northwestern university where in a short time he'll deliver a speech on the economy because, well, we could all use some good news. but we start with the latest developments in texas. where a confirmed case of ebola has health officials scrambling to tamp down public fear and keep misinformation from spreading. here's what we know right now. today, health officials are working to quickly narrow down a list of 100 people that 42-year-old thomas eric duncan and his children may have potentially come in contact with since he arrived in the u.s. on september 20th. right now, law enforcement is stationed outside duncan's home. where at least four of his family members are quarantined until at least october 19th. meanwhile, duncan is in serious condition at the same dallas hospital that sent him home last week. even after he told an e.r. nurse he had just been in west africa. nbc's charles hadlock joins me live outside the hospital in dallas. and charles, are the immediate family members the only ones

being quarantined right now? >> reporter: they are the only ones ordered by the state into quarantine. now, the firefighter paramedics have been voluntarily quarantined in their homes. there are three of those gentlemen. also, the doctors and nurses at the hospital have been told to monitor themselves. the state says about 12 to 18 people came into contact with this man between the time he was showing symptoms and the seem he was admitted. where does the 100 number come from? it's concentric circles of the people he came into contact with, the paramedics, the family members, doctors and nurses at the hospital, and the people they came in contact with before this man was diagnosed with ebola. they are being told to monitor themselves and the state says even though the list is at 100 right now, it will actually probably come down as they clear that list of people who really didn't come in contact with this man at all. they're just trying to cast a

wide net, if you will, to be completely safe that they've reached everyone that may have come in contact with people who may have come in contact with this ebola patient. joy? >> all right, charles, thank you very much. thomas eric duncan is being treated at texas presbyterian hospital today thanks in part to phone calls his nephew made to the center centers for disease control and the texas health department. he made those calls out of sheer frustration on september 29th. three days after hospital staff performed tests on his uncle and sent him home with an antibiotic on the 26th. >> they said we're waiting on test results. and i'm like, here's somebody who traveled to west africa, liberia, country that's infested with ebola and he's all similarmatsimilar m symptommatic with ebola.

>> is this just a case of a hospital staff that completely failed the protocol? or is this a failure of the protocols? >> it's just an unfortunate misstep. for that to happen as dramatic circumstances as this, there's obvious reason people are paying attention to this. it should not have happened. it's not excusable. i think the important thing is that this is a very important lesson learned right now. and i think given the publicity associated with this circumstance here with this hospital in texas, i think anywhere in the country any physician or nurse or anyone in the clinic is not going to have this happen. they're going to be very well aware of the importance of doing a travel history and an importance of factoring that into your decision about how you handle the patient. >> right. >> it's a lesson learned.

>> it's a really expensive potential lesson learned. it only takes one person to make this kind of mistake. that's a little frightening that we have to rely on the common sense of a single nurse practitioner or a single hospital. it's not as if it hasn't been in the news. there haven't been a lot of americans, you have a guy -- the only reason you asked the question is because if they say, yes, i've been to west africa, you're supposed to kick into gear. >> right. yeah. i don't know what you want me to say except that it should not have happened. >> yeah. >> i mean -- you want to start bouncing on them? i don't think that's appropriate. that's not helpful. i think we need to look ahead and make sure this doesn't happen again. >> el with, let me ask you now about the quarantine process. that is one of the things they're trying to do now to contain this. how extensive is the authority of the cdc or local officials to actually quarantine someone? in texas's own health and safety code, it says failure to comply

actually results in criminal charges. how long can someone be held in that kind of quarantine? and how much authority does the government have to do it? >> well, the cdc certainly has the authority to enforce a quarantine. they've had that for a very long period of time. but if you want to look at the situation as it currently exists right now, what you're seeing is that there are going to be contacts that are going to be notified. and then determined if, in fact, they need to be followed. and you just said that on the program correctly. you may have 80 to 100 people who are potential contacts that when you speak to them, you realize they really are not contacts. and you narrow it down to a much smaller group, probably 18 to 20 or maybe a bit more who you want to follow. and by follow means, you actually monitor them. and you could monitor them in a couple of ways. one way is go home, we'll check on you once or twice a day, if you have a fever, let us know.

