because she has a confirmed diagnosis of ebola. she's not only isolation. you might equate isolation of ebola person and putting someone who has not got ebola that you're observing. those are two different concepts. she is where she is because she is sick and she needs care. [indiscernible] >> this is a research hospital. and i'm going to give dr. gallin a chance. everything is free. why don't you explain this. >> when i said there's no other

hospital like it, we've never billed a patient for anything. we will travel them here if they need money. we'll house them or their family when they're here for free. and we never send a bill. so this patient will never be charged for anything. the public pays $402 million a year to run this hospital through the generosity of the taxes. we manage that budget. \[inaudible/] >> first of all, let's be correct.

she is in isolation. but she has almost continual person to person contact. we have nurses going in, doctors going in, we can speak to her. she has her ipad, all of the things she's got person to person. when we say isolation, let it be clear this isn't a torture chamber. this is an individual who is constantly being cared for, cheered up, our nurses are spectacular. and they do that all the time. >> has she expressed any fear about her own position? we know there has been a deadly virus. has she voiced a worry about her own prognosis? >> she's a trooper, very brave. i think it would be unrealistic someone would not be worried. one more question. john. >> her mother and her sister are in the area.

>> sorry, but we have to go upstairs for another meeting. thank you for being here. we appreciate it. thank you. >> the president asked to head up coordination efforts. there is joe biden, al gore, and janet reno. she served as the senior white house aide to president obama. also the leader of case holdings. mr. plane would take a leave of absence and plan to return to the company. also this statement. -- and the chair of the house foreign affairs committee

released this statement. he says, it is right, but i have to ask why the president -- here are just a few comments we recently received from our viewers. >> when i don't watch c-span, i miss such important things. heard a small portion before the question and answer part, which was very revealing. i was horrified, and i was so

for there is c-span american people to let her have really heare can what the conservatives are like. >> i watch c-span quite a bit. arecomment that you prejudice, i do not know that you are prejudiced with each speaker but with the think tanks andthe bloviating speaker, what a bunch of paid not to stay are for greed and militarism. they put me in a group that espouses stuff like democracy and peace and justice and stuff like that. >> i am calling in regards to

your comment lines. you have republicans, democrats, and independents. there are a number of citizens of this nation of voting age who are not registered to vote and who do not vote for whatever reasons they have. i would like to make a comment but cannot call in on any of your lines. >> continue to let us know what you are thinking when watching. collis, e-mail us, or you can join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. wisconsin republican governor scott walker is running for a second term against mary burke we have live coverage at 8:00 eastern.

>> mary burke lied about her jobs plan. the tax are false. she is twisting the numbers, and it's not the first time. in the last year, wisconsin ranked third. 0isconsin gained 100,00 jobs under mary burke. >> he asked us to hold them. >> is this a campaign promise you want to be held to? >> today wisconsin is dead last in job growth. >> wisconsin lags behind most of the country when it comes to job growth. >> those 250,000 jobs, not even close. broken promises, dead last in

jobs. scott walker is not working for you. of thes called the lie year. >> if you like your health care plan you can keep your health care plan. >> it doesn't mean they are going to tell you which doctors you can go to. >> well-known and have lost their plans, mary burke says she still supports obamacare unequivocally and wants to expand it. wisconsin cannot afford liberal mary burke. >> you know who had a good idea about taxes? ronald reagan. reagan cut taxes for working families. you know what is a bad idea? governor walker. he did the opposite. cutting taxes for the wealthiest and raising them on 140,000 working families. raising taxes on working

families is wrong. >> mary burke, governor. cristk scott and governor are about to begin their debate. here is a look. gentlemen, we have an extremely peculiar situation right now. we have. governor charlie crist. florida governor rick scott, our incumbent governor, and the republican candidate for governor is also in the building. governor rick scott, we have been told governor scott will

not be participating in this debate. explain what this is all about. governor crist has asked to have a small fan placed underneath his podium. the rules of the debate i was shown by the scott campaign say there should be no fan. somehow there is a fan, and for that reason, lady and gentlemen -- ladies and gentlemen, i am being told governor scott will not join us for this debate. boo! .> ladies, this is a debate what can we say?

