brantly. this is the third time brantly's blood has been a match. he also donated to dr. richard sacra, who has recovered and to ashoe mukpo, the freelance cameraman. he continues to improve and says he's on the road to good health. in dallas, nina pham is one of nearly 70 health care workers who treated done duncan, in addition to the 48 people who were possibly exposed before duncan was put into isolation. there's plenty of worry this afternoon, but also plenty of reason to trust in america's handling of this admittedly scary situation. msnbc ronan farrow is in dallas. what else do we know about this nurse and anyone she might have unknowingly exposed? >> reporter: that's exactly the update we're waiting on from the cdc right now. obviously, nina pham's case placing a renewed spotlight on

health care workers. previously it was how many mikz of the community were monitored. state for updates on that. i know you'll carry any news that comes out of that. nina pham is reportedly in good condition, even in good spirits, facetiming with family and friends and releasing this statement today. i'm doing well. i want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers. i'm blessed by the support of family and friends and blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world here at texas health presbyterian hospital-dallas. that's exactly the kind of sentiment we've heard across this community, krystal. she mentioned good wishes and prayer. there was actually a special prayer vigil at her family church last night, a catholic church, predominantly vietnamese-american. it's about 30 minutes from here in ft. worth. i went there last night and spoke to members of the congregation who to the last person told me, this is an incredibly giving young women. she just received her certification for critical care in recent months and she was committed to this job.

here's what the priest, after the ceremony, told me, father jim koyie. take a listen. >> before she got infected, her mom told her that maybe you can quit. she likes her job. and she's very responsible. i think that's a good person. she feels it's her job and her responsibility, more important than her life. so i respect that. >> reporter: and, krystal, that's exactly the sentiment we heard across this community. an extraordinary outpouring of love and support. now the question is, how many other health workers might be under threat? again, we're likely to receive word on that from the cdc update. >> ronan farrow doing great work in dallas. while this is the first human-to-human case of ebola in the u.s., it is not the first time ebola has been on u.s. soil. back in 1989 a strain of ebola

infected imported monkeys in reston, west virginia. thankfully that strain of ebola was only one of five strains that does not, does not, impact humans. the government euthanized nearly 500 monkeys out of precaution. if that sounds familiar, that's because it was the focus of the 1994 best seller "the hot zone." more infected monkeys were destroyed in texas in 1996. and in both cases, unlike this current one, that strain of ebola was believed to be airborne. the cdc has been adamant in warning this current strain is not airborne. but an expert who ran the army's response back in '89 says he is not convinced that we have enough data at this point to determine that. virologist c.j. peters is the author of "virus hunters: 30 yirz of battling viruses around the world." he also ran the pathogens brand

for the cdc during the ebola outbreak in congo. the cdc calls your study the most extensive on ebola's transmissability. do you think there is a risk of this current strain of ebola morphing into an airborne virus? >> oh, i think it would be very, very unlikely. we looked -- because we had been involved with the reston episodes and there were some indications from the epidemiology it could be airborne, we looked very carefully and we saw no evidence of airborne transmission in families. actually, scott dale went to the homes and mapped out each person, what they did. and the only transmission we saw were people who were actually caring for patients or who were directly exposed to blood or body fluids. >> doctor, as -- go ahead.

>> i think the epidemiological evidence is very strong. >> as krystal was just mentioning, you worked on in 1989 this ebola outbreak in hundreds of monkeys. now there's this concern whether or not it was transmitted from dogs. you have the dog in texas from the nurse that they say might be euthanized like the dog in spain. although there is zero evidence that this has spread through dogs at this point. are we at risk here for that? >> i would agree. i think that dog just needs a good shampoo. >> so very low risk there in terms of transmissability from a dog or a pet? >> correct. >> doctor, i want you to help me understand and explain to the folks how a cure for ebola can be created or is being created. i understand some of the science that the virus has spikes on it that help it break into human

cells and, thus, replicate and blocking those spikes helps us create time for the body to create the antibodies needed to defeat the ebola virus. i found a nova special that explains and shows some of this. let's run a bit of that. >> in monkeys, the antibodies latched onto the ebola spikes and stopped them from sticking to cells. unable to pass through the cell wall and reach the interior, the virus can't replicate. by slowing the spread of the virus, the immune system is able to catch up, producing more of its own antibodies to defeat the virus. >> can you explain a little more, expound a little more on how we are able to create this cure? >> well, one of the problems we've had, at least in monkeys, convalescent plasma has an