and there's a more enforced type of following, which is a strictly speaking quarantine where you could tell someone you have to stay in your home, you not only have to monitor yourself, but you have to monitor yourself in your home. you can't leave. whereas others may have the ability to monitor themselves without the restriction to a home. so that's the difference between a quarantine under circumstance and just monitoring without a quarantine. >> right. and very quickly, we don't have -- i want to at least sort of show the escalation now in the alarm that people are feeling about the ebola outbreak which, of course, is much, much more severe in west africa than here. now you have a couple of headlines where people are saying essentially the cdc didn't do what it was supposed to do in terms of possibility of ebola spreading here. and talk about this treatment. is there enough of it? did the cdc react quickly enough to start mass producing it as a preventive measure?

>> well, i think you're throwing a lot of things on the cdc that has nothing to do with the cdc. the cdc doesn't produce zmapp. >> right. >> well, again, it's not up to them to encourage the company. we, the nih was involved in the early research in the development of zmapp as was the department of defense. the company is making it. it is very difficult to make it in large quantities. a certain amount was made. it looked very good in animal studies. and now the purpose of what they're trying to do is ratchet up the production so we can look at it in clinical trials. and if it works, make it available to people. so it's not really the job of anybody to encourage them to do it. they're trying to do it, in fact, the u.s. government, the department of health and human services of advance research and development authority are actually funding the company to be able to ratchet up and produce this product.

so the federal government is playing a major role in trying to get zmapp available for clinical trials and distribution. >> all right. thank you very much. >> you're quite welcome. within the past hour, liber liberian officials announce they plan to prosecute when he returns to the country for lying on an airport health questionnaire which asks whether he had contact with anyone infected with ebola. he helped a csick pregnant woma who later died from the disease. he boarded a plane that would take him to dallas, texas. tom costello from washington, d.c. and can you tell us what united and other airlines are doing about sort of secondary screening of passengers coming in on international flights. >> well, first of all, that's not united airlines' job to screen passengers once they're in the country. but i just got off the phone with united airlines and united says it is proactively reaching out to all of the passengers on board these particular flights

mr. duncan may have been on to advise them that if they have any concerns or questions they should contact the cdc. but united stresses it is only doing this because thinks it's the right corporate thing to do. not because it has any medical reason to believe anybody's a risk. and, of course, as we know, the cdc has said these individuals were at zero risk because mr. duncan on board the plane that he was on that he did not have any symptoms. and if he wasn't in any way sympt sympt symptomatic, he would not be contagious. just to notify passengers that they should be aware of the facts, contact the cdc if they have any. we've been trying to reach out to brussels airline in brussels airport. because it was out of liberia into brussels. we've not been able to get ahold of anybody at brussels airlines yet. i would also make the point that most of the efforts to try to prevent this disease from spreading beyond africa are, in fact, occurring in africa.

occurring in these airport zo s zones. and you heard about mr. duncan having been given this questionnaire in which he was supposed to be truthful and honest about whether he'd been exposed to anybody with ebola, and now the health minister is alleging he wasn't. they generally will take people's temperatures, look for any signs of infection. and it would appear that he was asymptomatic at the airport, as well. once you arrive in the united states, is anybody looking for signs or symptoms of ebola? that would be up to the customs and border patrol jurisdiction that got a lot of things to worry about. is this person a terrorist, if you will? are they on a watch list? but in addition to that, the cdc has given them the things to look for. if they see somebody who looks like they might be ill. or do they have the symptoms that might suggest they have come from an environment with ebola. they're not going to get a full medical evaluation once arrived

in the united states unless you need to be quarantined. >> yeah, indeed. and it's a lot to ask the tsa to do. they do have a few other things. >> tsa isn't even involved in this. >> customs and border patrol. what is the procedure? is there anyone checking in? it's obviously not the only thing they're looking for. all right, tom, thank you very much, appreciate it. live pictures at northwestern university in evanston, illinois. where president obama -- actually, he's right there taking the stage, talking about the economic recovery. let's listen in. >> i want to thank the president, and the dean of the kellogg business school for having me. i brought along some guests. your governor, pat quinn is here. your senator dick durbin is here. your congresswoman is here.

