they appreciate back home, potentially by potential employers. in alabama right now, i think that worry is inoperable. bravery. theme of the day. bravery, theme of the day. "first look" is up next. right now on "first look," a concerned president obama addresses americans' ebola fears head on. is enough being done and will an ebola czar help? for first time, we'll hear from the ebola patient nina pham. she's been moved a few miles from the white house to the national institutes of health, plus cocaine for joe biden's son boots him from the u.s. navy. the giants are back for the third world series in five years. and the story of the mama bear and her cub that got national attention. good morning, happy friday to you. thank you for joining us today. we'll have the latest on the ebola situation in a moment. first, we want to begin with two

tropical paradises bracing for impact. category 3 hurricane gonzalo is on a collision course with the island of bermuda. it has 130-mile-per-hour winds. half a foot of rain is expected to start this afternoon. nbc's dylan dreyer is on the island. >> here in bermuda, all eyes are on hurricane gonzalo. it is forecast to pass just to the west of this island as a category 3 storm. that's the strongest storm this island has seen in more than ten years. it compares to hurricane fabian in 2003. talking with people around here, they're prepared, they're boarded up, they're stocked up and they're cautiously optimistic. they said that this whole island is really prepared for hurricanes. >> but that is not all. in the pacific, another storm has hawaii's governor declaring a state of emergency. tropical storm ana will make landfall tonight as a hurricane. all public schools on the big island are closed. it is slow moving, though, so flooding is a major concern. officials are warning thrill

seeking surfers about the dangerous conditions there. also, breaking overnight, ebola is now just miles from the white house. infected nurse nina pham flown to maryland for treatment. right now she's inside a special biocontainment unit. the hospital, one of four in the u.s. designed to handle ebola. the move came after a tearful good-bye. >> in ohio, ebola fears are spreading. a bridal store visited by nurse amber vinson is now closed. officials are scrambling to find shoppers who were in it at the time she was there. at the white house in what would be a first for the u.s., president obama is considering an ebola czar. here's why. >> it may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person, not because the three of these

folks have not been doing an outstanding job, they are responsible for a whole bunch of other stuff. >> new images on the front lines of the ebola fight. u.s. customs in action. they're performing fever screenings at five u.s. airports. take you to texas, more unbelievable details on just how ill prepared that dallas hospital was. during an exclusive interview on "today," here's what nurse branagh aguirre revealed. >> the second week of an ebola crisis at my hospital, the only gear they're offering us at that time and up until that time is gear that is allowing our necks to be uncovered. >> this morning we're also tracking another possible ebola scare. nbc's tracie potts has more information on that from washington. >> reporter: betty, this morning we're learning that one of the lab techs who handled a specimen from thomas duncan left on a cruise, no travel ban at the time. she was under monitoring. she has no symptoms but is self-quarantined on the cruise ship as the u.s. tries to get

her back. nina pham, first nurse infected, she's here in the d.c. area in one of the four specialized units in this country prepared to deal with ebola. before nina pham arrived at nih last night, we got our first look at the ebola infected nurse in good spirits in her hospital room in dallas. we're also getting a first look today at what the cdc is doing to stop this virus. the government released these pictures last night, they're now doing temperature checks at five airports. lawmakers mostly republicans are pressuring president obama to ban travel from west africa. >> the president ought to at least stop non-u.s. citizens from those three affected west african countries from coming here. >> reporter: the but the president says a ban might prompt travelers to hide where they're coming from, increasing our risk. >> we could end up having more cases rather than less. >> there is no such thing as fortress america when it comes

to infectious diseases. >> reporter: he's considering a so-called ebola czar, one government official to oversee the response. that could now include reserves and the national guard. president obama authorized them to head to west africa if needed. the world health organization says west africa could see 4500 deaths from ebola by the end of this week. betty? >> that's hard to digest. okay. thank you. for more on ebola, we do want to turn to contintinner goodman fr johns hopkins university, she joins me by phone. thank you for being with us today. >> good morning. >> so ebola patient nina pham is now at a maryland hospital. should she have been moved there sooner? >> i think that her movement came at an appropriate time. mostly to give the dallas hospital staff a bit of a reprieve as several of them are being on be obviously watched for any signs and symptoms of

