we will hear from her local pastor live shortly. now, there are strict cdc guidelines concerning how duncan's remains can be handled. two options, cremation or immediate burial in a hermetically sealed casket. we'll hear live from the cdc at 4 p.m. live on that. president obama wrapped up a call with the state and local leaders on the possibility, the possibility, of additional ebola patients in the united states. the cdc continues to train health care professionals nationwide. connecticut declared a public medical emergency. >> they're intensifying and i'd like to be able to reassure the audience we are doing as much as we possibly can. >> president obama is at a big pentagon meeting this hour focused in part on the military's fight here. their role in dealing with ebola. the first 350 u.s. troops are in

west africa, setting up hospitals, training centers and labs. secretary of state john kerry says a vital part of this fight is keeping our american borders open. >> we need ebola treatment units, we need health care workers, we need medevac capacity, we need mobile laboratory and staff. we need nonmedical support. and we need ways of getting that equipment to people. we need airlines to continue to operate in west africa. and we need borders to remain open. >> other news here at home, the u.s. is stepping up screenings of passengers who travel here from ebola-stricken nations. >> there has been significant increases in the screening of passengers leaving the affected countries and we're evaluating, as i referenced, what additional measures we can take both domestically and elsewhere to better guard against that threat. >> those extra checks are starting at five of the busiest

airports. chicago, atlanta, d.c. and new york. and in omaha today nbc freelance cameraman ashoesh ka mukpo is receiving a potentially life-saving blood transfusion from dr. kent brantly. it's only possible because the two have the same blood type. we have a lot of breaking news to get to. sarah doloff is live outside the hospital in dallas, where i mentioned duncan died today. i understand you have some news for us. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, we have just received a report from the city of frisco, texas. that's about 30 minutes north of dallas. that they have received a call from someone saying they are exhibiting signs and symptoms of ebola and that they had contact with thomas eric duncan. they are in the process of transporting this patient. they are also evaluating the clinical staff and anyone else at that facility right now. we to want caution, this is not confirmed. this is just a report at this time. we're going to have a press conference about 3:30 local time

in regards to this. but let me reiterate for you, a possible second patient, someone who says they've had contact with duncan, exhibiting signs and symptoms of ebola. once again, not confirmed. now, this news comes on the heels of his death today. just before 8 a.m. the hospital confirmed that he had passed away early this morning. now, his family has released a statement. he came here actually to marry his fiancee. she released a statement which reads in part, my family is in deep sadness and grief but we leigh him in the hands of god. our deepest sympathies go out to his father and family in liberia and here in america. eric was a wonderful man who showed compassion towards all. i trust a thorough examination will take place regarding all aspects of his care. i am now dealing with the sorrow and anger that his son was not able to see him before he died. this is dramatically changed our lives. and we will be grieving for a long time. may eric rest in peace.

now, the hospital here has come under scrutiny for their decision to discharge duncan on the 24th, after he came here to the emergency room. he returned on september 28th in an ambulance and was diagnosed with ebola. from there he was in serious condition and then downgraded over the weekend to critical condition. he was on a ventilator, kidney dialysis machine. right now all officials are expressing their sympathies toward their family as well as commending the medical staff, saying this has been a real test of their health care system and that the staff did all they could and that duncan fought very hard until the end. now, his family drove down from north carolina yesterday. they were actually able to meet with doctors. they got a small glimmer of hope when they were told his fever had subsided and that his liver function had actually improved somewhat. but, unfortunately, they always knew his death was a real possibility. and they knew the severity of his condition. for now, we will wait for news of this press conference in frisco, texas, about the possible second ebola patient.

i want to remind you, they have been monitoring carefully 48 people who had some type of contact with duncan. that includes three family members and ten medical workers. we're in the window right now, a critical window, for these 48 people. most people develop symptoms of ebola eight to ten days after exposure. today for a lot of these people marks day ten. back to you. >> sarah, thank you for that report. at least from someone saying they might have that contact and checking themselves in. we'll stay on that. now we're going to a dallas pastor who is ministering thomas duncan's fiancee while in isolation. lease listen. >> judge jenkins and i went to deliver the news to her this morning, along with the boys. it was important to us that we be able to do so before the news hit the public. it was a painful and difficult time for her. she reacted as almost anyone