we've got some folks who represent the chicago land area in congress and do a great job every day, danny davis, robin kelly, mike quigley, brad schneider. you've got your mayor, elizabeth tysdale. where's elizabeth? there she is. one of my great friends, former chief of staff, the mild-mannered mayor of chicago rahm emanuel is here. it is great to be back home. it's great to be back -- great to be back at northwestern. back when i was a senator, i had the honor of delivering the commencement address for the class of 2006. and as it turns out, i've got a bunch of staff who graduated

from here. and so they're constantly lobbying me about stuff. and so earlier this year, i popped in via video to help kick off the dance marathon. i figured this time i'd come in person. not only because it's nice to be so close to home, but it's also just nice to see old friends. you know, people who helped to form how i think about public service. people who helped me along the way. you know, she was a great supporter. lisa madigan was my seat mate. state senator terry link was my golf buddy. so you've got people here who i've just known for years and really not only helped me be where i am today but helped develop how i think about public service.

and i'm also happy to be here because this is a university that is brimming with the possibilities of a new economy. your research and technology, the ideas and the innovation, the training of doctors and educators and scientists and entrepreneurs. you can't help but visit the campus like this and feel the promise of the future. and that's why i'm here. because it's going to be young people like you and universities like this that will shape the american economy and set the conditions for middle class growth well into the 21st century. and obviously recent months have seen their fair share of turmoil around the globe. but one thing should be crystal clear, american leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world. it's america, our troops, our

diplomats that lead the fight to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isis. it's america, our doctors, our scientists, our know how that leads the fight to contain and combat the epidemic in west africa. it's america. our colleges, our graduate schools, our unrivaled private sector that attracts so many people to our shores to study and start businesses and tackle some of the most challenging problems in the world. when alarms go off somewhere in the world, whether it's a disaster that is natural or manmade. when there's an idea or an invention that can make a difference, this is where things start. this is who the world calls. america.

they don't call moscow or beijing, they call us. and we welcome that responsibility of leadership because that's who we are. that's what we expect of ourselves. . but what supports our leadership role in the world is ultimately the strength of our economy here the a home. and today i want to step back from the rush of global events and take a clear-eyed look at our economy. its successes and its short comings. and determine what we still need to build for your generation. what you can help us build. as americans, we can and should be proud of the progress that our country's made over these past six years. and here are the facts. because sometimes the noise

clutters and, i think, confuses the nature of the reality out there. here are the facts. when i took office, businesses were laying off 800,000 americans a month. today, our businesses are hiring 200,000 americans a month. the unemployment rate has come down to 6.1% today. over the past 4 1/2 years, our businesses have created 10 million new jobs. the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history. think about that. i'm going to be giving you a lot of good statistics. right now, there are more job

openings than at any time since 2001. all told, the united states has put more people back to work than europe, japan and every other advanced economy combined. i want you to think about that. we have put more people back to work here in america than europe, japan and every other advanced economy combined. progress has been hard. but it has been steady and it has been real. it's the direct result of the american people's drive and their determination and their resilience. but it's also the result of sound decisions made by my administration. so it is indisputable that our economy is stronger today than when i took office.

by every economic measure, we are better off now than we were when i took office. at the same time, it's also indisputable that millions of americans don't yet feel enough of the benefits of a growing economy where it matters most. and that's in their own lives. and these truths aren't incompatible. our broader economy in the aggregate has come a long way. but the gains of recovery are not yet broadly shared, or at least not broadly shared enough. we can see that homes in our communities are selling for more money and the stock market's doubled and maybe the neighbors have new health care or a car fresh off an american assembly line and these all are good things. but the stress that families feel, that's real, too. it's still harder than it should be to pay the bills. and to put away some money.