insufficient bodies of antibodies to be of use. they have made mono clone antibodies which produces a single antibody. if you can get the right mono clonal antibodies they should be able to help considerably. that's been the origin of this three monoclonal mixture that's been given. >> doctor, we mentioned your book, your work and your story many people say has inspired a new generation of virus hunters. what does that mean for our audience when you you talk about virus hunters and where does the funding come from? how could that help us on these kind of challenges. >> well, i actually wrote the book in 1985 when this kind of virology was having a real slump in funding, and i was trying to convince people, young people, to go into the field. because so many of them were just -- so many of us were just

getting ancient. so, we got an upswing in funding partly through the biological warfare scare. and we think that nih has really done well by us until recently. cdc is suffering. the army has done well by us also. >> doctor, are you encouraged by what we've seen from zmapp and brincidof the ovir, are you encouraged we may find a treatment or vaccine in the relative near future? >> well, i think the zmapp is very promising. it works very well in monkeys. and monkeys are as sensitive as humans and mimic humans, so i think that's a good start. the drugs, well, we'll see. the issue of vaccines is another

story. we've got two very promising vaccines that are being rushed into -- into usage. and i think they will be used in time to see the tail end of this epidemic. both made by putting the innocuous protein of ebola, the spike protein, into a vector that's very temperate and that vector then expresses the protein and you get immunogecity without it turning into ebola. we think it's very useful and has worked well in monkeys. >> from a research standpoint, have we learned anything new about the virus during this outbreak? >> well, we're learning that it can cause a bigger outbreak than we ever suspected, that's for sure.

in the 1995 zaire outbreak we had about 400 cases and that was thought -- that was the biggest outbreak up until that dime. and now seeing this, it's very impressive. and i think that we will start to learn things when we look back retrospectively at the epidemiology and begin to trace thing as long that direction. >> doctor, how do you evaluate the u.s.'s response, both here and in west africa? >> well, the response here has been good. i think that there were a couple of hiccups, but i think they were understandable. the response in africa has been difficult. i mean, really, that's -- that's a money problem as much as anything. you need money and people and

structures to house patients. and we have not yet come through with a lot of -- a lot of those. the money is on the way. the army's going to build the structures. but they're not -- it's not there yet. >> doctor, we're waiting any minute here to hear from the cdc in these daily briefings that they have been holding. you, of course, worked there, as we mentioned, and oversaw some of the reaction to the zaire outbreak. as americans watch these briefings and now see a lot live on television, what is it important for the cdc to impart? if you would, tell us what do you think of what they're doing so far, because americans are afraid on the one hand, and that's why we cover this and it's important, on the other hand as you've been mentioning and many experts have told us, we're not looking at anything like an outbreak? i think we're going to go to it. we're going to go to it. this is the cdc. >> the director of cdc's public affairs. you're going to be hearing today from two speakers and then we'll take questions. we'll be taking questions both

from the room and on the phone. for those of you who are in the room, would you please take the microphone and offer your name and affiliation. because of the volume of questions we're having, could you please limit it to one question and then we'll come back around if there's time later. my first speaker is cdc director dr. tom frieden. >> good afternoon, everyone. today we're going to focus on two aspects of the response to ebola. first, what we're doing to improve the safety in our health care settings. second, what's going on with contact tracing in dallas. i'm delighted to be joined by dr. david lakey, who's in texas along with the excellent team from the texas state and the county health departments, as well as more than 20 staff from

cdc who are helping with all aspects of the response. in dallas what we've done over it is last 48 hours to improve infection control there is send a team into the field. and we've sent cdc's most experienced staff, people who have worked on ebola outbreaks for decades, people who have stopped ebola outbreaks in very difficult situations in africa, people who are experts, leading the world in everything from laboratory science to infection control to hospital administration, and we're working hand in glove, side by side, with the folks at the hospital and with the teams from the health departments in texas as well as the county leadership and the state. some of the things the teams are doing to improve safety are looking at every step in the procedures.