would, with great shock and despair. she expressed that in her own personal way, with great emotion. everyone receives news like this differently in terms of the way they react to it. she was quite emotional in her expression of sadness, but she soon recovered and was able to think clearly and begin to help us to prepare a statement for you, which i think you have probably received. >> we're now going to turn to dr. claudia hoinen,en infectious disease special at university hospital case medical center. how are you? >> i'm fine. thank you. >> let's start with what sarah doloff was just reporting. let's be precise. an individual turning themselves in and saying basically they think they have symptoms. they want that looked at. so, we have no medical opinion yet on whether that might be any kind of second case. walk us through how the medical

authorities here deal with this, particularly these 40-some people that may have had some kind of contact with what is now the first deceased ebola patient in the u.s. >> i don't know if the person who turned themselves was one of the 48. i had not heard that. but i would think that anyone coming forward in a hospital with the story of having fever and also saying they think they've had contact with an ebola patient, we would take that seriously, as i'm sure they are. things they're probably going to do is monitor the patient over the next several hours to see how things go. and also probably check some preliminary laboratory tests to see if there are any indications that there may be some clinical changes or some laboratory changes consistent with it. again, i think that by monitoring these people who have had contact, it's really the best thing we can do and make

sure that they get early care if they do start exhibiting symptoms. >> is this an area you would prefer some sort of false-positives or folks being overly cautious in saying, i feel a fever? >> i would think if, you know, somebody came to me with that history, i would certainly be overly cautious. as we know, people are very frightened by this. we want to be sure we're doing the best for the patient as well. so, you know, these are patients that we're going to want to take seriously and make sure that we are containing spread. >> doctor, on that note, thomas eric duncan originally went to the hospital with abdominal pain and with a fever. but because he did not have all the symptoms of ebola, he wasn't throwing up or had diarrhea, they ended up sending him home, not coming back for another two days. the question on a lot of people's minds, would the outcome have been different had they taken him in the first time he went? >> i think it's hard for us to say, looking back in time

exactly what would have happened to mr. duncan. i don't know all of the history that they got from him, so that would be another important piece of information for people to realize. but i think that, you know, now that we're aware that, you know, people are coming into the united states and could be potentially exposed, the rest of us are really making sure that we're asking those questions that were put up by the cdc in terms of patients with fever, abdominal pain, making sure that we are checking for any sort of travel history for them. >> and, doctor, we know thomas eric duncan was receiving this experimental treatment. can we read anything into the fact that treatment was sadly unsuccessful and what is the current treatment of ebola treatments in general? >> i think that, you know, we're really in the early stages of this.

i know that for some of the other people they used the treatment for, they were already at a different point in their disease. so, i think that it's really too early to tell. there have not been any clinical trials on this. and in he medicine sometimes we need to try things if we think they're going to work for people who are gravely and seriously ill. and so i think that by trying this medication on him, is a good idea. again, we don't know exactly when it was started in terms of his clinical coercion. it may have just been it was too late. >> doctor, this outbreak, this global outbreak, has been painful for the medical community. so far 208 health care workers have died globally. most recently we have a nurse in spain who has grown infected from trying to treat somebody who was infected. duncan's death reminds us that those of us in this country cannot keep everyone in this country safe, as i think we thought until he passed away. so, why is it so many medical

providers have passed away in this instance, and do you think -- do you detect a sense of fear in the medical community that folks could try to go in and help as they're supposed to do, as they take an oath to do, and then get sick themselves? >> as you said, we all take an oath. we all make a commitment to this field. and we hope we are strong enough to be able to help people in their times of dire need. again, fortunately, in this country, i feel safer than if i were treating ebola patients in africa. i know that currently i have a lot of things at my disposal. and i have the resources to be able to protect myself. in terms of keeping myself safe from the virus. so i think that even as a health care provider in this country, we're always diligent and we're always trying to protect ourselves and our patients from

spreading diseases. so, i think that we'll just need to, you know, get the strength and the kurnlg and i think that we are going to be fine. >> dr. claudia hoyen, thank you for your medical expertise here today. we do have all the angles on this story coming up. including, we're going to look at some of these new travel screenings. how duncan's death may change. how doctors treat it at home and how worried the rest of us should be. that and, of course, the very latest from what i mentioned earlier, the president's meeting at the pentagon. we're expecting to hear president obama's first comments here since duncan's death. later in the hour we'll look at isis. lots of fast-moving developments this afternoon as "the cycle" rolls on. play maker.. check out my ultimate meats pizza.