even when you're working your tail off, it's harder than it should be to get ahead. and this isn't just a hangover from the great recession. i've always said that recovering from the crisis of 2008 was our first order of business. but i also said that our economy wouldn't be truly healthy until we reversed the much longer and profound erosion of middle class jobs and incomes. so here's our challenge. we're creating more jobs at a steady pace. we've got a recovering housing market, a revitalized manufacturing sector, two things that are critical to middle class success. we've also begun to see some modest wage growth in recent months. all of that has gotten the economy rolling again, despite the fact that the economies of many other countries around the world are softening. but as americans, we measure our success by something more than

our gdp or a jobs report. we measure it by whether our jobs provide meaningful work but give people a sense of purpose and whether it allows folks to take care of their families. and too many families still work too many hours with too little to show for it. job growth could be so much faster and wages could be going up faster if we made some better decisions going forward with the help of congress. so our task now is to harness the momentum that is real that does exist and make sure that we accelerate that momentum, that the economy grows and jobs grow and wages grow. that's our challenge. when the typical family isn't bringing home any more than it did in 1997, and that means it's harder for middle class americans to climb the ladder of

success. it means it's harder for poor americans to grab ahold of the ladder into the middle class. that's not what america's supposed to be about. it offends the very essence of who we are. because if being an american means anything, it means we believe even if we -- >> oh, hi, okay. we are back. i think we just lost the feed of the president who is talking about the economy. actually, he's back. let's take a listen again. >> no matter what our circumstances with hard work, we can change our lives. and then our kids can, too. and that's about more than just fairness. it's more than just the ideal of what america's all about. when middle class families can't afford to buy the goods or services, our businesses sell, it actually makes it harder for our economy to grow. our economy cannot truly succeed if we're stuck in a winner take

all system where a shrinking few do very well while a growing many are struggling to get by. historically, our economic greatness rests on a simple principle. when the middle class thrives and when people can work hard to get into the middle class, then america thrives. and when it doesn't, america doesn't. this is going to be a central challenge of our times. we have to make our economy work for every working american. and every policy i pursue as president is aimed at answering that challenge. over the last decade, we learned the hard way that it wasn't sustainable to have an economy where too much of the growth was based on inflated home prices and bubbles that burst and that casino mentality on wall street where the recklessness of few can impact all of us, while

incomes at the top skyrocketed while working class saw theirs decli declined. we need an economy that's built on a rock. and a rock that is durable and competitive. and that's a steady source of good middle class jobs. when that's happening, everybody does well. so that's why on day one when i took office with rahm and dick durbin and others working with us. i said we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation for growth and prosperity. and with dedicated, persistent effort, we've been laying the corner stones of this foundation every single day since. so i mentioned earlier that there's not an economic measure by which we're not better off than when we took office. but let me break down what we've also been doing structurally to try to make sure that we have a strong foundation for growth going forward. the first cornerstone is new

investments in the energy and technologies that make america a magnet for good middle class jobs. so right off the bat, as soon as i came into office, we upped our investments in american energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen our own energy security. and today, the number one oil and gas producer in the world is no longer russia or saudi arabia, it's america. for the first time in nearly two decades, we now produce more oil than we buy from other countries. we're advancing so fast in this area that two years ago i set a goal to cut our oil imports by half by 2020. and we've actually -- we will meet that goal this year. six years ahead of schedule.

so that's in the traditional fossil fuel area. but at the same time, we've helped put tens of thousands of people to work, manufacturing wind turbines and installing solar panels on homes and businesses. we have tripled the electricity that we harness from the wind. we have increased tenfold what we generate from the sun. we have brought enough clean energy online to power every home and business in illinois and wisconsin 24/7. and that's the kind of progress that we can be proud of. and in part accounts for the progress we have also made in reducing carbon emissions that caused climate change. and i know that here at northwestern, your researchers are working to convert sunlight into liquid fuel, which sounds impossible or really hard. but the good news is, if you need to get the hard or the

impossible done, america and american universities are pretty good places to start. meanwhile, our 100-year supply of natural gas is drawing jobs back to our shores. many are in manufacturing. which produced the quintessential middle class job. during the last decade, it was widely accepted that american manufacturing was in irreversible decline. and just six years ago, its crown jewel, the american auto industry could not survive on its own. with the help of folks like jan and dick and mike quigley and others, we helped our automakers restructure and retool. today, they're building and selling new cars at the fastest rate in eight years. we invested in new plants, new technologies, new high-tech hubs like the design institute that northwestern has partnered with in chicago. today, american manufacturing has added more than 700,000 new