and those experts are making immediate enhancements in what's being done. i'll mention three in particular, although there are three of just a large series. the first and most important is ensuring that every hour of the day there is a site manager there who is overseaing aspects of infection control. that individual makes sure that the personal protective equipment is put on correctly and taken off correctly. in fact, in our work, stopping ebola in africa, this is the single most important position to protect health workers. a single site manager who's expert and oversees every aspect of the process. second, we're enhancing training. ongoing refresher, repeat training, including by two

nurses from emory, who have carried for ebola patients and are assisting and training other nurses and staff at the hospital in dallas. and third, we're recommending that the number of staff who go in for care be limited. we want to limit the number of staff who are providing care so that they can become more familiar and more systematic in how they put on and take off protective equipment. and they can become more comfortable in a healthy way with providing care in the isolation unit. those three general steps are very important. and we're also doing many other things, looking at everything from the type of personal protective equipment used to the procedure for putting it on and the procedure for taking it off. now, i've been hearing, loud and clear, from health care workers

from around the country that they're worried. that they don't feel prepared to take care of a patient with ebola. that they're very distressed that one of our colleagues now has contracted ebola and is fighting the infection in dallas. a single infection in a health care worker is unacceptable. and what we're doing at this point is looking at everything we can do to minimize that risk so those who are caring for her do that safely and effectively. there are certain additional things that we will be doing going forward. one thing we want to make sure is that whatever is done with where care is provided, every hospital in the country needs to be ready to diagnose ebola. that means that every doctor, every nurse, every staff person in an emergency department who cares for someone with fever or other signs of infection needs to ask, where have you been in

the past month? where have you been in the past 21 days? have you been to liberia, sierra leone or guinea? that's important. that will reduce the risk that someone will come into a hospital and not be diagnosed. the fact is that usually infections in health care settings spread from someone who is not yet diagnosed. so, we have to shore up the diagnosis of people who have symptoms and who have traveled. the second thing that we will be doing, starting today, is establishing a cdc ebola response team. for any hospital, anywhere in the country, that has a confirmed case of ebola, we will put a team on the ground within hours with some of the world's leading experts in how to take care of and protect health care workers from ebola infection. that will include experts in

infection control, in laboratory science, in personal protective equipment, in management of ebola units. experts who will assist with experimental therapies, public education and environmental controls. we have at cdc some of the absolute best experts in the world. they've devoted their lives to stopping ebola. many of them, like myself, are physicians trained in infectious diseases and public health. others are specialists in laboratory science or outreach, experts in everything from contact tracing to epidemiology, to what it takes to stop an outbreak in different settings. they will look at everything from the physical layout of care to the personal protective equipment used. they will bring supplies of personal protective equipment. they will assist with transport of patients, should that become necessary. they will assist with waste

management and decontamination. in addition, for training of health care workers throughout the country, we will be ramping up webinars, conference calls, outreach, support through hospitals, hospital associations, professional associations, state and local health departments and more. i'd like to now turn to the situation in dallas in terms of infection control. i'm sorry, in term of contacts, and just outline where we are. first, our understanding is that the nurse remains in stable condition. and we're thinking of her -- i am thinking of her constantly and hoping for her steady recovery. for the first patient, the index patient as we call him, there were 48 contacts. those contacts have now passed more than two-thirds of their risk period. they've all passed more than 14

days. and while it wouldn't be impossible that some of them would develop the disease, they've now passed through the highest risk period. and it's decreasingly likely any of them will develop ebola. second, for the nurse who's now hospitalized, there was one and only one contact. that is a representation of what happens when you do active monitoring, when you do contact tracing, and when you encourage people to come in for care promptly. in the first patient who had ebola in the u.s., 48 potential contacts. in the second, one potential contact. and that individual had contact before the nurse was severely ill. the nurse is not severely ill now. and generally people are not highly infectious at that point. so, we will hope that he does not develop infection. third, since the nurse did develop infection, we can't rule

out that other people who cared for the individual -- the first patient, the index case, had exposure. our teams have been working very hard to cast a wide net and identify everyone who might have been exposed in that circumstance. that includes anyone who went into the room. and that includes people who might have handled specimens of blood that were taken from him. at this time the team has identified 76 individuals who might have had exposure to the index patient. of those 76 individuals, all will be monitored for fever or symptoms on a daily basis actively. i know it's in the media and there are several of those individuals who have been concerned about their health and come in for care and been evaluated. dr. lakey will outline the