the infection. >> yesterday on the "today" show, a nurse from pham's hospital in dallas described lapses in preparedness and containment. is their most standard protocol for infectious treatment nationwide? >> the cdc has very clear guidelines for the use of personal protective equipment as does osha, our option operational safety and health administration, in terms of guideline for protecting of health care workers for blood borne pathogens. this has highlighted opportunities for hospitals nationwide to really look at access to appropriate personnel protective equipment and also the training and education that is provided to nurses and other health care workers and environmental health services staff, any person who comes into contact with an ebola patient really needs to have appropriate personal protective equipment on and to know how to use it appropriately. >> so if there are these

standards, what do you think went wrong at the hospital in dallas? >> well, i think certainly when we use personal protective equipment, the most important thing is that the individual has the right level of protection on, that it is used consistently and that individual knows how to darn it and dock it, put it on and take it off appropriately. and also to know that even that all of the personal protective equipment when it is taken off needs to be disposed of appropriately in a biohazardous waste and that proper hand washing needs to follow up after the removal of the gloves. >> all right, droctor joining u with insight on the ebola situation we're facing nationwide. we're hearing from a man on the frontier flight that amber vinson took. here is nbc's tom costello.

>> reporter: frontier airlines says the plane that carried nurse amber vinson has been cleaned and thoroughly disinfected out of an abundance of caution. they have replaced the seat covers and carpet around her seat. health authorities have been reaching out to other passengers on board flight 1143. >> they told me to take my temperature twice a day and monitor six hours apart. >> reporter: axle good sitting in 13c learned he was three feet from vinson. he's been told to stay home until november 3rd. the cdc, he says, should have never allowed an ebola health care worker to fly. >> i never would have risked my life. if i had known she had been in contact with patient zero, i would have never gotten on that flight in first place. >> reporter: but they say it is highly unlikely vinson was contagious or the virus remained on the plane. a study found that even in an ebola hospital ward, the virus did not survive on drywalls, desks, bed frames, light switches, floors or mattresses. pandemic disease expert dr. mark

zandro says anyone who is contagious would most surely be too sick to travel. >> when you're in that infectious phase, you are incredibly sick and you are in no condition to get up and walk to do any traveling. >> that was nbc's tom costello. now to that startling tarmac image that just went viral. take a look at this. a man holding a clip board just inches away from nurse amber vinson. the question so many have had, where was his protective gear? phoenix air, though, says he did not wear any on purpose. he was guiding the hazmat team who had limited vision and the company says it is standard procedure. >> well, vice president biden's youngest son was booted from the navy earlier this year. now he is apologizing for the actions that led to his discharge. a u.s. official says hunter biden tested positive for cocaine in june 2013 while serving as a reservist, but he wasn't discharged until february. the official says his punishment

wasn't made public because the navy usuallyoesn't report these types of dismissals. in a statement, hunter biden says in part, quote, i deeply regret and am embarrassed my actions led to my administrative discharge. no word yet from the vice president. the giants, they are heading to the world series for the third time in five seasons. can you believe it? clinching the victory over the cardinals last night with a game to remember. >> travis ishikawa hits one into right! the giants win the pennant! >> travis ishikawa with a three-run walkoff homer for a 6-3 win. it is the second time in mlb history that two wild card teams face off in the world series. >> we're going to the -- >> celebrating to do. the giants are up against the kansas city royals who have won eight straight and are in the world series for first time since winning back in 1985. game one is tuesday in kansas

city. now to thursday night football, jets and pats. minutes in, the patriots find the end zone. it is shane vereen with the catch and rolls in for 6. a chance to win it with a 58-yard field goal and check this out, it is blocked! patriots with a sigh of relief. they pull out a 27-25 victory. so do you want to know where the average retail salesperson makes 50 grand a year? we'll tell you. plus, the most interesting man in american politics next.