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the death of the first person diagnosed with ebola in the united states and now a possible second one is adding even more urgency to efforts to make sure more cases do not come here. now, we mentioned increased screenings at some of america's busiest airports. luke russert is at dulles international outside of washington. one of those five airports under the cdc's microscope. talk to us about what these screenings entail and how passengers are reacting. >> reporter: well, abby, the five airports you mentioned, atlanta, newark, jfk and dulles and o'hare, they get about 94% of passengers who travel from the west african countries that have been effected with ebola. those passengers, even if they're connecting from other states or come here directly from other countries, will be

subjected to enhanced screening techniques. what does that mean? immediately when you come off the plane from one of these countries you'll be taken by a customs or border patrol person and someone from the cdc will be present, and you'll have a handless thermometer pointed at your forehead to see if you have signs of fever. if you have a fever, you'll be directed to a health care professional who will make the determination if you should be released from the airport or undergo further medical evaluation. if you don't show signs of ebola, you'll be asked questions, asking if you could have been in contact with the ebola virus. even when you're released, your contact information will be taken and you'll be asked to keep a temperature log for 21 days. in the event you feel sick in any capacity, you're asked to go to your local hospital and actually give the doctor there this pamphlet that this customs and border patrol agent will hand you.

so, these are very intrusive measures. unlike anything from what i've talked to officials we've seen before here in the united states. and people traveling from those countries will be subjected to them. there's a lot of folks in the government, charles schumer from new york, senator, says this is a good idea. they want to keep the borders of those countries open because they want medical personnel to come in and out. they believe this enhanced technique can make a difference, at least get a good registry of people who have come from those countries who could exhibit symptoms eventually. some passengers i spoke to about this at the terminal, they said they were supportive of it. anecdotal anecdotally, obviously. once we see it put in action and more people are infringed upon, maybe we'll have a different idea after that. so far, quite a step by the u.s. government to try and shore up security against ebola in the airports, abby. >> increased, indeed. luke russert, thank you for that. let's turn to dr. howard mercale, author of "when germs

travel: six epidemics that have ini vaded america and the fears they unleashed." in this specific case, what is worse, the reality or the fears? >> oh, i think the fear is much greater than the reality. at least in the united states of america. in west africa, of course, the reality is terrible. >> doctor, what do you make of what luke russert was describing in terms of the increased security procedures at the airport, all passengers coming from west africa will be screened to see if they have any symptoms at the time, then they'll also be keeping a log over the next 20 or so days. if they exhibit symptoms, they're told to go to the hospital with a pamphlet given to them by the cdc. is this necessary? is it effective? >> well, if it's effective, only time will tell. i think it's a very measured and layered approach. i do not think it's intrusive, as the reporter stated. we are, after all, talking about

an extremely deadly disease, ebola. one thing that has not been discussed, in the case of mr. duncan, it didn't matter if we did those screenings because he wasn't exactly forthcoming where he traveled from. now that a registry is set up, that's a very good idea. >> you studied how these types of pandemics can move globally. we know ebola has surfaced in about 16 countries total. a minority of the earth's surface. was it inevitable in your view that it would surface in the united states given what an open hub we are? >> it was highly likely given both those issues. we have to realize in today's global village, an outbreak anywhere can go everywhere. we travel at warp speed around the world. you can get anywhere to anywhere else in less than 24 hours. so, it was something that we were concerned about and, unfortunately, has occurred. >> doctor, your book is called

"when germs travel: six epidemics that have invaded america and the fears they have unleashed." two questions, if you were writing this book now, would you include this ebola moment within top six or top seven? and what is the worst epidemic that has invaded america? >> well, i certainly would include this if i were writing the book today because ebola fits all of these issues in terms of fear. and particularly when a disease is especially scary, you die in a very terrible manner, and we don't know much about it, that really fits all the criteria for a fearful response to a pandemic. perhaps the worst pandemic in human history happened in 1918 with the great influenza pandemic. that probably did come from european shores but we don't know exactly where it came from. >> doctor, secretary of state john kerry spoke earlier about the need to confront this epidemic in west africa. let's take a listen.