results of those evaluations. i will share you with that it is very anxiety-proceed sprovoking potentially be exposed to ebola. every time i had the slightest sore throat or headache, i was concerned. that's what we want health care workers to do. be concerned about their health if they are in this group of 76 individuals and, if so, come in for care rapidly so they can be assessed. we would much rather see a false alarm than someone who lets their illness go on for a day and potentially get sicker and potentially exposes others. so, that's the system as it should work. we want people to come in if they have any symptoms. given that there was one patient -- the second patient, the nurse did get infected, it is possible we will see other people become ill. we hope that won't be the case. and i don't want anyone to take

out of this that there were 76 exposed people. there are 76 people who had some level of contact. and, therefore, are being actively monitored. so, i'll stop there and turn it over to dr. lakey for details of those individuals and any -- >> all right. that was the latest from the cdc with director tom frieden. we want to thank dr. j.c. peters who joined us. new up next, high-level talks between president obama and defense officials from around the globe. will there be a breakthrough on how to handle isis? and the storm gathering steam with 24 million americans in its path. we're tracking it and get you up to speed as "the cycle" rolls on for tuesday, october 14th. love the real scratch made taste of warm nestlé toll house cookies? well with new nestlé toll house frozen cookie dough, you can bake as few or as many as you please. whenever your sweet tooth comes calling,

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happening right now, a high-level meeting at andrews air force base. the president talking isis strategy. it's not just our guys. representatives from more than 20 countries are attend, including turkey. and the stakes are high. air strikes have been unrelenting. hundreds since the offensive began. yet, they've been relatively ineffective. in fact, the pentagon claims strikes on the syrian border town of kobani are the largest so far, yet isis fighters continue to advance. nbc's jim mick is at the pentag. >> those 21 coalition allies, including the u.s., are gathered at andrews air force base just outside washington to sort of review the bidding, go over the strategy, go over the tactics, to see who is willing and able to provide what to this fight, this united front, against the isis fighters in iraq and syria. but i can tell you that the one

major concern here is that, for now anyway, it appears that isis, both in syria and iraq, is more committed to seizing more territory for their caliphate than the coalition is committed to up-ending and driving isis out of iraq. and that may be because you have so many disparit countries, with so many disparit interests involved in this fight. that's why president obama is there, to give a few atta boys, slaps on the back, thanks for joining the coalition, thanks for your support. but also try to extract from them in the long term a much more strenuous commitment to this fight. just to show you how complicated this all is, the u.s. has launched, oh, some several dozen air strikes around the kobani area, which is under fire from isis and where the -- those

kurdish rebels, the pkk, are putting up according to officials one hell of a fight and for now standing their ground. while the u.s. is bombing to protect the pkk, just overnight turkey launched air strikes against the pkk in turkey. over a long-standing civil war that they've been having for years. again, while we're protecting one element, turkey, our ally in this fight, is attacking that element. it can't get any more complicated than that. >> thank you for that update. we appreciate it. uniting the country around isis, whatever it is, is not helped by the president's low approval ratings. democratic candidates don't seem to want the president anywhere near their midterm elections. can you really blame them? the public seems to have lost all trust in the president. when you look back on all of that hope and excitement of 2008, who would have thought we would be here now? so, what happened to that barack obama? well, friend of the show and

editorial directofor "the huffington post" howard feinman has been asking the exact same thing. howard wrote about it in his new article out today, making a few headlines today. i want to get right to your op-ed where you write, remember the fresh promise of barack obama? what happened to that guy? what happened to that fresh idealistic guy? what happened to his power and popularity in the united states? why doesn't he dominate the political stage the way he once did? why isn't he as effective as we thought he would be? howard, you break it down pretty simply. it comes down to president obama himself. >> well, that's one part of it, abby. i was moved to write this piece because "the huffington post" now has a lot of international editions. we have 11 of them, as a matter of fact, around the world. and they asked me to write a piece trying to explain this. and so i tried to stand outside of the united states, if you will, and kind of look at it from way above. and explain things to people around the world who don't necessarily follow american politics as closely as we do.