jobs, it's growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy. and more than half of all manufacturing executives have said they are actively looking at bringing jobs back from china. many of the middle class, the last decade was defined by outsourcing good jobs overseas. if we keep up these informsme investments -- with new factories opening up their doors in america at the fastest pace in decades. and in the process, we've also worked to grow american exports and open new markets. knocking down barriers to trade. because businesses that export tend to have better paying jobs. today, our businesses sell more goods and services made in america to the rest of the world than ever before. ever. and that's progress we can be proud of. now, we also know that many of these manufacturing jobs have

changed. you're not just punching in and pounding rivets anymore, you're coding computers and you're guiding robots. you're mastering 3d printing. and these jobs require some higher education or technical training. and that's why the second cornerstone of the new foundation we've been building is making sure our children are prepared and our workers are prepared to fill the jobs of the future. america thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. we sent a generation to college. we cultivated the most educated workforce in the world. but it didn't take long for other countries to look at our policies and caught on to the secret of our success. so they set out to educate their kids, too. so they could outcompete our kids. we have to lead the world in education once again.

[ applause ] that's why we launched the race to the top in our schools, praised thousands of math and science teachers. today teachers in 48 states and d.c. are teaching our kids the knowledge and skills they need to compete and win in the global economy. working with parents and educators, we've turned around some of the country's lowest performing schools. we're on our way to collecting 99% of students to high speed internet. and making sure every child at every seat has the best technology for learning. and, look, let's face it, some of these changes are hard. sometimes they cause controversy. and we have a long way to go. but public education in america

is actually improving. last year, our elementary and middle school students had the highest math and reading scores on record. the dropout rates for latinos and african-americans are down. the high school graduation ra rate -- the high school graduation rate is up. it's now above 80% for the first time in history. we've invested in more than 700 community colleges, which are so often gateways to the middle class. and we're connecting them with employers to train high school graduates for good jobs and fast-growing fields like high-tech manufacturing and energy and i.t. and cyber security. here in chicago, rahm just announced that the city will pay community college tuition for more striving high school graduates. we've helped more students afford college with grants and tax credits and loans and today, more young people are graduating than ever before. we've sent more veterans to

college on the post 9/11 g.i. bill, including several veterans here at northwestern. and a few of them are in this hall today and we thank them for their service. so we've made progress on manufacturing and creating good jobs, we made progress on education. of course, even if you have the right education, for decades, one of the things that made it harder for families to make ends meet and businesses to grow was the high cost of health care. and so, the third corner stone had to be health care reform. in the decade before the affordable care act, aka, obamacare, in the decade before the affordable care act, double digit premium increases were

common. ceos called them one of the biggest challenges to their competitiveness. and if your employer didn't drop your coverage to avoid these costs, they might pass them on to you and take them out of your wages. today, we have seen a dramatic slowdown in the rising cost of health care. when we passed affordable care act, the critics were saying what are you doing about cost? well, let me tell you what we've done about cost. if your family gets your health care through your employer, premiums are rising at a rate tied for the lowest on record. and what this means for the economy is staggering. if we hadn't taken this on and premiums had kept growing at the rate they did in the last decade, the average premium for family coverage today would be $1,800 higher than they are. now, most people don't notice it. but that's $1,800 you don't have

to pay out of your pocket or see vanish from your paycheck. that's like $1,800 tax cut. that's not for folks who signed up for obamacare. that's the consequences of some of the reforms we've made. and because the insurance marketplaces we created encourage insurers to compete for your business in my cities, they've announced that next year's premiums -- well, something important is happening here. next year's premiums are actually falling in some of these markets. one expert said this is defying the laws of physics. but we're getting it done and it is progress we can be proud of. so we're -- we're slowing the costs of health care, and we're covering more people at the same time. in just the last year, we reduced the share of uninsured americans by 26%.