>> i'm here this morning to make an urgent plea to countries in the world to step up even further. while we are making progress, we are not where we can say we need to be. and there is additional -- there are additional needs that have to be met in order for the global community to properly respond to this challenge and to make sure that we protect people in all of our countries. >> doctor, in order to really keep us safe here in the u.s., does most of our energy really need to be focused on west africa and containing the epidemic there? >> well, absolutely. i agree with former senator kerry that what i was saying earlier, an outbreak anywhere can go everywhere. there are no borders. there are no more boundaries. the wide atlantic ocean is not that wide at all, nor is the pacific. so, the health of other nations

far away is really very important to our own public health. and the real test here is what are the wealthy nations going to do in terms of investing in the infrastructure of these impovered nations. it's not just ebola that's the problem in west africa. it's remarkably poor infrastructure, few hospital facilities, up until recently they didn't even have rubber gloves to treat patients with to protect the health care workers. so, we really -- this is imperative that we invest in these nations to protect ourselves. >> that's a great point. doctor, thank you for joining us. president obama confronting two major national security threats this afternoon. ebola and isis. right now he's at the pentagon. isis is on the brink of a major victory. details next. to stretch around the earth 230 times. each brita filter can replace 300 of those.

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military leaders. ebola, of course, on the agenda of course. so is isis. so far those air strikes we've been doing are not having a huge effect. frustration is clearly building. we've carried out nearly 40 on 0 of them combined in iraq and syria. just this morning, u.s. is moved closer to capturing the syrian town of kobani, six miles from the turkish border. if they succeed, thousands of civilian lives will be at stake and isis will have some say on a clearer pathway into turkey. at home, the fbi pleading for the hub's help to identify americans trying to join isis. they released this video tuesday with the hopes that someone can identify the english-speaking voice on it. >> we're here in the 17th division military base just outside the city of raqqa. >> nbc chief correspondent richard engel is on the turkish border with syria for us right now. what i want to ask you is from your reporting, how much is isis

advancing and what does that say about the u.s. strategy so far? >> reporter: isis is continuing to advance. i'm right now actually in the city of orfa, close to the border but not exactly on the border. the air strikes have been intensifying in the last 24 hours or so. but isis is still moving forward. they are still entering kobani. they control at least two neighborhoods in kobani. and this has been something of a test case for the u.s. strategy. because the u.s. said it would ultimately degrade and defeat isis by attacking them in syria, by attacking them in iraq. but the whole world has watched and filmed while isis has advanced on kobani, entered the city and is continuing to move block by block, in some cases carrying out atrocities, according to witnesses we have spoken to. this is causing not only embarrassment for the --

>> nbc's richard engel -- >> reporter: in this country, let alone outrage in kobani. and we are now seeing clashes in turkey with people who feel that nothing has been done to -- >> as you can hear there, that's nbc's richard engel on the turkish border giving an update of isis advancing. we lost him on the satellite. i want to turn to jim at the pentagon where the president is meeting this hour in what some are calling a high-stakes meeting. a lot on the agenda. >> he's meeting with the commanders from around the world. the two major commands right now are africom and centcom. there are about 400 military on the ground now in liberia and throughout west africa. the first order of business is to start erecting some of those

portable hospitals that will be used as treatment centers. there will be 17 100-bed hospitals and a 25-bed hospital for caregivers and also seven labs that will test specimens from potential ebola victims. it's important to remember here that when it comes to ebola, the u.s. military will not be treating any of the patients directly. ari? >> thank you so much. and now we go to tom sanderson for more on isis, co-director of transnational threats at center for strategic and international studies. thanks for being here. >> glad to be here. >> obviously, if we take a president's eye-view here, he is balancing, as jim was just saying, this ebola crisis as well as isis. richard engel telling us isis is advancing. i want to play for you senator john mccain, who says that if we're serious about this ground troops are inevitable. take a listen. >> i say you may have to have american special forces and -- >> the white house says no.

the white house says no. >> well, he has said no to almost everything lindsey graham and i have called for every step of the way. eventually, he will have to do it. >> eventually he will have to do it. what everyone's opinions on senator mccain on these issues, we are increasingly hearing people in this field that you work saying, if we're serious about stopping isis, eventually we will have to have ground troops. is that right? >> i think that's true. turkey is dragging its feet right now just on kobani, for domestic political reasons, as well as international reasons and their disposition with syria. but if we think we're going to train up 5,000 forces in 18 months to have engage with isis and that they're going to be successful, i think that's a bridge too far. i think at some point we have to put our folks in there on the ground to at least provide better targeting for our aircraft. i think it's going to be a tremendous challenge. >> and putting troops oat ground, it's really all sdpentd ent on how successful the air strikes are. today marks two months since we