and, of course, one thing we have to take note of is the fact that most presidents, this far on in a two-term presidency are hitting a low point, that's the natural physics of presidential politics. beyond that, there are a lot of reasons about confusion about his role and doubt about his role that didn't exist before. i would put number one on the list, and i did put number one on the list, the middle east. now, jim was just talking about the complexities over there right now. but don't forget, barack obama was essentially elected to halt wars, to end wars, to get us out of that region successfully. and now he finds himself, for better or worse, not only raining bombs and drone strikes and so forth on the region, but kind of resisting calls half-heartedly i would say or whole-heartedly, we don't really know, for boots on the ground. that's undercut him with one part of his original base. and i think another problem that he has created for himself in

this case is that he has given some times to making categorical statements. he didn't do this so much as a candidate, but as a president he's drawn various lines in the sand reer toicly about syria, about health care, about ebola even. just a couple weeks ago he said it was very unlikely that ebola would reach the united states. two weeks later, the first victim died in dallas. that kind of thing wears on his reputation and wears him down on his leadership. lastly, i would just say that he's kind of -- he's not a roll his sleeves up in public, get his hands dirty in public kind of guy. right now, i think, that's required. that's something that's not his strong suit. >> really interesting piece that you wrote there, howard. turning to another story that has been making a lot of waves in politics, wendy davis up with a new ad about her opponent, greg abbott there in texas. they're both running for governor. she's essentially making the argument that abbott, he sought

damages after being injured in a tragic accident and that as attorney jernlgs he has worked against other texas citizens, trying to seek the same sorts of damages, essentially calling him a hypocrite. she's faced a lot of blow-back for the ad. she was on with our own andrea mitchell earlier today, defending ad, defending the decision to go up with this. do you think the blow-back here is ultimately going to be worth it? >> well, i think it was -- obviously, it was an extremely risky move. she and her advisers felt they had to try to do anything they could to try to reverse the situation there. texas remains, at least in this generation, a very red and mostly republican state. it's an uphill battle for her. had i been in that room, i would have told her not to do it because i think there's a risk whenever -- whatever the circumstances are in the legal explanations about hypocrisy, and you know, it's true that he

is being a hypocrite, this is the kind of situation where the visual trumps the literal. you show the picture of the wheelchair. that's a hard thing to do when you're -- when attacking a candidate, very hard. and i think it was probably slightly beyond the bounds, even by the wild standards of texas. >> howard, last night once again alison grimes refused to say who she voted for for president. this is getting really tired. let's roll a little bit of that. >> why are you reluctant to give an answer to whether or not you voted for president obama? >> bill, there's no reluctancy. this is a matter of principle. our constitution grants here in kentucky the constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box, for a secret ballot. you have that right. senator mcconnell has that right. every kentuckien has that right. >> even you have that right, howard, but you don't exercise

it when you're running for office. i mean, i think the only thing worse than an unpopular vote is lacking the conviction to stand up for it. if you were in the room, what would you be telling her to have done? >> well, i think this is -- if you're a democrat and you're hoping for an upset in kentucky, this is just a disappointment because i think in virtually every other respect she -- she fought mitch mcconnell to a standstill last night in that debate. this was her first debate up against a guy who's been doing it for 30 years. i thought she did very well. you know, chuck todd said that comments like these on her part made her disqualify herself. i think that's a little harsh. i think you could disqualify mitch mcconnell for claiming that he doesn't know whether science says that human activity has anything to do with global warming, for example. but she's the one who's in the soup here. and the reason is, again, it's such an obvious painful sound bite. she can't get around it. and it seems like she's

insulting the intelligence of the voters in kentucky. and it's a shame because mcconnell's on the air now with ads in kentucky, using chuck todd, by the way, and it's just -- it's just a killer because it allows mcconnell to then try to question everything else about alison grimes' credibility, which is ufrt unfortunate. as i say, she's run a good campaign so far. >> you make a good point, it was a strong debate against a strong debater. you have mcconnell saying, well, kentucky should get to keep connect, state health care. the top republican in the senate saying, keep part of obamacare. yes, politically that's not the headline because it is totally insane to say when you're running for office that you get to have the privacy of the ballot box. she's running on a bunch of positions and which type of president she wants to work with is one of them. i wanted to go to another important story. zach roth interviewed eric holder. let me read a response, going back to texas, his victory there on stopping voter i.d.