that means 1 in 4 uninsured americans, about 10 million people have gained health insurance in the last year. and for young entrepreneurs like many of you here today, the fact that you can compare and buy affordable plans in the marketplace, frees you up to strike out on your own. chase that new idea. and i hope we'll unleash new d and -- new services and products and enterprises all across the country. so the job lock that used to exist because you needed health insurance, you're free from that now. you can go out and do something on your own and get affordable health care. and meanwhile, partly because health care prices have been growing at the slowest rates in nearly 50 years, the growth in what health care costs the government is down also. i want everybody to listen

carefully here. because when we were debating the affordable care act, there was a lot of complaining about how we couldn't afford this. the independent nonpartisan congressional budget office recently reported that in 2020, medicare and medicaid will cost us $188 billion less than projected just four years ago. and here's what that means in layman's terms, the single biggest driver of america's future deficits, the single biggest factor driving down those deficits. and this is a game changer for the fourth corner stone of this new foundation. getting our fiscal house in order for the long run. so we can afford to make investments that grow the middle class. between a growing economy, some prudent spending cuts, health care reform and asking the wealthiest americans to pay a

little bit more on their taxes. over the past five years we've cut our deficits by more than half. when i took office, the deficit was nearly 10% of our economy. today it's approaching 3%. in other words -- in other words we can shore up america's long-term finances without falling back into the mindless austerity or manufacturing crises or trying to find excuses tries to slash benefits to seniors that dominated debates in washington for so long. finally financial reform, to prevent a crisis on wall street from hammering main street ever again. we have new tools to prevent too big to fail, to stop taxpayer funded bailouts. made it illegal for big banks to gamble.

established the first ever consumer watchdog to protect consumers from irresponsible lending or credit card practices. secured billions of dollars in relief for consumers who get taken advantage of and working with states attorneys general like lisa madigan. we've seen industry practices changing. an argument you'll hear often times from critics is that the way to grow economy is to get rid of regulations. free folks up from the oppressive hand of the government. and you know what turns out truth be told there are still some dopey regulations on the books. there are regulations that are outdated or no longer serving a

useful purpose and we have identified hundreds that are outdated that don't make sense. those unnecessary regulations. yet to contrast that with rules, or rules that protect the basic safety of workers on the job. or rules that safeguard the air our children breathe and keep mercury or arsenic out of our water supply. these don't just have economic benefits, these are rules that save lives and protect families and i'll always stand up for those and they're good for our economy.

here's the bottom line, what i want people to know is there are some really good things happening in america. unemployment down jobs up, manufacturing growing, deficits cut by more than half. high school graduations up, college enrollment up, energy production up, clean energy production up. financial system more stable health care costst rising at a slower rate across the board, the trend lines have moved in the right direction. that's because the new foundation is now in place. new investments in energy and technology as they create new jobs and industries. new investments in education that make our workforce more skilled and competitive.

new reforms to health care that cut costs for families and businesses. new reforms that will promote smart investments and stronger economy for future generations. new rules for our financial system to protect consumers and prevent the crises from happening again. it's no surprise for the first time in more than a decade, business leaders from around the world, these are business surveys, you're familiar with these. from around the world, it's not india or china, it's the united states of america. because the housing market is healthier. because health care inflation is at a 50-year low. because our energy boom is at new highs.

because all of these things, our economy isn't just primed for steadier, more sustained growth, america's better poised to lead and succeed in the 21st century than any other nation on earth. we've got the best cards. and i will not allow anyone to dismantle this foundation. because for the first time, we can see real, tangible evidence of what the contours of the new economy will look like. an economy teeming with industry and commerce and humming with new energy and technologies and bustling with highly skilled higher wage workers. it's an america where a student graduating from college has the chance to advance through a vibrant job market, and where an entrepreneur can start a new business and succeed and where an older worker can retool for that new job.