began this mission. we have hit iraq 260 times, syria 101 times. in total, 361 air strikes over the past two months. give us a sense of how successful we've been here. are we degrading and destroying isis? >> there's no doubt, we're degrading and destroying people, their equipment, locations, but they can call on fighters from up to 80 countries, tens of thousands and other local folks under their control. we now have apache helicopters we're engaging. that puts our guys much closer to the action than aircraft traveling thousands of feet above them. that's quite a step we've taken. i would be surprised if we did not see u.s. ground forces on special ops side in engagement. at some point we cannot rely on our proxy forces. they just don't cut it at this point. >> they can only do so much. >> absolutely. >> we're hearing criticism of the president from somewhat of a surprising corner, former president jimmy carter, told the

ft. worth star telegram, first of all, we waited too long to combat isis. we let the islamic state build up its money capability and strengthen weapons while it was still in syria. then when isis moved into iraq, the sunni muslims didn't object to there being there and a third of the territory in iraq was abandoned. do you agree with the former president there? >> well, to some degree. of course, hindsight is 20/20. if we had gone in earlier, inside syria or done things in iraq, stayed on, who knows what would have happened. look at all the killings against our forces inside afghanistan. what if our troops that had stayed were also being assassinated by iraqi forces? we just don't know how it would have played out. but we are where we are. i think the president is moving forward on this. but that will be a big line to cross over if our troops go on the ground. >> part of where we are is that isis is close to baghdad. some reports have them about a mile outside of baghdad. folks there fearing an attack. they cannot be allowed to overtake baghdad.

that would be a major game-changer. but do we currently have a force in place that could repel them if they said, okay, now we're going to go, we want that? >> well, we don't, if you mean we, the united states, do not have a force to repel them. first of all, baghdad is massive. it's sprawling and loaded with shia and others. isis would have a heck of a battle on their hands. nonetheless, they are not afraid of a battle where they suffer extreme casualties. we would, of course, protect our diplomats in the green zone. we would likely pull them out before the fighting got too bad. at some point we have to protect -- >> here's the bigger problem we keep hearing. i feel like it started out we have to do humanitarian intervention because of the people on top of sinjar mountain. then we're doing air strikes and it's just that. now i feel -- you're an expert on this. you're giving an expert opinion if we want to stop isis as a strategic objective we have to have more of our own folks on the ground. let's say i get that. let's stipulate that's true. when do we as a foreign policy community on democracy have the

debate over whether we want to have another middle eastern ground war here or isis like boko haram and hezbollah is a terrible organization we don't necessarily have to have another ground war to stop. when does that debate start? czink the debate starts when bodies start to come home or when the price gets too high financially. those are two of the things that generate a lot of pressure during the iraq war. we're, of course, not close to that but we are on something of a slippery slope here. we have to get the peshmerga, iraqi security forces and later on opposition forces inside syria to be the front line troops against isis. and i'm sorry, but that's going to take an incredibly long time. back to your point about going into iraq to protect yazidis and others, isis had artillery and mortars within range of our consulate. that was one of the main forces that put us in there. we did not want our facilities being destroyed from range. it would have resulted in essentially another benghazi from the point of view of media

and others. would have said, look, we did not protect our diplomats and others inside benghazi. so, that was one of the major thrusts. >> no. and if you're right about that, they may be a good reason. it just wasn't the reason we were sold. i think americans are very dubious of a humanitarian intervention that's sold one way, air strikes sold one way, six months later we're walked into a ground war. >> let's not forget, conditions change on the ground. you do have to adjust to them. you may have to go in there. that may have been the truth as we went in. things change and you have to adjust. >> we talk about folks on the ground. you're not talking about another surge, are you, you're talking about a certain number of special ops forces. >> to improve our targetability and in some cases to work alongside iraqi security forces and peshmerga who need skills the u.s. specialty operations forces bring. there are so many uses we can have here. i think it's going to be irresistible to bring those forces to bear against these fighters from isis.

>> tom saernd snderson, thank y your expertise. we'll include nfl star adrian peterson in court and then we'll return to more updates on the news of the hour and a question many americans are thinking about, how worried should you be about the threat of ebola here at home after this first u.s. death? what should you and your family be doing? the cdc briefs in less than 30 minutes. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7 it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things?