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welcome back. time is just about up on bermuda. pretty soon the tropical storm force winds will come in the hurricane winds will be this afternoon. we're expecting the hurricane force winds at about 4:00 this afternoon. that's when the worst damage will begin. so from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. is when i'm targeting the extreme damage and that's when the worst of it will be over the island of bermuda. and dylan dreyer is out there. we'll bring you the pictures in

the afternoon and evening. as far as ana goes, better news for them. it-likes li looks like the stor take a farther track to the west, no longer in the cone of uncertainty. that's fantastic. still rains out of this, bermuda, horrible. hawaiian islands, much improved forecast. as far as we go, anyone in the lower 48, i can go through the days quickly, because we are looking at a fantastic weekend in the lower 48. hawaii looks better now too. good news all around. >> shaping up for the weekend. nice work, thank you, bill. as if you had anything to do with it. >> a lot to do with it. >> sure you did. the new york medical examiner says joan rivers died from brain damage caused by lack of oxygen. the legendary comedian posses d passed away last month. her daughter melissa released a statement thanking everyone for their love and support, but said she had no further comment at this time. new documents reveal that colorado high school shooter carl pierson had a fascination

with the sandy hook shooting, so much so that he showed pictures of the 2012 tragedy to a friend at school and called one of them, quote, funny, in a crude way. pierson killed one student during his december 2013 rampage before turning the gun on himself. here is a question for you, will knowing how much it takes to burn off calories prevent you from eating something? that's what scientists at johns hopkins think. and now they're joining the call for new nutrition labels. in their study, they showed teens that it would take 50 minutes of running or a five mile walk just to burn off the 250 calories in a 20 ounce soda. that might have you put the soda down. if you work for one of the 67 u.s. locations of the container store, consider yourself very lucky. the average salary for their retail sales people is nearly $50,000 a year. that is almost double the national average. and finally, viewers were glued to their tv sets as news

choppers in southern california were hot on the trail, not of a car chase, but of this black bear cub trapped in a dumpster and her desperate mother trying to get her out. how sweet was that. authorities eventually rescued the cub and then the two went on a casual stroll through the neighborhood making themselves right at home in some backyards and some pools obviously before cuddling up and taking a nap. a rough day for them. is your first name considered liberal or conservative? plus, the details behind florida's fan gate. and chris christie offers a motivating factor for becoming president. it is one of the most bizarre we have ever heard. scramble politics is next.

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service. security. savings. synchrony bank engage with us. time for scramble politics on your friday morning. we want to begin with the most interesting man in american politics. senator rand paul is on the cover of "time" magazine, and they ask can he fix what ails the gop? governor rick scott, well, he's defending himself after fan gate. he refused to come out on stage to begin the gubernatorial debate because his opponent charlie crist had a fan below his podium. his delay was four minutes long. that prompted the debate moderator to explain the fan situation to the waiting audience as crist stood alone on the stage. a spokesman says governor scott was never told to take the stage and that they thought crist was in a meeting with debate organizers. so how bad is it if even your own extended family will

not vote for you? the family of nevada attorney general candidate adam waltholt wrote an open letter to the las vegas sun endorsing his opponent. michele bachmann is retiring now. an interesting potential candidate for her spot, a convicted felon. leonard richards is asking a judge to let him run from prison. but because of minnesota law, he's not allowed to vote, even for himself. new jersey governor chris christie admits there may be one advantage to running for president some day. >> by the way, one of the biggest motivating factors, by the way, for me, considering this, is to have 24-hour surveillance on my daughter, yeah. it would be great. >> i'm sure every father would want that. and is your first name conservative or liberal? a nonpartisan group crowd pack used an algorithm based on campaign donors to decide. the top five conservative names,