he says a lot of questions were raised about our ability to do what we did in texas but we decided after shelby, the supreme court striking down vra, that as a department we're not just going to throw up our hands. and then the attorney general says today here to msnbc, president clinton and i both called voter i.d. a poll tax and it's heartening to hear that the judge agreed. the case will go up on appeal. what do you make, though, of attorney general eric holder taking something of a victory lap on his efforts to stop voter i.d. in texas? >> well, i think he's -- he knows that it's time -- its legacy time, so to speak, as he prepares to leave as soon as a new attorney general is confirmed. but which, by the way, could take a while, so he may be around. but i also think he's trying to help the democrats here by raising the issue of vote er suppression, of efforts by republicans to limit voters. because this is the kind of thing paradoxically, or maybe

obviously, i guess, is going to motivate african-american voters, such as north carolina, for example. who knows if it will turn the tide in texas. but in a place like north carolina, it's crucial. and our reporting at huffington post says blacks in north carolina are eager to vote. these kind of talk and actions by republicans, highlighted by eric holder in these kind of situations, opposed by eric holder, are things that can inspire black voters. democrats are telling them, if you don't stick with us, your voting rights will really be in trouble. >> howard feinman, a man who can handle it all. thanks. >> thanks. coming up, it could be a washout end to the week. a check on the major storms headed our way.

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tornado says. if there was any time for raffy to make his return to "the cycle," it's today. >> i missed you all summer long. but great to be back. we have a beast of a cold front now across the northeast and to the southeast. let's take a look at that. lots of folks are dealing with that intense severe weather threat thought the day today. this front extends from canada down toward the gulf coast. heavy rain now in the great lakes. all of this moving towards florida. in is our focus of severe weather throughout the afternoon. we've already seen numerous reports of wind damage. the area in yellow here, that's where the greatest risk for severe thunderstorms are. wind damage will be the main threat. we could see a few isolated tornadoes as we head into the afternoon and evening. atlanta, you're in the clear. that's the good news. the storms have already moved east. a tornado watch in effect for portions of the carolinas and latest severe thunderstorm watch now in effect for southern south carolina, portions of -- places like charleston, savannah also dealing with that threat. tomorrow this becomes our problem here in the northeast. new york city, it's muggy.

tomorrow it turns stormy late in the day. and the cold front gets hung up here. so, storms again expected up and down the east coast. even down to miami. tomorrow's the last real warm day here in the northeast before this cooler air works in. now, the tropics really heating up. this is puerto rico, hurricane gonzalo, gaining strength throughout the day. we are expecting this to be a major hurricane, major category 4 hurricane with winds 140 miles an hour by tomorrow evening. the good news is it curves away from us. the bad news is making a bee line for bermuda. this could be a direct impact for the island of bermuda as a category 3 major hurricane. the potential for a devastating blow there. and that's on friday morning. so, again, lots of folks who have plans to bermuda have to cancel those plans, obviously. a very dangerous time coming ahead. i'm meteorologist raphael miranda. now "the cycle" will be back. so guys -- it's just you and your honey.

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secretary of state kerry is meeting with his counterpart in paris. >> the differences, but then we have major responsibility together and our countries have an ability to be able to cooperate and work together.

and it's important we believe to find those areas where you can cooperate and where we can make a difference. >> sounds nice but the u.s. remains concerned about russia's interference in a range of conflicts from antagonizing ukraine to backing assad in syria, while russia wants the west to curtail those recent sanctions. now, as these diplomats huddle, any major breakthrough still depends on this guy, vladimir putin, who elicits reactions like this from other heads of state. >> look, i'm going to -- mr. putin, you bet you are. >> you bet he is, that's the reaction from australia's pm. he was talking about literally tackling putin in the apparent downing of that mh-17 civilian aircraft. before putin was running russia, he was an unlikely leader. a frustrated spy, a municipal bureaucrat who built his power base with a loyal band of cronies. if u.s. officials want to outfox

putin now, a man who sees himself as russia's super hero, they need to know his origin story. that's the plot of a new scholarly book. thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> let's start with a great line you dug up with an older, earlier vladimir putin where he says, i remember coming into the kgb building where i worked feeling as if they were plugging me into an electrical outlet. in the kremlin i have a different position. nobody controls me here. i control everybody else. it's a striking line. but deep down, it may not be that different from what motivates many politicians in many different systems. what you document is how it is more dangerous because he has also bent the government, the society and even the financial system to his whims. >> you're absolutely right.