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refusing to take up marriage bans in five states, justice kennedy has granted a request from state officials in idaho to put a temporary hold on an appeals court ruling that struck down that state's ban. the other side now has until tomorrow night to responsibility. and a market alert. stocks have reversed their slide from earlier today after newly released fed minutes appear to hint that interest rates will not be raised at least any time soon. back to today's big breaking news in just a couple minutes the cdc will brief the american public on our first ebola death. we will bring that to you as soon as it happens. that will be live. the possible second ebola patient in texas is en route to the hospital. that's the ambulance right there. again, this patient claims to be showing ebola symptoms and claims to have been in close contact with the deceased thomas eric duncan. meantime, the special question a lot of us are asking, how fast could ebola spread? some of the smartest medical minds out there say the answer, not very quickly, compared to past epidemics.

how worried should folks be? let's ask "time" science editor jeffrey clkluger, "time" "chasi ebola." welcome back. in this country, ebola is not very contagious. each case seems to lead to one other person being infected, right, as opposed to measles where each case infects 17 other people. as opposed to hiv, where each case affects four other folks. the new england journal medicine wrote we must face the possibility that ebola will become endemic among human beings in western africa. what impact would that have? >> i think we have to keep in mind is that a disease like this is lethally dangerous when you look at the numbers. 7500 people have been infect sod far in africa. 3500 have died. that's a 47% kill rate.

that's terrifying. and it's a disease that ends your life in a terrible way. when your viserous breaks down and bleeds out. but it's not a terribly contagious disease. you must be exposed to blood or vomit or other bodily fluids from an infected and symptomatic person. and it has to be done within a certain window of time. if the person is incubating for 21 days and is not yet symptomatic, you're not going to contract it. so the fact that we have people with ebola in this country and we have maybe two cases so far, is an indication that it's just not an easy disease -- >> permanently in africa? >> well, permanently in africa. that's a problem. but the thing about that in africa is that if the infrastructure were on the ground, if there were a way to isolate, confine, to treat, to screen, all of the things we can do here, that disease could eventually be and rather quickly be rolled back, contained and

eradicated. when it becomes permanently endemic, that's right, that's a critical issue because it's a case of maintenance as opposed to cure and treatment. >> what you're basically saying is the answer to that question is we should not be scared right now being here in the united states. walk us through the quarantine process. you have duncan's fiancee and three of her family members -- i think it's day ten now they've been under quarantine. walk us through how long they're under quarantine and the certain things they do to make sure they're healthy. >> one thing you do is monitor, monitor, monitor. you're looking for specific symptoms. you're looking for vomiting. you're looking for high fever. you're looking for early signs of bleeding, which of course is a serious indicator of the disease. but the good thing about this is, if there is a good thing, is that it has a very critchley confined incubation period. so it's 21 days. if at the end of 21 days you are not symptomatic, you're free to go. and the other goods thing is it

usually doesn't take that long. so, if these folks have been in quarantine for ten days, every additional day they're there and they're asymptomatic reduces the odds they're ever going to have a problem. >> jeffrey, there is a lot of fear and a lot of misinformation here in the u.s. and actually we don't have a surgeon general. and haven't had one for over a year, due oddly to the fact that the nra didn't like the surgeon general nominee that president obama had chosen. i asked former surgeon general regina benjamin what the impact of not having a surgeon general was and what they would be doing. she said the surgeon general is america's doctor, delivering information to the american people in a language they can understand. not having one right now, you don't have that face and that person that the american people can identify with as the doctor who's looking out for them on a large scale. do you think that's right? >> yes, i think that's right. and i think it is a real loss in this situation that we don't

have such a person. i look back at surgeon general coop 30 years ago during the true aids panic. it was much like this. people were terrorized. the surgeon general is the person who kept coming forward and saying, on the one hand, let's take a deep, cleansing breath and get ahold of ourselves. on the other hand, this is a dangerous disease and this is what we have to do. in fairness, thomas frieden from the cdc has been doing a fantastic job. >> but he has another job. >> that's exactly right. when you force people to multitask, it's a zero sum game. every hour he spends briefing the press is an hour he can't spend managing this disease. for nonpartisan reasons, we have to get these posts filled. there's a reason they were created. we need the people to do their jobs. >> so, when you look at americans reacting to this and you look at the fear out there and we in the media cover this, it's a big story, but we try to be clear about what the level of risk is. when people are making a mental