and to fully realize this vision requires steady, relentless inve investment in these areas. we cannot be complacent. we have to be hungry as a nation. we have to compete. when we do, if we take the necessary steps to build on the foundation that through some really hard work we have laid over the last several years, i promise you over the next ten years, we'll build an economy where wage growth is stronger than it was in the past three decades. it is achievable. >> all right. let's bring in karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former communications director for the dnc. i want to remind our viewers, you can hear the rest of the president's speech streaming live right now on msnbc.com. and, karen, the speech of the president here, taking a victory lap, taking credit for economic improvements, education, health care improvements. what's the importance of doing that at this point? >> trying to shift the focus because -- he's been wanting to talk about the economy and domestic issues with the

elections coming up. but as we know, between ebola and isis, we've not been able to talk about that. so part of the goal here, i think, was to shift back to a conversation about the american economy and trying to remind people that there are some good signs in the economy. and a little bit of a -- i heard him give a similar speech on saturday night with some of the same themes and it was a little bit more of a rah-rah. and in that, i think the goal is to kind of help our members of congress democrats who are out there campaigning and specifically campaigning on the economy and job creation. >> polls do show that the economy is still the most important thing. it's still the economy at over 90%. >> yeah. >> terrorism down in the 70s. but lots of issues are important. but is the president now trying to get at how disconnected people feel? people don't necessarily perceive that the economy's doing better. >> yeah, i mean, that's an interesting choice, i thought,

on the part of the president in this speech. it's one thing to sort of tick off all of these indicators. certainly the indicators are strong. we've known, though, politically for some time the issue is, do americans feel in their everyday lives? and i think the challenge for anybody running for election on the democratic side who will be tied to president obama, whether they like it or not is to make the argument why these things matter in people's individual lives. >> yeah, i think the president laying out sort of a game plan for those democrats if they should choose to use it. karen finney, thank you very much for being here. >> you're welcome. >> all right. and coming up, crisis of confidence, can the former special agent whip the secret service to shape? we'll have congressional reaction next. hey, i notice your car's not in the driveway. yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. that's hilarious. i'm sorry. you shoulda taken it to midas. get some of that midas touch. they'll tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. all right. next time i'm going to midas.

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open enrollment ends december 7th. call unitedhealthcare today about an aarp medicarecomplete plan. you can even enroll right over the phone. or visit us online. don't wait. call now. welcome back. on monday, a new interim chief will take over the secret service and the job of protecting the president and the first family.

joseph clancy will leave his position as director of corporate security for comcast, which by the way, owns msnbc. he'll replace julia pearson who leaves after multiple revelations about security breaches on the road and at the white house. both caused after 18 months on the job. the reaction in d.c. mostly bipartisan, supports the move. >> i am pleased she did step down. the secret service needs to be looked at from the top to bottom. and if there are people that need to go, and i believe there are others they need to go. >> it's in the best interest of the country. it's in the best interest of the secret service. >> congressman, democrat from new york, my congressman, by the way, you have been very critical, is this an outcome you wanted to see? >> the secret service needs a dramatic restructuring from top to bottom, an infusion of

retraining and increased budget allocation. the secret service in terms of personnel at an optimum level is down somewhere between 300 employees to 500 employees. unacceptable particularly for an agency responsible for financial security. >> right. >> and protecting the president. >> and secret service was moved from treasury into -- is part of the problem, though, you know, ms. pearson was promoted from within, chief of staff to the previous director and maybe what they do need is somebody from outside? is that part of the change you'd like to see? the president's decision, i'm sure he would make a careful analysis of what is most appropriate moving forward. but there is cultural rot within the agen the agency. criticism is not embraced and covering up problems often leads to advancement. that is a situation desirable any agency.

you said you want to see an increased budget allocation. that's not something -- nothing seem tos go through. >> the security breaches were so significant. you talked about letting an armed man with a criminal record on an elevator with the president of the united states when you talk about someone with a knife penetrating five different layers of security and making his way into the east room. prior to that you have an interpreter who is uncredentialed, history of mental illness. this was someone charged with murder in south africa. it should cause the congress to act in a bipartisan fashion and do what's necessary beyond funding but including funding to put the agency back on track. >> one of the things i think that has been refreshing is the bipartisan nature of people's outrage about this. and there doesn't seem to be any difference between republicans and democrats, at least not on this issue. >> absolutely, i think the