but how many other leaders really say that or think like that? i mean, george bush, barack obama, jim cameron -- david cameron, do because i want to es cape control. >> right. >> i think it is a extremely telling statement that somebody, becoming president of russia from the kbg where they are completely controlled, and probably he was controlled all the way up. and that's really, to me, the real conclusion of the book. that he was, he brought people with him but was also pulled along by a lot of former kgb or current senior kgb people. >> we have sanctions are they starting to bite and is there anything in putin's history that would inform him how he might react on the pressure we are putting on him now. >> i love the sanctions, as a way of calling putin out on the

nature of his regime is a way of saying we know that this system is based on theft. and we're going to take sanctions against those people in, who are connected to a senior russians government fishlg. official. and not only that they say, the treasury department said in their statement about sanctions that vladimir putin owns shares in gone vor he's sitting head of state he shouldn't be owning shares and he's always denied he had particular interest and so it is a way of saying we know where the money is and we know what you're up to. >> for putin the 90s was a period when everything came true a time when former elites joined forces combining money, connections and position to create the basis for putin's

spectacular success -- how did they push putin up to the top of russia? >> well, the key thing is not only that there were those circles but that putin was the only one who had the connection amongst all three of them. he was the lynchpin in that system and he remains the lynchpin in that system. so not one of them could have done it without him. so, you know, the mafia and kgb theoretically have corporated but the business element, he was the one that was the lynchpin to the business element. so they really worked together to push him and he pulled them and they all got rich off it. >> and as you document even having a billion dollars isn't enough to keep you out of his grasp in russia. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. now when we come back, crystal has a cinderella story with a twist.

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girl who grew up in india in a two room mud hut with no toilet. supported their family on about $8 a wieek. her ability to run fast, by ten was training, and her prize

money helped her family move to a new house. at 18 she won gold in championsh championship. but disaster struck. doctors wisked her away, performed tests an her and examined her anaked body and examined she didn't count as a woman by olympic standards. she was given a choice to alter her natural body through surgery or drugs or she would be barred from the sport she loved. strange an organization that spends so much time pleasing whether athletes are taking performance altering drugs would attempt to force an athlete to do exact lly that. her response, i'm not changing for anyone.

nor should she have to. i was a swimmer in college and those of us who were tall with broad shoulder, large lung capacity we had an natural edge, it wasn't unfair, it was nature. the olympics are a celebration of unusual body types, why should testosterone be any different. consider how we would react if a man produced testosterone outside the "normal" range. would he force him to remove a teste? of course not. we would be horrified to that suggestion. so why ban her from competing unless she changes her natural body to conform to what a woman "should" be. i couldn't help compare myself to her, muscular arms and lean frame, am i normal. it is degrading and deeply

troubling, reflective of a society that is constantly judging women by their appearance, making it a shame. she cried for three straight day when she looked at what people were saying about her. they were saying, boy or 2k3wgi. i thought, how could you say that i've always been a girl. thank you for sending the message to all young women, every bit of them, whether normal and unusual, is beautiful and perfect. i don't know if her sinldcinder story will have a happy ending but she's done a lot for every girl to become a princess. that's it for the cycle. a pressure cooker in the middle east and pep talk here at home. it's tuesday october 14th, this is "now." >> we're focused on the health and safety of the american people.

>> islam state militants are claiming gains on two different fronts. >> isis is now advancing towards baghdad. >> president obama is hosting 24 military leaders at andrews air force base. >> this is pretty much a pep talk. >> the president said he's going to degrade and destroy isis. they keep marching. >> ebola disturbing numbers. the death rate has spiked at 70%. there could be up to 10,000 new cases of ebola per week within two months. >> in dallas the country's latest ebola victim. >> she continued this risky job even after her mother told her she should quit. >> that young lady is a hero.