error, a mental mistake and overestimating this fear, does covering that as we've tried to do now, or as you've mentioned here, does that help or, if we're going to be realistic, because this is fear, because you have a reaction to looking at this very scary degradation and how quickly people are dying from this disease, is that really a hopeless endeavor to educate people this is not a major a threat as compared to other things they could -- >> that is the basement of the brain. that really is a part of the brain that reacts to this. you're righting. it's a double-edged sword. when we're talking about ebola, even when the context of our conversation is, you don't have to be scared, when people are listening, they're just selectively hearing, ebola, charity, chatter, ebola, chatter, chatter. the constant repetition of the word gets people scared. you're right, there is on cable news o radio, on tv, everywhere,

there is this overhyping of the risk simply because it's scary. but we have to be able to hold two competing thoughts in our head. scary thing, the odds are i'm safe. we're not a good species -- >> that's hard to do. >> yes, this is a real thing but here's the reality for you. thank you for helping us understand all of that. up next, the very latest on the president's meeting at the pentagon on ebola and isis. that is happening right now. [♪] great rates and safety working in harmony. open an optimizer +plus account from synchrony bank. visit myoptimizerplus.com to open an account. service. security. savings. synchrony bank engage with us. ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money?

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>> in just about ten minutes the cdc will weigh in on the first ebola death right here in america. top officials and doctors have repeatedly assured the u.s. is equipped to contain any outbreaks but duncan's death raises concerns about those claims. ifs 4,000 troops 4,000 troops are heading to west africa. what more can you tell us. >> president obama will be briefed on the u.s. military efforts to combat this disease, as you said they are sending over 4,000 troops, more than initially anticipated, initially they said they would send over 3,000 troops. so they will help celtibe helpi

labs and train personnel to deal with this disease. so they are dealing with this disease at its roots, and that is, addressing it in west africa. that is why you are seeing this administration sending so much military personnel over there. they are not going to be treating people who are sick, they will be setting up treatment centers and help train personnel. they will under go training for how to protect themselves to make sure they stay safe, particularly before reentering the united states. they believe this is key to treating the outbreak and to stomp it out at its root. >> homeland security will mention increased airport screening as well whax do you know about that? >> president obama announced earlier this week that there would be increased screening at airports across the country. today we're getting a clearer

look at how that exactly will play out. so at five of the nation's major airports there will be increased screenings for travellers who are coming from the west africa nation that are impacted by ebola. that's about 94% of people coming in from west africa. so those people coming in will go to screening locations within the airport. they will have their temperature taken. they will have to fill out question airs and they will be closely monitored before they are allowed to leave the airport. cdc officials will check for signs that are consistent with this disease. only then will they be allowed to leave the airport. president obama getting briefed on all of that today. we anticipate we will hear from him. >> let me play from john kerry speaking about that effort today. take a listen. >> we need to continue to

operate in west africa and we need borders to remain open and we need to strengthen the medivac capacity. we need other african countries with the capacity why to send responders to join the effort and we need to make sure the health care worker who's go are properly trained, popperly equipped and supported to prevent additional infections. >> the u.s. holding this as a model for how to deal with this? >> i think certainly you heard president obama saying the u.s. is leading the effort in terms of trying to combat this but there has been some missteps here, obviously in the united states, we saw that in the tragic case of mr. duncan who passed away towday in texas. so also acknowledging the fact

ha mistakes have been made, so they are trying to get a broader effort at it, making sure hospitals across the country don't repeat the mistakes made in dallas. thank you so much. we're back right after this. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone.

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>> this wraps up another hour of breaking news on nbc. alex wagner picks up next on that live cdc briefing from washington on the first ebola death in the united states. >> thomas eric duncan contracted ebola by helping a pregnant woman in desperate need for that

act of kindness he paid the ultimate price. it's wednesday, october 8th and that is "now.." >> now is the sometime for action. >> the first patient to be diagnosed with ebola in the united states has died. >> this is a critical moment. >> a lot of questions about who dropped the ball. >> the body of someone who just died of ebola is especially infektious. >> ebola is a urgent global crisis. >> everyone who has been to west africa will get a questionnaire. >> there have only been six people treat in this country for ebola ever. >> we're learning a lot about this disease. >> i heard a doctor say to me we're in a brave new world here. >> we need people to step up now. >> this i