doyle, billy, eldon and buddy and lamar. liberal, natasha, kate, deirdre, abigail and danielle. the liberal names generally found like a group of women in their late 20s. the conservative names sound like the members of a large bluegrass band from the 1930s. that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. i'm joined by kevin sirilli. your name says you are slightly conservative. but less likely to donate to a campaign. is that true? >> wow, wow. what about your name? >> it says i'm slightly conservative as well so i don't know. we'll see. we'll see how that goes. let's shift to this, president obama alluded to appointing an ebola czar. any word on who that may be and when that might happen? >> no word on who that might be. it comes as criticism from the republican party elevated in the past couple of days with the

administration's response to ebola. now, the president is saying yesterday he's not opposed to travel ban restrictions that republicans are calling for, but he did say that he does not think now is the time to implement such travel bans, saying they wouldn't help prevent the escalation of the ebola virus. >> i want to shift gears here a little bit. mitt romney is accusing president obama of failing to respond effectively to ebola, saying this administration couldn't run the irs right, and apparently isn't run the cdc right. clearly romney is not holding back, even if he does say he's not running for president. he's making quite a statement. >> betty, it is not just mitt romney. you mentioned the 2016 implications, but a host of republican lawmakers and folks vying for senate seats in states like north carolina, kentucky, new hampshire. we're hearing across the country, colorado, folks in the republican party criticizing the administration, they're trying to link this to a larger narrative that has been working

somewhat for republicans to a failed leadership from the veterans affairs scandal and border security. but democrats are hitting back saying this is not just our fault, this is also because republicans cut funding for cdc measures that they say would have helped prevent some of the ebola escalation, which has just turned into a horrible situation, not only for the administration, but for folks all over the country and hospitals as well. >> interesting that we're having to talk about the politics of ebola. >> yeah. everything is political. >> this is true. including your name, apparently. thank you for joining us today. just ahead, if you're watching this show, chances are you have a very irregular schedule. buzzfeed has put together a list that it calls the 13 things people who work weird hours understand and i am sure you can relate. fail to stay on them. that's why we created programs which encourage people to take their medications regularly.

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if you're watching us now, here in the wee hours of the morning, there is a chance that like us you have a very unique work schedule to say the very least. buzzfeed has put together a list called 13 things people who work weird hours understand. and we wanted to share it with you. number one, you are often alone in the office. check. number two, no one is there when you need help. that's the worst part. also, work always seems to come in when you're the only one there to do it. your eating schedule is super weird. amen to that. >> highlighted and underlined. >> exactly. and you can never go to lunch with your work friends because you're probably asleep. people always seem to schedule meetings during your lunch time. people always ask for you to do stuff when you're not on the

clock. absolutely. people tend to judge your sleep schedule, oh, do they judge it. your friends keep inviting you to do things when you're working and parking is a nightmare when you arrive, but traffic is nonexistent when you leave. thanks for joining us today. have a terrific weekend. i don't have a philosophical objection necessarily to a travel ban if that is the thing that is going to keep the american people safe. >> okay, the operative word there, if. however, highly unlikely, but it is an option. this travel ban, could it be the most effective way of containing ebola? a lot of republicans are saying yes. the jury, it is still out. plus, the youngest son of vice president joe biden, the big news, he was kicked out of the navy last year after testing positive for cocaine. so why are we just learning about this now? and on a much, much lighter note, the sting ring, phone calls just got a heck of a lot better as the music legend turns

classic ring tones into sting tones. this is "way too early." >> i love it. tgif, everybody. hi, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is friday, october 17th. welcome to "way too early," the show that loves a sting tone. we didn't even get one for our land line. yes, we still have a land line. a lot to get to this morning. we want to start in washington where lawmakers are increasing their pressure for travel bans. the potential for travel bans a reality amid growing questions, concerns about the government's response to ebola. members of both parties grilled cdc director thomas frieden and other top health officials at a congressional hearing on thursday. frieden says he remains confident there will not be a large scale outbreak in the u.s., but congress still had plenty of questions about why the government is allowing people in from ebola