>> [inaudible] >> the people of florida are not about theet to hear future. >> we are not asking about governor quinn. we're talking about the situation we find ourselves in. >> do the rules of the debate say there should be no fans? >> not that i am aware of. the rules that say that no electronics can be used? >> are we going to debate about a fan, or are we going to talk about education, the environment, and the future of our state. [applause] there are serious issues facing like funding education appropriately, protecting our environment, making sure we have ethical leadership.

if he is going to give it to me, i am going to take it. platform fort a one candidate. we are opening government -- we willoping governor scott join us on stage. in all fairness, i was shown a copy of the rules that said there would be no fans on the podium. >> very strange. >> can we just get rid of the fan? >> my understanding is governor scott will be coming out. >> frank, have you ever seen anything like this?

wi-fi have not. this is remarkable over a trivial issue, no matter which side you believe you are on. >> we are placed in an awkward decision. >> governor, thank you. ladies and gentlemen, that has to be the most unique beginning inany debate, not only florida, but i think anywhere in the country. >> governor scott finally did come out to take art in the debate. you can see it in its entirety on our website. youill also show it to sunday at noon eastern on c-span. campaignof c-span's

2014 coverage. follow us on twitter and like us on facebook to get debate schedules, video clips of key moments, debate preview from our politics team. c-span is bringing you over 100 , house, and governors debate. stay in touch and engaged by following us on twitter and liking us on facebook. the third debate in the iowa u.s. senate debate between bruce braley and joni ernst. is listed as a tossup with a slight lead given to joni ernst. >> now your local election headquarters presents the final senate debate.

>> welcome to beautiful iowa. the debate for who fills the shoes. >> candidates, welcome. >> to our left is congressman bruce braley. to my right is joni ernst. thanks for being with us. >> as you can see this debate is not like the others that you have watched. the candidates have previously taken part into more traditional debate. tonight we are throwing out tradition. >> no lecterns, no filtered questions, just plain talk and honest questions. >> now for some basic roles. there will be no opening statement. each candidate will have one minute to answer the question.

their opponent will then begin than 45 seconds for a bottle. there will be a 92nd closing statement. out of respect to the candidates, the audience has been asked to hold their applause. >> we want to ask you to join us and participate by going to twitter. you can tweet us your observations and opinions and tell us if you think they are answering what they are asking. you can use the hashtag #io wadebate. we did have a coin toss to determine who would be asked the first question and braley you will have the first. let's start with your resume. you are 56 years old, has been in congress for eight years, a track record that characterizes you as a rank and file democrat that goes along party lines. you have successfully offered one bill. i guess tonight the first question is tell us about your resume and how it will assure iowa voters that you are the person who should fill senator harkin's shoes.

x i to begin by honoring the memory -- who dedicated his life to serving others into died tragically this week. my thoughts and prayers go to his wife and family. i want to thank kcau for hosting us tonight and i want to thank senator ernst for joining me. most of all i want to thank my wife carolyn, who surprised me by joining us here tonight. tonight. tim, i have introduced a lot more than one bill. i have worked with republicans to pass legislation that has benefited iowa. the first bill i introduced was a job-training bill in biofuels. community colleges train people for careers in iowa's growing biofuel industry. i passed legislation by working with republicans from georgia to help benefit one of iowa

possibly leading manufacturers to keep jobs in iowa and i pass legislation to help hire unemployed veterans and help them stay in their homes. i record has been one of helping and serving the people of iowa. >> senator ernst, let's take a look at your resume. you are 44 years old. you have been a county auditor and you are currently a lieutenant colonel in the national guard and a state senator since 2010. the heat gets turned up when you walk into washington. our senators are faced with critical national and international crisis decisions every day. i should voters consider someone with your limited legislative resume for such an important leadership position? >> first, i would like to thank our host this evening for the opportunity to be here all stop

thank you for joining me. i want to extend my heartfelt prayers to the doctors''s family. we do have a number of overwhelming things going on around the world, not just a mess but also internationally. the way i describe myself is i am out traveling across iowa is that i am an average iowa and who has had some aches -- iowan who has had some extraordinary opportunities. i have served my local community and my state and my nation. we are facing a crisis in the middle east, so i do believe i am a credible candidate when it comes to dealing with those issues. i have had my boots on ground, leaving iowa troops in iraq and kuqaiwait and will always stand up for our servicemen and women. >> thank you. >> something we could have never anticipated when this campaign began his at the forefront of everyone's mind -- the ebola virus. it is spreading around the world and right here in america.

voters are very concerned and we would like you to dress your -- direct your attention to this. >> my question is that we have now seen to ebola patience just down the road in omaha. what steps should the federal government be taking to protect me and my family? >> mr. braley, we will start with you. i know you just returned back from washington where you spent some time in an emergency meeting to discuss the response to ebola. what can you tell us tonight about what happened? >> what happened today is that it was plain talk and honest questions to the head of the agencies that are dealing with it. the cdc, the national institute of health, is a border patrol, and i asked tough questions and demanded answers on what we are doing to protect the american people. what i found was that we need to do whatever is necessary to that. if that is putting travel bans, to do that. if it means anything up travel restrictions and to do that.