bipartisan cooperation hopefully will continue in this area. nobody wants to see the president or his family's life in jeopardy. secret service is also responsible for other important things, such as our nation's financial security. it's an issue where they can come together. and hopefully when they get back to congress in november use this momentum to build on other things for the best interest of the people of the country. >> that's a good question, though. this is one sort of rare moment of bipartisanship. does bring both parties together. there have been people who are saying there's a budgetary issue. is this a budgetary issue where it seems to be more personnel behavior in leadership. is it really budget? >> budgets are a part of the problem. you can't discount the fact that the agency is down somewhere between 300 and 500 individuals. but there clearly is a management problem, which is why to your point, i think it would be appropriate to bring in permanent leadership to the outside. you've got morale issues. you have retraining concerns that need to take place. >> yep. >> and there's also

technological upgrades necessary. there are no automatic locking mechanisms in the white house. >> yeah, well, there's one manual mechanism they can do, lock the door. that's one of the things we've seen come out of this. congressman, appreciate you being here. >> thank you. we are going to turn now to ferguson, missouri, where there are allegations of potential misconduct on the st. louis grand jury that's weighing whether or not to indict darren wilson. according to several reports including the washington post and the "new york times," the st. louis county prosecutor's office is investigating an accusation of misconduct. according to "the post," the twitter user was activist shawn king. nicoles has since deleted her twitter account along with the tweet which read, quote, i know someone sitting on the grand jury of this case. there isn't enough at this point to warrant an arrest. #ferguson. and joining me now on the phone is ben krump an attorney for

michael brown's family. ben, what was your reaction when you learned of this person that was tweeting that they were talking on the grand jury and this now investigation into potential misconduct. >> it was very troubling to the family of mike brown for a number of reasons. one, they don't trust this secret proceeding. but to have a grand jury member conversing with a -- with a darren wilson supporter is even more problematic when they already think it's not a fair process. >> and you sort of answered a bit my question. does the family have confidence in the proceeding in the grand jury itself. and does the family have confidence in the prosecutor, mr. mccullough? >> they do not. and for a couple of reasons. number one, if these allegations are true they think the grand jury should be dismissed and charges should be bought and we have a jury have a trial that's

transparent that everybody in ferguson and america could see that their child is getting due process, as well. they believe there's more than enough probable cause to charge the police officer, number one. >> go on. go on. >> and number two, this whole announcement now that the cases pending for darren wilson in his office. he's going to put on hold until -- the obvious conflict of interest. if on the one hand you're trying to determine he's going to be a defendant, and on the other hand, he's your star witness in all of these other cases. it's a conflict of interest. a special prosecutor should be appointed. >> and has the family been in contact with mr. mccullough? is there a sense he's talking to the family, keeping them apprised of what's going on in the case? >> no, ma'am, not at all. >> all right. well, i guess we'll be watching. i'm assuming the family has been in touch with the federal authorities that are doing current investigation. that would be true, right? >> yes, ma'am. >> all right. thank you very much.

i appreciate you being here. and that does -- thank you, sir and that wraps things up for the "reid report." i'll see you tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern and be sure to visit us online. "the cycle" is coming up next with live coverage of the news conference about ebola from officials in dallas and that's set to start in a few minutes. thanks for watching. this is kat. setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain... when jamie says... what's that like six pills today? yeah... i can take 2 aleve for all day relief. really, and... and that's it. this is kathleen... for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. get all day arthritis pain relief with an easy-open cap. >> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85, i have an important message about security. write down the number

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action was taken because i was concerned for his life. at this time, it's coming together. >> more than a dozen people had direct contact with duncan in the u.s. that includes five children who attend various schools around dallas. there are others that are considered to be low risk or no risk at all. >> our public health officials have very old, long standing, tried and true methods for containing an outbreak. >> now, so far, none of them are showing any ebola symptoms. that is good news. but as we have been saying, it could take three weeks for the first signs to even show up. duncan himself did not start showing symptoms until nine days after he was potentially exposed. the "new york times" says duncan helped an infected woman on september 19th, she died a few hours later. another person who helped move her also died. and four days after being exposed, duncan boarded a flight to the u.s. at the time, he showed no symptoms so no one was contagious, obviously. but before boarding