if it means changing hospital protocols that patients in as alice and a pair of -- and in atlanta already taken care of, related to that. are moving companies in the united states developing vaccines, -- i had a chance to talk with some of their employees. they are developing a vaccine that is in clinical trials right now. >> miss ernst? >> this is a tragic disease that is sweeping through western africa. we have seen it now on our own shores. as a mother, to see families that are experiencing this, it is devastating. i do believe that we need to do more. unfortunately, our administration, including congressman braley, has been very reactive rather than proactive.

we have seen the threat from ebola for the past several months, and i would encourage temporary travel bans, additional screenings for travelers, continuing aid, but also supporting those that are researching and coming up with cures and prevention. >> tim, i have to respond to that. one of the things that senator ernst has made clear is that she supported a radical plan to shut down the federal government, said she would have voted for it. we learned today that that were genetically cut the funding for the cdc and the national institute for health. it also dramatically cut or in aid. you can't say you support those things when your policies you are promoting would have made it more difficult for us to address the problem.

that is why i pressed that health and human services need to get these contracts so they can get these vaccines tested and in clinical trials in africa which they are preparing to do, make this vaccine widely available and commercially feasible so that we can protect everyone. people in the united states, in west africa -- that is what american innovation is all about. >> this is, again, a huge tragedy. but again, we are seeing failed leadership coming from the congressman and president obama. we have seen the threat from ebola for the past several month s, and only today did they call hearing to address the lack of leadership within the department of health. we should have moved to this up and been working on travel bans much earlier than this, before it ever came on to american shores. >> that hearing was called by the republican leadership in the house oversight and investigations committee. they were the ones that scheduled it and that is why i made the trip out there today to be involved, to get some plain

talk and honest questions. >> i wou say yes, and i released a statement about ebola before the congressman dead. he sits on an important committee and could have been pushing for this a number of months ago, and yet again we have seen failed leadership. >> thank you. we will move on to our next topic, a sensitive one, but important that needs to be discussed. when it comes to abortion and contraception you both have different points of view. we are hoping to get some clarity on your positions. ms. ernst, we will start with you. we will go through several points, then we will have it chance to respond. you coast burned -- cosponsored the personhood amendment, meaning that a fertilized egg would be considered a person. here's the key line of the amendment -- "the inalienable life to write -- right to life shall be recognized and

protected." it did open the door to your critics that suggest the support of the amendment means you want to and all abortion, certain types of contraception, and would be against in vitro fertilization. there is a lot here and we will give you a chance to be very clear. we are going to go through each of these points one at a time. we are looking for short answers. do you believe that life begins at conception? >> i do believe that i would like to respond to all of that. i do believe in supporting life, and i believe that the united states and the state of iowa -- we do support life. i do want to believe that. i do support life at conception and i will always support life. and this is a very, very sensitive issue, as you stated, and we do have to have civil discussions when it comes to this very issue.

i will always support life but this is where we as republicans and democrats needed to come together to find those areas that we agree on when supporting life. there is an area where we have done this in the past, where democrats and republicans came together to ban partial-birth abortion. harry reid, joe biden they are democrats that supported that. congressman braley doesn't even agreed to that. preventing partial-birth abortions. >> senator ernst we will get to specifics. should all abortions be banned or are there exceptions? >> there would be certain exceptions. it is something that has to be discussed. i support life.

those things come together and there is consensus upon what is put into legislation. right now there is not consensus at i do believe in spreading life. >> you said there are some exceptions -- what would those be? >> i support life so, going back to perhaps the life of the mother, i think that would be important. again, civil discussion needs to happen. >> let's move onto contraception. would you consider banning any specific form of contraception? >> know, and this is where i have stood up and said over and over that i do support a woman's right to accessible, reliable, safe contraception. the congressman has made many mistatements about this and

those have been false by the washington post. he has been given many pinocchio's on this issue. i find it rather disconcerting that i am a woman, a mother of three daughters, to be lectured on these issues of contraception -- it's alaughable. >> one more question in regards to in vitro fertilization. because they needmay be destroyed, do you believe they should not -- >> i have a friend that has two beautiful daughters because of in vitro fertilization and i'm glad she is blessed to be a mother. >> congas and braley, we will move on. mr. braley, we would like to ask you to please be specific with your

answers. at what point during fetal development do you believe a woman should not have an abortion? >> i have always stated, contrary to what senator ernst said, that i oppose all late-term abortions that are necessary to save the life of the mother. >> can you be specific? >> it is a term that has a specific legal meaning because of existing law. when the rights of the mother and the rights of the child have significance in terms of eciding. she wants to repeal the affordable care act which would increase the cost for contraception for most iowa women by $600 a year. >> congressman, do you support life? >> i do support life. >> according to politifact, experts looked at the personhood after mendment and concluded it is too ambiguous